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“Location, location, location” may be the real-estate agent’s mantra. But a Christchurch web interaction design firm Left Click has found its locale no object to landing a global contract to rebuild Harcourts' back-end systems, and public websites.
LeftClick’s six staff are putting the finishing touches on a new online listing system that will be used by 5000 Harcourts staff across the real-estate agency's 600 global offices. The back-end system took nine months to create, says Left Click founder Alan Cox.
The company will now embark on designing a series of new-look public websites for Harcourts worldwide. Cox says the new customer-facing sites will incorporate Web 2.0 features. Elements may include social networking features and “mash-ups”, such as the ability to select the address of a house you’re looking at, then use an Ajax feed to overlay desired features – such as the nearest schools or shops or demographic data – on a Google map.
Harcourts Chief Technology Officer Jason Wills says his company investigated a number of existing off-the-shelf property listing systems, his company realised it needed to develop its own system to meet its goals. It began what he describes as “an exhaustive worldwide search” for a company to design its interface systems, ultimately landing with LeftClick.
LeftClick was able to parlay success upgrading Harcourts’ Australasian sites into the worldwide deal, says Mr Cox, which is worth around $200,000 to his company. Harcourts board members visited Left Click’s Christchurch office, and also spoke to its existing clients, who include AMI and National Bank.
Harcourts was impressed by LeftClick’s “guinea pig” design approach, says Mr Cox, which involves a clients’ employees being plonked in front of a PC then observed as they use their company’s existing systems.
In Harcourts’ case, LeftClick’s four-month study led the Christchurch design company to recommend Harcourts not just upgrade its decade-old online booking system, but extend its website project to a full ecommerce makeover including facets like contact management and email marketing.
“We try to identify low-hanging fruit and make changes that deliver the biggest bang for buck in the shortest amount of time,” says Mr Cox of LeftClick of his company’s strategy. His focus was to upgrade “horizontal slices” of Harcourts accounting, property management, contact management and other online systems almost immediately then upgrade them incrementally, rather than make the company wait a year for “vertical” big bang upgrades in each area.
The new-look Web 2.0 Harcourts public websites are set to go live during March 2009. The first-stage revamp of the new property management system will be followed by further upgrades over the next 12 months, says Mr Cox.
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PSA: The PlayStation Network is scheduled for maintenance on Thursday 12 February from 17:00 until 20:30 GMT. [More…]
You can expect a number of events for Call of Duty Advanced Warfare this weekend, including double XP, snipers only and more. [via Twitter]
All the Dying Light DLC has been (provisionally) dated. Three content drops come as part of the $19.99 / €19.99 season pass with ‘Cuisine & Cargo’ available from 10 February (US) and 11 February (elsewhere), ‘Ultimate Survivor Bundle’ arriving in March, and ‘The Bozak Horde’ launching in May. [More…]
The fourth DLC pack for Alien: Isolation, ‘Lost Contact’, is now available for download. It features 10 challenges, a new map and “some of the game’s toughest enemies.” [via Press Release]
Something Killzone related is coming “soon” according to a recent tweet. What that something is, is open to speculation.
Asteroids will be getting a reboot and will emerge as a PC-exclusive open-world survival MMO called Asteroids: Outpost. [More…]
Sales & Discounts
This week’s Deals with Gold have been announced, and unless you’re a fan (or want to become a fan) of NBA 2K15 or Geometry Wars 3, there’s nothing for you. The two games, and a variety of NBA 2K15 DLC is discounted on both Xbox One and Xbox 360. [More…]
Bethesda has announced its plans for their first ever E3 conference, set for Sunday, 14 June. While no details have been released of what will be revealed, the event will be broadcast live on Twitch.
Playtonic Games – an indie studio of former Rare veterans – have announced ‘Project Ukulele’ for PC and consoles. The game is in its early stages still and is a ‘spiritual successor’ the the classic 3D platformer, Banjo and Kazooie. [More…]
Screenshots & Concept Art
The launch trailer for Evolve.
A bit of an Evolve video blowout – because we missed some these tips and tricks from the developers over the last few day.
Dying Light shows off the ‘Night Hunter Evolved’.
Mekazoo – a platformer by The Good Mood Creators – is heading to PS4, Xbox One, Wii U and PC in the fourth quarter of the year.
The opening movie for Tekken 7 Arcade.

domain: news


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Converse’s Chuck Taylor has always been known as a versatile lifestyle model, but this month, Canada’s HAVEN is set to deliver a GORE-TEX-clad version ripe for the upcoming wet seasons and decked out with technical details.
Converse’s collaborations have seemingly increased tenfold in recent years, coinciding with the return of the always-essential Chuck Taylor as one of the world’s most popular lifestyle shoes. Among these collaborations, Converse has been taking the time to seek out and work with new partners, whether they are new brands, or established retailers like Canada’s HAVEN, who takes on the Chuck 70 for their inaugural partnership this week. The project takes on the challenge of providing a durable version of the classic Chuck Taylor that can survive Canadian winters, which means only one thing: Gore-Tex. Constructed using a suede upper, these Chucks feature a Gore-Tex inner membrane to keep your feet dry and water out in any conditions, even adding leather overlays to the silhouette for added support and protection. Sticking to their guns, the HAVEN Chuck 70’s come in your choice of either black or olive green, both paired with a plain white midsole.
HAVEN X CONVERSE CHUCK 70 RELEASE INFORMATION
The debut project from Canadian retailer HAVEN and Converse, featuring a Gore-Tex-clad edition of the Chuck 70, has been scheduled to release later this week, on November 14th, 2020. The special-edition water-repellant pair will be available exclusively from the northern retailer, with a price tag of approximately $140 for each color scheme. Check out the official images below for a better look, and stay tuned to JustFreshKicks for more Converse release news.
HAVEN x Converse Chuck 70
Release Date: November 14th, 2020


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High Fitness is coming to Las Sendas Spa & Fitness Center starting on June 2!
HIGH fitness has brought aerobics back in a hip and unique way, and the world is taking notice. The popular revival of this beloved fitness trend has quickly become the hottest new workout across Canada and the US. HIGH fitness has famous names and faces getting their sweat on in classes: Julianne Hough, Rachel Parcell, the LA Laker Dancers, and the Indianapolis Colts and Arizona Cardinals Cheerleaders are taking classes and raving about them.
Think Old School Aerobics meets HIIT training. LMFAO meets Jane Fonda with a side of Richard Simmons. All mashed up into a one-hour, total body workout. You will have a blast, see real results both physically and mentally, and leave this class wanting more.


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Citigroup’s Mark Mahaney has published a report analyzing the competitiveness of Google’s non-search products, such as Finance, Gmail, Calendar, News, Froogle, Video, etc. The success of such products is obviously important for Google’s long-term outlook, as they should help lock in users and diversify Google’s usage patterns. Eventually, they might even contribute revenue, although this is not a given. Mark’s key conclusions include:
- Several of Google’s non-search products are “best-in-class” or at least “in-the-running.” More important, most are continuing to improve and gain traffic share.
- Most of these products have a much stronger competitive position (traffic share) internationally than they do in the U.S. Put differently, Google’s dominance is much greater internationally than it is here (a scary thought).
Mark suggests that the success of non-search products creates “option value” for Google that is not yet factored into the stock price. My sense is that such products are to some extent factored into the stock price, although Mark’s competitive analysis suggests that, on balance, the products are doing better than they are perceived to be. The analysis suggests that no Microsoft or Yahoo product is safe and that it is way too early to pronounce, say, Gmail, dead simply because it has not yet caught up in user-share. This conclusion alone should serve as a major kick in the posterior to Yahoo, especially: Not only did the company blow its lead in search; it is now losing market share to Google in almost every other critical vertical.
The one key point that Mark did not address is revenue. None of Google’s non-search products generate revenue. If the theory is that Google will simply live forever on search revenue, then Google investors will have to get used to the fact that the company’s ROI is only going to go one way: Down. Shareholders will also have to live with the risk that, if anything happens to Google’s search dominance–or to search advertising itself–the entire company will be screwed.
The most obvious way for Google to monetize its non-search products is display advertising (I continue to find the idea of inserting AdWords style PPC-ads in Calendar, Spreadsheet, etc. absurd). One reason Google’s products score well in Mark’s comparison, however, is that they are un-cluttered and commercial-free, and adding display advertising might bring them more in-line with the competition. I imagine that Google could add some display advertising–or at least sponsorship buttons–without sacrificing much utility, and I expect this is the way the company will eventually go.
The other option is subscriptions, an option that devotees of Google Spreadsheet, etc., often assume will be a lay-up. I think subscriptions are a good idea, but they seem antithetical to Google’s current philosophy, and, even if successful, they will take years to ramp into a meaningful revenue stream (witness Yahoo!’s revenue mix). For the next few years, therefore, it would seem foolhardy to expect the company to flick a subscription switch and immediately pay for all of its non-search spending.
Bottom line, Mahaney’s analysis suggests that Google is well on its way to becoming less of a one-trick pony. This is good news for Google fans and bad news for Yahoo. (It’s also bad news for Microsoft, but in my opinion, Microsoft has already lost the Internet game).
(Apologies…had to remove link to Mark’s report. If interested, contact Citigroup and beg.)


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At the ongoing Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2013, alongside the Padfone Infinity, ASUS unveiled the ASUS FonePad which has leaked a couple of times in the past and is the first Intel processor powered Android tablet which also arrive with built-in 3G and voice-calling support.
The ASUS FonePad packs in a 7-inch IPS display with a display resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels while getting all its processing power from a 1.2 GHZ Intel Atom processor coupled with 1 GB of RAM.
ASUS plans to launch the FonePad in two variants, The Europe one will come with 16 GB of built-in storage while carrying a 1.2 MP front-facing camera and will be available in April for about €219. While the APAC region variant of the Fonepad will pack only 8GB of built-in storage but compensates it with a 3MP camera on the rear and will retail for in March for $250.
Specifications of the ASUS Fonepad:
- 7-inch IPS display
- Resolution of 1280 x 800 resolution
- 1.2 GHz Intel Atom Z2420 Processor
- 1GB RAM
- 8/16GB internal storage
- Memory expandable using microSD slot
- 3 Megapixels rear camera
- 1.2 Megapixels front facing camera
- Google Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
- 3G, GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
- 4270 mAh battery
The ASUS FonePad is a direct competitor to the newly announced Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 and the tablet will be available in Titanium Gray and Champagne Gold with a smooth metal back.


