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Dufry posts 2% organic growth in first half of 2019
Dufry posted steady turnover in the first half of 2019 to CHF 4,180.1 million (US$4,219 million), driven by organic growth of 2.2%.
Growth accelerated in the second quarter, propelled by improved like-for-like performance, with the trend continuing in the first weeks of July.
Dufry confirmed a medium-term organic growth target of 3% to 4%.
In the first half of 2019, organic growth reached 2.2%, confirming the ongoing positive trend seen in the first quarter.
In Q2, organic growth accelerated to 2.3% with further improvements in the first weeks of July.
Like-for-like performance in Q2 2019 improved significantly compared to first quarter, and reached a turnaround in June and July, Dufry said.
By region, Asia Pacific and Middle East continued to perform “very well”, driven by new concessions.
Europe and Africa accelerated, benefiting from a notable recovery in Spain. North America was positive, while the Central and South American division remained challenging but showed encouraging signs of recovery in July.
Dufry continued to expand and revamp its operations. In the first half 2019, the company refurbished 31,700 square meters.
It also opened and expanded 15,400 square meters of gross retail space and signed contracts to open a further 15,300 square meters in 2019/20.
In early June 2019, Dufry announced the acquisition of a 60% participation in RegStaer Vnukovo, which will considerably expand Dufry’s presence in the Moscow area. Dufry expects the acquisition to close in the second half 2019.
The duty free and duty paid shops operated by RegStaer at Moscow Vnukovo Airport generated a sales volume of €58.8 million (US$59.3 million) in FY 2018.
Turnover by region
Turnover in the Europe and Africa region was CHF 1,725.5 million (US$1,741.3 million) in the first half of 2019, from CHF 1,743.2 million one year ago. Organic growth in the division reached +3.9%.
In the UK, performance accelerated, driven by “excellent” results at London Heathrow Airport. In Spain, performance improved and June showed promising growth for the summer season. Turkey continued the good performance trend seen in recent quarters and posted solid growth. France, Italy, Malta and Africa reported positive growth.
In Asia Pacific and the Middle East, turnover climbed to CHF 623.8 million (US$629.5 million) in the first half of 2019, versus CHF 546.5 million in the same period in 2018. Organic growth in the division continued the positive momentum with double-digit growth, achieving 13.9%, mainly from the contribution of new concessions in the first half of 2019.
Asia Pacific achieved double-digit growth driven by new openings, such as the MTR high-speed railway station operations in Hong Kong. China, Macau and Cambodia posted good growth. In Australia, sales grew double digits, supported by the start of operations in Perth.
In North America, turnover reached CHF 954.5 million (US$963.2 million) compared to CHF 896.6 million in the first half of 2018. Performance in the region remained resilient, with organic growth reaching 3.7%, mainly supported by the good performance of the duty paid business.
Turnover in Central and South America was CHF 761.8 million (US$768.8 million) in H1 2019 as compared to CHF 821.3 million one year earlier and organic growth was -10.6%.
Mexico, and especially the Caribbean operations, posted good performance, positively supported by the cruise business.
In South America, most operations continued to be impacted by the devaluation of local currencies, particularly in Brazil and Argentina.
Strong performance in Asia and Middle East
Julián Díaz, CEO of Dufry Group, said: “The good operational performance with an organic growth of 2.2% in the first half is a positive development. The second quarter has shown a further improvement versus the first quarter, reaching an organic growth rate of 2.3% and it is encouraging to see that this growth acceleration is picking up further in the first weeks of July. In particular, Asia Pacific and the Middle East have continued with their strong performance.
“Recovery has started in Europe with Spain performing well, while North America has continued with its resilient growth. Even South America has shown encouraging signs of recovery in the first weeks of July.”
Noting a turnaround in performance in June and July, he continued: “I would like to highlight the considerable improvement we have seen in the like-for-like performance with respect to the first quarter this year and which reached a turnaround in June and July. This was the result of a combination of commercial and market initiatives launched in several markets. Organic growth further benefited from strong contributions from our new concessions.
“Worth mentioning in the first half are the new operations at the MTR station in Hong Kong, the new airport in Perth, and the addition of new cruise ships to our portfolio.”
In terms of business development, Dufry added 15,400 square meters of gross retail space and has signed 15,300 square meters to be opened in 2019 and 2020 in existing and new locations across the globe. At the same time, it extended existing contracts and refurbished 31,700 square meters of retail space in the first half of 2019.
Díaz concluded: “The improving market conditions in all divisions seen in the first half of 2019 continue as expected and are encouraging. Organic growth in the first three weeks of July accelerated and reached around 3%.
“Our goals for 2019 remain unchanged; to drive further growth with a strong focus on the customer, to leverage our business model to generate efficiencies, and to accelerate the implementation of the digital strategy.”
Dufry confirmed its mid-term organic growth guidance of 3%-4%.


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HP has introduced a technology for automatically tiering and moving storage loads between 3Par arrays of differing generations, in a bid to help administrators maximise the efficiency of ageing equipment.
HP has introduced new technology for shifting storage loads, along with two new 3Par arrays, the HP P10000 V400 and V800. Photo credit: HP
The Peer Motion software, announced by HP on Tuesday, means enterprises can turn different 3Par storage arrays into a single pool of storage and equally distribute their data across the hardware to get the most out of it.
"Peer Motion allows you to add new generations of technology into your environment and balance your workload" across them, said Catherine Campbell, HP's chief technology officer for storage in the UK. "You might want to balance so you get the most demanding workloads on the new arrays and others migrated onto the old array."
3Par's mainstay technology is automatic tiering. This allows storage systems to intelligently place data on hard drives and solid-state drives so that the most frequently accessed data is in the most suitable location.
With Peer Motion, this capability has been expanded to cover fleets of separate 3Par arrays. HP believes this can take the strain off enterprises when they upgrade their 3Par storage, as they can add in new generations without having to make sweeping changes. Businesses can bring in a new array and the system will place frequently needed data on it, while older arrays can continue to support the less frequently accessed data.
"There's still a challenge that the bigger your storage environment grows, the bigger your technical refresh challenge gets," Campbell said. "The concept of Peer Motion and federated storage as a whole says to IT managers, 'You're not going to get stuck and you can get away from this big forklift transformation approach'."
The federated storage software is available in two arrays, the HP P10000 3Par V400 and V800, also introduced on Tuesday. In addition, customers can use existing 3Par T-Class arrays via a firmware upgrade, Campbell said.
The V400 and V800 hardware appliances are the first additions to the 3Par line-up since HP bought the company for £1.48bn in September 2010.
The new arrays have a higher maximum storage capacity than their T-Class predecessors. They come with the Peer Motion technology, updated management software, and two Gen4 Asics per controller that tier workloads and optimise storage bandwidth between the array and the network.
The V400 can scale between 4.84TB and 800TB of storage and two or four controllers, while the V800 scales between 4.84TB and 1.6PB and two, four, six or eight controllers.
Overall, the arrays provide 1.5 times the port connectivity and disk resources and three times the performance for sequential workloads compared with previous 3Par systems, according to HP.
The new arrays are set to be available worldwide on Monday with prices starting at around €200,000 (£174,623), HP said. Peer Motion will be available for a fee, but pricing was not disclosed. Customers with support contacts for HP LeftHand Storage Systems will be able to upgrade their systems to use Peer Motion for no additional fee, HP said.
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The global shortage of semiconductors is hitting a wide range of industries, especially the PC industry and, by extension, its gamer patrons as high-end PCs are becoming more difficult to build. This has also left console players holding the bag as the demand for new-gen consoles like the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X/S far outstrips their supply.
While these developments have not exactly brought tech companies to their knees, they’ve certainly caused them to rethink or improvise their strategies until the chip shortage winds down which it won’t, apparently, for another year at least. These companies include Sony, who is said to be redesigning PS5’s hardware, and now GPU titan AMD.
At a recent JP Morgan conference, AMD CEO Lisa Su admitted the scarcity of silicon has led her company to focus on producing high-end chips at the expense of AMD’s more affordable line-up. Su went on to elaborate that AMD is well-aware that this strategy leaves some segments “underserviced” and also highlighted that the company is prioritizing some of the higher-end commercial SKUs [Stock Keeping Units] and gaming SKUs over some lower-end units.
She also said that AMD’s current products aren’t being made “to put on the shelf,” and that prioritizing the end customer is the primary goal for the time being.
Su cited lean inventories across supply chains as the key reason for this shift in strategy. However, this shift comes as a bit of surprise as a completely different picture was detailed in a Bloomberg interview which featured Su herself.
In that interview, the CEO maintained a positive outlook on the availability for the company’s graphic cards, and claimed that chip supply will be ramped up sooner rather than later. She also said that the past year had been a “very active time” for AMD in terms of supply chain optimization, and that customers will see a boost in availability of products over the next couple of financial quarters.
While the news of more stock is welcome, it is now clear that this stock will largely comprise the company’s more expensive products. According to Su, the company hopes to add more chip manufacturing capacity over the “next couple of months.”
If you’re in the market for an AMD CPU, you can consider last year’s Ryzen 3300X and 3100 CPUs, which initially launched for $120 and $99, respectively. But unfortunately, the chip shortage has jacked these prices up to $180 or more. If you’re not looking to mine cryptocurrency, there are also many Nvidia chips to consider.
About Advanced Micro Devices
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is an American multinational semiconductor company headquartered in Santa Clara, California.
AMD develops computer processors and related technologies for business and consumer markets. AMD’s main products include microprocessors, motherboard chipsets, embedded processors and graphics processors for servers, workstations, personal computers and embedded system applications.


