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London, England — UK’s reCUP recyclable paper cup with EarthCoating®, has been recognized as fully recyclable by achieving the coveted “Category A Recyclable” certification per The Green Dot (Der Grune Punkt) recycling standards. The Green Dot recognizes standards for recyclability claims in 31 countries including the UK and Ireland. This certification for paper cups with EarthCoating is compliant with the Packaging Recovery Organization Europe “PRO” program per EU Directive 94/62.
Throughout the UK’s coffee cup recycling debate, the underlying challenge is that conventional plastic-coated paper cups are not engineered to be recyclable through widely-available industry-standard recycling equipment, therefore, most are disposed of in landfill. The Green Dot program classifies a conventional paper cup as a plastic-laminated material. There are discussions within Parliament of building a specialist recycling infrastructure over many years, funded by a “Latte Levy” paid by the consumer to address the UK’s annual use of 2.5 billion conventional paper coffee cups.
The reCUP utilizes EarthCoating, a paperboard packaging coating, which is compatible with conventional paper recycling equipment. The Green Dot Certification recognizes paper cups with EarthCoating to be fully recyclable within the “uncoated paper” classification, therefore paper cups with EarthCoating can be recycled into new recycled paper products.
Paper Cups with EarthCoating are a proven solution as production volume over the past 12 months has quickly reached 10 million cups per month.
Since paper cups with EarthCoating are fully recyclable materials, recycling infrastructure investments should be unnecessary and therefore relieves the pressure for public taxes such as the “Latte Levy”.
The double-wall reCUP receiving PRO certification contains these distinctive highlights:
* 90% fiber recovery
* Classification in uncoated paper grades
* Certified as recyclable
* Qualified for baling along with uncoated paperboards (office paper grade and standard OCC)
* Qualified for collection in municipal mixed paper bales
“EarthCoating has enabled a new direction in the recycling of paperboard foodservice packaging” says Chris Tilton, Chief Materials Technology Officer at Smart Planet. “Paperboard packaging with EarthCoating is engineered for recycling and valuable to recyclers to collect and recycle, while achieving the required levels of packaging performance combined. The cerification demonstrates the ability to take immediate steps to solve the problem, using today’s UK recycling infrastructure.”
The Green Dot Certificate is available in the EarthCoating Repulping Report at http://www.smartplanettech.com
HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA, July 25, 2018— As the surf kicks up for the US Open of Surfing,across the street, Pacific City retail development will be kicking up the first wave of a paper cup recycling program for Southern California and the nation.
Traditionally, paper cups have typically been sent to landfill, because the inner lining of plastic is not designed to process through paper recycling equipment.
During the US Open of Surfing, Pacific City will be using a new paper cup called reCUP®, a paper cup with a redesigned inner lining that is universally recyclable in traditional paper recycling equipment. Guests of the property will see these environmentally-friendly reCUPs launch throughout Pacific City during the U.S. Open of Surfing.
Using a paper cup that’s designed to be recycled, enables systems to be put in place for the recycling of paper cups.
The property is also adding dedicated paper cup recycling receptacles throughout the common areas as Pacific City is participating in Southern California’s new reCUP® Recycling Initiative, a closed-loop recycling program for reCUP® paper cups. The initiative is a blueprint to address paper cup and single-use paperboard packaging waste nationwide through recycling rather than landfill.
ReCUPs are distributed by 4 Blue Waves, a local food service packaging distributor of environmentally-friendly packaging, founded by core volunteers of the Surfrider Foundation, Huntington/Seal Beach Chapter. Receptacles will be provided by Busch Systems, and recycling of reCUPs coordinated by Allan Company, one of the largest independent recyclers in the Western United States.
“We’re thrilled to support such an advancement in sustainable retail property sustainability practices” said Jen Williams General Manager of Pacific City. “For every ton of reCUPs collected, we save: 5 trees, 1,601 gallons of water, 524 hours of electricity and 51 gallons of oil”
As major brands around the world continue to grapple with waste such as paper cups, Pacific City is taking immediate steps to solve this problem and leading the recyclability charge by showing what is possible today.
To learn more about Pacific City, visit www.gopacificcity.com
To learn more about reCUP®, visit reCUP.earth
One of Ireland’s leading forecourt retailers, Applegreen has confirmed that, from July, the brand will replace all non-recyclable single-use cups in stores with a new 100% recyclable cup created by reCUP™
Applegreen has partnered with reCUP™ to introduce the first commercially available paper cup that uses Earth Coating, a fully recyclable lining engineered to be processed easily through traditional paper recycling equipment and to be recycled into new paper products. Both the cup and the lid can be added to your regular recycling bin at home or at work, so customers can enjoy the best coffee on the road safe in the knowledge that they can recycle it, once they reach their office, home or nearest recycling bin!
Speaking at announcement today Conor Lucey Head of Operations at Applegreen Plc commented “At Applegreen we are extremely passionate about reducing our impact on the environment. Every day in Ireland, approximately 2 million paper coffee cups are being diverted to landfills because the interior plastic coating makes them very difficult to recycle. We are delighted to be able to make the switch and play our part in reducing non-recyclable waste.”
This isn’t the first move Applegreen has taken towards sustainability. The brand, which was founded 26 years ago, has been actively working through the years on recycling and waste minimisation through the use of ‘green’ suppliers, sustainable materials, bio-diversity, energy management and water efficiency.
The SuperCup is an earth friendly, space saving and ergonomically designed paper cup for the airline cabin product industry.
Newport Beach, CA, May 10, 2018 — Linstol, a leading distributor for the airline cabin product industry, has completed a license agreement from Smart Planet Technologies, to use EarthCoating in Linstol’s new “Super Cup” paper cup offering for the airline industry.
Airlines across the industry strive to meet sustainability objectives to reduce disposable packaging waste, and improve recycling rates in its operations. Globally, disposable paper coffee cups are known to be particularly difficult to recycle because of the polyethylene plastic coating on the interior. Therefore, paper cups have been typically sorted to be disposed of in landfills. It is estimated that 15 billion coffee cups wind up in US landfills annually.
Linstol’s Super Cup, uses EarthCoating in its interior, a coating that is fully-compatible with traditional paper recycling systems, thereby the “Super Cup” is a paper cup that is designed to be recycled universally, while containing 43% less plastic content than a traditional paper cup.
The Super Cup is designed with a smaller storage footprint, with a 40% reduction in storage space, and allowing more cups per sleeve.
The features of the Super Cup make it a very attractive and cost-effective eco-friendly offering for the airline industry, and a demonstration by an airline to its passengers of the airline’s commitment to improve the sustainability of its operations. Linstol CEO, Mark Russell, states “Helping reduce our airline partners’ environmental footprint is an initiative that is at the core of who Linstol is.”
To learn more, visit linstol.com
Linstol is a leading supplier of in-flight passenger products for the airline industry. With a home office in Naples, Florida, and four office locations globally, Linstol has supplied more than 175 worldwide airlines with a compelling range of more than 300 different cabin-related passenger products over the past two decades.
About Smart Planet Technologies
Smart Planet Technologies is a materials engineering company focused on advancements in sustainability for the packaging industry. Through innovation, our technologies are focused to conserve precious natural resources and provide high quality, environmental alternatives to a wide variety of disposable packaging applications.
A new closed-loop collection program for reCUPs, paper cups engineered for recycling, gives Southern California businesses a sustainable paper cup solution
Newport Beach, CA, April 9, 2018 — Smart Planet Technologies has launched the first reCUP® Recycling Initiative with support from Southern California based recycling partners, Allan Company, a materials recovery facility (MRF) and Replenysh, a closed-loop collection platform provider.
“Allan Company is pleased to partner with Smart Planet Technologies via the reCUP® Recycling Initiative. Founded in 1963, Allan Company is an industry leader who is constantly looking to identify new recyclable materials and to create new markets to process those materials. Smart Planet Technologies’ reCUP is an innovative fiber cup solution made with EarthCoating® that Allan Company is proud to recycle” said Ryon Hart, Retail Accounts Manager for Allan Company.
It has been estimated that over 15 billion paper coffee cups get diverted to U.S. landfills each year. Traditional plastic-coated paper cups are typically too difficult for paper recyclers to process through their existing paper recycling equipment. However, reCUPs are made using EarthCoating®, which make them easy to process using todays paper recycling infrastructure, while using 51% less plastic. This affords businesses, retailers, schools, office buildings and venues throughout Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego counties an opportunity to use reCUPs and have them collected and processed into recycled paper.
“Since post-industrial and post-consumer reCUP materials are easy for paper recyclers to process, and therefore valuable to collect, we’re providing businesses with a way to take responsibility for their waste and close the loop on it. Our platform allows customers to keep track of their landfill diversion impact and potentially participate in revenue sharing for the materials that we collect and sell to the recycling center.” said Mark Armen, owner of Replenysh.
Smart Planet Technologies received the 2017 Green Arrow Award from the California Product Stewardship Council for the development of reCUPs in support of CA landfill waste diversion goals. Interested businesses may now purchase reCUPs through a variety of domestic and international suppliers including CupPrint, Detpak, The Recyclable Cup Company, and Evelina Eco.
About Smart Planet Technologies
Smart Planet Technologies is a materials engineering and intellectual property company focused on material advancements for the packaging industry. Our proprietary EarthCoating® solutions use less plastic and support recyclability initiatives compared to traditional plastic-coated paperboard packaging materials.
About Allan Company
Allan Company believes that recycling has an important role to play in the health of our country and our planet. The more efficient, the more thorough, and the more self-sustaining our recycling efforts are, the more good we can do.
Replenysh is the next generation reuse and recycling solution. We are creating the building blocks of the circular economy—helping brands close the loop on their products and proving an amazing experience for customers.
To learn more about the reCUP® Recycling Initiative, visit www.recyclecups.org
Paul Foot, a partner and patent attorney at intellectual property firm Withers & Rogers, explores innovation in the context of the proposed ‘latte levy’.
With increasing numbers of food and drink outlets offering takeaway beverages in disposable packaging, it is unlikely that the issue of packaging recycling is going to go away any time soon. The UK alone uses 2.5 billion paper coffee cups every year.
The composition of drinks packaging lies at the root of the problem. Due to the nature of the product they hold – liquid beverages – drinks packaging needs to be sturdy and water resistant. In order to achieve this, packaging manufacturers have adopted a method by which a plastic laminate is co-extruded onto a paper or card sheet. The end result is a waterproof material, which consists of about five per cent plastic.
Plastic is not a biodegradable substance and the issue of recycling coffee cup packaging stems more from the separation of this plastic laminate from the cardboard layer. If these two layers can’t easily be separated in the recycling process, there is a risk of contaminating the paper pulp, causing further issues down the line.
There are recycling facilities around the world that can successfully undertake this kind of process. However, due to the complex and costly plant and machinery required, they are not widely available in the UK. In fact, there are only four recycling companies globally that have this capability, meaning only six million cups are recycled per year (i.e. only 0.25%).
Stronger incentives are needed
The war on drinks packaging waste is being led by France, where the Government has announced plans to ban all disposable cups and plates by 2020. Whilst a similar approach has not yet been adopted in the UK, calls to find solutions to the coffee cup dilemma have intensified.
In 2016, the Liberal Democrats proposed the introduction of a 5p levy on all disposable coffee cups, but this call was rejected. This debate has been reignited with a report issued in December 2017 by the Environmental Audit Committee. This report suggests that, similar to the plastic bag charge (which has proved to reduce the use of plastic bags by 83%), a coffee cup charge of at least 25p could reduce the use of disposable cups by up to 30%.
If such a levy was introduced, the funds could be allocated to invest in improved recycling infrastructure and reprocessing facilities. While this would have a positive effect, it wouldn’t necessarily provide a long-term solution, and it would take a long time to implement.
Stronger legal measures, such as those applied in France would have greater effect. For example, a move to ban all disposable coffee cups by a certain date would force manufacturers and coffee retailers to invest heavily in R&D activities to find new recycling or manufacturing methods or innovative new cup materials.
Some retailers have already introduced schemes to try and dissuade consumers from using disposable coffee cups. In particular, there has been a push for the adoption of reusable cups but this approach is unlikely to gain widespread appeal and current uptake is only around 1%. The convenience of being able to collect takeaway drinks as and when needed will be hard to overcome, even if discounts are available to those bringing a reusable cup. Such discounts alone are unlikely to change behaviour significantly.
Innovating the way to the future
Fresh approaches are urgently needed to tackle this recycling problem. This is likely to involve sector design specialists and others across the supply chain working together to find a holistic solution to reduce drinks packaging waste.
A number of major players in the coffee cup industry – Benders Paper Cups, Bunzl Catering Supplies, Caffe Nero, Dart Products Europe, Greggs, Huhtamaki International Paper, McDonald’s UK, Nestle, Pret a Manger, Seda Group, Starbucks and Stora Enso – recently signed up to an agreement with the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE UK), with the aim of working towards a long-term solution. However, to date, examples of innovation activity appear few and far between.
Instead, there are some signs of progress from a number of smaller, innovation-led businesses. Set up in 2016 by entrepreneur Martin Myerscough, Frugalpac has developed an alternative cup design. In their design, instead of virgin paper laminated with a thin layer of plastic, the cup has a plastic liner that is lightly glued in place, so that it can be easily separated from its recycled cardboard shell at a standard paper recycling mill. Recycled board can be used in this way as no part of the board needs to be in contact with the drink itself, in which case virgin paper stock would be required for regulatory reasons. Frugalpac has protected this concept with a UK patent – GB2538429 – and is currently in talks with several major coffee retailers to supply their cups.
Another recent innovation is the ‘reCUP’, by Smart Planet Technologies Inc in California, USA. Unlike the coating of standard paper cups, the makers of the reCUP claim that its ‘EarthCoating’ formation can be easily washed out in the recycling process; allowing the paper to be recycled. They also claim that no changes need to be made to the cup manufacturing process and the cost of materials remains the same. In theory at least, this innovation has much potential and could solve many of the problems associated with standard cups.
Opportunities and threats
It is clear there is no quick-fix solution to the problem of coffee cup recycling and there are many factors to consider. However, for established cup manufacturers and recyclers, there is a danger they will lose the initiative to start-up businesses who are able to see the problems and solutions in a new light, and disrupt the industry. Therefore, they need to aggressively meet this challenge with new solutions, even if it means their existing business could suffer in the short term. Otherwise, they risk being the Nokia of the paper cup industry.


