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Big Sugar and COVID — a match made in heaven
Just when we thought people around the world were starting to improve their eating habits, junk food companies have found a boost in the form of COVID-19. The pandemic has proved more successful for the industry than Halloween and Christmas combined. It’s like an everyday global birthday party for junk food tycoons.
Junk food companies are opportunistic and thrive on panic. They know food buying increases, and combined with stress, that means more junk food sales.
The research firm Nielsen tracks American buying trends, and shows that from March to May 2020, junk food sales increased significantly.
Among the hundreds of promotional gimmicks used with great success over the past few decades, junk food companies now are embracing COVID-19. It has led to significant increases in buying sprees, from cookies and cola, to drive-through and deliveries of fast foods. As Michael Moss writes in the New York Times (June 16, 2020): “The pandemic revealed that sheltering in our homes — where many of us will continue to work — turns our kitchens into one huge vending machine.”
The trend of healthful eating has had many false starts in the last half century. Big Sugar keeps careful track of it and responds and counters it with ads, sales, new products. The industry also takes advantage of stress like natural disasters and the current pandemic.
As low-carb, organic, farm food and other trendy cool ideas catch hold (even if some are not actually healthy), many people have been kicking the sugar and junk food habit. The trend has made a big-enough dent in profits during the last decade that food industry analysts have taken notice. Of course, Big Sugar is more aware of these reductions in junk food sales than anyone.
Advertising that takes advantage of COVID-19 is alive and working well. Consider the image of Doritos measuring 6-feet between people, and virtual hugs of M&Ms. These are among the many food porn images that are highly successful.
Much worse than COVID-19 itself is the damage done to those stampeding to panicked junk food shopping. The damage, of course, is worsening the other pandemic, the global overfat pandemic, fueled by junk food to begin with.
Can one pandemic worsen another? Yes. We know that excess body fat worsens the risk of infection — those most vulnerable to COVID-19, for example, are those who are overfat. But it also works the other way. The COVID-19 pandemic is worsening an already extremely overfat world.
It happens more often than most realize, especially in regional areas. One bad media scare about an unlikely hurricane or snow storm, and panic-buying hits the stores. Other than water, the masses mostly target junk food, clearing the shelves in one swoop.
COVID made things much easier. Drive-throughs, Grubhub and other delivery services, combined with the closing of other restaurants and farmer’s markets, adds to the panic buying of easy-access junk food, including from grocery stores. Likewise, staying at home and watching the news means more anxiety, fueled by junk food commercials encouraging more unhealthy snacking and munching.
Today’s primary world cuisine is junk food, a dirty empire built upon lies. Companies and politicians trickle it down, misinforming many doctors, employers, teachers (even moms), and finally to the rest of us, resulting in a very sick world. The media is a co-conspirator. It’s not just that junk food has caused the overfat pandemic, which propelled more disease and physical dysfunction — the industry also helped promote the COVID-19 pandemic and continues pushing the astronomical costs of healthcare.
But this bad food is, itself, more expensive than natural food. That’s another one of the great junk food lies.


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MORGAN HILL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Velodyne LiDAR, Inc., the recognized global leader in Light, Detection and Ranging, or LiDAR technology, today announced the completion of a combined $150 million investment from co-investors Ford Motor Company [NYSE:F] (“Ford”) and China’s leading search engine company Baidu, Inc. [Nasdaq:BIDU] (“Baidu”). The investment will allow Velodyne to rapidly expand the design and production of high performance, cost effective automotive LiDAR sensors, accelerating mass adoption in autonomous vehicle and ADAS applications and therefore accelerating the critical, transformative benefits they provide.
Over the last decade, Velodyne developed four generations of hybrid solid-state LiDAR systems incorporating the company’s proprietary software and algorithms that interpret rich data gathered from the environment via highly accurate laser-based sensors to create high resolution 3D digital images used for mapping, localization, object identification and collision avoidance. Velodyne’s LIDAR solutions are capable of producing 300K to 2.2 million data points per second with a range up to 200 meters at centimeter-level accuracy. The Company’s high performance LiDAR technology has been recognized by global automotive OEMs and rideshare customers as a critical element enabling the development of fully autonomous vehicles.
“LiDAR continues to prove itself as the critical sensor for safe autonomous vehicle operation,” said David Hall, founder and CEO, Velodyne LiDAR. “This investment will accelerate the cost reduction and scaling of Velodyne’s industry-leading LiDAR sensors, making them widely accessible and enabling mass deployment of fully autonomous vehicles. We are determined to help improve the goal of safety for automotive vehicles as soon as possible, as well as empower the efficiency autonomous systems offer.”
“We want the cost to be low enough to be used for all cars. We envision a safer world for the millions of automotive drivers across the globe,” said Marta Hall, Velodyne President of Business Development.
“From the very beginning of our autonomous vehicle program, we saw LiDAR as key enabler due to its sensing capabilities and how it complements radar and cameras,” said Raj Nair, Ford Executive Vice President, Product Development and Chief Technical Officer. “Ford has a long-standing relationship with Velodyne and our investment is a clear sign of our commitment to making autonomous vehicles available for consumers around the world.”
Baidu also shares Velodyne’s vision to promote safety for autonomous vehicles on a global scale, and in particular in Baidu’s home market in China, where Baidu is already testing its fleet of autonomous vehicles. “Baidu is developing autonomous vehicles with the intention to increase passenger safety and reduce traffic congestion and pollution in China,” said Jing Wang, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Autonomous Driving Unit of Baidu. “Our investment will accelerate our efforts in autonomous driving with what, in our view, are the best LiDAR sensors available today and advance Velodyne’s development of increasingly sophisticated LiDAR sensors.”
Velodyne expects an exponential increase in LiDAR sensor deployments in autonomous vehicles and ADAS applications over the next several years, driving high revenue growth. To fulfill the high demand for Velodyne’s products, the company will continue to expand its resources across engineering, operations and manufacturing. In connection with this minority investment round, the Company plans to expand its board of directors to include two independent industry executives. Velodyne remains focused on strengthening its leadership in LiDAR technology development and product commercialization, working with top automotive OEM and rideshare partners to improve global transportation safety and efficiency.
Morgan Stanley acted as sole placement agent for this transaction.
Founded in 1983 by David S. Hall, Velodyne Acoustics Inc. first disrupted the premium audio market through Hall’s patented invention of virtually distortion-less, servo-driven subwoofers. Velodyne set the audio industry benchmark for premium bass sound. Hall subsequently leveraged his knowledge of robotics and 3D visualization systems to invent ground breaking sensor technology for self-driving cars and 3D mapping, introducing the HDL-64 Solid-State Hybrid LiDAR sensor in 2005. By 2007, Hall had transitioned the focus of Velodyne to LiDAR sensors and quickly experienced strong commercial adoption with industry leaders across multiple end markets.
Velodyne LiDAR has emerged as the leading supplier of solid-state hybrid LiDAR sensor technology used in a variety of commercial applications including advanced automotive safety systems, autonomous driving, 3D mobile mapping, 3D aerial mapping and security. The compact, lightweight HDL-32E sensor is available for applications including UAVs, while the VLP-16 LiDAR Puck is a 16-channel LiDAR sensor that is both substantially smaller and dramatically less expensive than previous generation sensors. The company will soon release the “Ultra Puck,” with the specifications similar to the HDL-64, but in a smaller package, designed specifically for the automotive industry. To read more about the technology including white papers visit http://www.velodynelidar.com.
Ford Motor Company is a global automotive and mobility company based in Dearborn, Michigan. With about 203,000 employees and 67 plants worldwide, the company’s core business includes designing, manufacturing, marketing, financing and servicing a full line of Ford cars, trucks, SUVs and electrified vehicles, as well as Lincoln luxury vehicles. At the same time, Ford aggressively is pursuing emerging opportunities through Ford Smart Mobility, the company’s plan to be a leader in connectivity, mobility, autonomous vehicles, the customer experience, and data and analytics. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford, its products worldwide or Ford Motor Credit Company, visit www.corporate.ford.com.
Baidu, Inc. is the leading Chinese language Internet search provider. As a technology-based media company, Baidu aims to provide the best and most equitable way for people to find they're looking for. In addition to serving individual Internet search users, Baidu provides an effective platform for businesses to reach potential customers. Baidu's ADSs trade on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "BIDU." Currently, ten ADSs represent one Class A ordinary share.

domain: news


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1AM Mobile App Now Available in the App Store
1AM recently announced the launch of its app 1AM Mobile, which is allows the user to capture and share their street art discoveries and follow other members’ findings worldwide. The app features community-contributed images of street art where all photographs are mapped, dated and credited, and also provides directions to current and pre-existing pieces for an up close and personal experience. Acknowledging the sometimes very temporary nature of graffiti and street art, the app time stamps all images giving a historical chronology to every uploaded piece. 1AM Mobile is available at the App Store.
To celebrate the launch, 1AM will throw a bash at First Amendment Gallery in San Francisco on Thursday May 9th from 6 – 9pm. There will be free mural tours by 1AM’s Art of Graffiti teacher, Nate1, given every half hour starting at 6pm until dark. Also get there early for free stickers and t-shirts as well as 1AM iPhone cases for the most active users to date.
DJ Mr Murdock and DJ Don Kainoa will be on the wheels of steel and
1AM bartenders will be serving up beer and wine. The launch party is 21+.
FIRST AMENDMENT GALLERY
1000 HOWARD STREET
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103


