text:
r2c’s figures, based on more than 30,000 records across accident damage and unscheduled repairs, show that there has been a general improvement across the board when it comes to delays as a result of parts availability and shortage of labour – two issues that have plagued the SMR sector for the past few years.
Introducing an increasing number of plug-in hybrid and fully electric battery vehicles for private or business rental – including the Tesla Model 3, MG4, ORA Funky Cat and the high-spec Mercedes Benz EQ electric range – Europcar is helping motorists try EV technology before making a long-term commitment.
Leasys' transition towards a more sustainable mobility future is not limited to replacing vehicles. It encompasses a collaborative effort among diverse stakeholders from industry, institutions, and services, along with fostering a shift in our collective environmental consciousness.
Certification required the full commitment of the team at SOGO and the cooperation of the company's supply chain. The verification was completed by an independent auditor and enables the company to comprehensively monitor its carbon emissions as a business.
New company combines the brand recognition and expertise of one of the UK’s leading Contract Hire brokers with the financial strength of Mobilize Financial Services UK services will include full multi-brand car and van leasing solutions, for private and business customers alike.
Tusker, which has been part of the Lloyds Banking Group since February this year, has also had a record-breaking first half of 2023, having delivered more than 8,500 brand new vehicles in the six-month period. This brings its overall fleet size to more than 29,000 vehicles for the first time. Of these, 86% electric vehicles - more than 6900, were delivered.
New collaboration sees Alphabet working closely with leading EV charging provider E.ON to ensure corporate, public sector, and SME customers continue to get the expert support and best-in-class solutions they need to decrease fleet carbon emissions and choose greener, more efficient vehicles.
Wessex Fleet found that 24% of company car drivers are on target to breach their mileage limits and incur excess mileage charges. The expected charge for each of these drivers, based on a fee of 32p per mile above the pre-agreed limit, is a staggering £8,981.
Move is prompted both by both electrification and the general ageing of the fleet vehicle parc that was currently underway. There’s a growing perception among fleets that what they are being charged for SMR by third parties, especially leasing company maintenance packages, is overinflated and outweighs any expertise that third parties bring when it comes to SMR buying.
Garages and workshops – from small independents to franchise dealers and repairer networks to fast-fits – are facing similar problems to almost every other part of the motor industry. Getting hold of many parts is difficult while finding trained staff is challenging. These facts are having a direct impact on fleet VOR times and are not the fault of suppliers.
Alphabet’s latest business figures indicate awareness and demand for sustainable, alternative fleet options continue to build at pace. Its eMobility segment once again showed strong growth in share in 2022. The company’s electrified vehicle portfolio has enlarged substantially over the last three years and last year was no exception with 53,500 vehicles hitting the road. Electrified vehicles accounted for 31% of total new business in 2022 and today, one in three Alphabet vehicles is either partially or fully electric.
Car rental is a cost-effective solution to buying, but outside of the booking prices of the vehicle you’re after, there’s still a lot of budgeting to consider. Co Wheels, the hourly car rental business looks at the budgeting you need to plan before tackling the open road. Hiring a car to use on a need’s basis could be a great alternative to owning one, but could on-road charges make it less convenient on your wallet?
Twelve months ago (Oct 21-22), it numbered around 2,500 cars and vans, but has now grown to 3,800, with significant growth expected to continue for at least the next two years. Electrification of the fleet is also gathering pace. At present, more than 14% are electric vehicles, but by the middle of the decade this should be over 90% in line with the 2030 deadline.
Mobilize Lease&Co will develop usage-based solutions that include increasingly flexible leasing offers, as well as fleet management services through vehicle connectivity. Mobilize Lease&Co's new offers will be progressively extended to several countries in Europe and Latin America, to retail customers, small and medium fleets large accounts as well as mobility operators. The aim is to reach a fleet size of 1 million vehicles by 2030, compared to 350,000 today.
For companies with smaller fleets, the responsibility for managing these requirements is rarely a full-time position. Instead, fleet management is often an additional, and sometimes unwanted, part of a much bigger HR, finance, or general management role. According to a recent Alphabet survey, this has led to nearly all (98%) small and medium fleet managers juggling fleet responsibilities on top of an already busy ‘day job’ and one in two feeling stressed when looking after 10-50 vehicle
AFP’s view is very much that this is being driven by financial factors that are completely out of the hands of the leasing suppliers involved but it does create problems that are not just about having to pay higher costs. For example, the increases may move vehicles between company car bands or mean that the lease rate exceeds employee entitlements
Platform independently monitors the driver journey and experience, providing feedback that loops back into a continuous improvement process. Using advanced sentiment analytics, the platform highlights areas of success and where service levels can be improved and provides CBVC Vehicle Management with a Net Promoter Score (NPS) which demonstrates how likely customers are to recommend the service.
The combination of high inflation, rising interest rates and the energy crisis are forecast to impact economic activity at the end of the year significantly. The recession is expected to last five quarters before a period of weak growth that will last until 2025. SOGO mobility is calling for fleet managers to consider greater use of flexible leasing that allows cars and LCVs to be leased on a monthly basis.
Fleet managers report that they’ve never seen prices move up so quickly, in many cases faster than they can easily track in order to keep their choice lists up to date. It is creating a situation where, if you manage to get a confirmed order for a vehicle, there is no guarantee you will receive it because a cancellation remains likely and, even if it does arrive after 9-12 months, there is a strong chance that the price will have risen markedly.
Since its launch last August, more than 10,000 employees are now signed up to the HMRC approved Pink Salary Exchange - which puts brand new electric cars in the reach of millions of employees. The amount customers pay includes maintenance, insurance and road tax, and with the deduction coming from an individual’s gross salary, instead of net, it reduces the real cost to the employee and saves National Insurance contributions.


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There is a decided advantage to taking an Uber while traveling in some of the world’s great international destinations as opposed to a taxi, a new survey found.
Globehunters, a travel firm based in the U.K. that offers flights, accommodation, package holidays, tours, car rental and travel services, commissioned the survey to see where money could be saved while traveling in certain cities.
The company found that in 55 cities, it was cheaper to get an Uber in 42 of them.
The study was based on a per-kilometer cost.
There’s still a place for taxis, of course. For instance, it’s £3.22 cheaper to take a cab in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia per kilometer than taking an Uber. £3.22 in euros is $4.13 in US dollars.
Riyadh led the top five cities where it was cheaper to take a taxi, followed by Mecca, Milan, New York and Dammam, also in Saudi Arabia.
But for the most part, an Uber was still the least expensive way to get around a major city. Leading the list of 42 cities was Cancun, where it was £1.27 ($1.63) less expensive per kilometer to take an Uber.
Cancun was followed by Lima (£1.04), Amsterdam (£1.03), London (£0.99) and Munich (£0.90).
In Athens and Istanbul, the prices are the same.
See the full survey here.
Source: Read Full Article

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May 30, 2014
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May 12, 2014
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10 years of UPA, matrimony
April 6, 2014
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Aston Martin car crash mystery remains unsolved
January 10, 2014
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AZUSA – The ubiquitous Styrofoam cup and food container could go the way of the dinosaurs – in Los Angeles County, at least – if the Board of Supervisors has its way.
The board unanimously approved a measure Tuesday, co-sponsored by supervisors Gloria Molina and Yvonne Braithwaite Burke, to study a ban on all Styrofoam containers in county-owned facilities and unincorporated areas, home to about 1 million residents.
A report on the ban’s feasibility is expected before the board in 90 days.
Polystyrene, most commonly known by the brand name Styrofoam, is a petroleum-based product that is difficult to recycle and non-biodegradable. Its low cost makes it popular for use as food containers at restaurants throughout the world.
In the Southland, polystyrene has become “pervasive,” said Molina.
“It is estimated that billions of containers are used throughout Los Angeles County each year,” said Molina, adding that the product remains in the environment for centuries after its useful life. “A significant percentage of the material collected along the Los Angeles and San Gabriel rivers, our 76 miles of beaches, and via flood control channel, catch basin, and roadside cleanups is littered polystyrene material.”
Santa Monica, Malibu, Berkeley and Suffolk County in New York have banned use of the material. McAfee Coliseum in Oakland has converted all of its drink containers to a biodegradable and compostable product called Cereplast, made by Hawthorne-based Cereplast Inc.
Instead of petroleum, Cereplast uses starch-based resins derived from soy, corn, wheat or potatoes to create cups and containers that break down naturally in the environment.
“They meet product standards for biodegradability and compostability set by ASTM \ that a lot of counties have adopted as their own standard,” said Michael Muchin, vice president and national director of sales for Cereplast.
While just as good at storing food or beverages as polystyrene, the main difference between such biodegradable products and petroleum-based containers is the cost, said Muchin.
“The cost of bioresin versus petroleum-based resin is within 10 percent and sometimes one to one,” said Muchin. “But the cost difference between Styrofoam, which is mostly air, can be three to one.”
And while cost could come down as the products become more prevalent, Styrofoam would always be cheaper because of the method of manufacture, Muchin added.
Cost is a concern for small businesses like Dino’s, which is located on the border of unincorporated Azusa and could be affected by the ban.
“My dad would go crazy,” said Tina Pantazis, Dino’s manager and daughter of the owner. “We tried something non-plastic in our L.A. restaurant but it was too expensive. We wouldn’t have a problem with it if the prices come down.”
But the California Restaurant Association,which represents 22,000 food service businesses across the state, has already expressed support for the proposal, said Norma E. Garcia, Molina’s environmental deputy.
“Big business is already leaning in that direction; we just need to work with and educate our smaller businesses,” Garcia said. “The supervisor feels that L.A. County really needs to take a lead on this in setting an example.”
Andrew Casa a of the California Restaurant Association said his group has yet to state its support for a ban on Styrofoam, but is in favor of studying its potential and will be working with the county in determining how to go forward.
“There are a lot of questions about what is available for the industry to use,” said Casa a. “There is going to be a food summit coming this summer where a lot of us are going to be getting together to find out what the perfect food packaging would be.”
Garcia said that starting with county facilities would be a huge step toward implementing a larger ban.
“If every county employee uses one Styrofoam cup for their coffee in the morning, that is about 100,000 cups used per day,” Garcia said. “But beyond that we would want to take it out to the unincorporated areas, and then eventually engage in educational campaigns with our local cities to take this even further.”
Such a ban would not cause any major problems for L.A. County Fairplex in Pomona, said Fairplex spokeswoman Wendy Talarico.
“Most of our beverages are not sold in Styrofoam containers; the only thing some of our vendors sell in Styrofoam is coffee,” said Talarico. “But there are definitely alternatives for that and if such a ban were to take place we would simply switch over to one of those alternatives.”
Garcia added that the extra costs resulting from the use of biodegradable containers would be offset by the cost savings in cleaning up the tons of trash – including polystyrene – from county streets and waterways.
(626) 962-8811, Ext. 2306