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Aug. 13, 2012––Kumho Tires recalled its Solus KH25 tires, size 225/45R17, that were manufactured from Aug. 21, 2011, through June 23, 2012. These tires could develop cracking in the sidewall, which would result in air loss and might result in a tire failure and crash.
Kumho will notify owners, and dealers will replace the recalled tires free. The safety recall is expected to begin August 2012.
Owners may call Kumho at 909/428-3999. Owners also may call National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Vehicle Safety Hotline at 888/327-4236 or go to safercar.gov.


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First-quarter aggregated gross gaming revenues in the South American nation of Colombia reportedly increased by 17% year-on-year to top $44.4 million with online casino activities contributing approximately $12.9 million of this total.
According to a source citing official information from the country’s Coljuegos regulator, the country’s burgeoning collection of bingo halls and casinos were responsible for some $19.4 million in first-half gross gaming revenues as the local Super Astro, Baloto and other lottery-type titles contributed a further $7.4 million, $4.5 million and $259,000 respectively.
The President for Coljuegos, Cesar Augusto Valencia Galiano, reportedly disclosed that the $44.4 million figure is a first-quarter record for Colombia as associated gross sales swelled by 54% year-on-year to hit $3.7 million. The regulator purportedly moreover pronounced that this represented ‘an excellent start of the year’ and was indicative of ‘the good performance that games of luck and chance are experiencing’.
Colombia is home to 50.3 million people with its iGaming sector having reportedly chalked up first-quarter gross sales of $1.4 million driven mainly by the popularity of sportsbetting, video slots, live dealer games and virtual roulette. This was purportedly bettered by the land-based bingo and casino sectors courtesy of a figure closer to $2.2 million as the industry looks to become a key player in the nation’s recovery from the lingering negative economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.
Turning to other gambling-related entertainment and Coljuegos reportedly divulged that territorial games such as lottery, chance and Raspa y Ready titles saw their aggregated first-quarter gross sales grow by 22.6% year-on-year to exceed $201,400. The regulator subsequently went further in revealing that the country’s new Raspa y Ready incentive had an especially successful three months by exceeding its own sales prediction by an impressive 193% to help this entire sector contribute roughly $29,200 in taxes.
Valencia Galiano reportedly disclosed that Colombia’s gaming industry generated an all-time high $69,200 in first-quarter tax benefits for a plethora of local health programs, which equated to a rise of 242% year-on-year. He purportedly noted that this finishing tally was furthermore along the lines of 4% higher than had been forecast before the start of the year.
Reportedly read a statement from Valencia Galiano…
“We will continue to fight against illegality, promote the diversification of the gambling industry and encourage technological modernization in order to achieve more efficient processes, which will allow us to continue consolidating ourselves as one of the most important economic sectors in Colombia. We invite all Colombians to partake in this legal and responsible entertainment activity and they can choose from any of the halls or online sites we have authorized. All resources generated by this industry contributes to financing the health sector in Colombia.”


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Hope everyone had a great start to April! Just like last year, many of our favorite companies have graced us with funny ideas and twists on their popular games and franchises. Here at MMO Attack, we’ve rounded up just some of what’s been floating around the web today.
The first joke to hit the net was Google’s version of their map service for NES. Presented in glorious 8-bit, it was a sign of things to come as they announced several more during the course of the day. Notch followed closely with his new project, Mars Effect.
Some of the major companies such as Blizzard, Sega and Razer offered these up for some laughs today:
Educational games for kids, Blizzard promises to make this the most epic learning experience ever, including such educational titles as The Westfall Trail and of course, Strat Blaster with Edmund Duke. Don’t forget to try the Zergling Teaches Typing demo!
Blizzard store: Battle.net Neural Interface
Find a new way to connect to your next World of Warcraft game using the power of your brain! It even comes with an exclusive in-game pet.
Blizzard store: Zergotchi Authenticator
Play, feed and look after your cute little Zerg while it protects your login.
New Blizzard game: Starcraft Supply Depot 2
All the fun of lowering and raising your supply depot in the convenience of a browser game. And hats. Non-Terrans need not apply.
Razer’s newest peripheral: SnakeEyes
Touted as “the world’s first true fully-realized circumcranial augemented-reality gamification” heads up display, it includes a whole host of features that need to be seen to be... believed?
Sega’s new title, Virtua Vineyard
If you’ve ever experienced the desire to look after a vineyard, Sega is giving you the chance to in Virtua Vineyard. Don’t be discouraged that it takes 3 years to really start playing the game, as you’ll reap the rewards of planting your own grapes soon after.
Sega Bass Fishing of the Dead
Catching nothing but bass get you down? Or perhaps killing zombies just seems a little lackluster? Well, thanks to Sega and Random Encounters Entertainment, you’ll be able to kill zombie bass. Mmmm... bass and brains.
Some smaller indie developers have also contributed to the April Fools jokes, for example, Ted Marten over at Hex-Ray Studios posted an update to iOS game, Pixel Fireplace, allowing you to burn a dollar in the pixelated fire. Ronimo Games, makers of upcoming 2D console MOBA Awesomenauts posted new project, Day of the Awesomenauts: Monkey Throttle stating that it is a “Storydriven Sidescrolling Point And Click Online Multiplayer Adventure Brawler Arena Role Playing Shooter game”. Sounds like fun.
In addition, there have been quite a few independent jokes from major news outlets such as MCV UK’s of a new musical on London’s West End, The Witcher: A Temerian Story, and gaming site 1Up’s trailer for Nintendo Dubstep Experience 3D.
A big kudos goes out to fan made April Fools joke from the folks behind Youtube channel HawkandGamble, who posted a great video of up and coming Assassin’s Creed for Kinect!
I’m sure that there must be more goodies left floating around on the internet, so let us know if there’s any other great April Fools out there that have been missed and are worthy of a good laugh or a “hey, that’s actually a good idea”!
Marvel Heroes 2.0, Warlords of Draenor, Warframe and more! | The Daily XP November 11th
Your Daily MMO and MMORPG News for Monday October 11th. Today Nicole discusses Marvel Heroes, Warframe and Warlords of Draenal.
Warlords Of Draenor Announced At Blizzcon
The dust has settled, the doors have closed, but the hype from Blizzcon continues to grow following the Warlords of Draenor reveal, the fifth expansion for World of Warcraft.
Blizzard Not Considering WoW Free-To-Play
World of Warcraft has been on a slow decline for some time and after talks earlier this month revealed a 100,000 drop in subscribers, many were expecting a free-to-play announcement at this years Blizzcon.
DCUO On Next Gen, Blizzard Wins Suit, Merc Elite and more! | The Daily XP October 22nd
Your Daily MMO and MMORPG News for Tuesday October 22nd. Today Mark discusses DC Universe Online, Blizzard and Bigpoint's Merc Elite.
Blizzard Win Lawsuit Against World Of Warcraft Botters
Today marks a monumental event in MMO gaming history as Blizzard emerge victorious in a lawsuit against a World of Warcraft bot company.
Phantasy Star Online 2 Unlikely To Launch In The West
An undisclosed source recently revealed to TSSZ that SEGA have no plans for a Western release of Phantasy Star Online 2, despite the fact the game is fully localized and ready for English speaking audiences.
Hearthstone: Heroes Of Warcraft Preview
With Blizzard at the helm Hearthstone has the advantage of the experience and services associated with the king of MMO developers , but how do the features stack up?
Blizzard All-Stars Makes A Return
It has been some time since we heard anything new about Blizzard's upcoming MOBA but today that all changed with the release of a brand new video for Blizzard All-Stars.
Heroes of the Storm, DCUO, The Elder Scrolls Online and more! | The Daily XP October 17th
Your Daily MMO and MMORPG News for Thursday October 17th. Today Mark discusses Heroes of the Storm, The Elder Scrolls Online, Infinite Crisis and DCUO.
League of Legends Supremacy, Hearthstone, Atomic Green Lantern and more! | The Daily XP October 15th
Your Daily MMO and MMORPG News for Tuesday October 15th. Today Mark discusses Hearthstone, League of Legends Supremacy and Infinite Crisis.


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Microsoft released the developer preview of their new operating system late on Tuesday, Windows 8, and Yesterday Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer announced that Windows 8 had already been download over 500,000 times.
We have already seen a video of Windows 8 running on a netbook and have also had a look at Windows 8 running on a tablet, and Microsoft are looking to unify Windows 8 across a number of devices which includes, notebooks, PCs and tablets.
Microsoft is expecting big things for Windows 8, and the comp[any is looking to get developers to create applications for Windows 8, as the company tries to take on the likes of Apple and Google with their new tablet friendly OS.
We’re retooling all of what we do,” Ballmer said. “To me this all adds up to an unprecedented time of opportunity for developers.”
Microsoft also said that they are expecting to ship around 350 million copies of Windows this year, in a hope that these high numbers would entice developers to the platform.
There is no phone, there is nothing on the tablet, there is no operating system on the planet that will ship 350 million units of anything other than Windows,” he said.
Source All Things D
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Jon Ross, a former American Shipper editor who is an expert on the air cargo industry, pointed out how various market fundamentals, along with UPS’ Boeing order, echo the general consensus that the air cargo market is about to pick back up.
Oakland Bulk & Oversized Terminal (OBOT) has sued the City of Oakland in federal court after facing strong opposition from environmentalists and others that oppose coal exports through a bulk handling terminal OBOT wants to build.
The industrial real estate services and investment management firm said it anticipates low interest rates, healthy consumer spending and strong e-commerce will boost industrial and logistics real estate growth in 2017.
Registration takes less than 1 minute.
Hamilton Port Authority names president and CEO, while St. George Logistics adds board member and Page International promotes new senior manager of exports.
Many small shippers entering the online retail fray may not be aware that air cargo-specific hazardous materials transportation regulations even exist, let alone apply to their products.
Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg hires leading export control and economic sanctions attorney, while Greenbrier Leasing Corp's president announces retirement.


