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“BOSTON, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — The National Cannabis Industry Association is pleased to announce the keynote speaker program for our 3rd annual Seed to Sale Show in Boston on February 12-13. The nation’s largest cannabis business trade group will host advocates and industry leaders to provide valuable information and perspectives on the future in the Northeast and nationally at the largest B2B conference and trade show specializing in the cannabis industry.
Day One Opening Keynote
Join us for an eye-opening discussion with visionary entrepreneur, Adam Bierman, about business opportunities in the growing legalization of cannabis, and how to redefine society’s relationship with the plant.
Adam Bierman is the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of MedMen Enterprises, the nation’s preeminent cannabis company and the most recognized brand in the emerging marijuana industry. Bierman is a champion of institutional practices, professional standards, and clear and reasonable regulations that will take the cannabis industry to its next, mainstream phase.
Day Two Opening Keynote
NCIA Executive Director, Aaron Smith, will sit down for a fireside chat with Steven Hoffman, chairman of the Cannabis Control Commission of Massachusetts, to discuss the first few months of adult-use legalization, the challenges of implementation, and the path forward.
Day Two Closing Keynote
The Seed to Sale Show will close with a panel discussion called ‘Social Equity: Promoting Sustainable, Social, and Reparative Practices in the Cannabis Industry.’ Advocacy and industry leaders – including Shanita Penny, President of the Minority Cannabis Business Association, Andrea Cabral, CEO of Ascend; Laury Lucien, CEO of GreenLight Business Solutions, LLC; and Kebra Smith-Bolden, CEO of Cannahealth – will discuss the importance of equity and social justice as a foundation of the industry as states and the federal government get closer to making cannabis legal.
The full agenda can be seen here. The Day One Keynote with MedMen founder and CEO, Adam Bierman, will take place Tuesday February 12, at 10:15am. The Day Two Opening Keynote with chairman of the Cannabis Control Commission of Massachusetts, Steven Hoffman, will take place Wednesday, February 13, at 10:30am. The Day Two Closing Keynote on the topic of social equity will take place on Wednesday, February 13, at 4:15pm.
Registration for NCIA’s 3rd Annual Seed to Sale Show is now open. Prices will increase after Thursday, January 31. For more information on attending or to register for passes, please visit SeedToSaleShow.com/attend/registration-fees/ or call (888) 409-4418.
A limited number of press passes for the 2019 Seed to Sale Show are available to credentialed members of the media. More information about eligibility and applying for a press pass can be found here.
TheNational Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) is the largest cannabis trade association in the U.S. and the only organization broadly representing cannabis-related businesses at the national level. NCIA promotes the growth of a responsible and legitimate cannabis industry and works toward a favorable social, economic, and legal environment for that industry in the United States.
Morgan Fox, Media Relations Director
SOURCE National Cannabis Industry Association


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Misleading the public opinion: EUROCARE report on wine promotion and CAP
Brussels, 14 March – The wine industry reacts to the misleading report “Europe's billion-euro wine spillage” published by the Brussels-based organisation Eurocare on 6 March which, on the basis of false information and assumptions, criticizes the Common Agricultural Policy and more precisely the wine promotion measure.
“We are shocked by the distorted facts, mistakes, inconsistencies and biased conclusions in this report which makes it very misleading.” said Ignacio Sánchez Recarte, Secretary General of CEEV.
From a general point of view, it is quite astonishing how Eurocare criticizes not only the policy but also the European Commission's and Member States' procedures by suggesting that the promotion programme shows poor enforcement of control procedures, extended fraud and administrative measures favouring unfair competition.
When criticizing the cost-efficiency of the promotion measures, the report suggests that the total EU wine exports have increased by less than the amount spent on promotion, but figures speak for themselves: in the period mentioned in the report, 2009-2015, EU wine exports have increased by €4,46 billion [from € 5,3 billion to € 9,8 billion], more than five times the amount spent on promotion in that period (€125 million per year on average).
In the same line, the € 258 million allocated to the wine promotion measure in 2017, which equates to only 2,2% of that year's exports, have secured an increase of € 1,24 billion (+12%) in a high competitive market.
“Paying to grub up EU vineyards and consequently push people out of rural areas is Eurocare's great solution. I am speechless in front of such an irrational attack towards the European culture and the jobs of 3.000.000 EU citizens in rural areas. It seems that Eurocare has never heard about the socio-economic role of wine production, or the problem of de-populating rural areas” said Ignacio Sánchez Recarte.
Finally, it is quite surprising to receive such critics from a politically driven organisation which relies on governmental support. A good example of these incomes is the € 552.168,45 of public money allocated to a project coordinated by Eurocare, which mainly consists in identifying 1 local youth football club in 6 Member States, interviewing football club management and 8 young people, preparing a video and strengthening the capacity of the stakeholders and partners involved.
You can contact CEEV for a detailed report of the distorted facts, mistakes, inconsistencies and biased conclusions included in Eurocare's document.
Note to Editors:
- Comité Européen des Entreprises Vins (CEEV – www.ceev.eu) represents the wine companies in the industry and trade in the European Union: still wines, aromatised wines, sparkling wines, liqueur wines and other vine products. It brings together 24 national organisations and its members produce and market the vast majority of quality European wines, with and without a geographical indication, and account for over 90% of European wine exports.
- With almost €12 billion € worth of exports every year, the EU wine sector is the leader of EU agri-exports and makes a positive contribution of more than €9 billion to the EU trade balance.

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Godiva To Shut Down All Standalone Stores Across Canada By End Of March 2021
R.I.P. chocolate lovers! That's because the major chocolate retailer Godiva is shutting down numerous stores all over Canada.
Standalone stores across Canada set to close
Godiva will be bidding farewell to stores located in provinces such as Ontario, B.C., Quebec and Manitoba.
Seven of the stores are located in Ontario alone, four of which are in Toronto.
The Toronto stores include CF Toronto Eaton Centre, Yorkdale Shopping Centre, CF Fairview Mall and Scarborough Town Centre.
Ottawa will see two stores closing their doors in CF Rideau Centre and Tanger Outlets.
Mississauga's location at the Square One shopping centre will also cease operation.
British Columbia will be closing their Metropolis at Metrotown store in Burnaby as well as the one in CF Richmond Centre in Richmond.
In Quebec, Godiva at CF Carrefour Laval near Montreal will shutter and the same goes for the one in Manitoba's CF Polo Park shopping centre.
The brand reportedly planned to operate 400 stores in North America but COVID-19 changed that as they struggled to stay afloat citing a change in customers' "shopping behaviours."
The chocolate maker has reportedly announced that they'll be closing 117 stores in the U.S too. However, they'll be keeping their retail presence across Europe, the Middle East, and China per Retail Insider.


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Shares of streaming, gaming and social media stocks, including Pinterest Inc (NYSE:PINS) are trading lower as a rise in yields weighs on growth sectors for the session.
The 10-year Treasury yield hit an intraday high of 1.624% Monday afternoon before dipping to around the 1.600% level. The spike in the 10-year note Monday comes after President Biden renominated Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell for a second term.
Pinterest is an online product and idea discovery platform that helps users gather ideas on everything from recipes to cook to destinations to travel to. Founded in 2010, the platform consists of a largely female audience, at roughly two-thirds of its more than 365 million monthly active users.
Pinterest has a 52-week high of $89.90 and a 52-week low of $41.87.


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The government on Saturday imposed a minimum export price (MEP) of USD 800 per tonne on onion exports till December 31 this year with a view to increase availability of the vegetable in the domestic market and contain prices.
The decision will come into effect from October 29.
Besides, the government has also announced the procurement of additional 2 lakh tonnes of onion for the buffer, over and above the 5 lakh tonnes already procured.
The MEP is there for all varieties of onion except Bangalore Rose and Krishnapuram onions; and for cut, sliced, or broken in powder forms.
“Exports of onions is free. MEP of USD 800 FOB (free on board) per tonne is imposed till December 31, 2023,” the Directorate General of Foreign Trade said in a notification.
An official statement said that the step will help in maintaining sufficient availability of onion to domestic consumers at affordable prices as the quantity of stored Rabi 2023 onion is declining.
The USD 800 per tonne MEP translates into about Rs 67 per kg.
Onion from the buffer has been disposed continuously since the second week of August in major consumption centres all over the country, and also supplied to retail consumers at Rs 25 per kg through mobile vans operated by NCCF and NAFED.
“Till date about 1.70 lakh metric tonne of onion has been disposed from the buffer. The continuous procurement and disposal of onion from the buffer are undertaken to moderate the prices for consumers while ensuring remunerative prices to the onion farmers,” the statement said.
The DGFT notification added that certain onion consignments will be allowed to be exported without MEP and that included consignments that have been handed over to the Customs before this notification and is registered in their system.
Onion consignment that has entered the Customs station for exportation before this notification and is registered in the electronic systems of the concerned custodian of the Customs station with verifiable evidence of date and time stamping of these commodities having entered the customs station prior to the issuance of this notification is also permitted to be exported.
It added that export duty will not be refunded, if paid.
Onion prices have further risen to Rs 65-80 per kg in the retail market of the national capital on lower supply.
Mother Dairy, which has around 400 Safal retail stores in Delhi-NCR, is selling loose onions at Rs 67 per kg. E-commerce portal Bigbasket is selling at Rs 67 per kg, while Otipy at Rs 70 per kg.
Local vendors are selling onions at Rs 80 per kg.
Mother Dairy was selling onions at Rs 54-56 per kg on Wednesday and now the rates have touched Rs 67 per kg.
With the rise in retail prices, the Centre on Friday decided to step up the sale of buffer onion at a subsidised rate of Rs 25 per kg in retail markets in order to provide relief to consumers.
According to the Department of Consumer Affairs data, on Saturday the all-India average retail price of onion is Rs 45 per kg, but the maximum price is Rs 80 per kg. In Delhi, the average price is ruling at Rs 75 per kg.
According to the ministry, onion is being offloaded from the buffer stock in both wholesale and retail markets in those states where there is a sharp rise in prices.
Since mid-August, about 1.7 lakh tonnes of buffer onion has been offloaded in 22 states at different locations.
In retail markets, buffer onion is being offloaded through two cooperative bodies NCCF and NAFED outlets and vehicles at a subsidised rate of Rs 25 per kg.
In Delhi too, buffer onion is being sold at this subsidised rate.
A senior government official said the delay in kharif onion sowing due to weather reasons has resulted in less coverage and late arrival of the crop.
The fresh kharif onion should have started arriving by now but it has not.
With stored rabi onion getting exhausted and due to delay in the arrival of the kharif onion, there is a tight supply situation, resulting in price increases in both wholesale and retail markets, the official added.
He also mentioned that the government has doubled the buffer onion stock for the current year and this should improve domestic availability and check prices in the coming days.
For the 2023-24 fiscal year, the consumer affairs ministry through NCCF and NAFED has maintained a buffer onion stock of 5 lakh tonnes and plans to procure an additional 2 lakh tonnes of onion in the coming days.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)


