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The performance of its Premier Inn and Costa Coffee chains fuelled the rise. Whitbread, which also operates the Beefeater and Brewers Fayre pub restaurant chains, said underlying pre-tax profits rose 15.2 per cent to £174.9m in the six months to 1 September against analysts’ forecasts of £167m.
Total group sales increased 10.7 per cent to £891.3m. Premier Inn sales were up 10.6 per cent to £393.4m, while Costa rose 26.3 per cent to £250.8m.
Whitbread said Premier Inn had benefited from good demand from business customers, particularly in London which was proving resilient.
“This is a good set of results demonstrating the strength of our brands in tough market conditions,” said chairman Anthony Habgood.
The company said it would pay an interim dividend of 17.5p per share, up from 11.25p last year.


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- Oct 28, 2017
China has hit back in its trade war with the US, announcing plans to impose tariffs on $60bn of American imports. Tariffs will be imposed on 5,140 US products with an annual value of about $60bn (£46bn) from 1 June, the Chinese finance ministry said on Monday. The latest escalation in the trade war between the world’s two biggest economies came shortly after Donald Trump tweeted a warning to China not to retaliate against the extra tariffs he imposed last week on imports to the US.
However, Beijing has apparently ignored the US president’s threat that the escalating trade war between the world’s two biggest economies “will only get worse!”. China’s Global Times newspaper reported that Beijing was also considering cutting orders for new Boeing planes and boycotting US agricultural products.
Earlier on Monday, the US president said China would be “hurt very badly” if the country did not make a deal with the US. His comments came after the US more than doubled tariffs on $200bn (£15.4bn) of Chinese goods on Friday.
Meanwhile, Markets Right Now: Stocks sink as trade war escalatesTrump said in another Twitter post that the trade war would not have a significant impact on US trade. “We are right where we want to be with China. Remember, they broke the deal with us and tried to renegotiate. We will be taking in tens of billions of dollars in tariffs from China. Buyers of product can make it themselves in the USA (ideal), or buy it from non-tariffed countries.”
Stocks are plunging at the open on Wall Street Monday after China announced retaliatory tariffs against goods from the United States. China plans tariff hikes on $60 billion of U.S. imports after the Trump administration on Friday raised tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports from 10% to 25%. Technology, industrial and consumer-focused companies are bearing the brunt of the losses. Apple is down 4.4% while Caterpillar is off by 4%. The Dow Jones Industrial is down 470 points, or 1.8%. The S&P is dropping 51 points, or 1.8% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq is down 2.3%.

domain: news


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In an ongoing effort to reduce spending, lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives have been eyeing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, formerly known as food stamps.
Under the House Republicans’ plan for fiscal year 2012, SNAP funding would be cut by $127 billion over ten years and the program converted to a block grant. For California, that translates into an estimated $10 million in cuts, resulting in either a reduction in benefits to low-income families or stricter guidelines about who is eligible.
Some 3.7 million Californians are currently enrolled in the program, more than double the number from ten years ago, which helps low-income families purchase groceries.
To raise awareness about the impending cuts, Congressional candidate Norman Solomon went food shopping in Petaluma on Monday kicking off his Food Stamp Challenge, an experiment about what living on food stamps is really like.
A single person on the program receives $126 a month or just $31.50 a week, making grocery shopping more than challenging.
Click on the video on the right to hear Solomon discuss why he's embarking on his "Food Stamp Challenge"
Solomon is pledging to not spend any more than the alloted amount for an entire week (including going out to eat) to bring attention to what he believes is a vital program that sustains low-income families, especially during difficult economic times.
“The war in Afghanistan costs us $1 million a year per soldier, while Washington says it can’t afford the program that feeds millions of Americans,” Solomon told Patch as he shopped on Monday. “I feel a very powerful commitment to getting our priorities straight.”
Solomon, 60, is one of eight candidates running in the newly created District 2, which runs from Marin County to the Oregon border. Whoever wins will replace Rep. Lynn Woolsey, who has represented the smaller District 6 in Washington for nearly 20 years and is retiring at the end of next year.
The anti-war and anti-nuclear energy activist says he has personal experience being on food stamps for more than a decade in the ‘70s and early ‘80s.
“It’s gut level for me,” said Solomon, who now lives in Inverness and considers himself middle class. “I know what it’s like to run the gauntlet of filling out the application and then living on $28 a month for groceries.”
On Monday, Solomon shopped briefly at the Lucky on Lakeville Highway—buying some discounted avocados, bell peppers and apples—before deciding that the store was too expensive for his budget. He then headed to where he stocked up on a bag of yams, a block of cheese, bread, rice and lentils. Between the two stores, he had spent $14.24, meaning he still had $17 to spend on other meals during the week.
“It was very challenging,” Solomon said about his "first day" on food stamps, adding that he was now headed home to start cooking.
Do you have experience living on food stamps? Share your story with us.


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AT&T (NYSE:T) reported weaker wireless subscriber growth for the fourth quarter than it had in the year-ago period, but the company also posted stronger data revenues.
Click here for key slides from AT&T about the carrier's wireless business in the fourth quarter.
The carrier lost prepaid subscribers in the period but AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said on the company's earnings conference call that AT&T's deal to acquire regional prepaid carrier Leap Wireless (NASDAQ:LEAP) will close by the end of the first quarter. AT&T will maintain Leap's Cricket prepaid brand and discontinue its own Aio Wireless brand. "We're convinced that putting the Cricket brand on top of the AT&T network is going to shake things up in this space," he said.
When questioned on the call about how AT&T would do that specifically, Stephenson said that AT&T has spent the past six or seven years adding capacity to its network and has been reluctant to move down market as it sought to protect its higher-ARPU customers. "As we make the move to LTE, and as we continue to push the network build and create capacity, it's created a whole new opportunity for us to think about the value segment and the no-contract segment," he said. Stephenson said Cricket is a strong brand and that AT&T wants to use that brand "to be very assertive and very aggressive to push smartphone penetration in the no-contract space and to be aggressive as it relates to pricing."
Stephenson said that in 2013, AT&T focused on its networks, including expanding its LTE network. He also said that AT&T has focused on new business opportunities, such as its Digital Life home security and automation service as well as the connected car, where AT&T has announced deals with General Motors, Audi, Tesla and others.
Stephenson noted that 2013 was a "formative" year for the industry in terms of competition, especially in changes carriers made to device financing. "Our customers are demonstrating an interest, a desire even, to put more of their money into the handset in exchange for lower monthly pricing," he said, according to a Seeking Alpha transcript.
AT&T said that its "Next" handset upgrade program attracted 10 percent of device sales at the end of the third quarter. For all of the fourth quarter it was 15 percent but in December it was 20 percent.
In December AT&T tweaked the pricing of its Mobile Share shared data plans for contract customers, and also introduced new "Mobile Share Value" shared data plans that are less expensive and are targeted at no-contract customers. Customers can get the plans by purchasing a new smartphone for no down payment with Next with monthly installment payments; bringing their own smartphone; buying a smartphone at the full retail price; or switching to the new plan when they are no longer under contract.
Analysts said they expected AT&T to continue to face competitive challenges this year. New Street Research analyst Jonathan Chaplin wrote in a research note that on the surface, "signs of competitive intensity were few: churn, ARPU, and margins were all better than expected." However, he thinks T-Mobile US (NYSE:TMUS) is gaining momentum, resulting in continuing pressure on gross subscriber additions.
However, Credit Suisse analyst Joseph Mastrogiovanni wrote that he thinks AT&T is in a strong position to compete. "We also believe AT&T could further leverage its high network quality (the best in the U.S. according to third-party surveys, e.g. Nielsen) through increased marketing and fight back in the value segment once the Leap deal closes," he wrote. "During its conference call , the company said it would use Leap as a tool to be disruptive in the value segment of the market. While this could mean some cannibalization on the margin, we view it as a better option than cutting price too much in the AT&T base, causing a repricing of the base."
Mastrogiovanni also said AT&T's new Mobile Share Value plans "will further drive uptake of the Next handset installment plans, as customers now get a discount on the service plan. As customers on Next essentially pay the full price for the handsets, it basically just reallocates revenues from handset from ARPU to equipment revenues."
Here's a breakdown of AT&T's key quarterly metrics:
Subscribers: AT&T reported a net increase in total wireless subscribers of 809,000 in the fourth quarter, including postpaid net adds of 566,000. Postpaid net adds included 299,000 smartphones.
AT&T's total branded smartphone net adds (both postpaid and prepaid) were 529,000. Total branded tablet net adds were 440,000.
In the year-ago period, AT&T reported postpaid subscriber net adds of 780,000, and 1.1 million total net wireless subscribers in the period.
AT&T said connected device net adds were 398,000. Interestingly, AT&T said its prepaid subscriber base had a net loss of 32,000 subscribers, "primarily due to declines in session-based tablets." However, AT&T said prepaid revenues increased both year over year and sequentially. AT&T also said resellers suffered a net loss of 123,000 subscribers, primarily due to losses in low-revenue 2G subscriber accounts.
By comparison, Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) added 1.7 million retail net connections in the fourth quarter, including 1.6 million net retail postpaid connections. Verizon said tablet net adds made up 625,000 of company's retail postpaid connections in the quarter.
Earlier this month at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show, T-Mobile CEO John Legere said that in the fourth quarter T-Mobile added 1.645 million customers. Of those, 869,000 were postpaid. "This was our best quarter in eight years," Legere said, noting that of those 869,000 postpaid adds, 69,000 were tablets. That figure is notable considering the carrier just started selling tablets in the fourth quarter.
Sprint (NYSE:S) will report earnings Feb. 11 but analysts expect the company to report that it lost postpaid subscribers in the quarter.
Financials: AT&T said total wireless revenues, which include equipment sales, were up 4.5 percent year over year to $18.4 billion. The carrier posted wireless service revenues of $15.7 billion, up 4.8 percent from the year-ago period. Wireless data revenues increased 16.8 percent from the year-ago quarter to $5.7 billion. Fourth quarter wireless operating expenses totaled $14.5 billion, down 3.9 percent versus the year-earlier quarter, and wireless operating income was $3.9 billion, up 53.8 percent year over year.
AT&T's wireless EBITDA service margin was 37.4 percent, compared with 29.1 percent in the year-ago period and 42 percent in the third quarter. AT&T's fourth-quarter wireless operating income margin was 21.4 percent, compared to 14.5 percent in the year-ago period and 26.4 percent in the third quarter.
Mobile Share: AT&T said its Mobile Share shared data plans now represent more than 21 million connections, or about 29 percent of its postpaid subscribers, up from 16 million connections, or more than 22 percent, of postpaid subscribers at the end of the third quarter. The number of AT&T's Mobile Share accounts reached 7.1 million in the fourth quarter with an average of about three devices per account. AT&T said 30 percent of its Mobile Share accounts selected 10 GB or higher plans.
Smartphones: AT&T said it sold 7.9 million smartphones in the fourth quarter, up from 6.7 million smartphones sold in the third quarter, but down from 10.2 million it sold in the year-ago period. The year-over-year drop reflects increasing smartphone penetration in the carrier's subscriber base. More than 1 million of the 7.9 million smartphone sales in the fourth quarter were on Next.
AT&T CFO John Stephens said the carrier has around 2 million prepaid smartphone subscribers in its base, and average revenue per user of these customers is 70 percent higher than non-smartphone prepaid customers.
LTE: AT&T said its LTE network now covers nearly 280 million POPs. The company said its LTE deployment is expected to be substantially complete by this summer.
ARPU: AT&T said postpaid, phone-only ARPU increased 3.9 percent versus the year-ago quarter. Total postpaid subscriber ARPU, which includes high-margin but lower-ARPU tablets, increased 2.1 percent versus the year-earlier quarter. AT&T said this marked the 20th consecutive quarter AT&T has reported a year-over-year increase in postpaid ARPU. Postpaid data ARPU increased 15.4 percent versus the year-earlier quarter.
Churn: The company had its lowest-ever fourth-quarter postpaid churn of 1.11 percent, compared to 1.19 percent in the year-ago quarter. Total churn was flat at 1.43 percent versus 1.42 percent in the year-ago quarter. AT&T noted that about 90 percent of postpaid subscribers are on Mobile Share, FamilyTalk or business plans, all of which have significantly lower churn than other postpaid subscribers.
- see this release
Special Report: Wireless in the fourth quarter of 2013
AT&T, Verizon tweak 'Next' and 'Edge' handset upgrade programs
Analysts: Price war sparked by T-Mobile could cut into carrier profits
AT&T: 'Sponsored Data' toll-free data plans don't clash with net neutrality rules
AT&T targets T-Mobile with new 'Mobile Share Value' no-contract pricing options
AT&T's Stephens: LTE network will fend off competition, but feature phone base is shrinking
AT&T adds 780,000 postpaid subs in Q4, sells record 10.2M smartphones
Article updated Jan. 29 with analyst commentary.


