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Could 3D printing be the future of office supply stores? Staples, for one, has been dipping its toes in those rising waters, offering a limited selection of devices on its site. Office Depot's following suit, making the seemingly logical move of including the third dimension in its printing offering. The chain announced today that it's added 3D Systems' Cube and CubeX to its online store, selling the printers for $1,299 and $2,499, respectively. It's not quite a 3D printing kiosk in every store (who wouldn't want a personalized Star Trek figure while you wait?), but it's always nice to see a company looking to embrace emerging technology.
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The Cube(R) and The CubeX(TM) Are The First in a Line-Up of Groundbreaking 3D Printing Technology Products Available at Office Depot
Today, Office Depot, Inc. (NYSE: ODP), a leading global provider of office supplies and printing services, is adding to its product and solutions portfolio by offering innovative 3D printer solutions from 3D Systems (NYSE: DDD), including the Cube(R) and the CubeX(TM) 3D printers. These two state-of-the-art 3D printers and printing supplies are currently available on www.officedepot.com and www.business.officedepot.com.
Whether for small businesses, product designers or students, Cube 3D printers are an affordable 3D printing solution that puts customers just a click away from their imagination. These printers offer a new way to express personality by creating fully formed objects through advances in printing software and technology.
"Office Depot is excited to offer innovative products and print solutions like the Cube and CubeX 3D printers that harness the power and versatility of the latest printing technology for our customers," said George Hill, Office Depot's Senior Vice President of Copy and Print Depot. "We are already an established leader in 2D printing services and print product offerings. 3D printers are just the latest example of Office Depot's commitment to providing new and pioneering products and solutions that customers need to start, run and grow their business."
Cube 3D printers are ready to use right out of the box. Featuring Wi-Fi for a simple connection to other devices, they are compatible with Mac or Windows and come with 25 free 3D templates designed by professional artists, with additional templates available online. With ultra-portable designs, Cube 3D printers fit into the home, office or classroom.
Cube 3D Printer
The Cube 3D Printer is packed with user-friendly features, starting with its contemporary design and tablet-like touch screen. Print-ready and compact, it has 16 different color options, including two that glow in the dark, and prints objects up to 5.5" x 5.5" x 5.5" in size. The Cube 3D printer is available at Office Depot for $1,299.
CubeX 3D Printer
The CubeX is the ultimate 3D printer for tech enthusiasts, serious hobbyists, educators and entrepreneurs; boasting the largest print volume in its category. It has 18 different color options, including two that glow in the dark, and prints objects in all sizes up to 10.8" x 10.45" x 9.5". Customers can purchase the CubeX at Office Depot starting at $2,499.
"We are thrilled to offer consumer and professional-grade technology like our family of Cube 3D printers at Office Depot so that everyone can now enjoy this latest generation of 3D printing," said Avi Reichental, 3D Systems' President and Chief Executive Officer. "Office Depot already has a robust offering of printing products and services, and with the addition of our 3D printers we can now expand our reach and bring businesses, schools and consumers access to this powerful new form of creativity and expression."


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The number of tourists traveling to China and the amount of money they spent there both increased by 5 percent annually during the first half.
Nearly 72.7 million international tourists spent almost USD65 billion from January through June, People's Daily reported, citing the results from a survey by the National Tourism Administration's China Tourism Research Institute. Chinese tourists heading overseas rose 14 percent over the same period to about 81.3 million, the report added.
Domestic tourism also grew considerably as traveler numbers rose 8.8 percent to nearly 3.1 billion and their spending surged 13.5 percent to CNY2.8 trillion (USD403 million).
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Sanderson Farms reports increased sales, big losses
by MBJ Staff
Published: August 25,2011
LAUREL — Sanderson Farms Inc. reported net sales for the third quarter of fiscal 2011 of $511.2 million, compared with $489.1 million for the same period a year ago.
For the quarter, the poultry company reported a net loss of $55.7 million, or $2.51 per share, compared with a net income of $36.1 million, or $1.55 per share, for the third quarter of fiscal 2010.
Net sales for the first nine months of fiscal 2011 were $1,418.2 million, compared with $1,396.3 million for the first nine months of fiscal 2010. The net loss for the first nine months of fiscal 2011 totaled $105.5 million, or $4.77 per share, compared with net income of $87.0 million, or $3.96 per share, for the first nine months of last year.
The net losses for the quarter and nine months ended July 31, 2011 include a charge, net of income tax, of $14.4 million, or $0.65 per share, to record the value of live inventories on hand at July 31, 2011, at market value.
“Sanderson Farms’ financial results for the third quarter of fiscal 2011 reflect difficult market conditions,” said Joe F. Sanderson Jr., chairman and CEO of Sanderson Farms. “Market prices for poultry products were significantly lower than last year’s third quarter. While retail grocery store demand has remained steady, food service demand remains sluggish, and will likely remain that way until the employment market gains traction and consumers regain their confidence and return to restaurants. We also incurred significantly higher costs for corn and soybean meal, our primary feed ingredients, compared with the same period a year ago.”
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Some of the leading floor-care suppliers are beginning to rethink their strategy when it comes to selling products. Gone are the days of the door-to-door vacuum salesman – the entire customer qualification and rapport-building process can be done online now.
The ability for suppliers and manufacturers to reach their customers is getting easier as the role of the internet begins to remove the need for expensive marketing and awareness campaigns. As Australians tighten their belts and keep a close watch on the purse strings, consumers are spending more time researching online to ensure they get the right product at the best price. Floor cleaning and floor-care products have seen a big spike in online sales in keeping with this trend.
Nilfisk Adavance Australia and New Zealand General Manager, Stephen Makin said that his brand was focusing on customer education as a means to drive sales. He said this would also provide opportunity to introduce new product lines this year.
“The impact of online activity is uncertain with several different models being applied by retailers and pure online channels,” Makins told ConnectedAustralia. This is echoed by the example being set by Nilfisk’s competitors, with each planning to capitalise on the changing market in 2012 in very different ways.
Kambrook plans on increasing its social media presence by promoting its active Facebook page and also supporting a blog. While social media can drive traffic to physical stores, it is much easier to quantify its effects when you are able to channel conversions through a website instead.
“We currently do not have any promotions planned, but continue to use PR to publicise our floor care range and will endeavour to improve our in-store presence with new collateral and point-of-sale activity,” said Kambrook Marketing Manager, Adam Tacey.
The same goes for Bosch, which also plans no more than a social media campaign to increase awareness in the coming year, according to Category Development Manager Jonathan Peart.
“We will continue to actively promote our appliances across as many relevant platforms that best meet our customers needs,” he said, with no mention at all of greater focus on the online market itself.
However, that’s better than Dyson. Recent product lines have been wildly popular for the floor cleaning products manufacturer, with Dyson holding top position for market value in almost every category of this kind, except for handsticks. With the kind of market dominance Dyson has, it’s understandable that the company might feel like resting on its laurels.
On the other hand, Dyson is the only manufacturer of the group that incorporates its own online store into its website, making it a complete, one-stop shop for information and product purchases.
“Dyson owners are the biggest advocates for Dyson from using and experiencing the Dyson difference in their homes they are often surprised and delighted with the results,” said Marketing Manager Karen Gentles. “Luckily for us Dyson owners are also quite vocal in social media channels about their love [for the product].”
Meanwhile, it looks like LG are the pick of the bunch, with a keen understanding of social media and effective marketing strategies. LG has recognised social media networks as a great source of valuable customer feedback and communications, according to Category Marketing Manager Paul Fitzgerald.
“It’s a territory that’s multifaceted, and one that LG is looking to take a leading role in this year,” he said.
The company also successfully launched a viral video campaign, featuring its Kompressor Plus vacuum and proving that the company understands online audiences.
“Taking a light-hearted approach to demonstrating the suction power of the LG Kompressor vacuum,” said Fitzgerald. “The video advertisement’s creative treatment was seen as a breakthrough for the category, with more than 2 million extra views in four weeks, 60,000 Facebook shares and over 800 Tweets.”
It’s successful initiatives like LG’s use of video and social media that really make the difference for companies looking to improve their exposure.
For more information and hints on successful online marketing techniques, please see Power Retail’s marketing section.


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The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on certain global economies has begun subsiding recently, with nations such as Mexico, Thailand, India, Egypt, and the United Kingdom noting significantly higher economic growth rates.
Mexico’s economic growth is expected to reach pre-pandemic levels in the third quarter of this year, reported the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). As of now, predictions show that Mexico’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will expand by 2.3% in 2022 and 2.6% in 2023. This growth occurred after the COVID-19 pandemic, and supply chain difficulties such as a shortage of semiconductor chips dramatically impacted the economy.
Nikkei Asia reports that Thailand’s economy expanded 1.6% in 2021 due to a solid increase in exports and public investment. This increase broke projections after a recorded 6.2% contraction in 2020 due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic – such as a reduction in private consumption, implemented business lockdowns, and travel curbs. Currently, Thailand has maintained its GDP growth predictions at 3.5%-4.5% and is expected to continue with a rise in tourism, strong domestic demand, and limited health impacts.
However, all other major Southeast Asian economies, including Vietnam, Singapore, and Indonesia, reported better economic growth than Thailand (see the figure below)
Similarly, the Finance Ministry of India recently reported that 2022 could establish an improved economy of a post-pandemic world; as they continue committed to asset creation – stimulating public and private investment. Data shows how the nation’s economy is likely to grow at above 9%, as projected in advance statements of this year, and the real-growth competent is at 7.8%, according to the Reserve Bank of India.
Egypt’s economic growth rate is forecasted to climb to 6% in 2022 after the country achieved a growth spurt of 9.8% in the first quarter of the year – their highest growth rate in 20 years. These positive indicators come after policies were implemented by the National Program for Structural Reforms to develop capital markets and improve the vocational training system. Despite the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the nation, the economy reached a growth rate of 3.3% from 2020-2021 and 3.6% in 2019-2020.
While, in Europe, the United Kingdom managed to achieve an economic growth rate of 7.5% in 2021, recovering from its 9.4% plummet in 2020 due to pandemic restrictions. Recent data shows that Britain’s GDP has increased by 1% in the last quarter of the year. This rise has been contributed to health and social work activities, the vaccination program, and continuous COVID-19 tracking and tracing procedures.
Overall, the predicted and recorded economic growth achieved in these nations, along with external geopolitical and economic shocks, could derail the subsiding economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although uncertainty and instability over economic projections and growth levels are still present with risks, including COVID-19 spikes and continued inflation on a global scale. The referenced subsiding economic impacts of the pandemic on countries worldwide could indicate the possibility of a “post-pandemic world” becoming a reality sooner than we expect.


