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Tesla is a car manufacturer of superlatives. The US manufacturer has made electric cars a mass phenomenon. Tesla boss Elon Musk still sets the tone with his car in many ways. But even with the ongoing high flight, the plans for Germany seem exaggerated.
Blatant Tesla plan: double sales despite inflation and crisis
Tesla sold 39,714 electric cars in Germany in 2021 and delivered them to customers. The goal of doubling the sales figures year after year has therefore been more than achieved. A year-on-year comparison of 2021 and 2020 shows an increase of 138 percent. but the signs for 2022 are far from good.
In the current year, 24,734 Tesla units have already been sold by the end of August. Corresponding so far only an increase of 37 percent compared to the same period in 2020. At the end of the third quarter, there should be a few more in September when, as is usual with Tesla, the large deliveries from the Asian gigafactories arrive in Europe. Nevertheless, it does not look like doubling so far.
Tesla should continue to pursue this goal. A person responsible for the location Germany has the automobile week confirmed to (via Teslamag). This renewed doubling would mean that Tesla sold a total of around 80,000 e-cars by the end of December should have. So there are still more than 55,000 pieces missing in Germany alone.
Elon Musk shouldn’t have any money worries any time soon. These are his companies:
Buy an e-car? 60 percent of Germans have no money left
The specification seems rigid and unrealistic. A doubling of sales, while in Germany the inflation to dizzying heights swings up, hardly seems feasible. Tesla has also raised prices several times. Only a few Germans still have that much money. Because of the long delivery times, however, new customers hardly matter in order to be able to achieve the annual goal. The order situation must therefore give the goal.
In addition, Tesla is known for production spurts at the end of the year – among other things, to meet the often lofty goals set by Elon Musk’s executive floor. It wouldn’t be the first time Tesla has far exceeded expectations. We will know in a few months whether we can succeed this time as well.


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Morrisons had originally applied for the conditions at a “local” store which is due to open at the Evan Williams Jnr garage on Cowbridge Road East in Cardiff
A supermarket has withdrawn a licensing application to sell alcohol until midnight every day.
Morrisons had originally applied for the conditions at a “local” store which is due to open at the Evan Williams Jnr garage on Cowbridge Road East in Cardiff.
Residents fear it would lead to nuisance on the busy street.
One neighbour - who did not wish to be named - told the Echo there were also worries over parking on a street which also has a Lloyds Bank and sorting office.
She said: “It’s such a busy street as it is. It’s dangerous. Illegal parking happens every day of the week. If parking officers were here every day, they would be quids in.”
She added while they had been notified of an application to build nine apartments over two storeys above an existing car showroom, they hadn’t been consulted on plans for the Morrisons beneath.
Scott Evan Williams, sales director at Evan Williams Jnr, told the Echo A1 planning permission had been secured in November last year.
He said: “It has never been anything I have hidden. At the end of the day, I was never in a position to advertise Morrisons were going in there.
“All it’s going to do is enhance the area and benefit people who live around there. We are actually producing more parking spaces for that area, a lot more. “The flats have got all the parking spaces they need. All I’m doing by putting these people in there is increasing parking.”
Cardiff council confirmed the licensing application was withdrawn. Morrisons didn’t respond when asked why and whether an amended application would be made.

domain: news


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State of Decay's second expansion pack, Lifeline, is in the internal testing process at Undead Labs. There's no launch date yet, but it includes a new map and the team is currently putting it through its paces on Steam, Community Director Sanya Weathers says on the Undead blog. "We're not yet re...
Posted on Jan 26th 2015 11:00AM
Posted on Jan 26th 2015 10:00AM
Posted on Jan 23rd 2015 7:00PM


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With Brazil projected to ship about 16% more mangoes than last year 6.7 million boxes, according to the National Mango Board importers and retailers will get an extra taste of the signature tropical fruit this fall.
Growing conditions in Brazil don"t drastically differ from last year, but exporters there could feel a tailwind from a strong dollar and a bigger shipping window.
"The overall crop is not so different, but with a good exchange rate, Mexico"s early exit and Ecuador"s late start, we think Brazil will be north of 6.5 million boxes," said Greg Golden, partner and sales manager for Mullica Hill, N.J.-based Amazon Produce Network. "And it"s partly due to the protocol amendment allowing larger fruit, up to 900 grams (31.75 ounces)."
Amazon Produce Network received its first Brazilian mangoes air-shipped ataulfos Aug. 12, and will source fruit from there into mid-November. The bulk of it will be other varieties tommy atkins accounts for 85% and palmer nearly all the rest.
"The dollar is very strong in Brazil, which is good for the Brazilian exporters," said Homero Levy de Barros, president of Pompano Beach, Fla.-based HLB Specialties LLC. "I can imagine that part of the volume for the local market could be diverted for export if the price is right."
Oxnard, Calif.-based Freska Produce International LLC expected to end its Mexican mangoes around Sept. 7.
"Brazil may last two to three weeks longer than normal because Ecuador is a little late this year," said Gary Clevenger, Freska managing member and co-founder. He expected Brazil to peak in late September.
Ecuador usually starts in October, but high temperatures are expected to delay that harvest, according to Angela Serna, communications manager for the Orlando, Fla.-based National Mango Board.
"Due to these climate conditions, production volumes are also expected to be lower than in previous years," she said.
As August ended, the only remaining arrivals from Mexico were out of North Sinaloa"s fruit fly-free zone. Mexico was expected to end its export season with 64 million boxes shipped, according to the board. That"s up from 57 million last year.
Mango consumption in the U.S. jumped 53% between 2005, when the National Mango Board was launched, and 2014. The rise seems likely to continue.
"We see across the board and across most of our base that steady, repeat customers are just ordering more mangoes on a weekly basis than they have in years past," Golden said. "It"s just growing in consumption and awareness."
Amazon Produce Network received its first two vessel shipments of tommy atkins from Brazil Aug. 14. "We have a program of about 2.5 million boxes," Golden said. "Ataulfos are a very small part of it. It"s mostly tommy atkins."


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Making phone calls may not be the highest priority for some who own their phones, but it’s obviously still an integral part of the device. And carriers are more than happy to make us pay for that feature, whether we’re able to use all those minutes allotted to us on a monthly basis or not. T-Mobile obviously wants those who run on certain plans to be able to call anyone as much as they want, as the carrier is getting ready to kick off unlimited WiFi calling. But, is unlimited WiFi calling something people actually want?
WiFi calling isn’t a new feature, not even for some customers on T-Mobile’s magenta network. But, until Wednesday, those who use WiFi calling are still dipping into their overall pool of minutes. And while Android devices are new to the show as well, it’s not surprising to see that many people think that this is an Android feature for T-Mobile subscribers. In any event, T-Mo is about ready to pull the switch on unlimited calling, as long as you’re safely on a WiFi network.
T-Mobile, like every other major carrier, offers a plan that has unlimited features like text, voice calling, and Internet access. And for those who use their phone a lot, that means they’re probably already on that plan. However, obviously not everyone is willing to pay that amount of money to make sure that they can talk to whoever they want for how long they want. Subscribers on the Even More, Even More Plus and 4G Do More plans will now be able to talk on the phone whenever they want, with no need to pay any extra dollars per month.
But is this a feature that will bring more customers to these particular plans? Or, is this a feature that’s going to speak primarily to those who are already on those plans, and T-Mobile is basically just giving those with the right device a free feature? I don’t think WiFi calling, even on an unlimited basis, is that big of a game changer, to be honest. It’s a neat thing to be able to do, just in case the cell service in your area isn’t all that great, or you find yourself in an area that’s got no service at all, but I don’t see it being something that new customers (on a broad perspective) actively seek out.
On the flip-side, I think WiFi calling as a great “added feature,” especially with that word “free” being thrown in there, is great. The fact that T-Mobile is willing to provide this feature at no extra charge is also huge in of itself. Will it bring in more customers? It’s certainly possible. And if you know someone who’s already using WiFi calling, then perhaps they’ve already told you how it works, and the temptation of unlimited calling is too great to ignore.
In the end though, the question of whether or not WiFi calling is something that the general consumer wants is still up in the air. Do customers want another way to make phone calls? And, is it a feature that other carriers like Verizon or AT&T, will eventually include in their own plans, but start charging for? If so, how much would you be willing to pay for the ability to make phone calls over a WiFi connection? Or will AT&T simply adopt WiFi calling into their plans if the purchase of T-Mobile goes through? Let me know in the comments below what you think.


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“I normally don’t say this, but I’m dying to wear them!” confesses designer Prabal Gurung with a laugh. We’re discussing the Toms x Prabal Gurung Alpargata line the designer has devised in partnership with the philanthropic shoe company, and his anticipation is understandable. The four styles—ranging from snow leopard–patterned canvas slippers to fur-lined booties, all splashed in the designer’s signature black, red, and white palette—are particularly close to Gurung’s heart and represent a continued effort of the Nepalese designer to bring awareness to his embattled home country. While a departure from, say, the intricate going-out dresses that have made Gurung loyalists out of actresses like Zoe Saldana, Diane Kruger, and Jennifer Hudson, the collaboration with Toms represents a true marriage of the designer’s passions: fashion and his 5-year-old charity, the Shikshya Foundation Nepal.
Founded in 2011 by Gurung, his sister, and friends, the foundation is focused on creating educational opportunities for Nepal’s fledgling youth (shikshya means education). After his meteoric success in the fashion industry, Gurung was passionate about using his newfound platform to give back to his community. “I had an audience, so why not deflect all the attention that was coming to me to a cause that needs it more than I do?” he says. Moreover, he knew all too well that access to education is what propelled him forward. “What I realized is that the only reason a boy like me from Nepal could dream big and come to a country like America, and think I could make a living and a name for myself, is simply because I was educated and had the opportunity to go to good schools,” he says. “Education gave me the freedom to dream bigger.”


