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Tesla, the American electric car maker has announced that is recalling 90,000 of its Model S vehicles due to a potential issue with the seatbelt system in the cars.
The Tesla recall is a voluntary one spurred on by one incident in Europe.
According to Business Insider, one Telsa owner sitting in the front passenger seat in Europe turned around in her seat to speak to people sitting in the rear of the car, and her seat belt came unbuckled. When Tesla tested the problem, it confirmed similar problems and issued the recall.
The issue is only impacting the Model S and a company spokesperson told Business Insider that the recall was being done out of an “abundance of caution.”
Tesla broke the news to customers in an email.
From the email sent to Tesla customers (obtained by The Next Web):
“We are sending you this email to inform you of a proactive action Tesla is taking to ensure your safety. Tesla recently found a Model S in Europe with a front seat belt that was not properly connected to the outboard lap pretensioner. This vehicle was not involved in a crash and there were no injuries. However, in the event of a crash, a seatbelt in this condition would not provide full protection. First and foremost, we care about your safety.
This is the only customer vehicle we know of with this condition. Even though we have since inspected the seat belts in over 3,000 vehicles spanning the entire range of Model S production and found no issues, we have decided to conduct a voluntary recall as a proactive and precautionary measure to inspect all front Model S seat belts and make absolutely sure that they are properly connected. (We have no concerns regarding seat belts in the rear of Model S.)”
Tesla has asked all Model S customers to schedule an appointment at a Tesla service facility so they can do an inspection.
More to come. Stay with Rise News.
#BREAKING Tesla recalls 90,000 Model S vehicles for seatbelt fix
— Agence France-Presse (@AFP) November 20, 2015
Cover Photo Credit: Steve Jurvetson/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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About the AuthorRich Robinson is the CEO and publisher of Rise News. He is also a journalist and a native of Miami. Robinson graduated from the University of Alabama and can be followed on Twitter @RichRobMiami.
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By Allyn Farach
While there’s absolutely nothing wrong with buzzing out to Walmart for a can of spaghetti in red sauce, there’s a sense of satisfaction that comes with making the food you’re eating yourself. Taking it a step further – going out and acquiring the food yourself can be even more rewarding than picking it up at a grocery store or restaurant. Forget convenience: Below are ways to get creative with alternative food sources. Before we begin, let’s address that some of these methods are not for the weak-hearted.
To be clear, Dumpster Diving doesn’t involve actually diving into dumpsters.
“You can open the lid and gingerly pull out goods or jump in and dig deep. If you’re grossed out by the idea, wear rain boots and bring gloves,” writes Vanessa Alvadaro, native Floridian and dumpster diver. Furthermore, what you pull out probably won’t be overripe produce and rotting meat.
Approximately 40 percent of food bought in the US goes to waste, so what may be found in a dumpster may be okay, if not in perfect condition (unless it’s covered in mold. Don’t eat anything covered in mold.)
Luckily, the dumpster diving community is pretty open to new people, and almost always ready to help. R/DumpsterDiving is full of people giving advice to newbies, people planning to make runs together, and even a map that lists good diving spots. With an engaging community, free food and stuff to resell, what could possibly be the downside to such a concept? The law.
The owners of the Miami Produce Center were cited after video cameras captured people going through their dumpsters for food, some of which was later resold to restaurants. Furthermore, some business owners may set up cameras, dumpster locks and signs warning people not to trespass or go through the garbage. If they catch anyone, they may have them taken in by police.
So what can potential divers do? They can travel in groups to be safe, be discerning about what they pick out so that they don’t get sick, scope out spots before they leave, ask business owners before they dive and be wary of cameras!
If Dumpster Diving isn’t your cup of trash, gardening might be a more appealing route to alternative food sources. A community garden offers people who register a small plot of land to grow whatever they want, from decorative flowers to bountiful fruits and vegetables. Laura Lafata, who runs social media and organizes meetings for the South Beach Community Garden, elaborated that the garden offers all kinds of things for people.
“It’s a piece of paradise in a very densely populated part of the city that allows one the pleasure of digging in the soil and the joy of producing one’s own food supply,” Lafata said. Indeed, the benefits of a community garden are being allowed to pick what you want to grow and owning a little plot of land in the urban jungle.
“Everyone can grow whatever they want, but we encourage gardeners to grow what will grow best in our climate with a focus on heat tolerant varieties, Asian and Caribbean vegetables, lettuces, sprouts, okra, sweet potatoes, radishes, beans, tomatoes, snow peas, eggplants.”
So there’s no risk of getting bored when it comes to food and the garden, Miami Beach Parks and Recreation Department offers a budget for hoses, trash cans and water, so the simple parts of taking care of a garden and growing your own food are covered as well.
Growing your own food isn’t always easy. The Garden covers the basics, but the gardeners have to bring their own soil and seeds, build their own boxes and maintain their own plots. The prices of soil, seeds and wood are steep, so the cost of urban farming can easily add up.
Gardeners are left to the whims of Mother Nature when it comes to the fate of their plots. Frosts can kill a crop, hurricanes can tear them down, heat can dry them up, and rain can drown them.
“Heat is a bigger issue here, along with rain, sometimes not enough, sometimes too much.” Lafata said.
With Miami having an average of roughly 60 inches of annual rainfall, along with a dry season that runs throughout winter, the best that gardeners can do is prepare and prevent for the worst. Gardeners have to prepare against pests such as the Eastern Lubber Grasshopper and even iguanas, all which want to chow down on fresh garden greens. Finally, simply, and most importantly, running a garden takes a lot of work.
“The biggest problem we have at the garden is commitment,” Lafata said. “You need a lot of time to nurture and care for your plot to successfully grow anything.”
Smaller plants such as radishes and cucumbers can take up to three weeks to grow, while larger plants like pumpkins can take even longer. The combined factors can easily wear anyone down, but reaping your own delicious rewards in the form of a salad or a fruit tart can be a great joy at the end of the day.
“Everything grown tastes sweeter and better when it’s just picked,” Lafata said.
If the messiness of Dumpster Diving and the arduous labor of gardening threatens you, Farm to Table (FTT) is an alternative food source that you don’t have to work for.
FTT is a movement primarily for getting food locally and serving it to local customers. It also keeps customers informed about where their food came from.
Jensen Eddings, the director of Media & Marketing for Batch Miami, explains the benefits of those contacts: “Farm to table and using fresh ingredients benefits everyone: the supplier has the client, the restaurant enjoys the lower costs, and the customer gets fresh, local food. It’s a win-win-win…Through strengthening relationships with regional purveyors and highlighting local ingredients, South Florida cuisine has a chance to set itself apart from the rest of the country.”
Eddings also said that FTT is an easy, effective way to get fresh food. The quick access to local suppliers means that food can be used the same day that it’s picked, caught or slaughtered.
Like the rest of alternative food sources, FTT doesn’t come without its costs. Using local suppliers means that FTT restaurants can only use what grows in the area, and it can impact what gets cooked.
“Using local ingredients definitely forces flexibility,” Eddings said. “Sometimes people just run out of things. We do our best to stay ahead of slip-ups and make up for when it does happen with fun specials.”
Essentially, diners probably won’t be seeing things like cherries or Atlantic salmon on tables at FTT restaurants. Furthermore, some people are beginning to see FTT as a fad that’s quickly fading. Vanity Fair published an article titled, “Is It Time To Table Farm To Table?” dissecting how FTT is merely a fad popularized by good PR – a buzz word for fast food companies to use to prove that their food isn’t processed.
Eddings writes that FTT is more than just jargon to turn heads-it gives people the information that they want about the food that they want to eat.
“People love to get more out of their dining experience than ever before, so it’s raising the bar for everyone,” Eddings said. “In turn, we’re getting higher-quality restaurants. It’s awesome and an exciting trend to embrace.”
Cover Photo Credit: Wei Tchou/Flickr (CC by 2.0)
Correction (9-17-2015, 12:27 PM): The original version of this story incorrectly identified the person who runs social media and organizes meetings for the South Beach Community Garden. Her name is Laura Lafata. We regret the error and are happy to correct the record.Post Views: 671
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Pope Francis directed his prayers on Sunday to the thousands of Cuban migrants stuck in Central and South America who are attempting to reach the U.S. Thousands of those migrants spent their Christmas cramped in border camps in Costa Rica, many able-bodied men reduced to begging for alms while dreaming of getting work in the U.S.,… Read MorePost Views: 437
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By John Massey
The Japanese population is rapidly declining.
The population has lost almost one million people over the past five years.
This decline has been long predicted by demographers but the world’s third largest economy has been unable to find a solution.
The situation is dire and hard to overstate.
If Japan can’t start having many more babies then the country will face great challenges later on in the century. These challenges could undermine the very core of the country’s social order.
Japan has one of the world’s lowest fertility rates, 1.41 children per woman in 2012.
As a result, the number of people 65 and over has increased from 12.1% in 1990 to 26% in 2014.
Furthermore, estimates put Japan’s retirement age population at 40% of the total national population by 2060.
This would likely put a tremendous burden on Japan’s social safety net, state pensions alone being ¥792,100 per year ($6,960.76). This accounts for nearly 33% of Japan’s national budget in 2015 and it will only continue to balloon as the years roll on.
Having to cope with close to half of your population being in need of geriatric care is not a problem exclusive to Japan.
China recently revoked and replaced its One Child Policy, with the Two Child Policy.
In part this is to combat China’s low fertility rates, 1.66 births per woman, and in part to counter act the imbalance between the number of men and women, a 30 million person disparity.
Other low fertility countries include, but are not limited to: Singapore (0.81), South Korea (1.18), Germany (1.44), Russia (1.61), The United States (1.87), and the United Kingdom (1.89). All of these nations have fertility rates incapable of sustaining their current populations without immigration helping to offset the disparity.
Elderly populations then are not only a threat to the economic growth of Japan, but to advanced economies in general.
It would then seem that in order to combat global population decline, and with a greater number of developing nations creating advanced economies, nations may need to compete for immigrants in order to sustain their populations.
This may be particularly difficult for Japan, due to the relative difficulty in learning its national language, and a culture that is not as used to welcoming immigrants as many of its potential competitors.
Of course the other way for Japan to get back to an equilibrium in terms of old and young is to have young people have more children- lots more children. The government has tried many different methods, including offering to pay parents to have kids, but it has had little impact.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in public affairs. Anyone can write for us as long as you are fiercely interested in making the world a better place.
Cover Photo Credit: Freedom II Andres/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)Post Views: 707
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Proactive waste generators are increasingly looking for ways to manage their processes, including making strides in reducing packaging, dealing with the multifaceted challenge of e-waste and assessing what role product stewardship could have in mitigating climate change.
These were among the subjects discussed when Boston-based Product Stewardship Institute Inc. held its annual forum in July at the Omni Parker House in Boston. Generators and environmental experts gathered to discuss the current trends in product stewardship, including recycling, extended producer responsibility (EPR) and the circular economy.
During forum panels, speakers talked about why the U.S. is at a competitive disadvantage to other countries that require brand owners and other generators to properly manage the packaging they produce, the benefits of EPR practices, how the U.S. paint stewardship program could serve as a helpful model for the electronics industry and other industries, how the shifting state and federal political landscape will affect product stewardship and other environmental initiatives and the growing trend of a circular economy.
Waste360 recently sat down with Scott Cassel, CEO and founder of the Product Stewardship Institute, to discuss some of the hot topics of the forum and what the future has in store for product stewardship.
Waste360: EPR for packaging was one of the hot topics at PSI’s recent forum. Tell us a little bit about what’s happening with that.
Scott Cassel: The increasing number of corporate executives, particularly those from Canada and Europe, have embraced EPR. And in the U.S., corporate executives are realizing that they need to embrace EPR as well to remain competitive in the global marketplace for secondary materials.
For packaging specifically, the forum speakers are becoming a clearer and louder voice in the U.S. Together, the speakers stated that money needs to be invested in U.S. recycling systems because they are archaic and important for the country to remain in the competition.
The U.S. is falling further and further behind other countries like Canada, Europe, Chile, Israel, China, Russia and Latin America when it comes to EPR for packaging, and it’s becoming somewhat embarrassing for those in the U.S. In the U.S., the recycling rate has leveled off with quality problems, and there’s no financial signal to the brand owners who have current systems to use materials that are sustainable. That needs to change in order for the U.S. to grow and keep up with the other countries that have embraced EPR and put systems into place.
Waste360: Can you explain why the U.S. is at a competitive disadvantage to other countries that require brand owners to properly manage the packaging they produce?
Scott Cassel: It’s not dissimilar to climate change and the global efforts involved with that. The U.S. has pulled back from commitments made by the past administration that took many years to make so corporations and individuals in the U.S. are now seeing a need for operating on a common basis.
In the past decade, the U.S. has made strides with climate change and more and more companies have begun to understand that they are part of both a global environment and global economy. And because of that, companies are making more efforts to reduce emissions and become more sustainable.
The U.S. is a capitalistic country, and there are a number of positive things and a number of negative things that come along with that. For example, companies in the U.S. view themselves as separate, and they often don’t see how they’re going to benefit from developing EPR or climate change systems. Some companies are also benefiting from the pollution being generated, while others are suffering. As a whole, we are learning how to operate in both the global environment and global economy, and we need to work together and invest in future technologies to become a leader in both climate change and EPR. Those future technologies are the ones that other countries are currently investing in right now to reduce emissions.
If companies in the U.S. would stop taking a shortcut approach with EPR and invest in technologies that would reduce waste, increase recycling and increase reuse of materials, then they would have a competitive advantage in both the global environment and global economy.
One of the most important things to note, which was one of the main themes of the forum, is Canadian Stewardship Services Alliance Executive Chair John Coyne’s question of “are you going to lead or be led?” What that is referring to the opportunity that companies have right now to work with governments to change the type of rules and regulations that will assign responsibilities for ways that work for both the companies and the stakeholders.
In the U.S., Connecticut, California and a number of other states will serve as the leaders to address the issue of EPR because it’s such a large cost for local governments in the U.S. If those states don’t take the opportunities, the local governments will have to step up and make decisions that will make EPR more difficult for the industry.
Ultimately, it’s not a question of if EPR is going to happen for specific products in the U.S., it’s when EPR is going to happen for specific products in the U.S. There are currently 105 EPR laws in 33 states in 13 product categories and that number will continue to grow as EPR continues to grow globally.
Waste360: E-waste still remains top of mind for many in the recycling industry. Can you share how PaintCare Inc., the U.S. paint stewardship program, could serve as a helpful model for e-waste?
Scott Cassel: Electronics and paint are two good and different examples of ways that industries have responded to governments’ will to regulate. With electronics, the industry has not been able to get on the same page with regulations. It went through years of negotiations and walked away from those negotiations, leaving state governments to figure out what each of them wanted to do. Because of that, we now have 25 different laws in the U.S. for electronics and e-scrap EPR laws, which is inefficient.
On the paint side, the industry has worked with PSI to develop collaborative forums on policy, and it has created its own paint stewardship program called PaintCare Inc., which represents paint manufacturers to plan and operate paint stewardship programs in the U.S. in states that pass paint stewardship laws.
When the paint industry started working with us in 2002, it only took nine months and four meetings for us to have our first national agreement. From there, we worked on eight projects together for two years, funded $2 million of public and private money and came to a second memorandum of understanding with stakeholders to take full responsibility for the paint that’s left over in the U.S., which is about 65 million gallons each year.
Together, we came up with an innovative financing system that works for the paint industry, and there are now eight states and the District of Columbia that have passed a universal paint bill sponsored by the industry and supported by the government and environmental groups. While the states’ bills have some minor variations to them, there is harmonization and consistency with the laws, which is something that the electronics laws are lacking. This is a perfect real-life example of an industry leading and another industry being led. Here, the paint industry is leading and the electronics industry is being led. If the electronics industry can get on the same page and develop similar laws like the paint industry has, I think the industry will see better results.
Waste360: How do you think the Trump administration will affect product stewardship and other environmental initiatives?
Scott Cassel: The federal government will have an impact on everyone, and it already has. However, there will be many opportunities moving forward.
On both the state and local levels, we have seen many governments take their environmental responsibilities to heart by taking steps to protect their local government or state. These governments and states no longer feel that they can rely on the federal government for certain things, and they have created bans and takeback programs for items like plastic bags, polystyrene and pharmaceuticals to become more environmentally friendly.
Waste management and EPR has always been more of a state and local government function than a federal function. And while support for EPR at the federal level would provide a great context in environment and leadership, I don’t think that it’s needed right now for EPR to continue to expand in the U.S. In fact, the first EPR law for solar panels was just passed in the State of Washington, which is very exciting.
One of the reasons why there hasn’t been a federal law for EPR is because EPR is still a new concept in the U.S. We need to track and record data and to have a greater understanding about what works and what needs to change before we can move toward a federal bill. But even if we do all of those things, I don’t think a federal bill for EPR is realistic. It wasn’t realistic in 2000, and it’s not realistic now. There will be a right time for a federal bill in the future, but it’s uncertain to say when at this time.
Moving forward, we will continue to see fewer dollars being spent by the federal government for pilot projects that benefit businesses the most, and that will show how certain products can be separated from the environment. I think many states are bracing for a reduction on funding from the federal government to their state programs and many nonprofits are anticipating less funding from the federal government for innovative pilot projects and other voluntary or mandatory initiatives that have helped product stewardship in the past. These funding cuts will impact the businesses very much because we need the businesses to collect, process, manage and implement whatever policies are put in place.
We have seen successes with each of the 13 products in which EPR has been applied to in the U.S., and these successes help show that EPR can save money, create jobs and save resources. My hope is that we can build upon these successes in the future and pass additional EPR laws.
Waste360: What other trends are you forecasting for the future of product stewardship?
Scott Cassel: I think there’s an increasing link between EPR and climate change. The Environmental Protection Agency did a study back in 2009 that revealed that 29 percent of greenhouse gas emissions come from product manufacturing. Corporations are key to supporting changes, and EPR is somewhat of a mirror of the changes that are already taking place. For example, we can understand the corporate reaction to climate change because it’s a wider content in which EPR is working right now. Many of the same dynamics are at play so we can learn from the climate change movement and its proposed strategies.
Currently, there are billions of dollars being spent on mitigation of preparedness for climate change. And, in addition, governments and tax payers are dishing out millions of dollars on waste disposal and the circular economy package coming out of Europe, which continues to be a strong trend. The circular economy is refocusing us to see that the money that taxpayers are spending on waste disposal is wasted dollars, but their investment on business and opportunities is money well spent.
In addition, pharmaceuticals are continuing to gather momentum. It’s unfortunate that we still have an opioid epidemic, but it’s a good thing that there is unanimous support from all parties for both significant and quick changes.
The pharmaceutical industry has a responsibility not only on the front end of manufacturing but on expensing to doctors and ensuring that leftover drugs are safely disposed of. There is a political will in every state, and there will be more and more new laws put into place that will hold the industry accountable.
The industry has tried to discourage takeback programs and instead are promoting disposable pouches, but these efforts aren’t something that the local, state or federal governments have supported and there’s very little data that proves that these initiatives are safe ways of disposal.
To overcome the industry’s current issues, we need collaboration from disposal companies, governments, manufacturers and pharmacies and a forum to figure out the best strategies for safe disposal. Right now, the majority of federal agencies, state governments and organizations are supportive of takeback programs, which are currently the most successful way to keep drugs out of landfills. Companies like Covanta and Stericycle have stepped up in a huge way by helping to safely dispose of millions of pounds of leftover drugs, but some pharmacies have yet to provide takeback or mail back programs for customers to take their leftover drugs. That is a crucial step to keeping drugs out of landfill, and it takes one to lead for the rest to follow.


