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Where to find the best value in tech, macro datapoints, earnings takeaways from Nvidia, Snowflake, Zscaler, Autodesk and Snap
In this week’s Weekly Insights we focus opportunities in consumer vs. industrial technology, weak macro, and earnings from Nvidia, Snowflake, Zscaler, Autodesk and Snap
Stocks and Focus Areas
- Is it time to buy industrial technology?
- Bifurcation between industrial and consumer technology
- Tech companies announcing hiring freezes and massive layoffs
- Weak new home sales following other disappointing housing datapoints
- Deteriorating used truck prices at auctions
STOCKS AND FOCUS AREAS
Is it time to buy industrial technology?
We believe that industrial technology stocks were “last in” the downturn, but will be the first to come out. Earnings reports from Nvidia, Snowflake, Zscaler, and Autodesk last week, support our long term positive thesis. These companies are growing topline at impressive rates (15%-80%+) and have positive operating and free cash flow margins. Consequently they are able to satisfy the “Rule of 40”, a commonly used principle in assessing the quality of a growth business, by a wide margin.
The “Rule of 40” states that, at scale, a company’s revenue growth rate plus profitability margin should be equal to or greater than 40%. The rule is therefore an aggregate measure of growth and profitability. There is no generally agreed-upon measure of profitability — most commonly used metrics comprise EBITDA margins, EBIT margins and/or FCF margins.
Most early-stage companies may satisfy the “Rule of 40” by growing at 40+% and having negative margins. The unique aspect of this set of companies is that they can easily satisfy the “Rule of 40” while having positive operating margins and >20% FCF margins. Consequently, through downturns, these companies can be “on the offence”, investing aggressively and gaining market share.
Earnings details and tepid guidance
While industrial technology companies reported strong results, almost provided some level of tepid commentary. Even the companies that increased their guidance and provided strong outlook (e.g. cybersecurity) are not beating/raising by as much as they have historically. Consequently, our underlying assumption is that every company we cover will give up few points of growth as a result of this economic downturn.
However, it is critical to understand that for companies that are growing their topline at 20%+ rates, a point of revenue growth is significantly less impactful than 1% interest rate increase. In turn, as weakening economic datapoints cap the potential for the Fed to aggressively raise rates, growth stocks may start forming valuation floors.
Industrial vs. consumer tech
While industrial tech earnings were extremally strong, the same has not been the case for consumer tech. Each company is citing a different challenge, some blame the economy, advertising budgets, others competition.
- The latest one to warn last week was SNAP — noting potential for revenue and adjusted EBITDA to be below the low-end of their 2Q22 guidance range citing deteriorating macro environment (further and faster than anticipated). For reference, Snap revenue grew 38% y/y in Q1 and the company had originally guided to 20–25% y/y for revenue growth and breakeven to $50mn for adjusted EBITDA in Q2.
- Needless to say: “teens revenue growth” + “close to 0 margin” does not come close to satisfying the “Rule of 40”.
Adding this report to a long list of challenged companies from the prior two quarters: Facebook, Netflix, Carvana, Amazon, Peloton, Zoom, Upstart, and many others. While some of the consumer tech companies are just facing tough comps, we believe that many experienced a surge from covid-related demand which masked the weakness in the underlying fundamentals (i.e lack of innovation, limited differentiation, increased competition, etc).
Quote from Snowflake CEO: “Last year, we saw certain customers experience much higher-than-expected consumption…Today, some customers face a more challenging operating environment. Specific customers consume less than we anticipated amid shifting economic circumstances we believe are unique to their businesses, most notably consumer-facing cloud companies. Although these customers are still growing, we believe as long as they are impacted by macroeconomic headwinds, their consumption will be impacted.” When asked, the CEO mentioned that Facebook, Netflix, Peloton, Snap, Amazon, Walmart, Target were not among the customers they called out, implying broader pressures across consumer technology.
Last week we highlighted weak retail earnings, excess inventory, weakening contract truck pricing etc. (Weekly Insights). This week we have hiring freezes, weak new home sales and declining used truck pricing.
Hiring freezes and massive layoffs
Tech companies are slowing hiring and some announced drastic cuts:
- Amazon expected to cut 30% of its workforce (in select areas) — change in language compared to the “optimization” the company referred to on the earnings call.
- Nvidia, Microsoft, companies that are very well positioned to weather the downturn, are slowing hiring.
- Expect to see more drastic measures from Lyft, Uber, Snap, Meta, Coinbase — all of which have challenged fundamentals.
- Klarna, Carvana, Peloton, and Better are cutting 10%, 12%, 20% and 50% of their workforce, respectively.
- Interestingly, Snowflake and Zscaler were among few to note that they are not slowing hiring driven by the strength of their business.
Weak new home sales
Sales of newly built homes fell 16.6% in April, according to U.S. Census data released last week. This is in addition to declining mortgage applications and weaker existing home sales.
Deteriorating used truck prices
Used trucks sold at auctions in the second quarter of 2022 are already 20% cheaper than those sold during auctions in this year’s first quarter, according to FreightWaves.
We expect that deteriorating economic datapoints will continue to emerge. Our objective is to find the companies that will emerge stronger from the downturn.
For more research visit out website spear-invest.com.


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The Olympic Games Beijing 2022 concluded Feb. 20 as men and women across the world competed against the best talent in these winter sports. In the U.S. beer market, the competition remains just as fierce, as beyond beer products has challenged traditional beer; however, niche markets like hard cider also have experienced the affects from new age beyond beer entrants.
According to Chicago-based Information Resources Inc. (IRI), hard cider dollar sales amount to $489.6 million, a 2.4% decline for the 52 weeks ending Dec. 26, 2021, in total U.S. multi-outlets. Volume sales were down even more with 6.1% contraction during that timeframe.
Kaleigh Theriault, beverage alcohol thought leadership manager for Chicago-based NielsenIQ, notes that hard cider is down 8.1% for the 52 weeks ending Jan. 29, but up 4.5% during the past two years.
When breaking down the hard cider sub-segments, all were down in the past year. But a comparison of the past two years show that consumers have shifted their purchase patterns among these cider sub-segments.
“Cider subcategories across the board are seeing declines in the latest 52 weeks, but seasonal (up 31%) and standard (up 17%) ciders have managed to capture growth over the last two years, while semi sweet (down 61%) and dry (down 12.2%) ciders saw double-digit declines,” Theriault elaborates.
Although hard cider is down in the short term, it has experienced overall positive growth rates over the past decade.
“The hard cider market experienced explosive growth over the last decade, but has been curbed by volatile supply and demand more recently,” explains Grace Wood, industry analyst for Los Angeles-based IBISWorld. “Consumer preferences for hard cider have trended toward smaller, craft cider brands, which have been unable to meet demand in recent years. Additionally, rising competition from [ready-to-drink] (RTD) cocktails, [flavored malt beverages] (FMBs) and craft beer have stifled growth. However, the industry is expected to return to growth after supply and demand conditions normalize in 2022 and beyond.”
“BevAlc Insights’ 2021 Hard Cider Category Forecast,” a report compiled by Drizly, also highlights the recent shift in the segment. The report states that hard cider represents 4.3% share of Drizly’s beer category; however, it was at a 6.4% share on the platform in 2018.
“A few years back, hard cider was among the hottest new beer subcategories among alternatives to traditional beers,” stated Liz Paquette, Drizly’s head of consumer insights, in the report. “But in recent years, options for consumers have grown in the space, taking share from hard cider.”
The report identifies the stronger connections that consumers associate with “better for you” with alternatives like hard seltzers, hard iced tea, hard lemonade and hard kombucha as playing a factor in hard cider’s decline.
Brian Sudano, managing partner with New York-based Beverage Marketing Corporation (BMC), notes that consumer education is needed to explain what hard cider is. The segment also is experiencing a dearth of opportunities to generate trial. Securing distribution agreements also have hampered the segment.
“With RTDs satisfying need for variety, it is more difficult to get broad distribution,” Sudano says.
Innovating for consumer wants
Whether its non-alcohol or beverage alcohol, health and wellness is reaching broader parts of the beverage market. As hard cider looks to reclaim its market share, experts note this could be vital for the beer segment’s future.
“Similar to the beer and FMB segments, we’re going to see more innovation in health and wellness-focused offerings as consumers opt for better-for-you options, with 29% of consumers actively seeking ‘healthier’ options when browsing for products according to NielsenIQ’s Health Shopper Survey,” NielsenIQ’s Theriault says. “In recent years, we have seen an emerging play among ‘hard cider-seltzers’ and lower calorie ‘light’ hard ciders. From a flavor perspective, we will likely continue to see popular seltzer flavors make their way into many hard ciders in a play to capture the curiosity of the ready-to-drink consumer.”
Late last year, Austin Eastciders launched its Light Cider variety pack. With an ABV of 4.2% and 100 calories in each serving, Austin Eastciders Light Cider is available in four varieties: Texas Brut, Mango Mimosa, Cucumber Agave and Strawberry Lemonade.
“Even before the huge rise in hard seltzer, all of the new dollars to the alcohol space were driven by low-calorie options including ultra-light beers. As the growth in seltzer calms down, adventurous consumers are seeking out unique and better tasting low calorie alcohol options,” said Dave Rule, senior vice president of marketing at Austin Eastciders, in a statement at the time of the release. “We’re excited for people to discover the elevated flavor experience of our new Austin Eastciders Light Cider lineup.”
Drizly’s BevAlc Insights report also notes the potential for hard cider formulators, particularly regional brands, to amalgamate with other beverage alcohol categories in order to attract consumers.
“Hard cider has benefited from consumer demand for local and craft beverages, however, with regional and local brands reporting strong sales,” the report states. “Craft cider brands are also injecting innovation into the hard cider space, with a slew of cider-wine mashups, hopped ciders and grafs (a beer-cider hybrid) coming onto the market.”
Cider-makers also are looking toward bolder flavors or high-ABV content when crafting new entrants. For example, 2 Towns Ciderhouse, Corvallis, Ore., added two new varieties to its interstellar imperial series: Tropical Cosmic Crisp and Blueberry Cosmic Crisp. With an 8% ABV, the new hard ciders join Original Cosmic Crisp to round out the lineup.
“We are thrilled to launch these new varieties of the Cosmic Explorer Series,” said Dave Takush, head cider maker at 2 Towns Ciderhouse, in a statement. “The spectacular flavor of the Cosmic Crisp apple really supports the tangy and tropical vibes of the passionfruit and hibiscus. I also love how the character of the NW Blueberries really shine through in the Blueberry Cosmic. Both of these new Cosmic ciders are out of this world.”
The Cosmic Crisp apple is the work of 20 years of study and research by Washington State University, resulting in a bred hybrid of Enterprise and Honeycrisp apples. “Undoubtedly, the partnership with 2 Towns Ciderhouse and Cosmic Crisp will live long and prosper,” said Kathryn Grandy, chief marketing officer at Cosmic Crisp, in a statement. “We are delighted to build upon this natural alliance and excited to be collaborating on such incredible flavor innovations with 2 Towns.”
Whichever path cider-makers decide to go down, it looks as though hard cider will continue to be competitive in the U.S. beer market.