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KITCHENER, ON, April 15, 2014 /CNW/ - Brick Brewing Co. Limited (TSX: BRB) today announced the launch of Seagram 80 Mixed Berry, a refreshing new flavour with approximately 1/3 of the calories of the leading cooler.
"Seagram 80 is the one and only naturally sweetened, 80-calorie, vodka cooler in the Canadian market" declared Russell Tabata, Chief Operating Officer, Brick Brewing. "Seagram 80 Mixed Berry is a clear, sparkling drink sweetened with all-natural Stevia. It's made with 100% pure spring water and all-natural mixed berry flavour, so it's a perfect summer cooler. And people want fewer calories in the summer so that makes this vodka cooler even better." added Tabata.
"Stevia is becoming increasingly popular in a number of food and beverage categories because it's an all-natural alternative to the artificial sweeteners found in many earlier generation low-calorie products" offered Sean Dennis, Director of Marketing. "The vodka cooler category is a summer favourite of many people in Ontario and there really haven't been many low-calorie options available, and certainly none that were naturally sweetened. Mixed Berry is our best flavour yet. It's a clear, sparkling cooler that promises to be a big hit this summer."
"Seagram has become a dynamic and exciting part of our overall business. Seagram is now the only national brand of coolers available at The Beer Store" stated George Croft, President and CEO. "Seagram 80 is the only naturally sweetened, low-calorie cooler in the country. And our Seagram Cider has won a silver medal at the prestigious Monde Selection quality awards in Belgium for the past two years. We hope people enjoy drinking these great products as much as we do making them."
About Brick Brewing
Brick is Ontario's largest Canadian-owned and Canadian-based publicly held brewery. The Company is a regional brewer of award-winning premium quality and value beers and is officially certified under British Retail Consortium (BRC) Global Standards for Food Safety, one of the highest and most internationally recognized standards for safe food production. Founded in 1984, Brick Brewing Co. was the first craft brewery to start up in Ontario, and is credited with pioneering the present day craft brewing renaissance in Canada. Brick has complemented its Waterloo brand premium craft beers with other popular brands such as Laker, Red Baron, Red Cap and Formosa Springs Draft. In March 2011, Brick purchased the Canadian rights to the Seagram Coolers and now produces, sells, markets and distributes Seagram Coolers across Canada. Brick trades on the TSX under the symbol BRB. Visit us at www.brickbeer.com.
All statements in this press release that do not directly and exclusively relate to historical facts constitute forward-looking statements as of the date of this press release. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "expect", "intend", "anticipate", "seek", "plan", "believe" or "continue" or the negatives of these terms or variations of them or similar terminology. Although the Corporation believes that the expectations and assumptions reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking statements, which are not guarantees and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions, which may cause actual performance and financial results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only at the date of this press release and, except as required by applicable securities laws, the Corporation does not undertake to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect new information, future events or otherwise.
Image with caption: "Seagram 80 Mixed Berry (CNW Group/Brick Brewing Co. Limited)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20140415_C9839_PHOTO_EN_39230.jpg
SOURCE: Brick Brewing Co. Limited
For further information:
George Croft President and CEO at (519) 498-9908


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Online restaurant reservation site OpenTable on Tuesday morning announced(Opens in a new window) plans to acquire mobile food discovery app Foodspotting for $10 million in cash.
San Francisco-based Foodspotting, which launched in Jan. 2010, lets diners snap photos their favorite dishes at restaurants and share the images with others. Users can browse photos of nearby dishes and see what looks appealing to them. Since launching three years ago, more than 2.5 million dishes have been shared around the world using the app.
OpenTable already has its own mobile app for making restaurant reservations and browsing reviews. In a statement, OpenTable CEO Matt Roberts said the acquisition will allow the company to add "more visually compelling content to help people decide where to dine and discover dishes they'll love."
"The Foodspotting team is as passionate about dining as we are, and we're looking forward to leveraging their unique expertise in the areas of imagery and social sharing to enrich the OpenTable experience for diners and restaurants in new and exciting ways," Roberts said.
The acquisition comes after OpenTable last year partnered with Foodspotting to add dish photos to its restaurant reservation pages. As part of the acquisition, Foodspotting's co-founder and CEO, Alexa Andrzejewski, will be joining OpenTable as a lead user interface designer.
"We're so happy to have found a home for Foodspotting where our community can continue to thrive while our entire team continues to focus on creating great dining experiences," Andrzejewski said in a statement. "While working with OpenTable as partners we realized we could create more intelligent, seamless and beautiful experiences if we had the opportunity to integrate our products more deeply. We look forward to contributing our mobile, social and design expertise in ways that will delight both diners and restaurants."
If you already use and love the Foodspotting app, then don't worry about it going away. OpenTable said it plans to maintain the Foodspotting site and mobile apps on a standalone basis.
For more from Angela, follow her on Twitter @amoscaritolo(Opens in a new window).
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Expansive worlds has officially announced Call of the Wild: theAngler and it’s a fishing game.
Expansive Worlds, the developer behind theHunter: Call of the Wild has filed for the trademark of something called Call of the wild: theAngler. The developer is part of Avalanche Studios group and has been working on theHunter: Call of the Wild for a while now.
“Call of the Wild” seems to be the common thing between both their current game and the new trademark. Now, it can either be related to theHunter game or they could be ready to announce a new one. There is another hint that indicates that it might be a new game as SteamDB entry with the same name has also been found. And it seems like the developer is testing different builds for the game. So the announcement could be imminent.
Expansive World’s theHunter: Call of the Wild might not have received good reviews on launch but since the launch, the game has been improving slowly and steadily. Now, it looks in great shape with our 91k positive reviews on Steam. At the time writing, the game still has around 10k concurrent players on Steam so it enjoys a descent community as well. So a new game, probably in the similar direction from Expansive Worlds might be a good news for the fans.
However, for the time being, all we can do is speculate about what the new potential game could be. If Expansive Worlds is to announce anything, it would be in this month as many other companies have already revealed and announced different projects this month.


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There were 134 reviews of e-cigarette batteries overheating, catching hearth, or exploding between 2009 and January 2016, in accordance with Michael Felberbaum, an FDA spokesperson. The new guidelines will enable FDA to evaluate the protection of batteries and eventually take action to protect the general public. That figure is controversial and may be a little high, says Kenneth Warner, a tobacco coverage researcher on the University of Michigan. But, he adds, “The worst critics of e-cigarettes would most likely argue they seem to be a half to two-thirds less dangerous. But from a sensible view, they’re in all probability on the order of eighty% to 85% much less dangerous, a minimum of.” Scientists suppose the chemicals usually present in e-juice may cause different critical lung problems. A chemical referred to as acrolein, for instance, is especially used to kill weeds.
Meanwhile, a research from the University of North Carolina found related results indicating that the 2 main elements present in e-cigarettes are poisonous to cells. They also reported that the more ingredients in an e-liquid, the larger the toxicity. There are several different shocking risk elements related to vaping. Here is an summary of the potential issues that outcome from vaping. Generally talking, vaping involves inhaling a vaporized liquid from an digital device; and much like conventional cigarettes, it contains nicotine.
Most Cancers Prevention Instruments
The difference is that while the liquid or vapor is heated, it doesn’t burn like a standard cigarette. Producers of Juul introduced changes that enhanced the palatability and security of vaping, however on the same time “made it simpler for youths to start using nicotine,” Dr. Wagener said. Instead of freebase nicotine that could be very harsh to inhale, Juul contains a nicotine salt, “a really palatable type of nicotine that makes inhaling high doses of nicotine easy,” he explained. And Juul doesn’t require the high temperatures that produce toxic substances like formaldehyde. A single pod accommodates the nicotine equal of a pack of typical cigarettes.
Vapes And Cigarettes
Even without nicotine, these flavorings may cause DNA harm or kill cells that line your blood vessels. One research showed that cinnamon and menthol flavors were especially dangerous. Young folks may be drawn to vaping by sweet, candy-like flavors and smells. To assist stop this, a number of U.S. states have banned the sale of flavored vaping liquid. It’s whenever you use a handheld tube, or tank, attached to a mouthpiece that makes a vapor you inhale. There are differing types, such as vape pens, e-cigarettes, e-hookahs, and mods. But they all warmth liquid chemical compounds (“e-juice”) right into a mist you breathe in like a cigarette or pipe.
In 2016, advertisements for e-cigarettes reached almost four in five middle and highschool college students within the United States, Dr. Ellen S. Rome famous. By 2019, a quarter of 12th graders were vaping nicotine, nearly half of them daily.
The Food and Drug Administration is the group that makes positive drugs are secure and effective. This is called “regulating.” The FDA is supposed to manage e-juices and vaping gadgets, but they haven’t started but.
If you are a smoker and are contemplating vaping as a way to kick the behavior, discuss to your doctor first about the best way to give up smoking for good. There are numerous medicines, aids, and counseling choices to support you in your decision. Or, you possibly can call QUIT-NOW for ideas on proven strategies to quit smoking.
- You could submit stories about any tobacco product, including cigarettes, roll-your-own cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco, digital cigarettes and waterpipe tobacco.
- You also can report issues with the parts and elements of tobacco products.
- The FDA web site has more info on what to include in a report.
- E-cigarette, or vaping, merchandise ought to by no means be utilized by youths, younger adults, or women who are pregnant.
It can cause sudden lung harm and set off severe respiratory diseases like COPD and lung most cancers. Nicotine boosts plaque buildup in your arteries, which makes it harder for blood to reach your very important organs. Smoking marijuana raises your coronary heart fee, which makes your ticker work harder. Just being round people who are vaping is a danger because you can breathe in the vapor.
Proposed ordinances would increase restrictions on smoke, vape shops – The Gazette
Proposed ordinances vapinger.com would increase restrictions on smoke, vape shops.
Posted: Tue, 22 Dec 2020 07:00:00 GMT [source]
discovered that some folks had experienced the sickness as early as March. By late fall 2019, new reported instances started considerably dropping, even as extra medical doctors were now conscious of the issue. In the final week of December, only 29 circumstances had been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—a pointy drop off from the over 200 instances reported in per week during September. All advised, as of February 2020, at least 2,807 persons are known to have had this vaping-related lung sickness, and sixty eight individuals died. Get the latest facts and analyses on an important points related to smoking, vaping, nicotine and substance use.