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Microsoft just announced that Yahoo! Bing Network is the new name for Microsoft adCenter. The search engine says the new name reflects the commitment of both Microsoft and Yahoo to bring advertisers a broad, high-value, and engaged audience that helps them grow their business.
The advertising platform for Bing Ads is the same as it was for adCenter, but it looks like the log-in page is more in line with the Bing search page with a large, landscape image as the background. The new name of the advertising platform is much more of a rebranding effort rather than changes to the important features of the network. The desktop tool, now called the Bing Ads Editor, has also received a face-lift, but the functionality of the adCenter desktop tool and online interface remain the same.
Microsoft has been hard at work to bring its advertising platform up to par to its Google counterpart. It recently released new features like ad rotation capabilities, URL by match type functionality and other elements to increase the usability of the platform for advertisers. What’s more, it was recently announced that Bing will be the default search engine of the Kindle Fire, which will most likely increase the search market share of the network while decreasing Google’s share.
Good news for Search Engine Marketers: Microsoft adCenter has made improvements throughout its platform to improve advertiser efficiency. Some of the new adCenter features are:
– Location targeting to mirror that of Google AdWords.
The “market” distribution channel will no longer be available as a targeting option and it will be replaced by “language” and “target location” as individual targeting options. Advertisers will now be able to target users physically located in their target area or who include location keywords within their search query. Location options will include all countries that speak the languages selected, groups of certain countries, a single country, a single state or a territory or a single city.
Microsoft says that roll-out of the new location targeting is in progress in the U.S., U.K. and France and it will be available to all users in a few months.
– Ad description lengths increased to 71 characters.
Previously the maximum character length of text ad descriptions was 70. Earlier this month, Microsoft increased the character limit to make it easier for advertisers to import ads from AdWords to adCenter in order to account for the extra punctuation.
– Mobile device targeting now available.
Advertisers are now able to choose which devices they would like to target for their ads and can create separate campaigns to target desktops and laptops versus mobile devices, allowing advertisers to further optimize their campaigns.
– Browser compatibility with Safari and Chrome and mobile devices.
adCenter released browser compatibility with Safari and Chrome as well as new mobile device support for iPad and other devices. The new release increases the ease of access of the advertising platform from a wider variety of browsers and devices.
All of these new modifications to its advertising platform show that Microsoft is listening to its users and taking the necessary steps to improve its usability.


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Beyond the Norm
The next generation of attractions industry leaders must be switched on to social and technology trends, according to Nicolas de Villiers, chairman and artistic director of Puy du Fou International. He tasks himself daily with the goal of finding one fresh idea for Puy du Fou.
“It’s a kind of exercise. I try to be very connected to what happens in the world,” he says. De Villiers listens to the radio, scours the news, and watches hit shows, searching for that one piece of information that could make a difference.
De Villiers spotted the theatrical potential of drones last decade while seeking a way to “use the sky as a stage.” Drone companies told him time and time again that his dream of using synchronized drones to carry lighting and props was impossible. He persisted until he found one that thought it was feasible. He then convinced the French authorities to let him fly drones at night in front of an audience.
Puy du Fou’s Neopters performed aerial ballet at the “Cinéscénie” show in 2015. Since then, their numbers have swelled to 30. In Spain, drones form angels and candles as they float in midair at poignant moments.
Staying open-minded is key, de Villiers believes. He and his team are as likely to work with aeronautics experts as automobile engineers on their creations.
“If you only stay connected to the show or parks industry, you won’t create anything new; you will just reproduce what others do,” he says.


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Research presented today at the NRF Big Show in New York highlights 2016 holiday findings from popular retailers.
The company that operates e-commerce sites TysToyBox.com and AllAboardToys.com has created a new company called Brand Performance, which will work with brands that appeal to kids to market their toys, videos, apparel and other items online.
A retailer who has built his web business selling products related to such children’s favorites as Thomas the Tank Engine, Doodlebops and Curious George, has created a new company that will help other kid-focused brands market their wares online.
Ty Simpson, CEO of the new company, Brand Performance LLC, has put under its umbrella the two web sites the company owns-TysToyBox.com and AllAboardToys.com. In addition, Brand Performance now operates the official online stores for brands Simpson has been serving. Those include Hit Entertainment, owner of the rights to cartoon characters like Barney and Thomas the Tank Engine, and Big Tent Entertainment, which promotes children’s music group the Wiggles and other kid favorites.
Brand Performance will use its expertise in online marketing, including search engine marketing and e-mailing to its customer list, to promote these brands, many of which lack expertise in online marketing, Simpson says. “None of these companies we work with have the resources or the attention to the online channel, although they realize they need to be there and that people are looking for their products there,” he says.
Simpson says his company can make available online a broader selection of branded goods than any bricks-and-mortar store is likely to carry. For instance, fans of Thomas the Tank Engine can find at TysToyBox.com videos, apparel, bedding, party favors, school supplies and toys, all bearing the likeness of the cheerful little British railway engine.
In addition, Simpson introduced in January a print-on-demand feature that allows consumers to order items such as T-shirts and pants imprinted with the image of a favorite character and the child’s name. “Barney used to be everywhere, but now it’s hard to find Barney,” Simpson says. “So people are going online to find things they can’t find.” He says the print-on-demand program has been a success, but declines to provide sales figures.
Simpson says his service can help brands demonstrate the appeal of their products to such major retail chains as Toys ‘R’ Us, Wal-Mart and Target, which are hard sells for all but the most popular brands of the moment. “It’s about getting visibility for these companies’ brands and products,” he says. “I can’t emphasize enough the difficulty these brands are having in getting big retailers to take a chance on their brand.”
At the same time, selling online also allows brands to test out products without going into the kind of mass production required to stock the shelves of a major retail chain. Simpson says he provides the brands he works with information about how their products are selling, which sizes are selling best, and how their sales compare with those of similar brands. “It helps them shape the program before they bring it to traditional retail,” he says. “You may launch a brand online and find no demand, which can save a company a lot of money. Because if it’s not selling online, it probably won’t sell on the shelf, either.”


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Digital gift card startup Giftango acquired by InComm
Giftango Corp., a seven-year-old Portland startup specializing in digital gift cards, on Tuesday announced it is being acquired by one of the gift card industry's biggest players, Atlanta-based InComm.
Terms of the deal weren't disclosed, though Giftango CEO David Nelsen said his long-term goal in selling the company is to eventually make it — and its Portland workforce of 55 — significantly larger.
Giftango, which debuted in 2005, makes it easier for customers of major retailers to deliver digital gift cards via e-mail, mobile devices or through Facebook. It has worked with 150 different brands, including major retailers such as Amazon.com, Lowe's, Papa John's, and Barnes & Noble, among others. The company also has operations in Australia and Dublin, Ireland.
The company has attracted $9 million from investors across two rounds — $6.5 million in equity, $2.5 million in debt — and was on the verge of completing a $15 million Series C round when the InComm acquisition option arose.
“It was a very good exit,” said Nelsen. “It’s a sizable deal. It was a positive return for our investors.”
Those investors, which includes the Oregon Angel Fund, are expected to receive close to 10 times their initial investment as a result of the sale, Nelsen said.
Yet Nelsen promises this exit for investors isn't the end of Giftango's growth.
With InComm, it becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of one of the world's biggest distributors of pre-paid gift cards. Its products support 225,000 different retail locations and 1,500 employees in 70 countries.
By acquiring Giftango, InComm is strengthening is position in the digital gifting market. Nelsen said Giftango is the market leader in having the most national merchants.
Erik Siemers is managing editor of the Portland Business Journal.
Government Account Executive Verizon Wireless | Beaverton, OR
Paid Search Coordinator Sq1 | Portland, OR
Executive Development Center Director Willamette University - Atkinson Graduate School of Management | Portland/Salem, OR
Business Account Executive Verizon Wireless | Beaverton, OR
US – Director of Sales (Coated Label Products) Green Bay Packaging Inc. | Green Bay, WI
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A look at the day's business stories from media outlets around Portland