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Miton's senior executive director Gervais Williams has been reducing his exposure to certain consumer stocks in his Diverse Income trust in favour of leading niche companies.
The manager, who runs the £387m Diverse Income trust with Martin Turner, said he was in favour of companies that have fewer competitors. "I am more cautious on consumer areas such as supermarkets,...
Round-up of diversity coverage
Latest news and analysis
Also introducing administration fee
Case opened on 13 November
Seeking assets with social and environmental impact


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Digital currency Bitcoin is a fraud and I’ll sack staff who sell it, warns JP Morgan chief
Digital currency bitcoin ‘is a fraud’ and only useful to drug dealers, murderers and people in countries such as North Korea and Venezuela, says a leading global banker.
In a scathing attack on the cryptocurrency that has won a legion of celebrity fans, Wall Street titan Jamie Dimon, 61, said he was ‘shocked’ by its popularity and warned it will ‘eventually blow up’.
The JP Morgan Chase chief executive said he would fire any employee trading bitcoin for being ‘stupid’. But he also revealed that one of his daughters had bought bitcoin, adding: ‘It went up and she thinks she’s a genius now.’
On the attack: Digital currency bitcoin ‘is a fraud’ and only useful to drug dealers, murderers and people in countries such as North Korea
Dimon’s comments followed a stark warning from Britain’s financial regulator that digital currencies are high-risk, speculative investments wide open to fraud.
Bitcoin is a virtual currency that allows people to bypass banks and traditional payment processes such as cash to buy goods and services. The value of a single bitcoin soared from less than $250 at the end of 2015 to a high above $5,000 this month as it won a wave of fans such as Richard Branson, Gwyneth Paltrow and Julian Assange.
It has since fallen to around $4,000 amid reports that a crackdown could see China shut exchanges where bitcoin is traded.
Dimon said: ‘If we had a trader who traded bitcoin, I’d fire them in a second, for two reasons. One, it’s against our rules. Two, it’s stupid.’
Scathing: JP Morgan Chase chief Jamie Dimon said he would fire any employee trading bitcoin for being ‘stupid’
He added: ‘The only good argument [for it] is that if you were in Venezuela or Ecuador or North Korea.
‘Or if you were a drug dealer, a murderer, you are better off doing it in bitcoin than US dollars, you are better off bypassing the system of your country. Don’t ask me to short it. It could be at $20,000 before this happens, it will eventually blow up.’
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Last year it was the Furby. The year before, the talking Elmo. Now as the Christmas season hits full swing, shoppers are on the hunt for scooters - the two-wheeled, human-powered variety.
In the a typical Christmas rush on the Friday following Thanksgiving Day, shoppers invaded the stores of Carson City with a vengeance, but consumers had a particular appetite this year, according to some store operators.
"This is our best year yet," said Wal-Mart Manager Dedrea Struck. The South Carson super store has been in operation nine years and by 2 p.m. had exceeded its daily projections. "We opened at 6 a.m. and it was like a steady mob coming through the door for the first 20 minutes."
Thousands of early shoppers crowded the mall where Wal-Mart is located, forming a line that ran the length of the parking lot. It was so full, some had to park on side streets to get to the action.
Struck said sales items quickly disappeared from the shelves shortly after the store's opening. "Our definite number one item was the scooters," she said.
Wal-Mart, usually open 24 hours, closed last night to stock the shelves.
There was a similar scene at Mervyn's one block to the north.
Promises of a free teddy bear to the first 700 customers had people lined down the sidewalk at 5:45 a.m., said Lynn Kerr, who works the register.
"It hasn't slowed down a bit," Kerr said in the afternoon. "It seems like we have more seasonal workers than regular workers, but it is still constant."
Kerr said over the past few weeks, deliveries to the store have increased from two trucks a week to four trucks. Mervyn's sales also exceeded expectations by early afternoon.
Several families braved the crowds on their days off to battle for everything from T-shirts to greeting cards.
"We expected worse," said Meyers resident Barbara Gibson. "A week ago we did the Reno thing and we couldn't find anything. We've had pretty good luck today."
Gibson traveled from Lake Tahoe with daughters Ashley and Alyssa and mother-in-law Ina Gibson.
Ashley made it a point to mention that her Christmas wish list includes a telescope. Ashley would prefer a technodog, another popular item this year. Amazingly, neither girl wants a scooter. They agreed that a scooter might be unsafe on Tahoe's icy streets.
All four were perusing the aisles at Sharon's Hallmark, a stone's throw from Mervyn's. The greeting card store's business increases by as much as 50 percent this time of year, said owner Sharon Most.
Claudia Saavedra's twin daughters, Bianca and Belinda, both hope to find a scooter under this year's tree. They also want an N' Sync music album and a puppy. One of their Christmas lists points it out in plain English: "A real dog!"
"They want exactly the same things, but in different order," Saavedra said.
Fleet Feet increases business in an interesting way, catering to high school athletes. During the year, 20 percent of its business is in lettermen's jackets. That number jumps to 50 percent around Christmas, said owner Tim Tetz. The jackets, made of wool with leather sleeves, cost approximately $200 dollars. Add embroidery to denote athletic affiliation for another $100. "It's a luxury that some kids can't afford on their own," Tetz said.
Early-morning lines and crowded stores were commonplace in the capital city and surrounding areas. Shoppers reported the same at K mart in North Carson, J.C. Penney and Target.


