text:
The folks at Fourth Element today released their new collection of organic summer styles, made for divers and ocean lovers.
For Fourth Element, this new Summer collection has an even greater focus on sustainability, one they see as more transient, that flows between seasons.
Some favorites from previous years have been brought back including the best-selling Lifeline and Tech tees and restored with a fresh, organic aspect with messages of awareness and hope interlaced throughout. Environmentally-considerate accessories will be available later in the summer.
All of Fourth Element’s t-shirts are made with 100% organic cotton and printed in the UK with water-based inks. This means no chemicals are used in the garments’ production.
The hoodies and sweaters are part organic cotton and part recycled polyester from plastic bottles.
Fourth Element says their garments are designed by divers, for divers and made with the wearer’s surface interval time in mind.
The collection can be found at fourthelement.com.
John Liang is the News Editor at DeeperBlue.com. He first got the diving bug while in High School in Cairo, Egypt, where he earned his PADI Open Water Diver certification in the Red Sea off the Sinai Peninsula. Since then, John has dived in a volcanic lake in Guatemala, among white-tipped sharks off the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica, and other places including a pool in Las Vegas helping to break the world record for the largest underwater press conference.


text:
OFF-WHITE collaborates with Maxfield in Los Angeles.
OFF-WHITE is collaborating with Los Angeles based high-fashion retailer Maxfield as part of its pop-up series.
OFF-WHITE are showcasing their capsule collection titled ‘Estate Sale’. The capsule will showcase looks from previous seasons but through the lens of 30 years later.
The luxury streetwear brand, led by Virgil Abloh, which is now regarded as one of the most recognisable labels in the industry creates a unique mixture of vintage and classic styles. Their recent collection features 36 limited edition pieces, 21 of which are men’s styles, with price tags ranging from £190 to £1,750.
This is Mayfield’s second collaboration, after they joined forces with Fear Of God recently.
The pop-up is now open to the public until it closes on January 29th, 2017.
Facebook: PAUSE Online

domain: news


text:
Sugar-sweetened sodas, sports drinks and fruit drinks may be associated with 180,000 deaths each year, according to a study presented at the American Heart Association on Tuesday.
Using data from the 2010 Global Burden of Diseases Study, researchers linked intake of sugar-sweetened beverages to 133,000 diabetes deaths, 44,000 deaths from cardiovascular diseases and 6,000 cancer deaths worldwide.
Seventy-eight percent of these deaths due to overconsumption of sugary drinks were in low and middle-income countries.
“In the U.S., our research shows that about 25,000 deaths in 2010 were linked to drinking sugar-sweetened beverages,” said Gitanjali M. Singh, Ph.D., co-author of the study and postdoctoral research fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health.
Researchers calculated sugar-sweetened beverage intake around the world by age and sex, by effects of consumption on obesity and diabetes, and by the impact of obesity and diabetes-related deaths.
Of nine world regions, Latin America/Caribbean had the most diabetes deaths (38,000) related to the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages in 2010.
East/Central Eurasia had the largest numbers of cardiovascular deaths (11,000) related to sugary beverage consumption in 2010.
Among the world’s 15 most populous countries, Mexico — with one of the highest per-capita consumptions of sugary drinks in the world — had the highest death rate due to these beverages, with 318 deaths per million adults.
Japan, with one of the lowest per-capita consumptions of sugar-sweetened drinks, had the lowest death rate associated with sugary drinks, at about 10 deaths per million adults.
“Because we were focused on deaths due to chronic diseases, our study focused on adults. Future research should assess the amount of sugary beverage consumption in children across the world and how this affects their current and future health,” Singh said.
The American Heart Association recommends adults consume no more than 450 calories per week from sugar-sweetened beverages, based on a 2,000 calorie diet, and offers tips on how Life’s Simple 7™ can help you make better lifestyle choices and eat healthier.
The study was funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.


text:
iQOO has confirmed that its first smartphone will become official on March 1. The company has confirmed the news via its official Weibo (Chinese social network) page, and the phone will be announced in Shenzhen.
Some of you probably already know that this will be a flagship smartphone, as iQOO already shared a bunch of info regarding the device. IQOO had confirmed recently that the phone will be fueled by the Snapdragon 855, while we also know that it will sport 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage… well, at least one of its variants will.
A 4,000mAh battery will be included in this smartphone as well, and it will almost certainly be non-removable. Speaking of the battery, iQOO's first smartphone will offer 44W fast charging, and an NFC chip will also be a part of the package. iQOO also said that the phone will offer "4D gaming experience" and "support Super HDR" as well.
We also know that the device will ship with a sixth-generation in-display fingerprint scanner, while that scanner will cover most of the device's bottom part of the display. On top of that, the sixth-gen in-display fingerprint scanner will also allow for two-finger unlocking.
In terms of the design, we do know that the device will ship with a glass back, and that it will sport three cameras on the back. iQOO actually briefly showed off the device during the 2019 NBA All-Star Weekend, but unfortunately, only its back side was shown. The phone's cameras will be vertically-aligned, while an LED flash will be located below them. The back side of the phone will have that reflective design that many OEMs utilize these days, and the blue-colored device was shown off during the 2019 NBA All-Star Weekend recently.
What is iQOO?
iQOO is Vivo's new sub-brand, which was announced quite recently, actually. This company is expected to manufacture high-end devices, though it's still unclear whether the company will manufacture gaming handsets or high-end devices in general. The upcoming device actually seems like a regular smartphone, but iQOO did tease "4D gaming experience" for the phone, so it's possible that it will be advertised as a gaming smartphone.
iQOO's first smartphone will be a high-end handset, and it will be announced in China, as you already know, but it's quite possible that iQOO will push this smartphone to other markets as well. iQOO already has global social media profiles all over the place, so it's quite possible that the company is aiming not to focus solely on China.
Is A Foldable Smartphone In iQOO's Plans?
Some of you may have noticed that foldable smartphone leak that surfaced a couple of days ago, claiming to be iQOO's upcoming device. Well, the company did not mention a foldable device in any way thus far, and the device that leaked leaves the impression of a third-party concept, more than it does an actual leak of an upcoming product. The device that leaked has basically no bezel, and no display cutouts or notches… all in all, it doesn't look all that believable, but who knows, anything is possible. iQOO will announce its first smartphone on March 1, and if the company is planning to announce a foldable device at some point in the future, chances are it will mention something about it.


text:
(Adds background, analysts comment)
By Charles Abbott
WASHINGTON, Sept 12 (Reuters) - For the fourth time this year, the U.S. government intervened in the sugar market on Thursday to try to drive up prices depressed by large global supplies and avoid the highest sugar subsidy costs in 13 years.
The Agriculture Department offered to swap up to 85,375 short tons of government-owned sugar for credits held by refiners as a way to reduce a mammoth surplus that could force processors to default on government-backed loans.
The USDA said it would swap the sugar for re-export credits. The credits give refiners the right to import sugar for processing in the United States. Since June, two such swaps have reduced the sugar supply by a 3-to-1 ratio for each ton that was offered.
Low market prices raise the possibility of large-scale forfeitures of sugar used as collateral for government loans, and the highest sugar subsidy costs since the $465 million in fiscal 2000.
By law, the USDA is obliged to assure growers of a minimum price for sugar while operating the sugar program at no net cost to taxpayers. The USDA limits imports and marketing of U.S.-grown sugar to achieve the twin goals. Foodmakers often complain that government keeps the sugar supply too small, driving up the price of sugar to them.
The USDA is faced with the potential forfeiture of 601,400 tons of sugar at the end of September because market prices have been lower than the price guaranteed by the government.
If all the sugar is forfeited at the end of September, when loans are due, it would cost the USDA $276.3 million in defaulted loans.
Refiners forfeited 85,375 tons of sugar to the government when price support loans came due on Aug. 31 because the loan rate of 20.9 cents per lb was higher than the market price of sugar. The August forfeitures cost $34.6 million.
While the earlier swaps reduced the sugar supply by 354,712 tons, the new offer may not be as successful, said an analyst who spoke on condition of anonymity. He said processors had indicated few credits remained available under the refined sugar re-export program.
The USDA said the swap “is preferable at this time to other available supply management options because it minimizes the cost of the sugar program.”
“More needs to be done,” said Jack Roney of the American Sugar Alliance, a trade group for sugar growers. If USDA does not rein in the sugar surplus, this year’s over-supply will re-appear in the new fiscal year and keep prices low and the threat of loan default high. Roney said the sugar surplus was at record levels.
“I am optimistic USDA will take further action to reduce forfeitures,” said Roney.
An offer by the USDA to sell surplus sugar to ethanol makers resulted in a comparatively minor sale in late August - just 7,118 tons out of 90,000 tons that were offered.
The U.S. 2012/13 sugar surplus was forecast on Thursday to be 2.2 million tons on the Sept. 30 end of the marketing year, equal to 18.4 percent of usage. USDA aims for a 15 percent stocks-to-use ratio.
The outlook for 2013/14 is expected to be even worse. USDA now forecasts a 19.5-percent stocks-to-use ratio for the new marketing year, up from 16.9 percent estimated a month ago, as domestic production rises and imports also expand.
Additional reporting by Chris Prentice in New York; Editing by and Marguerita Choy and Carol Bishopric


text:
Brange was in New York today. They were photographed at Barnes & Noble shopping with Vivienne and Knox. So on top of everything else that they do, they’re keeping books in business.
In two days, Brange is expected back in LA because By The Sea opens AFI Fest so we should be hearing soon how it is, what kind of film we’re dealing with here. And whether or not the Hollywood Foreign Press Association will be able to throw in a nomination to get them to the Golden Globes, although last year, you’ll recall, even though they had an opportunity to have Brange at the Beverly Hilton for Unbroken, they ended up going with Jennifer Aniston in Cake instead.
I can’t wait for that red carpet though. For the Pitt Porn, obviously, and especially since Brad looks really, REALLY good right now, non?