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Are you wondering what the luxury home market is doing in Dallas? How were the sales in the last 12 months? In this article, you’ll discover why the market is going as expected and why it’s the right time to consider buying a luxury Dallas home for sale. Dallas home values are solid and luxury homes are undoubtedly available, for those who are ready.
Luxury Market on the Rise
Despite a worldwide pandemic and growing concerns over the U.S. economy, luxury home sales have had consistent growth in Dallas-Fort Worth. In fact, sales for luxury homes in the entire state hit $10.3 billion in 2020 and there does not appear to be any reason why that number won’t only grow in 2021. Homes that sold for at least $1 million in 2020 resulted in 23.5 percent growth, according to a recent Texas Luxury Home Sales Report, which was released by Texas Realtors.
Dallas luxury home sales contributed 2,130 multi-million dollar units towards the growth and totaled more than a billion dollars in home values. Austin was the top-tier for sales with a 41.4 percent increase. Statewide, more than 5,000 properties sold at a price tag of $1 million or more. According to Texas Realtors, the last 12 months resulted in 6,347 multi-million dollar home sales.
Expected Economic Outcome
The expectancy of the continued sales growth of luxury homes is due to many opportunities occurring throughout the country that realtors believe could be a pivotal moment in the housing industry, beginning with the expected federal stimulus money that is forecasted to enrich the economy. If implemented studiously, the money could affect long-term sales in Dallas for many years.
With investors looking for the green light to spend more money to buy investment properties, while the market is hot, the encouraging news about the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package making its way through Congress is a good sign for Dallas luxury homes sales and the entire housing market.
Optimistic Buyers Relocating
Many of the luxury Dallas homes for sale are from business owners who can take advantage of the strong job market. Although they are affected by the same issues that homeowners face, the favorable job market remains consistent for continued revenue growth in 2021. As a result of the many social unrest concerns throughout the nation, as well as deep concerns regarding climate-change issues causing wildfires and other weather-related challenges, people are finding that Dallas is a good place to relocate.
Dallas luxury home sales are positioned incredibly well for residential buyers and investors alike. According to Marvin Jolly, chairman of the Realtors Group, “Buyers of high-end properties are finding they can buy more for their money, particularly when compared to many real estate markets in New York, California and other pricier areas.” Another factor is that mortgage rates are extremely low and that presents a golden opportunity for buyers who are looking where to move Dallas, in particular.
High Profile Elite Neighborhoods
Areas such as Preston Hollow, Highland Park, University Park, Lakewood, and Southlake are pristine locations to invest in. The recent data for home sales in the North Texas market not only indicate that Dallas home values are stable, but buyers are also able to close quickly due to listing prices that are in line with market values. Savvy agents can facilitate sales timely and create market plans to ensure that sellers can take advantage of the extraordinary demand during this time for buyers.
For instance, the most recent data shows that 171 homes in Highland Park were sold at an average price of $2.3 million. In University Park, 302 homes were sold, totaling an average value of $518 million. Preston Hollow peaked at 755 home sales, averaging a total value of $985 million. The average price for a home purchase in Southlake (Tarrant County) was about $1 million.
Most Expensive Homes Recently Sold
Until recently, most multi-million dollar homes were staying on the market for a considerable length of time. However, the market has been on a slight upswing and more sellers are taking notice. The below 10 most expensive homes that sold in the last 90 days are a prime example of why the trend will more than likely continue in 2021.
- 3805 Mcfarlin Blvd, University Park, 75205 – Sold 12/15/2020
- 10203 Hollow Way Rd, Dallas, 75229 – Sold 1/20/2021
- 2300 Wolf St 17AB, Dallas, 75201 – Sold 2/16/2021
- 2006 Navasota Cv, Westlake, 76262 – Sold 12/31/2020
- 4656 Meadowood Rd, Dallas, 75220 – Sold 12/22/2020
- 3414 Beverly Dr, Highland Park, 75205 – Sold 1/29/2021
- 5142 Stonegate Rd, Dallas, 75209 – Sold 1/13/2021
- 542 Old Authon Rd, Weatherford, 76088 – Sold 12/1/2021
- 5109 Radbrook Pl, Dallas, 75220 – Sold 12/23/2020
- 1114 Post Oak Pl, Westlake, 76262 – Sold 1/8/2021
Each of these homes indicates a market trend that luxury buyers can rely on as the economy slowly begins to turn around. The Days on Market (DOM) are shortening, which is a true indicator that it’s a buyers’ market. The DOM in the Dallas-Fort Worth area had a decrease from 91.62 to 89.35, according to December statistics.
While there is some hesitancy from sellers to put their home on the market during a health crisis, there isn’t a shortage of buyers who are ready, willing and able to take the plunge. Real Estate experts typically advise at least a six-month supply of listings, and agents are currently seeing about a 1.4-month supply. The good news is that luxury home buyers are eager and willing to go the distance, which should sway sellers to list their homes without further hesitation.
As in most cases that involve economic recovery, the only way to stabilize the economy is by taking calculated risks and choosing to ride out the uncertainty. The time is now to begin the painstaking process and make choices that reflect confidence in the housing market. Dallas houses are no exception to the general rule that it’s still about location, location, location.


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Ahead of its earnings report scheduled for May 8, Etsy (NASDAQ: ETSY) stock has been range-bound for the last month. But Etsy stock is not too far from its 52-week high of just over $73 Investors looking for an entry point into Etdy Inc stock will want to wait for the company’s Q1 report.
Strong Five-Year Financial Targets
ETSY is confident in the company’s long-term outlook. I believe that its product improvements and investments will lead to growth over the next five years. Annual gross merchandise sales (GMS) growth is expected to be in the range of 16%-20% during that time, with revenue growing at a rate above that of GMS. Since ETSY will utilize a disciplined spending approach, it expects its adjusted EBITDA to expand by 30% or higher in each of the next five years.
Etsy forecasts that its marketing expenses, as a percentage of revenue, will fall sequentially in Q1. Investors likely expect its adjusted EBITDA to rise as a result of its cost controls. ETSY’s margins typically peak in Q4 due to seasonality, so investors should expect them to be flat or fall versus Q4. Etsy’s willingness to test unproven marketing channels will lead to higher costs in the back half of 2019.
ETSY started investing in TV ads in the second half of last year. It will apply what it learned from the exercise this year.The company is moving data to the cloud this year, a project that is expected to cost $25 million. It did not specify when it will book these costs.
Positive Momentum From Q4
Etsy’s Q4 benefited from holiday-related GMS, which grew 30% year-over-year. . And its GMS of $19,000 per minute on Cyber Monday could give the company positive selling volume momentum in Q1. In all likelihood, the company’s 2019 results will exceed analysts’ consensus expectations.
Opportunity for Growth
Etsy has two types of customers it it is driving onto its site: new buyers and existing ones. The company is in the early innings of figuring out the best marketing approaches. Management will know its marketing ideas are working if its customer acquisition rate grows.
Etsy’s existing social media channels will keep bringing in new customers. Users sharing Etsy-related goods on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram will drive further traffic directly to the site.
The Bottom Line on Etsy Stock
13 analysts covering Etsy stock have an average price target of $72.64 on Etsy stock, according to Tipranks. The implied gain of Etsy stock is small, but many analysts could raise their price targets if Etsy beats expectations by a wide margin.
Investors who prefer to run number-crunching models may use revenue growth assumptions to arrive at the fair value of Etsy stock. The company’s historically strong revenue growth will give investors the confidence that Etsy will continue to grow quickly for the next few years.
As of this writing, the author did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.


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During the Xbox & Bethesda Showcase 2022 show we've seen the console version of Naraka: Bladepoint, , a network action game that turned out to be one of the biggest surprise hits of last year on Steam.
- The game is coming to Xbox Series X/S.
- It will be released on June 23 this year.
- That day Naraka: Bladepoint will also join the Game Pass offer.
- The game will offer a cross-play option, enabling PC and console players to have fun together.
Naraka: Bladepoint was released on PC on August 12 last year. The game turned out to be a real hit and is still very popular. Yesterday, at the hottest moment of the day, the title was played by 93 thousand concurrent users on Steam.
- Game Pass on Steam
- Naraka: Bladepoint - official website


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Wheaton Ice Cubed, Ice-A-Palooza To Feature Skating, Sculptures
This year’s festivities include live ice sculpting and a visit from Elsa and Anna.
WHEATON, IL — Wheaton will celebrate winter with live ice carving, open ice skating, S’mores, and more at the city’s annual Ice-A-Palooza and Ice Cube Fests, which take place on Feb. 9. Ice-A-Palooza runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Central Athletic Complex Ice Rinks and Ice Cubed takes place from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. in Martin Memorial Plaza.
Visitors can stroll the streets of downtown Wheaton to see sparkling ice sculptures right outside of some of their favorite shops. This year, participants can take part in a scavenger hunt and look for clues in local stores and restaurants for a chance to win prizes.
Kids can meet Elsa and Anna from Frozen at Ice-A-Palooza and play winter-themed games and hockey when they aren’t cutting the ice on their skates. If you attend Ice-A-Palooza, you can rent and buy skates at Play It Again Sports. Supply is limited, though, so organizers say it’s best to bring your own skates if possible.


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Finland tests blockchain for logistics hub
July 10, 2018
The Finland government is working with Dutch company Essentia One – the decentralised interoperability protocol – to create a blockchain-based logistics hub.
This smart logistics pilot follows a pilot earlier in the year to tackle unemployment rates and to track production chains.
"The success of our first e-government blockchain project with MTK [Finland’s agricultural agency] meant we built a level of mutual trust and, as passionate believers in the underlying value in blockchain, we knew that we could adapt the technology to solve many more issues in different governmental departments," said Essentia co-founder Matteo Gianpietro Zago.
Finland has now begun ventures to secure its place as one of the leading logistics hubs in the world. Industry representatives are seeking forward thinking ideas to combat the issues facing the ever-expanding administration and data management in logistics and transportation.
Essentia One has teamed up with the governmental association Traffic Lab to ensure information regarding end-to-end deliveries – such as delivery contents and contact information – are securely and safely accessible to authorised stakeholders.
"We envision the Essentia protocol completely revolutionising the methods of data management,” said Zago. “The proven power and benefits of blockchain technology will give Finland's international logistics hub that extra competitive edge."
The pilot is set to be presented to Finland's Ministry of Transport & Communications, Finnish Transport Safety Agency Trafi, Finnish Transport Agency, Finnish customs, Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority and other members of the corridor-as-a-service ecosystem.