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Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co's KKR.UL investment in troubled photography company Eastman Kodak Co may look risky but a 10 percent annual return and protections even if the company fails could make it all worthwhile.
The photography company on Wednesday announced a plan to raise up to $700 million to bolster its balance sheet and free up capital for investments, allaying concerns it could go out of business.
Under the plan, KKR would buy up to $400 million of Kodak's senior secured notes due 2017. The private equity firm will get two board seats and could gain as much as a 17 percent stake in the company, according to a source familiar with the situation.
At about $400 million, the deal could give KKR a prime stake in Kodak, whose market capitalization is about $1.7 billion.
KKR gets the right to buy 40 million to 53 million shares, and will be paid about 10 percent interest on its financing. Should Kodak ever seek bankruptcy protection, KKR would be near the head of the line to recoup the full value of its investment because of the type of debt it is buying.
As long as Kodak's assets in a bankruptcy court are at least $650 million, KKR is totally covered, said Cross Research analyst Shannon Cross. It's a great deal for KKR. They get a good yield on their debt -- at least $40 million a year -- and they will get more stock every year, too.
But the deal does not change negative opinions about operational strength at Kodak, which hopes for strong sales of digital cameras and desktop printers during what could be another gloomy holiday shopping season. [ID:nN17197826] Shares in the company fell 11 percent on Thursday.
Refinancing removes bankruptcy risk, said Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore, who noted that Kodak faced a payment of $575 million in October 2010.
We continue to believe that Kodak must dramatically change its strategy or face continued (cash) burn and poor profitability, he said.
Kodak's revenue has fallen short of Wall Street expectations for four quarters in a row as consumers spend less on discretionary items like pocket video cameras.
Its growth plans have been hampered by tight credit markets that have kept other companies from investing in its commercial printing systems and services.
According to Reuters Estimates, the four analysts who cover Kodak all rate it at sell. Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's raised its opinion on shares of Kodak on Thursday, but Moody's said its negative outlook was not changed.
We view this deal as positive from a liquidity standpoint but very dilutive for equity shareholders, Cross said. Essentially, what Kodak has done is dilute its shareholders by about 40 percent and increase annual interest expense by $45 million, in exchange for a push out of debt maturities and an additional $125 million in cash.
The stock has more than doubled since its last quarterly report in July, boosted in part by the covering of short positions, analysts said.
(Additional reporting by Megan Davies; Editing by Gary Hill)


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An unfortunate Wii U owner takes online to bemoan a bizarre bricking bug that renders Nintendo’s ill-fated console useless if it’s not played enough.
A tech-savvy tinkerer has taken online to share an account of a bizarre Wii U bug that can leave the console bricked and hence entirely useless if it isn’t played enough. The emergence of this report coincided with Nintendo’s decision to take some popular Wii U games’ servers offline due to a major security issue.
With approximately 13.5 million in lifetime sales, the Wii U is one of Nintendo’s least successful consoles of all time. There’s no one single reason why it failed to capture a significant audience, although some of the most common consumer complaints about the system centered on its lackluster third-party library, gimmicky controller setup, and absence of an internal hard drive. Combined with the success of the Switch, this resulted in a speedy demise for the system, which Nintendo intends to finalize by shutting down the Wii U eShop later this month.
More evidence suggesting that the Wii U simply cannot catch a break has now arrived in the form of a user report claiming the console can essentially brick itself if left unused long enough. Booting it after a prolonged period can supposedly lead to an unrecoverable system failure indicated by a 160-0103 Gamepad error. The code itself denotes a critical NAND memory corruption issue that renders the console unusable, but attempting a factory reset of an affected Wii U will also permanently brick it, as per the same source.
While the reporting user discovered that it’s possible to recover from this state with a NAND backup created on a hacked console, they claimed the affected hardware they inspected was not modified in any way, implying all Wii U systems are potentially exposed to this issue. And once the console throws the dreaded 160-0103 error, it’s already too late to go the homebrew route. Searching the web for user reports mentioning the said error code yields at least several hundred results from social media and traditional forums as of March 3, 2023, suggesting this account is not describing an isolated incident.
Nintendo’s history of hardware defects predates the Wii U; one former Retro Studios employee recently recalled how a bad batch of consoles forced the team to keep their GameCube in a freezer while debugging Metroid Prime. In more recent times, the Switch had well-documented issues with its controllers since releasing in 2017.
The problems with its hit hybrid console were so prevalent that they even prompted a class-action lawsuit over Switch Joy-Con drift seeking $5 million in damages. Nintendo argued that the Switch EULA requires any such disputes to be handled through private arbitration instead of a courtroom. Combined with the fact it’s been offering free Joy-Con repairs outside the warranty period since 2019, this ended up being enough to get the lawsuit thrown out on technical grounds in February 2023.
MORE: Wii U 10 Years Later: Nintendo’s Usual Innovation Was Stifled by an Uncharacteristically Poor Execution
Source: cireza / NeoGAF, eXputer


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New Services Help Consumers with Home Network Configuration and Safety -
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., June 27 / -- support.com, a service which provides consumers with Instant Technology Relief(SM) from their frustrating computer problems, today announced the availability of two new services for configuring and troubleshooting home networks and wireless home networks.
According to research firm Parks Associates, approximately 50% of U.S. home network owners have experienced a problem(i). "Printer configuration problems are the number one reported home networking issue," said Kurt Scherf, vice president and principal analyst at Parks Associates. "Solving basic home networking problems like sharing printers will be critical in order to move consumers beyond the use of basic functionality such as sharing a broadband connection, to more interesting applications like shared entertainment and multimedia content."
In addition to home networking setup headaches, home wireless networks which are not properly secured are at serious security risk. Malicious hackers can easily steal sensitive information, install malware or steal e-mail from unsecured wireless networks, without the user even knowing.
"Home networks need to be both easy to use and safe in order for consumers to get the most benefit out of them, yet many computer users don't have the time or inclination to deal with setup, configuration or security problems," said Anthony Rodio, chief marketing officer responsible for support.com. "support.com's home networking services are designed to help consumers quickly, easily and safely get more benefit from their wireless home network."
support.com Network Setup & Troubleshooting Service
This service is designed to help consumers detect and resolve problems with their home network, as well as ensure that consumers are getting the most use out of their home network. By setting up and configuring their router, enabling file and print sharing, setting up wireless security, and configuring the highest levels of encryption possible, support.com Solutions Engineers can help consumers feel confident that they have a functional and safe home network.
support.com Wireless Security Setup Service
This service is designed to help consumers who have already set up a wireless home network, yet want to make sure that their data is safe from malicious hackers. With this service, support.com Solutions Engineers will help consumers ensure that the wireless network is secure.
support.com's highly experienced, U.S.-based Solutions Engineers help to remotely diagnose and resolve computer problems. By going to www.support.com/ or calling 1-800-PC-SUPPORT, consumers don't have to waste time taking their computers to a store, shipping their PC to the manufacturer, inviting unknown repair technicians into their homes, or relying on family and friends to fix their computer problems. support.com leverages its own proven and patented problem resolution technology to both speed the
overall process and provide customers with a consistent experience, resulting in Instant Technology Relief(SM).
Pricing and Availability
The support.com Network Setup & Troubleshooting Service is available immediately for $79 at www.support.com/. This includes setup for two computers and one printer, and $29 for each additional printer or computer.
The support.com Wireless Security Setup Service is available immediately for $49 at www.support.com/. This includes setup for one wireless router and one computer, with $19 for each additional device.
About SupportSoft and support.com
SupportSoft (NASDAQ:SPRT) is a leading provider of technology problem resolution software and services. The Company's solutions reduce technology support costs, improve customer satisfaction and enable new revenue streams for companies reaching 50 million users worldwide. The Company has expanded its offerings and now provides Instant Technology Relief to frustrating technology problems directly to consumers at www.support.com/. For more information about the Company and its corporate offerings, visit supportsoft.com; for Instant Technology Relief(SM) to consumer technology problems, visit www.support.com/ or dial 1-800-PC-SUPPORT.
(i) "Managing the Digital Home: Installation and Support Services,"
Parks Associates, Q2, 2006
Jennifer Massaro of SupportSoft, Inc.
Stephanie Rice of Ruder Finn
firstname.lastname@example.org, for SupportSoft, Inc.


