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The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of CURATION. Every investment and trading move involves risk. You should conduct your own research when making a decision.
Bitcoin has plunged more than 30% since hitting a year-to-date high. That fact is clear, but explaining why the world’s largest digital currency has lost momentum in the second half of the year is anything but. Some, like JPMorgan Chase & Co. have pointed to Intercontinental Exchange Inc.’s new futures contracts and an unwinding of long positions as likely culprits for the nosedive. Others have pointed to a buildup of technical bearish signals as setting off its summer swoon.
One of the most popular Bitcoin margin trading exchanges, BitMEX, saw a 24-hour net inflow of around $16 million. This took place right before Bitcoin’s price fell more than $450 in less than an hour. According to a well-known cryptocurrency monitoring resource, TokenAnalyst, one of the most popular Bitcoin margin trading exchanges, BitMEX, saw a 24-hour net inflow of $16 million right before Bitcoin’s price went south.
Bitcoin is facing further losses after the bulls failed to capitalize on price gains seen this week. The cryptocurrency’s quick pullback from a 2.5-week high of $8,830 to below $8,400 this morning has invalidated a bullish breakout on the 4-hour chart seen Wednesday, as seen below. The failure to hold above the 200-day moving average (MA) at $8,654 has also weakened the bullish outlook on the daily chart and may have shifted risk in favor of a drop to $8,000 in the next 24 hours.
- Bitcoin whales likely seeking liquidity as the price dives towards $8,000.
- Bitcoin must keep above the Moving Averages and $8,000 to encourage fresh demand and a refocus on $9,000.
The benchmark cryptocurrency was trading at $8,373.96, down 2.49 percent as of 11:03 UTC. Its downside sentiment came on the back of an unbiased Thursday, wherein its opening and closing price was almost the same. The rate also remained capped under technical barriers, represented by a long-term moving average indicator in the chart below. Meanwhile, sentiments arising from the rejection of yet another Bitcoin exchange-traded fund in the US kept potential buyers at a distance.
The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) in conjunction with their Bitcoin futures platform Bakkt is reportedly seeking to jump ahead of the CME group to release a Bitcoin options contract. This suggests that it wants to beat its CME rival that is considering a Q1 2020 launch for its Bitcoin option contract.
“We’ve been very clear on Bitcoin: Bitcoin is a commodity. We haven’t said anything about ether – until now. It is in my view as chairman of the CFTC that ether is a commodity.”
access bottle pay block matrix social media
Forget about Facebook’s “cryptocurrency” Libra. UK-based Block Matrix is developing Bottle Pay – a new application that allows users to send and receive BTC using social networks. The user experience is designed to be as seamless as possible. Users can send bitcoin to any of their connections regardless of whether they have a Bottle Pay account or not. The company has already caught the eye of several keen private UK investors.
A new report by Binance Research titled ‘2019 Q3 Crypto-Correlations Review’ shows that Bitcoin’s “price dropped by nearly 30%.”
“The third quarter of 2019 exhibited adverse price movements, breaking the two consecutive quarterly price gains in Q1 and Q2. In Q3, Bitcoin price dropped by nearly 30%, closing on September 30th at around $8000. In comparison, BTC trading dominance fluctuated around 15-25% for the first half of 2019.”
This transaction notified @whaletrades which sent out the following tweet: While assessing and identifying market trends is no straightforward task, following the money in the way of large transactions can be a very useful indicator. A transaction of this magnitude by a major player followed by a sell may very well be a precursor to a significant dump in the price of Bitcoin. Therefore, keeping track of such transactions by accounts such as @whaletrades can be very helpful in determining the direction of future price movement and predicting rapid increases or decreases.
The Cryptocurrency wave that hit the market is still making headlines, especially when it comes to discussing its possibilities of replacing authorized currency. Among varied digital currency forms, Bitcoins and Ethereum are popular ones and rank high in circulation. Today, Bitcoins are used by people to make online purchases of a host of goods and services. Not just e-commerce sites, even top online casinos allow Bitcoin transactions besides other payments and withdrawal modes. It’s not difficult to find premium sites on par with top UK sites like Black Spins Casino where players can deposit in Bitcoins to instantly access a galore of games.
“We believe that tribalism in the crypto community is slowing down adoption of the technology. .Crypto is a domain name system meant to be used for any cryptocurrency payment and with any cryptocurrency wallet.”
Intercontinental Exchange’s cryptocurrency venture Bakkt is planning to launch options tied to bitcoin, aiming to forestall CME Group, which previously announced its plans to introduce bitcoin options in Q1 of 2020.
As COIN360 previously reported, Bakkt has launched its much-anticipated product – a ”physically settled monthly futures contract for bitcoin held in the Bakkt Warehouse” in September.
“We’re incredibly excited about joining forces with Ripple to bring XRP to our user base. Ripple understands the need for a strong wallet partner as they push into key markets like cross border banking and remittance, so we are thrilled to help them achieve their goals. In addition, it is our plan to have BRD be the cheapest and easiest place to buy XRP moving forward.”
Bitcoin’s status as an uncorrelated asset is about to be revoked, as a scarily close relationship to the price of avocados implies that the digital currency may be about to fall off a cliff. Bitcoin’s performance of late has left a little to be desired, and strangely so has the price of avocados. This relationship was pointed out in a profoundly insightful tweet by Bloomberg’s financial Journalist, Tracy Alloway. A graph depicting the price of Hass avocados and bitcoin shows an eerily similar pattern.


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Tampa, FL – October 6, 2012 – Brandon Honda has launched a new app for iPhones and Android smartphones. To celebrate the new app, Brandon Honda will give away a free 2013 Honda Accord on December 31, 2012 at the dealership. To enter the contest, applicants need to download one of the smartphone apps and create an account at http://www.brandonhonda.com/downloadandwin.cfm
The Honda Accord has been redesigned for 2013 and is known for a standard of high performance, power and style that have made it one of the most recognized brands for 40 years. Not only can users register to win the new car, but they can also schedule a service appointment, shop for new and used vehicles, get the trade-in value of their current vehicle, and get preapproved for financing.
Every vehicle sold at Brandon Honda comes with the exclusive, eight-point Brandon Honda Promise that includes a lifetime warranty on new Hondas, a 10-year, 100,000 warranty on pre-owned vehicles, a three-day exchange policy, and much more for no extra charge.
Brandon Honda is located at 9209 E. Adamo Drive in Tampa, FL 33619, one mile west of I-75 on Route 60. For more information, call 813-664-1234 or visit http://www.BrandonHonda.com/.
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On October 10, 2019, Porsche Cars Canada along with OpenRoad Auto Group, Dilawri Group of Companies, and Wales McLelland, unveiled plans for a new 75,000-square-foot flagship Porsche Centre Richmond, which will be one of the largest Porsche dealerships in Canada.
The four-level retail and service centre will feature Porsche’s infamous curved building design and will accommodate a full range of new electric vehicles. The facility will also include an expansive service and parts area with 15 service bays, a service drive-through and specialized delivery area, and a massive new and pre-owned showroom. The new centre will staff approximately 40 employees in the areas of sales, service, management and administration.
Wales McLelland is the construction manager for the multimillion-dollar Porsche AG designed project. At the peak of construction, Wales McLelland will have just over 100 personnel on-site. The site will have limited space to complete construction, as the building covers a large portion of the site, therefore, material storage on site will be limited, and Wales McLelland will be scheduling on-time deliveries. This project will also include steel and concrete structures, including columns, walls, floor systems, and roof systems. This will require two structural trades to design temporary measures to support the upper floors when concrete is being placed.
The plans and partnership were revealed during a groundbreaking ceremony that marked the official start of construction of the new Porsche Centre Richmond at the Richmond Auto Mall. The project is scheduled for completion in 2020.


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Foreclosures sidelines millions of consumers from the housing game, but many are now returning to the fray.
More than five million American families underwent foreclosure proceedings from 2007 to 2014, but new research suggests that many of them – the tune of hundreds of thousands – may soon be returning to the homeownership fray.
According to Fair Isaac Corp., which is responsible for the ubiquitous FICO score, of the 910,000 consumers who underwent foreclosure proceedings between Oct. 2007 and Oct. 2008 (based on their credit scores), roughly 264,400 had adequately repaired their credit by Oct. 2014, and that number could rise to 645,600 by the end of 2015.
“The dark shadow of the foreclosure crisis is finally beginning to fade,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, in a Wall Street Journal article on the research. “That should be a positive for single-family housing and, by extension, for the broader economy.”
The Boomerang Effect
“Boomerang buyers,” as they’ve been dubbed, are normally able to return to homeownership seven years after the start of their foreclosure proceedings, and their ranks are growing. According to the Journal, in Oct. 2010, just 4.4 percent of foreclosed consumers had credit scores of at least 680; by Oct. 2012, that percentage had risen to 6.2, and by last October, it had nearly doubled to 12 (or 109,000 consumers).
Of course, that is for consumers looking for prime conventional financing. Via the FHA, foreclosed borrowers can obtain financing three years after their proceedings conclude, and in rare circumstances, in as little as one year. According to analysis by Moody’s, around 1.2 million foreclosed borrowers are now past that three-year threshold.
Here Comes Trouble?
Of course, not everyone is jumping on the boomerang buyer bandwagon. Stu Feldstein, the president at SMR Research Corp., fears that boomerang buyers will spur another round of bad loans, which will inevitably lead to another cycle of costly foreclosures. “Because people who have previously gone through a foreclosure,” the Journal summarizes, “are more likely to do so again.”
And already, there has been a pronounced shift in borrowing. LoanDepot LLC, one of the FHA’s biggest lenders, reported that formerly foreclosed consumers now make up 25 percent of its loan volume.
Anthony Hsieh, the chief executive of loanDepot LLC, said that lower mortgage fees and greater credit accessibility have allowed those consumers to take out loans, after high credit score standards prohibited them from buying.
“The difference is, they can actually get approved,” Hsieh said.