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The National Wild Turkey Federation has ran several social media giveaways (Contests) over the last year, all with similar success. Their focus is to highlight co-branded product from their partners and generate awareness for NWTF and its sponsors. By running these contests throughout the year, they hope to engage with their audience as well as add potential members/customers to their email list and re-target the entrants for memberships and sales in the future.
The latest contest they ran was for a Thicket blind and Striker blind chair co-branded from ALPS Outdoorz. Total retail value for the package is around $250. The contest began on September 14 and ran until October 6.
- 436 organic entries from users
- 1419 total entries
- Extra entries from users following ALPS Outdoorz and NWTF on several social media channels
- Total retail cost: $250
- Cost per organic entry/email address: $0.57
To reach this number of users, the contest was shared through Powderhook’s weekly newsletter, Powderhook’s social media channels (including the Powderhook app), NWTF’s social media, as well as ALPS Outdoorz social media.


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This is The Morning Shift, our one-stop daily roundup of all the auto news that's actually important — all in one place at 9:00 AM. Or, you could spend all day waiting for other sites to parse it out to you one story at a time. Isn't your time more important?
1st Gear: Bad News For Camry
Mid-size cars have historically been like toasters. Under the reign of Dull King Camry, it was decided they should be a common convenience that almost everyone has but no one cares about. Alas, the king is dead. Long live Slightly More Exciting King Accord.
Accord outside the Camry in April with 33,538 cars to 31,710 Camrys, which is still a shit ton of Camrys if you consider that they're beige, outdated appliances usurped in almost every way by the competition.
But is the Accord just a pretender to the throne? Sales of the reworked Nissan Altima and fetching Ford Fusion are also growing as sales industrywide grew 8.5%. Toyota was the only major company on the outs, with total sales of Toyota/Lexus/Scion products down 1.1% year-over-year.
Despite the bad month, Toyota's actually being strategic here, with analysts telling Bloomberg that the plan is to wait for new product to come out but not take a profit hit by offering a ton of incentives.
2nd Gear: What About Nissan?
Nissan's quietly rebuilt their lineup with new vehicles like the redesigned Altima, Pathfinder, and Sentra. None of those are exciting vehicles, but they're competitive, which isn't something you could always say.
Nissan was up 23% to 87,847 vehicles year-over-year with the main brand up 25% and Infiniti up 10%. They're also doing the opposite of Toyota and dropping prices on the Altima, Sentra, Juke, Murano, Rogue, Maxima, and Altima as they hope to gain market share.
This is a reversal of the way the year was going, with the brand down 2% through March according to Automotive News.
3rd Gear: GM Better Than You'd Expect
We've already discussed that both Ford and Chrysler were profitable this quarter, with Ford doing great and Chrysler hoping for more. GM come in a close second, besting estimates and posting a first quarter profit of $865 million.
Now… that's still down 13% from the first quarter of 2012, but the difference according to The Detroit News is that because of Europe they were always going to lose this quarter. Europe just wasn't as bad as it could have been.
Some analysts saw GM losing $400 million in Europe just in the first three months of the year, but they only lost $256 million. Hurray!
4th Gear: About That Volt
The electric/near-electric market is a little screwy. One month the Volt is besting everyone, then the next month the leaf swoops in and beats it. Here's where we are now per the Detroit Free Press:
Nissan sold 1,937 Leaf models this April, compared to 370 Leafs last April. GM sold 1,306 of the Volts this April, compared to 1,462 Volts in April 2012.
Granted, Nissan dropped the price of the Leaf by $6,000 to a low-low $28,800 before incentives, whereas the Volt still costs around $40,000.
And what about the Tesla Model S? There's an outside chance it outsold both.
5th Gear: BMW Is Winning And Losing At The Same Time
Europe, as it should be clear by now, is a mess, leading BMW to lose 3% in the first quarter with a profit of $1.73 billion on revenues that slumped 4.1%, reports the AP. Yet, it's not exactly bad news.
Daimler and VW are sinking, as is Ford's European unit. Vehicle sales are also up everywhere, even in Europe and especially in Asia.
At this point, if you're a European company, it's good enough to be least bad.
On this day in 1918, General Motors Corporation (GM), which will become the world's largest automotive firm, acquires Chevrolet Motor Company. GM had been founded a decade earlier by William C. "Billy" Durant, a former carriage maker from Flint, Michigan, whose Durant-Dort Carriage Company had taken control of the ailing Buick Motor Company. On September 16, 1908, Durant incorporated Buick into a new entity, General Motors, which by the end of that decade had welcomed other leading auto manufacturers—including Oldsmobile, Cadillac and Oakland—into its fold. In 1910, with GM struggling financially, stockholders blamed Durant's aggressive expansionism and forced him out of the company he founded. In November 1911, he launched Chevrolet Motor Company, named for his partner, the Swiss race car driver Louis Chevrolet.
Neutral: What's The Best Mid-Sized Car? New Fusion? Redesigned Accord? That hot hot Mazda6? Passat TDI? Which would you buy?
Photo Credit: Getty Images


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The Color Run Tropicolor World Tour heading to St. Louis, to benefit Autism Speaks
The Color Run, the largest 5k event series in the world, recently announced details for the St. Louis stop on its 2016 world tour.
Themed “The Color Run Tropicolor,” the popular run rolls into St. Louis on Saturday, April 16. Thousands of runners are expected to converge in Downtown St. Louis for the experience of a lifetime, while helping to benefit Autism Speaks, the local organization selected as the charity partner for this stop on the tour.
Each year, The Color Run introduces a new and exciting way to run — and 2016 is proving to be no different. The Tropicolor World Tour combines the enjoyment of a 5k with all the fun leisure of an island-style vacation — full of unforgettable memories, music and tropical colors. The Color Run recently released a teaser video to showcase the Tropicolor experience so potential participants can get a preview of what to expect.
“We are excited to share The Color Run Tropicolor World Tour with our runners and thrilled to bring this event to cities across the world, including St. Louis,” said Travis Snyder, founder of The Color Run. “We hope that all our Color Runners will be able to step into paradise with us and enjoy a 5k vacation that only The Color Run can create.”
The Tropicolor World Tour enhances the experience that Color Runners already know and love with an all-new Tropicolor Zone on course where participants will be bathed in a tropical array of colors and island scents as they pass through palm trees, arches and island-style music. During the Finish Festival, participants can enjoy fun and interaction at The Color Run’s Rainbow Beach with music, dancing, massive color throws and unique photo opportunities. Runners also will receive a limited edition participant kit.
Since its inception in 2012, The Color Run has become a global phenomenon, and in 2016 it continues to innovate the 5k paint-race genre. With more than five million runners crossing its finish line since 2012, The Color Run caters to all fitness types — from first-time runners to professional athletes. After sweeping across the United States in its first year with 53 events, The Color Run, in 2015, hosted over 230 events in 39 countries across the world.
The Tropicolor World Tour marks the fifth anniversary of The Color Run. The tour will be making stops all around the globe and is anticipated to visit more than 40 countries worldwide in 2016. The St. Louis event on April 16 will kick off in the heart of Downtown at Poelker/Kaufmann Park, located at 1315 Chestnut St. (Tucker Boulevard and Chestnut Street). The startline opens at 8 a.m. Ticket option prices to participate in the St. Louis run begin at $39.99 and include the run entry fee and a Color Run classic kit featuring a commemorative T-shirt, headband, colorful powder for the giant color throw at the finish line and more. For details, visit the official website.
The Color Run partners with a local or national charity at every event, with the primary goal of increasing cause awareness by shining a light on the amazing work its charity partners do within the community and society. The Color Run has donated more than $4 million to charity to date and hopes to build on that total as they partner with Autism Speaks for this event in St. Louis.
The Color Run is the largest event series in the world and the first of its kind. Founded in 2012, the number one goal of The Color Run is to produce the “Happiest 5k on the planet” giving participants an unforgettable experience. With no winners or official times, The Color Run celebrates healthiness, happiness and individuality, helping participants achieve their fitness goals by providing a fun, un-intimidating running environment. To learn more about The Color Run, visit The Color Run Website or watch this video.
The Color Run is a product of Bigsley Event House, a leading creator of experiential events that also include The Color Run Night, Electric Run and Soul Pose.


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March was made for marathoning. Find out what's going online and offline right here.
Check out CNET's coverage of the New York International Auto Show 2014.
On March 9, Apple is widely expected to let us know exactly when its much-anticipated Watch line will ship and how much all the new models will cost. But what other new products might Apple unveil?
The Mobile World Congress event is a vital one for Samsung. Along with the Galaxy S6, we'll be watching for new wearables and a mobile payments system.
There may soon be new rules on how the Internet should work and be regulated. On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission will likely pass new Net neutrality rules that would keep the Internet open and reclassify broadband as a public utility. CNET's Maggie Reardon and Sumi Das on what the rules will mean for consumers.
The most important things to know when shopping for a cell phone.
Mobile World Congress starts next week in Barcelona. The largest wireless party on the planet, MWC is famous for showcasing new smartphones and wearables that you'll actually be able to buy.
HTC's latest flagship smartphone has an all-new rear camera, but is that a good thing? We tried an early version out in Barcelona with very mixed results.
Find out what's going online and offline on your favorite online streaming services right here.
Commentary: The new regulatory action by the FCC has sweeping implications for the Internet, and the price we will pay over time for this radical shift will be severe.
Samsung's easy dismissal of Qualcomm's Snapdragon processor highlights the chipmaker's weak brand power with consumers. What can Qualcomm do to raise its profile?