text:
Google+ has added new features to the mobile Web version that will be coming to the native apps soon, ReadWriteWeb reports.
The What’s Hot section, which highlights trending and popular posts, now has its own stream. The update also enables users to see who +1’d a post by clicking on the +1 count.
Google+ added What’s Hot last October. It’s one of several ways to discover new content on Google+. On the desktop, it appears periodically in the main news stream as well as on the left sidebar, under the user’s circles.
What’s Hot quietly replaced Sparks, a Google+ feature that was present at launch. Sparks pulled in content from Google News, and users could filter it by topical interests. It disappeared from the sidebar and was replaced by What’s Hot, which highlights popular content from within Google+ instead.
What’s Hot launched on the same day as Ripples, an impressive real-time visualization of how a post travels around Google+ as it’s shared. Ripples is only available on the desktop, but What’s Hot is now on the mobile Web. There’s no iPad version of Google+ yet.
Google’s announcement says that What’s Hot is coming to the Android and iOS apps soon.


text:
Geoducks are a $45 million dollar a year business and only so many of the clams can be harvested each year.
2 weeks ago-What Canadians want when it comes to seafood
6 months ago-Five new B.C. programs to enhance salmon habitat
6 months ago-Salmon - who is catching what where
8 months ago-A shark fin coup for Canada
8 months ago-B.C. is a hotbed of innovation in aquaculture
8 months ago-Canada must stop exporting its plastic problem


text:
Last Updated on September 11, 2022 by Bitfinsider
World leaders honor Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for her extraordinary service and leadership as the world mourns her passing. Some events will be postponed or cancelled as the UK enters a 10-day period of grief. The BOE said that they would postpone their decision on interest rates until September 22. Three British trade unions will postpone their planned strike action, which will result in a delay of UK train strikes. The forthcoming economic publications are expected to go forward, according to the Office of National Statistics. This contains information on the UK’s property market, retail sales, unemployment, inflation, and GDP.
Wall Street is ending the week on a high note as the dollar’s rise has fizzled out and there is growing hope that inflation will continue to decline. Forecasts for inflation are being slightly revised downward by economists, which may prevent the Fed from raising interest rates above 4%. Bullard and Waller of the Fed continued their hawkish rhetoric, but they were unable to stop today’s stock market bounce. It appears that traders are growing more convinced that the Fed’s cycle of interest rate increases is about to come to an end.
Chinese consumer and producer inflation figures that were softer than anticipated may have opened the door for further easing by the PBOC, supporting the risk-on narrative.
The currency has tentatively peaked, and supply uncertainties are driving up crude prices. Recently, oil prices have mostly been affected negatively by worries about demand, China’s deteriorating COVID situation, a surprising increase in stocks, and predictions that world leaders will continue to use emergency measures to drive down energy costs. President Biden is considering the fresh releases from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve, according to Energy Secretary Granholm (SPR).
As Ukraine retakes ground, President Putin’s vow to shut off all energy supplies from Russia poses a greater risk. Oil prices should continue to rise over $90 per barrel as long as there is a high likelihood that some supply interruptions will occur over the coming months.
As the dollar’s historic uptrend appears to be coming to an end, gold is rising. Wall Street appears to be becoming more at ease with the prospect of another rate increase by the Fed of 75 basis points. Even if next week’s inflation readings show that price pressures continued to diminish, Fed’s Bullard favors a third consecutive 75-bp interest rate increase. Additionally, Fed’s Waller is in favor of this month’s rate increase.
If investors continue to look beyond the aggressive central bank rhetoric, gold may stay above the $1700 mark. The outcome of gold may be decided by the upcoming inflation report. If consumer prices are higher than anticipated, gold may experience selling pressure with the $1680 area as the target. Even a sharp reduction in pricing pressures might only give gold a slight lift upward in terms of policy.
With the US currency weakening and risk appetite returning, bitcoin is thriving. Cryptocurrencies have been revitalized by the general market recovery, and if investors continue to look past hawkish central bank overtures and persistent recession worries, this trend may continue.
Hardware wallets are safe and secure devices that can be used offline. They keep your cryptocurrency offline, making it impossible for you to be hacked. To find out more on the leading hardware wallets, you may view our reviews here: Ledger & Trezor
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author, or any people mentioned in this article, are for informational purposes only, and they do not constitute financial, investment, legal, tax or other advice. Investing in or trading cryptocurrency or stocks comes with a risk of financial loss.


text:
When drug store chains begin to take steps to tackle the methamphetamine problem in Appalachia – but that will also undoubtedly affect their bottom lines – customers should stand up and take notice. Last year, Rite Aid stores in West Virginia stopped stocking single-ingredient pseudoephedrine products. Fruth Pharmacy was the first drug-store chain in the state to stop selling the medication. Now CVS Pharmacy has announced it will stop selling the product in its 50 stores across the state. And Walgreens has given notice it plans to do the same.
If 2013 numbers are any indication, the change could put a dent in the amount of one key ingredient in the market for manufacturing methamphetamine. CVS alone sold more than 51,000 boxes of medicine containing pseudoephedrine last year.
But there is the rub. That number will fall, but will not disappear, for CVS and any of the other pharmacies, because all continue to sell combination medicines, which contain pseudoephedrine, and can be used to make meth. Many stores limit the sales of all medicines containing pseudoephedrine, and employ the NPLEx tracking system to stop those who might be trying to shop multiple stores in order to buy enough of the ingredient.
Retail establishments are doing a great deal to discourage the production of meth. It cannot be left up to them to tackle the problem. Drug stores cannot afford to alienate customers who legally and legitimately purchase certain medications for treatment of allergies and colds – nor should they have to.
Del. Don Perdue, D-Wayne, said “Certainly, I have to applaud CVS for doing something, but there is more left to be done.” He goes on to suggest the best way to stop this plague is for drug stores to require prescriptions for any medication containing pseudoephedrine. Ask any doctor-shopping pill addict how hard it is to get a prescription for a medication they want.
But Perdue is right. There is more to be done – by legislators, law enforcement officers, schools, churches, counselors, doctors, parents and communities. Retailers and law-abiding customers should not have to keep taking the fall.


text:
Consumer Protection Minister Steffi Lemke wants to combat hidden price increases in retail. “Deceptive packaging is a big nuisance. Consumers are being misled here,” said the Green politician to the “Handelsblatt”. “I would like to put a stop to that.” Accordingly, consistently large packaging with reduced contents should not be permitted in the future. The same applies if the contents remain the same and the packaging is enlarged.
“Such practices are problematic from both a consumer protection and waste avoidance perspective,” emphasized Lemke. Corresponding requirements should be made when amending the Packaging Act. According to the report, a bill is currently going through internal government departmental coordination.
The SPD consumer politician Carstenträger called the proposed change in the law a “necessary step for environmental and consumer protection”. The FDP consumer politician Katharina Willkomm, however, criticized the legal plans: “There is no need for a legal ban on shrinkage.” Consumers who feel fooled by the product should consistently change brands the next time they shop, she told the newspaper.
Consumer advocates have long criticized “deceptive packages” as consumer deception and rip-offs. Stiftung Warentest recently warned of “shrinkflation” - i.e. shrunken contents in barely noticeably changed packaging.


text:
First unveiled two decades ago, the MV Agusta F4 has remained one of the most exclusive Italian Motorcycle to own. Even today the only name that can assert its style and dominance over Ducati is the MV Agusta. There is a reason why it was chosen as the only bike worthy enough to be ridden by Batman in the movie “The Dark Knight”.
The legendary Italian motorcycle manufacturer MV Agusta has added yet another motorcycle to its stable, as the smaller 2017 Brutale 800 was launched yesterday. The middleweight naked motorcycle is brought to India in a SKD (semi knocked down) route. The new Brutale 800 is said to have numerous upgrades, and is priced at a steep Rs. 15,59,000 (ex showroom India). Here's an overview of the latest naked roadster in town.


text:
Would EMV Chip Based Cards be More Secure with PIN?
According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), EMV (Europay MasterCard Visa) or the new chip-and-signature credit cards aren’t as effective without consumers using a personal identification number (PIN). Some argue that without a PIN, these chip based EMV cards cannot stop data breaches. They add that without PIN, the significant security benefit to businesses and consumers is lost. This makes them useless for small businesses, which are being pressured to install the equipment and bear additional expenses.
Featuring a computer microchip, EMV cards being issued by U.S. banks could be vulnerable to data breach, since they lack a secure PIN. The microchip will replace the easily copied magnetic stripe for storing data. While chips make counterfeiting cards a lot more difficult, they cannot protect stolen cards or lost cards. However, EMV would be more secure with PIN and would stop forged signatures too, helping prevent both types of fraud.
The recent arguments on chip based cards have surfaced in a report issued to the House Small Business Committee. Merchants were given a deadline to either install chip-card readers or face strict penalty for using a chip-and-signature credit card in a non-chip reader. As a result, they could invite fraud liabilities.
PIN and Fraud
PIN has been used for ATM transactions since 1967. It’s ease of use and security value has so far been unparalleled. It does have its weaknesses, but it’s strengths far outweigh them.
About 50 % of total card fraud in the U.S. occurs in online transactions where a PIN is not needed. About 30 % of in-store fraud happens with counterfeit cards where PIN is again, not used.
A 2012 report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta reported that PIN debit fraud rates have increased more than 300 % since 2004. When consumers’ PINs are compromised, fraudsters quickly drain their bank accounts.
Recently in California and Colorado, Safeway customers using certain terminals in Safeway stores had their PINs stolen. They had used their debit cards with PIN at terminals that had been tampered with. Fraudsters installed devices that captured and stored customers PINs and then promptly emptied their bank accounts with the stolen PINs.
So, it’s safe to say that it could go either way with or without PIN for chip based cards. There is still a chance of card fraud, but I do believe that Chip and PIN would be more secure than Chip and Signature. After all, most of the world outside the U.S. is using Chip and PIN.
Contact Us for more information on Credit Card Processing, or eChecks and ACH Transactions. Or take us up on our FREE Merchant Account Analysis offer. We’ll analyze your merchant account rates and let you know how to Save! If you are ready, you may be able to Switch and Save!