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INTERNATIONAL EXPORTS, LTD. – ADVERTISING
CONTROL IS WATCHING
GERTRUDE INC. is rumored to be leadingÂ strategy and creative for the re-launch of [UNCONFIRMED] spy refuge, International Exports, Ltd.â€”aka SAFEHOUSE.
The alleged brand refresh and re-launch spanned all advertising and on-site brand communications for the covert â€śbar, restaurant, and spyfoodâ€ť establishment renowned for its encrypted bites, intel, cocktails, and underground spy lore.
GERTRUDE devised a campaign for the historic hideawayâ€™s latest incarnation of spy sustenance and satiation to lure hungry and thirsty operatives (aka guests), punctuated with the words that keep every spy at the readyâ€”â€śControl Is Watching.â€ť
Brand Positioning, Brand Identity, Corporate Identity, Consumer Print, Outdoor, Digital, Social Media, Packaging Design, and Collateral


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Germany to retest 30 cars showing 'inexplicably high' CO2 levelsTue, 24, May 2016
A German government committee has asked for further tests on 30 cars it says have "inexplicably high" CO2 emissions. The results came to light after officials tested cars from most major brands for 'defeat' devices.
Eagles work in concert for Fiat ad shootMon, 23, May 2016
To grab dramatic footage aerial footage of the Fiat 124 roadster, ad agency FCB Chicago used a trio of eagles with small Sony Action Cams attached to them, and tried to steer clear of crows.
Fiat reprises 'blue pill' man to launch 124 Spider adsFri, 13, May 2016
The elder gentleman in Fiat's 2015 Super Bowl spot “Blue Pill,” who mistakenly tossed his last enhancement pill out of his bathroom window, is back in a new ad for the 124 Spider.
Dodge commandeers Bondurant trackSat, 07, May 2016
FCA made a sponsorship offer that the Bondurant Racing School couldn't ignore, and now the Camaros and Corvettes that sped through Bondurant for 13 years have given way to SRTs, Hellcats and Vipers.
FCA sees 5.6% gain on small Jeeps, pickups, minivansTue, 03, May 2016
Continued strong demand for Jeeps and Ram pickups, as well as rebounding minivan volume, boosted FCA US sales 5.6 percent in April.


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Nintendo fans rejoice – the next addition to the Japanese company’s family of home consoles may be here sooner than you think.
The platform holder’s president Satoru Iwata has admitted that the firm is hard at work on a follow-up to the all-conquering, motion-sensing system.
However, Iwata added that current designs having to "be thoroughly vetted" before being ready for market.
The hardware team started work on the next thing as soon as they were done with their previous project, but what they think up doesn’t necessarily become a product.
We only turn something into a product after it’s been thoroughly vetted inside the company. We’re not at a point where we can give specifics, but of course we’re working on it.”
In the same interview with The Wall Street Journal, Iwata said that Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto had completed all of his stated creations for the console – and added that the retail price of Wii MotionPlus would be very affordable”.


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Miller suffers legal setback in plan to end licensing agreement with Molson Coors
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A plan by Miller Brewing Co. to terminate its Canadian licensing agreement with Molson Coors has suffered a legal setback.
Miller says an Ontario court granted a temporary injunction on Thursday that prevents the termination until a trial on the matter scheduled for later this year.
Miller, a subsidiary of SABMiller plc, a multinational with headquarters in the United Kingdom, said it was “disappointed with today’s interim court decision” but “remains confident in its position” ahead of the court date.
“While we respect the decision, Miller Brewing Co. looks forward to proceeding to trial, presently set for December 2013,” Stephen Rogers, legal counsel for Miller, said in a news release.
“We remain firm in our expectation that the court will agree that we adhered to the terms of our Canadian Licence Agreement when we exercised our right to terminate.”
The agreement covers such well-known brands as Millers Genuine Draft, Miller Lite and Miller High Life.
Miller wants to develop the brands in Canada on its own and intended to terminate the agreement with Molson Coors on July 22, saying it had given the required six-month notification.
However, Molson Coors Canada filed suit in Ontario earlier this year to prevent the move, saying its planned on “strongly defending our rights to market and sell” Miller brands in Canada.
“Molson Coors Canada represents a number of import brands and is proud of the success Miller brands have achieved in Canada under our stewardship for the past 20 years,” Peter Nowlan, chief commercial officer for Molson Coors Canada, said in a statement at the time.
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Total bookings processed through the Sabre global distribution system rose nearly 8 percent year over year during the second quarter to 141 million. Sabre got a big boost from Australia-based Flight Centre, which in the past year finished converting GDS business in Australia and New Zealand from Travelport to Sabre.
Sabre expects its $360 million acquisition of Farelogix to close in the "mid part of the year," later than expected, as the U.S. Department of Justice takes a deeper look at the proposed transaction, Sabre president and CEO Sean Menke said Tuesday during the company's fourth-quarter financial results call.
Sabre announced a new organizational structure and the establishment of the Travel Solutions organization.
Total bookings processed via the Sabre global distribution system rose nearly 8 percent year over year during the third quarter to 140 million, the company reported Tuesday. Air bookings rose 8 percent to 123 million, while non-air bookings, including lodging and ground, rose 7 percent to 17 million.
Sabre will sunset Prism Group's Avion travel management software product at the end of the year.
Sabre reported strong bookings growth across its global distribution system business for the first three months of the year and expects the trend to continue through 2018. The GDS operator and travel IT company raised its full-year earnings, revenue and GDS booking volume forecast, lifted in part by what executives, during an earnings conference call, painted as a healthy travel industry backdrop.
Amadeus announced American Express Global Business Travel and Carlson Wagonlit Travel will pilot airline distribution in accordance with the International Air Transport Association's New Distribution Capability standard. The announcement came Wednesday, a day after competing distribution player Sabre announced its own NDC pilots with those two mega travel management companies.
Carlson Wagonlit Travel plans to roll out flight booking capabilities on its CWT To Go mobile app in the second half of the year, CEO Kurt Ekert said. Already, mobile flight booking is testing with clients in what Ekert called an "aggressive pilot phase."
More than three months after Air France-KLM introduced a surcharge on global distribution system bookings, Sabre and the airline group are at an impasse on reaching a private channel deal that would enable Sabre's agency subscribers selected by the airline group to book without fee.


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As temperatures drop and the economy sputters along, many Americans aren’t exactly in the mood to get their ghoul on this Halloween.
Anna Harris of St. Paul, Minn., is among those cutting back this Halloween. “Because I have less money,” she explained.
Still, Harris plans on celebrating by dressing up as Catwoman for two parties. At a Wal-Mart store last week, she debated between a black-satin sequined cat mask vs. a leopard-festooned mask (with matching kitty tail). Both bore a price tag of about $5, and she plans on spending another $5 on makeup to complete her feline party look.
For retailers, Halloween is an important revenue bridge between the crucial back-to-school and Christmas buying seasons. And, despite early indications of shopper gloominess, 158 million consumers plan to celebrate Halloween in some manner this year – the most popular activity, of course, will be doling out candy.
“Halloween is one of the most popular holidays of the year, and while we are expecting people to cut back on their spending a bit this Halloween, there’s no sense it will be a bust,” said Kathy Grannis, a spokeswoman for the National Retail Federation.
“It’s a muddy picture,” said George John, associate dean and marketing professor at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. In terms of retail sales, “We’re trucking along. We’re not falling off a cliff, but we’re not surging upward, either,” John added.
A survey distributed recently by the NRF indicates that nearly 9 in 10 people plan to spend less on candy, costumes and decorations this Halloween season compared with last year. Total spending on the holiday is expected to reach the $6.9 billion mark nationwide this year – that’s about $75.03 a person, on average, down from $79.82 last year.
About a quarter of the 5,200-plus consumers surveyed cited the economy as the main reason for the decline.
“Unemployment has improved, but not at a solid rate that we would normally see when a recession ends. Consumer confidence has trended downward, so it’s a slow improvement,” John said. “Sales for big retailers year-over-year are negative or marginally positive.”
Some Halloween enthusiasts plan on cutting back by buying “a la carte” – that is, investing in a piece or two, such as faux facial hair or just a mask, instead of a full-fledged costume.
Target Corp. capitalized on that trend by partnering with fashion and costume designer Chris March for a series of striking wigs that serve as the cornerstone of the retailer’s Halloween collection. March, a former Project Runway contestant, designed eight styles: Geisha, Greaser, Starlet, Witch, Medusa, Monster Bride, Mohawk and Afro. Each sells for $20 or less.
Not all retailers are reporting Halloween-spending skittishness among their customers. Consumers nationwide are expected to spend a little over $1 billion on children’s costumes and $1.2 billion on adult costumes, according to the NRF-sponsored survey.
Thrift shops report brisk sales this time of yearl. “It’s a busy time of year for us,” said Zubin Segal, public relations manager at Goodwill Industries of Central Texas. “We create an entire section devoted to Halloween in each of our stores” -- including in South Florida. Goodwill stores stock an assortment of new and used costumes, as well as makeup and decorations.
For Spirit Halloween, the spooky season is the only season. The company’s pop-up stores take up otherwise vacant storefronts each fall in shopping centers across South Florida. Nationwide, the company – part of the Spencer Gifts chain – has about 1,050 stores, Barr said. They’ll remain open until Nov. 3.
“Halloween is huge,” said Lisa Barr, senior director of marketing for Spirit Halloween. “It’s not just for trick-or-treaters anymore. Adults have really hopped on the bandwagon. It’s a stress-free holiday where you can really let loose.”
Hot costumes this year, according to Barr, include traditional items such as super heroes and zombies, as well as pop culture knockoffs such as singer Miley Cyrus, whose bizarre “twerking” – a type of dance – during the MTV Video Music Awards garnered worldwide attention.
Another hot area: pet costumes.
About 13.8 percent of those surveyed for NRF say they will take extra time to find the “perfect costume” for their pet. All told, consumers are expected to spend $330 million on costumes for their four-legged companions.
Popular doggy costumes trending on Google Shopping include hot dog, Wonder Woman, Ewok and matador get-ups.
The article was supplemented by reporting from the Austin American-Statesman and Miami Herald staff.