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EU Supplement Players Benefit From New Food Labelling Database
The launch of the long-awaited European Food Labelling Information System gives dietary supplement players access to mandatory labelling info at the touch of a button.
You may also be interested in...
Valbiotis and Nestlé Health Science plan to launch in 2024 a dietary supplement targeted at sufferers of prediabetes and type-2 diabetes following positive results from a recent study which showed the product's efficacy on key markers of glucose metabolism.
France's Pierre Fabre is enhancing its presence in the women's health market by taking a stake in dietary supplements and cosmetics firm MiYé.
Research from Stada shows that while a quarter of European consumers increased their dietary supplement intake compared to last year, one in five have cut back spending on such products. These are among the findings of the Stada Health Report 2023 which asked 32,000 people more than 30 questions covering topics such as health prevention and satisfaction with national healthcare systems.


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As we begin to slowly emerge from the shadow of COVID-19, consumers still need to be vigilant of scams and fake products offered by bad actors online. And pharmaceutical companies that are producing life-saving vaccines have now emerged as the next big target for criminal operations.
Bad actors have once again shifted focus, moving on from COVID-19 testing kits to selling fake vaccines, hijacking pharmaceutical brand names, and spreading disinformation.
Corsearch’s Brand Protection experts have highlighted three key issues online:
- 1. Listings for COVID vaccines on B2B and B2C marketplaces
- 2. Criminals selling COVID-related products – including fake vaccine passports, ID cards, and test results
- 3. Fake social media pages using COVID vaccine brand names
Law enforcement agencies such as Interpol have been actively investigating vaccination scams online and enforcing on behalf of pharmaceutical brands. However, they are unable to take on bad actors alone. Stronger collaboration between platforms, lawmakers, public health bodies, and brands is needed to safeguard consumers.
1. Listings for COVID vaccines on B2B and B2C marketplaces
According to cyber security researchers, the number of adverts seen for vaccines on hacking forums and other marketplaces has tripled to more than 1,200 since January.
Corsearch’s experts have detected several unauthorized listings claiming to be ‘COVID-19 Vaccine Direct Suppliers’ on B2B platforms EC21, Ecplaza, and Tradekey. With the listings not directly referring to branded vaccines, identifying the key platforms sellers use to advertise these fake or unauthorized products plays a significant role in proactive enforcement.
Example of unauthorized listings on B2B marketplaces
COVID vaccine listings can often also be found on B2C platforms such as eBay, Etsy, and Craigslist. These usually involve sellers offering slots to get the vaccine. COVID vaccine manufacturers have confirmed to Corsearch that the majority of these online offers are scams.
Examples of unauthorized listings on B2C marketplaces
In February 2021, authorities in China arrested the leader of a multi-million-dollar vaccine scam. The individual responsible had researched the packaging designs of legitimate vaccines before producing over 58,000 solutions that simply contained saline solution and mineral water. Alarmingly, a batch of the fake vaccines were smuggled overseas, and their destination is still unknown.
It is critical that platforms work with brands to have these types of listings removed swiftly. As long as vaccine listings remain visible on a platform, consumers are put at serious risk of being scammed, damage is being inflicted on the vaccine manufacturers’ brand, and global vaccination programs are in danger of being undermined by queue cutting.
2. Criminals selling COVID-related products
With plans for vaccine passports and identity cards to be adopted in the months ahead, some bad actors are looking to get ahead of the game. Fake identity cards, vaccine passports/certificates, and even test results are being sold on e-commerce websites and, increasingly, the dark web.
These types of fake goods are particularly dangerous, as unscrupulous individuals could use them to fraudulently gain access to COVID-secure venues and to travel abroad – with the real risk they could be carrying the virus.
Law enforcement agencies such as the Federal Drug Agency in the US (FDA) are pursuing false COVID-related products and are notifying registrars when their services are used by bad actors. However, with over 1,000 COVID-related domains being registered per day, registrars need to do more; they should not be waiting to be notified by brand owners or law enforcement before acting.
3. Fake social media pages using COVID vaccine brand names
In October 2020, Corsearch’s experts identified a private ‘investment study’ group on Facebook with over 1000 members using a vaccine manufacturers brand name. As this type of social media activity is not authorized, it is important to remove these pages to ensure that only factual information regarding the vaccines is circulated.
Other fake social media pages have been set up with the sole intention of scamming consumers. In August 2020, the HMRC (UK) reported it was currently investigating over 10,000 COVID-related phishing scams.
Fake social media pages with COVID vaccine brand names have also be set up with the intention of spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories. It is critical that platforms are able to identify and remove these groups before they contribute irreversible damage to public health and trust in global vaccination programs.
Corsearch’s experts have even come across instances of fake social media accounts set impersonating members of leadership teams at vaccine manufacturers, with the intention of gleaning sensitive business information.
Platforms have a key role to play
While listings for fake vaccines and other illegitimate COVID-related products are eventually removed, marketplaces have been criticised for being acting too slowly, thus putting consumers and brands at risk.
Throughout the pandemic, social media platforms have also come under fire for their slow removal of vaccine and COVID-19 disinformation (false or misleading information that is deliberately created / shared to cause harm). Recently, platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have publicly committed to stricter controls on COVID disinformation – and misinformation (false or misleading information that is unwittingly created or shared without meaning to cause harm).
In March, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg addressed US lawmakers on the variety of tools deployed by the social media platform to prevent harmful misinformation about COVID-19 from spreading. During the last 12 months, Facebook has partnered with over 60 global health experts to provide accurate information surrounding COVID-19 and vaccines. In December 2020, the platform announced that all vaccine misinformation would be banned. Users who violate the policy will be suspended and eventually banned if they continue to flout the rules.
However, certain types of misinformation that is shared by individual accounts rather than large groups – such as personal anecdotes on vaccine side-effects and effectiveness – pose a grey area to platforms. This misinformation is usually left unmoderated without public health warnings attached.
With roughly 30% of Americans continuing to express some hesitancy around getting a COVID vaccine, platforms, lawmakers, public health bodies, and vaccine manufacturers need to work together to tackle disinformation, misinformation, and fake COVID products.
What can pharmaceutical brands do?
Automated Brand Protection technology is critical to discovering, prioritizing, and actioning online threats. Alongside sophisticated keyword matching, image matching and OCR capabilities help brands discover bad actors that avoid using brand-related keywords.
Online investigations and Network Analysis technology is also key to identifying criminal networks and prioritizing the largest targets. Information gathered from multiple sources can then be used to act against these criminal operators both online and offline.
Brand Protection: Critical to Protecting Consumer Health and Trust
By allocating resources towards safeguarding consumers and focusing on the most visible digital channels, you will be able to tackle misuse and maintain trust in your brand.
A renewed focus on Brand Protection technology and strategy is essential to winning this battle. Learn how Corsearch can help you successfully navigate the threat landscape and remove the greatest risks to your business.
This blog was originally published on the Incopro website.
 Sourced from 9th Annual Pharma Anti-Counterfeiting & Serialisation Conference 2021


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Sep 27, 2019
Jennifer Lopez unveils her new fragrance, 'Promise'
Sep 27, 2019
Jennifer Lopez has been working on a new fragrance.
The singer, actress and fashion icon has announced the launch of ‘Promise,' the 25th scent in her fragrance empire, reports WWD.
The perfume, which is now on sale online at Ulta Beauty and set to roll out in stores on September 28, is described as "the essence of a multifaceted and powerful woman." It features top notes of Italian tangerine, pink berries and nashi pea, a middle of orris, jasmine sambac and dewy honeysuckle and a woody, crystallized amber base.
The superstar, 50, took to Instagram to share the news of the drop with her 101 million followers, posting images from the official announcement alongside the message "Today was SOOOO special!!!" She also offered fans a glimpse of the official campaign imagery, which sees her posing in a slinky, metallic dress.
Since 2002, Lopez has built up a major fragrance business including popular pillars such as ‘Glow' and ‘Live.' She is a key player in the celebrity fragrance business, which has seen a resurgence recently with the addition of scents by stars such as Kim Kardashian, Ariana Grande and Hollywood actress Michelle Pfeiffer. However, Lopez's beauty industry expertise isn't limited to scent -- she launched a 70-piece makeup collaboration with Inglot last year, that spanned mascara, lipsticks, eyelashes, blush, eyeshadow and bronzers.
The news comes at a busy time for J-Lo, who was also announced this week as one of the headline acts for the 2020 Super Bowl half-time show.
Copyright © 2023 AFP-Relaxnews. All rights reserved.


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Up to date: Jun 17, 2020 10:55 IST
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], June 17 (ANI): An amazing variety of Indians are more likely to take a domestic holiday in direction of the year-end after Covid-19 lockdown ends and authorities think about it protected to journey, in keeping with a Thomas Cook India and SOTC Travel joint survey launched on Wednesday.
The holiday readiness report says 64 per cent of respondents are inclined in direction of a domestic holiday and 36 per cent an international holiday. Among the many most well-liked journey locations in India are Kerala, Goa, the Northeast, Ladakh, Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.
On the similar time, 41 per cent of the respondents most well-liked short-haul worldwide journey locations like Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. And 38 per cent of them mentioned Europe stays their favorite with international locations like Switzerland, Britain, France, Germany and Czech Republic.
Almost 20 per cent opted for Australia and New Zealand whereas 16 per cent of the respondents selected america.
Nonetheless, 50 per cent of them mentioned they’ll choose to journey in December and 29 per cent in November. About 72 per cent of respondents choose reputed manufacturers together with tour operators and hotels and 75 per cent mentioned health and safety is a key issue.
Almost 35 per cent of them are prepared to extend their spends to make sure greater ranges of health and safety. Apparently, 51 per cent of them choose 4 to seven days of vacation and 35 per cent choose eight to eleven days.
The holiday readiness report mentioned 67 per cent of the respondents choose value-centric and pocket-friendly holidays, and are more likely to spend lower than Rs one lakh per particular person for his or her subsequent vacation.