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The strength of the 2014 economic recovery isn’t being questioned at Old Dominion Freight Line and Saia, two of the most profitable U.S. less-than-truckload carriers.
News pertaining to less than truckload shippers, small freight, parcel carriers and more.
News & Analysis
31 Jul 2014
The strengthening U.S. economy, a second-quarter surge in freight and higher rates boosted revenue and profit at Con-way’s less-than-truckload, logistics and truckload divisions.
31 Jul 2014
Roadrunner Transportation Systems reaped the benefits of an aggressive acquisition strategy in the second quarter, as truckload revenue soared year-over-year. Robust truckload and brokerage revenue helped compensate for weaker growth in less-than-truckload sales.
30 Jul 2014
More shippers contracting with C.H. Robinson Worldwide shifted loads from railroad to highway in the second quarter after seeing intermodal rail service deteriorate.
28 Jul 2014
Fresh from acquiring U.S. truckload carrier Transport America, Canadian trucking giant TransForce is offering nearly C$500 million for Contrans, a publicly owned Woodstock, Ontario-based holding company specializing in bulk, flatbed, and tank trucking.
26 Jul 2014
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association met for three days this past week without concluding negotiations; at the weekend, the parties announced a week-long recess in the talks. German carrier Hamburg Süd announced plans to acquire the container operations of Chile’s CCNI, in a move resembling the deal between larger competitor Hapag-Lloyd and Chile’s CSAV, and Crowley is reported to be in talks to acquire Horizon Lines’ Puerto Rico assets. Earnings reports by U.S. truckload carriers are pointing to a stronger freight recovery in the United States, though rail service continues to be held back. And on Friday, Anne S. Ferro announced her departure from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration after five years leading the agency.
22 Jul 2014
Roadrunner Transportation drove deeper into the non-asset logistics business this week by acquiring Integrated Services, a $21 million Midwestern regional logistics provider.
18 Jul 2014
Manufacturing growth in Canada’s central province of Ontario is boosting freight traffic with the U.S. and increasing demand for faster cross-border trucking service.
15 Jul 2014
Logistical changes that focus on making high-density lanes for core trucking customers could be at the center of the trucking industry’s attempts to quell imbalance and driver shortages.
14 Jul 2014
Yusen Logistics has expanded its cross-border trucking services for Indochina with the launch of a temperature-controlled less-than-truckload service for food products moving between Vietnam and Cambodia.

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Fake images are becoming more prevalent and convincing, posing a threat to the credibility of online content. To counter this, camera makers Nikon, Sony, and Canon are developing technology that will embed digital signatures in their cameras, providing proof of origin and integrity for the images.
Digital signatures are a form of encryption that can be used to verify the authenticity and integrity of digital data. They contain information such as the date, time, location, and photographer of the image, and are resistant to tampering. They can also be used to sign documents, emails, and transactions online.
Digital signatures are created using a pair of keys: a private key and a public key. The private key is kept secret by the owner, while the public key is shared with others. The private key is used to generate a signature for the data, while the public key is used to verify the signature. If the data or the signature is altered, the verification will fail.
Why do camera makers need digital signatures?
Camera makers need digital signatures to combat the rising threat of fake images, especially those created or manipulated by artificial intelligence (AI). Fake images, also known as deepfakes, can be used to spread misinformation, defame people, or influence public opinion. For example, this year, deepfake videos of former US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida went viral, raising questions about the trustworthiness of online content.
Camera makers also need digital signatures to protect the credibility of their customers, especially professionals such as photojournalists, who rely on the accuracy and integrity of their work. Digital signatures can help them prove the source and validity of their images, and prevent unauthorized use or alteration.
How are camera makers implementing digital signatures?
Nikon, Sony, and Canon are working on embedding digital signatures in their cameras, which will act as proof of origin and integrity for the images. Nikon will offer this feature in its mirrorless cameras, while Sony and Canon will incorporate it in their professional-grade mirrorless SLR cameras. The three camera giants have agreed on a global standard for digital signatures, which will make them compatible with a web-based tool called Verify.
Verify, launched by an alliance of global news organizations, technology companies, and camera makers, will allow anyone to check the credentials of an image for free. Verify will display the relevant information if an image has a digital signature. If artificial intelligence creates or alters an image, Verify will flag it as having “No Content Credentials”.
The new camera technology is expected to be available by 2024. Sony will lead the charge with a spring 2024 release, followed by Canon later that year. Sony is also exploring the extension of this technology to videos, while Canon is developing a similar video authentication technology. The companies have already conducted field tests with media outlets like The Associated Press.
How are other technology companies joining the fight against fake images?
Other technology companies are also joining the fight against fake images. Google has released a tool that adds invisible digital watermarks to AI-generated pictures, which can be detected by another tool. Intel has developed technology that can analyze the skin color changes of subjects in images, which indicate the blood flow under their skin, and use that to determine the image’s authenticity. Hitachi is working on technology to prevent online identity fraud by verifying user images.
The need for such technology is evident, as fake images are becoming more sophisticated and widespread. For instance, China’s Tsinghua University researchers have developed a new generative AI technology called a latent consistency model, which can produce about 700,000 images daily. These images are so realistic that they can fool human eyes and existing detection methods.
Digital signatures in cameras are a promising step towards leveraging technology to ensure a sustainable, trustworthy, and secure online environment.