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One of Manchester's most popular and prominent bars has launched a new alcohol delivery service, including Aperol Spritzes.
The Oast House will be delivering mystery boxes of beers, fresh cocktails, and gin and tonics to customers from Friday.
With Manchester sizzling in spring sunshine and another bank holiday weekend on the way, the bar would normally be packed.
But while its doors remain closed, it's now found a way to get the spirit (and spirits) of The Oast House to people's homes.
Up for grabs through Deliveroo will be Aperol Spritz party kits, which include branded glasses to recreate your own summer spritz at home.
Cocktails include fresh mojitos and daiquiris.
The Oast House also hopes to add draft beers to its delivery service in due course, priced from £3.50 per pint.
The bar will be celebrating the launch of its alcohol offering by dishing out four free gin and tonics this weekend for the first 60 customers to place an order.
Danny Leech, general manager at The Oast House, said: "By offering complimentary G&Ts and a wide selection of our guests’ favourite drinks, anyone can enjoy a little slice of The Oast House safely in their own homes.
"We long for the days when we can safely open our doors, but until then we’re hoping our draft service will help people celebrate the Bank Holiday in true Oast House style."
The delivery service will be available on Friday, Saturday and Sunday through Deliveroo for those aged 18 or over.


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So says the Sheboygan Press:
The event's economic impact, which has topped $100 million in recent years at other host sites, is expected to extend to restaurants and other attractions near hotels and travel routes.
I know golfers are an up-scale crowd, tickets are expensive and people are coming in from all directions to watch the tournament, but take a look at these recent numbers:
Why World Series host cities barely break even
In last year’s World Series, three games held at Busch Stadium created a positive economic impact in St. Louis of at least $7.9 million per game, according to Alicia Jessop of Forbes.Just asking.


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GREENVILLE, S.C. (WSPA) – The busiest and craziest shopping day of the year is finally here!
Black Friday shopping is in full swing across the Upstate, as dedicated shoppers head to their favorite stores to try and snag some of the best deals.
While many stories opened on Thanksgiving, some stores chose to open Friday morning.
Some of those stores include: Cabela’s, Nordstrom, TJ Maxx, Marshall’s and Home Goods.
People lined up as early as 10 pm Thursday night to make sure they were in the stores first.
Store employees say the craziness usually calms down around 10 am, and from there it’s a steady stream of shoppers.
More stories you may like on 7News
A man is in the hospital after his brother accidentally shot him, according to the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office.
The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office has detained a person of interest after a woman had her throat slashed Sunday morning.
Mel Tillis, the longtime country star who wrote hits for Kenny Rogers, Ricky Skaggs and many others, and overcame a stutter to sing on dozen…
If you have a winter coat in the back of your closet go ahead and dust it off and put it to good use.
As the temperature drops, more and more people will be pulling out space heaters to help stay warm. Fire officials have some reminders so yo…


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While food and beverage M&A deal activity in the U.S. and Canada continued to see a downtick in the trailing twelve months (TTM) ending September 30, 2020, with 283 deals closing over the period, Q3 2020 deal volume was the highest it has been in the past five years.
The third quarter of 2020 did not produce any landmark transactions, except for the sale of Kraft Heinz’ natural cheese business to Groupe Lactails S.A. for USD 3.2 bn, which was announced on September 15, 2020.
M&A activity in the food and beverage sector is still predominately driven by strategic buyers (including companies primarily owned by private equity investors), with strategic transactions representing 83% of total deal value over the TTM. Of the 283 deals closed over the TTM, 240 (85%) were completed by privately owned buyers.
Although deal volume in Q3 2020 was up almost 8% from the previous year, with 71 deals closing over the period, compared to only 66 the year before, overall deal volume in the TTM decreased 10.2%, relative to the 313 deals closed over the TTM ending September 20, 2019.
As expected, reduced uncertainty from the pandemic in Q3 coincided with a rebound in food and beverage M&A. Businesses and consumers have adapted to “the new normal,” and credit markets have recalibrated to allow access to capital for acquisitions. Combined with pent-up demand from potential buyers, these circumstances resulted in the highest third quarter deal count in recent years. The trend will likely continue into the final months of 2020 as buyers jockey for quality assets - strategic buyers are sitting on ample cash, private equity funds have access to stable financing again and a need to place capital, and Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) become a new vehicle for investors to create value in the food and beverage space.
On the ground, it is still a tale of two markets. Food and beverage businesses with high exposure to retail, e-commerce and food delivery have weathered the pandemic well, as consumers largely continue to eat and drink at home. Conversely, businesses that were levered to the food service sector are still experiencing reduced demand from key end markets, including restaurants, hospitality, travel and tourism, sports and entertainment. These businesses will likely remain under pressure as the threat of further restrictions loom headed into the winter, until a longer-term solution to the pandemic (i.e., an effective vaccine) is within reach.
Read the Food and Beverage M&A Landscape for more details on transaction activity, industry in-sights and sector updates.
Source: Capital IQ as of September 30, 2020
Note: M&A deal count is defined by a list of subsectors viewed as the best representation of the industry
M&A advisory, restructuring and insolvency, debt advisory, strategic alternatives, transaction diligence and independent financial opinions.
Consumer, Retail, Food and Restaurant expertise for middle-market M&A transactions.
Kroll professionals have advised hundreds of companies, investors and other stakeholders at all stages of distressed transactions and special situations.
Kroll’s Transaction Advisory Services platform offers corporate and financial investors with deep accounting and technical expertise, commercial knowledge, industry insight and seamless analytical services throughout the deal continuum.
Duff & Phelps Opinions is a global leader in Fairness Opinions and Special Committee Advisory, ranking #1 for total number of fairness opinions in the U.S., EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa), Australia and Globally in 2023 according to LSEG (FKA Refinitiv).
Kroll has extensive experience raising capital for middle-market companies to support a wide range of transactions.


