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Why is Versus Systems (VS) stock up 260% today?
Versus systems (NASDAQ:VS) rages today at the announcement of a partnership with Solve the debt. The company is known for innovating interactive audience engagement through gamification technology. She now intends to push her mission a little further by joining artificial intelligence (AI) race, and the VS stock soars.
According to a statement released by Versus Systems today, it will partner with the automated debt collection innovator “to bring gamification and interactive elements to existing credit and debt management products and clients powered by Resolve AI”.
Since the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, interest in AI has steadily increased, boosting companies in the technology sector. But this news shows that chatbots aren’t the only product of the new AI boom that may spawn a new group of market winners. Let’s take a closer look at this partnership and what investors can expect in the future.
What’s going on with VS Stock
To say that markets are reacting well to news of the Versus Systems partnership would be an understatement. As of this writing, the VS stock is up 260% for the day and shows no signs of slowing down. Although it is down slightly from its previous peak of 400% gains, this surge is still impressive. The microcap penny stock has fallen from over $6 per share to under $1 in the past six months. But since the beginning of the year, it is up more than 370%.
Clearly, Wall Street is happy to see the company venture into the AI space. There’s no reason why it shouldn’t. The markets for innovative AI and personal finance solutions are booming right now. InvestorPlace Senior investment analyst Luke Lango recently predicted a fintech innovator Sofi Technologies (NYSE:SOFI) is poised to skyrocket in the coming years due to its use of automated technology to make personal finance more convenient. But with this partnership, Versus Systems may also be able to tap into this lucrative market, helping VS stock to continue to rise. Its founder and CEO, Matthew Pierce, released the following statement on the partnership:
“This is a new application for the products and methods that we have long believed in. Our entire product line has always been built around the effectiveness of interactivity and rewards to engage end users. Adding this expertise to Resolve’s generative AI platform will help more businesses deliver appropriate reimbursement solutions to consumers cost-effectively and at scale. »
The company’s statement also addresses the market that the two companies seek to address through the partnership. Consumer (non-mortgage) debt in the United States reached more than $4 trillion according to end-2022 data from the New York Federal Reserve. Versus Systems believes that by partnering with Resolve Debt, it will be able to help address some of this large amount with Resolve’s AI-powered products for credit and debt management.
What happens after
There’s reason to be optimistic about VS stock as the potential winner of 2023. Much of Versus Systems’ success is due to its use of gamification technology. If he can successfully add that to Resolve’s personal finance products, it could help revolutionize the way Americans pay bills and reduce debt. VS shares have the potential to rise well above the penny stock range if the company is able to successfully secure a share of the personal finance market through this partnership.
On Penny Stocks and Low Volume Stocks:With rare exceptions, InvestorPlace does not publish reviews of companies with a market cap of less than $100 million or trading fewer than 100,000 shares per day. This is because these “penny stocks” are often the playground of scammers and market manipulators. If we ever post commentary on a low-volume stock that could be affected by our commentary, we require the editors of InvestorPlace.com to disclose that fact and warn readers of the risks.
Read more:Penny Stocks – How To Profit Without Getting Scammed
At the date of publication, Samuel O’Brient held (neither directly nor indirectly) any position in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publication guidelines.


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The biggest challenge the cruise industry faces is convincing more people to take cruises, Carnival Corp. CEO Arnold Donald said in an interview with Business Insider.
The total number of cabins on all of the world's cruise ships amounts to less than 2% of the world's hotel rooms, Donald said. In 2017, the total number of global cruise passengers was 26.6 million. In 2014, an average of 4.8 million people stayed in US hotels each night.
"The cruise industry is tiny," Donald said.
A limited amount of ship-building capacity puts a ceiling on how much the cruise industry can grow each year, but Donald hopes to create more demand than Carnival can meet.
"The challenge is creating demand in excess of supply to be able to narrow the gap," Donald said.
Carnival relies on a variety of channels to reach potential customers, including social-media posts from passengers, travel agents, traditional advertising, cold calling, and TV shows it has created for major networks, such as ABC's "Ocean Treks" and NBC's "The Voyager."
The ultimate goal, according to Donald, is to have every potential customer encounter a "positive feeling" about the cruise industry multiple times each day.
"We're always looking for how to get the story out," he said.
By Mark Matousek, Business Insider
Re-posted on CruiseCrazies.com - Cruise News, Articles, Forums, Packing List, Ship Tracker, and more
For more cruise news and articles go to https://www.cruisecrazies.com

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The datacenter market is weird and AMD will take every thing they will get for marketing collateral. Any data point to validate AMD in the datacenter is required, as those prospects incessantly purchase inferior product at worth premiums simply because it is the closest match to what they did earlier than. Unfortunately exhibiting up with better product at lower value isn’t by itself enough to capture enterprise in the industry. Spiky workload functions have variable CPU usage that have occasional spikes in demand that need to burst seamlessly to meet temporary visitors peaks after which scale back all the way down to function at typical site visitors ranges.
In reality, she said there’s room for additional federal incentives, particularly ones for charging infrastructure particularly for school bus fleets. Doing so wouldn’t simply keep buses on the roads; it could assist fortify the grid. A bill introduced last month by Sen. Angus King would create a program to equip electrical faculty buses with bidirectional vehicle-to-grid charging capabilities.
The Infinity cloth, which is constructed on AMD’s proprietary tech, might be appropriate with CXL 2.0 rack-level interconnect, and shall be extensible to assist the UCIe , which is a chiplet level interconnect. UCIe is backed by the likes of Intel, AMD, Arm, Google, Meta and others. Meta plans to energy its metaverse choices with AMD Epyc chips, and Google Cloud is offering extra cases amazon encourages supplies social media to on AMD’s chips. The American semiconductor company additionally announced a spread of latest chips aimed toward taking up bigger rivals corresponding to Nvidia Corp in supercomputing markets, in addition to smaller rivals, together with Ampere Computing in the cloud computing market.
Google developed a line of processors called Tensor to optimize the performance of its smartphones and knowledge facilities. PC demand may stay muted for a couple of more quarters as the industry corrects an oversupply of client electronics in stock. But while this situation will get corrected, AMD could proceed to grind out some progress thanks to the metaverse and different data middle and community spending.
But Musk would be clever to take a look around the world, the place the legal hurdles to working a world social media platform have never been greater. Totoki also pointed to the overall sport industry downturn this 12 months as one of many explanation why PS Plus membership and software program and hardware gross sales were down across the board this past quarter. Sony executives say the plan over time is to develop PS Plus by making its newer subscription tiers extra engaging and appropriately advertising them.
This yr’s report is colored, like most every little thing else, by the warfare in Ukraine. Russia’s invasion has completely upended the vitality market, affecting everything from fuel tocritical mineral prices. With pressure mounting between the united states and China, and oil production cuts by OPEC+, pressures on the power system will solely grow.
Musk’s Twitter takeover has been turbulent, sparking worries that customers will abandon the social network en masse, especially on the heels of reports that the company may begin charging charges. The new initiative doesn’t come with a particular price ticket or funding, though. AMD notched a major victory over rival Intel Monday when it introduced that its Epyc chips would be used by Meta Platforms — the company name Facebook Inc. adopted in October — to assist run its information centers. The new AMD chip is designed to tackle Nvidia’s A100 chip, which, along with other chips designed to hurry up synthetic intelligence, has helped make Nvidia the most useful U.S.-listed semiconductor firm.
On Wednesday, the administration rolled out a model new federal program to fund clear college buses in what could probably be an inflection point for his or her adoption. The first wave of grants, administered by the Environmental Protection Agency, will purchase roughly 2,500 buses nationwide. Successfully electrifying the country’s remaining half-million school buses will require carefully designed incentives that give the business a boost till it could stand on its own. There are indicators that nations which have largely ignored a various clear vitality supply chain are all of a sudden paying attention.
Big tech is spending a ton of money on next-gen web providers right now, which may proceed into 2023. AMD mentioned it has partnered with lots of the main players in EDA and different system design instruments, together with Altair, Ansys, Cadence, Siemens, Synopsys, among others, to enhance how their software program runs on Milan-X. But using V-Cache to improve the amount of shared L3 cache means AMD’s Milan-X CPUs can maintain much more info close to the CPU cores, reducing latency that can sap the efficiency of EDA workloads. Another workload AMD is making an attempt to handle with Milan-X CPUs is semiconductor design, for the explanation that V-Cache guarantees “critical data” utilized in electronic design automation is positioned nearer to the CPU’s cores. AMD has beforehand unveiled plans to make use of V-Cache know-how in its Ryzen CPUs for the PC market. “This extra L3 cache relieves memory bandwidth strain and reduces latency and that in flip accelerates utility efficiency dramatically,” Su mentioned.


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Serena Williams and Cash App teamed up to give back to communities. The athletic philanthropist has been influencing many over the years.
Most recently, she stepped in to help educate people on financial literacy.
The company also makes history with Serena Williams with their first integrated brand campaign, “That’s Money.”
The series of fifteen-second video spots will “capture the ease and joy of using the App for everyday money management.”
During the company’s latest commercial, Williams uses App to pay her babysitter after a night out. She said she partnered with the company to encourage money management with ease.
“I am a huge proponent of financial independence, education and accessibility,” said Serena Williams in news release shared with Essence. “I want to use my platform to raise awareness around the opportunities money management tools like Cash App have to offer.” Additionally stating, “working together was a no-brainer. Cash App’s new brand campaign highlights just one of Cash App’s features I love to use.” She continued, “I hope this will show audiences that they can also financially interact with friends and family in a seamless way.”
Other stars that have been tapped for future Cash App campaign spots.
The list includes NFL wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., as well as Formula One racing driver Sergio Pérez.
“At Cash App we aim to make money an accessible and liberating experience for anyone,” adds Catherine Ferdon, Head of Brand and Marketing at Cash App. “Through our first-ever brand campaign we’re thrilled to partner with culture-defining icons like Serena Williams and Odell Beckham Jr. who are best in class in their industries and financially savvy themselves, to introduce our products to new audiences and empower anyone to take control of their finances with Cash App.”
According to reports, videos may air on connected TV (Hulu, Tubi, ESPN+) and across social platforms through 2022.