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Albany, New York (09/22/2014) – MGM Resorts International (NYSE:MGM) suffered a downgrade where analysts at Argus narrowed their view of the stock to a “hold” from a “buy” in the previous note. The analysts cited the challenge in Macau as a concern and the reason behind their bearish move on the stock. Some other analysts have recently commented on MGM Resorts International (NYSE:MGM) and such include analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) that reiterated an “overweight” on the stock, but narrowed their target price on the stock. They have it at $30 from $31 in the previous note.
Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) continues to face a downturn in its business, especially in the segment that serves the mining sector. The company said that its global dealership sales declined 10% in the three months that ended in August. The mining segment registered 33% decline in sales while the construction segment revealed 1% decline in sales. Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) blamed the problem on the reduced mining activities whereby mining companies are not expanding into new sites because of the oversupply in the market, especially for commodities such as coal and iron ore.
Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:WFM) is reportedly considering its second store in Detroit. The company’s co-CEO, Walter Robb, hinted at such a plan during an event in the Motor City last week. The company opened its first store there in 2013 and it appears as though business is rewarding in Detroit that Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:WFM) feels energized to open another location. The reports about a second Detroit store comes at a time when Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:WFM) announced that it was testing a reward program to encourage shoppers to visit its stores.
ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) has entered a deal to unload one of its assets. The latest asset to be placed on the block is the Wingate Fractionation Plant, which is located in Gallup, New Mexico. The facility boasts a production capacity of 25,000 barrels per day. The Wingate Fractionation Plant is currently idled by ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP). It will be sold to Western Refining, according to a company statement.


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Dreamforce 2012: Salesforce Adds Social Identity And Mobile App Platform
Salesforce Platform gets socially-oriented SSO and a whole new way to develop mobile apps
Salesforce.com has gathered its various platforms together under the Salesforce Platform name, whilst adding a social identity that allows for single sign-on (SSO) to apps built on its cloud services, and a whole new mobile platform.
The Salesforce Platform includes its various Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) products – Force.com, Heroku, Site.com, Database.com, Chatter, Chatter Communities and AppExchange. It will also include Salesforce Identity, providing “Facebook-like identity for the enterprise”.
For IT, it gives them greater power to provision apps and make rules for access and authorisation, Salesforce said during its Dreamforce 2012 conference in San Francisco today. Salesforce Identity won’t be ready until 2013, however.
But for developers, the biggest news of the day at Dreamforce 2012 in San Francisco was the launch of the Touch Platform. It is a mobile app platform that lets developers build apps to work across mobile devices, including those based on Apple iOS and Android. It supports native, HTML5 and hybrid app development, meaning it covers plenty of bases for devs.
APIs will let developers bring in data from the business, leveraging the power what Salesforce is calling the “enterprise social graph”. The Touch Platform is generally available now as part of Force.com.
The Force is strong…
It all forms part of the “social revolution” that Salesforce.com is asking businesses to embrace.
“This social revolution is being led by many new prophets, like Mark Zuckerburg and Jack Dorsey,” said Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce.com, during his keynote at Dreamforce 2012 today. “The social revolution is a trust revolution.
“This social revolution is unlike anything we’ve ever experienced… Every aspect of our world is changing. That is why this is the most exciting thing that is happening in our industry.”
Benioff said 70 percent of businesses are now using social in some way, whilst an IDC study has shown social has seen a 47 percent annual growth in spend on social.
Meanwhile, other parts of the Salesforce Platform have been given extra functionality, which are available in the winter 2013 lineup of releases. The vendor’s original PaaS service, Force.com, has been given a Canvas, that any any app, regardless of what language it is built in, can run inside of Salesforce using the social identity, meaning legacy apps can run on it.
Heroku Enterprise for Java lets devs create and run Java apps in the cloud, with a full Java stack, multiple-environment runtime and native Java tools. It will cost $1,000 per month per application.
Devs using Salesforce can also use RESTful Chatter APIs to add the vendor’s social service to their apps, thereby feeding into the enterprise social graph.
There is also a new native geo-location field in Database.com, bringing the ability to add location-based functionality to their mobile apps.
Selling apps over Salesforce should now be much easier for devs too, with the AppExchange Checkout, which offers one-time or automatic billing.


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The recent food safety agreement between the U.S. and China appears to be off to a rocky start, according to an article in today's Wall Street Journal.
Following the detection of prohibited chemicals in previous shipments of seafood from China, the FDA placed a hold on the importation of five types of seafood from that country until the shipments cleared lab testing (at the importer's expense). But an exception was made in September for seafood from one Chinese processor, Zhanjiang Guolian Aquatic Products Corp. Now it would appear that the exempted processor is on the Canadian government's import alert list due to the presence of nitrofuran in a shipment of seafood. The nitrofuran-contaminated shipment of seafood, rejected by Canadian authorities in October 2007, had been routed through the U.S.
The Wall Street Journal quotes Guolian's general manager, Chen Han, as saying that the Canadian action was a "mistake", and was due to another company having falsely used Guolian's name. Mr. Chen claims that his company has emailed the Canadian government about this situation but, according to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, no such email has been received.
Some questions have apparently been raised about the Guolian exemption. A former FDA employee, Benjamin England, suggested in the Wall Street Journal article that the Company's political connections with the Chinese government might have been a factor in the decision. Mr. Chen denies this, saying that the exemption is due to the Company's "good quality" operation.
The U.S. government has stated that Guolian's import "hold" exemption was part of a pilot project under the U.S.-China food safety agreement. Yet Guolian was added to the FDA's import detention list in April 2007, and then removed from that list just five months later - in September - three months before the announced food safety agreement between the U.S. and China. Something doesn't add up.


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Food Safety Inspections Stepped Up15 January 2013
VIET NAM - Inspections of food safety were stepped up across the board last year, with violations detected at 21 per cent of the 563,000 establishments checked, an online conference between the Government and local leaders heard.
According to Viet Nam News, Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, who also represents the inter-sectoral central steering committee on food safety, said the close co-ordination of various ministries and sectors had helped tackle high-profile cases concerning smuggled chickens, forbidden substances used in pork, fish and dry noodles, as well as imported apples.
The inspection teams issued strict punishments to offending traders, instructing them to destroy unhygienic food or fix wrongly-labelled products.
More than 1,300 establishments had their documents transferred to relevant agencies for review.
The number of food poisoning cases at collective kitchens was lowered last year, both in terms of infected cases and death toll.
The overall figure fell by 20.7 per cent, infected cases by 12.7 per cent and hospitalised cases by 22.3 per cent, compared to 2011. No deaths were reported.
But the number of people poisoned by home-brewed wine with higher than permitted levels of alcohol rose 18.8 per cent, according to the health ministry.
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat said the most pressing issue now was tainted food, particularly pork, vegetables and aqua-culture products.
He also noted that little progress had been reported on the quality of safe vegetables.
The country has over 22,000ha of certified safe vegetables, but the figure remained small compared to the total 100,000ha of vegetables grown nationwide.
Mr Phat said it is worrying to see low levels of responsibility among growers and traders.
The ministry's inspections also found that only 10.3 per cent of checked livestock and poultry slaughter houses met safety standards.
Up to 45 per cent of them had serious violations, most of which were located in the northern region.
"The figures indicated many localities had not taken the Government's directive on slaughter seriously," Mr Phat said.
Punishment of violations remains lax at local levels, he added. The agriculture minister also noted the country had a limited number of food safety inspectors, which remained at just 300, compared to roughly 5,000 in Bangkok alone and 12,000 in Japan.
Speaking at the conference, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan said food safety work gained six major outcomes last year, including the promulgation of legal documents, the establishment of steering boards on food safety at Central and local levels and increased public education.
He particularly praised recent efforts to tackle chickens smuggling. Nhan, however, urged for tightened controls on imported food via both regular and irregular channels.
The model of safe markets should be set up across the country this year and more information should spread on the safe use of wine.
The country will soon carry out a month-long blitz on food safety for Tet (lunar new year), with a focus on safe food production chains and labelling safe products, firstly meat and vegetables.
Eight inspection teams for food safety have been set up in 24 provinces and cities, working from today until 15 February.


