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Ever wanted to invest in an NFL team? Well, the Green Bay Packers are offering investors that chance, but it might not be what you think
Nov. 16, 2021
If you’ve ever wanted to own a piece of your favorite sports team, then now might be your chance.
That is, if you happen to be an NFL fan who supports the Green Bay Packers.
Hold your horses though, this isn’t like normal stocks!
At 9 AM Eastern Time Tuesday, 300,000 shares in the Green Bay Packers will be made available to the public at $300 apiece. The sale, which will run through February 25, was approved in late October by the National Football League, with funds being used to improve the team’s stadium. It is the sixth such sale, its first taking place in 1923 and the most recent in 2011.
Usually, when you buy a stock it means that you have partial ownership in that business. The same basic principle with this sale.
However, that’s about where the similarities end. Unlike a normal piece of stock such as Tesla or Apple, you cannot sell your Packers shares, they don’t increase or decrease in value, and they don’t afford you any voting power. So basically, you’re just buying a symbolic piece of ownership of the four-time Super Bowl champions.
If you’re a mega-fan, then the urge to do so is understandable. People buy their favorite teams’ memorabilia and uniforms all the time, this is no different.
However, if you believe that you’re buying a piece of stock with intrinsic value that could increase over time, then you’d better take a step back — this isn’t that. In the team’s own words via a press conference yesterday:
“Anyone considering the purchase of Packers stock should not purchase the stock to make a profit or to receive a dividend or tax deduction or any other economic benefits.”
So, there you have it. Don’t buy for the wrong reasons.
Ready to start investing in stocks with huge potential? Check out our list of market-beating companies so you can get on the path to financial freedom. Get free access now.


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Teddy Sagi is the biggest shareholder of Playtech, the casino software provider. He owns over 33 percent of the shares. He has also just made a deal for Playtech to buy TradeFX. The interesting bit to this sale is that Teddy Sagi has ownership in TradeFX. This means PlayTech is essentially purchasing a company owned by the owner of Playtech. It’s a bit of a confusing deal when you consider this, but it is not the first time the company Playtech has bought companies that Sagi owns. They also purchased Skywind which Mr. Sagi owns, as well as shares in or other companies outright.
The purchase of TradeFX does have some specifics to it such as the further payment of €250 million if the company hits 2017 targets. This is in addition to the €208 million that will be paid to purchase TradeFX in 2015. TradeFX is a trading platform and payment services provider, perhaps best known for their markets.com brand.

domain: news


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Art2ro Posted February 4, 2012 Posted February 4, 2012 (edited) http://ph.news.yahoo...-105807636.htmlAnother Facebook scam threatens to hook in members of the social networking giant, this time claiming to offer free gift cards fromonline retailer Amazon.com. Computer security firm Sophos said the cybercriminals behind the new scam offer a link supposedly to a free Amazon.com gift card. "When you see one of your friends share a link like this with you, the truth is that they have been duped into a scam. Be careful not to make the same mistake as them, or you'll just be helping put cash into the pockets of the bad guys. Sophos said clicking on the link will take the prospective victim to a webpage on a third-party website. The website encourages the victim to re-share the link, and add a comment, before it will allow access to the so-called special deal. "If you follow the page's instructions you will be taken to another webpage, (such as one that) encourages you to sign up for a premium rate mobile phone service which could end up hurting you in the pocket. Worse, the scammers usually earn affiliate cash by driving traffic to sites like this. Sophos said one warning sign about the supposed gift card is that it is offering a whopping $500. Edited February 4, 2012 by Art2ro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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This Squid Game Actor Has Gained Over 8 Million Followers
30 September 2021, 16:49 | Updated: 7 October 2021, 14:16
Jung Ho-Yeon's social media accounts have blown up since Squid Game arrived on Netflix...
It's unlikely that you've been able to surf the web without coming across the Squid Game mania that's taking the internet by storm!
One actress, in particular, has seen a massive increase in her follower count on Instagram – Jung Ho-Yeon is Netflix's newest It-girl!
Squid Game promo reveals behind-the-scenes of the glass bridge game
Jung Ho-Yeon is a South Korean fashion model who has recently branched out into the world of acting, with Squid Game being her first-ever role!
Ho-Yeon had already gained notability after competing in Korea's Next Top Model where she finished in second place.
Since her reality TV stint in 2013, she has walked for a deluge of high-end designers and become a model in hot pursuit!
Now, she's been thrust onto the international stage due to the crazy success of the Netflix thriller – and her Instagram following illustrates the overnight fame!
The Twittersphere has been whirring with the fascination of Ho-Yeon's skyrocket to notoriety, with many fans pointing out the proliferation of her follower count.
Despite Squid Game only being released on September 17th, the 27-year-old actress has amassed over a whopping 8.8 million followers at the time of writing.
Before the show premiered on the streaming platform the supermodel's following sat at just 400,000.
You can find Jung on Instagram at @hoooooyeony, where she's been posting behind the scenes snaps from the set of the dark show as well as some shots of her modelling work!
We're sure the star will hit 10 million in no time...


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INDIANAPOLIS — Grabbing a cup of coffee on the way to work used to be common, but with many now working from home, coffee is coming from the kitchen. But, the staff at "Coffee and Pizza Junkiez" are working every day to keep up with the new normal.
"Honestly, here lately business has actually picked up on the coffee side," Jasan R. Julius, the owner of Coffee and Pizza Junkiez, said. "We just installed our drive through speaker to try and actually speed the service along because we saw the increase in volume on the coffee side of the businesses."
The uncommon pairing of coffee and pizza has proved to do well even during a pandemic.
Julius says for some, what he's serving is indeed essential.
"We're essential comforts. When they took it to essential businesses, it was like OK, we are a food and drink," Julius said. "It's been letting people know that we offer comfort food and drinks, and I have done a certain amount of advertising and social media just to let people know that we are in fact open and there's been a huge response on social media from people being appreciative that we are actually still open."
Julius says before the coronavirus, 95% of his business was already coming from the drive-through, now that traffic has only increased. It is even forcing him to hire more workers.
"My payroll is through the roof because I've had to authorize a bunch of overtime to actually keep up with the demand," Julius said.
Much like stimulus checks and small business assistance is a much-needed jolt during this unexpected halt to the economy, Julius is exploring the possibility of loans to help cover employee pay, but may not need too much help.
In the long run, Julius is optimistic that the economy will come roaring back.
"This is like a tornado. Everybody is hunkering down, and you're not truly going to know the damage until you come out, and there is going to be damage," Julius said. "I'm an eternal optimist, I am a student of history, and America has really come back after some really hard times."
You can find information about support for small businesses, plus unemployment benefits and companies that are hiring right now at hiringhoosiers.com.


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The contactless card
Contactless payment cards boast convenience and ease-of-use at purchase, but are they secure? A host of recent reports have called into question their security.
This type of card uses near-field communication, or NFC, to conduct payments. Card information is stored in a chip on the card or device and that data is transmitted via radio frequency to a payment terminal equipped to accept this type of tap-and-go payment. Some credit cards and gas stations offer this technology.
The technology is similar to RFID, or radio frequency identification, found in electronic toll collection tags such as E-ZPass. The key difference is the RFID technology is meant to be read at great distances, while NFC technology is meant to be read at a very close distance, no more than 4 inches.
The media reports focused on the possibility that someone could lift the information from a card while it's still in a wallet by simply waving an NFC reader close to it. So far, the fears are unfounded because they have occurred only in demonstrations. There has been no reported fraud committed like this.
"It's certainly not in banks' interests to employ a technology that puts their consumers in danger," says Michael Misasi, senior analyst at Mercator Advisory Group. "It's my understanding that NFC cards only operate within a couple of centimeters."
NFC cards also allow consumers to hold onto their cards throughout the entire transaction, eliminating the ability of fraudsters to skim their cards.


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SHANGHAI: Unilever and Coca-Cola are thinking about big data differently in China, a country that is set to generate 20% of all global data by 2020, according to a leading industry figure.
Jane Lin-Baden, CEO of Isobar China Group, addressed this topic at the AMES 2016 conference in Singapore and said there is no better time than now for brands to seize the opportunity of marketing effectively to "the segment of one" in the country.
She highlighted how leading companies are using big data to target niche demographics, understand neuroscientific insights, personalize campaigns and increase sales conversions.
Unilever and Coca-Cola, alongside China's leading payments company UnionPay, as leading the charge by employing big data in the areas of bio-data-informed product targeting, individual-level personalization, and building niche audience segmentations. (For more read Warc's exclusive report: How Unilever, UnionPay and Coca-Cola use big data in China.)
Lin-Baden foresees that bio-data in particular will deliver valuable new insights about consumers.
"Bio-data is going to be the most direct, one of the most precise data, because there are a lot of things the consumers would not respond by answering a straightforward question. Agencies can come up with a more effective content piece that really addresses different groups of people," she said.
Already, Coca-Cola has used bio-data analysis in China to inform consumer product targeting. Isobar worked with the soft drinks company to understand consumer reactions to visual stimuli - and helped consumers select the right soda product to match their mood from over 27 different flavours.
"In this case we used neuroscience to help us understand consumers and which area in their brain is triggered, when exposed to a piece of content," she said.
Unilever Food Solutions's Knorr brand of ingredients also used big data to target chefs in China with personalized communications in various Chinese dialects, as many chefs in China do not speak Mandarin or Cantonese.
Data allowed UFS to deliver their message to each individual chef with precision. Using chat app WeChat, a film paying tribute to the chefs was shown on their screens as an ad, leading next to a mobile experience with unique recipes of hometown dishes in the dialects of their own distinct province.
Warc subscribers can read more on the app's big data capabilities, and how it can add value to advertisers, in this report: How China's WeChat is leading chat apps into the future.
Data sourced from Warc


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But it might be worked in later.
Unlike what was rumored, not all upcoming games on the PS4 will need to support the PS4 Pro on a mandatory basis. This means there is always a question of whether or not an upcoming PS4 game will have a PS4 Pro mode. And while all of Sony’s own games definitely will support enhancements on the Pro going forward, with third parties, it’s a bit more hit and miss.
Take Watch Dogs 2, for example. It’s one of the biggest third party game releases of this year, but apparently, it might not support the PS4 Pro at launch. ‘Right now we’re focusing on November 15 with PS4 and Xbox and PC. As far as the other opportunities, we still have to look into those. We have nothing to announce on that right now. And I am sure plenty of other programmers are looking into these opportunities, but for us, for now, it’s PC, and Xbox One, and PS4,’ Jonathan Morin of Ubisoft told HipHopGamer in an interview.
Watch Dogs 2 was shown off running on the PS4 Pro at the PlayStation Meeting event where the Pro was unveiled, so we do know that PS4 Pro support is on the cards for the game- as of right now, it’s just unknown when that support will ultimately be patched into the game.