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Thinking of traveling this summer? Maybe even flying to Europe?
About a week ago, we took a look at when Americans might be able to travel to France. And now we’ve got an update when it comes to travel to the European Union as a whole.
Disney has once again pushed back the theatrical release of its live-action remake of Mulan. Once scheduled to come out in March, the movie was postponed to July 24th, and is now expected to come out on August 21st, 2020.
Now, AMC, who was hoping to reopen nationwide by July, is making a change to their reopening timeline.


text:
French broadcaster M6 Group is to sell its home shopping business, facilitating consolidation of that sector.
The RTL Group-owned broadcasters aid that the home shopping business operated in “a competitive environment undergoing profound change”, impacted by the rise of major international e-commerce platforms.
It said that the sale would enable the combination of its subsidiary with the other leading player in the French sector, Teleshopping, which would help to secure the long-term future of the home shopping business model.
The proposed sale will include an agreement on the broadcast of home shopping programmes on M6 Group’s channels, and an option for the Group to sell its 51% stake in Best of TV, an e-commerce business dedicated to products seen on TV. The company said the latter would benefit from the combination of Home Shopping Service with Stars.
Home Shopping Service is the legal entity that produces M6 Boutique, the home shopping programme on the M6 channel. Home Shopping Service also produces teleshopping formats for other French and foreign broadcasters, as well as infomercials.
Completion of the transaction remains subject to finalisation of the negotiations and to consultation with employee representative bodies.
M6 said that the impact on the group’s financial statements is not expected to be material.
ICYMI: UK SVOD viewing still strong despite lockdown lift digitaltveurope.com/2020/09/25/uk-… https://t.co/srsViARNY9
26 September 2020 @ 18:00:00 UTC
ICYMI: Amazon launches new Fire Sticks and redesigned Fire TV UX digitaltveurope.com/2020/09/25/ama… https://t.co/n0r3656Oqu
26 September 2020 @ 17:10:00 UTC
DTVE: the week in view – Six more months of COVID-19 restrictions – where does sports broadcasting go from here?… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
26 September 2020 @ 12:00:01 UTC


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New Crowdfunding Rules to Boost Investment in Startups
With IPOs turning into a fragile investment method and SPACs taking over, a change in crowdfunding rules is set to boost investment in diverse startups. The changes allow investors and founders to raise up to $5 million from crowdfunding, marking a significant increase from $1.07 million in 2020.
This opens the door to new opportunities for startups that have so far struggled with raising funds the traditional way. Startups that have capped under previous rules can reopen their campaigns and test the waters with investment interests before filing the mandatory paperwork with the SEC.
According to some forecasts, the new rules could pave the way for $1 billion in crowdfunding offerings in 2021. That’s a significant jump from the $250 million in the past year. Ever-rising interest in potential startup unicorns proved that $1.07 million was not enough to cover the needs of smaller companies.
Regulation Crowdfunding has traditionally been the standard route for small businesses and under-represented founders in Europe to raise money. It allows entrepreneurs to set what they would like to offer instead of just equity - some of them offer interest-bearing notes or revenue-sharing agreements. Crowdfunding also allows regular people to get involved.
The pandemic accelerated its evolution as it provides a simple route to funding. Several platforms offer people a chance to participate in the success of young companies struggling to get financing through traditional means.
The popularity of Regulation Crowdfunding has increased from last year and is bound to skyrocket in 2021. Throughout 2020, startups have been using this method to raise funds, and Wefunder, a crowdfunding platform, reported a four-fold investment volume throughout the year. Namely, in February 2020, $2.8 million was invested in startups ranging from self-driving cars to next-door coffee shops, and in February 2021, it reported an $11.4 million volume. These are considerable amounts coming from both regular people investing $100 to angel investors “paying it forward.”
Julia A. is a writer at SmallBizGenius.net. With experience in both finance and marketing industries, she enjoys staying up to date with the current economic affairs and writing opinion pieces on the state of small businesses in America. As an avid reader, she spends most of her time poring over history books, fantasy novels, and old classics. Tech, finance, and marketing are her passions, and she’s a frequent contributor at various small business blogs.
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E-PAYMENT FLOOR FOR EXCISE DUTY LOWERED
The Finance Ministry has lowered the threshold for payment of excise duty through the Internet banking route. The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has now stipulated that internet banking should be the payment mode for all central excise assesses that fork out "Rs.10 lakh or more (including the cenvat credit utilization) in a preceding financial year." Hitherto, e-payment of excise duty was mandatory only for those central excise assesses that paid excise duty of Rs. 50 lakh and above (other than cenvat credit utilization) in a financial year. Meanwhile, the CBEC has also now stipulated that assesses who pay excise duty of over Rs. 10 lakh in a financial year, must file their monthly or quarterly returns electronically.


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A recent study from Facebook shows that more than 40 percent of people switch devices mid-activity and people use each device for a different purpose.
With the adoption of Internet-enabled mobile devices continuing to increase, more than 40 percent of all online U.S. users start an activity on one device and finish on another, according to a recent study from Facebook.
The study, "Finding Simplicity in a Multi-Device World," was commissioned by Facebook and conducted by GfK, an international market research agency.
Among online users who own two devices, more than half of respondents (53 percent) in the study switch between two devices to complete tasks or activities. Close to 80 percent of people who own three devices do the same. Laptops represent 58 percent of all the device switches in the study and tablets represent 22 percent.
In addition, the study shows that people use each device for a different purpose:
And what are the most popular activities across devices? Using Facebook and email, according to the study.
GfK surveyed more than 2,000 people in the U.S. to explore changes in the multi-device world. You can read the full study from Facebook here.
Join the Industry's Leading eCommerce & Direct Marketing Experts in Chicago
ClickZ Live Chicago (Nov 3-6) will deliver over 50 sessions across 4 days and 10 individual tracks, including Data-Driven Marketing, Social, Mobile, Display, Search and Email. Check out the full agenda and register by Friday, Oct 3 to take advantage of Early Bird Rates!
Yuyu Chen is an Editorial Intern at ClickZ. Her work has appeared in Local East Village, New York Daily News and Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce website. Yuyu received her M.A. in Business and Economic Reporting from New York University in May, 2013.
IBM Social Analytics: The Science Behind Social Media Marketing
80% of internet users say they prefer to connect with brands via Facebook. 65% of social media users say they use it to learn more about brands, products and services. Learn about how to find more about customers' attitudes, preferences and buying habits from what they say on social media channels.
An Introduction to Marketing Attribution: Selecting the Right Model for Search, Display & Social Advertising
If you're considering implementing a marketing attribution model to measure and optimize your programs, this paper is a great introduction. It also includes real-life tips from marketers who have successfully implemented attribution in their organizations.
September 23, 2014
September 30, 2014
1:00pm ET/10:00am PT
October 23, 2014
1:00pm ET/10:00am PT


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WASHINGTON — Banks are seeing mostly positive or neutral trends in loan demand and broader economic indicators in the first six weeks of 2017, and are cautiously optimistic about future economic performance, according to a Federal Reserve report released Wednesday.
In its Beige Book report outlining summaries of economic activity and sentiments compiled by the 12 regional Fed banks every six weeks, the Fed noted that the economy continued to expand “at a moderate to modest pace” since the beginning of the year. Bank lending overall was steady or somewhat improved, with some districts reporting increased optimism among lenders that loan demand and economic activity would increase in the next six months.
“Most contacts continued to note the increased optimism of Wall Street investors and larger Main Street businesses but also noted increased uncertainty, especially for consumers and small businesses,” the Philadelphia Fed noted. “In general, banking contacts continued to express cautious optimism for slow, steady growth.”
Some districts reported especially robust economic activity in certain sectors. The Richmond Fed said that it had experienced “record strength in container volume” in shipping ports, while “competition among banks remained fierce.” The Cleveland Fed noted that consumer spending through internet sales had increased while in-store retail spending remained flat.
Other regions saw areas of weakness, however. The Cleveland Fed noted that some commercial real estate developers are forfeiting collateral rather than repaying development loans because “many retail properties are worth less than the loan value.” The St. Louis Fed reported especially low credit quality among agricultural loan applicants, while the Dallas Fed said that already high subprime automotive loan delinquency was increasing. The New York Fed said that small and midsize banks were experiencing “weaker demand for consumer loans and residential mortgages” and “higher delinquency rates across all loan categories except commercial mortgages.”
Banks nonetheless appear to expect that economic activity will increase, and many say the expectation of regulatory relief from the incoming administration will help augment that boost.
The Cleveland Fed noted that bankers’ outlook is “more positive since the presidential election because of an increase in consumer and business confidence,” and the Richmond Fed said “bankers expressed optimism that regulatory changes under the new administration would be more favorable.” Bankers told the St. Louis Fed that they expect “modestly higher loan demand and the possibility of regulatory relief reducing compliance costs.”
But other sectors are less optimistic. Some manufacturers told the Boston Fed that they were concerned “about policy changes from the new administration,” particularly those related to immigration and tax reform. One manufacturer said that “a border adjustment tax would have a big effect on where they located future production facilities and they would be reluctant to commit to new investment without some resolution of the issue,” while another said that “restrictions on the H1B Visa program would affect his ability to staff positions.”