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Major advertisers including DirecTV, Dyson, Forbes, Mazda, and PBS Kids have suspended or canceled advertising campaigns on Twitter because their ads were appearing next to tweets promoting and soliciting child pornography.
Children’s and family entertainment brands like from Walt Disney, NBCUniversal and Coca-Cola Co were also among more than 30 large advertisers that appeared on the profile pages of Twitter accounts pushing links to the degenerate material, Reuters reported, following its review of research about child sex abuse online conducted by the cybersecurity group Ghost Data.
Reuters reported internal Twitter research that showed adult pornography images make up about 13% of all Twitter content.
Ghost Data told Reuters it identified the more than 500 accounts that openly shared or requested child sexual abuse material over a 20-day September period. Twitter failed to remove more than 70% of the accounts during the study period, according to the group.
While Reuters was unable to independently confirm the accuracy of Ghost Data’s claims, its own review revealed dozens of accounts that remained online and were soliciting materials for "13+" and "young looking nudes,” as well as tweets that included key words related to "rape" and “teens” appearing alongside promoted tweets from corporate advertisers.
Some selected quotes or the lack thereof from brands in the Reuters coverage:
COLE HAAN: "We're horrified. Either Twitter is going to fix this, or we'll fix it by any means we can, which includes not buying Twitter ads.”
FORBES: “Twitter needs to fix this problem ASAP, and until they do, we are going to cease any further paid activity on Twitter.”
MAZDA: "There is no place for this type of content online. The company is now prohibiting its ads from appearing on Twitter profile pages.”
WALT DISNEY: “The content is reprehensible. We are doubling-down on our efforts to ensure that the digital platforms on which we advertise, and the media buyers we use, strengthen their efforts to prevent such errors from recurring.”
COCA COLA: “We do not condone the material being associated with our brand. Any breach of these standards is unacceptable and taken very seriously.”
NBCUNIVERSAL: “We have asked Twitter to remove the ads associated with the inappropriate content.”
SCOTTISH RITE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL: The Texas-based children’s hospital did not return multiple requests for comment.
Incidentally, if you only read the advertising trade magazines (except for MediaPost) or the “deplorable” kind of news media, you might not even be aware that the child pornography tsunami finally broke badly for Twitter this week. Why is that?


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Founders Don’t Want to Sell Their Companies to You
Only 16 percent of entrepreneurs want to go public and only 7 percent want to be bought by a private equity firm, according to pre-seed investor Techstars.
The initial public offering market is frozen, but entrepreneurs say they don’t want to go public anyway.
Only 16 percent of entrepreneurs say they want to go public, according to an inaugural survey of innovation by Techstars, a pre-seed investor that has funded 3,400 start-ups.
But more than one-third, or 36 percent, of entrepreneurs want to be purchased by a larger technology company and more than one quarter, or 28 percent, say they plan to stay independent in the long-term, according to the report.
Maëlle Gavet, CEO of Techstars, said the lack of interest in an IPO is a relatively new phenomenon. “It was widely accepted that when you were building a start-up, you may end up being acquired on your way to an IPO, but the idea was that an IPO [would be] the primary goal,” she told II.
Growth equity also is new to the start-up world. Seven percent of entrepreneurs want to be acquired by private equity, according to the survey.
Techstars based the result on a survey of over 1,600 venture capital professionals, with the majority being founders or co-founders of start-up companies. Most respondents are based in North America and the Asia-Pacific region.
The survey was conducted between December 2022 and January 2023, a period when the IPO market remained largely inactive and valuations of private companies were plunging. IPO value dropped sharply from $155.8 billion in 2021 to $8.6 billion in 2022, according to the annual IPO report by Ernst & Young. The exit environment continued to deteriorate this year. Global IPOs raised a total of $21.5 billion in the first quarter, down 61 percent from the same period in 2022, according to EY. The ApeVue 50 Benchmark Index, which tracks the valuations of late-stage private companies, was down 38 percent year-over-year in 2022. The exit environment continues to deteriorate in 2023.
Start-up companies have been rethinking their strategic priorities in response to the worsening exit environment. About one-third of entrepreneurs plan to focus on improving their products and expanding their customer base in the short term, according to the Techstars report. Entrepreneurs are putting off thinking about raising money or being able to turn their companies into profit-makers. Only 19 percent of entrepreneurs said fundraising was a short-term goal.
Founders are focused on growing revenue. “The reason to do that is because in an environment where fundraising is a lot harder, if you show a more sustainable growth rate…it will give you more time until you need to raise [the next round] and make you more attractive to investors,” said Gavet.
“We spend less time at the moment thinking about exit scenarios,” Stephen Phillips, CEO of the the music start-up Splash, told Techstars. “We’re being proactive about managing our capital and costs in an effort to remain independent and as focused on our mission as possible (rather than raising money or contemplating exit scenarios.)”


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During difficult economic times, import competition allows American families to keep their heads above water by delivering lower prices on staples such as food, clothing, and shoes. The prices we pay for goods exposed to global trade tend to rise more slowly than inflation or even fall. The expansion of product variety alone from trade delivers an estimated $400 billion a year in benefits to American families because of increased consumer satisfaction, according to a 2004 study by Christian Broda and David E. Weinstein for the National Bureau of Economic Research.
No consumers benefit proportionally more from trade than the poor, and nobody suffers more from existing trade barriers. The imported fresh fruit and vegetables, T‐shirts and discounted sneakers sold at big‐box retailers loom especially large in the budgets of poor and middle‐class families.
Perversely, the highest remaining US trade barriers are aimed at products that are disproportionately made by poor people abroad and consumed by poor people at home. The $25 billion the US government collects each year through import tariffs is the most regressive tax in the federal arsenal. According to a study by the Progressive Policy Institute, a single mother earning $20,000 a year pays a much higher share of her income for import duties than a manager earning $100,000 a year. Labor unions and other groups that oppose tariff‐lowering trade agreements are unwittingly serving a status quo that is punishing the poor.
Despite what the populists tell us, the consumer benefits of trade have not come at the expense of jobs or wages. As a candidate for president in 2007, Barack Obama was echoing CNN’s Lou Dobbs when he told a cheering union crowd in Chicago that importing lower‐priced T‐shirts from developing countries was not worth the loss of jobs. “People don’t want a cheaper T‐shirt if they’re losing a job in the process,” he said. “They would rather have a job and pay a little bit more for a T‐shirt.”
Like most politicians, candidate Obama chose to represent a small but noisy special interest at the expense of the large majority of Americans. Only one‐third of one percent of American workers are engaged in making clothing and textiles of any kind. That compares to the virtually 100 percent of Americans who buy and wear T‐shirts and other clothing. If Americans are forced to pay higher prices because of import restrictions, a small number of jobs would be “saved” but at a huge cost to working families.
Across the entire US economy, trade accounts for a small share of job displacement. For every worker displaced by trade or outsourcing, 30 American workers typically lose their jobs because of other factors – most commonly technological change, but also domestic competition and changing consumer tastes. Think of the 30,000 workers at Kodak that have been laid off in the past five years, not because of imports, but because of the popularity of digital cameras and plunging film sales. My former calling, the newspaper business, has been hemorrhaging jobs since 2001, not because of unfair trade, but because of Craigslist and changing reader habits. “Job churn” is a fact of life in a dynamic, open economy.
A Big Lie of the trade debate is that we have been surrendering middle‐class manufacturing jobs for low‐paying service jobs. Since the early 1990s, the US economy has lost more than 3 million manufacturing jobs, but during that same period the economy has added 18 million service‐sector jobs that are typically better paying. In fact, since 1991, two‐thirds of the net new jobs created in US economy are in sectors such as health care, education, and business and professional service where the average pay is higher than in manufacturing.
The American middle class today earns its keep from better‐paying service sector jobs. Knock on doors in a typical middle‐class American neighborhood and you will meet teachers, managers, carpenters, architects, engineers, computer specialists, truck drivers, accountants and auditors, police officers and fire fighters, insurance and real estate agents, registered nurses and other health care professionals, and self‐employed business owners.
Beyond American shores, falling trade barriers and the spread of technology have created a more prosperous, democratic, and peaceful world. Again, this may seem a counter‐intuitive argument in the face of daily headlines about a global recession and ongoing violence in the Middle East and Africa, but here too we need to step back and assess long‐term trends.
The past three decades of expanding trade and globalization have witnessed dramatic global progress. Between 1981 and 2005, the share of the world’s population living on the equivalent of $1.25 a day dropped by half, from 52 to 25 percent, according to the World Bank. In China alone, the number in absolute poverty fell by 600 million. During this same period, real gains have been made in life expectancy, infant survival, nutrition, and literacy. Child labor rates have fallen by more than half. It is not a coincidence that the most dramatic gains against poverty have occurred in those countries that have most aggressively opened themselves to the global economy.
Meanwhile, as a global middle class has emerged, so too have more democratic forms of government. Trade has spread tools of communication and spurred the growth of civil society as an alternative to centralized government. As a result, the share of the world’s population living in countries that respect civil liberties and the right to vote has climbed from 35 percent in 1973 to 46 percent today, according to Freedom House.
Fewer people are dying in wars today than in past decades, in large part because commerce has replaced military competition. Global commerce has allowed nations to gain access to resources through trade rather than conquest, while deeper economic integration has brought former enemies together and raised the cost of war. Even with the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, young American adults living today are far less likely to fight and die in wars than their counterparts in the 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s.
America and the world face daunting tasks today, as in generations past, but expanding trade is part of the solution, not part of the problem. Americans should have the same warm feelings toward free trade and globalization as they do toward iPods, email, online shopping, a well‐fed child going off to school, and peace on earth.