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By Staff Reports
(Victor Valley)– Cal State San Bernardino officially welcomed the newest addition to the university’s food offerings with the grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony of Einstein Bros. Bagels Restaurant and Coyote Market at SBS on Tuesday, Jan. 29.
Located in the first floor of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, the eatery features freshly baked bagels, breakfast and lunch sandwiches, as well as coffee and the Coyote Market convenience store. Both are open throughout the day and evening.
“The addition of this eatery and store is another example of our commitment to enhancing the campus environment for our students and everyone who visits CSUSB,” said university President Tomás D. Morales. “This opening adds to the many food and drink options available on our campus, helping provide dining choices to fit a wide variety of wants and tastes.”
Morales said funding from the University Enterprises Corp. made construction possible and the project “is an excellent example of how money spent at retail locations at CSUSB is reinvested back into the campus.”
He added that by employing students, the eatery “also broadens our university’s continuing efforts to provide work opportunities for our students, which in turn improves academic accessibility, retention and performance.”
The Einstein Bros. Bagels restaurant and Coyote Market hours are Monday-Thursday: 7:30 a.m.-9 p.m.; Fridays: 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m.; and is closed on Saturday and Sunday.
For more information visit the CSUSB dining website.


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Honda Activa 6G With BS6 Engine, Silent Start System And More Launched For Rs 63,912
Honda Activa has received yet another upgrade as the two-wheeler major Honda has now rolled out a BS6-compliant variant of the renowned scooter. Called Activa 6G, the scooter has been launched at a starting price of Rs 63,912 for the base variant, adding a Rs 7,500 cost to the earlier model.
The one major change towards BS6-compliance is the introduction of fuel-injection system in the vehicle to replace the carburettor found on the BS4 model. The 109.51cc engine of the new Activa 6G is now able to deliver 7.79 hp at 8,000 rpm and 8.79 Nm of peak torque at 5,250 rpm.
With this engine, Honda also claims that the new Activa 6G is more fuel efficient than the outgoing model. In addition to the performance, Honda has added some new features to the Activa 6G. These include a telescopic fork, a ‘Silent Start’ system, a 12-inch front wheel which is now 2-inch larger than before, a pass light switch as well as a switch to operate the external fuel filler cap. Incidentally, these features have previously been seen on the Activa 125.
The BS6 compliant 110cc scooter from the house of Honda will be available in two variants - the standard one costing Rs 63,912 while the Deluxe one being priced at Rs 65,412 (ex-showroom, Delhi).
Interestingly, Honda Activa 6G comes as India’s second BS6-compliant scooter in the 110cc range. As the new emission norms are set to be applied across the country starting April, auto makers are working to upgrade their vehicle as per the new standards. So while there have been a string of BS6-compliant vehicle launches, we can expect the trend to continue as we head further into the year.


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NEW YORK — Robb MacKie appeared on a Fox News segment March 21, warning that food price inflation will continue because of the war in Ukraine.
“American shoppers should expect that unfortunately their grocery bills are going to go up,” Mr. MacKie said, headlining a segment featuring comments from other economists as well.
He said bakers are feeling pressure from the war in Ukraine and that the longer the hostilities continue, the greater the potential disruptions in food markets.
“If you take essentially one of the world’s top growing regions out of the equation for a year, that’s going to have a substantial ripple effect,” Mr. MacKie said.
Ukraine and Russia combined account for roughly 25% of global wheat exports.
“Unfortunately, this is going to effect the most vulnerable in our society, many of whom are still feeling the impacts of the pandemic,” he said.
Overall inflation in February was 7.9% versus a year earlier, the steepest food price inflation since 1981.


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Oct 26, 2020
Facebook avoids Apple with cloud-gaming launch
Initially, only five titles already available as standalone smartphone apps will be accessible - via the main Facebook and Facebook Gaming apps on Android and Facebook's website on PCs. Later, it may add "All types of games". Facebook has long offered games via its platforms, most notably Farmville, Candy Crush Saga and Clash of Clans. Facebook's foray into cloud gaming makes sense as far as the current gaming landscape is concerned. Facebook's focus on streaming mobile games is a smart one as these are the sorts of titles that tend to be less performance intensive. With everyone from Amazon to Microsoft and Google taking a bet on cloud gaming, the jury is out on Facebook's further aspirations to grab gamers' eyeballs.
Make a complaint about Apple or Facebook by viewing their customer service contacts.


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Peter Rudegeair and
An American national-security panel refused to approve a deal for Chinese billionaire Jack Ma’s Ant Financial Services Group to buy MoneyGram International Inc., the companies said Tuesday, in the latest sign the U.S. is tightening scrutiny of investment from China at a time of greater tensions between the two countries.
The companies in a joint statement said they had been unable to secure approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., or CFIUS, “despite extensive efforts to address the Committee’s concerns.”
“The geopolitical environment has changed considerably since we first announced the proposed transaction with Ant Financial nearly a year ago,” MoneyGram Chief Executive Alex Holmes said in a news release. MoneyGram shares fell 6.5% in aftermarket trading.
Ant Financial is controlled by Mr. Ma, who is the founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Ant Financial operates Alipay, which acts as the payments service of Alibaba. MoneyGram, based in Dallas, specializes in cross-border transfers of funds.
The failed takeover of MoneyGram is the latest in a string of high-profile Chinese deals that have run into trouble with CFIUS, a multiagency body that can advise the president to block foreign deals on national-security grounds, as momentum builds in Washington to more closely scrutinize Chinese investment.
- Heard on the Street: Deal's Demise Spells the End for China-U.S. Deal Making
- Fintech Startups Seek to Shake Up Money-Transfer Industry
- Alibaba-Affiliate Ant Financial Isn’t Itching to Go Public
- GOP Bill Seeks Tougher Vetting of Foreign Investment in U.S.
- U.S. Message to China: Hands Off Our Companies
In September, President Donald Trump blocked an attempt by Chinese government-backed Canyon Bridge Capital Partners to buy Portland, Ore.-based Lattice Semiconductor Corp. after CFIUS recommended against the deal.
Chinese conglomerate HNA Group Co. has been trying for some time to get approval from the panel to buy a controlling stake in SkyBridge Capital, the investment firm owned by former White House adviser Anthony Scaramucci. A $2.7 billion deal for China Oceanwide Holdings Group Co. to buy Richmond, Va.-based insurer Genworth Financial Inc. is also being held up by the committee.
The outlook for Chinese investment could get tougher yet if bipartisan bills introduced in November by Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R., Texas) and Rep. Robert Pittenger (R., N.C.) pass. The proposed legislation would further ratchet up scrutiny of foreign investment, taking aim in particular at Chinese technology deals.
Ant Financial originally signed a deal to buy MoneyGram for $880 million in January 2017. It later increased its bid to about $1.2 billion after Euronet Worldwide Inc. submitted an unsolicited competing offer of about $955 million.
At the time, the deal signaled Ant Financial’s ambitions to gain a foothold in financial services in North America. Although it operates Alipay and owned a stake in One97 Communications, the dominant digital-payments services in China and India, respectively, Ant Financial’s presence in the U.S. was relatively modest. In contrast, MoneyGram had 1,226 employees in the U.S. at the end of 2016.
Douglas Feagin, president of Ant Financial International, told The Wall Street Journal at the time of its original bid that the company was “very happy to go through the [CFIUS] process” and that it has a “good dialogue” with U.S. regulators. On Tuesday, Mr. Feagin said in a statement that the company “remain[s] excited and encouraged about Ant Financial’s future prospects around the world.”
The failure of the Ant deal to gain CFIUS approval comes despite a major lobbying effort in Washington. Within a week of announcing the deal, lobbyists representing Alibaba met with the office of Rep. Pittenger. They cited Alibaba’s role in helping North Carolina-based companies such as Hanesbrands Inc. sell their goods to Chinese customers, according to documents reviewed by the Journal.
Lobbyists also touted a meeting Mr. Ma had with Mr. Trump shortly before the Ant Financial deal was announced in which the Chinese billionaire pledged to create U.S. jobs, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The lobbyists returned twice more, finally meeting Mr. Pittenger personally, the person familiar with the meetings said. Alibaba earlier declined to comment.
After the lobbyists’ departure, Mr. Pittenger fired off a Wall Street Journal op-ed, co-authored by Rep. Chris Smith, a New Jersey Republican and co-chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, blasting the deal.
“America’s economic strength is at risk from strategic, well-coordinated and state-sponsored Chinese investments in American financial institutions,” the lawmakers wrote in the piece published Feb. 21.
Ant Financial’s Mr. Feagin rebutted the lawmakers’ criticisms in his own letter to the Journal, which ran a week later. He added that “while a handful of Chinese state-owned or -affiliated funds own non-controlling minority stakes, they do not participate in company management. Nor do they have board representation or any special rights.”
MoneyGram and Ant Financial said they now would focus on working together on strategic initiatives in the remittance and digital-payments markets. They also said Ant Financial paid MoneyGram a $30 million fee as a result of the merger being terminated.
—Maria Armental and Julie Steinberg contributed to this article.
Write to Peter Rudegeair at Peter.Rudegeair@wsj.com and Kate OKeeffe at firstname.lastname@example.org
Corrections & Amplifications
The companies in April announced an amended deal in which Ant Financial would buy MoneyGram for $18 a share in cash, or about $1.2 billion. An earlier version of the story referred to the deal target as MonetGram.


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Friday, March 8, 2013
UberMedia Launches iOS Advertising Tool
UberMedia, the Pasadena-based startup developing third party, Twitter clients and other mobile apps, said yesterday that it has launched a new mobile ad campaign product called Appvertise. The Idealab startup said the app lets developers create and run rich media, mobile banner ads to drive traffic to their app's download page and increase download for their iOS application. UberMedia said the online ads will run across its network of iOS apps, which it says now reaches over 2 billion monthly unique impressions. Developers use their iTunes account to pay for the CPC ads.