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Oakbrook Terrace is now home to PXG Chicago West, an immersive retail showroom featuring the brand’s apparel and accessories, golf club fitting bays, a putter fitting studio, practice putting green and a lounge. To fete the opening, guests, including Matt Eberflus, Pat O’Donnell, Michael Wilbon, Jeremy Chinn, Ceta Walters and Erika Lima McElhaney, joined PXG Founder and CEO Bob Parsons, and President and Executive Creative Director of Apparel Renee Parsons for a festive event accompanied by a live performance by Tina Jenkins Crawley and her musical ensemble. Guests enjoyed hors d'oeuvres and cocktails, perused the PXG Spring/Summer 2022 apparel collection, played blackjack at a pop-up casino and swung PXG clubs in the fitting bays.
Guests compete in a golf simulator competition.
Guests sipped cocktails throughout the event.
Lucas Seiler, Danielle Dowell and Tony Mattar
Calvin Bishop sang the National Anthem at the event.
Bob Parsons addresses guests at the new Chicago showroom.


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Efforts are being made to increase the number of Dutch visitors coming to Donegal.
Leading Dutch tour operators, travel agents and online travel agents have attended Tourism Ireland’s annual travel trade workshop, which took place in Amsterdam. Nine Irish tourism companies – including three Donegal - hotels took part in the workshop.
The Abbey and Central Hotels in Donegal Town and the Inishowen Gateway Hotel in Buncrana were among the attendees at the Amsterdam event, which included presentations and a series of one on one meetings.
The event also included the launch of Taste the Island in the Netherlands - an all-island initiative developed by Fáilte Ireland in conjunction with Tourism Ireland and Tourism NI, involving more than 500 food and drink-related experiences over 59 days.
Failte Ireland says the Netherlands is an important market for tourism to the island of Ireland. In 2018, we welcomed almost 247,000 Dutch visitors. A major focus of the promotions being rolled out in the Dutch media this autumn, to encourage more Dutch holidaymakers to explore the regions and less-visited attractions, during the shoulder and off-season months.
Pic - Jeroen Van Boxem, Holidayguru; Joleene McDermott, Inishowen Gateway Hotel; Elaine McInaw, Abbey & Central Hotels; Karen van der Horst, Tourism Ireland; and Keith Farrell, Holidayguru, at Tourism Ireland’s annual trade workshop in Amsterdam.


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On April 13, China's State Information Office held a press conference on domestic imports and exports in the first quarter of 2022. Statistics show that in the first quarter, China exported ￥3.05 trillion yuan of mechanical and electrical products, an increase of 9.8%, accounting for 58.4% of the total value of exports, including solar cells, lithium batteries, automotive exports grew by 100.8%, 53.7%, and 83.4% respectively; China's lithium battery exports in the first quarter increased by 53.7% year-on-year, a faster growth rate, the overall trend of lithium battery exports is better.
In recent years, the number of Chinese lithium battery exports has been showing a high growth trend. China Chemical and Physical Power Industry Association statistics show that since 2016, China's lithium battery export volume and export amount continued to improve. 2021, China's lithium battery export volume was 3.428 billion, up 54.34% year-on-year; lithium battery export value was $28.428 billion, up 78.34% year-on-year.
On the demand side, since 2021, the global electric vehicle, electric two-wheeler, and energy storage markets have shown varying degrees of an upward trend in the context of global energy transformation and upgrading as well as accelerated electrification; in particular, the demand for electric vehicle market has seen explosive growth, which has also become one of the main factors driving the surge in demand for lithium batteries.
On the supply side, benefiting from early investment in technology research and development, excellent product performance, and a complete and mature domestic lithium battery industry chain, China's lithium battery industry is in a leading position in the international market. Ningde Time, Guoxuan Hi-Tech, Yiwei Li-energy, Vision Power, Fu-energy Technology and other domestic top lithium battery manufacturers have significant advantages in lithium battery technology, performance, cost, and has long been supporting international car companies, the export scale is growing day by day.
Institutional data show that in 2021, the top 5 countries and regions of China's lithium battery exports are: 675 million, 648 million, 440 million, 337 million, 222 million respectively exported to Hong Kong, China, Vietnam, India, the United States, South Korea. In terms of export destinations, the number of exports to Asian countries and regions exceeds that of other countries and regions.
After entering 2022, the main destinations of China's lithium battery exports may migrate with the changes in downstream markets. At this stage, Europe is accelerating the transition to electrification and has now developed into the second-largest electric vehicle market in the world. The pace of electrification in North America is also accelerating. Tesla, GM, Ford, VW, Daimler, Toyota, Stellantis, Rivian, and other car companies have successively clarified their electrification targets in the North American market by 2025 and 2030, which may help North America become a new incremental market for electric vehicles. The United States has also recently indicated that policy support for electrification will continue to increase. In addition, the overseas energy storage and electric two-wheeled vehicle market is also the next target for Chinese companies to make efforts.
China's lithium battery exports continue to improve, showing both steady growths in quantity and significant quality improvement, helping the stability of the global lithium battery industry chain and supply chain. With the concentration of the lithium battery industry rising year by year, the market competitiveness of Chinese lithium battery head enterprises has been enhanced. In the international mainstream car companies and major countries in the field of electrification have been speeding up the trend, it is expected that a new round of overseas demand for lithium batteries will further explode, which will also drive China's lithium battery manufacturing and exports into a new growth cycle, domestic lithium battery enterprises will be more active in optimizing the export product structure to participate in international competition.
Shenzhen Grepow Battery Co., Ltd. is a manufacturer specializing in the development, production, and customization of rechargeable lithium batteries. Grepow has been actively optimizing its product structure and constantly iterating battery production technology, forming a patent group of core technology, realizing the supporting upgrade of production capacity and process, actively integrating into the global market, and participating in international competition.
Grepow‘s lithium-polymer (lipo) batteries are widely used in drones, models, consumer electronics, and other special industrial applications. And the rechargeable lipo power battery products are mainly sold to the European and American markets and the domestic market. With its iterative battery production technology and core technology patent group for many years, Grepow has won a good reputation and brand image in the international and domestic markets!


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The Ski & Outdoor Warehouse was admonished by the
Advertising Standards Authority for an
e-newsletter that tied the death of Natasha Richardson following
a ski accident to a price reduction on ski helmets.
In an article titled “Iron Lady of Argos tackles
internet age”, the Daily Mail interviews Argos managing
director Sara Weller.
Speaking of Argos, The Mirror reports that its suppliers are
up in arms about the cataloguer’s decision to pay invoices
within 60 days rather than 30.
The Mirror also calls out gifts mailer
Bits & Pieces for still not fulfilling all its Christmas
orders and for a lack of transparency (to put it nicely).


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SMM Weekly Digest on 13-17 of November 2023
Major Advertisers Withdraw from X Amid Controversy
In a significant turn of events, major advertisers are withdrawing from the X app, a project co-headed by Elon Musk and CEO Linda Yaccarino. This decision comes in the wake of a series of challenges for X, primarily driven by Musk’s controversial statements and public stances. Key developments include a third-party report criticizing X’s handling of misinformation, the European Commission’s decision to halt advertising on the platform, IBM’s withdrawal due to concerns over content moderation, and a federal judge’s rejection of X’s appeal against an FTC fine. Advertisers like Apple, Lionsgate, and Disney are among the latest to pause their campaigns, further escalating the situation for X, whose ad revenue has already plummeted by 50% from the previous year.
Meta and Christian Louboutin Team Up Against Counterfeiters
Meta, in collaboration with luxury fashion brand Christian Louboutin, has launched a lawsuit against an individual accused of selling counterfeit Louboutin products through Facebook and Instagram. This joint legal action, filed in the Northern District of California, highlights Meta’s intensified efforts to enforce intellectual property rights on its platforms. Meta has enhanced its Brand Rights Protection Manager tool, allowing brands to more swiftly remove potentially counterfeit content, and introduced an Intellectual Property Reporting API for efficient IP violation reporting.
TikTok Enhances User Engagement with New AR Effects Feature
TikTok is set to enhance its user experience by introducing an in-app AR effects creation tool, enabling users to design their own custom AR experiences. This new feature, part of TikTok’s global rollout, aims to democratize effect creation, allowing users of varying skill levels to participate. By using templates and objects from TikTok’s AR database, users can create interactive experiences such as mini-games and filters, potentially opening avenues for future monetization and creative expansion.
YouTube’s New AI Music Experiment: “Dream Track”
YouTube is stepping into the AI music creation arena with its new feature, “Dream Track.” This experiment allows users to create music in the styles of various well-known artists using generative AI. Participating artists include Alec Benjamin, Charlie Puth, and Demi Lovato, among others. The initiative seeks to provide an approved, transparent way for users to experiment with AI-generated music, addressing concerns about copyright and authenticity in AI music creation. YouTube’s collaboration with record labels and the introduction of new tagging and monetization frameworks signify a step towards a more regulated and officially sanctioned approach to AI-generated content in the music industry.
and stay up-to-date with the latest news about our platform and affiliate marketing.