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Analyst’s WWDC Predictions: New Siri-Integrated Beats Product, Improved AI, Digital Health Functionality
Apple will introduce new Siri, AR, AI, and Digital Health functionality along with a new $250 USD Beats product featuring Siri integration at this year’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference.
That’s according to a new blog post from Loup Ventures analyst Gene Munster highlighting his predictions for the 2018 WWDC. Munster’s other predictions for the event include new HomePod capabilities, extra Core ML extensions, and more:
- We expect Monday’s keynote to be highlighted by extending the reach of Siri (most likely adding new domains, opening HomePod to more capabilities, and integrating Spotlight), along with additional AI tools (new Core ML extensions).
- We also anticipate new features around digital health (privacy and device management) and ARKit (development tools).
- Expect Siri integration with Beats.
- Collectively, these announcements advance the ease of use and intelligence of Apple’s mobile and desktop experiences.
Apple may be planning to unveil a $250 USD Beats product (presumably a speaker) that will feature Siri integration much like the HomePod. According to Munster, this product will allow Apple to “advance its digital assistant ambitions.”
Munster also expects Apple to introduce new Siri domains, supporting “navigation and email,” for example. An integrated Spotlight Search will also be introduced, improving Siri’s performance overall.
Apple will also announce new domains for CoreML, the machine learning SDK that Apple introduced with the launch of iOS 11. While Munster doesn’t have any predictions as to what these new domains might be, CoreML currently features developer tools such as face detection, handwriting recognition, realtime image recognition, and more.
The analyst predicts that Apple’s upcoming iOS 12 will feature a device management tool that will help users manage screen time and digital anxiety, along with improvements to data-sharing transparency.
Overall, a focus on ARKit and ML Core seems obvious, while a better Siri for HomePod will certainly be welcome if Apple chooses to introduce it. It’s important to take all of these prediction with a grain of salt until next Monday. After all, as Munster himself notes: “We express no warranties about any estimates or opinions we make.”


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SHANGHAI (AP) -- Intel Corp. will close a factory in Shanghai in a reorganization of its China operations this year that will shift work to plants in other cities, the company said Thursday.
About 2,000 workers will be affected by the decision to move Intel's chip assembly and testing operations to Chengdu, in central China, from eastern Shanghai's Pudong district, the company said in a statement on its Chinese-language Web site.
The plan is meant to optimize the company's manufacturing resources in China, it said.
Intel, the world's largest semiconductor company, said it would keep its mainland China headquarters and a research and development facility in Shanghai.
Shanghai employees affected by the move will be offered the chance to relocate to Chengdu or to a factory now under construction in the northeastern port city of Dalian, Intel said.
Santa Clara, California-based Intel underscored its commitment to China by raising its investment in Intel China Ltd., its Shanghai-based investment holding company, by $110 million this year.
Intel's research center in Beijing and its Intel Capital China Fund II will not be affected by the reorganization, the company said.
Last month, Intel said it planned to cut up to 6,000 manufacturing jobs as the company struggles with souring personal computer demand that has left its factories operating at less than full capacity. The company recently reported a 90 percent drop in fourth-quarter profit.
The earlier job cuts included closing three "assembly test" facilities in Malaysia and the Philippines. Such plants are where chip makers send finished wafers to be sliced into separate chips, put into individual packages, and tested to make sure they work.


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Economic sentiment posted a strong increase to kick off 2024. The Penta-CivicScience Economic Sentiment Index (ESI) jumped 1.2 points to 35.5 over the past two weeks, rising to its highest point since July 2023.
All five of the ESI indicators increased over the past two weeks. Confidence in the overall U.S. economy rose the most, increasing 3.8 points to 39.5 — the second-largest single-reading increase in over a year.
—Confidence in making a major purchase rose 1.5 points to 23.4.
—Confidence in finding a new job rose 0.3 points to 38.8.
—Confidence in personal finances rose 0.3 points to 56.2.
—Confidence in buying a new home rose 0.5 points to 19.8.
Want to anticipate how consumers will respond to today’s ever-changing economy with real-time and custom consumer insights? Connect with us to see how the CivicScience InsightStore™ can help keep you ahead of the curve.


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All Hongkongers who have the well-being of their future generations at heart ought to throw their weight behind the "green Mid-Autumn Festival" concept, according to an editorial published in Wen Wei Po yesterday. Full text follows:
In Hong Kong, the Mid-Autumn Festival has become a time of appalling wastage with people generating large amounts of garbage.
To promote green awareness, this year the Environmental Protection Department and the catering sector will give awards to shoppers who return used mooncake tins with purchase coupons so as to allow the city to enjoy a "green Mid-Autumn Festival" as well.
We hereby call upon the government, the people and mooncake manufacturers and retailers to take action to support and promote the "green Mid-Autumn Festival" concept in order to benefit our future generations.
Since ancient times, people have not only viewed the festival as a symbol of family reunion, but derived from it the hope of eternal bliss. In fact, humanity shares the same fate with the environment. If we overlook the damage done by consumerism to our surroundings, what our posterity may see under a clear and bright moon is depleted natural resources and spoiled habitats, and the hope of eternal bliss will evaporate.
Unfortunately, local consumer activities during the festival have neglected this danger.
Every year, Hong Kong people throw away more than three million mooncake tins that weigh as much as 750 tons and stand as high as 414 Bank of China buildings when piled on top of one another. Last year, Hongkongers discarded 1.75 million mooncakes and the same amount of plastic lanterns. All this garbage has exerted heavy pressure on the territory's three landfills, which are expected to overbrim in less than 10 years. A new landfill takes 15 years to build and there is no more room in Hong Kong to build one anyway.
We believe that other than encouraging people to return their used mooncake tins, the "green Mid-Autumn Festival" campaign should be extended in scope.
On the one hand, manufacturers of mooncakes and plastic lanterns should minimize packing and install replaceable components respectively during production. On the other hand, members of the public must, before purchasing festive items, think carefully what they really need and refrain from buying overpackaged products or buying more than they need, resulting in wastage and environmental pollution.
Besides, the government should not delay enacting the law that regulates product packaging. Mooncakes on sale in Hong Kong usually come with a plastic bag, the tin, individual packages, plastic knives and forks as well as the plastic inner base. There may sometimes be as many as eight layers of packaging.
This year alone, there will be four million mooncake tins and close to 60 million packaging items scrapped. Overpacking may help the sale of mooncakes, but the wastage involved and the damage to the environment is enormous.
To solve this problem, the packaging legislation is a permanent solution.
A two-pronged approach, it not only requires manufacturers to pay for the cost of environmental protection in using the packaging materials - another form of green tax - it also asks for the government's co-operation in promoting the recycling of these materials. It will serve the dual purposes of diminishing the production of garbage and promoting the recycling of packaging materials.
In Europe, these kinds of laws have achieved an overall recycling rate of 49 percent of packaging materials in 20 countries. As a city of high spending, Hong Kong has no reason to lag behind in the legislation in this respect.
(China Daily September 28, 2004)


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(IANS) Panasonic India on Friday launched a flagship digital single lens mirrorless camera LUMIX G9 in India.
The camera is priced at Rs 98,990 (for body only) and Rs 1,39,990 with the 12-60 leica lens kit.
The camera claims to deliver highest-ever image quality by elevating colour reproduction with its 20.3-MP Digital Live MOS Sensor.
Equipped with The Body I.S. (image stabilizer), Lumix G9 uses a 6.5-stop slower shutter speed that helps users to stable handheld photography and videography, even in a low-light environment.
“Today, content is king and we are here to provide photographers and videographers with a compact yet powerful companion to capture their creativity. Designed to disrupt the DSLM segment, we see a huge potential for Lumix G9 in India,” Sandeep Sehgal, Business Chief, Imaging Business Group, Panasonic India and SAARC said in a statement.
According to the company, the camera aims to delivers an outstanding video performance with its HDR video recording, V-Log L recording and Waveform Monitor (WFM) feature, along with enhanced functions of 4K 60p recording.
The high-speed, high-precision AF with DFD technology in Lumix G9 achieves AF speed of 0.04.
The Animal Detect feature in AF mode utilizes advanced AI technology, which allows users to detect animals in addition to humans in a focused frame and continues to track the subject even when it turns its back to the camera.
“Designed for video bloggers, wedding videographers, and photographers, Lumix G9 offers class-leading image stabilization, 4K 60p recording and compact size for high mobility,” said Hardeep Singh Sarna, Product Head-Imaging Business Group, Panasonic India and SAARC.