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- Today’s main news: SoFi loan performance suffers, earnings projections missed. Ant Financial to pursue equity fundraising at potential $100B valuation. Elevate publishes FY 2017 results. Symphony, OpenFin join forces. Openwrks, Zopa, TrueLayer get into open banking. Rupeek raises $6.8M.
- Today’s main analysis: MPL securitizations comparison (SoFi 2018-A, MFT 2018-1, SCLP 2018-1).
- Today’s thought-provoking articles: Silicon Valley investors fund education. Loans.com.au slashes home loan rates. APAC fintech to reach $72B by 2020, mobile payments & SME lending dominate in Singapore.
- SoFi disappointed in earnings while loan performance suffers. AT: “A large part of the reason SoFi has focused on high income earners is because they believed that those borrower were more likely to pay back their loans on time. That seems that hasn’t been the case.”
- Top MBA schools for income-to-debt ratio. AT: “SoFi’s studies on income earners after college are quite interesting and usually deliver a few surprises. For instance, Wharton School of Business MBA graduates earn the highest average income three years after graduation (which isn’t surprising), but the University of Pennsylvania program isn’t even in the top 10 for salary-to-debt ratio. The top school there is the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Brigham Young is second. The question is, what determines the debt part of this scenario? If those attending the top 10 schools for salary-to-debt fund their education with daddy’s money instead of student loans, then this list is an indication of which schools are most likely to be attended by students who do not seek loans for education–on the average.”
- Elevate announces FY 2017 results. AT: ” As expected, Elevate is looking good. Y-over-Y growth is at 16%. Y-0ver-Y growth for combined loans receivable is at 28%. Adjusted EBITDA is up 45% compared to the prior year.”
- GS M&A acceleration + MPL securitization comparisons. AT: “The chart comparing SoFi’s and Marlette Funding’s most recent securitizations is quite interesting – two from SoFi (student loan and consumer loan) and one from Marlette.”
- Symphony, OpenFin join forces. AT: “This looks like a good partnership, and a bit surprising considering that both of these organizations are quite young.”
- Immigrants need credit too–and untapped market.
- Lenda expects 2018 growth spurt.
- Subaru offers 0% financing, and auto prices are up.
- Independent financial advisors rebuild online presence.
- The new Worthy bond.
- Narmi integrates several companies into digital banking platform for credit unions.
- Community banking and small business lending.
- Zelle’s next phase takes shape at BNY Mellon.
- Webster Bank offers automated digital investment platform.
- Inc Authority partners with Sure on small business insurance.
- Zopa, Openwrks, TrueLayer open Open Banking initiatives.
- Elliott takes majority stake in Chetwood Financial, an online bank.
- Risks, rewards for P2P platforms to scale operations via IFISA.
- Rupeek gets $6.8M in funding.
- Eduvanz Financing gets injection from Blinc Advisors.
- EarlySalary makes emergency loans affordable.
- On P2P lending.
- What’s driving the fintech boom?
- How fintech will change banking.
- P2P lending picks up pace.
- United States
- SoFi Reports Disappointing Earnings as Loan Performance Suffers (WSJ), Rated: AAA
- You won’t believe how much grads from these top business schools rake in (Moneyish), Rated: A
- Elevate Announces Full Year 2017 Results (Crowdfund Insider), Rated: AAA
- Equity Market Volatility, GS Dialing Up M&A (PeerIQ), Rated: AAA
- Taking a cut of student’s future paychecks has Silicon Valley investors funding education (Quartz), Rated: AAA
- 2 startups are joining forces — and together they could pose a threat to Bloomberg (Business Insider), Rated: AAA
- Fintechs find another untapped market: New immigrants needing credit (American Banker), Rated: A
- San Francisco mortgage fintech Lenda expects growth spurt in 2018 (San Francisco Business Times), Rate: A
- New Retail P2P Investment: The Worthy Bond (P2P Lending Expert), Rated: A
- Prices up for January, Subaru 0-percent financing (Kelley Blue Book), Rated: A
- Eyeing robo advisors, IBDs to launch new client portals (FinancialPlanning), Rated: A
- Narmi integrates top fintech companies into digital banking platform for credit unions (CUInsight), Rated: A
- When fintech lite is the right small-business lending strategy (American Banker), Rated: A
- Zelle’s next phase takes shape at BNY Mellon (American Banker), Rated: A
- Webster Bank Offers Customers An Automated Digital Investment Platform (PR Newswire), Rated: A
- We’re partnering with SURE to bring you Small Business Insurance (Inc Authority Email), Rated: B
- United Kingdom
- Openwrks, Zopa and TrueLayer get into Open Banking groove (Finextra), Rated: AAA
- Elliott takes majority stake in new Welsh online bank (The Times), Rated: A
- Risks and rewards for P2P platforms to scale up their operations via the IFISA (AltFi), Rated: A
- China’s Ant plans equity fundraising at potential $ 100 billion valuation – sources (Reuters), Rated: AAA
- China Fintech Watchdog to Step Up ICO Oversight (CoinDesk), Rated: A
- Loans.com.au slashes home loan rates for owner-occupiers, investors (mozo), Rated: AAA
- Bank lending in spotlight as Australian inquiry begins (Reuters), Rated: A
- Online gold loan platform Rupeek gets $ 6.8 mn from Accel, Sequoia (VC Circle), Rated: AAA
- Eduvanz Financing raises funds from Blinc Advisors (livemint), Rated: A
- Fintech start-up EarlySalary is making emergency loans more affordable (Business-Standard), Rated: A
- Preventive measures (The Hindu Business Line), Rated: A
- What’s Driving India’s Fintech Boom? (Wharton), Rated: A
- Fintech Will Change How We Bank (Business-Standard), Rated: A
- Peer to peer lending picks pace (Telengana Today), Rated: B
- Asia-Pacific Fintech Market to reach US$ 72 billion by 2020, finds Frost & Sullivan (Business Insider), Rated: AAA
- Moneylenders turn toward young adults in Korea (The Korea Times), Rated: A
- Blockchain spending surges in China and Asia (Shine), Rated: B
SoFi Reports Disappointing Earnings as Loan Performance Suffers (WSJ), Rated: AAA
Customers of online lender Social Finance Inc. are missing their loan payments at an unexpectedly high rate, a misstep for a company that has boasted that its focus on high-earning individuals would yield better borrowers.
The privately held San Francisco-based company said it missed its internal fourth-quarter earnings projections, due in part to a markdown in the “value of certain personal loan assets due to lower-than-expected credit performance,” according to a letter to investors that was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The company also cited increased hiring costs and expenses related to recent management changes.
These 10 programs have the best salary-to-debt ratio in the US:
1. University of Wisconsin-Madison: Avg. salary = $122,532; avg. debt = $52,568
2. Brigham Young University: Avg. salary = $114,559; avg. debt = $50,224
3. Harvard University: Avg. salary = $184,463; avg. debt = $83,337
4. Stanford University: Avg. salary = $186,534; avg. debt = $85,443
5. Villanova University: Avg. salary = $136,464; avg. debt = $63,014
6. University of Pittsburgh: Avg. salary = $149,157; avg. debt = $71,471
7. Loyola University, Maryland: Avg. salary = $122,915; avg. debt = $59,029
8. North Carolina State University: Avg. salary = $92,184; avg. debt = $46,140
9. University of Florida: Avg. salary = $110,942; avg. debt = $56,035
10. University of Houston: Avg. salary = $105,476; avg. debt = $54,308
Elevate Announces Full Year 2017 Results (Crowdfund Insider), Rated: AAA
- Fourth quarter GAAP net loss due to federal tax law charge, but fourth consecutive quarter of net income on an adjusted basis: Fourth quarter 2017 net loss totaled $12.2 million, or $(0.29) per diluted share, reflecting a one-time $12.5 million charge associated with the change in the federal tax law resulting from the tax reform in 2017. Excluding the impact from the tax law change, net income for the fourth quarter of 2017 would have been $0.3 million, or $0.01 per diluted share, versus a net loss of $4.4 million, or $(0.34) per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2016. The net loss for full-year 2017 totaled $6.9 million, or $(0.20) per diluted share. Excluding the impact of the federal tax law, net income for full year 2017 would have been $5.5 million, or $0.16 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $22.4 million, or $(1.74) per diluted share, for full-year 2016.
- 16% year-over-year revenue growth: Revenues for the fourth quarter of 2017 increased 14.5% from the fourth quarter of 2016 and were up 16.0% for full-year 2017 versus 2016. Revenues totaled $193.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2017 compared to $169.0 million for the prior-year period. Full-year 2017 revenues totaled $673.1 million compared to $580.4 million for full-year 2016.
- More than 28% year-over-year growth in combined loans receivable – principal: Combined loans receivable – principal totaled $618.4 million, a 28.5% increase from $481.2 million for the prior-year period. The Rise installment loan and Elastic line of credit combined loans receivable – principal balances as of December 31, 2017 were up 19.6% and 47.4% over the prior year-end balances, respectively.
- Adjusted EBITDA up 45% compared to prior year: 2017 Adjusted EBITDA totaled $87.5 million, up 44.7% from $60.4 million in 2016. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 13% for both the fourth quarter of 2017 and full-year 2017.
- The ending combined loan loss reserve as a percentage of combined loans receivable was 14.3%, lower than the 16.1% reported for the prior-year period due to the improved credit quality and the continued maturation of the loan portfolio. Charge-offs as a percentage of originations for full-year 2017 continued to trend below previous years at less than 25% of principal originations.
- The total number of new customers acquired during the fourth quarter of 2017 was approximately 95,000 with an average customer acquisition cost of $231, below the targeted range of $250-$300. This represented a 34.6% increase over the approximately 70,000 new customers acquired in the fourth quarter of 2016.
Equity Market Volatility, GS Dialing Up M&A (PeerIQ), Rated: AAA
Volatility made an abrupt return to capital markets after a nearly 18 month hiatus. Equity markets dropped almost 10% from their peaks, as investors focused on rising US treasury yields. 10-year yields touched 2.88% – nearly a four-year high. Corporate bonds (CDX.IG spreads) widened 5bps this week to 60bps, while high-yield widened 16bps to 353bps.
US consumer credit grew by $18.4 Bn in December 2017, at an annualized growth rate of 7.7%. Revolving credit card debt increased by $5.1 Bn to $1.03 Tn, the highest on record. Consumer spending has boosted US GDP, although the increasing cost of leverage and rising rates could create a drag on growth.
GS M&A Accelerating
For new immigrants, buying a home or getting a cellphone is complicated and expensive. Even if they have financial identities and wealth in their home countries, they have no credit history in the U.S.
It’s a challenge for millions of people, and a handful of fintechs, including Nova Credit, CreditStacks, and Petal, see an opportunity to help with some creative solutions.
Others, like Deserve (formerly SelfScore) and Petal have been hoping to woo immigrants and other thin files with their own credit products, while still others like eCredable are crunching alternative data to help people build up their credit history.
And in January, CreditStacks announced a credit card product aimed at immigrant professionals who want to have a U.S. credit card in hand when they arrive in America.
San Francisco mortgage fintech Lenda expects growth spurt in 2018 (San Francisco Business Times), Rate: A
San Francisco mortgage fintech Lenda, which offers mortgages faster and at lower cost than traditional rivals, expects growth to accelerate this year as it expands into a dozen states and puts to work the $5.25 million it raised in its first venture round.
New Retail P2P Investment: The Worthy Bond (P2P Lending Expert), Rated: A
When I wrote my book on P2P Lending for the retail investor, P2P Investing 101 (the paperback version here), that came out in November, there were only 7 options for retail investors. Those options were Lending Club and Prosper, as well as 5 options that take advantage of the adjustment to SEC Regulation A known as Reg A+.
We now have an 8th investment option. The Worthy Bond, which uses Reg A+ and comes from Worthy Financial. By using Reg A+, the Worthy Bond is available to retail investors as a proxy savings account within the p2p lending landscape.
Prices up for January, Subaru 0-percent financing (Kelley Blue Book), Rated: A
While the average transaction price (ATP) for light vehicles hit $36,270 in January, a whopping $1,360 or 3.9-percent gain over a year earlier, the ATP declined from December’s record, dropping $486 or 1.3 percent month over month.
Subaru 0-percent financing
Subaru, which has been setting sales records, typically runs tight inventories and keeps a close rein on incentives. However, through the rest of February it is offering 0-percent financing for 63 months on select models along with a couple of enticing fleet deals.
The 0-percent deal for 63 months is being extended on 2017/18 Legacy models, 2017/18 Outbacks and 2017 Foresters. On the 2018 Legacy, there’s also a $185 per month lease for three years with $2,595 down. The 2018 Outback is being offered on a 3-year lease deal for $239 per month with $1,739 down, while the 2018 Forester can be leased for 36 months at just $219 with $1,719 down.
Interest rates climb
According to Bankrate.com, the average 60-month new car loan is averaging 4.51 percent interest, a two-basis point increase over rates being offered at the end of November. Shorter 48-month loans are slightly cheaper, averaging 4.44 percent, again, two basis points higher than two months ago. On the used car side of the ledger, rates are closing in on the 5 percent level, averaging 4.97 percent on 3-year loans. That’s up from an average of 4.78 percent at the end of November.
Narmi integrates top fintech companies into digital banking platform for credit unions (CUInsight), Rated: A
Narmi, a financial technology company, showcases two of its remarkable fintech integrations – Billshark and Lemonade.
Billshark – Helping Reduce Monthly Bills for Millions of Americans
Billshark helps consumers reduce monthly bills on cable, satellite TV, wireless phone, internet and many other categories. There are currently approximately 375 million monthly bills in America and roughly 80% can be negotiated. The average amount saved per bill is $280-300.
Lemonade – Reinventing Insurance Through Artificial Intelligence
Lemonade provides a mobile-first, artificial intelligence-infused way to obtain a home insurance policy. The company’s focus is on homeowners and renters insurance, and policies start at $25 a month and $5 a month, respectively.
When fintech lite is the right small-business lending strategy (American Banker), Rated: A
Adding a community touch to automation has proved a profitable lending strategy for one bank.
Marquette Bank in Chicago has been able to digitize its lending processes and improve its credit memo creation time by upwards of 25% using technology from the cloud-based loan origination software firm Baker Hill.
Small-business lending has long been a staple of community banking, but in recent years customers have turned to online lenders and other fintechs for credit, in large part due to the speed and digital aspect of the experience.
Zelle’s next phase takes shape at BNY Mellon (American Banker), Rated: A
The banks behind the Zelle network had more in mind than P-to-P payments between consumers, and BNY Mellon is beginning the network’s evolution by targeting the business payments market.
Zelle will help support tokenized digital payments for institutional and corporate clients in a market that is notoriously resistant to automation. BNY Mellon hopes corporates will see the Zelle network’s ability to increase control over cash flow through near-instant processing.
Webster Bank Offers Customers An Automated Digital Investment Platform (PR Newswire), Rated: A
Webster Investments, a division of Webster Bank, N.A., now offers Guided Wealth Portfolios (GWP), an advisor-enhanced, digital investment platform designed to enhance customer experience by providing an additional option to manage their investments. The online investment platform was designed as an innovative option for clients seeking a technology-enabled investment solution combined with the opportunity to have a relationship with a financial advisor.
We’re partnering with SURE to bring you Small Business Insurance (Inc Authority Email), Rated: B
Small Business Insurance is an all-in-one policy that protects you and your growing business from critical risks. Your policy will cover:
- General liability
- Get up to $2 Million of coverage in legal and litigation issues tied to 3rd party claims of property damage, and bodily injury and associated medical costs.
- Business personal property
- Replace lost or damaged property owned by your business, such as computers, furniture, and machinery.
- Lost business income
- Receive up to $250,000 in lost income if your business has to close due to a covered loss.
- And other coverage
- Includes coverage for data breaches, litigious employees, non-business automobiles, and more.
Openwrks, Zopa and TrueLayer get into Open Banking groove (Finextra), Rated: AAA
The UK’s major banks are being shown a clean pair of heels by non-bank competitors in the Open Banking space, with new announcements by TrueLayer in tandem with Zopa, and Openwrks demonstrating the determination of third party providers to open up access to consumer account data.
China’s Ant plans equity fundraising at potential $ 100 billion valuation – sources (Reuters), Rated: AAA
China’s Ant Financial Services Group is planning to raise up to $5 billion in fresh equity that could value the online payments giant at more than $100 billion, people familiar with the move told Reuters.
The new round should start with a valuation of between $80 billion to $100 billion, the people said.
China Fintech Watchdog to Step Up ICO Oversight (CoinDesk), Rated: A
A self-regulatory association that draws support from China’s banking and securities sectors is vowing to increase its oversight over cryptocurrency and initial coin offerings (ICO) in 2018.
Loans.com.au slashes home loan rates for owner-occupiers, investors (mozo), Rated: AAA
Online lender, loans.com.au has today slashed rates for both owner-occupiers and investors on certain home loans, and is now offering some of the lowest mortgage rates in the market.
One of the changes was to cut the Essentials Variable 80 rate for owner-occupiers looking to make principal and interest repayments by 12 basis points, bringing it to a red hot 3.52% – the lowest rate for a loan of its kind in the Mozo database.
The rate on loans.com.au’s Offset Variable 80 for owner-occupiers making principal and interest repayments was also slashed by 12 basis points, bringing it down to a competitive 3.60%.
Online gold loan platform Rupeek gets $ 6.8 mn from Accel, Sequoia (VC Circle), Rated: AAA
Bengaluru-based Rupeek, which operates an online marketplace for gold loans, has raised $6.83 million (Rs 44 crore) in a fresh funding round led by Accel Partners.
Eduvanz Financing raises funds from Blinc Advisors (livemint), Rated: A
Eduvanz Financing Pvt. Ltd, an education technology start-up that provides loans for skill development to students, has raised $500,000 in a round of funding led by Blinc Advisors, a venture capital fund, a senior executive at the start-up said.
Fintech start-up EarlySalary is making emergency loans more affordable (Business-Standard), Rated: A
Neha Kumari needed a new phone urgently after her old one was damaged during a Saturday night party. To add to her difficulties, it was the beginning of the last week of the month and the salary day was 10 days away. Missing client calls for more than a couple of days was out of the question and the weekend was expensive anyway.
Neha, who did not have a credit card, could have borrowed from friends, but most of them were as broke as she was then. And borrowing from the family was ruled out. The last time she had borrowed Rs 10,000 from a friend to book emergency tickets was three …
Preventive measures (The Hindu Business Line), Rated: A
This is with reference to reports on market volatility. Regulators must ensure that this trend does not end up promoting alternative investment avenues of an uncertain nature. Investor interests demand that risk-based P2P lending via online/social marketplaces be regulated. Peer lending has significantly grown and enabled borrowers with a sub-par credit history. P2P lending is highly prone to performance risks on account of a higher probability of a borrower-default, credit risks owing to poor loan-sanctioning decisions & lack of fund-monitoring post disbursal, cash drag risks because of a larger borrower-population than the available lenders, platform Risks driven by borrower insolvency or frauds or technology risks/cybersecurity breaches and market risks owing to interest rate fluctuations and unemployment risks leading to non-payments.
What’s Driving India’s Fintech Boom? (Wharton), Rated: A
With more than 200 million active users in India — the largest anywhere in the world — WhatsApp is expected to drive large volumes on peer-to-peer (P2P) payments and also become a popular platform for merchant payments. India is slated to be the first country globally to get the payments facility from WhatsApp.
Other global giants, too, are zeroing in on this space. For instance, Google has already launched its payments app Google Tez (“Tez” in Hindi means fast), while Samsung has launched Samsung Pay and Amazon has introduced Amazon Pay.
Paytm, India’s largest online payments and mobile wallet company, has invested Rs. 5,000 crore ($786 million) in mobile payments to date.
This was 13% less than $14.6 billion in 2015. On the other hand, fintech investments in Asia increased to $5.4 billion in 2016, up 12.5% from $4.8 billion in 2015.
Fintech Will Change How We Bank (Business-Standard), Rated: A
In the not too distant future, there may come a time, where we cease to interact with the banks as we know it. Banks which were monolithic organization who created the products, sold it directly and owned the customers are being slowly ceding ground to so called new breed fintech companies chipping away at the edges. While regulations and strict KYC/AML regulations still enable banks to continue to be in business, the power they once wielded is diminishing. As Niti Aayog Chairman, Amitabh Kant said “Debit cards, credit cards and ATMs might lose relevance in the next four years”.