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Mazda has enhanced its SKYACTIV-G engine series with the range-topping SKYACTIV-G 2.5T.
Mazda MX-5 and Mazda CX-3 win…
Mazda debuts the 2016 Mazda CX-3 at the 2014 Los Angeles Auto Show. The new compact crossover SUV is the fifth model in Mazda’s line-up of new-generation vehicles that feature the full range of SKYACTIV Technology and KODO—Soul of Motion design.
Standing at the vanguard of Mazda’s new-generation product lineup, CX-5 was the first model to fully adopt SKYACTIV TECHNOLOGY and the KODO—Soul of Motion design language.
The only thing better than the all-new 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata is a personalized 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata.
Debuting in 2012 as the flagship model in Mazda’s new-generation product lineup, Mazda6 earned high acclaim in markets around the world thanks to the alluring vitality of the KODO—Soul of Motion design language and SKYACTIV Technology’s balance of driving pleasure, environmental performance and safety.
All new in 2014, Mazda 3 is in its third generation and with nearly four million vehicles sold worldwide continues to be the brand’s best-selling vehicle in North America and globally.
YOUR HOME FOR AUTO NEWS AND AUTO INDUSTRY UPDATES.


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Data from analytics company Appfigures shows Lemon8 reached its peak number of downloads in the U.S. in September last year. The app saw 525,000 installs that month after launching in February 2023, although the lifestyle-sharing app retains a sizable user base in Asia.
TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is behind the photo and video-sharing platform which allows users to link their Instagram and TikTok accounts to broaden their reach.
Users can interact with content from others they follow, as well as curated content suggested by the app’s algorithm based on their interests and searched-for topics, which is reported to be the same algorithm as TikTok’s.
While it doesn’t support vertical video scrolling like TikTok, it offers an aesthetically pleasing Pinterest-like grid of visual-first content. Content is linked to specific topics, so any user searching for a trending topic can easily find relevant posts.
Photo carousels are one of the most popular post types by users, with built-in editing tools and the ability to add longer captions similar to those on Pinterest.
The app first launched in 2020 and has since amassed an impressive user base in Japan and Thailand, where it’s been downloaded by more than 7.4 million and 5 million users respectively, according to data from app analytics company data.ai.
Lemon8 saw a surge in popularity following its launch in the U.S., even reaching the number one spot in the App Store for lifestyle apps.
The looming possibility of a ban on TikTok in the U.S., due to pending legislation at the time, likely boosted the numbers of downloads early on.
With the impact of TikTok avoiding a nationwide ban and user complaints of its algorithm pushing irrelevant content, the app once poised to replace TikTok has seemingly lost relevance within the U.S. market.
It remains popular globally, with more than 25 million global downloads since its launch.


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Blenderz to open on Evansville's North Side after facing delays due to COVID-19
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — A new smoothie and yogurt bar is set to open on the North Side Monday.
Located at 4301 North First Avenue, the former Walgreens building has been completely transformed, including a new eye-catching patio.
Blenderz owner Brent Counts said the menu is health-focused without sacrificing taste.
Their smoothies are made to order with options for fruit or vegetable-based drinks. Counts said there are also burner blends that have metabolism boosters added, recovery blends with added amino acids and muscle blends with added glutamine.
"You can also pick what you want; my menu is set that way. You can customize anything you want, make your own and mix and match," Counts said.
Every smoothie will include the option of having 20 grams of protein added as well the choice of a supplement, such as multivitamins.
Counts said he sees the passionfruit orange guava smoothie being a popular summer choice.
The menu has been in the works for eight years as Counts used his experience traveling to research what other markets had to offer and brought back what he thought would be the best fit for Evansville.
He said Blenderz has something everyone will like and an inviting atmosphere.
In addition to the line of smoothies, there is also a self-serve acai bowl and yogurt bar. There will be an array of toppings for customers to choose from including fresh fruits and nuts.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions around self-service and buffet-style options, the yogurt bar will not be open Monday. Counts said he's waiting to hear from local officials on when those restrictions can be lifted.
In the meantime, he will offer pre-packaged yogurt cups to customers.
While people can eat inside or out on Blenderz's colorful patio, there is also a drive-thru option.
Counts originally planned to host the grand opening in early March but the virus outbreak impeded many of his plans. When it was announced restaurants could re-open with limited capacity, he re-ordered supplies for his eatery. Supply chain disruptions have delayed the arrival of many things, but he's working through them to open Monday.
"COVID has turned this into a nightmare, but we're working. The response so far from people has been doubled what I thought it would be. I’m overjoyed and humbled. So I'm excited," Counts said.
He has plans to make Blenderz a community-based space. There will be meeting rooms in the back he will allow local organizations to use free of charge. During the school year, a couple of times a week Blenderz will host free homework help sessions for kids.
There will also be free wifi and outlets spread out, including at the patio area for those who want to work outside.
"I just felt a need in the community for a fun, safe place to hang out and have healthy options at the same time," Counts said.
Updates about Blenderz opening and offering will be posted on its Facebook Page.
Hours will be 7a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.


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It's a lot cheaper to start a tech company than it used to be in the bad old days of the first dot-com boom.
There are no truckloads of servers to buy anymore.
But for e-commerce startups, the price is going up, says Genevieve Thiers, founder of SitterCity.
Speaking at Crain's Tech Talk Live panel Thursday night, she noted that e-commerce companies also have to build mobile apps as well as websites.
“I think we built proof-of-concept at SitterCity for $10,000. Now it's probably $80,000 because you have to build a site and build all the apps,” she says.


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UK Release Date for 20th Anniversary Optimus Prime?
Wednesday, April 26th, 2006 6:28am CDTCategories: Toy News, Rumors, Store News
Posted by: Alex Kingdom Views: 24,018
Although this is by no means confirmed it does tally with the previous news that Prime would be released in May. Keep your eyes peeled UK fans and report you sightings here at the SEIBERTRON.com Sighting Section.
This article was last modified on Wednesday, April 26th, 2006 6:47am CDT


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Detroit 3 execs warn Vice President Mike Pence of NAFTA withdrawal costs
Leaders of the Detroit Three automakers met Monday with Vice President Mike Pence and the Trump administration's top trade official to discuss their differences over continuing the North American Free Trade Agreement.
CEOs Mary Barra of General Motors and Sergio Marchionne of Fiat-Chrysler, Joe Hinrichs, Ford president of global operations, and leaders of several industry advocacy groups met Pence, Robert Lighthizer, U.S. trade representative, and Gary Cohn, director of the National Economic Council, in Pence's office.
Auto Industry leaders want the pact covering tariff-free movement of vehicles and parts across Canada, the U.S. and Mexico to continue. The administration has threatened to withdraw from the agreement unless the other two nations agree to substantial changes.
Lighthizer is overseeing the renegotiation of NAFTA. The latest round of negotiations of the three-nation trade deal ended last week with little progress.
More on Freep.com:
“We view the modernization of NAFTA as an important opportunity to update the 23-year-old agreement and set the stage for an expansion of U.S. auto exports," said Matt Blunt, president of the American Automotive Policy Council, in a statement. "We believe achieving inclusion of strong and enforceable currency discipline and ensuring foreign markets accept products built to our standards are important components of a modern NAFTA agreement."
Automakers have been lobbying against an administration proposal to raise from 62.5% to 85% the minimum level of parts that must be made in one of the three countries in order to avoid hefty tariffs.
Mexico and Canada have rejected that proposal as well as another that would require half of vehicle content to be from the United States.
Most production of small passenger cars has already been moved from the U.S. to Mexico. FCA has stopped making small passenger cars altogether.
If the U.S. were to enact a 35% tariff on light vehicles imported from Mexico, the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor estimates Americans would buy or lease 450,000 fewer vehicles over a year. That would lead to a loss of nearly 6,700 North American assembly jobs.
But when the reduced production of parts that now flow tariff-free across the borders in both directions is taken into account, another 31,000 U.S. jobs could be lost.
Last month, a coalition of manufacturers, parts suppliers and dealers called Driving American Jobs formed to preserve NAFTA in its current form.
“Our biggest concern is for American workers and customers,” Jennifer Thomas, vice president of federal affairs at the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, said in a statement. “Pulling out of NAFTA would lead to a decrease in vehicle production, a decline in jobs and an increase in what our customers spend when buying a new vehicle. Not to mention this would also have an impact on our abilities to export vehicles to foreign markets.”
The UAW, however, has largely supported Trump's anti-NAFTA rhetoric.
In the August edition of its Solidarity magazine, the union cited data from the Washington, D.C.-based Economic Policy Institute that showed NAFTA caused the loss of 360,000 auto industry jobs between 1999 and 2013, while Mexico gained 620,000 jobs.
"Simply put, the center of automobile vehicle and parts production has been moving south for quite some time thanks to NAFTA," the UAW publication stated. .
But the proximity of Detroit and Windsor, Ont., could make Michigan particularly vulnerable if the three countries fail to reach a compromise. More than $70 billion of vehicles, parts and other items travel between Michigan and Ontario each year.
In August, Fitch Ratings, a global provider of credit ratings and research, said Michigan would likely be impacted most by potential changes to NAFTA because "its economy is the most interconnected" with the trading partners.
Contact Greg Gardner: (313) 222-8848 or firstname.lastname@example.org. Follow him on Twitter @GregGardner12


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AT&T first announced its plans to acquire Nextel Mexico earlier this year and the acquisition is official as of today. This acquisition marks AT&T's second purchase of a Mexico-based wireless carrier after it acquired lusacell for $2.5 billion. In today's announcement, AT&T says it has plans to integrate the two providers into one company:
Earlier this year, AT&T acquired Mexican wireless provider Iusacell. AT&T will integrate Iusacell and Nextel into one company focused on bringing more choices, better service and faster mobile Internet speeds to more locations throughout Mexico. AT&T plans to create the first-ever North American Mobile Service area, which will cover more than 400 million consumers and businesses in Mexico and the United States.
It will be interesting to see if this deal, along with the combination of Nextel Mexico and lusacell, will eventually bring some intriguing offerings for customers in both the U.S. and Mexico alike.
Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Note 20 Ultra leaks in real-life images
The first real-life images of the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra have surfaced online. They reveal an Infinity-O display with curved edges and a large camera bump at the rear with three sensors.
Microsoft is reportedly considering buying the WB Games division
Microsoft is reportedly considering a bid on Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. Previously, Take-Two Interactive, Electronic Arts and Activision were all reportedly interested as well.
Everything we know (so far) about the Google Pixel 5
We're still months out from Google unveiling the Pixel 5, but that doesn't mean it's too early to speculate what it might offer. Here's everything we know so far!
Believe it or not, Philips Hue is far from the only smart bulb you can buy
The are plenty of smart lights available that are similar to Philips Hue bulbs at nearly half the cost. Most offer easy management from a designated app on your smartphone or tablet, too.