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Is Microfiber Contributing To Sustainable Hazards?
The cleaning benefits and reduction of chemical and water use from incorporating microfiber cloths and tools have been embraced by many cleaning professionals. New microfiber products are introduced often, and education on how to use and maintain these products is a regular topic in publications for cleaning industry professionals. In fact, a quick search for “microfiber” on CleanLink.com yields roughly 3,000 results dating back to 2001. Similarly, there were 70 exhibitors (10 percent of the total) at the ISSA/INTERCLEAN show last year who indicated the “Cloths-Microfiber” category in their listing.
Although we’ve greatly reduced exposures from the chemicals going down the drain through the use of green-certified products, the use of microfiber products — specifically, laundering them 300 to 500 times for reuse — is contributing to a new set of hazards. Each time a microfiber product is washed, thousands of tiny synthetic fibers are shed and rinsed out with the washing machine water.
Outdoor clothing and gear company Patagonia commissioned a 2015 study from the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where “researchers found that the highest estimate of fibers released from a single jacket was 250,000, and the average across all jackets was 81,317 fibers.” These “micro-microfibers,” tinier pieces of the non-degradable synthetic fibers used in the textiles, are small enough to pass through wastewater treatment processes and end up in waterways and oceans.
Once in the water, the tiny synthetic fibers absorb hazardous chemicals from the water and can be mistaken for food by aquatic creatures. Then bigger eats smaller, and these bits of synthetic fibers with hazardous chemicals accumulate up the food chain, all the way to us.
Another 2015 study looked at the presence of human-generated plastic debris and fibers in seafood. In the seafood they examined, researchers found “anthropogenic debris in more than 25 percent of individual animals, and in over half of the species purchased and/or collected from fish markets and fishermen selling fish for human consumption.” This means the tiny fibers shed from our clothes and textiles, and any harmful chemicals they’ve absorbed, can come back to bite us when we bite in.
Since we don’t really want to be ingesting synthetic fibers any more than fish do, The Story of Stuff Project launched “The Story of Microfibers” this past March.
While the attention starts on clothing, all of the synthetic microfiber in use by the cleaning industry (washed 300 to 500 times) naturally got me thinking. I’d encourage you to watch the video, then start talking with your manufacturers and distributors. Will they offer a fine mesh laundry bag to contain the fibers shed when washing, like the Guppy Friend in development for clothes? Can they make a microfiber product that sheds less in the wash, or not at all?
We know the many positives of using microfiber, but now we know we also need to work on some impacts from that use. Asking suppliers questions is a start, and maybe we’ll see a fine mesh laundry bag for microfiber at this year’s ISSA/INTERCLEAN show. I need one for all the moisture-wicking performance clothing at home!
MARK PETRUZZI is Senior Vice President of Outreach and Strategic Relations with Green Seal. He’s in his third decade of striving for more sustainable purchasing and operations by using his engineering powers for good.


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Korea’s automobile exports amounted to US$4.4 billion in April, up 6.1 percent from the same period of 2021. Export growth was led by eco-friendly vehicles amid a global push for carbon neutrality. However, production decreased due to a shortage of semiconductors and disruptions in parts supply triggered by China’s large-scale lockdowns.
The April automobile export figure was the highest since the outbreak of COVID-19, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on May 16. Korea shipped a total of 196,780 vehicles abroad in April, up 12.4 percent from the same period of 2021. The figure was the second highest since 206,677 units in March 2020.
Exports to all major regions except the EU and Eastern Europe increased: The growth rates were 30.9 percent for the Middle East, 23.4 percent for Latin America, 15.9 percent for Africa, 55.9 percent for Oceania, 48.4 percent for Asia and 1.0 percent for North America. Exports to the EU and Eastern Europe shrank 6.9 percent and 26.4 percent, respectively.
Eco-friendly vehicles drove the growth of exports. They accounted for 24.4 percent of the total, up 4.9 percentage points from 19.5 percent in the same period of 2021. The cumulative number of eco-friendly car exports from January to last month reached 174,844, up 40.6 percent from 121,433 in the same period of 2021. In particular, hybrid car exports swelled for 16 consecutive months, exceeding US$600 million for the first time in history.
Domestic eco-friendly car sales have also continued to grow for the third month in a row. The number of home-made electric vehicles sold in Korea in April soared by 193.5 percent to 10,942 units compared to the same period 2021 (3,728 units). During the same period, domestic sales of Korean hybrid cars also jumped by 55.2 percent from 10,797 units to 16,760 units. Domestic sales of imported electric vehicles such as Tesla also surged 248.4 percent to 1,526 units from 438 units.
However, automakers are experiencing disruptions in production due to a prolonged shortage of automotive semiconductors and a difficulty in supplying parts as China has locked down major cities in accordance with its zero-COVID-19 policy. Automobile production in April hit 306,462 units, down 5.3 percent from the same month of 2021. In fact, Kia Corp. produced 126,000 cars last month, down 17.3 percent from the same period of 2021. GM Korea also suffered a 14 percent drop in production as it was unable to properly supply some parts due to a lockdown of Shanghai, China.
Foreign carmakers were also unable to avoid a shortage of semiconductors for vehicles. They included Mercedes-Benz and BMW and sold 23,200 cars in Korea in April, down 10.6 percent from the same period of 2021. Their domestic sales have declined for eight consecutive months since September 2021.
Meanwhile, domestic automobile sales reached 143,167 units last month, down 11.1 percent in the past one-year period. It was blamed on a delay in shipments among others. Specifically, Hyundai Motor sold 59,415 vehicles for domestic use last month, down 15.4 percent from the same period of 2021.


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Bell on Tuesday announced the launch of the first public multi-access edge computer (MEC) with Amazon Web Services (AWS) Wavelength in Canada.
Bell announced a partnership with AWS last year and now the two companies are rolling out the latter’s Wavelength Zones across the country, starting in Toronto on the wireless service provider’s 5G network.
This partnership means that AWS compute and storage services are now closer to customers using 5G networks, instead of being computed in remote centralized cloud data centers.
The result is lower latency and higher bandwidth leveraging Bell’s 5G network, enabling solutions such as real-time visual data processing, augmented/virtual reality (AR/VR), artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML), advanced robotics and more from Bell.
Bell gave examples of companies leveraging its 5G network and AWS at a press conference, such as Drone Delivery Canada getting “one step closer” to autonomous drones using the solution, capable of achieving real-time video analysis using 5G edge computing, instead of video data processed from a centralized cloud server.
“Using enhanced video recognition capabilities powered by Bell Public MEC with AWS Wavelength, we are making drone deliveries and logistics faster, safer and more cost effective,” said Steve Magirias, CEO, Drone Delivery Canada.
Montreal-based leather goods retailer Rudsak is also using Bell and AWS to deliver a virtual shopping experience with Summit Tech’s shopping platform, Odience. Customers can browse a Rudsak store in pop-up locations simply by using their smartphone or a VR headset. Bell’s Public MEC with AWS Wavelength enables a “high-quality, lag-free experience for retailers,” said Alido Di Giovanni, president of Summit Tech.
Bell also explained how Toronto-based remote-controlled robot delivery service Tiny Mile also uses Bell and AWS for real-time data processing with low latency, necessary to avoid objects for safe delivery of goods to customers. . According to CEO Ignacio Tartavull, Tiny Mile says the 5G edge computing solution will come one step closer to fully autonomous deliveries.