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With a hard deadline set for the digital television (DTV) transition on his watch, U.S. Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.) now wants to mount a consumer education campaign for the switch from analog to digital television.
Barton, the former chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, introduced legislation late Monday that would require electronics retailers to display informational signs near any analog-only televisions and mandate DTV progress reports from broadcasters and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
As chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Barton spearheaded the House legislation that sets Feb. 17, 2009 as the end of analog broadcasting in the United States. After that, television sets must have digital tuners to receive an over-the-air signal.
To help ease the conversion to digital television broadcasting for American households that currently receive exclusively over-the-air broadcasts, the legislation authorizes $1.5 billion in digital converter-box subsidies.
“Some provisions in that good bill were designed to educate consumers about the DTV transition and the converter-box program,” Barton said in a statement. “Regrettably, those provisions were stripped out and left behind because of Senate procedural rules. So the bill we introduce today reasserts the necessary public education provisions that were left out last year.”
The Digital Television Consumer Education Act of 2007 calls for retailers to post notices that analog-only television sets will not be able to receive the new digital signals unless they are connected to a digital signal converter box.
The FCC already has rules in place requiring television manufacturers to put digital receivers in all television sets after March 17.
The bill would also require broadcasters to file regular reports with the FCC detailing their DTV consumer education efforts, such as public service announcements. The FCC, in turn, would be required to mount a public service campaign about the DTV transition.
“Digital televisions are selling like umbrellas in a thunderstorm, outpacing all expectations, and the Feb. 17, 2009 transition date is still two years away. But we should use our transition time wisely,” Barton said.
He also said the number of people needing a subsidy for converter boxes should be relatively small. The National Telecommunications and Information Agency will administer the program.
“According to the FCC, only 14 percent of television households relied exclusively on over-the-air antennas as of June 2005,” Barton said. “That number is likely to dwindle even further as more consumers subscribe to satellite and cable service, including from new entrants such as the phone companies.”
The National Association of Broadcasters praised Barton’s bill in a statement, noting, “We welcome all pro-consumer initiatives designed to positively educate America on the transition from analog to digital television.”