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Funcom and Rock Pocket Games have revealed the official PC system requirements for Moons of Madness. In addition, the companies released a brand-new gameplay video, giving a sneak peek of what you can expect from it. Continue reading Official PC system requirements for Moons of Madness + Gameplay Teaser Video
Madness, madness and stupidity, as Tywin Lannister would say. Madness most certainly as the title says. Now regarding stupidity, I hope not as we already had enough of it lately. Moons of Madness is a first-person, story-driven cosmic horror game. The game draws inspiration from H.P. Lovecraft. It was scheduled for a 2018 release but got delayed, and its final release date is now set for October 27th.
Rock Pocket Games announced today that their new H.P. Lovecraft inspired Martian tale Moons of Madness will be released in 2018. Moons of Madness is a first person, psychological horror game that explores the internal struggles of astronaut Shane Newehart and the supernatural events that occur on research station Trailblazer Alpha, the first scientific outpost on the planet Mars. Continue reading Moons of Madness is a new Lovecraftian horror title, first official screenshots released


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Though evolving, the recycling industry is alive and well in the Carolinas and across the U.S. Partners like Sonoco, one of the largest diversified global packaging companies, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) and the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) continue to work together to improve recycling access for businesses and residents in both states, while also working jointly on improving quality and lowering contamination in order to help support the continued viability of residential recycling programs.
Today, Sonoco, DHEC and DEQ join other companies, agencies and organizations in recognizing America Recycles Day. A Keep America Beautiful initiative, America Recycles Day is a nationally recognized day dedicated to promoting and celebrating recycling in the United States. The national recycling rate continues to increase over the past 30 years, with the current rate at 34%. At Sonoco’s headquarters in Hartsville, S.C., associates are honoring the day by recycling items like plastic bottle tops, electronics and even Starbucks cold coffee glasses!
“Recycling is a large industry with a significant economic impact that includes increased employment, a stronger tax base, and it supplies many other businesses with raw materials,” said Mike Pope, president and general manager of Sonoco Recycling.
With the growth of ecommerce and the increase in the shipping of products because of it, more companies are entering the containerboard and box making businesses in the U.S, which will continue to drive consumption of paper-based materials which can be recycled and reused. And while plastics have been the subject of negative national and global attention as of late, plastic remains one of the best packaging options to prevent food waste, a serious international issue, and to ensure people have access to high quality, fresh foods. Sonoco actively collects a range of materials to recycle and in turn to use in the production of its own products. Sonoco is already one of the largest collectors and users of PET plastic water and soda bottles to create packaging for fresh fruits, and is in the process of including PET-based clamshell packages in residential recycling programs to recycle and reuse in the creation of more fresh fruit packaging.
“Sonoco has been involved in recycling for about 100 years, and the materials we collect are a fundamental part of our business. Market and commodity prices for recycled products like plastics and paper, move just like they do for food and fuel. The fundamental demand for recycled materials has not changed, and while global trade barriers have put supply and demand out of balance in different parts of the world, these will balance out over time,” said Pope. “In the end, recycling is a great business that creates jobs and makes our society a cleaner and better place to live.”
Founded in 1899, Sonoco (NYSE: SON) is a global provider of a variety of consumer packaging, industrial products, protective packaging, and displays and packaging supply chain services. With annualized net sales of approximately $5 billion, the Company has 21,000 employees working in approximately 300 operations in 33 countries, serving some of the world’s best known brands in some 85 nations. Sonoco is committed to Better Packaging. Better Life., and ranked first in the Packaging sector on Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies 2018 list. For more information, visit www.sonoco.com.