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Submit Your Application by April 15 for the Opportunity to Join Pirelli’s Road Racing Community.
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Few people want to buy products that involve the exploitation or enslavement of the workers who make them – but that is exactly most people do on a daily basis. Estimates reveal that there are 40.3 million people in slavery worldwide as part of an industry that generates an estimated $32 billion in profit each year. Extreme labor exploitation and other forms of modern slavery are embedded within the supply chains of many of the products and services that we choose to consume regularly, such as laptop computers, mobile phones, and of course, clothing.
This raises important questions: how responsible are consumers for the slavery that is directly connected to our consumption, and what role should consumers play in reducing the demand and supply of products and services made by exploited workers? On one hand, the few examples of government legislation – including the United Kingdom’s 2015 Modern Slavery Act – clearly places some level of responsibility on consumers to be informed, to act, and to make choices that help to eradicate modern slavery.
These actions include reporting suspected instances of exploitation and boycotting known products of slavery.
In contrast, other arguments are increasingly being made that it is not the responsibility of consumers to police modern slavery, particularly given that the causes of slavery are systemic, embedded within the processes and structures of commerce and governance. As FT columnist Sarah O’Connor and modern slavery and human trafficking expert and policy advisor Emily Kenway rightly assert, slavery and forms of extreme labor exploitation cannot be reduced without addressing the structural role of government and business.
Global supply chains are complex and generally not visible or well understood by consumers. So, asking them to take responsibility for how products are made may let businesses – which do understand this – and governments – which do have the power to change things – off the hook. Government and business need to do more to address slavery in production systems through, for example, greater transparency, but where does that leave the role of the consumer?
Focusing on UK consumer understanding of modern slavery, our research highlights a more complicated and active role for consumers in challenging the exploitation of workers who produce the goods and services they consume. It points to the broader observation that shoppers are often “complicit” when it comes to the social and environmental consequences of their consumer choices. Indeed, we find that consumers are not ignorant of the risks of slavery and extreme labor exploitation. More worryingly still, some consumers explicitly express their indifference towards such issues, presumably prioritizing convenience and cost-savings instead.
Reviewing the Modern Slavery Act and similar legislation reveals how our current system relies on consumers to report and boycott instances of slavery as a key mechanism in the overall eradication plan. And while we agree that shifting responsibility away from businesses and governments and on to the consumer risks relieving these powerful players of their duties and commitments, should this argument be used to negate all attempts to mobilize consumers?
While it is right to be suspicious of attempts to pass the buck on to consumers, removing all responsibility from consumers and insisting that the realm of consumption remains a seemingly benign and apolitical arena is not a useful way forward either. The considerable consumer inertia in response to scandals in the UK, such as the one involving Boohoo – which saw the ultra-fast fashion company accused of sourcing its clothes from factories with poor health and safety records and paying staff less than the minimum wage – illustrates a need to sensitize consumers to the slavery in their consumption, and to elevate their power to act. This may be framed as calling on consumers to take positive citizenship action (lobbying) or negative action (boycotting).
It is also important to recognize that consumer-citizens are not unfamiliar with taking action on important issues. For example, the understanding that we have environmental responsibilities as consumers is well rehearsed. It is accepted that “we must place on the consumer at least some of the responsibility for making the economy sustainable,” as Tim Jackson writes in Material Concerns: Pollution, Profit and Quality of Life. Imagine action on climate change that did not include a role for consumers in taking some level of responsibility for their own impact through the consumer choices they make.
Changing how we consume is a vital link in transitioning to a cleaner and more sustainable society, even though businesses are disproportionately responsible for carbon emissions. It should be no different when we consider modern slavery.
Moreover, our research does point to an important role for consumers, revealing that they do want to take action – just not on their own. They want to be partners in this modern slavery equation, particularly with business and government. Greater consumer interest, involvement and action over modern slavery is bound to raise more – not fewer – questions about the role and responsibilities of other groups involved, leading to greater transparency. With this in mind, the consumer perspective should be viewed as a useful ally to business and government strategies in the campaign to eradicate modern slavery.
Deirdre Shaw is a Professor Marketing and Consumer Research at the University of Glasgow. Andreas Chatzidakis is a Professor of Marketing at the Royal Holloway University of London. Michal Carrington is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing at the University of Melbourne. (This article was initially published by The Conversation.)