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When vehicle problems present, it’s not uncommon for them to be one-off issues. Sometimes there are just anomalies in production or with off-the-line parts. But in the case of the Nissan Rogue, costly and potentially dangerous transmission concerns are so frequent, they’re almost expected. These problematic transmissions have recently inspired a class-action lawsuit, with the hopes that these broken transmission symptoms in the Rogue get fixed once and for all.
The Nissan Rogue’s transmission problems
In general, the Nissan Rogue, despite its popularity, is becoming well-known for its transmission issues. More specifically, the 2014, 2015, and 2016 model years seem to be the most problematic. Based on official Technical Service Bulletins (TSBs) alone, as reported by CarComplaints.com, a few notable concerns include a transmission shake, a hesitation, and a lack of power on command. In most of these instances, a complete replacement of the CVT assembly is the only solution, although some reprogramming efforts help, as well.
What the class-action lawsuit claims
Three of the potential thousands of disgruntled Nissan Rogue owners have brought forth a class-action lawsuit to address this classic broken transmission issue. The suit claims that not only do the transmissions contain defects, it also suggests that Nissan was made aware of the ongoing issues as early as 2013.
The Nissan lawsuit goes on to claim that the CVT is to blame and describes its unconventional design that uses a steel belt and pulleys instead of the more commonly accepted gear structure.
Why transmission issues are so costly and dangerous
Transmission issues with these various Nissan Rogue models have proven to be costly for the SUV owners. The Drive shared a customer experience in which the first transmission replacement was covered under warranty. However, the following two replacements (yes, a total of three replacements) fell outside the warranty parameters and cost this Rogue owner thousands of dollars. The lawsuit claims owners have spent more than $400 to fix the problem. We found others, like this Rogue owner, who ended up spending nearly $5,000 on out-of-warranty transmission replacements.
But the cost isn’t the only concern. Failing transmissions, especially while driving, can lead to potentially hazardous situations and accidents. One of the plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit claimed her Rogue would significantly hesitate when she attempted to accelerate. Then it would rev at RPMs and jerk before surging forward. Even more dangerous was her experience with transmission slippage at highway speeds. Being unable to maintain the flow of traffic speeds puts drivers at risk of being rear-ended or inadvertently causing an accident.
The 2021 Nissan Rogue may be a safer buy
The 2020 Nissan Rogue managed to earn a better reliability rating, and the 2021 model may be on track to maintain the positive momentum. The latest generation still offers a single engine variation across all of its S, SV, SL, and Platinum trims. Edmunds outlines the details, including this 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine’s 181-hp capability. The Nissan Rogue is still using a continuously variable automatic transmission. But it’s hard to tell for sure if the transmission issues of 2013-2016 are in the rearview mirror just yet.
Despite the transmission concerns, and even this latest class-action lawsuit, the Nissan Rogue continues to be a popular SUV among consumers. And based on the most recent few years of ownership experience reporting, the hope is Nissan found the necessary transmission solutions.
For now, this lawsuit is ongoing in the U.S. District Court in Tennessee, and the plaintiffs are represented by attorneys with the firms, Branstetter Stranch & Jennings PLLC, Greenstone Law APC, and Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP. And there soon may be reimbursements for these dissatisfied Rogue owners.


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DUCKLIFE has announced the launch of a new fashion line that carries its name, DUCKLIFE COLLECTION, this past December 21st in partnership with UNHCR MENA enabling a continuous support of refugees in the MENA.
It’s a total of 9 oversized and genderless t-shirts that constitute the collection, which has been made available through the brand’s own online shop atwww.ducklifecollection.com.
“The motivation has always been to create brands that we can be proud of and this new venture is undoubtedly our most valuable contribution so. We simply cannot accept the reality that refugees live with today. What a terrible waste of talent and dreams.” Says Christian Eid, DUCKLIFE founder and CEO at DUCKLIFE COLLECTION.
And buy purchasing these t-shirts, one amazing news is that 25% of sales are going directly to support MENA refugees with a UNHCR partnership. Christian Eid goes on to say:
“The opportunity here is incredible. Can we create an apparel brand that strikes in style, brings lasting and impactful support to refugees, and also changes the narrative around the crisis to show the region that this is a problem worth solving? Bottom line, how we treat refugees today is wrong. People are the single most valuable creation of this planet and right now, refugees are the biggest waste of talent or resources out there.RIDICULOUS.”
DUCKLIFE COLLECTION‘s aim is to create collections that feature different approaches, but that remain supportive to refugees through UNHCR.


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AIR MILES and Dollarama
The AIR MILES program has partnered with Dollarama since August 7, 2023 to give miles to its members. The contract was due to expire on November 6, but has been extended to January 31, 2024.
It is not possible to collect AIR MILES miles like at Shell or formerly at IGA. But it’s more in the form of its partnership with Mastercard offers and participating retailers.
From August 7 to January 31, 2024, AIR MILES Collectors with a Mastercard credit card specially linked to the account earn 10 bonus miles on purchases of $30 or more in a single transaction at Dollarama stores.
The same principle is currently being applied to other stores, such as Boston Pizza, Sephora and Via Rail.
Any Mastercard credit card in Canada can be linked to an AIR MILES account. When the Mastercard credit card is registered to the AIR MILES Collector Account, Bonus Miles are awarded according to current AIR MILES offers.
Only one registration is required to link your Mastercard.
How to earn AIR MILES at Dollarama
The following steps are mandatory:
- Go to the AIR MILES website to link your Mastercard credit card
- Purchase $30 or more at Dollarama with your registered Mastercard credit card by January 31, 2024
There is no need to scan your AIR MILES membership card at the Dollarama cash register.
The limit is one offer per day and per member number.
Bonus Miles will also be awarded to BMO AIR MILES Mastercard credit cardholders.
BMO AIR MILES® Mastercard®* cardholders will be able to earn 5x miles on Dollarama purchases until January 31, 2024.
For example, if you link your BMO® AIR MILES® World Elite Mastercard and buy $36 at Dollarama, you’ll get :
- 10 Miles on this purchase of $30 or more
- 5X miles (instead of standard 1X or 3X) per $12 = 15 miles
For a total of 27 miles (worth about $2.83).
Other ways to earn AIR MILES Reward Miles
And, as we mentioned yesterday, a brand new way to collect AIR MILES miles is now available at grocery stores across Canada with AIR MILES Receipts. By scanning a grocery receipt with eligible products, members will earn Reward Miles.
Collectors take a photo of their grocery receipt with the requested products in the AIR MILES mobile application. This must be done within 14 days of purchase to earn Reward Miles.
This news of the partnership extension was to be expected. An AIR MILES representative told us last October that the AIR MILES/Dollarama partnership exceeded their expectations.
Even if you don’t plan to use this new Dollarama offer, remember to register your Mastercard credit card anyway. You never know.
This type of partnership is temporary and will not result in traditional basic accumulation by scanning the AIR MILES membership card at the Dollarama cash register.
But it’s a start!
Read the latest news on the AIR MILES program:


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Big rumours this morning that Apple is going to launch a streaming music version of its iTunes service in early summer. Speculation about Apple’s plans has been sparked by a round of tablet-related rumours in The Wall Street Journal. In among talk of TV subscription deals and agreements with magazine publishers the WSJ piece mentions that a web based iTunes.com music streaming service could be coming as soon as June. This would make perfect sense as at the end of last year Apple bought music streaming service Lala.
It is conceivable that Apple would only run the service on its tablet (iTablet/iSlate/iWish wehadanameforit). This would certainly help make what could be a tricky sell amore compelling proposition. If it does offer streaming, and this seems inevitable now, it’ll be interesting to see how this impacts on sales of music downloads. Also would the streaming service be available tom iPhone owners? It would certainly put the pressure on Spotify.


text: Some Australian brands are acknowledging those who had experienced bereavement, infertility or parental estrangement by providing the option for customers to 'opt-out' of Mother's Day marketing emails. This will be the first Mother's Day since Jodie Roberts lost her newborn. The 23-year-old, from Seaford in Melbourne, found out 20 weeks into her pregnancy that her second daughter-to-be had a rare heart condition and fetal hydrops. She was told by the hospital that she would need to terminate her pregnancy because both her baby and her own health complications had become life-threatening. In July 2022, Ms Roberts gave birth to her stillborn baby after an 18 hour induced labour. She said her first Mother's Day after Abigail's stillbirth will be difficult. "I was expecting to hold my baby in my arms but she's not going to be here now," Ms Roberts said. IN OTHER NEWS: She said she will spend the day with her 4-year-old daughter Charlotte. "I know that Abigail will be in spirit with me but I hope that I'm going to be able to do something where it involves both the girls where I can just have that time with them." Ms Roberts wants Mother's and Father's Day to be more inclusive of bereaved parents. "You're still a mum either way, whether your child is living or is no longer with you, and there's not a lot out there for the bereaved mothers." Red Nose Australia said that the day could be difficult for many people particularly parents who had experienced the death of their only living baby or child. "They will often express the feelings of 'am I still a mother'?" Red Nose Australia CEO Keren Ludski said. "Being flooded with emails spruiking all things Mother's Day further exacerbates those feelings. "Mother's Day epitomises everything they had hoped for. The hopes and dreams they had for their child and their family. Those hopes and dreams that are now shattered." She said the option to unsubscribe from those emails was potentially empowering. "[It] allows them a level of protection if they feel they need it. It gives them the opportunity to have a level of control over what comes in to their inbox at a time that they feel they don't have much control." Companies such as Canva, Etsy, and Archie Rose sent out the unsubscribe option ahead of Mother's Day. "I think broadly, businesses are recognising that there's no normal family structure, and to that degree recognising that consumers are different," Dr Geetanjali Saluja, a marketing senior lecturer at University of Technology Sydney said. Dr Saluja said there was an increasing trend for brands to acknowledge social issues and generally be more socially responsible. "Why should brands just stop at Mother's Day?" "We can then argue that there would be a lot of triggers that consumers might have and then they should be generally given the option to opt out of marketing emails."


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Core Scientific is the largest publicly-traded bitcoin mining company by hashrate, and just reported financials for 2021 that exceed analysts’ predictions.
In the fiscal year ending on December 31st, 2021, Core Scientific’s total revenue increased 803% to $544.5 million. Analyst estimates were at $507.1 million, according to FactSet.
“Across our business we are executing our plans effectively and remain well positioned to continue expanding our capacity and creating shareholder value,” said CEO Mike Levitt in a statement.
The company went public in January through a merger with special-purpose acquisition company Power & Digital Infrastructure Acquisition. While earnings in the first half of the year were more moderate, sales in the fourth quarter reached $301.8 million, eclipsing analyst predictions of $205.7 million.
As for hashrate growth in 2022, Core Scientific is expecting non-linear growth in the face of global supply chain issues. However, the company still expects to hit year-end targets.
“We think that approximately 30% of our 2022 infrastructure development will be completed by the end of the second quarter,” Levitt said, with the rest coming in the latter half of the year. He also noted that the company would explore “new technology, bitcoin-related financing alternatives” to raise funding for its growth.
Shares rose almost 3% in post-market trading on Tuesday.