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Former Brightpoint, Data Select, Nokia, Google and Carphone Warehouse staff among new appointments
New smartphone brand Kazam has appointed nine new staff – taking its numbers to 30, as it nears the launch of its first devices.
The firm, which was formed in June by former HTC execs James Atkins and Michael Coombes, will release a range of devices in the UK and across Europe in the next couple of weeks.
New staff, include former Brightpoint VP of Eastern Europe Frank Jensen who becomes its chief operating officer.
Jenson, who will be based in Denmark, is responsible for sales and marketing across the Nordics. He will be supported by sales team staff Thomas Faber and Clause Pederson.
Former Lebara Mobile head of sales Rakesh Odedra has also joined the firm as a London based sales director.
Odedra has more than ten years experience in the mobile industry having held various roles at Carphone Warehouse, such as area and national sales manager, head of retail accessories at Data Select, and account manager for Nokia’s distribution.
Former Google technician Daniel Boff, who has also held testing positions at Panasonic and Sharp, has been appointed head of products and will also be based in the UK.
Their appointments takes the number of UK staff to five in total.
Kazam CEO Michael Coombes said: “We are pleased to announce a strong and experienced team to support the European launch of Kazam’s first range of mobile phones next month. We are confident these strategic appointments bring the skills, expertise & local knowledge that is needed to successfully launch a new mobile phone brand.”
Kazam CMO James Atkins added: “As we get closer to the launch of our first range of phones we continue to refine and improve our processes and services in order to deliver a really credible offering. We want to disrupt the current status quo by delivering quality phones at accessible prices underpinned by excellent customer service and having a local and lean structure.”
In addition, former Toshiba head of customer services Stefan Schietaert has been appointed as European customer care and service director. Schietaert has also held customer service positions at Motorola and Ericsson.
Other appointments to help drive sales and marketing in specific areas include Javier Martinez Esparza in Spain, Yves-Raphael Loerke in the DACH region (Germany, Austraia and Switzerland) and Wojciech Wasilewski in Poland.


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Jill Kortleve has signed with IMG Models.
The 28-year-old Dutch model made her runway debut at Alexander McQueen’s spring 2019 show and has since appeared in campaigns for the British luxury house. She has also become a fixture at Chanel, recently modeling the bridal look at Chanel’s fall 2022 couture presentation, and Jacquemus.
“I grew up in a small town in the south of Holland where I always had the feeling I had to act a certain way or dress a certain way to fit in and for people to like me,” Kortleve has told press. “It took me about 22 years to figure out that I was in control of my own life. I made a big decision in my work — which was to stop focusing on my body weight.”
Kortleve, who isn’t “sample size,” is breaking barriers for a new generation in the fashion industry, gracing the covers of Vogue U.S., Vogue Italia, Vogue France, Vogue Spain, Vogue Netherlands, Vogue Russia, Vogue Hong Kong and Harper’s Bazaar U.S. She has also appeared in an editorial spread in British Vogue.
She has starred in campaigns for Valentino beauty, Fenty Beauty, Fendi, Victoria’s Secret, H&M and Mango. She’s walked for Valentino, Altuzarra, Michael Kors, Mugler, Prabal Gurung and Max Mara, to name a few.
“Now, I want to inspire young girls and boys and show it’s okay if you don’t fit beauty standards,” Kortleve continued. “It’s okay to be a brown woman and have a mustache and arm hair, and it’s okay if you don’t have a flat stomach.”
At IMG Models, Kortleve joins a roster of clients that include Gigi and Bella Hadid, Hailey Bieber, Precious Lee, Paloma Elsesser, Alton Mason, Eileen Gu, Diana Silvers and Richie Shazam.


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Flexo Converters USA, Inc. will Create 100 New Jobs in Walton County, Invest $20M
Friday, April 29th, 2016
The Georgia Department of Economic Development announced that Flexo Converters USA, Inc., a manufacturer and distributor of retail shopping bags, will open a new industrial facility in Walton County, creating 100 jobs and investing $20 million into the local community.
“We are in the business of bringing quality jobs and investment to Georgia, and it is always a great day when we are able to celebrate this good news with statewide partners and our new corporate citizens,” said GDEcD Commissioner Chris Carr. “We are happy to welcome Flexo Converters USA, Inc., and we are confident they will thrive in our pro-business environment.”
As an industry leader, Flexo offers a full line of custom and stock paper bags in a variety of colors and sizes as well as recycled paper bags.
“We are excited to open this location in Monroe, Georgia,” said Anik Patel, chief operating officer for Flexo. “Our company felt that the building and community were a right fit for Flexo and our newest facility.”
Flexo purchased a building from the Development Authority of Walton County located at 690 Unisia Drive, the former Angel Food Ministries Building.
“I want to welcome Flexo Converters to Walton County and our family of corporate citizens,” said Kevin Little, chairman of the Walton County Board of Commissioners.
“We are fortunate to have a company of this caliber investing in our community and in the Piedmont Regional Industrial Park,” said Morris Jordan, chairman of the Development Authority of Walton County.
Piedmont Regional Industrial Park is located in the City of Monroe and owned by the Development Authority of Walton County.
“Walton County and the City of Monroe couldn’t get a better new corporate partner than Flexo,” said executive director of the Development Authority of Walton County, Shane Short. “They are a great manufacturer who will be investing millions in the building, and they are a company who is community minded and will be a great fit to the area.”
GDEcD Project Manager Tina Herring represented the Global Commerce division in partnership with the City of Monroe and the Development Authority of Walton County.