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This article was originally posted as part of our ‘Women in’ series in support of International Women’s Day (IWD) on Wednesday 8th March 2017. Here we talk with Jare Kyriakopoulos, President at Consult852.
“I always knew I would be in the fashion industry,” says Jare Kyriakopoulos, the former vice president of global sourcing at Marc Jacobs, who has just left the brand after 15 years to launch her own fashion line. “I’m one of those rare people who knew from the start that it was coded in my DNA. I started designing and had my own company as a teenager, and I realised very quickly that I needed to learn the business. I pretty much started from day one on the supply side.”
Kyriakopoulos has spent her entire career with big brands, first working with Donna Karan Kids as a production manager in San Francisco, and then moving to New York, starting as a senior production manager on the launch of Marc by Marc Jacobs for luxury brand maker LVMH. She moved up through the ranks, until last year she resigned, having watched the brand grow to revenues of close to USD1 billion. She has now set up her own supply chain consulting business, Consult852, and is about to launch her own fashion range.
“I realised that I didn’t want to jump into a role working for another company without first giving myself the opportunity to run my own company,” she says, “which is really what I wanted to do right from the very beginning. So now I’m doing a lot of consulting work for some interesting brands in operations, sourcing and strategy, and I’m developing my own brand, which I hope to be able to launch by the end of the year.”
That brand will combine her personal passions with a trend in the industry, by focusing on the environmental, anthropological consumer that she says is really growing as a market, using brands as a platform for corporate social responsibility. “For the last year, I have been wanting to develop a brand around an emission-driven, e-commerce business, and the consulting is giving me the opportunity to do both concurrently,” says Kyriakopoulos. “The brand will be built around travel and luxury, underscored by a platform of wanting to do good in, and for, the world, in two distinct areas – empowerment of girls through sport, and education.” A proportion of profits from her goods will go into organisations furthering those causes.
Kyriakopoulos says that everyone should spend a part of their career working in consulting, because of the diversification it offers. For her part, she is drawing on a wealth of experience: at Marc Jacobs she spent four years as a senior production manager, one as director of licensing, three as director of production, and five as vice president of production for ready-to-wear, before taking on the global sourcing role out of Hong Kong in September 2012.
“I was really fortunate in entering the business in the nineties, at a time when businesses were investing in outsourcing, so I had a great opportunity to see new markets evolve,” she says.
Over the course of her career, she has worked in women’s and men’s apparel, in childrenswear, swimwear, leather goods, footwear and jewellery. She even spent time overseeing production of Bark by Marc Jacobs, a range of sweaters for dogs.
Kyriakopoulos moved to Hong Kong for her last role at Marc Jacobs, and has decided to stay and build her own businesses in Asia, attributing that decision to family commitments, the costs of doing business, and the state of US politics.
She says it’s not easy to find supply chain talent anywhere, and particularly female talent: “There’s a major lack of women in the supply chain,” she says. “I have been very lucky in that I have had the opportunity to work with some high-achieving women, from logistics management to global sourcing, and Marc Jacobs had no shortage of women at the top.”
Among her role models she points to Carolyn Risoli, former president of Marc by Marc Jacobs, and her successor Liz Fraser, as well as Sallie Scripter, a previous senior vice president at the company.
“She adds, “I think finding quality talent is a challenge for all organisations, because the core competencies that we need now are not the core competencies that we will need in five years’ time.”
“If a company is to remain competitive, I believe it is the organisations responsibility to challenge their key stakeholders to continuously forecast their future business needs and personnel skill set to achieve those goals. This enables them to engage with, develop, mentor and sponsor their high potential personnel.”
“Equally as I had mentors who sponsored me throughout my achievements at MJI, I also mentored and sponsored high performing individuals within my department. All of whom have been women and who now hold positions of Directors, VP, COO and a soon to be a President. It’s incredible to see their growth and champion their success.”
Kyriakopoulos says consumers are driving rapid change in the role of the supply chain professional: “Consumers are leading one big aspect of the change, and that comes back to the anthropological consumer that I was talking about before,” she says. “There are consumers out there that are passionate about wanting to spend their money on a product that they believe in, and such a product demands supply-chain credibility behind it.”
She points to brands such as Feed by Lauren Bush, which claims to create good products that help feed the world, and Livelihood, a clothing line launched by Ashley Biden, former vice president Joe Biden’s daughter, the proceeds from which go to alleviate poverty through education, training and job placements.
The other driver of change in the supply chain is technology, which means hotel brands no longer own rooms, and fashion brands need no longer hold stock: “You have to think far bigger about the changes happening on the consumer side,” says Kyriakopoulos. “There’s a lot of change about to happen, and it’s going to be rapid. It could be as simple as suppliers needing to take a larger role in the supply chain, so instead of just cutting and making the products, they may be responsible for shipping to consumers, for example.”
Whatever happens, she has no doubt about the growing importance of supply chain in the boardroom: “You can have the most incredible creative – whether it’s an engineer designing a car or a fashion designer designing clothing – but if you don’t have the back-of-house management, and the strategic agile thinkers, to support that creative, then that creative becomes irrelevant. Likewise, you can have the most amazing logistics and supply chain management team, but if they don’t have the product to deliver, it’s pointless.”
She adds, “I don’t see one as more important than the other, but the supply chain is so vital that it would be shocking to me if companies didn’t consider it part of the boardroom, because it has to be there in combination with the product design.”
Right now, Kyriakopoulos is “in the trenches”, handling both the creative side and the delivery of her own new line. “It’s challenging, but it’s just such a huge benefit that I know both sides of the business,” she says. “It’s exciting, scary and fun, all at the same time. You have to be a little bit crazy to be in this industry; that’s why I love it.”


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Nintendo showed off more of Metroid Prime Federation Force during yesterday’s Nintendo Direct presentation, and I’m still in the apparently small camp that thinks it looks like a lot of fun.
No, it’s not a full blown Metroid game, but Nintendo isn’t trying to push it as one. The brand new trailer acknowledges the differences from the classic formula and gives a much closer look as to what it actually looks like. You and three friends team up to run missions in the Metroid universe together jumping into mechanized suits powered by the same technology used in Samus’ suit.
It’s not Metroid, but it’s also equally inoffensive. And this trailer has less first-person soccer, which is an added bonus.
Again, I think it looks fine, and I am more than confident in assuming that Nintendo is working on a new “proper” Metroid Prime behind the scenes with Retro Studios for the NX. This is a fun side project that Next Level Games, a wonderful studio that has only delivered good times for Nintendo fans, is working on to hold the tide until the main show arrives.
However, Nintendo fans continue to show disgruntlement towards the game. Immediately after its release, the trailer was barraged with negative comments and “dislikes” that outnumbered the “likes” 2:1. It got so bad that Nintendo had to disable the ratings graphic.
Nintendo backhandedly acknowledged the negative reaction in the Nintendo Direct presentation, stating that everyone at the company “hopes you try the game for yourself.” In other words, don’t jump to conclusions. It could be a lot of fun!
Metroid Prime Federation Force launches for the Nintendo 3DS this spring.


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Author and art historian Ben Lewis has created a real non-fungible token (NFT) of Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi.
Dubbed the first crypto Leonardo, the digital artwork is a replica of Leonardo’s original, but instead of holding a glass orb, Jesus appears to be clutching a fistful of dollars.
Titled Salvator Metaversi, the crypto artwork serves to highlight the way that art dealers exploit the art world to make millions.
Minted on Friday the online NFT platform Opensea, bidding is open over the Easter weekend and will end on Tuesday.
Lewis is an expert on Leonardo's masterpiece having authored The Last Leonardo: The Secret Lives of the World's Most Expensive Painting in 2019.
In his first foray into the world of NFT, Lewis's work refers to the alternative digital reality of the metaverse – a world dominated by blockchain and cryptocurrency.
The art historian is hopeful of making a fraction of what the original long-lost masterpiece did.
Sold at auction by Christie's New York in November 2017, the painting fetched a hefty $450 million.
Whatever Lewis makes, he'll share half of all profit with the Hendry family, the original owners of the Salvator Mundi masterpiece.
They sold the painting at auction in 2005 and, after all fees were deducted, received only $700 for the artwork, discloses Lewis's book.
What is an NFT?
An NFT is a new type of technology standing for non-fungible token. Essentially, it's ownership of something that's typically non-tangible such as a piece of digital art, an audio file or a video clip, for example.
The NFT is a one-of-a-kind piece of code that is stored on a shared public exchange. These unique files are not interchangeable, and allow verification of ownership. Buyers of NFTs get limited rights to display the digital artwork that they represent.
In recent months, there's been something of an NFT boom in the art world. In March, Christie's auctioned a digital piece by artist Beeple for $69m , and Elon Musk was recently offered $1.1m for a tweet containing a tech-driven song.
Lewis's masterpiece is not the only NFT artwork inspired by Salvator Mundi.
Salvator Mundi 2.0 depicts the original masterpiece with "new, higher fidelity image with AI improved facial features and stabilised symmetry based on a data set from the artist's original work". It is currently on sale on Opensea with a reserve price of $1,993.
Another Simpsons-style image of the famous masterpiece is also listed on the platform, this one with a reserve price of only $10.
Outside the world of art, NFTs have been making headlines in recent weeks in the world of fashion, with Gucci listing trainers for less than $10, and music, with Lindsay Lohan releasing a new NFT single called Lullaby.