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Aero Kinetics is an Aerospace and Defense firm, and one of their key business units is focused on Unmanned Aircraft Systems. The company was founded by W. Hulsey Smith in 2003, and they’re now the first firm to file for FAA Type Certification for multi-rotor, unmanned aircraft.
“We want safe, airworthy aircraft operating within the national airspace,” Smith says. “We are excited about this opportunity to work with the FAA to set the bar and establish a method of certifying unmanned systems for commercial use. Setting standards – in a strategic and safe manner – marks a new era in Unmanned Aircraft Systems that literally takes commercial UAS out of the Dark Ages.”
Now the company has signed a partnership agreement with SLM Solutions NA which will bring 3D metal printing technology to Aero Kinetics’ latest generation multi-rotor, vertical takeoff and landing UAS. Smith says the deal is key to the company’s ongoing vision.
“The safety, speed, and quality of SLM’s machines are well suited to produce ultra-lightweight structural components for unmanned aircraft,” Smith said. “When coupled with Aero Kinetics’ subject matter expertise in design for additive metal manufacturing, we will reduce weight in our critical structural components. SLM and their technology help us deliver unmanned aircraft to our clients with the most advanced 3D printing technology.”
He adds that additive technology for metal part prototypes and production manufacturing means Aero Kinetics can rapidly produce complex, optimized, aerospace-grade components, and that the technologies improve component life cycle and cut back on obsolescence.
“We are excited about the opportunity to work with a leading innovator in the VTOL segment like Aero Kinetics, in attaining FAA certification for parts built on SLM Solutions products,” said James Fendrick, the Vice President of Sales & Marketing for SLM Solutions. “We believe there is true value in proving that our products are capable of manufacturing parts that are flight worthy, and able to pass strict FAA requirements.”
Aero Kinetics say their partners are crucial in their efforts to service their international customer base with disaster and emergency response solutions, border security, ranching and electronic news-gathering solutions.
SLM Solutions – the North American subsidiary of SLM Solutions Group AG – provides of metal-based additive manufacturing technology with part production and prototyping for aerospace, automotive, academia, energy and medical industry users. Headquartered in Lübeck, Germany, SLM develops and assembles machines and integrated system solutions with their Selective Laser Melting technology. The company employs more than 160 people in Germany and North America.
Through this partnership, unmanned aerial drone technology should take a leap forward as 3D printing enables more affordable as well as lighter production components. We’ve already seen the enabling effects that 3D printing has had on the consumer-based drone industry. It will be very interesting to see just what ultimately comes down the pipeline from Aero Kinetics and SLM Solutions moving forward. Do you think the Unmanned Aircraft Systems market and operators are over-regulated, and do you believe those regulations are hindering the development of such systems? Let us know in the 3D Metal Printing to Commercial Unmanned Aircraft forum thread on 3DPB.com.
– – –
Founded by W. Hulsey Smith in 2003, Aero Kinetics are the first firm to file for FAA Type Certification for multi-rotor, unmanned aircraft. Smith says setting standards for such aircraft marks a new era in Unmanned Aircraft Systems which will take “commercial UAS out of the Dark Ages.” His company just signed a partnership agreement with SLM Solutions NA which will bring 3D metal printing technology to the Aero Kinetics latest generation multi-rotor, vertical takeoff and landing UAS. You can read the whole story here: https://3dprint.com/73727/3d-metal-printing-to-commercial-unmanned-aircraft
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We’ve likely all been at a movie or concert when someone’s phone went off, disrupting the experience – but have you ever seen a performance halted by such a disruption? An iPhone alarm actually halted the New York Philharmonic during a critical section of a recent performance.
The New York Times reports:
The unmistakably jarring sound of an iPhone marimba ring interrupted the soft and spiritual final measures of Mahler’s Symphony No. 9 at the New York Philharmonic on Tuesday night. The conductor, Alan Gilbert, did something almost unheard-of in a concert hall: He stopped the performance. But the ringing kept on going, prompting increasingly angry shouts in the audience directed at the malefactor.
After words from Mr. Gilbert, and what seemed like weeks, the cellphone owner finally silenced his device. After the audience cheered, the concert resumed. Internet vitriol ensued.
Apparently the owner of the device felt the worst of all about the disruption, however. The un-named disrupter had just gotten his first iPhone, and had put his phone on silent, unaware that he’d set the alarm – or that it could sound with the device on silent:
Patron X said he had no idea he was the culprit. He said his company replaced his BlackBerry with an iPhone the day before the concert. He said he made sure to turn it off before the concert, not realizing that the alarm clock had accidentally been set and would sound even if the phone was in silent mode. “I didn’t even know phones came with alarms,” the man said.
Debates have ensued across Twitter and other venues over the nature of the iPhone’s silent switch, and whether an iPhone should still sound an alarm even when it is set to silent mode, with some suggesting that many would want alarms to disrupt them, such as waking them up in the morning if they forget to take their phones off silent, but others argue that most would expect that silent mode should mean just that: silence, in all scenarios.
The incident happened during one of the most significant moments in the performance, which is especially unfortunate, but it does raise some questions. Who is to blame? Should the unnamed disrupter have turned his iPhone completely off? Should he have expected the alarm to go off?
The disruptor has since apologized, and I’m suspending judgement on this, but what are your thoughts?


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"The transporters unilaterally withdrew their trucks with effect from January 31, leading to disruption in supply of LPG", he said.
The accident occurred when an instrumental 'pig', which is used to clean the pipeline, ejected out of the pipeline, killing the two persons standing at the mouth of the pipeline.
The driver of the lorry, proceeding to Madurai from Mangalore, lost control of the vehicle while negotiating a curve which resulted in the accident.
Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved extension of PDS Kerosene, Domestic LPG Subsidy Scheme and Freight Subsidy Scheme for a further period of one year.
About 75% of the 15 cr LPG consumers in the country are getting cash subsidy directly in their bank a/cs to help them buy cooking fuel at market price.
The move comes close on heels of Tata Group requesting its employees to voluntarily consider giving up use of subsidised LPG.
As on date, 9.75 crore LPG consumers have joined the scheme. This is 66 per cent of the total consumer base of 15.3 crore.
Losses on sale of subsidised LPG and kerosene have dropped by over 30 per cent as international oil rates plunged to multi-year lows.


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Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is a strong player in the cloud computing business, even if it currently is a distant second in terms of market share. The public cloud market is going to reach 241 billion in revenue by 2020 according to Forrester Research. Microsoft's growth and current market position will allow it to use the cloud to significantly add to its top and bottom lines.
Microsoft Growth Factors
Source: Synergy Research Group
Microsoft had an incredible 154% YoY market share growth according to a report by Synergy Research Group, giving it 8% of the total cloud market. By comparison Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) had 67% year over year growth, giving it 27% of the market.
Even if Microsoft would simply maintain its market share, it would be making around 19 billion dollars in revenue from cloud computing (if Forrester Research is accurate) by 2020. Microsoft's total revenue for 2013 was 83.35 billion. While Microsoft does not generally disclose its exact cloud sales per year, it did do so last year; on April 29, 2013 the finance chief of the server and tools unit revealed that Microsoft had reached 1 billion in annual sales for Azure. Given Microsoft's 154% growth, it has probably reached at least 2 billion in annual sales by now. If you subtract the 2 billion from its current revenue, and add back the 2020 projected cloud revenue, you get 100 billion in annual revenue by 2020. Microsoft's P/S is 3.92 currently, which would give it a market cap of 392 billion. That's a 19% increase from Microsoft's current market cap of 329 billion. Microsoft has other things up its sleeve than just cloud though, with organic growth from other Microsoft initiatives such as its push into the Internet of things likely to push revenue and earnings higher. Additionally, shareholders will be rewarded through things such as share buybacks and dividends as well. Most importantly though, Microsoft will probably continue to grow its cloud market share due to a variety of factors.
Microsoft has an advantage in enterprise due to the relationships it has built up over the years with businesses, especially when compared to other legacy vendors. A survey was undertaken in 2013, by Everest Group and Cloud Connect, which showed that Azure has three times the number of PaaS (platform as a service) and IaaS (infrastructure as a service) users as other legacy vendors.
Speaking of legacy vendors, IBM was a notable exception to the recent round of price cuts undertaken by Amazon, Microsoft and Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL). Microsoft and IBM are both well-known tech blue chips, and have been around longer than both Amazon and Google, which has allowed them to build up a reputation of trustworthiness. People and businesses are more and more concerned about guarding their privacy and data, which means they are likely to turn to Microsoft now, due to IBM's comparatively high prices.
Microsoft has also made its cloud services a part of many of its services, which can easily be seen in Office 365. Growing cloud computing market share is likely part of the reason they released Office for iPad, as it will draw more people into the Microsoft ecosystem, which will lead to more people paying for cloud services such as OneDrive. This will let Microsoft draw further market share, with an incredible 27 million people having already downloaded Office for iPad. Another factor worth mentioning is that the cloud business thrived when Nadella headed it, making it likely that Microsoft's cloud business will continue to thrive.
One of the biggest risks is that cloud computing is increasingly becoming commoditized, as evidenced by the price war between Microsoft, Amazon, and Google. This would lead to very slim margins.
Historically Amazon has operated on slim margins and high volume, allowing them to beat competitors. However Microsoft has very deep pockets, especially when compared to Amazon ($87.67 billion compared to Amazon's $8.67 billion), giving them a financial advantage. It also has an operating cash flow of 28.62 billion compared to Amazon's 5.34 billion, which will allow it to invest more heavily than Amazon and withstand price cuts. Microsoft was able to cut prices even farther than Amazon did in some cloud categories in the latest round, with storage prices falling about 55% and computing prices falling about 30%. Additionally Amazon is spending money on a great deal of other things such as fulfillment centers, developing a smartphone, and acquiring content for Amazon Instant Video. Most importantly, Amazon investors are starting to get impatient for profits, with Amazon's stock trading below both its 50 and 200 day moving average. Conversely, Microsoft has beaten expectations for the past few quarters and been rewarded for it, with its stock trading near 52-week highs.
I think these factors should prevent the cloud business from being commoditized from Amazon's efforts. However if Amazon does drive the margins significantly down, then Microsoft can still out-compete Amazon on margins here, due to its resources. I don't think Amazon will drive margins down though, due to this new investor focus on profits. It's a rather unusual situation for Amazon, as investors have not really cared about profits for a long time. Microsoft can also invest more than Amazon in making its cloud presence bigger and better, which would allow them to charge higher prices.
Google was actually the one to begin the latest price war, and is very cash-rich, with an excellent and growing cash flow. This makes the possibility of Google driving down margins a very real threat. However Google isn't known for being a low margin company, evidenced by its current operating margin of 23.52%. It would be out of character for Google to drive down prices permanently. That's why I feel this is a promotional price cut, and will not last forever. Additionally, Microsoft is more trusted than Google. There has been a great deal of criticism levied on both Google and Microsoft following the NSA revelations, but Google has weathered the brunt of it, simply due to the fact that they have more of your data. This would make businesses leery of trusting Google to provide them with cloud services.
While Microsoft probably isn't going to become #1 in terms of cloud business market share anytime soon, I believe they will be able to gain significant market share by 2020, mostly at the expense of IBM, Amazon, and Google. They won't be that distant of a number two anymore, perhaps reaching as much as 15-20% of the cloud computing market. This would result in 36 billion - 48 billion dollars being added to Microsoft's top line. This should result in at least a few billion being added to Microsoft's bottom line. Combined with earnings growth from Microsoft's other products and inorganic growth from share buybacks, Microsoft looks like a strong buy.
Disclosure: I am long MSFT, GOOGL. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.