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The fourth-generation Ford Escape is one of the automaker's global players. It is also offered as the Kuga in Europe where it’s currently the best-selling plug-in hybrid model for the entire continent. It turns out Ford has plans to further expand the Escape/Kuga range with a new seven-seat version.
According to a new report from FordAuthority, the Blue Oval is currently working on a three-row Escape/Kuga based on the same C2 platform that also underpins the new Bronco and the Euro-spec Focus. The duo will adopt a longer wheelbase and will receive a more conventional roofline than the five-seat variants for more headroom at the back.
Gallery: 2020 Ford Kuga Plug-In Hybrid
Inside the cabin, there won’t be drastic changes but, obviously, the interior will gain a third row of seats, which will be accessible through a sliding second row of seats. The powertrain range will be carried over from the five-seat Escape/Kuga.
The Kuga PHEV:
Internally known as the CX430 project, the new seven-seater will be launched at both sides of the Atlantic. In Europe, it’ll replace three Ford models at once - the slow-selling Edge, and the S-Max and Galaxy vans, which will be discontinued after their current generations. In the United States, it’ll be positioned as a direct rival for the Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace and the likes.
On the Old Continent, the new family hauler will most likely receive either the Kuga Max or Grand Kuga monikers. It’ll be produced at Ford’s Valencia plants, where the Mondeo is also assembled and will be released on the market in the first months of 2022.


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Dollar and Thrifty Rent A Toll Pass24 Program in Denver, Colorado
Dollar Rent A Car and Thrifty Car Rental will now offer their of Rent A Toll prepaid toll service in the metro Denver market. The company began offering the same service in Dallas and Houston earlier this year and I think it is the best thing to happen to rental cars since GPS. Really, who has cash for the tolls?
“Pass24 is proving to be a great time-saving option for our customers,” said Scott Anderson, senior executive vice president of corporate operations for Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group. “We have already celebrated successful launches in Dallas and Houston, and we are pleased to expand the convenience of Pass24 to our customers traveling the 65 miles of toll roads in the metropolitan Denver area. All toll charges are included in the $8.95 per day fee, which eliminates the hassle of reconciling separate charges to
the customer’s credit card after the car is returned.”
The program, branded Pass24, is available at three Dollar locations and one Thrifty location in the Denver area, including Denver
International Airport. The service will cost you a bargain for $8.95 per day. Customers who want to utilize Pass24 should request it at the rental counter.
Tollways served by Pass24 in the Denver metropolitan area include E-470, the Northwest Parkway and the I-25 Express Lanes.
Where will the go next? I’m crossing my fingers for Chicagoland.


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ANEXT Bank launches new initiative to drive financial inclusion for SMEs
By Leandra Monteiro
ANEXT Bank, a digital wholesale bank incorporated in Singapore and a wholly owned subsidiary of Ant Group, unveiled its latest initiative to drive further industry collaboration as part of its mission to enable inclusive financing for SMEs.
The initiative aims to improve and scale embedded finance for SMEs, making it easier for businesses to access financing, as well as to monitor and manage it on platforms where they run their business.
The ANEXT Programme for Industry Specialists is open to the participation of all e-commerce marketplaces, FinTech companies and digital solutions providers who support SMEs’ cross-border operations through digital-based services or platforms. ANEXT Bank will collaborate with these industry specialists to expand the breadth of service offerings for SMEs on their platforms to include digital financial services offered by ANEXT Bank.
This will allow SMEs to have one-stop access to a more comprehensive suite of services, and to gain a consolidated view of their business such as wallet balance, loan amount and repayment status, etc.
Speaking of the initiative, Toh Su Mei, the Chief Executive Officer of ANEXT Bank said, “With our secure banking capabilities and first-hand knowledge on what it takes to do business digitally, ANEXT Bank is well positioned to help partners unlock more growth opportunities by enabling access to financing to SMEs on their platforms. At the same time, industry specialists are domain experts in their respective fields and they can provide deep insights on the challenges and needs of SMEs. Together, we can create unique use cases and solve financing pain points for SMEs at scale.”
FinTech company IN Financial Technologies and Business Process Management provider Bizmann System are among the first to take part in the programme. The two partners combined are serving close to 15,000 SMEs.
As part of the ANEXT Programme for Industry Specialists launch, ANEXT Bank provided a preview of the ANEXT Business Loan to complement its existing ANEXT Business Account. The ANEXT Business Loan is a fuss-free and flexible unsecured financing solution with two repayment options “pay-per-use” and “pay monthly” available at competitive rates. The minimum loan amount available starts at S$5,000.
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Top 10: Kellogg brings cereal brands together, KFC “Seasoned Tickets” sell out
Grocery news made a big showing in this week’s list of most-clicked stories among SmartBrief’s food and beverage readers. The subject of the past week’s most popular story was Kellogg, which released a new cereal on Oct. 17 to support anti-bullying and LGBTQ advocacy by GLAAD. Called All Together Cereal, the online-only product combines Frosted Flakes, Froot Loops, Rice Krispies, Frosted Mini Wheats, Raisin Bran and Corn Flakes in one box.
The week’s second most popular story was Whole Foods’ annual list of food trend predictions, which is perennially popular with SmartBrief readers. For 2020, the retailer predicts sugar alternatives, nonalcoholic cocktail ingredients, fruit and vegetable flours, and West African foods like moringa and fonio will rule supermarket shelves. Another retailer that made headlines this week was Florida-based Publix, which launched a clothing line based around its popular Pub subs.
In restaurant news, Blue Hill at Stone Barns generated buzz this week when it earned its first two Michelin stars. Michelin expanded its 2020 New York City Guide to include Westchester County, which includes the city of Pocantico Hills where chef Dan Barber's acclaimed restaurant is located. On the other end of the dining spectrum, KFC grabbed readers’ attention with its offer of a $75 season pass that entitles pass holders to weekly orders of chicken wings for 10 weeks. The 500 available “Seasoned Tickets” passes sold out on StubHub in less than two hours.
Read the entire Top 10:
- How did pumpkin spice become the dominant flavor of fall?
- Plant-based meat brands find ways to stand out in a growing field
- Retailers, restaurants tap into a powerful resource that’s in their employees’ own pockets
Interested in aligning your brand alongside the hot topics of the year? Check out what SmartBrief's Food & Travel editors have identified as trending content topics for 2019 (download).
If you enjoyed this article, sign up for Restaurant Smartbrief to get news like this in your inbox, or check out all of SmartBrief’s food and travel newsletters as we offer more than 30 newsletters covering the food and travel industries from restaurants, food retail and food manufacturing to business travel, the airline and hotel industries and gaming.


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Mastercard has announced that its joint venture entity, Mastercard NUCC Information Technology has received formal approval from the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and the National Administration of Financial Regulation to commence domestic bankcard clearing activity in China.
In February 2020, the PBOC principally approved the application from Mastercard NUCC to begin formal preparations to set up a domestic bankcard clearing institution in China. Since that time, the JV has established standards, rules, structures and infrastructure in line with local regulatory requirements, and obtained the required certificates for a local switch business.
This news continues Mastercard’s expansion, with the company recently forming a partnership with Feedzai to battle fraud relating to crypto. The news received widespread positivity from people at Mastercard. Michael Miebach, CEO of Mastercard, said: “We are pleased to have reached this milestone with our local partner NUCC. Mastercard’s deeper participation in the Chinese market will benefit the country, its consumers and its businesses, while simultaneously boosting our company’s mission of connecting and powering an inclusive digital economy that benefits everyone and unlocks priceless possibilities for all.”
Continuing Mastercard’s strong growth in China
Ling Hai, chairman of the board of Mastercard NUCC and co-president, international markets at Mastercard, commented: “Mastercard NUCC is committed to being in China as an active partner, working to expand issuance and acceptance of Mastercard-branded products for the benefit of local businesses and consumers. As we ramp up our domestic operations, we look forward to working with customers and partners in China to harness technologies and innovations in a way that empowers local businesses and delivers the best payments experiences to people every day.”
In recent years, Mastercard has built a strong cross-border portfolio in China that includes tens of millions of bank cards and millions of acceptance points across the country, helping power connectivity to the global economy and driving cross-border and inbound commerce in China. Earlier this year, Mastercard enabled inbound acceptance via Alipay and Tencent wallets so that international cardholders can pay safely and conveniently like a local at tens of millions of QR payment points when travelling around China.
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Local manufacturers of cooking oil have decried the unavailability of raw materials in the country.
Demand for palm fruits in the country currently stands at 400,000 tons, however, the local market is only able to meet 150,000 tons of the demand, this has compelled manufacturers to import about 90% palm fruits from countries like Singapore and Malaysia.
Industry players have expressed serious concerns about how the situation is affecting growth of the sector. One of the major producers of cooking oil in Ghana, Wilmar African Limited for instance spends about 40 million dollars on imports of raw materials.
Speaking to Starr FM, the General Manager for Wilmar Africa, producers of Frytol, Mr. Lacina Coulibaly blamed the development on the complex land tenure system which makes it difficult for the establishment of large oil palm plantations.
According to him, local producers are willing and ready to invest in their own oil palm plantations just as his company has done at Benso Oil Palm Planation (BOPP) however, prevailing conditions such as inadequate lands have become a key hindrance. ‘Our main issue here is the land acquisition because we do not have our own plantation, but the main challenge is how to increase and how to enlarge this plantation by having the land.’ He said.
Mr. Coulibaly called on government to step in to secure large tracts of lands for cultivation of palm fruits in order to reduce foreign exchange lost to importation. ‘We are not interested in importing palm oil if it is available in Ghana: we will be creating jobs and that’s good for all of us.’ He said.
Wilmar Africa acquired the Frytol franchise from Unilever in 2010 together with BOPP, since then, they have been commanding about 70% of the domestic market.
By: Nora Asiedu


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Consumer credit in the United States went up by USD 23.3 billion in July 2019, the most in a year, easily beating market expectations of a USD 16.1 billion rise. Revolving credit including credit card borrowing climbed USD 10 billion, following a revised USD 0.2 billion decline in June. In addition, non-revolving credit including loans for education and automobiles rose USD 13.3 billion, after a USD 14.0 billion increase in the previous month. Year-on-year, consumer credit growth accelerated to 6.8 percent in July from 4.1 percent in June, as revolving credit jumped 11.2 percent (vs -0.2 percent in June), whereas non-revolving credit rose 5.3 percent (vs 5.6 percent in June). Consumer Credit in the United States averaged 4.48 USD Billion from 1943 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 116.79 USD Billion in December of 2010 and a record low of -111.95 USD Billion in December of 2015.
Consumer Credit in the United States is expected to be 14.95 USD Billion by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Consumer Credit in the United States to stand at 17.43 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the United States Consumer Credit Change is projected to trend around 16.27 USD Billion in 2020, according to our econometric models.