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First amateur eSports contest wraps up in Putuo
The final competition of the city’s first amateur eSports contest was held over the weekend in Putuo District.
Four teams fought for the final championship on the most popular computer and mobile MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) games, "League of Legends" and "Honor of Kings" at the Electronics Sports Park on Saturday and Sunday.
With a total of 200,000 yuan (US$30,605) up for grabs, the eSports Shanghai Amateur Championship encourages players and teams from both home and abroad to participate. It is part of the 3rd Shanghai Citizens Sports Meeting.
The 48-day event held both online and offline aims to meet citizens' demands to participate in high-quality eSports games and help create a more attractive environment for the eSports sector, said the Putuo District Culture and Tourism Bureau, one of the organizers of the event.
Since the online application was launched on November 3, more than 500 electronic sports teams applied to take part in the contest, which officially launched its offline knockout matches on November 21. All matches are livestreamed online.
Sixty teams were later selected from the 500 to fight for the final championship at Changfeng Joy City. The winning teams have fought in the atrium of the shopping complex, with their competition live broadcast on a large screen.
"The championship marks that the eSports games once popular among a small group of people have become a recognized sport among citizens," said the leader of the NCR team from Kunshan in neighboring Jiangsu Province.
"We hope the eSports spirit will be promoted through the event."
The ESP eSports Experiencing Center, officially opened on May 28, covers 36,000 square meters in Putuo’s Changfeng business district. The East China contest of the King Pro League will be held in the center. The eSports center is expected to host more than 350 games a year.
Shanghai aims to become the world’s eSports capital, eventually rivaling Los Angeles, which has attracted famous game clubs and developers like Riot Games, Activision Blizzard and Infinity Ward.
The city government has initiated a series of preferential policies to support the industry and professional players.
By the end of 2019, Shanghai had built 35 eSports stadiums and hosted 40 percent of the nation’s top eSports competitions. More than 80 percent of the nation’s leading clubs and players are based in Shanghai.
The value of Shanghai's eSports sector is expected to reach 19 billion yuan this year, according to the Shanghai eSports Association.
Putuo has made eSports one of its key industries, the bureau said, to serve the city’s ambition to become a global eSports capital.
Several other key eSports venues have been developed in Putuo, such as the IMBA eSports center at Global Harbor Mall, the biggest downtown shopping mall, and an eSports Internet bar at Huxi Workers’ Cultural Palace.


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Apple slipped behind Sony, Samsung, and Microsoft in Forrester Research’s 2014 customer experience survey. This marks the first time Apple has been rated behind its rivals in the three years the survey has been conducted.
The survey measures customer experience, which involves difficult-to-define criteria based on how a customer feels about his or her interaction with a company. Forrester queried 7,500 consumers about their retail and customer support experiences and used the responses to assign each company a customer-experience index score.
Amazon scored highest in the survey, and was the only manufacturer to obtain an “excellent” rating of 91 from Kindle customers.
Sony grabbed second, with an 83, while Microsoft and Samsung tied at 82. Apple fell into fifth place, with a rating of 81. Apple rated above all three brands in previous surveys.
On the bright side for Apple, their score was an improvement over previous surveys, and earned a “good” rating according to the survey’s criteria.
Apple has been struggling on the customer service front a bit lately, as they are faced with an increasing volume of customers visiting its retail stores for sale and support, and it has struggled to find the right person to lead its retail operations. After nearly a year and a half without a retail chief, Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts will take over the division in the near future, overseeing both retail and online store operations.


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As many as 65 washing machines, 60 television sets and 60 mixer grinders that were illegally stored at a godown near Indiranagar in the city have been seized by Tahsildar D B Natesh.
“Following a tip-off, we raided the godown, where these goods were stored. Prima facie investigation has revealed that these goods belonged to Congress candidate Dr K Sudhakar’s Saikrishna Charitable Trust,” Natesh told Deccan Herald.
The trust had organised rangoli competitions recently and these goods were meant to be distributed among the winners. However, due to various reasons these could not be distributed, according to the trust officials.
But this will be investigated thoroughly, Natesh added.
“We have not found the original documents of these goods with the Trust and we are being interrogating trust members and also the godown owner. Trust members have been directed to produce the documents pertaining to these goods. They have been given time till Monday. Stern action will be taken against if it is found a poll code violation, he added.


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Ford’s first EV for China will be a compact SUV
Shortly after announcing their electrification strategy for Europe, Ford has revealed its plans for China. Within the next three years, 30 models of the Ford and Lincoln brands are expected to enter the world’s largest car market but only ten of them are electric cars and plug-in hybrids.
The Ford Territory BEV, a fully battery-electric compact SUV, will be their first new electric car in 2019. With their new strategy, Ford is responding to declining sales in the world’s largest automobile market, which have also affected other brands such as GM, VW and Jaguar Land Rover, especially since the trade dispute between the USA and China. Most recently, Ford saw a car sales decline in China for the first time in 20 years.
The electric offensive will start with the new Escape, which was recently unveiled in Detroit. According to observers, however, electrified vehicles are more decisive for Ford’s market success in the future. While the growth of the entire car market in China has slowed down, sales of electric cars continue to rise sharply – mainly due to the government’s subsidy policy. “Ford is deeply committed to China, and with our new China leadership team and vision, we’re investing in the future,” says Ford CEO Jim Hackett according to CNN. For example, the Escape will also be available as a plug-in hybrid.
In addition, Ford plans to further invest in the Chinese economy. The domestic partners Changan Automobile and Jiangling Motors, for example, will be better integrated into the development of vehicles for the Chinese market. Changan Ford will design and develop the next-generation Ford Escort, and Jiangling will play a key role in the Ford Territory BEV. The U.S. manufacturer’s research and development facilities are to be expanded to include a China Innovation Center and a China Design Center, and more local talent will be integrated into the company.
The importance of business in China is also demonstrated by the launch of new technologies: The company presented Sync+, its new infotainment system based on the artificial intelligence technology of the Chinese tech giant Baidu. It was developed especially for Chinese drivers, and from this year most Ford and Lincoln vehicles built in China will be equipped with Sync+.
In addition, all new products and technologies from 2021 onwards will be complemented by C-V2X technology, which is becoming increasingly important, especially in connection with the ultra-fast 5G mobile communications standard and car automation. The technology, which networks vehicles with the infrastructure, is intended to improve their perception in their environment and serve traffic safety and efficiency.
“By injecting even more Chinese DNA and know-how into the business, and combining it with Ford’s global technology and resources, we will be able to respond faster to market changes and develop more efficient market strategies,” said Ford’s China President Anning Chen, who was appointed to the CEO position in China in late 2018.


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It’s no secret that the Fourth Industrial Revolution has officially begun. The era of intersection between people and machines is among us, with more industries embracing the new technologies that are available.
Historically, the term ‘revolution’ was often associated with hardships, displacement and economic dissonance. The Fourth Industrial Revolution, on the other hand, is often discussed in an energised, excited – and dare I say, blasé – type of attitude, particularly among ICT professionals.
Of course, we in the ICT industry understand the benefits that will come with the digital era, however I find myself wondering whether the consequences of this somewhat peaceful revolution might mirror those of revolutions past if we do not act quickly.
Concern has already begun to spread among the public, with many fearing for their jobs should the impact of technology increase within organisations around the country. As industry, we know the specifics of this particular issue, however we all have a part to play in ensuring optimal understanding around the digital revolution, or risk ushering the same hardships suffered during revolutions past.
Changing the message
We are privileged to not only watch a worldwide revolution take place before us, but to contribute towards it. The work we do in the ICT industry is changing the ways South Africans live and do business, and the impact and implications of the digital revolution are becoming more evident with each passing hour.
New technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning and Big Data represent some of the most exciting opportunities for our market, but because of their lack of understanding, it can easily cause uncertainty in the public. Rather than purely boasting about the possibility and opportunity these technologies offer our organisations, industries and organisations must do their bit to educate the public about the ways in which these technologies will benefit the end consumer.
From a Vodacom perspective, we are investing a lot of money in this space to offer increased service to our customers. If you look at our call centres, for instance, we are a business with over 39 million customers, and a lot of time is taken by customers trying to identify themselves when they call us. We need predictive analytics to know why they are calling us, and be able to solve their problems before they even call – meaning our services improve and our customers are ultimately happier. This is the kind of message that must be exerted in order for the Fourth Industrial Revolution to remain peaceful – that not only will human resources remain important to our businesses, but the end consumer will ultimately benefit from new technologies as well.
We also know that these technologies offer huge for cost-saving opportunities for our customers. The Vodacom Group recently launched Africa’s first commercial 5G service. Currently being used in Lesotho, the 5G service uses 3.5GHz spectrum to deliver fixed-wireless access to enterprise customers in the country, providing quicker deployment of broadband services at fibre-like speeds. What we’ve accomplished in Lesotho is an example of what can be achieved in Africa. The project represents a R32,7 billion investment by Vodacom over four years, and if we acquire more access to spectrum, we will be able to drive down infrastructure costs and, in turn, pass huge savings on to the consumer.
Even communities at large can benefit once digital capabilities expand. Vodacom’s prime example of transformation technology is Connected Farmer; the cloud-based web and mobile software solution that has connected thousands of smallholder farmers to the agriculture value chain. This small business model has achieved its purpose of turning smallholder farmers into a sustainable realistic and executable food manufacturers and retail businesses, increasing the number of smallholder subsistence farmers in commercial agriculture value chains within South Africa.
We are furthermore working with various municipalities on smart metering projects. We assist the Department of Health with the replenishing of stock for hospitals using our IoT system. We are also working with some of the financial services companies in terms of payments and ordering systems, and we recently launched the Citizen Engagement application, a mobile digital app that assists government and citizens with service delivery communication. All of this with the end consumer in mind.
Embrace the revolution
We are fortunate that the Fourth Industrial Revolution has been peacefully embraced thus far – but in order for this to remain, we as industry we must make more effort to relay the peaceful message that new technologies are adapted by organisations with the customer in mind.
Once consumers understand that they will be the ultimate beneficiaries of the digital revolution and the new technologies that come along with it, they too will join us in expressing excitement about its impending takeover.


