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SVM’s Gift Card Ordering Technology Leads to Advances in Fraud Prevention
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill., Oct. 26, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — SVM, LP, a pioneer in individual and bulk gift card fulfillment serving businesses for more than twenty years, has unveiled an enhancement to its proprietary software, VCNet. With this latest version of VCNet, SVM continues to deliver on its promise to be the most reliable gift card provider in the B2B marketplace by continually investing in fraud protection and prevention. The continual investment of time and resources has strengthened SVM’s ability to verify order legitimacy, stopping more than 11 million dollars in fraudulent orders from shipping out since the creation of the tool.
The fraud prevention mechanism lies within SVM’s long-standing order fulfillment software, VCNet, a proprietary technology that has been the backbone of the company’s fulfillment operations for years. What is unique about the software is its ability to grow as business grows and drive new industry standards. As the prepaid industry continues to fight back against hackers and organized crime, SVM has stepped up as a leader and partner in the fight.
“Fraud has the potential to be very damaging and disruptive to our customers, clients, brands and the entire supply chain,” explained Julie von Rohr, Vice President of Operations. “It is critical that we stay ahead of the latest developments to reduce fraud in every possible way.”
In addition to the technological advances, SVM’s new world-wide headquarters is a purpose-built facility that was designed around our fulfillment services. The fulfillment team—which is charged with harnessing the power of VCNet—is comprised of program managers and customer service representatives with decades of fulfillment experience. While some card aggregators move towards automation, SVM’s scalable fulfillment solutions continue to deliver verified orders with an accuracy rate not seen in our industry, especially when using automation.
“Since our founding, we have stressed being a reliable provider,” said John Driscoll, Chief Information Officer. “Our model matches scaling and redundant technology with people to create industry leading service levels for order accuracy, efficiency, and fraud mitigation.”
SVM’s ongoing commitment to upgrading its internal and external technologies doesn’t stop at VCNet. The industry is changing at a rapid pace, and SVM embraces the role as a leader of innovative solutions. In order to remain the most reliable provider of prepaid cards and services, SVM makes the necessary enhancements to keep the company on the leading edge of the business-to-business gift card marketplace.
Founded in 1997, SVM is a global leader in providing innovative gift card solutions for businesses. SVM is the only company that offers gasoline gift cards from every major oil company in America, as well as over 250 of the most popular retail brands, restaurants, service companies, hotels, and prepaid cards. SVM’s products are used by leading incentive, rewards, loyalty and other companies to incent and reward their customers, employees, and prospects. For more information on SVM, please visit www.svmcards.com.
Other Point of Sale News:
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- NEW Point-of-Sale Magazine Issue :: Loyalty and Rewards Programs
- Revention Releases Advanced Delivery Module
- Mmf introduces industry- leading warranty on their renowned heritage® cash drawer
- NRF Applauds Budget Resolution, Looks Forward to Tackling Tax Reform Next
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- Walmart CEO Doug McMillon to be Recognized by NRF as The Visionary 2018
- Zebra Unveils New Android Enterprise Smartphone for Small- and Medium-Sized Businesses
- Community Financial Institutions Report Surge in Mobile Engagement
- Malls pump more than $8 billion into renovations to entice shoppers


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Red Bay Coffee is on a roll. The socially conscious East Bay roaster is working on opening its first café in Uptown Oakland, having exceeded its $80,000 Kickstarter goal last month — the most successful coffee campaign ever on the crowdfunding site, according to Red Bay founder Keba Konte. Shortly afterwards, the startup emerged victorious in a hotly contested race to be the sole coffee vendor at Berkeley’s downtown farmers market — the place Blue Bottle, now a poster child for third-wave coffee, got its start.
In addition, Red Bay has launched a regular coffee popup on Fridays on the patio at Miss Ollie’s in Swan’s Marketplace, following a guest appearance at the Caribbean soul food spot during a shoot with TV star Anthony Bourdain.
It’s no wonder that Red Bay is busting out of the cozy ‘coffee dojo’ which is the heart of the startup’s operations.
“We’re remodeling now,” Konte said of the workspace which he carved out under his Victorian home in Fruitvale to house the company. “We need to maximize the space until we can get proper location.”
Konte, the former co-owner of Guerilla Café in Berkeley, has ambitions for Red Bay that go beyond serving a good cup of Joe. He wants to help transform low-wage jobs by rolling out a business model where the workers keep all the profits. In doing so, he also aims to inject some diversity into the primarily white world of specialty coffee.
Konte’s concept will be road-tested at the first Red Bay Coffee café that is set to open in a converted shipping container at the emerging mixed-use development known as Hive in Uptown Oakland. Konte said work has begun on Treasure Island to transform a container into the Red Bay coffee shop. Other tenants opening at Hive, which is on Broadway at 23rd Street, include Drake’s Brewing Company, Calavera restaurant, Firebrand Artisan Bread and Numi Tea.
While waiting for the shipping container to be ready, Red Bay will set up a full-service coffee cart at Hive as an interim operation. It should be up and running by mid-August, Konte said.
As for the Berkeley Saturday farmers market, Red Bay has replaced Blue Bottle, which had its genesis there in 2002 but has grown into a global company underwritten with hefty venture capital backing.
Amanda Gordon, lead market manager and special events coordinator the Ecology Center, which runs all Berkeley’s farmers markets, said she thinks Red Bay is the perfect fit for them.
“We love what Red Bay is doing. Its mission aligns with ours in a lot of ways, in that they bring sustainability and health and vibrancy to the local community and to the local economy.”
That doesn’t mean Red Bay was a shoo-in. The Ecology Center had many “excellent” candidates, Gordon said, once word got out that Blue Bottle was ceding its place to a smaller coffee company on the rise.
After reviewing all the applications, which included documentation on sourcing and mission statements, the Ecology Center narrowed the list down to two: Red Bay and Highwire Coffee Roasters, also Oakland-based with retail outlets at Rockridge’s Market Hall, and in the former Local 123 spots on San Pablo Avenue and at Flowerland Nursery in Albany.
There followed a blind tasting at the farmers market in June, to get as much community input as possible, according to Gordon. Red Bay won “by a small margin,” she said.
Gordon said the ethos, and sourcing practices of both final candidates were impressive, but that the Ecology Center felt Red Bay went “above and beyond” in terms of its social mission.
The North and South Berkeley markets don’t have a standalone coffee provider so as not to compete with nearby brick-and-mortar outfits, such as Sweet Adeline’s in the case of Tuesday’s Adeline Street market.
As well as serving pour-over hot coffee and its own cold-brew, Red Bay is offering a bulk coffee bean swap-out service at the Civic Center Park market, using reusable quart-sized jars. Red Bay’s whole beans can currently be bought at Berkeley Bowl, Mandela Foods Cooperative and OwlNWood, the store run by Konte’s wife, Rachel Konte; and its coffee can be tasted at AlaMar, Miss Ollie’s and Speaker Box Café, all in Oakland.
Going forward, Red Bay clearly has its work cut out, not only getting its employee-first business model off the ground but also scaling it successfully — and it’s still a fledgling company, albeit one with a networked business operator at its helm. But its fans will hope the future is bright for the East Bay company.
As Gordon said: “Blue Bottle blew up. I’m excited to see what happens next for Red Bay.”
Red Bay and Highwire vie for farmers market spot (06.09.15)
Keba Konte: Serving coffee with color, social justice (05.14.15)
Berkeley Bites: Keba Konte (04.09.10)
Want to keep up-to-date on all the food, drink and restaurant news in the East Bay? Subscribe to NOSH Weekly, the free weekly email packed with delicious news. Simply sign up here.
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New independent research by MySiteChecker.com, in conjunction with Redshift Research, highlights a number of security concerns that consumers currently have about online shopping. The research, that surveyed 1000 consumers across the UK, found that 64% are unhappy about providing financial information online, whilst 47% are unhappy about buying a product online from a website/company they have never heard of. Furthermore, 45% are not confident they would be able to quickly and easily determine if a website is safe to submit personal information on.
The research findings demonstrate that there is currently a great deal of confusion amongst consumers when it comes to website security, with 91% of respondents saying more should be done to inform web users about which online security measures they should look for. Worryingly, despite the fact that a green address bar represents the highest level of website security, 71% are not sure what the green address bar actually means, whilst 52% have never even noticed their address bar turning green when shopping online. The padlock symbol on a website was the most popular security measure with 80% of consumers looking out for this. Yet in reality, according to MySiteChecker.com, the padlock symbol is the easiest element for fraudsters to dupe consumers with, as many are only looking to see the symbol displayed somewhere on the page – they are unaware that the official padlock will only ever appear in the browser bar.
The research also found that 74% of consumers are planning to purchase Christmas presents online this year, whilst 74% confirm that they are more likely to shop on websites that demonstrate the highest levels of security. However, 43% have abandoned their shopping basket in the past because the website requires too much personal information, whilst 39% have abandoned their shopping basket because of security fears.
Raj Sukkersudha, Managing Director of MySiteChecker.com, says, "The internet has transformed the way we do our shopping with more people going online than ever before. Unfortunately, fraudsters are forever targeting online shoppers and it can be difficult knowing when to trust a website. MySiteChecker.com has been launched to address this problem by giving shoppers the opportunity to do a free online site safety check before they disclose any financial or personal information. All a shopper needs to do is visit MySiteChecker.com and enter the name of the website they want to check. Within seconds, we'll be able to tell them whether it's a website they can trust."
Sukkersudha concludes, "The research findings clearly illustrate that there is so much uncertainty amongst shoppers on what is deemed to be safe. The padlock symbol on a website is the easiest security symbol to fake yet this is what the majority of people look for. And the green address bar is something that over half of respondents have never even noticed! Website security is of paramount importance to consumers but they need better guidance on what they should be looking for. MySiteChecker.com gives a helping hand to online shoppers and removes the guesswork around website security, meaning it is quick and easy for them to determine if a website is safe to shop on before they buy."