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September 27, 2022
Do Good Chicken™, the first chicken brand that fights food waste and combats climate change, reports it has diverted more than 10 million pounds of healthy surplus grocery food from landfills, after community donations are made, to upcycle into nutritious chicken feed. The milestone comes just six months since Do Good Chicken’s spring 2022 retail launch and equates to saving surplus grocery food weighing approximately three times the weight of the Statue of Liberty, preventing an estimated 950 metric tons of greenhouse gases (CO2e) from entering the atmosphere.
In advance of the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste (Sept. 29), a day designated by the United Nations General Assembly to bring awareness to the global problem of food waste’s impacts on climate change, the climate-forward brand recently commissioned consumer research1 that found that Americans want to be more climate-friendly and nearly half are more concerned about food waste than they were a year ago. However, lack of resources and not knowing where to begin were barriers noted by 69% of respondents.
The research was fielded by Prodege, a leading global market research provider, among a sample of 1,000 respondents 18 years of age and older. This survey was conducted August 30 – September 1, 2022.
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Those aren't boring OLD newspaper ads, they're NEW GOOGLE newspaper ads
Finally, this should revive the entire print newspaper industry. Haven’t you heard? All you have to do is slap the alchemical name Google on dogcrap and it’s instantly transmuted into chocolate mousse.
In Google Test, Newspapers Move to Widen Ad Base - WSJ.com (subscription require):
In one of the more dramatic efforts to reach new advertisers, this week more than 50 daily newspapers will begin selling ads in their newspapers through Google Inc.'s Web site as part of a three-month test.
Yeah, “dramatic” … that was the first word that came to MY mind.


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Lunch:on today announced the closing of a seed round of $500,000 led by Wamda Capital, with participation from Arzan VC, Dubai Angel Investors as well as angel investors, Signaling positive growth for the MENA food tech scene.
Lunch:on was founded in September 2015 by former banker Mohammed Al Zaben and former Procter & Gamble consumer marketeer Dana Baki. The Dubai-based startup partners with popular gourmet restaurants to deliver lunches to office workers, each morning at a set time, a curated menu is sent to customers via text or email.
“We are excited to be supporting Lunch:on as it begins to scale its offering throughout Dubai and eventually the wider region. This investment is in keeping with our commitment to support exceptional entrepreneurs building disruptive businesses. Lunch:on is reformulating the work place lunch experience,” says Khaled Talhouni, managing partner at Wamda Capital.
Each weekday, a different restaurant offers three menu options: meat, vegetarian and a healthy option. Users reply via text or email to order and their food is delivered no later than 1 pm.
The new startup’s unique selling proposition (“USP”) lies in the simplicity of its ‘message to order’ platform, according to Al Zaben.
“Office workers are looking for a more convenient way to get lunch and what better way than to reach them through their existing email and messaging apps,” said Al Zaben.
“The beauty of Lunch:on is that it addresses multiple audience segments, not just individual lunchers seeking curated lunch recommendations and reliable food delivery,” said Baki. “But also large corporates wanting to ensure their workers can enjoy lunch time efficiently.”
For restaurants, Lunch:on enables revenue growth by providing restaurant partners with regular bulk orders of a limited menu by 11 am, a time when restaurant and kitchen staff are generally under-utilized, hence increasing their operational efficiency.
Lunch:on also utilizes conversational commerce tools such as chatbots.
“With our proprietary technology, we deploy chatbots over these messaging channels, enabling a seamless and simplified way to execute the daily lunch ordering process,” said Al Zaben. Chatbots rose to prominence earlier this year at the Facebook Developer Conference (F8), attracting attention as one solution to enhancing customer experience.
In addition to the chatbots, Lunch:on uses prediction technology and scheduling algorithms. The team developed their own technology internalizes user preferences and ordering patterns to ensure the optimal pairing of companies and restaurants on any given day.
Office lunch ordering startups have been multiplying globally, especially in the US. Some of the most well-known and highly funded players in this market are 500 Startups-backed, San Francisco-based Chewse, and Zesty. Zesty is a healthy meal delivery service app that raised $17 million in Series A funding last year to drive expansion outside of San Francisco.
Globally however, food tech investment slowed down in the first half of 2016, according to the investing platform AgFunder. In 2015, investment in food tech soared to $4.6 billion, nearly doubling the amount poured into the sector in 2014. But as of Q2 2016, food tech companies worldwide raised a total of just $1.8 billion with total annual funding estimates expected to be nearly 30 percent lower than 2015.
Al Zaben and Baki would not disclose order numbers to date, but the cofounders said the initial traction for the startup has proven very promising, despite increased competition in the region.
“We’ve already on-boarded a number of major multinationals and regional corporates like GE, Leo Burnett, OSN, Dell, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, PwC, Lenovo, Coca-Cola and many more,” said Baki.
“The seed capital will be directed towards accelerating the company’s growth, both in terms of manpower and expanding our presence across the UAE,” said Al Zaben. The startup will be hiring new talent and with a heavy emphasis on technology and business development personnel.
Feature image via Lunch:on.


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A Nottingham-based charity that provides food parcels has been forced to reduce the size of its packages due to the effect of sharply rising inflation.
The annual rate of consumer price inflation reached 5.4 per cent last month, up from 5.1 per cent in November, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
With annual food inflation rates reaching 4.2 per cent and food costs growing by 1.3 per cent in December alone, the country has seen the greatest rise in food costs since 2012.
Hyacinth Francis-Watson, Regional Manager of the Chayah Development Project in St Ann’s said: “We have seen that people are asking for more support and parents are collecting meals for their children more and more regularly.
“The fact that the fuel crisis is looming means that families are afraid and are saving what they have.
“We are struggling to keep on top of the demand for food parcels and are having to make them smaller which is painful for us as a project.”
Ever since the pandemic hit, the charity has provided food parcels which include hot Caribbean meals and essential non-food toiletries to Nottingham locals.
They cook an average of 150 meals per week, depending on funding and donations from volunteers and members of the community.
Hyacinth explained that as a result of some of her volunteers working part-time, they have struggled to keep on top of the demand for the food parcels, and have therefore had to reduce the amount of food they allocate to each individual.
Data has shown that of the 45 staple food items for which the ONS records prices, 37 have gone up in price, while only eight have gone down or stayed the same.
A roasting joint of beef, for example, cost an average of £8.81 per kg in December 2020 and rose to £11.33 in December 2021; while other fruit and veg products such as cauliflower, pears, and desserts apples have risen by more than one fifth.
The Bank of England expects the consumer prices index to peak at 6 per cent this year, however, some economists fear that it could exceed this.


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Ford SYNC Wins Award at 2007 Consumer Electronics Show
– Ford Sync, the in-vehicle, voice-activated technology and entertainment system developed in partnership with Microsoft, is this year’s “People’s Voice” award winner at the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Visitors to CNET, an Internet-based media company covering the unveilings this week at the 40th CES, voted Ford Sync, powered by Microsoft Auto, as the most significant new product introduced at the show. Tim Nixon, manager of technology development and implementation engineering at Ford, said the “People’s Voice” honor is actually the second received by Sync in Las Vegas this week, having already earned the “Editor’s Choice” award from Popular Mechanics
magazine. Sync allows consumers to bring nearly any mobile phone or digital media player into their vehicles and operate them by voice command or by using the steering wheel or radio controls. “With Sync, you can travel with your Zune or iPod and access its features using the vehicle’s controls, and the full capability of your Bluetooth cell phone will be just a voice command away,” said Mark Fields, Ford executive vice president, to media members gathered at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) at Sync’s Detroit reveal. “We’re going to roll it out quickly and affordably in 12 new vehicles, starting with the 2008 Ford Focus, because the market potential is absolutely enormous.” Sync will also debut later this year on the 2008 Ford Fusion, Five Hundred, Edge, Freestyle, Explorer, and Sport Trac, along with the Mercury Milan, Montego, Mountaineer, and on the Lincoln MKX and MKZ. The technology, exclusive to Ford Motor Company through 2008, will be expanded to all Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury vehicles in the near future.


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Sales for major U.S. auto makers sharply declined in July amid a modest slump in lease deals that have kept payments low, continuing an industry slowdown that has led to a glut of inventory on dealer lots and a spate of discounts.
NYS Entity Status
- Dissolution by Proclamation / Annulment of Authority (Jun 26, 1996)
NYS Filing Date
FEBRUARY 03, 1992
NYS DOS ID#
NYS Entity Type
DOMESTIC BUSINESS CORPORATION
1992 - GREAT DEAL AUTO SALES, INC.
AROUND THE WEB
- U.S. Auto Makers Report Steep Sales Declines in July
Tuesday Aug 1, 2017
- The Best Deals Under $15 From The Playstation Mid-Year Sale And Xbox One’s July 4th Ultimate Game Sale
By jasonnawara - Sunday Jul 2, 2017
Summer is the unofficial sale season for gamers, and both Playstation and Xbox have some great deals over the 4th of July weekend.
- Auto sales down in July, the worst month of the year
By Dee-Ann Durbin - Tuesday Aug 1, 2017
July saw the biggest decline in U.S. vehicle sales this year, leaving automakers to hope that people are just waiting to pounce on Labor Day deals.Ford’s sales were down 7.5 percent, Fiat Chrysler’s declined 10 percent, Volkswagen’s fell 5.8 percent, Nissan’s fell 3 percent and Honda’s were down 1.2 percent.Automakers continue to see healthy profits, thanks to consumers’ preference for SUVs.GM said sales of its recently updated GMC Acadia SUV jumped 30 percent, while sales of Toyota’s RAV4 SUV rose 36 percent to 41,804, a monthly record.[...] car sales are plummeting, hurt by low gas prices and changing tastes.Sales of the Ford Fusion midsize sedan dropped 42 percent, while sales of the Chevrolet Spark subcompact fell a whopping 82 percent.Average interest rates on new-vehicle loans fell to a six-month low of 4.77 percent in July as more brands offered no-interest financing, Edmunds said.
- Staples In $6.9 Billion Deal With Sycamore
Wednesday Jun 28, 2017
Private-equity firm Sycamore Partners agreed to buy Staples Inc. for about $6.9 billion, a bold bet on a company whose sales have been shrinking in recent years.
- NY's Hometown Paper Once Again Owned By Chicago Publisher
Tuesday Sep 5, 2017
New York's hometown paper is once again owned by a Chicago-based newspaper holding company, following the 'New York Daily News' sale on Monday to Tronc Inc. In a way, it's like deja vu. Tronc wasformerly Tribune Publishing, the publisher of the 'Chicago Tribune,' which originally created the 'New York Daily News' nearly a century ago.
- Nvidia Earnings: What to Watch
Thursday Aug 10, 2017
Growth in the company's chip sales to data centers and gaming systems, as well as potential deals with auto makers, will be in focus when Nvidia reports earnings after the market closes.