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For the fist time, Herbst Software are delighted to be exhibiting at the Food, Retail and Hospitality Expo, on Thursday the 1st of December 2022, in the Sport Ireland Campus, Blanchardstown.
The Food, Retail & Hospitality Expo is a platform to bring together retailers, food service companies, hospitality groups, regulatory groups and key suppliers of equipment, technology, food and services to Ireland’s commercial kitchens and food retailers.
The show is also to facilitate the sharing of knowledge and best practise as well as offering an unrivaled opportunity to connect key buyers from the food retailing, food service and hospitality sector with key exhibitors supplying into these sectors.
The Food, Retail & Hospitality Show serves as an annual forum for food retailers, food service operators and hospitality providers seeking to improve their competitiveness and business performance to discuss issues of interest with their counterparts, while also being able to meet with suppliers of equipment, technology, food and services offering possible solutions.
Herbst software will be one of over 150 exhibitors at this year’s Food, Retail & Hospitality Expo and you will find our sales director, Sean and our sales development manager, Conor manning the Herbst stand.
Our stand number this year is M10, and we are looking forward to seeing some current customers and new faces stopping by!
*CLICK HERE for the full list of exhibitors that will be attending the Food, Retail & Hospitality Expo website*
At Herbst, we have over 35 years’ experience in developing and implementing fully integrated management solutions and have hundreds of food manufacturing businesses currently using our customised solutions with specialised capabilities and functionalities.
Some key benefits of our Herbst business management solutions that we will be demonstrating at the Food, Retail & Hospitality Expo:
We are looking forward to meeting new and familiar faces at the Food, Retail & Hospitality Expo and bringing our fully integrated solutions which can help you digitally transform your business!


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ABB Channels $170 million into U.S. Automation and Electrification Businesses
ABB has announced an investment of $170 million to enhance its manufacturing capabilities in electrification and automation in the U.S., helping the nation achieve supply chain independence and a clean energy future.
Swiss-Swedish multinational corporation ABB is making a series of investments in the U.S. market amounting to about $170 million. This investment will go toward its automation and electrification businesses to create top-tier, skills-focused jobs to meet the rising demand of industry-leading customers while supporting the reshoring of production and the clean energy transition.
ABB is investing in the future of America’s economy by supporting its automation and electrification businesses. Image used courtesy of ABB
Supporting the Clean Energy Transition
ABB’s U.S. market is its largest, totaling 24 percent of its yearly revenue. ABB sells 85 percent of its products in the U.S. Locally sourcing these products strengthens the U.S. supply chain and keeps good-paying manufacturing jobs in America. Recent legislation provides ABB with the drive to invest in new technologies, distribution systems, and improved manufacturing capacity to stay competitive and satisfy customer needs.
The Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law in 2022 and aims to reduce inflation and promote clean energy. The Act provides incentives for businesses to invest in clean energy technologies, such as solar and wind power, and requires the federal government to set emissions reduction targets for each state. It also includes tax credits for businesses that invest in clean energy projects and establishes a Clean Energy Trust Fund to support research and development of new green technologies. This Act is an important step towards reducing carbon emissions, creating jobs, and helping the U.S. become more energy independent.
ABB has taken several initiatives to invest in clean energy and reduce its environmental impact, which aligns with many national policies and targets related to sustainable energy. Some of these initiatives are:
- Offering sustainable and energy-efficient solutions.
- Developing renewable energy solutions, such as solar inverters, wind power converters, and energy storage systems. These products help to increase the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix.
- Promoting electric mobility through the provision of charging solutions for electric vehicles (EVs), including fast charging stations for cars and buses.
- Partnering with governments and organizations like the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to support the development of renewable energy projects.
Reshoring production and sourcing products locally are key steps in shoring up and growing America’s economy. Image used courtesy of ABB
Securing the U.S. Semiconductor Supply Chain
The CHIPS and Science Act was signed into law August 9, 2022 with the purpose of increasing investment in semiconductor manufacturing and research in the U.S. to address concerns about the country's reliance on foreign sources of semiconductors and the potential impact on national security and economic competitiveness.
ABB is a major supplier of automation and control systems used in the semiconductor industry. The company's products and solutions play a vital role in the manufacturing of semiconductors. By providing energy-efficient and sustainable solutions for semiconductor manufacturing processes, ABB contributes to a more sustainable and secure semiconductor supply chain in the U.S.
A rendering of ABB's new manufacturing facility in New Berlin, Wisconsin, scheduled for completion by 2024. Image used courtesy of ABB
ABB Investment Projects
ABB will be opening the Drives and Services manufacturing facility in New Berlin, Wisconsin. The company intends to expand upon its existing customer services and increase the production volume of industrial electric drives. ABB is investing around $100 million into the greenfield project which will replace an existing facility nearby. The project is planned for completion at the end of 2024.
ABB has also invested $40 million into the building of a manufacturing plant (in Albuquerque, New Mexico) for Elastimold, a supplier of pre-molded cable accessory modules. This investment is hoped to help create a more stable grid infrastructure for the U.S. ABB is also funneling an investment of $20 million into the expansion of its robotics headquarters and manufacturing facility in Auburn Hills, Michigan.
Another investment includes the launch of a $2 million packaging and logistics facility for full-circle robotic automation solutions. The facility will support retail, warehouse and distribution, and logistics industries. ABB has also opened a manufacturing facility for EV chargers and aims to generate 10,000 chargers a year. This e-mobility investment will create chargers with 20 to 180 kilowatts in power output which will be used to help operators build an up-to-date national charging infrastructure.
Electrification and Automation
These are just some of the investments that ABB is undertaking, intending to shore up U.S. supply chains and encourage wider adoption of electrification and automation technologies while prevailing to help America achieve a clean energy future.


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Public cloud IaaS vendor CloudSigma recently announced the expansion of its U.S. public cloud presence by adding service locations based at Equinix’s Silicon Valley and Boca Raton datacenters. The addition of the Silicon Valley and Boca Raton locations to CloudSigma’s Equinix Washington D.C. datacenter will reduce latency and improve performance and redundancy for customers in the U.S. CloudSigma CEO Robert Jenkins remarked on the significance of the company’s presence in Silicon Valley and Miami as follows:
Both Silicon Valley and Miami are regions where we are committed to serving with increased performance. Silicon Valley is already ahead of the curve in many respects when it comes to the cloud and cloud-based compute resources, but we also see a lot of promise with Latin America as companies go straight to the cloud to deal with the explosive growth they’re experiencing, especially in mobile services. These types of native cloud apps, alongside the progress we’re seeing with Internet of Things and Web services being developed in our cloud, will further the success of this expansion and lay the groundwork for more locations in the near future.
Here, Jenkins remarks on the promise implicit in the ability of both facilities, and the Miami facility in particular, to expand CloudSigma’s market penetration in Latin America. Jenkins understands CloudSigma’s expanded U.S. presence as facilitating the explosive growth in cloud-based mobile apps, in addition to emerging verticals specific to the internet of things. CloudSigma’s expanded partnership with Equinix reveals an astute strategic move to capture IaaS market share in Latin America while concurrently improving latency, performance and redundancy for U.S. and Latin American customers alike. The deal represents an especially strong coup for CloudSigma because improvements in latency are likely to be critical for the emerging proliferation of use cases marked by the confluence of big data and cloud computing platforms. As such, CloudSigma positions itself as another significant IaaS player in the North American market that lies poised to take advantage of hiccups from major IaaS vendors such as the Azure outage from the last week.
CloudSigma today announced the addition of another IaaS, public cloud deployment within the U.S. In addition to its Las Vegas based cloud at SwitchNAP, CloudSigma will now have a public cloud deployment at the Equinix’s DC6 International Business Exchange (IBX) in Washington D.C. The addition of a secondary public cloud deployment will provide customers with greater failover and replication capabilities in addition to reduced latency times. CloudSigma CEO Robert Jenkins remarked on the company’s expansion within the U.S. as follows:
The combination of increasing customer demand and our growing partnership with Equinix made this an ideal time to grow our public cloud to a second U.S. data center location. This expansion shows further validation for our uniquely flexible and customer-centric public cloud model – something we expect to build out in additional regions, including Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, in the near future.
According to the company’s press release, web-based applications that take advantage of the additional public cloud location in DC in addition to Las Vegas are likely to see end-user performance improvements on the order of 100% in select geographic locales. Today’s announcement additionally underscores the popularity of the Equinix’s DC6 International Business Exchange (IBX) data center in Ashburn as a key internet hub because of its direct connection to Amazon Web Services, and home to nine of the top ten CDNs as well as nine prominent ad exchanges. The larger point illustrated by CloudSigma’s expansion, however, is that enterprise customers in the U.S. have an increasingly wide range of cloud options and are likely to benefit from supplementary education and consulting services regarding how to sift through the dizzying array of cloud products and platforms.
Zurich-based IaaS vendor CloudSigma recently announced price cuts to its IaaS platform in conjunction with the performance and efficiency enhancements resulting from its recent upgrade to CloudSigma 2.0. CloudSigma 2.0 boasts reduced latency and a solid-state drive (SSD) platform that has resulted in performance increases for customers in the range of 30-40%. Key features of the CloudSigma 2.0 platform include the following:
•Advanced CPU functionality including CPU emulation and non-uniform access (NUMA) visibility
•Hypervisor timer settings
•Ability to control the size of virtual cores
•Support for software defined networking
In addition to the enhanced functionality specific to its 2.0 platorm, CloudSigma claims that its price cuts derive from decreasing costs for hardware as traditional OEM server providers such as IBM and HP encounter competition from vendors such as Quanta and Supermicro. CloudSigma’s RAM pricing decreased by 20% whereas its CPU pricing decreased by 15%. CloudSigma joins ProfitBricks in slashing its IaaS prices although the latter has recently become the subject of a number of security breaches discovered after its announcement to reduce prices to compete with Amazon Web Services.
This week, public cloud IaaS vendor CloudSigma announced it decision to transition its storage infrastructure to solid-state drives (SSD) as opposed to hard-disk drive (HDD) storage in an effort to increase the performance and reliability of its storage solutions. CloudSigma’s SSD storage will be powered by SolidFire. CloudSigma CEO Robert Jenkins believes that SSD can remove “storage bottlenecks and inconsistent performance” in ways that revolutionize standards for storage within the public cloud industry. SolidFire CEO and founder Dave Wright elaborated on the innovation of wholesale adoption of SSD by an IaaS provider as follows:
Our SSD storage system is designed specifically for cloud providers like CloudSigma to help bring their customers’ business-critical and performance-sensitive applications to the cloud without concern of disruption. Performance predictability starts with guaranteeing quality of service, which is why we’re the first to deliver it, and challenge the industry to follow suit. This partnership enables CloudSigma to deliver more consistent quality for the thousands of applications within its shared public cloud infrastructure.
CloudSigma’s SSD storage platform will be priced equivalently to its HDD storage infrastructure at $0.14 GB per month. Customers have the option of purchasing its SSD storage solutions separately from the rest of its public cloud infrastructure. According to The Register, Databarracks and ViaWest have SSD storage options but very few IaaS vendors have moved their storage infrastructures entirely to SSD, an option available to Zurich-based CloudSigma by virtue of its relatively small operational scale.
ActiveState has partnered with IaaS vendor CloudSigma to allow CloudSigma to resell its Stackato PaaS platform as part of its portfolio of cloud products. CloudSigma will offer ActiveState Stackato in order to cater to the needs of customers interested in cloud deployments that leverage Stackato’s “any cloud, any stack and any language,” PaaS platform. The partnership represents a strategic move by ActiveState to broaden the channel for Stackato’s distribution by collaborating with an IaaS vendor whose customers may wish to differentially utilize IaaS and PaaS platforms for discrete enterprise cloud projects and initiatives. ActiveState’s partnership with CloudSigma illustrates a growing trend in the PaaS space marked by the availability of PaaS platforms within third party IaaS infrastructures. Earlier this year, for example, CloudBees announced the availability of its PaaS platform AnyCloud on Amazon Web Services and other IaaS hosting environments. Similarly, the integration of Nimbula’s Nimbula Director 2.0 IaaS platform with 3rd party PaaS platforms offers the performance, scalability and management tools of a public IaaS cloud to private PaaS cloud deployments.