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Uganda has registered an increase in both volume and value of coffee exports indicating a good trend for the country’s leading export commodity.
The latest report from the Uganda Coffee Development Authority for the month of March shows that, coffee exports for the period (April 2013 to March 2014) totalled 3.77 million bags up from the 3.02 million bags exported in the same period last year.
The report adds: “In the same period, the country earned $415 million (Shs1.045 trillion) compared to $396 million (Shs997 billion) earned the same period last year (April 2012 -March 2013)”.
This, according to the report shows that there was a 24.83 per cent and 4.80 per cent increase in volume and value respectively.
Coffee exports in March 2014 amounted to 348,423-kilo bags worth $38.87 million (Shs97 billion). This comprised of 268,204 bags of Robusta coffee fetching $27.65 million (Shs69 billion) and 80,219 bags of Arabica coffee bringing in$11.22 million (Shs28.2 billion).
Robusta, which is the country’s leading coffee species, increased by 12.18 per cent and 1.37 per cent in volume and value respectively while Arabica also posted an increase of 14.44 per cent and 6.59 per cent in volume and value respectively compared to the same period last year 2012/13.
At least 72 per cent of the total export volume was exported by 10 exporters, out of 29 exporters that performed in the month.


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Rober X. Cringely from PBS speculates on what Google is planning to do what all that dark fiber they have been buying up. He basically says Google is aiming to own Web 2.0:
The probable answer lies in one of Google's underground parking garages in Mountain View. There, in a secret area off-limits even to regular GoogleFolk, is a shipping container. But it isn't just any shipping container. This shipping container is a prototype data center. Google hired a pair of very bright industrial designers to figure out how to cram the greatest number of CPUs, the most storage, memory and power support into a 20- or 40-foot box. We're talking about 5000 Opteron processors and 3.5 petabytes of disk storage that can be dropped-off overnight by a tractor-trailer rig. The idea is to plant one of these puppies anywhere Google owns access to fiber, basically turning the entire Internet into a giant processing and storage grid.Read on over here.
While Google could put these containers anywhere, it makes the most sense to place them at Internet peering points, of which there are about 300 worldwide.


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The New York Credit Union Association is urging its members to take action in opposition of the Credit Card Competition Act of 2023.
The Association has long opposed legislation that allows merchants to route payments through an unaffiliated network. On Wednesday, members of the U.S. Senate introduced the Credit Card Competition Act of 2023. The current system protects cards and competition for consumers and businesses.
The interchange fee is a portion of the merchant discount fee that the retailer’s financial institution pays to the cardholder’s credit union for the service of utilizing the card system and the benefits provided, including the avoidance of processing fees and ensuring guaranteed payments.
Interchange fees help credit unions protect consumer data and offer additional services like fraud monitoring needed as consumer data and privacy is consistently under attack by cyber criminals.
The Association cannot support any legislation that hands control of the nation’s credit card system to merchants that do not have our members privacy and interest in mind, only internal profit.


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The record for the most expensive non-jewelled chocolate egg sold was cracked yesterday when a luxury treat weighing 50 kilos was snapped up for an incredible £7,000 in London.
The 50 kilo egg designed by British chocolatier William Curley was bought by technology investor Cyrus Vandrevala at the Fabergé Big Egg Hunt charity auction event.
The hand-made egg took three days to make by seven artisan chocolatiers at William's Twickenham production kitchen.
Its shell is made from Amadei chocolate sourced from the Chuao region of Venezuela, which is often heralded as being the best chocolate in the world by food experts.
William Curley with the record breaking egg
Meanwhile the filling includes muscovado caramel, Japanese black vinegar, rosemary and olive oil, toasted sesame, plus juniper berry, cassis and a hint of edible gold leaf.
The auction formed part of World Record London, a calendar of record-breaking events taking place in the run-up to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
So far the project has overseen successful record attempts for the longest curtsey relay and the longest marathon hug, with future events set to include the Queen's Diamond Jubilee River Pageant on Sunday 3 June which hopes to break the record for the Largest parade of boats.
To find out what's coming up as part of World Record London, visit www.visitlondon.com/worldrecordlondon .


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Ever needed to read your credit card information on the phone to make a massage appointment? The process is annoying, and it makes you wonder how safe it is to give a stranger your personal details. That’s why Los Angeles-based Mangomint built a SaaS tool that strives to streamline the booking experience for the beauty industry, which includes everything from spas and massage parlors to piercing and tattoo studios.
Mangomint recently surpassed 200,000 monthly appointments across more than 1,000 locations in Canada and the U.S., spurred by user growth during the pandemic. Investors have taken notice and funded its $13 million Series A round, which was led by OpenView Venture Partners, the Boston-based VC firm known for backing companies propelled by “product-led growth”, and joined by startup300 as well as existing angels.
Mangomint’s growth in recent times is happening in tandem with the post-COVID labor shortage across developed economies. Businesses that require in-person worker attendance, like restaurants and beauty salons, have been struggling to retain staff, many of whom have quit to deal with COVID sickness, look for higher-paid jobs, or seek better work-life balance.
“Cost [of labor] is up and supply is down because people just quit,” Mangomint’s founder and CEO Daniel Lang told TechCrunch. “We are tapping into these jobs with smart automation.”
Mangomint was born out of Lang’s cross-country road trip back in 2016 after the Austrian founder sold his software development company. “No matter what city or town we went to [in the US], there were salons and spas. We ended up booking a ton of appointments, but we always had to call to book,” Lang recalled.
Lang described the current iteration of Mangomint to be “an OS for salons and spas” that automate booking, point-of-sale, employee payrolls, and customer relationship management. The intention isn’t to remove humans, Lang said, but to augment human work — a mission that has become common for a lot of workplace automation software and a friendlier message without the threat of “robots coming for human jobs.”
“All our competitors believe online booking is the only way, but at Mangomint, you will never see the word AI,” Lang added.
That’s because robots can’t carry out certain human functions, yet. For example, many customers want advice from salons on the type of service they get, so Mangomint leaves that part of the interaction on the phone. After the call, its software automatically sends a text message to the customers, who will then click on a booking link to submit their credit card information — which can be auto-filled if they have it stored on their phones.
By removing some of the most menial work, Mangomint is reducing overhead costs for businesses, Lang suggested. Many vertical SaaS providers tend to overpromise and claim to help boost revenues, “but the ugly truth is that most of [this type of software] is just tools that replace spreadsheets.”
Asked why booking for spas and salons can’t take place on an OpenTable-like, centralized platform, Lang noted that there is already “a graveyard of startups that try to be the Opentable for the beauty industry.
“If I have a trusted salon expert, why would I go through this platform that takes a fee?” asked Lang. Mangomint tries to stay in the background instead. Users can make appointments without creating a Mangomint account. And by integrating its software into the day-to-day operation of small businesses, it aims to be “invisible” so that businesses don’t even feel its existence.