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Starbucks is reportedly partnering with CloudKitchens, a ghost kitchen led by Uber founder Travis Kalanick, to expand its last mile capabilities, according to Insider. CloudKitchens rents small kitchen bays that can be used as pickup-only facilities for delivery drivers.
Starbucks is planning to utilize a CloudKitchens location in San Francisco starting August 22, 2023, according to city permits seen by Business Insider. The site, called Charter Oak Food Pick-Up, is located at the intersection of two highways, making it convenient for last mile operations. It will operate from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.
Starbucks CFO Rachel Ruggeri noted that while drive-thru locations offer the strongest results, pickup and delivery-only stores help ensure customers can get their orders however and wherever they need them. The company is looking to expand with “a lot of different store designs and types to be able to meet the increasing demand that we see,” she said on a June 6 call with investors.
CloudKitchens has dozens of ghost kitchens across the U.S. and operates internationally under different names. Other brand partners include Buffalo Wild Wings and Chick-fil-A.
Starbucks has been open to utilizing third-party partners to help expand its last mile capabilities for some time. The company reached nationwide coverage with UberEats in 2020 and achieved the same goal with DoorDash in March 2023. Starbucks and Target also let shoppers include Starbucks orders when they utilize curbside pickup at nearly 250 Target locations.


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Neustar, Inc. today celebrates the fifth birthday of the .CO web extension.
.Co released some interesting statistics and 3 infographics.
.CO Birthday Milestones:
- Over 1.8 Million .CO domains under management
- 120 .CO companies have raised $460 million in funding in 2015
- Over 55% of .CO registrants are from the United States
- 45% of .CO domains are registered outside of the United States
- New York City is the top U.S. city with the most .CO domains registered
- Some popular startups with a .CO domain include, Meerkat, Brit + Co, Hinge, Vine, VSCO and NewCo
Click here to see the 3 infographics released today.
“The .CO domain is rapidly becoming the No. 1 choice for innovators and entrepreneurs seeking to build, and amplify their global digital presence.
The .CO domain has been adopted by high growth startups, such as Twitter® (T.co and Vine.co), AngelList® (Angel.co) and 500 Startups® (500.co), as well as by innovative Fortune 500 companies, such as Google® (g.co) and American Express® (amex.co). Neustar currently manages over 1.8 million .CO domain names across more than 200 countries and territories.
“Today, the domain industry is in the middle of a radical transformation, opening up opportunities for an unprecedented level of innovation and opportunity,” said Lori Anne Wardi, Vice President of Registry Services, Neustar. “The businesses, brands, and ideas that are being created on .CO every day on a global scale are fundamentally changing the landscape of the Internet, and Neustar has been instrumental in driving that change.”
The Internet is currently at an inflection point offering businesses, brands, entrepreneurs and innovators an opportunity to shape the fabric of their online existence. With the explosion of connected devices, the opening of the Internet’s domain naming system, and the proliferation of mobile computing, brands have a new opportunity to shape their interactions with consumers. Neustar has been helping companies establish, protect and promote their online presence for over fifteen years, and continues to help organizations navigate this new frontier.
“.CO symbolizes creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship, which is exactly what Techstars is all about,” said Marc Nager, Chief Community Officer, Techstars. “For the past five years we have partnered with .CO through our Startup Weekend Events, and have provided tens of thousands of entrepreneurs in every corner of the world with .CO domains to help launch their businesses, brands and big ideas online,” he added.
Short and memorable, .CO domains are indexed and ranked by major search engines exactly the same way as .com and .org extensions. More than just a domain, choosing a .CO domain gives businesses and brands access to exclusive perks, privileges and promotions. .CO’s “Membership Program” helps speed the path to digital success through carefully curated promotions, such as free SEO consulting and tickets to top technology conferences. Neustar is committed to fostering a thriving community of digital visionaries who are building the future of the Internet together, one URL at a time. Neustar is the official registry operator for Colombia’s .CO domain.
In celebration of .CO’s fifth birthday, Neustar is providing a set of exclusive offers to its community of innovators and entrepreneurs through its Membership Program, which include free public relations consulting, memberships to co-working space, and access to high value software to help startup founders run their business.
View .CO’s 5th Birthday Infographic series here.
For more information about .CO, visit http://www.go.co or follow us on Twitter @dotco.
All trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners. The brands used herein are not affiliated or associated with Neustar or its products or services and they do not endorse Neustar’s products or services.
Neustar, Inc. (NYSE:NSR) is the first real-time provider of cloud-based information services, enabling marketing and IT security professionals to promote and protect their businesses. With a commitment to privacy and neutrality, Neustar operates complex data registries and uses its expertise to deliver actionable, data-driven insights that help clients make high-value business decisions in real time, one customer interaction at a time. More information is available at http://www.neustar.biz.”


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Six days after the new naira notes went into circulation, the News Agency of Nigeria says that some merchants still find it hard to accept them as legal money.
On December 15, 2022, the new N1,000, N500, and N200 bills were made legal tender.
Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, said on October 26 that the denominated notes would be changed. He also said that the old notes would no longer be legal tender as of January 31, 2022.
He said that the new money was made to stop people from making fake money and saving it.
Alhaja Sofiat Balogun, who sells food at the Cele-Egbe bus stop in Egbe, said that she would not accept the new notes just yet.
“People say that the money isn’t good and that it’s not everywhere yet. I won’t take it until I see that it’s everywhere.”
“I don’t want to start taking it, and it’ll be hard for me to spend it when the time comes.
“And secondly, I saw a video of a fake N1,000 note on social media, which makes me even less likely to accept it,” she said.
Mrs. Eme Jackson, who sells fruit at the Ili-ewe market in Egbe, said that she turned down the money because the bills are too light.
“I like the old bills better than the new ones because they are very strong and won’t break no matter what you do to them.
“As soon as I saw it, I told my kids they shouldn’t take it, even if I wasn’t there,” she said.
Also, Mr. Ozuome Benedict, a phone technician, asked the apex bank to make sure people know why they should take the new notes.
“I have no problem accepting the new notes,” he said. “The CBN should make people aware of the new note, though, because so many people don’t know about it.”
While this was going on, NAN went to ATMs in Ikotun, Ejigbo, and Oshodi and saw that people were still getting old bills.
A Teller at one of the banks told a customer who wanted to withdraw N100,000 that she could only get N20,000 in new notes and N80,000 in old notes.
But when the customer asked why the teller wouldn’t pay her in full with the new bills, the teller said she was following orders.
“I’m sorry, but you can only have N20,000 in new notes. This is what the CBN has told us to do,” the Teller said.
But when NAN went to the Zenith Bank ATM on Eric Moore, the machine was giving out the new N500 and N200 bills.
When some customers saw the new bills for the first time, they passed the N500 bill from hand to hand with mixed feelings.


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When landlord Morris Jerome inked a deal for a Nordstrom Rack at the old Daffy's on Chestnut Street, he was quick to say that the lease would potentially pack a bigger punch than just a sizable rent check.
The Rack, to occupy four floors of a marquee building in the heart of burgeoning Center City next fall, would attract other big-name retailers, and further corrode the once-ironclad notion that downtown Philadelphia was too dowdy to interest fancy brands.
"We're going to change that perception with this new Nordstrom Rack, which is a tremendous retailer," said Jerome, principal of New York-based JEMB Realty Corp., in an October interview when the Rack deal went public.
JEMB picked up the 17th and Chestnut corner property in the Daffy's bankruptcy but had little other Center City real estate, to which Jerome offered: "Not yet."
The central district, after years of angling to boost its dollar value and retail image, has developed the market muscle it has long sought, a conclusion further supported by data in a survey being released Friday by the Center City District.
Retail rents on Walnut Street have gone up 33.8 percent in a year, the sharpest annual increase of all so-called "high streets" among U.S. cities cited in an April 2013 survey by Colliers International. That firm's data made its way into the CCD annual report on the state of Center City retailing.
"I feel like the rubber's really hitting the road now," said Michelle Shannon, vice president of marketing and communications for the business improvement district. "People we wouldn't see four years ago, or signing leases in Philadelphia, are now open."
Flocking to downtown's core in the past year were tenants such as Theory, Madewell, and Ulta, while Nordstrom Rack is due to open next year, and the Barneys Co-Op on Rittenhouse Square will be converted into a Barneys New York in 2014.
National companies are chasing a critical mass of spending power accumulated during the decade-long redevelopment of high-rise downtown housing and gentrification of surrounding Center City neighborhoods.
"Theory, Madewell, Athleta - they're pretty major brands to have coming into the city," said Brandon Famous, who two months ago sold his regional retail brokerage, Fameco, to CBRE Group Inc. and is vice president of CBRE | Fameco.
Famous, who represents Nordstrom Rack and other retailers locally, said one supermarket client has asked him to find a Center City location for a 70,000-square-foot store. He also is representing a movie-theater chain and other retailers in talks to sign leases as part of the planned renovation of The Gallery at Market East.
The influx of bodies and affluence has created an alluring walkable demographic density to rival the driveable suburbs.
Proprietor-owned shops increasingly are making way for corporate chains, whose more lucrative longterm rent terms are preferred by landlords. But even that is boosting values in adjacent areas - and interest from chains.
"The number of workers within a walkable one-mile radius of City Hall is 18 times higher than the number of workers within a one-mile radius of Cherry Hill Mall and nine times greater than the number of workers surrounding King of Prussia Mall," the CCD report notes, in a jab at suburban rival malls.
On Monday, CCD's Shannon will staff a booth for the fifth year to woo retailers and landlords at the International Council of Shopping Centers dealmaking convention in New York.
But instead of looking to walk away with an armful of signed leases, as is the goal of brokers and landlords, the CCD booth hopes to engage in an ongoing strategy of a softer sell.
Armed with data, a giant map of Center City, and binders of block-level street maps, CCD seeks to court passersby and form relationships that it says have been paying off on the street back home.
"They're amazing," said Famous. "I've gone by [that booth] with retailers when I might have forgotten a statistic."
In addition to Shannon and an assistant, the booth will be staffed by Dawn Summerville, of the city Commerce Department, and Ivy Olesh, of Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp.