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DETROIT — Last week, United Auto Workers President Owen Bieber signed his union's new labor accord with General Motors and hailed the settlement as one that would provide an unprecedented level of job security for American auto workers.
Yet just nine days after that signing ceremony, GM announced a new wave of layoffs. The company on Thursday said it will lay off a total of 1,155 workers at three assembly plants in Michigan and Kentucky to reduce assembly line rates because of slow sales. In addition, the GM plant in Van Nuys is also being closed for a week in January.
The announcement comes amid growing signs that the nation's largest auto maker will be forced to sharply curtail production and idle several assembly plants over the coming months in response to a worsening sales slump.
So while Bieber and other union leaders continue to pledge that the new contract--which includes a plant closing moratorium--will plug the gaping loopholes in the UAW's 1984 job security accord with GM, it has become increasingly clear in recent days that the pact will not seriously hinder GM as it moves aggressively to slash costs and excess production capacity.
In most cases, the company will not even be obligated to place any of the affected workers in its job bank or income protection programs specified by the new contract to protect GM workers from the ravages of unemployment.
The company said 225 workers at its Bowling Green, Ky., Chevrolet Corvette plant will be laid off, along with 80 employees at its Pontiac, Mich., Pontiac Fiero plant, as well as 850 workers at a Lansing, Mich., facility that builds Buick and Oldsmobile mid-size models.
The latest job cuts follow by just two weeks GM's decision to indefinitely idle its Framingham, Mass., assembly plant, eliminating the jobs of 3,700 workers because of poor sales of the intermediate-sized Chevrolet and Oldsmobile models produced there.
Legal Under Contract
GM announced the move to idle Framingham on Nov. 4, after the effective date of its plant-closing moratorium. While GM insists it doesn't plan to close the Framingham plant permanently, it also has no plans to reopen it anytime soon.
All of GM's latest cutbacks are legal under the terms of the new contract because they are considered "volume-related," meaning they were prompted by slow sales.
All cutbacks and plant shutdowns caused by lagging sales are exempt from the restrictions imposed by the new contract, and any worker laid off as a result is ineligible for the full income protection provided by the agreement.
While the pact's job security provisions cover workers laid off for any other reason, GM has been able to blame all of its recent cutbacks on poor sales.
UAW officials defend the new contract, however, and insist that it will eventually save jobs by restricting GM's ability to move production to offshore suppliers.
But they admit that there is little they can do now to save jobs as long as GM's sales slide continues.
"There is this obvious problem here. . . . The problem is GM ain't selling cars," says Frank Joyce, a UAW spokesman. "The agreement didn't solve that problem, and it doesn't pretend to."
Joyce and others in the UAW do note, however, that some modest gains in the area of sales-related cutbacks were made by the union in the new contract. Now, GM must get the UAW to agree on whether a cut in production can be defined as volume-related.


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Give more independence to the Scots—paired with a statement that there will be no more votes for a long time to come
The move comes as GM's blue-chip brand is finally considered in range of—if not quite on par with—the best German luxury rides
Unresolved economic conflicts simmer during a tenuous cease-fire
In becoming Oracle's chairman and chief technology officer, Ellison will leave the software giant he founded in the hands of co-chief executive officers Mark Hurd and Safra Katz
The popular premixed funds are supposed to get more conservative as retirement gets closer. What “conservative” means is open to interpretation
With "activity-based working," you lose your desk and gain your freedom—all for better efficiency
The NFL is facing its worst crisis in 50 years. Why is Commissioner Goodell so sure he won't lose his job?
Business students at Wharton reveled in a ritual gathering of MBAs where people leave their personal brand at the door
A report finds high default rates on franchise loans
EDAG Light Car Concept: Open Source forward thinking
By Stuart Schwartzapfel
German design firm EDAG displayed a forward thinking concept—called the "Light Car - Open Source"—at this year's Geneva Auto Show. The electric-powered concept is made from basalt fiber, a strong yet inexpensive alternative to carbon fiber more regularly used as a fireproof textile in the aerospace industry. Lining the recyclable, glassy skin are vein-like strings of user-configurable organic LEDs that can change the look of both the headlamps and the interior. EDAG uses the transparent tailgate as a projection screen, making car-to-car communication possible. A Lithium-Ion battery, good for about 100 miles, sends power to wheel-mounted electric motors. The company says the lack of a gearbox and the conventionally mounted motor allowed them to offer luxury car-like space inside compact car dimensions.
The Verdict: Don't hold your breath
Stuart Schwartzapfel is a regular contributor to BusinessWeek.com. He has studied the automotive marketplace and works as an advertising and marketing strategist for major manufacturers. He does not write about any car brands for which he currently works.


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US-based Mexican-inspired quick service restaurant (QSR) brand Taco Bell has strengthened the leadership capability as part of its restructuring strategy for global growth.
The company, a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, has expanded current executive roles and added new positions.
Julie Felss Masino has been appointed as brand president while Taco Bell CEO Brian Niccol will continue to oversee the US business with a focus on the company’s growth.
In the new role, Masino will be responsible for sales growth, new store development and continue the brand’s partnership with its franchisees. Rahul Shinde from KFC India has been named division chief financial officer.
As part of the company’s plans to focus on new technology initiatives, Elizabeth Baicy joins Taco Bell from Amazon as vice-president, Digital and Future Works and Jon Kosoff from Hot Topic as vice-president, E-commerce and Performance Marketing.
Niccol said: “Our fantastic relationship with our franchisees and our growth mindset have enabled us to create an aggressive plan to make Taco Bell an All Access brand.
“We are thrilled to have Elizabeth and Jon join our team and apply their extensive tech knowledge to execute our ideas to meet consumers where they are with unparalleled access to the brand.”
In addition, chief food innovation officer Liz Matthews will oversee international capabilities including Research and Development, Quality Assurance and Engineering.
Mike Grams will now serve as chief operations and development officer and oversee growth in Canada and global operations.
Marisa Thalberg has been named as the chief brand officer and will be responsible for e-commerce, internal communications, events and ensure global consistency of the marketing strategy.
Liz Williams will step into the role of president, Taco Bell International, following Melissa Lora’s retirement this year.


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TechNova petitions against dumping of plates
TechNova has filed petitions for the continuation of antidumping duty (ADD) on digital offset printing plates (DOPP) from certain countries and for the imposition of anti-subsidy duty (CVD) on imports of DOPP from China and Taiwan.
27 Nov 2023 | By Noel D'Cunha
The Government of India, vide notifications dated 29 September 2023 and 03 October 2023, has initiated investigations for the imposition of countervailing duty and continuation of anti-dumping duty, respectively, in response to the said applications of TechNova. In their applications, the company said exporters from certain countries, particularly China, continue to dump DOPP into India at significantly low prices despite existing anti-dumping duty. As a result, TechNova continues to suffer significant losses.
In October 2023, Kodak called for tariffs to be imposed on Chinese and Japanese plate manufacturers that import products into the US, citing “unfairly low prices that significantly undercut” the domestic market.
TechNova’s CEO and executive director, C G Ramakrishnan, said that as a result of the low pricing, TechNova continues to suffer significant losses. “Therefore, TechNova was constrained to seek a continuation of ADD in order to neutralise the injurious effects of dumped imports and create a level playing field for fair competition.”
TechNova is one of the largest DOPP manufacturers in India. “While the Chinese government provides significant benefits to the Chinese plate exporters, for example, 16% cash export incentive; lower priced aluminium for manufacture of plates meant for exports; low-cost power; and long-term finance at near-zero interest rates, Indian plate manufacturers do not get any of these benefits.”
India currently imposes the minimum duty required to remedy the injury caused to domestic producers due to dumped or subsidised imports. If the Indian authorities find that the duty in place is sufficient to remedy both dumping and subsidisation, it may not increase the quantum of duties (collectively). However, if it finds that the current quantum of duties is insufficient to remedy dumping and subsidisation, then the quantum of duties may increase.
TechNova has clarified in a note available with PrintWeek that the trade-remedial duties are meant solely to ensure a level playing field for fair competition and not for any form of unfair protection. “TechNova will continue offering its customers its digital offset printing plates at fair and competitive prices.”
The note further clarifies that this measure will help the domestic plate manufacturing industry survive and, in the long run, eventually protect and benefit the Indian printing industry. “It is important that the DOPP market is fairly competitive so that you can buy DOPP at competitive prices. In the absence of ADD, we will suffer huge losses and may be forced to exit the market, leaving the Indian printers at the mercy of Chinese suppliers and exporters from other countries.”