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With Tesla (TSLA) set to start preliminary Cybertruck deliveries on the finish of the month, an analyst wrote Monday that the EV large could be higher off shelving the a lot anticipated car. Tesla inventory superior Tuesday after gaining floor Monday.
Jefferies analyst Philippe Houchois lowered his agency’s value goal on TSLA to 210, down from 250, whereas sustaining a maintain ranking on the shares. The analyst then added a number of phrases on the Cybertruck.
“Nonetheless unlikely only a few days earlier than first deliveries, canceling Cybertruck would most likely be constructive for shares,” Houchois wrote Monday. “With 2024 already a misplaced 12 months for development, it could assist Tesla refocus on an edge that was constructed on simplicity, scale and pace.”
Tesla inventory superior 2.4% to 241.31 Tuesday throughout market motion. On Monday, TSLA dropped early earlier than including 0.6% to 235.60. Tesla inventory has gained greater than 20% in November forward of Cybertruck deliveries, deliberate to start on Nov. 30.
Third Quarter Triggers Tesla Pessimism
TSLA shares sank after the corporate introduced worse-than-expected Q3 earnings and income on Oct. 18. Tesla reported third-quarter earnings down 37% to 66 cents per share, the bottom in two years for Chief Government Elon Musk-led Tesla.
In the meantime, quarterly income elevated 9% to $23.35 billion. Tesla’s auto gross revenue margins, excluding regulatory credit, fell to 16.3%. Auto gross margins, excluding regulatory credit and leases, got here in at 18.1% in Q2, down from 19% in Q1. That’s beneath the 20% gross margin “flooring” Tesla beforehand focused.
Elon Musk on the earnings name additionally preached warning, providing traders warnings concerning the upcoming Cybertruck and the broader financial system. The next day, Tesla inventory fell 9.3%. Tesla did announce that preliminary Cybertruck deliveries will start on Nov. 30, however Musk mentioned it would take 12-18 months earlier than the brand new car is a “important positive-cash-flow contributor.”
“I simply need to mood expectations for Cybertruck,” Musk informed traders throughout the Q3 earnings name. Musk mentioned there shall be “monumental challenges” in reaching quantity manufacturing with the Cybertruck. He added Tesla will find yourself producing round 250,000 Cybertruck items per 12 months. Musk mentioned his finest guess is Tesla will attain that output someday in 2025.
On Nov. 6, Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas wrote traders ought to search for numerous elements that might sign the Tesla inventory slide was halting.
Jonas mentioned Tesla should cease lacking consensus EPS estimates whereas efficiently launching new autos together with, however not restricted to, the Cybertruck. The Morgan Stanley analyst added Tesla should show its enterprise mannequin is shifting towards licensing and software program and different merchandise which have “relevance past the auto market.”
“The Cybertruck bar has been considerably lowered,” Jonas wrote. “Whereas we proceed to view the mannequin as comparatively insignificant throughout the grand scope of Tesla’s future portfolio, we might not underestimate the influence of launch/ramp execution on sentiment.”
The Cybertruck would be the EV maker’s first new passenger car because the Mannequin Y launched in early 2020.
Tesla Targets Document This fall
In the meantime, Tesla is seeking to meet its objective of delivering 1.8 million autos in 2023. Seven-weeks into This fall, Tesla China insurance coverage registrations, a tough gauge for car deliveries, totaled 71,800 for the quarter, down round 2% in comparison with the identical level in Q3.
With the primary Cybertrucks coming on the finish of November, the EV firm unveiled its new Mannequin 3 in China on Sept. 1 with official gross sales starting on Oct. 19. Tesla began delivering the Mannequin 3 on Oct. 26. The worldwide EV large additionally launched a barely up to date Mannequin Y in China earlier in October.
By way of the top of Q3, Tesla delivered about 1.3 million autos globally for the 12 months, which means the corporate must ship 480,000 in This fall to succeed in 1.8 million. That is 3% greater than its document 466,000 deliveries within the second quarter. Tesla reiterated its 1.8 million car supply objective in its third-quarter earnings.
Nonetheless, since Oct. 18, analyst projections have dropped. Wall Road consensus has Tesla car deliveries in 2023 totaling 1.79 million, slightly below that 1.8 million goal, in response to FactSet. In the meantime, Wall Road is presently anticipating 473,000 deliveries in This fall.
Analysts’ common 2023 EPS estimate has additionally fallen 7% since Q3 earnings. Wall Road is predicting 2024 earnings will now undercut 2022, with analysts anticipating EPS of $3.87 — down 14% vs. the $4.50 view earlier than Q3 earnings.
Cybertruck And Tesla Inventory
TSLA has surged about 90%, broadly outperforming the broader S&P 500 index in 2023 as traders guess that the EV maker’s development story was intact, regardless of near-term development woes. Tesla inventory is constructing the appropriate facet of a double-bottom base giving it a 278.98 purchase level, in response to MarketSmith evaluation.
Tesla inventory ranks sixth within the 35-stock IBD automaker business group. The S&P 500 element has a 90 Composite Ranking out of a best-possible 99. Tesla inventory additionally has an 89 Relative Power Ranking and an 88 EPS Ranking.
Please comply with Equipment Norton on X, previously generally known as Twitter, @KitNorton for extra protection.
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RGC Coffee Inc. has announced that Nathalie Gabbay will succeed Ron Gabbay as president of the worldwide supplier of coffee in January.
December 09, 2020 07:14 AM Eastern Standard Time
MONTREAL--(BUSINESS WIRE)--RGC Coffee Inc. (RGC), a worldwide supplier of coffee, is proud to announce the appointment of Nathalie Gabbay as its President effective January 1, 2021. Ms. Gabbay has served in various senior management positions at RGC and will succeed Ron Gabbay, who is assuming the new role of Executive Chairman after leading RGC for more than 50 years. In her new role, Ms. Gabbay will guide corporate strategy and manage international operations, including RGC’s two subsidiaries, RGC Americas (Bogota) and RGC Coffee USA (Los Angeles), and retains her roles in sales and business development. Ms. Gabbay brings over 20 years of experience including 17 years in the coffee industry. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the National Coffee Association and previously served two terms on the Board of Directors of the Specialty Coffee Association of America.
“Over the past 17 years, Nathalie has demonstrated leadership and operational acumen across the organization,” says Ron Gabbay, RGC’s current President and Founder. “I have the utmost confidence in Nathalie’s strategic vision. Having her at the helm of RGC will bring a spirit of energy and enthusiasm that will propel our business to new heights. Our leadership team is extremely talented and diverse, which gives me great comfort that RGC is in excellent hands.”
Ms. Gabbay added, “I am humbled and honored to serve as President of RGC Coffee and lead our exceptional team in the next chapter of our journey. I am grateful to Ron for his mentorship and partnership, and truly appreciate the confidence he and my colleagues have placed in me. Ron Gabbay is a deeply-respected and admired coffee professional, having built solid relationships with so many individuals over his five decades in coffee. I look forward to his continued partnership as we continue his tradition at RGC.”
RGC Coffee is a privately held corporation based in Montreal, Canada. The company focuses on the premium and specialty coffee markets offering roasters and retailers in-depth and independent expertise. Its subsidiary in Bogota, RGC Americas, oversees quality control and sustainability in Latin America, where current demands of coffee roasters mandate greater accountability on their supply chains and a stricter focus on quality.
To learn more about RGC, please visit www.rgccoffee.com.


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Consumer price gains slow to crawl
The country’s consumer prices index rose 1.4 percent last month from a year earlier, slowing from a 1.6 percent on-year gain in the previous month, according to the report by Statistics Korea. From November, it moved up 0.2 percent.
The on-year figure marked the slowest growth since August when the index increased 1.2 percent.
The core inflation, which excludes volatile oil and food prices, rose 1.2 percent on-year last month. This represented a deceleration from a 1.3 percent increase in November.
Inflation has been easing over the past year after it remained relatively high at around 4 percent throughout 2011 as the government made efforts to stabilize prices of food and other products that could have a direct impact on the livelihoods of ordinary people.
The report showed that prices of agricultural, livestock and fishery products rose by a combined 1.6 percent on-year in December, and gained 1 percent from a month earlier. Agricultural product prices jumped 8.6 percent on-year, while livestock prices plunged 11.8 percent.
Factory product prices rose 1.3 percent on-year, with oil-related product prices inching up 0.3 percent. Electricity, tap water and heating gas prices still gained 3.5 percent, suggesting that high utility bills remain a drag on consumer inflation, according to the report.
Inflationary pressure, however, may rise in the months to come as prices of food and public services are set to increase after the Dec. 19 presidential election.
The government earlier warned that it will keep tabs on food makers and public service providers, which might be seeking to take advantage of instances of lax market surveillance during the change of government until the new administration starts to get settled from February.
In 2012, the country’s consumer prices rose 2.2 percent from a year earlier, staying between the central bank’s 2-4 percent inflation target band set for 2010-12. Its annual core inflation gained 1.6 percent. Yonhap


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For many years, the European Commission has hesitated to explore the possibilities of a bilateral investment agreement with Taiwan. Even though Taiwan is one of the most competitive economies in the world, the EU has closed trade deals with almost everyone in the region except Taiwan. As free-trade agreements with South Korea, Japan, Singapore, and Vietnam are being completed, there is still no specific timeframe regarding the launch of negotiations or even an impact assessment for Taiwan.
Apparently, there is still a need to highlight the innovativeness of the Taiwanese economy and the high number of benefits that Taiwan can offer to its trade partners. If the launch of the BIA negotiations was based solely on economic reasoning, the trade deal would have been signed by now.
This paper is building arguments for decision makers in the Czech Republic and the EU to consider while assessing the economic and strategic importance of a BIA with Taiwan. It summarizes the current Czech-Taiwanese trade situation and presents relevant arguments for Czech-Taiwanese trade enhancement under a potential BIA. Furthermore, it presents economic and strategic gains from the European perspective.


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According to Daniel Servitje, chairman and CEO of the Mexican bakery giant, the extraordinary results achieved during the period were only possible because of the strong commitment and the determination of its teams on the front lines.
“We are benefiting from being a global and diversified company and participating in a resilient industry as most of our revenues are in hard currency and volume has been impressive in most of our markets, especially in North America,” he told investors in a conference call.
“This growth, along with a significant margin expansion, was driven by increased demand from the COVID-19 pandemic and strong frontline execution guided by our measure to feed North America and keep our frontline associates safe.”
Grupo Bimbo reported net sales for a second quarter of $86,411m, an increase of 19.9%. Operating income increased almost 60% due to the 29% increase of its adjusted EDIBTDA. The margin expanded by 130 basis points. Total debt increased by MXN16.5 billion, mainly attributable to the depreciation of the Mexican peso and the prepaid $400m from its committed revolver line of credit.
Servitje noted the e-commerce channel more than doubled and volume growth was “extraordinary” across the retail channel – grocery, mass merchandisers and club – gaining market share across the bread, buns and rolled breakfast, sweet baked goods and snacks categories. Unsurprisingly, the QSR, food service and convenience channel were impacted by the pandemic, “but as lockdowns start to ease trends for these businesses have been gradually improving week over week”.
In Latin America, the 13.3% sales increase was due to strong performance in Brazil and Bimbo’s Latin Central division, while in EAA, sales grew by 10.4% as a result of FX rates benefit and good growth in the bread and buns category throughout the region, helped by the new consumption patterns.
The company finally received the green light to acquire the Paterna plant from Cerealto Siro Foods in Valencia, Spain in the quarter. The plant produces sliced bread and buns for Mercadona, under the Hacendado brand.
Grupo Bimbo adjusted its outlook for the year, forecasting to close with a low double-digit growth rate in terms of sales and mid to high-teens growth rate for adjusted EBITDA.
“The pandemic is far from over and we are cautious that we will continue to face challenges, including the economic slowdown and potential devaluation of some currencies. However, we believe that we are well-positioned to continue to navigate in this extreme circumstance system,” added Diego Gaxiola, Bimbo’s CFO.
“Thanks to our well-diversified portfolio categories, markets, channels, the relevance of our brands, our operating business model, our solid financial position and the extraordinary commitment of our associates.”