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ICANN's plan to expand available Internet addresses is finally coming to fruition. Learn more about the plusses and minuses of the new generic top-level domain names.
He acknowledged, though, that the Trademark Clearinghouse primarily serves large organizations that register their trademarks -- and then hire armies of corporate lawyers to defend them. Smaller companies might not benefit all that much from the clearinghouse, though Atallah pointed out a different upside for them: It will be easier and less expensive to find a good domain name once the number of available addresses increases. Atallah believes that will benefit small businesses suffering from long, unmemorable URLs today. New businesses, too, deal with a lack of viable domain-name inventory unless they're willing to pay top dollar for a more marketable URL on the secondary market.
Not everyone entirely agrees with that perspective; some have pointed to the possibility of confusion among consumers conditioned to assume a .com suffix. Atallah said that ICANN will undertake some public awareness efforts, but ultimately the marketing responsibility for new domain names will lie in the hands of registrars and website owners.
"They're going to be able to go after their market much better than we can," Atallah said. "Just having a good [domain name] is not a guarantee for success."
On the technical front, Atallah encouraged IT departments to audit their networks now to ensure minimal risks of leaking to the public DNS as a result of internal naming conventions. An ICANN study of the issue identified only two domains, .home and .corp, as high-risk, though 20% of the applied-for strings remain "uncalculated," meaning ICANN has set them aside for further study. Atallah said that the leading certificate authorities have agreed to revoke security certificates for internal names within 120 days of delegation to the public DNS, and that that will provide plenty of buffer to minimize related security threats -- the lag time between delegation and going live will likely take at least that long, anyway.
Another parallel between online and offline real estate: the Internet has had its fair share of speculators, those individuals and organizations that buy up domain names in hopes that they'll be able to resell them later for a higher -- and sometimes a much higher -- price than what registrars typically charge. While it remains to be seen how well-received the new gTLDs will be, it seems reasonable to assume some people will snap up new domain names simply in hopes that they'll be fetch a fatter price in the future.
"Speculators will speculate -- I cannot predict what's going to happen and how the market will play out," Atallah said. "Just remember that by providing a large amount of choice, the [increased supply of domain names] will drive prices down. Even if there are speculators, they will not be able to command the same price they are commanding today because of limited [availability]."
Domain registrars like 1&1 Internet are already encouraging users to "pre-reserve" addresses with the new top-level domains, at no cost or obligation, for extensions like .app, .food, .hotel and many others. A ticker on the firm's site said recently that more than 2.6 million pre-reservations have already been made, although it's unclear just how much good the pre-reservation does. In its FAQ, 1&1 notes: "Unfortunately, we can't promise that your chosen domain will be registered, although of course we'll do our best!" GoDaddy, another large retail registrar, enables customers to "watch" new domain names that they want, but that ultimately amounts to an automated notification when that particular gTLD becomes available for public sale.
For now, the lengthy gTLD expansion project inches less toward completion, but to the starting line. What effects, large and small, it will eventually produce remain guesswork.
"I believe we're going to see a lot of innovation in this space and we're going to see new ways of marketing and using the Internet," Atallah said. "It has a lot of promise. There's a lot to keep an eye [out] for. It's a change in the industry and I look forward to seeing all of these new initiatives take place."
Atallah half-joked that anyone who knows for certain the outcomes shouldn't be making predictions; they should be writing business plans. But he pointed to areas like search, security and local business -- the new gTLDs include extensions such as .nyc -- as areas where the new domains could shake things up.
"Like any opportunity to innovate, it provides for disruption," Atallah said. "This disruption is what attracts smart people and innovators and I'm looking forward to seeing the results of it. All we can do is to provide the choice and the ability to innovate, and then we have to wait and see what happens."
Google in the Enterprise SurveyThere's no doubt Google has made headway into businesses: Just 28 percent discourage or ban use of its productivity products, and 69 percent cite Google Apps' good or excellent mobility. But progress could still stall: 59 percent of nonusers distrust the security of Google's cloud. Its data privacy is an open question, and 37 percent worry about integration.
CIOs Get Smart About BIIT’s tried for years to simplify business intelligence efforts. Have visual analysis tools and Hadoop and NoSQL databases helped? Respondents to our 2014 InformationWeek Analytics, Business Intelligence, and Information Management Survey have a mixed outlook.
Top IT Trends to Watch in Financial ServicesIT pros at banks, investment houses, insurance companies, and other financial services organizations are focused on a range of issues, from peer-to-peer lending to cybersecurity to performance, agility, and compliance. It all matters.
Join us for a roundup of the top stories on InformationWeek.com for the week of September 25, 2016. We'll be talking with the InformationWeek.com editors and correspondents who brought you the top stories of the week to get the "story behind the story."


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LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The International BoatBuilders' Exhibition & Conference opened with a flourish this morning as the Kentucky Derby bugle call ushered in the 20th annual event at its new location at the Kentucky Exposition Center.
More than 500 exhibitors are in Louisville to show off their latest products, systems and services. Seventy are first-time exhibitors. Dozens of seminars will be held during the conference, which runs through Thursday. As of Monday, preregistrations for the event were up 10 percent from 2009, organizers said.
Also new this year is the MAATS Aftermarket Pavilion, sponsored by Soundings Trade Only.
Although these are challenging times, the boating industry has a strong base of more than 17 million boat owners and 70 million participants, noted Thom Dammrich, president of the National Marine Manufacturers Association, which produces the show along with Professional BoatBuilder magazine.
Speaking this morning at the annual Industry Breakfast, Dammrich said that even in a sluggish economy boating remains a $31 billion business. Although people are buying more used boats than new ones - 82 percent versus 18 percent in 2009 - that balance should start drifting back to a more traditional 72-28 split in the coming years.
New-boat sales are down 55 percent, but total boat sales are down only 16 percent from their peak in 2006, Dammrich said.
"Overall, this industry is healthy and still alive," he said. "We are resilient, the American consumer is resilient. We will bounce back again."
Dammrich said indicators such as improving consumer confidence, a slowing rate of decline in new-boat sales, an uptick in sales of RVs and light vehicles and four consecutive quarters of GDP growth bode well for boating.
"The momentum, I believe, has shifted in our direction," he said.
An inspirational and humorous keynote address was delivered this morning by Tori Murden McClure, the first woman and first American to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
McClure, a native of Louisville who is president of nearby Spalding University, described her harrowing adventure, which included an aborted trip in 1998. She faced 70-foot waves from Hurricane Danielle that caused her to capsize a dozen times before she was rescued 900 miles from France.
A year later, with encouragement from boxing legend Muhammad Ali, she completed her journey and earned a spot in history.
People fall down, she recalled Ali telling her, but "a failure is a person who doesn't get back up again."
McClure documented her journey in the book "A Pearl in the Storm."
Presentations and awards
This morning's breakfast also included a presentation by Frank Peterson, president and CEO of the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation. He discussed the findings of the group's recent boating consumer report, which is based on a survey of about 2,800 people that was done in June.
Although only two in 10 consumers considered themselves worse off than 12 months ago, 75 percent would continue cautious spending habits.
Peterson said that to grow boating, the industry should partner with other outdoor recreation groups, such as those that serve campers or hunters. Those activities, he said, often are the gateway to boat ownership.
He also suggested that the industry look closely at improving fuel efficiency and providing pricing promotions and trade-in programs to entice buyers.
The full report can be found at www.rbff.org.
The Mel Barr Award was presented to Catalina Yachts president Frank Butler by the National Marine Representatives Association. Barr established the group and served as its first president.
Recipients of this year's CSI awards were honored for their achievements. Dammrich said 44 boat and engine manufacturers were honored this year.
— Beth Rosenberg


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Tesla Motors on Thursday unveiled a prototype of its third battery-powered vehicle, the Model X.
The crossover vehicle, described as a blending of SUV and minivan, features unique, so-called "falcon wing" rear doors. Model X will likely enter production in late 2013, with full production beginning the following year. The car will be priced in the $55,000 to $75,000 range, according to reports.
"The world desperately needs sustainable transport," Tesla co-founder and CEO Elon Musk said during the car's unveiling at the company's Los Angeles design studio. "We want to show that electric cars are, in fact, better than gasoline."
The Model X has three rows of seats, enough for seven adults, with ample storage space. Elon stood up inside the car to show how much space is available due to its falcon wing door design.
The car also features a new dual-motor, all-wheel drive system, with a motor in the front and rear of the car. This allows power to quick shift to where there is the most traction, providing "incredible road holding and traction," Musk said. Additionally, the second motor boosts torque by 50 percent, allowing the car to reach 60 miles and hour in less than five seconds.
Tesla, based in Palo Alto, Calif., designs and manufacturers electronic vehicles, and electronic components for auto companies such as Toyota and Daimler. The company's first product, an electronic sports car called the Roadster, is now available in 31 countries, Musk said, though it will eventually be discontinued. Its second second vehicle, the Model S, which is the first all-electric sedan, is expected to arrive in showrooms by July 2012.
For more, see PCMag's History of the Car Stereo.