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GONE are the times when foodie bragging rights were earned according to the number of air miles one is willing to chalk up just to get a whiff of Chef X's famous this or a bite of Chef Y's handcrafted that.
In the current era of the celebrity chef and his rapidly expanding global restaurant empire, it's the chef who comes to the diner - not the other way around.
Come mid-March this year, local diners will be further spoilt for choice: revered Hong Kong dim sum chain Tim Ho Wan will be opening its first overseas outpost in the newly launched atrium wing of Plaza Singapura. The 100-seater will occupy a 2,000-sq ft space across from Starbucks Coffee in the mall's ground floor.
Tim Ho Wan's chef-founder Mak Kwai Pui says that the idea for a Singapore outlet was first broached by a long-time patron of his restaurant, Robert Chua, about half a year ago.
Singapore-born, Hong Kong-based Mr Chua is a well-known television personality often credited for being one of Asia's pioneer broadcasters. Both he and his younger brother, founder and chairman of Hersing Corporation Harry Chua, will back the local venture.
"One of my conditions for agreeing is that everything has to be done like I do back home," Mr Mak tells BT Weekend in a phone interview from Hong Kong.
This includes serving dishes one course at a time so that each item can be eaten piping hot, rather than laid out all at once as is commonly done here.
"Singapore has so many Chinese people who love dim sum, but there's nowhere that offers real, authentic Hong Kong-style dim sum," says Mr Mak.
The menu at Tim Ho Wan Singapore will be 80 per cent similar to the one in Hong Kong and will include familiar favourites such as his famed barbecued pork buns. The other 20 per cent will comprise made-for-Singapore special creations that will be introduced gradually once operations are running smoothly.
Prices will be slightly higher here due to higher labour costs and rental ("the rent here is 40 per cent more than my most expensive outlet in Hong Kong"), but will likely average around $4 per item.
Mr Mak plans to fly in to Singapore every three to four months to ensure that standards are consistent. In his absence, he's recruited a Singaporean dim sum chef from Marriott Hotel's Wan Hao restaurant to helm the kitchen. The chef will spend a week or two in Hong Kong later this month to familiarise himself with Tim Ho Wan's take on the art of dim sum making.
Formerly a dim sum chef at three Michelin-star Lung King Heen restaurant, Mr Mak's first solo foray, a grubby, hole-in-the-wall Mongkok eatery, surprised global gourmands by earning a Michelin star in its first year of operations, which it has kept since 2009.
On Feb 3, he will open the chain's fifth outlet, a 100-seater in Olympian City, a West Kowloon shopping mall. The chain has three other outlets in Central, North Point and Sham Sui Po. The latter outlet and the one in Mongkok are the only ones with a star in the 2012 Michelin guide.
Mr Mak hopes to open three to four outlets here in the next two years, before branching out to Malaysia, Thailand or even Australia.
"Once everything is set on track, it won't be tiring," says the 50-year-old. "I want to do this while I still can, and not wait eight to 10 years, when I might not have the energy for this anymore."


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Six apprentices can soon learn their trade at a major supermarket chain thanks to a jobs boost.
Aldi are looking to bolster their ranks across Newcastle for its stores in Howdon, Palmersville, Gateshead, South Shields and McKendrick Villas Newcastle, during 2015 as part of their apprenticeship scheme.
Applications for the scheme open on Monday, March 9 to coincide with the start of National Apprenticeship Week and will close on Friday, September 11.
Those successful will be trained in all aspects of retail management during the three-year course.
The scheme offers Store assistant training in year one and store management training in years two and three with a salary of £5.30 per hour rising to £7.63 per hour.
Successful apprentices will be offered a deputy manager position upon completion of the course, and can progress onto assistant store manager, while apprentices will also achieve a retail apprenticeship level three qualification.
By the end of the scheme, the most successful store apprentices will have the opportunity to progress to the position of assistant store manager with a starting salary of £24,500.
Applications for the scheme should be submitted via Aldi’s recruitment website www.aldirecruitment.co.uk and successful candidates will be asked to attend a group interview followed by an ‘Aldi experience’ at a local store.
Ruth Doyle, regional managing director at Aldi, said: “The Aldi Apprentice Scheme will deliver opportunities for committed and resourceful young people nationwide. Successful candidates will be joining one of the most dynamic and fast-growing retailers in the UK, with a proven track record in developing its staff.
“Aldi’s apprentices are given real responsibility from day one, with the opportunity to learn about the business from a grassroots level, and we expect our recruits to progress to a managerial level.”


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While the proposed HbbTV standard is seen by some as a pan-European solution for hybrid broadcast broadband television, others that have experienced the difficulties in developing and promoting common interactive television standards such as MHP remain more sceptical.
“As a digital television technology executive it is really disturbing to wake up each day and find that somebody has supposedly found a better way to build a technical solution for interactive digital television services,” Anthony Smith-Chaigneau, the managing director of Alticast Germany, told informitv.
“HbbTV is presented by some as a new pan-European initiative but it seems to be just another way to revitalise previous attempts to bring the web to the television.”
He points out that for well over a decade the industry has experimented with combining broadcast and the internet, so far with limited success.
Back in 1995 WebTV, based on HTML and backed by Microsoft, attempted to marry the web and television.
Around 2000 one of the goals of the ATVEF initiative was to create a specification for interactive television based on HTML.
So far, these and other initiatives have not met with much success. HbbTV is just another acronym aiming to combine the web and television, suggests the veteran of many standards battles, and yet is “still the same of mousetrap”.
The longstanding proponent of MHP, and co-author of Interactive TV Standards, the standard text on the subject, is dismissive of the bold claims being made for HbbTV.
He says the industry appears to be wallpapering over all the other initiatives that have gone before, such as MHP, which has already been deployed in a number of countries across Europe and the rest of the world.
HbbTV, he observes, is now being promoted by the broadcast technology institute IRT, previously a supporter of MHP, a solution he says failed miserably in the German market, which he attributes to a failure to find an interactive business model in digital terrestrial television.
As teletext services are being switched off in the United Kingdom, the Germans are advocating HbbTV to deliver such services, which he suggests are arguably less relevant in a broadband connected world.
He is highly critical of the focus on changing technology, rather than addressing the underlying business model of broadcasting. As he puts it: “re-hashing technology not fit for purpose and changing nothing because the business model remains the same”.
“HbbTV has many, many flaws and is not available for mass production,” he asserts, adding that it faces the same intellectual property issues as previous interactive solutions. He suggests that HbbTV is simply an attempt to recreate DVB-MHP using HTML instead of Java.
HbbTV is a browser solution for television, but that raises the question of which browser implementation and the difficulties inherent in supporting different browsers in an open environment, a problem that is familiar from the world of the web.
MHP is already capable of supporting HTML through a browser plugin and is already deployed in hybrid broadband broadcast networks, he notes, offering seamless services such as catch-up programming, video on demand, interactive advertising, personalisation, voting, games and social networking, as well as programme-related services such as digital text and electronic programme guides.
Needless to say, as a provider of compliant products, already powering anything from DVB-MHP and Tru2way set-top boxes to Blu-ray disc devices, Anthony Smith-Chaigneau of Alticast believes that MHP, based on Java and GEM standards, is a viable solution for hybrid broadcast broadband.
Although it has been adopted in some countries, such as Italy, MHP has not been widely deployed across Europe. The question will be whether HbbTV is likely to be any more successful in establishing a harmonised standard for interactive television services. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.