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Bitcoin Price - Bitcoin Exchange Rate - Bitcoin Value
Stay on top the dynamic changes in prices of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin surged in popularity in China last year as its price rose, but trading dwindled after regulators tightened controls.There are a variety of variables that affect Bitcoin pricing on the exchanges.
While a Bitcoin exchange could technically be a service where you trade your fiat currency — meaning government issued currency — for Bitcoin,.Find a live Bitcoin price chart, exchange rate data and Bitcoin news.How We Set Our Exchange Rate BitPay has relationships with many bitcoin exchanges around the world, but we only utilize exchanges which meet our operational and regulatory requirements.
Bitcoin is tumbling after Chinese regulators say an exchange ban is certain. Get the latest Bitcoin price.The Bitcoin price hit record highs then plunged 35% upon SEC decision on Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF approval.The company said that improvements to the BCH network enabled Breadwallet to rapidly meet the need for its exchange.
Zebpay | India's Leading Bitcoin Exchange
Bitcoin price as bitcoin exchange rate against local currencies such as USD, EUR, GBP, CNY, JPY, HKD and more.Find out value of your bitcoins.
Bitcoin Plunges After Hacking of Exchange in Hong Kong
SpectroCoin offers bitcoin exchange, bitcoin wallet, bitcoin debit card and bitcoin payment processing services.
Bitcoin prices are based on the average price of Bitcoin across all.
Bitcoin BTC price graph info 24 hours, 7 day, 1 month, 3 month, 6 month, 1 year.To calculate the exchange rate for US Dollars, we typically pull the market depth from an exchange with adequate liquidity and reliable withdrawal capabilities in the USA and Eurozone.We set exchange rates for non-USD currencies indirectly using the Open Exchange Rates API.If your earnings are tied to the price of bitcoin, especially if.Convert Bitcoin into all major currencies using the Bitcoin Price Calculator.Bitcoin Exchanges Note: Exchanges provide highly varying degrees of safety, security.
China Bitcoin Exchange to Stop Trading Virtual Currencies
To the right of the address bar, click the icon with 3 stacked horizontal lines.In certain circumstances, securities with respect to which the.The Ethereum releases of Frontier, Homestead, Metropolis and Serenity.BEIJING — A major Chinese exchange specializing in the trading of Bitcoin announced on Thursday that it would stop trading by the end of the month, amid.
101+ Best Ways to Buy Bitcoins Online in 2017
Convert Bitcoin into all major currencies using Bitcoin Current Price Calculator.Gox bitcoin exchange caused the nominal price of a bitcoin to fraudulently drop to one cent on the.Convert amounts to or from USD and other currencies with this simple Bitcoin calculator.
These two technology disruptors, in their respective fields, are.
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Back in 2007, China’s Premier Wen Jiabao declared: “I have a dream to provide every Chinese, especially children, sufficient milk each day.”
US private equity group Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) seems to be thinking something similar, albeit with a little more emphasis on how to maximise profits. It has confirmed a series of investments in Chinese milk producer Maanshan Modern Farming, otherwise known as Modern Dairy, a company based in China’s central province of Anhui.
The deal’s size is reckoned to be nearly $150 million, and is the largest investment in a mainland dairy producer since last year’s tainted-milk scandal. Modern Dairy was not among the 22 dairy companies revealed to have sold products containing melamine, an industrial chemical. The melamine scandal saw nearly 300,000 children become ill and six infants died as a result of the adulterated milk.
Despite all the controversy overall dairy consumption in China remains robust. The dairy market grew by 128% between 2003 and 2008 – an 18% compound annual growth rate according to market research firm Euromonitor. Even in scandal-hit 2008, the market grew by 12.4%.
David Liu, head of KKR Greater China, told the Financial Times that the US fund now owned a “significant minority stake” in Modern Dairy – which has 40,000 cows. He promises KKR will bring capital and expertise to help the firm develop world-class facilities: “These will provide high quality milk production that will benefit China’s consumers,” says Liu.
In the past the Chinese government has been reluctant to allow foreign investments in its food and beverage sector, and earlier this year Coca-Cola’s bid for juicemaker Huiyuan was blocked by regulators. KKR’s bid for Modern Dairy has gone a lot more smoothly, perhaps because the government sees KKR’s support of the beleaguered sector in terms of restoring confidence in the country’s dairy products. China is currently the world’s third-largest milk producer, behind the US and India.
China’s dairy industry has traditionally been highly fragmented, with 1.3 million farmers in China owning herds of between five and 10 cows.
Milk yields and safety standards have suffered as a result, and the government is keen to consolidate the sector to improve quality control.
The existing regulations have also been reviewed, and the supervisory agencies have been strengthened. “If they [the government] had taken such steps years ago, the scandal would never have happened,” says Chen Yu, a senior dairy analyst and professor at the Institute of Cadre Management under the Ministry of Agriculture. Prior to the reforms, “nobody knew what respectively they had to do and there were many loopholes with the management system. The crisis compelled them to rethink.”
Perhaps it is time for the larger, better funded producers to dominate. Maybe that’s why the share price of one of the country’s largest dairy producers, China Mengniu, has tripled since last autumn.
But it is still 21% down from a year ago. “It will take months for the sector to get back on its feet; it may only happen by the first half of 2010,” Wang Dingmian, executive council member of the Dairy Association of China, told China Business Weekly. “Our biggest concern is how to regain consumer confidence as soon as possible.”
The better news is that China’s dairy market has a lot of untapped potential. According to the China Daily, on average the Chinese consume 30 kilograms of dairy products annually. Consumers in developed countries get through anything from 120kg to 300kg, depending on their nationality.
No doubt KKR hopes to see the mainland disappearing beneath an avalanche of milk, cheese and ice-cream. But China’s huge consumption potential requires that local dairy producers grow in size significantly, says Long Yongtu, the Bo’ao Forum’s Secretary-general for Asia. “That will come as a major boon for the industry,” Long reports.
Keeping Track: In the last issue we talked about private equity group KKR investing in Chinese dairy producer Modern Dairy. This week it emerged that the state’s largest foodstuff company Cofco and domestic private equity fund Hopu Investment are teaming up to invest $780 million for a 20% stake in China Mengniu Dairy, one of the country’s largest dairy producers. The deal suggests that investors are optimistic about the dairy industry as it emerges from last year’s milk scandal. (July 10, 2009)
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Avocados Are Getting Cheaper While Everything Else Gets More Expensive A surplus has caused wholesale prices to go down, making avocados one of the only grocery items getting less expensive in the wake of rapid inflation.
The days of $18 avocado toast might be over — at least for now.
A surplus of the fruit has caused wholesale prices to go down, triggering grocery stores to decrease prices as well.
Meanwhile, the cost of grocery items increased by 13% in September as compared to last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, meaning avocados are one of the only items on market shelves getting less expensive while everything else continues to rise.
While the prices of avocados peaked at the end of June, the wholesale price of 48 midsize avocados dropped by 35% year-over-year, David Magana, senior fresh produce analyst with Rabo AgriFinance, told CNN.
The excess crops are due in part to Mexican farmers having a better-than-usual harvest this year, as well as a decreased demand for avocados in European markets, meaning much of the surplus has landed in the U.S., said Richard Kottmeyer, managing director of food, agriculture and beverage with FTI Consulting, per CNN.
While it's unclear how long the avocado glut will last, Magana told the outlet that the surplus should seep well into the middle of 2023, assuming there are no unpredictable temperature changes that impact production — so enjoy the marked-down luxury while you can.


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creating a sterile urban environment that few would visit unless they worked for a bank, were called for jury duty, or wanted to contest a utility bill. The promised revitalization of the downtown did.
· When one industry thrives, it spurs building until they are overbuilt, and when the industry dies, the city get empty, forclosures, and abandonment is hard to hide. The old west had its share of ghost towns, but we do not have many modern ghost towns, nor places as.
Overbuilt market creating modern ghost towns americans love new construction, but some developments go unfinished "But given that a growing list of builders have seen construction loans called by banks or fail to sell newly built homes fast enough to keep up with construction loan payments, its no wonder new construction half-towns are popping up along the landscape.
· Why some small & medium sized communities are successful with economic reinvention and others become ghost towns! Richard G. Longworth in his book “Caught in the Middle – America’s Heartland in the Age of Globalization”, lays the historic groundwork explaining why some communities become ghost towns – the failure to adjust to change.being transportation, communications or market.
· Instead of presenting it like a Christmas present for Seattlites worried about housing affordability, The Seattle Times’ Eric Pryne indulges in some rather bizarre Christmas Day alarmism about the growing number of apartment buildings. A year into the Seattle area’s biggest apartment-construction boom in decades, some analysts say it’s in danger of getting too big..
It was there in the early 1970s when Beirut seemed like the natural home of Middle East banking; during the two decades that followed, when Bahrain took on that status; and in the 2000s, when Dubai.
Rural Critics Organize to Stop Private Bullet Train Rural Critics Organize to Stop Private Bullet Train – JR Central Just over a year ago, the mayors of Dallas and Houston announced their support. and discomfort with a private company’s plans to use eminent domain if needed to secure land for its.
· China’s ghost towns and local-government debts are not harbingers of doom. They are bumps on the road to a developed economy, in which excesses will have to be resolved by the state or the market. In fact, overcoming these challenges will make for a more resilient economy in the long run.
Avoiding The Money Pit: Advice For Buying New Construction newly-constructed multifamily trades for Over $56M | GlobeSt Uljanik to sell 3. maj shipyard ULJANIK Group is a modern, efficient, production-business group with four thousand employees ready to respond in the shortest time possible and with the best of quality to all the demands of the world’s shipbuilding market.Shop by department, purchase cars, fashion apparel, collectibles, sporting goods, cameras, baby items, and everything else on eBay, the world’s online marketplaceTop Home Building Mistakes to Avoid: Contractor and Construction 1. Choosing the wrong contractor – Select a contractor with an excellent local reputation, who is easy to communicate with, and builds the kind of homes you want built.. Top Tips For Buying A New Construction Home July 20.
North Carolina’s Carowinds and California’s Great America will partner with EA video games to create 3-D interactive attractions. as part of a 75th anniversary celebration of the Ghost Town area of.
As rental market heats up, PMG turns to luxury sector for downtown Miami project New York-based Property Markets Group is about to break ground on its rental tower in downtown Miami as it works on securing $110 million in financing for the amenities-laden, luxury apartment tower, principal Ryan Shear told The Real Deal. As planned, the property at 300 Biscayne Boulevard will include condo and rental components.Burlington Town Center developer announces major investor June 14, 2016 – Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P. (HFF) announced today that it has been retained to advise and raise the necessary financing for the redevelopment of Burlington Town Center, an enclosed shopping center located directly on the Church Street pedestrian plaza in downtown Burlington, Vermont.2018 Secondary Outlook: GSE tech will help expand credit box Digital News Asia (DNA) is an independent news portal. We are a group of respected and award-winning technology and business journalists that covers industry issues, business models, public policy, entrepreneurs, startups and funding, new technology.Trump In Name Only: How Investors Lost Millions Buying Into The Trump Brand President Donald Trump’s net worth declined by more than $600 million in the past year, according to the Forbes 400 List of the richest people in America. However surprising Trump’s loss may.


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Advertising has traditionally relied on “big ideas”: the concepts, stories and taglines that have helped brands shift product for years. Marlboro had the Marlboro man, Apple reminded us to “Think Different,” and then, of course, there’s “Always Coca-Cola.…” But as agencies increasingly promise to build things instead of just saying things, the role and perceived importance of the “big idea” is changing.
R/GA’s chief growth officer Barry Wacksman, for example, argues that they can stifle innovation. Traditional agencies remain obsessed with the notion of a singular “big idea” because fundamentally they enable them to do what they’re good at: TV spots and taglines. “If you obsess about big ideas all day long and who gets credit, you’ve completely missed the point,” he argues.
But the flip side of that argument is that in an increasingly fragmented communications landscape, the “big idea” is more important than ever. Brands are now messaging to and interacting with consumers using more media channels and devices than ever before, so arguably it’s the “big ideas” that help ensure a brand has a single, consistent proposition across all of them.
As Mullen’s chief innovation officer Edward Boches notes, “big ideas” have the ability not only to build brands and businesses but to transform language and popular culture, too. He points to David Ogilvy’s philosophy that “it takes a big idea to attract the attention of consumers and get them to buy your product. Unless your advertising contains a big idea, it will pass like a ship in the night.”
Digiday is interested to hear your views on the issue: What’s the future of the big idea? As technology forces both brands and agencies to rethink ways of communicating with consumers, are “big ideas” simply serving to stifle progress and innovation, or will they remain the cornerstone of brands’ marketing strategies and agencies’ deliverables? Vote in the poll below, and either email your thoughts to me at the address below or leave them in the comments section.
Samsung turns to Discord to build out its metaverse strategy
Discord -- a popular messaging platform for gamers that in recent years has gained more mainstream adoption -- has been increasingly important for Samsung's metaverse strategy.
‘We had to tear up our brief’: AB InBev’s in-house agency founder talks progress on the ground in Cannes
To get a sense of the in-house work AB InBev is doing through agency draftLine, and in light of rumblings of an in-house resurgence as marketers prepare for the pending economic recession, Digiday caught up with Tracy Stallard, draftLine's founder and global CEO, at this year's Cannes festival.
As Cannes winds down, some marketers say want ‘less pageantry and more substance’ from the festival
But after two-years of pandemic lockdown, pending economic recession and other societal uncertainties, marketers and advertisers at this year’s conference say the answers aren’t coming so easily.
SponsoredFor brands, first-party data is unlocking the cookieless ecosystem
Bill Masterson, President, Publishers Clearing House A dominant factor guiding the industry has been that cookies and mobile app IDs are vanishing and will be replaced by some mixture of new and emergent identity solutions. As a result, the market is alive with new and exciting alternatives to replace the third-party browser cookie and mobile […]
On the French Riviera, ad tech braces for a correction
To survive, much less prosper, ad tech vendors have been redefining and expanding what they do -- while carefully sizing up competitors. But tossing out the smaller fish is easier said than done.
Why esports companies are looking beyond competition as they invest more in live events
Although esports events still center around competitive gaming, they are increasingly becoming professional events as well — rare opportunities for those who work in a largely remote industry to come together and hobnob about their work.