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CPhI Worldwide to host #CPhIChat provoking debate on the future of pharma
Industry professionals and media are invited to participate
in the inaugural Tweetchat taking place in real-time at CPhI Worldwide
28 August, 2014: CPhI Worldwide, organised by UBM Live, announces the launch of #CPhIChat in October 2014. #CPhIChat is a first of its kind global industry-wide Tweetchat for pharma professionals and media working across the supply chain, aimed to stimulate conversations on key industry issues and facilitate shared knowledge building.
Following the release of CPhI's Annual Report, the inaugural #CPhIChat will take place on the second day of CPhI Worldwide,Wednesday, October 8th, from 2 to 4 p.m. This year, #CPhIChat topics will centre on the 'Future of Pharma', linking industry, the 34,000 people at the show and media together across a dedicated platform. The first of its kind industry-wide debate will focus on the key predications and trends affecting the industry including the implementation of QbD, green chemistry, pharma R&D reform, innovation and IPR, and increased outsourcing.
CPhI will open the conversation by presenting key facts (with infographics) from the CPhI panel of experts' reports on trends affecting the future of pharma. Media, industry professionals, and experts will then be asked join the debate live at the show, arguing their opinions and contrasting viewpoints. #CPhIChat will be streamed live at the show through the screens and displays.
"With our #CPhIChat series, CPhI Worldwide aims to provide another platform for driving innovation and thought leadership alongside the exhibition and speaker series. We look forward to hearing what the industry has to say about the future of pharma and gaining insights on both concerns and solutions during #CPhIChat. With the chat running live on the first day of #CPhIWW we hope to see a ripple of ideas running through the show with real time feedback on the show's designated pharma TV. I would encourage everyone attending the show to take part" said Chris Kilbee, Group Director Pharma at CPhI.
CPhI encourages the entire industry to log into Twitter from 2 to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, October 8th to join the debate by using the hashtags #CPhIChat and #CPhIWW. The chat will be streamed in real-time at the CPhI Conference, with a summary report released after the show.
For more information on #CPhIChat and this year's topic, please visit: http://l.cphi.com/
CPhI drives growth and innovation at every step of the global pharmaceutical supply chain from drug discovery to finished dosage. Through exhibitions, conferences and online communities, CPhI brings together more than 100,000 pharmaceutical professionals each year to network, identify business opportunities and expand the global market. CPhI hosts events in Europe, Korea, China, India, Japan, Southeast Asia, Istanbul, Russia and South America and co-locates with ICSE for contract services, P-MEC for machinery, equipment & technology, InnoPack for pharmaceutical packaging and BioPh for biopharma. CPhI provides an online buyer & supplier directory at CPhI-Online.com.
For more information visit: www.cphi.com
The UBM Live annual schedule of Pharmaceutical events also includes; CPhI, ICSE Korea (2-3 September, 2014 at the COEX- Seoul, South Korea); CPhI, ICSE, P-MEC and InnoPack Worldwide (7-9 October 2014, Paris Nord Villepinte- France); CPhI and P-MEC India (2-4 December, 2014 at the Bombay Exhibition Centre- Mumbai); CPhI, ICSE, P-MEC, BioPh and Pharmatec Japan (22-24 April, 2015at the Big Sight Exhibition Centre- Tokyo). CPhI Russia and IPhEB(27-29 April, 2015 at the VVC, Pavilion Nr 75, Moscow Russia); CPhI, P-MEC and Innopack South East Asia (26-28 May, 2015 at theJakarta International Expo- Jakarta, Indonesia); CPhI Istanbul (3-5 June, 2015, at the Lutfi Kirdar Convention and Exhibition Centre- Turkey); CPhI, Hi and Fi, ICSE, P-MEC, BioPh and LabWorld China (23-25 June, 2014 at SNIEC- Shanghai, China)
About UBM Live
UBM Live connects people and creates opportunities for companies across five continents to develop new business, meet customers, launch new products, promote their brands, and expand their market. Through premier brands such as TFM&A, Internet World, IFSEC, MD&M, CPhI, Cruise Shipping Miami, the Concrete Show, and many others, UBM Live exhibitions, conferences, awards programs, publications, Websites, and training and certification programs are an integral part of the marketing plans of companies across more than 20 industry sectors.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Alex Heeley or Tristan Jervis
De Facto Communications
T: +44 207 203 6745 / 6740


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Under a new global growth plan, ZenithOptimedia will expand Performics to at least 30 global territories in the next two years. The search-centric agency also hired Andras Vigh to the role of Performics’ managing director worldwide, overseeing operations.
The first phase of the expansion will see the offices and performance marketing staff of fellow Publicis agency ZedMedia rebranded as Performics across 14 markets, with its staff outside of that remit re-housed under the wider ZenithOptimedia brand. Performics’ global headquarters will continue to be based in Chicago, with international hubs located in London, Paris, and Singapore. The brand’s acquisition of ZedMedia’s operations will give it an immediate footprint in Australia, Canada, China, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Poland, Russia, and Spain.
Vigh said the expansion will help capture the growing spend in emerging markets such as Eastern Europe and Asia. “Some markets, such as China, India and Russia, are particularly appealing. Digital channels are capturing a larger portion of spend there, but also the overall media market is growing,” he said, suggesting the opportunity for growth in those regions is greater as a result.
In addition to attracting new business Vigh said its global clients, which currently include HP, Toyota, and Nestle, will be better served. He expects Perfomics to be present in 30 to 40 markets in the next two years, and it’s current 650 staff to have grown by 50 to 100 percent. In many markets the brand will be a new one, so its entrance will be supported by local marketing activity, including search campaigns, Vigh said.
In addition to the search, SEO, and social media channels in which Performics now has services, Vigh sees opportunity in other types of bidded media, through emerging platforms such as DSPs which are still relatively immature outside of the U.S. and Western Europe. “There is an opportunity to engage in wider media bidding activities. Outside of search, more and more media sales are including some level of bidded purchase,” Vigh said, suggesting that other mediums such as TV could one day be traded in that manner.
In terms of entering new markets, however, the company plans to focus primarily on the paid search opportunity, before looking to introduce SEO services alongside. From there it will grow its staff accordingly, Vigh said, but likely most rapidly in the emerging markets of India, China, and Russia.
On February 28, 2017, ClickZ presented the webinar 'Still using .com? Here’s why 50% of all Fortune 500 companies are about to use .brand' in association with Neustar.
In part one a few weeks ago, we discussed what brand TLDs (top level domains) are, which brands are applying for them and why they might be important. Today, we’ll take an in-depth look at the potential benefits for brands, and explore the challenges brand TLDs could help solve.
In 2017 it is essential that SEO professionals secure the buy-in they need from their business leaders so they can accomplish their professional goals.
Google is giving advertisers new ways to target users on YouTube.


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Authorities are searching for a man they suspect has robbed several Dunkin’ Donuts stores in Canton, Avon, and other surrounding communities.
Canton police said a man wearing dark clothes and a ski mask robbed the Dunkin’ Donuts at 600 Neponset St. last Wednesday night, allegedly brandishing a gun and going behind the counter to rob the cashiers. There were no customers in the coffee shop at the time.
Police said that same Dunkin’ Donuts was robbed in the same manner a few weeks ago.
Authorities also believe a man who seemed ready to rob an Dunkin’ Donuts last Wednesday night, but then changed his mind, is the same person who robbed the Canton store two hours later. The suspect seemed to back out of his stick-up plans when he saw there were patrons in the Avon store, police said.
Avon police “provided us with surveillance video of the attempted robbery and detectives determined that it is likely the same person that robbed the Dunkin Donuts located in Canton later that evening,” Canton police said on their official Facebook account.
Canton police have posted a surveillance video to their Facebook showing the suspect at the Avon coffee shop last week. He can be seen wearing dark pants and a black or blue jacket with a horizontal green stripe.
Police said the man is also the probable culprit of other recent Dunkin’ Donuts robberies in surrounding communities.
Anyone with any information on the man’s identity can call Canton police at 781-828-1212 or send a tip through www.cantonpolice.com.


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Facebook Accidentally Leaks Oculus Quest 2 VR Headset With Snapdragon XR2 SoC
Oh Facebook, you sly dogs, you. The social media juggernaut temporarily went live with a website detailing its unannounced Oculus Quest 2 virtual reality headset (as has been previously rumored), which qualifies as a leak. But whether it was a leak in the true sense of the word, well, only Facebook truly knows. Either way, we have some specifications and features to share about the Quest 2.
While the revealing webpage is no longer so revealing, a couple of announcement videos have been archived on the web. They provides some details about the upcoming VR headset, as well as some clear looks from various angles, one of which you can see in the image posted at the top of this article. So, what are looking at for the vitals?
To start with, the Oculus Quest 2 is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon XR2 platform. Qualcomm first announced its XR2 platform last year, then followed up with a reference design earlier back in February of this year.
"The Snapdragon XR2 platform is packed with significant performance improvements compared to our current widely adopted premium-tier XR platform to deliver 2x the CPU and GPU performance, 4x more video bandwidth, 6x higher resolution and 11x AI improvement. The Snapdragon XR2 platform is the world’s first XR platform to support seven concurrent cameras and a dedicated computer vision processor," Qualcomm said at the time.
Facebook's promotional videos also indicate the Oculus Quest 2 will feature 6GB of RAM, compared to 4GB in the first-gen Quest headset. In addition, it will have up to 256GB of onboard storage, versus 128GB and 64GB storage options for the first-gen Quest. And in the promo video above, it is said the Quest 2 offers a "nearly 4K display," or almost 2K per eyeball.
As Facebook points out, that's around 50 percent more pixels than the original Quest, which offers a resolution of 1440x1660 per eyeball, and is powered by a Snapdragon 835 processor. So the Quest 2 is bringing some beefier specs to the table. It will also support 3D positional audio.
Beyond the speed and resolution improvements. Facebook's video tout superior comfort with a new soft-touch strap, and updated controllers with "new ergonomics for an even more comfortable experience." In some cases, Facebook says you can ditch the controllers and use your hands instead, by way of tracking cameras on the standalone headset.
Neither video mentions a price or release date, but given the leak, we have to imagine it's coming very soon.


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Only 18 months after setting up shop in Cape Town, emerging markets streaming video services specialist Iflix has decided to exit the African market and has sold its stake in Kwesé Iflix to Econet Global, Kwesé's parent company.
It then forged a relationship with, and sold a "significant stake" in Iflix Africa to Kwesé, the pan-African TV services unit of Econet Media, in February 2018. (See Kwesé Acquires Stake in iflix Africa.)
Now Iflix has sold its remaining stake in Kwesé Iflix to Econet for an undisclosed sum, saying it can now focus on its core markets in Asia.
The South African IT services firm has confirmed that an investigation has found evidence of unsubstantiated payments, tender irregularities and other unethical business dealings that could add up to $87 million.
South African Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, has given herself short deadlines for big moves when it comes to spectrum and the extremely delayed digital migration process.