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Originally published on the ECOreport
Air pollution allegedly kills 21,000 Californians every year. Most of these fatalities are attributed to road transportation or building emissions. According to the American Lung Association, vehicle emissions cost California $15 billion a year in health and climate impacts.
The state legislature is considering a law that would require all new passenger vehicles sold in California after Jan. 1, 2040 to produce zero emissions. Catherine Rehesis-Boyd, President of the Western States Petroleum Association, claims this “would come at the expense of those who can afford it the least both financially and in lifestyle – California’s lower and middle class working families.” Janelle London, Co-Executive Director of Coltura, explains why California needs AB 1745.
Can California Pass AB 1745?
AB 1745 could be vital if California is to reduce carbon emissions by 80% from 1990 levels by 2050.
A growing coalition of organizations – like the Sierra Club, Earthjustice, Acterra, Stand.Earth, Center for Climate Protection, 350 Bay Area, 350Sonoma, NextGen California, Brightline Defense, Fossil Free California, and Coltura – support this bill.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chief Scott Pruitt argues that these are national issues and “California is not the arbiter.”
To which London responds:
“Under the Clean Air Act, California has the ability to implement vehicle emissions requirements that are more stringent than federal requirements, provided it gets a waiver from the EPA to do so. The EPA must grant the waiver unless California’s rule is found not to be “at least as protective of public health and welfare as applicable federal standards” or California “does not need such standards to meet compelling and extraordinary conditions.”
AB 1745’s Impact On US Manufacturing
She agrees AB 1745 could have a profound impact on the automotive manufacturing sector:
“This legislation would likely incentivize US automakers to invest in more models of electric vehicles.”
“California, with 2 million new vehicle sales a year, represents about 14% of the US new passenger vehicle market. There are 9 other states (Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont) that follow California’s zero emission vehicle mandates, per a provision (Section 177) of the Clean Air Act. Together, these “Section 177 ZEV states” make up about 28% of the total US vehicle market.”
“In the United States, the Big Three—General Motors, Ford, and Fiat Chrysler—make up 45 percent of the domestic new car market, according to auto-sales data from TheWall Street Journal. Overall, 17% of American-made vehicles were exported in 2016, implying that 83% were sold domestically.”
Around The World
“Great Britain, France, China, India, and other countries are phasing out gas- and diesel-powered vehicles, and requiring new vehicles to be zero emissions. These four countries alone account for more than 35 million new vehicle sales per year, which will require global automobile manufacturers to develop, build, and market a full range of ZEV options for drivers. General Motors anticipates that a “substantial portion” of its electric vehicles will be sold in China.”
Can Americans Afford To Switch?
The Association of Global Automakers calls AB 1745 “ambitious” and to “unfortunately be unachievable unless the state substantially increases and maintains public investment in incentives and infrastructure.”
Is it true Americans can not afford the switch to electric vehicles?
“On the contrary, by every indication, making the switch from gas cars to EVs would result in lower costs of vehicle ownership for everyone, including middle-class and low-income families. What’s more, it would provide healthcare cost savings, especially for families living near busy roads, by reducing their incidence of asthma, heart and lung diseases, and other vehicle-emissions-related health problems.
“EV battery costs are dropping. Electric vehicle prices are largely determined by the cost of the battery. As technology improves and EV production increases, EV battery costs have been steadily falling, and are expected to keep falling:”
EVs Will Soon Be Cost-Competitive
EVs will soon be cost-competitive:
“Because of this drop in battery costs, financial analysts predict that the purchase price of new EVs will be the same as (or less than) comparable gas cars by 2025, even without incentives and subsidies. Some predict price parity will come as early as 2020 or 2022.”
“Also, as automakers increase production to serve the growing global demand for EVs, they’ll gain economies of scale. This will enable them to lower their prices to compete for market share.”
Electricity Is Cheaper Than Gasoline
“Additional factors are making EVs more affordable than gas cars even today:
Electricity is cheaper than gasoline – In California, average fuel savings are $752/year with electricity instead of gasoline; it costs around half as much to fuel an EV compared to a comparable gas car. Even assuming you pay extra to charge at public charging stations 20% of the time (such as when traveling longer distances), fuel costs are still less than for gasoline.
California utilities offer a 30% to 35% discount on electricity rates for low income customers, reducing the price of fueling an EV even further.
“Electricity will continue to be cheaper than gasoline. Electricity is highly regulated and locally generated from a variety of sources. Electricity prices have been largely stable (around $1 per gallon equivalent), and are forecast to remain so, especially since renewable sources, which are the majority of new electricity generation coming online, are cheaper than existing fossil fuel sources.
EVs Require Less Maintenance
“There’s less maintenance: EV maintenance is cheaper because EVs have far fewer moving parts and don’t require oil changes. Additionally, EVs have regenerative braking that uses the electric motor to slow the car rather than the brakes, allowing further savings on brake pads and rotors.”
EVS Are Already Cost-Competitive
“Purchase and lease prices are already competitive with gas cars: For new EVs, the average purchase price dropped 11% from 2016 to 2017, to $34,000 — slightly less than the average price of all new cars. For certain EVs, the price is already less than the equivalent gas model after federal incentives (up to $7,500) and state rebates (around $2,500). In 2018, many new EVs are priced around $20,000 after incentives and rebates. (Governor Brown’s January 2018 Executive Order calls for the state rebates to continue for the next eight years.)”
“EV lease deals are competitive as well, at around $4 to $10 per day.Low income families get extra discounts on purchasing and leasing: In California, families making less than 300% of the federal poverty rate are eligible for a rebate of up to $4,500 on the purchase or lease of a new EV. With up to $7,500 in federal tax incentives, the discount can be as high as $12,000. California’s Cash for Clunkers program offers an additional $1,500 to low income families retiring an old, polluting vehicle, for a total discount of up to $13,500. Last year, the city of Los Angeles launched an EV car-sharing program for low-income residents.
“Used EVs are cheap and getting cheaper: In many parts of California, used electric vehicles can be had for well under $10,000. With more sales of new EVs, the market for used EVs will continue to grow.”
We’re At An Inflection Point
According to one of the bill’s authors, Assemblyman Phillip Ting (D – San Francisco), “We’re at an inflection point: we’ve got to address the harmful emissions that cause climate change. Achieving the goal of electrification of transportation is crucial for the health of our people and the planet. Vehicles run on fossil fuels are responsible for nearly 40 percent of California’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. By spurring the use of zero emissions vehicles, we’re creating a mechanism to ensure a healthier future for Californians, and the entire region.”
Photo Credit: Los Angeles Skyline as seen landing at LAX Airport in 2004, with plenty of smog to “enhance” the view by TravelingOtter via Flickr (CC BY SA, 2.0 License); Coltura Video “The Gas Trap”; Janelle London, co executive director of Coltura, explains Why AB 1745 Is better for California; EV Image Courtesy Coltura; Source: https://www.ucsusa.org/clean-vehicles/electric-vehicles/accelerating-us-leadership-electric-vehicles; Two Colutura EV Images; California Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventory – 2017 Edition – courtesy California Air Resources Board
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Will South Dakota exempt food and drink?
Food is top of mind for many Americans at this time of year, so it seems the right time to examine new proposals to exempt food and drink from South Dakota sales and use tax.
South Dakota stands out from other states because its sales and use tax applies to just about every retail transaction: services, food for home consumption, you name it. There’ve been numerous failed attempts to reduce or eliminate the tax on groceries over the years, but the moment for change may have arrived: Inflation is forcing consumers to tighten their belts, and the state has a healthy budget surplus.
Governor promises to eliminate the grocery tax
In September, Governor Kristi Noem pledged to eliminate the sales tax on food in her next budget, if reelected. Long a vocal proponent of exempting food, her opponent Representative Jamie Smith urged her to call a special session to repeal the tax before the November election. Noem declined, saying she didn’t have the votes needed to repeal the tax.
She may have been right. Although some lawmakers support repealing the grocery tax, the South Dakota Legislature had a couple of chances to exempt food during the 2022 session and didn’t.
Legislature didn’t provide a grocery tax exemption in 2022
One opportunity was Senate Bill 166, which sought to phase out the tax on foods eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The measure was deferred after the Senate Taxation Committee passed it in a 5-2 vote.
A second chance arose when the House hoghoused Senate Bill 117 in March 2022. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, “hoghouse” is when everything after the enacting clause of a bill is struck and an entirely new bill replaces it.
So, SB 117 was introduced as an act to repeal an annual report, engrossed by the House State Affairs Committee as an act to repeal and revise certain fees, and engrossed by the full House as an act to revise the gross receipts tax on certain foods. The final measure was approved by 47 members of the House and 22 members of the Senate, but rejected by 22 representatives and 9 senators.
The support of the governor could help a new bill make it to law in 2023. “This is the right tax cut at the right time,” Noem wrote on September 30, 2022, “and I look forward to getting it done.”
If not, there may be another way.
Voters could get a chance to weigh in
A proposed initiated constitutional amendment that overrides existing law and prohibits the state, or municipalities, from collecting sales or use tax on anything sold for eating or drinking by humans except alcoholic beverages or prepared food (i.e., food that is sold heated or with utensils).
An initiated measure that prohibits the state, or municipalities, from collecting sales or use tax on anything sold for eating or drinking by humans, except alcoholic beverages or prepared food.
The ballot proposals bring up an interesting point: Could South Dakota exempt food from state sales tax while allowing municipalities to apply local sales tax to food? Should it?
Conflict over local taxes on food
In comments filed along with the proposals, the attorney for Richard Weiland wrote that the attorney general got the ballot proposals wrong: Weiland wants to prevent the state — not municipalities — from taxing food and drink.
He added that the Legislative Research Council’s fiscal note specified that “municipalities could still tax anything sold for eating or drinking by humans.”
But that’s not quite the full story. The initiated amendment that Weiland submitted to the Legislative Research Council (LRC) wasn’t the same as the version he ultimately submitted to the secretary of state. The version presented to the LRC read, “Beginning July 1, 2O25, the State could see a reduction in sales tax revenues of $119.1 million annually from no longer taxing the sale of anything sold for eating or drinking by humans except alcoholic beverages and prepared food. Municipalities could continue to tax anything sold for eating or drinking.”
But according to Scott Peterson, the Avalara vice president of Government Relations and a former director of the South Dakota Department of Revenue Sales Tax Division, no municipality may tax something exempted by the state unless the state gives them specific authority. “It is disingenuous for the proponents to say that municipalities will be able to tax food given that it takes an act of the Legislature to allow that to happen. I think an argument can be made that if the state is prohibited from taxing food that also keeps them from allowing any other government to tax food.”
In a letter filed with the proposal, Reed Holwegner of the LRC asked if it was Weiland’s intention to prohibit municipalities from taxing food and drink. “By using the term ‘state’ in the proposed statutory language, municipalities would not be prohibited from enacting a local ordinance requiring a tax on the purchase of food and beverages. Is this the intent of the proposal? If not, a rewrite of the language may be necessary.”
Holwegner also pointed out in the fiscal note that the language of the initiated amendment “is ambiguous.” He made several recommendations to clarify the language. Most were rejected by Weiland.
“It would have made more sense to do exactly what the LRC said to do,” said Peterson. “Local governments may tax food if the state exempts food, but only if the state grants them that authority. And how can the state grant local governments the right to tax food when this initiated measure prohibits the state from taxing food?”
Why South Dakota’s uniform tax base matters
Under current law, municipal sales and use taxes apply to all sales of products and services that are subject to South Dakota’s state sales tax: Municipalities don’t have the authority to tax transactions that are exempt from state sales tax. Per Chapter 10-52-2 of South Dakota law, an incorporated municipality may not levy tax on the sale, use, storage, and consumption of items taxed under chapters 10-45 and 10-46, “unless such tax conforms in all respects to the state tax on such items with the exception of the rate, and the rate levied does not exceed two percent.”
But as Scott Peterson notes, it’s the state that makes that decision, and the state has the authority to change it. “Once upon a time cities in South Dakota could exempt groceries or tax them at a lower rate, and many did.”
Peterson also brought up South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc., the U.S. Supreme Court decision that freed states to tax remote sales. “The court cited uniform definitions as one of the positive components of South Dakota’s sales tax.” That’s because the burden of sales tax compliance is lessened when local jurisdictions tax or exempt products the same as the state.
“If this proposal passes as written, it could put South Dakota out of compliance with the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement (SSUTA, or SST), if SST pursued the issue,” Peterson continued. However, he said the Legislature could amend the initiated measure without altering its intent in order to keep the state compliant with SST.
But it may not come to that. To make the 2024 ballot, the initiated constitutional amendment would need the signatures of registered voters equal to 10% of the total vote for governor in the last gubernatorial election. The initiated measure would need half that amount (5%).
The last time this was attempted, in 2004, a majority of voters decided to keep the sales tax on food. Initiative 1 would have exempted food from state and local sales and use taxes and allowed the state to be SST compliant.
Voters may not want to exempt food and drink
Several comments filed along with the proposals were against the proposed exemption.
One person suggested the tax be eliminated only for “foods with nutritional value,” adding, “It is senseless to exempt soda, chips, and candy from sales tax.” Another wrote, “Keep that tax. It works. Look around, you will see that most people are eating a little better than they should.”
Stacy Kooistra, the city attorney of Sioux Falls wrote to say eliminating the local tax on food and drink would “significantly impact both our general fund and capital fund,” resulting in the reduction of services and capital investments.
More information about 2024 potential ballot questions can be found at the bottom of this secretary of state page.
Other states are cutting or reducing sales tax on food
South Dakota isn’t the only state interested in reducing or eliminating the sales and use tax on groceries. Indeed, some states that tax groceries have already cut or slashed the tax on food.
Illinois suspends state sales tax on food
Illinois normally taxes food at a reduced rate of 1%. Between July 1, 2022, and June 30, 2023, the 1% state sales and use tax is suspended. Local taxes remain in effect.
Kansas phases out state sales tax on food
Kansas is phasing out the state sales and use tax on food as follows:
- The rate drops from 6.5% to 4% effective January 1, 2023
- The rate drops from 4% to 2% effective January 1, 2024
- The rate drops from 2% to 0% (fully exempt) effective January 1, 2025
The measure (HB 2106) also sunsets the food sales tax credit offered by Kansas at the end of tax year 2024, but it doesn’t affect local sales taxes.
For Kansas sales and use tax, “food and food ingredients” includes bottled water, candy, dietary supplements, soft drinks, and food sold through vending machines.
Virginia eliminates state sales tax on food
Virginia will eliminate the 1.5% state sales tax on food purchased for home consumption starting January 1, 2023. Local sales tax will continue to apply.
Oklahoma’s still trying
The governor of Oklahoma has been urging the Legislature to repeal the grocery sales tax, but his efforts to date have failed.
It will be interesting to see what transpires with the options on the table in South Dakota. If the state does end up exempting food, we’ll let you know at Avalara Tax Desk. If you need help managing sales and use tax, consider automating tax compliance.
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Neopost to launch hybrid mail service in France
Mailing equipment and software provider Neopost is preparing to launch a hybrid mail service, which will allow its French customers to send documents via the internet for local printing and insertion into the mailstream, even abroad. The company’s Neopost France unit is working with French technology provider Esker on the “on demand mail” platform, called Neotouch, which will allow the sending of standard or registered mail as well as an online archiving system.
- Clarification (September 19): The new hybrid mail service is available for Neopost customers in France only at this time, although those customers will be able to use it to mail items overseas.
Neopost France clients will be able to send items including invoices, reminders and other customer communications at the click of a mouse, via the internet to the local country of their customer, where it will be printed, folded, inserted into envelopes then stamped and delivered by a local postal operator.
The partnership will have eight production facilities available to finish mail and enter it into the mail in the United States, France, Australia, Spain, Singapore, the UK and Belgium.
Esker said its cloud-based infrastructure would run through three data centres located in the US, France and Australia.
The service is expected to be launched through the Neopost France website from September 19.
Jean-Francois Badet, CEO at Neopost France, said the new service would prove the “missing link” for his customers in terms of end-to-end mailstream automation.
“Our customers’ expectations of the mail value chain have evolved over the years. Productivity, reactivity and traceability are vital elements for the competitiveness of a company and Neopost solutions must be able to address these needs,” said Badet.
Document processing specialist Esker launched its own international hybrid mail service earlier this year, which it said could cut mail production costs by as much as 45% and postage costs by 50%.
Esker is already working with local postal operators including Australia Post, bpost, Correos, La Poste, Royal Mail, Singapore Post, swiss Post and the US Postal Service on the local delivery side of its offering.
“Mail on-demand is a natural extension of mailroom equipment and enables substantial productivity gains,” said Eric Thomas, VP International Business Development Manager for Esker.
“By combining Esker’s best in class technology with Neopost’s expertise, our goal is to deliver a comprehensive mail automation solution.”
The hybrid mail should be very beneficial in the future to a country as large is distance for point to point for countries such as Australia. It will be very exciting to watch this next future for mail in Australia