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Is it pronounced “pe-can” or “peh-cahn”? Young Plantations holiday locations, specializing in premium pecan gifts, will be opening in the following locations in early November: Columbiana Center in Columbia, Haywood Mall in Greenville, Mount Pleasant Towne Center, Coastal Grand Mall in Myrtle Beach, Magnolia Mall in Florence and South Park Mall in Charlotte. The stores will operate through the end of December and will carry a variety of gourmet baskets, cheese biscuits, confections and pecan treats. The year-round store is located on S.C. 54 at I-95. (800) 729-8004 www.youngplantations.com
Two Gals and a Fork Food Tours, led by Gloria Freeman and Janet Jordan, take you on a 2.5 hour walking tour of the Vista, visiting five of the area’s top restaurants and pubs. Upcoming specialty tours: Wednesday, Nov. 12, 5:30 p.m., Beer 101 at World of Beer; Saturday, Nov. 15, choose 11 a.m. or 4:30 p.m. for a walk with guides from Historic Columbia. Tickets and information, www.twogalsfoodtours.com or (803) 260-7992 or (803) 356-3609. Ask about customized tours or Vista Crawls for you and your friends.
St. Nicholas BBQFest in Conway begins at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 15, at Riverfront Park, Conway. This SC BBQ Association-sanctioned event features “The War Between the States” (SC/NC) to see who has the best BBQ. $10 ticket gives you 10 samples of BBQ, proceeds support local community service organizations. More information at www.stnicholasbbqfest.com
Bubbie’s back! Bubbie’s Brisket and Bakery featuring traditional (kosher) Jewish foods and baked goods will be 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 16, at Beth Shalom Synagogue, 5827 N. Trenholm Road. All foods purchases are a la carte, plan for your feast now. More information, call (803) 782-2500 or go to www.bethshalomcolumbia.org
Thankful for Chocolate Event and Bake Sale noon to 6 p.m. Nov. 17 at Crescent Cacao featuring local and statewide chefs, chocolatiers and bakers offering a wide range of holiday treats for sale and ordering. Participants include The Island Fudge Shoppe, Crepes & Croissants, Let’s Cook Culinary, Evolution Through Chocolate, K&K Gourmet Sweets, Grey Ghost Bakery, Goddess of Truffles, Main Street Bakery and Silver Spoon Bake Shop. Crescent Cacao is located at 3015 Millwood Avenue.
GIN! Join chef/restauranteur/mixologist Kristian Niemi, from Bourbon and Rosso Trattoria, and St. George Sprorts brand ambassador Lindy Colburn for a fun and educational class featuring St. George Spirits. Hands-on instructions on how to mix your own cocktails 6:30-8 p.m. Nov. 20 at LOFT 201 at 701 Whaley. Tickets, $30 per person (must be 21 years of age), available through www.eventbrite.com
The 18th Annual SC Oyster Festival will be noon-6 p.m. Nov. 23 at the Robert Mills House & Gardens, 1616 Blanding Street. Tickets $5 in advance, $10 at gate, kids 12 and under free, available at Robert Mills House Gift Shop, PEARLZ oyster bar and st eventbrite.com. Enjoy live music, fresh food and oysters. Proceeds benefit Pawmetto Lifeline. Bring chairs and blankets, no coolers.
Did someone say chitlins? The 49th Annual Chitlin Strut is Nov. 29 and 30 at 230 Pine Street NW in Salley. Start with the Chitlin Strut Idol contest and Pro Wrestling on Nov. 29. Then enjoy a full day of food and fun Nov. 30, beginning with a 7 a.m. pancake breakfast at Dean Swamp Masonic Lodge and chitlin plates on sale beginning at 8 a.m.. The parade is at 10 a.m. and an afternoon of live music and more is scheduled. Information at www.chitlinstrut.com
Midlands Tech Harbison Campus. 7300 College St., Irmo. Upcoming classes: Nov. 17, 6-8:30 p.m., Fitness, Food & Losing Weight, $29; Dec. 1, 6-8:30 p.m., Eating Gluten-Free, $39; Dec. 13, 10-11:30 a.m., Snack & Learn Healthy, Fit & Frugal, $15. Register by calling (803) 732-0432 or www.midlandstech.edu/cce
Columbia’s Cooking! Upcoming classes: Healthy Habits for a Fantastic Fall with Lere Robinson, a series of Thursday evening classes through Nov. 20, $35 per class with discounts available for students, seniors and military. For information, see http://cpcp.sph.sc.edu/cooking. Register by calling (803) 576-5636 or email firstname.lastname@example.org. 915 Greene St., Suite 101
Charleston Cooks! at Cross Hill. Thursday, Nov. 13, Chinese dinner party; Nov. 19, Thanksgiving desserts; Nov. 24, roasting & braising; Nov. 25, apples; Nov. 28, CC! Food Truck. For information or to register, call (803) 509-8111 or www.charlestoncooks.com
Chef Francois Fisera hosts cooking classes at Fleur de Lys Home Culinary Institute. Friday, Nov. 14, rabbit hunter-style; Nov. 17 & 18, Nordic seafood shepherd’s pie; Nov. 21, Beaujolais Nouveau celebration with coq au vin; Nov. 25 & 28, saddle of lamb ; Dec. 2 Burgundy-style veal cheeks stew; Dec. 5, Champagne tasting with cod in champagne sauce. Fleur de Lys is at 3001 Millwood Ave. (803) 765-9999 or fleurdelyscolumbiasc.com
Let’s Cook Culinary Studio events: Thursday, Nov. 13, fresh pasta; Friday, Nov. 14, couples Lowcountry meal; Nov. 18, Wild Women; Nov. 20, Vista Lights; Nov. 21, Italian small plates; Nov. 22, Art Class: Pet portraits; Nov. 25, pies; Nov. 28, couples raviolis; Dec 2, Chocolate Adventure Series with Pastry Chef Patrick Duggan ($45 per class or $120 for 3-part series); Dec. 7, Healthy Hands Cooking desserts. Detailed listings at letscookculinary.com. Let’s Cook is at 1305 Assembly St. (803) 348-5874
McCutchen House at USC. Chef du jour classes (9 a.m.-1 p.m.): Dec. 6, holiday candies. Wine classes (6:30-9:30 p.m.): Dec. 2, rare wines. Registration at http://www.hrsm.sc.edu/mccutchen-house or call (803) 777-4450
Have an upcoming food event? Email details to email@example.com. Deadline is 5 p.m. Friday


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But the collapse of the deal with AT&T, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, will mean Huawei will probably struggle to make a hit of its smartphones there as a United States mobile carrier would typically promote the products as well as provide subsidies and special package deals. It has the hashtag Mate 10 Pro, suggesting that Huawei will be unveiling its device for the US market, just not via individual mobile carriers.
Other specifications on the device include 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage a standard, there is another model with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.
Amid reports of ongoing talks between the two companies, AT&T has announced Huawei phones will not be part of its handset offerings.More news: CES 2018: Samsung Announces Revamped Notebook 7 Spin And Notebook 9
More news: Kaby Lake G makes an appearance in the HP Spectre x360 15
More news: National Football League television ratings down 9.7 percent during 2017 regular season
"On Tuesday, Huawei will introduce new products to the USA market, including availability".
The letter said Congress has "long been concerned about Chinese espionage in general, and Huawei's role in that espionage in particular", according to the Times' report. The Wall Street Journal and The Verge both reported that AT&T backed out of the deal for some unknown reason. It would have been the Chinese company's biggest opportunity to break into the USA market with its smartphones. Still, it was shut out of business from major U.S. carriers. The congress members were concerned that Huawei was closely tied to the Communist Party as well as to intelligence services in China.
So far there is no sign that Huawei is trying to strike a handset sales deal with any of the other major US mobile carriers, such as T-Mobile, Verizon or Sprint. Breaking into the USA market would simply bring it closer to its lofty ambitions.