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It might still be summer but—spoiler alert—Labor Day is around the corner. This year, Labor Day falls on Monday, September 6, and we’ve got the scoop on what to expect during 2021’s sales.
Inside tip: Labor Day shopping weekend officially starts on Friday, September 3, which is when the sales start their engines!
Labor Day typically is the time for summer clearance events. Many retailers offer end-of-the-season deals on more-expensive items like cars, flights, hotels, mattresses, major appliances, grills and outdoor furniture. You’ll also see markdowns on summer clothing, including swimsuits, shorts and sandals, as well as outdoor toys and camping and hiking gear. So whether you’re gearing up for fall or stocking up for summer next year, Labor Day is a good time to snap up products at a low price.
Now, the impact that Prime Day’s absence this summer will have on Labor Day sales this year remains to be seen. We’re curious if there will be a change in the types of merchandise discounted this Labor Day due to retailers needing to make up for the lack of Prime Day and Black Friday in July shopping activity and revenue.
We typically see Labor Day messaging and deals launching now prior to the actual holiday. Again, 2021 is full of surprises. So sales calendars and cycles might change this year. This year, Labor Day sales should start the week of August 23.
This is always a fun topic to discuss. Yes, Labor Day serves as an opportunity to save on summer buys, but it’s typically not a time to find deals on fall apparel, holiday toys and Halloween decorations and lots more. Those items get markdowns after October. And though you will see deals on appliances, TVs and other electronics, the sales won’t be as good as they will in late October and November closer to Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
(Partially reprinted from retailmenot.com)
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A canned food donation is your child's ticket to Disney's "Phineas and Ferb" live show at Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre Township.
Donate one unopened canned food item at the arena box office to receive a free children's ticket, with purchase of an adult general admission ticket, to performances Dec. 2. The food will be donated to the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Food Bank in Wilkes-Barre.
The show includes live-action versions of characters from the animated cartoon, including inventive stepbrothers Phineas and Ferb, their tattling older sister Candace and mysterious pet platypus Perry and his nemesis Dr. Doofenshmirtz.
Tickets cost $10 (ages 2-12), $26, $45 and $60, and can be purchased at the arena box office and Ticketmaster outlets, online at www.ticketmaster.com or charge by phone at 800-745-3000. Visit www.PhineasAndFerbLive.com for more information about the show.
The arena and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins will also host a food drive for the Community Food Bank of New Jersey. The food bank is currently distributing more than 100,000 pounds of food to families affected by Hurricane Sandy.
The drive takes place Friday during the Penguins game against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the East Gate entrance. Requested items include meals in a can, canned tuna, peanut butter, protein bars, canned fruit and vegetables, canned soup, cereal, diapers and baby food. Visit www.njfoodbank.org for more information.
The F.M. Kirby Center will also accept monetary donations through the end of the year to benefit Feeding America's hurricane relief efforts. Donations can be made during all the theater's events, at the box office during normal business hours or online via the Commission on Economic Opportunity website www.ceopeoplehelpingpeople.org. Call 823-4599 for more information.


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Android-based Samsung Galaxy GT-i7500 coming SIM-free for £499 in UK
Fresh from being told that Samsung’s GT-i7500 Galaxy Android smartphone is coming to O2 in UK, we have now learnt that the phone is also going to be made available in SIM free variant.
Consumers will have to pay £499 for the privilege of owning the SIM-free version. It will be sold by online retailer King of Gadgets. At this pricing, the phone is certainly not cheap.
Currently, listed as ‘out of stock,’ the phone might take a few days to become officially available.
O2 haven’t given any indication on how much the Samsung GT-i7500 Galaxy is going to cost with contract, but considering the market trends, it is likely that you’ll have to fork out well over £30 a month for the phone.
To remind you, Samsung Galaxy features 3.2-inch HVGA AMOLED display, 128MB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage, and microSD card slot with support up to 16GB of external storage. In addition, the phone packs 5MP rear camera, Android 1.5, and 528MHz Qualcomm MSM7200A processor with Adreno 130 GPU.


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Malaysia’s export and import unit value indices in January 2021 recorded the highest positive growth within the past 12 months, increasing by 1.6 per cent and 0.7 per cent month-on-month basis, respectively, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM).
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the export unit value index continued to sustain the positive trend in five consecutive months, while the import unit value index showed a similar trend starting December 2020.
This was reported in the DoSM’s External Trade Indices (2010=100), January 2021, which presents the unit value and volume index by sections for both exports and imports of goods.
“The export unit value index posted a positive growth at 1.6 per cent in January 2021, contributed by the growth in the index of mineral fuels (8.5 per cent), animal and vegetable oils and fats (6.4 per cent) and chemicals (0.8 per cent).
“The seasonally adjusted export volume index registered a drop of 7.3 per cent from 154.0 points to 142.8 points,” Mohd Uzir said.
Compared to the previous year, he said the export unit value index dropped 1.9 per cent, while the export volume index rose 8.7 per cent.
On Import, Mohd Uzir commented that the import unit value index grew 0.7 per cent in January 2021 compared with the previous month.
“The growth was contributed by the better performance of the index of mineral fuels (7.7 per cent), chemicals (0.5 per cent) and manufactured goods (0.4 per cent).
“On the other hand, the import volume index contracted by 3.3 per cent which was attributed to the weak performance of the index of miscellaneous manufactured articles (-10.2 per cent), chemicals (-7.1 per cent) and machinery and transport equipment (-3.9 per cent).
“The seasonally adjusted import volume index in January 2021 declined two per cent from 146.1 points to 143.1 point,” he noted
On a year-on-year basis, he said the import unit value index declined 3.2 per cent while import volume index expanded 4.6 per cent.
The DoSM also reported that Malaysia’s terms of trade grew 0.9 per cent month-on-month from 100.2 points to 101.1 points in January 2021.
On a year-on-year basis, Malaysia’s terms of trade also remained positive at 1.3 per cent from 99.8 points in January of the previous year, it added. — BERNAMA


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You've seen the DSi, now see the DSi's...box. The new, updated Nintendo DS handheld goes on sale in Japan on November 1. Stores in Osaka and around the country are taking pre-orders, and in-store displays show off the DSi's packaging. Hit the jump for a closer look.
ニンテンドーDSiの予約受付開始 「カメラや音楽プレーヤーなど機能充実の新モデル！」 [Ota Road]


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No company has done more over the past few years to make the Super Bowl a must-see bonanza of advertising than Volkswagen. The kid Vader ad remains one of the most creative spots of the past decade, and last year's "dog strikes back" effort was worthy if not quite as all-dominating. For this year's Super Bowl XLVII, Volkswagen has gone the mashup route, hiring a collection of the Internet's most well-known tantrum throwers to show off their brighter sides. I've never seen Boogie2988 smile before.
This teaser — which runs 30 seconds longer than the actual commercial — features reggae star Jimmy Cliff singing the Partridge Family's "C'mon Get Happy" in a bucolic field of YouTube weirdos, from Debbie who can't stop talking about how she loves cats to amateur political screamer Phil Davidson to a personal favorite, "Winnebago Man" Jack Rebney.
What this has to do with Volkswagen remains the secret saved for $7.5 million — or one minute — of advertising time on the Feb. 3 Super Bowl, all part of Volkswagen's multibillion-dollar push to sell 1 million VWs and Audis in the United States a year by 2018. But it's already an impressive gathering, even to those whose 15 minutes of fame from public meltdowns never seems to run short. As Boogie says on Twitter: "6 years ago no one knew who I was, and today I'm selling volkswagen's."


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According John Laffler, the brewmaster at Chicago’s Off Color Brewing, there are very few perfect beers in the world. There’s Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, 3 Floyds Alpha King and, holding a special place in Laffler’s heart, Miller High Life.
“From a technical standpoint,” he says, “High Life is as good as it gets. It’s the epitome of large-batch brewing.”
It should come as little surprise, then, that Off Color’s latest limited release pays homage to the Champagne of Beers: Eeek! is a unique brew that reimagines High Life through the Off Color looking glass. It will be available—on tap and in a limited number of 750mL bottles—this Sunday at Off Color’s Lincoln Park taproom, The Mousetrap, when it opens its doors at 11 a.m.
Eeek! is fruit of Laffler’s longstanding High Life obsession: after years of scheming with friends who work at Miller, Laffler and his team were invited to make their own homebrew version of High Life at Miller’s headquarters in Milwaukee. This culture exchange inspired Eeek’s conception, with the original batch getting a limited premiere in 2016. Laffler knew from first swig that a single batch would not be enough, so, with his personal stash depleted, he decided it was time for the public to experience Eeek! once more.
The mutual admiration between Miller and Off Color may come as a surprise to some but, according to Laffler, beef between big breweries and their craft counterparts is a myth.
“Beer is beer,” he says. “We don’t have to fight about it.” Plus, says Laffler, there’s no reason why the drinking public can’t have the best of both worlds—nuanced brews from craft operations and workhorse beers from large-batch brewers. It’s a philosophy Laffler personally subscribes to. “I’m thinking about beer from the moment I wake up the in the morning,” he says. “At the end of the day, I don’t want to kvetch about beer any more. I want a cold High Life.”
As for how Eeek! compares to it’s big-batch sibling, Laffler says no one will confuse one for the other. “If High Life is a golden retriever,” he says, “then Eeek! is a pet otter.”
Instead, those who make their way to The Mousetrap for a taste of Eeek! can expect a floral brew with notes of citrus with a crisp, bitter finish—recognizable, to the discerning hop head, as High Life-like. Laffler’s one regret with the project is that he couldn’t find clear glass bottles to sell Eeek! in. The tinted bottles he ended up with will go for $20 a pop on Sunday—a little pricier than a 40-ounce High Life but, Laffler hopes, just easy going down.