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Unleesh is as easy and dynamic to use as a social network, but has powerful learning principals at its core.
Denver, Colorado (PRWEB) April 29, 2015
Unleesh, LLC has announced the release of it’s new Unleesh mobile app that revolutionizes the way companies can empower employees and customers to deeply understand their business, products and services.
The new Unleesh IOS/Android app allows companies to easily and quickly transform traditional static training materials, videos and promotional content into effective, bite-size interactive chunks that live in a social environment.
Users learn, collaborate and share what they experience through photos, videos and text. Features include learning “Paths”, profiles, event creation and management, team and individual instant messaging, email, social streams, and gamification for learning activities – all centered around a company’s learning or promotional plan.
Companies simply deliver or point to the content they want shared and Unleesh creates the interactive Path.
“Traditional learning systems haven’t changed in years and remain a one-way street,” Unleesh Founder Saul Garlick said. “Unleesh is as easy and dynamic to use as a social network, but has powerful learning principals at its core. Unleesh should be a huge wake up call to the entire Learning Management System industry.”
Paths can be public or private, allowing companies the option to either train employees in a closed, secure setting or reach out to customers globally – or both at the same time.
Since launching as a company in Oct. 2014, Unleesh has built more than 100 learning, training and customer Paths for dozens of organizations, including Univision, Stanford University, O2X, Young Americans Center for Financial Education, Global Brigades, Youth Business USA, Guilford College, Girls For A Change and Think Impact.
Unleesh is a training and education technology platform company co-founded by entrepreneur Saul Garlick, online startup veteran Travis Henry and Disney sales alum Emily Garlick.
The Unleesh platform began as an experiential learning app used by Saul Garlick’s social entrepreneurship company Think Impact and quickly morphed into a tool that can be used by any company.
Launched in Oct. 2014, Unleesh has already built more than 100 learning Paths for dozens of organizations.


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California-based startup Chanje (pronounced "change") is set to deliver its first electric vans to Ryder, which will add them to its massive rental fleet. The two companies announced a deal in August that will make Ryder the main U.S. distributor for the startup's vehicles.
Ryder has ordered 125 electric cars from Chanje. It will make the vans available for rental in New York, California, and Illinois before the end of the year, meaning they will be among the first Chanje vehicles to hit U.S. roads.
The Chanje V8070 is a medium-duty commercial van, with a payload capacity of 6,000 pounds and 580 cubic feet of cargo space. Chanje estimates an average range of 100 miles from the 76-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack in everyday driving. Chanje is working with eMotorWerks to install 240-volt Level 2 AC charging stations at Ryder facilities so the vehicles will have a place to charge.
While it is based in California, Chanje has close ties to Hong Kong-based FDG Electric Vehicles Limited. The peculiar spelling of "Chanje" is actually a nod to FDG's Chinese Changjiang brand. Chanje leaned on FDG's engineering resources to help design its van, while simultaneously partnering with Ryder on U.S. distribution. Ryder will essentially act as a middleman, leasing or renting
Chanje vans to customers.
The first vans will be imported from China, but Chanje hopes to eventually establish a U.S. manufacturing base. The company is looking to repurpose an existing factory, preferably near a port or other shipping hub. In August, Chanje vice president James Chen said Los Angeles was high on the company's list of potential locations.
In the U.S., Chanje may be able to find a niche in the commercial vehicle sector, as most companies seem to be focusing on larger electric commercial vehicles. But that may change (no pun intended) if Mercedes-Benz decides to bring its upcoming electric Sprinter van here, if the electric vans Ford is developing with DHL in Germany are exported.


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Americans love their pizza. Every second, we eat around 350 slices of it, and we have a seemingly endless appetite for fresh twists on this familiar favorite. According to a 2018 study commissioned by Pizza Magazine (yes, that’s a real thing), there are over 75,000 pizzerias in the United States. And aside from perhaps Chicago and its famous deep dish pies, no city is more synonymous with pizza experimentation than New York — there are over 360 pizza restaurants in the borough of Manhattan alone, as reported in the New York Daily News.
On many of their menus, you’ll find the same options, like meat lovers’, veggie-only, Hawaiian, and so on. But at one suddenly trendy establishment, the house speciality is much more unique and much less legal: cannabis pizza.
Chris Barrett, the proprietor of Stoned Pizza, runs three secret locations across Brooklyn, where customers can order everything from pizzas to chicken wings to sodas that have been infused with cannabis. To be clear, these aren’t CBD-infused foods — they’re made with THC-rich cannabis oil, which is illegal for private recreational use in New York (to say nothing of its use in commercial food products).
Still, Barrett seems largely unconcerned about running afoul of either health inspectors or law enforcement agents. As he told News 12 Brooklyn, he frequently changes the location of his restaurants, and takes great care to ensure that only trusted customers are able to find their addresses.
In Barrett’s view, he’s simply running out the clock until the inevitable day New York makes marijuana fully legal. “It’s going to take [city authorities] two years to bring this case to its end and by that time, it will definitely be legal,” he said.
Barrett’s prediction might sound overly optimistic, but it’s not entirely without basis — many have suggested that New York could be one of the next states to legalize recreational cannabis, due in large part to the pro-legalization stance of Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D). However, despite the fact that New York City is widely regarded as one of the most cannabis-friendly cities in the country (it has double the users of Los Angeles, where recreational use is legal), lawmakers have been unsuccessful in their attempts to advance legislation this year, and progress toward full legalization seem to have stalled for the time being.
Meanwhile, New York City’s ban on CBD-infused edibles recently went into effect, as authorities have vowed to enforce penalties on any establishments caught selling infused foods or beverages. It’s the culmination of a long-brewing crackdown on CBD edibles, with other establishments (such as Fat Cat Kitchen in Manhattan) having their products seized by health inspectors.
Yet for Barrett and other entrepreneurs willing to run significant legal risks, the potential payoffs from continuing to sell infused products are too great to ignore. Cannabis cuisine has emerged as one of the top food trends of 2019, and Americans are predicted to spend up to $10 billion on (legal) cannabis this year.
Aside from the lure of massive profits, there may be another reason why Barrett feels so confident in continuing to operate his illegal pizza ring — it’s relatively unlikely he’ll be caught. Enforcing the prohibition against cannabis has become a low priority for New York police (as evidenced by the 2018 New York Times piece titled, “Marijuana: The Signature Olfactory Experience of New York)”, and keeping his locations a secret means that unexpected visits from city health inspectors are not much of a concern.
For the time being, then, Stoned Pizza will continue to exist in the legal grey zone that defines much of America’s cannabis industry at the moment. Illegal in theory but generally tolerated in practice, it provides a curious snapshot of a country still coming to grips with how it feels about cannabis.


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Wait! Before you fight the crowds to plunk down your hard-earned cash, make sure that a Black Friday deal is really a deal.
These are the deals on laptops, tablets, desktops and hybrids worth checking out for Black Friday bargains. (Originally published earlier, republished November 25, 5:30 a.m. PT.)
From the Cheapskate: This popular system sold out quickly last time. Plus: four bonus deals!
BlackBerry's first Android phone champions productivity and security, but the real star is the slide-out keyboard.
Two Skype co-founders form a new company, Starship Technologies, to try to lower the cost of package delivery with six-wheeled robots.
Samsung designers Eunjoo Kim and Jaehyung Hong reveal the inspiration behind the Galaxy Gear S2 smartwatch and why the team had to go back to the drawing board after the Gear S.
South Korea's biggest messaging app is struggling to keep profits up despite increasing popularity, signalling what could be a problem for the global messaging sector.
Beauty and fashion startups hope to edge out the local mall by creating software that learns and anticipates what people want to wear.
A $20 million investment in SpotHero is just the latest sign of venture capitalists' increasing interest in changing the way the world parks.
Technically Incorrect: There may be good reasons why Google has created its new holding company. One, though, might be to alleviate some of the negatives of the Google image.