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Full episode: Market Call for Tuesday, September 18, 2018
Bruce Murray, CEO of The Murray Wealth Group
Focus: North American Growth Stocks
At The Murray Wealth Group, we believe the outlook for the markets remain constructive overall and investors should relax and enjoy one of the great bull markets of their lifetime. The global economic picture is still quite bright, with real GDP growth currently forecast at 3.1 per cent. This healthy rate of growth, which is being led by the world’s largest economies, will support a bullish market.
China’s economy grew by almost 7 per cent in the first half and will exceed the output of the entire EU this year. Meanwhile the U.S. is forecast to approach 4 per cent GDP growth in Q2 and Europe and Japan are all experiencing growth rates at the higher end of recent years. Canada is expected to slip below 2 per cent for the rest of this decade.
Against this backdrop, the outlook for earnings is very strong, particularly when combined with lower taxes in the U.S.
Market worries of rising trade issues are legitimate, particularly those raised by the U.S. against China. Trump’s tweets, which bounce between sticks and carrots, have been accompanied by higher market volatility. We must believe sanity will bring resolution to these issues.
The globe’s major central banks have all signaled higher rates will continue to be brought in as we reverse quantitative easing, which the markets have so far absorbed. With inflationary pressures remaining low, we aren’t overly concerned that there will be a need to squeeze the economy hard enough to cause a recession — at least not in the U.S. and most of Europe.
A number of factors will discourage investment in Canada. The consumer remains over levered and there are concerns of higher taxes and a slowdown in the housing sector (both of which appear inevitable). Lastly, internal trade barriers will confine the exporting of oil.
We continue to find lots of stocks with solid growth prospects available at attractive prices.
Airbus is a global commercial aircraft manufacturer with businesses in the defence and space markets as well. We recently purchased Airbus ADRs on view that demand for commercial aircrafts (a duopoly with Boeing) would remain strong with backlogs at seven years. We see Airbus’ free cash flow growing a fast rate for several years as the company is likely to increase production, raise prices and increase the sales of its Skywise digital fleet maintenance program (potentially a $10 billion data opportunity, currently $3 billion in revenue).
BOSTON SCIENTIFIC (BSX.N)
Boston Scientific is a U.S.-based medical technology company. Under CEO Mike Mahoney, the company has completely turned around nearly a decade of mismanagement and is firmly on a strong growth trajectory with a focus on seven business units, all leaders in their respective fields. The company recently raised its long term growth rate from 6-9 per cent to 7-10 per cent. We believe its numbers will be near the high end. The conclusion of various tax and settlement payments should result in a large increase in available free cash flow that will be redeployed into acquisitions, a very successful endeavour for Boston Scientific in the past five years.
Linamar is a very well run industrial company with leading positions in powertrain componentry as well as industrial access and farm machinery. The stock has been hammered by fears of NAFTA failure and peak auto sales. However the company’s impressive backlog should deliver 15 per cent revenue growth over the next two years and earnings per share are expected by veteran CIBC analyst Kevin Chiang to approach $11.50 by 2020. With over $1 billion of EBITDA Linamar should quickly pay down its MacDon acquisition. With the average North American auto supplier selling at over 9 times earnings per share, we believe Linamar has a reasonable chance to double over the next two to three years.
PAST PICKS: NOV. 13, 2017
THE KROGER COMPANY (KR.N)
We had recommended Kroger on the selloff following Amazon’s purchase of Whole Foods expecting it to recover into the low $30 range. We sold it on Jan. 31 at $30.91 and moved into Costco, a far better growth story at just below $198. Costco however hit our target price and we sold it at just over $230 at the end of August and distributed the proceeds across the other consumer names in the portfolio being Home Depot (HDN), Constellation Brands (STZ.N), Dollar Tree (DLTR.O) and Newel Brands (NWL.N) all of which we see 15 to 30 per cent returns in.
- Then: $22.14
- Now: $29.08
- Return: 31%
- Total return: 34%
We bought Oracle in belief that it has large potential to move its massive customer base into the cloud, which would rekindle earnings and lead to higher stock prices both from earnings growth and multiple expansion. Oracle's earnings report last night revealed revenue up only 1 per cent, which indicates the difficulty of moving a huge software business. We believe they will succeed with time. Meanwhile the stock will likely to continue to bounce around $50 until this happens. Meanwhile a $12 billion (6 per cent of shares at $50) will support the stock. This reminds us of Microsoft a decade ago when it was assumed the company could not grow and their huge cash flow was used to buyback over a third of the outstanding share count.
- Then: $49.40
- Now: $48.50
- Return: -2%
- Total return: -1%
We were holding Medtronics as a diversified play on the medical devices market. We sold the stock on Aug. 14 at $90.61 and moved into Boston Scientific at $33.83. We preferred Boston Scientific as the company is more focussed in higher growth markets. Since then, Medtronics has reported a better than expected quarter and the stock has gained a further 6.0 per cent. Fortunately, Boston Scientific is up 10.1 per cent in the same period. The market has shown more interest in health care stocks recently, with FANG stocks fading and medical stocks looking cheap versus their history.
- Then: $79.20
- Now: $96.70
- Return: 22%
- Total return: 24%
Total return average: 19%
MWG Global Equity Growth Fund
Performance as of: Aug. 31, 2018
- 1 Month: 1.59% fund, -0.8% index *
- 1 Year: 20.52% fund, 10.1% index
- 3 Year: 14.34% fund, 8.7% index
* Index: TSX.
* Returns are net of fees.
TOP 5 HOLDINGS AND WEIGHTINGS
- Alphabet Inc: 5.92%
- Celgene Corp: 4.55%
- Facebook Inc: 4.47%
- TD Bank: 4.44%
- Microsoft Corp: 4.02%


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NBC Universal has divided to conquer its new digital turf.
Jean-Briac Perrette, president of digital distribution, has created three groups-- digital platforms, wireless platforms, and digital sales--and named three executives to oversee efforts in those areas.
Michael Bonner, VP of new media, will be senior VP in charge of digital platforms, which include on-demand programming, IPTV, and interactive TV. Bonner has been the lead executive in NBCU's distribution on iTunes.
Salil Dalvi, who had led the mobile push for NBCU, has been named to head the wireless group as senior VP. NBCU is launching two linear mobile channels.
Director Chip Canter and the NBCU Mobile production group will continue to report to Dalvi.
Ron Lamprecht, VP of new media, NBCU cable, will be senior VP of digital sales. He will head up content sales to Internet portals, wireless carriers, and other non-traditional venues.


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Moment barber shop full of customers is raided by police for staying open during lockdown leaving one man with unfinished haircut
- A barber shop in the north west continued to stay open during lockdown
- Police officers entered the store and saw several man waiting for their cuts
- One man in the chair appeared irate with his haircut only half way finished
- The video was circulated on social media before then being deleted
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
A barber shop was raided by police after breaking lockdown restrictions by remaining open and continuing to serve customers.
The hairdressers in Nelson, Lancashire, had continued to take appointments despite government restrictions in place to close down all non-essential businesses.
Footage uploaded and circulated widely on social media on May 22, showed a pair of officers entering the property.
A group of men could be seen waiting to outside the room as the police made their way inside - and one man was still getting his hair cut at the time.
One man was mid-way through a haircut in the Nelson barber shop when police raided
Two officers entered from a stairwell and were picked up on footage which circulated online
The officers can then be seen walking in as a row of people appear to be sat in a queue, while the barber is in the process of cutting one man's hair.
Trimmed hair can be seen on the ground below him, while the individual taking the footage can be heard saying: 'officers there is no social distancing going on here whatsoever.'
Approaching from a stairwell, one of the police officer's asks 'what is happening here?', before making his way through to the shop floor.
At this point the man cutting hair looks to move on into a backroom, while others sitting waiting in line make a move to get up and leave.
Several men could be seen sitting waiting in a queue, looking sheepish as the police entered
Another voice can be heard saying: 'Oh b***dy hell.'
'I've had half a head, are you taking the p**s?' the man sitting in the chair is heard saying, visibly angry at the situation he has been left in.
Lancashire Police has been approached for comment.
Hairdressers and men's barbers are expected to officially re-open in July, once strict measures are put in place to battle the possible spreading of covid-19.
A 'new normal' is set to be seen in stores, as social contact is brought to a minimal during times spent in salons.
One of Britain's first hairdressers ready for reopening is the Gatsby & Miller in Amersham, Buckinghamshire - one of the 25,000 UK salon partners of beauty giant L'Oreal which is creating a blueprint for the sector.
This includes a digital screen in the window to display important reminders about social distancing, and clients being welcomed by one mask-wearing stylist who will stay with them for their visit via a one-way system.
All staff will be wearing gloves and masks which will be changed throughout the day, while customers will be also asked to wear a mask during the appointment and hand sanitiser dispensers will be provided for their use.
The Government has not yet issued clear guidelines or rules on how and when salons can reopen as coronavirus lockdown rules are eased, so these pictures provide the clearest indication yet of what they may look like.


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While there is no evidence that Eugene Kasperky’s antivirus products have backdoors or covert eavesdropping technology, in the final version for the defense bill is a provision that bars the Department of Defense from using security software products from Russian-based Kaspersky Labs.
Kaspersky responded in a statement that the company “is disappointed with the decision” and “doesn’t have inappropriate ties with any government.” Kaspersky has vehemently denied all allegations of collusion with the Kremlin saying that such collusion would put the company out of business.
Under the directive, agencies would have 30 days to identify all instances of Kaspersky on their systems and 60 days to create plans to remove Kaspersky from those systems. After 90 days, agencies would be required to start implementing those plans unless directed otherwise by the US Department of Homeland Security.
The good news for future college students and cyber warriors is that the House Armed Services Committee wants to allocate more money for cyber scholarships and the NATO Cooperative Cyber Center of Excellence in the NDAA 2018.
Also related to acquisition, the proposed legislation would give the DOD CIO responsibility for “policy, oversight, guidance, and coordination for supply chain risk management activities,” related to DOD IT.
The committee states that it has serious concerns about DOD’s ability to manage an increasingly globalized IT supply chain and it therefore calls for greater use of automated intelligence feeds, including from commercial intelligence providers, as a means of analyzing supply chain risk.
The bill also establishes a five-year ”Cyber Workforce Development Pilot Program” that will assess the effectiveness of implementing a full-scale cyber talent management program. The pilot will be administered by the DOD CIO in coordination with the principal cyber advisor, and will assess cyber talent shortfalls, changes to skills needed in the workforce and incentives to recruit and retain cyber personnel.
The full text of the bill can be found here: https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/2810/text
Gary S. Miliefsky
Cyber Defense Magazine


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After an impressive showing at Electronic Arts’ E3 2018 press conference yesterday, one of the biggest upcoming games on everyone’s mind is Anthem, the new original IP from Mass Effect and Dragon Age developer BioWare. Players have all kind of questions regarding Anthem and while many were answered at the conference, there are sill many being asked, like why is the new title being released with no PVP mode? Well, it seems someone might have some answers.
Since the conference concluded, executive producer Mark Durrah has taken to Twitter to answer questions from fans regarding the new IP. During the Twitter Q&A, Durrah took the opportunity to explain why he shot down the notion of PVP in Anthem, explaining that ultimately it’s about game balancing. “No PvP.” Durrah explains “This decision allows us to have a much wider array of weapons and gear and makes the loot chase more interesting”
No PvP. This decision allows us to have a much wider array of weapons and gear and makes the loot chase more interesting
— Mark Darrah (@BioMarkDarrah) June 10, 2018
This announcement that the game lacks PvP play will come as a disappointment to many players. On the surface, Anthem seems like a perfect game for player versus player gameplay, full of interesting weapons, class system variety, and beautiful intricate maps. It seems so natural that when the game was announced last year, many had just assumed it would have PvP options similar to Destiny, but fans had gotten ahead of themselves.
Of course, the reason behind the decision does make a lot of sense. BioWare has pushed Anthem as a single player experience and a lot of the focus is on making that element as strong as possible. By sacrificing PvP, balance for such modes is no longer an issue and Bioware can deliver a game with powerful weapons and loot to enjoy in the vast world.
Of course, that doesn’t mean it will never happen, it just means that PvP isn’t something BioWare is concerned with right now because it’s not the game they set out to make. At the end of the day, that’s all that can really be asked of a developer: set out to make the best version of the game.
Anthem will be released on February 22, 2019 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.