text:
Multimedia conglomerate AOL Time Warner will promote cereals and snacks through a new marketing alliance with Kellogg USA, a unit of Kellogg Co.
Through the multi-year arrangement, AOL will market the food manufacturer’s Kellogg’s and Keebler brands, using online and television outlets. Those include its America Online flagship Internet service and its cable and broadcast networks.
Terms and specifics were not disclosed of the agreement, which involved the Battle Creek, Mich.-based company and its media agency, Bcom3’s Starcom North America.
AOL executives categorized the deal as evidence of the efficacy of its new Advertising Council, which works with the company’s various divisions to craft cross-media brand marketing deals.
“This agreement demonstrates how AOL Time Warner’s Advertising Council can work … to craft advertising solutions that meet individual partners’ unique needs by drawing on the strengths of various divisions — in this case Turner Broadcasting, Warner Bros. and America Online,” said AOL co-chief operating officer Bob Pittman.
Mundane as breakfast cereals might seem, the agreement could represent a windfall for AOL. For one thing, Kellogg is among the world’s top producer of breakfast cereals and so-called “convenience foods,” such as Pop-Tarts toaster pastries.
In addition to continual sparring with larger rival General Mills
for a larger share of the cereal market, it’s expected that Kellogg — which bought smaller cookie and cracker giant Keebler in March — is eager to flex its advertising muscle to promote newly-acquired products.
Secondly, bringing in brand advertisers is seen by many as a way to inject life into the struggling online advertising industry, which has suffered from the dot-com shakeout. Also, since consumer staples companies are relatively immune to the effects of the current economic climate, ad spending from firms like Kellogg is expected to be greater and more consistent than that of other national brands, many of which are cutting budgets.
The agreement expands on an earlier deal between Kellogg USA and the Cartoon Network, which is owned by AOL Time Warner. In that agreement, signed in July, AOL agreed to promote Kellogg’s Powerpuff Girls cereal and Pop-Tarts using on-air programming and the Web.
The effort isn’t the first by Kellogg to promote its brands online. In May, the company inked an agreement with Walt Disney Pictures to promote its cereals with tie-ins to the studio’s animated film, “Atlantis.” The promotion involved using codes found on Kellogg’s cereal boxes to access an online game.
In August, the company launched an effort to promote its Corn Pops cereal via a rich media campaign on the Mplayer Entertainment Network.


text:
Instant lottery tickets: Why are they hard to scratch off?
Ever get a instant ticket and find it hard to scratch off?
Even when using items like a coin or the edge of a credit card, it can still be hard to remove the coating at times.
So why is playing a simple lottery game so difficult?
Jeff Holyfield, the director of public relations for Michigan Lottery, did not have an answer, as some tickets come out with a heavier coating than others when being made at its instant ticket factory in Ypsilanti.
"For a game, we might print 10 million to 12 million tickets, and its one of those things sometimes that the latex covering is a little bit more stickier than others," he said.
However, Chris and Kelly Ramirez have had some problems with lottery tickets. The husband and wife are owners of the Park Central convenience store located inside the First National Building in downtown Detroit. The two have their share of loyal lottery players, with 150 to 200 people visiting the store every weekday, said Chris Ramirez.
Kelly Ramirez said she noticed the coating for the Cashword tickets was "rough" about eight months ago, but the issue was quickly resolved.
"They (Michigan Lottery) changed the latex material about six or eight months ago," said Chris Ramirez.
He added that the coating on tickets can be harder to scratch off when someone has held on to a ticket for over 6 months.
Pollard Banknote in Ypsilanti is the second-largest producer of scratch-off tickets in the world, printing up to 30 different "games," or ticket designs, a month.
The plant produces around 600 million instant lottery tickets a month for 23 states, the District of Columbia and many countries around the world. About 15% of tickets are printed for the Michigan Lottery.
Holyfield said more than 70% of Michigan residents buy at least one instant ticket a year, and in 2018, players won more than $1 billion playing the scratch-off games.
"Instant games are very popular in Michigan," he said. "We've had double-digit growth over the past five years. People like the experience and the thought of scratching off a ticket and saying, 'Hey, I won a million dollars.' "
More:Michigan man, 23, says he dreamed about $500K lotto win. Then it happened.
More:4 new Michigan Lottery holiday scratch-off tickets: What to know before you buy


text:
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Alcoa Inc., lifting the lid on the fourth-quarter earnings season, said late Tuesday that higher aluminum prices and sales volume helped increase its profit for the final three months of 2006 by 60%, far outpacing big restructuring costs.
Shares in Alcoa
The world's largest aluminum producer said net income for the three months ended Dec. 31 rose to $359 million, or 41 cents a share, from $224 million, or 26 cents a share, in the year-ago period.
Revenue climbed 20% to $7.8 billion.
Profits in the most recent quarter included after-tax charges of $386 million, or 44 cents a share, from restructuring and impairment. Alcoa said earnings from continuing operations were 29 cents a share.
Excluding restructuring charges, the company said profits from continuing operations would have been 74 cents a share. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call expected it to post a profit of 65 cents a share on that basis, on revenue of $7.6 billion.
In late November, Alcoa announced a broad restructuring program that would cut 5% of its workforce and lead to a spinoff of its molded soft-alloy business, whose performance had lagged other units.
At the time, it said it planned to take after-tax charges of $375 million to $425 million against its fourth-quarter earnings, about half of that related to its exit from the soft-alloy extrusion business. See full story.
With its operations spread across several continents, Alcoa has a front row seat on the appetite for commodities fueling the global infrastructure boom. That appetite has yet to let up, executives said Tuesday.
"We believe the market will remain strong in 2007," Chief Executive Alain Belda said in a conference call with investors, which was Web cast.
Belda forecast Chinese demand this year will increase 14%, a projection he said may be conservative.
"We believe China will be balanced going forward and won't be a significant exporter of primary aluminum," he said.
As it seeks to meet this increased demand, Alcoa has been adding aluminum refining and smelting capacity in Australia, Brazil and other countries. Those additional tons of output should add 15 to 20 cents a share in earnings this year.
But Alcoa expects alumina, the raw ingredient for aluminum, will likely build an even bigger surplus by the end of the year.
The company, with principal offices in Pittsburgh, said operating income from its primary metals division rose 98% to $480 million due to higher aluminum prices and volumes, offset by Iceland smelter start-up costs and higher carbon and pitch costs.
Operating income in its alumina division rose 42% to $259 million but slipped from the third quarter.
During the quarter, Alcoa benefited from a rise in the realized price of aluminum, to $2,766 a metric ton, up 27% from the year-ago quarter and 6% from the third-quarter. Aluminum production in its primary metals division rose to 908,000 metric tons in the fourth quarter from 900,000 metric tons in the year ago quarter and 895,000 metric tons in the third quarter.
North American auto cuts linger
For the year, Belda said North America auto production will likely increase slightly and European output will also rise. But cuts among North American automakers will still weigh on demand for its engineered solutions products.
"This segment will be affected by the continued North American auto production cut on specific platforms," said Alcoa Chief Financial Officer Chuck McLane in the conference call. What's more, new diesel emissions standards are seen hurting demand for heavy truck parts, especially in the wake of heavy buying last year ahead of the stricter rules.
But he said "strong demand will continue in aerospace despite the (Airbus) A380 delays."
Profits in the company's engineered solutions division rose 55% to $73 million from the year-ago quarter but dipped slightly from the third quarter as a result of a strike at its Cleveland facility and lower volumes.
Belda said the company will reassess the underperforming parts of its packaging division at the end of the year.
The maker of Reynolds Wrap said profit in its packaging and consumer division rose 30% to $26 million.


text:
Two major players in the corporate travel data industry are joining forces. Grasp Technologies, which provides data management, consolidation, payment integration and data visualization, has formed a partnership with Traxo, which offers corporate travel data capture and pre-trip auditing.
“The partnership provides corporate travel managers worldwide with the ability to see the most complete data picture of their companies’ business travel, including all on- and off-platform bookings, within Grasp’s robust data and intelligence suite,” Grasp said in a news release emailed to PYMNTS on Monday (Oct. 4). “An industry leader for more than 25 years, Grasp serves more than 150,000 corporate travel departments in over 70 countries through its footprint.”
With Traxo, Grasp says it can — for the first time in two decades — give customers a simple way to view and incorporate so-called “invisible” bookings, a term referring to the roughly 40% of business travel bookings made outside of the corporate travel policy.
“The corporate travel industry needs a truly complete, accurate and timely data solution for tracking and consolidating all aspects of a travel program – a true end-to-end platform that delivers actionable, real results,” said Grasp Technologies’ Chief Sales Officer Dave Lukas.
He added that despite Grasp’s best efforts, “we were missing one piece – one of the most, if not the most important one – unmanaged booking data or travel leakage. Traxo has solved that problem.”
Under the agreement, Grasp will use Traxo’s technology to manage its own in-house business travel. It also becomes a Traxo Marketplace partner, which means it can automatically receive structured travel data from Traxo’s corporate clients.
Read more: New COVID Cases Ground Air Travel
The partnership lands at a challenging time for corporate travel. As PYMNTS reported last month, a rise in new COVID-19 cases had businesses rethinking fall employee travel. Airlines and hotels that were counting on corporate trips as a reliable source of revenue saw their hopes dim.
“I’d say it’s a pause, as compared to continued growth. That said, we understand why it’s paused,” Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said at the time.
Two main gamers within the company journey knowledge business are becoming a member of forces. Grasp Applied sciences, which offers knowledge administration, consolidation, fee integration and knowledge visualization, has fashioned a partnership with Traxo, which gives company journey knowledge seize and pre-trip auditing.
“The partnership offers company journey managers worldwide with the flexibility to see essentially the most full knowledge image of their firms’ enterprise journey, together with all on- and off-platform bookings, inside Grasp’s strong knowledge and intelligence suite,” Grasp mentioned in a information launch emailed to PYMNTS on Monday (Oct. 4). “An business chief for greater than 25 years, Grasp serves greater than 150,000 company journey departments in over 70 nations by way of its footprint.”
With Traxo, Grasp says it may well — for the primary time in 20 years — give clients a easy strategy to view and incorporate so-called “invisible” bookings, a time period referring to the roughly 40% of enterprise journey bookings made outdoors of the company journey coverage.
“The company journey business wants a very full, correct and well timed knowledge answer for monitoring and consolidating all features of a journey program – a real end-to-end platform that delivers actionable, actual outcomes,” mentioned Grasp Applied sciences’ Chief Gross sales Officer Dave Lukas.
He added that regardless of Grasp’s finest efforts, “we have been lacking one piece – some of the, if not crucial one – unmanaged reserving knowledge or journey leakage. Traxo has solved that drawback.”
Underneath the settlement, Grasp will use Traxo’s expertise to handle its personal in-house enterprise journey. It additionally turns into a Traxo Market accomplice, which suggests it may well robotically obtain structured journey knowledge from Traxo’s company shoppers.
Learn extra: New COVID Circumstances Floor Air Journey
The partnership lands at a difficult time for company journey. As PYMNTS reported final month, an increase in new COVID-19 circumstances had companies rethinking fall worker journey. Airways and lodges that have been relying on company journeys as a dependable income noticed their hopes dim.
“I’d say it’s a pause, as in comparison with continued progress. That mentioned, we perceive why it’s paused,” Delta Air Strains CEO Ed Bastian mentioned on the time.