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The Boys, Amazon Prime Video's most popular TV show, is getting a spin-off series.
In a press release, Amazon Studios confirmed that it had given the greenlight for the offshoot series, which currently has no official title or release date.
Billed as a "part college show, part Hunger Games – with all the heart, satire and raunch of The Boys", the untitled spin-off will be set in the US's only exclusive college for young-adult superheroes, which is obviously run by Vought International.
Amazon revealed that the TV series will follow "the lives of hormonal, competitive Supes as they put their physical, sexual and moral boundaries to the test, competing for the best contracts in the best cities". So it's unsurprising that the spin-off show, much like The Boys itself, will be R-rated.
- Here's everything you need to know about The Boys season 3
- These are the best movies to watch on Amazon Prime Video
- Invincible season 2: what we know so far
Michele Fazekas (Emergence, Agent Carter) and (Reaper, Hawaii 5-0) will serve as showrunners and executive producers on the TV show. The Boys showrunner and executive producer Eric Kripke will also produce the series alongside the likes of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. The Boys' creators Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, too, are involved as executive producers.
In a statement accompanying the announcement, Kripke said: “Much like Mork & Mindy spun-off from Happy Days – which is an insane and true fact – our spinoff will exist in the Vought Cinematic Universe, yet have a tone and style all its own. It’s our take on a college show, with an ensemble of fascinating, complicated, and sometimes deadly Young Supes.
“Michele and Tara are stone-cold geniuses, we’re thrilled to have them steer this ship, and grateful to Sony and Amazon for the opportunity. We love this show and can’t wait for you to see it. Also, Baywatch Nights spun-off from Baywatch, and it had vampires. Vampires!”
Analysis: Amazon is right to build out The Boys' live-action universe
It's hard to argue with Amazon's desire to create spin-offs from The Boys. The studio's live-action adaptation of Ennis and Robertson's beloved comic series is arguably its biggest show ever. It's unsurprising, then, that Amazon wants to capitalize on its most popular product.
Not only that, but Amazon will have noticed how other companies and streamers have begun to build live-action cinematic universes from their respective in-house productions.
Netflix has achieved plenty of success with its Witcher adaptation and, based off that acclaim, it's gone on to make multiple spin-offs. The streaming giant has already released an animated prequel movie called Nightmare of the Wolf, while filming is currently ongoing on its Blood Origin spin-off series. Recently, Netflix also confirmed that two more Witcher productions – another animated film, as well as a family friendly show – are in development, while The Witcher has been renewed for a third season.
Meanwhile, Marvel's Disney Plus shows have been received extremely well by the MCU's fanbase. Marvel's What If...? have breathed new life into the franchise, while the likes of WandaVision and Loki have taken the studio's movie formula and altered it for TV purposes to great effect.
In a bid to keep up, then, Amazon Studios needs its own large-scale franchises that it can continue to flesh out and build upon. As its most popular show, The Boys is its best bet, and there's plenty that Amazon can do with the series – even after The Boys' final episode airs.
So it shouldn't be a complete shock that The Boys is getting a spin-off show. And, honestly, we wouldn't be surprised if more offshoots arrive in the future, too. If The Boys' young-adult superhero show is a hit for Amazon Prime Video, similar properties are sure to be on the way.
- Check out the best Amazon Prime TV shows available right now
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As TechRadar's senior entertainment reporter, Tom covers all of the latest movies, TV shows, and streaming service news that you need to know about. You'll regularly find him writing about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars, Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus, and many other topics of interest.
An NCTJ-accredited journalist, Tom also writes reviews, analytical articles, opinion pieces, and interview-led features on the biggest franchises, actors, directors and other industry leaders. You may see his quotes pop up in the odd official Marvel Studios video, too, such as this Moon Knight TV spot.
Away from work, Tom can be found checking out the latest video games, immersing himself in his favorite sporting pastime of football, reading the many unread books on his shelf, staying fit at the gym, and petting every dog he comes across.
Got a scoop, interesting story, or an intriguing angle on the latest news in entertainment? Feel free to drop him a line.


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According to our colleagues at Android Police, owners of Samsung's new $999 Galaxy S10 Plus are suffering from issues with LTE/4G signal in the US. It seems that simply holding the device in a certain way can cause significant dips in signal strength.
The issues seem to be affecting multiple carriers, with reports coming in from customers at AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint, although Sprint is being affected more than the others. In a not entirely new development, using a case to protect your expensive new thousand-dollar smartphone also reduces your signal strength.
Sprint has responded to the issue on its community forum. Reporting that: "Sprint and Samsung are receiving a small number of reports about unexpected roaming, data loss, or voice issues on the Galaxy S10 models." The post said that active investigations are ongoing to validate and address any concerns.
The solution? According to Sprint, basic device troubleshooting steps are the way to go, including but not limited to PRL update, Profile Update, Software update, Power cycle, and factory data resets. "If a resolution is not found, then a ticket should be opened through customer care for further network investigation," is the advice given by Sprint.
According to another source, some S10 Plus owners managed to fix the issue by disabling Band 41 and Band 25 via a hidden Data Programming menu. The staff at Android Police reported that those on T-Mobile or AT&T using Band 12 had more trouble than those on T-Mobile in an area using Band 2. Our own review device cannot be used to test this hypothesis as our editorial office is in Berlin, Germany.
It is also possible that this issue affects the regular Galaxy S10 and S10e, although most of the reports indicate that the issue is much worse on the largest and most expensive variant on Samsung's 2019 flagship phones.
Have you suffered any signal dips or network issues on your S10 Plus? Let us know in the comments below. Don't forget to mention your carrier if you have had problems.


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Who doesn’t love pizza? Nobody!
Who never recycled a pizza box?
Most of us, I’m sure, if we asked for a show of hands.
Actually, it’s not hard to do, if you carefully inspect the box. What are you looking for? Anywhere on the box that has grease stains or pizza bits stuck on it. That portion of the box is not recyclable. The “clean” surface is, and you can easily cut away the good from the bad, and toss it in your paper recycling container. Pizza boxes are made of corrugated cardboard, the material tons of paper products are made of, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
Easy, right? Yes, but only if you take the time. And by the way, even the box’s greasy surfaces are compostable. Mozzarella Cheese Roses, anyone?
On a larger scale, fast-food purveyors are finally getting the message. Burger King has announced that it is entering the world of recycling, too. Eight items used for packaging and eating will soon be made from recycled materials. They include forks, spoons, knives, straws, drink lids, french fry containers, Whopper wrappers and napkins. The program is being tested at Burger Kings in Miami.
According to Waste Today magazine, Burger King says its initiative would eliminate 910 metric tons of greenhouse gasses from the environment every year. The company also said it is testing two options for its Whopper wraps. When the new wraps get into circulation, it could mean an additional 500 to 1,500 metric tons of paper waste eliminated annually.
“Sustainable packaging is a cornerstone of our ‘Restaurant Brands for Good’ journey, and this new pilot program represents a huge opportunity for us to make a difference,” Matthew Banton, head of innovation and sustainability at Burger King, told Waste Today. “We’re optimistic about our progress and are committed to reducing waste to do our part in creating a more sustainable future.”
Bravo Burger King!
A final piece of good news: Taco Bell wants to reuse and recycle the eight billion hot sauce packets customers squeeze the spicy stuff out of every year. Taco Bell says it wants to give its packets a “spicier second life that doesn’t involve a landfill.
Recycling sauce packets is a centerpiece of Taco Bell’s goal of making all packaging recyclable, compostable or reusable by 2025.
If recycling is top of mind with you too, then contact Scrap-It! Junk Removal and Recycling Services. We’ll take away your unused stuff and recyclables for a low price, and do it quickly, safely and efficiently. For more information call or text Scrap-It! at 631-825-9898, for a free quote and to schedule an appointment.


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“There’s a lot of milestones athletes dream of, and after being inducted into the Madden 99 Club earlier this year, and now appearing on the cover of this year’s games, it’s clear that business is not just booming, but I’m also among the all-time greatest with these honors," Brown said.
Tom Brady (2018), Rob Gronkowski (2017), and Odell Beckham Jr. (2016) were the previous Madden cover stars.
Madden NFL 19 will be released on August 10 for Xbox One, PS4, and PC, while Overdrive will be available on August 15 on iOS and Android devices.
Alex Gilyadov is a writer for IGN. Be sure to check out his YouTube channel and follow him on Twitter.
If you buy something through this post, IGN may get a share of the sale. For more, learn more.


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Is Updated iLife Ready?
Think Secret sources have also cautiously suggested that Apple's next iLife suite may find its way onto the new iMacs, as well. iLife, which in recent years has been revised on an annual basis in January, has sat out any announcements so far this year. Sources have long said that iLife's release will arrive in tandem with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, as the upgraded suite is said to leverage technologies found only in Apple's forthcoming operating system.
With Leopard's release date pushed back from June to October, however, it seems Apple may have made some adjustments to the final iLife package and could bundle it with the new iMacs next month in an effort to further the appeal of Apple's new system.
Sources say Apple has already started making preparations for an iLife roll-out, a move that would appear premature if the release was not due until October.
Unlike the next version of Apple's iWork productivity suite, which will include a ground-breaking new spreadsheet component, Apple has kept details of the next iLife suite close to its chest and out of range of sources' ears. iWeb, Apple's Web site creation software, and Garage Band, Apple's music composition and podcast production software, are said to be receiving the most significant upgrades, although few specifics have been disclosed. Like iWork, there has also been word that Apple may be deploying a new iLife component this year, possibly centered around media-asset management.
Surely more by coincidence than anything else, August 7 will also mark one decade since Bill Gates, then Microsoft's CEO, took the stage at Macworld Expo Boston to announce Microsoft's renewed commitment to the Mac. That event, which many Apple watchers likened to a scene out of 1984 with the giant projection of Bill Gates appearing behind Apple CEO Steve Jobs onstage, had been attributed to reviving confidence in Apple at the time, which many had left for dead following several consecutive struggling quarters. Gates at the time also announced a $500 million investment in Apple; the stock has since appreciated roughly 20-fold.
Microsoft's Mac Business Unit, which was launched in the wake of Gates' announcement, has also enjoyed considerable success in the last ten years, and the company plans to deliver its fourth major Office upgrade for the Mac some time in the fall. next: FileMaker 9 Unwrapped >


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HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) – In early 2020, The Pennsylvania Animal Response Team partnered with the Humane Society of Harrisburg Area to help pet owners struggling to feed their pets, with the goal of keeping more pets at home and away from the shelter.
Though Harrisburg’s humane society has always offered a pet food bank, the organization wanted to make it as accessible as possible for anyone struggling, including those affected by COVID-19.
After the launch of their online sign-up in April 2020, the food bank received funding form the Pennsylvania Animal Response Team, Pennsylvania’s solution for emergency response for animals.
“We hope to assist HSHA’s mission of keeping pets out of the shelter and in their homes whenever possible,” said Sarah Speed, Executive Director of Pennsylvania Animal Response Team. “HSHA has been a leader in innovative strategies to reconnect and support owners so we hope to support those efforts by supplementing the supplies.”
Between April and Dec. 2020, the Humane Society of Harrisburg Area donated over 14,500 pounds of pet food to struggling pet owners in Central Pa., feeding more than 275 pets.
“We are proud to partner with HSHA as we have for the last 13+ years to place victims of animal cruelty, respond to major disasters, and now get through this pandemic with as few surrendered pets as possible,” Speed said.
According to Speed, the food bank would get one or two pickups a day, now they see five to seven pickups a day.
To sign up for the pet food drive through you can click here.