text: DoorDash is one of the top picks among emerging US internet companies given its leadership in on-demand delivery, according to Bernstein. Analyst Nikhil Devnani in a Monday note launched DoorDash coverage with an outperform rating and a price target of $90 per share. That’s more than 32% upside from Monday’s stock close. The analyst also tipped Etsy to outperform. “DoorDash is our top pick,” Devnani wrote. “We’re optimistic about the long-term growth potential of on-demand delivery and DoorDash is our preferred way to play in the space – it’s the market leader, with a top-notch management team and an economic peak unit.” Bernstein believes the company has ambitions to propel local commerce beyond restaurant delivery. They endorsed the company’s strong leadership and capital allocation history, as well as its “clean” first quarter earnings report. DoorDash’s reinvestments in its business may worry some investors, but Devnani said he’s comfortable with lower margins in the near term. “In fact, with these margins, we believe DoorDash should continue to reinvest over the long term, strengthening its market leadership position,” the analyst wrote. DoorDash shares fell 3% in premarket trading on Tuesday. — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.


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Carnival Cruise Line
Another Carnival cruise ship is reporting trouble on the high seas, bringing the grand total to four ships that have experienced trial and tribulation in recent months.
Passengers who were aboard the disabled Carnival cruise ship couldn’t even catch a break on land.
A passenger on the disabled cruise ship slowly headed to shore says conditions on board are terrible, with feces and urine on the floor and cases of food poisoning.
A passenger on the disabled Carnival Triumph cruise ships says conditions are “extremely terrible.”
A cruise line says it is making the passengers stranded aboard a disabled ship in the Gulf of Mexico as comfortable as possible with running water and some working bathrooms, contradicting the accounts of some passengers who told relatives of filthy, hot conditions and limited access to food.
The first of two tugboats has made way to stranded passengers on a Carnival cruise ship.


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Portal, Ga. man wins $275M Mega Millions jackpot
RELEASE DATE: 3/8/2008
ATLANTA – A Portal, Ga. ironworker is the largest single winner in Georgia Lottery history thanks to a lucky combination of his grandchildren’s birthdays. Robert Harris, 47, correctly selected the winning numbers in the Feb. 22 Mega Millions drawing and won the $275 million jackpot prize.
Harris claimed his prize at Georgia Lottery headquarters in downtown Atlanta Monday afternoon.
The jackpot amount increased from an advertised $270 million to $275 million as a result of strong sales. Harris selected the cash option, which is an estimated $167,694,000.
Harris discovered his win Saturday morning when his stepdaughter called to tell him someone in Portal won Mega Millions.
“I sat there and cried for a minute,” he shared.
Harris and his wife, Tonya, 55, have two daughters and six grandchildren. The family plans to build a new home. Mr. Harris will buy “a big four-wheel drive like I always wanted.” And a Mercedes is in Mrs. Harris’ future. They also plan to treat their grandchildren to something special.
“They’re going to Disney World,” Harris said. “My new RV and I are going to take them.”
When asked how it feels to win a $275 million jackpot, Mrs. Harris quipped, “Once I start spending it, I’ll let you know!”
The winning numbers for Friday’s Mega Millions drawing were: 7-12-13-19-22 and the Mega Ball was 10. Georgia Lottery retailer Clyde’s Market, Highway 80 and Metter Road in Portal, sold the winning ticket.
Any Georgia Lottery retailer who sells a winning Mega Millions jackpot ticket can earn the $25,000 retailer incentive bonus payment. If more than one winning jackpot ticket is sold in Georgia, the retailer selling the winning tickets will share the $25,000 retailer incentive bonus. Clyde’s Market will receive the $25,000 retailer incentive bonus.
As with all other Georgia Lottery games, proceeds from Mega Millions will benefit education in the state of Georgia. Since its first year, the Georgia Lottery Corporation has returned over $9.7 billion to the state of Georgia for education. All Georgia Lottery profits go to pay for specific educational programs including Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship Program and Georgia’s Prekindergarten Program. More than 1 million students have received HOPE, and more than 860,000 4-year-olds have attended the statewide, voluntary prekindergarten program.