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Maryland home prices at the end of last year exceeded the cost of a home at the end of 2017, while supply remained below what’s considered a balanced market, according to Maryland Realtors.
The organization reported, based on MRIS/Bright MLS data, the average home price in November increased 2.2 percent and December went up 2.8 percent, year-over-year. Median home prices rose over the same time period by .7 percent in November and 4.4 percent in December.
“The months of available inventory fluctuated from 4.1 in November to 3.8 in December,” Maryland Realtors President Merry Tobin said in a statement, adding the a balanced market provides between 6 and 6.5 months of supply.
The number of homes sold in Maryland, however, decreased in the final two months of last year. The number of homes sold in November were down 15.3 percent from 2017, and 21.3 percent in December.
Median home prices in Maryland reached $338,336 in November and $330,196 in December. Both figures represent more than 2 percent increases from the year before.
The average sale price compared to original listing price slipped from nearly 97 percent in 2017 to 95.8 percent in November, but remained essentially flat in December, bumping up from 95.3 percent in 2017 to 95.4 percent last year.


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Guitar Hero, now in its fourth iteration, has sold in excess of 14 million units in the US alone, setting an industry record.
Gamers have downloaded more than five million additional songs for Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock in the 10 weeks since its launch, costing $2.50 each or $6.25 for three.
"Guitar Hero is one of the biggest brands and one of the most powerful distribution platforms in entertainment today," said Michael Griffith, president and chief executive at Activision Publishing.
"Guitar Hero's popularity with broad audiences is a confirmation that video games have become a true mass medium."
V3 puts the pro-level football GPS tracker through its paces, and asks if it's more than a gimmick
Finding refutes many earlier studies that suggest that galaxies don't have much dark matter at the time of their birth
Boris the robot outed as man in rented robot suit
Mission will provide vital data about the performance of rocket, spacecraft, autonomous docking system and the landing system


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Nokia Corp., the global mobile communications firm, has purchased Eizel Technologies Inc. of Pittsburgh for $21 million in a stock-for-stock transaction.
Eizel, an Oakland-based startup, created software for businesses to install on their computer servers to allow Web sites, intranet sites, e-mail and attachments to be easily viewed on any browser-equipped mobile phone, personal digital assistant or laptop. Currently, most wireless appliance users cannot view everything they receive because of technology limitations.
Eizel CEO Sam Leinhardt, who grew and sold several Pittsburgh-based technology companies for millions of dollars, said he will remain with the firm along with its 26 employees in Pittsburgh. He said there will be no relocation or layoffs.
Eizel will become part of Nokia Internet Communications group, the Mountain View, Calif.-based arm of Finland-based Nokia that provides network security, and network and Internet technology for businesses' wireless applications.
Mr. Leinhardt said Eizel's relationship with Nokia began last June when Innovent, a Nokia entrepreneurial innovation unit, was one of several entities to participate in a $4.2 million investment in Eizel.
"That investment carried more value than cash," he said. "It drew us into the Nokia circle where we became more exposed to Nokia Internet Communications."
John Robinson, senior vice president of Nokia Internet Communications, said Eizel's technology fits well with Nokia's strategy of offering faster applications and more interoperability among its and other firms' wireless products.
In addition to selling wireless phones to consumers, Nokia sells wireless phones and related software to businesses, such as security infrastructure like firewalls and anti-virus applications.
"This is another thing (businesses can) buy from Nokia that can protect and extend their enterprise," said Dan MacDonald, Nokia's vice president of portfolio management.
In addition to Nokia's Innovent, Eizel owners include ITU Ventures, a Beverly Hills-based seed-stage venture capital firm that invests in companies commercializing technologies affiliated with research universities; Hazelwood-based Innovation Works; and several angel investors, including Mr. Leinhardt. ITU was the lead investor in the $4.2 million round, which was conducted in June 2002.
Though it is considered a Carnegie Mellon University spin-off, the university has no equity or licensing connection to Eizel.
Three of Eizel's founders, Adam Berger, Rick Romero and Doug Baker, remain with the company and, like the rest of its employees, have equity in the company and will receive part of the $21 million in Nokia stock, which was trading at about $16 a share Tuesday. The three were CMU computer science grad students when they began researching what became Eizel's technology. A fourth founder, Clark Slater, left the company early on for personal reasons.
Mr. Leinhardt declined to discuss whether there are any new millionaires among the employee ranks or the breakdown of ownership percentage.
After spending time in academia, Mr. Leinhardt started his commercial technology career with his first firm, Leinhardt-McCormick Associates, which developed software for financial and statistical analysis. His second, FORMTEK Inc., was also a CMU spin-off that created engineering and document management systems. In 1989, Lockheed Martin bought FORMTEK for $45 million. Mr. Leinhardt stayed at FORMTEK until 1997.
He launched STORM Systems LLC in February 1998 to create technology that made Web servers work faster. He collected more than $4.25 million in financing to fund STORM, and sold it two years later to Downtown-based Redleaf Group Inc., which absorbed it and later laid off its staff.
Mr. Leinhardt became interested in Eizel as an angel investor after Eizel's founding in February 2000. After he left STORM, Eizel's founders -- all CMU grad students in their early 30s -- asked him to sign on.
"I like to keep hitting my head against the wall," he quipped, regarding another successful sale.
Mr. Leinhardt's new title is vice president and general manager of the Eizel operation, reporting to Mr. Robinson at Nokia Internet Communications.
Mr. Leinhardt said Eizel is not profitable, but it does have revenue and customers, including PPG Industries Inc., which also was the company's beta test site. He declined to disclose revenue figures. PPG is a Pittsburgh-based glass, chemicals and coatings manufacturer.
For Eizel to sell its product to businesses, it partnered with distributors rather than hiring a huge sales force to approach companies about purchasing and installing Eizel technology on their servers. But this association with Nokia made even better sense, he said.
"There wasn't any other entity that was such a perfect fit for us," Mr. Leinhardt said. "The acquisition was not necessary, it just made extraordinary sense."
Mr. Leinhardt said the growth of Eizel and its sale is not old hat for him because the nature of the technology made it a unique situation.
"FORMTEK and Storm were innovative, but this different," he said. "This is a practical solution no one had thought of before."
He credits Eizel's success to its founders.
"This was started by grad students from the computer science department who had a vision and a lack of knowledge of what was going on in the mobile asset space," he said. "Not knowing what had been done before, they could apply breakthroughs in an innovative way."
Eizel has filed for several patents for its technology, which Mr. Leinhardt said offers a barrier to competitors. He said the patents should be received this year.


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ALDI shoppers in Wales have been urged to check their bank balances after a glitch meant over one month of purchases were charged at once.
The fault at a newly opened store in Rhyl, North Wales meant that any card purchases made in the first five-and-a-half weeks weren’t processed.
Earlier this week, the store told customers that they will now be charged all in one go for any purchases made in that period.
The blunder mean some families are faced with hundreds of pounds coming out of their account almost two months later.
Customers only found out about the issue after notices were posted at the store’s tills.
The signs read: “A technical error meant that Mastercard and VISA payments made by customers in this store were not processed between August 15 and September 22.
"If you shopped here during this period and paid on card you will see the transaction complete and appear on your bank statement from Thursday, October 3."
Locals were not happy about the blunder, telling NorthWalesLive: "Absolutely fuming, how could they go a whole month before realising their machines weren't working? I am livid."
Another said: "This, I am in no doubt will plunge lots of families into overdrafts, incurring fees etc that they are just not able to recover from."
Many shoppers in the Rhyl Journal Facebook page have reported going into their overdrafts and struggling to get by after some were charged nearly £800 in one go.
One customer wrote: “I wasn't aware of any technical problems re card payments until I noticed a post on here last night.
"If I had been informed I would have paid by cash, rather than be left £166 overdrawn with no income until 9 October. Harsh!"
While another added: "Just noticed this morning, not much money really but four transactions not budgeted for."
And a third one said: "Aldi took £782 out of my account this morning as I shop there twice a week."
Aldi told The Sun that customers who've been hit with overdraft charges should call the discounter's customer services on 0800 042 0800, or send an email to email@example.com.
An Aldi spokesperson said: "Due to a technical error Mastercard and VISA payments made at our Rhyl store between the 15th August and the 22nd September were not processed.
"Customers who made a payment on card during this period will see the transaction appear on their bank statement from Thursday 3rd October.
"We apologise for any inconvenience this has caused and want to assure customers that card payments are now being processed at this store as normal."
Thomas Cook customers have also been left out of pocket, with some waiting two months for refunds after the company went bust.
MORE FROM MONEY
Lloyds Bank customers have also suffered due to technical errors, and many are now receiving refunds because of it.
Watchdogs are clamping down on overdraft fees after some were found with charges ten times as high as payday loans.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online Money team? Email us at firstname.lastname@example.org


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International cotton prices linked closely focus on Chinese demand trends in the world -
Textile information -
Textile net -
Textile integrated service provider
On May 21 -
The hype, affected by the weather factors, the ICE futures prices surged to nearly 4 years high, cotton and cotton prices rallied around the world.
Rose sharply in December as the ICE futures contracts, next year is expected to the international market of cotton prices will remain at a very high level.
According to statistics, on May 25th July on the ICE futures contract prices surged to a further 89.
21 cents, rose from 2.
66 cents, rose 3.
12 months from rose by 4.
22 cents, rose by 5.
12 months and 5 July contract price from four weeks ago.
24 cents to 2.
As the market worries about Texas drought weather is aggravating, ICE futures prices in the short term is expected to test 90 cents.
In addition, the dry weather will delay the sowing time of the crop, the cotton price movements play a supporting role for the next fiscal year.
Cotton prices over the past two weeks, the market has experienced the biggest increase in recent months.
China's yarn and fabric factory production margins of 60%, but as the cotton stocks continued to decline, the Chinese market demand for cotton, very strong, is expected in the next cotton prices will test a higher level.
Over the past two weeks,
On May 14
, Chinese cotton prices rose sharply, market demand is still strong.
Recently, the China national cotton reserves auction closing performance is excellent, but as the national cotton reserves inventory reduced gradually and the market continued strong demand for high-grade cotton, the cotton market demand in China or will turn to the international, India and the United States demand for cotton will be boosted, and the current and future seasons of cotton prices will be higher.