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David Laux steps in as the new CEO of GBS
GBS has officially welcomed David Laux, as its new CEO, effective as of 26 April 2023. With this new reinforcement at the top, GBS embarks on the next stage of growth aimed at expanding its business development and seizing new opportunities.
Laux takes over the baton from Ivaylo Slavov, who has been at the helm of GBS (part of DIGITALL) since 2016. Both Laux and Slavov are co-founders of the digital transformation company DIGITALL and are active members of its Advisory Board, overseeing the business strategy of the company. Appointed as Group CEO of DIGITALL in early April, Laux is the logical choice for the leadership role at GBS as he has already been an integral part of GBS’ decision-making and supported its management in numerous projects.
Drawing on 25 years of experience in technology and consulting, Laux is a respected entrepreneur who successfully combines growth focus with innovative thinking and commitment to business objectives. Until 2021, he headed ec4u expert consulting ag – a leading consulting firm for customer management in DACH and one of DIGITALL’s two predecessor companies. Prior to that, he held various management positions in companies such as Siebel Systems Inc. and nova data AG/entory AG. With his extensive expertise in industries such as telecommunications, retail, automotive, manufacturing, life sciences and FSI, Laux will help expand GBS’s business capabilities and fuel the company’s future growth.
In the first company-wide meeting, the new GBS CEO also highlighted his human-centric approach “fully committed to further developing our people-oriented company culture, providing greater opportunities for personal development, and creating a work environment that fosters collaboration, creativity and innovation.”


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Ecamsule (INCI: Terephthalylidene dicamphor sulfonic acid), also known as Mexoryl SX, has been used in the formulation of sun care products in Europe, Canada and other parts of the world since 1993, but only recently did it appear in a US skin care. Just this summer, Anthelios SX, a moisturizer containing the sunscreen ingredient, patented by L’Oréal, was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for US distribution. Since that time, product manufacturers and skin care professionals have taken significant interest in the ingredient because of its full-spectrum of protection. Although there may be excitement surrounding the ingredient, however, its formulation in a skin care product other than the approved formulation remains prohibited.
Many dermatologists are excited that the ingredient formulation was approved, Leslie Lucchina, MD, being one of them. Lucchina is a dermatologist at the Boston Center and finds the new sunscreen ingredient to be innovative. “Mexoryl SX is the latest and greatest in sun protection,” said Lucchina. “People have been waiting for this to be approved.”
Mexoryl SX is an active that, when added to skin care products, filters out UVA rays. According to L’Oréal, ingredients available for formulation in sun products previously have filtered UVA rays; however, those ingredients were not photo-stable. “The thing that makes [Mexoryl] unique is its photostability,” said Lucchina. “It doesn’t degrade when it is exposed to light and is incredibly stable when exposed to the sun.”
Although UVB rays cause sunburn, it is the UVA rays that cause long-term damage such as wrinkles and some types of skin cancer. “Most people think about UVB rays as being the problem in terms of sun exposure. In reality, UVA accounts for over 80% of the damage that occurs to the skin in terms of aging, DNA damage and ultimately skin cancer,” said Darrell Rigel, MD, in a L’Oréal press release. Therefore, the ability of the ingredient to protect against UVA rays while remaining photo-stable gives it the potential to provide products with full-spectrum protection.
The improvement in sun protection, according to Lucchina, will benefit her patients and people across the country. “A lot of the sunburns we see are due to a combination of things: not using the correct amount of sunscreen, not using the correct SPF and not reapplying often enough,” explained Lucchina. Although the benefits of the ingredient may not be seen immediately, the possibility of fewer wrinkles and decreased risk of skin cancer provides value for the future.
Lucchina finds the future of ecamsule to be promising. “I believe that a lot of companies will start to put the ingredient into other modes of use. For example, they will include it in face lotions and foundations,” said Lucchina. Currently, however, companies other than L’Oréal are not approved to formulate with the ingredient.
Another benefit that the ingredient might have in the future, according to Lucchina, is its protection for those with photosensitivity. “This will be great for the individuals with a disease such as lupus that makes them sensitive to light. They often come back from being in the sun with a red, itchy rash, and Mexoryl SX will be great for treating things like that,” said Lucchina.
L’Oréal intends to launch other products containing ecamsule or Mexoryl SX. The company reportedly plans to introduce other daily moisturizing products containing ecamsule in some of its other brands in addition to announcing more sunscreen formulations containing the ingredient.
With global warming ever-increasing the penetration of the sun, the emergence of sun care innovation is not only beneficial but vital. Many have high hopes for ecamsule, but as of now, it scope remains limited.


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Roll-2-Roll Technologies LLC has announced the launch of its new website to keep its customers and the converting industry informed on the advanced, yet simple, web guiding and web positioning sensor solutions the company provides.
The new mobile-friendly and responsive website design allows quick and easy access to essential information, such as videos and articles that offer a more comprehensive understanding of the company’s products.
Aravind Seshadri, President of Roll-2-Roll Technologies, said the company is committed to increasing efficiency in every aspect.
“We are committed to providing our customers with the latest information through an easy to access web portal,” says Aravind Seshadri, Roll-2-Roll Technologies president. “This website will provide high-quality, rich content to enable our customers to have a good understanding of our products while spending the least amount of time on our website.”
Important features of the website are its clean uncluttered design, improved functionality and enhanced rich content. Overall, the website is designed to enable customers to have quick access to information and the web guiding solutions they’ve been looking for in the least amount of time possible.
Roll-2-Roll Technologies’ new website will be updated on a regular basis with news of product launches, business activity, corporate milestones, and events.


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Apple’s iPhones are perhaps the most leaked gadgets on the planet. Well, if you ask someone in the Google product team, they will disagree. That being said, there is a lot of information that’s already out there. People like Jon Prosner and Marc Gurman have been shedding light on the product for months. In fact, Apple could be preparing to launch something more than the iPhone — we could have the new Apple Silicon MacBook, new HomePods and even new headphones based on the AirPod technology. Apple in its invite has teased “Hi, speed” but that could just be nomenclature for 5G or it could beyond and be a flex on the chipset capabilities of all the products it has in store. So, let us discuss what to expect from the event, considering the brand did trend just for announcing the date of the event, wherein we are not confirmed as to what is launching. Now without blabbering on and on, let’s get to business.
What to Expect
Before we get into the deeper specifications of the device, which are known because of some rumours, we must first clear what variants of the iPhone are going to launch. This is a particularly important factor, considering Apple this year is said to be deviating from the strategy it has followed for the last two years. We are set to be treated with four iPhone models.
— Apple iPhone 12 mini — a 5.4-inch model which may not be much larger than the iPhone SE in overall size. This phone is expected to get OLED panels as well.
— Apple iPhone 12 — the standard iPhone size of 6.1-inches which has been there on the iPhone XR and iPhone 11. Apple is upgrading the display and moving away from the Liquid Retina technology to using an OLED panel on this, but one sourced from Chinese screen maker BOE.
— Apple iPhone 12 Pro — this phone is set to get a bigger 6.1-inch or 6.2-inch screen. Traditionally, Apple had a 5.8-inch screen for the lead iPhone since the iPhone X. On these phones, the display quality is set to be pushed further, something which is already among the bests in the business with the current iPhone 11 series.
— Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max- the largest phone of the bunch, the iPhone 12 Pro Max is set to feature a 6.7-inch panel, which is slightly larger than the current largest phone in the iPhone 11 lineup, which is a 6.5-inch panel present on the iPhone 12 Pro Max.
Now the biggest controversy is that these phones may not get a 120Hz refresh rate for the “pro motion” tech. This has now been confirmed by many people, even though it has been said that Apple had been testing this feature internally.
Moving on to some other features that might make a debut with the 12 series of devices, the iPhone 12 Mini will supposedly come with dual cameras, similar to a setup found on the iPhone 11. Additionally, the iPhone 12 will also feature a similar camera setup to the Mini. Coming to the 12 Pro, the one addition to the iPhone 12 is going to be the presence of a LiDAR lens. What’s interesting is that the sensor size is also going to be dramatically bigger by around 50 per cent and while doing so, Apple may also expand the apeture to f/1.6. Apple hasn’t increased the aperture of the camera in a while since the iPhone 7 in 2016. This amouts to perhaps the biggest update to the optical hardware of the iPhone in 4 years.
On the pro models, Apple is also said to be playing up the levels of optical zoom. The iPhone 12 Pro may get 3x optical zoom while the Pro Max may get 5x optical zoom. This phone will likely also have the U1 spatial awarness chip. This again is a huge update to the telephoto lens — the biggest one since Apple introduced the feature in the iPhone 7 Plus. The software of the cameras is going through a rejig reportedly — new generations of Night Mode, Smart HDR, and Deep Fusion can be expected.
Some additional information courtesy of Ice Universe is that of all four devices featuring flat edges, rather than curved screens, the presence of the A14 chip, which made it’s debut with the iPad Air along with wireless charging, Dolby vision etc. All these devices will come equipped with iOS 14 out of the box. There is also chatter about a new charging accessory called the magsafe charger and the magsafe duo charger which may work through the contact points on the leaked renders that many have claimed to be for a fingerprint scanner.
This is quite interesting considering Apple was planning to launch AirPower but that never saw the light of the day. In an unpreccedented move, Apple had to cancel the product. The heat issues that Apple faced with AirPower were the root cause behind their cancallation. This problem could be fixed by the Magsafe chargers according to rumours from tipster Kang and L0vetodream, the devices that might be charged from the charger might feature a specific charging coil via a specific charging system inside the new iPhone, which basically means you would be able to put your device anywhere you want and charge it without any issues. The Duo Charger by name seems to indicate support for charging two devices, one of which could be Airpods.
The A14 Bionic chip at its heart, one can expect these phones to be screamers. The A14 Bionic is the world’s first SoC to be made on a 5nm process and it is said to be significantly faster than the A13 Bionic which is already signifcantly faster than the Snapdragon 865 on Android phones. Apple’s performance figures as per the iPad Air launch indicate 20 per cent boost in CPU performance and 16 per cent boost in GPU performance, but leaked Geekbench benchamarks indicate, this could be even better as its GPU and single core performance is said to eclipse the performance of the A12Z bionic which is Apple’s fastest chip on the iPad Pro. This chip also comes with a new neural engine which is 16 times faster than before and new machine leanring acclerators which are 10 times faster than before.
On the iPhone, this SoC will be paired with the Qualcomm X60 modem which will enable the most sophisticated 5G connectivity on a phone yet. It also will make it the first 5G iPhone which could be the reason behind the “Hi, Speed” invite. This will be a serious chip as it will be the basis of the foundation for the A14X Bionic which many people suspect will end up in the first Apple Silicon powered MacBook.
Apart from this, there could be a couple of side events — like a bunch of accessories around the iPhone. Furthermore, Apple is expected to launch a smaller version of the HomePod, by the name of HomePod Mini. This is supposedly going to feature the S5 chip by Apple and a height of 3.3-inch, which is smaller than the original Home Pod. The pricing of the same has been revealed by the leaks and it might cost as less as $99, which is incidentally the exact same price as the new Nest audio from Google.
As for the new MacBook which is rumoured to be released in November and Apple’s new AirPods Studio — these products are unlikely to make the cut as they may be too high profile and may take away the sheen from Apple’s halo product. That being said, now reprots are emerging that Apple is planning a new event around the Macs — because of Apple Silicon at their heart. To get all the news, do log in to Apple’s stream on Tuesday which starts at 10:30 pm.