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Amazon has confirmed that it plans an announcement Thursday that involves the Columbus region. The company won't say what it is, other than it does not involve the Seattle-based retailer's plan to develop a second headquarters.
Central Ohio is home to several Amazon operations, including distribution centers in Obetz and in Etna Township in Licking County, and it has announced plans for a distribution center in West Jefferson in Madison County. It also has data centers in New Albany, Hilliard and Dublin.
Amazon also has been developing additional distribution centers around Ohio and a wind farm in the northwestern part of the state.
It employs more than 6,000 Ohioans, making it one of the state's largest employers.
The highly anticipated announcement of the site of Amazon's second headquarters is expected later this year. Columbus is one of 20 finalists for the project, dubbed HQ2, which is to come with a massive $5 billion investment and create 50,000 jobs.


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PepsiCo has revealed the ten companies that are the second intake for its Nutrition Greenhouse incubator programme in Europe.
Each of the entrants will get a EUR20,000 (US$23,410) grant along with access to the US-based food and drinks giant’s executives to help them grow.
PepsiCo said the company that “demonstrates the most scalable and sustainable market approach by the end of the programme will be awarded a EUR100,000 prize to continue its expansion”.
PepsiCo’s Nutrition Greenhouse focuses on nutrition food and beverage products aimed at European consumers with sales of EUR5m or less. This year’s finalists were chosen based on their product quality and positioning, focus on health and wellness and scalable business model.
Three of the firms are from Israel: A1C Foods, which makes low-carbohydrate food products such as chocolate, bread and ice cream; The Sprouted Grain Company, which produces what it describes as “nutrient-dense” and “easy-to-digest” whole grains, legumes and flours; and Yofix, a maker of clean-label, vegan and soy-free fermented dairy alternatives.
Another three are located in the UK: Nibble Protein manufactures high protein, gluten- and dairy-free bites made with less sugar and suitable for vegans; Revolicious produces ready-to-eat dairy and gluten-free smoothie bowls; and Rokit Pods’ forte lies in organic, vegan-friendly drinks capsules used in coffee machines.
France has two entrants: Gryö makes organic snacks made with alternative proteins including algae and plant-based proteins; while Le Petit Béret manufactures non-alcoholic wine produced without fermentation, preservatives or sulphites.
Another inductee, Agrasys, hails from Spain and produces Mediterranean cereal made from durum wheat and wild barley.
And finally, Welldrinks of Bulgaria, a maker of functional beverages combining hydrolysed collagen with vitamins and minerals.
David Schwartz, the senior director of innovation at PepsiCo’s Europe and sub-Saharan Africa division, and leader of the programme, said: “Last year’s class of finalists really proved their potential, so we can’t wait to see how we can help deliver a step change for the industry with our 2018 class. Together with the entire Greenhouse team, we’re confident we can drive another successful year of sustainable growth for 10 new breakthrough brands, harnessing the power of convenient, nutritious products in the process.”
Last week, PepsiCo revealed it had also set up an incubator in North America dubbed The Hive.
just-food interview from June 2018: “Agility puts you in the game” – PepsiCo on its European incubator Nutrition Greenhouse


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The London Boat Show reached a deal with CWMWorld to sponsor the show for this year. CWM World provides professional and user-friendly trading features and platforms of high quality, offering users the ability to tailor their experience of trading to suit personal needs for any trade regardless the time and place. CWM World is sponsoring the show through its forex trading company named CWM FX.
The managing director of CWM World revealed that the group was pleased to become the official title sponsor of the London Boat Show and consider the show as a fantastic event for the marine industry and particularly for the group. The sponsorship means the importance of their world-class show recognizing the event as among the most respected and iconic boat shows around the world.
The sponsorship reinforces also the impact that the new creative campaign and direction already enjoyed by the show. He added that the partnership of CWM World and the London Boat Show underlines the way businesses keep recognizing the importance of the opportunities offered by the high-profile event of the company.
The sponsorship comes also when investment and interest from the marine industry is already solid with over 90% of exhibition space sold up to date. The General Manager of CWM World said that the group was exceptionally proud to sponsor the show since it is an opportunity to display the strength of the connection between maritime and finance sectors. The manager said that the group will add this partnership to their increasing portfolio of current sponsorships.


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Unlikely Coalition Forms To Fight Proposed Pet Ordinance
El Paso Mayor John Cook insists on banning the sale of cats and dogs at pet stores, in order to curb pet over-population, and thus animal euthanasia in the city, but a group of unlikely allies stand in his way.
The Coalition for the Welfare of Pets was recently formed by animal shelters, breeders, and even pet store owners. Among the organizations participating are the Humane Society of El Paso, The Animal Rescue League and the owners of Petland in east El Paso.
They're in opposition to parts of the mayor's proposed pet ordinance which would:
1. Ban the sale of cats and dogs at pet stores. 2. Enforce a higher registration fee for dogs and cats that are not spayed or neutered. 3. And require animal organization to spay and neuter the animals after they're four months old. 4. Charge residents an additional fee if they're pet ends up at animal services more than once a year.
Pet breeders said that the new ordinance would force them to pay for permits for every dog show and that would put them out of business.
Pet store owners argue the sale of cats and dogs is what keeps their business running and shelters take issue with new registration fees.
All agree something needs to be done about the euthanasia rate.
At Tuesday's City Council meeting, several people also spoke in favor of the ordinance.
"The number of animals executed breaks my heart and the way a community treats its animals is a measure of that community and I want to be very proud of our community," former El Paso County Commissioner Charles Hooten said.
Cook said he supports the ban on sale of cats and dogs at pet stores because a study that showed most pet stores, including Petland, get their animals from 'puppy mills' - facilities that allegedly force female dogs to breed, keep animals in inhumane conditions, and often produce sickly dogs. Cook also supports the ban because he said pet stores foster irresponsible pet owners.
"They're buying on impulse buying, not even looking at the reality on whether or not they know how to care for an animal", he said.
The owner of Petland in El Paso, Mario Vasquez, said the mayor was overstepping his bounds.
"How can you eliminate an adult making an adult decision? Can you eliminate someone who wants to go to the dealership and wants to buy a Lexus, a Cadillac?", he asked the mayor.
The Coalition has until Oct. 5 to draft a proposal to improve the proposed pet ordinance. Cook told the Coalition he wanted to work with them in writing the proposal and that he wanted the city attorneys to take part as well.
City Representatives Beto O'Rourke and Steve Ortega were the only ones who voted against the delay. They said the city had waited long enough to take action.
Copyright 2010 KVIA. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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By Jenina P. Ibañez, Reporter
THE POTENTIAL EFFECTS of looser Metro Manila mobility restrictions on consumer spending and this year’s economic growth have drawn mixed levels of optimism from economists and industry heads.
They are turning to the results of eased coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) restrictions from countries with high vaccination rates to call for a faster inoculation rollout and expanded testing.
Cid L. Terosa, a senior economist at University of Asia and the Pacific School of Economics, said the new alert level will boost consumer spending because it removes mobility and transactional constraints brought about by stricter restrictions in the past. The improvement could help bring the economy towards the high end of the government’s lowered 4-5% target for the year.
“It may not move GDP beyond 5%, but it will definitely make it more possible to achieve at least 5% GDP (gross domestic product),” he said in an e-mail. “The economy needs to grow by at least 6% though to get the economy back on track towards the end of 2022.”
More business activity has been allowed in Metro Manila after it was placed on Alert Level 3 from Oct. 16 to 31.
Ser Percival Peña-Reyes, Ateneo de Manila University Center for Economic Research and Development (ACERD) associate director, said fewer restrictions would have little effect on consumer activity if public anxiety persists amid a slow vaccination rollout.
“I don’t think (the new alert level) will make that much of a difference if people are still scared to move around, because clearly not enough is being done to improve confidence, given that we are behind on vaccination,” he said in a phone interview.
The Philippines last Friday began vaccinating young people aged 12-17 against COVID-19. As of Oct. 14, the Philippines has vaccinated 21.6% of its population, according to Our World in Data website.
ACERD is retaining its 3-4% GDP growth forecast for 2021, although Mr. Peña-Reyes admits the projection could be optimistic.
Philippine economic growth projections have been slashed amid a Delta-variant outbreak that further dampened consumer and business confidence.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) lowered its 2021 Philippine GDP forecast to 3.2%, from the 5.4% projection set in June. Fitch Ratings downgraded its projection to 4.4% from 5%, while the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) cut its forecast to 4.3% from 6.4%.
Going into the fourth quarter, business leaders are confident that the new alert level in the capital region will boost consumer confidence and consumption, especially in the lead up to the holidays.
To achieve this, a retailers group head suggested that some cities be downgraded to Alert Level 2, adding that more transportation availability will improve consumer traffic.
“There should no longer be any getting back to stricter lockdowns and (they should be) allowing senior citizens and children to malls following strict COVID-19 protocols,” Philippine Retailers Association (PRA) Vice-Chairman Roberto S. Claudio, Sr. said in an e-mail.
“Sales will improve for restaurants, fastfood (chains) and retailers and this will further improve towards the fourth quarter holiday season.”
Philexport Chairman George T. Barcelon in a phone interview said pent-up demand and 13th month pay will help drive consumption during the holidays.
Some countries with higher vaccination rates have been planning for a COVID-19 response strategy that treats the virus as endemic instead of pursuing “Zero COVID.” This is the case for Singapore, although a recent spike in cases led the country to reintroduce restrictions.
The Philippines should adopt the expanded testing, treatment, and vaccination strategy of economies that are able to open up, Ateneo’s Mr. Peña-Reyes said.
Noting a resurgence in infection rates in countries with high vaccination rates, Mr. Barcelon said the Philippines should prepare quarantine centers and offer free COVID-19 testing.
“The vaccinated can infect others and be infected. We would like to have the economy open, definitely, but at the same time, we should err on the side of caution,” he said in English and Filipino.
“When there is testing from the grassroots, mobility applies to all sectors of our society: schooling, economy, and social. Testing is very crucial to open schooling.”