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Apple files patent for solar charging
Our sister blog, Engadget, noted yesterday that Apple has filed a patent for transparent photovoltaic cells that can cover portable devices. This means your iPod, iPhone or MacBook might be coated in a layer of clear, power-charging solar cells.
Motorola already has a similar patent, though it only applies to covering the display area with solar cells.
While it's not clear how much power these cells will be able to generate, it will certainly be nice to have devices in the future that can charge themselves just by sitting out in the sun.
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CBS Sports app updated for iPad, adds live video
Finally catching up to the tablet generation, CBS has released an updated version of its CBS Sports app that comes complete with full iPad support. On top of that significant upgrade, the app now also features live video for a variety of sports including NCAA basketball, college football and the PGA Tour.
Until today's addition of live video, the app was designed solely as a portal for checking scores and stats for just about every sports organization you can think of. The early user reviews of the updated app appear to be almost universally positive. If you're looking for a free app for live sports, it seems CBS is on top of its game.
Finally catching up to the tablet generation, CBS has released an updated version of its CBS Sports app that comes complete with full iPad support.
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- Google Drive iOS app finally lets you sort items and find and replace in documents
- Viber announces Viber Out calls for iOS, goes head to head with Skype
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With the exception of Wal-Mart ( WMT) and BJ's Wholesale Club ( BJ), grocery stocks were steeped in scarlet Thursday. Wal-Mart shares were recently up 2.4% to $49.64 after the retail giant posted earnings that handily beat Wall Street's estimates. BJ's shares also marked gains, recently rising 1.7% to $29.93. Elsewhere, the story was not so positive:
Safeway (SWY) was falling 2.9% to $17.80. Kroger (KR) was down 2.4% to $20.09. Winn-Dixie (WINN) was down 10.2% to $8.34. Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. (GAP) was down 11.1% to $3.14. Whole Foods Market (WFMI) was down 2.1% to $11.79. Supervalu (SVU) was down 5.4% to $15.10.


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Why Tudor stole the show at W&W 2023Borna Bošnjak
At Tudor’s booth this year, the theme was evolution not revolution. While the titanium Pelagos 39 intensely stirred the best-modern-luxury-dive-watch pot, the brand’s main Watches & Wonders focus was the Black Bay range. Watch Andrew’s and Zach’s live reactions to the new releases below, and read on for a quick summary of each.
Tudor Black Bay 54
For thousands of watch collectors, the introduction of the Black Bay 58 was a phenomenal release that turned even the most die-hard of Rolex fans into ardent Tudor followers. The more refined case with style-appropriate sizing finally felt like Tudor had found a home outside of its bigger brother’s shadow, and the 58 still commands a strong demand. This year’s Watches & Wonders sees the Swiss brand attempting, and likely succeeding, to repeat their recipe for success with the Tudor Black Bay 54. All of the details of Tudor’s latest vintage diver can be found here.
Tudor Black Bay GMT
Although last year’s Watches & Wonders held thunderous announcements for Tudor’s GMT fans thanks to the Black Bay Pro and the Black Bay GMT S&G, the love hasn’t stopped coming for the much loved four-hander. People who have previously passed on the Tudor Black Bay GMT due to its contrasting white-date wheel can also now rejoice, as the watch has now been released with an opaline white dial. Read Fergus’ introductory write-up here.
Tudor Black Bay 41 Burgundy
No model is safe in the Black Bay range with Tudor discontinuing certain models in recent years. As the brand’s reputation has been climbing, their specifications and features have had to match it and that’s spelled the end for some of their older models. Thankfully, it appears that Tudor have no interest in leaving their fans in the dust and they are helpfully bringing in new watches with modern updates to fill the gaps. Following in the footsteps of the Heritage Black Bay model reference 79220, the Tudor Black Bay catalogue has been bolstered with this 41mm version with a bright burgundy bezel. Find out the details of the new updates here.
Tudor Black Bay 31/36/39/41
Following last year’s Watches & Wonders blast of two-tone releases, it’s now time that the Tudor Black Bay fixed-bezel models in steel get their overhaul. The Tudor Black Bay 31/36/39/41, for want of a better collection name, turned a lot of heads with its dive watch dials and dress watch bezels. The hybridisation creates a look which is jarring at first to those who are used to keeping things separate, and yet quickly grows into a sophisticated character or refinement and adventure. For more details, read the full introduction here.
Any time a design risk is taken, people could turn one way or another. The Tudor Royal is undoubtedly their most visually distinctive collection, and as such it has divided people into those who love its brave embrace of 1970s kitsch and those who do not. With two new dial colours across four different sizes, the Tudor Royal digs even deeper into the funky retro love for an ultimately refined watch. Follow the link for the full introducing piece.


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Vodacom’s revenue significantly increased during quarter 1 of its financial year due to investment in affordability, customer engagement and increase, upgrades, as well as service network quality.
According to various news sources, due to an increase in customer engagement, a higher service revenue sourced from local business and, “despite a tougher economic environment,” as Chief Executive Shameel Joosub stated, rose in group revenue by 4.2% in the first quarter of its most recent fiscal year. The customer engagement increased by 2.5 million with 1 million out of this attributed to internationally-based clients. This increase in their most recent quarter, ending 30th June 2018, led up to R21. 55 billion compared to the previous quarter which reported up to R20, 65 billion.
The full statement of Joosub read,“ In South Africa, despite a tougher economic environment, we grew service revenue by 4.9 percent, supported by customer growth of 9.5 percent to reach 43.1 million customers.” Vodacom’s strategy that Joosub claimed supported this rise in revenue was inclusive of making data more affordable, growing the amount of 4G users and an increase in the internet of things “by 25,2%”. Vodacom also invested R2 billion during this quarter on upgrades, the quality of service networks and performance in its local sector.
Vodacom continues to be a leading South African company when it comes to mobile and internet services. According to OpenSignal’s latest State of Mobile Network Report, it is the winner when it comes to 3G download speed, 4G, and 3G latency, going neck and neck with MTN when it comes to overall and 4G download speed as well as 4G availability. Its most recent rise in revenue, customer service, and quality are sure to keep it rising even higher in the local and international mobile service, data, and LTE ranks.


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Burns victims are to recover faster thanks to a new technique that uses foetal skin cells.
Scientists from the University of Lausanne in Switzerland took skin cells from an aborted foetus and used them to grow skin to be grafted onto eight children with burns.
The children's wounds closed after just two weeks and none of the children needed traditional grafting.
This new technique may eventually replace current grafting where a patient has skin from an undamaged part of the body removed and grafted on to burnt areas, often causing scarring.
Professor Patrick Hohlfeld, who was behind the research, said: "We have shown that foetal skin is a substitute for biological skin that can provide burned patients with a very high quality of skin in a short time with no additional grafting techniques
"In view of the therapeutic effects of this technique along with the simplicity in application, foetal skin cells could have great potential in tissue engineering."
However, the results of the work have been questioned by some anti-abortion campaign groups, opposed to the use of aborted foetuses in scientific research.
"Taking the result of an abortion for therapeutic means is in poor taste," a spokesperson for the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children said.
"The priority should be to find ethical treatments for burns. The end doesn't justify the means."
The research was published in the medical journal the Lancet.


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Giving Thanks to Food Workers on International Food Worker Week
Perhaps more than any other week this year, food is on our mind. Particularly for me this year as 17 friends and family will descend on Thursday for Thanksgiving. But I’m not just thinking about the food I’ll serve — and how it’ll all fit in my tiny oven — I’m thinking about all the workers who helped to bring that food to our family.
As we celebrate International Food Worker Week this year, I’m thinking in particular about how the choice for organic food affects not just the health of my family, but the health and well being of people across the food chain who I’ll never meet and never know, but whose lives I’m connected to nonetheless.
When I talk to audiences across the country about healthy eating, one question comes up more frequently than any other: Is choosing organic food better for my health? The science is pretty settled about the differences in pesticide residues between non-organic and organic food. The President’s Panel on Cancer, a few years ago, even suggested that one of the best ways to prevent certain forms of cancer is to choose food grown without chemicals, including many that are known carcinogens, hormone disruptors or neurotoxins.
But even more important to me is what choosing organic–or food grown with fewer toxic pesticides and natural fertilizer–means for workers along the food chain and working class communities around the country. Farmers and farmworkers, more than anyone else in this country, are impacted by the widespread use of agricultural chemicals in the fields. In the longest running study to date of farmworker children, researchers of farmworkers in California’s Salinas Valley, including pregnant women, who are exposed daily to an arsenal of toxic chemicals, found that their children had higher rates of neurodevelopmental problems and other health issues related to chemical exposure.
Working class communities are among the most affected by agricultural chemical and synthetic fertilizer production. Consider the working class families in West, Texas where 15 people were killed and 160 injured when a chemical plant, producing synthetic fertilizer for non-organic farms, exploded last year. Or the families living in the shadows of the manufacturing plants producing the toxic chemicals used on non-organic and GMO fields. Like Dow Chemical’s neighbors in Midland, Michigan where pollution from the plant has created the highest level of the carcinogen dioxin in waterways ever recorded by the EPA anywhere in the country. (Dow, keep in mind, is not only one of the largest agricultural chemical producers; it’s big in the GMO market too: the company just pushed for approval on a new GMO engineered to be resistant to its toxic defoliant 2,4-D).
When we fight for organic food and getting agricultural chemicals off our fields, we do so not just for our own health. We do so for food workers, too. This year, when I serve our (mostly) organic and (mostly) local Thanksgiving feast, I’ll do so because I don’t want to feed my loved ones food that caused another mother or father to worry about whether the chemicals used to grow that food had made their children sick, stunted their intelligence, or planted the seed of cancer in their bodies.