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Denver’s Ballpark neighborhood now will be a few breakfast burritos short.
Local chain Santiago’s Mexican Restaurant closed its 2907 Huron St. location last week. The company did not return requests for comment.
The shuttered Santiago’s is next to another vacant unit, previously occupied by Urban Mix Coffee House, which closed this year.
The units are at the east end of a strip of retail that includes Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, Pizza Pedal’r and ramen restaurant Tokio.
Nathan Stern and Zach Cytryn with Broad Street Realty are listing the Urban Mix space.
Founded in 1991, Santiago’s serves the typical Mexican fare of breakfast burritos, burritos, tacos, tostadas and other items. The chain has 28 other locations along the Front Range.
The neighborhood surrounding the closed Santiago’s remains hot. The Huron, a 296-unit apartment complex a block away, traded hands for $100.5 million last year. And a New York City-based developer has spent more than $10 million on nearby land, and released a rendering showing a “coliving” development with a multilevel rooftop deck.


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The first free PlayStation Plus games and the first free Xbox Live Gold games of 2023 have been revealed. This week, both Sony revealed the free games coming to PS Plus next month and Microsoft revealed the free games coming to Xbox Live Gold next month. Both announcements were made around the same time, and one has been received very warmly while the other has been heavily criticized. If you’ve been paying attention to the
The latest free game on the Epic Games Store is an underrated Metroidvania game that first launched a little over a year ago. Even though Christmas has now come and gone, Epic Games is still in the process of giving out a number of free titles to close out 2022. And while today’s free offer likely doesn’t match up to yesterday’s giveaway, which was Death Stranding, it’s still a title that Epic Games Store
The Epic Games Store’s next daily free game has been revealed early.
Wolfenstein: The New Order will be the next free game, according to Dealabs user billbil-kun, who has been accurately leaking Epic Games Store, PlayStation Plus and Xbox Game Pass promotions for over a year.
MachineGames‘ first-person shooter will replace Them’s Fightin’ Herds, which is currently available free of charge on the Epic Games Store.
NEW YORK – – The 2023 Discover NHL Winter Classic® festivities will begin at Boston City Hall Plaza with the NHL Winter Classic Plaza™, a free two-day, non-ticketed fan festival open to the public. On Dec. 30 and 31, the NHL and its corporate partners will treat hockey fans to many fun interactions and experiences, including autograph sessions featuring current and former Boston Bruins greats, a myriad of family-friendly hockey interactives, giveaways, food, and a
Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi says he is confident Lionel Messi will extend his stay with the club when they discuss his future in January – and confirmed Man Utd’s Marcus Rashford could be a summer transfer target if he is a free agent.
Speaking to Sky Sports News, Al-Khelaifi smiled when recent reports suggesting Messi would be heading to MLS at the end of the season were mentioned and insisted the Argentina captain
It’s safe to say that we all love Switch games, but you know what’s better? Free Switch games. Fortunately, No Gravity Games is once again giving them out by the sack-load this December (if by ‘sack-load’ you mean a maximum of 12, that is) as a part of the ’12 Games of Christmas’ – hey, it’s certainly one way of getting games out there.
The event begins today (5th
After a monthlong closure for annual maintenance, deep cleaning and addition of new features, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Outdoor Adventure Center in Detroit will reopen Oct. 1. To celebrate the reopening, all guests can enjoy a weekend of free admission, special activities and a chance to check out the improvements – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1, and noon to 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 2.
Reopening weekend activities include:
KTLA 5 Will Exclusively Air 15 Clippers Games This Season and Produce Pre-game, Halftime, and Post-Game Programming
KTLA Clippers Broadcasts Will Be Syndicated Throughout Southern California
LOS ANGELES, CA (Sept. 20, 2022)—KTLA-TV (KTLA 5), Los Angeles’ #1 TV station, and the LA Clippers today announced a broadcast television partnership that will return live Clippers games to over-the-air TV in Southern California. Eleven regular season and all four pre-season games will be exclusively accessible to
Starting next month, Amazon Prime subscribers will be able to grab eight free PC games, including the best Assassin’s Creed game, Football Manager 2022, and the open world stab ‘em up, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor.
As we get close to the start of a new month, Amazon has announced what freebies it will be handing out to Prime subscribers. Some months these free games are a mix of
Back in February, Bethesda confirmed that it was shutting down its proprietary PC game launcher and would move affected games back to Steam. Now, as we get closer to the May 11 shutdown, Bethesda has started adding some of its classic games to Steam. Some are arriving on Valve’s digital storefront for the first time, and three for the low, low cost of nothing at all.


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Recent debates over a pair of proposed Hollywood backed antipiracy bills have highlighted the public’s concern in allowing government control over major parts of the web. Many experts believe as well that the proposed laws would create unnecessary complications.
The House bill is SOPA, the “Stop Online Piracy Act”, and the Senate bill is PIPA, the “Protect IP Act”. The fear is that the bills would effectively establish a censorship regime and set a bad precedent, stifling innovation and investment on the Internet. Public outrage resulted in an “Internet Blackout Day” on January 18, the largest online protest ever recorded. Though the bills have been shelved for being too broadly written, their concerns were legitimate and the debate is still brewing.
The Trade Organizations
Both bills affect musicians directly, so there has been much debate about them. Those in support of SOPA and PIPA include many major media companies that are committed to the creation of copyrighted content, including the RIAA, MPAA, major music publishers, NBC, and Viacom to name a few. Sandra Aistars, Executive Director of the Copyright Alliance, spoke in a recent interview of her support for the bills. She says, “I represent thousands of artists across the United States who depend on the Internet to network, market, fund raise, connect with fans, to distribute their work, and basically to make a living. Their ability to do so is being compromised by rogue websites offshore distributing counterfeit goods and copyrighted goods for a profit with no return to the creators.”
Aistars’ s view is also a grass-root position. A2IM, a trade organization of independent musicians and labels run by Rich Bengloff, is also in support SOPA and PIPA: “Our members are small and medium sized independent businesses that invest in the creation of music and whose very existence is being threatened by the availability of illegal content online.” It might surprise to hear that there is an alignment between musicians and their trade organizations with some of the major media companies. But small companies that deal with indie talent have just as much to lose as the majors. They too need all the revenue they can to get from delivering intellectual property to consumers.
The Technology Companies
While the concern for piracy is legitimate, the flip side of the coin is the question of whether or not regulating piracy should be in the hands of the government. The feeling is that the bills seem to be aimed at an honorable cause, but have underlying implications that could be ominous. Among the critics is co-founder of Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales. “The bills”, he says, “are very clearly about censorship; the Senate version of the bill has provisions to implement DNS blocking of oversees websites, and provisions to prevent someone like Google from linking to sites like the Pirate Bay-…[it] is outrageous and just not acceptable under the First Amendment.”
The divide between technology companies and entertainment companies is growing. SOPA supporters see technology companies as enablers of piracy. But under the current drafts of the bills, the government would have the ability to shut down a site for suspicion of copyright without a trial, hearing, or any other constraint. This instills fear into businesses with online investments, including venture capitalists. The arm of the law would void search engine results, stop the delivery of ads, and intrude on payment services for sites under investigation.
General Business Considerations
Moreover, under the House version of the bill, private companies would be able to sue Internet service providers if they found that they were hosting content that infringed on their copyrights. This provision goes beyond the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, removing the ability for sites to act on good faith and take down infringing content upon notification.
With the music business becoming driven more and more by “do-it-yourself” minded companies and artists, online business restrictions like these could stifle creativity and innovation. Technology companies are also small tech startups, and many new music companies fall into this category. In addition, music is part of a cultural heritage that is best shared and disseminated, not privatized or shackled with excess regulations. Finally, new artists need to be exposed, an interest that is in conflict with that of established songwriters and performers that depend on copyrights for their livelihood. Those same artists, however, may become known and aspire later to the terms of the SOPA and PIPA bills. Such divergent interests need to be carefully considered in the next iteration of the legislation.
By Ben Scudder


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The Korean Ministry of Health plans a major crackdown on rebates in the pharmaceutical industry. Rebates are essentially bribes — expensive meals, lavish parties, or rounds of golf — that pharmaceutical companies provide to doctors and hospitals who prescribe and purchase their drugs. Rebates are considered a major cause of high drug prices, a lack of competitiveness in the pharmaceutical industry, and unnecessary or ineffective prescriptions.
The practice of providing rebates is widespread among both domestic and foreign pharmaceutical companies in Korea. The Korea Health Industry Development Institute reported that pharmaceutical companies spend billions annually on rebates, with some companies spending over 50% of their yearly revenues on rebates alone.
On June 11, 2009, the Ministry of Health Sponsored a seminar titled “Towards Ethical Business Practices in the Pharmaceutical Sector.” At the seminar, Minister Jeon Jae-hee vowed to stop all pharmaceutical rebates in an effort to improve transparency and lower drug prices. Rebates are already illegal, but due to vague definitions and poor enforcement they remain prevalent. The Ministry of Health plans to release specific definitions and regulations on rebates in July 2009. It is expected that punishments for both the pharmaceutical companies offering rebates and the doctors who accept them will increase dramatically.
In some cases, the Ministry of Health has already begun cracking down on such practices. GlaxoSmithKline, Lilly, Pfizer, and other major pharmaceutical companies have already been fined approximately $15 million for providing rebates. Despite these fines, Korean pharmaceutical companies have accused the Ministry of Health of leniency toward foreign companies. That also is expected to change.