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Thursday was a good day for Kura Sushi USA. And maybe for the restaurant industry, or at least those growth chains with an eye on an IPO.
The chain of 22 revolving sushi restaurants raised $41 million in an initial public offering Thursday and then watched as the stock soared 40% on its first day of trading.
It was the first IPO in the restaurant industry in four years, and the smallest concept to go public in a traditional offering in far longer. Kura Sushi USA, a subsidiary of 400-unit Kura Japan, generated just $4.5 million in adjusted EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.
“We’re pretty happy” with the IPO, CEO Hajime “Jimmy” Uba said in an interview. He said the company plans to use the proceeds from the offering to help it expand. Kura Sushi believes it has the ability to grow to nearly 300 restaurants in the U.S.
Kura Sushi sold 2.9 million shares of stock at $14 a share.
That was the lower end of its expected range of $14 to $16, but there was plenty of interest on Thursday after trading began as shares soared past $19.
Hajime "Jimmy" Uba, CEO of Kura Sushi USA/Photograph courtesy of Kura Sushi
Kura is one of the most unique companies to go public in a long time. The company is highly tech-dependent. In addition to the conveyor belts that deliver sushi to tables, allowing customers to take what they want, it uses touch screens that enable customers to make specific orders that are express-delivered.
In the back, the restaurants use robots to make the sushi. Kura also uses RFID readers and food replenishment algorithms to reduce labor and food costs.
That shields the company somewhat from growing labor costs that are proving to be a risk for many publicly traded chains at the moment.
“We use a lot of technology to drive efficiencies in operations and costs,” Uba said. Through a translator, he added, “We believe that technology and automation to drive efficiencies are already part of other restaurants and will only continue to grow.”
Average unit volumes are about $3.5 million, and same-store sales have risen in 10 of the past 11 quarters.
The company’s menu features 140 dishes, most of which are priced below $3, even though average check was more than $19. The low price points of individual menu items make price increases seem like less of a problem while also giving customers more control over how much they spend.
The IPO is giving Kura Sushi more attention for its attributes, which the company believes will help it as it looks to grow. “That’s what we expected,” Uba said. BMO Capital Markets and Stephens were the joint bookrunners for the IPO.
The success of the offering, despite its relatively small size, will likely raise eyebrows in an industry that has been devoid of traditional IPOs since Wingstop and Fogo de Chao both went public in 2015.
Many of the chains that went public from 2013 to 2015 have struggled, notably Noodles & Co. and Potbelly, while some have gone private, including Papa Murphy’s, Bojangles’, Zoes Kitchen, Fogo de Chao and, soon, Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group.
That has scared many bankers and investors off of such offerings. What’s more, bankers typically don’t take public companies looking to raise a small amount like the $40 million Kura raised.
That it was able to orchestrate an IPO, and then get a welcome reception from investors, could well reopen the market for small chain offerings.
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MPEG LA Declares H.264 Standard Permanently Royalty-Free
MPEG LA, the group that oversees licensing for a number of Internet media standards, today announced that Internet broadcast content using the H.264 video coding standard will remain royalty-free for the entire life of the license, quashing fears that the standard could suddenly become subject to royalty payments in 2016 after the current licensing term expires and is required to be renewed.
MPEG LA announced today that its AVC Patent Portfolio License will continue not to charge royalties for Internet Video that is free to end users (known as "Internet Broadcast AVC Video") during the entire life of this License. MPEG LA previously announced it would not charge royalties for such video through December 31, 2015, and today's announcement makes clear that royalties will continue not to be charged for such video beyond that time.
H.264 is the video content standard that has been embraced by a broad array of content providers including Apple, which owns several of the patents included in the technology's portfolio. Today's announcement also paves the way for H.264 to become the standard video format for HTML5, which had seen some contributors, such as Mozilla and Opera, supporting Ogg Theora as a royalty-free video standard.
Earlier this year, Google announced its own video standard, WebM, claiming that it would be a royalty-free alternative to H.264. Questions were raised, however, about whether WebM truly could be royalty-free, with MPEG LA even going as far as to suggest that it was looking into putting together a patent pool to assert the rights of intellectual property holders associated with the WebM/VP8 standard.
Update: The Register reports on comments from Mozilla vice president of engineering Mike Shaver where he questions the impact of MPEG LA's statement, noting that the announcement changes nothing over the short term and even over the longer term applies only to free video broadcasts using the standard and not to those looking to incorporate H.264 technology into their products.
"The MPEG-LA announcement doesn't change anything for the next four years, since this promise was already made through 2014," he says in the statement shared with the The Reg. "Given that IEC [International Electrotechnical Commission] has already started accepting submissions for patents in the replacement H.265 standard, and the rise of unencumbered formats like WebM, it is not clear if H.264 will still be relevant in 2014."
It should also be noted that the MPEG-LA's license change does not apply to H.264 products and services other than free video broadcasts.
Consequently, Mozilla and Opera may still remain pledged to the WebM format, believing that Google's claims of it being truly royalty-free will hold up under the scrutiny of patent holders.


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AKH Knitting & Dyeing Ltd. (AKDL) – a mega knitting project at Lalitnagar, Dhamrai – will play a noteworthy role to attain Bangladesh’s $100 billion apparel export target by 2030.
Recently AKH Group inaugurated its most sustainable and eco-friendly unit — AKH Knitting & Dyeing Ltd. (AKDL) Extension Unit – where the country’s readymade garment (RMG) and textile industry leaders stated this remark.
The grand inauguration event was attended by the country’s top textile and apparel leaders and govt. representatives, as well as, dignitaries of top financial institutions, local and foreign banks, Country representatives of buying houses, other business icons, AKH Group’s leaders and employees to celebrate the milestone achievement.
As the Chief Guest, Md Benzir Ahmed, MP of Constituency Dhamrai 20 and President Dhaka District Awami League graced the event.
While, Special Guests – Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, MP of Constituency Dhaka-10 and former President of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI); Faruque Hassan, President, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA); Shabnam Jahan Shila, MP of Constituency 303 and General Secretary Central Committee, Bangladesh Mohila Awami League were also present.
In the program, AKH’s top brass – including, Md Shamsul Alam, Managing Director, AKH Group; Md Abul Kashem, DMD, AKH Group; Delwar Hossain, Chairman, AKH Group were present. Around 500 guests from the RMG and textile industry graced the program to be a part of this milestone moment.
Faruque Hassan in his speech hailed AKH for its extraordinary work in Bangladesh’s textile and apparel industry for the last 17 years.
“As Bangladesh apparel industry aspires to export $100 billion by 2030 – AKH Group’s mega knitting project will tremendously aid us to attain this milestone. And I personally know AKH’s leaders for more than 30 years and their work is phenomenal for our apparel industry. I believe, they will achieve unparalleled success in this regard,” Faruque Hassan added.
Chief Guest, Md Benzir Ahmed said, “I am proud that this sustainable and eco-friendly landmark project is in my constituency. This will certainly change the socio-economic status of my people. I want to express my heartfelt thanks to AKH Group and I wish them success.”
Shabnam Jahan Shila, MP said, “Bangladesh is moving forward at a great speed and AKH Knitting & Dyeing Ltd. (AKDL) extension unit is another feather in this economic journey of the country. We all have to keep this development trend moving through such initiatives. I thank AKH Group for such a mammoth initiative.”
Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin said, “AKH Group has set a benchmark example in the apparel industry. And I want to express my special thanks to the three founders of AKH Group – as their perseverance and vision have led the Group to the pinnacle of success.”
Md Shamsul Alam, Managing Director, AKH Group said, “This extraordinary LEED Gold Certified AKDL Extension Unit is amongst the most advanced and versatile knitting units of Bangladesh.”
“We three founders were determined in our short journey to make AKH Group an exemplary organization to deliver better products and exclusive services as per customers’ demands and expectations.”
“In this quest, the AKDL extension unit is built as a center of brilliance by any standard of today and tomorrow,” said Md Shamsul Alam.
Md Abul Kashem, DMD, AKH Group said, “We started our journey back in 1997. In the span of two decades, AKH is now a leading name in Bangladesh’s textile and apparel industry. I want to express my special thanks to my buyers and suppliers who helped us in our journey.”
Delwar Hossain, Chairman, AKH Group said, “I am chuffed that over the years AKH Group has become a symbol of Bangladesh’s textile and apparel industry – as a leading backward and forward entity.”
“Most importantly, this astonishing AKDL Extension Unit is among the most advanced and versatile knitting units in Bangladesh. At the same time, AKDL Extension Unit is fully eco-sustainable in design, construction, operations, maintenance and manufacturing which is the demand of the present-day world. It has also achieved USGBC LEED Gold Certification,” Delwar Hossain added.
Lt. Colonel (Rtd.) Shahriar Kabir, Plant Head, AKH Knitting & Dyeing Ltd. (Extension Unit) said, “We had many challenges and difficulties in our extension unit’s journey. But nothing is impossible and with AKH’s very good leadership we can accomplish one of the most advanced and versatile knitting units in the country.”
AKDL Extension Unit is a mega knitting factory with 50 tons capacity. It has 156 state-of-the-art sophisticated, energy-efficient circular knitting machines from Europe and Japan to produce a variety of high-quality knit fabrics such as Single jersey, Pique, Lacoste, Terry, Fleece, Rib, Interlock, Engineering Stripe, etc.
Moreover, for uninterrupted fabric production and supply, AKDL Extension Unit has a 2200 tons capacity of yarn and a 1000 tons grey fabric warehouse.
The Extension Unit boasts of having 550 skilled and experienced workforces striving to deliver better products.
Rooftop solar for an uninterrupted power supply
Recently, AKDL Extension Unit has successfully installed a 2.8MW rooftop solar project for an uninterrupted uniformed power supply. This mega-scale rooftop solar project is one of its kind in Bangladesh which is capable to produce 3650 Mega Watt of electricity annually. This huge solar project meets the project’s entire electricity demand in the daytime. It contributes the surplus electricity to the National grid from the social responsibility purview.
AKDL Extension Unit has an innovative rainwater harvesting system to reduce pressure on groundwater. It collects water from its massive 1 lac 80 thousand square feet rooftop area through an underground integrated pipeline network. The system filters and deposits the water to a reservoir with a capacity of 8 lac liters.
A maximum of this conserved rainwater is sent to AKH Knitting & Dyeing Ltd.’s Dyeing facility by its own tank lorry for use in the fabric dyeing process. Perhaps AKH Knitting & Dyeing Ltd. is the first factory to take the strain to carry over the rainwater from a distance – from its Extension Unit to its dye house.
Sewage Treatment Plant
AKDL Extension Unit has set up a Sewage Treatment Plant with a standard Sequential Batch Reactor Sewage Treatment Technology to treat wastewater and sewage. The discharged water after treatment is recycled and used as toilet flushes and watering the garden that consists of over 8000 trees in the 40 acres of land around the project.
AKDL Extension Unit provides 24/7 medical facilities for workers’ well-being. It also has indoor and outdoor sports and recreational facilities to boost the morale and working spirit of our workers.
In addition, the knitting floor of the AKDL Extension Unit is sustainable and fully humidified to acclimatize the knitting ambiance and atmosphere by Luwa Italy for a healthier and more productive indoor environment. As a result, the factory premise remains pollution free and workers get a healthy and clean work environment.
Not only, but it also ensures that no harmful dust is thrown out into the environment that can cause serious health hazards to the inhabitants living in the surrounding area.