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Official figures show that cheaper footwear and clothing, with an increase in petrol prices, helped preserve the 0% rate.
The figure matched the lowest inflation rate of the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) since the records began in the 1980s.
This cost of living in the UK has remained the same as the year before.
But the ONS stated the inflation rate was calculated by two decimal places – so prices were -0.01% lower than last year. This was the first fall recorded by the CPI.
One of the key reasons that the CPI rate hardly changed was due to the rising diesel and petrol prices.
However the ONS added that the overall decrease in diesel and petrol prices over the last year contributed to the low inflation.
The figure documented by the CPI leaves the inflation rate well below the Bank of England’s target of 2%.
There was speculation that the CPI rate could have fallen below 0% in March, and it’s still possible that it could do so in the coming months.
However there are a small number of economists who think the UK is at risk of deflation, similar to what Japan has suffered.
The director of economics at the CBI business group, Rain Newton-Smith said:
“Inflation should start to pick up in the second half of the year, especially as the downward pressure from lower oil prices eases.”


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The IRS has increased the 2018–2019 per diem rates for substantiating employee business expenses under IRC Sec. 274(d) for lodging, meals, and incidental expenses incurred while traveling away from home.
If you've haven't heard about the Supreme Court's ruling on South Dakota v. Wayfair, it's time to start paying attention. Wayfair, an online retailer of home furnishings since 2002, had been selling products without charging state sales tax, giving it a consumer benefit edge over its brick and mortar competitors.
Topics: Accounting Hot Topics
We're excited to announce that MRPR has made Crain's 2018 list of Cool Places to Work in Michigan. MRPR ranks 78 among 100 companies recognized by their employees for having outstanding workplace culture. Also a big shout out to our clients at New Eagle, for making the list as well!


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New Covid Recovery Commission report reinforces case for increased stakeholder involvement as UK bounces back
octubre 6th, 2023
The Covid Recovery Commission’s new report is out. Its findings back up the growing trend for ‘New Collectivism’, where businesses need to be purposeful to help Britain to build back better. Here’s my take on it…
The Covid Recovery Commission’s first report into Levelling up Communities is out and it makes for fascinating reading. Working with researchers from WPI Economics, the report highlights that the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the already deprived neighbourhoods the most in terms of both lives and jobs. The report also reveals that the effect of the pandemic on the British public’s mental health is also most felt most acutely among the least well-off in society.
While the findings are stark, the Commission’s chair, John Allan CBE – also chairman of Tesco and Barratt Homes, and vice-president of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) – believes business has a key role to play alongside government in national recovery.
On the BBC Today programme, Allan affirmed that we have seen the need for business to be more purposeful. Businesses must not be solely shareholder-focused but also include a wider range of stakeholders, he argued.
New Collectivism in a post-Covid world
The Covid Recovery Commission’s report backs up the findings of Grayling’s own recent report on the New Collectivism, in which we argue that business must think in a more rounded manner to deliver a broader range of outcomes.
Grayling’s research finds that nearly two-thirds (63%) of senior European business leaders believe that – alongside making a profit – businesses have a collective responsibility to the societies they operate in*. This move away from a shareholder-first capitalism was highlighted recently in the swift collapse of the proposed European Super League, brought down by near-universal disgust at the shelving of tradition in the pursuit of more money by 12 big clubs.
New Collectivism extends beyond more inclusive, flexible working practices. This collective responsibility also includes closer scrutiny by businesses over their supply chains to make sure their ethics and values are being shared at every stage. It also challenges business to improve its environmental impact.
The pandemic offers the chance to press ‘reset’ on business
The Covid Response Commission report’s authors make some interesting arguments, such as devolving decisions from central government to those closest to the challenge to create an environment where local business can succeed. It also highlights areas where Britain has opportunities to lead, such as in digitalisation and a move to net zero emissions.
And it’s not just in the UK that significant change is happening; the pivot towards a new collectivist approach is a pan-European movement. In my role as Head of Corporate for UK and Europe, I speak to senior decision makers at businesses across the continent who are driving change and want to know how to navigate the communications around that.
As John Allan said in his Today interview, we are at a point in history where significant business change really could happen. At Grayling, we agree. You can read the full New Collectivism report here and if you are looking to embrace change at your organisation and want the best advice on how to communicate it, we’d be delighted to talk, please drop me an email.
*Study conducted of 500 senior business decision makers in international businesses across micro (1-9 employees, small (10-49 employees), medium (50-249 employees) and large corporations (250+ employees). Field study conducted 3-8 Feb 2021 by Opinium Research.
Contact Tom Nutt, Head of Corporate, Grayling UK & Europe: firstname.lastname@example.org


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When Charriol launched his business 35 years ago, he had no idea that twisted wire cables would become such a beloved motif in jewelry.
Robert Clergerie and Joe will set up a free coffee cart in Chelsea during the shoe brand's market week.
Celebrities attending the Costume Institute's annual gala added glitz to their couture looks with distinctive jewelry, clutches, heels — and even headpieces.
The winner of the Best Overall in Style and Design category is guaranteed to have a show on Evine in February 2016.
To mark the 25th anniversary of its watch division, Versace embarked on a series of in-store celebrations around the globe to unveil its DV25 collection.
Berlin's eyewear firm took its name from an abbreviation of the German word for “daycare.”
Hats, Gloves and More
As next month’s opening of “China:Through the Looking Glass” at The Costume Institute nears, milliner Stephen Jones has been hunkered down in the Metropolitan Museum of Art perfecting 120-plus head pieces.
It is difficult to overstate the crisis the American consumer faced at the onset of the Great Recession. Yet somehow over the past six years real household consumption managed to grow at an annual rate of 2.2 percent.
Designers are now making it easy to wear your heart on your sleeve — or neck, wrist and even feet.


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The 2D wonder material graphene has captured the imaginations of engineers around the world for its extreme strength and high conductivity. Yet, in spite of the material’s potential, producing it can be complicated, time-consuming, and expensive, leading to various fabrication processes with different degrees of affordability and dependability.
That may soon change, though, thanks to a team of engineers at the University of Exeter’s Centre for Graphene Science, who have developed a method that could mean cheaper and easier graphene production. A paper describing their process was published online last week in the journal 2D Materials.
Conventional graphene production methods entail a number of steps, such as growth, transfer, and patterning. In the new method, the researchers consolidated some of these steps to produce functional graphene-based devices that can be transferred directly to substrates like plastics or textiles.
“We wanted to both simplify the production process for graphene devices in general and increase the range of surfaces that we can put graphene devices on,” professor of engineering David Wright, a co-author of the paper told Digital Trends. “Since, in our method, we make complete devices on the copper foils used in the graphene growth process, we can transfer these complete devices to any suitable surface.”
As the graphene is grown using the traditional method of chemical vapor deposition (CVD), Wright said the graphene produced using his team’s method is of comparable quality to that grown conventionally.
In order to demonstrate this quality, the researchers developed and tested an “all-graphene” humidity sensor. “[It] worked better than a conventional humidity sensor,” Wright said. “Our sensor was also completely transparent, flexible — it was on a plastic film — and very cheap to produce.”
If the new process proves as efficient at an industrial scale as it did in the lab, it may shepherd a revolution in graphene production, which Wright thinks could see the material advance devices from smart screens to sensors.
- Brain-like chips may make PCs 1 million times more efficient
- This wild new display puts a gargantuan 120-inch virtual monitor on your desk
- It may sound ridiculous, but the future of satellites could be steam-powered
- Wild new 3D printer makes parts by sending titanium particles supersonic
- Researchers come up with new method to ‘see’ dark matter


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LYF’s market share dropped to well under 3% in the March 2017 quarter from a high of 7% at the same time last year, according to analysts from three research agencies.
The aggressive 4G rollouts make India an ideal market for Qualcomm with a majority of its portfolio focused on the technology and Internet of Things
'We are working on a technology that makes a Rs 1,500 4G feature phone viable' said Spreadtrum Communications’ country head Neeraj Sharma
Chinese brand Itel and domestic firm Karbonn, are now working on developing various apps for these low-cost devices as well as for feature phones that work on high-speed 4G network
This makes the country an attractive market to device manufacturers.
The fast pace of growth in the smartphone segment is set to attract investments from Apple which is seeing growth slowing in its major markets like China
The Beijing-headquartered Xiaomi, which was set up seven years ago almost to the day, is set to launch a new artificial intelligence product in the next six months
According to Nokia’s Mobile Broadband Index study, the significance and usage of regional/vernacular content is expected to increase as 4G and 3G networks expand.
Chandan Kumar, director-marketing and integrated solutions for Huawei India, said that apps are being developed keeping the next phase of technology in mind.
Nokia and Airtel will leverage Nokia's 5G FIRST end-to-end 5G solution including AirScale radio access portfolio and AirFrame data center platform
The joint project, I&G (Infill & Growth) Project, was established to upgrade current LTE mobile communication services across India by expanding both the current network capacity as well as network coverage.
Company has also awarded a 4G rollout deal to Nokia worth Rs 3,650 cr covering 10 circles and another to Huawei for three circles.
Over 90 brands sell feature phones in India with Indian makers contributing 57% of total shipments, according to data
Foxconn, the world's largest contract manufacturer, will start production of VoLTE handsets for Reliance Retail's Lyf brand of 4G smartphones in India
The operator is working out a new tariff plan which will be valid till June 30, said people familiar with the developments in Jio as well as analysts.
The fresh round of funding will help Jio challenge competitors with free-for-life voice calls and free data services through March.
Telecom operator Bharti Airtel today upgraded its existing unlimited calling schemes by adding 3GB free 4G data, worth up to Rs 9,000, for non-users of its 4G services.