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For years, we heard the bear case for Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) stock. It’s overvalued. It doesn’t make any money. It’s overvalued. Oh wait — we said that already. (Well, welcome to 2013 or so). In any case, we’ve heard for years that AMZN stock is about to implode.
Until it didn’t. And not only did Amazon not implode, but it’s grown to become a behemoth.
The company now commands a market capitalization of $1.76 trillion, trailing just Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) in total size.
Amazon has not only survived, but it has thrived through multiple economic crises. The Dot-Com bust, the Great Financial Crisis, the novel coronavirus — you name it. Amazon has not only made it through these times, but has come out stronger than ever.
Secular growth in e-commerce has fueled its growth over the years. But so have its other businesses. Can it continue?
A Closer Look at AMZN Stock
We already know that e-commerce has allowed Amazon’s online retail business to blossom. But its other businesses are why the company has really been able to flourish. That’s Amazon Web Services (its cloud business), its advertising unit and its entertainment unit.
Admittedly, its entertainment unit ties in nicely with Amazon Prime, which intermingles with its e-commerce unit. But Prime allows for a nice source of cash flow for the company — like Costco’s (NASDAQ:COST) membership — while also building out a strong online moat.
All of these catalysts have allowed Amazon to balloon in value, and thus, allowed the stock to soar. While frustrating, the stock has been consolidating for almost a year now.
I’ll touch on the technicals in a minute, but this consolidation is one of the best things that could have happened for investors.
It’s allowed the stock to digest its gains from the first half of 2020 and has simultaneously allowed its valuation to come down. It “corrected” without a lot of pain and it gave investors time to accumulate a position. Going forward, Amazon should keep on chugging.
Consensus expectations call for 27% revenue growth this year and 18% growth in 2023. Never mind that sales grew 38% in 2020. On the earnings front, analysts expect 33% growth this year and roughly 30% growth next year.
How accurate are those estimates, and more importantly, are they too conservative?
Over the last four quarters, the magnitude of beats has been staggering. In that stretch analysts expected earnings of $25.81 a share on revenue of $398.4 billion.
What Amazon delivered was wildly above estimates, coming in with earnings of $52.55 a share and revenue of $419.13 billion.
So collectively, Amazon more than doubled earnings expectations while delivering more than $20 billion in revenue beyond expectations. In these respects, I think the analysts may be too conservative.
Trading Amazon Stock
I said I would touch on the technicals for AMZN stock and here we are now. Corrections tend to take one of two paths: Either through time or through price.
In other words, after a strong run, stocks either tend to go through a potentially deep pullback (correcting through price) or they tend to trade sideways for a while and rest (correcting through time).
For example, growth stocks recently corrected through price, while Amazon and Apple corrected through time.
The latter can be frustrating but it’s the least painful option of the two, so bulls have that going for them. Lately though, AMZN stock has been waking up.
Just look at the way shares exploded higher off the March 2020 lows. Amazon then settled into a trading range between $2,900 and $3,450.
The 50-week moving average has been an excellent support level during that time, gently bouncing AMZN stock higher.
Now over range resistance, Amazon still has one major hurdle, that being the $3,550 area. Twice now this level has been major resistance. If shares can’t break through it, I would love to see $3,350 resistance turn to support, along with the 10-week moving average.
A breakout over $3,550 could open the door for a push toward $3,950 to $4,000.
On the downside, a break back below $3,350 puts the 50-week moving average back in play. Below that and $2,900 to $3,000 range support could be on the table.
The Bottom Line on Amazon
There is talk of breaking up FAANG, but there’s always been talk about breaking up FAANG. For Amazon specifically, the company has so many moving pieces, that a breakup may even create value — if it happens at all.
For all intents and purposes, the company remains a growth juggernaut, its valuation has come down significantly over the years and its chart looks much better.
As of now, I’m a bull on AMZN stock, not a bear.
On the date of publication, Bret Kenwell did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
Bret Kenwell is the manager and author of Future Blue Chips and is on Twitter @BretKenwell.
View more information: https://investorplace.com/2021/06/amzn-stock-finally-looks-set-to-break-out-and-hit-new-highs/


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- Quinnipiac men’s basketball drops home opener to Hartford, 68-54
- BREAKING: Finance chair Thomas Coe confronted by anti-child abuse activist, on leave from the university
- An Election Reflection
- Nation to Campus: Subjectivity and the Constitution
- Wasteful ways
- Students struggles at the polls
- So long, Rick Grimes?
- Will Part Time get the recognition they deserve?
- ‘Lotta ties, lotta ties’
- Crossing the line
All posts tagged "developing countries"
Wine for the World campaign represented at QU
The wine industry comes with a new twist thanks to the crowd funding campaign, Wine for the World. The entity recently launched an indiegogo.com site to help raise money for winemakers in the United States to travel...
- Posted April 10, 2013


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United States and Australia Join Up to Promote Cotton at Intertextile, Shanghai
November 3, 2015
The cotton industries of Australia and the United States collaborated to promote the Cotton LEADS™ program at the Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics trade show, October 13-15, 2015.
The Intertextile show attracted over 4,500 exhibitors and 75,000 visitors from more than 30 countries, from all sectors of the textile supply chain – and many Cotton LEADS™ Partners also exhibited during the show.
Key executives from the Australian and U.S. cotton industries met with Cotton LEADS™ partner organisations and presented plaques in recognition of their support.
“This was a fantastic opportunity to connect with our Cotton LEADS™ global partner community of more than 330 retailers, manufacturers and brands from around the world,” said Mark Messura, Senior Vice President, Global Supply Chain Marketing for Cotton Incorporated.
“These partner companies value the commitment to responsibly-produced cotton and the continual improvement efforts of U.S. and Australian farmers. Our presence at Intertextile also reinforced the importance of natural fibres like cotton in global markets, and the natural, sustainable alternatives that cotton offers companies and consumers,” Mr Messura said.
Brooke Summers, Cotton Australia’s Project Lead for the Cotton LEADS™ Program says Intertextile also allowed the program’s founding organisations to update partner representatives on the program’s strategic goals.
“In a global market crowded by factory-produced synthetic fibres, Intertextile is a tremendous opportunity for the Australian and U.S. cotton industries to come together to promote our natural fibre,” Ms. Summers says.
“There was a great amount of interest in the work of the Cotton LEADS™ Program founding countries and a number of companies expressed an interest in joining the program,” she said.