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Toys ‘R’ Us is embarking on a major business expansion in 2013. The Wayne, New Jersey-based toy retailer plans to open more than 100 stores internationally, relocate and convert 14 stores to its TRU/Babies ‘R’ Us side-by-side format, and add 22 new licensed stores.
These new stores will be located throughout 21 of the 36 countries in which Toys ‘R’ Us currently has a presence, adding more than 900,000 square feet of retail space to the company’s store portfolio.
The most significant expansion plans this year are for China. By the end of the year, the company plans to operate 51 stores in 27 cities throughout the country. In October 2011, Toys’R’ Us acquired the majority stake in its business in Greater China and Southeast Asia from Fung Retailing.
The second largest area of growth for the company is the US, where 19 new, converted or relocated stores are planned to open, including nine new Toys ‘R’ Us Outlet stores, bringing the total number to 25 outlet locations nationwide.
New store sizes vary by country and range from 3,000 to 60,000 square feet.


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Nissan has inaugurated its first Global Digital Hub at Trivandrum in Kerela. The state of the art facility will be the first of kind in a number of software and information technology development centers in Asia, Europe North America and Latin America. These centers will drive digital transformation for Nissan’s business by placing digital technology at the heart of key operations and services, stated the company.
As the automotive industry evolves, the hub will allow Nissan to offer application portfolio management, product development capabilities, data science, cyber security, best-in-class user experiences and connectivity with growing use of autonomous, connected and electric vehicle technology.
Tony Thomas, Corporate Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Nissan, said the new hub in India will serve as an important engine to drive Nissan’s global digital transformation.


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(photo credit: Wikicommons)
Something illogical is happening in Israel: On the one hand, consumers are experiencing high food prices, and on the other taxpayers and consumers are required to give huge subsidies to the agricultural sector.
Agriculture was a top priority for the State of Israel during its early years and was needed to develop specific areas of the country for geopolitical security, avoid food shortages and provide employment for new immigrants.
Although agriculture today represents only 2.6 percent of the GDP and 6% of the work force, the same policies protecting agricultural producers are still in effect and are hurting consumers and taxpayers.
From struggling in the early years of the state, the agricultural sector is today flourishing and doesn’t need more subsidies from Israeli citizens. Israel produces 95% of its own food requirements and the total export of agricultural fresh produce and processed food has almost doubled from $1.2 billion in 2003 to $2.4b. in 2012. Agricultural exports have increased over the past 20 years by 3% annually, growing at a faster pace than any other sector of the economy.
Exports are flourishing partly because Israeli citizens are de facto subsidizing foreign consumers. By various mechanisms such as compensation for surplus production, subsidized water prices, investment support and direct payments, Israeli producers can export products at below-market prices; the difference being paid by Israeli consumers and taxpayers.
While the overall level of agricultural support has been falling, the OECD shows that the share of the most distortive types of support has increased over the past two decades. High barriers to import for agricultural commodities have pushed domestic prices above international levels and resulted in high market prices.
High tariffs on imports of the majority of agro-food products is the most costly policy to consumers. Average tariffs in the dairy sector are 108% and can in some cases reach 160%.
The current level of agricultural producer support, an indicator of the annual monetary value of gross transfers from consumers and taxpayers to support agricultural producers in Israel is 17% of farmers’ gross receipts, below the OECD average of 23%, but considerably higher than in the United States (10%).
However, transfers from consumers alone, a measure of the cost to consumers arising from policies that support agricultural producers by raising domestic prices, is higher in Israel at 18% compared to the OECD average of 13%. Looking at specific products, the impact on consumer prices at farm gate is even higher and reaches 35% for milk, 16% for eggs and 42% for beef and veal.
The typical Israeli household’s monthly budget for food is NIS 2,251 or 16.1% of its total expenditures.
However, the poorest households spend relatively more on food and their food expenditures represent 22.2% of their total budget. Taxing consumers through barriers to imports actually hurts the poorest much more than the well-off households. Every year the poorest 20% of households transfer NIS 517 million to farmers by paying in excess of the competitive price.
Interestingly enough, farmers are quite well off economically and in 2008 agricultural incomes were about 50% higher than the national average. It is a typical case of the poor subsidizing the rich! Our government and policy makers are well aware of this problem. Ahead of deciding whether or not to allow Israel to join the OECD, a report recommended Israel privatize agricultural land, raise water rates, and reduce protectionist quotas on agricultural imports.
But the farmer lobby is so powerful in Israel that the government is more heavily involved in the agriculture sector than in virtually any other sector, mainly through protectionist quota policies. Israel’s import tax on agricultural produce is three times higher than that levied on non-agricultural products.
Reduction of indirect support and import barriers would not only lead to significant savings for consumers, but would also increase productivity and competitiveness, which would lead to further price declines.
Farmers themselves will benefit from an increased demand due to lower prices which will in turn increase their revenues.Corinne Sauer is executive director of the Jerusalem Institute for Market Studies, Shaul Kirshenbaum is a research fellow there.
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Kate Middleton can now add skincare guru to her résumé. It’s been revealed that the Duchess of Cambridge swears by a product that’s basically organic Botox in a bottle. In fact, it’s so good that she even recommended it to Michelle Obama. According to Marie Claire UK , the FLOTUS’ makeup artist Carl Ray confirmed it’s how Michelle maintains such a youthful complexion at 52 years old. “Michelle Obama has been using this organic Botox gel regularly on the recommendation of Kate Middleton,” he shared.
The product is Biotulin Supreme Skin Gel and it contains spilanthol, a local anesthetic extracted from the plant Acmella oleracea. It reduces fine lines, especially those around the eyes and between the brows, and the brand claims you’ll see results in just 60 minutes. A product that works like Botox but requires zero needles is mind-blowing in itself, but the fact that it’s used by Kate and Michelle is all we needed to hear. Sign us up!


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For a record sixth time, Dangote Group has emerged Nigeria’s Most Valuable Brand by securing an impressive aggregate score of 86.2 per cent on the brand strength measurement index (BSM) conducted by Top 50 Brands Nigeria as part of its comprehensive 2023 top brands perception assessment.
At the media briefing to announce the 2023 Top 50 Brands Nigeria in Lagos yesterday, the organisation stated that Dangote’s consistent excellence has reinforced its position at the forefront.
Also, MTN remains a strong contender, securing a close second place with an 85 BSM index score. This year’s third and fourth positions are secured by Airtel Nigeria and Globacom, both with BSM index scores of 77.9 and 77 respectively.
Interestingly, this has reaffirmed the prominence of telecommunications brands, with three out of the top four hailing from this sector.
The top 10 brands feature Access Bank, Zenith Bank, Coca-Cola, GTCO, First Bank, and BUA Group, and the geometric growth by BUA Group into the top 10 for the first time with a strong 70.8 BSM index deserves special attention.
Speaking on the outcome of this year’s evaluation, the Chief Executive Officer of Top 50 Brands Nigeria, Taiwo Oluboyede, said: “A brand is like a person with all the traits that define his/her personality to the audience. When you hear someone’s name, you are likely not just going to remember their face or apparel, but who they really are and what they mean to you.
Oluboyede further stated: “It is not about making pledges anyway, it is about steadfastly living up to the commitment that separates the top brands from the rest.”
A breakdown of the 2023 evaluation report indicated that Nigerian-owned brands continued to shine among the top 10 brands. There are Dangote, Globacom, Access Bank, Zenith Bank, GTCO, First Bank, and BUA Group.
Five of the top ten brands are banks, while three are telecommunications. Impressively, nine of the 10 were among the top 10 last year, while four maintained their previous position. Airtel Nigeria made a remarkable rise to third place. Also, six brands have consistently maintained a top 10 position for a remarkable seven years in a row.
Overall, 26 or 52 per cent of the 50 brands are multinational, while 24 or 48 per cent are Nigerian brands.


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Today, Phillip McGriskin shares his 2021 thoughts, plus a look ahead to 2022 with The Fintech Times.
This December, The Fintech Times is asking industry leaders for their ‘View from the Top’ to gain an insight into the decisions behind the last 12 months.
Vitesse’s CEO, Phillip McGriskin, shares his 2021 thoughts, plus a look ahead to 2022….
“Vitesse focuses on specific verticals, with insurance and insurance claims payments being the main vertical. In the insurance “fintech” space, I think the biggest ’21 trends are towards customer focused outcomes on the payment side of things. By that, I mean insurers are moving away from the old paper cheques that have been the slow and efficient primary method of payment of claims, and they’re moving towards customer choice, which typically revolves around faster payments. So we’ve seen a big continued move towards FasterPayments in the UK and equivalents elsewhere.
“We’ve also seen a shift towards offering customers the ability to receive claims payments back onto their debit/credit card through mechanisms such as Visa Direct, a service that Vitesse launched with Brit insurance. On a wider fintech level, the talk has definitely been about open banking.”
In terms of the future, he said: “In insurance, I think speed of payment and customer choice on claims payments will become a topic as the neo-insurers, such as Anansi, Urban Jungle and BoughtByMany, push into the space a little harder, with their newer technology and slightly different customer focus lens. It will be a case that the incumbents sort themselves out or loser customer share. More widely, I think open banking will continue to be a buzz. However, I’m interested to see how the card companies respond. They have efficient networks, big balance sheets and a vested interest in keeping their businesses secure. And my previous experience has definitely shown me that they’re not afraid of competing on a price basis.”
Read the full article from The Fintech Times here:


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Bostock New Zealand’s move to “plant up big” looks set to pay healthy dividends. The Hawke’s Bay-based company has spent the winter months replacing old apple varieties on its orchards with new cultivars, including Premier Star, TCL3 and Kingsbeer Red.
“We will be getting the first samples of these new crops this coming season, so we are excited to meet the international consumer demand with bright red, sweet, juicy apples,” said John Bostock, owner of Bostock New Zealand.
Bostock said these higher colour, sweet tasting offerings were geared towards consumers in Asian markets.
The company planted around 4,000 trees a day during winter, with the new production starting to take off thanks to a recent spell of warm weather and few frosts across Hawke’s Bay.
Bostock said the conditions were budding well for a high quality apple crop in 2017, with trees beginning to reach full bloom.
“Warm, dry conditions are ideal when trees are in bloom - we have had some really hot days in Hawke’s Bay, with temperatures reaching the mid 20s and indications show it’s a strong bud,” Bostock explained.
“When the sun is shining, bees are out doing their bit to pollinate the blossoming orchards – then it’s up to our team to do everything possible to see a high quality crop through to export.”
Bostock is New Zealand’s largest organic apple producer, with the company seeing plenty of demand for the category.
“Organic apples are seeing consistent growth in export markets and we are actively focused on keeping the quality of the fruit high,” Bostock said.