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090213 Hogs Fall on Signs of Shrinking U.S. Pork DemandFebruary 4, 2009
(Bloomberg) -- Hog futures fell for the second time in three days on speculation that meatpackers won't pay more for the animals as shrinking pork demand curbs profits. Cattle prices were little changed.
The price of wholesale pork has dropped 2 percent in the past week, while cash-market hogs gained 2.7 percent, cutting meatpacker margins. Cash prices rose on signs the animal supply is shrinking. Demand for pork may dwindle as the global recession deepens, said Christian Mayer, a market adviser at Northstar Commodity Investments LLC in Minneapolis.
"It's unprofitable for packers now, so they're not going to be bidding up," Mayer said. "I haven't heard any exciting export news in a while. It's a few days before we get the monthly export report, but with the economies around the world, I can't imagine we'll be too positively surprised."
Hog futures for April settlement fell 0.95 cent, or 1.5 percent, to 61.2 cents a pound at 10:07 a.m. on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Last week, the price dropped 2.2 percent, the second straight decline.
Meatpackers processed 9.86 million cattle last month, down 11 percent from a year earlier, according to USDA estimates. The price of cash-market hogs climbed 16 percent in January.
The price of wholesale pork rose 0.21 cent, or 0.4 percent, to 57 cents a pound yesterday, the first gain in five days, USDA data show.
Cattle futures for April delivery rose 0.075 cent to 86.2 cents a pound. The price dropped 0.8 percent yesterday.
Feeder-cattle futures for March delivery rose 0.05 cent to 93.475 cents a pound.
Yesterday, wholesale choice beef dropped for the 10th straight day, the longest slide since July 2006. The price fell 0.41 cent, or 0.3 percent, to $1.4112 a pound, the lowest since April 9.


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Fintech Startup Jodo Secures $15 Million in Fundraising Led by Tiger Global
Fintech startup Jodo which specializes in payments for education secured $15 million in a new funding round led by New York-based investment firm Tiger Global.
Jodo received $4 million in funding from Elevation Capital and Matrix Partners India, two current investors, who also took part in 2020 year-round.
The business said that it will put the money to use by speeding up workforce expansion and product innovation.
Atulya Bhat, Raghav Nagarajan, and Koustav Dey established Jodo in the year 2020. In order to make tuition payments simple and affordable for parents, Jodo offers a variety of customized payment and loan alternatives.
For the purpose of assisting students and their parents with the cost of higher education, Jodo offers lending products through non-banking financial company (NBFC) partners.
“We are expanding together with the comeback of traditional education. Since the implementation of COVID-19, payments that were previously made in cash have been digitalized, and we have seen that many schools are now providing their parents with various payment choices. Because reconciliations can be a nightmare, it is difficult to provide this flexibility (for these institutes)”, Bhat told.
Over 700 educational institutions presently work with Jodo, 40% of which are offline schools serving students in kindergarten through grade 12 (K–12).
With the most recent funding, Jodo hopes to expand its education relationships to 5,000 establishments over the course of the next 18 months, including schools, colleges, and offline coaching centers, and assist 1.5 million students with their tuition payments.
Jodo plans to introduce newer products to manage payouts made by educational institutions as well as an education-saving product for parents, in addition to offering payments, lending, and loyalty advantages surrounding fee payments.
According to Bhat, “the company is also considering ways to support the development of a payment ecosystem for educational institutions and university campuses.
“Jodo is bringing more ease and affordability for parents, improving workflow for schools and institutions, and upgrading payments and credit for India’s education system. We are really pleased with Jodo’s development”, said Tiger Global partner Alex Cook.
In the upcoming months, the company plans to submit an application for its own NBFC license.
As per Elevation Capital partner Mridul Arora, “It is an honor for us to continue working with Atulya, Koustav, and Raghav. The fervor with which schools and parents have embraced their products demonstrates that they are not only addressing a significant problem but are also doing it with tech-first, user-friendly solutions”.


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Ever since Clara Zetkin proposed this very special day at the second International Conference of [...]
The third day of the Malaysian CMO Awards 2021 Champions Tour was hosted and sponsored [...]
Ben Mahmud, the Head of the Strategy and Development for PETRONAS Downstream Marketing, is the [...]
The second day of the Champions Tour for Malaysian CMO Awards 2021 was a fantastic [...]
Nadine Paul, the winner of the coveted GOLD award for Best B2B Marketer of 2021 [...]
The Champions Tour of the Malaysian CMO Awards 2021 began at dusk on February 21st, [...]
For a second year in a row, Shirley New, the Director of Marketing for Taylor’s [...]
Receiving multiple accolades for her work is nothing new for Sutapa Bhattacharya, and this time [...]
Melati Abdul Hai, the Chief Marketing Officer of McDonald’s Malaysia was recently awarded the CMO [...]
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General Motors’ Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac dealers in the United States delivered 203,745 vehicles in January 2016, the company’s best January sales performance in eight years. GM’s retail sales were up sharply, climbing 9 percent year over year on the strength of a 12 percent increase at Chevrolet and a 45 percent increase at Buick. Total sales were up 0.5 percent.
“GM began 2016 in very strong competitive position,” said Kurt McNeil, GM’s U.S. vice president of sales operations. “We built on that momentum in January, with Chevrolet, Buick and GMC outperforming the retail industry by a wide margin. In fact, Chevrolet continues to grow faster than any other full-line brand.”
Chevrolet gained close to 2 percentage points of retail market share in January after the brand had the largest retail market share increase of any full-line brand in 2015.
Chevrolet had its best January passenger car retail sales since 1997.
The Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra posted a combined 7 percent increase in total sales. GM grew full-size pickup market share faster than all other competitors in 2015.
Throughout 2015 and continuing into January, the GMC Sierra, Canyon, Yukon and Yukon XL have had the highest average transaction prices in their respective segments, according to J.D. Power PIN estimates.
Buick retail deliveries surged 45 percent in January, driven by owner loyalty.
“We believe industry fundamentals such as the age of the vehicle fleet, well managed inventory levels, firm used car pricing, good credit availability and low fuel prices will support higher industry sales in 2016,” said Mustafa Mohatarem, GM’s chief economist. “In addition, household balance sheets are strong and the labor market continues to improve.”
GM’s strong sales dovetailed with a strategic approach to inventories and fleet deliveries:
GM inventories are disciplined, and the company expects to operate with about a 70 days’ supply throughout the year in most months, with some months higher or lower.
GM’s Commercial sales are growing and daily rental sales are becoming a smaller part of the overall business.
As a result of lower rental deliveries, GM expects its fleet mix in 2016 to be about 20 percent, compared with a historical range of 22 – 24 percent.
January Sales Highlights vs. 2015 (except as noted)
Chevrolet had its best January retail performance since 2005, with car sales up 25 percent, truck sales up 5 percent and crossover deliveries up 5 percent. The brand has had 10 consecutive months of retail sales gains.
Silverado had its best January total and retail sales since 2007.
Ten Chevrolet models – Silverado, Suburban, Tahoe, Colorado, Camaro, Impala, Malibu, Cruze, Sonic and Traverse – grew retail market share in their respective segments.
The all-new 2016 Chevrolet Malibu accounted for about half of Malibu sales in January. Malibu had its best January retail sales since 1981.
Tahoe and Suburban had their best January retail sales since 2008.
Cruze and Volt had their best January retail sales ever and the Camaro had its best January retail sales since 1996.
Trax total and retail sales more than doubled.
GMC had its best January total and retail sales since 2004.
Combined Sierra and Canyon total sales increased, with Sierra up 14 percent and Canyon up 3 percent.
Yukon retail sales were up 4 percent.
Buick had its best January retail performance since 2003, with retail deliveries up 45 percent. Total sales were the best January since 2004.
Combined sales of Buick’s passenger cars were up 73 percent. LaCrosse had its best January total sales since 2010.
Sales of Buick’s crossovers were up a combined 24 percent.
Encore has had 25 months year-over-year growth in both retail and total sales.
The all-new Cascada is now arriving at Buick dealers.
SRX total deliveries were up 37 percent for its best January total sales ever.
Cadillac is maintaining the highest ATPs in the brand’s history, and leads its competitive set.
Average Transaction Prices/Incentives
GM grew ATPs three times faster than the industry average from 2010-2015. In January 2016, ATPs were $33,600, about $3,000 above the industry average.
GM’s incentive spending as a percentage of ATP was 12.4 percent in January, in line with the domestic competitors and lower than some Asian competitors. Industry average spending was 10.7 percent.
Fleet and Commercial
Commercial deliveries up for 27th consecutive month
GM grew Commercial sales 6 percent in January after growing sales 38 percent since 2013.
In January, GM sold nearly 13,000 fewer rental vehicles compared to January 2015, per plan. GM expects another significant reduction in rental deliveries in 2016.