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The website Travel-Ticker.com recently conducted its annual summer intentions survey, and asked the following: If you were given the chance to do one crazy activity while on vacation that you wouldn't attempt at home, what would it be?
Some 27 percent of respondents chose skinny-dipping -- and of that group, 67 percent were age 51 or older. The survey also found that people are becoming more spontaneous and budget-conscious about their travel choices: 79 percent of overall respondents said that felt they could save money by booking travel on a whim. In that spirit, we asked Travel-Ticker to identify five destinations that offer both great deals and inviting places to take it all off and enjoy a swim in the buff.
Check out the gallery below for the top picks!


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|artec technologies AG||Download Datasheet|
|Model Code||MULTIEYE SensorLog Module|
|Software Type||Surveillance software|
|Model Info||MULTIEYE® SensorLog offers the possibility to use external sensor system applications as e.g. the viasys alarm sensor plug-in for IQeye and AXIS cameras or the AXIS Cross Line Detection function (further applications on request).|
|Arecont Vision’s new multi-sensor release offers exciting new capabilities|
A new Arecont Vision® multi-sensor sustaining release is available now, and it’s loaded with the features and product enhancements that were most requested...
|Genetec announces Security Center 5.7 open architecture platform|
Genetec Inc., a technology provider of unified security, public safety, operations, and business intelligence solutions, has announced a new version of Security...
|Milestone video management software supports radar in Device Pack 9.4|
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Ventura County – There is a lot of expensive gear in any local retail store purveying cell phones and the myriad accessories that go along with their increasingly ubiquitous use. Given the value of such an establishment’s contents and the technological wherewithal of such a storefront operation, one might expect that they would have an effective alarm system in place.
The validity of that expectation was met in the hours just after midnight on August 14th at the T-Mobile store in downtown Camarillo, when the nearby Ventura County Sheriff’s Department station received an alarm call from that location. According to VCSD spokesman Sgt. Pete O’Sullivan, the alarm company reported “they were monitoring the store’s surveillance video and could see one suspect inside the store.”
With all due alacrity, Camarillo Police Department deputies were on the scene establishing a secure perimeter. An Oxnard Police Department K-9 unit was summoned to the scene, and upon the canine’s arrival, deputies verbally greeted the caught-in-the-act burglar and suggested that he exit the store voluntarily. It was at that point that Victor Hugo Florentino, an Oxnard resident, considered his limited options; rather than enjoy the experience of a large dog—undoubtedly grumpy at having been aroused from his evening’s sleep—entering the store with the sole purpose of immobilizing him, Florentino “ultimately came out of the store and surrendered to the deputies.”
Further investigation indicated that Florentino had accessed the store interior via the roof, and was in possession of a bag containing a quantity of the store merchandise. Florentino was transported to Ventura County Jail, where he was booked on charges of commercial burglary and possession of burglary tools. He remains in custody pending bail.


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One of the biggest mobile company in the past, Nokia is coming back with their Android Powered handset in the 4th quarter of 2016. Earlier, Nokia was the last word in the mobile and one third of the total market was with Nokia. But with the change in the smartphone market Nokia loose their power and also failed to adapt with the changing trend also. Samsung and Apple gained the market share and soon Nokia was out of the market too.
The company in 2014 tried to reach the market with the takeover by Microsoft too, but it also doesn’t help much. Windows phone doesn’t have much demand while Android started growing. After all these, now the report coming that the company is trying to catch the market again and they are going to launch new Android 7.0 Nougat powered handset.
According to a report by the Chinese news firm The Paper, the Nokia China President Mike Wang has confirmed that there will be three to four Nokia-branded devices that will be launched in the fourth quarter of this year. These devices will include both smartphones and tablets.
While Nokia was taken by Microsoft there was a deal of not using the brand Nokia till the last quarter of 2016. So the deal will end soon and the company is planing to introduce new phones under the brand Nokia after that.
However there are reports that these devices will not be manufactured at the plants where Nokia’s earlier smartphones were manufactured, the new products will be manufactured by Finnish company HMD Global. Nokia, earlier this year, had granted HMD Global the exclusive license to create Nokia-branded mobile phones and tablets for the next 10 years.


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(Reuters) — Billionaire investor Warren Buffett on Monday mentioned consumers of bitcoin, which he has characterised as “rat poison squared,” thrive at the hope they’ll in finding different individuals who pays extra for it.
Likening bitcoin call for to the tulip bulb mania in 17th century Holland, Buffett, the chairman and leader government of Berkshire Hathaway Inc, mentioned the mystique at the back of the cryptocurrency has brought about its worth to surge.
“When you don’t know it, you get a lot more excited,” Buffett mentioned on CNBC tv. “Folks like to take a position, they prefer to gamble.”
He mentioned buyers now are a lot proudly owning U.S. shares, whose costs are increased however now not in a “bubble,” and it will take a “nanosecond” for him to make a choice shares over 10- or 30-year U.S. govt bonds now yielding round three %.
Charlie Munger, Buffett’s longtime industry spouse and a Berkshire vice president, could also be no bitcoin fan, describing it as “nugatory synthetic gold.” He likened it to Oscar Wilde’s definition of fox searching, calling it “the pursuit of the uneatable via the unspeakable.”
Buffett, 87, and Munger, 94, spoke two days when they presided at Berkshire’s annual shareholder assembly in Omaha, Nebraska, which was once anticipated to have drawn greater than 40,000 other folks.
It was once the primary assembly since Berkshire increased longtime executives Greg Abel and Ajit Jain to vice chairmen, making them best contenders to switch Buffett as leader government.
Buffett mentioned their promotions were “very, excellent” for the corporate. Berkshire has mentioned its board is aware of who would turn out to be leader government if the will arose.
One among its individuals, Microsoft Corp co-founder Invoice Gates, mentioned on CNBC “it’s now not a horse race” between Abel and Jain.
Buffett renewed his want to spend a few of Berkshire’s low-yielding money on a significant acquisition. He mentioned he could be happier if Berkshire had $30 billion of money and equivalents, now not the $108.6 billion it reported keeping on the finish of March.
“If a $100 billion deal got here alongside that Charlie and I actually favored, we’d get it achieved,” he mentioned.
Buffett published closing week Berkshire had purchased about 75 million further Apple stocks within the first quarter, including to the 165.three million it already owns. It now has a five % stake within the iPhone maker, trailing simplest Leading edge Workforce and BlackRock.
Buffett mentioned he would be at liberty to peer the Apple percentage worth fall if it will spur repurchases.
Munger, in the meantime, mentioned Berkshire could have been “a bit of too restrained” in purchasing Apple, announcing “it’s quite priced and powerful.” He added: “I needed we owned extra of it.”
Buffett additionally mentioned the record of CEO applicants has been “narrowed down” for the healthcare undertaking between Berkshire, Amazon.com and JPMorgan Chase. He mentioned opting for the CEO will likely be “via a long way probably the most tricky determination we can make.”
(Reporting By way of Jennifer Ablan and Jonathan Stempel; Modifying via Hugh Lawson, Nick Zieminski and Susan Thomas)