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Sir Phil, the driving force behind Harris Queensway in the mid-1980s, said trading had continued to improve since May.
He expected it to benefit from a stronger housing market despite recent reports from several housebuilders of slower sales.
Carpetright, founded within months of Sir Phil selling out to Sir James Gulliver in 1988, opened 31 stores, taking the total to 149. A further 30 openings are scheduled for the current year, with 250 shops and a 20 per cent market share of the medium-term target.
Sir Phil said: 'We plan to open 30 stores a year over the next few years and to be in a position to challenge Allied Carpets as Britain's number one carpet retailer.'
Pre-tax profits, up from pounds 7.8m to pounds 14m, benefited from sales growth of 40 per cent to pounds 110.4m. Underlying growth was 16 per cent with the rest coming from new openings.
The rate of growth, faster than expected at the time of flotation, helped to push Carpetright's market share up from about 6 to 9 per cent. Expansion was funded out of strong cash flow, which saw reserves rise from pounds 8m to pounds 13.7m despite capital expenditure of pounds 5.3m.
Following a 25 per cent increase in trading area and a 12 per cent jump in sales per square foot, gross margins edged ahead to 46.1 per cent (45.4 per cent).
Sir Phil said the floorcoverings market still remained below its 1990 peak. He expected some growth over the next two years.
(Photograph omitted)Reuse content


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Facebook's gaming efforts and Twitch's challenge are making another big step today, as the social network begins the initial deployment of a dedicated Facebook Gaming tab in the app's main navigation. Facebook. The goal of this new addition is to help people find more easily games, streamers and groups of games that they follow, as well as discover new content, according to their centers of interest.
After clicking on the new Games tab, a content feed points to instant games that you can play with friends. videos to watch among the best streamers, sports organizations and game publishers; and updates from your different gaming groups, says the company.
The new Facebook Gaming tab is based on the video game destination launched last year by the site under the name Fb.gg. This center offered a collection of all video games streaming on Facebook and a means of interaction for players and fans. As a top-level navigation element, the new Facebook Games tab will further extend the scope of the gaming platform.
While Twitch and YouTube now dominate the gaming space, the advantage of Facebook – beyond its scope – is its promise to reduce the number of transactions. On Fb.gg, players were able to attract new fans through Facebook-based custom recommendations based on user activity and then monetize those viewers via a virtual failover mechanism.
The share of these tips used by Facebook ranges from 5 to 30%, the size decreasing as users purchase larger packs of virtual currency. At the same time, fan subscriptions for Facebook fans by fans for streamers should also be reduced by 30%, just like YouTube, but less than about 50% for Twitch.
This could potentially attract streamers who want to maximize their revenue and think they can transfer their audience to a new destination. Of course, some streamers may not trust Facebook to maintain those same percentages over time, nor believe that it will ever offer the kind of features and innovations that a more gaming destination will targeted as Twitch can offer.
Last year, Facebook also tried to make its mobile gaming hub with the launch of Fb.gg as a stand-alone mobile application.
The application, like the online gaming platform, offered players and fans a way to discover content, reach communities and even play instant games such as Everwing, Words with friends, FRVR Basketball, etc.
However, the strategy of separating Facebook's gaming efforts from those of Facebook's main site may not have paid off: the Android Fb.gg app, for example, has just over 100 000 installations according to Google Play.
Just as YouTube has decided, Facebook will now harness the power of its platform to boost interest in game content.
In September, YouTube had announced at its gaming hub a new homepage directly on YouTube's homepage and that it would close its standalone game application. (The latter does not seem to have occurred, however). As YouTube noted, gambling was a popular category, but the majority of viewers were not looking for a separate app or experience – they were just visiting YouTube directly.
Likewise, Facebook claims today that more than 700 million people play games, watch video games or participate in Facebook gaming groups. This is a much larger number than those who downloaded the Fb.gg application, and surely a much larger number than those who visited the Fb.gg destination directly.
That said, Facebook is continuing its mobile testing with a standalone (renamed) Facebook gaming application on Android, which will have more features than the Games tab.
Facebook says it will roll out the Games tab for a subset of the 700 million Facebook gaming fans and that it will expand over time to more and more people. 39, game enthusiasts on the entire network. If you do not see the new tab in your main navigation bar, you can still find it by going to the Facebook Bookmarks menu.


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By Svea Herbst-Bayliss, Noel Randewich and Eva Mathews
(Reuters) -GameStop named Amazon’s Australian business director (NASDAQ 🙂 as its CEO on Wednesday and said the struggling video game retailer may sell new shares, sending its volatile shares down 7% in trading spread and disappoint some of their ardent fan base of individual investors.
In a quarterly report that was stronger than analysts predicted, GameStop (NYSE 🙂 said it could sell up to 5 million new shares, which would be worth $ 1.4 billion based on its latest share price.
Matt Furlong, a nine-year Amazon veteran, will succeed George Sherman as CEO. GameStop said Mike Recupero, who spent more than 17 years at Amazon, will succeed Jim Bell as CFO.
Furlong will join on June 21, while Recupero, who was the chief financial officer for Amazon’s North American consumer business, will join on July 12, the company said.
Shares of GameStop have nearly doubled in the last month, approaching their peak in January. That’s when a massive investor-driven surge on Reddit’s wallstreetbets trading forum made the stock the most traded on the US market for several days.
The Securities and Exchange Commission requested documents and information related to an investigation into that trade, GameStop revealed, along with the trading of shares in other companies.
AMC Entertainment (NYSE :), Blackberry (TSX :), Clover Health Investments and other so-called “meme” stocks on the recent rise fell more than 4% in extended trading on Wednesday.
Even after falling late on Wednesday, GameStop shares rose more than 1,300% in 2021.
Previously, shareholders elected billionaire investor Ryan Cohen, the company’s largest shareholder and co-founder of online pet supplies retailer Chewy (NYSE :), as its chairman. GameStop announced its nomination in April. He warned shareholders of increased volatility in the future.
“As my dad would say, buckle up,” Cohen said.
Taking advantage of the recent increase in GameStop’s share price, Wednesday’s announcement of a possible share sale follows the issuance of 3.5 million shares in April, which raised about $ 550 million.
Some on the wallstreetbets forum were disappointed with GameStop’s latest stock sale plan.
“Guys, why didn’t Cohen and his NEW CFO go to the fucking bank and get a 2-3% loan to fund their new plans?” Posted a commenter on the site.
Furlong oversaw a small but growing part of Amazon’s business as head of country for Australia, a role his LinkedIn profile said he took on in May 2019. Under Furlong, net sales for the unit that operates the e-commerce site Amazon sales in Australia roughly doubled in 2020 to A $ 1.12 billion ($ 867 million) a year earlier, according to a securities presentation.
“These appointments reflect the Board’s renewed focus on building a technology company and News Block in growth,” GameStop said in the statement.
While the recent launch of new video game consoles is likely to benefit GameStop, analysts have warned that its share price has been disconnected from the company’s day-to-day business. At least two Wall Street analysts recently dropped coverage of the company.
SHRINK OF BASIC BUSINESS
Video games are a massive industry that rivals Hollywood in some measures, but GameStop’s core business of selling new and used video game discs is shrinking as consumers switch to downloading games digitally or streamed. The company has lost money for the last three years.
Cohen hopes to turn GameStop into an e-commerce business that can compete with large retailers. He told shareholders at Wednesday’s meeting in Grapevine, Texas that they had “used in a whole new era at GameStop,” but declined to provide a detailed plan.
He has said the changes to GameStop should speak for themselves, including hiring new hires from Amazon, Google (NASDAQ 🙂 and Chewy.
GameStop said its net sales for the quarter ended May 1 increased 25% to $ 1.28 billion, beating the average analyst estimate of $ 1.16 billion, according to Refinitiv data.
Its adjusted loss per share was 45 cents, beating expectations for a loss of 84 cents per share.
In a brief conference call, Sherman provided a summary of GameStop’s quarterly results and did not respond to analyst questions as companies normally do.