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Nehalem has been the talk of the tech industry for months, but a number of signs point towards a relatively slow launch from Santa Clara. While enthusiast-class Nehalem platforms are scheduled to arrive this fall, mainstream desktop parts may not hit the market until the third quarter of 2009 if leaked roadmaps are accurate. Road warriors, meanwhile, shouldn't hold their breath—Nehalem may not arrive in notebooks appreciably sooner than it does in mainstream desktops.
DigiTimes has identified Intel's next-generation notebook platform as Calpella, and states that it won't arrive until 3Q 2009, or around the same time we expect new desktop parts. With the memory controller ensconced safely on-die, Intel will move its new mobile chipset to an integrated single-chip solution, codenamed Ibex Peak-M. The Ibex, in turn, will support both Clarksfield (high-end mobile, on-die memory controller, quad core) and Auburndale (performance mobile, dual-core part, integrated GPU). Intel first announced its intent to partner Nehalem with an integrated GPU earlier this year, although there's no word yet on how that GPU will compare with AMD's own Fusion project, or what sort of power consumption we'll see from the two devices. Current rumor suggests that Fusion (or at least some part of it) will be produced on TSMC's half-node 40nm process, but AMD has yet to clarify if Fusion's GPU will be on-die or on-package.
Economic events over the next 12 months could conceivably alter Intel's launch plans, but right now a slow ramp seems to make the most sense. Integrating the memory controller, GPU, and processor in a mobile form factor is no small engineering challenge, and Penryn is competitive enough to keep the pressure off. Intel has all the time it needs to tweak Auburndale, and it wouldn't be surprising for the company to take it.


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GDT, the world’s leading dairy trading platform, has attracted registered sellers from around the world
GDT announced today that, Asian Blending, is now offering on GDT Marketplace.
GDT's online dairy platform, GDT Events, has passed the milestone of US$20 billion cumulative value of products sold.
GDT releases the latest Quarterly publication, covering the period January 2017 – March 2017.
Global Dairy Trade has produced its first Annual Report 2016, with a focus on GDT Events and the new GDT Events Oversight Board.
GDT releases the latest Quarterly publication for GDT Events, covering the period Oct 2016 – Dec 2016.
Following 18 months successful trading on GDT Events, Arla Foods Ingredients (AFI), a leading supplier of natural whey ingredients, talks about the success they have had in GDT Events.
Global Dairy Trade regularly reviews the number of bidders qualified to purchase dairy products on GDT Events.
New governance principles to monitor GDT Events, the twice-monthly auction held by Global Dairy Trade, have been voted in by the GDT Events Oversight Board today.
GDT’s latest six-monthly Chart Focus publication is now available, providing key statistical data on trade through the GDT Events platform.


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Evogen releases two new flavors in line with its Labor Day weekend sale
Hany Rambod’s supplement company Evogen, has dropped two new flavors in line with its worthwhile sale for Labor Day, or technically one new flavor, and the other is returning. The website promotion the brand is running for the weekend starts with 20 to 40% off using the coupon ‘LDW2020’. You also get free shipping when ordering over $99, a bonus tub of AminoJect at $175, and free Evohand sanitizer at $250.
As for the flavors Evogen has introduced with its Labor Day Weekend sale, the all-new addition to the lineup is for the brand’s premium isolate protein powder with a Mint Chip Ice Cream IsoJect. The other one is an option Evogen had on the market previously for its carnitine-based fat burner Carnigen, with Grape Blast, available at $26.95 for a large tub of 50 servings, or $21.56 during the brand’s Labor Day sale.


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Akasa Air, the country’s newest airliner, will now serve special festive-season-based cuisine in flight. The airline has announced its special year-long festive meal, which will be served by Cafe Akasa. To offer a specially curated travel experience, the airline has come up with the idea of serving a festive menu. From September 20 to October 31, Akasa Air Café will celebrate the Dussehra spirit with a menu specially designed for Akasa. The menu will include Cholar Dal, Radhaballavi, Amshato Khijur Chutney and Puran Potli Teekha. The airline has previously served Sweet Potato Chaat, Patoli with Shrikhand, and Crispy Kachori Pockets with Spicy Ragda to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi.
Speaking about the festive menu, Belson Coutinho, Co-Founder and Chief Marketing and Experience Officer, Akasa Air, said, “At Akasa Air, it is our constant endeavor to make the air travel experience warm and inclusive for our customers. We are proud of India’s diverse culture and to celebrate the festive spirit of the country, which is intrinsically linked to our rich food heritage, we are pleased to introduce our special festive food.
Coutinho added, “Each unique meal is specially curated to share the joy of celebrations and festivities, delivered by our crew at Akasa’s signature warm service. We look forward to our customers this festive season. You will enjoy the authentic and delicious taste of these in the sky.
Café Akasa will offer special festive menus for all the upcoming festivals throughout the year. The airline also offers a pre-selection of cakes on its regular menu for travelers who want to celebrate the birthdays of their loved ones in the skies.
Speaking of Cafe Akasa, it is Akasa Air’s on-board food service. The service offers a varied menu with a wide choice of food. In addition, as an environmentally progressive airline, Akasa Air’s perishable food packaging is ethically sourced from sustainably grown crops and served on board with stylish wooden cutlery that is biodegradable.


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The National Privacy Commission (NPC) said Tuesday it was evaluating a “personal data breach” issue reported by Globe Telecom, which affected 8,851 customers.
Globe confirmed the breach but said that the issue had been “rectified.”
The affected customers registered last Friday to Globe’s “On The List” promo after receiving an SMS saying they were eligible to avail of tickets to the concert of Korean pop group Blackpink.
The sitestated that after registration, they will receive a copy of the form they filled up.
Affected users told ABS-CBN News that they registered their full name, complete address, mobile number and date of birth.
But some customers said they received a different subscriber’s information instead of their own data. One customer told ABS-CBN News that they tried to re-register, but again received information from another prepaid subscriber.
Globe said it took down the website immediately to “remove access to potential registrants at the time.” All affected prepaid customers were notified, said Globe chief information security officer Anton Bonifacio.
“Our team is still evaluating the incident and verifying the information given to us, following our standard procedure,” NPC Commissioner Raymund Liboro said in a statement.
Liboro advised affected Globe customers to monitor their online and offline accounts for any unusual activity and to change passwords and other means of identity verification.
(J. Manabat, abs-cbn business)


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Business reports around the world are reporting last week's trading activity was net neutral. For example, the Toronto Stock Exchange was up 1% for the week. The Bush Administration is creating another bailout package that will cost US $700 Billion. This is a massive amount. Worse is that this is on top of the cost of saving AIG ($80B) and Fannie And Freddie Mac ($200B combined). The total deficit excluding these items will be $482 Billion.
It has taken me months to really comprehend why the credit market is seizing. Mortgages were given out to many homeowners who should not have qualified in the first place. Why? There were "workarounds" against the checks and balances associated with calculating the risk these homeowners would default. The repackaged debts, CDOs, and other instruments that were created still actually have value, but there is no market for them. What do you assign investments that have no buyers? Zero. Yet these debt obligations have property backing them, so its book value should not be zero.
The government is effectively buying all of the above illiquid debt obligations and creating a market for them. This should solve the problem of the credit market seizing up. In fact, this was so severe that several money market funds had a redemption value of $0.99 for every $1.00 deposited. Investors were even buying US 30 day T-bills were paying almost 0% interest.
The action taken by the Government was necessary. Now, as stock investors, we must review the consequences of this drastic bailout, and make a few assumptions.
Let's start with the logical assumptions:
- Credit markets open up again, making it easy for consumers to borrow again
- Consumers re-gain confidence and boost spending
- Companies boost revenue because consumers are happy again and buying their things
- Companies do not lay off employees because their sales are steady
- Companies import raw materials, developed products thus aiding in economic growth for China, India and Europe
- US Consumers take out mortgages and buy homes, and assume that housing prices will not fall the next month
- US Consumers take on more credit card debt, and don't mind paying the high credit borrowing rates
Consequences to stabilizing the Financial Sector:
- The US will buy debt and increase Money supply, fueling inflation
- Higher consumption = Higher supply of products = Greater demand for oil, metals, and other commodities
- Interest rates will need to increase, creating higher borrowing costs
- The US dollar will weaken
- The US is spending $400B a year just to pay for the interest on the debt. This will severely limit the ability for the next President to fulfill spending promises.
- Buy gold (trades inversely to the price of the US Dollar)
- Buy commodities, especially oil
- Sell US Government Bonds (I can no longer recommend TLT)
- Begin to take a position on the consumer discretionary sector and semiconductor sector
...and On Toronto Real Estate?
The renewed bank sector stability in the US will have a positive impact on Ontario's economy. Home buyers will be less fearful that the weakness in housing in the U.S. will spread here. As always, I would recommend home buyers monitor the health of the commodities market and the job market. These two factors are good indicators for the health of home buyers.
I recommended TLT on September 4th. It is now a SELL.