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The Chinese Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 50.6 in April, compared to 50.9 in March. (Source: Fung Business Intelligence Centre, April 30, 2013.) While it’s not a big decline, it’s important to note that any number below 50 represents contraction in the manufacturing sector of the Chinese economy. In April, output, new orders, new export orders, backlog orders, and stocks of finished goods in the manufacturing sector of the Chinese economy were all lower than the previous month’s.
The obvious fear is that the economic slowdown in the Chinese economy will eventually send ripple effects through the U.S. economy, as a significant number of U.S.-based companies operate in the Chinese economy.
Unfortunately, the economic slowdown in the Chinese economy is picking up speed.
YUM! Brands, Inc. (NYSE/YUM), the parent company of many fast food eateries, including Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), reported its profits plummeted 27% in the first quarter of 2013 compared to the same quarter of last year. One of the main reasons for the decline in the company’s profits was a significant decline in sales in the Chinese economy. (Source: MarketWatch, April 23, 2013.)
YUM! Brands is not the only company that operates in the Chinese economy. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE/WMT), the biggest retailer in the U.S. economy, has more than 380 stores in the Chinese economy. (Source: Wall Street Journal, April 1, 2013.)
Not only will the economic slowdown in the Chinese economy decrease the profits of U.S.-based companies, it will also drag their share prices lower. And I’m worried these companies will be forced to take measures to maintain their corporate earnings—cost-cutting in the form of staff reductions, which add more pressure to the U.S. economy.
I’m watching the economic slowdown in the Chinese economy closely, as I believe its implications are vast. Keep in mind that as the world’s second-biggest economy, the direction of the Chinese economy is a key indicator of the global economy.
What He Said:
“The Real Threat to the Economy: U.S. retail sales are falling, the producer price index is crashing, house prices, car prices are all falling—and no one is talking about deflation but me. Fed governors are still talking about inflation—they’ve got it wrong. There’s no need for me to get into the dangers of deflation as I’ve written about them (many times) before. Let’s just put it this way: Deflation is about the worst economic state a country will experience. The risks to the U.S. economy in 2007 are greater than I’ve seen in years.” Michael Lombardi in Profit Confidential, November 15, 2006. Michael was one of the first to warn of deflation. By late 2008, world economies were embedded in their worst state of deflation since the Great Depression.
What the Economic Slowdown in China Really Means for the U.S. was last modified: May 2nd, 2013 by Michael Lombardi, MBA
Michael Lombardi founded investor research firm Lombardi Publishing Corporation in 1986. Michael is also the founder of the popular daily e-letter, Profit Confidential, where readers get the benefit of Michael’s years of experience with the stock market, real estate, economic forecasting, precious metals, and various businesses. Michael believes in successful stock picking as an important wealth accumulation tool. Michael has authored more than thousands of articles on investment and money management and is the author of several successful investing publications,... Read Full Bio »
Forecasts Aug. 30, 2015
Immediate term outlook:
The bear market rally in stocks that started in March 2009, extended because of unprecedented central bank money printing, is coming to an end. Gold bullion is up $1,000 an ounce since we first recommended it in 2002 and we are still bullish on the physical metal.
Short-to-medium term outlook:
World economies are entering their slowest growth period since 2009. The Chinese economy grew last year at its slowest pace in 24 years. Japan is in recession. The eurozone is in depression. With almost half the S&P 500 companies deriving revenue outside the U.S., slower world economic growth will negatively impact revenue and earnings growth of American companies. Domestically, America’s gross domestic product grew by only a meager 2.3% in the second quarter, which will negatively impact an already overpriced equity market.
Estimates Aug. 30, 2015
Trailing 12-month EPS for Dow Jones companies (Most Recent Quarter)


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The company Huobi Group offering a range of financial services, has announced structural changes in some of its units.
In particular, the Japanese branch of Huobi will now be fully regulated by the exchange the exchange offers for trading crypto assets. Traders registering at Japanese platform Huobi, unable at the moment to trade bitcoin and some Althingi.
Huobi has been completely restarted, and now its working for Japanese customers is part of the platform BitTrade. We will remind, earlier BitTrade was completely closed in order to reopen in the composition of the group Huobi Group. Now cryptocurrency platform Huobi makes an exchange transaction for the user in a fully legal field, because previously obtained a license from the chief financial regulator of Japan – FSA.
General Manager Group Huobi Leon Li assured that it was very important output Huobi Group on the Japanese market. And as much proud of the fact that the newly discovered area works closely with financial regulators to always be in harmony with the legal framework. Leon Lee stressed that Huobi was one of the first platforms licensed by the FSA for cryptocurrency exchanges.
In addition to bitcoin on the exchange currently trade is available in pairs with Ethereum, Bitcoin, Cash, Litecoin, ripple and Monacoin.


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China’s Credit Tsunami May Capsize The World
Posted October 5, 2017
The IMF expects China’s Total Debt to double from US$27 trillion in 2016 to US$54 trillion in 2022. That would be a five-fold increase in total debt just since 2009.
I’m not convinced that will happen. But, if it does, the creation and deployment of US$27 trillion of Credit by China over the next 5 – 6 years would:
- Drive asset prices sharply higher all around the world,
- Inflate and distort the supply and demand for every product produced anywhere in the world; and
- Fundamentally alter the geopolitical balance of power.
Over the same period, US debt is likely to expand by only US$18 trillion. The United States should be worried. Credit is power.
If China really does create US$27 trillion of new credit by 2022 and the US creates US$18 trillion more, this would very likely produce a great global economic boom. US$45 trillion is nearly 2.5 times US GDP. Asset prices should rise sharply. Property prices in the London, New York, Toronto, Vancouver, Sydney, Melbourne, Hong Kong and Singapore should soar. And GDP growth should accelerate all around the world.
Just as an unsustainable boom in US debt produced the global economic crisis of 2008, the unsustainable boom in Chinese debt is likely to be the cause of the next global economic crisis.
Global asset prices have already been pushed up to an unsustainable level and the global supply of goods (determined by credit) already exceeds the global demand for goods (determined by income). The longer China’s extraordinary credit boom continues, the worse these imbalances will become and the greater the global deflationary depression will be once Chinese credit ceases to expand.
What we don’t know, however, is how much larger China’s credit bubble will become before it pops. It is possible that it will become a great deal larger. If it does, it will transform the world. The world is not prepared for the wall of money that could come flooding out of China during the next few years.
The latest Macro Watch video explains why China’s credit bubble probably won’t survive until 2022. However, it also considers what the consequences could be if it does.
Macro Watch subscribers can log in and watch this 15-minute video now. The presentation has 27 downloadable charts.
If you have not yet subscribed to Macro Watch and would like to, click on the following link:
For a 50% subscription discount hit the “Sign Up Now” tab and, when prompted, use the coupon code: capsize
You will find 38 hours of Macro Watch videos available to watch immediately. A new video will be added approximately every two weeks.
Please share this blog with your colleagues and friends.


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Apple was otherwise refusing to set up shop in the region, two sources informed Bloomberg.
Although the country’s monarchical government is working on a law that would permit full foreign ownership in some industries, businesses in the U.A.E. must normally be 51 percent owned by Emiratis, or a parent company completely owned by them, unless they’re operating in so-called free zones.
Ahmad Al-Hosani, director of trade registration for the country’s Ministry of Economy, would only tell Bloomberg that Apple was licensed “according to the requirements of, and in compliance with the Commercial Companies Law, as well as the ministerial resolution on foreign company branches.”
The first Apple Store should open in Dubai later this year, the sources said, followed by a shop in Abu Dhabi. The Dubai outlet will be Apple’s first in the Middle East.
The U.A.E. is a small but significant market for Apple, since while there are just 17 million cellular subscribers in the region, 61 percent of them are using smartphones. In the fourth quarter of 2014, the iPhone 5s was the region’s most popular phone. More info


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Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Since 1987 Avid has been the leader in video production technology, serving the film and video industry with it's array of products. We use Avid here at Handcrafted, so when the company revamped it's identity, a post announcing the news was a no-brainer.
Designed by someone, the new logo connotes a more contemporary, progressive energy that will help unify the companies offerings - says my opinion. I like the move towards something more iconic and bold and overall, it is a well produced revamp. The only bit that gets me is the negative space between the "v" and the "i". It keeps drawing my eye. Is this bothering anyone else?
Update: Avid contacted us to let us know that "Our press release actually stated that the new logo reflects the "volume up, volume down, play, pause, record and forward" symbols consumers and professionals recognize as fundamental to the digital audio and video solutions they use every day to enable their creativity, and signals a unification of the company's core audio and video offerings."