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Visakhapatnam, August 17, 2007
Three-day ITCOM inaugurated
Sanketh Expositions and ITCOM, a fortnightly paper on the IT industry of Andhra Pradesh, on Friday formally launched a three day ITCOM Expo-2007 at Hotel Palm Beach.
Speaking to media, the editor of ITCOM journal and promoter of exhibition Sanjay Prasha said that the objective of the event was to take technology to people and display all products related to Information Technology, Telecom and solutions under one roof.
The major companies participating in the exhibition are HP, Cannon, Epson, Wep, Peripherals, Xerox, Sharp, Tata Indicom, Sony and others including 23 companies.
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Buy-Import-Export Premium Grade UGANDA VANILLA BEANS Buy-Import-Export Un-Refined Raw SHEA BUTTER
Kenya based Uchumi Supermarkets plans to open three new outlets in Uganda to tap a fast-growing economy that has been underserved by retail chains, its chief executive said.
"In Uganda we are expecting to have three more (stores). One of them is expected to open in about three weeks and that is a hyper (market) on the busy Kampala-Entebbe road," Jonathan Ciano told Reuters.
Another store would be opened in the western part of Kampala, which is not served by the large chains, he added.
The chain already operates two large stores in Kampala and a third one in the northern town of Gulu.
Retail on the African continent has attracted a lot of interest in recent years from investors who are keen to play the continent's economic growth story, which typically drives consumption.
"Uganda has been a very underutilised market. Kenyan competitors are running there now but I don't think that is the right way. You have to be cautious in ensuring you have the right site," Ciano said.
Uchumi shares relisted on the Nairobi bourse in 2011 at 15.9 shillings after a five-year trading suspension due to insolvency. They initially tumbled, but have since recovered and are currently the top performers on the bourse this year. At 0900 GMT, the stock was down 1.3 percent at 16 shillings.
The company, which also operates in Tanzania, said around the time of its relisting that it expected to increase its market value by 50-100 percent within two years thanks to expansion in the region.
Uchumi had sales of 10.84 billion shillings in the year ended June 2011.
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reuters via daylife
Well Barack Obama has been sworn in as the first African American president of the United States and of the deluge of global news coverage, a significant proportion has been devoted to the sartorial decisions made by his wife. That is, a quite luxurious “lemongrass” embroidered sheath and jacket from Isabel Toledo for the swearing-in ceremony and a white, embroidered, one-shouldered evening gown by Jason Wu for the Inaugural Balls. Some have already noted that Jacqueline Kennedy also chose white for John F Kennedy’s Inauguration in 1961. But frockwriter feels the need to point out that the latter was a relatively modest affair compared with Obama’s one-shouldered gown. While very much in keeping with fashion trends, the one-shouldered gown proving big news on the red carpet over the past 12-18 months, the Jason Wu gown is nonetheless a risky - and some might argue, girly - choice. Not that Michelle Obama is risk-averse: she ignited debate over the red and black Narciso Rodriguez dress that she wore on November 5 when Obama delivered his Victory address. But there is one precedent. Nancy Reagan also chose a white, embroidered, one-shouldered gown - designed by James Galanos - to Ronald Reagan's Inauguration in 1981.
bettman/corbis via instyle
frank scherschel_LIFE©time inc. via instyle


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Jos. A. Bank opening 10 p.m. Thanksgiving night for Black Friday
Add Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. to the list of retailers telling customers they don’t have to wait until Black Friday to start their holiday shopping.
The Hampstead high-end men’s retailer said Friday it will open all 547 of its full-line, company-owned stores on Thanksgiving at 10 p.m. The stores will stay open until 2 a.m. and then reopen four hours later at 6 a.m. Thanksgiving used to be a day when few stores, other than gas stations and convenience stores, were open.
But Jos. A. Bank (NASDAQ: JOSB) joins a growing list of retailers pushing the envelope ever earlier when it comes to the start of the holiday shopping season. Target (NYSE: TGT) will open its stores at 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving. Walmart (NYSE: WMT), Sears (NASDAQ: SHLD), Kmart and Toys “R” Us will open at 8 p.m.
Gary Haber covers Banking, Finance, Insurance, Law
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As the New Year begins, food trend predictions for the months ahead are quick to emerge.
So what will the big flavours and products be for 2014?
By June Maurhart
A “revolution” in the fast food industry, more urban farms, a closer look at where our food is coming from and a return to the simple, healthy vegetable is predicted, along with a revival of childhood memories and food associated stories.
A huge move back into the kitchen, with “housewives” creating businesses around their home industry dishes; fermenting; foraging and a continued focus on the “artisanal”, is very much at the fore.
These are just some of the trends that local chefs and foodies are predicting for 2014 as an increasing number of ordinary people become passionate about cooking and fussier about ingredients.
We can expect a growing obsession with street food – particularly American-style, with hotdogs and hamburgers taking pride of place – along with other American-themed foods. It’s worth noting that all of these items are going to need a roll or a bun to complete the meal.
Key ingredients that are expected to come into the spotlight, according to local experts, include noodles, salt, eggs, “boerekos”, the use of a variety of different oils like macadamia, avocado and grape seed – and of all things, peanut butter.
Trend forecaster Dion Chang says the world should expect a “very, very” big revolution in the fast food industries, thanks to the changing demands of the millennial generation (people born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s).
Even Coca-Cola is targeting the needs of millennials’ palates, moving towards recyclable casings and reduced calories. McDonalds, which took a hard knock and is no longer on the top 10 millennial list of favourite places to go, has started including healthier foods on its menus. According to Chang, we can even expect to see items like gluten-free doughnuts.
In line with a growing awareness of health, it is vegetables that we will see a lot more of, say experts Carianne Wilson of Silwood School of Cookery and food blogger, Samantha Linsell.
Justin Bonello, local chef and TV personality, best known for his cooking/travel shows Cooked and The Ultimate Braai Master, believes the move towards seasonable availability will be bigger than ever.
Some of the main food trends in the year ahead are the on-going popularity of anything artisanal. According to Wilson, home-made bacon and sausages will be all the rage. Some of the major retailers already report that sales of sausage-filling attachments have taken off. Curing and smoking will still be popular. This is good news for some of the suppliers featured in our sister magazine The Butcher.
Kesler would like to see more attention paid to “our daily bread”. “Bread is a staple in most families. I would like to see a more natural product – using quality flour; water, salt and yeast. It is good to see more and more artisanal bakers coming through in South Africa – they deserve our support.”
One potential influence mentioned by many in the industry is the Football World Cup to be held in Brazil during June and July, with Latino flavours expected to influence new product development.
Pundits in the UK predict that Rabanada – a traditional Brazilian breakfast food – may well make it into their morning routines. It is the Brazilian equivalent of French toast, and is covered in a cinnamon, cocoa and sugar mix. Whether this will take-off here in South Africa remains to be seen.
Tosneem Backhouse, sales director of EHL Ingredients (UK) adds, “The Brazilian World Cup is also set to bring some new dishes and flavour combinations to the UK market place, Empadáo (meat and vegetable pie), foods using cassava, and desserts incorporating cinnamon, coconut and berries are all expected to become popular choices this summer.”
Three other UK pundits predictions are that lemon will be a “star ingredient” in pastry this year; artisan bread baskets will be at the forefront of restaurant dining in 2014; that posh marshmallows could be the big new confectionery treat, and be used more and more in cake decorating.
Meanwhile EHL Ingredients, a leading ingredient producer in the UK, has predicted that exotic international food ingredients, foraged foods and free-from and organic are the areas set for a surge in demand this year.
Incidentally for the uninitiated, which I might add includes me, foraged foods are acquired by hunting, fishing, or the gathering of edible plants.
Two other ingredients which it seems are set to be hot ticket items are asafetida and fenugreek. Backhouse says, “These ingredients have been around for a long time, but British consumers are always on the look-out for the next flavour trend and these two are definitely ones to watch this year.”
Looking again at the free-from trend, the company expects demand for arrowroot to continue as well as a number of alternatives to emerge. For example, cassava flour, which is made from ground and cleaned cassava roots, as opposed to the starch powder that is extracted from the roots to create arrowroot. Cassava flour can be used as an effective alternative to wheat flour, thus we expect to see a boom in demand from food manufacturers for other options.”
Well there you have it. How many of these food forecasts will filter through to the local market remains to be seen – arrowroot bread – mmmmm!


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Kia Motors Corp. is recalling nearly 80,000 minivans in the U.S. because a suspension part can break and cause drivers to lose control of the vehicles.
Officials from Bailey’s Choice say a recall of the company’s Teriyaki Chicken Treats has expanded to include Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Delaware and Tennessee.
By Jim Donovan: Honda is recalling 344,000 OHonda is recalling 344,000 Odyssey minivans because of a sensor issue. The problem can cause the vehicle to brake on its own. The recall involves 2007 and 2008 models. […]
The expanded recall includes products distributed in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware that were served at deli counters at grocery stores and other retail food establishments.
Taylor Farms is recalling broccoli salad and slaw sold across 25 eastern and southern states because they contain ingredients that may be contaminated with Listeria.
Nissan Motor Co. is recalling more than 188,000 Nissan and Infiniti SUVs worldwide to fix faulty brake control software that could increase the risk of a crash.
Suzuki is recalling 210,228 motorcycles in the U.S. because the front brakes might not work properly.
Reser’s Fine Foods in Topeka, Kan., is recalling about 22,800 pounds of potentially bacteria-tainted chicken, ham and beef products.
Toyota is recalling 803,000 vehicles in the U.S. because their air bags or power steering could stop working.
By Jim Donovan: The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced a big recall involving more than 2 million dehumidifiers. The CPSC says that the dehumidifiers can overheat, smoke and catch fire. 165 incidents have […]
Johnson & Johnson is recalling 200,000 bottles of Motrin Infants formula due to the risk that they contain tiny plastic particles.
Chobani says it’s recalling some of its Greek yogurt cups that were affected by mold, a move prompted by reports of illnesses by some customers.
Toyota is recalling 200,000 vehicles worldwide for a hybrid-system problem and another 169,000 vehicles for an engine bolt defect.
Dr. Carrie DeLone, Physician General for Pennsylvania, says illnesses related to bagged lettuce have not reached this part of the country.
The products carry the number “EST. 208A” inside the USDA mark. They were produced July 18 and shipped in 40 to 60 pound cases across the country.