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Sanjay Ravi, Worldwide Managing Director for Discrete Manufacturing, Microsoft Corp.
Manufacturing executives are seeing big results from big data. The capacity to mine and manage data by connecting factory floors, enterprise IT and analytics software creates one holistic, intelligent system—and it’s empowering companies around the world. Data is the new currency for manufacturers and when companies bring together four big Vs of big data—velocity, volume, variety and value—they are realizing the “Data Dividend” and can witness the transformative effect of this technology. The ability to analyze all this data is making manufacturers more productive, enabling them to transform their business models and allowing them to offer not only products but services as well.
ThyssenKrupp is a good example. As one of the world’s leading elevator manufacturers the company maintains more than 1.1 million elevators worldwide, including those at the 1,263-foot CMA Tower in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Officials at ThyssenKrupp have connected their elevators to the cloud, collecting data from sensors and converting that data into valuable business intelligence. The ability to continuously monitor elevator performance lets ThyssenKrupp offer predictive and even preemptive maintenance to customers, without having to send a tech to check on the elevator in person. This enables it to modernize the way they offer services and be more efficient.
Another example of data’s value is Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD). In testing semiconductor wafers, AMD analysts use a data warehouse to store and process more than a terabyte of data a week. When the company’s legacy data warehouse began to falter under the load, AMD migrated to a high-speed, parallel data warehouse platform from Microsoft. With vastly improved data warehouse performance, analysts can quickly understand performance trends, uncover issues and generate data required by engineers across AMD. The company is now processing up to 13,000 queries a day with a runtime of a few seconds. Additionally, the backup that used to take the warehouse team a week, now takes about two hours. The new platform has also reduced the support work required of the data warehouse team by about 90 percent.
Ultimately, all of this helps AMD develop microprocessors faster and get them to the market sooner—and potentially gain an edge on the competition. The AMD case underscores why big data is seen as the new currency in industry, especially for manufacturers.
More than any other industry, manufacturing stands to gain the most from the value big data provides.
A recent International Data Corporation (IDC) study commissioned by Microsoft concludes that the manufacturing sector stand to gain $371 million in value from data analytics in the next four years. At Microsoft, we refer to this as the Data Dividend. The study also found that the potential value of data affects manufacturing more than any other industry, given the extensive investments in capital goods and fixed assets in this sector. Researchers reported that more than half of the companies participating in the study expected to generate new revenue streams from big data projects, and more than a third anticipated an increase in operational efficiencies from those initiatives.
While the promising yield from data is enormous, most data in manufacturing remains underutilized. At many businesses, data is still kept in silos, its use hampered by old and overly complex analytics tools. As a result, extracting insight from data is often limited to a small number of people, such as IT professionals and data scientists, rather than key decision-makers across the organization. Moreover, the researchers at IDC concluded that many companies still do not have the capabilities to address the range of technology, staffing and process requirements needed to capitalize on big data assets and deploy analytics on a large scale.
Manufacturers dragging their heels on big data need to recognize getting insights from data is a fundamental investment for building a complete picture of what has happened, what is happening right now and what will happen in the future. Companies can gain this data dividend by combining diverse data streams with their enterprises, using new data analytics tools, delivering data insights to more people in the organization and doing it all faster than anyone could have imagined even a few years ago.
In addition, the impact of big data strategies can be amplified by leveraging other trends such as social networking, mobility and cloud computing, which help manufacturers communicate better, react faster, and fuse innovation into businesses processes, operations and strategies. The intelligence derived by looking at trends can drive growth with smarter product planning and better quality control decisions.
Companies need to be agile enough to get ahead of fast moving global trends that will inform strategies around big data in manufacturing. Social media, for example, spawns intelligence that can drive business growth with smarter product planning and better quality control decisions. Consumer conversations over growing social communities, such as Facebook and Twitter, are creating massive volumes of unstructured data that contain intelligence about product performance and preferences. The intelligence mined from social networks can be used to pinpoint new business opportunities or future production planning and direction. On the other hand, data extracted from social media can also help preempt issues around product quality.
Other trends that impact big data are globalization and emerging economies—and the ability to connect people, processes, systems and equipment across the world. As data solidifies its position as the new currency, the barriers to smaller players in the global manufacturing value chain have been lowered. The connectedness of the new currency lets them penetrate and scale into previously inaccessible markets through newly formed partnerships.
The trend toward connectedness is also reflected in the internet of things, which is more than the latest catchphrase in tech world. It is happening today. Sensors connected across the enterprise to “things” – physical components, devices and other assets critical to mechanized processes—combined with data-analytics software and the cloud are transforming manufacturing plants.
Kuka Robotics Corp. in Michigan, for instance, is bringing the internet of things to the shop floor. The company uses Microsoft technologies to run an automated manufacturing plant that connects assembly line robots with a controller, applications and backend systems to produce eight different Jeep Wrangler bodies on the same production line, enabling the production of a car body every 77 seconds.
The Kuka Robotics case shows that despite major challenges to the manufacturing sector in recent years due the economic downturn, big data is bringing a Renaissance-like transformation to industry, propelling new business models, a boom in analytics-driven decision-making, the emergence of intelligent factory floors, the capability to mine of fresh perspectives on customer wants and smarter supply chains and product re-engineering.
To be sure, the noise around big data can be overwhelming and distracting for executives and decision-makers. But to cash in on this new currency and realize the data dividend, manufacturing firms must make use of data driven intelligence as a central business objective.


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It's all gravy: Cost of Thanksgiving meal sees biggest drop since 2000
The price of making a traditional Thanksgiving meal -- turkey, stuffing, cranberries, pumpkin pie and all the trimmings -- will drop 4% this year, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. That's the biggest decline since 2000, says Bloomberg News.
The average cost of this year's feast for 10 is $42.91, a $1.70 decline from last year's average of $44.61, according to the federation's 24th annual informal price survey of classic Thanksgiving items. Prices are nearly at their 2007 level of $42.26. The survey was done by volunteer shoppers.
"Consistent with the retail food price declines seen throughout the year, consumers will pay just a bit less for their Thanksgiving feast this year," said Jim Sartwelle, an AFBF economist, said in a press release.
Though this may be good news for consumers, it's another lump that farmers have to take. For instance, turkey production is expected to be down 8% to 9% this year, according to Sherrie Rosenblatt, spokeswoman for the National Turkey Federation. Wholesale prices have also declined by about 5 cents a pound. None of this should hurt consumers who are often able to get their turkeys for free during supermarket promotion.
"It has been a tough year for the turkey industry as it has been for most industries in the United States," she says. "The turkey industry has had a year of high feed prices, which make up 70% of the cost of producing a turkey. But, she says, "we see the possibility of a light at the end of a tunnel."
For cranberries, the story is much the same. Wetter-than-usual weather is depressing output in the top two cranberry growing states Wisconsin and Massachusetts by 18% and 30%, respectively.
But not all states are suffering, as New Jersey cranberry growers are expected to boost production by 5% over 2008, according to the Star-Ledger.
Fresh cranberries like the ones used to make sauce and other Thanksgiving dishes command a premium price because of the labor involved in harvesting them. They make up about 5% of the crop.
For David Farrimond, executive director of the industry-supported Cranberry Marketing Committee, this year's harvest of the tangy fruit was nothing to be concerned about. "Growers got paid a lot more for last year's crop," he says. "Actually, this was a normal year."
What's helping cranberry growers is the growing popularity of Thanksgiving meals in places outside the U.S. such as Germany and France. Now, about 25 percent of the U.S. cranberry crop is exported.
But not all farmers are clucking: The European market is not open to U.S. turkeys.


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Ever since the Predator was announced as an additional Kombatant for Mortal Kombat X, the MK Kommunity has been dying for the chance to play as the character, and execute eviscerating Kombos that only the deadly Yautja can deliver. While the Predator is still unavailable on the Mortal Kombat X roster, thanks to a random Internet user’s post on the game’s official Reddit thread a few days ago, fans have at least been able to experience the intergalactic hunter’s gameplay vicariously via leaked stills that displayed a bevy of the fighter’s in-game content. Plus, later that very same evening, the YouTube channel KommunityFinishHim uploaded footage the Predator’s fatality—which showed an unlucky opponent being impaled by a wrist blade and then finished off with a Smart Disc through the skull—but the video has recently been taken down.
Nevertheless, after a month’s worth of teases, fans of Mortal Kombat X don’t have much longer to wait for the Predator’s arrival. According to NetherRealm Studios‘ certified Twitter feed, Predator will be available as early as July 7th for gamers who have paid for the Kombat Pack DLC. However, players without the game’s licensed Season Pass will have to be a little bit more patient and acquire the new Kombatant separately on July 14th.
With Predator being the third downloadable character added to the extremely popular title, NetherRealm Studios seems set on providing a never-ending stream of content for Mortal Kombat X. In the past, the developer not only added the iconic horror figure Jason Voorhees to the already expansive murderer’s row of brawlers, but they also offered up a throwback choice with series veteran Tanya. As a matter of fact, rumors of more DLC characters persist, as Mortal Kombat X‘s director Ed Boon took to his Twitter account to suggest the possibility of a second Kombat Pack eventually being available in the near future.
In addition to the covey of new characters, stage brutalities have also continued to become more full-scale, as NetherRealm Studios added a patch less than a week ago giving fans more blood-soaked options to end matches with levels’ objects. Plus, the company has provided innumerable Klassic Skins to keep the gameplay looking fresh.
With such a wide range of virtual violence available at fans’ fingertips, it’s no wonder that Mortal Kombat X has sold so well thus far. And now, with the upcoming inclusion of Predator, demand for the fighting game ought to grow even more.
Mortal Kombat X is available now for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. A PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 port is still anticipated to launch later this year.