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Customers seeking more versatile vehicles with better fuel economy are finding what they’re looking for in hatchbacks and U.S. sales of these popular five-door cars continues to skyrocket.
It’s a trend reflected in sales of two of Ford’s hottest-selling cars. Approximately 50 percent of retail sales of the 2011 Fiesta have been for hatchbacks. On the market for just a few months, 41 percent of retail sales for the all-new 2012 Focus have been for the hatchback – a number Ford expects to continue rising.
“The hatchback is hitting an unmet need for versatility as people continue to downsize their vehicles,” said Paul Russell, Focus brand manager. “No other competitor in the top-five of total market share offers a hatchback option in the small car segment.”
The total number of hatchbacks available in the U.S. market increased 63 percent between model years 2006 and 2010, going from 291,853 to 475,048, according to Ward’s Auto World data.
“American car buyers have become appreciative of the convenience and flexibility that hatchback bodystyles offer after years of owning SUVs and crossovers,” said George Pipas, Ford sales analyst. “Combined with the generation of younger drivers who have been exposed to popular high-performance hatchback offerings in Europe and Asia, we may be seeing the beginning of a shift in buyer acceptance of hatchbacks.”
Unsure of how the market would react to new hatchback offerings, Ford prepared itself by investing in flexible plant capacity. This flexibility ensures Ford is able to react quickly to changing tastes, providing a vehicle mix – hatchback or sedan, base model or fully loaded Titanium – to serve varied customer demands.
Hatchbacks for space and fuel efficiency Today’s hatchbacks offer more cargo space than sedans. The five-door Focus hatchback provides an additional 10.6 cubic feet compared with the sedan model and features a wide cargo opening and fold-flat load floor.
The Focus delivers up to 40 mpg on the highway. Kelley Blue Book’s kbb.com recommended the 2012 Focus hatchback as a ride that’s fit for students who long for the open road, due in part to the extra cargo room afforded by the hatchback design.
The five-door Fiesta hatchback also brings additional cargo room to the table, providing 15.4 cubic feet of space.
“Our fun, vibrant Fiesta customers like the versatility of the hatchback’s access to cargo both inside and outside the vehicle,” said Sherryl Brightwell, Fiesta brand manager. “The additional square footage allows the on-the-go customer the ability to maximize cargo space when needed.”
The hatchback Fiesta is styled to have a “sporty, Euro-racing” feel, along with impressive fuel economy that delivers up to 40 mpg.
Hatchbacks for style and technology Ford Fiesta and Focus hatchbacks offer more than additional space.
The all-new 2012 Ford Focus redefines the small car category with impressive fuel economy, distinctive design and strong driving dynamics. Focus offers class-exclusive technologies and first-to-market features such as hands-free SYNC®, MyFord Touch™ driver connect technology, push-button start, six-speed PowerShift automatic transmission, heated and leather-trimmed seats and active park assist.
The Fiesta offers a vibrant, expressive design and a global track record that redefines small car expectations for customers along with 15 class-exclusive technologies and features.
The Ford Fiesta and Focus recently were named to Kelley Blue Book’s kbb.com 2011 Top 10 Coolest New Cars Under $18,000 list.
Combined sales for the Fiesta and Focus in June were 26,920, up 66 percent from June 2010. Fiesta sales were 5,535 and Focus sales were 21,385, up 41 percent from the prior June – making it the best-selling Ford car of the month.


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How ICST Could Make Waves in Entertainment Media
Since the launch of Napster’s music-sharing platform, the music industry has been in near-constant turmoil, it’s timeline marked with dipping revenues, lack of transparency, privacy problems and feuds over the fair distribution of dividends.
Music companies hate streaming services. Streaming services hate file-sharing services. And, most of all, artists and content creators hate virtually everyone else for making huge sums off their toil and feeding them crumbs.
With so many conflicts of interest, there seems to be no one service or business model that can work in a fashion that satisfies the needs of all the parties involved. But now, after years of suffering from a thorny and complicated relationship with the the sector, the music industry might finally find a chance to head in a positive direction by leveraging blockchain.
What is ICST?
ICST ICO project has drawn the attention of investors and professionals in different industries, and is now showing promising signs to change the music industry, disrupt Youtube, and might even fulfill the needs of everyone.
At its core, The ICST platform plans to incorporate a fully transparent rating system for artists and users to track the most popular content, as well as comprehensive analytics to give artists a complete picture of how their work is being received.
In addition, artists will be paid directly for the work they produce without having to pay a middleman for hosting and distribution. Monetization methods, creating licensing, and sponsorship decisions will rest in the hands of the artists themselves, liberating them from the restrictions of corporate control.
Utilizing the Ethereum blockchain network, ICST will offer an unparalleled level of transparency, efficiency, and security for the entertainment industry.
At its core, the blockchain is distributed ledger that can validate and register transactions without the need for a central authority. In a nutshell, it means parties can make peer-to-peer exchanges of data, money or anything else of value in any amount and in a timely manner.
In the music industry, the blockchain and ICST’s ICO could transform publishing, monetization and the relationships of artists with their communities of fans. Another advantage ICST poses is establishing a more direct relationship between creators and consumers.
Artists will not longer be required to go through purchasing platforms and financial brokers – who usually take a hefty cut of the revenue – and can get directly compensated every time their songs are played. This can be a big deal to all those amateur producers who don’t have the backing of huge record labels.
Startups and Musicians Embrace Technology
Companies like Benji Rogers’ online music platform PledgeMusic have published a comprehensive blueprint for the Fair Trade Music Database, a globally decentralized blockchain-based ledger that can solve the problems of ownership, payments and transparency.
Creators can upload their music and the associated metadata on the ledger. Companies and consumers, can search and play the music of their choice off the ledger, and smart contracts will ensure that the owner(s) of the content will be paid automatically for its usage.
PeerTracks is another music startup that is getting ready to launch its platform and is betting big on blockchain. PeerTracks also introduces the concept of “artist tokens” a limited and tradable cryptocurrency that artists hand out to their fans and which finds its value from the popularity of its creator. Higher demands for coins created by a specific artist will increase its worth.
Last year, award-winning musician and songwriter Imogen Heap started working on a new music ecosystem, which she calls Mycelia. Based on Blockchain technology, the platform will enable direct payments for artists and give them more control over how their songs and associated data circulate among fans and other musicians.
She describes the efforts as “trying to take away the power from top down and give power, or at least a steering, to the artist to help shape their own future.”


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Sunnyvale, Calif. — The HDMI Forum has released version 2.0a of the HDMI specification.
The spec, which is available to current HDMI 2.0 adopters via the HDMI Adopter Extranet, has been updated to enable transmission of high dynamic range (HDR) formats. The HDR format provides enhanced picture quality by simultaneously enabling greater detail for both the dark and bright parts of an image, said the group.
The updates include references to CEA-861.3, the Consumer Electronics Association’s recently published update of HDR Static Metadata Extensions.
Robert Blanchard, HDMI Forum president, said in a statement: “We recognized that HDR would be a critical feature as the industry evolves. Our support for HDR enables our 800-plus HDMI 2.0 adopters to develop market-leading products that include HDR and will maintain interoperability across the entire HDMI ecosystem.”