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Get Easy Health Digest™ in your inbox and don’t miss a thing when you subscribe today. Plus, get the free bonus report, Mother Nature’s Tips, Tricks and Remedies for Cholesterol, Blood Pressure & Blood Sugar as my way of saying welcome to the community!
By now, it’s no secret high-fructose corn syrup is hiding in hundreds of the foods sitting on grocery store shelves.
From condiments, like ketchup, to luncheon meats, apple sauce, breakfast cereals, and many, many more, it’s a real and present danger to your health.
And now, a study has proven exactly why what we’ve known for a while is true — fructose makes you fat.
Conditioning your gut for obesity
The study, published in Nature, delved into the effects of fructose in your digestive tract. Specifically, the team of researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine and New York Presbyterian was interested in tiny, hair-like structures that line your intestinal walls — called villi.
The purpose of these structures is to expand the surface area of your gut so that your body is better able to absorb the nutrients from the food you eat.
A good thing right? But not in the presence of fructose…
You see, the study found that when mice were fed diets that included fructose, those villi grew and grew. In fact, they became 25 to 40 percent longer than the villi of mice who weren’t allowed to eat the fructose.
You can probably guess where this is going…
If regular size villi absorb nutrients, including dietary fats, then super-sized villi absorb a super-size amount of the nutrients and the calories that go with them!
That’s why the investigators discovered that along with the increase in villus length, and increased nutrient absorption seen in fructose-fed mice, they also experienced significant weight gain and fat accumulation.
Beyond fat to fears of tumor growth
And if that weren’t enough to put you off fructose, it gets worse.
“Our research has found that fructose’s primary metabolite promotes the elongation of villi and supports intestinal tumor growth,” according to senior author Dr. Marcus DaSilva Goncalves, the Ralph L. Nachman Research Scholar, an assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism and an endocrinologist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center.
This means not only can consuming too much fructose cause weight gain, but it could also threaten your very life.
A question of choices
So do you have to give up all fructose to stay healthy?
Well, the scientists say no.
Not all fructose is bad. You might know that it’s the type of sugar found in fruits.
As Dr. Goncalves explains, “Fructose itself is not harmful. It’s a problem of overconsumption. Our bodies were not designed to eat as much of it as we do.”
And overconsuming fructose isn’t entirely your fault… it’s everywhere in our modern diets.
What can you do? Choose wisely — skipping any foods that contain high-fructose corn syrup we talked about earlier and watch for sneaky added sugars. When eating fresh fruit, wash it well and eat the skin or peeling. That fiber can help your body better digest the fructose in the fruit.
This is especially important to remember as the pandemic continues since high-fructose corn syrup is also linked to poor immune function.
To avoid the not-so-sweet sweetener, read labels on product packaging before you stick anything in your grocery cart. Try to eat whole, unprocessed foods instead of ready-made options. And remember, soda is a big fructose offender, so give it a hard miss.
Editor’s note: Did you know that when you take your body from acid to alkaline you can boost your energy, lose weight, soothe digestion, avoid illness and achieve wellness? Click here to discover The Alkaline Secret to Ultimate Vitality and revive your life today!
Research uncovers how fructose in the diet contributes to obesity — Medical Xpress


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International Electric Supply Corp., the parent company of Rexel and GexPro, has leased about 92,000 square feet in the former CompUSA building in north Dallas, according to report in the Dallas Morning News. The article said the company would be moving from its building on LBJ Freeway in Dallas.
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Etihad Rail: Dubai to Abu Dhabi in 50 minutes
The Etihad Rail Project
There’s one construction project underway in the UAE right now that may be more interesting than others. Etihad Rail and their freight service is currently operational, used to transport goods and materials across the Emirates, BUT, soon it will be transporting passengers, with rides between Dubai and Abu Dhabi taking just 50 minutes.
A Sustainable Solution
Since opening, the freight trains have carried 36.9 million tonnes of granulated sulphur across the UAE, removing two million truck trips from the roads. This eco efficient system aims to connect 11 cities and regions across the UAE, with the freight and passenger service combined set to reduce other transport emissions by 70-80 percent and improve road safety by decreasing congestion.
An Economy Boost
The expansion is set to take the service from the Eastern seaboard of Fujairah to the very edge of Saudi Arabia, transporting 36.5 million passengers a year and provide more than 9,000 jobs to local workers by 2030. The giant project is set to be worth Dh200 billion to the economy, and it’s clear to see the positive impact the service will have on many factors, from the ease of movement between the Emirates, to the reduction in traffic and carbon emissions. You can keep up to date with the Etihad Rail expansion at their Instagram.


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(Sept.1, 2010) Costa Rica's telecommunications market offers
opportunities with its new liberalization, opening the door for
competition across all segments and boosting mobile penetration to 136
percent by 2015 with prepaid subscriptions, according to a new report
from Pyramid Research.
The report, "Costa Rica: Liberalization Will More Than Double Mobile
Subscribers by 2015," offers a precise profile of the country's
telecommunications, media, and technology sectors based on proprietary
data from the firm's research. It provides detailed competitive
analysis of both the fixed and mobile sectors, tracks the market shares
of technologies and services, and monitors the introduction and spread
of new technologies,said the company.
Costa Rica is the last country in Latin America to liberalize its
telecommunications industry. Now, the regulator in Costa Rica has been
quite busy with the liberalization of fixed and mobile services taking
place. "Costa Rica is auctioning three mobile licenses over the next
few months, and the process is expected to be completed before year
end," said Jose Magana, senior analyst at Pyramid Research. "New
regulation includes number portability and infrastructure sharing."
"Mobile penetration of the population closed at 52 percent in 2009, one
of the lowest rates in Latin America and not consistent with the income
level of the population," said Magana. "We forecast that after
liberalization, mobile penetration will advance to 136 percent by 2015
with prepaid subscriptions accounting for 79 percent of the total, and
that mobile revenue will advance to $831 million by 2015 from $603
million in 2009, with gains coming mostly from data services, such as
Due to the competitiveness of the new liberalized market and the
attractiveness of mobile data services, 3G handsets will quickly gain
share in the total base, even ahead of Costa Rica's Central American
peers. By 2015, 40 percent of all handsets will be 3G. "The lack of
subsidies in Costa Rica make replacement of handsets very expensive for
subscribers, but we forecast that competition will boost the adoption
of advanced handsets, particularly among the high-end segment," added
The report was prepared before telecom officials in Costa Rica said
Aug.31that the concession of spectrums for cell companies might not be
finalized for a year,if then.
The report is priced at $990. Readers may download an excerpt of this report HERE!
Latin exports predicted to grow 21.4%
For The CAFTA Report
(Sept. 3, 2010) Latin American and Caribbean exports will grow
21.4 percent this year, jumping from -22.6% in 2009 and driven mainly
by South American sales of prime materials, according to estimates of a
new report released Thursday.
The study "Latin America and the Caribbean in the World Economy
2009-2010: A crisis generated in the centre and a recovery driven by
the emerging economies" states that this boom is largely due to
purchases from Asia, particularly China, and the normalization of
United States demand.
Regional exports to China rose from -2.2percent in the first semester of 2009 to 44.8 percent during the same period this year.
However, there are significant differences within the region. Growth
has been much greater in countries that export natural resources
(agricultural, livestock and mining products), namely South American
nations, while it has been slower in countries that import basic
commodities and depend on tourism and remittances, such as Central
American and the Caribbean economies. The report is by the Economic
Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean
The differences per subregion are also significant, according to the
study estimates: This year, exports from Mercosur are expected to
increase 23.4 percent and those from Andean nations 29.5percent, but
sales from the Central American Common Market will expand only 10.8
percent. Exports from Mexico, for example, will rise 16percent and from
Panama 10.1 percent, but sales from Chile are estimated to grow 32.6
The most notable upswing from the worst period of the crisis in 2009 is
expected in the Caribbean Community, whose exports are estimated to
leap from -43.6 percent that year to 23.7 percent in 2010.
The report also examines trade developments in the region over the past
decade, concluding that export growth during those ten years was slower
than in the 1990s and lower than in other developing regions, both in
value and volume. However, the region took two different routes during
that time: South America doubled export growth, while in Mexico and
Central America it dropped over 50 percent.
This disparity is largely due to the fact that the exports that most
increased were natural resources from South America, at the expense of
manufactured products and services with varying degrees of
technological content. According to the report, the subregion has
reverted to an export structure based on prime materials similar to
that of 20 years ago.
While in 1999 natural resources made up 26.7 percent of total exports
from the region, in 2009 they composed 38.8 percent of the total.
The difference in the growth rates of natural resource exports and
manufactured goods realigned the relative weight of Mexico's exports,
on the one hand, and sales from South America, on the other.
The participation of Mexico in the region's total exports fell from 40
percent in 2000 to 30 percent in 2009, while Brazil increased its
participation from 13 percent to nearly 20 percent during the same
period. Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Peru also expanded their
participation in total exports based on the sale of natural resources.
The region has been unable to improve the quality of its international
insertion and the expansion of natural resource-related sectors does
not seem to have contributed sufficiently to the creation of new
technological capacities, states the report.
"The diversification of exports, a strong boost to competitiveness and
innovation and greater regional cooperation will allow Latin America
and the Caribbean to improve the quality of its insertion in the global
economy, close productivity gaps and capitalize the opportunities of
international trade in order to grow with more equality," said Alicia
Bárcena of the commission during the launching of the report at
its headquarters in Chile.