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Huaweis Watch 4 series launched in May last year and it looks like we’re about to get a new version for the Watch 4 Pro. The Huawei Watch 4 Pro Space Exploration Edition appeared in a series of hands-on images on Chinese social media, showing a dark titanium body and strap with red accent colors.
The TC4 titanium used on the Watch 4 Pro is already aerospace grade, so we doubt Huawei will change the material choices for the upcoming Space Exploration version. Huawei is expected to launch the upcoming watch with HarmonyOS 4.0 out-of-the-box, which brings several updates such as the ability to assess arrhythmia, new watch faces, an interval training mode, and system optimizations. You can read more about the Watch 4 Pro in our judgement.
Source (in Chinese)


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Transforming your ad sales process just got a lot easier. Learn how to extract more value for existing technology and ultimately drive revenue, ratings and retention in Slack's new ebook.
Retail digital display company GSTV presented at the IAB’s NewFronts for the third time on the event’s final day, held virtually.
The company touted its reach of 105 million people across the U.S., mainly through displaying content at gas pump stations, which is 40% of adults in the country, according to company chief executive officer and president Sean McCaffrey. With the average consumer pumping gas at least three times a month, the company chalks that up to 15 minutes of time spent with its display.


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Kelley Blue Book
The refreshed Wrangler has the latest tech and improvements to interior comfort
The 2024 Jeep Wrangler continues its legacy as an off-road all-star while boasting a modern design and the latest technology. We expect pricing to start at about $34,000.
The Jeep Wrangler is a legend for good reasons. It’s one of the most capable off-road SUVs money can buy, and it has a distinct aesthetic that makes it instantly recognizable. An update for 2024 brings a refreshed look inside and out, new tech features like a…


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Barry Callebaut and Hershey complete strategic agreement
Jul 17, 2007
Barry Callebaut, the world’s leading manufacturer of high-quality cocoa and chocolate products, and The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY), North America’s leading manufacturer of high-quality chocolate and confectionery products, today announced that they have entered into agreements for a strategic supply and innovation partnership. In May 2007, the parties announced their intention to enter into these agreements. Barry Callebaut will start liquid chocolate and finished product deliveries to Hershey within the next few months.
Barry Callebaut enters attractive Indian chocolate market - Barry Callebaut to open sales office & Chocolate Academy in Mumbai, India
Jul 13, 2007
Barry Callebaut, the world’s leading manufacturer of high-quality cocoa and chocolate products, will enter the fast-growing Indian chocolate market by opening a sales office in Mumbai in September 2007. The company will also inaugurate a new Chocolate Academy in India’s largest city in December, where Indian confectioners can enhance their chocolate skills through courses and practical workshops. The entry into the Indian market will allow Barry Callebaut to capture the promising growth potential in the region’s chocolate market and is in line with its strategy to expand its presence in fast-growing emerging markets.
Barry Callebaut survey finds Americans love milk chocolate but are experimenting with other varieties
Jul 05, 2007
From chocolate cake to chocolate bars to hot chocolate, Americans love indulging in sweet, chocolaty treats. In fact, according to a recent survey by Barry Callebaut – the world’s largest producer of high-quality cocoa, chocolate and confectionery products – nearly half of Americans (46 percent) eat chocolate at least a few times per week.
Barry Callebaut increases financial flexibility: Barry Callebaut successfully places bond
Jul 04, 2007
Barry Callebaut AG, the world’s leading manufacturer of high-quality cocoa and chocolate products, announced today the successful placement of EUR 350 million 10-year Senior Fixed Rate Notes and the renegotiation of the terms and conditions of its existing EUR 850 million Revolving Credit Facility. The offering of the Fixed Rate Notes created substantial demand and was significantly oversubscribed. The bond issuance and the amended syndicated credit facility will significantly improve the company’s financial flexibility.
Barry Callebaut takes over Dijon factory, San Sisto production line: Successful closing of transaction with Nestlé
Jul 02, 2007
Barry Callebaut, the world’s leading manufacturer of high-quality cocoa and chocolate products, announces today the closing of its transaction with Nestlé. The transaction comprises the takeover from Nestlé of a chocolate factory in Dijon, France and the cocoa liquor and liquid chocolate making facility at Nestlé’s factory in San Sisto, Italy as well as a long-term supply agreement of 43,000 metric tonnes of chocolate products per year to Nestlé in France, Italy and Russia. The transaction increases Barry Callebaut’s production capacity by around 100,000 metric tonnes and allows the company to capture growth opportunities in the fast-growing Mediterranean region.


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Tea farmers across the country have expressed gratitude to the government upon a request to have a Sh1 billion subsidy on fertilizer prices.
Speaking Monday during the official opening of a five- day induction programme of Directors from 54 registered factories across the countries, David Muni Ichocho, Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) Chairman said that the buying price of the manure will go down once granted the offer.
Muni noted that the cost of fertilizer is now at Sh3, 072 which is too high for farmers but with the subsidy, the cost will go down to at least Sh2, 500.
“Fertilizers are ready to be disturbed to farmers, we have 65, 000 metric tons that we have received. We are optimistic that the government will consider our request and give us the subsidy,” he said.
The chairman also urged farmers not to sell the fertilizers so that they can use it to enhance productivity of quality tea.
“We have a fertilizer deficit since we had ordered 1.7 million bags, but only 1.3 million bags came. With the 65,000 farmers across the country, selling of the fertilizers means that some will lack,” he added.
He promised that KTDA management will mobilize logistics to ensure the fertilizers reach farmers without any hitch.
According to Muni, they are now using the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) to ferry the fertilizer from Mombasa across the country and not by bus as another way of cutting down the cost.
At the same time, Muni praised farmers for the good cooperation saying it has yielded fruit as income has increased.
At the same time, the chairman mentioned that the price of the tea which was earlier 1.9 dollars has now gone up to over 2.5 dollars. This has increased the income to about sh65 per kilogram of tea.
“Our objective as KTDA is to help farmers get more earnings, hence the need to have this induction so that we can take the inputs of the directors on what is to be done to have more earnings,” said Muni.
He added that they are also embracing the vision of the new board which is to ensure farmers are empowered.
“We want to ensure that we bring all the policy fundamentals which will be able to assist us reform and move forward,” he added.
The chairman also said that they will deal with the issue of improving infrastructure and look for markets to ensure that farmers get more returns.


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Hair care brand Amika has spent the past year revamping its influencer strategy to sell more products: It has pivoted away from looking at follower count in favor of engagement and is paying more attention to influencers’ audience demographics.
“We did not know how to measure success [prior to this year]. We were just excited to get great content and work with these influencers to increase [our own] follower growth,” said Chelsea Riggs, Amika brand president. “But we never saw a huge sales effect from it.”
Amika, which launched in 2007, is primarily a professional hair care line with distribution in salons, but it also sells select hair care tools, shampoos and conditioners at Sephora. The brand began to ramp up its e-commerce and retail channels in February, with a relaunch at Sephora that included an expansion to brick-and-mortar Sephora stores with 11 products, featuring redesigned, color-coded packaging for self-guided shopping. It was then that the brand decided to go all-in on influencers: For the relaunch, it worked with 40 unpaid influencers and 10 paid influencers, including Michelle Madsen (@michelletakeaim; 474,000 followers) on Instagram and Karen Yeung (I Am Kareno; 1.5 million subscribers) on YouTube. The brand had previously only worked with a handful of influencers and had only two influencers campaigns in 2017. Already this year, the brand has created 10 influencer campaigns, with the first one focused around the Sephora expansion.
Amika picked its paid influencers based on where their followers were located (the brand wanted at least 50 percent to be U.S.-based), on the age groups of their followers and how they engaged with influencers, particularly in comments, said Riggs. The company began using influencer marketing company Traackr in December 2017 to identify partnerships for the Sephora relaunch based on influencers’ followers. Amika ultimately decided on a mix of micro- and macro-influencers (those with 400,000 to 1.6 million followers).
Though Amika is a hair-care brand, it targeted makeup influencers specifically for the Sephora campaign. The brand wanted to find people who not only embodied the “Amika girl,” who is fun and lighthearted, but also who already know how to use hair products and tools. This audience would be more likely to shop at Sephora, according to Lauren Bliss, Amika social media marketing manager. The 10 paid partnerships resulted in 46 total mentions in posts and videos. Altogether, the Sephora relaunch campaign ultimately earned 736,000 “likes” and comments, and over 4.64 million video views.
As the influencer marketing economy has matured, more brands are pouring resources into it. It is expected that advertisers across all consumer categories will spend $1.6 billion on Instagram influencers in 2018, according to a study by influencer marketing agency Mediakix, and ad spend is expected to climb to between $4 and $8 billion. But, beauty companies’ influencer marketing approaches vary. Several brands, like Charlotte Cho’s Then I Met You and the publication Very Good Light, have recently eschewed both paid and unpaid influencers in favor of gifting product to friends and family. Brands like Benefit have also taken to incubating their own influencers and establishing more seemingly authentic relationships early on through contests.
“[This year] gave us amazing content that we have repurposed not only for our own Instagram channel, but also for our website and Sephora product pages,” said Riggs. “We have been able to test with a lot of people to figure out on a granular level what is working and what is not.”
As the brand prepares for 2019, it plans to further expand its influencer strategy. Almost half of its marketing budget will be allocated to influencer partnerships next year, said Riggs. Additionally, the brand will focus more on paid YouTube partnerships, in addition to traditional ads on YouTube for the first time. Amika will also focus less on the number of partnerships it has with influencers who do single posts and instead focus on creating 6- to 8-month paid partnerships. It will also introduce affiliate links for paid influencers so that they can include them in their Instagram bios to better track sales.
“There is always this sense of the unknown when partnering with a new person, but now we have a lot more analytics than we did in the past. We are able to identify the right type of influencers, whereas [before], we had always been holding our breath,” said Riggs.