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Electric vehicles gained popularity worldwide, and companies are trying to attract customers with new models. Chinese electric car start-up Xpeng is ready to enter new markets. It plans to become a global automaker, with half of the vehicle deliveries going to countries outside China.
Its rival Tesla said in the third quarter that its home market accounted for 46.6% of total sales. The People’s Republic of China accounted for 22.6% of Tesla’s overall sales, up from just under 20% a year ago. Tesla opened its factory in Shanghai and began delivering locally made cars just before the onset of the pandemic in January 2020.
The company from Guangzhou plans to invest more money in international markets this year. Furthermore, Xpeng is ready to invest more in 2022 as well. It expects to enter Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands next year.
Xpeng’s rival Nio opened a flagship store in Oslo, Norway, and began local car deliveries in September. Electric vehicles are quite popular in Norway. Companies from China are selling their electric vehicles to local customers. This summer, BYD, backed by U.S. billionaire Warren Buffett, began shipping electric vehicles to Norway. BYD wants to deliver 1,500 cars there by the end of 2021. This month, the company launched deliveries to the Dominican Republic, following a similar expansion to Mexico, Colombia, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Brazil, and the Bahamas in October.
U.S.-listed Xpeng’s shares jumped 8% on Monday after Xpeng reported a beat revenue in the third quarter, coming in at 5.72 billion yuan ($887.7 million). Still, the company reported a greater-than-expected loss of 1.77 yuan (27 cents) per share. Xpeng’s vice president and chairman Brian Gu think that the automaker can reach breakeven in two years.
In 2019, before Covid-19, as well as the ensuing chip shortage, he expected to reach breakeven in about two or three years, but with one precondition. Xpeng had to produce 150,000 cars a year. In October, the company said it produced a total of just over 100,000 cars since its founding six years ago.
Xpeng launched its first commercially available vehicle, the G3 SUV, in December 2018. According to Brian GuIts, the G7 sedan is more popular and accounts for more than 77% of deliveries.
Guangzhou-based Xpeng began delivering a third electric model, the P5 sedan, in October. Last week, it presented a new electric SUV, the G9. Xpeng designed G9 for the local as well as international markets.
Get the latest economy news, trading news, and Forex news on Finance Brokerage. Check out our comprehensive trading education and list of best Forex brokers list here. If you are interested in following the latest news on the topic, please follow Finance Brokerage on Google News.


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Sun, 06 Nov 2016
A NEWBURY auction house hosted a celebrity Bargain Hunt in aid of Children in Need, which raised £2,159 last Tuesday.
Special Auction Services at Greenham Business Park threw open its doors to the public for the fun-packed Celebrity Bargain Hunt and auction to raise money for the children’s charity.
BBC Radio 1 DJs Dev Griffin and Alice Levine went head-to-head with BBC Radio 4 presenters Nick Robinson and Aasmah Mir, to see which of the two teams could raise the most money.
Among the 25 special lots donated by BBC Bargain Hunt presenters and experts was a large, limited edition Steiff Pudsey bear, signed by presenter, Natasha Raskin Sharp, which sold for £118.
The chance to go on location with the Bargain Hunt team went under the hammer for £613.
A night of food heaven for two at the London-based food and lifestyle brand, Jackson & Levine supper club, hosted by BBC Radio 1 presenter Alice Levine, sold for £306 and the Bargain Hunt mystery box, containing special objects from experts’ personal collections, sold for £236.
Two Bargain Hunt fleeces, signed by the celebrity contestants, a necklace much admired and often worn by presenter and antiques expert Anita Manning, and a framed, limited edition print of The Old Bookshop provided by presenter David Harper, all sold for £118 each.
The £2,159 total excludes the celebrity team purchases, which, along with the winning celebrity team, will be revealed when the television programme is broadcast.
BBC Children in Need 2016 comes to television screens on Friday, November 18.


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Fiat has raised its stake in Chrysler by five per cent to 58.5 per cent. The move has happened because a clause in the operating agreement that is in place between the two car companies has been fulfilled.
The clause was known as the ‘Ecological Event’ and to achieve it Chrysler was required to receive US regulatory approval for an automobile based on a Fiat platform or vehicle technology having a fuel efficiency rating of at least 40mpg (combined). It also had to commit to put the vehicle into production in the US.
The target was reached in December with a pre-production version of the Dodge Dart, based upon Fiat architecture technology. The production Dart was unveiled at today’s Detroit motor show.
“The acquisition of a further five per cent of Chrysler is a fundamental step in completion of the integration between our two groups, ” said Sergio Marchionne, boss of Fiat and Chrysler Group.
“We have worked hard on achievement of the Ecological Event over the past two and a half years and we are particularly proud of this accomplishment because it represents repayment of the trust placed in Fiat to introduce its fuel-efficient cars and engines to the US market.
“The commitment to ecological and sustainable mobility, which has made Fiat the most eco-performing automaker in Europe, is integral to our business strategy. Together with the know-how developed by Chrysler, we have formed a strong, competitive auto group with a technological capability among the most innovative in the world.”
Fiat has been steadily increasing its possession of Chrysler. The remaining 41.5 per cent of Chrysler is owned by VEBA, which is a trust fund of the United Auto Workers union.


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As the global community continues to grapple with the coronavirus (COVID-19), the Atlantic Council is open for business. Our business, meetings, and events, however, are occurring virtually. For more information, please read an update from our President and CEO.
As the global economy recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic, a looming uncertainty is the extent to which existing supply chains will be disrupted. While US-China trade plays a key role in this conversation, there is a broader question about the future of the global trading system.
Complex and integrated supply chains underpin how the global economy functions and are mainly led by companies that developed these ecosystems over decades. As policymakers around the world rethink how to regulate supply chains, it is important to have a deeper understanding of how those industries work, the products that rely on an efficient and secure supply chain, and the switching costs involved.
In this first jointly hosted webinar from the Atlantic Council’s Global Business & Economics Program & the Paulson Institute’s MacroPolo think tank, Damien Ma, Director of MacroPolo, Miyeon Oh, Director & Senior Fellow of the Atlantic Council’s Asia Security Initiative, Neil Thomas, Senior Research Associate at MacroPolo, and moderator Ana Swanson, Trade and International Economic Reporter at the New York Times, aim to unpack these issues. The discussion will use specific cases from MacroPolo’s recently released report “Supply Chain Jigsaw” to illustrate crucial technology products will define tomorrow’s economy but rely on today’s supply chains. With this discussion, we hope to contribute to an important conversation on an issue that sits at the heart of our economic prosperity.
Director & Senior Fellow, Asia Security Initiative
Senior Research Associate
Trade & International Economics Reporter
New York Times
Director of Programs and Policy, Global Business & Economics Program


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Indonesia: Retail sales remain buoyant in November
January 10, 2011
In November, real retail sales added 18.8% over the same month the year before according to Bank of Indonesia's Retail Sales Survey (RSS). The reading represented a slight improvement over the 18.5% increase recorded in October and marked the 15th consecutive month of double-digit growth. Stronger clothing sales led the acceleration, expanding an annual 64.1%, up from the 59.2% increase recorded in October. Moreover, sales for food and tobacco added 29.6% in November (October: +24.8% year-on-year). On the other hand, construction materials sales fell sharply, declining 29.2% annually (October: -13.6% yoy). Despite the November acceleration, annual average growth in real retail sales fell from 28.8% in October to 27.5% in November. According to the RSS, retailers expect sales to remain stable in the coming months, which may lead to a subdued private consumption reading for the fourth quarter of 2010. Meanwhile, in November, industrial production added 4.2% over the same month the year before, which came in below the 4.6% expansion observed in October (previously reported: +0.5% yoy). Moreover, the upward trend in industrial production is flattening, with annual average growth reaching 4.1% (October: +4.0% yoy).


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Out now in the stores is the latest issue (April 2011) of Guitar World magazine featuring the now regular column by John 5 called “Chop Shop”.
The column includes an accompanying segment on Guitar Worlds inmagazine DVD.
This month includes a look at behind the nut bends.
The latest issue has Jeff Beck on the cover.
Find out how to subscribe for your copy now by going here: guitarworld/subscribe
Screenshot from DVD:


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Anadolu AgencyGetty Images
- A month ago, the cargo ship Felicity Ace caught fire and eventually sank in the Atlantic Ocean while carrying around 4,000 VW Group vehicles, including Lamborghinis, Audis, Porsches and Bentleys.
- Fifteen of the lost vehicles were $500,000 Aventador Ultimae models, which had officially ceased production. Lamborghini said Car and driver that he restored the supply chain to build more after a “great effort”.
- VW doesn’t say exactly how it will rebuild or redirect vehicles to ensure anyone who ordered a car that was lost will still get theirs in the end, but said insurance will cover damage and customers will be informed of their individual situations.
Around 4,000 new Volkswagen Group vehicles were on board the Felicity As cargo ship that first caught fire a month ago and then sank in the Atlantic Ocean near the Azores on March 1. This week, VW confirmed it would replace premium vehicles that have been lost, including 15 Lamborghini Aventadors that cost around half a million dollars each.
A Lamborghini spokesperson confirmed Car and driver that 85 Lamborghini vehicles were on the Felicity Asincluding 15 Aventador Ultimae models.
“We are working to prioritize production capacity to ensure orders are replaced as soon as possible,” the spokesperson said. “We will try to minimize the impact on customers as much as possible. With great effort, we managed to re-establish the Aventador Ultimae supply chain to restore the missing cars.”
Automobili Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann said Automotive News that every customer with an ordered vehicle on the now sunken vessel will eventually receive their new ride.
“We have thought together and fortunately we are able to replace these cars, so there will be no loss for our customers in the United States due to the sunken ship. This is good news”, Winkelmann said. “And everything else, we can replace it. The Aventador was tough, but we did it.”
VW Group, owners of Lamborghini, also released a statement on the sunken vehicles which made it clear that while the automaker was relieved to learn that the ship’s entire crew had been rescued, it really can’t say anything. on the vessel, the accident, sinking or any environmental consequences, as the Volkswagen Group was not the owner of the vessel.
“Nearly 4,000 vehicles from the group’s brands sank with the ship,” the company said. Car and driver. “Vehicle damage is covered by insurance. The cargo was destined for the US market. Brands and dealers have already started informing their customers and finding individual solutions.”
Bentley Motors CEO Adrian Hallmark said Automotive News that the company has found a solution to replace more than half of the 189 Bentleys lost with the ship (redirecting unsold vehicles from other locations) and that the remainder would be taken care of within the next six months.
“We do smart things with dealers to keep [those customers] mobile, which I won’t discuss,” Hallmark said.
There were approximately 1800 Audi vehicles on the Felicity Ace, and they too will be replaced, said Audi CEO Markus Duesmann, without going into detail about how that will happen.
While all of the VW brands that have lost vehicles on the ship are finding ways to replace them, the Aventador Ultimae models are the most difficult, as they were limited-edition vehicles that had officially ceased production. In that way, the news of the replacements is similar to how Porsche restarted production of the limited-edition 911 GT2 RS when a small number of those vehicles sank with a ship in 2019.
This content is created and maintained by a third party, and uploaded to this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content on piano.io