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Samsung Galaxy A53 smartphone’s main camera may not offer an impressive resolution much to the chagrin of mobile photography enthusiasts.
The South Korean phone manufacturer will unveil the Galaxy A52slater this month. However, the phone has been subject to multiple leaks that have ruined the company’s upcoming reveal.
Earlier this year, the company unveiled the Galaxy A52 5G. Samsung is currently gearing up to take the wraps off the Galaxy A52s 5G, which packs a more powerful processor.
Regrettably, the phone will not be able to deliver superior image quality. In other words, the improving camera resolution in the company’s mid-range top phones has reached its peak stage with the aforesaid models.
Samsung Galaxy A53 Camera Resolution Won’t Be Captivating
Regrettably, the main camera of the Galaxy A53 will retain the camera resolution of the existing models. In other words, Samsung’s upcoming mid-ranger will feature the same 64MP camera available on its predecessor.
However, SamMobile pointed out this is not surprising, considering that the Galaxy A50 series has a reputation for reprocessing hardware across the entire lineup.
The publication suggests that the 64MP lens will be recycled across generations until the 108MP lens gets introduced in mid-range smartphones
The latest report from GalaxyClub.nl revealed the megapixel count on the Galaxy A53 smartphone’s primary camera. The report reveals that the upcoming phone’s main camera will have the same resolution as its predecessor.
Ideally, the company would have brought the 108 MP sensor to its mid-range A series of phones. Improvements in the optics department Galaxy A53 will not be in terms of cameras. Furthermore, details about telephoto lenses, macro, wide-angle and front cameras are still few and far between.
What Else Can We Expect?
As far as hardware is concerned, the Galaxy A53 could be faster than the equally anticipated Galaxy A52s. This device features the power-packed Snapdragon 778G SoC from Qualcomm.
The upcoming Galaxy A53 smartphone should pack a better processor than the A52s. It is still early to think that these shreds of information about the Galaxy A53 could prove to be true.
However, more details about the device are likely to surface on the web as we get closer to its official unveiling.


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Expedia reports Dominican Republic leads in 2015 Caribbean travel demand
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.– The Expedia group, one ofthe world’s largest online travel companies, reported today a banner year forthe Dominican Republic in 2015, with the destination remaining the top producingmarket in the Caribbean.
Within the Caribbean region as a whole, the Dominicandestination of Punta Cana, continues to be the top producing market in 2015,followed by Puerto Rico, and Aruba. Additional in-demand destinations in theDominican Republic with large rates of growth in 2015 compared to the yearbefore include:
Santo Domingo with more than 25 percent growth
Puerto Plata with more than 30 percent growth
Samana with 45 percent growth
The United Sates was once again the top producing marketfor the Dominican Republic with an increase in demand of more than 20 percentgrowth in 2015 compared to 2014. Canada followed in second with nearly 20percent growth year over year and Brazil in third with nearly 30 percentgrowth.
Package bookings, transactions that combine components likeflights and hotel, continue to shine in the Dominican Republic generating muchhigher booking windows of more than 70 days and a length of stay of an average5.7 days.
“With a strong hospitality foundation and idyllic beachweather, the Dominican Republic continues to be the most popular Caribbeandestination for travelers from major markets like the U.S., Canada and Brazil,”said Demetrius Canton, Director of LodgingPartner Services for the Caribbean, Expedia group. “Expedia complements theisland’s top-notch tourism offering by being a valued partner and advisor tohotel partners and offers Expedia’s technology capabilities and tools to helpthem increase sales and their bottom line.”
The Expedia group’s market management team is attending theDominican Annual Tourist Exchange (DATE), from April 19 – 21, 2016 in PuntaCana, Dominican Republic. The Expedia group will host an E-Commerce Seminar onApril 19 at 3 p.m. at the Melia Caribe Tropical where Demetrius Canton and theDominican market management team will share market data, company announcementsand product launches. On April 18, Expedia will also host a PartnerAppreciation Cocktail event at the Pearl Beach Club to show their appreciationfor the great relationships forged between the company and the island’shoteliers.
Throughout the conference the team will liaise with valuedtravel partners to discuss the successes in the region and provide counsel on increasingvisibility and demand using Expedia group’s powerful technology and marketingtools. The team will also introduce Expedia® PartnerCentral (EPC)Conversations, which recently rolled out and encourages direct dialogue andengagement between hoteliers and booked guests, providing a more personalizedexperience for guests and enabling them to reach out directly to hotels toinquire about additional amenities and services.
EPC Conversations is just one of the ways ExpediaPartnerCentral enables hoteliers to connect with guests. Real-time Feedbackprovides hoteliers immediate visibility into guest sentiment by solicitingreal-time feedback after check-in by answering three quick questions sohoteliers can address concerns while the guest is still on the property.Expedia PartnerCentral also provides easy access to reviews from across allExpedia sites, allowing hoteliers to identify guest feedback that requiresattention and thank guests for staying with them.
Expedia seeks to continue to add more properties to itsportfolio in 2016 and to support tourism growth in the Dominican Republic andthe region. By working with the Expedia group, hotels in the DominicanRepublic gain exposure to the more than200 websites in more than 75 countries worldwide in 35 languages, in additionto a myriad of mobile sites and apps, from brands such as Expedia®,Hotels.com®, Travelocity®, Orbitz®, Hotwire®, Egencia®, Expedia® AffiliateNetwork and others.


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As the pandemic hit, suddenly every product and retail company was forced to become an ecommerce company. But choosing the right platform amidst all of the potential possibilities proved to be another challenge to overcome. Which inspired Portland startup Rally, a headless decentralized ecommerce platform that works in tandem with a variety of other providers.
Headless frontends are giving merchants more control than ever before over the shopping experience. And API-driven headless backends are giving merchants unprecedented control over their business processes.
Using web3 principles and innovation in crypto, Rally’s vision is to fundamentally change how value flows within ecommerce.
Instead of value flowing inward, towards a centralized company, we are building a checkout that allows value to flow outward, toward the community of merchants and builders.
Today, the company announced a $6 million funding round to continue pursuing the effort. According to TechCrunch, the round was “led by Felix Capital, alongside Rainfall Ventures, Long Journey Ventures, Afore Ventures and Commerce Ventures.” From what’s out there at the moment, I can’t tell whether local investors participated in this round or not.
For more information, visit Rally.


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One of Bad Black’s biggest dreams is to walk along the streets of Uganda and see bleached skins. Only then will she feel contented.
Ugandan socialite and businesswoman Shanitah Namuyimbwa a.k.a Bad Black is one of the many female celebrities who have bleached their skins to have a lighter skin complexion.
In March, Bad Black and her soon to be husband Asha Panda opened up a new online beauty products company which supplies beauty products across the world.
The Bad Black And Asha Panda Beauty Company is already supplying bleaching soaps, creams and vaseline to clients across the world.
Read Also: Bad Black starts up Beauty Products Company with soon to be husband Asha Panda
During a Facebook live video on Tuesday evening, Bad Black revealed that she is now concentrating on that business and she has no plans of going abroad soon.
She plans to sell the beauty products and hopes that one day every Ugandan shall have used her bleaching creams.
My dream is not to go to America. I don’t want to go there seeking for help. Even Magufuli died because he refused to ask for foreign help so I don’t want to go to America. My dream is to sell my bleaching creams, to bleach all Ugandans, the entire Uganda.
Bad Black uses her social media pages, especially Snapchat, to advertise her beauty products company.
Not the worst dream if you asked me but is it achievable? Time will tell.
Josh Ruby is an Editor with high interest and knowledge in the Ugandan entertainment space, an industry he has been actively part of since 2010. Leads to breaking stories are welcome!
More by Josh Ruby


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Peter Parks | AFP | Getty Images
Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX speaks at the 68th International Astronautical Congress 2017 in Adelaide on September 29, 2017.
The proposed class-action suit alleges a racist culture at Tesla, unsafe factory conditions, and failure on the part of the company, including CEO Elon Musk personally, to prevent or investigate race-based harassment and discrimination there.
Filed on behalf of plaintiff Marcus Vaughn, an ex-Tesla worker, and more than 100 African Americans who worked at Tesla’s Fremont factory between November 2016 and November 2017, the suit claims that Tesla allowed factory workers to use racist epithets, failed to take corrective action against harassers and fired black workers who complained.
The suit references an e-mail that CEO Elon Musk allegedly sent to Fremont factory workers addressing complaints of a toxic culture. In this, Musk reportedly told black workers, and other minorities:
“Part of not being a huge jerk is considering how someone might feel who is part of [a] historically less represented group,” Musk wrote in the email. “Sometimes these things happen unintentionally, in which case you should apologize. In fairness, if someone is a jerk to you, but sincerely apologizes, it is important to be thick-skinned and accept that apology.”
The suit also says that in July this year, black workers at Tesla’s Fremont factory sent a note to Tesla’s HR business partner Rose Sanson and CEO Elon Musk detailing the kinds of harassment they were experiencing. The email excerpted in the suit said:
“[One worker] spoke up and said he didn’t like when associates say N— on the line. It made him and a lot of us on the line feel uncomfortable. Since that day there has been so much backlash from him getting hit in the back of the head with a chair, to him getting called bipolar, sensitive, people say n—- just to get a reaction out of him….
I just hope whoever reads this does something about it before someone on my line snaps, and someone gets hurt.”
Tesla did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Read the full lawsuit filing here:


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Music piracy never died. The opposite is in fact happening, as earlier this year the group MUSO reported that music piracy increased year-over-year
. Yet there are stories that say how streaming music and the availability of services like Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Music are killed the need for piracy
. Notsomuch. These platforms are indeed successful and are pushing people towards paying for music but they alone are not causing music piracy to decline.
This week I wanted to skirt around the topic of piracy is because I think it offers a glimpse into what will be future concerns about the health of music streaming, once these services start to reach peak users in large markets like the United States. The other reason is that conversations around piracy remain interesting to me, because it re-frames an issue of record label greed against the consumers. That people soured on the record industry in the late 90s and early 2000s in retrospect makes perfect sense as its hard to have a billion dollar industry sue and attempt to take down its customers ever be seen in a positive light.
Yet, what exactly does piracy mean in 2018? That’s kind of the fun part of internet piracy in 2018, where at one point it meant sites like Napster, BitTorrent, or an endless number of file-sharing sites. Right now one of the biggest ways of music piracy builds directly on top of legal streaming services. YouTube and SoundCloud rippers are highly popular ways of getting access to music, because one can just plop a link to get back an MP3 that is now theirs, can’t be tracked, and can proliferate in endless ways. I mention that it can’t be tracked, because of the awkward trade-offs the music industry made in surveillance music streaming is that the value of a listener is either through direct subscription payment or through tracking every song stream and using that contextual data to sell advertisements. This in turn makes an MP3 a direct challenge to this particular model.
Earlier this year the Bronx rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie put out a number of songs on SoundCloud. They weren’t released anywhere else, though obviously one could find them on YouTube, and I decided I didn’t want to chance he just one day pulls them from the service and went to a SoundCloud ripper to make copies. A few of these tracks are my most listened to music of the year but there is no way SoundCloud or Atlantic Records, A Boogie’s label, would know that.
Where in the early 2000s record labels and artists could make an impassioned plea for music fans to not simply avoid putting money in the pockets of their favorite artists by not buying a CD. That doesn’t quite hold up as well in 2018. Artists constantly complain about just how little money they make from music streaming and the fact is a fan the connection between my money and the artist is painfully abstract. Either my subscription payment is going to Spotify, placed into a giant bucket, and then a little bit is given to my favorite act. The other option is that Spotify, YouTube, or whoever is using all of the data they have on me to better target ads that hopefully will appear with my favorite artist’s content and they may receive some small cut of that money. The two options show just how abstracted the fan to artist relationship is in 2018.


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Posted by Sheila Shayon on May 9, 2014 01:07 PM
Apple may soon be marching to a new beat as it closes in on its largest acquisition ever: the $3.2 billion purchase of Beats Electronics LLC.
Founded by music producer Jimmy Iovine and hip-hop celeb Dr. Dre, Beats is known for its premium Beats by Dre headphones and streaming music service, Beats Music, which launched in January. The headphones alone, which can cost consumers upwards of $300, have become a status (and fashion) symbol in the hip-hop community and beyond, and have posed a great challenge to headphone-makers like Skullcandy.
Apple, of course, produces its own earbuds for use with its iPhones and iPods, but recently partnered with Beats for the iPhone 5S release in November. The company has been under pressure from investors and consumers to bring innovative new products to market.
As the Wall Street Journal observes, Apple shook up the music business in 2003 with the launch of the iTunes music store, but now it's the disrupter that's being disrupted.Continue reading...
Posted by Sheila Shayon on May 5, 2014 05:41 PM
Tweeting just got sweeter—or shopping just got Tweeter—for Amazon customers thanks to a new social integration that lets users add items to their shopping cart by responding to links on Twitter with the hashtag #AmazonCart (in the U.S) or #AmazonBasket (in the U.K.), a move that makes social shopping easier and—dare we say—fun.
“Add it now, buy it later” is the slogan, and it seems to be as simple to use as that tagline. Once an Amazon account is linked to a Twitter account, responding to a link with the requisite hashtag puts the item in your cart along with a reply tweet from @MyAmazon.
While hashtags make the process simple, it’s simultaneously a public broadcast of what one is buying—as well as user-generated marketing for Amazon and the latest step in making shopping more social and seamless.Continue reading...
Posted by Abe Sauer on March 12, 2014 02:33 PM
Hello, Kitty! Beloved Japanese children's icon Hello Kitty had officially teamed up with Playboy. Yes, you read that correctly. Not the most obvious brand collaboration, the two entertainment brands are being brought together by cutting-edge French fashion retailer Colette. The co-branded collection consists of everything from socks to lighters to cameras to sucettes (lollipops). Obviously not geared for kids—and you will never look at Kitty the same way again...
Posted by Dale Buss on March 12, 2014 11:47 AM
ConAgra and Procter & Gamble are setting down the longtime rivalries of the companies and their brands these days for a special campaign aimed at fighting the surprising and stubborn prevalence of childhood hunger in America.
In the Childhood Hunger Ends Here campaign, the CPG giants are joining forces to support a campaign that ConAgra began in 2010 to highlight the problem of the nearly 16 million children who are said to be living in "food-insecure" households in America. The effort will donate up to 7 million meals.
"We can make joint calls on retailers, and that helps retailers look at it as a bigger, more powerful program," Brett Groom, senior vice president for content integration and activation at ConAgra, told the New York Times. "We certainly hope to build this into a multi-year relationship."Continue reading...
Posted by Abe Sauer on March 3, 2014 03:39 PM
"Since the 50s, one common target about making a statement has been McDonald's. Ronald McDonald plus something violent and crazy like money equals… shock."
So begins the excellent takedown of anti-corporate art from IFC TV series Portlandia. It's just the latest brand integration from the product placement-friendly satire series. In fact, the show has re-teamed with Geico on its latest storyline that kicked off the first episode of the show's fourth season last week.Continue reading...
Posted by Mark J. Miller on November 11, 2013 02:18 PM
Financial services brands and sports go hand in hand (case in point: the Barclays Premier League). So it comes as no surprise that according to the most recent Sponsorium report, which tracks sponsorship and community investment dollars across the globe, financial companies this year have seen an average of “9% higher requested amounts for philanthropic donations than non-Financial industry brands” — and that the majority of those sponsorship requests are for sports.
According to the report, the “Financial industry’s sponsorship activity is focused primarily in Sports,” which makes up 52% of the sponsorship dollars the Financial industry spends. Arts came in second when it came to the industry’s sponsorship dollars, making that category “roughly 30% more popular than their global average for all industries.” When it comes to donations between $10,000 and $500,000, banks and other “financial brands are both asked for and are making larger-sized donations/grants than brands from other industries.”Continue reading...
Posted by Mark J. Miller on November 11, 2013 10:18 AM
Can Amazon save the United States Postal Service? Well, no, but it can make the long-suffering government agency do something nobody could have possibly predicted—work on Sundays.
Starting this week, the USPS will deliver Amazon's packages on Sundays in the New York and Los Angeles metropolitan areas. The move comes ahead of the busiest holiday season, and as the USPS would end up eliminating Saturday delivery in order to save billions of dollars annually.
Now Amazon has worked out a deal with the US Postal Service, which lost nearly $16 billion last year, for the agency to use flexible scheduling with its current employees to get its goods to customers, according to a press release.
It’s a pretty sweet deal for Amazon Prime customers since UPS and FedEx don't deliver on Sundays. Amazon's plan is that the Sunday-delivery option will be introduced to Dallas, Phoenix, New Orleans, and other cities next year and be available throughout the whole year, not just at the holidays.Continue reading...
Posted by Sheila Shayon on July 31, 2013 01:54 PM
After fumbling with that glass ceiling all too long, women are starting to gain some serious support among business and tech companies.
Google, Politico and the Tory Burch Foundation have announced a partnership to create Women Rule, a programming and event series that highlights female leaders, their experiences and their advice to their female peers.
The initiative will produce a four-part series in Washington, D.C., to be streamed online via a Women Rule media hub that will also sell Women Rule apparel, with the proceeds going to charities, including the Tory Burch Foundation.Continue reading...


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[ZeroHedge] Wells Fargo has been ordered to pay $3.7 billion by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) for a variety of illegal activity, including wrongfully foreclosing on homes, illegally repossessing vehicles, incorrectly assessing fees and interest, and charging surprise overdraft fees.
The settlement, which includes the largest fine ever imposed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, allows the bank to resolve claims that it had harmed millions of consumers since 2011.
Wells Fargo’s yearslong mistreatment of its customers has resulted in another record-breaking fine and a warning that more restrictions on its ability to do business could soon follow, per The New York Times.
On Tuesday, the bank agreed to pay $1.7 billion in penalties and another $2 billion in damages to settle claims that it engaged in an array of banking violations over the last decade that harmed millions of consumers, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said.
The latest developments contribute to a picture, years in the making, of Wells Fargo as one of America’s worst-run big banks.
For decades, the 170-year-old bank has struggled to fix its practices despite run-ins with regulators, even as employees and customers continued to identify new problems.
The consumer protection bureau said Wells Fargo did not record customer payments on home and auto loans properly, wrongfully repossessed some borrowers’ cars and homes and charged overdraft fees even when customers had enough money to cover purchases they made with their bank cards.
Wells Fargo stopped the conduct this year as part of a larger effort to clean up other unlawful practices stretching back to 2011, the filing said.
Wells Fargo Criticism
The fine is the largest ever imposed by the regulator, breaking a previous record of $1 billion, also set by an action against Wells Fargo.
It brings the total penalties the government has levied against the bank for mistreating customers and investors to $6.2 billion since 2016 and almost $20 billion since the financial crisis.
Mr. Sloan took the top post to help clean up the bank’s reputation, which was reeling from self-inflicted scandals, but he became a lightning rod for criticism and was replaced after three years on the job by Charles W. Scharf.
The consumer protection bureau’s director, Rohit Chopra, told reporters on Tuesday that the action against the bank “should not be read as a sign that Wells Fargo has moved past its longstanding problems or that the C.F.P.B.’s work here is done.”
As part of its settlement with the regulator, Wells Fargo has begun repaying customers, returning improperly charged fees and offering some financial relief to those whose finances and credit ratings were hurt by the bank’s practices.
Follow Frank Nez on Twitter.