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HungryGoWhere going places with FoodPanda
Food portal HungryGoWhere now offers delivery and takeaway services in partnership with FoodPanda.
The delivery service went live last December in beta mode and is now officially launched.
HungryGoWhere - which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year - is best known as a restaurant review site but wants to evolve in response to shifting consumer demands, chief executive Frank Young told The Straits Times.
"HungryGoWhere is not just about discovering great food, it's also about helping people satisfy their cravings," said Mr Young, who took on his role last June.
Users can now use the platform to make reservations or place orders for food delivery from about 2,000 restaurants, hawker stalls and other food and beverage outlets.
They can also place takeaway orders before heading down to pick up their food without needing to wait.
The platform has Singapore's largest database of food and beverage options, Mr Young said, though he declined to divulge revenue numbers.
It is teaming up with food delivery service FoodPanda "because they have the whole logistics infrastructure in place and re-creating that would have been a monumental task", he added.
HungryGoWhere is owned by Singtel Digital Media and its site receives one million unique visitors per month on average.
Its expanded suite of services will also benefit food and beverage merchants squeezed by high rents and labour costs, said Mr Young.
"They are trying to find new ways to generate revenue with the same space and with fewer people."
The company, which also has a presence in Malaysia, has no plans to move into new markets but is open to exploring opportunities, he added.
This article was first published on Mar 22, 2017.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.


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An enterprising groom-to-be wants to turn his planned marriage proposal into a Super Bowl advertising event. | ALSO: Click the 'Weekly Poll' graphic to the right of this story to take part in a poll on this issue.
Related Blog Item:The Answer Is: "I Do"
If You're E-Harmony.com, or Even Secret Deodorant, What a Super Opportunity
The idea of proposing to his girlfriend through an ad on the biggest TV event of the year came to J.P. during the summer, and since September, he's been chronicling his quest on MySuperProposal.com. Inspired by Alex Tew, the 21-year-old Brit who sold a million pixels on his home page for $1 each, and Kyle MacDonald, who successfully traded up one red paper clip until he had a house, J.P. thought he'd try to raise the $2 million-plus needed to buy ad time.
He's at only $100,000, so he's all but ditched that plan, instead trying to find a marketer who will put him in an ad. (He's donating any money he raises to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital in Nashville, Tenn., he said.)
J.P. has gotten help from search-marketing and internet consultant Joe Morin, ad-hoc business manager of the bid, who stumbled across J.P.'s site on the AdJab blog. He thought if he could help make it a reality, he could buy the rights to the response video, which would be available online, and sell product placement in it to promote a product-placement-meets-user-generated-video business he's launching. He's already spoken to three diamond retailers and two Las Vegas hotel groups about integration into the video.
But first they need to get the proposal on air. Mr. Morin said he's been in contact with CBS, which is airing the Super Bowl, and both AOL and Yahoo as potential underwriters. The video of the response, he said, could be a huge driver of traffic to the site that hosts it. Indeed, Akamai last year estimated traffic to Super Bowl-advertiser sites grew 93% from game day to the next day.
"An advertiser that steps forward could really benefit and show how they drive traffic from offline to online," Mr. Morin said.
Media promotion campaign
Driving interest in the quest will be the key to luring a major marketer to turn over part or all of its Super Bowl spot to J.P.'s proposal, Mr. Morin said. So far, J.P. has been interviewed on five radio stations and had a blurb in a recent issue of ESPN The Magazine. The duo is planning a report with "Inside Edition" (which is produced by CBS's King World) later this week.
Of course, as with any fashionable internet star, there's the question of whether J.P. is real or just another Lonelygirl15 -- a faux average Joe. Mr. Morin has met J.P. and claims he's real -- and, more importantly, marketable -- "an all-American, baseball-cap-wearing guy with a cute-as-a-button girlfriend," he said.


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Information courtesy of the Yeezy Mafia suggests that a new "Abez" makeup is due out later this year. A mock-up image provided by the leaker account shows a combination of sail and white hues throughout the Primeknit upper, including a translucent stripe on the lateral side, which sits atop a cream-colored Boost midsole.
As of now, a release date for the Yeezy Boost 350 V2 "Abez" has yet to be announced but the style currently rumored to release during the fall season.
UPDATE (10/01): According to Yeezy Mafia, the "Abez" style of the Yeezy Boost 350 V2, which has been renamed "Natural," is releasing on Oct. 24 at select Yeezy retailers for $220. Stay tuned to Sole Collector for updates.
UPDATE (10/20): Adidas has confirmed that the Yeezy Boost 350 V2 "Natural" will launch on Oct. 24 for $220 with sign-ups now open on the Adidas app. The new colorway will also be releasing on Yeezy Supply and at select Yeezy retailers.


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More than 70% of consumers would be willing to try animal-free dairy products, such as cheese, according to the first large-scale survey of consumer acceptance of these products (1). The study was conducted by biotech food company Formo and researchers at the University of Bath, UK.
German food biotech company Formo is on a mission to bring the next generation of sustainable and healthy dairy products to the market. They specialise in precision fermentation, which allows specific proteins to be synthesised by microorganisms. The principle behind this technology is simple: give a copy of cow DNA to microorganisms, and let them do the rest to produce milk proteins. In a way, this is similar to the process used to make beer, but instead of alcohol, microorganisms focus on milk proteins.
When enough protein is produced, it’s then combined with plant-based fats, carbohydrates and salt to create the basis for the final cheese recipe. Like in the traditional way, this mixture is then allowed to ferment to produce a curd, which can be sold as fresh cheese or ripened to create stronger flavours. Overall, this is more efficient than using actual animals to make the same proteins and avoids the negative impact of large scale animal agriculture.
The team questioned over 5000 participants from Brazil, Germany, India, UK and the USA, asking them questions about animal-free products. Results showed that consumers were willing to buy this cheese made from real animal proteins synthesised by microorganisms.
Across the various countries, 79% of consumers would try precision-fermentation cheese, and the cheese was particularly popular with flexitarians. “Just as we have seen plant-based milk taking an increasing share of the milk market in recent years, we now see that consumers are ready for a new kind of animal-free dairy cheese product”, said Christopher Bryant, from the University of Bath. “Seeing the growing consumer groups of flexitarians and young people driving adoption of animal-free cheese is a big indicator that these products will appeal to consumers far beyond the niche markets of current vegan cheese.”
Participants not only understood the considerable improvement in taste compared to current vegan cheese due to the use of animal proteins but also recognised the ethical and environmental advantages of going animal-free. “Most cheese lovers think current vegan cheeses are nowhere near the flavour or functionality level that meets their cheese needs,” said Oscar Zollman Thomas, Formo’s lead researcher on the project. “Precision fermentation is allowing us to fundamentally change that and make real cheese without animals involved.”
Curiously, cheese lovers among the participants were more likely to say they would buy the new animal-free cheese. “That finding was explosive because that’s always how we’ve understood the mission: Initiating change not through consumer sacrifice, but rather through delicious, satisfying products”, concluded Oscar Zollman Thomas.
(1) Zollman, T and Bryant, C (2021) Don’t Have a Cow, Man: Consumer Acceptance of Animal-Free Dairy Products in Five Countries. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 5, 223 https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fsufs.2021.678491


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Join SigmaSense® at Electronic Displays Conference (edC) 2020
Join us at electronic displays Conference (edC) Feb 26-27 2020, in Nuremberg Germany.
SigmaSense® again promises to be a major forum for the presentation of innovative ideas, approaches, and developments impacting the display business. #SigmaSense®’s Dr. Gerald Morrison will be delivering a paper on the first day of the conference at 14:35, February 26. Dr. Morrison will share information unifying SNR, drive voltage and time for #PEDOT sensor materials. Technology demonstrations will be shared at the conference. PEDOT sensor cost and optic advantages are now possible on sizes up to 86 inches. Come see how PEDOT compares to alternative sensor materials with this unifying comparison approach to performance metrics.