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Business news is a term used to describe the latest happenings in the world of business. This could include announcements from companies, financial reports, or interviews with business leaders. Business news is a type of journalism that covers the latest happenings in the business world. It can include news about companies, their products, and their financials. It can also cover legal issues and other topics that relate to the business world. Business news is the latest trend in the world of journalism. It has become a way for reporters to keep up with the latest developments in their industry and to share their insights with their readers.
Business news can be divided into two main categories: industry news and business-related news. Industry news covers events and developments that have a significant impact on the economy as a whole, while Business news focuses on specific businesses. Both types of news are important, but business-related news is particularly valuable because it allows reporters to explore the inner workings of individual businesses. This type of journalism can give readers a deep understanding of how businesses operate and help them make better decisions when it comes to investments. Business news is constantly evolving, and reporters are always looking for new ways to keep their readers informed. Sooner or later, every reporter will begin publishing business-related news in addition to industry news.
In the meantime, be sure to check out our blog for exclusive insights into the latest developments in the business world. Business news is a term used to describe stories about companies and the economy. It can include reports on new products, mergers and acquisitions, bankruptcy filings, and economic indicators. Business news is the latest information about the economy, companies, and the stock market. It covers a wide range of topics, from international news to industry trends to finance stories. In order to stay up-to-date on business news, you’ll need a good news source. Some excellent sources of business news include Bloomberg, Reuters, and The Wall Street Journal.


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This past summer, Lacoste launched a mobile app, Lacoste City Tennis, that is part matchmaker and part personal assistant. Users can find a hitting partner and an open court to play on. As Lacoste looks to the future, this strategic initiative reinforces the high-end lifestyle company's DNA as an iconic tennis brand.
A flurry of recent class action lawsuits is forcing clothing retailers to rethink their marketing tactics for outlet stores. In the last few months, lawsuits have been filed against a who’s who of major clothing retailers — The Gap, Banana Republic, Saks Fifth Avenue, Michael Kors, and Neiman Marcus — stemming from allegations that the companies are misleading consumers about the quality of merchandise sold in outlets.
What’s the News?
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently settled with L’Oréal USA Inc. over charges that the company made deceptive claims regarding the benefits of two of its products. Specifically, L’Oréal claimed that its Génifique and Youth Code facial skincare products could combat the effects of aging by affecting the genes of anyone who used it. However, according to the FTC, such claims lacked adequate substantiation. Given the FTC’s allegations, L’Oréal has elected to settle the dispute and has agreed to a proposed consent order.
What’s the News?
A recent case filed in US District Court for the Southern District of Florida charges A&E Television Networks, LLC (A&E), with willful trademark infringement and unfair competition stemming from merchandise for the hit reality show Duck Dynasty. The case is a cautionary (duck?) tale about the importance of clearing trademarks prior to use and a reminder about the steps companies can take to minimize their liability under intellectual property laws.
Two major department stores — Macy’s and Barneys — recently settled racial profiling investigations lodged against them by the New York State Attorney General. The investigations stemmed from complaints the Attorney General received from minority customers who were allegedly racially profiled in the department stores.
Barneys and the New York City Police Department were named in a lawsuit by a Queens man detained by police in April 2013 for two hours after buying a $349 Ferragamo belt, and then released without being charged. Another Barney’s shopper said she was surrounded by four undercover police officers in February 2013 after leaving with a $2,500 Celine handbag she had purchased.
According to the American Apparel & Footwear Association, 97.5 percent of apparel sold in the United States is made internationally, making it important for fashion brands to implement strategic decisions about how they handle US customs duties.
On August 11, 2014, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R) signed “ban the box” legislation, making New Jersey the 13th state to adopt such a law. The law bars any employer with more than 15 employees over 20 calendar weeks from making initial hiring decisions based on an applicant’s criminal record. The law becomes effective March 1, 2015 and provides for civil penalties of $1,000 for the first violation, $5,000 for the second violation, and $10,000 for each subsequent violation.
What’s Making News?
After a spate of high-profile data security breaches, many legislators, businesses, and consumers are asking what can be done to prevent such security lapses and who should be held responsible. The increased attention to data security has led to a flurry of recent activity in state legislatures and in Washington.
One of the world’s most consumer protective spam laws recently went into effect in Canada on July 1, 2014, and many companies operating outside of Canada are learning that the law also impacts them because of how broadly it is drafted.
What Made News?
A group of merchants and restaurants, including Netflix Inc., California Pizza Kitchen Inc., and Ralph Lauren Corp., are fighting back in federal court against a Delaware lawsuit alleging that they have been withholding unclaimed gift card balances that are due to the state.
Background on the Case
Delaware law expressly includes gift cards in its abandoned property law. Under Delaware law, if a gift card has been abandoned or unclaimed for a period of five years, then the remaining balance must be turned over to the state if certain criteria are met. The unclaimed property must be turned over to Delaware if the unclaimed property is located in the state, if the owner who abandoned the property has a last known address in Delaware, or if the owner’s identity and last known address are unknown but the property is held by a business incorporated in Delaware.
ABOUT ARENT FOX LLP
Arent Fox LLP, founded in 1942, is internationally recognized in core practice areas where business and government intersect. With more than 350 lawyers, the firm provides strategic legal counsel and multidisciplinary solutions to clients that range from Fortune 500 corporations to trade associations. The firm has offices in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, DC.


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May 21, Colombo: Sri Lanka's Ministry of Finance announced today that the special commodity tax on imported big onions has been increased with effect from midnight Tuesday (21) as a measure to protect the local farmer.
Accordingly, special commodity levy on one kilogram of imported big onion has been increased by Rs. 20.
As the locally produced big onions are now being received in the market, the Ministry has taken the decision to increase levies to enable the local farmers to get a better price for their products.
Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera has signed the relevant gazette notification.


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The results from Unity Marketing’s exclusive survey of U.S. luxury consumer confidence and spending challenge the conclusion that the luxury retail sector is really on the mend.
Luxury consumer confidence, as measured in the Luxury Consumption Index (LCI), took a deep dive in January to levels not seen since the Great Recession, said Pam Danziger, the president of Unity Marketing.
Corresponding with the sharp fall in the LCI, was a decline of nearly 15 percent in the average amount spent on luxury in the fourth quarter of 2011. Unity Marketing found from its 1,333 affluent luxury consumers with an average income of $286,300.
“The LCI has been on a topsy-turvy course since 2010, one quarter it goes up, the next down. But looking over the course of the last two years, the LCI lost more than it gained. At the start of 2012 the percentage of luxury consumers expressing a definite willingness to spend more on luxury (one of the major components of the index) was down,” Danziger said.
On the bleak outlook from luxury consumers, Tom Bodenberg, Unity Marketing’s consumer economist asked, “Does this mean that these luxury consumers will not buy? No. It is a matter that they are non-committal. Why are they non-committal? Here appears to be a trend of non-conspicuous consumption– perhaps as fallout from the ‘Occupy’ movement, among North American luxury consumers.”
Bodenberg predicted, “The buying behavior will shift to an almost ‘hidden’ form of consumption of luxury goods– where ostentation is minimized. The actionable demand for luxury goods and services, on the whole, is flat and still substantially below the levels of two to three years ago. What is interesting is that this apparently ‘recession-proof’ segment of the marketplace has also been greatly affected by the downturn. Media reports of a ‘renaissance’ in the luxury market appears to be limited to an extreme top tier of consumers, a small number compared with the bulk of the luxury marketplace potential.”
Translating the findings from the LCI into steps luxury marketers can take to encourage consumers to commit to their brands, Danziger said, today’s affluent customer is keen on finding value when they shop. They look to maximize their investment in spending and they expect the goods and services they buy to deliver the maximum return.
”Luxury marketers must make sure their brands give these customers a high yield when they buy. Marketers need to recognize these customers are thinking more like investors when shopping for high-end goods than consumers. If your brand doesn’t deliver a suitable return on investment, they’ll turn to competitive brands that will give them high quality without such an extravagant investment,” Danziger explained.
“Take Coach, for example, ranked this quarter as the top fashion boutique destination among luxury consumers, as well as the number one fashion accessories brand. Coach offers its customers high-quality, long lasting and still luxurious handbags but with an average price around $300, making the bags expensive for the masses, but affordable for the ‘classes,'” Danziger concludes.