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Consumers continue to wield their debit and credit cards online and at the register.
But the storm clouds, to use JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon’s phrasing, are gathering.
In a first quarter that saw continued interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve, the collapses of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, and fears of bank runs — the first few months of 2023 have been anything but sedate.
JPMorgan Chase’s latest results show debit and credit sales volumes were up 10% year over year to $387.3 billion (credit card sales volume was $266.2 billion, vs. $236 billion a year ago).
That metric was down sequentially from the fourth quarter of the end of last year, which included the holiday shopping season, where sales volumes was $411.1 billion.
As for anticipating what’s to come, JPMorgan boosted its reserves for anticipated loan losses by $1.1 billion.
Net loan charge-offs in the quarter were $1.1 billion. The company said in its supplemental earnings materials that the $499 million boost year over year was driven primarily by the card services business. The charge-off rate in the card services business was 2.1%, up from 1.4% last year.
The credit outlook is being driven by a macro outlook that management said on the call assumed, among other things, that peak unemployment would be 5.8%.
Consumers, too, should be prepared for interest rates to go up. In further evidence of the great digital shift, active mobile customers are up 9% year on year to 50.9 million customers.
In a statement that accompanied earnings, Dimon noted that while the economy is on “healthy footings” and consumers have strong balance sheets, “the storm clouds that we have been monitoring for the past year remain on the horizon, and the banking industry turmoil adds to these risks.”
Deposits decreased: The total deposits held by the bank at the end of the latest quarter stood at $2.4 trillion, down about 8% from a year ago.
The deposit flows were volatile — driven by the aforementioned banking turmoil and by the fact that at least some clients were seeking higher-yielding returns in products such as CDs.
On the conference call with analysts to discuss results, Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Barnum said that — with a nod to the banking collapses – “as you would expect, we saw significant new account opening activity and meaningful deposit and money market fund inflows most significantly in the commercial bank business banking. Regarding the deposit inflows at the firm wide level, average deposits were down 3% quarter on quarter while end of period deposits were up 2% quarter on quarter, implying an intra quarter reversal of the recent outflow trend.”
The company has retained roughly $50 billion of deposit inflows at the end of the quarter, per the CFO’s comments.
Barnum said that credit costs in the quarter were $1.4 billion, reflecting a reserve build of $300 million in cards and $50 million in home lending. Delinquency levels continue to normalize across portfolios, according to commentary on the call.
Asked about credit, Dimon said, “I wouldn’t use the words’ credit crunch’ if I were you.” There will be a tightening of lending, he predicted, especially tied to real estate.
During the question and answer session with analysts, Dimon was asked about what the regulatory landscape might be for big banks post-SVB/Signature collapses.
“We’re hoping that everyone just takes a deep breath and looks at what happened and the breadth and depth of regulations already in place,” he said.
There may be limitations on held-to-maturity assets for banks and more scrutiny on exposure. “The outcome you should want is very strong community and regional banks, too,” said Dimon.


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BHEX will launch AXSUSDT, ACHUSDT, BADGERUSDT, LUNAUSDTand QTUMUSDT pairs on BHEX USDT-Settled Section at 17:00, 18 August 2021 (UTC+8). All users are welcomed to use and experience.
BHEX will continue to provide outstanding products and services. Thanks for the support!
More details for the BHEX new contracts:
Trade Contracts on BHEX: https://www.bhex.cc/zh-cn/futures/quote/BTC-USDT
Digital Asset Trading can be a challenging and potentially profitable opportunity for investors. Users are strongly encouraged to carefully consider their investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite.
18 August 2021


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Finance departments across the U.S. brace for holiday rush as expense report volume doubles on December 19th
Redmond, Wash., December 17, 2012 – As many employees get ready for their holiday break, company accountants are bracing for one of the most chaotic and costly times of the year. Concur (NASDAQ: CNQR), a leading provider of integrated travel and expense management solutions, identified December 19th as the busiest day for submitting expense reports in the U.S last year*. For the vast majority of businesses that haven’t yet automated the expense reporting process, this means a tidal wave of T&E reimbursement requests overwhelming manual and paper-based expense reporting process. It also has an impact on a company’s cash-flow and underscores a huge cost disparity between manual and automated processes.
A recent report by Aberdeen Group found that it costs the average U.S. company approximately $18 to process each expense report. This same study found that the cost drops below $8 per report in “best-practice” companies that have automated the process. Based on these findings and internal data, Concur estimates that U.S. companies are wasting more than $2 billion annually as a result of these inefficient manual processes. Companies interested in addressing this issue can learn more here.
As the year comes to a close and the holidays approach, employees are eager to wrap up unfinished business and receive reimbursement for out of pocket expenses. While increases in client and staff entertainment spending contribute to the holiday season surge in expense claim activity, many employees also wait until the last minute to claim expenses for business trips taken earlier in the year.
The impact of this tremendous spike in activity on U.S. businesses includes lost productivity from employees filing and processing their reports manually along with an unanticipated surge of dollars flowing out of their businesses. While employees are rushing to file their expense reports, accountants and finance departments are under pressure to process the large transaction volume ahead of the holiday season in advance of year end. The result is an end-of-year spike in expense report volume that is almost as predictable as the winter solstice. Unfortunately, the many businesses that have yet to automate this process lack proper visibility into their T&E spend and could be caught unaware of the coming onslaught of requests from employees for reimbursement.
“We anticipate a high level of expense report activity in the December timeframe,” said Scott Schitter corporate director, tax and financial compliance for the Catholic Healthcare partners. “With Concur, we no longer shuffle papers between approvers, and have insight into tracking and monitoring expenses because corporate card charges are directly imported into our expense reports for a more complete process. This enables us to streamline this busy season and get our employees their money much faster with less work.”
“Whether it’s closing out of a calendar year or a fiscal year, the last thing a finance department should be worrying about is shuffling paper and locating lost receipts,” said Mike Hilton, executive vice president for Concur. “We process more expense reports that any other company in the world, so we are equipped to help minimize the impact to the business and ensure deadlines are met. Concur’s cloud-based services help corporate clients streamline their entire travel and expense reporting process, while our mobile app helps their employees quickly and easily capture expenses and receipts and submit expense claims from anywhere.”
Guidance for Surviving the Expense Report Dash
Together with Concur, savvy accounting teams are now providing a few tips to help alleviate the additional burden to the finance department during this busy time of year, including:
- Send out company-wide reminder emails to submit expenses on time.
- Provide Concur training videos or create a Webinar for how to submit and/or approve an expense report.
- Ensure the expense report is complete by making sure required receipts are included and adhering to policies– an incomplete expense report can create more review cycles and increase the time it takes for the submitter to be reimbursed.
- Leverage mobile technology to capture digital images of receipts and submit expense reports. Managers can also access expense reports in order to approve or reject right from their device. The advancements of mobile technology empower employees to capture pictures of receipts with a smartphone and attach them to expense reports. In addition, Concur sees more and more clients leverage the smartphone to submit expense reports (67 percent increase) and approve (53 percent growth) reports on the road.
* Based on Concur’s expense report data from December 19, 2011
Join Michelle for FREE Webinar: Add Profits to Your Practice with Concur
Wake up your profits by offering Concur to existing or new clients. Concur is an add-on cloud service that makes expense management simple. We’ll share practical steps, tips, and useful resources to help you plan and roll-out this additional revenue stream and consulting opportunity for your business. You will see a brief live demonstration of Concur to better understand its use and power and learn about the Concur Advisor Program.
When: January 8, 2013, 1:00 – 2:00 Central Time
Register free here: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/564625302
It will be recorded so if you cannot attend, go ahead and register so you will get the link to the recording in the follow up email.