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They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Well, Wall Street investors love the look of e.l.f. Beauty—and they are clamoring to own a piece of the newly public cosmetics brand.
Shares e.l.f. Beauty—only the third beauty products brand to launch an initial public offering in the past decade—soared more than 50% from the offering price of $17 to trade above $25 per share in Thursday afternoon trading. The debut is the first for a consumer sector brand since Amplify Snack Brands (BETR) went public a little over a year ago with a disappointing debut.
e.l.f. Beauty (the acronym stands for for eyes, lips and face) is aiming to tackle the $57 billion global cosmetics market with a sales pitch that it can tackle the white space between high-priced prestige brands and mass-market items that are less innovative. The company, which was founded in 2004 by father-son entrepreneurs Alan and Joey Shamah, says most of its items retail for $6 or less—allowing users an opportunity to try their beauty products with a low price barrier. A trio of eyeshadow items, for example, retail for $4 versus rival brands for as much as $28.
The company says it has particularly strong appeal with millennials and Hispanics—two fast-growing demographic groups in terms of purchasing power in the U.S. Net sales soared from $83 million in 2012 to $191 million last year. e.l.f. Beauty is also profitable.
“e.l.f. Beauty’s cosmetics were always focused on diverse consumers and millennials long before it was fashionable to do so,” Chief Executive Tarang Amin told Fortune. “We don’t believe women should have to pay high for luxurious beauty products. And we believe in serving all women.”
The company’s 43% retail sales growth in 2015 is far faster than bigger, established brands like Revlon (REV), L’Oreal and Cover Girl. Albeit, e.l.f. Beauty only commands 2.3% of the $8 billion U.S. mass cosmetics market. That means sales growth will likely continue to look impressive—if the company is able to steal additional market share.
Amin says e.l.f. Beauty differs from rivals because it doesn’t rely on traditional big-budget ad campaigns and celebrity endorsements. Instead, it is rooted in e-commerce and direct-to-consumer relations through social media channels—essentially relying on loyal customers to spread the brand’s word. It sells its products at around 19,000 retail stores in the U.S., with Walmart (WMT), Target (TGT) and CVS Health (CVS) among the largest customers.
National and international retailers comprised 87% of e.l.f.’s total sales last year, with 13% coming form direct-to-consumer channels. Amin says that growth is balanced. The success at big retailers implies that e.l.f. could earn more additional shelf space down the road.
The company is also opening its own stores. It has nine locations in the New York City metropolitan area and two in Los Angeles. Because it only began to open brick-and-mortar locations in 2013, that remains a somewhat untested aspect of the company’s business—though also a possible opportunity.
IPO ETF manager Renaissance Capital notes e.l.f. Beauty’s IPO debut is stronger than the other two beauty products companies over the past decade. Though to be fair, Coty (COTY)—which went public in 2013—is a far more established company in terms of size and growth potential. Coty ended its first day of trading down 0.8% but has since risen 36%. Physicians Formula raised $128 million in 2006 and popped 16%, but only sold for $75 million in 2012.
The company has said that it will use the IPO proceeds to repay debt and for working capital purposes.


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Ukrainian producers reduce the supply prices for soybean meal/cake, explaining this decision by a seasonal increase in the number of offerings of these products in the domestic market in low-demand conditions. This is reported by APK-Inform.
The new single-window system law at the border simplifies customs clearance, since many types of controls and necessary paper documents are abolished. This was stated by Serhii Demchenko, Director of the Targeting and Customs Risk Management Department of the State Fiscal Service, on Radio NV, agropolit.com reported.
Belarusian companies consider Ukrainian ports as an alternative to the Baltic for exporting their products. This was announced by the head of the Administration of the Seaports of Ukraine Rajwis Wezkahans, the agency reported.
Ukraine has seen a significant increase in the Ukrainian Dairy Index (UDI) in 2018. In September, UDI grew by a decent 7.1%. This was reported by the economist of the FAO Investment Center Andrii Yarmak, agropolit.com reported.
Although it is not yet known how the ASF will spread in the coming months, it is clear that the scale of the potential growth in demand and the potential risk of infection may never have been more significant than it is now, pigua.info reported.
The work of the Swiss-Ukrainian milk safety project continued until April 2019. This was announced by the director of the Swiss Cooperation Office in Ukraine, Halger Tausch, the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection reported.
In January-August 2018, the foreign trade turnover of the products of the agro-industrial complex reached $15 billion, of which the export of products of the agricultural sector is $11.5 billion or 37.3% of the total exports of Ukraine. This was reported by Olha Trofimtseva, Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine for European Integration, the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy reported.
On September 26-27, a two-day regional seminar of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on the proper use of pesticides in agriculture was held in Chisinau, Moldova. The event was attended by more than 20 representatives from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. During the seminar, it was decided to establish a working group for regional cooperation on pesticide management, which Ukraine will be responsible for coordinating, the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy reported.


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WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Shares of Cree Inc. (CREE) dropped over 6 percent in extended hours on Tuesday after the lighting company reported a fourth-quarter earnings that missed Wall Street estimates and issued a weak outlook for the first quarter.
The Durham, North Carolina-based maker of lighting and semiconductor products reported a fourth-quarter loss of $10.6 million or $0.11 per share, narrower than last year's loss of $88.1 million or $0.83 per share.
Adjusted earnings for the quarter were $0.19 per share, up from a loss of $0.19 per share last year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.20 per share for the quarter.
Revenues for the quarter rose 2 percent to $388.4 million from $382.2 million last year. Analyst had a consensus revenue estimate of $385.8 million.
Gross margins for the quarter improved to 29.1 percent from 20.1 percent a year ago.
'Fiscal 2016 was a year of progress towards our goal to build a more focused and valuable LED lighting technology company,' stated Chuck Swoboda, Cree Chairman and CEO. 'We successfully restructured the LED business, improved commercial lighting fundamentals, refocused our consumer business on premium LED bulbs, and unlocked significant value with the agreement to sell Wolfspeed.'
Looking forward to the first quarter, Cree expects adjusted earnings of $0.10 to $0.16 per share and revenues of $310 million to $330 million. Analysts currently expect earnings of $0.22 per share on revenues of $397.57 million.
Last month, Cree agreed to sell its Wolfspeed power division to Infineon for $850 million in cash.
CREE closed Tuesday's trading at $27.48, down $0.56 or 2.00%, on the Nasdaq. The stock further dropped $1.69 or 6.15% in the after-hours trade.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de


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INTERNATIONAL. "When the US governments delaying tactic, which involves continuous borrowing and money printing is no longer tenable, the dollar could collapse, interest rates and consumer prices could soar and the US economy could implode. That's the real crash that I was warning about, and the one we all need to be worried about now."
INTERNATIONAL. Economic crime in financial services outpaces other industries; Increased spending on compliance fails to reduce economic crime; 10% of economic crime reported by UK respondents was perpetrated internally.
INTERNATIONAL. Iran received its first delivery of Russian-made S-300 air defense systems in May; Satellite imagery shows intensive construction underway at an air base near Tehran to accommodate the systems.


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India’s trade ministry has recommended raising the tax on refined palm oil imports from Malaysia by 5% to curb cheaper purchases of the tropical oil, showed a government document.
The ministry has recommended raising the import tax for six months, said the document seen by Reuters.
India currently imposes a 40% import tax on crude palm oil and 50% on refined palm oils. But shipments of refined palm oils from Malaysia have since January been taxed only at 45%, under an agreement with Malaysia.
That led to a surge in refined palm imports in the first seven months of 2019.
Government sources on August 23 said India planned to impose an extra 5% tax on vegetable oil imports within weeks and use the revenue to help boost the country’s stagnating oilseed production.


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Edition number 80 of the International Exhibition of Two-Wheelers opened today. Before opening to the general public on Thursday 9, the six-day exhibition kicks off with two days dedicated to the press and operators: tens of thousands of accredited professionals from 120 different nations.
MILAN, NOV. 7 – As many as 2036 brands attending, more than 700 direct exhibitors, 67% of them from abroad representing forty-five countries. More than 30 percent are companies exhibiting for the first time, eight pavilions occupied, two more than in 2022. Plus tens of thousands of industry professionals from 120 different nations and journalists, content creators, and communication professionals from more than sixty different nationalities.
These are the numbers of Edition number 80 of EICMA, the International Exhibition of Two-wheelers, which returns to the Fiera Milano exhibition center in Rho from today until Sunday, November 12. “Olympics-like data, an Olympics of passion and mobility on two wheels that, unlike the Olympic Games, is celebrated every year,” commented EICMA President Pietro Meda during the opening event, also stressing how the 2023 Edition of EICMA “represents a test of strength for the industry of the sector that once again emphasizes the centrality and international attractiveness of our event”.
The lights are thus rekindled on the world’s most important and long-lived stage not only for the industry, but of every product sector. A 109-year history and an evolution from trade fair to a unique exhibition event, which finds its most important values in the extremely rich content offer and in the dual nature b2c and b2b.
EICMA opens today, with the exclusive press day reserved for the media, a two-day event dedicated to industry professionals: product presentations, press conferences, world previews, conventions, business opportunities and institutional meetings. And it is precisely on the institutional value of the event that EICMA’s CEO and president of Confindustria ANCMA (National Association of Bicycle, Motorcycle and Accessory Manufacturers) Paolo Magri dwelt, speaking at the opening ceremony that was attended by, among others, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Matteo Salvini, Lombardy Region President Attilio Fontana and Anna Scavuzzo, deputy mayor of the City of Milan.
“Today, the undisputed authority won by EICMA,” Magri said, “allows us to also promote important advocacy and communication activities, to turn an exclusive spotlight on the economic and social relevance of this industry, to dialogue with institutions and to bring supply and demand together as no other event is able to do. All this happens in a country that holds the production and market leadership in Europe, that shines in competitions and that with its companies continues to be synonymous with excellence, beauty and innovation in the world.” And, with regard precisely to the presence of companies, there are many important returns announced after the post-pandemic interlude, both among the manufacturers and among companies in the entire extended supply chain.
Everything is ready to excite fans and to once again arouse in visitors the EICMA EFFECT, the goal and slogan chosen again for the 2023 Edition. After the two-day business event, from Thursday, November 9 to 12, EICMA will change its skin and open to its large audience with a dense schedule of special content that will complement the exhibitors’ initiatives and the many products on the stands.
Among this year’s big novelties will be the YUM area, an exhibition space entirely dedicated to urban mobility, institutions and the most innovative start-ups in the sector, as well as the EICMA Esports Arena, which will make its debut at the fair by bringing the world from gaming to the Milanese kermesse for the first time. ”
A project, the latter, created to involve the young and very young, but,” commented President Meda, “also as a tool for companies in the sector to set their sights on tomorrow’s market. There is certainly no shortage of young people at EICMA, but with this initiative, together with the NFT initiative launched last year and which continues, we want to introduce a sort of ‘EICMA algorithm’ on the web to engage them and bring them into a direct experience of passion”.
Not forgetting the well-established and engaging proposal of the e-bike test ride area, the EICMA EFFECT photo set, where EICMA photographers will immortalize for free the emotions of the public aroused by the visiting experience, and the Temporary Bikers Shop, the commercial space dedicated to motorcyclists to buy accessories, clothing, helmets, components and equipment of all kinds for motorcycles and much more.
Last but not least, the show offered in the outdoor MotoLive aera is unmissable: here the public can enjoy a full schedule of initiatives free of charge, including shows, motorcycle test rides, music, entertainment, performances by stuntmen, competitions on the motocross track set up for the occasion and Freestyle and Acrobatic Trial runs.