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HiPhi 1 offers an outstanding capability to connect between cars, roads and cities. It has more than five hundred sensors, and will be the first production car with a 5G-V2X enabled communication network.
HiPhi is a subsidiary brand of Human Horizons and will be the latest addition to the Human Horizons “3 Smart” strategic blueprint (Smart Vehicle, Smart Transportation and Smart City) for its next generation connected vehicles.
HiPhi 1 will offer the world's first Human Oriented Architecture (HOA), which is self-adaptive and learning to create diversified solutions that will enhance the user experience. Its"neural network" consists of 4 "super brain" domain controllers and 6 MPUs connected by 1G Ethernet providing a higher communication rate than traditional CAN networks. The vehicle is able to analyze massive amounts of information and make decisions, utilizing cloud computing with a powerful data analysis engine, to build a truly intelligent and smart vehicle.
The alliance with China Telecom, one of China's three major telecommunication providers, is the first of its kind and aims to further accelerate the commercialization of 5G in the automotive and mobility industries. The world-first 5G in-vehicle mobile network service will be available in HiPhi 1, the first premium all-electric vehicle from Human Horizons. HiPhi 1 is now entering a period of acceleration towards final production which is expected to commence production by the end of this year, with official deliveries in 2021.
Human Horizons and China Telecom will continue to work together to carry out 5G technology research and implementation in the areas of smart cars, smart transportation and smart cities.
HiPhi is a premium brand created by Human Horizons and enhanced by its users. HiPHi 1 is an EV with a lightweight hybrid-aluminum construction. It also embeds sustainability with the adoption of vegan leather and the use of recyclable materials.


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Is crypto making a comeback?
There are numerous cryptocurrencies being used these days. And Bitcoin stands out from the rest of the pack.
Why? Well, the answer can be summed up to the huge fluctuation of the price. Bitcoin recently soared past $13,000. But,
Bitcoin had lots of eyeballs when the price of a bitcoin surged to $19,783 in 2017. This was a huge difference from 2011, when the price per Bitcoin was $0.30.
But, the Bitcoin bubble burst and the price promptly fell.
Interestingly, Bitcoin came into the scene in 2007 when the developer Satoshi Nakamoto developed it in 2007. However, no one knows who Nakamoto is.
But the first, real-world transaction using Bitcoin took place in 2010 when programmer Laszlo Hanyecz offered to pay 10,000 Bitcoins for a pizza, around U.S. $25.
Watch the brief timeline of Bitcoin in the video above.


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How Amazon's new Bay Area warehouse plays into same-day delivery strategy
Amazon.com's choice of Newark for its first Bay Area distribution center reflects a shift in where the e-commerce giant puts its warehouses: While the company once chose locations in less expensive areas, it's now nestling closer to major population centers as same-day delivery becomes a competitive mandate.
That shift is good news for the city of Newark and Conor Commercial, which speculatively developed the warehouse that Amazon chose. As the Business Journal reported Tuesday night, an Amazon subsidiary just leased the Cherry Logistics Center, a 574,000-square-foot warehouse at 3811 Cherry Ave. in the East Bay city.
Darien Louie, executive director of the East Bay Economic Development Alliance, told me that the project could bring an estimated 400 to 500 new jobs, based on extrapolations from similar projects. Amazon hasn't commented on the project, though it is hiring for Newark on its website.
"I think what's great about this is it brings attention to the diverse pockets we have in this region," Louie said. "Even though warehouse isn't as sexy as our high-tech (office) clusters, we have this too, and we welcome companies coming in."
The Newark deal, which had been rumored among commercial real estate pros for some time, is Seattle-based Amazon's fifth distribution center in California, and the smallest. The others are in San Bernardino, Patterson, Tracy, and Moreno Valley and each runs about 1 million square feet. (Another Amazon-related project in Stockton is run by a third-party logistics company, Menlo Worldwide Logistics.)
More are on the way. Mark Faggiano, founder of the website TaxJar, which assists online sellers in navigating sales tax laws, tracks new Amazon distribution centers for his members. The site lists 76 fulfillment centers in the U.S. and Canada that are either open or planned. That number should jump further if Congress passes the Amazon-backed Marketplace Fairness Act, which would standardize sales-tax collection for e-commerce companies across the country.
Nathan Donato-Weinstein covers commercial real estate and transportation for the Silicon Valley Business Journal.
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Global athletic brand Adidas unveiled a 3D-printed Ocean Plastic shoe midsole in Paris last week. This new midsole was as part of the company’s commitment to help end ocean plastic pollution. The concept shoe consists of an upper made with ocean plastic content and a midsole which is 3D printed using recycled polyester and gill net content. The project is part of Adidas’ continuing partnership with Parley for the Oceans, an initiative that encourages the repurposing of ocean waste.
“World leaders forging an agreement are wonderful, but we shouldn’t need to be told to do the right thing. The industry can’t afford to wait for directions any longer. The 3D-printed Ocean Plastic shoe midsole stands for how we can set new industry standards if we start questioning the reason to be of what we create,” said Eric Liedtke, Adidas group executive board member responsible for global brands. “We want to bring everyone from the industry to the table and create sustainable solutions for big global problems.”
By the end of the first quarter in 2016, Adidas will phase out its use of plastic bags in its retail stores. Additionally, the company has stopped the use of plastic bottles for meetings at its headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany and plans to stop using plastic microbeads in its body care products.


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The fancy new Transformer Prime gets all the attention at the moment, and rightly so. But if you’re hanging on to your original Asus Eee Pad Transformer, or picking up a cheap one in a sweet Black Friday deal, you might want to have a look at this. The Transformer is joining the swelling ranks of phones and tablets with an early version of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, made possible by the recently released open-source code.
This build of Android is very early indeed, currently lacking audio and being generally slow and buggy. But most of the other important hardware works, including WiFi and Bluetooth, making a full demonstration possible. YouTube user BumbleDroid shares credit for the work between himself, the CyanogenMod and AndroidRoot.mobi teams and a few other developers.
Watch it in action below:
Asus has promised an Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade for the original Transformer, in addition the the quick update for the forthcoming Transformer Prime. Nvidia even showed the new software running on the Tegra 3 hardware in a video last week. But we all know it can take a while for manufacturers to get the lead out, and community-built ROMs have their own advantages. The build should be significantly improved in the coming weeks.


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The United Arab Emirates recently announced the new rates of fuel for the month of November.
The prices have increased after three months.
On Monday, October 31, 2022, the UAE fuel price committee announced the retail prices of petrol and diesel for November 2022.
Taking to their official Twitter account, the Emirates General Petroleum Corporation - Emarat wrote, “Monthly Fuel Price Announcement: November 2022 fuel prices released by the #UAE Fuel Price Follow-up Committee”
أسعار الوقود الشهرية: أسعار الوقود لشهر نوفمبر 2022 وفقاً للجنة متابعة أسعار الجازولين والديزل في #الإمارات— Emarat (امارات) (@EmaratOfficial) October 31, 2022
⛽ Monthly Fuel Price Announcement:
November 2022 fuel prices released by the #UAE Fuel Price Follow-up Committee pic.twitter.com/jOk7YR2rPI
From November 1, 2022, Super 98 petrol will be charged at Dh3.32 per litre compared to Dh3.03 in the previous month. Whereas, Special 95 petrol will cost Dh3.20 per litre, compared to Dh2.92 per litre in October.
E-Plus 91 petrol will be available for Dh3.13 per litre, compared to Dh2.85 per litre in October. Diesel will be charged at Dh4.01 per litre, compared to Dh3.76 per litre last month.
The UAE fuel price committee has raised the prices of fuel this month after previously slashing them for three consecutive months.
The fuel price committee raised the prices of petrol and diesel for up to 29 fils per litre for this month. Whereas, in the month of October, the fuel prices were slashed by up to 38 fils per litre.
The price for Super 98 petrol has been raised to 29 fils per litre whereas Special 95 Petrol and E-Plus 91 petrol prices have been raised to 28 fils per litre for November.
However, the retail price for Diesel has been increased to 25 fils per litre.
Cover image source: Facebook


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Womanizer introduces world’s first shower head sex toy
Germany – Sex toy specialist Womanizer has joined forces with premium bathroom and kitchen accessories manufacturer Hansgrohe to create Womanizer Wave, the world’s first shower head sex toy. With research from a 2019 study by QS Supplies showing that 28% of women masturbate in the shower, it seemed appropriate for Womanizer to create a shower device designed for pleasure. Retailing online for £99.99 ($125, €116) from the firm’s parent company Lovehoney, the sex toy embodies a new kind of Neo-collectivism where businesses combine their design know-how.
Both companies conducted nine research projects, 60 interviews and analysed 4,000 responses to questionnaires over three years while testing more than 100 samples in the process. The challenge was to create pressure modes to maximise the user’s pleasure (PleasureJet and PleasureWhirl) while being a regular shower head for normal showers (PowderRain). Eco-conscious consumers will appreciate that the device features EcoSmart technology that offers a 60% reduction in water consumption compared to traditional shower heads, without compromising on comfort.
In Sensory Sex Toys, we previously analysed how the world of phallic sex toys is ripe for disruption as sexual pleasure focuses on the user’s senses.
As younger consumers lift taboos on women’s masturbation, consider how designing for pleasure could boost the wellness market. Design innovators should merge their sector expertise with new kinds of devices and services dedicated to masturbation
The Luminaire launches a Queer Florence educational trip for Pride month
Italy – The naked male body is the subject of a fair amount of Renaissance art, yet classical art has been occulting queer narratives. Launching for Pride month, a historic trip traces back LQBTQ+ influences in Italy.
The Luminaire, a premium travel company offering expert-curated educational excursions, is behind this innovative trip unmasking queer stories of Renaissance Florence. Crafted with the help of art historians, the journey retraces a well-known period of history, looking at it through an LGBTQ+ lens. Participants can tailor their schedule and choose to rediscover world-famous masterpieces and galleries of their liking over three days. Guests can attend a banquet and a masquerade ball in the Palazzo Gondi to finish the trip, which costs from £6,250 ($7,860, €7,300) per person.
‘Exploring the sexual freedom of Renaissance Florence through the eyes of some of her most famous citizens offers a fresh look at an old city and an unexpected connection with the past,’ says Dr Kevin Childs, the art historian who leads the trip and curated the itinerary exploring the question of marginalised identities throughout time.
People are expressing interest in decolonising the arts and seeking experiences that paint the full picture. The Luminaire proves how contemporary brands can do their bit and honour long silenced and undermined voices in history
Dutch start-up plans European intercity air service for 2027
The service aims to provide a quick and eco-friendly alternative for small groups of luxury passengers to travel within a 500km radius in Europe. This includes major cities such as Berlin, London and Paris.
The start-up's Electron5 plane, now in the prototype phase, will accommodate up to four passengers and is designed to take off from regular airports with a runway length of just 800m. It is expected to be able to fly at about 300km per hour and cover a maximum range of 750km on a single charge, enabling efficient short-haul flights.
Electron Aviation is part of the Electric Flying Connection (EFC), a Dutch consortium of companies that recently submitted a funding application to the Dutch Growth Fund to scale battery-electric flying in the country.
The increasing focus on sustainability among travel consumers is causing travel brands to become more malleable and driving the retail and leisure industry in more spontaneous directions. Head to our Mobility series for more eco-friendly solutions and innovations.
Embrace sustainability as inspiration, not limitation. The travel industry should consider how to market smaller, shorter, eco-friendly flights as intimate and hyper-personalised experiences
Stat: Rising number of US consumers turn to non-alcoholic drinks
US – New research released in June 2023 by Mintel reveals that American consumers are increasingly interested in reducing their alcohol consumption. Some 22% of US consumers closely follow a sober-curious lifestyle, while 16% say they do so occasionally. The top reasons Americans say they follow or would follow a sober-curious lifestyle are for physical health (39%), to save money (35%), to make alcohol an occasional indulgence (35%) and for mental health (29%).
‘Our data shows that most sober-curious consumers are primarily interested in turning alcohol into an occasional indulgence,’ says Caleb Bryant, associate director of food and drink at Mintel Reports US. ‘While some alcohol brands may face sales declines stemming from the sober-curious movement, premium alcoholic beverage options may see sales increase as sober-curious consumers treat themselves to high-quality drinks that allow them to achieve their health and wellness goals.’
In Total Tastes, we previously analysed how a rise in interest in non-alcoholic beverages is part of a broader movement in which the intersection between mind and body is driving new approaches to our diets.
Players in the hospitality industry should question their no- and low-alcohol drink offers to respond to growing demand. The price point should also be adjusted, as 73% of consumers believe alcohol substitute drinks should be cheaper than alcoholic drinks, according to Mintel