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One of the fastest areas of expansion in the content industry is that of music licensing and synch deals. This growing focus on the music of content provides additional opportunities for creatives from the music industry to join the ever-growing video, TV, digital, film, and advertising economy.
The importance of music within content also means content producers need to move with global trends that require pre-cleared music tracks for international ready distribution. This conflation of the music and filmed con-tent industries is happening at a rapid pace as storytelling recipes change to adapt to the commercial imperatives of an increasing global market for diversified content.
For African music and content producers this means that cooperation is essential in order to tap into an increased appetite for African creativity – both in terms of video and audio content.
This increased appetite for African sounds is demonstrated by the numerous collaborations hitting the airwaves, from the likes of British Ed Sheeran and Ghanaians Fuse ODG, KillBeatz on “Bibia Be Ye Ye’ a single on his much awaited third studio album Divide, the collaboration between the highly acclaimed Canadian Hip-Hop sensation Drake and Nigerian Wizkid on “One Dance’, that was one of the top selling songs globally of 2016, and the hit single “Marry You’ by American R&B star Ne-Yo and Tanzanian artist Diamond Platinumz.
According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry 2017 Report, the global music market has grown by 5.9 per cent in 2016, with streaming as the clear driver of this growth, with 60.4 per cent growth in streaming revenue, and interestingly, a 334.4 per cent increase in streaming here in Africa, driven by increased smartphone penetration in the continent and forward-thinking partnerships between tech companies and music corporates.
Streaming of content has now surpassed both physical and digital download of content, and will continue to rise with more and more major players such as Apple, Amazon, Disney, and HBO. According to CNN Money 80 per cent of (US-based) Millennials have access to streaming subscriptions, and with rapidly increasing digital penetration into Africa, this trend is being mirrored across the continent.
Subsequently, according to the IFPI 2017 report, the global music synchronisation market grew by 7 per cent in 2015, and by another 2.8 since. Midem 2016 featured a panel exclusively dedicated to African music titled “Tapping into Africa: An Emerging Music Sector’ that echoed the sentiment that there is a growing global demand for African music and its licensing.
New content streaming entries into the African market such as iflix, Netflix, and Showmax are constantly coming up with new offers to entice consumers, including the recent offer from Showmax and VAST Networks who have agreed to provide Showmax customers with unlimited Wi-Fi access to stream and download shows and movies at 83 VAST Wi-Fi hotspots across South Africa. All of these additional platforms will need content, and this content will need music.
However, in order for these streaming networks and VOD providers to license or distribute content, the producers must have already cleared and finalised their music licensing, making the synch deal ever more important.
African artists are also starting to understand this, with Kenyan singer STL tasting synch success in the last year, with three of her songs featured on Hollywood projects namely: The Rough Night movie, and TV shows Being Mary Jane and Rosewood.
This is not the first time Hollywood has tapped into the tastes of Africa to license music, as in 2006, Nigerian 2Face Idibia’s “African Queen’ was featured on Hollywood movie Phat Girlz.
African producers of film and TV content are notorious however for overlooking the importance of music. At a recent workshop at the Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF) that focused on the importance of music within film, award-winning and internationally recognised score composer Rashid Lanie stressed to attendees just how crucial music is to the final film product.
As he explained, many times African filmmakers spend years and all of their savings to produce the highest-possible quality film, and yet, when the time comes to select music, they are happy to go with the cheapest available library options, often drastically reducing the quality of the final product.
All aspects of music in filmed content need to be addressed and understood by African creatives. The commercial and creative imperatives that require quality and appropriate music for successful content are equally important as the business and legal frameworks that govern licensing, royalties and synch deals.
Whilst all of these elements may seem overwhelming or intimidating for creatives, it is becoming essential knowledge for anyone hoping to create content that will travel internationally.
To address this need, more and more festivals and events are stepping up and focusing on the importance of the synch deal. As mentioned previously, ZIFF hosted a three-day workshop specifically on this topic, the recent Durban FilmMart also hosted a workshop on the importance of scoring for film, however, to date, none of these events have looked comprehensively at all aspects of music for content; from the creative and commercial sides to the legal and business necessities.
Fortunately, this is about to change with the recent announcement from DISCOP Markets and Kenya’s ONGEA! Africa market (produced by Nairobi based What’s Phat). These companies have teamed up to present DISCORE, billed as a stand-alone programme focused on the synch/licensing side of the content business that will run concurrently with all of the African DISCOP markets from 2018.
The event will be launched at DISCOP Johannesburg, taking place from 25 to 27 October with an international panel of experts, and will then expand into a full three-day programme starting at DISCOP Abidjan in May 2018, followed by DISCOP Zanzibar in July 2018.
These events will be an important contributor to the growth of knowledge amongst both music and content producers and will hopefully add to an increase in international revenue and distribution for African creatives across the board.
by Lara Preston


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CNET también está disponible en español.
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Apple's latest Manhattan store is on Broadway and 67th St.
Except for the marble supporting walls, it's mostly glass, with an all-glass roof.
Like Apple's 5th Avenue store, there's a ground-floor showroom, as well as a basement-level floor, where the Genius Bar can be found.
Looking up from the ground floor.
The ground-level space is the biggest yet for an Apple store. Apple wanted it to be "one big room."
Apple's trademark glass staircase.
The underground level.
Apple's head of retail, Ron Johnson, introduced the new store to the press and talked about Apple's retail strategy going forward.
Apple's senior vice president and Chief Financial Officer, Peter Oppenheimer, also made an appearance.
The press looks on.
Apple says that last year one million people switched from Windows to Mac in its stores.


text: Kingfisher is looking for a new CEO. A press release by the company states that no decision has been taken yet as to the departure date of Véronique Laury, who has been at the helm of Europe's second-biggest DIY store group since 2015. Laury, who supports the board's decision, is quoted as saying "I will continue to give 100 per cent until the day I depart". The reason given for the planned change at the top of the British group is that the "One Kingfisher" strategy targeting a transformation in the retail group is entering its final year. "Vero", as board chairman Andy Cosslett refers to French-born Laury, has been the driving force behind the strategy to turn Kingfisher into "a more unified and innovative business". Cosslett added: "This year will mark a transition in our transformation journey having now reached a critical mass."


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Want to join the conversation?
$F 2Q15 Call: Earlier this year, we launched Ford SmartMobility and this really is our plan to go to the next level in connectivity, mobility autonomous vehicles, the customer experience and big data. We launched 25 experiments earlier this year, we're moving now from experimentation to the start of implementation on a number of pilots.
$BA won a $22 billion deal from SpiceJet, their largest order from an Indian airline.
$FB stock remained in the green territory after Raymond James upgraded shares to strong buy from outperform, on expectations that overall 4Q16 ad spending was strong.
$ARRY Good day for the stock, jumped 7%. Great gains !
2017 was supposed to be another record year for automotive industry. Still, $F Ford thinks its profit will dip in 2017..!!
$KKR to buy Hitachi’s power tool unit Hitachi Koki for $1.3 billion. Looks like KKR & Co is going strong in Japan! Remember when it bought Calsonic Kansei a while back?


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New offers and innovative handsets presented at the Paris dealer Convention
Telecom Italia world’s first launch of “SUPER SMS” for mobile phones and computers
TIM eliminates top-up costs
Ultra high-speed 3.6 mbit/s mobile Internet launched
Telecom Italia is the world’s first tlc company to roll out Super SMS, an instant messaging service that runs on both mobile phones and PCs. The announcement was made by the company at a convention of its sales force held in Paris, during which upcoming commercial offers and new cellphones were presented.
The dealer response to the new products was particularly significant, proof of the strong loyalty towards the company. At the end of the meeting, orders for over 3 million terminals were received, of which more than 1 million innovative UMTS/hi-speed handsets. It is a record result compared with previous meetings: in particular in the last 2 (October 2005, May 2006) orders received totaled 2.2 million and 2.5 million respectively. This important result strengthens Telecom Italia’s leadership on the domestic market of mobile phones sold directly by mobile telephony operators, reaching a market share of approximately 60%.
The new offers presented in Paris
Super SMS – a Telecom Italia world first – launch in November under the “Alice Messenger” brand name. The service works just like fixed-line instant messaging on PCs connected via dial-up or broadband. Just like on a PC, a notice pops up on the mobile phone screen to show when somebody on the user’s contact list comes online. Users can write messages and reply in real-time, rather than wait to send or receive e-mail messages.
The service is available to all customers with a PC who have an ALICE MAIL e-mail address, and to all TIM mobile phones. Super SMS is free of charge for the rest of the year.
From November, TIM is rolling out a range of new “Alice Messenger”-equipped mobile to foster rapid take-up of this new service. The phone display automatically shows when contacts come online and allow real-time text messaging. The initial array of super SMS-enabled phones on sale includes the Nokia 5300, Nokia 6151, Sony Ericsson 2610i and Sony Ericsson W300i. Existing phones may also be upgraded to “Alice Messenger” via free SMS messages directly sent by TIM to the phones of customers who request the new service. The software ensures message confidentiality by only allowing messages to be exchanged with people on the contact list.
Alice Messenger is a joint venture between TIM and the GSM Association, which brings together all mobile carriers and promotes the development of cross-platform instant messaging services for fixed-line and mobile phones.
TIM eliminates top-up charges
From today TIM launches a special offer for the ‘Tribu’ clients which eliminates top-up charges. After a one-off payment of 5 euro, customers can sign up for the new “TIM Tribù” option as part of a special free offer that runs until the end of the year. Under the offer, customers can use the entire top up amount to make calls and send text messages.
When customers activate the new “TIM Tribù” option and purchase a top-up they receive a voice and text message traffic bonus worth the amount of the top-up charge. For example, the usual 5 euro charge for a 50 euro top-up is converted into 5 euros worth of phone calls or text messages to all customers who have signed up to the same offer. The same applies to all top-up amounts and channels, including ATM or credit card payments. This new offer is a direct response to market demand for call cost rationalization and more transparent charges.
TIM was the first phone company in the world to launch recharge cards back in 1996. Now, TIM is the first company in Italy to launch a top-up system that gives customers the full value of the phone traffic they have purchased.
By the end of June 2006, TIM supplied 30.4 million mobile lines. The company continues to innovate the number of ways people can top up (through points of sale outlets and ATMs) around the clock and dispense top-ups of practically unlimited amounts.
TIM’s HI-Speed UMTS accelerates to 3.6 Mbit/s, twice as fast as the fastest speed currently available
TIM is the first mobile company in Italy to boost UMTS speeds to 3.6 Mbit/s, the highest mobile internet speed on the Italian market
This 3G network upgrade meets Telecom Italia’s previously-announced strategic and technological target. High speed UMTS has been rolled out in Italy’s largest cities in May 2006. Network coverage is being extended through the upgrade of UMTS antennas, and by the end of the year will reach an estimated 48% of the population.
High Speed UMTS allows Italian phone users to access multimedia content including films, music and sport, and download higher quality images than over current UMTS connections.
In November, TIM will start selling next-generation mobile phones and PC Cards capable of 3.6 Mbit/s connections to the web under the “TIM UMTS HI-Speed” brand. These handsets offer connection speeds that rival fixed-line broadband. The first products to go on sale include the Motorola V3xx, Brionvega N7100 (which also comes with DVB-H), and the Onda M1 HS PC Card. To these, three models Hi-Speed at 1.8 mega have been added: Samsung SGH-P930, Samsung Ultra 12.9 Z630 and Samsung 11.8 Z620.
All TIM lines (residential and corporate) are automatically being upgraded to the higher speed. Customers do not need to exchange their SIM cards.
The new mobile handsets will go on sale at customer-friendly prices, starting from 99 euros on “Tutto Relax” packages which include free bonus internet traffic. Hi-Speed UMTS PC Cards will also be on sale under the Tutto Relax Internet promotion from 49 euros up with monthly installments inclusive of internet traffic.
Rome, October 23, 2006