text:
More choice for DIY pensions
Prudential and Fidelity are the latest firms to launch 'self-invested' plans, increasing the options for savers. By Jessica Bown
Aegon, an insurer, said that its sales of Sipps doubled to £71m in the first half of this year while Standard Life’s Sipp sales for the same period jumped 75% to £105m.
Unsurprisingly, other firms are keen to get in on the act. Fidelity, Britain’s biggest fund manager, launched an online Sipp last month and the insurer Prudential unveiled a new offering last week.
Sipps are a type of personal pension that generally offer a much bigger choice of funds than standard personal pensions or company schemes. Sipps also let you invest in individual shares, futures and options and commercial property — although Gordon Brown, the chancellor, disappointed many savers last year when he revoked plans to allow Sipp holders to invest in buy-to-let.


text:
Dog whistle heard loud and clear.
After President Donald Trump failed to condemn white supremacists during Tuesday night’s debate, violent alt-right groups have already begun hocking merchandise based on his comments. The Proud Boys — a sexist, homophobic, Islamophobic, anti-immigrant wannabe militia group — almost immediately began selling a t-shirt with the phrase “Stand Back, Stand By” on the apparel website Teespring.com, according to the Miami Herald. The shirt also includes the group’s logo.
The progressive activism organization Sleeping Giants alleged in a tweet that “Stand Back, Stand By” shirts, hoodies, and sleeveless shirts are being sold on Amazon, but them. could not independently verify that claim. A link to a purported shirt returned a 404 from the online retail giant.
Sleeping Giants claimed that other Proud Boys shirts had been removed by Amazon.
The phrase refers to a moment during the debate when Trump was asked to censure the racist, neo-Nazi groups which have largely been supportive of his presidency and could not bring himself to do so. When Joe Biden offered the name of the Proud Boys as a group the president could potentially speak out against, many viewed his four-word reply as encouragement of armed groups who attack Black Lives Matter protesters.


text:
Gentleman racer and Momo founder Giampiero Moretti died earlier this month at his home in Milan, following a long illness.
While in his 20s, he created Momo (a combination of Moretti-Monza), initially to make steering wheels but later adding such equipment as racing suits, helmets, shift knobs, shoes, fireproof underwear and even seats and wheels.
His first big break came when Ferrari factory driver John Surtees discovered Moretti’s steering wheel and had one installed in his Ferrari 158 F1 car in 1964, the year he claimed his sole F1 title. In 1966, Moretti opened a factory in Verona to produce steering wheels. For three decades, he ran the company before selling it to a larger OEM supplier in 1996. The company has been shuffled among different corporate owners since, with an Italian private equity group currently controlling the brand and still selling Momo’s mix of safety and style.
Momo’s presence is nearly ubiquitous at road racing venues around the world, where plenty of drivers suit up in Momo fireproof suits, shoes and helmets. While the suits need not be red (though plenty are), Momo’s signature yellow and red logo can still be found on all of their products.
As a racer, Moretti drove sports cars and made multiple attempts at winning both the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Daytona 24 hour race, driving mostly Ferraris, but also the occasional Porsche. He is reported to have strongly encouraged Ferrari’s return to prototype racing with the Dallara-built 333SP that debuted in 1994. He came oh-so-close at Daytona in 1996, losing by just over a minute to an Oldsmobile-powered Riley & Scott team. But in 1998, teamed with Mauro Baldi, Arie Luyendyk and Didier Theys, he was part of the winning team at Daytona in his 15th attempt, driving the last laps himself to personally take the checkered flag. With the 333SP, Moretti also tasted victory at the 12 Hours of Sebring that year, along with other sports car victories in the mid-1990s.
A popular driver, Moretti might be gone, but he won’t be forgotten. When the 50th Rolex 24 at Daytona ran this past weekend, the NGT Motorsport Porsche GT3 was festooned in Momo’s classic red and yellow livery. They finished 29th overall and 18th in a deep GT class.


text:
In the last couple of months we have seen analysts releasing reports ranking Kenya financial markets among the most promising in Africa. Among the reports are; the Barclays Africa Group Financial Markets Index which ranked Kenya position five with a score of 59 per cent ahead of Nigeria and Ghana which for long have been economic giants in Africa. The latest report is that of Citi Group which ranked Kenya in the top three markets that are most attractive among the frontier markets.
Frontier markets are markets of developing countries that are more developed than other developing countries.
“Our own ranking model favors Sri Lanka, Romania and Kenya. We weigh a range of factors in 6 categories (macro growth, imbalances, monetary factors, valuations, earnings momentum and price momentum). Argentina, Morocco and Egypt come out weakest on our model.” Citi Group reports
The report notes that there has been growth in GDP in frontier markets from 3.5 per cent in 2017, it projects that the markets will be at 3.8 per cent this year and 4 per cent in 2019. Kenya’s GDP was at 4.7 percent in 2017 and is projected to grow to 5.3 per cent in 2018 by Focus Economics panelists.
Kenya can improve its GDP by exporting processed products of commodities such as coffee and tea. Growth in GDP results to increase of demand on goods and services in country and hence prices will increase. When demand increases, producers will produce more goods to meet the market demand.
Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) was among the top five stocks that were singled out to be most promising among in the frontier markets. Other stocks picked were BGEO Group (Georgia), Human soft (Kuwait), IDH (Egypt) and MHP (Ukraine). KCB growth profile is reported to be reasonably strong, and its valuation undemanding.
Citi analysts’ projects a 21 per cent increase of inflows in the frontier markets in 2018. This is likely to attract more investors. Investors interviewed by the analysts confirmed that they have had inflows in 2017 and net outflows of 26 per cent.
Kenya scored well on valuations as well as on earnings momentum; this is despite the headwinds of 2016 Banking Law, proscribing limits on deposit and lending rates, and prolonged electioneering period.
Most analysts hold the opinion that the interest rate cap should be lifted but lifting the cap would make loans expensive and unaffordable. Easing the law is a better alternative than an outright repeal. Banks should diversify their revenue sources and avoid overreliance on deposits for investment.
– By Njeri Murigi


text:
Nintendo has announced that original downloadable games are heading to Wii thanks to the WiiWare Channel with the aim being to let developers both large and small distribute their titles on the service. Unfortunately, the bad news is that it's not launching until early 2008.
Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Amie explained that WiiWare is a chance for smaller and more creative games to be made available to Wii owners, with little or no risk to the developer. According to Nintendo the "remarkable motion controls will give birth to fresh takes on established genres, as well as original ideas that currently exist only in developers' minds".
Reggie added: "Independent developers armed with small budgets and big ideas will be able to get their original games into the marketplace to see if we can find the next smash hit. WiiWare brings new levels of creativity and value to the ever-growing population of Wii owners."
WiiWare titles will be available in the Wii Shop Channel and, just like Virtual Console games, can be purchased using Wii Points. Likewise, a variety of pricing options are planned. Nintendo is set to announce more details on WiiWare, including pricing structure, at a later date.


text:
'Ratings Agencies Unfair to India'
One has to be sensitive to what ratings agencies say not because they have any insight, but because there are a lot of foolish people in the market that do pay attention to them, says Joseph Stiglitz, Professor, Columbia University. In a chat with ET Now, Stiglitz also shares his views on the recent reform measures and inflation in India. Excerpts:
ET Now: What is your response to the reform measures announced by the government?
Joseph Stiglitz: One should not overemphasise the importance of these reforms. They have a certain symbolic value to them. Some of these reforms are going to help, but take the question of retail. You have entrepreneurs that could have opened up big retail stores.
ET Now: Some of them have actually.
Joseph Stiglitz: Yes, but do I really think that Wal-Mart is going to come to India and change your landscape of retail? Maybe, but anybody who thinks that has a lack of confidence in Indian entrepreneurs, and the Indian entrepreneurs, I think, understand India and the Indian market.
ET Now: The RBI in India has let go all of growth to tame inflation. Do you think it is time the RBI gives up its hawkish monetary policy stance, because growth has suffered, but inflation continues to be high as well?
Joseph Stiglitz: First, I do not think inflation, particularly moderate inflation, has as strong an adverse effect as many people, say, in the financial markets are worried about. And your inflation still is in moderate level. If the real cause of inflation is not shortages and an overheated economy, which it is not, then raising interest rates is not likely to make a big dent in inflation. And the price of the high interest rates can be very, very high.
ET Now: So is the time right for the RBI to begin to cut rates?
Joseph Stiglitz: Certainly, to my mind, inflation is not the danger that many people made it out to be. Low growth has a huge cost. It is a waste of resources, causes higher unemployment and lower income. And so, unless you can make a really convincing case that inflation is having a high cost and that increasing interest rates will have a significant impact on inflation, it seems to me it is time to push a more growth policy.
ET Now: But the rating agencies seem not to be convinced and they do not seem to be impressed at all. They do believe that India has one in a three chance of a downgrade. Which side of the debate are you on? Do you think they have a case to downgrade India here or do you think they are being unfair?
Joseph Stiglitz: First let me say, you should put very little weight on what the rating agencies say. They have an amazingly bad track record.
ET Now: But then did you think they are unfair on countries like India putting as the status just about junk?
Joseph Stiglitz: Yes, they are. They are totally unfair. You always have to understand that they cannot use very simplistic formula for rating. So it is not like it is deep analysis or deep understanding.
One has to be sensitive to what they say not because they have any insight, but because there are a lot of foolish people in the market that do pay attention to them.