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Mighty efforts being made to get Marmite back on shelf!
In November 2011, the Sanitarium Christchurch factory was temporarily closed due to earthquake damage. This factory is the only one that makes Sanitarium Marmite.
Engineers at Sanitarium’s Christchurch Factory in New Zealand confirm that they have identified additional structural damage to the factory. As deconstruction and strengthening work continues, it has revealed some further damage to the factory building where Marmite production is located. Further deconstruction of a part of the factory, next to where the Marmite plant is located, is required to strengthen the building. Unfortunately this will impact the greatly anticipated start up of Marmite production.
“We have received advice from our team of experts that we need to broaden our structural repair work to further increase the structural strength of the building. This is more than first anticipated by them,” says Pierre van Heerden, Sanitarium’s General Manager – New Zealand.
“Our revised estimated start up timeframe for Marmite production is October. Like our consumers we are frustrated at the length of time this is taking, but the safety of our staff has to be our first priority. I know everyone is putting in a mighty effort to get Marmite back on shelf as quickly as possible and we will continue working closely with our engineers and the authorities,” says van Heerden.
Keep up to date on our mighty efforts to get Marmite back on shelf: follow Marmite on Facebook.


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Start the conversation
One key piece of Apple stock news from last month's earnings almost completely slipped under the radar of the financial news media.
As usual, most of the reports focused on Apple Inc.'s (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPhone sales, and particularly its iPhone sales in China. But the subplot is always hand-wringing about where AAPL will find future growth.
Analysts just need to open their eyes.


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After the stock market sell-off yesterday, is now a good moment to buy? My view is that it’s always a good time to buy quality businesses at fair prices for my portfolio. If I can pick them up a little bit cheaper than last week, so much the better. Below are three shares I would consider adding to my portfolio today.
£1,000 isn’t a huge sum, but I’d consider splitting it across three companies to diversify. That would help reduce my risk. I’d invest in two growth shares and one income pick.
While JD Sports may be very familiar to UK shoppers, there is nothing parochial about the ambitious retailer.
It already has a store footprint from the South Pacific to the North Atlantic, as well as online. The company has a proven ability to grow revenues and profits. It understands shopper trends and has been finding new ways to know exactly what its customers are likely to want next, for example by running a chain of gyms.
The company is clearly ambitious and I expect it to focus on maintaining its growth strategy in years to come. But global expansion is a risk as well as an opportunity: it could end up stretching management attention too thin.
Shares to buy now for digital exposure
Not all stock market news yesterday was doom and gloom. Digital advertising group S4 Capital (LSE: SFOR) advised the market that it had arranged new debt financing and said activity in the past couple of months was at “unprecedented levels”. S4 advised that both revenue and gross profit continued to perform ahead of expectations.
Even after falling back slightly, S4 remains close to its highest ever price. So why do I continue to see these as shares to buy now?
In short, I think the growth story here is set to get even stronger. The new debt financing provides financial firepower for more acquisitions. That should help boost the company’s growth further. As the update shows, S4 seems to have found a successful formula for growth. As digital advertising is set to keep growing, the company can ride that trend.
One risk is that such breakneck growth can sometimes damage a company’s work quality, which could hurt revenues if clients are unhappy.
High yield hero
One of the highest yielding FTSE 100 shares is British American Tobaco (LSE: BATS). Despite that, the shares continue to languish and look somewhat unloved. Over the past year, for example, they are up less than 1%, while the FTSE 100 has added 9%.
I like British American Tobacco for three main reasons. First, the yield is very attractive. At 7.7%, BAT’s quarterly dividend payouts can add up to a lot. Even investing just £330 into them, that would equate to a prospective £25 in passive income each year if the dividend is maintained. Secondly, I think iconic brands such as Lucky Strike help give the company pricing power. That could partially offset the profit impact of volume declines as people stop smoking cigarettes. Third, the company’s global reach allows it to achieve meaningful economies of scale.
Still, cigarette consumption is falling in many markets. That is a key risk both to revenues and profits in years to come.


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Gva Up Nic
Gva Up Nic on Technology News and Updates AdmaTechnology.com at Thursday, April 24, 2014
Japanese game producer, Sega, has released one of the legendary game, Sonic the Hedgehog, for the Android platform.
Quoted from Ubergizmo, Friday (17/5), this game is available on Google Play for $2.99 U.S. dollars.
Taking into classic version is, of [...]
Temperature profile shows the dark and unstable material – which is a suitable climate for organic life
Institute antraiksa United States (NASA) managed to find evidence of water on Mercury, planet in our solar system that is closest to the Sun.
Help reveal the composition of the Earth’s core.
A number of Polish geologists managed to dig the largest meteorite ever found in Western Europe. They hope their findings could help reveal the composition of the Earth’s core.
“We know [...]
Electronic Arts announced Saturday game four-person co-op shooter called Fuse, which will be launched on May 28 in North America and May 31 in Europe.
Fuse is the first multiplatform game from Insomniac Games for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, but not [...]
BBC Weather Twitter account today hijacked by a hacker group called the Syrian Electronic Army.
This hacker group is a group that supports the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, as reported by cnet.com (21/03).
Through Reuters, BBC ensure that their [...]
Who does not know the game Battlefield series. Games were popular through its multiplayer mode has a slick visual images and an interesting storyline.
According to an official invitation received by Gamespot, Electronic Arts and DICE plans to celebrate [...]
Sophisticated glasses, Google Glass will use the “Bone Conduction” to create the sound of the speakers wore traditional.
The workings of this technology is to send sound vibrations to the inner ear through the bones of men.
Quoted from the [...]
Microsoft has officially announced the successor to the Xbox 360 and named Xbox One. The next question that arises is, what games are ready to present at the console.
Quoted from Ubergizmo, Wednesday (22/5), here are some games that are determined to [...]
Electronic Arts (EA) has recently announced a new game highly desirable, Battlefield 4.
Quoted from IGN, the successor to Battlefield 3 game is touted as one of the game First-Person Shooter best would be to use Frosbite 3 Engine-owned DICE.
Engine usage [...]
Toshiba Singapore Digital Products and Service Group (DS) today introduced the Canvio Portable Hard Drive Slim, with a capacity of 500GB.
In a press release received AdmaTechnology, Saturday (2/2), Canvio Slim is one external 2.5-inch hard drive form [...]
Jakarta – Samsung Galaxy S4 comes with its smartphone technological innovation is likely to soon be your handheld.
Because, Samsung Electronics has started pre-orders or reservations for the Galaxy S4 in Indonesia.
Pre-order Samsung Galaxy S4 already [...]


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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Same-store sales rose 0.7% in July at McDonald's Corp. MCD, -0.40% locations worldwide, the fast-food giant said Thursday. Comparable sales increased 1.6% in the U.S., but fell 1.9% in Europe, hurt by negative performance in Germany, France and Southern Europe markets that outweighed gains in the U.K. and Russia. Same-store sales for July also decreased 1.9% in Asia/Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, reflecting negative results in Japan, Australia and China, according to McDonald's. Shares in McDonald's were up 1.2% in premarket trading.
McDonald's same-store sales increased 0.7% in July


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Ads help us keep this site online
New research has revealed that car retailers are adopting online retailing models over the next few years, marketing and increasingly selling vehicles online, and motorists will be able to buy a car as easily as doing their weekly food shop. Like Waitrose, Morrisons and M&S, car dealers will still operate physical locations, they won’t be used primarily as showrooms or to complete the sales process. Auto Trader surveyed 2,000 motorists about their car buying habits for its latest Market Report and found that, even today, nearly half (45%) said that if they were buying a car on finance they would be happy to do the whole process online. And that figures rises to nearly two-thirds (64%) for the younger generation of buyers (18-34 year olds).
Auto Trader research also highlights that in the past car buyers typically visited five retailers; now that has dropped to just two. Retailers are being urged to embrace digital – dealers who have digitised their operations have seen stock turn (the time it takes to sell a vehicle) reduce to less than 40 days versus an industry average of 80 days. Unsurprisingly their margins are also much better – almost double. It comes as motorists say the car buying process is still too confusing – 75% think it’s difficult to work out the final price, and 88% think car prices should be more transparent. It’s estimated that online sales of cars are expected to pass one million global next year, and they will grow to six million by the 2025.
Aston spoke to Ian Plummer, Director at Auto Trader to discuss the research and the possible outcomes of what is likely to happen in the future as to when buying cars.


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Canada hit could cost onshore market $500mn
While the offshore energy market reels from a potential incurred but not reported claim, the market's onshore cousins are facing yet another substantial loss, incurred in far more traditional and short-tail fashion in December 2013.
Uncover exclusive insights tailored for insurance leaders
- Stay Informed: Access exclusive industry insights
- Gain a competitive advantage: Hear first about tactical developments
- Make better decisions: Understand market dynamics in crucial lines of business


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It turns out that you Fortnite addicts are probably not prone to violent behavior in real life, despite what the president and video-game detractors say (and have said, on and off, for decades, before there even was a Fortnite). That's according to a new statement from the American Psychological Association. But that doesn't mean you're not total spendthrifts.
A new reportfrom online financial marketplace LendEDU—a two-years-in-the-making followup to its previous "Finances of Fortnite," which we covered in 2018—says that more users are spending money in the game. Spenders have increased from 66 percent of players up to 77 percent. The average in-app spender is shelling out more money, too, with the average moving from $84.67 in 2018 to $102.42 now. That's a 21 percent increase.
Here's a sad stat: 35 percent of those surveyed thought that making an in-game purchase somehow gave them an advantage in the game. That's way up from 2018's 20 percent.
For another one-third (34 percent), Fortnite is the first game in which they ever made an in-game purchase—that's actually down from 37 percent in 2018.
How about time spent in Fortnite simply playing (a.k.a. trying to stay alive)? The hours spent in the game have dwindled a bit in two years. Click the Play button below, and you can see the changes, thanks to an interactive Infogram chart.//
An interesting new wrinkle this year is that the IRS—which wants its pound of flesh from anyone using virtual currency—had some language on its site at one point that made it sound like Fortnite's V-Bucks might be targeted for taxation. That actually won't happen; the IRS changed the language to reflect that. But LendEDU asked about it and found that 75 percent of people didn't even know about the IRS wanting V-Bucks reported in taxes, and that another 63 percent said they wouldn't account for it on their taxes even if they had to!
LendEDU also wanted to find out whether esports were capturing more hearts and minds than watching traditional sports. In all of the questions, traditional sports—a major event like the Super Bowl, or a pay-per-view, or just the leagues in general—is the winner.
For a full look at all the questions asked in the survey of 1,000 people conducted by Pollfish in February 2020 on behalf of LendEDU, go read the full results.