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The apple doesn't fall far from the tree! Brooke Burke and her mini me daughter Heaven squeeze in some last minute shopping in Malibu
Her mother is a former homecoming queen and one of the most beautiful hosts on television.
So it's not surprising that her daughter Heaven Rain has hit the gene pool lottery.
The six-year-old looked the spitting image of the Dancing With The Stars host when they stepped out to do some last minute Christmas shopping in Malibu, California on Sunday.
Like mother, like daughter: Brooke Burke took her mini me daughter Heaven Rain shopping with her in Malibu, California on Sunday
Both mother and daughter were beaming as they enjoyed the day of bonding together.
Brooke looked slender in her sporty attire; a pair of grey workout leggings teamed with neon green trainers.
She also donned a short-sleeved grey sweater and a light blue scarf wrapped around her neck.
The 42-year-old let her long brown hair flow out and down around her shoulders and also sported a pair of large sunglasses.
Mother of four: Brooke lives with her four children and husband David Charvet in Malibu
Meanwhile, Heaven wore a black-and-white striped dress with a red plaid shirt over the top and open-toe gold sandals.
The youngster also carried a blue shopping bag and clutched a pink phone.
The Dancing With The Stars co-host and her husband of two years David Charvet live in Malibu with Heaven, five-year-old son Shaya and Brooke's two daughters from a previous relationship, Neriah, 13, and 11-year-old Sierra.
Doting mother: Brooke paid close attention to her daughter during their shopping trip
On Saturday, the family-oriented star posted a tweet to her more than two million followers saying she was behind on her Christmas shopping.
'I'm still Christmas shopping! Uuuuugggh!,' she wrote.
In 2008, Brooke won the Dancing With The Stars competition with professional dancer Derek Hough before she went on to co-host the ABC show.
The pretty brunette earlier this year released a fitness DVD series called Transform Your Body with Brooke Burke.
Final shopping: Brooke tweeted on Saturday that she was behind on her Christmas shopping
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Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense has released a video in which a Ukrainian soldier disassembles a Russian military surveillance drone. The teardown revealed a remarkably rudimentary design that features a low-end Canon DSLR camera at its core.
The soldier notes how surprisingly low-tech the military drone is — observers quickly pointed out that certain aspects of it are more reminiscent of a hobbyist RC airplane project than a high-tech piece of military spying technology.
A Consumer Camera, Bottle Cap, and Duct Tape
What the soldier found is that the primary camera responsible for image capture is a Canon EOS Rebel T6i (AKA 750D), a DSLR camera launched in 2015 with a retail price of $750 but which is currently worth about $300 to $400 on the used market.
The camera is mounted to a board with a hook-and-loop fastener strip (commonly referred to as Velcro).
The mode dial of the camera has been frozen with glue, preventing the camera shooting mode from accidentally being switched mid-flight.
On the top of the drone, the fuel tank’s cap suggests that it may have been made from some kind of plastic water bottle. Various parts of the drone are also fixed together with some kind of duct tape.
A Pricey Piece of ‘Primitive’ Technology
The Ukrainian news agency UNIAN reported in 2017 after the downing of a drone that the Orlan-10 (Орлан-10 in Russian) costs between $87,000 and $120,000 per unit.
“The Orlan-10 is developed by Russian-based Special Technological Center Ltd.” UNIAN wrote. “The hull and the engine are made in Russia, its electronic components come from Taiwan.
“Russia often uses this model in Donbas for reconnaissance and adjustment of artillery fire.”
It now seems some electronic components in the drone also come from Japan, as well. Canon Europe already announced in March that it had suspended new shipments of products into Russia in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine, but it seems unlikely that the move will have any impact on whether Russia continues to use Canon cameras in its future drones.
Image credits: Video and still frames by the Ukraine Ministry of Defense


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Updated from May 18
boosted fourth-quarter revenue by nearly 40% year over year and increased net income by 47%, the storage vendor said after the closing bell on Tuesday.
Although the robust top line was a surprise, the big jump in earnings was in line with expectations, and investors seemed disappointed that the Sunnyvale, Calif., company couldn't cough up more.
On Wednesday, shares of Network Appliance were recently off 61 cents, or 3%, to $20.09, continuing a slide that began immediately after results were released.
During a call with analysts and investors, Network Appliance executives sounded pleased, and analysts said the company is trading short-term profits for longer-term growth.
"NTAP is poised to deliver the best organic revenue growth rate in the sector
in calendar 2004, but the stock's performance should continue to depend on how the balance is struck between operating leverage and top-line upside," Goldman Sachs analyst Laura Conigliaro wrote Wednesday morning. "As has been the case for at least a year now, NetApp continues to use its near-term strength to make significant investments in its long-term business model." (Goldman Sachs as an investment banking relationship with Network Appliance.)
On a generally accepted accounting principles basis, the company earned a profit of $36.4 million, or 10 cents per diluted share, on sales of $337 million. On a pro forma basis, Network Appliance earned $43.5 million, or 12 cents a share, equal to Wall Street's expectations.
Sales were well above the consensus of analysts polled by Thomson First Call, who were expecting revenue of $320.6 million for the quarter, and better than the company's guidance.
The disparity between the top and bottom lines is consistent with the company's repeated statements that it would emphasize revenue growth and gains in market share. And when the company gave guidance for the first quarter of fiscal 2005, it did not diverge from that strategy.
The company told investors to expect first-quarter pro forma earnings of 12 cents to 13 cents a share on sales ranging from $350.48 million to $357.22 million. Wall Street was expecting a 12-cent-a-share profit on revenue of $333.09 million.
CEO Dan Warmenhoven said on the call that the company expects to boost its spending for marketing as it seeks to make its brand better known and hire more people and tries to grab shares from the competition, including larger, higher-profile
Analyst Brent Bracelin of Pacific Crest Securities said that the tradeoff between market share and earnings makes sense for a company that is moving from the role of niche player to the mainstream network storage industry. "At the end of the day, fundamentals are improving," he said during an interview. (Pacific Crest does not have a current investment banking relationship with Network Appliance.)
He also noted that "accelerating revenue without accelerating profitability" is a recurring story in technology recently. "Not all investors buy it," he said.
The company's service margins declined sequentially in the quarter from 16.3% to 12.7%, partly as a result of increased hiring in the services division, said analyst Kaushik Roy of the Susquehanna Financial Group. The drop probably hurt the company's share price, said Roy, who nonetheless called the quarter "quite solid."
Also troubling to the market is the company's relatively high valuation. Based on the company's guidance of a per-share profit of 52 cents to 54 cents in fiscal 2005, Network Appliance is now trading at about 38 times forward earnings. EMC, by contrast, trades at some 30 times calendar 2004 earnings. "Given the company's great execution and leadership
in its market, the premium is justified," he said. (Susquehanna does not have a banking relationship with the company.)
Network Appliance also said its board has approved a $200 million stock-buyback plan, a move that generally indicates the company thinks its shares are somewhat undervalued.


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The firm hopes to capitalize on the booming e-commerce market in the country by offering protection against loss or damage during transit.
Singapore-based insurtech firm Axinan is partnering Indonesia e-commerce giant Bukalapak to offer merchants and consumers transit protection for goods purchased on its platform, the firm announced on Tuesday.
Founded in 2010, Bukalapak is one of the largest e-commerce companies based in Indonesia valued at over US$1 billion. Axinan is working with underwriter Sompo Insurance Indonesia and offering the product through its igloo platform. It will be fully digital and have dynamic pricing and digital claims management.
The firm, founded in mid-2016 by former Grab chief technology officer Wei Zhu, leverages big data, actuarial risk management and machine-learning processes to develop insurance products tailored for the online space.
Axinan graduated from PayPal Singapore’s startup incubator in 2017 and has signed partnerships with several e-commerce companies including Indonesian marketplace Tokopedia. In 2018, it announced the close of its series A fundraising round, led by NSI Ventures (now Openspace Ventures), the venture capital arm of private equity group Northstar.
In 2019, it launched igloo, an app that provides on-demand digital insurance solutions targeted at younger consumers. Its first direct-to-consumer offering was a phone screen protection plan, offered in conjunction with FWD Singapore.
Axinan has operations in Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand, with development offices in mainland China and Taiwan.


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The new event is called Ill-Gotten Gains Week, and it runs now through March 31. As the name suggests, it's themed around content from the previously released Ill-Gotten Gains updates.
First, log into GTA Online any day through March 31 and you will receive a new T-shirt with the logo for the fictional film "The Shoulder Of Orion II."
Additionally, you can earn double RP by participating in some of GTA Online's race playlists. These will be available directly through the GTA V launch screen every day this coming week; the schedule is below:
- Friday March 25 - Sunday March 27 - Street Races
- Monday March 28 & Tuesday March 29 - Air Races
- Wednesday March 30 & Thursday March 31 - Sea Races
There are also savings to be had, as Rockstar is offering 25 percent of some of the cars introduced to GTA Online with the Ill-Gotten Gains Part 2 update. Discounted Legendary Motorsport cars include: Coil Brawler, Progen T20, Invetero Coquette BlackFin and the Dinka Vindicator motorcycle.
Additionally, mods for these vehicles (and others) are offered for 25 percent off from Los Santos Customs.
It's not just land-based vehicles that are on sale, as the Lampadati Toro speedboat is also available for 25 percent off from the DockTease dealer.
On top of this, Rockstar is offering 50 percent off all clothing and tattoos from both parts of the Ill-Gotten Gains updates. The weapon shop Ammu-Nation is also offering items like the Knuckle Duster, The Pimp, and The Rock melee weapons for 50 percent off.