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When you make the biggest purchase of your life, it’s important to understand exactly how much you’re paying.
During the housing bubble, that wasn’t always the case for homebuyers. After the foreclosure crisis hit, the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act created a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to make sure consumers get a fair shake.
The agency spent four years working on new Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure forms — getting input from consumers and the mortgage industry — and they’re finally here. As of Oct. 3, these kitchen-table friendly forms are the rule for most new residential mortgages.
Key changes include:
- The Loan Estimate form clearly spells out terms, projected payments and closing costs on page 1.
- A clear statement on the first page alerts the borrower to potentially big risks, including balloon payments, and whether the loan amount or interest rate can rise post-closing.
- A breakdown of fees, including title insurance, and whether a borrower can shop for these services (possibly scoring a better deal) is presented.
- Rather than being rushed to sign confusing paperwork without proper review at the closing, homebuyers will receive the Closing Disclosure form at least three business days before the scheduled closing.
The new forms replace four older, more complex disclosure documents.
The mortgage industry has complained about the cost of complying with the changes, but consumer advocates said they are long overdue.
“It’s going to be a lot harder for bad guys to engage in bait-and-switch tactics, which was a big problem before,” said Andrew Pizor, staff attorney at the National Consumer Law Center.


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Left out in the cold
So this leaves current pebble owners with one big question. What happens to their smartwatches? Will they get support? Will they be able to send their watches for repair?
No support, no warranty
Well, for the lack of a better word, current pebble owners (like myself!) are screwed. Pebble has officially announced that it will no longer be honouring any warranties for current pebble devices. There will be no support and no exchanges as well. Those who invested in a Pebble
The company is not accepting any orders on its website but will accept returns and refunds of orders that were completed before December 7, 2016.
Were does that leave owners like myself who spent their hard earned money on a Pebble and chose it over bigger players like
There is more bad news. While your watch will function currently, as there is no longer any support for the watch as well as its app, there is no guarantee that it will continue to work in the future, especially after iOS/Android software updates.
Pebble, on its support page says “Functionality or service quality may be reduced over time”. For now, the app remains and the watches continue to function as normal but there is no guarantee as to how long it will continue to work.
End of smartwatches?
The death of Pebble is a kick in the guts for both the smartwatch industry in general and crowd funding. The way Pebble has handled its current customers has left a very sour taste in the mouth. Let's see what is the future of Pebble under Fitbit's ownership.
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Spotted on The Daily Mail UK:
Polo mint makers finally pay £10 to schoolboy who found prize sweet in pack 17 YEARS ago
- James Barnard found green Polo mint in 1996 at age of 11
- Nestle was offering £10 cash prize for finding coloured Polos
- Mr Barnard complained to Nestle last week that he’d never received his prize
- Nestle apologised for ‘hole-ly unacceptable’ service
It was a real-life Golden Ticket moment every 11-year-old dreams of – albeit one of a different colour.
But James Barnard had to wait 17 years before he was finally awarded his £10 prize money for finding the green Polo mint – in 1996. The then 11-year-old found the green sweet in his packet when sweet giant Nestle was running a ‘Golden Polo’ competition, with cash prizes for customers who found different coloured sweets from the usual white mints.
He excitedly sent a letter to the company – along with his prizewinning Polo – expecting to be sent his £10 reward. But he never received his cash prize – until last week.
Mr Barnard, now 28, remembered the competition and again wrote to Nestle to complain that they still owed him the money. To his surprise, Nestle duly sent him the cheque for £10 – along with a packet of complimentary Polos and a letter of apology.
Mr Barnard revealed today that he has framed his cheque and mounted it on the wall of his home in Surbiton, Surrey.
Well, better late than never right?(:


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Justine Butler's opening comment in her article (Response, August 8) saying an earlier article on soya (Should we worry about soya in our food?, G2, July 25) was "potentially misleading" is ironic as, in a laboured attempt to deflect attention away from soya, she launches yet another unsubstantiated attack on cows' milk.
Cows' milk does contain oestrogens. However, even in the average man, the concentrations of oestrogens circulating round the body are many times higher than in cows' milk. In women, concentrations are much higher than in men and in pregnant women higher still. Thus, in drinking cows' milk, we are consuming a product which contains much lower levels of oestrogens than those naturally occurring in our own bodies.
The piece also blames cows' milk for an 80% rise in breast cancer. In reality, milk consumption is falling, rendering the proposed link between milk consumption and an increase in breast cancer impossible to reconcile. Furthermore, while a number of recent scientific studies have failed to find any real link between milk consumption and breast cancer, others have shown a protective effect of consuming dairy products. In fact, milk and other dairy products are a major source of conjugated linoleic acids, a group of fatty acids that are proven to inhibit cancer.
Cows' milk does contain a range of hormones and growth factors. However, so do we and at much higher concentrations than are found in milk. Perhaps in future those defending soya could do so without resorting to unfounded and inaccurate allegations about cows' milk.
Dr George Mann
University of Nottingham
Despite Justine Butler's claims that hormones and growth factors in cows' milk have been linked to breast cancer, there is no good scientific evidence to suggest that eating dairy products increases the risk of this disease. On the basis of all the science available, there is nothing to recommend that women should cut out dairy products to reduce their risk of developing breast cancer.
Breakthrough Breast Cancer believes that it is a personal decision whether to include dairy products in your diet and should depend on nutritional requirements.
There is also not enough evidence that phytoestrogens found in soya affect breast cancer risk. Until we know more it's sensible for women to eat soya only as part of their diet and not as a supplement.
Breast cancer is a complex disease and not all the causes are known. This is why we launched the Breakthrough Generations Study, in partnership with the Institute of Cancer Research, to find out what role factors such as diet play.
Dr Sarah Rawlings
Head of policy and information, Breakthrough Breast Cancer. www.breakthrough.org.uk


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Check out how Colbex continues its comeback, massive mustard recall, solutions to global hunger and Cargill beef plant in Alberta closed not flooded. Click here for the full stories.
Check out Monsanto facing huge lawsuit, bill proposed to tighten farmland laws, and how XL Foods beef recall could have been prevented. Click here for the full stories.
Homeless people chased out by chicken manure, tension heats up against COOL, and Metro in danger of being taken over. Click here for the full stories


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Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Posted by Michael Knutson in "Apple News" @ 11:00 PM
"The online movie business has been booming in recent years thanks to everyone and their mom either starting up their own services or signing contracts with the major players. Despite so many entrants into the market, Apple has still managed to retain its dominance when it comes to delivering feature-length films to customers, though it has lost some of its share of the consumer dollar over time."
Interesting that Walmart (in this article) is predicted to become a much bigger player in online movie sales. With Apple having 64.5 percent market share in 2010, followed by Microsoft at 17.9 percent, and Sony third at 7.2 percent, Walmart is currently lumped-in with the "other" group, sharing the remaining 10.4 percent. I guess that it makes sense, as Walmart isn't generally content to be anything but first wherever they compete. Maybe it's a reaction to being overtaken by Apple in music sales back in 2008, or maybe they sense an opportunity - as sales of physical media begin to dwindle. They haven't become the largest retailer on the planet by missing emerging trends. Anyone see a future for physical media?