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Today, id Software and Bethesda Softworks announced that it has moved DOOM Eternal to March 20, 2020 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, with the Switch version coming at a later date. To help mitigate the pain of the news, the developer has also offered Doom 64 as a free pre-order bonus for all platforms, which will also come out on March 20 for all platforms.
In regards to the DOOM Eternal delay, developer id Software had this to say:
Throughout the development of DOOM Eternal, our goal has been to deliver a game that exceeds your greatest expectations across the board.
To make sure we’re delivering the best experience — for DOOM Eternal to live up to our standards of speed and polish — we’ve made the decision to extend our launch date by a few months to March 20, 2020. We know many fans will be disappointed by this delay, but we are confident that DOOM Eternal will deliver a gaming experience that is worth the wait.
In addition to shifting the DOOM Eternal launch date, we’ve made a couple other changes we wanted you to know about:
- Invasion Mode, which will allow you to enter another player’s game as a playable demon, will release as a free update shortly after launch.
- DOOM Eternal for Nintendo Switch will release after the other platforms. We will announce that date in the future.
- DOOM 64 will be available on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC in addition to Nintendo Switch. We are adding DOOM 64 as a pre-order bonus for DOOM Eternal on all platforms so you’ll be able to download and play this classic game, for free, just for pre-ordering DOOM Eternal. DOOM 64 will be released on March 20, 2020 on all platforms.
We are grateful to every DOOM fan for your dedication and support – we can’t wait to rip-and-tear right alongside you.
Check out Travis’ preview of DOOM Eternal, and stay tuned for more news here on Gaming Trend.


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December 18th, China UnionPay and Samsung Electronics announced a partnership with Pay Samsung, will be the first to provide a security chip based Pay Samsung service on the latest Samsung mobile devices in the Chinese mainland area of China UnionPay card holders. UnionPay card holders using Pay Samsung, will be able to enjoy convenient, secure mobile payment experience.
Chai Hongfeng, executive vice president of China UnionPay, said: "the rapid development of mobile payment industry, China UnionPay is committed to opening up and cooperation with the industry parties, to provide consumers with more security, convenient products and services. China UnionPay and Samsung Electronics cooperation, will combine the advantages of both sides in the field of mobile terminals and payment, to bring innovative mobile payment experience for consumers, and further expand the user coverage of the cup cloud flash pay."
RHEE INJONG, vice president of Samsung Electronics, said: Pay Samsung through technological innovation to expand the coverage of mobile payment applications, through a simplified process to optimize the user experience, the use of multiple protection mechanism to protect the safety, so that consumers enjoy more convenient, more secure mobile payment experience. Through cooperation with China UnionPay, and to get China UnionPay card issuers in the front of many banks to support, there will be more mobile payment service users to enjoy mobile payment services to bring security and convenience."
China UnionPay and Samsung Electronics cooperation, through mobile applications Pay Samsung, UnionPay card holders will be able to use their own credit cards and debit cards in Pay Samsung. SamsungPay has three characteristics of simple, easy to use, wide coverage, high security. First, whether the lock screen or a black screen, the user can directly from the screen under the direction of sliding fingertips, out of UnionPay card payment, the operation is very simple. Secondly, Pay Samsung can be in the vast majority of POS terminals in China, including UnionPay cloud flash payment (QuickPass), covering the vast majority of line stores. Third, security, through cooperation with China UnionPay, the application of fingerprint identification, payment mark (Token), KNOX software protection and other three protection technology, Pay Samsung provides users with a safe and reliable transaction protection.
Pay Samsung related products and technologies to strictly follow the Chinese national and financial industry mobile payment standards, and in accordance with the relevant Chinese regulatory authorities to complete the relevant testing and certification, after the official opening of the China UnionPay card holders of this service, is expected to be the fastest in the beginning of 2016.
The future, Chinese, Samsung Galaxy S6 edge, Galaxy Note5 users will be able to use mobile phone software upgrade through the Samsung Pay client, and through the verification of UnionPay card information can be made one mobile phone with UnionPay card "". Pay Samsung future will further enrich the product features, and get more support for Samsung models.


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Every smartphone generation has its theoretical apex, and this generation, every phone maker on the planet appears to be gunning for the all-screen design that will win over consumers. The notch of the iPhone X was a step in the right direction, but other brands have pushed the concept further, and while Samsung has yet to make its move, there is a great deal of mounting evidence that future Galaxy phones will lose their bezels altogether.
Citing industry sources, Korean-language news site Electronic Times reported on Wednesday that Samsung plans to show off its “Sound on Display” (SoD) OLED panels at CES 2019 next month. First announced earlier this year, SoD panels eliminate the need for external speakers and allow the display to emit sound.
By using vibration and bone conduction, Samsung’s Sound on Display technology gives the company the opportunity to place yet another component beneath the screen’s surface, leaving even more room for the display. In addition to showcasing the technology on phone displays, we might also see SoD on upcoming TVs.
What we still don’t know is when this technology will be ready for prime time. Having announced Sound on Display just a few months ago, and with the first major public demonstration supposedly coming at CES in January, it seems unlikely that the Galaxy S10 line will feature in-display sound. That said, there have been rumors to the contrary, so perhaps we shouldn’t give up hope just yet that the S10 will include SoD tech.
CES 2019 begins Tuesday, January 8th and wraps up on Saturday, January 12th. Samsung isn’t the only tech giant working on in-display sound (see: LG), so expect multiple brands showing off the tech this year.


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Los Altos Market Conditions December 2014
- Inventory at historical low
- Price indicators slip
- Pending sales fall
I don’t think inventory has ever been this low (three homes) in Los Altos. It certainly hasn’t been close in the past ten years. The surprising thing is that sales haven’t fallen further. That just says that whatever comes on the market is selling.
November’s median sales price was $2,475,000, down 2% or $56,500 from $2,531,500 in November but 12.5% ($275,000) higher than December 2013’s $2.2 million. The average price per square foot fell from $1,209 in November to $1,136 in December (a 6% decline). One year ago, the average price per square foot was $1,056. Homes sold from 106% of their list price, on average, in December, down from 110% in November and 113% in December 2013.
18 sales closed in December, four more than November’s 14 and one less than December 2013’s 19.
Active listings fell to nearly nothing, with only three at the end of December, about a third of November’s 11 and about half December 2013’s seven. 14 sales went to contract in December, down three from November’s 17. December had the second fewest sales of the year. Only January, with 13, had less. A year ago, only nine sales went to contract. Less than a week of inventory relative to pending sales was available at the end of December, down from more than two weeks at the end of November and three weeks a year ago.
Homes were on the market an average of 24 days in December, up from 13 days in November but less than the 33 days homes were listed in December 2013.
Analysis by Price Range
One property priced under $2 million was on the market at the end of December, the fewest since December 2013. Three homes were actively listed in this segment at the end of November. Seven sales went to contract in December, up from four in November and five a year ago. Inventory relative to pending sales fell from 0.75 months at the end of November to 0.1 month at the end of December. This segment accounted for a third of Los Altos’ inventory and 50% of its pending sales.
No properties were on the market in the $2 million to $2,999,999 price range at the end of December, compared to two at the end of November and three a year ago. Four sales went pending in December, down from seven in November but two more than in December 2013. December’s four sales were 29% of Los Alto’s total.
With two homes available, the $3 million-plus category made up two thirds of Los Alto’s inventory at the end of December, even though that meant only two homes were on the market. That was four less than November’s six and one less than a year ago. Pending sales were cut in half to three in December. No sales went to contract in this segment a year ago. A 0.7 month supply was on the market at the end of December, versus one month at the end of November.