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A new legal ruling has reduced the scope for councils to automatically apply conditions on licensed premises.
That's according to law firm Blake Lapthorn, which won an appeal against the five conditions imposed on a Somerfield store in Bristol by the local council.
The Licensing Act says councils must impose conditions "consistent with" the operating schedule of a licence application, which contains information such as opening hours.
Bristol took this to mean the schedule should be translated into conditions. But Deputy High Court Judge John Howell QC, at the Administrative Court, ruled this wasn't the case at appeal. Howell said councils could impose conditions, but were not obliged to do so. If conditions are imposed they must be necessary to promote the licensing objectives.
Somerfield was represented by Gerald Gouriet QC, of Francis Taylor Building, instructed by Blake Lapthorn.
Jon Wallsgrove, partner at Blake Lapthorn, said: "Local authorities will now have to pay much greater attention to drafting conditions on unopposed applications, and responsible authorities will have to think again before simply picking from a list of conditions when making a representation."
The five conditions at the store included ensuring gangways weren't obstructed and having no combustible items on the premises.


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PUBG: New State was launched earlier this month in India and many other countries. The new Battle Royale from Krafton has received an overwhelming response and crossed over 10 crore downloads on the Google Play Store, despite early hiccups with issues around the gameplay. The developers are also trying their best to resolve these issues and ensure a smooth gaming experience is available for players. In addition to this, PUBG: New State’s new update has been rolled out for fair gameplay. The new update introduces an anti-cheat system that has been rolled out on Android smartphones. Let’s take a look at more details around the new PUBG: New State update released on Android.
PUBG: New State Anti-Cheat System
PUBG: New State developers Krafton have released a new update on Android. The new patch introduces a new Anti-Cheat system. As the name suggests, the new update aims at identifying players who use unethical methods/ hacks to play PUBG: New State. The developers have been taking several such measures to identify hackers within the game. Those found using prohibited items/ tools while playing PUBG: New State are banned.
Krafton’s patch notes reveal that the update is currently available only for Android on the Google Play Store and Samsung Galaxy Store. For users with an iPhone/ iOS device, an update will be released soon.
Krafton said that the update will be optional until 11:00 (UTC+0), following which it will become an essential patch. This means that players will have to download and install the new New State update to access the game. If users encounter issues when downloading the update, they can force quit the app they are receiving the update from (Google Play Store/Galaxy Store) or restart their device and try downloading the update again. The update is being rolled out in a phased manner and might be available on certain devices later.


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UK: Maxxium prepares Maker's Mark push
Maker's Mark to play on trademark red seal
Drinks distributor Maxxium UK has tripled marketing spend on Maker's Mark Bourbon as it prepares a first big push on the brand in 2010.
Maxxium will spend GBP1.5m (US$2.2m) to promote Maker's Mark in the UK this year, up from a GBP500,000 spend on the premium Bourbon brand in 2009.
Brand owner Beam Global Spirits & Wine is keen to increase its Bourbon exports and Maxxium is hoping to reach more than 1m consumers in the UK via a Maker's Mark campaign that begins on 24 May.
"By investing heavily in such a high-impact, visual campaign and by working with local artists we will reach our target audience of creative, discerning consumers," said Lee Walker, Maxxium UK brand manager for Maker's Mark.
The distributor is targeting the Shoreditch area of East London with sampling and billboard adverts, emphasising that Maker's Mark is a handmade and premium Bourbon.
The centre of the sampling campaign will be Liverpool St station, but Maxxium is also planning to use a mobile vending machine. Dubbed Maker's + the Machine, the machine will house a bartender who will serve up cocktails to consumers.
"We hope to reach almost 4,500 people with the sampling and we hope that they will go on to tell their friends and the people that they know," said Walker, at a launch event for the campaign in London last night (17 May).
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AVERAGE prices of beef among markets in Negros Occidental decreased ahead of the opening of classes next week while prices of pork, chicken and egg increased.
Prevailing market price monitoring of the Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) showed that from P207.59 per kilo in April, the average price of carabeef (meat of carabao) went down by P2.23 -- now at P205.36 per kilo.
Prices of beef (meat of cow) decreased by P1.56 per kilo, from P214 in April to P212.50 per kilo last month. Chevon (meat of goat) remained steady at P250 per kilo.
Dr. Ryan Janoya, head of the PVO Animal Health and Meat Inspection Division, said the drop in the prices of beef is attributed to the increase in supply.
Janoya said that weeks before the opening of classes, backyard livestock raisers, particularly of carabao and cow, are selling their animals to pay for the school expenses of their children.
"The increase in the supply pushes the prices of products down," Janoya said, adding that raisers usually sell their products among auction markets, particularly in cities of Kabankalan and Sagay, and towns of Moises Padilla, Hinoba-an and Calatrava.
PVO, on the other hand, noted an increase of P0.94 per kilo of pork. From P185.31 per kilo in April, prevailing market price monitoring showed that it is now averagely sold at P186.25 per kilo.
Prices of dressed chicken and eggs also moved upward, the report added.
From P146.41 per kilo, current average price of dressed chicken is P147.03, or an increase of P0.62.
Prices of eggs range from P5.38 to P7.16 per piece depending on size.
PVO reported an increase of P0.07, P0.06, P0.08, and P0.05 for small, medium, large and extra-large, respectively.
For salted egg, an increase of P0.28 per piece was recorded. From its price last April of P10.92, it went up to P11.20 per piece.
Janoya said the change in weather pattern, from dry to wet, has affected the egg supply in the province thus, there was a backlog in production.
The increase in the prices of pork and chicken is also attributed to the recent dry spell brought by El Niño, which caused huge damage and production losses to the swine and poultry animals, he added.
"As classes start next week, prices of all these commodities are also projected to move upward. As students go back to school, demand especially for frozen meat products will surely rise thus, prices will also increase significantly," Janoya said.


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The latest article I've come across that is as full of garbage as a neolithic midden, is one from the Miami Herald. I think that a monkey, yes just one monkey, in a room full of type writers could compose better literature than this crap.
"[Trans-fats] act as saturated fat once inside the body...
This expert recommends limiting the consumption of these industry-made foods and to treat the trans fat in them as saturated, equivalent to that of red meat that is so harmful to cardiovascular health...
Researchers at the University of Colorado say that 'it is important to read the nutritional information on all products, including foods marked free of trans fat, since some manufacturers are replacing trans fat with tropical oils from sources such as coconuts and palms, which are also rich in saturated fat.'"
First of all, I doubt seriously that trans fats act anything like saturated fat once in the body. I'm an artist, not a biochemist, but I ain't stupid. First of all, trans fat and saturated fat have different chemical bonds. Trans fats do have something in common with saturated fat, in that they have had hydrogen atoms added to their structure. However, their structure is not the same.
Also, whereas saturated fat is natural and your body has use for it, trans fat is man-made and it's "molecules have unnatural shapes that are not recognized by enzymes such as cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase." Those enzymes are used in the metabolism of fat. Your body cannot metabolize it and it does cellular damage. To imply that saturated fat, something we have been eating for millions of years, causes damage is to declare that evolution and mother nature are idiots. To paraphrase what Tom Naughton said in Fat Head, mother nature is not a dunce! The writers of these articles may be dunces, but evolution is not.
And they go on to malign red meat, and even coconut oil! It's absolute drivel, with nothing to back it up, masquerading as truth. And unwitting people believe it, because they read it in a major newspaper.


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For good of economy, keep food stamps fully funded
The Kansas City Star
If Kansas Republican Sen. Pat Roberts were working for the good of the U.S. economy, he would never cut $36 billion over the next 10 years from the food stamp program as he is proposing.
He only has to visit any grocery store in the state — particularly Kansas City, Kan. — to understand. Many of the people making purchases and waiting in line pay for the items with their EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer) cards in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
The Kansas City Star reports that 939,000 people in Missouri receive food stamps, or one in every seven persons in the state. In Kansas, 315,000 people, or one in nine, get food stamps. In the U.S. 45 million Americans in an average month in 2011 were on food stamps. That amounts to $78 billion in food assistance administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Farmers should be jumping for joy that people who otherwise might not eat have food stamps, enabling them to feed their families. When poor families are fed, farmers hear the cha-ching at their banks.
Roberts ought to know that trickle up theory works a lot better than the trickle down one that Republicans try to embrace.


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Check out the on-demand sessions from the Low-Code/No-Code Summit to learn how to successfully innovate and achieve efficiency by upskilling and scaling citizen developers. Watch now.
New York-based NewsCred, a self-described content marketing tech provider, today announced that it’s raised $20 million in additional debt and equity funding led by InterWest Partners, with participation from strategic partner Dentsu, Escalate Capital Partners, and existing backers. The fresh capital follows a $42 million series D round in September 2015 and brings the company’s total raised to $100 million, and cofounder and CEO Shafqat Islam said it’ll be used to accelerate NewsCred’s R&D investment, broaden its integration stack, expand its field operations, and bolster its ability to support new and existing customers.
“Not only do we have the most invested capital in the category, but we are also the largest in terms of revenue. Our traction in the enterprise market is a testament to the confidence that customers have in our business as well as our mission,” said Islam, who cofounded NewsCred in 2008 with Asif Rahman and Iraj Islam. “The future is bright, and we are excited to continue supporting our customers in pioneering a new, modern era of marketing.”
NewsCred — which began life as a credibility-ranking platform for news consumers before pivoting to online newspaper creation and subsequently newswire-like services — offers a suite of tools and services aimed at fostering the ideation, planning, governance, and auditing of marketing and support content. The company connects brands with freelance writers and provides software they can use to plan and manage ongoing campaigns, with the ultimate goal of unifying disparate marketing efforts.
NewsCred hosts a marketplace of original and licensable blog posts, videos, infographics, presentations, articles, and images from more than 2,800 publishers that integrates with content management systems and social media platforms, and it offers advisory services across governance, distribution, channel optimization, customer journeys, search engine optimization, and site builds. Within its web-based dashboards, teams can manage the production of multiformat content and track metrics like engagement and conversions, or conduct keyword and topic research to identify trending topics.
Intelligent Security Summit
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The company now counts among its hundreds of clients in over 70 countries big-name brands like JP Morgan Chase, Panasonic, Cisco, Grainger, Twitter, Bank of America, Johnson & Johnson, GE, HSBC, and Conagra. In September 2015, NewsCred claimed that 40% of the Fortune 2,000 used its products.
“We believe that content marketing platforms are equipped to become the strategic centerpiece for modern marketing organizations,” said CEO Islam. “By bridging the gap from campaign planning to content creation, providing tools to streamline execution, and surfacing analytics across operational efficiency and campaign performance, we are empowering global marketing organizations to transform how they work, deliver exceptional content, and elevate the impact of their marketing efforts.”
One thing’s for sure: NewsCred occupies a profitable niche. According to a recent study published by Markets and Markets, the content marketing software market could be worth as much as $9.59 billion by 2023 (up from $4.12 billion in 2018).
VentureBeat's mission is to be a digital town square for technical decision-makers to gain knowledge about transformative enterprise technology and transact. Discover our Briefings.