text:
(64336KB/2021-02-26 11:45:46 )
(52802KB/2021-02-26 11:45:46 )
(25239KB/2021-02-26 11:45:47 )
(78893KB/2021-02-26 11:45:47 )
(11490KB/2021-02-26 11:45:47 )
(34467KB/2021-02-26 11:45:47 )
(60659KB/2021-02-26 11:45:48 )
(28736KB/2021-02-26 11:45:48 )
(37009KB/2021-02-26 11:45:48 )
(30729KB/2021-02-26 11:45:48 )
1:体育竞彩半全场预测无符文系统，无付费数值类道具，真正绿色公平竞技 2021-02-14 11:45:51
Given that every single Wall Street economist had called for higher rates at the start of this year and 67 of 67 economists surveyed by Bloomberg concurred, the rate-sensitive utilities industry would have been the last sector a rational person would want to overweight. Bets on the financial sector were slow to pay off while wagers on “cheap” energy stocks demolished portfolio performance in the third and fourth quarters, just as they had elevated it during the first and second.
2:拥有亚洲娱乐游戏合法牌照,集足彩、体彩、竞彩、福彩等国家多种合法彩票于一体,为彩民提供便利的购彩平台,找平台就来亚博! 2021-02-19 11:45:51
节目30 相声，郭德纲 于谦
The full list of this year's honorees follows.
In the MBA ranking, LBS, Insead and Spain’s IE Business School are bunched together with only a few dollars between them. Insead has the top salary at $155,015.
6:体育竞彩半全场预测无符文系统，无付费数值类道具，真正绿色公平竞技 2021-02-21 11:45:51
According to Putin's most recent income declaration, he earned roughly 8.9 million rubles ($137,000) in 2015.
At its Worldwide Developer Conference in June, Mr Cook was mobbed by app makers who asked him to pose for selfies. By October’s iPad launch, he was even cracking jokes at his own expense. Clad in his habitual but unglamorous uniform of black untucked shirt and jeans, he said that Apple Watch had been well received by “people who know a lot about fashion and style — even more than I do”, pointing a knowing finger at the chuckling audience.
10:拥有亚洲娱乐游戏合法牌照,集足彩、体彩、竞彩、福彩等国家多种合法彩票于一体,为彩民提供便利的购彩平台,找平台就来亚博! 2021-02-06 11:45:52


text:
NEWS & ARTICLES: Press Releases
Your top source of business information on the furniture industry and market world-wide by CSIL
The 25th edition of China International Furniture Expo (also known as Furniture China 2019) ended on a considerable high note, in terms of visitor quality, exhibit range and the business touches. Exhibiting for 4-day with its concurrent shows – Maison Shanghai and Furniture Manufacturing & Supply China (FMC China) – Furniture China has welcomed attendees of 170,057 from 160 countries and regions, which indicates a growth by 2.15% compared with the year of 2018.
July 2019, Shanghai | On 9-12 September, Furniture China 2019 is going to celebrate its 25th anniversary in Pudong of Shanghai, bringing new insights to the furniture industry with around 3,500 selected exhibitors, brands and their high-quality products.
The outstanding success of the last exhibition boasted a record 37% increase in attendance. There is therefore great anticipation for the 44th edition of CIFF taking place at the National Exhibition & Convention Center in Shanghai Hongqiao from 8th to 11th September 2019 due to its extraordinary range of furnishing solutions.
Malaysian exhibitors at MIFF 2019 raked in US$ 1.01 billion in sales over four days from March 8-11, up 3% increase from the previous high of US$ 984 million in 2018.
The record performance was achieved a year after the trade show was expanded to 100,000 sqm across the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC) and Putra World Trade (PWTC) with design as its cornerstone.
Titus develops its range of innovative products to support manufacturers of kitchens and other furniture with solutions that are in line with contemporary trends following changing consumer needs.
Cabinet hardware is hardly visible, and yet it is what makes kitchen designers' visions possible. With new and improved functionalities and a life-time reliable performance, Titus cabinet hardware is the linchpin in the flawless user experience.
SCM, Italian leader for secondary woodworking technologies, confirms its decades-long commitment to the Italian and European markets participating at the 58th international Salone del Mobile furniture exhibition (Milan-Rho, April 9-14, 2019) through three very important initiatives.
The first one sees the Italian company still sponsoring the World Furniture Outlook 2019 (10 April at 11.00 AM) promoted by CSIL in order to provide an overview of the global furniture market with historical statistical data (production, consumption, imports, exports) and forecasts for 100 countries.
Interprint proved its reliable feel for interior design trends and zeitgeist with its decor selection presented at the HUB Interior Festival in November 2018. The designs selected for the event were greatly appealing to the HUB visitors.
The trend statements of the large flagship trade fairs for interior design, IMM Cologne and Heimtextil in January 2019, confirmed that Interprint is on the right track with its decor recommendations.
A production system made up of more than 250 relevant companies with nine thousand employees, for a total turnover of 2.5 billion euro in 2018, 70 of which represented by export.
This is a very concise description of the Italian production of machinery, technology, automation and accessories for the processing of wood and wood-based materials, an industry where Acimall is a primary actor, as the association which - within the national industry federation Confindustria - gathers over 150 member companies accounting for more than 80% of Italian production.
Biesse Group celebrates 50 years of innovation and technology, with an unwavering focus on the future
Biesse Group celebrates 50 years of innovation and technology, remembering half a century of history and success, with a strong focus on the future. In 1969, Biesse machines revolutionised the furniture market, with solutions that served to set new technological standards in the industry.
In just a few years, the company became an integral component and driving force within the Italian furniture district, conquering the entire national territory.
The annual Export Furniture Exhibition (EFE) returns to the popular Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) in March 2019. It is an opportunity to see some of the best furniture manufacturers in the world in one venue


text:
The Dyson Black Friday deals for 2024 will include a vacuum cleaner sale and much more! It’s not just about cleaning your floor and the product range has expanded in recent years to include a Supersonic Hair Dryer, or Airwrap hair styler, plus some amazing cordless vacuum offers as well.
When is the next Dyson Black Friday Sale in 2024?
Next Predicted date: Saturday, 23 November, 2024.
While the main Dyson offers normally start the week of Black Friday, you should see a tease the weekend before and even selected deals going live early. You’ll see all deals online at DYSON*.
Previous Dyson Black Friday Sale Dates
20th November, 2022 – This year the Dyson sale started the Sunday before Black Friday in the early afternoon. They teased the shopping event a few days before on their social channels and included exclusive offers on cordless vacuums for homes with pets, purifiers and more.
26th November, 2021 – We spotted lots of Dyson exclusive offers with savings on selected models this year during the main sale day. It’s worth noting that other retailers had Dyson deals on Black Friday too! Including ASDA George, Tesco, Currys, AO, etc.
18th November, 2020 – This year we we had up to £150 off selected Dyson technology and one again free delivery, also a Black Friday price promise. Included vacuum cleaners, haircare and lighting.
20th November, 2019 – Dyson offered a £100 saving on selected Dyson technology during this Black Friday event, along with free scheduled delivery.


text:
For domestic and multinational companies hit hard by the Japan earthquake, the road to reconstruction could be long and halting after a 9.0 earthquake and tsunami damaged production facilities that supply the domestic and international markets.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Texas Instruments Inc. projects that the factory in Miho—which accounted for about 10% of its revenue in 2010—was damaged in the disaster and won't ship at full volume until September.
Meanwhile, Toyota Motor Corp. says it is suspending production at all domestic plants through Wednesday. The shutdowns mean 40,000 vehicles won't be produced, a spokesman for the world's biggest auto maker by sales, told the Journal. Another Japanese firm Hitachi Ltd. says operations at its six manufacturing facilities in the quake-struck areas remain shut. Aircraft-engine parts maker IHI Corp. discloses that two of its plants in the quake areas have been damaged and have no chances of a recovery.
According to the newspaper, many companies in a range of industries have suspended operations at their plants, but they have disclosed little about what they are finding. If disruption to factories last for several weeks, production of domestic and foreign companies relying on Japan-based firms could be hit.
MORE ARTICLES ON RISK MANGEMENT


text:
It’s a partnership that demonstrates the growing co-operation of traditional industries — like farming — and emerging internet technologies.
“Smart agriculture epitomizes the huge global impact possible with IoT analytics solutions. It is also a market that will increasingly expand its use of sensors and external data sources to improve resource utilization and crop yields,” said Dan Shey, vice president of B2B Services at ABI Research and a renowned global IoT analyst. “As a result, application providers need to choose analytics platforms such as those from mnubo that not only scale to increasing data volumes and variety, but also provide real-time insights using a suite of diagnostic and predictive analytics tools.”
With 25,000 sensors installed across 600 farms spanning the US and Canada, Hortau aims to tap into the value of farm data to increase sustainability and productivity for farmers. As mnubo provides a real-time, built for IoT data analytics platform, this partnership provides an opportunity for Hortau to extract business value from sensor and events data.
“Hortau’s market leadership and patented technology strongly positions them to deliver additional value to the growers based on strategic insights from their irrigation data,” said Frederic Bastien, CEO of mnubo. “Data science and machine learning on farm data, are key to the optimization of global water reserves and maximizing crop yields. This collaboration brings together Hortau’s rich industry experience and mnubo’s unique ability to create business value from sensor data making the agriculture industry smarter.”