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Video-game fads come and go. Mario Kart, Minecraft, and Pokemon Go have all had their 15 minutes of red-hot fame. Remember when every child in America desperately wanted a Nintendo Wii? (Cue tumbleweeds.)
But no game has struck fear in the hearts of parents quite like Fortnite, the newest video game craze – released by Epic Games in July 2017 – that’s swept the nation, turning not just teens, but also college students and adults into serious gaming addicts.
Fortnite is a game for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows, Mac and mobile that offers players two modes: a solo version called Save the World, and the hugely popular multiplayer version called Battle Royale.
According to recent statistics published in The New York Times, Fortnite generated more than $223 million in March 2018 alone – up 73% from February – making it the largest free-to-play console game of all time in terms of revenue generated and monthly active users.
“It’s the thing now,” said Winnetka resident Jill Andrews, who has two daughters in college, one in high school, and a 7th grade son. “You’re seeing it in every frat house, dorm room and basement.”
Described by the Times as a cross between Minecraft and the Hunger Games, Fortnite is all about survival in a post-apocalyptic world. It drops 100 competitors on an island and requires them to scavenge for weapons, build defensive structures, and eliminate opponents in a virtual quest to remain the last player standing. The game is free and operable on gaming systems as well as mobile devices, but players pay for micro-transactions like skins for weapons and costumes for characters.
While Fortnite is often described as a “social experience,” with friends teaming up to game in pairs or fours, Fortnite players are never together physically; they communicate via an open chat function on their gaming console or PC.
Common Sense Media recommends Fortnite for teens 13 and up, primarily because of the open chat and action violence.
Even more tricky is the fact that Fortnite cannot accommodate two players on the same console – a big cause for concern among local parents.
“My son’s friends used to gather in groups or all end up in someone’s basement,” said Andrews. Then they started racing home from school alone to play Fortnite – even on a beautiful day.”
Andrews and her husband didn’t realize the impact Fortnite was having on their son’s social life until his Xbox broke.
“We were on the fence about whether or not to replace it,” admitted Andrews.
They soon realized that without access to a gaming console, their son had nothing to do. Hockey season was over, and all his similarly active, athletic buddies were home, alone, playing Fortnite.
“That was the weird part to me,” said Andrews. “I thought, ‘this is bizarre.’”
Clinical psychologists are weighing in on the Fortnite phenomenon, too.
“The increased number of hours spent in this virtual world, and even in a non-violent virtual world, children are not developing the skills they need to successfully navigate the real world,” said Dr. Renee Dominguez, executive director of the Family Service Center, a non-profit mental health agency serving Wilmette, Glenview, Northbrook and Kenilworth. “Without the face-to-face interactions, many things are lost, not the least of which is empathy.”
The Andrews ultimately decided to replace the Xbox, but not without setting firm parameters in partnership with other parents in their son’s friendship group.
“We got together and said ‘we have to talk about this Fornite thing, but we have to be on the same page or it won’t work,’” said Andrews.
Now, said Andrews, her son and his friends hang out after school in groups, working together to complete their homework – a strict prerequisite for playing Fortnite. Gaming can start at 5:30 p.m., and the first “time’s up” warning shot gets issued to the group at 7:15 p.m.. By 7:30 p.m., consoles are off.
But Andrews and other concerned parents may have an even bigger behemoth to vanquish. Fortnite is fueling a nationwide appetite for eSports arenas, large venues where people gather not only to play video games, but also watch others play in large, organized tournaments.
The New York Times reported that people have logged more than 128 million hours on the live-streaming platform Twitch just watching other people play Fortnite. The building, shooting, survival game also received 2.4 billion views on YouTube in the month of February alone.
Across the country, disused malls, movie theaters and storefronts are being converted into neighborhood eSports venues.
GameWorks, a California-based national chain of entertainment centers, has already rolled out eSports arenas in Denver, Las Vegas and Seattle. Next month, Gameworks will break ground on a dedicated eSports facility at its Schaumberg location, scheduled to open this August.
“A core central theme for the new vision of GameWorks is eSports,” said GameWork’s CMO Greg Davis. “From our venues to a mobile eSports service, we have a huge commitment to this.”
GameWork’s expansion will include 10,000 square feet of dedicated eSports space, with half planned for tournaments and the other half to be a “game agnostic” space hosting 60 PCs, 20 Xbox consoles, and 20 PlayStation consoles.
“Fortnite and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds will be a big focus,” said Davis. “The facility will be full eSports ready for camps, classes, parties and walk-in traffic.”
And what does Andrews think her son will make of this new development?
“I can guarantee you, he’ll be there,” she said, laughing.
Fortnite cannot accommodate two players on the same console – changing the social component of video games.


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Channel-free logistics provider Fillogic will offer 100% recyclable, reusable mono-material polypropylene packaging for customer shipments. The material is provided by Renegade Plastics and made by reusable packaging provider Returnity.
The packaging is the latest version of Returnity’s Last Box, a reusable shipping box that replaces standard corrugated cardboard, comfortably holds 50+ lbs. and typically lasts 40 - 50 shipping cycles.
According to Returnity’s analysis, U.S. retailers use over one billion cardboard boxes a year to move products between factories, distribution centers, and stores. The Last Box revolutionizes business-to-business shipping and internal operations, allowing retailers and brands to save money, improve operational efficiency, and lower the environmental impact of their packaging.
By using the Last Box, Fillogic customers can better ensure all boxes are properly retired and recycled at end-of-life, because polypropylene is commonly and efficiently processed in commercial recycling facilities around the world. No demanufacturing or specialized processing is necessary.
“By switching to these recyclable boxes with Renegade Plastics and Returnity, we encourage reuse and recycling, helping our customers to be even more proactive in their sustainability efforts,” says Fillogic Founder & CEO Bill Thayer.
“We are thrilled to have Fillogic be first to market with our innovative new reusable and recyclable boxes. Their expertise building efficient logistics systems for retailers and brands makes them the perfect partner,” says Returnity CEO Mike Newman.


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The Managing Director of the company, Birendra Sasmal hinted this in an interview with Citi News at the launch of the Africa Mobile & ICT Expo (MOBEX) in Accra on Wednesday.
Birendra Sasmal explained that Ghana’s emerging economy will need personnel with the requisite ICT skills to manage the various sectors of the economy hence their decision.
He added that Subah is also working in collaboration with basic and secondary schools across the country to roll out the ICT training modules.
“I see Ghana as a bit deficient in ICT but there are a lot of potentials that could make Ghana become a western African hub because a lot of the youth are passionate about ICT. All these applications from Subah are being designed by local Ghanaian people and they have been trained from US, India, German and so many other places. So I think Subah could play one of the critical roles to enabling Ghana to come closer to that gap.”
He said they have an institute, which train children in ICT adding that they intend to upgrade it to admit college students.
“We train more than thousands school children and we are now upgrading that institute to go to the college students. This year, our aim is to upgrade that institute to much level so that college students can come to learn modern basics in ICT. In our company we take people and train them to international standard.”
MOBEX which is a 3-day conference which brings together captains, investors and enthusiasts of the ICT industry, mobile technology lovers, students and professionals, device manufacturers, telcos, regulators and policy makers for exhibition of over over 100 quality brands and seminars.


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Nollywood actress and entrepreneur Iyabo Ojo has got more reasons to be happy.
Fresh off from moving into a self-acquired multimillion naira mansion with her family, the actress is now the proud owner of a brand new car.
Iyabo Ojo was gifted a sleek ride by someone dear to her. The car in particular is a 2015 Range Rover Evoque, reportedly worth 11 million naira.
The movie star couldn’t hide her joy as she took to her Instagram page on Monday, September 28, 2020, where she shared photos of the car gift.
Captioning the post, the 42-year-old mother of two revealed that the car was a gift from her first god-daughter whom she identified as Ololade Abuta.
“Please my people help me thank my first god daughter @ololadeabuta_gracias this surprise gift car is huge ooooooooooooooo I’m speechless & shocked somebody pinch me,” an excited Ojo wrote.
Ojo joins the list of celebrities in the country to own the luxury sport utility vehicle.
Check on it below:
Photo Credit: Instagram


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5 Advantages of an Exterior Facade Renovation
23 Jun 2022
There are many best business practices out there, some of which can be applied across the board regardless of industry, while others are more trade specific. However, one of the most fundamental and long-established methods for running a successful business is curb appeal. A business that looks good tends to drive in more traffic, which is something you want as a commercial proprietor or company owner.
If you are looking for more customers, perhaps consider renovating the exterior of your business. Continue reading to learn the top five advantages for exterior façade renovation.
Check out Pasadena EDC's Business Enhancement Program which is an incentive grant you can earn to help fund your exterior enhancement.
Businesses can focus on growth and still be socially responsible by giving back to their local community with these simple ways that help your business while helping others Social responsibility is practically a requirement when you run a small business. According to a 2017 Cone Communications study, 87 percent of...
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today the Aspen Institute named San Jacinto College one of the 10 finalists for the 2023 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence - an honor that follows the College's recognition as an Aspen Prize Finalist with Distinction in 2021, Aspen Prize Finalist in 2019, and Aspen Prize...
State and federal officials will join Port Houston executives in Galveston Wednesday, June 1 to officially kick off "Project 11," a $1 billion expansion of the 52-mile-long Houston Ship Channel. The project, a partnership between Port Houston and the Army Corps of Engineers, has been in the works since 2010,...