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Travel advisors say demand continues to outpace rising holiday costs
Rising travel costs are not having a noticeable impact on bookings – at least for now, travel advisors reported.
“Prices are higher – but not just because of inflation,” said Claire Schoeder of Elevations Travel. “Many hotels, especially luxury brands, were already priced higher due to demand. Some still do not operate at full capacity, which also influences prices. »
The increase in the cost of airfare also does not cause customers to cancel or change their vacation.
“If fuel prices continue to rise, that might change some people’s minds,” Schoeder said. “This will affect the most budget-conscious travelers first. My clients are more luxury oriented – they complain about the price but still book.
Domestic airfares have been on the rise since late January, noted Jennifer Doncsecz of VIP Vacations. “We found that the costs of flying to Florida were the same as flying to Cancun or Jamaica, which was never the case before,” she said, adding that hotel rates in United States were up in the spring and summer.
“It is difficult to determine whether it is because of inflation or a very high occupancy rate. Either way, prices are much higher for domestic travel than last year,” said Doncsecz.
“We try to educate our customers that $699 flight/hotel packages to Mexico or Punta Cana are a thing of the past. I hope consumers will understand that last minute shoppers will end up spending way more because there are no deals to be found.
“At the moment, the demand exceeds everything. Honeymooners, luxury clients and those who really want to travel will always travel. They may have to cut their stay short or retreat to a room category, but luckily they will always find a way to travel.
One industry segment where deals can still be found is the cruise industry. “Cruises offer tremendous value right now,” Doncsecz said. “Virgin Voyages has proven to be an excellent seller, with many incentive bonuses for consumers and travel advisors.”
Schoeder has also found good values with lines such as Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises. “Some of my luxury customers travel on these two lines when sailing with other family members who are not luxury customers,” she said. “I always find great fares on these lines as well as some luxury lines as well.”
Similarly, Chris Caulfield of CruiseOne witnesses great deals from cruise lines.
“They keep stepping up the service and there are some good deals to get people in,” he said. “I consider onboard credit and prepaid gratuities the best deals.”
As airfare and cruise prices rise, Caulfield noted that demand is nonetheless strong.
“People want to leave and are ready to pay,” he said. “So many trips have been missed over the past two years and people are trying to make up for it.”
Tom Karnes of LaMacchia Travel added: “I believe we have a ‘double whammy’ and prices will go up further.
“Existing limited demand and rising fuel costs will certainly increase costs for travelers this year and early next year.”
Apart from a small percentage of customers who have postponed their travel plans until the end of the year when prices and inventory tend to be lower, Karnes said he hasn’t witnessed any a significant drop in business.
Meanwhile, Tammy Levent of Elite Travel Management Group said it’s currently “tough for your average worker who just wants to take their family on vacation”.
As an example, family customers are asking for rates of $1,500 per person for a five-day, all-inclusive vacation to Cancun, including airfare, she said.
“Now the ticket just to get to Cancun costs between $700 and $900 – plus where are they going to stay?”
Conversely, Levent said its higher-end customers don’t mind the higher prices.
“I have a client who is now spending $35,000 on first class tickets from Tampa to Athens for two in November and he’s okay.”
For the past six weeks, Cal Cheney of Bucket List Travel and Tours has been encouraging customers to buy their plane tickets as soon as possible.
“I rent a campervan through my company and I think the gas prices are reducing bookings a bit.”
In the long run, however, Chesney echoed the sentiment of other advisers. “Pent-up demand will outweigh any price increases.”


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The Central Bank of Iraq’s foreign exchange sales rose to $ 119.33 million on Thursday, compared with $ 118.54 million last Thursday, an increase of $ 790,000. The Central Bank said in a statement that the exchange rate was 1190 dinars per dollar in the auction held with the participation of 33 banks and one company only for financial transfer.
The bank said the sales were the result of Monday’s auction, showing total sales for the day at $ 161.32 million.
Amounts sold to boost bank balances abroad were $ 118.13 million, while total cash sold was estimated at $ 43.19 million. The Central Bank said in a statement that the sale of the amounts transferred to the accounts of banks abroad is at the price of 1190 dinars per dollar, while the cash sale will be at the same price.


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Parents looking for back-to-school deals — and any other frugal shoppers — can save Friday and Saturday during Iowa’s annual tax-free holiday.
Businesses in Iowa won’t collect sales tax on clothing and footwear costing less than $100 during the annual holiday, which takes place on the first Friday and Saturday of August.
That falls during prime back-to-school shopping season — when shoppers in Iowa and other Midwestern states plan to spend $2.2 billion in the first-half of August, according to an annual Deloitte report.
Most students in Iowa return to school Aug. 23.
Overall, Americans are expected to spend the most between Aug. 1 and 14 — $9.9 billion — on their way to a grand total of $27.6 billion on school items.
Most spending will take place in mass merchant stores, such as Target and Walmart, according to the Deloitte study.
All businesses in Iowa that are open Friday and Saturday are required to participate in the state’s tax-free holiday.
Local-option sales tax also are waived on those days.
As for what qualifies as a tax-free good, the Iowa Department of Revenue defines clothing as any article of apparel or typical footwear. This means items such as watches, jewelry and some athletic wear don’t qualify.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ADVERTISEMENT
More than 100 items will be tax-free, according to the Department of Revenue, including diapers, baby clothes, hats, costumes, work and school uniforms, martial arts attire, prom dresses, scout uniforms, jeans, shirts, skirts and sneakers.
On buy one, get one deals, each article must cost less than $100 individually to qualify.
Articles that are discounted to cost less than $100 will be tax-free as well.
While most back-to-school shopping lists don’t include clothing or footwear, clothing is the biggest cost for most parents on back-to-school shopping trips, according to a RetailMeNot survey out this week.
On average, parents said they plan to spend $189 on clothing.
The back-to-school shopping season is ripe for overspending, especially on clothing.
According to an analysis from NerdWallet, nine in 10 parents admitted to overspending on a shopping trip for their children, with most reporting they splurged on clothing.
Clothing prices typically drop after the back-to-school rush, according to NerdWallet, so patience can be a money-saver — as will Friday and Saturday’s tax-free period.
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The U.S. Travel Association praised most of the new administration’s travel-related executive orders, saying they will encourage safe travel and help restore the millions of travel lost last year.
President Joe Biden signed an executive order Thursday requiring that people wear masks during interstate travel, including on airplanes, buses, trains and boat or ferry services as well as in airports. The order also requires quarantines for individuals entering the U.S.
“We strongly support the president’s mask mandate for interstate travel, which is in line with the industry’s health and safety guidance and consistent with what countless travel businesses are already doing to protect travelers and workers,” said CEO Roger Dow.
As expected, the association said the order’s mandatory quarantine requirement for international travelers “could be extremely difficult to enforce — and unnecessary in light of required testing and the many other protections now in place. In the domestic environment, where there aren’t defined ports of entry for travelers, mandatory testing and other requirements are also impractical and could divert scarce public health resources away from other priorities.”
U.S. Travel has spoken out several times since the pandemic started in favor of testing over quarantining. During remarks Thursday, the president did not specify how long people will be required to quarantine upon U.S. arrival. The executive order says only that the quarantine period will be in accord with CDC guidelines. On its website, the CDC recommends that in most cases individuals stay home for seven days after arriving from abroad.
U.S. Travel also praised the potential flexibility given around the CDC’s inbound testing requirement, which Dow called “the key to reopening international travel,” and which he said should pave the way to easing travel restrictions on the E.U. and the U.K. as well as countries such as Brazil.
“If the testing requirement is going to work on a global scale, it has to be flexible and reflect where testing resources are available and where they’re not,” he said. “The executive order would allow for flexibility if it’s needed.”
Travel industry leaders have said that the testing mandate could create “a logistical crisis” given the different varying availability of in-destination testing.
Dow also called the repeal of the travel ban from certain Muslim-majority countries “the right move.”
“We look forward to working with the Biden administration to develop realistic and effective risk-based policies,” Dow added, “and to educate travelers on additional recommendations, to help continue the safe reopening of travel.”


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You could say that Apple is so far dominating the market for apps in portable devices. Or you could, like a Gartner report reported by Ars states, say that Apple is absolutely obliterating the rest of the field. Using their slide rules and impecable guessing abilities, they’ve concluded that Apple is responsible for all but .6% of the global market in app sales. And that is without a tablet store.
That’s just the begining. As app sales increase, estimated revenues go from $4.2 billion in 2009 to $6.8 billion this year, to about $30 billion in 2013.
The report also noted that advertising wsa going to play a bigger part in app revenue and that Apple picking up Quattro was a smart move.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.


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Images leaked to CNET Korea allegedly show off the highly anticipated Samsung Galaxy S6, including an Edge-style screen variant of the smartphone.
Apple packed a ton of new tech into the 2015 MacBook, but thanks to a completely redesigned interior, DIY repairs on this laptop can be a real nightmare.
With so many options out there, it can be intimidating when shopping for a new fitness tracker. That's why we've rounded up our favorite ones for you to consider.
Boost your Mac's performance and reclaim hard-drive space with this handful of tips.
The taxi app and Uber rival rebrands, and will also let you order a variety of third-party services.
Thanks to the popularity of online media sites like YouTube, mainstream entertainment soon may look more like that kid clowning around in front of a laptop camera.
Thanks to magnetic resonance imaging at 100 frames per second, researchers can watch the muscles involved in singing in action.
A robot that bought ecstasy pills off the deep web as part of an art installation has been released after being seized by police in January.
Can't fit all your music, movies, documents, and other stuff? Before you spend money on a higher-capacity iPhone, iPod, or iPad, read this.
Boasting a unique unibody design and unparalleled price tag, the Tiko could bring 3D printing to the mainstream. But if you want one, be prepared to wait.