text:
30 SECOND GUIDE: Bribery Act
The Daily Mail City team explains the law following recent bribery accusations to GlaxoSmithKline executives by Chinese authorities.
Pssst. Fancy making a quick buck?
Sounds tempting but I’d rather stay out of jail, thanks.
The 2010 Bribery Act was Britain’s attempt to get our legislation on corruption, dodgy back-handers and illegal inducements into line with other foreign governments. We had been sadly lacking.
Corruption: Executives from Glaxo have been accused by Chinese authorities of bribing government officials and doctors
So what changed?
Under the law, merely failing to prevent bribery can be considered a criminal offence. It was introduced to try and prevent cases such as BAE Systems’ dealings in Saudi Arabia, which merited an investigation that was later dropped.
So-called facilitation payments, often made by third-party intermediaries, have been standard practice in many countries for certain types of business but would now be classed as illegal.
It could be. If you are an executive director based in the UK you could be jailed if someone in a division of your company based here or overseas pays a bribe or engages in corrupt practices.
At the very least directors and the company itself could face severe financial penalties.
Has anyone been caught yet?
Executives from GlaxoSmithKline, Britain’s biggest pharmaceuticals company, have been accused by Chinese authorities of bribing government officials and doctors to try and raise drugs prices and boost sales. GSK denies any wrongdoing.
Most watched Money videos
- Pierce Brosnan drives rare Aston Martin in GoldenEye trailer
- Investing Show: What you need to know about global funds
- Car shop shows their Seat Toledo 1.6 TDI 115 Style Advanced
- A look at the new 2018 Mercedes-Benz A-Class A200 model
- Mercedes-Benz teases its new Ultimate Luxury SUV concept
- This is the new fourth generation model of the Ford Focus
- Ford Europe teases the release of new Ford Focus in latest clip
- New Rolls-Royce Cullinan includes fold out seats from the boot
- Rolls-Royce showcase first ever SUV entitled the 'Cullinan'
- Young couple interviewed after buying their own home before 21
- Pension guide specialists help people to understand their options
- When is a good time to start investing?


text:
Psst...wanna buy an autonomous car? [Infographic]
Autonomous vehicles are going to change not only the auto industry, but our entire society, to an extent that very few people yet realize. The undisputed pioneer of this new frontier is Tesla [NASDAQ: TSLA], but the company’s leadership is seldom recognized in the media. News stories about self-driving vehicles tend to focus on funny-looking experimental cars performing tests in controlled environments - a stage that Tesla’s vehicles passed through years ago.
Above: Tesla is a pioneer in the race to the self-driving car (Instagram: learntesla)
The SAE recognizes five levels of vehicle autonomy, from (1) Driver Assistance to (5) Full Automation. Tesla’s Autopilot feature, which was introduced in 2014, currently offers Level 3, or Conditional Automation, which means that the vehicle can perform all aspects of driving, but the human driver may have to intervene at times. Tesla engineers are steadily pushing on to Level 5, in which the vehicle can handle full-time driving (and the human passengers can fiddle with their phones, nap or whatever). Elon Musk has promised to demonstrate a vehicle that can drive itself from Los Angeles to New York by the end of 2017.
Above: SAE's five automation levels (Image: Business Insider)
One reason that Tesla’s Autopilot has progressed so quickly is that it is integrated with the company’s over-the-air connectivity. Even when Tesla Autopilot is not engaged, it is learning, collecting data about road conditions and driver behavior, and beaming the information back to the Tesla mother ship. This gives Tesla an edge that no other player in the autonomy space can match. Meanwhile, the incumbent automakers have not been idle - OEMs including GM, Ford, Daimler, VW and BMW, as well as suppliers such as Bosch and Nvidia, have been filing a steady stream of autonomy-related patents. Nissan has publicly tested a self-driving LEAF, and Audi has begun teasing autonomy features in TV ads.
Above: The Tesla Model S (Instagram: currynana)
However, unless one of these companies is keeping some top secret breakthrough up its sleeve, Tesla would appear to be miles ahead of any potential competition in the autonomy arena. As of last October, Tesla said it had accumulated over 300 million miles of data with Autopilot engaged, and 1.3 billion miles of “passive” data (with Autopilot inactive, but the system still recording data). In contrast, the much-hyped Google’s Waymo project, (founded as the Google Self-Driving Car Project in 2009) uses a custom-built car designed to do autonomous driving without a human driver. As of last November, it had logged only 2.3 million miles of autonomous driving at four test locations.
Above: Google Waymo's self-driving test car (Image: Robohub via Waymo)
Unlike Google’s much smaller trove of data, Tesla's information is not being generated in a controlled experimental environment, but rather from thousands of ordinary Model S and Model X drivers going about their daily commutes all over the world. And the database is growing exponentially - the number of active miles reached in October had already tripled since May. And unlike any other automaker’s system (that we know about), Tesla’s Autopilot is constantly being improved via over-the-air software updates.
Above: Tesla is constantly improving the fleet with over-the-air software updates (Image: InsideEVs)
As usual, laws and regulations are lagging far behind technological advances. Tesla’s vehicles can already do things (such as self-parking) that are technically illegal on public roads. And the question of responsibility when things go wrong looms as a major issue. A tragic milestone was passed last May when Tesla owner Joshua Brown became the first person to die in a crash that occurred while his Model S was in Autopilot mode.
Above: Crash rates in model years 2014-2016 Tesla Model S and Model X vehicles (Source: Bloomberg via NHTSA, Tesla)
After a full investigation, the National Highway Traffic Safety Adminstration determined that Tesla was not at fault in the crash, and also noted that the frequency of accidents involving Tesla vehicles has declined by 40% since the company introduced Autopilot. However, some legal experts have said that automakers could still be held liable in future cases if driver assistance systems fail to prevent a crash. For more on the fascinating history and industry-wide growth of the autonomous car, check out this infographic...
Source: Get Off Road


text:
This story in today’s Los Angeles Times Business section, about how iTunes is promoting podcasts by Los Angeles NPR affiliate KCRW-FM, points out quite well why podcasting makes economic sense.
Expanded Reach – Listeners outside a broadcaster’s terrestrial footprint can get access to programs that may not be available on their local air ways.
“One thing it could mean is more money for KCRW’s coffers. The nonprofit station relies on the generosity of 500,000 over-the-air listeners and funds from program sponsors.
Seymour expects that 10% of the station’s podcasting listeners will each eventually donate as much as $80 a year to the station. If the trend continues, Seymour anticipates the station may raise an additional $1 million a year, a big potential shot in the arm for its $10-million annual budget. Already, Internet radio aficionados outside of Los Angeles make up 12% of KCRW’s donors.”
Untapped Advertising Revenue – Many podcast already feature advertisers. It’s a natural for radio broadcasters, but publishers can also leverage podcasting to realize an entirely new source of advertising dollars.
“KCRW also expects to solicit more underwriters by offering to mention companies at the beginning of podcasts. Toyota Motor Corp.’s Lexus brand paid tens of thousands of dollars last month to have the company’s name mentioned for six months in KCRW podcasts, on the station’s website, on the air and at a concert.”
I recently completed a series of Podcasts for Ecast Corporation, which sponsored production. The program format I created positioned the sponsor’s ad after an opening sound bite, but before the main body of the program.
PR Tech Wednesdays
Strategic communicators share insights on where we the industry every Wednesday from 12-1pm Pacific Time
In this episode of the FIR B2B Podcast, Paul Gillin and I discuss the critical role online…
How do you conduct B2B content marketing when your competitors are already way ahead of you? When…
In this episode of For Immediate Release B2B, Paul Gillin and Eric Schwartzman interview SAP Head of…
WordCamp Los Angeles is held at Loyola Marymount University because the college and open source software share…


text:
Netflix says it hopes to make the same content available in all countries 'over time'
Netflix is to block subscribers from accessing content libraries in different countries by cracking down on the use of “proxies”.
At present, a UK-based subscriber can access Netflix’s US library – which may feature additional TV shows and movies – by using a proxy to effectively pretend that he or she is logging in from the US. However, the streaming service is now taking measures to prevent this crafty switch from happening.
In a post on Netflix’s website, the service’s Vice President of Content Delivery Architecture, David Fullagar, told subscribers: “Some members use proxies or ‘unblockers’ to access titles available outside their territory. To address this, we employ the same or similar measures other firms do. This technology continues to evolve and we are evolving with it.
“That means in coming weeks, those using proxies and unblockers will only be able to access the service in the country where they currently are. We are confident this change won’t impact members not using proxies.”
Fullagar also admitted that Netflix has “a ways (sic) to go before we can offer people the same films and TV series everywhere”, but insisted the streaming service is “making progress” in this area. “Over time, we anticipate being able to do [offer the same content in all locations],” he added.


text:
The global luxury housing market lost some of its sheen last year as financial markets became unsettled and many wealthy buyers began to look for less expensive homes.
“The return of realism,” is how Dan Conn, chief executive of Christie’s International Real Estate, described the high-end market that stretches from San Francisco to Singapore.
Sales in a sector whose average home prices start at $2.2 million slowed in 2015, increasing by 8 percent, half its 2014 pace. The decline most likely reflects stability rather than weakness, according to a report released Thursday by Christie’s.
Properties in London and Hong Kong are sitting on the market longer. On average, homes sold for prices 19 percent below the original asking price, compared with 14 percent below the asking price in 2014. The number of luxury-home sales in the often sizzling Manhattan market dipped 5 percent last year. Falling oil prices led sales in Dubai to tumble 25 percent.
“You can’t have massive double-digit growth year after year after year,” Conn said. “In some ways, there is a limit.”
But a luxury market that experts say is normalizing still looks otherworldly when compared with conventional real estate. Some homes include cigar rooms with specialized ventilation and wine collections displayed in climate-controlled glass walls, for example, instead of in cellars.
Around the world, a single square foot in a luxury home varies dramatically -- from $200 in Monterrey, Mexico, to $4,500 in Monaco. The highest price paid for a home last year was $194 million for the Barker Road Estate in Hong Kong, which, judging by pictures, was still something of a fixer-upper.
Not all luxury markets reflected the consequences of weaker global economic growth. The cheaper euro helped to boost pied-a-terre purchases in Paris.
Yet in an emerging trend, the luxury market last year reached beyond the traditional hubs of global commerce and posh resort towns. Places with humbler reputations enjoyed sharp increases in high-end sales, a pattern likely to continue through 2016, Conn said.
Christie’s reported a 40 percent jump in the sales of luxury properties in Portland, Oregon, for example. And Auckland, New Zealand, experienced a 63 percent surge in luxury home-buying.
Atlanta, supported by an expanding film industry, reported a 25 percent increase, while an improving auto industry boosted luxury home sales in the Detroit area by 17 percent.
Baby boomers looking to cash out of the Vancouver housing market, which has attracted Chinese expatriates, moved to nearby Victoria, which enjoyed a 45 percent increase in luxury sales.
Other brokerages see similar phenomena at the top-tier of housing. During the first three months of 2016, Redfin reported that luxury sales prices dropped 1.1 percent from the same period a year ago.
Average luxury home prices in Miami Beach, Florida, plunged 13.7 percent to $5.7 million, according to the Seattle-based brokerage. Homes for Boston-area Brahmins fell 11.8 percent to $3.2 million. San Francisco tech gurus saw the average luxury sales price dip 4.7 percent to $4.4 million, while the Washington, D.C., area slid 4.2 percent to $2 million.
The main culprit appears to be a volatile stock market. The Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index plummeted until mid-February, only to undergo a jagged recovery such that the net worth of millionaires and billionaires has been in near constant flux. The turbulence has left luxury buyers wary about spending lavishly on housing, said Nela Richardson, Redfin’s chief economist.
“I’m not saying there is a recession among the 1 percent, but if you look across all luxury goods you’re seeing softness,” Richardson said. “I think that is attributable to the stock market.”
This doesn’t mean an absolute retreat from luxury housing.
In Florida, Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood have registered price gains after Miami became overheated. San Francisco’s recent excesses have spilled across the bay to the more affordable Oakland, where average luxury home prices climbed nearly 50 percent in the past year to $2.4 million.
“There are only so many tech billionaires who can buy in San Francisco,” Richardson said.