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While IFA 2014 itself formally starts in a few days, many companies have scheduled their press events ahead to leave IFA open to actual device demos and showcases. But what do we expect from manufacturer’s this time of year? As it turns out, quite a lot. Unsurprisingly, a lot of those also revolve around the tech industry’s latest babies: smartwatches. Of course, it isn’t just all about smartwatches, as we’re expecting to see a few smartwatches and some tablets these coming days as well.
ASUS has been harping about its smartwatch since January, but so far, like Motorola, it has been a no show in that market. But with official teasers already out in the wild, IFA 2014 could finally be ASUS’ time to shine. That said, we still know very little about the ZenWatch, other than it will be running Android Wear and will have voice command support, which isn’t exactly ground breaking. One thing that the company has been try to emphasize was how affordable their smartwatch will be. We curiously await if its budget price will come with budget specs.
Former Google subsidiary Motorola will be making quite a big splash this IFA. Defying expectations of an August announcement, the company will be revealing not just the next Moto X smartphone, but also the next Moto G as well. As of the last listing, the Moto X+1 is expected to bear a 1080p 5.2-inch screen, run on a 2.2 or 2.5 GHz quad-core processor, have 2 GB of RAM, and a 13 megapixel rear camera. Not exactly the latest and highest specs, but Motorola has been known to pull a few rabbits out of its hat with run of the mill hardware. The Moto G2, on the other hand, is believed to be a larger cousin of the budget smartphone, sporting a 720p 5-inch screen, powered by a 1.2 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 and 1 GB of RAM, with an 8 megapixel camera on the back.
What everyone might be waiting for will be the Moto 360 smartwatch, something that was hyped a lot since I/O 2014. The smartwatch seemed to promise a lot, like a stylish round face design and wireless charging. Unfortunately, the company seems to have taken its sweet time and part of its thunder has been mostly stolen by LG’s latest revelation.
The Korean OEM has surprisingly laid out all its cards on the table way before IFA 2014 even starts. It has already announced all its key devices, ranging from monitors, curved TVs, smartphones, and yes, smartwatches, ahead of time, making is us wonder if LG has anything left to surprise us with this week. Not that the G Watch R isn’t already surprising. A last minute leak gave us a glimpse of a round smartwatch from LG and, sure enough, the company did officially reveal the the device last week. The LG G Watch R is a bit of a step up from the plain G Watch, employing a round screen that, unlike the Moto 360, utilizes the whole surface. It also gets a higher 410 mAh battery and a heartrate sensor inside.
If LG doesn’t have any announcements left, it will most likely just use its IFA time to formally introduce the devices to the public and later on let them fondle the new devices. Included in this new batch is the LG G3 Stylus, a pen-toting smartphone that was “accidentally” leaked in an LG ad but was later revealed to be a mid-tier device that just happened to have its own rubbery capacitive stylus in tow. Not quite what some might have wished to rival Samsung’s upcoming star.
With the premium Galaxy Alpha formally out of the way, Samsung is free to turn all the spotlight on the Galaxy Note 4. As seems to be Samsung’s practice, this device will come with specs higher and bigger than that of its Galaxy S5 flagship. That includes a 5.7-inch QHD screen, a whopping 4 GB of RAM, the fastest Exynos and Snapdragon CPUs, a 16 megapixel camera, and what could be a new fingerprint scanner. But that’s just the specs, of course. It remains to be seen whether Samsung also has anything left to push forward the S Pen again this year, or if the vision for the stylus has somewhat plateaued by now.
And like the Galaxy Note 3 and the Galaxy S5, the Galaxy Note 4 will also come with its own companion smartwatch. Also announced already last week, the Gear S is Samsung’s surprising yet expected new wearable. While not as visually distinct as the G Watch R, the Gear S boasts one thing that none of this new generation of smartwatches have: it’s very own 3G connection. Unfortunately, but again not surprising, it runs Tizen instead of Android Wear, and we’ll get to see this week if it will be able to stand up to the onslaught of new Android Wear smartwatches.
Sony’s third smartwatch is a rather late surprise. Not that we didn’t see the SmartWatch 3 coming but, according to last minute rumors, it will be running on Android Wear instead of Sony’s custom software. That is definitely a bit of an unexpected turn of events considering how much Sony has invested in its own smartwatch ecosystem long before Android Wear or even Samsung’s Galaxy Gear arrived on the scene. Still, it’s definitely a welcome change, if true, as it gives Android users more devices to choose from.
That said, many Sony fans will most likely be waiting with bated breath for what the company’s new smartphones and an unexpected tablet. From what we’ve gathered so far, the Xperia Z3 is likely to be look like another incremental upgrade from the Xperia Z2, bearing almost the same specs with a few upgrades here and there. The Xperia Z3 Compact, on the other hand, only has the Xperia Z1 Compact as the jumping board, since Sony has seemingly abandoned any plans for an Xperia Z2 Compact. Although we did expect a new Xperia tablet to join the crowd, little did we know that it will also be, well, little. The Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact will be the company’s first foray into a small-sized tablet, so fans of Sony’s design and hardware will definitely want to keep an eye out for this.
These are just some of the major highlights of IFA 2014 this week, but there’s definitely more in store. Huawei‘s Ascend Mate7 will be making an appearance as well as Lenovo’s Vibe X2. Meizu is also expected to reveal its latest MX4 this week. We will definitely have an Android packed week so be sure to keep tabs on our IFA 2014 tag portal so that you don’t get lost in the sea of announcements and devices.


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Expect to see more Facebook Stories.
You will not only see Stories from those who you’re connected with on the world’s most-used social media app but Pages as well.
Pages or business accounts will post Stories as well, according to Facebook product manager Amy Sun. Sun said the rollout will start “over the coming month” and comes just eight months after Facebook adopted the feature from Snapchat.
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) didn’t explain the delay in the rollout. Sun told TechCrunch’s Josh Constine: “We’ve been listening to our community and working to make it fast, fun and easy for people and Pages to create Stories on Facebook.”
“Over the coming month, Pages will be able to create Stories to share with the people who follow them.”
Stories will not only be to Pages but also to news publishers, athletes, entertainers and nonprofit organizations, TechCrunch reported. TechCrunch believes that news publishers and celebrities “might have the most to gain from the feature.”
“It will let them quickly shoot intimate content that differs from the traditional text-based articles and glossy videos generated by or about them.
There is a danger though businesses may use Stories as “another way to blast marketing spam,” Constine said. Or they can use the Stories feature to make a jump-start.
Like all Stories, those posted by brands and other personalities will stay online for only 24 hours. It is no secret that Facebook and Instagram adopted Stories from Snapchat.
Instagram Stories became a hit among subscribers of the photo and video-sharing app that it has become more popular than that of Snapchat. The popularity of Stories did not extend to Facebook. Facebook Stories remained unpopular even if users were allowed to cross-post Instagram Stories to Facebook.
Cross-posting of Instagram stories on Facebook began early last month.
Back then, a spokesperson for Instagram said: “We are always testing ways to improve the experience on Instagram and make it easier to share any moment with the people who matter to you.”
Facebook has yet to reveal data on how many people use Facebook Stories.
TechCrunch reported that the daily user metric of Instagram Stories hit 100 million merely two months after launching, while it and Status of WhatsApp both have over 250 million.
Snapchat has 173 million daily users for its entire app.
How it works
TechCrunch reported that people will see Facebook Stories from Pages they follow or “Like” in the Stories section on both mobile and desktop.
A Page administrator will see a “Create Story” button on the mobile app when viewing their Pages. The content, however, won’t show up in the News Feed unless posted there as well.
Mashable’s Karissa Bell believes that opening Stories to Pages will “no doubt increase engagement with the feature” but “it will come at the expense of annoying all of us even more.”
Constine, for his part, said Facebook Stories “desperately” needs the boost.
He explained that the Stories feature is “home for content created through Facebook’s augmented reality Camera Effects platform.”
DISCLAIMER: This article expresses my own ideas and opinions. Any information I have shared are from sources that I believe to be reliable and accurate. I did not receive any financial compensation in writing this post, nor do I own any shares in any company I’ve mentioned. I encourage any reader to do their own diligent research first before making any investment decisions.
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AT&T’s Wednesday announcement that it will eliminate unlimited data plans could give the Blackberry a big advantage in the smart phone market, according to a report from RBC Capital Markets.
AT&T revealed that it will no longer offer its $30 a month unlimited data plan and instead introduced a $25 a month plan with a 2 gigabyte cap. Customers who go over that cap will be charged $10 per gigabyte.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
The Dallas-based wireless carrier said the change was necessary due to the huge amount of stress the data-hungry iPhone generated on its celluar network.
The new data pricing could conspire to hurt the iPhone’s market share.
“In Canada and Europe, price-sensitive smart phone consumers already do more on BlackBerry under data caps (iPhone avg 250-500MB/mo vs RIM at 50MB),” says the RBC Capital Markets report, authored by analyst Mike Abramsky and associate Paul Treiber.
The benefit for Waterloo-based Research In Motion, who makes the Blackberry, could be in current iPhone users realizing they can get more out of RIM’s device.