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China-based firms such as Alibaba (BABA) got a lift Wednesday after government officials signaled a softening on regulations for financial technology companies as Covid containment policies ease. BABA stock benefited in particular as the company’s fintech unit Ant Group won the OK from regulators to raise funds.
Other China stocks climbing included Baidu (BIDU), up 7.3% to 127.85. Also, the KraneShares (KWEB) CSI China Internet ETF jumped 6.7% to 33.95%. Electric-vehicle maker Nio (NIO) moved up 6.6% to 10.30.
Chinese regulators approved a plan that allows billionaire Jack Ma’s Ant Group to raise $1.5 billion for the financial technology company’s consumer finance unit. Ant is an affiliate of e-commerce giant Alibaba, which owns 33% of the company. Ant operates one of China’s two dominant mobile pay apps.
BABA Stock: Crackdown On Ant Group
Initially revealed in a notice on Dec. 30, the approval by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission removed a key hurdle for Ant as it seeks to meet requirements from regulators following a crackdown on its business. That crackdown halted Ant’s plan for a massive initial public offering in 2020, and took a bite out of BABA stock.
The easing of Covid policies follows three years of restrictions. That included the ending of citywide lockdowns and restrictions on some of the country’s massive tech-manufacturing plants.
Alibaba, JD.com and Pinduoduo are the three largest e-commerce companies in China. In addition, Baidu is the search engine leader.
BABA stock holds a Composite Rating of 57 out of a possible 99. Its Relative Strength Rating is 41.
Please follow Brian Deagon on Twitter at @IBD_BDeagon for more on tech stocks, analysis and financial markets.
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January Beer Poll Winner
Bad news for cat-shit lovers: The competition was tough this month, but the durian fruit won our January Beer Poll by a hair! This exotic fruit is known for its foul smell, but surprisingly pleasant and complex flavor. Our fearless brewer will be cracking these three open this month and you’ll be able to try the beer in early March! The new poll will be up shortly.


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Those who oppose genetic engineering aren't likely to oppose marker-assisted breeding, some say.
The difference between genetic engineering and marker-assisted or enhanced breeding is big. The first introduces genes from outside species into plants or animals, while the latter simply uses gene information.
But given how advanced these technologies are and how fast they are being applied, it's hard to keep the terminology straight. And that raises questions on whether consumers will accept foods produced from either process.
The consensus seems to be that consumers are likely to accept foods produced through enhanced breeding like producing a larger, redder tomato. They are less likely to accept foods from more extreme reproductive technologies like cloning or transgenics, which result in genetically modified foods like square tomatoes.
Because of those differences in consumer appeal, companies recognize the need to distinguish between the two technologies.
“This is probably the right time… to make the distinction between animals that are naturally selected using additional information at the DNA level versus creating new ‘forms of life’ that contain genes that they didn't have before,” says Ronnie Green. He's director of genetic operations at Future Beef, Parker, CO, and chairman of the U.S. Beef Improvement Federation's emerging technologies committee.
“In concept and in principle, it (marker-assisted selection) is no different than what we've done by selecting animals on data, phenotype or visual performance or on the basis of breed,” Green says.
Of course, enhanced breeding is more refined and more scientific than methods the livestock industry has used in the past, and it does speed up the selection process. But, Green says, science reinforces that enhanced breeding is essentially risk-free. And because it treats animals humanely and doesn't jeopardize food safety, he's not worried.
Future Beef plans to use genetic tests to identify bulls and cows with desired traits like red meat yield, tenderness, fast weight gain and disease resistance to ultimately produce a superior beef product.
“I don't perceive any risk from a public welfare basis,” he says. “All we're doing is causing more animals with copies of certain genes to be present than before.”
Cindy Brabander, chief administrative officer for GenomicFX, agrees. In fact, she thinks genetic engineering opponents may actually see enhanced breeding as a way to improve the food supply without resorting to genetically modified organisms (GMOs) or transgenics.
Texas-based GenomicFX currently sells the DNA-based marbling test GeneSTAR through its Australian subsidiary, Genetic Solutions. The test helps seedstock producers identify cattle that may produce higher-marbling offspring.
The company will sell the test directly in the U.S. this summer. So far, there is no consumer-group opposition to the technology. Still, ensuring that consumers thoroughly understand marker-assisted breeding is very important, she says.
“Whenever you say the word ‘genetic,’ a lot of consumers just jump to the end and think genetic engineering or modification,” Brabander says. But, she believes consumers are becoming more informed about the difference between gene information and gene manipulation.
Green, on the other hand, doesn't think the general public or even most producers yet understand the difference. And, using the wrong word in the wrong way can easily cause misconceptions in public perception of the technology.
That said, he doesn't foresee enhanced breeding becoming a controversial issue. He points out that because of media coverage about human genome research, genomics is becoming a part of the public's everyday medical lingo.
Eventually, that may help the public understand why the livestock industry is using gene information and how it benefits the food supply. He adds that the public may say, “Well, if it can help in human medicine, why can't it do the same in livestock agriculture?”
Public acceptance of genomics may even become paramount to the future of food production if the world population grows as projected.
“Food is at a crossroads,” says Charles Muscoplat, University of Minnesota vice president of agricultural policy. “The world population will grow two-fold by 2050. And today 800 million people are food insecure.
“In the last 35 years, we've increased fertilizer applications and converted more land to cropland to increase food production. In the future, we'll need to turn to genomics, not only to increase production, but also for environmental reasons, convenience and disease resistance,” he says.
Given consumer concerns, “It will take careful stewardship of this technology,” Muscoplat adds.
Meanwhile, most companies involved are proceeding carefully. Future Beef and GenomicFX have learned from the public backlash about products like Bt corn and BST milk. At this point, neither company plans any specific programs to educate the public about marker-assisted breeding, but both are busy educating segments of the livestock industry.
“We haven't really focused on a tremendous amount of education about GMOs and the differences… because it is such a clear distinction for us,” Brabander says.
But through relationships with livestock breeders, producers, processors and grocery retailers, GenomicFX is helping spread the word about genomic information tools and how they benefit all aspects of food production, she adds.
Besides enabling more informed decisions during breeding, genomic information gives processors, retailers and consumers another method of determining meat quality beyond visual selection, Brabander explains.
Likewise, Future Beef is teaching the producers involved in their system what genetic technologies are and how to employ them appropriately in their programs. And, Green says, the company plans to make sure those producers “are very clear that what they're doing is wholesome, acceptable, ethical and good.”
Foods For The Future
Besides mastering complex science and educating producers on how to apply it, companies developing new technology in agriculture must leap another tricky hurdle consumer acceptance.
Acceptance of any new food technology, whether it's a microwave oven or hybrid corn, takes time, says Thomas Hoban, a North Carolina State University sociology and food science professor.
Food is an emotional and personal area for many people, yet most have a limited understanding of science and agriculture, says Hoban. He chairs a nationwide university task force on educating consumers about biotechnology.
Consumer acceptance of technology is a balance between benefits and risks, explains Bruce Chassy, food science professor at the University of Illinois. When it comes to food, consumers want zero risk. Of course that's impossible, he says. But that makes it tough to ask consumers to accept an altered product that seems to benefit only the producer or the industry.
Besides needing more education on a technology's benefits, consumers want more involvement in decisions that affect the food supply's quality and safety, says Abigail Salyers, a University of Illinois microbiologist.
“It is no longer enough for scientists and industrial representatives to say, ‘Trust me, everything is OK,’” she says.
Acceptance Important For Future
Someday, acceptance of enhanced breeding techniques may lead to acceptance of genetically modified animals that not only advance human medicine but also produce better foods.
These foods may be more nutritious or offer cancer-fighting powers, says Charles Muscoplat, University of Minnesota vice president of agricultural policy.
Despite such potential, production of genetically modified animals likely will face much opposition.
Consumer concerns about animal biotechnology will be more serious than those about plant biotechnology. That's especially true in food products, says Hoban.
Hoban's research found that 53% of U.S. consumers find it morally wrong to modify animals with biotechnology while only 24% find it morally wrong to modify plants with biotechnology.
“Animals add a new set of ethical and emotional issues that go beyond science and safety,” says Hoban, who has been studying the social impact of biotechnology for more than 10 years.
More than 60 consumer and environmental groups already are petitioning government regulators on this matter. In May, these groups demanded the Food and Drug Administration and the USDA conduct more tests on the environmental impact and safety of genetically modified animals before they are approved for human consumption.
Consumer concerns could stem not only from efforts of protest groups but also from a lack of government regulation, Hoban says.
“Current government policies state that any transgenic animals found to be safe and wholesome such as hogs that produce human organs could be allowed in the food supply,” Hoban says. He recommends keeping any such animals used for medical purposes out of the food supply.
To address these challenges, farm groups, food companies and retailers should form partnerships, Hoban advises. He also suggests developing a code of ethics and publicizing it. “There should be limits to science and lines we won't cross,” he adds.
Additional consumer research about product acceptance should be conducted, and consumers should be educated about the benefits and safety of other animal applications, Hoban says.
Note: Neither Future Beef nor GenomicFX plan to do or use animal biotechnology.