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The team from Oxford Specsavers have shown their support for Macmillan Cancer Support by taking part in this year’s World’s Biggest Coffee Morning.
The store hosted a bake sale for the local community, with all proceeds donated to the cause.
A word from the store director
Store director, Greg Harding, said; ‘Macmillan do such a brilliant job across the UK and we are always happy to show our support in store. A big thank you to our customers for supporting the fundraising effort.’
Macmillan Cancer Support
Last year people across the UK raised almost £30 million for Macmillan on the world’s biggest coffee morning. It is Macmillan’s aim to support those affected by cancer and ensure nobody faces it alone.


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You are here
Lice-Exterminating Device, Wearable Technology For Incontinence, 3D Medical Monitors And More To Be Showcased In Miami Beach
MIAMI BEACH, Fla., May 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The latest medical innovations for use by both parents and medical professionals will be on display at the Florida International Medical Expo (FIME) at the Miami Beach Convention Center on June 26-28, 2019.
Among them, NitEx, a lice-exterminating in-home handheld medical device by Sphinx Smarthead Technologies, just in time for South Florida's warmest months when lice tend to be most prevalent.
"Current treatments for head lice are a nightmare for parents and kids, and are ineffective on Super Lice which are growing in numbers," said Sphinx Smarthead Technologies Co-Founder Yechiel Kurz. "NitEx is the easy, effective, and natural way to instantly exterminate the lice and nits affecting 12 million children in the U.S. each year, and more than 50 million worldwide."
Another in-home medical device that is being showcased at FIME is LifeSense's Carin, a noninvasive wearable solution for urinary incontinence, a problem 1 in 3 women experience after childbirth or menopause. The washable undergarment's sensor alerts users through an app which also guides users through pelvic exercises to restore bladder control.
These medical innovations join the Realvision 3D three-dimensional medical monitors, SmartWard's wireless patient monitoring system, the IntelliSense auto-stop bone drill, and many others technological advances at FIME, the largest medical trade show of the Americas. Among the South Florida-based exhibitors are OrthoNow, Southeast Computer Solutions, and Fujifilm Medical Systems.
"The 29th annual Florida International Medical Expo will have some of the most groundbreaking medical technology on display," said Gil Alejo, FIME Exhibition Manager. "In some cases, this will be the first time the public sees and interacts with many of these innovative devices."
This year, FIME will also host healthcare conferences and seminars with a focus on innovation in healthcare, supply chain management and procurement of medical devices. In catering to the Latin America market, some of the seminars will be delivered in Spanish.
FIME's 29th annual trade fair is returning to its original home in Miami Beach after having moved to Orlando for several years. The event will feature more than 1,200 exhibitors and speakers from more than 40 countries, the largest collection of healthcare product manufacturers and service providers under one roof.
To register for the free event or learn more, visit www.fimeshow.com.
About Informa Markets | Healthcare
Serving the entire spectrum of professionals in the healthcare, pharmaceutical and medical device industries with globally-based events that enable them to learn, debate, connect and conduct business on latest innovations and best practices. This sector is the critical link in a global chain connecting motivated buyers with industry-leading suppliers and the latest innovations in healthcare product manufacturing. Our events and conferences such as Arab Health, Florida International Medical Expo (FIME), CPhI and Pharmapack Europe provide access to different elements of the entire value chain. With events in Europe, North America, Japan, Korea, India, South East Asia, the Middle East and China, our healthcare and pharmaceutical brands connect more than 100,000 leading suppliers, buyers and experts.
SOURCE Florida International Medical Expo (FIME)


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Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of Bemis (NYSE:BMS) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning.
According to Zacks, “Bemis provided earnings per share outlook of $2.75-$2.90 for 2018. The company will witness material price inflation of 2-3% globally in 2018. Further, increase in SG&A expenses, rising interest expense on revolving credit facility and restructuring charges will mar results. Challenging economic environment in Brazil also remains a headwind. Moreover, Bemis has underperformed the industry over the past year.”
BMS has been the subject of several other reports. Bank of America raised shares of Bemis from an underperform rating to a buy rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, April 2nd. KeyCorp reissued a hold rating on shares of Bemis in a report on Thursday, April 26th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Bemis from a b- rating to a c rating in a report on Tuesday, May 29th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Bemis in a report on Friday, May 18th. They issued a hold rating and a $46.00 price target for the company. Finally, ValuEngine downgraded shares of Bemis from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Wednesday, May 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Bemis has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $48.67.
Bemis stock opened at $41.92 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.84. Bemis has a one year low of $40.60 and a one year high of $49.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.
Bemis (NYSE:BMS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 26th. The industrial products company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.03. Bemis had a net margin of 2.22% and a return on equity of 17.91%. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.58 EPS. Bemis’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. sell-side analysts expect that Bemis will post 2.79 EPS for the current year.
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 17th were given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 16th. This is a boost from Bemis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Bemis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.88%.
A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in Bemis in the 1st quarter worth $240,000. Suntrust Banks Inc. raised its position in Bemis by 15.8% in the 1st quarter. Suntrust Banks Inc. now owns 57,643 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,508,000 after purchasing an additional 7,877 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Bemis by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 393,747 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $17,136,000 after purchasing an additional 10,757 shares during the period. Xact Kapitalforvaltning AB raised its position in Bemis by 38.7% in the 1st quarter. Xact Kapitalforvaltning AB now owns 11,460 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $499,000 after purchasing an additional 3,200 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in Bemis by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 302,607 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,170,000 after purchasing an additional 37,515 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.06% of the company’s stock.
Bemis Company Profile
Bemis Company, Inc manufactures and sells packaging products in the United States, Brazil, other Americas, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific. It operates through three segments: U.S. Packaging, Latin America Packaging, and Rest of World Packaging. The company offers multilayer polymer, blown, and cast film structures; and injection molded plastic, thermoformed plastic, and folding carton packaging products.
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Mountain lodge and Hollywood-style sign planned for Hatta
A giant sign at a height of 450m in the Hajjar Mountains will be the first among a raft of new projects that aim to boost eco-tourism in Hatta.
Dubai developer Meraas also has plans to offer retail and hospitality offerings, with the first phase scheduled to open in the last quarter of 2018.
An adventure centre and an interactive tourism information hub are also set to open in the town. Also part of the first phase of the development is a 20-room mountain lodge offering views of the surrounding landscape, the developer announced.
Hatta has always been a popular day trip destination for UAE residents, for its scenic landscape of mountains, pools, wadis, farms and dams. A soon-to-open hotel with luxury camping trailers will allow visitors to camp on the banks of the Hatta dam.
The new projects are part of the Dhs1.3bn Hatta Comprehensive Development Plan, officially launched in November 2016. The plan includes creating winter sports facilities, hiking trails, a cultural festival, hundreds of homes for Emiratis and a hydroelectric power station.


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Updated: Times Internet Limited (TIL)*, the digital arm of The Times Group, has partnered with HDFC Bank, to launch a co-branded credit card that will provide customers with discounts on dining & movies.
While the partnership period or the financial details of the partnership were not disclosed, the company stated that the card is currently available in eight cities, namely Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Pune, and Chandigarh.
Archana Vohra, Vice President and Business Head at TIL, told MediaNama that they plan to extend this initiative to other parts of the country, depending upon the response in these eight cities. However, she didn’t disclose any specific timeline for this rollout.
What it will offer
The credit card will be available in two variants – Titanium and Platinum and users get reward points depending on the card they use and where they spend and they can redeem this as air miles and catalog based redemption options. Platinum card is a premium variant and provides cardholders to higher reward points as compared to Titanium card.
Vohra claimed that the company has tied up with significant number of movie outlets & dinning, among others to offer discounts on the card. These include Fun cinemas, Cinemax, Movietime, Cinepolis, among others. However, its worth noting that the company has not partnered with any single screen movie theaters.
Vohra also mentioned that exclusive welcome offers include Dominoes, Jawed Habib, Shaimak Davar Dance Academy, Ferns and Petals, Indiatimes Shopping, NEXT, Cheemo Leather Boutique, and Gini and Johnny. Also, she added that there will be a lot of synergies between the card and the company’s properties in the future. Interestingly though, TIL does not offer any benefits on its deal site Timesdeal right now.
QR Code: The card also comes with a QR code which one can scan on their smartphones to reach www.hdfcbank.timescard.com, where customers can view the latest offers and also register for the Card. While this approach to direct users to a single location to browse through all discounts makes sense, we wonder how many people will actually use their smartphones to scan a QR Code. In our opinion, the QR Code technology has a ‘one time charm’ where users make use of the app and forget later on. It would be interesting if TIL releases a report in future on the number of leads it received from QR Code on its homepage.
Other Times Internet developments
In February 2013, the company had launched a new mobile app called GreetZAP, that allows users to send mobile greetings. The app is currently available on Android as a free download and on WAP platform with an iOS version coming the next few weeks.
Earlier this year, Times Internet had launched mobile apps for its music streaming service Gaana.com, covering all the major mobile platforms including iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and Java. The app allows users to browse through curated playlists, search for individual songs, stream and play songs, add them to custom playlists, create radio stations featuring similar music, and listen to their friends’ favorite music. Times Internet claims that Gaana app has registered 400,000 downloads across all smartphone platforms till now, up from 200,000 downloads reported earlier this month, however the company hasn’t disclosed any platform-wise break down.
In January, TIL had also inked a strategic partnership with Gawker Media (Gawker), the independently owned & operated American online media company that has eight websites with over 40 million unique visitors, worldwide. Through this partnership, Times Internet was expected to manage and drive local Indian destinations for Gizmodo.com and Lifehacker.com, Gawker Media’s technology focused sites.
* Disclosure: Times Internet is an advertiser with Medianama