text:
Hosted by Global Top 100 Retail Influencer, Paul Bessant, the ReTec Europe – Podcast features interviews with leading retailers, government figures, retail experts and lobbyists. Published weekly, simply subscribe to receive the latest recording every weekSubscribe
Paul Bessant talks to Michael Ross, Chief Scientist at EDITED.
Paul Bessant talks to Martin Smith, Retail & Development Director at Cennox.
Paul Bessant talks to Gary Tattersall, Managing Director, Europe at Chainlane.
Paul Bessant talks to Jim Roddy, President and CEO at Retail Solutions Providers Association.


text:
Last week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced in a letter to company executives about the impending layoffs a global hiring freeze. The richest man in the world would have justified this decision by a very bad feeling concerning the economy with a recession which seems to be on the horizon. The news, which impacted Tesla’s stock, quickly spread through the cryptosphere, which feared the worst. Details in the following.
Musk’s concerns shared by economists
Before the letter announcing his gloomy forecasts for the economy, Elon Musk had already sent another to the employees of the company in telework to demand the return of the latter. This first communication was already an illustration of the fears of the CEO of Tesla concerning the repercussions of a future economic collapse on the activities of the automaker. A few days before the second letter, Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, said that the US economy was facing major problems that were leading it towards a new crisis.
Other economists also shared Musk’s concerns, predicting that the United States will enter a recession due to rising food and gasoline prices. “Will they be able to act as aggressively as necessary? Clearly, Elon Musk doesn’t think they can do this without plunging the economy into a deep recession. said Fiona Cincotta, senior financial markets analyst at City Index London. Automotive specialist at NordLB, Frank Schwope said he would be wise to take the words of the CEO of Tesla as a warning.
What consequences for the cryptocurrency market?
As the cryptocurrency market has shown a strong correlation with the stock market in recent months, a further drop in prices is quite possible. As a reminder, economic turmoil has already had a negative impact on cryptocurrencies this year. Rising inflation also prompted the Federal Reserve to tighten monetary policy.
This move has historically been unfavorable to risky markets like bitcoin. It is not foolish to think that Musk’s pessimistic exit on the economy is likely to worsen the situation in the crypto markets. Needless to say that the tweets of the person concerned have already impacted the operations of some cryptocurrency investors in the pastespecially individuals.
While the cryptocurrency market has remained fairly stable over the past week, US stock futures have dipped further into the red zone. Musk’s comments add additional pressure that could further deteriorate the situation with likely repercussions on the cryptocurrency market.
Receive a digest of news in the world of cryptocurrencies by subscribing to our new daily and weekly newsletter service so you don’t miss any of the essential Cointribune!
Luc Jose Adjinacou
Far from having dampened my enthusiasm, an unsuccessful investment in a cryptocurrency in 2017 only increased my enthusiasm. I therefore resolved to study and understand the blockchain and its many uses and to relay with my pen information relating to this ecosystem.


text:
Perfect storm of problems leads to demand for new cars exceeding supply, with waiting times for new VW T-Roc R now 14 weeks, says RAY MASSEY
We’re long used to waiting for buses, but the waiting list for cars is now proving just as frustrating.
A perfect storm of problems — a shortage of key microprocessor chips, the effects of Covid, the war in Ukraine — has led to demand for new cars exceeding supply.
This, in turn, has seen the price of nearly new and other used cars soaring as consumers seek a new set of wheels.
Join the queue: Waiting times for the new VW T-Roc R are now 14 weeks
Research by car warranty experts MotorEasy has used Department for Transport data and factory order waiting periods from car dealerships to reveal that among the UK’s top-selling cars, Nissan’s Sunderland-built Qashqai, priced from £25,505, has the shortest waiting time of 13 weeks.
For electric cars, that’s matched by the Hyundai Ioniq, for which you’ll also wait three months.
Among petrol and diesel cars, next shortest wait is for the Volkswagen T-Roc (enhanced models from £25,000), and BMW 3 Series (all 14 weeks); Volkswagen Polo and Kia Sportage (both 20 weeks); Ford Kuga and Puma (both 22 weeks); VW Tiguan (24 weeks) and the VW Golf (25 weeks).
Among electric cars, the next shortest waits are: the Tesla Model 3 (14 weeks); Renault Zoe and Peugeot e-2008 (both 22 weeks). MotorEasy chief executive Duncan McClure Fisher said: ‘The waiting list for cars is at an all-time high.
‘With delays caused by the ongoing global pandemic and staff absence, the semiconductor shortages, and now the crisis in Ukraine, buyers are waiting longer and longer for new vehicles to make it onto the roads.’ It comes as the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show that UK car manufacturing declined by 32.4 per cent to 207,347 during the first three months of this year.
That means almost 100,000 fewer vehicles were made than in the same period last year. So it’s no wonder there are delays.
My advice is to get your orders in early.
SAVE MONEY ON MOTORING


text:
Trading Standards Service (TSS) has asked people to be vigilant when considering online purchases after another consumer lost money on a fake used car sales website.
The 32 year old Belfast woman was caught out when she decided to buy a 2012 Ford Focus she saw on a used car sales website of a business claiming to be based in England. She spoke online with the business before agreeing to make a bank transfer payment of £4,200.
The website which had over 100 cars displayed was fake and has now closed down. The lady did not receive her car and has been unable to recover her money.
Over the past year at least seven purchasers from Northern Ireland have lost an average of £4,000 in similar scams.
Bill Malloy, TSS said: “Once again, Northern Ireland consumers are considerably out of pocket. People should never conclude a deal from someone without being able to touch the car in question and to deal face to face with the seller. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. Even when such websites are shut down they will re-emerge under a different name but using the same tactics”.
Consumers who feel that they have been a victim should contact Consumerline on 0300 123 6262 or alternatively log onto the Consumerline website at http://www.consumerline.org


text:
GAINESVILLE, FL—Earlier this month, students at the University of Florida returned from spring break to record-low temperatures and a tauntingly blue sky. On March 16, the rolling green lawn that joins several of the university’s main buildings was filled with students enjoying the weather in warm patches of sun.
About two miles east, representatives from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a farmworker-rights organization based five hours south of Gainesville, gathered with UF students at Norman Field, an expanse of grass near the area of town where Wendy Thomas, the original Wendy on whom the fast food chain’s logo is based, lived when she attended the university in the early 1980s. With tomato signs and CIW’s signature yellow flags, students and coalition members were gathered for a protest.
The sound of guitars and chants of “Move Wendy’s, get out the way!” soon could be heard as the protestors made their way through campus. People paused their frisbeeing or studying to locate the source of the noise as the mass of students traveled south toward the student union, home to one of two Wendy’s locations on campus.
Three years ago, students across the country launched the “Boot the Braids” campaign to pressure Wendy’s into joining the CIW’s Fair Food Program. The CIW has organized to improve working conditions for farmworkers since 1993, and its Fair Food Program (FFP) is a first-of-its-kind model that does just that. The FFP launched in 2011 and originally focused on tomatoes grown in Florida where tomato farm owners and crew leaders were notoriously abusive to farmworkers, and wages were shockingly low. The CIW used public pressure and protests to get major retailers, including Taco Bell, McDonald’s, Walmart, and Subway, to agree to only purchase Florida tomatoes from growers who participate in the FFP. They also agreed to pay one penny more per pound of tomatoes, which would go directly to farmworkers. Florida growers who want to sell to retailers participating in the FFP in turn have to sign on to a farmworker-drafted code of conduct and consent to third-party audits of their working conditions. Since its inception, the program has improved working conditions and resulted in more than $23 million in increased wages. The FFP has since expanded to include tomatoes grown in six other states, and now also includes Florida-grown strawberries and peppers.
Wendy’s has resisted joining the program from the beginning. After years of protests, hunger strikes, boycotts, and petitions, each of the top five fast food companies have signed on to the FFP except for Wendy’s. In response, the CIW launched a national boycott of the chain in March 2016. As for the student activists, they say their Boot the Braids campaign won’t stop until Wendy’s joins the FFP or is removed from their college campuses.