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New Delhi: Hero Motocorp and Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India have announced price cuts across models. Likewise, Yamaha India is also working on a similar price cut.
“The firm had decided to pass on the entire benefit of excise duty cut to the customers. We have judiciously spread out the price cut across our product portfolio ranging from 2 per cent going up to 5 per cent with the maximum reduction being Rs 4,500," said a spokesperson from Hero MotoCorp.
Hero MotoCorp's bike portfolio includes Karizma ZMR, Impulse, Splendor and Glamour.
HMSI slashed the prices by Rs 1,600 on Dream Neo motorcycle, priced between Rs 43,150 and Rs 47,289, and goes up to Rs 7,600 on CBR 250R performance bike tagged between Rs 1.58 lakh and Rs 1.93 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).
“Honda welcomes the excise duty relief given to auto industry in the interim budget. In line with its customer-friendly approach, Honda has decided to pass on the full benefit of 4 per cent excise duty reduction on two-wheelers to its valued customers across India with immediate effect. Now, all Honda two-wheelers are even more affordable,” said YS Guleria, vice-president for marketing and sales, HMSI.
HMSI sells a range of scooters including the Activa and Deo, and motorcycles such as Dream Yuga, CB Stunner, CB Unicorn and CB Twister among others.
Presenting the interim budget on Monday, finance minister P Chidambaram announced reduction in excise duty on small car, motorcycles, scooter and commercial vehicles to 8% from 12%, and on SUVs to 24% from 30%.
In a bid to provide relief to the automobile industry, where sales have declined, the government had lowered excise duty till 30 June.


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A woman sticks her head through the door and asks:
"Are you growing hashish?"
But what is sprouting under the psychedelic lights in the basement under the old Stormessa is not drugs but food. Cucumbers, tomatoes, herbs, carrots and lettuce. And around 13,000 earthworms. If everything goes according to plan, everything will be moved out into a "garden" in Nybyen in the spring.
Benjamin Vidmar, the driving force behind the company Polar Permaculture Solutions and an effort to grow local food in Svalbard, has received a 150,000-kroner grant from the Svalbard Environmental Protection Fund to build Longyearbyen's only outdoor greenhouse.
Comittment to grassroots
Here he plans to cultivate a number of different vegetables and herbs for his Spitsbergen vision, in which they will be an alternative to the long distances traveled by produce sold and served on the island today.
"We sincerely want to eat food that comes from here, instead of things that are transported over long distances by ship," said Vidmar, who works as a cook at Svalbar. "When it's local, then you know where it comes from and that it does not contain pesticides."
According to an online survey conducted by three students participating in the project, 100 percent of the 54 respondents to date favored local crops over imported. Three-fourths stated they are willing to pay higher prices. Earlier this week, they held an open meeting in the city and presented their plans.
"We are trying to attract the local community and develop this together," Vidmar said. "People have been incredibly interested in the idea and many have been surprised that it is actually possible to grow their own vegetables here."
The greenhouse, which will be located behind the old Stormessa, is designed to be ten-by-ten meters and supported by stilts
Greenhouses are not something new in Svalbard's history. Residents of Barentsburg, Pyramiden and Ny-Ålesund have previously grown food for their own consumption, despite the island's cold and barren environment.
"But it has been so difficult to find good information about how the greenhouses were built
and operated," Vidmar said. "Therefore, we are starting from scratch with everything."
The biggest challenge of organizing the project was – not surprisingly – the bureaucracy.
As with any other construction project in Longyearbyen, a vacant site had to be found and a building application approved. More unusual was the process of getting permission to import two kinds of earthworms to be allow the composting of food waste into nutrient-rich soil.
"It was a long process," said Vidmar, holding up a pair of the fat specimens. "There is no field in the nature here and we had to bring in a professor who could demonstrate that these would not survive outdoors in the cold."
It's not known yet how the locally-sourced herbs and vegetables will be sold.
"We are pushing and looking at different business structures, but haven't landed on anything yet," Vidmar said. "Now in the initial process it is most important to get the greenhouse up. It is not enough to feed the whole city, but it's a start."
Few would use the term "local" about the current product range in Svalbard. The VAT exemption makes it cheaper to import from the outside world which, among other things, results in soft drinks bottled in South Africa and affordable chicken breasts from France.
Rigid rules have made it difficult for local opportunities, such as an on-site brewery. But this summer will likely see the first locally produced beer, five years after Robert Johansen, head of Svalbard Bryggeri, first sought to change a law banning alcohol production in Svalbard. In addition to beer, Johansen also hopes to bottle local water that can replace the ubiquitous Ramlösa from Sweden.
In April, Tone Løvberg told Svalbardposten there should be changes in the law so businesses can use local meat and fish resources. She said she is very happy about the greenhouse initiative.
" t takes so little until we are self contained with some things up here," she said. "Finally something is happening. People are daring to bet."
"In the southern regions it is good to be self-sufficient on the islands. Why should we not also be here? It's a good start with own brewery and greenhouse, but it takes time until we are completely at our objective," said Løvberg, who sent a comprehensive letter to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries, as well as the Ministry of Justice and Public Security's Polar Affairs Division, regarding the use of Svalbard's game and fish.
"I have not received any feedback," she said. "I've heard word of talk at the ministerial level, but not a word to me. They are only pushing the problem onto others."


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Hamilton the musical will be coming to Disney Plus sooner than expected, with the Tony Award-winning musical set to release in July 2020.
From the moment Disney first announced its plans to bring the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Hamilton to the big screens, Disney Plus subscribers have been anxiously awaiting to find out when the iconic musical would be available to stream.
Given the musical was set to hit theaters in 2021, the speculation was we’d have to wait until late 2021 at the earliest. However, in a surprise twist, Disney has announced that the filmed version of the original Broadway production of Hamilton will now make its way to Disney Plus sooner than anticipated.
As revealed by The Walt Disney Company, Hamilton will be avaiable to watch on Disney Plus across the globe beginning on Friday, July 3. In other words, the Fourth of July holiday weekend just got way more exciting!
"“I’m so proud of how beautifully Tommy Kail has brought ‘Hamilton’ to the screen. He’s given everyone who watches this film the best seat in the house,” said Lin-Manuel Miranda in a press release announcing the news. “I’m so grateful to Disney and Disney+ for reimagining and moving up our release to July 4th weekend of this year, in light of the world turning upside down. I’m so grateful to all the fans who asked for this, and I’m so glad that we’re able to make it happen. I’m so proud of this show. I can’t wait for you to see it.”"
The special performance was filmed at The Richard Rodgers Theatre back in June of 2016 and will feature the original cast including Lin-Manuel Miranda, Daveed Diggs, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Leslie Odom, Jr., Christopher Jackson, Jonathan Groff, Phillipa Soo, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Okieriete Onaodowan, and Anthony Ramos.
Hamilton now becomes to the second theatrical release from Disney to make the move from theaters by instead debuting exclusively on Disney Plus, following Artemis Fowl which will arrive on Disney Plus this June. Additional films could follow suit as Disney continues to navigate and adjust its film schedule due to ongoing movie theater closures.
Will you be watching Hamilton once it arrives on Disney Plus on Friday, July 3?


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86% of SMEs do not have any cyber insurance in place according to a recent survey by Aviva. This lack of insurance protection comes at a time of rapid digitisation, with statistics showing that 41% of SMEs updated their website in response to the pandemic while 39% moved online or improved their online offering.
96% of those businesses that made changes confirmed they would keep their online developments, yet only 11% had updated their cyber cover.
In the report, Aviva states that the pandemic has accelerated digital adoption across all businesses, meaning cyber insurance has quickly moved from a perceived luxury to an absolute must-have.
Cyber cover doesn’t just protect businesses against an attack, but it also ensures they have fast access to expert specialists, so they can return to normal as quickly as possible in the event of a cyber incident.
Six top tips for business owners
- If you are unclear about your digital risk, contact your insurance broker to understand the risks to your business and what protection you may need.
- Always use individual identification and passwords to access computer equipment and change default manufacturers passwords.
- Back up all data every seven days or less and store back-ups securely and away from the data or programs they relate to.
- All personal data must be stored and disposed of in a secure manner. The definition of ‘personal data’ includes information you hold on suppliers, business emails and employee data.
- Install any updates for firmware, operating systems, software or programmes within 14 days of release where the updates address a vulnerability described by the provider as critical, important or high.
- Ensure that any equipment connected to the internet or other network is protected by a suitable firewall and ensure it is updated automatically, or at intervals of a month or less.
Contact us today to understand the cyber risks your business faces and what protection you may need.
For more information on keeping your business safe online visit the NSCSC Cyber Aware pages.