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The Government is establishing a national Future High Streets Forum, co-chaired by Alliance Boots health and beauty chief executive Alex Gourlay, to develop the work done by the Portas Pilots.
Gourlay will work alongside housing and local government minister Mark Prisk to advise the Portas Pilots and Town Teams on how to further boost ailing high streets.
Members of the forum will include representatives from John Lewis, the British Retail Consortium, the British Property Federation, the British Council of Shopping Centres, the Association of Town & City Management and the Association of Convenience Stores.
The forum will bring figures in the retail, property and business sectors together to better understand the challenges high streets are facing, as well as to drive through new ideas.
Gourlay said: “High streets are vital for the health of our communities, providing services and support that are accessible and within easy walking distance for many people.
“From speaking to our customers, we know that the survival of the high street is very important to them.”
High streets have been struggling as consumer spending has declined and the popularity of online shopping has surged. The Government has been working to boost high streets with the 27 Portas Pilots and 330 Town Teams across the country, for which the forum will act as an adviser going forward.
The forum will also advise the Government on the challenges facing the high street and help develop policies to enable town centres to adapt and change.
Prisk said: “It is clear that our high streets will need to change to prosper. There is already great work being done across the country to revitalise the town centres, but it needs to spread further faster. The Future High Streets Forum will help us do that.”
The forum plans to tackle issues such as parking, making it easier for vacant spaces to be used as pop-up shops and reinforcing town centre first planning rules.


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The Trade War Turns Against Tech
The major averages posted their second straight day of gains following the White House’s decision to delay enacting a 20% tariff on auto imports from Europe — a threat that Trump considered his “most important weapon” in the trade war just one year ago.
But it’s technology — not the auto market — that’s emerging as the next trade war battlefield.
Trump signed an order late Wednesday that aims to ban telecom equipment from foreign adversaries, the Associated Press reports, “in a move apparently targeted at China’s Huawei Technologies.”
“While [the executive order] doesn’t name specific countries or companies, it follows months of U.S. pressure on Huawei, the world’s biggest supplier of network gear,” MarketWatch notes. “A ban would also affect China-based ZTE Corp., which saw its stock tumble in Hong Kong trading.”
Given the political tensions stemming from the arrest of the firm’s CFO in Canada late last year and accusations of espionage, Huawei is likely to remain top-dog in China as East and West segregate their tech, even as Huawei fights for global 5G leadership. Trump’s new order appears to cement this theory.
Let’s not forget that the company logged its best year ever with a reported $107 billion in revenue in 2018. Huawei will probably come out of this mess just fine as it continues to dominate China’s smartphone and tablet markets — no matter how the trade war shakes out.
Turning to the markets, futures have recovered from the Trump’s surprise executive order.
Stocks are pushing for a green open this morning as Asian and European markets fight into positive territory. The 2,800 area I highlighted on the S&P yesterday is holding up just fine. Remember, a bounce at these levels will probably lead to a bigger rally, while failure might trigger the next wave of selling. Nothing to cause alarm just yet…
Meanwhile, high-profile IPOs are making moves.
Uber Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:UBER) snapped out of its funk yesterday, gaining more than 3% to post its second-straight day of gains following its disastrous debut on the Nasdaq late last week.
The ride-hailing company’s long journey to Wall Street was supposed to reinvigorate an IPO market that recently found itself on the ropes following the Lyft Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT) debacle. Speaking of Lyft, this poor little stock also enjoyed a nice rebound yesterday, gaining nearly 7% by the closing bell.
Perhaps the ride-hailing stocks are back in fashion thanks to the media’s obsession with celebrity wealth. You’ve probably seen several fluff pieces on music icon Beyoncé’s Uber haul. In 2015, Beyoncé was asked to perform at an Uber event for $6 million. While that’s quite the chunk of change to play a show, Beyoncé eschewed that payment for equity in the company, Yahoo Finance notes.
While estimates were all over the map, those shares could be worth around $9 million after Uber’s IPO on Friday.
Beyoncé was not the only celebrity investor, Forbes reports. Leonardo DiCaprio and Gwyneth Paltrow among others have also reportedly invested in Uber. Ashton Kutcher was also an early investor.
Now, we’re seeing the celebrity bandwagon shift to the fake meat stocks as the veggie burger hype escalates.
High-profile celebs such as Leonardo DiCaprio are now piling into fake meat frontrunner Impossible Foods as the company preps for its public market debut. It’s no surprise why…
Competitor Beyond Meat (NASDAQ:BYND) is screaming to new highs again this week after Tim Hortons announced that they’ll be adding Beyond Meat products to their repertoire of breakfast foods, reports CNBC.
The Canadian chain is testing out plant-based sausage alternatives in a few stores to gauge interest (and I’d say people are certainly interested). Among the new products are the Beyond Meat Farmers Breakfast Wrap and the Beyond Meat Vegan Sandwich.
It’s also worth noting that Tim Hortons is owned by Restaurant Brands International, which also owns Burger King. We recently reported on Burger King’s first successful foray into the meatless market with the Impossible Whopper.
I predict this won’t be the last restaurant conglomerate to jump on the fake meat fad. This trend has the potential to turn the entire food business on its head.


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US shares close at record levels
|London | Wall Street | Asia|
(Close): The Dow and S&P 500 closed at record levels helped by deal making in the healthcare business.
Actavis jumped 8.5% following its deal to buy Botox-maker Allergan.
Economic news also lifted the market. One report showed that producer price inflation remain subdued in October. Another report showed that homebuilder confidence rose in November.
The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index rose four points to 58, amid optimism over home sales.
The technology focused Nasdaq index rose almost 0.7% to 4,702.
"I think today it was what's happening outside the US that actually propelled the US market higher," said Brent Schutte, market strategist at BMO Global Asset Management.
Those overseas factors included a measure of investor confidence in Germany which recorded its first increase in more than a year.
The rise added to speculation that Europe's biggest economy, which has been struggling in recent months, is beginning to stabilise.
Following Japan's slide back into recession, prime minister Shinzo Abe called a snap election - two years ahead of schedule - in an attempt to win renewed support for his economic policies.
However, Japan's decision to postpone a planned rise in sales tax rise provided some reassurance to investors in an otherwise bleak week for Asian markets.
Home Depot down
Shares in Home Depot fell 2% after the US's biggest home improvement retailer sounded a note of caution over the level of future profits, due to expected costs relating to a breach of customers' data.
In September, it was revealed that hackers stole the payment-card details of millions of Home Depot customers, as well as 53 million email addresses.
The price of Brent Crude oil fell by $0.93 cents to $78.38 a barrel.


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Samsung Electronics last year shipped more than 15 million graphics DDR3 (GDDR3) memory chips, the fastest graphics memory available today.
Samsung’s GDDR3 offers gamers, workstation users, designers and other graphics-oriented users a system bandwidth up to 44.8GBps, 48% more bandwidth than GDDR1, the firm said in a January 12 press release.
More info at DigiTimes
Samsung shipped more than 15 million GDDR3 chips in 2004
Posted on Thursday, January 13 2005 @ 17:18 CET by Thomas De Maesschalck


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Wearing glasses and a lab coat, and holding out two Erlenmeyer flasks, Professor C. Bodin (as her nametag reads) is Lego's first female scientist.
The new model, simply dubbed the "Scientist," is a member of Lego's Minifigure Series 11, which hit stores in the United States on Sept. 1.
Lego has come under fire in recent years for marketing its iconic interlocking bricks mostly to boys and otherwise playing into gender stereotypes in its plastic pantheon. But some researchers and critics say the new, pink-free scientist is a step in the right direction. [Busted! 6 Gender Myths in the Bedroom & Beyond]
"I think this figure is a positive step because it portrays a woman in a STEM career without resorting to gender stereotyping by making her pink or calling her a 'lady scientist,'" Elizabeth Sweet, a doctoral candidate in sociology at the University of California, Davis, told LiveScience in an email, referring to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers.
Though Professor C. Bodin may be the first female lab scientist in the Lego universe, Scientific American pointed out she is not the first female minifigure with a career in STEM. For example, Lego released a pigtailed doctor in the 1970s and a female astronaut in the 1990s as part of its Ice Planet 2002 series in the 1990s.
However, the all-time sex ratio of minifigure models is roughly 4:1 in favor of males, with the female ones often playing into gender stereotypes, Scientific American reported.
Sweet also noted that, paradoxically, gender stereotypes seem to have become more embedded in Lego's marketing in recent years.
"While Lego originally marketed their products broadly to children, actively incorporating both boys and girls in their ads, Lego toys today are overwhelmingly designed and marketed according to gender," Sweet wrote.
The Denmark-based company has done little to satisfy its critics with its recent girl-geared "Friends" line of female minifigs that are shapelier than the traditional boxy figures. The "Friends" models have collected disapproval for relying on stereotypically feminine colors and storylines, while most other Lego lines today are targeted toward boys and include fewer female characters, Sweet said.
"So while I am glad to see Lego releasing the Scientist minifig, she is but one drop in a large bucket of otherwise gendered offerings," Sweet wrote. "Ultimately, it would be ideal to see Lego offer many more non-stereotyped female characters like the Scientist in their sets, and it would be even better to see them go back to marketing such sets to both boys and girls."
Megan Perryman, a campaigner at the U.K.-based organization Let Toys Be Toys, echoed Sweet's sentiments.
"The female scientist is a step in the right direction, as it's important for girls to see themselves reflected in as wide a range of occupations as possible, but Lego has a long way to go to make their products and marketing truly inclusive," Perryman wrote in an email to LiveScience.
Members of the public can submit design ideas for Lego products through the company's Cuusoo website. (Cuusoo, a Japanese word, loosely translate to "wish.") The Christian Science Monitor reported that one of the projects currently under review is a Female Minifigure Set, which includes an astronomer, paleontologist, falconer, judge, robotics engineer and chemist.
The project's creator, who identifies herself as an isotope geochemist named Alatariel Elensar, wrote on the site that female figures are still the minority in Lego sets, though recently the company has started to design and add more.
"I have designed some professional female minifigures that also show that girls can become anything they want," Elensar's entry says.
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