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One of the flaws of the Xbox One could soon be fixed, and that means you might be able to take your gaming with you.
There's always been this great connection between a Mac and an iPhone, but Windows to anything? Well that's about to change, and Android stands to benefit.
Microsoft’s Surface computers have helped to redefine Windows laptops and give them an edge, and this year that continues in black.
More phones are on the way, and with Apple's announcements coming the this month, Google and Microsoft are choosing the next.
Microsoft's reinvention of the tablet in the Surface has helped revive the hybrid computer to take on the iPad, but it could still be more competitive, and in the latest model, it has price in its sights.
If you have a girl in your family that wants to get into game development, robotics, or anything digital, you might want to be in Sydney this July.


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PRESS RELEASE. Singapore, November 23, 2020 — MCS (MyCoinStory), a fast-growing cryptocurrency derivatives exchange headquartered in Singapore, announced on November 23 that it has officially launched a market maker program. As a latecomer to the industry, MCS claimed that it has prepared unprecedented benefits, in comparison with other exchanges, for its market maker program.
As an exchange that uses #Be_a_Trader as its slogan, MCS provides a higher API limits and trading fee advantages above the industry average based on the trading volume so that market makers participating in the program can trade in a more favorable environment than other exchanges. In addition, it has been announced that a dedicated manager is assigned to support various situations that may occur during trading 24/7.
According to an official from the MCS, he said “MCS, which is known for its aggressive listing of “hot” cryptocurrencies in the market that brings in a lot of traders, and for having the second-most Bitcoin-settled products after BitMEX, the industry’s number one, is looking for market maker partners.” He also added that “MCS welcomes competent companies and individuals who can actively provide greater liquidity to the platform for traders.”
MCS (MyCoinStory) is a rapidly growing exchange with a daily trading volume of $100 million according to CoinGecko. On November 18, MCS launched the first Bitcoin Cash ABC futures contract, and its recently announced industry’s lowest maintenance margin rate of 0.35% is allowing traders using the exchange to trade in a more favorable environment.
One can apply for the MCS Market Making (MM) program via firstname.lastname@example.org.
About MCS (MyCoinStory)
MCS (mycoinstory.com) is the next-generation cryptocurrency perpetual contract trading platform created by experts from the financial and blockchain industries.
Together with a team of experts, MCS is walking side by side with traders’ to access financial freedom in the best way possible by creating a reliable trading environment for traders which includes enterprise-level IT systems, multilingual online customer support, and a partnership with the industry-leading digital asset custodial company, ‘BitGo’.
MCS is constantly improving its trading platform for traders so that traders can dream of a better future. As the slogan #Be_a_Trader shows, MCS is focused on giving every trader in the platform the authentic ‘trading’ experience through various features and training materials.
This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release.
The post MCS Introduces a Market Maker Program With the Best Benefits in the Industry appeared first on Bitcoin News.


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A new study found that more than three-quarters of college students — 77%, in fact — use Snapchat at least once per day.
The study, which polled more than 1,600 self-identified social media users in college from around the country, also found that the majority of pictures sent through Snapchat by this group are selfies. Roughly 50% of men said they send a selfie at least half the time, and 70% of women said the same. (The study certainly supports Oxford Dictionaries' decision to make "Selfie" the word of the year in 2013.)
The study included some not-so-surprising information — for example, most college students use Snapchat on Friday and Saturday evenings. But it also included some interesting data that could bode well for Snapchat's financial future.
Almost half of college-age Snapchat users said they would open a Snap from a brand they'd never heard of, and 73% said they would open one from a brand they did know. Close to 70% of students said they'd even add a brand as a friend if they also followed them on a separate social network like Facebook or Twitter.
That sounds like positive news for a company like Snapchat, which has yet to monetize and recently turned down a $3 billion acquisition offer from Facebook. A number of brands are already using Snapchat to engage with customers, and others like HBO's hit show Girls use the service to interact with fans.
At least one marketing agency is using Snapchat as part of its recruiting process in hiring new employees.
The Snapchat data was collected by Sumpto, a New York-based marketing company that identifies college students who are influential on social media and connects them with brands. The brands send students free stuff, and the students share it out over their social media profiles. It's a cheap way for brands to get some of the most valuable endorsements in town.
Sumpto has more than 50,000 college students in its influencer network — well over double the number it had in November. It sent the snapchat survey to all its influencers, and received 1,650 responses, says CEO Ben Kosinski. Any student can sign up for Sumpto, so while these students are self-identified social media users, Kosinski believes the survey is also a valid representation of Snapchat's collegiate user base.
"I would say that all college students - not just those signed up for Sumpto - are social media savvy," he told Mashable in a statement.
One other interesting stat from the study — only 2% of poll respondents listed "sexting" as their primary use of the service. Snapchat has long been associated with sexting and sending inappropriate messages, but it appears that for college students, the app is primarily used for other functions.
The most popular Snapchat use case was "creativity" (37%), followed by "Keeping in touch" (27%) and "easier than texting" (23%).


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Drugmakers Johnson & Johnson, Sanofi SA and Inovio Pharmaceuticals have started to develop coronavirus vaccines, and human studies of them could start in anywhere from a few months to about a year from now. The efforts come as Moderna Inc. has shipped a batch of its experimental coronavirus vaccine to U.S. researchers for human testing.
J&J is using a vaccine technology that transmits the genetic code of the virus in a noninfectious carrier virus. J&J expects to begin human testing in about eight to 12 months, Chief Scientific Officer Paul Stoffels said.
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Bloomingdale’s on 59th Street, New York City, hosted childhood cancer fighters and survivors last Saturday in honor of September’s National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
At the Artbeam, one of Fashion Week’s venues, New York-based designer Vivienne Hu showed her third collection.
Fashion is not new to Harlem. In fact, several designers come to Harlem for their style ideas.
Twelve new and upcoming designers showed their collections during the Art Institutes’s Fashion Week presentation.
Macy’s magnificent turnout at the Theater at Madison Square Garden for “Macy’s Presents Fashion’s Front Row” was memorable.
Carmen Marc Valvo is leading the way with his stylish, color-blocked chemise dresses that are bright and smart-looking.
New York Fashion Week is open. Desigual’s spring-summer 2016 collection, shown at Skylight at Moynihan Station on West 33rd Street, focused on women living in the city.
At Art Beam, Leanne Marshall opened New York Fashion Week with an artful, modern twist. Her show ushered the audience on a journey of rebirth.
Rapper Kanye West has managed to offend some folks during New York Fashion Week.
Fashionistas from all over came out to the 2nd annual ESSENCE Street Style Block Party in Brooklyn
At Paper London’s Berlin Fashion Week Show, the look was modern sleek.
Alexandra Tamele, 22, presented a striking, brightly colored collection of menswear and a women’s line at the Berlin Fashion Week shows.
The Uwi twins (pronounced “oo-wie”), Rueben and Levi, are looking forward to their first New York Fashion Week show.
Night and day clothes are so sophisticated this season.
Fall fashions are showing in a variety of ways. Hair and makeup, as well as the clothes, complete the total look. Emily Saunders, a New York City designer born to British parents, presents the best of both worlds.


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Workshop Enlightens New Co-op Employees
The Cooperative Council of North Carolina held its Cooperative Dynamics Workshop on Nov. 30 in Raleigh, at the statewide offices of North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives. The goal was to help co-op employees, members and directors increase their understanding of co-op principles and issues, as well as the challenges facing co-ops in today’s competitive market economy.
Attendees represented electric co-ops, telecommunications co-ops, credit unions, and food and retail co-ops. The workshop was led by Bob Cohen, CEO of the Braintree Business Development Center, a nonprofit business incubator and entrepreneurship program based in Ohio.
“This was our 15th year with this facilitator. We had a lot of fun interaction, and a lot of co-ops were represented,” said Emily Nail, director of the Cooperative Council of North Carolina. “The biggest thing we hope to achieve with this workshop is connecting, promoting and educating newer co-op employees, and having them understand that whatever industry they’re in, they’re part of a larger movement of cooperatives.
We’re hoping to foster an understanding how those co-ops function in the sense of governance, leadership and member-owner participation — really the principles of how co-ops work.”
Michael Youth, Associate General Counsel with North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives, was one of those newer co-op employees in attendance. Youth began working for co-ops in September, with a background in both tax and energy law.
“Since starting work with electric co-ops, I’ve studied the cooperative principles and read ‘The Next Greatest Thing’ [a history of rural electrification], but I hadn’t thought about non-electric cooperatives out there — there are co-ops all around us, we may just not know it,” Youth said. “I was also impressed by the energy in the room. It’s clear that co-ops are attracting fresh faces, and that a new generation of co-op employees is stepping in.”
There are roughly 29,000 co-op businesses in the United States, serving 100 million people. Each attendee received a gift bag filled with examples of national co-op branded products, including Cabot Creamery (cheese), Blue Diamond (almonds), Equal Exchange (chocolate), Riceland (rice), Welch’s and Sunkist.
“These are brands we see on a daily basis, but we may not connect them with cooperatives,” Nail pointed out.
More information on the Cooperative Council of North Carolina is available at ccnc.coop.


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Amazon has announced the fourth-generation version of its main Echo smart speaker, bringing a new spherical design and better sound performance. But the biggest change is a new, on-device speech recognition module that will locally process your audio on the Echo, making your requests faster than ever before.
Another big addition to the new Echo is what Amazon’s calling the AZ1 Neural Edge silicon module, which will process the audio of your voice requests using local machine learning speech recognition algorithms before sending the command to the cloud. The process promises to save hundreds of milliseconds in response time for your Echo.
Amazon says that the new Echo will combine the features from both the third-gen Echo and the Echo Plus and will feature a built-in Zigbee smart home hub, in addition to working with Amazon Sidewalk, the company’s local networking system.
The Echo will be available in three colors: charcoal, chalk, and steel blue, and it’ll ship on October 22nd. Preorders are already open over at Amazon’s website.