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The pension payment was confirmed on Wednesday when the latest inflation figures were released – showing the core measure of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) at an annual rate of 0.5% in September.
This was up from 0.2% the month before, when government discounts on Eat Out To Help Out restaurants distorted the pricing picture in the economy as it battled COVID-19[feminine[feminine lock damage.
The increase in state pensions is determined by three factors – hence the terminology of triple locking – as it guarantees an increase in the highest figure of the CPI, the growth of income for the year until July, or 2.5%.
Weak wage increases and low inflation mean the 2.5% figure is stuck.
The government has embarked on the triple lockdown – a clear commitment – despite the enormous pressure on public finances from the coronavirus crisis that resulted in record levels of peacetime borrowing.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) think-tank analysis released Wednesday suggested the funding guarantee was living on borrowed time due to pressure to cut costs and raise taxes later.
The IFS said the latest increase to reduce inflation would raise the state’s full basic pension to £ 137.60 per week, with recipients of the new state full pension compensating 179, £ 60.
The CPI figure, however, means increases in state benefits will be limited to an increase of 0.5% after the 1.7% seen at the start of the current fiscal year.
September’s inflation figure is also used to decide on the annual increase in business rates, although the Chancellor may extend a one-year vacation for hard-hit retail and hospitality businesses to exempt them from the increase next April.
Commenting on rising inflation, Office of National Statistics (ONS) deputy national statistician Jonathan Athow said: “The official end of the Eat Out To Help Out program resulted in restaurant prices rising in September. , partly offsetting the sharp drop in inflation for August.
“Airfares would normally drop significantly around this time due to the end of the school holidays, but with prices moderate this year, as fewer people travel overseas, the price drop has been smaller.
“Meanwhile, as some consumers seek alternatives to using public transport, the demand for used cars has increased, which has seen their prices rise.


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Nike (NYSE: NKE)
stock reached all-time highs on Thursday last week as the sports apparel company ran up into their Q2 earnings report which was released after the bell. Their EPS number came in a full $0.12 (20%) ahead of analyst expectations while revenue was also higher than expected and up over 10% compared to the same time last year. When broken down, the revenue number grew an understandably mature 5% in the US domestic market, 10% in EMEA and an impressive 20% in China. Nike has now recorded double-digit revenue growth in China for over 20 quarters in a row.
After a 25% run in the stock since August, where it notched several all-time highs along the way, investors were clearly expecting solid results and by and large, they got them. Beating analyst expectations has been a consistent theme with their quarterly reports going back to at least 2017 with only a few minor hiccups along the way. This kind of performance has fuelled a 100% rally in shares over the past 2 years.
Margins Miss Expectations
However, despite Thursday’s report seeming to give Wall Street more of the same, the stock was hit by sellers immediately upon Friday’s open. Shares fell over 2% in the opening minutes before retracing about half that by the end of the day. It seems like a tiny miss on the company’s gross margin number was the culprit. Considering the company reported gross margins of 44% against a consensus of 44.1%, it shows that when you make a habit of crushing expectations, even a slight miss can do some damage.
That said, shares were trading pretty flat on Monday in light volume and it’s unlikely that Wall Street will consider there to be any structural damage done to the fundamentals. As Goldman Sachs noted earlier this month when they upgraded the stock, “Nike is a unique asset, where a strong brand combined with a disruptive and innovative strategy are positioning the business for multi-year growth, expansion in margins, and higher returns on invested capital."
Wall Street will be watching closely in the coming weeks as the company’s new CEO, John Donahoe, takes the reins. Donahoe brings a good pedigree with him having cut his teeth as a consultant with Bain & Co. before becoming president of eBay Marketplaces (NASDAQ: EBAY) and chairman of PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL). He’ll be inheriting a company that was Barclay’s overall retail pick when they initiated fresh coverage on the sector in November. Shares have outperformed Under Armor (NYSE: UA) by more than double in 2019 and their recent break-up with Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) appears to have had no effect on the company’s prospects.
Technically, shares look rock solid and any further selling on the back of Thursday’s report and the tiny miss on gross margins will likely be viewed as a buying opportunity by investors. RSI is hovering around 70 which is by no means too hot for a stock that’s on the verge of blue-sky territory and all other indicators like the moving averages and MACD remain bullish.
The stock has marched higher within a sturdy range and has good support behind it around the $88 level. This is where the bulls were turned back from multiple times earlier this year but also where they wrestled back control from the bears in November.
Any potential darkening clouds for these bears to latch onto will come in the form of the stock looking a little stretched out at the top of its range and the uncertainty that could come with a new CEO in January. Additionally, were the NBA - China controversy to ramp up to another level, Nike would likely be on the frontline of any damage filtering down to US companies.
All that being said though, the company has navigated plenty of potential pitfalls in recent years and is still the standout sports apparel name with internal momentum continuing to build. As traders shut down their computers for Christmas week, getting long the stock will surely be at the top of many wish lists for 2020.


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With vaccines being rolled out around the world, travelers are looking to reclaim something that was most abandoned during the lockdown era: the summer vacation.
The travel search is increasing and the bookings are not far behind. But it doesn’t happen uniformly across continents.
Here’s who books, where people go and what draws travelers back out of their homes.
Europe on the move
According to the European Travel Commission, a non-profit that represents over 30 countries in Europe, more than half (56%) of Europeans intend to travel this summer, with the vast majority choosing to stay on the continent.
Almost half (49%) of respondents plan to travel to another European country, while 36% intend to stay within their own borders. Of those most likely to travel, 29% plan between May and June, while 46% wait for July and August, according to the study published in April.
Where Europeans want to go this summer
- Spain: 10.4%
- Italy: 9%
- France: 7%
- Greece: 6.2%
- Germany: 5.2%
Source: European Travel Commission
Family and friends take a back seat this year; Only 19% book trips primarily to see them. Two-thirds (66%) of those most likely to travel are motivated for leisure reasons, and 34% are in favor of coastal travel.
More than 50% of travelers are ready to fly, while car journeys (36%) are the second most popular transportation option.
Portugal ranks 6th on the European Travel Commission’s list of Favorite Destinations, but its poll leads the way to bookings by British travelers after Portugal was placed on the UK’s “green list” on May 7th.
Israel, Iceland and several other countries and overseas territories are also on the green list, which means that as of today, travelers from England will no longer require quarantine when returning from there.
Small town America
“Americans continue to take the opportunity to explore their own backyards and discover destinations in the US,” said Misty Belles, managing director at Virtuoso, a global network of travel agencies specializing in luxury and adventure travel.
While Hawaii and other beach towns attract those looking to relax after a stressful year, Alaska attracts travelers who might otherwise have left the US.
With 30 square miles of sand, the Great Sand Dunes near Alamosa, Colorado attracts visitors looking for a secluded, outdoor vacation.
Patricia Giraldo | Moment | Getty Images
“High-end travelers who typically travel to more exotic places like Africa choose the outdoor, adventure playground and big game viewing in Alaska,” she said. “With no cruise lines arriving at Alaska’s ports this season, people are exploring by land and discovering more of the inner terrain.”
California draws people to perennial favorites like the Napa Valley while travelers on the east coast book trips to Nantucket and Cape Cod, Belles said, adding that summer availability is already scarce in those areas.
Less well known places also attract travelers. Nearly 70% of Airbnb searches for the US Memorial Day weekend are in remote locations 50 to 300 miles from travelers’ homes. The site’s most popular rural locations for the vacation weekend starting May 29th, which some consider to be the unofficial start of summer in the US, are:
- Alamosa County, Colo.
- Nye County, Nev.
- Sanpete County, Utah
- Angel Fire, NM
- Forks, wash.
- Sandpoint, Idaho
- Washington County, Va.
- West Yellowstone, Mont.
- Jackson County, NC
- Harper’s Ferry, W.Va.
Compared to Memorial Day travel trends two years ago, Airbnb data shows a three-digit increase in searches for tents (260%), houseboats (142%), farms (119%), and tree houses (111%), which some travelers consider hotels leave quirkier, secluded accommodations.
While flight bookings have increased, road trips are still happening – at least on social media. According to Chicago-based social media analytics firm Sprout Social, more than 1.6 million travel-related conversations on Twitter have mentioned road trips and 22,000 flights more than 32,000 times since April 29.
Americans look to Europe
While Americans are expected to travel domestically this year, transatlantic flight searches rose 47% after EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen suggested, according to Montreal-based travel app Hopper, that vaccinated Americans may travel to Europe this summer can.
London, Paris and Barcelona are the most popular European cities. However, Hopper’s data showed that Denmark (+ 84%), Poland (+ 72%) and Switzerland (+ 63%) saw the largest percentage change in searches according to Leyen’s comments April 25.
Read more about summer travel in the age of Covid
Online searches for Croatia (+ 31%) and Iceland (+ 22%), both of which are already open to Americans, also increased after von der Leyen’s comments.
“Internationally, we see great optimism for the reopening of Europe,” said Belles.
While Greece and Iceland are popular with Virtuoso’s customers, she said: “Italy is the main European travel destination with bookings secured before the borders are open.”
“That’s not entirely surprising when you consider that Italy is always one of the top destinations for the Virtuoso network, but it shows that people like to return to their favorite places,” she said.
Italy is the top European destination for Virtuoso’s American travelers this summer, despite not officially opening the country to them, Misty Belles said.
© Marco Bottigelli | Moment | Getty Images
Virtuoso’s top summer hotel booking destinations by Americans include (in order): the United States, Italy, Mexico, France, the Bahamas, the United Kingdom, Greece, Canada, Spain, and Ireland.
If Europe opens up to them, Americans may have one more reason to rejoice. Flights to Europe are cheaper than in the past, according to Hopper.
“Reopening a country can allow more competition between airlines and increase the number of seats available on these routes, which in the short term leads to a reduction in airfare,” said Adit Damodaran, an economist at Hopper.
Flights to Iceland declined after the country reopened, and there are similar trends in transatlantic flights as Europe becomes more likely to open to vaccinated Americans this summer, he said.
According to Hopper, the most wanted European destinations for Americans from April 27th to May 11th.
Courtesy of the Hopper Travel App
However, the trend is not expected to last much longer.
“Hopper estimates airfare to Europe will be $ 700 round-trip around May 15, before rising to $ 775 in mid-June,” said Damodaran.
Last week there were particularly good deals on round-trip flights to Portugal (501 US dollars) and Iceland (530 US dollars).
Asia at a standstill
Summer trips between Asian countries are still largely paralyzed as the region struggles with rising Covid rates associated with variant B.1.617 first identified in India in December last year.
Of the estimated 43,000 Covid cases in the Maldives, more than 13,000 have been confirmed in the past two weeks.
Abllo Ameer | Moment | Getty Images
Infection rates remain high in countries like the Philippines and Indonesia, while vaccination rates are low across Asia. In the past month, countries with relatively stable case numbers – such as Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam – also saw an increase in new infections.
The few Asian travel destinations that embrace mass tourism, namely the Maldives and Sri Lanka, are suffering from catastrophic infection peaks.