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|By PR Newswire||
|January 11, 2013 10:04 AM EST||
LAS VEGAS, Jan. 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Zboard electric skateboard rolled out the winner of ShowStoppers Launch.it, a pitch-event created to help entrepreneurs in the Eureka Park startup zone at the International CES raise early seed capital from Angel investors.
Intuitive Motion, the company that builds the Zboard, was the top choice at the new event, organized by ShowStoppers, Launch.it, the New York Angels and the Consumer Electronics Association, which produces the International CES. Supporting members of the event included Gust, the world-wide official deal management platform for angel investing; plus Startup America, the Vegas Valley Angels, Vegas Tech , CEO Pitch Coach McAdory Lipscomb, and MSI PR.
Intuitive Motion seeks $750,000 in funding, in addition to the more than $278,000 it raised on Kickstarter.
Dhama Innovations took second place at the standing-room only event, attended by more than 230 journalists, bloggers and investors. The startup holds a patent-pending technology called ClimaCon® that instantly cools and heats between 25 degrees F to 140 degrees F for diverse pain-relief applications.
Third place went to Troop ID, which digitally verifies military credentials for brands and government agencies, allowing men and women serving in the military to claim discounts and benefits.
Moderated by Brian Cohen, chairman of New York Angeles, the panel of judges chose what they deemed was the most investor-worthy startup from eight presenters – selected in turn from more than 25 companies that applied.
The five other presenters included:
- Asius Technology, maker of a device that converts earbud sound to energy to power a pump that inflates a bubble in the ear.
- iBoard Canada Manufacturing Inc., maker of an interactive whiteboard.
- Pervasive Group Inc., maker of a comprehensive mobile parental control platform for Smartphones.
- Integrated Surface Technology, which has developed a Plasma System for phone sellers/repair shops to protect portable electronics with a water-resistant coating.
- VIOTECH Communications, maker of the My e-Home® system for smart homes.
- Brian R. Clark, founder and managing partner at CaneClark, a law firm specializing in securities law and venture finance, and a member of Vegas Valley Angels.
- Ian McNeil, co-founder and principal at Brennan Capital Partners, an independent venture capital and private equity firm, and a member of Vegas Valley Angels.
- Guy Kawasaki, co-founder of Alltop.com; founding partner at Garage Technology Ventures; and former chief evangelist of Apple. Kawasaki is the author of ten books, including Enchantment and the forthcoming APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur--How to Publish a Book.
- Larry Richenstein, managing director, Peak Ventures. The last startup he founded was Unwired Technology, the world's largest supplier of wireless headphones, which he sold in 2005.
- Jeffrey Silverman, partner, Laconia Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm. Silverman has over 20 years leadership positions in early stage media and technology companies.
"The venture funding and Angel communities know that the entrepreneurial future of consumer electronics is strong," said Brian Cohen, chairman of New York Angels and chief executive officer of Launch.it. "The eight finalists at the ShowStoppers Launch.it pitchfest all made very professional pitches for funding. Our Startup America partnership and having Guy Kawasaki as one the judges helped make the event a more recognized place for entrepreneurs to raise seed capital, then build and grow successful companies."
The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), www.ce.org, is the preeminent trade association promoting growth in the $206 billion U.S. consumer electronics industry. More than 2,000 companies enjoy the benefits of CEA membership, including legislative advocacy, market research, technical training and education, industry promotion, standards development and the fostering of business and strategic relationships. CEA also owns and produces the International CES – The Global Stage for Innovation. All profits from CES are reinvested into CEA's industry services.
Now in its 20th year, ShowStoppers, www.showstoppers.com, is the global leader in producing press and business events spanning the US, Europe and Asia. Each event organizes product introductions, sneak previews and demonstrations for selected journalists, bloggers, industry and financial analysts, venture capitalists and business executives. Industry leaders, innovators and startups exhibit to help generate news coverage and product reviews, make new connections, promote brand, and open new markets. ShowStoppers produces events at CES, CTIA and Mobile World Congress, among others, and the official press events at IFA, NAB, Sandbox Summit and the CEA LineShow.
LaunchIt, www.launch.it, is a self-publishing event news and social information management platform that "leaves no new product, service or idea behind," where companies use built-in social networking tools to engage directly with the media and consumers around the world. ShowStoppers works with LaunchIt to power a ShowStoppers-branded news service that is socially engaged, to better connect startups and industry leaders with consumers and journalists.
+1 516 225-7417
With so much going on in this space you could be forgiven for thinking you were always working with yesterday’s technologies. So much change, so quickly. What do you do if you have to build a solution from the ground up that is expected to live in the field for at least 5-10 years? This is the challenge we faced when we looked to refresh our existing 10-year-old custom hardware stack to measure the fullness of trash cans and compactors.
Aug. 28, 2016 02:00 AM EDT Reads: 1,767
The emerging Internet of Everything creates tremendous new opportunities for customer engagement and business model innovation. However, enterprises must overcome a number of critical challenges to bring these new solutions to market. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Michael Martin, CTO/CIO at nfrastructure, outlined these key challenges and recommended approaches for overcoming them to achieve speed and agility in the design, development and implementation of Internet of Everything solutions wi...
Aug. 28, 2016 01:30 AM EDT Reads: 2,082
Cloud computing is being adopted in one form or another by 94% of enterprises today. Tens of billions of new devices are being connected to The Internet of Things. And Big Data is driving this bus. An exponential increase is expected in the amount of information being processed, managed, analyzed, and acted upon by enterprise IT. This amazing is not part of some distant future - it is happening today. One report shows a 650% increase in enterprise data by 2020. Other estimates are even higher....
Aug. 28, 2016 01:00 AM EDT Reads: 2,965
Today we can collect lots and lots of performance data. We build beautiful dashboards and even have fancy query languages to access and transform the data. Still performance data is a secret language only a couple of people understand. The more business becomes digital the more stakeholders are interested in this data including how it relates to business. Some of these people have never used a monitoring tool before. They have a question on their mind like “How is my application doing” but no id...
Aug. 28, 2016 12:15 AM EDT Reads: 1,828
The 19th International Cloud Expo has announced that its Call for Papers is open. Cloud Expo, to be held November 1-3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA, brings together Cloud Computing, Big Data, Internet of Things, DevOps, Digital Transformation, Microservices and WebRTC to one location. With cloud computing driving a higher percentage of enterprise IT budgets every year, it becomes increasingly important to plant your flag in this fast-expanding business opportuni...
Aug. 27, 2016 11:00 PM EDT Reads: 3,998
Identity is in everything and customers are looking to their providers to ensure the security of their identities, transactions and data. With the increased reliance on cloud-based services, service providers must build security and trust into their offerings, adding value to customers and improving the user experience. Making identity, security and privacy easy for customers provides a unique advantage over the competition.
Aug. 27, 2016 08:45 PM EDT Reads: 2,354
19th Cloud Expo, taking place November 1-3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA, will feature technical sessions from a rock star conference faculty and the leading industry players in the world. Cloud computing is now being embraced by a majority of enterprises of all sizes. Yesterday's debate about public vs. private has transformed into the reality of hybrid cloud: a recent survey shows that 74% of enterprises have a hybrid cloud strategy. Meanwhile, 94% of enterpri...
Aug. 27, 2016 06:00 PM EDT Reads: 3,100
Smart Cities are here to stay, but for their promise to be delivered, the data they produce must not be put in new siloes. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Mathias Herberts, Co-founder and CTO of Cityzen Data, will deep dive into best practices that will ensure a successful smart city journey.
Aug. 27, 2016 05:15 PM EDT Reads: 1,583
SYS-CON Events announced today that 910Telecom will exhibit at the 19th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on November 1–3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Housed in the classic Denver Gas & Electric Building, 910 15th St., 910Telecom is a carrier-neutral telecom hotel located in the heart of Denver. Adjacent to CenturyLink, AT&T, and Denver Main, 910Telecom offers connectivity to all major carriers, Internet service providers, Internet backbones and ...
Aug. 27, 2016 05:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,887
There is growing need for data-driven applications and the need for digital platforms to build these apps. In his session at 19th Cloud Expo, Muddu Sudhakar, VP and GM of Security & IoT at Splunk, will cover different PaaS solutions and Big Data platforms that are available to build applications. In addition, AI and machine learning are creating new requirements that developers need in the building of next-gen apps. The next-generation digital platforms have some of the past platform needs a...
Aug. 27, 2016 04:00 PM EDT Reads: 602
SYS-CON Events announced today Telecom Reseller has been named “Media Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 19th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on November 1–3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Telecom Reseller reports on Unified Communications, UCaaS, BPaaS for enterprise and SMBs. They report extensively on both customer premises based solutions such as IP-PBX as well as cloud based and hosted platforms.
Aug. 27, 2016 03:15 PM EDT Reads: 779
I wanted to gather all of my Internet of Things (IOT) blogs into a single blog (that I could later use with my University of San Francisco (USF) Big Data “MBA” course). However as I started to pull these blogs together, I realized that my IOT discussion lacked a vision; it lacked an end point towards which an organization could drive their IOT envisioning, proof of value, app dev, data engineering and data science efforts. And I think that the IOT end point is really quite simple…
Aug. 27, 2016 12:45 PM EDT Reads: 2,356
Internet of @ThingsExpo, taking place November 1-3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA, is co-located with 19th Cloud Expo and will feature technical sessions from a rock star conference faculty and the leading industry players in the world. The Internet of Things (IoT) is the most profound change in personal and enterprise IT since the creation of the Worldwide Web more than 20 years ago. All major researchers estimate there will be tens of billions devices - comp...
Aug. 27, 2016 12:30 PM EDT Reads: 3,627
DevOps at Cloud Expo, taking place Nov 1-3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA, is co-located with 19th Cloud Expo and will feature technical sessions from a rock star conference faculty and the leading industry players in the world. The widespread success of cloud computing is driving the DevOps revolution in enterprise IT. Now as never before, development teams must communicate and collaborate in a dynamic, 24/7/365 environment. There is no time to wait for long dev...
Aug. 27, 2016 11:00 AM EDT Reads: 2,381
Data is the fuel that drives the machine learning algorithmic engines and ultimately provides the business value. In his session at Cloud Expo, Ed Featherston, a director and senior enterprise architect at Collaborative Consulting, will discuss the key considerations around quality, volume, timeliness, and pedigree that must be dealt with in order to properly fuel that engine.
Aug. 27, 2016 10:15 AM EDT Reads: 1,928
Pulzze Systems was happy to participate in such a premier event and thankful to be receiving the winning investment and global network support from G-Startup Worldwide. It is an exciting time for Pulzze to showcase the effectiveness of innovative technologies and enable them to make the world smarter and better. The reputable contest is held to identify promising startups around the globe that are assured to change the world through their innovative products and disruptive technologies. There w...
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Personalization has long been the holy grail of marketing. Simply stated, communicate the most relevant offer to the right person and you will increase sales. To achieve this, you must understand the individual. Consequently, digital marketers developed many ways to gather and leverage customer information to deliver targeted experiences. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Lou Casal, Founder and Principal Consultant at Practicala, discussed how the Internet of Things (IoT) has accelerated our abil...
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Is the ongoing quest for agility in the data center forcing you to evaluate how to be a part of infrastructure automation efforts? As organizations evolve toward bimodal IT operations, they are embracing new service delivery models and leveraging virtualization to increase infrastructure agility. Therefore, the network must evolve in parallel to become equally agile. Read this essential piece of Gartner research for recommendations on achieving greater agility.
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For basic one-to-one voice or video calling solutions, WebRTC has proven to be a very powerful technology. Although WebRTC’s core functionality is to provide secure, real-time p2p media streaming, leveraging native platform features and server-side components brings up new communication capabilities for web and native mobile applications, allowing for advanced multi-user use cases such as video broadcasting, conferencing, and media recording.
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KL Sports City in Bukit Jalil took on a carnival-like atmosphere featuring music, fitness and fun at The Music Run by CIMB.
WHILE next year is bound to be a challenging one, especially amid the synchronised slowdown, there are still opportunities to be had, says Socio-Economic Research Centre executive director Lee Heng Guie.
JOHOR BARU: Furniture retail and contract provider Hauslife Furniture Sdn Bhd sees Iskandar Malaysia as a place with good growth prospects and opportunities for businesses.
Key players at conference talk about need for embracing technology and change.
Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) is organising its first-ever conference focusing on building sustainability awareness among Malaysian exporters.
AGAINST the backdrop of the current challenging economic environment, digital transformation is needed to increase competitiveness, especially for SMEs.
Lions Club appeals for donations from public to help girl’s family.
COFFEE company Starbucks Malaysia has joined a growing list of brands supporting the Malaysian blind football community, pledging vouchers and goodies worth over RM10,000 for the Eye On The Ball: Bola Buta Challenge event this Saturday.
AS PART of the push to drive digital transformation and adoption across the nation, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) is partnering with Pertubuhan Peladang Kawasan Kuala Langat (PPKKL), CIMB Bank Berhad and local payments system and infrastructure network PayNet to bring the latter’s DuitNow service to the Kuala Langat farming community.
THERE were deals galore at Homedec Penang 2019 with people using the weekend to shop for bargains and great discounts.THERE were deals galore at Homedec Penang 2019 with people using the weekend to shop for bargains and great discounts.