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A report released by the UK’s House of Commons has recommended the construction of gigafactories to maintain Britain’s relevancy in the battery manufacturing sector.
Gigafactories are large factories capable of manufacturing battery cells or fuel-cells at scale, specifically lithium-ion batteries, for electric vehicles (EVs).
The launch of the inquiry [January 2023] coincided with news that Britishvolt, a UK battery start-up, had entered into administration after struggling to raise sufficient investment to proceed with its gigafactory near Blyth in Northumberland.
The UK government’s current Net Zero 2040 plan has fostered a substantial increase in EVs for both commercial and public use.
However, for its decarbonisation plan to be achieved, securing or mass-producing lithium-ion batteries has become imperative.
Many gigafactories are already under construction or in operation throughout Europe.
In Germany, all major centres are now connected to each other and within cities by electrically powered trains, subways and city trains, many of which are reported to use these batteries. By 2030, Germany is expected to have the largest amount of battery manufacturing capacity in Europe.
Eastern European countries, such as Hungary and Poland, have attracted significant investment from Asian battery manufacturers, partly due to the cheaper land and labour in these countries, but also because of their proximity to the German car industry.
The European Battery Alliance has set an objective for 90% of Europe’s annual battery demand to be supplied from within the EU by 2030.
The pipeline of gigafactories planned in the United States has also grown rapidly at the expense of investments in Europe since the Inflation Reduction Act was introduced in August 2022.
Larger gigafactories, such as the Faraday Institution, has projected that the UK will need 100GWh of battery manufacturing capacity by 2030 to satisfy demand for batteries from the UK’s automotive industry and other sectors.
Smaller-scale gigafactories or even megawatt-scale factories could be used to cater for public transport manufacturers.
The government’s Advanced Manufacturing Plan covers the automotive industry and other sectors, as well as a UK Battery Strategy.
The House of Commons has suggested a 10-year plan be implemented to match British market competitors.
It also recommends targeting at least 90% of the UK’s annual demand for batteries to be met from domestic supplies by 2030.
Applications for the third annual CiTTi Awards, which will be held in London on 26 November 2024 at the De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms, will open March 2024. Visit www.cittiawards.co.uk to learn more about this unmissable event for the UK’s transportation sector.


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Caecilia Chu, CEO and Co-Founder of YouTrip, a multi-currency mobile wallet provider from Singapore, has been recognized as one the “Top 25 Fintech CEOs of Asia for 2020” and also the “Top 25 Women Leaders in Fintech” by The Financial Technology Report. As mentioned in a release, Chu is the only business leader to have been included in both these categories.
The Financial Technology Report Awards aim to recognize exemplary leadership that has driven Fintech businesses towards sustainable success in the financial services sector.
Chu is among the well-known professionals in the Fintech industry, like Simon Hu from Ant Group (previously Ant Financial) to be recognized among the “Top 25 Fintech CEOs of Asia.” The firms represented have become key industry players in Asia and globally and have been developing products and solutions that are now defining new ways for businesses to manage their finances.
“It’s an incredible honor to be recognized as top CEO in Asia and woman leader in financial technology… This pandemic has been the greatest test of our leadership like never before, but I also see it as an opportunity to emerge as a more cohesive and resilient company.”
Asian countries like Singapore, Malaysia, and China are now major international players when it comes to developing innovative Fintech solutions, which are quickly becoming a key part of digital transformation strategies of large corporations.
As reported recently, Ping An became the first Chinese institution to win Euromoney’s best digital bank award. The bank is keeping up with the times as it now has more than 30,000 company employees working remotely.
As covered, Finovate also announced its selection of individuals and firms in the Fintech sector that have had an exemplary year. This is the group’s second go at doing the Finovate Awards and this year is obviously a bit different due to the ongoing pandemic shifting events to the virtual realm.
Renaud Laplanche, founder and CEO of Upgrade, was selected as Fintech Executive of the Year. Lisa Kimball from Finicity won the Fintech Woman of the year.
Steve McLaughlin, founder & CEO at FT Partners – the leading Fintech investment bank, issued the following comment on Laplanche’s win:
“Renaud is one of the very few people in the world who’s ever been the founding CEO of 2 unicorns. He is one of the most prominent and influential figures in Fintech, and very much deserves the Finovate Fintech Executive of the Year Award.”
Global Finance also announced awards recently.
The US division of the BBVA (NYSE:BBVA), a Spanish multinational financial services company based in Madrid and Bilbao, Spain with nearly €700 billion in assets, was recently recognized as one of the world’s best corporate and institutional digital banks in North America by Global Finance.


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Native advertising is a rapidly evolving field, but many advertisers are not taking advantage of the creative opportunities on offer.
Speaking at Verizon Media's 'Native Decoded' breakfast event in Auckland earlier this year, VMLY&R Auckland Managing Director James Mok shared some pointers on how to get to grips with the opportunity.
While native advertising is no longer a new phenomenon, it is one that few creatives have really mastered.
That is the view of James Mok, who explains: 'The whole area of native just keeps on evolving at a massive rate. So while anyone might be an expert for a moment, it just changes. No-one's an expert yet."
That lack of expertise is currently a hindrance for brands, publishers and creatives. Native advertising isn't going anywhere - it is the fastest-growing display advertising medium globally. So, the VMLY&R Auckland Managing Director says it is a competitive opportunity for agencies to get really good at the medium.
The problem, Mok told the audience at Verizon Media's 'Native Decoded' event, is that traditionally creatives at advertising agencies are more concerned with finding the "big idea", which does not necessarily fit with the view of native advertising.
He explains to the audience there is a chance to really explore and be creative in native, where other digital mediums are perhaps more functional: "That test and learn culture is pretty fundamental to success and fundamental to actually validating the strength of any format, native in particular. It feels like we're under indexing on that massively compared to the rest of the world.
"If we can validate the ideas we're putting out there to actually become experts until the next format comes out, then we have to start exploring again."
Mok explains that to be successful with native advertising creatives need to follow a few simple principles:
1. Don't do clickbait
"We live in a very media-savvy world and no-one really likes to be duped. Even though clearly clickbait does work, I think that we have to have a long term view about how we want to connect with our audiences.
"If we create sensationalised headlines with underwhelming content we really risk the potential of burning our audience and they will eventually learn not to engage with the format. We have to have some responsibility in delivering quality and really engaging content in order to really maximise this format."
2. Think about the human element
"Empathy is a real route to connection. The context of native is that it lives in an editorial environment. Once we understand the human needs before the client's product or service, people can really get involved in their content and enjoy finding out more because they want to find it."
3. Be useful
"While advertising uses entertainment and intrigue to pique interest, I think the real power of native is for the brand to be useful. People are reading the news and then there's the entertainment in their feeds they need to compete against. All of this is about feeding their personal interests.
"When a brand unpacks information or gets people access to a product and service, they are far more likely to get into it because it's useful information to them. Arguably they might even like the brand more because the brand is actually offering stuff that is useful to them as opposed to just interrupting their lives. It's pretty provocative."
Mok explains the real opportunity around native is a new route to creating connections through a new format. And, quoting Sir John Heggarty, he explains that while the practice of creating these ads may change, the principles should remain the same.
Ultimately, Mok believes native is the future for brands to create cut through, explaining: "An ad is generally seen as an interruption and our challenge is to not be an ad. Great native fits seamlessly into its environment and then its language and the way it looks and feels is like editorial, therefore easier to consume, unlike a big ad which automatically says don't look at me."


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Honor 10 Smartphone launches in the Chinese market on April 19. It was earlier said that the event of Huawei is on May 15 in London where the handset will be screened. Now according to the new report, Honor 10 is going to launch in China. Motorola’s Moto G6 range will be launched in Brazil on the same day.
Gizchina report says the new Fresh Invite has been seen for April 19th. There is also rumor about the specification of Honor 10. Some pictures of the handset have also emerged from the photos of the invite. It has been said that the phone’s twilight color variant is also coming. We have seen this during the Huawei P20 launch.
According to the pictures, dual camera setup, a selfie camera, and AI feature can be found in Honor 10. AI feature was included in the previous report, which was told about the phone knock during May. Honor 10 equipped with AI Focus will be a flagship smartphone. Such as the company’s Huawei Mate 10 and Huawei P20 handsets.
Recently, the banner of Honor 10 was also leaked, in which its Twilight 3D back panel was shown. Also, there is no fingerprint sensor on the back, so it has been guessed that it will be forwarded. Also, there will be horizontal dual camera setup. The report says that the front of the phone will also be like an iPhone X Notch. In addition, leaks have revealed that the phone will have a Kirin 970 chipset. 6 GB of RAM will be provided. Internal storage will be 256 GB of storage. From this, there will be a 5.8-inch display in Honor 10. It will be full HD Plus resolution.


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Industrial REITs: Supply Chains At Breaking Point
On the front-lines of the historic supply-chain shortages, Industrial REITs outperformed the broad-based REIT Index for the sixth consecutive year in 2021, but have uncharacteristically lagged in early 2022.
Industrial occupancy rates declined to record-lows below 4% despite robust levels of new development, driving rent growth of nearly 20% in North America with some markets seeing 50% year-over-year increases.
Development can't keep up robust demand as businesses scramble to build out supply resiliency and next-day delivery speeds. Permitted land remains ultra-scarce, driving a 50% increase in land values.
Supply chain disruptions came as inventory levels were already historically lean amid a shift towards "just-in-time" inventory management. More resilient supply chains will require substantial investments in the logistics space.
Industrial REITs are never "cheap" but much like the residential sector, supply-demand fundamentals are likely to remain favorable into the late 2020s and should continue delivering robust earnings and dividend growth.


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Thor3D has been creating unique 3D scanning technologies since 2015.
Professional & affordable
Our 3D scanners help medical professionals, product designers and engineers improve their work.
3D data, captured at up to 35 frames per second, appears on the screen in real-time, so you always know what you are scanning.
Simple editing softwareInteractive touch screen makes 3D scanning process easy and intuitive. Get a finished, high-resolution, full-colored 3D model within minutes in Calibry Nest software.
HOW ACCURATE IS THE CALIBRY MINI?
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On October 21st at 1600 BST 3DPI will broadcast 3D Printing Industry Awards live on YouTube, where the winners will be announced. Calibry was shortlisted among the nominees for the “3D Scanning or Metrology Company” Award. Overall, there are 19 categories: Community Advocate...
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SCANNING AN ITALIAN TV STAR
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We constantly improve our software and add new features/functions which can simplify your work in Calibry Nest. In our latest release we’ve added Hungarian and Vietnamese and now there are...