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26 Aug 2021
Posted in Automotive
Semiconductors crisis costs car companies up to $100 billion in lost revenue so far this year
Analysis by GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, suggests that the automotive industry – so far this year – is being hit by lost production and revenue worth up to $100bn caused by the chips shortage.
“Losses will extend at least into Q3, but are expected to ease in Q4 as chip inventory is backfilled,” says Calum MacRae, Automotive Analyst at GlobalData.
The latest analysis by GlobalData puts the year-to-date revenue losses incurred by vehicle manufacturers due to suspended production at between $60.9 billion and $100.5 billion. Worldwide, some 155 plants have suffered shutdowns due to shortages of crucial semiconductor components.
“While Ford has suffered the most in volume losses, General Motors can lay claim to having the two plants most affected by the chip shortages. Its Fairfax and Ingersoll plants have been down for 28 weeks year-to-date,” MacRae says.
“That they have been so affected demonstrates how GM has navigated through the crisis by enriching its model mix and focusing efforts on those vehicles most in demand and the most profitable.
“Next most affected have been Stellantis’s Belvidere plant (down for 25 weeks) and GM’s Lansing Grand River (22 weeks). Ford’s most impacted plant is the F-150 plant at Kansas City.”


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The article reviews how the term "Internet of Things" (IoT) refers to machines, devices, sensors, and other connected items connected to the internet and often to each other.
According to new research from ISACA and information quoted in this article, internet-connected devices play a prominent role in the business and daily life of consumers, which causes them to feel conflicted regarding privacy, security, and matters of convenience.
The article exposes some interesting statistics:
Ninety percent of those surveyed are concerned that their online information will be stolen.
Fifty-one percent use the same two to three passwords across multiple sites.
Forty percent write down their passwords to remember them.
Half of the consumers don't feel they have control over how Websites use their information.
Twenty-five percent of respondents have not checked the privacy settings on their social network profiles in the past six months.


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Between hackers, computer glitches, company errors, and early copies falling into the wrong hands, there are many reasons albums can leak before they are supposed to be released. Due to file sharing sites and the general nature of digital music, once an album or song has made it online even for a brief period, it’s typically there to stay as fans and others will continue reposting the content even as artists and labels try to squash it, as long as there’s an audience hungry for the music. As albums are sent to critics for reviews and stores for release and prepped to be put online, the closer to the release date it gets, the more likely a record is to be leaked — and almost any artist of any level of popularity has suffered an album leak. Here’s a look at some famous, notable, and unusual album leaks.
1. Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp a Butterfly
Rapper Kendrick Lamar’s very highly anticipated album To Pimp a Butterfly was due out officially on March 23, but showed up on iTunes and Spotify a week early. Many thought this was a Beyonce-esque publicity move, and music fans started downloading and streaming the record immediately. Then the record was pulled from iTunes after 12 hours, a pretty long time for one of the most anticipated albums of the year to be available.
Apparently the whole confusion stemmed from the record being available from two different labels, the major Interscope and the smaller Top Dawg Entertainment that features some of Lamar’s fellow west coast rappers, according to a report on the incident from The Verge. The record was taken down and put back up on iTunes a couple times before the two record labels got their squabbles under control and realized that there was nothing they could do; lots of fans and journalists already had the record. To Pimp a Butterfly has critics absolutely drooling with a 95 Metascore on review aggregator Metacritic, so it doesn’t seem like the incident is going to affect Lamar’s reputation as one of the best rappers out there.
2. Madonna, Rebel Heart
Kendrick Lamar wasn’t the only huge star to have a high-profile album leak that’s scheduled for release this year. Six songs from Madonna’s thirteenth album Rebel Heart were leaked late last year even though the full album release wasn’t planned until this spring. The leaked songs were unfinished versions. In response, Madonna chose to just release those tracks, saying in a statement, “I would prefer my fans to hear completed versions of some of the songs instead of the incomplete tracks that are circulating.”
This isn’t the first time Madonna has had to deal with album leaks. According to Hasitleaked.com, back in 2003, when getting ready to release American Life, Madonna responded to attempted early downloaders by posting a fake version of the album on file sharing sites where all the tracks feature her saying, “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” on a loop over and over. Unfortunately, Madonna just made some people with very good computer skills very angry, and shortly thereafter her website was hacked and American Life was posted online with the message, “This is what the fuck I think I’m doing.” Antagonizing potential hackers is never a good idea.
3. Taylor Swift, 1989
This leak didn’t affect sales of Swift’s most recent album too much, given that it was the top-selling record of 2014, and gave a much-needed boost to the record industry last year. Swift has managed to cultivate such loyal fans that they were angry and accordingly freaked out on social media over the people who listened to the record early. According to Vulture, the leaked version of the album was the deluxe version that Swift had planned to release exclusively through Target. The download contained track information in French, so it likely originated from a Target in a French-speaking place (possibly Canada).
“I don’t want to talk about leaks, it freaks me out, I will have a meltdown on the show,” Swift said in an interview on Alan Carr: Chatty Man before the record came out.
4. Bon Iver, Bon Iver
Typically hackers are the ones responsible for album leaks, with motives of either overeager fans or malicious people wanting to ruin an artist’s album release while also proving their superior hacking skills. But sometimes album leaks are the result of a legitimate company making a mistake. Bon Iver’s self-titled record was accidentally released early by Apple’s iTunes store in 2011. According to Rolling Stone, someone at the company placed the entire record for sale on the site when only the album’s first single should have been made available. Though the mistake was fixed, it was already too late, as people had purchased the whole album and it had been put up online on file sharing sites. Rolling Stone pointed out that wasn’t the first time iTunes had accidentally released an album too early, as Kelly Clarkson and the Raconteurs have both suffered the same mistake from the world’s largest digital music retailer.
5. Oasis, Heathen Chemistry
Sometimes artists take out their anger over album leaks on their fans who succumb to temptation and listen to the leaked tracks rather than the hackers or parties responsible for the leaks in the first place. At a show in Las Vegas in 2002, the British rock band Oasis thought they were debuting some songs from their new record Heathen Chemistry, but the audience sang along, as many fans had already heard the album due to a leak. All 11 songs had been on file sharing websites for months, giving fans plenty of time to get familiar with the material. This prompted lead singer Liam Gallagher to launch into a rant calling the band’s fans “thieving bastards.” The blame for the leak was eventually placed on the group’s then-drummer, who allegedly gave a copy of the album to a reporter for NME and was eventually fired, according to an article from the Associated Press reposted on an Oasis fan site.
6. Björk, Vulnicura
Like Madonna, Björk responded to a leak this year by just releasing the songs early since they’d already been heard, but Björk did it with her entire record. While Vulnicura was scheduled to be released in March, after the record hit the web in January, the eccentric Icelandic singer responded by putting the whole thing up for sale on iTunes late one night, according to The Boston Globe. Sales of physical copies were held off until the planned March release date, which coincided with an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York dedicated to her career. That publication also called Vulnicura Björk’s “most personal album,” as the breakup record explores her recent parting after a long relationship with artist Matthew Barney. The album has an 87 Metascore as critics loved Björk’s more personal and intimate music after the abstraction of her last record, Biophilia.
Follow Jacqueline on Twitter @Jacqui_WSCS
More from Entertainment Cheat Sheet:
- The 10 Greatest Rappers of All Time
- 6 Banned Rock and Roll Hits
- 5 of the Greatest Movies About Musicians
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How much will a hotel, Airbnb cost Derby weekend?
Heading to Churchill Downs for Kentucky Derby 2018? The time to plan, if you haven't already, is now. Here's the scoop on getting ready for the 144th Run for the Roses.
Derby weekend is non-stop fun and excitement, but you will need to get some shut-eye at some point (maybe).
Hotels in the area are already 80 percent booked for the weekend, according to Hotels.com. A two-night stay, from Friday, May 4 to Saturday, May 6, in Louisville will cost at least $288 per night. Not surprisingly, rates get higher the closer the hotel is to downtown or to Churchill Downs. And if you're looking to stay downtown at the Brown Hotel, Galt House, or the new Omni Hotel, you're out of luck — they're already booked up.
A cheaper alternative is staying outside Louisville city limits in Jeffersontown, La Grange or Shepherdsville. Booking a room across the river in Southern Indiana is also a way to save some cash. There are still some rooms available for less than $200 a night.
If you want a homier place to crash or feel like having a full kitchen at your disposal, Airbnb is also an option. It can be cheaper than a hotel, but not always. From May 4-7, the average nightly cost for a two-person stay in Louisville is $1,197. Airbnb's in the area were already 86 percent booked for the weekend.
Justin Sayers: 502-582-4252; firstname.lastname@example.org; Twitter: @_JustinSayers. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/justins.