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- Meta plans to launch a rival app on Twitter on Thursday.
- This comes after Twitter has experienced user backlash over tweet restrictions.
- Instagram has a history of introducing new features based on the success of other social media companies.
A new alternative to Twitter is emerging, and it’s owned by Mark Zuckerberg.
Meta plans to launch a microblogging app called Threads on Thursday.
The company has not issued an official release announcement for the app, nor has it responded to various media requests for comment, but Apple’s App Store listing provides some details.
Here’s what we know so far:
What are threads and how do they work?
The app is linked to Instagram instead of Facebook, allowing users to retain followers on the photo-sharing platform and keep the same username.
According to app store screenshots, the interface resembles Twitter, allowing users to like, re-share, and limit who can reply to posts.
Meta describes it as a “text-based conversation app” that allows users to “discuss everything from today’s hot topics to tomorrow’s trends.”
However, the app’s listing also states that it may “collect” data such as your health and fitness, financial information, purchases, location, contacts, search and browsing history.
Why is it important?
This development is a direct challenge to Twitter and represents a credible threat. since Elon Musk bought the company for US$44 billion ($66 billion) in 2022.
Last week, the Tesla billionaire announced a series of new restrictions on the app that capped the number of tweets users could see in a day, sparking outcry from many on the platform.
He also announced that the TweetDeck dashboard will be behind a paywall within a month.
Musk responded Tuesday to a tweet about the launch with apparent anger, saying, “It’s great that they’re operating with such sanity.”
After acquiring the company late last year, It has also reinstated a number of banned accounts, including those of former President Donald Trump and conservative satirical news site Babylon Bee.
Hundreds of advertisers have suspended spending on Twitter over perceptions of growing harmful content on the platform, and an internal document seen by Reuters shows the platform’s most active users leaving. It is shown that
Will a thread succeed where other threads have not?
Alternative microblogging sites like Mastodon and Blue Sky have seen user growth since Musk’s acquisition, but neither has been able to compete with Twitter.
But Instagram already has hundreds of millions of registered users and has a history of introducing new features based on the success of other social media companies.
In response to the growing popularity of Snapchat, in 2016 Instagram added a feature called “Stories” (user posts disappear after a certain period of time).
Most recently, the company’s short-form video feature, Reels, is trying to challenge the rise of TikTok.
Meta did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the launch of a similar service on the Google Play store. Reuters reached out to Twitter for comment.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/what-we-know-about-threads/tz0afv3x1 Thread: What we know about Twitter’s new rival


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- WHITE PAPERS
Flavor modifier enhances the perception of sourness without adding acid.
Villa Italian Kitchen, Green Leaf’s Beyond Great Salads, Bananas Smoothies & Frozen Yogurt and a new South Philly Cheesesteak are opening in Gloucester Township.
Technomic and Deloitte Advisory research assesses what's next in supply-chain logistics.
An push to eat healthier is spurring more protein-based meat snacks consumption in past five years.
Establishments recognized as REAL are those that meet criteria such as the use of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, healthy preparation methods, moderate portion sizes, unsweetened beverages, healthy children’s options and sustainable sourcing.
Critics argue that antibiotics are still a problem in agriculture.
Pizza Hut announced plans today to make changes to its ingredients standards, beginning with the removal of artificial flavors and colors from its nationally available pizzas by the end of July 2015
More than half of U.S. consumers are concerned about bird flu outbreaks and the dangers they pose to their food safety.
Yum! Brands' World Hunger Relief effort is a private sector hunger relief initiative, spanning more than 125 countries, over 41,000 KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell restaurants and 1.5 million associates.
In recognition of National Reading Month, Pizza Hut is encouraging BOOK IT! alums to spread their love of reading to children in their lives, and show it on social media by posting photos with the hashtag #BOOKITkid by March 6 for the chance to win a free Personal Pan Pizza and a retro BOOK IT! t-shirt.
Grocery store chain Aldi received the 2015 Product of the Year award in the Convenience Meal Category for its "liveGfree" Gluten Free Pizza.
New bake-at-home pizzeria Bake425˚ has set up shop at 345 Park Avenue, Glencoe, Illinois with a grand opening celebration scheduled for Feb. 21.
IBISWorld has released a market report, the Sandwich and Sub Store Franchises, which according to a company announcement, shows that the industry has experienced consistent growth in line with economic recovery.
Toronto, Ontario, Canada-based Pizza Pizza Limited, parent company to Pizza Pizza and Pizza 73, announced a milestone donation of $375,000 to Children's Miracle Network.
Animal rights organization PETA has named the Top 10 Vegan Pizzas in time for National Pizza Pie Day on February 9, the company announced in a press release. Pies from pizzerias in Los Angeles; Portland, Ore.; Kansas City, Mo.; Providence, R.I.; and Flagstaff, Ariz., filled out the top 10. Here's the top 5 lineup: 5.
The fast casual pizza competition is heating up in Los Angeles.
Lou’s Pizza Factory, a new Arlington Heights, Illinois restaurant announced its opening in the location that previously housed 30's Pizza Factory.
More than half of survey respondents said they wanted healthier food served at their Super Bowl party.
Mason Wartman left his Wall Street career behind just over a year ago to sell pizza for $1 a slice.
The restaurant will create nearly 120 jobs for the area.


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Businesses of every size are feeling disruption due to the coronavirus pandemic. Just because physical retail sales have come to a halt, that doesn’t mean the same for direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales. Rain CEO + Co-Founder Michelle Cardinal explains why now is the time to grow a DTC business, and she gives four tips to help do that.
Insights & Updates
The phases generally follow those of coping, including shock, anger, resistance and acceptance, according to an ongoing study being conducted by Rain's Brand Strategy & Research team.
In early March, Covid-19 rapidly shifted what day-to-day life looked like for many agency moms. The greatest gift this Mother's Day would be to eliminate the bias against working mothers.
Was anybody really prepared for COVID-19? In Oregon Business Magazine's "Storyteller-in-Chief" series, our CEO, Michelle Cardinal, writes about her strategy for surviving the economic storm caused by the pandemic. Among other things, preserving company culture is crucial right now.


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The news exploded across the interwebs last night: Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) is in talks to buy NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ: NXPI) -- and Wall Street loves the idea.
As reported this morning in the The Wall Street Journal, investors pushed NXP stock 17% higher yesterday in response to rumors of a deal between the two companies. In an unusual move, the acquiring stock (which must usually overcome a presumption of overpaying in such deals) benefited as well; Qualcomm stock was up more than 6%. Echoing this confidence, analysts at Mizuho Securities raised their rating on Qualcomm stock to "buy" this morning, and increased their price target to $75.
According to the Journal, the reason for all this optimism about both NXP stock, and Qualcomm stock as well, is that it makes a lot of sense for Qualcomm to diversify its business away from the smartphone market, and expand its automotive semiconductor chips business with an acquisition of NXP, which owns significant market share in the space. But does this deal make sense for Qualcomm investors?
Here are three things you need to know.
Investors are taking a close look at a possible Qualcomm-NXP merger. Image source: Getty Images.
1. "The first end-to-end semiconductor auto supplier"
As explained today in a write-up on StreetInsider.com, Mizuho likes the idea of a Qualcomm-NXP merger because it will diversify Qualcomm away from the maturing smartphone market. Already, Qualcomm "dominates automotive telematics," says the analyst. By buying NXP, the company would acquire "in-cockpit market share, powertrain, safety, and an automotive processor portfolio." This, says, Mizuho, would create "the first end-to-end semiconductor auto supplier of the future."
That all sounds pretty good. But what does it mean in dollars and cents?
2. Revenue and profits
According to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, Qualcomm recorded $22.8 billion in revenue over the past year, and NXP Semiconductors $7.7 billion. A combined company would therefore boast annual revenue of $30.5 billion. The profitability of the two companies' revenues, however, couldn't be more different.
Over the past 12 months, Qualcomm has averaged operating profit margins of 27.4% on its products, yielding $6.25 billion in operating profit. NXP has reaped just 7.4% operating margins, however, resulting in operating profit of only $572 million. Absent significant synergies from a merger, therefore, investors can expect that combining Qualcomm stock with NXP stock will yield a company earning only about $6.8 billion annually in operating profit -- not much different from Qualcomm's profits on its own.
3. The bottom line
Granted, a cursory glance at the companies' income statements gives a slightly different picture. Over the past year, Qualcomm recorded net profits of $5.2 billion, and NXP $922 million. That implies $6.1 billion in net income for the combined company.
What may not be immediately evident from these numbers is that NXP depended on gains from an asset sale for $1.3 billion in profit last year (which is more than the company's total net profit for the year). Those gains will not be repeated in future years. On the other hand, NXP also incurred significant restructuring charges during the period, which partially offset its merger-related gains -- and which will also not be repeated. Taken all together, it's apparent that NXP's level of operating profitability is significantly lower than the company's 11.9% net profit margin would imply.
That's something worth keeping in mind.
The most important thing: Valuation
So what does all of this work out to, in dollars and cents? Combining Qualcomm stock with NXP would create a smartphones-and-automotive semiconductor behemoth, boasting $30.5 billion in annual revenue, operating profits of $6.8 billion, and net profits of something less than $6.1 billion -- probably in the neighborhood of $5.8 billion.
As for what it will cost to own these revenue and profit streams, currently investors are valuing Qualcomm stock at roughly $98 billion, considering the company's market capitalization, minus its cash, and plus its debt. TheJournal reports that a buyout would probably value NXP "in excess of $30 billion," so let's call the enterprise value of the combined company $130 billion.
That all works out to a debt-adjusted valuation of about 4.3 times sales on the putative combined company, versus its current price-to-sales ratio of 4.5, and a debt-adjusted price-to-earnings ratio of perhaps 22.4, versus the company's current P/E ratio of 20.5. It implies that "the first end-to-end semiconductor auto supplier" would actually be cheaper than the current Qualcomm when valued on sales, and only slightly more expensive when valued on earnings -- earnings that could boom as Qualcomm works to gradually bring NXP's profit margins up to par with its own.
So in the end, are investors right to be bidding up Qualcomm stock in response to this week's merger news? And is Mizuho right to recommend buying Qualcomm stock?
Yes. I believe they both are right.
A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, just click here.
Fool contributorRich Smithdoes not own shares of, nor is he short, any company named above. You can find him onMotley Fool CAPS, publicly pontificating under the handleTMFDitty, where he currently ranks No. 284 out of more than 75,000 rated members.
The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends both NXP Semiconductors and Qualcomm. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.