text:
Marcus & Millichap's Daniel Hurd is making a career selling Dollar General stores to eager investors, and he believes he's just getting started.
When Daniel Hurd joined commercial real estate brokerage firm Marcus & Millichap’s Tampa office seven years ago, he thought about carving out a niche selling mobile home communities.
But he quickly realized there might not be enough deals to keep him busy.
That was a problem, because he wanted busy, and to develop a book of business with a product type he could scale nationally.
He found it one day on his drive to work.
“All up and down the road, there were single-tenant stores everywhere,” says Hurd, 35. “I just knew there was opportunity there.”
Breaking into net-lease investment sales wasn’t easy, though.
Better-established brokers had a head start selling Starbucks coffee shops, Burger Kings, gas stations with attached convenience stores and Walgreens where tenants pay rent plus expenses to landlords.
It took a while, but Hurd eventually stumbled into a deal to sell a Dollar General store. At the time, there wasn’t much competition there.
Investors were largely sour on dollar stores like Dollar General, Family Dollar and Dollar Tree. Who wanted to spend about $1.25 million to buy a store in a typically rural town of 10,000 people or less?
Hurd’s timing, however, was impeccable.
Thanks to a growing acceptance of the product type by consumers, Dollar General was entering a growth mode. The company, which operated roughly 13,000 stores in 2017, indicated it wanted to open 1,000 new stores annually.
Its goal was to have more than 30,000 stores nationwide. Even better, for Hurd, it didn’t want to own its real estate.
Hurd soon discovered that most Dollar General stores were built by company-selected merchant developers who, in turn, sold them upon completion to individual investors, who garnered yields of about 7.5% to 8% through typically 10-year, double-net lease commitments — meaning they had to pay taxes or some other agreed upon expense. Many bought the stores through tax-deferred 1031 Exchanges, adding to their appeal.
As Dollar General’s sales grew, so did its real estate footprint — and its aspirations.
The company’s newer stores tend to be larger, and it’s become willing to sign 15-year lease terms under so-called “triple net” arrangements, which are more passive investments for landlords.
As more investors began hunting for the deals guaranteed by the company, prices rose and capitalization rates — yields — fell, to around 5% or 6%. Still, that was better than a T-bill, nearly every bank CD and many stocks and bonds.
Hurd developed a database of potential buyers and owners, and dug in on how the company’s stock performed, overall sales, customer perception, store rental rates and investor interest. He also boned up on population shifts and traffic counts, too, so he could better inform buyers and sellers.
His phone then began ringing — with calls from the very investors who wouldn’t have thought of buying an often stand-alone store in a small town previously.
Owners of older Dollar General stores started inquiring, too, about how to trade out of their properties into the newer, larger stores with longer leases.
Best yet, institutional buyers came knocking, looking for portfolio diversification, and lenders that had offered only risk-intense loans tied to dollar stores began providing more attractive leverage to increase investor yields.
“The numbers were shocking to me, how they ramped up so quickly,” Hurd says.
To date, Hurd has sold 84 Dollar General stores, primarily from Texas to Florida, for more than $74 million. Last year alone, he participated in 29 sales, valued at $23 million.
Thus far in 2021, he’s closed another 15 and has 13 additional outlets either under contract of sale or coming to market.
Because Dollar General was labeled an “essential retailer,” it was largely unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think that a three-sided, aluminum building often in tertiary locations could keep me so busy,” Hurd says. “I’ve been very fortunate.”
In recognition of the niche he’s carved out, Hurd in November was promoted to First Vice President—Investments in the Tampa office of Marcus & Millichap, a national brokerage firm that last year closed nearly 9,000 transactions valued at $43 billion.
Mike Marshall first encountered Hurd when he owned a handful of Dollar General stores in Florida, about five years ago.
“He asked me if he could provide me with an analysis of what the stores were worth,” Marshall says. “Well, I ended up selling those five and I bought another four from him. He’s so honest and sincere and he doesn’t blow any smoke up your dress, so to speak. I’ve found that in dealing with triple-net properties, you have to be careful. Sometimes the cap rate that’s advertised isn’t the cap rate that you receive once the deal is done.
“But with Daniel, he wants you for a long-term customer and treats you accordingly.”
Looking ahead, Hurd sees a bright future in Dollar General transactions.
He’s recently begun selling the stores in new states like Illinois, Oklahoma, Virginia, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio — even New York.
“Five years from now, I’ll be very disappointed if my team and I aren’t selling 100 Dollar Generals a year,” Hurd says. “Because now, we’re very much in an advisory role for clients, helping them by looking 24 to 36 months down the road.”
Part of his optimism stems from the product. Newer Dollar General stores measure about 9,000 square feet, and many contain refrigeration as the company expands further into the grocery business.
Prices have increased — on average to $1.5 million (while generating about $80,000 in rental income annually) vs. an average of $900,000 for older properties — but not significantly, Hurd says.
And while some investors say they are skittish that success means Dollar General will either outgrow its current stores or relocate to a higher-trafficked areas, Hurd says that’s not typical.
Last year, for instance, the company opened 1,000 new stores and remodeled or expanded another 1,600 — while relocating just 110. Net closures, he says, have been “next to none.”
“As an owner, the retailer also has all the information on sales of a particular store, and they typically don’t share it,” says Cody Brown, whose family has bought or sold nine dollar stores with Hurd over the past five years.
“But Daniel brings a lot of value to the table,” Brown says. “He’s become an expert on the product type, and he’s always very responsive and a good negotiator. He keeps us apprised of the big picture even when we’re not in the market.”
For his part, Hurd describes his relationships with Brown and other investors as proverbial “win-win” situations.
“I wake up every morning thankful that I am doing what I enjoy and something that’s fulfilling for me and others,” he says. “I’m excited about where the business is going to go over the next few years.”


text:
PayPal’s introduction of a U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin opens the door to a wider discussion of where the digital offerings’ place lies within commerce.
As has been reported, on Monday (Aug. 7), the company launched the stablecoin, to be issued by Paxos Trust, in a bid to, in the words or CEO Dan Schulman, “contribute to the growth of digital payments.”
In terms of the mechanics of the issuance and the stablecoins themselves, the PayPal USD will be backed by liquid assets including U.S. Treasurys and will peg the value 1:1 to the U.S. dollar. Users will be able to transfer PayPal USD between PayPal and compatible external wallets, send P2P payments using the currency, and fund purchases with PayPal USD by selecting it at checkout.
With those use cases, we note, there lies the premise of bringing stablecoins more widely into the mainstream. Stablecoins, generally speaking, have been used to trade on crypto exchanges, where fiat is used to buy a stablecoin, the stablecoin is used to buy or trade cryptos (and the activity can occur across exchanges), sans the friction (and fees) of bank settlements.
The conventional wisdom is that by fixing the stablecoin to the U.S. dollars (or, specifically, a basket of U.S. holdings) the stablecoins are, well, stable.
But the past several months and years show that on occasion, some stablecoins have managed to “break the buck” and fall below that dollar peg.
Moreover, the regulatory picture for stablecoins is far from firmly etched. Earlier this year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued Paxos a Wells Notice to cease minting the Binance USD stablecoin. And in the wake of that action, as new issuance was suspended, investors drained billions of dollars out of the stablecoin.
There are other examples of recent forays into the stablecoin realm, and from the private sector. JPMorgan Chase has launched euro-denominated transactions for corporate clients with its blockchain-based JPM Coin.
For PayPal, the fact that an ecosystem is already firmly entrenched means that there may be a wider path for stablecoins to make inroads into commerce, moving beyond a status of an “onramp” into crypto. In our own coverage of the company’s earnings last week, there’s been increasing use of that ecosystem, globally. The data show that the number of transactions grew by 10% to 6.1 billion, with activity marked across 400 million active consumer accounts, up 0.4% year over year, and 35 million active merchant accounts — and the transactions per average active account gained 12% to more than 54 transactions.
Venmo transactions surged 8% to $67 billion, and so it may be the case that P2P payments give rise to stablecoins. It must be noted that PayPal USD is being rolled out in the states, and Venmo is confined to the U.S., too (tied to bank accounts), so the payment option exists within the confines of but a portion of the PayPal ecosystem at checkout.


text:
On the Trey Ware Show, Karl & Trey discussed the changing landscape in the retail sector. The way consumers shop is changing, but it’s not going away.
Trey Ware: We’re going through basically a retail revolution in our country, in my opinion lik we went through the ag revolution, the industrial revolution, retail is going through that revolution and it’s all because of online, right?
Karl Eggerss: Yeah absolutely. We did see a weak retail sales report for December, but overall you’re seeing more of a transformation than anything like you said, because the way people are buying stuff is different now. They’re still buying shoes, they’re still buying clothes, they’re still buying cars, they’re buying all that but the way they’re doing it is completely different than 15 years ago. And they’re getting it quickly, right? We have Amazon same day service in a lot of cities, and so you’re getting this stuff when you want it without having to leave your house. So people are still buying, and I would argue there’s a lot of people that are unfortunately pry buying too much. We see that the average household has like a $1,000 saved in their savings account, and it’s because of this immediate gratification where they can buy anything they want with a click of a button. But, as far as people walking in malls, and hanging out in malls like you and I did when we were younger.
Trey Ware: Yeah.
Karl Eggerss: They’re not doing that anymore.
Trey Ware: Right.
Karl Eggerss: And so, they’re getting their entertainment differently, and the way we consume entertainment, and they’re shopping differently, and again, instead of us dwelling on the ones that aren’t doing it right let’s focus on the ones that are doing it right because there’s a lot of opportunity in our stock market for those particular companies.
Trey Ware: Well and as more and more A&I come in, and we see more and more computers taking over, and doing the things that people used to do, that revolution is going to continue.
Trey Ware: Even when it comes to medicine we now see a lot of advertising on television that deals with Doc in a Box that you never even see, that you just log on, you describe your condition to this doc. Sometimes you see the doctor through a computer screen, or sometimes you don’t even see the doctor at all and the doctor can prescribe certain drugs, not all drugs, but certain drugs can be prescribed that way. And then they’re delivered to your front door, and you never even grace a doctor’s office, you don’t have to wait in a doctor’s office in a room full of sick people or anything like that, you do it all online.
Karl Eggerss: Well personalized medicine will change. I even do my business and have done for years a lot of video conference. People that either can’t come into the office, or people that we have in other cities or states, we do a video conference, we’ve been doing that for years where I can share my screen, you’re right there with each other and it’s very convenient. Clients actually like that instead of having to fight traffic, and having to fight all the stuff going on trying to get there, and it’s a hassle, and they can do their meetings when they want at very convenient times. It’s transforming every business not just medical.
Trey Ware: Yeah it is huge, it’s a big, big deal. You can check him out at Karl Eggerss, Eggersscapital.com is where you get more details about Karl. That’s eggerscappital.com, you can get his Eggerss report and follow along with him. Thank you Karl. He’s here every Monday at this time to talk about what’s going on in a world of economy and the stock market as well.
Get our latest market commentary by subscribing to our blog here.
To subscribe to the Eggerss Report via the Itunes Store, click here.