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If we’ve learned anything from the past few months, it’s that time spent getting outside is precious. We’ve been cooped up indoors for months and if you’re someone who’s just itching to explore and need to pick up a few essentials, then perhaps a trip to L.L.Bean is in the cards. In fact, the iconic outdoor brand has just announced plans to open three new Canadian stores.
These new stores will be located in Barrie, Ottawa, and Toronto and are all set to open by the end of 2020.
L.L.Bean launched its Canadian e-commerce website in the fall of 2018 and it opened its first Canadian store at Oakville Place in August of 2019.
“The positive response to our first store opening accelerated our expansion plan from two stores to three stores this year, despite the economic downturn,” said Greg Elder, Vice President of Retail and International for L.L.Bean in a release. “We’re extremely grateful to our Canadian customers for welcoming us, and the continued success really speaks to the strength of the brand, the relevance of our iconic products and the kinship we share in the inherent love and care for the outdoors.”
The Toronto L.L.Bean location is set to open in the fall and will be at Shops at Don Mills.
“We’re extremely mindful of how and where we grow,” said Stephen Smith, President and CEO of L.L.Bean. “We’re excited to be able to offer our Canadian neighbours more options in more locations around the country this year, and to provide them the outdoor essentials they need to enjoy the many restorative benefits of being outside. We look forward to building on that relationship with our Canadian customers for years to come.”
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We all know that the markets aren’t what they used to be, and by now we also know that this sentiment not only extends to the housing and stock markets, but to the commercial real estate market as well. The media has been a flutter with reports on how the former two investment vehicles are performing, but little attention has been paid to what implications the economic fall-out may have on commercial investors going forward. This is likely due to the fact that a significant amount of the population invests in the stock market and owns homes. It may also be because the commercial real estate industry was one of the last tiles in the Dominoes rows to fall after a chain of events was set off by the subprime mortgage bust.
Regardless of why this once-thriving market sector has been overlooked, one thing remains clear: its investors know that the rules of the commercial industry are changing. What isn’t clear is what these new rules will be.
There are two cardinal rules that lenders and borrowers forgot to abide by over the past few years. For borrowers, they failed to make good on their promises to pay back however much they accepted from the lenders. For lenders, they failed to lend only what they knew the borrowers could pay back. Now, trust is broken on both sides, and the media frenzy, not to mention the government interventions that followed, has shone a shameful spotlight on the entire real estate lending industry.
Though chaos ensued, everyone involved may have emerged a little wiser. “In today’s market, there’s not a lender in the world that doesn’t want to get paid back,” said Len Cisek, vice president of Ocean Pacific Capital, a worldwide commercial lending firm based in Irvine, CA. “[Lenders] don’t care if they could charge 12 percent or 15 percent interest, their goal now is to get paid back.”
And with the numbers recently released by Fitch Ratings concerning the CMBS market, who could blame them? The global rating agency noted that CMBS loan delinquencies increased by 13 basis points in February. It also noted that although the commercial real estate industry remained fairly resilient through the third quarter of 2008, it experienced a 0.72 percent increase in commercial loan defaults between September 2008 and January 2009, when 1.15 percent of all commercial loans went into default.
This, of course, has caused lenders to scale back their offerings, up their standards and even stop lending altogether until the market appears to rebound. “There is no CMBS market [anymore],” Cisek said. “It ended 12 months ago. The only two companies in the CMBS market right now are Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley – and neither of those has made a loan in more than 12 months.”
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So what does this mean for commercial investors, developers and owners? It means higher down payments, less opportunities for refinancing, more transparency and a closer look at a property’s cash flow. With the changes in the lending landscape, Cisek believes that investors now have to provide at least a 30 percent down payment, though he noted they could be as high as 50 percent depending on one’s income and cash flow.
As with every market cycle, some areas are faring better than others. Fitch Ratings predicted that properties in regions with high unemployment and foreclosure rates would perform the poorest until the market hints at a recovery. The agency had specific performance concerns about properties in five states where the foreclosure and unemployment rates were almost 20 percent higher than national averages. They include California, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan and Florida. These states also comprise one-quarter of the United States’ office, retail and multifamily CMBS transactions.
Phoenix’s retail and office markets have experienced particularly high delinquency rates, as has Miami’s retail market and Orlando’s and Tampa’s hotel markets. Investors hoping to maneuver within these markets and product types aren’t likely to find sympathetic lenders anytime soon. They’re better off waiting until the recovery is well underway, which could be as late as 2011.
While California was identified as a vulnerable zone for commercial properties, Fitch’s analysis noted that there are some areas with low rates of CMBS delinquencies. They include the Inland Empire’s office and multifamily markets, and San Diego’s hotel market. Despite this good news, many lenders remain skittish, partly because California’s housing and employment sectors are flailing, and partly because the market has yet to bottom out, meaning that there’s still time for more delinquencies to occur.
Cisek noted, however, that it’s no surprise that certain sectors in California are stable because “big money people like the East Coast, West Coast and Chicago.” Cisek also believed that investors would have a better time getting a loan in cities with a population above 25,000, with a few exceptions. “If you had a property in Detroit right now that you wanted, you’d have a long list of lenders to call before you’d get one that would even consider the loan,” he said. “The same goes for Cleveland, Ohio.”
Other cities where the CMBS market is performing well, despite a large exposure, include New York City’s office, retail and hotel markets, Washington, D.C.’s retail, office and multifamily markets and Chicago’s hotel market.
By Product Type
Fitch Ratings noted that the retail sector was the chief culprit behind CMBS’s recent 13-point increase. In fact, 46 more retail loans went delinquent in February, totaling $227 million. After consumer confidence dipped, the holiday shopping season went bust and loans came due, many retailers found themselves unable to steady their sales or pay for their spaces. If 2008’s retail landscape has taught us anything, it’s that the current slowdown has not discriminated against a retailer’s age, line of product or size. You can be sure, then, that lenders won’t discriminate when it comes to retail loans. Most are likely to turn anyone and everyone down.
Another product type that is not faring well in general is the hotel industry. In California, transaction volume dropped by 45 percent, according to Atlas Hospitality Group’s 2008 California Hotel Sales Survey. Hotels and resorts attached to casinos, particularly those in Las Vegas, have also performed poorly. Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s recently lowered their credit ratings for MGM Mirage, the second largest hotel and casino operator on the Strip, because of a drop in liquidity and some recent renegotiated agreements to repay billions to its lenders to avoid defaults. MGM Mirage’s financial woes highlight a trend that is causing many banks major problems. “Big banks own a lot of hotels, and about one-third of all hotels in the United States are underwater right now,” Cisek said. “Because they were underperforming, had high vacancies and eventually went bankrupt.” Cisek noted that, like retail, hotels of all sizes are struggling, though the larger chains may be able to stall the foreclosure process longer than boutiques or other smaller operations. “Many hotels are not making a dime right now and, because of this, their owners can’t make their mortgage payments,” he added. “They haven’t been foreclosed upon because the companies behind them are strong enough to pull money from their profit-making hotels to pay for the ones underwater.”
Cisek believed that the multifamily market, particularly apartments and student housing, would remain a solid product type for lenders. He noted that investors must take into account where these projects are located, however, before assuming that a lender may be interested. Savvy investors may want to research cities where foreclosure rates are high, as many former homeowners now have to rent.


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The Queck family of entrepreneurs has acquired the Swiss paper mill in Niederbipp from Kimberly-Clark Corporation (KCC). The agreement provides for the transfer on 1 May 2021. Lakana Holding, which is wholly owned by the Queck family, was founded to handle the takeover. With this transaction, the plant known as Tela in Niederbipp will continue to produce, the company confirmed in response to an EUWID enquiry.
In November 2020, Kimberly-Clark announced that the paper mill in Niederbipp would be sold or closed by the end of April 2021. Sanitary products produced there under the brand name Hakle, which is not part of the deal, will be manufactured in the future at the northern Italian KCC plant in Romagnano.
Tela’s new owners, the Queck family of entrepreneurs, already own Cartaseta in Gret-zenbach, Fripa Papierfabrik Albert Friedrich in Miltenberg, Germany, and Fabryka Papieru Czerwonak in Czerwonak, Poland.
The paper mill complements the existing group of companies, the new onwers explain in a statement. The individual companies, for example Cartaseta or Fripa Papierfabrik Albert Friedrich KG, are legally independent of each other, but work closely together.
Tela brand part of the transaction
The takeover includes the entire paper mill at the Niederbipp site. The Tela brand is also part of the sale, but not the Hakle brand or other Kimberly-Clark brands. The new owners explain that it is a great challenge to maintain production of tissue paper in Switzerland, which is shown by Kimberly-Clark’s decision to give up the production facility in Switzerland. The most important goal is for the new owners is to maintain and increase the competitiveness of the plant, which requires operational adjustments and changes.


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What you need to know
- TimeSplitters is a first-person shooter developed by Rare alum, containing elements similar to Golden Eye 007 and Perfect Dark.
- The last entry in the series released in 2005, and ever since fans have been asking for it to make a comeback.
- Deep Silver has announced that original TimeSplitters developer Free Radical Design is being reformed to work on a new TimeSplitters game.
It's official, a new TimeSplitters game is in works with original developer Free Radical Design helming the project. Deep Silver made the announcement on Twitter, saying that it's been working to bring TimeSplitters back to life with Steve Ellis and David Doak, who served as creators of the series.
"To finally be able to confirm that the studio has been formed and that we have a plan for the next TimeSplitters game is incredible," said Steve Ellis, Studio Development Director at Free Radical Design. "While we cannot tell you anything more at the moment, we look forward to sharing information in the future."
Eager fans shouldn't expect the game anytime soon, though. The publisher revealed that development on the game hasn't even started yet. Right now the team is focused on building up the new studio in Nottingham.
Embracer Group, which owns Deep Silver parent company Koch Media, acquired the TimeSplitters IP in 2018. The series first hit PlayStation 2 in 2000 before its sequels made their way to the original Xbox and GameCube in the following years. The last release, TimeSplitters: Future Project, launched all the way back in 2005, so it's been over 15 years since the franchise has released anything.
TimeSplitters follows time-travelling marines as they attempt to thwart the titular alien species the TimeSplitters, who aim to destroy history by collecting time crystals throughout the centuries. Being made by former Rare developers, it was often compared to Golden Eye 007 and Perfect Dark, another pair of first-person shooters from the team.
No platforms were announced at this time, but we imagine they'll be coming to consoles like Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PS5. TimeSplitters may not be considered one of the best Xbox games, but it certainly received a cult following and is beloved by its fans.
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