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On April 1st, BMW hosted an event at the BMW M facility in Garching, Germany. Among the many surprises prepared for journalists present at the event was a new M3 Concept based on the Sedan variant.
The BMW M3 Lightweight will be officially unveiled at the M Experience Festival on June 23rd, prior to the famous 24 Hour of Nurburgring race.
The BMW M3 Sedan will come in limited numbers in 2011 and the idea is similar to the M3 GTS. BMW has yet to reveal any technical specs, but Dr. Kay Segler, current M boss, says lightweight plays an important role in this concept and power will be also adjusted accordingly.
We should expect to see between 420 and 450 horsepower.


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There are nearly 500 youngsters enrolled in the 2013 South Dundas Soccer Association.
With so many players, from Little Squirts to teenage Kickers, the Association relies on the support of community businesses and organizations to keep the young players playing.
This year, Angie Morrow, manager of Mac’s Convenience in Iroquois, was able to present the SDSA with a kit worth $500, on the opening day of the World Cup.
“Mac’s, along with other businesses, put together $50,000 to donate to soccer clubs in Canada,” Angie Morrow explained. “The funds were turned into 110 soccer-coach kits for local communities.”
Morrow learned about the kits from Mac’s internal web site and decided that she would apply for one.
“In June I learned that I had been awarded a kit, and I decided to present it to South Dundas Soccer.”
Each kit contains a variety of things from balls, bags and water bottles to coupons, to a total of $500. “I have known Angie a long time,” said Steve Bygott, president of SDSA. “She always supports our soccer players. We are very grateful, and very happy about this generous gift from Mac’s Convenience Stores.”


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Explore and be inspired by the latest women's fashion news and trends.
Enjoy HYPETRAK's updates, features, and editorials on the dynamic world of music.
An electric makeover.
Monochromatic takes on a classic.
A supplement to the military-inspired colorways of the rechristened Air Max 90 SneakerBoot.
Nike reworks the Air Max 90 SneakerBoot to create a “Utility” version of the silhouette.
Nike follows up last year’s “Wheat” run with new iterations of the Air Force 1 High, Air Max family and more.
The Air Max 90 gets a breezy mesh upgrade.
Kicking off the festivities for the Women’s World Cup in Canada this year, longtime U.S. national team sponsor Nike has released a spe...
Nike has revamped its Air Max 90 model, as the brand continues to celebrate the design’s 25th anniversary. The silhouette’s body...
This year, Nike is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its beloved Air Max 90 sneaker model. In a special commemorative gesture, artist PELN...
One of Nike’s most iconic footwear models has been recreated as an edible treat. Following the release of the CocoJet chocolate 3D pri...


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WONDERING ABOUT TODAY’S NEWS?
READ TODAY’S NEWS BLOG IN INDIA.
It’s a fresh morning! Sipping in your coffee or tea with a newspaper, on the other hand, is not a story of past, but still a routine of the everyday morning that many follow. What has changed is the ‘newspaper’! The hard copy is still the one of the medium with widest reach but nowadays people have switched to screens instead of paper. Some to the news channels on TVs, some to their favorite news app in phone or some to the web-pages.
But what has not changed is these mediums still carry the unsought news. And that’s when we come into picture bringing morning news that is relevant to you through our ‘News Blog’ dedicated to India. The only free news blogging platform in India built without the intention to influence people or present manipulated news. WHATS IN iNDIA allows to you publish your news your way and read what you want not what’s being told. So create your account and start blogging!


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A lot of new stuff was showcased at Steve Jobs's WWDC keynote
, regarding the new Apple iPhone 4
, but as the CEO mentioned, far from everything was featured in the presentation. So, could it be that among the unsaid new goodies is no other but the iWork suite of productivity tools that we saw on the iPad? The reason to think it might be is because a screenshot on Apple's site, which was later pulled down, clearly shows how the user gets an option to open a presentation attached to an email in Keynote. The image was then replaced by one that gives an example of how you can open an attachment in iBooks.
Of course, we are totally into the idea of having Pages, Numbers and Keynote on the iPhone, and we hope that Apple will do its best in optimizing the interface for the 3.5-inch screens of the iPhone 4, 3GS
, which will all get iOS 4
. However, like it or not, we'll have to wait for the company to reveal those things, hopefully in the short term.
Apple iPhone 4 Specifications


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The European Union (EU) has been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons. Italy was hit hard by the recent recession period and is still working to reduce its public debt, and Greece just received its second bailout in two years; this in the form of a $172 billion loan (that’s €130 billion). However, while the EU struggles with maintaining the stability of a multinational currency and holding together 27 different economies, great strides are being made in other areas of governance.
Earlier this year, as United States Congressmen scrambled to respond to the public backlash against SOPA/PIPA, the EU was busy overhauling their Data Protection Directive. As the lawyers on Reed Smith‘s Global Regulatory Enforcement Law Blog noted, this Directive (officially released on January 25, 2012) was designed to give more control to internet users over personal data:
“The European Commission today completed its task of reforming the EU Data Protection Directive by sending a draft Regulation to the European Parliament. The draft Regulation contains comprehensive reforms and seeks to harmonise data protection laws across the 27 EU Member States, and to enhance EU citizens’ privacy protections in the age of the Internet.”
In stark contrast with SOPA/PIPA (which was fueled by various entities in the entertainment industry), the EU Directive is aimed at giving more control to consumers. The Directive also provides a multi-tiered enforcement approach, wherein small and medium sized business are treated differently from multinational corporations (again from Greg Jacobs, Cynthia O’Donoghue, and Nick Tyler of Reed Smith) :
“There will be two tiers of compliance obligations and sanctions, with one aimed at small- to medium-sized enterprises and the other at large, multinational organizations. SMEs are entitled to certain exemptions to ease administrative burdens, such as no requirement to appoint a data protection officer and a sanctions cap of up to €1 million. Multinationals with more than 250 employees in the EU will have to appoint a data protection officer and may face sanctions of up to 2 percent of worldwide annual turnover for serious breaches. Multinationals outside the EU will also have to comply with the data protection rules if they seek to market products and services to the EU citizens.”
The new draft of this Directive overhauls certain provisions of the old version, and adds a few new wrinkles to help protect individuals, but as Ellen Temperton of Lewis Silkin points out on the Global Employment Law blog, the impetus for changing the Directive was not just to protect consumers:
“The main aim is to remove inconsistencies created by the 27 EU member states having implemented the Directive in divergent ways and the consequent burdens for business. The proposals also attempt to reflect the rapid advances in technology since the Directive first came into effect.
The changes include a mandatory obligation to report data security breaches promptly and, where feasible, within 24 hours. At present, very few member states have compulsory rules requiring infringements to be notified. In addition, substantial powers to levy fines are proposed – between 0.5 and 2% of an organisation’s global annual turnover.”
Now, to be fair, comparing the U.S. Congress’s SOPA and PIPA (and even the newest incarnation, OPEN) to the EU’s Data Protection Directive is like comparing apples to oranges. SOPA and PIPA were designed to deal with consumers “pirating” materials, whereas the EU Directive was created with the consumer’s data in mind, not the corporation’s materials. That being said, it is interesting to note that the U.S. lacks these types of regulations even as we create laws to protect corporate interests.
While lawmakers are moving to address that concern, there are still stories on a daily basis where the FTC or some other body of government has to wag its finger at a business or developer regarding the use and storage of consumer information. Colin Zick, an attorney with Foley Hoag and author on the firm’s Security, Privacy, and the Law blog, has an interesting take on the lack of control we have over our personal information online, and what lawmakers are doing to address that concern:
“If you haven’t Googled yourself in a while, this might be a good time. My own self-search reveals, among other things, a page at mylife.com. I didn’t put it there, and I’d rather it not be there. However, right now, there isn’t a right to have your personal or professional information be deleted from social media, review sites, and other types of websites that gather your personal information. However, legislation may be coming that will address this concern.”
Mr. Zick’s post, entitled “The Right to Be Deleted”, goes on to quote a story from the Wall Street Journal, which discusses what legislators are doing in the U.S. to respond to consumer concerns. From the Journal (you must have a subscription to the WSJ to read the full article):
“Lawmakers and regulators are trying to do more to address consumer concerns. There is no U.S. law, as there is in Europe, requiring companies to allow people to view or delete their personal data on file at an institution. Last year, Sens. John Kerry (D., Mass.) and John McCain (R., Ariz.) introduced legislation that would require most data brokers to let people view and make corrections to the personal data stored about them. The White House is expected to call for similar rights when it releases its “Privacy Bill of Rights” later this year.”
One of the interesting aspects of Internet regulations on a nation-by-nation basis, is no matter where they originate someone else eventually has to deal with those laws. In a way, it’s analogous to environmental legislation. As nation-states create laws that place restrictions on businesses, neighboring nations (or countries that find themselves politically aligned with environmentally-friendly nations) are often forced to at least investigate the reasoning behind those restrictions. W. Scott Blackmer, a founding partner of the InfoLawGroup and author on the InformationLawGroup blog, wrote an in-depth and insightful post on the problems with “transborder data flows”, and how new regulations can complicate businesses that rely on the transfer of data from one nation to another through the internet:
“The proliferation of comprehensive data privacy laws, more or less on the European model, increasingly requires US-based multinationals and online companies to adapt to strict requirements for dealing with individuals in other countries. While the rules may soon become more uniform in the EU, they are still new and uncertain in many other countries.”
In the case of these new regulations, Mr. Blackmer brings to light some of the problems that may arise in the course of international e-commerce:
“Less welcome are the provisions on extra-territorial jurisdiction in the draft Regulation. A US company, for example, would be subject to the Regulation if it offered goods or services to European residents, online or otherwise, or if it monitored their behavior (for example, by tracking their visits to other websites). This assertion of extra-territorial jurisdiction could prove difficult to enforce, but it would require American companies to re-think their approach to e-commerce and online marketing. It may not suffice in future to say that European rules do not apply simply because the company’s servers are not located there.”
While national governments ultimately reserve their soverign rights when deciding to adopt new regulations or maintain the staus quo, not all entities are as lucky. As Mr. Blackmer points out, corporations and industries must adapt. We saw this when Google increased its presence in China, and was forced to adhere to a new standard set by the Chinese governement. In this case, the legal industry has its own choice. It can take note of European Union’s new language in its Directive or choose to ignore it. In that vein, the ABA released a statement urging U.S. courts to:
““consider and respect…the data protection and privacy laws of any…foreign sovereign, and the interests of any person who is subject to, or benefits from such laws, with regard to data that is subject to preservation, disclosure, or sought in discovery in civil litigation.”
That quote (from a post written by Cynthia O’Donoghue, David Cohen, Nick Tyler, and, Regis Stafford on the Global Regulatory Enforcement Law Blog) would seem to allude to the recent changes in European law, which as the attorney-bloggers at Reed Smith point out, is literally a “game-changer”:
“Such sanctions represent a ‘game-changer’ in the current risk profile and choices presented to multi-nationals faced with U.S. discovery requirements demanding the transfer of personal data held by EU affiliates in breach of EU data protection laws.
Current U.S. jurisprudence will now be tested – up until now the U.S. courts have tended to strike the balance in favour of compliance with U.S. rules on the basis that there is no realistic prospect of prosecution in Europe for an enterprise which breaches EU cross-border transfer restrictions. See In Strauss v. Credit Lyonnais S.A., 242 F.R.D. 199 (E.D.N.Y. 2007).”
Obviously, this sort of conflict between national regulations, international business, and individual rights is inherently complex. Especially when the conflict arises from disagreements over how to handle nebulous concepts like “the internet” or “the environment.” It becomes even more complicated when you add other complex systems to the mix, like commerce and jurisprudence. Legal practitioners, business owners, and internet users everywhere are going to have to learn how to adapt as more people, money, and regulations become a part of the internet.
If you want more on this story, check out The LexBlog Network’s “library” of posts on the EU Data Protection Directive.