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Weeding out the Obstacles for Investing in the Cannabis Sector; from Legalization to Transparency, How the Industry is Becoming a Safer Bet
POINT ROBERTS Wash. and DELTA, British Columbia, Jan. 10, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Investorideas.com, a leading investor news resource covering hemp and cannabis stocks releases a snapshot looking at the trend of cannabis companies uplisting in U.S. markets.
As regulations change, such as the rescheduling of CBD and Hemp in the US, it is likely we will see and more and more smaller cannabis companies work towards uplisting to the OTCQB, NYSE and NASDAQ markets, making them more transparent to investors as well as reaping the benefits of opening themselves up to a larger investor base and gaining access to more capital.
A big indicator of the growing acceptance and change in the sector; Wall Street is beginning to embrace it as Piper Jaffray initiated coverage on cannabis producers Tilray and Canopy Growth on Tuesday, joining a short — but growing — list of Wall Street brokerages watching the industry.
Back in February of 2018, Cronos Group Inc. (TSX: CRON.TO) (NASDAQ:CRON) began to blaze the path in cannabis stock credibility by becoming the first cannabis company to be listed on the Nasdaq Global Market, as well as uplisting from the TSX-Venture to the TSX.
In their release, Mike Gorenstein, CEO of Cronos Group said, "This up-listing to NASDAQ is a major corporate milestone and reflects the significant progress we have made in strengthening our corporate governance and expanding our global footprint. We believe this will increase long term shareholder value by improving awareness, liquidity, and appeal to institutional investors.”
Since then, cannabis companies both small and large have been looking to follow in their footsteps.
EnviroTechnologies International, Inc. (OTC:ETII) in a recent news release reported that it has commenced an audit to become a fully reporting company and transition to the OTCQB. The company’s subsidiary, CBD Health Co., a company that markets and sells high quality and proprietary hemp-based, natural CBD health products, has made inroads into the hemp-based pet supplement products market and further ambitions in the CBD market.
Gaylord Karren, ETI’s President commented, “We have been transparent with our financial information but we have not to date committed to a formal audit, which we determined is the next logical step in our progression as a public company. We expect to complete our audit by the end of first quarter 2019, which will then allow us to move to the QB and expand our options in the public marketplace.”
CannTrust Holdings Inc. (TSX: TRST.TO) (OTC:CNTTF), one of Canada's leading, most trusted licensed producers of cannabis and the 2018 Canadian Cannabis Awards "Top Licensed Producer of the Year", made a similar announcement recently that it has applied to list its common shares on the New York Stock Exchange.
In their release Peter Aceto, CEO of CannTrust said, "CannTrust has firmly established itself as one of the top licensed producers in Canada with a global platform rooted in trust, science and innovation. A listing on the NYSE is a natural step forward in our evolution as we look to broaden our investor base, increase the Company's exposure and expand our business on an international scale."
Many companies are also looking to broaden their investor reach in the Canadian markets as American Premium Water Corporation (OTC:HIPH), a company positioned in the growing CBD beverage market announced in December that it had engaged Canadian law firm Aird & Berlis with the intention to begin the process to list on a Canadian stock exchange. The Company’s goal is to be listed in Canada by the end of the first half of 2019, as well as complete its audit and become fully reporting on the US OTCQB.
In their news release, American Premium CEO and Interim Chairman Ryan Fishoff, commented “Today’s announcement is the first step to expand the Company’s reach into North American and the global investor market.“
Fishoff, as much as he is moving in the direction of the future, knows the importance of also remembering the roots of the industry, with icons like Snoop Dog. He tweeted yesterday making note that his company’s LALPINA CBD brand will be the liquid star of an event hosted by Snoop Dog for retired NFL player and Fox Business News contributor, Jack Brewer.
For investors following cannabis stocks, Investor Ideas has created a stock directory of publicly traded CSE, TSX, TSXV, OTC, NASDAQ, NYSE, ASX Marijuana/Hemp Stocks
About Investorideas.com https://www.investorideas.com/About/
Disclosure: Investorideas.com does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investment involves risk and possible loss of investment. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Contact each company directly regarding content and press release questions. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp. Disclosure: this news article featuring ETII and HIPH is a paid for news release on Investorideas.com – third party , Learn more about costs and our services https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/
Additional info regarding BC Residents and global Investors: Effective September 15 2008 - all BC investors should review all OTC and Pink sheet listed companies for adherence in new disclosure filings and filing appropriate documents with Sedar. Read for more info: https://www.bcsc.bc.ca/release.aspx?id=6894. Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country.
Investor Ideas does not condone the use of cannabis except where permissible by law. Our site does not possess, distribute, or sell cannabis products.
Contact Investorideas.com 800-665-0411


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â€˜Most of the low-cost devices are good for nothingâ€˜
The intention currently visible from various governments adds up to 10 million tablets, according to numbers released by hardware body Manufacturers Association of Information Technology (MAIT).
Although it is not clear over what period this offtake will materialise, this number is about five times the total sales that research firm IDC expects in India in calendar 2012. "The government is fuelling demand for tablets," says Vishal Tripathi, principal research analyst, Gartner India.
This January, the Central ministry of rural development bought 600,000 solar-powered tablets from Bharat Electronics at $72 (Rs 3,600) per unit for its staff to conduct the socio-economic and caste census. In the pipeline is a jumbo-sized order of 5.86 million tablets from the ministry of human resources and development, which it plans to give out at a subsidised price of $35 (Rs 1,750). The first phase of this is for 100,000 units of the Aakash tablet, the second version of which is due to be released by Canadian manufacturer Datawind next month.
Also waiting in the files are significant orders from at least four state governments - Goa, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh - that went to polls in the past two years and whose ruling parties made the free supply of tablets an election promise. UP, for example, has promised free tablets to all students clearing the class 10 exam and Tamil Nadu the same to all students in government schools.
And then, in what could set a precedent, there's also a plan to procure 795 tablets for Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs (members of Parliament) to reduce their consumption of paper.
"In the government's case, it's like a blue ocean," says Gautam Advani, head of mobility, HCL Infosystems, a tablet manufacturer. "Plans are yet to fructify. But if it all comes, the volumes will fuel growth."
According to IDC, 250,000 tablets were sold in India in calendar 2011, which is expected to increase to 1.74 million in 2012.
"It (the government) is expanding the personal computer market and there are about 70 tablet makers in the market to meet that demand," says Tripathi of Gartner. Adds Venu Reddy, research director, IDC India: "Tablet price point and functionality (ease of Internet access) have converged to make it the right device for the masses."
According to Alok Bhardwaj, president, MAIT, most government orders are expected to be for low-cost tablets (below Rs 5,000). "Governments have been trying for long to get a device at an affordable price point. Tablet fills that gap," says Milind Shah, managing director of Wish Tel, a manufacturer.
The government's appetite for low-cost tablets is birthing manufacturing businesses. For example, Wish Tel, which started in surveillance systems (like security cameras), entered tablet manufacturing in December 2011 with the specific intention of catering to government demand. Shah says the company participated in the HRD ministry's low-cost tablet bid and was the second-lowest bidder, after Datawind. It has invested Rs 70 crore in a unit in Ahmedabad that has the ability to assemble 30,000 tablets every month.
Pantel, another player, started in February 2012, with an assembly unit in China and Bangalore. The company imports tablets from China and sells half of its 100,000 units outside India. Says Vijendar Singh, managing director, Pantel: "Earlier the (government) slogan was 'one laptop per child'. Now, it's one tablet per child." Even though the government is an attractive customer, not everyone is enthused about this market. Says Tripathi of Gartner: "Most of the low-cost devicesare good for nothing."