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Keyword: Sandals Resorts International
Pennicook brings his experience in the hospitality industry to the position. In a similar role, he served twice as Jamaica’s Director of Tourism. Find out more here.
The resorts are giving more than 1,000 travel agents the chance to win a total of 1,800 cash prizes valued at $1,000,000. Check out more.
The new deposits are 75 percent lower, now $50 per person from $200 per person previously. Find out more here.
More than 20 properties on the eastern Caribbean island nation are covering vacations impacted by hurricanes. Get the details here.
The $100 million upgrade includes expansion of the existing terminal and construction of a new terminal with restaurants, shops, executive lounges and more.
Cruise Planners has entered the Inc. 5000 Hall of Fame with its sixth appearance on the fastest-growing private companies in America list. More here.
Private luxury roundtrip transfers will now be complimentary for all guests staying in Club and Butler room categories at Sandals Montego Bay and Sandals Royal Caribbean. Get the details here.
The reimagined Caribbean resort offers all new rooms, a new lobby area, high-tech conference center, and added dining options. More here.
Barbados's new tourism taxes, which come into effect this weekend, will levy fees ranging from $2.50 to $10 per room per night, depending on accommodation class. Here's more.
Travel Agent visited the brand-new Sandals Royal Barbados, located adjacent to Sandals Barbados. We spoke with the GM of the properties to learn more about the resort and destination.


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In this quarter, consumers still felt the pinch due to the effects of covid on finances. People have struggled to borrow money and thus have not been able to lessen the strain of financial pressure. A positive that we've found in this quarter is that the number of people completing their debt counselling journeys is increasing.
Gain access to more insights below:
Based on the results from the report, DebtBusters said this to the public:
Debt Index: More consumers seek help as credit crunch bites
South Africa may, for the moment, be over the worst of the pandemic, but like lingering long Covid, consumers are still feeling the effects of consecutive lockdowns and the full impact of 2020 payment holidays which have now ended.
Add to this a diminished ability to borrow which means getting any relief from the symptoms of straitened finances is harder.
The good news, according to Benay Sager, head of DebtBusters, is that more people are proactively seeking help for their financial ills, with debt counselling enquiries up by 17% compared to Q3 2020.
DebtBusters’ Debt Index for Q3 2021 shows that the situation for consumers struggling with debt is deteriorating.
“With no meaningful increase in real income, consumers continue to turn to unsecured credit to supplement their paycheques. It’s a trend that we’ve seen intensify over the past few years,” says Sager.
The latest Debt Index shows that compared to 2016, consumers who applied for debt counselling during Q3 2021 had:
- Zero nominal income growth and negative real income growth. Nominal incomes were the same as 2016 levels, but when the cumulative effect of inflation is considered, real income shrank by 24% over the five years.
- A higher debt-to-net-income ratio. Alarmingly the average ratio of debt to net income is now 116% across all income bands. This is higher than during any comparable period since 2016. For people taking home R20 000 or more it is now 145%. To put this into perspective, people who are consistently spending 60% of their take-home pay to service debt are considered eligible for debt counselling.
- Levels of unsecured debt that were, on average, 25% higher than 2016 levels. For those people taking home R20 000 or more unsecured debt was 59% higher. This points directly to consumers increasingly using unsecured credit to counter the erosion of net income.
Sager says loan sizes have increased by 50% over the past few years, proving that people need access to more money due to their income not growing. The number of debt obligations have declined by 19% which points to consumers seeking help sooner.
Need debt counselling or consolidation?
Explore DebtBusters' solutions for reducing your interest rates and unlocking cash.Find out more
Other positive news is that the number of people who have successfully completed debt counselling has increased sixfold over the past five years. Consumers who received their clearance certificates in Q3 2021 paid back R300m worth of debt while under debt counselling.
During the quarter 57% of new applicants were men, a sustained increase. Sager says this is a welcome development as South African men used to be reluctant to seek help with their finances, with the majority typically preferring to struggle on alone.
“Not dealing with debt can impact mental health and given November is Men’s Health Awareness Month, it’s good to see a growing understanding of debt counselling, how it works and recognition that it can be an effective way to manage debt.”
Note to editors DebtBusters is South Africa’s leading and largest debt counsellor and holds the 2021 Debt Review industry award for the best national debt counselling company - the sixth time it has won in eight years.
The quarterly debt report is compiled from data provided by clients who have applied for debt counselling. For more information visit www.debtbusters.co.za
Benay Sager Head of DebtBusters


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PARIS -- Renault reported its first loss in a decade and cut its 2020 margin target, as it attempts to draw a line under the Carlos Ghosn affair and reboot its Nissan alliance.
Renault posted an annual loss of 141 million euros ($153 million), compared with a profit of 3.3 billion euros in 2018, the automaker said in a news release on Friday. Operating income dropped 30 percent to 2.11 billion euros.
"It has been a tough year for Groupe Renault and the alliance," acting CEO Clotilde Delbos told a conference call, adding that the broader autos downturn had hit the company "right when we were facing internal difficulties."
The loss triggered a "no-taboos" commitment to cut structural costs by 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion) over the next three years. Renault did not exclude job cuts in a promised review of its performance across all factories.
Former Volkswagen Group executive Luca de Meo will start as Renault CEO in July. He and Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard will be charged with turning the page on a troubled era and shoring up Renault’s alliance with Nissan.
On Friday, Renault executives repeated assurances that the Nissan alliance was on track. Delbos acknowledged that investors were still skeptical, but said that the automakers would provide meatier joint goals by May.
Renault doesn’t have the "luxury" to wait until de Meo arrives in July, Delbos said.
Delbos stepped into the CEO role on an interim basis after Thierry Bollore, a long-standing Ghosn ally, was ousted in October. She will remain finance chief after de Meo becomes CEO.
Delbos said Renault's automotive operational free cash flow, under scrutiny from analysts, would be positive in 2020 after stripping out restructuring costs. "We are very confident that there is no topic on cash availability within the group," Delbos said.
Last year Nissan's contribution to Renault's income plunged to 242 million euros last year from 1.51 billion euros the year before. Renault has a 43 percent stake in Nissan, which earlier this week posted its first quarterly loss in nearly a decade and cut its profit forecast.
Renault was penalized by charges linked to some of its Chinese joint ventures. The company also booked a 753 million-euro charge related to the discontinuation of the recognition of deferred tax assets on tax losses in France.
Sales to partners were down 3.4 percentage points due to lower vehicle production for Nissan and Daimler, as well as the decline in demand for diesel engines in Europe. A sharp drop in CKD business in China and the end of CKD production in Iran also hit earnings.
Renault's group sales fell 3.3 percent to 55.53 billion euros in 2019.
For 2020, the automaker sees annual revenues in line with last year, leaving aside currency swings, and a group operating margin of between 3 percent and 4 percent, down from 4.8 percent in 2019.
Renault’s 2019 dividend will fall by more than two-thirds to 1.10 euros a share, it said.
Renault forecasts that the global auto market will fall in 2020, with sales in Europe and Russia down around 3 percent.
Renault has stumbled in several countries, including Argentina, and said it needed to fix its operations in China, where it has a partnership with Dongfeng on passenger cars vehicles and with Brilliance China Automotive Holdings on light commercial vehicles.
The automaker has a factory with Dongfeng in Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus epidemic, which has been in lockdown to contain the spread of the virus. It has also suspended operations for at least four days at its South Korean subsidiary in Busan due to supply chain hiccups.
Bloomberg contributed to this report


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Denpasoft’s 2023 Summer Visual Novel Sale is Now Underway
In light of Steam's recent visual novel-centric sale, Denpasoft has launched their very own Summer Visual Novel Sale.
Denpasoft is Holding their 2023 Spring Sale
Take your first step into Spring and add to your eroge collection during Denpasoft’s 2023 Spring Sale, now live until May 15th.
Denpasoft is Holding their 2022 Winter Sale
Keep yourself warm during the cold winter days with some hot deals during Denpasoft's 2022 Winter Sale, currently live until January 15th.
Sekai Project Announces New Licenses at Anime Expo 2022
During Sekai Project’s panel at 2022's annual Anime Expo, eight new visual novel titles were announced.
The Denpasoft 2022 Summer Sale Is Now Live
Denpasoft has started their annual summer sale, discounting over 200 gaming titles on their storefront.
Denpasoft's Yearly Lunar New Year Sale Has Begun
In commemoration of the year of the ambitious tiger, Denpasoft’s 2022 Lunar New Year Sale is now live, discounting several titles on Steam and Denpasoft.
Denpasoft is Holding Their 2021 Autumn Sale
Rake in a selection of eroge at reduced prices during Denpasoft’s 2021 Autumn Sale, now live on Steam and Denpasoft's own storefront.
Denpasoft Halloween Sale 2021 Has Begun
With Halloween right around the corner, Denpasoft has launched its massive Halloween Sale, offering 160 gaming titles and a number of other products for reduced prices.
The Denpasoft Autumn Sale Has Begun
Danpasoft’s Autumn Sale is now in full swing, offering a large amount of adult media at reduced prices from November 25th to December 1st.
Slice of Life Visual Novel NEKOPARA Vol. 4 Now Available
The daily life at pâtisserie La Soleil continues in NEKOPARA Vol. 4, the next entry in NEKO WORKs’ long-running series, now available on Steam, Denpasoft, and DLsite.