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Molson Coors is launching a new range of products, including non-alcoholic seltzer drinks, a novelty. Read more here.
Molson Coors, mainly beer producer (Coors, Molson Canadian) brings to the market new drinks taking advantage of the impact of hard seltzer. These drinks, which have been causing a stir in the summer for the last year due to their low alcohol content and attractive flavors, seduce the brewer. They have decided to create a non-alcoholic version of this drink to be released this fall.
Called Huzzah, the new seltzer water includes probiotics* that keep the intestines healthy, according to the company. Huzzah will be available in three flavors: strawberry-hibiscus, juicy pear and raspberry-lemon.
The sale of Huzzah will start online from this month. Additionally, it can be found in certain stores in Southern California.
Motivated by new growth opportunities, Molson Coors decided to create these alcohol-free offers. Last year the beer company partnered with L.A. Libations, an incubator known for working with various healthy beverage brands.
In addition to the Huzzah Seltzer, Molson Coors will be launching other products. Among them, MadVine, a diet soda available in three flavors: monk's fruit, bourbon vanilla, yuzu lemon and black cherry.
Molson Coors has also decided to go further by creating an alternative drink to milk, made from barley grains. The new product, which they have not yet named, will be a "nootropic performance drink" that targets gamers and developers.
Danny Strepper, the CEO and co-founder of L.A. Libations, said the new brands "are driven by our dedication to health, wellness and social responsibility.
Don't drink and drive. Enjoy responsibly.


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By STEVEN NALLEY
The value of a Christmas present canâ€™t be judged by its size.
Jennifer Gregory, vice president for tourism development with the Greater Starkville Development Partnership, said this yearâ€™s Holiday Bazaar has fewer vendors than it did last year when it first moved from the Mississippi State University campus to the Sportsplex. There will be 92 vendors this year, she said, but 25 more are on the bazaarâ€™s waiting list, so the Starkville Main Street Association could have driven the vendor count past last yearâ€™s 110 if so desired. When it comes to bazaars, she said, less is more.
â€śWe actually re-did the layout of the vendors a little bit this year,â€ť Gregory said. â€śWe added an extra aisle down the center of the main gym, which is actually about an 8-foot aisle. We felt like that would be a better experience for the shoppers if they had a little more room.â€ť
The SMSA will hold Starkvilleâ€™s 39th annual Holiday Bazaar at the Starkville Sportsplex today and tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
On Tuesday night, the SMSA held a preview for the bazaar, giving shoppers advance access to the vendorsâ€™ selection as well as a hot chocolate and mini-dessert bar.
â€śThis is the first year that weâ€™ve done a preview party,â€ť Gregory said. â€śWe decided to do it because we had some requests from shoppers last year that wanted to be the first ones to shop (instead of having) to wait in line or shop with all the other people that come on Wednesday and Thursday. A lot of other holiday shows, like Mistletoe Marketplace (in Jackson) and a couple of other really large holiday shows, do such a thing. So we decided to do it this year.â€ť
The preview is not the only new addition to the Bazaar, Gregory said.
â€śOf those 92 (vendors), probably 15 of them are new, maybe a few more,â€ť Gregory said. â€śThe rest are returning vendors.â€ť
As in years past, Gregory said, the bazaar will give Starkville shoppers a unique shopping experience, with several vendors coming from as far away as Alabama, Tennessee and Louisiana.
â€śA lot of the vendors are from not just Starkville; in fact, just a very few are from Starkville,â€ť Gregory said. â€śMost are from all over Mississippi or even out of Mississippi. A lot of these vendors actually donâ€™t have store fronts, so thatâ€™s fun for people to have the opportunity to shop with people that they normally wouldnâ€™t have the chance to shop with.â€ť
Gregory said she enjoys having a variety of vendors come from out of town, especially when it benefits Starkville in the long run.
â€śAll of the vendors do collect sales taxes on what they sell, and that money goes back into the community,â€ť Gregory said. â€śItâ€™s nice to have a variety of items to shop for that may be a little bit different, but itâ€™s nice that theyâ€™re a benefit to the economy of Starkville as well.â€ť
Gregory said several restaurants will set up carts for the bazaarâ€™s Food Village, including Ty Thames of Restaurant Tyler.
â€śSweet Peppers (Deli) and also Hobie Dawgs food cart are going to be set up selling food,â€ť Gregory said. â€śWe want to give people the opportunity to come during their lunch hour or at night and be able to shop and grab something to eat while theyâ€™re here.â€ť


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Due to the coronavirus outbreak, we are now working from home. If you need to contact us urgently please email: email@example.com
Garden trade industry features including events, exhibitions, and shows
Following many successful years building and expanding Char-Broil’s UK business, Ian Moore has announced his retirement, effective end of July 2020. Char-Broil is delighted to announce that Luke Hopkins, formerly of Landmann BBQ, joins Char-Broil UK as National Sales Manager.
DJ Turfcare – UK supplier of the organic-based Viano ranges – has confirmed that it is bringing to market a new Autumn Lawn Treatment to help drive sales during this pivotal time for lawns pre-winter.
The Covid-19 pandemic has shaken the world of retail to its core, transforming consumer attitudes. While social distancing, hand sanitisation and face coverings have rapidly become the norm
The nation has turned to indoor gardening in recent months, with houseplant sales rising by a third and searches for ‘houseplants for sale UK’ increasing by a huge 240% since lockdown was announced in March.
The restrictions may be lifting, but the reality is that many of us will still be working from home throughout the summer. This week, with temperatures set to hit 30 degrees, Mojo Mortgages, has provided some tips on how to create garden offices to ensure you are getting outdoors and making the most of the glorious weather.
Johnsons Lawn Seed, the UK’s oldest lawn seed brand, is reporting healthy sales of two of its most iconic consumer brands, despite the nationwide lockdown that gripped the garden trade during peak season.
The best and worst garden trends of all time have been revealed by leading tool firm Draper Tools - with bird feeders and vegetable patches among the good, and gnomes and fake grass among the bad. The study of 2,000 UK adults with gardens also found that over a third of people say improving their garden is a priority right now, with almost 2 in 5 people planning to spend more on their garden this year than ever before.
National Resource Consortium (NRC) completed a waste management service project for Frosts Garden Centres. The bespoke project has increased recycling by over 300% and generated a reduction in costs of circa 20% - enabling the four centre group to achieve Zero Waste to Landfill Status.


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Today should also be the day when the Samsung Droid Charge hits the shelves. However, it looks like that won’t happen.
At this very moment, the Charge cannot be purchased via Verizon’s website, and neither in stores.
According to Engadget, the carrier delayed the launch of the handset because its LTE network is down in some parts of the country.
Verizon has yet to issue an official statement regarding the Droid Charge. Until then, we obviously don’t know when the new LTE handset will be available for purchase.
If you liked the post, you might find these interesting too:
- Verizon’s Samsung Droid Charge will ship on May 3 (according to Let’s Talk)
- More evidence that Verizon’s Samsung Droid Charge won’t be out before May 3
- Verizon Samsung Droid Charge spotted on Walmart’s website
- Samsung Droid Charge employee training starts, Verizon should launch the handset soon
- Verizon to launch the HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE on June 21, Samsung Galaxy S III on June 28 (or in July?)


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Official confirmation has yet to surface, but based on the evidence BMW could soon be churning out Saabs and their own cars on a shared platform.
In what appears to be yet another twist in the ongoing Saab bankruptcy saga, BMW has emerged as one of the six or seven parties interested in buying out the troubled Swedish automaker. According to Saabs United, multiple media sources are claiming that a serious bidder is a European car-manufacturer, while several independent sources indicate the European company is German and located in Munich, which narrows things down considerably.
Given that back in 2010 BMW signed an engine purchasing agreement with Saab, and that they plan to expand their product portfolio with more fuel-efficient FWD cars, building Saabs and their own models on a shared platform is not out of the realms of possibility. At the administrator's weekly press conference, having confirmed that another week is needed to sort out the pressing salary situation of many employees, the administrators then confirmed that the highest bidder may not win the deal. Instead it "will go to the company that can present the best combination which will benefit the creditors, employees and the region the most."
This translates as the bidder that's most capable of kick-starting production and that has the nous and infrastructure to run the company long term has the best chance of taking over the reins. Chinese, Indian and Turkish companies remain in contention but based on the administrator's criteria, BMW must be the front-runner.
Join The Discussion


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According to a story in Ad Age, Apple will make the promotion of iTunes Radio a priority in the coming months. While the service is only available in the US for the time being, its rollout is being prepped for Canada (trust me on this).
[T]here is a new focus within the company’s advertising unit, and the mantra came direct from Eddy Cue, Apple’s head of software. In a staff meeting before the holidays, Cue indicated that iTunes Radio is the top priority, and app ads are not.“The message that came across was basically if you’re not working on iTunes Radio, you’re irrelevant,” an Apple insider said.
Apple’s iAds business has undergone a number of changes since launching in 2010. Its sales team has been integral in helping developers monetize apps; most of the revenue from iAds comes from in-app advertising,
The concern in the traditional radio industry is that Apple will suck up a tremendous amount of ad dollars from national advertisers. We’ll see. Continue reading here.