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CLFMA (of India), the only All India Association of manufacturers of nutritionally balanced and scientifically compounded feeds for cattle, poultry, other animals, fish, prawns, and associated with the Livestock Industry all over India who help in promoting overall animal husbandry, concept of balanced feeding of animals in accordance with their nutritional requirements for deriving the maximum output from them through productivity improvement announced their theme for the upcoming 49th Annual General Meeting and 58th National Symposium to be held on September 2 and 3 this year in Kolkata to be ‘Make Safe Animal Protein for Healthy India’ thus emphasizing the need of producing high standard protein in India for all Indians.
During the curtain raiser Madan Mohan Maity, General Secretary of the West Bengal Poultry Federation speaking passionately said such. “India is least costly supplier of animal foods (veggies are more costly). We produce chicken three times more than rest, have deficit of 1Crore eggs each day.” He also added that state government has withdrawn pollution clearance for poultry having less than 1 lac bars. There will 350 vehicle washing stations to be mobilized in 2-3 days, one-third subsidy of which will be given by the local govt.”
The said symposium will be attended by 240 registered company members representing Poultry, Dairy and Aqua industries with aims to deliberate on the advancements in the industry as well as discuss the scope of improvements and also provide a platform to share ideas with the government. CLFMA will also celebrate achievers by presenting awards in recognition of meritorious services rendered in the field of Research, Animal Feed Sector, etc. as well honor a member with the prestigious Life Time Achievement Awards.
Speaking at the event, Amit Saraogi, Chairman, CLFMA said “We are second largest producer of egg and fish and our industry is competent enough to supply to the world. We need to invest in new technology and also provide cost effective measures that will reduce import from the world and encourage home grown foods. At CLFMA, we are working towards making raw materials inexpensive and available for all. Our goal is to feed Indians with food produced in India and subsequently be a global supply leader to the world.”


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It is standing room only in court 602 of the superior court of San Francisco, the hallways are blocked by television news crews and satellite TV trucks line the sunny streets outside.
Having tackled the Scientologists in his most recent film Going Clear, documentary maker Alex Gibney takes on a cult that is even more ardent, and with considerably more members – that of Apple.
Steve Jobs rejected an offer of a liver transplant from Tim Cook in 2009, a new biography of the late Apple co-founder reveals.
When Ellen Pao became chief executive of the social news site Reddit in November 2014, few thought her tenure would change the make-up of the site that bills itself the “front page of the internet”.
Here’s one way to get people on Google Plus: announce your midlife crisis on the ailing social media platform.
Several Apple services, including iTunes and the App Store, suffered outages Wednesday that began around 5 a.m. ET and extended through midday.
Nasdaq CEO Bob Greifeld says Nasdaq 5k signals the maturity of the 'new economy,' and says biotech is a key driver for future growth.
Apple will join the Dow Jones Industrial Average later this month, taking the world’s biggest company by market value into the most famous share index in the US.
Dating app Tinder has officially launched its premium service Tinder Plus, letting users subscribe for new features including the ability to undo swipes, change locations and have unlimited likes.
Windows 7 users are reporting that Windows 10 is automatically installing on their PCs without permission.
Silicon Valley’s leading companies – including Facebook, Google and Snapchat – are working on their own increased privacy technology as Apple fights the US government over encryption, the Guardian has learned.
Shareholders engage heated debate of whether Yahoo CEO should stay or leave, as activist investors press for change.


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Ms. Wan Jia, CEO of Guiyang Blockchain Financial Co. Ltd. and founder of the ACChain Digital Asset Smart-Ecosystem, has held a presentation at the World Economic Forum.
2018 Davos conclave marked the official launch of IDAXC, the international Council charged with overseeing the emergent field of marrying and optimizing cryptocurrencies to quantifiable assets.
An international digital asset exchange council has been formed as a step towards the adoption of global standards for tokenization of assets and to improve regulatory measures for asset exchanging and digitization.
Guiyang Blockchain Financial Co. Ltd CEO and founder, Ms. Wan Jai, has been been Invited to present the ACChain Digital Asset Smart-Ecosystem at the prestigious 2018 Davos winter event.
ACChain extends the ICO for its A-SDR global basket project aiming to create an international digital currency reserve asset.
ACChain, a blockchain-based platform allowing users to exchange and settle purchases with digital currencies, is ready to present the world a decentralized currency standard for the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
A supra-national, decentralized, committee overseeing a “global digital currency basket” consisting of Bitcoin, Ether, and ACC is now being funded.


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Alan Wake's American Nightmare is Now 800 MSP
Written Tuesday, June 18, 2013 By Lee BradleyView author's profile
Alan Wake's American Nightmare has dropped in price to 800 Microsoft Points.
The XBLA standalone follow-up to 2010’s psychological action thriller, Alan Wake's American Nightmare previously cost 1200 MSP.
Alan Wake developer Remedy Entertainment is currently hard at work creating Quantum Break, a time-fiddling action game with a TV series tie-in. There's more on Quantum Break here.
Meanwhile, while we’re discussing Xbox Live bargains, Fable III is still available for free on Xbox Live for all Xbox Live Gold members. More free titles, including Assassin's Creed II and Halo 3, are promised in the future.