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Radware, a provider of integrated application delivery offerings for business-smart networking, has opened a new research and development centre at Bangalore in India.
Radware has offices located in five cities including New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai, with more than 100 staff in India.
Ilan Kinreich, COO of Radware, said: We have been hiring more professional staff who will be collaborating with our other R&D centres to better provide fast emerging and diverse solutions suited to customer needs. The move was based on India’s greater synergy with the Asian region amid the economic reforms in India, as well as prompted by the presence of several major Indian customers that do business with Radware.
The company has been present in India since 2002 and has become a provider of application delivery offerings to various industries such as government, banks, financial institutions, manufacturing companies and other enterprise customers in the country.
Nikhil Taneja, country manager of India & SAARC at Radware, said: We are very pleased to be increasing the number of employees and investments in the local market. It is a very positive sign for Radware as well as the application delivery market in general. We are seeing increased demand for Radware solutions in India as carriers, private companies and individuals start to take advantage of the strength of application delivery.


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Alibaba expanding its international cloud footprint
Alibaba (BABA) has taken over the Chinese cloud computing market, according to Synergy Research data, and now the company has its sight on dominating the international cloud market as well. As part of its international cloud expansion drive, Alibaba is entering the Brazilian cloud market in partnership with a local firm known as UOL Diveo, which will resell its cloud services in the country. Brazil is the fastest-growing cloud market in South America, according to a report from IDC.
Alibaba wants to be customer-focused, not competition-focused
As Alibaba expands its international cloud footprint, the company’s international chief product officer for the cloud business, Henry Zhang, says that Alibaba wants to approach competition in the international cloud market differently.
In the competition for cloud customers on the international stage, Alibaba wants to focus on providing products and services that its target customers want rather than bothering about what its rivals are doing and trying to copy their strategies, Zhang told ComputerWeekly magazine recently.
Alibaba leading in cloud revenue growth
At the moment, Alibaba boasts the fastest-growing cloud business among the world’s largest cloud companies. Alibaba’s cloud revenue rose 76% YoY to $1.2 billion in the March quarter, outpacing the 73% YoY increase in cloud revenue at Microsoft (MSFT) and 41% YoY increase in cloud sales at Amazon (AMZN) in the March quarter. Revenue rose 23% YoY in Google’s (GOOGL) segment that houses the cloud business in the March quarter, whereas IBM (IBM) recorded a 2.0% YoY drop in its cloud revenue in that quarter.


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Thousands of people – or potential holidaymakers – around China are set to read all about Dublin and Ireland following the recent visit of well-known Chinese author Chen Danyan, known in China as Madame Chen.
Invited here by Tourism Ireland in Beijing, Madame Chen has over 950,000 followers on Sina Weibo (one of the most popular social media sites in China). She was here to research the second edition of her book Swimming Over the Deepest Ocean
, which chronicles her experiences travelling around Ireland. The book has already sold over 15,000 print copies and a further 162,000 e-books; the second edition, which will include new additions about the life of James Joyce, will be published in 2014. With Madame Chen’s visit coinciding with this year’s Bloomsday celebrations, this was a fantastic opportunity for her to experience Ireland’s rich culture and heritage, as well as some of the many things to see and do here for Chinese visitors.
During her time here, Madame Chen was accompanied by Joycean scholar Conor Farnan; she visited numerous famous landmarks associated with James Joyce, including Belvedere College, Eccles Street, the former Ormond Hotel and Sweny’s Chemist. She also visited the James Joyce Tower and Museum in Sandycove, where she interviewed curator Robert Nicholson. Then it was on to the James Joyce House of the Dead at Usher’s Island, where she enjoyed a guided tour and took in a special Bloomsday performance of The Dead.
Susan Li, Tourism Ireland China, said: “Visits such as this are extremely important, helping to deliver extensive coverage for Ireland through the media in China. They are a fantastic way of highlighting the island of Ireland, bringing the destination to the attention of a huge number of potential Chinese holidaymakers. Tourism Ireland is very active right now in markets like China, working to raise the profile of Ireland as a premier holiday and business tourism destination. Press visits like this are an invaluable part of that promotional effort.”
Tourism Ireland’s busy programme of activity to grow tourism from China involves co-operative campaigns with airlines and influential tour operators to ensure Ireland features prominently in itineraries and travel brochures; hosting familiarisation visits for Chinese travel agents and tour operators around the island of Ireland; as well as working closely with travel and lifestyle journalists, to ensure the island of Ireland features extensively in the media in China.


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The Day has finally come. Apple is going to reveal the long anticipated new iPhone. When everyone is still speculating on what the new features are going to be, the colours and the pricing, Apple’s CEO is already answering a few questions via twitter. But still much is open to guesswork as we are not even sure what the name of the iPhone is going to be. OMG we are so excited!
We can tell you about a few new features and specifications that have been confirmed. The new camera for example. Not only is it an amazing piece of design, but functionality wise Apple is once again exceeding expectations by adding three instead of two cameras on the back. That means your pictures will be sharper than ever. In the iPhone itself a lot of things have been upgraded and rumors have it the new iPhone will be available in a few more colours. As for the price, unconfirmed sources report it will be available for in and around € 1100 – a little bit more than an iPhone XS.
Well this is as much that we can tell you right now. But stay tuned – tomorrow we will come back with an update with all you need to know for the much anticipated launch of the iPhone 11!


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- Kiwi plunges as RBNZ fails to lift projected cash rate peak
- Policymakers discussed pause, voted 5-2 in favor of hike
According to Bloomberg article published on May 24, 2023, New Zealand’s central bank raised interest rates by a quarter-percentage point and unexpectedly signaled that no further policy tightening would be needed to tame inflation, sending the nation’s currency tumbling.
The Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee lifted the Official Cash Rate to 5.5% from 5.25% on Wednesday in Wellington, as expected by 18 of 21 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The central bank’s forecasts showed the OCR has now peaked, with cuts beginning in the third quarter of 2024.
The kiwi dropped as much as 1.3% to its lowest since May 2 as traders were surprised by the MPC’s decision not to keep the door open to further tightening. The yield on policy-sensitive 2-year bonds dropped the most in six months.
New Zealand has been in the vanguard of global tightening, outpacing even the Federal Reserve in the scale of rate hikes. The RBNZ has been trying to rein in a sharp burst of inflation and Wednesday’s decision to call an end to tightening suggests it’s now relying on lags in policy to keep cooling consumer prices.
“The real surprise for the market was the RBNZ effectively declaring ‘mission accomplished’ on rate hikes,” said Prashant Newnaha, senior Asia-Pacific rates strategist at TD Securities in Singapore. “Quite clearly this is a board that is content moving to the sidelines, letting prior rate hikes and expectations of the economy entering recession to naturally drive inflation down.”
The bank’s forecasts show a shallower economic slowdown, with a mild recession projected for the second and third quarters of this year.
“The committee is confident that with interest rates remaining at a restrictive level for some time, consumer price inflation will return to within its target range of 1-3% per annum,” the RBNZ said. “Inflation is expected to continue to decline from its peak and with it measures of inflation expectations.”
Most economists expected the central bank to retain a tightening bias and keep the door open for a further rate hike if needed.
The MPC’s record of meeting showed members discussed the option of keeping rates unchanged and voted 5-2 in favor of Wednesday’s hike, the first time they haven’t reached a consensus.
The RBNZ highlighted a surge in immigration that economists expect will fuel economic growth and add to inflation pressure, but said it expects the pace of arrivals to ease over coming quarters.
It also downplayed concerns about fiscal policy boosting demand, including reconstruction on the North Island from damage caused by a cyclone.
“The RBNZ no longer seems to believe that a marked economic slowdown is necessary in order to get inflation down,” said Sharon Zollner, chief New Zealand economist at ANZ Bank in Auckland. “If a relatively modest slowdown of that ilk is enough to bring inflation sustainably lower, that’s a great outcome, relatively speaking.”
Tags: All Products,AlwaysFree,Asia Pacific,EnglishPublished on May 24, 2023 12:05 PM (GMT+8)
Last Updated on May 24, 2023 12:05 PM (GMT+8)


text: After some early details leaked a few days ago, those attending EA has officially dropped the curtain on Star Wars Battlefront II, making the reveal at Star Wars Celebration Orlando. Personally, I just started playing the first Battlefront last month (late to the Xbox One party), but after seeing what’s coming down the road, I can’t wait to get my hands on Battlefront II. Not only does the game pack a ton of action from “all eras of Star Wars,” but there’s a new story to be told, with a new type of trooper at the center of it – the Inferno Squadron Pilot. Hasbro will release a Star Wars The Black Series Inferno Squadron Pilot as a Gamestop Exclusive along with the release of the game for Xbox One and Playstation 4. See details on everything below!