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*Currently ICE is in grip of funds leading to unreliable hedging platform
*ICE cotton briefly went over $1.16 a pound on 12 October the highest level
*since July 2011
*In October/November 2020 the 70 cents level gave way to higher prices
Kotak Ginning and Pressing Industries Pvt. Ltd.
Raw material prices have surged in 2021, in part, due to increasing demand and supply-chain issues worldwide. “When people in the “white gold” market speak of prices, they are usually referring either to the Cotlook “A” Index or to the latest prices quoted for the nearby futures contract on ICE Futures in New York. Futures prices on ICE cotton briefly went over $1.16 a pound on 12 October, the highest level since July 2011. Currently ICE is in grip of funds leading to unreliable hedging platform and futures price are quoted at 100/110 cents. It may delink with spot market.
Many readers might well remember that in March 2020, during the early days of the pandemic when it price reached rock bottom at 48.35 cents, the lowest price in over a decade since 2009. Cotton futures recovered and rose above 50 cents by the end of April 2020. In June, the fluffy fibre eclipsed the 60 cents level, and in October and November 2020, the 70 cents level gave way to higher prices.
As per our calculation we predict ICE New York cotton technically price range will be 105 to 120 cents and fundamentally it could be 95 to 100 cents. For Indian Sankar-6 cotton price range will be Rs. 54000 to Rs. 63,000 per candy. Who will win? It’s a most critical question. If ICE remains above 100 cents for longar time it may lead to demand destruction unless this high price can be passed on to consumers buying finish product.
High volatility and high price level can lead to shift of consumers from cotton to manmade fibre. Now, analysts wonder how consumers might react to increased cotton prices in the months ahead. Global cotton output for the 2021-22 season, the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) has indicated that the crop will be around 120.28 million bales (each 480 pound or 218 kg), last year it was 112.16 million bales.
With expected rise in the output in the growing countries of Australia, Brazil, and the US over previous year, offset declines in India, Greece, and several countries in West Africa’s Franc Zone, but still be lower than the pre-pandemic levels. Few Producers countries of cotton have suffered from the impacts of climate change, including extraordinary drought, hurricanes, or floods. India’s cotton scenario is likely to be bright.
Our estimates for Indian cotton output estimated for the season 2021-22 at 36 million bales (each of 170 kg) almost same as against for 2020-21. If we count carry over stock 7 million and import 1.2 million current season total supply will be 44.2 million bales for the 2021-22. Estimates cotton consumption 33.5 million bales and export closing carryover stocks will be 5.5 million bales. If we count 39 million bales demands estimate, carryover stocks will be 5.2 million bales for the season 2021-22. Despite the heavy flooding following recent incessant rains in the growing regions of Gujarat, the crop is likely to be around 9.5 million bales in the State.
The world ending stocks for 2020/21 has been revised downward to 97.65 million bales, leading to the world cotton import to be around 46.45 million bales for the 2021/22 season against 48.96 million bales 2020-21. The global domestic consumption is estimated at 123.4 million bales against 119.93 million bales. Chinese cotton import project for the current marketing year to be 10.5 million bales, against 12.87 million bales. US export sales of cotton to China since Aug. 1 surged 83% on a year-on-year basis.
ICAC noted that the global cotton trade stood at the highest levels ever in 2020/21. For the coming season shows that industry sentiment remains positive especially given the robust levels of retail sales of textiles seen in many developed countries. Bull markets tend to move much higher than logic, reason, and rational analysis suggests possible.
In March 2011, cotton reached an all-time high at $2.27. During the global financial crisis in 2008, the price fell to a low of 36.70 cents before exploding higher and peaking in 2011. In late 2021, cotton is exploding higher on the back of pent-up demand in the wake of the coronavirus and ongoing supply chain issues.


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The big swings in the market today were not due to QE3 rumors, but caused by what seems to be a technology glitch by trading firm Knight Capital, with over 150 NYSE stocks experiencing price swings on abnormal volume levels. Outside of the unusual price swings, the broad markets plunged lower immediately following the Federal Reserve's statement that no stimulus would be coming after it completed its two-day policy meeting. While economic data being released is disappointing, the Fed will delay taking further action and re-address the economy during their next meeting in mid-September.
Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEX: ^DJI)
S&P 500 (INDEX: ^GSPC)
Source: Yahoo! Finance 2:15 p.m. EDT.
We are more than halfway through the second-quarter-earnings releases, and at the start of this week 67% of the companies in the S&P 500 reported earnings better than analysts expected (according to S&P Capital IQ). However, the bad news is that even though estimates are higher than expected, only four of the 10 sectors are expected to show positive growth during the second quarter.
With energy being one of the negative growth sectors, Phillips 66 (NYS: PSX) is a pleasant surprise. The independent refiner, a recent spinoff of ConocoPhillips, increased its second-quarter profit by 13% on increased margins as crack spreads reached their highest level in five years.
MasterCard (NYS: MA) also announced its second-quarter performance today, nudging out expectations by $0.10, turning in earnings of $5.65 per share. The credit card company grew revenue by 9.2% compared to last year's quarter. MasterCard increased the number of transactions and gross dollar value while lowering its tax rate.
Outside the earnings realm, Facebook's (NAS: FB) nasty slide continued today, as both it and Zynga hit all-time lows. The social media company is down 3.9%. The company is struggling to gain traction as it tries to make advertising profits off of its increasingly mobile subscriber base. To gain more insight into the Facebook story and to understand the opportunities and risks the company is up against, subscribe to The Motley Fool's new premium report outlining must-watch areas you need to know about the social media giant.
The article No QE3 Til September: Markets Slide originally appeared on Fool.com.
Joel South owns shares of no company listed above. The Motley Fool owns shares of MasterCard and Facebook. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Facebook. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.
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British households are feeling more confident than they have at any time over the past six years, helped by falling unemployment and a plunge in inflation.
The monthly Markit household finance survey’s measure of financial well-being rose in March and expectations for the next 12 months have also increased.
Markit said the squeeze on UK household finances remained mild in March, marking the least downbeat quarter in more than six years of data collection.
Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, said: “An upturn in household sentiment about their future finances in March is a welcome sign, but also highlights a vulnerability of the UK economy.
“The upturn in consumer well-being has been driven by the twin factors of higher workplace activity and lower inflation. The former has helped via greater job security and modest income growth, while the latter has meant incomes go further in terms of spending power.”
Markit said that in recent months low inflation has been key to the improvement in household sentiment while workplace activity has had a waning impact.
“This suggests that the recent upturn in consumer spending, which has been a key driver of the economy, has become increasingly dependent upon inflation remaining low,” said Mr Williamson.
“Any increase in inflation therefore threatens to derail the wider economic upturn.”
The average reading of the household finance index in the first three months of 2015 was the highest on record, which could boost David Cameron’s chances of re-election in the general election on May 7.
“UK households’ optimism about their finances picked up in March to paint one of the brightest pictures seen since the financial crisis,” said Mr Williamson.
Britain’s main measure of inflation fell to 0.3 per cent in January, its lowest level since records began in 1989.
The survey showed that rather than deferring purchases in the hope that prices will fall further in coming months, consumers have been taking advantage of lower prices.
The survey also showed that sentiment is strongest among high-earners.
“The latest increase in optimism was directly linked to incomes, with the highest earners the most upbeat about their future finances,” said Mr Williamson.
“In contrast, future finances are expected to deteriorate among those earning less than £23,000 per annum, and especially sharply for those with incomes of less than £15,000.”
Markit saw a slight rise in the number of people expecting an interest rate rise before September.