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Last year, the retail industry witnessed massive growth with innovations.The Retail Council also made its debut. This year, operators say they would step up their game despite the challenges in the industry which made South African retailer, Woolworths, to close shop. TONIA ‘DIYAN reports.
A few years ago, wading through a crowd into an open market to bargain for items was the only way to shop in Nigeria. Though the practice still continues, a different retail phenomenon now attracts shoppers. The berth of the Retail Council last year promises to redefine the experience of shoppers in the country.
The emergence of world-class shopping places has changed the way people shop, leading to a boom in the industry and making the country a haven of retail shopping.
With the entry of big retail shops such as Shoprite, Spar, Mr Price,Truworth, Mango, among others, shoppers have become aware of the benefits of shopping in a more conducive atmosphere.
Just like in the days of Kingsway, Leventis and UTC, people now buy food and other goods at affordable prices in hygienic cozy environment.
Retailers in the various malls within the metropolis said they are re-strategising in a bid to make shopping places more conducive this year. They have introduced innovations which they say are better than what they had last year.
According to them, they will focus on improving the shopping environment to the benefit of shoppers.
While some of the tenants in these malls promise to expand their scope of business, others say they will partner with other players in the sector.
One of the big players in the industry, Mr Price said it will open more stores and create a befitting website where its customers could link up with it real time.
It said: “Mr Price shoppers should expect the latest fashion, in an exciting shopping environment, with great customer service and at great prices.”
Added that the clothing store will be focusing more on improving its supply chain processes. “This, we will achieve through better value for money prices, values for our great fashion items which caters for all age groups and sizes. We have something for everyone within our store and we will be growing the Mr Price brand in Nigeria for many years to come,” he said.
The Leisure Mall Centre Manager, Debola Majekodunmi, said: “We want to have the bigger brands and would like it to be a destination point for families. We are striving to achieve 100 per cent occupancy before the end of the first quarter.”
She added: “The mall will create lots of awareness on all its activities and will be linking with Adeniran Ogunsanya Shopping Mall. “It will be the first of its kind to mall partnership. Shoppers will see more variety in our tenant mix as we are looking to have more brands.”
Managing Director, UAC Restaurants Limited Derrick Van Houten, said the UAC Restaurants Management team had put together a strategy with their new partners, and details would be discussed with franchisees at their national conference coming up the first quarter of this year.
He said: ”Key areas of our business for the year are operations, training, franchisee support and human capital development. We expect these areas will see massive improvements as these directly affect our quality of service delivery to our loyal customers.”
Centre Manager Ikeja City Mall, Sander Norman, said: “At Ikeja City Mall, we are known for give-away events. We will be doing more of that. We will be offering shoppers the right prices, products, services, quality and choices. We have realised that the give-away events work for us.
“Therefore, we will be sticking to that strategy this year.”
He added: “There are people who do not shop elsewhere when they are in Lagos. Such people deserve life-time rewards. Therefore, we will be doing the give-away events more during festivities. We will also be coming up with innovations to better serve shoppers and remain at the top always.”
Reasons for growth
There have been barriers to trade in the past. However, since the lifting of some of the trade bans in 2011, trade has been booming.
The economy is growing, and has led to a demand for quality housing and other related real estate infrastructure, including adequate shopping centres, which formed the basis for retail businesses to thrive. Retailers are critical economic agents who help to create demand because of their affinity with both the consumers and producers. Also, retail sales are an important economic indicator because consumer spending drives much of the economy.
Furthermore, the 2003 ban on an array of imported goods that included clothes, shoes, selected foodstuff, by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, which was intended to stimulate local production saw some Nigerians flying to Dubai and other regional commercial centres to do their shopping.
But all that has dwindled in favour of Nigerian-based retail shops that have gained in diversity and in sophistication, and have also benefited from increasing public affluence in the industry.
Shoprite, widely renowned as Africa’s leading retailer, has also made significant in roads to the country thereby, causing a massive growth.
While growth in the retail could be attributed to rapid economic development and to an extent, favourable economic policies, experts advise that for the country to maintain or even surpass the rate of growth, solutions to the challenges the industry is facing must be provided.
Increase in the population of the working class citizens and the fact that they are desirous of convenience and the increase in the purchasing power of citizens generally has also contributes to retail growth.
Bringing investors into the country
The potential buying power of Nigerians is recognised by the outside world. There is a lot of wealth here , the country has become a market place whose economy is growing exponentially and will remain an enticing prospect for potential investors for years to come.
More investors see the possibility of several projects in other parts of the country soon.The market is open to local and foreign investors haven realised the potential inherent in it, they understand it offers excellent opportunities for to cash in on further rapid growth expected to occur in the next decade or two.
Reports have it that the push for malls in Nigeria and in Africa generally is led by South Africa. According to International Monetary Fund (IMF), the average growth of African economies for last year was between five per cent and six per cent.
Challenges in the industry
While Nigeria has the population to support more malls, there are many barriers and one of the biggest is access to the right land in the right location.
Other barriers, include the costs involved, often leading to rentals that many retailers cannot afford.
In 2005, when The Palms opened, there were trade bans in place. In 2011, when some of those trade bans were lifted, international tenants came on board.
Investors have also revealed that capital is a major challenge. The project cost is expensive often with limited local expertise. Informed estimates however, reveal that the cost of completing a project in Nigeria is 2.5 times that of a similar one in South Africa.
“As services are steadily experiencing growth in many economies, the retail service is a new frontier that needs to be better tapped for economic growth.” Said Mrs Gbadebo Erejuwa, who is the head of Retail leasing at Broll Nigeria, and Property Manager of the first six malls in the country.
“We have favourable economic conditions here. A growing middle class with disposable income, so now people are actually able to afford some of the brands that they are used to outside the country, or even afford their basic necessities,” she said, adding that people always want to shop in a modern environment.”
“Retail is coming up all over the place. I think a lot of people are interested in malls and shops. A place where you can go in and get everything is more inviting than going to a market where everything is open and it is crowded and crazy.”
She added: ”The regime of shopping malls development in Nigeria is just a pointer and an icing on the cake to what the future holds for shopping and sight-seeing experience in the country. This is evident in all of the massive state-of-the-art shopping structures strategically positioned in the country.”
Strategies for doing business in Nigeria
Broll Nigeria advises that Woolworths leaving the country shouldn’t deter foreign retailers from profiting. More retailers are expected especially value ones, says Broll. So that they can continue to seek opportunities in the Nigerian market.
“Yes, doing business in Nigeria is a challenge. But if you can offer middle class Nigerians the right price, product, service, quality and choice, the sky is the limit,” said Norman Sander of Broll Nigeria, who manages Ikeja City Mall .” Äccording to him, Woolworths left the country because of a mismatch with the Nigerian consumer and the climate.
Operators have however advice that retailers should be prepared to change their models for the Nigerian consumer. If they do so, they stand to gain a firm foothold in a marketplace and a country where consumers are brand loyal and value good service, which is still in short supply.
Stating that the Nigerian market is vastly different from that of South Africa and its neighbouring countries. Broll said, research is essential to understand this unique set of consumer needs and norms, before venturing into its exceptional territory.
For this reason and many others, Broll is increasingly being called upon for its professional property services and insights to support retailers and property owners alike seeking to unlock the many retail opportunities in Nigeria.
The market and spend needed for retail success is here and growing, therefore, retailers wanting to crack this market need to customise their models to meet the unique consumer needs and aspirations as the call of the mall is gaining the support of more Nigerian shoppers.
Nigerians enjoy a first-world shopping environment that is pleasant, safe, cool, unrushed and offers a complete retail experience from shopping to relaxing at the food court. Mall dwell times are increasing and foot counts are growing.
Broll suggest also that retailers planning to enter the Nigerian market, should start with using a cash-based model initially, rather than counting on sales from accounts or cards.
There is more brand recognition for US and European retailers, more than there is for South African retailers, as such a marketing strategy that goes beyond advertising, store opening and launching a new brand is needed.
For Woolworths, the markets’ buying patterns in Nigeria is different from what South African retailers are used to. When it has to do with fashion, there’s no seasonal shopping, because Nigeria is hot all year round.
Sizes are also different, some 50 per cent of men’s shoe sales are sizes larger than size 10. And, while there’s a market for luxury goods, prices that are noticeably above those of Europe won’t be tolerated.
Also with the mobile phone boom in Nigeria, and an increasingly tech-savvy population, digital and social media marketing are effective tools for retailers. Retailers are expected to offer guarantees and stick to their promises. It is said to be a tremendous way of growing customer loyalty.
Despite all the opportunities, Broll cautions that retail in Nigeria is not for sissies. Mall rentals are high because of infrastructure and development costs which, in turn, demands high turnovers. Infrastructure is poor, red-tape is plenty and officials often interfere. The supply chain also takes far greater focus, with a host of potential obstacles to be navigated.
Retailers will need excellent warehousing to overcome shipping issues in Nigeria, where goods don’t move as fast as they do in South Africa. Also, the choice of clearing agents is important and there is often a price attached to clearing goods.
Yet, with all these challenges, Nigeria’s retail opportunities keep on growing on the back of mass urbanization, the emerging middleclass, rising retail awareness and an increasing consumer culture.
“For retailers who are prepared to develop a country-specific model and invest in research to support a supply chain, which are; the right stock, the best price and service, they should be assured that there’s a bright future in Nigeria,”Broll said.


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The government is due to announce a major initiative today to encourage people to switch to electric cars. 340 electric cars will be made available to the public to try, in that hope that they will find them practical and efficient, and buy one themselves.
The scheme will cost £25 million, and will pilot in London, Birmingham, Glasgow, and several other locations around the country. It will be the largest electric car trial in the world.
This is potentially good news for the UK’s carbon emissions. 22% of our carbon emissions are from transport, 13% from our private cars. On the other hand, it could be a waste of time – as we’ve mentioned before, an electric car is only as green as the power station it charges from. Unless all these cars are charging off renewable energy sources, we’re only making minor cuts to our emissions.
Electric cars are also the easy answer, another failure of the imagination. Cars are a bad idea for lots of reasons, and sustainability is more than just CO2 emissions. A better idea would be to encourage people out of their cars altogether, and invest in walkable cities, re-localization, and public transport. Instead, this plan assumes more of the same, and even growth in car use.
“We have about 33m cars on the road at the moment and it’s going to go up by another 4-5m in the next 10 years,” said David Bott of the Technology Strategy Board (TSB). “There’s a lot of people buying new cars anyway so the question is how quickly can we get credible alternatives out there?”
This is where the government’s scheme is most disappointing, and essentially a failure of leadership: “people are buying new cars anyway”. It ducks the politically difficult but ultimately inevitable issue of lifestyle change. There is nothing inevitable about motoring. We can reduce it, control it, and break our addiction. In so doing we will re-invigorate communities, stimulate local economies, reduce accidents, and save a fortune on roads and bridges.


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Private Briefingwith WILLIAM PATALON III, Executive Editor
If you live on the East Coast like we do, we’re betting you are paying only passing attention to the California drought.
That’s a mistake.
You see, we’re talking about a three-year water shortfall that is historic in scope.
And the potential implications are terrifying…
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When Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG) launched its new line of Nexus tablets a couple weeks ago, it was a shot across the bow of Apple Inc.'s (Nasdaq: AAPL) dominant iPad.
Even though Hurricane Sandy forced Google to cancelan event planned to show off the new gadgets, it went ahead and launched its new products anyway.
The timing was no coincidence.
Google's latest salvo came less than a week after Apple introduced a smaller, less expensive iPad Mini with a 7.9-inch display to compete against the Nexus 7 tablet.
It's no wonder these guys are at war. Tablet sales are expected to hit $29.1 billion this year, according to the Consumer Electronics Association.
That number is $10 billion higher than projected in January, escalating the battle to a whole new level.
Clearly both companies are feeling the heat.
And even though Apple is the clear leader in market share, Google has rolled out cheaper devices that are attracting many users-especially price-conscious ones.
The question is: Do Google's Android-powered devices have enough firepower to crack Apple's grip on the tablet market?
It's still too early to tell, but there's good reason to believe the Internet search giant may just pull it off.
Here's a look at what the new tablets have under the hood.
Apple's 9.7-inch iPad has been the unquestioned king of tablets since it was launched two years ago.
But Apple, Google, Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) and now even Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) are brawling over buyers in the fast-growing tablet market.
With the introduction of Google's larger tablet, Apple's smaller, cheaper tablet and Microsoft's Surface, the competition is likely to get even more heated.
Google's entries include the latest in its line of successful Nexus 7 tablets and a larger 10 inch version to compete with the full sized iPad.
The larger Nexus 10 is being made by Samsung Electronics Ltd. (PINK: SSNLF) and features a display screen that measures 10 inches diagonally, a little larger than Apple's 9.7 inch iPad.
What's more, the Nexus 10's display may be superior to the iPad's.
"The new Google device may have the best screen we have ever seen on a tablet. To put in context just how good...it has the same resolution as Apple's new 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina technology," The Los Angeles Times reported.
What's more, the new device is lighter and thinner than the iPad and has a higher resolution camera.
But here's the kicker.
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