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Zeneca to sue US drug monitor
Tuesday 09 February 1999
The British company took the highly unusual step of suing the US Food and Drug Administration over its decision to allow Gensia Sicor, a small American firm, to produce a cheaper version of its anaesthetic Diprivan.
In a lawsuit filed in the US state of Maryland, Zeneca alleged that the FDA breached an exclusivity agreement and demanded a withdrawal of Gensia's licence.
The little-known US company last month won approval to produce a medicine which uses Diprivan's key ingredient in combination with other substances not contained in the Zeneca product.
The Gensia drug is to be launched later this year and is expected to cost less than Diprivan, an injectable anaesthetic sold to hospitals.
Industry experts believe that it could become a powerful competitor to Diprivan, which last year had sales of $300m in the US and $600m worldwide.
However, the UK group, which is completing its multibillion pound merger with Sweden's Astra, is claiming that the Gensia product breaches a previous agreement with the FDA.
According to Zeneca, the deal gives it exclusive rights over the sale of Diprivan and similar products until June of this year.
The British company is also alleging that Gensia's formulation of the drug could be harmful for patients.
Gensia said it had applied to intervene in the lawsuit between Zeneca and the FDA and added that it would "vigorously protect" its interests.
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Roundy's, Inc. (NYSE:RNDY) is scheduled to report its Q2 2012 results on Thursday, August 9, 2012, after the bell. The Street expects EPS and revenue of $0.43 and $998.13M, respectively.
In this article, I will recap the historical results of the company, its latest EPS estimates vs. surprises, the latest news from Roundy's and the news from its closest competitors.
Recent EPS Actuals vs. Estimates
In the last quarter, Roundy's reported $0.28 EPS, beating analysts' estimates of $0.26.
The consensus EPS estimate is $0.43 based on 5 analysts' estimates. Revenue estimates are $998.13M. Analysts' median target price for the stock is $11.00.
Average recommendation: Overweight
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
- On May 10, 2012, Robert W. Baird downgraded the company from Outperform to Neutral.
- On June 19, 2012, Roundy`s, Inc. announced that for fiscal 2012, it expects sales growth of 2.5%-3.5%, same store sales growth of (1.5%) to (0.5%), adjusted EBITDA of $215-$223 million and earnings per share (NYSEARCA:EPS) in the range of $1.30-$1.42. According to I/B/E/S Estimates, analysts are expecting the company to report revenue of $3.956 billion, EBITDA of $216 million and EPS of $1.35 for fiscal 2012.
- On May 17, 2012, Roundy`s, Inc announced that its Board of Directors has approved the payment of a quarterly cash dividend. The quarterly cash dividend of $0.23 per share will be paid on June 5, 2012, to stockholders of record as of the close of business on May 29, 2012.
- On May 10, 2012, Roundy`s, Inc. announced that for fiscal 2012, it expects sales growth of 2.5%-3.5%, same store sales growth of (1.5%) to (0.5%), adjusted EBITDA of $215-$223 million and earnings per share in the range of $1.11-$1.22.
- On April 24, 2012, Roundy`s, Inc. announced that it reiterated its intention to initiate a quarterly dividend. Subject to declaration by its Board of Directors, the company expects to initiate a quarterly dividend of approximately $0.23 per share on all outstanding shares of common stock during its second fiscal quarter, and sometime after the filing of its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2012.
- On March 1, 2012, Roundy's Parent Company Inc. announced that for fiscal 2012, it expects sales growth of 2.5%-3.5%, same store sales growth of (1.0%) to breakeven percent, adjusted EBITDA of $223-$227 million and earnings per share in the range of $1.16-$1.21.
- On February 8, 2012, Roundy's Parent Company Inc. announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 19,181,818 shares of common stock at a price of $8.50 per share. The shares will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange and will trade under the symbol RNDY beginning February 8, 2012.
Costco (NASDAQ:COST), SUPERVALU (NYSE:SVU), Target (NYSE:TGT), Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ:WFM), and Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) are peers for comparison for Roundy's, and the table below provides the key metrics for these companies and the industry:
The chart below compares the stock price changes as a percentage for the selected companies for the last one year period:
Competitors' Latest Developments
- On July 30, 2012, SUPERVALU Inc announced that Wayne C. Sales has been named President And Chief Executive Officer, replacing Craig R. Herkert. Sales will continue to serve as chairman of the Board.
- On July 25, 2012, Whole Foods Market, Inc. announced that for fiscal 2012, it is raising its diluted earnings per share outlook to $2.51 to $2.52. For fiscal 2013, it expects sales growth approximately in line with fiscal 2012, comps of 6.5% to 8.5%, idents of 6.0% to 8.0%, and diluted earnings per share of $2.83 to $2.87. According to I/B/E/S Estimates, analysts are expecting the Company to report revenue of EPS of $2.47 for fiscal 2012; revenue of $13.13 billion and EPS of $2.83 for fiscal 2013.
- On July 11, 2012, SUPERVALU, Inc. announced that it expects business transformation to meet the customers' demands of lower prices and the company intends to do this while remaining profitable, continuing to pay down debt and investing the capital to maintain and enhance its stores and related assets.
- On July 11, 2012, SUPERVALU, Inc. announced that, in conjunction with its financial advisors, Goldman Sachs and Greenhill & Co., it has initiated a review of strategic alternatives to create value for the company's shareholders.
- On July 5, 2012, Target Corp. announced that, combined with the outlook for July, the company is on track to deliver second quarter sales and adjusted earnings per share in line with the guidance provided at the time of first quarter earnings release.
- On June 15, 2012, Controladora Comercial Mexicana SAB de CV announced that it has reached an agreement to sell its entire stake in Costco de Mexico SA de CV to Costco Wholesale Corp at a total value of MXN 10,650 million.
- On June 13, 2012, Target Corp. announced that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.36 per common share. The dividend is payable September 10, 2012 to shareholders of record at the close of business August 15, 2012.
- On June 13, 2012, Whole Foods Market, Inc. announced that for fiscal 2012, it expects sales growth of about 13%, EBITDA of over $1 billion and earnings per share growth of 23% to 25%. The company reported EPS of $1.93 in fiscal 2011.
- On June 12, 2012, The Economic Times reported that Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. plans to snap ties with companies that supply products to its stores if they are involved in any kind of corrupt practices, making it the first retail company to undertake such a stringent initiative in India.
- On June 11, 2012, Reuters reported that New York City's pension funds became the latest group to file a derivative lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. based on reported allegations of bribery in Mexico and a possible cover-up by Wal-Mart officials.
- On June 6, 2012, Albertsons' Southern California division, a subsidiary of SUPERVALU, Inc. announced plans to reduce its store-level workforce by an estimated 2,200-2,500 positions.
- On May 17, 2012, Wal-Mart Stores Inc announced that, for second quarter of 2013, it expects diluted earnings per share from continuing operations to range between $1.13 and $1.18. According to I/B/E/S Estimates, analysts are expecting the company to report EPS of $1.16 for second quarter of 2013.
- On May 16, 2012, Target Corp. announced that for the second quarter of 2012, it expects adjusted EPS of $1.04 to $1.14 and GAAP EPS of $0.94 to $1.04. For fiscal 2012, the company has raised its guidance by 5 cents and now expects adjusted EPS of $4.60 to $4.80 and GAAP EPS of $4.10 to $4.30. According to I/B/E/S Estimates, analysts were expecting the company to report EPS of $1.00 for the second quarter of 2012; EPS of $4.29 for fiscal 2012.
- On May 8, 2012, Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP announced that a class action suit has been commenced on behalf of an institutional investor in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee on behalf of purchasers of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. common stock during the period between December 8, 2011 and April 20, 2012.
Roundy's has a market capitalization of $443.26M, and is currently trading at $9.81 with a 52 week range of $8.25 - $12.50. The stock's year-to-date performance has been 10.22%. It is currently trading below 20, 50 and 200 SMA.
Sources: Yahoo Finance, Google Finance, Marketwatch, Finviz, Reuters.
Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.


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Markus Haupt has taken over from Herbert Steiner as executive vice-president of production and logistics at Spanish carmaker Seat.
Haupt, who previously worked at Seat, moves from his most recent role at Volkswagen as CEO and plant manager at the VW Navarra plant in Pamplona. He started with VW Group in 2001, working for Seat and Audi in a number of roles, including becoming head of process and project management for Seat Pre-series in 2004, which included helping to launch the Audi A3 at the Seat Martorell plant.
Haupt went on to lead major production projects such as the VW Group’s AO class in Wolfsburg in Germany, and the successful series launch of the T-Roc at the Palmela plant in Portugal. More recently, he has helped drive the group-wide shift in production towards electric mobility.
“Markus is an expert in production and in processes, and he knows Seat very well,” said Wayne Griffiths, president of Seat. “I am pleased that he has accepted the challenge of electrifying the company and he has a clear commitment of making Spain a future hub for electromobility in Europe.”
In other news, Jose Arreche has been appointed as director of the Martorell. He will focus on the transformation of the factory to build electric vehicles from 2025. Arreche, who is an industrial engineer specialised in the application of industry 4.0 technologies. He began his career at Volkswagen Navarra, where he held different positions until being appointed planning director in 2018.
Arreche will report to Haupt. “Jose Arreche joins Seat at a key moment for the Martorell plant,” said Haupt. “His experience will be essential to impulse the transformation of the factory. He assumes the challenge to guarantee the launch of the first 100% electric models while we keep producing combustion and electrified vehicles.”


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Tasmania’s industrial hemp industry to double
By CHRIS PIPPOS
TASMANIA’S industrial hemp industry – even within a climate of red tape and protracted government inaction – is set to double next year to 200ha.
This is according to Industrial Hemp Association of Tasmania president and Bishopsbourne commercial hemp grower Phil Reader, who said high level talks currently taking place in Canberra between state and federal governments could soon result in the shackles being released from the industry, which involves about 15 farmers statewide.jFu
Hemp Can Save the Planet
- Students and faculty at Penn State Behrend are doing research on using hemp as an additive to plastic.
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- Cannabis products heading to Middlemore Hospital
- Cannabis Legislation 2017: We’re Tracking All Legalization Bills
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