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FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Carmaker Daimler on Wednesday topped up its German pension scheme by transferring a stake in Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co... ...https://in.news.yahoo.com/daimlers-pension-fund-gets-1-8-billion-euro-145843814--sector.html
Nissan Continues Its 24-Year-Long Commitment to Fostering Cultural Diversity NASHVILLE, TN--(Marketwired - June 29, 2016) - The Nissan Foundation... ...http://in.sys-con.com/node/3860636
Renault is exporting the made-in-India Kwid to several emerging markets globally and the latest country where the hatchback has gone on sale is... ...http://auto.ndtv.com/news/id-1232498
Rich and poor countries alike are missing huge opportunities when it comes to making the most of their populations economic potential, with only... ...http://www.indiainfoline.com/article/news-top-story/only-65-of-worlds-talent-is-being-optimized-through-education-skills-development-wef-116062800228_1.html
The Mitsubishi Ground tourer concept which previews a mid-size crossover has been teased ahead of its world premiere at the Paris Motor Show in... ...http://www.rushlane.com/mitsubishi-ground-tourer-concept-paris-teaser-12199788.html
Nissan, Mobil Terbaik Pilihan...


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- August 23, 2017 / 3 min readThis decision has accounted for a decrease of the prices by about Rs 10 per kg making the the current prices of SMPs to be around Rs 220 per kg.
Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (GCMMF), which sells its products under the Amul brand has decided to cut the prices of its skimmed milk products (SMPs) by 6-7 per cent across all varieties. This, according to experts, is the result of the sharp decline in demand during the ongoing lean season, coupled with a sharp increase in supply.
This decision has accounted for a decrease of the prices by about Rs 10 per kg making the the current prices of SMPs to be around Rs 220 per kg.
"We have cut maximum retail price (MRP) of skimmed milk powder by six-seven per cent across all varieties recently because of weak demand from consumers. SMP prices are likely to remain subdued in coming months due to the commencement of new milk supply season," said R S Sodhi, managing director, GCMMF.
The price decline, however, is unlikely to impact farmers’ realisations for the supply of liquid milk as dairy companies are preparing to absorb a squeeze in margins from lower prices. "Dairy companies in Maharashtra have posted lower profit margins for June quarter due to increase in milk procurement prices. Milk prices, however, are unlikely to decline because of a cut in SMP prices," said Shirish Upadhyay, senior vice-president (strategic planning), Parag Milk Foods Ltd, the producer of Gowardhan brand milk and cheese.
An Edelweiss Securities report said that the average milk procurement price for Prabhat Dairy stood at Rs 27.1 for the April–June quarter of 2017, up by five per cent from the corresponding quarter last year and down by around five per cent from the previous sequential quarter.
However, dairy producers are having a hard time on the exports as the prices prevailing in the international markets are 20 per cent less than the domestic market.Trending ArticleDaily UpdatesWhich is the highest format preference of Fun-Seeker?
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How Netflix and Amazon Are Shaking Up Sundance 2016
Netflix and Amazon have already had a major impact on the television industry and now, both are continuing to make waves in the film world as well. The two streaming services are shaking up the market at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, currently leading the pack as the top buyers of the festival so far.
Though this isn’t the first time that either Netflix or Amazon has attended Sundance, 2016 is already marking a huge turning point for each company. Whereas both streaming services have barely made a splash with their respective bids in previous years, the two have drastically changed their tactic this year, employing an aggressive and formidable buying strategy that has put them well ahead of traditional distributors.
According to The New York Times, the two streaming services are the ones essentially “driving the deal-making” this year, landing some of the biggest acquisitions of the festival. Case in point? Within only the first four days of Sundance, the two companies picked up a combined seven films, for a total cost of over $30 million.
Amazon was the first to make headlines, shelling out a whopping $10 million for Manchester by the Sea (above), the buzzy drama starring Casey Affleck that earned a standing ovation during its debut. The streaming service beat out the likes of Fox Searchlight, Focus Features, and other major studios for the film — and that was just the beginning. The company also managed to snatch up the movie, Love and Friendship, based on the Jane Austen novella; Author: The J.T. LeRoy story, a much-discussed documentary about the literary persona, and Complete Unknown, starring Rachel Weisz as a mysterious dinner guest.
Not to be outdone, Netflix also made its fair share of notable deals. Perhaps it’s buzziest deal was Tallulah, the comedy drama starring Ellen Page and Allison Janney that sold for about $5 million.
It also paid $7 million for the global streaming rights to The Fundamentals of Caring, a Sundance movie starring Paul Rudd, Craig Roberts and Selena Gomez. Other purchases include Under the Shadow, a horror movie set in Iran.
Even when it wasn’t actually acquiring a title, Netflix still managed to break the bank. The company drove the price for Nate Parker’s slave-revolt drama, The Birth of a Nation to record-breaking heights, offering $20 million in a competitive bidding war. Parker eventually opted to go with Fox, which didn’t have much choice but to pay an all-time Sundance record of $17.5 million.
Now it’s just a matter of how each company will go about releasing these movies. The streaming services have taken very different strategies in the past to varied levels of success. Netflix launched its most high profile film yet, Beasts of No Nation, in 31 stateside theaters and on their streaming service the same day. Though the critically acclaimed film performed well on Netflix, it didn’t make much noise at the box office and ended up earning no Academy Award nods.
Amazon has been a little bit more willing to play nice, partnering with Roadside Attractions to release Spike Lee’s Chi-raq exclusively in 305 theaters before putting it up for digital rental less than a month later. Again, the movie earned high critical praise, but not much attention at the box office or during award season. Regardless, the streaming service is reportedly teaming up with Roadside again to debut Love and Friendship.
It’s tactic for other titles is more up in the air. Manchester by the Sea is widely considered to be a lock as a nominee for the 2017 Oscars. The question is, will that be enough to get it into more theaters prior to its digital release or will most theater chains continue to shut out Netflix and Amazon, considering any of their movies day-and-date releases? We’re about to find out.
Though the two streaming services may have dominated the start of Sundance, all is not lost for traditional distributors. While some major film studios may have lost bids to Netflix and Amazon in some cases, The New York Times reports that they’re not necessarily being sidelined — they’re being choosy. With smaller films today having an increasingly difficult time selling tickets, non-digital distributors are being more selective, carefully trying to gauge which movies have the most breakout potential and are worth putting down a huge chunk of change for.
In any case, it’s safe to say this year’s Sundance saw a huge digital upheaval. Whether Amazon and Netflix’s aggressive buying strategy will pay off in the long run remains to be seen, but it’s clear that the two are only just getting started when it comes to pushing new boundaries in film.