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Looks like Madden will be shipping with a few known bugs this year. First, gamers will be able to draft Hall of Fame players in Franchise Mode. EA claims that this is actually a feature, and not a bug at all. The other bug, especially disturbing since it should have been discovered in testing long ago, is that players aren't registering fatigue. That is to say, the players do fatigue, they just don't show it in the user interface. So far, EA has only said that a patch will be available "soon" after release.
Admittedly, I'm not a football fan, but it seems like this should have been an easy thing to spot.
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OLYMPIA, Wash. - Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a consumer protection lawsuit Thursday against CLA Estate Services, Inc. and CLA USA, Inc. for misleading hundreds of Washington seniors about estate planning.
The Texas-based company enticed seniors with a "free lunch" if they attended estate planning workshops. During the workshops, CLA salespeople then encouraged the seniors to set up living trusts and buy CLA's Lifetime Estate Plan packages.
The company was actually trying to obtain detailed financial information from the seniors, and then sell them complex financial products they did not understand.
According to Ferguson, CLA did not adequately disclose that these products could lock up seniors’ assets for years and carried hefty penalties for early withdrawal. These products earned CLA millions in commissions at substantial cost to consumers.
Since 2009, CLA has conducted more than 700 “free lunch” seminars, attended by more than 11,000 Washingtonians. In Washington alone, the company sold more than 1,200 Lifetime Estate Plans earning CLA more than $2.6 million, and sold more than 700 annuities earning CLA more than $4.5 million in commissions.
“CLA’s business model is a classic ‘trust mill’ scheme.” Ferguson said. “The company made a profit off deceptively marketing estate planning and financial products to retirement-age Washington consumers. I am holding individuals and businesses that prey on seniors accountable.”
Consumers who wish to file a complaint regarding CLA Estate Services, Inc., CLA USA, Inc., and Mitchell Johnson are encouraged to contact the Attorney General’s Office.
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Local store managers report strong showing from shoppers
Thanksgiving Day wasn’t just about turkeys this year, as more American than ever took advantage of early sales.
And while nationally, sales were down slightly from last year over the long Thanksgiving weekend, local sales were up from 2012 figures, according to local retailers.
At Golden Triangle Mall, crowds were strong, almost doubling on Thursday and up by 5 percent on Friday, said Matt Ludemann, who manages the mall at Loop 288 and Interstate 35E.
Mall traffic figures show an estimated 9,500 vehicles on Thursday, up from 5,000 in 2012.
Those figures mirror national reports. Shopping on turkey day grew 27 percent over last year, with nearly 45 million shoppers nationwide, contributing to more than 141 million unique shoppers over the weekend, according to the National Retail Federation.
On Friday, the numbers also were up year over year at 21,100 for 2013 and 20,200 for last year.
“Everybody had a positive weekend,” Ludemann said. “Everyone’s tired but happy.”
Store managers at Golden Triangle Mall reported higher sales than last year, many in the high single digits and some in double digits, he said. Some store managers reported they were performing well compared to other locations.
“Obviously, the consumer confidence is much higher here than across the country,” he said.
Ludemann’s comment follows reports that sales were slightly down despite the crowds flocking stores on the four-day Thanksgiving weekend.
Target, Macy’s and other retailers offered holiday discounts in early November and opened stores on Thanksgiving Day. It was an effort to attract shoppers before Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving that traditionally kicks off the holiday shopping season.
Those tactics drew bigger crowds during the four-day Thanksgiving weekend, but failed to motivate Americans to spend.
“The economy spoke loud and clear over the past few days,” said Brian Sozzi, CEO and chief equities strategist at Belus Capital Advisors. “We are going to see an increase in markdowns.”
Local businesses also reported increased traffic on Friday compared to previous years, potentially because of the shift to earlier sales by national retailers. Strong traffic was also reported for Small Business Saturday.
“We had a lot of traffic Friday and Saturday, and I thought it was a really positive few days,” said Claire Amano, owner of Serendipity on the Square. “I really felt like even on Friday, people were coming here.”
Traffic was also strong at J.T. Clothiers, said co-owner Jimmy Tritt, who promoted sales and specials before Small Business Saturday.
He said he hopes the shop-small movement continues throughout the holiday season, as the day helps remind shoppers they don’t have to go to a large store to get what they want.
“I hope that this is one of these deals where people understand that the small businesses in Denton need support,” Tritt said. “This is what Denton and smaller communities need all the time.”
Amano said she thinks shoppers also felt a sense of urgency this holiday shopping weekend because of how late in the month Thanksgiving fell this year.
“We’ve turned the corner, I think, and people are now really shopping with purpose,” she said. “They were coming with gift purchasing in mind, and I think that we lost since a bit with Thanksgiving being the latest it could possibly be ... so this was a pretty important weekend.”
A record 141 million people were expected to shop in stores and online over the four-day period that ended on Sunday, up from last year’s 137 million, according to the results of a survey of nearly 4,500 shoppers conducted for the National Retail Federation.
But total spending was expected to fall for the first time since the trade group began tracking it in 2006, according to the survey that was released on Sunday afternoon. Over the four days, spending fell an estimated 2.9 percent to $57.4 billion.
Shoppers, on average, were expected to spend $407.02 during the four days, down 3.9 percent from last year. That would be the first decline since the 2009 holiday shopping season, when the economy was just coming out of the recession.
The survey underscores the challenges stores have faced since the recession began in late 2007. Retailers had to offer deeper discounts to get people to shop during the downturn, but Americans still expect those “70 percent off” signs now during the recovery.
And stores may have only exacerbated that expectation this year. By offering bargains earlier in the season, it seems they’ve created a vicious cycle in which they’ll need to constantly offer bigger sales. Shoppers who took advantage of “holiday” deals before Thanksgiving may have deal fatigue and are cautious about buying anything else unless it’s heavily discounted.
Matthew Shay, president and CEO of the National Retail Federation, said that the survey results only represent one weekend in what is typically the biggest shopping period of the year. The combined months of November and December can account for up to 40 percent of retailers’ revenue.
Overall, Shay said the trade group still expects sales for the combined two months to increase 3.9 percent to $602.1 billion. That’s higher than the 3.5 percent pace in the previous year.
But to achieve that growth, retailers will likely have to offer big sales events. In a stronger economy, people who shopped early would continue to do so throughout the season. But analysts say that's not likely to be the case in this still-tough economic climate.
“It’s pretty clear that in the current environment, customers expect promotions,” Shay said. “Absent promotions, they’re not really spending.”
Take Tuesday Trasvina, 37, who said she’s been bombarded with holiday discounts since early November. Trasvina, a marketing coordinator, plans to spend $500 on holiday gifts, about a quarter of what she spent last year.
“They’ve been stretching out this Black Friday thing so long,” said Trasvina, who was shopping with her husband on Friday at a Target store in Portland, Ore. “I just think the over-commercialization of the holiday has gotten to us.”
At least a dozen major retailers — most of them for the first time — opened on Thanksgiving instead of on Black Friday, which is typically the biggest shopping day of the year. Wal-Mart, Toys R Us and other retailers said on Friday that Thanksgiving crowds were strong.
But the early start appeared to pull sales forward. Black Friday sales fell 13.2 percent from the previous year to $9.74 billion, according to Chicago-based technology firm ShopperTrak. But combined spending over Thanksgiving and Black Friday rose 2.3 percent to $12.3 billion compared with a year ago.
A Kmart store in New York City that opened at 6 a.m. on Thanksgiving and stayed open for 41 hours straight was packed on the holiday. Clothing was marked down 30 percent to 50 percent.
Adriana Tavaraz, 51, headed there at about 4 p.m. and spent $105 on ornaments, Santa hats and other holiday decor. She saved about 50 percent.
But it’s not likely Tavaraz will be back in stores too many more times this season. Money is tight this year because of rising costs for food and rent, and Tavaraz already spent much of her $200 holiday budget.
“Nowadays, you have to think about what you spend,” she said. “You have to think about tomorrow.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
DAWN COBB can be reached at 940-566-6879 and via Twitter at @DawnCobbDRC.
JENNA DUNCAN can be reached at 940-566-6889 and via Twitter at @JennaFDuncan.


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Kobe is still making big moves.
Coca-Cola announced Monday it has bought full control of sports drink maker Bodyarmor for $5.6 billion.
Owning Bodyarmor helps Coke gain market share in the sports drink category, although PepsiCo’s Gatorade is far and away the market leader with roughly 70% market share.
Coke bought a 15% stake in Bodyarmor in 2018, becoming its second-largest shareholder.
The late Kobe Bryant was one of the earliest athletes to bet on BodyArmor. The Mamba invested roughly $6 million for a 10% stake in the company back in 2014. Kobe’s estate is expected to receive more than $400 million from the sale, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Coca-Cola is officially buying full control of BodyArmor for $5.6 billion, valuing the sports drink brand at $8 billion, per @WSJ.
Kobe Bryant's 2014 investment: $6 million.
Its worth now? Roughly $400 million, inherited by his family. pic.twitter.com/dvI8Yl6OKD
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) November 1, 2021
Twitter reacted to the news:
If Kobe lived he would be Basketball s second billionaire next to Jordan with the investments and businesses he had… RIP legend
— Mr. Bone (@EsCoBarHasSpoke) November 1, 2021
I’m so happy for Vanessa and the kids.
— Andrew Julian Mahiga (@Drudysseus) November 1, 2021
Good man leaves an inheritance, long live the Mamba 🐍🐍🐍🐍
— Coach Rountree, MBA + PMP (@CoachRountree) November 1, 2021
400 million y’all.
— 🗯 (@5WantedStars) November 1, 2021
Tell that Man Kobe Bryant wasn't smart 🤓, genius 🤔💯💯💯
— Vi all means (@levibrian86) November 1, 2021
“If it wasn’t for Kobe Bryant’s vision and belief, BodyArmor would not have been able to achieve the success we had,” Repole said in a statement announcing the Coca-Cola purchase.
Just more proof that Kobe was one of the brighest athletes to ever live.
What a GOAT.
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