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What to know
- Dogecoin (DOGE) payments went live on the Tesla store in Asian hours on Friday, with prices seeing an 11% increase shortly afterward.
- The store displays pricing information in both U.S. dollars and dogecoin. The Giga Texas Belt Buckle lists for 835 DOGE (≈$155.5); the Cyberquad sells for 12,020 DOGE (≈$2,296), while a Cyberwhistle goes for 300 DOGE (≈$57).
- Dogecoin was trading at $0.19 at the time of writing and is the world’s 11th largest with a market capitalization of $24 billion.
- The move comes nearly a month after Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in December 2021 that the electric-car maker would accept Dogecoin as payment for its merchandise. “Tesla will make some merch buyable with Doge & see how it goes,” he said at the time.
- Earlier this year, Tesla started accepting bitcoin as payment for its electric cars. The pilot proved short-lived amid rising concerns about energy usage and was soon dropped.
Cardano4 hours ago
Decentralization App Development: Cardano Launches New Project
BabyDoge4 hours ago
BabyDoge Up 13% on CoinEx Listing, Token Now Held by Over 1.275 Million Users
Solana4 hours ago
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XRP3 days ago


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Google has signaled its interest in using Bitcoin, and it’s asking users for feedback on how to proceed. Almost any move by Mountain View could send the value of the cyrptocurrency even higher than it already is.
As the internet grows older, more countries are putting restrictions on certain activities. Some areas of the world are completely censorship pieces of the web. In an effort to combat this, the Pirate Bay has launched the Pirate Browser, a custom web browser that aims to skirt internet censorship.
As it falls in and out of public view, Bitcoin is once again all the rage. However, rather than just tech blogs and internet culture sites covering the cryptocurrency, more mainstream sites and esteemed financial analysts are now weighing in on the matter. Instead of just providing yet another explanation of what Bitcoin is, though, analysts are now wondering why the pseudo currency has caught on, and why it’s not illegal. As it turns out, it’s not illegal because of that “pseudo” moniker.
While the definition of cloud computing is vague, the need to protect the rights of people who use cloud computing services is clear and pressing. ExtremeTech takes a stab at a Bill of Rights that ever users should be entitled to.
Subscribe Today to get the latest ExtremeTech news delivered right to your inbox.


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In the eleven-month period ending February 19 over 1.5 million tons of goods worth some $421 were exported to Iraq from Khuzestan Province, southwest of Iran. The director of Khuzestan Province Customs Administration, Abbas Alidadi, told ISNA news agency that the goods are 216 percent heavier and 127 percent more in value compared to the […]
Iraq Business News brings you the latest Iraq Industry & Trade News, with information on developments and opportunities.
Iraqi-Iranian discussions took place in Basra about starting an Iranian commercial center that embraces offices of Iranian firms in the province.
The Director-General of Kindi State Company, Engineer Yousef Hussein Yousef, said that his company has developed a system of traffic light signals which work on power and solar energy, which enable it to work for 24 hours without interruption. This system is distinguished by low price, compared to imported ones, with little consumption of electrical […]
Delegations from the embassies of Sweden and Norway met with the governor of Basra last week to discuss investment opportunities in the province, according to Aswat Al Iraq. The joint delegation, led by the Swedish ambassador to Iraq, expressed the readiness of companies from both countries to contribute to large projects in the province. (Source: […]
The Iraqi Ministry of Trade said that this year’s allocations for ration card items are insufficient, adding that a supplementary budget might be provided for this purpose. “A total of $2.9 billion U.S. dollars has been allocated for rations cards from the 2010 budget,” Trade Minister Safaa al-Din al-Safi told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “A […]
The Iraqi Ministry of Industry & Minerals signed a memorandum of understanding with South Korea’s STX to build an iron and steel plant that will operate at a capacity of 3 million tons at a cost of $3 billion, according to a press release on Sunday. “Negotiations took place with the South Korean company to […]
Following last week’s positive statements from France’s Ambassador to Iraq, France’s Industry Minister Christian Estrosi urged French companies to open offices in Iraq and claim a share of the lucrative investment opportunities in the country. He added that the French government will open a major agricultural centre in Kurdistan to train workers in the agricultural […]
Following the recent visit by a delegation of Iranian businessmen and officials to Basra, an Iranian company has started negotiations with the investment commission in Basra over the construction of an iron foundry. The plant is planned cost to cost $10m and will cover 25,000 square meters. (Source: Aswat Al Iraq)
Iraqi Trade Ministry is in debt to merchants who supplied the Ministry with food items related to the ration card system. “This issue would negatively affect the ration card system,” Falah Kamona, head of the Iraqi Chamber of Commerce, told Aswat al-Iraq news agency on Friday. He said that the Ministry has been in debt […]
Iraq’s Cereals Council said today that Iraq is expected to buy 3 million tons of wheat this year, the same quantity it exported last year. Iraq will also import about a bit more that 1 million ton of rice this year, i.e. a small increase comparing with 2009 exports. Iraq is diversifying its wheat provider […]
Engineering and construction company KBR Inc. said Thursday that its fourth-quarter earnings fell 17 percent as U.S. military work in Iraq declined and some contract fees were reversed, and it trimmed the low end of its full-year outlook. Profit for the fourth quarter slid to $73 million or 45 cents a share, from $88 million, […]
HMBS Group, one of the largest business conglomerates in Iraq, plans to increase sales of its confectionery products by expanding its distribution network to 32 countries this year, a top company executive said. The group has invested Dh220 million to set up a modern confectionery plant in Jebel Ali as a part of a Dh370-million […]


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Forge beta launches to reward gamers for their achievments
Wednesday, October 25, 2023
Founded by Gaming Pioneer Dennis “Thresh” Fong, Crunchyroll Founder Kun Gao, and Cyence Founder George Ng, Forge launched into beta and allows gamers to automatically earn rewards based on their gaming profiles and achievements.
Forge, the video game platform that connects and rewards gamers for their gaming achievements and ongoing play has opened to players in beta. The platform announced a $11 million seed funding round, led by Makers Fund, BITKRAFT Ventures, and Animoca Brands, with participation from Hashkey Capital, Polygon Ventures, Formless Capital, and Adaverse. Forge’s existing investors include industry-leading strategics such as Griffin Gaming Partners, Riot Games, and Sony Innovation Fund. Forge’s angel investors include gaming industry leaders Riot Games founder Marc Merrill, Twitch founders Emmett Shear and Kevin Lin, TSM founder Dan Dinh, Kabam founders Kevin Chou and Holly Liu, YouTube founder Steve Chen, Krafton CEO CH Kim, former Discord CMO Eros Resmini (The Mini Fund), and ESL founder Ralf Reichart.
Founded by gaming pioneer Dennis "Thresh" Fong, Crunchyroll founder Kun Gao, and Cyence founder George Ng, Forge originated as a project within GGWP, an AI-powered game moderation platform that the team launched in 2020, and has since been spun off as a new company. Forge’s mission is to help gamers unlock the value of their gaming profiles and be rewarded for their contributions to gaming communities.
Forge announces $11M in funding to launch the video game platform that connects and rewards gamers for their achievements
"We wanted to create a platform that finally rewards gamers for being who they are, through their profile and history as a gamer, through their passion, engagement, and community participation. We feel very strongly that players should be able to control their gaming life. While Forge is just now entering beta, we already have an incredible lineup of dozens of games and partners who are looking to grow with us by giving gamers something special for joining their community," said Kun Gao, co-founder of Forge.
At launch, users will be able to link their disparate online gaming and social accounts to create a Forge profile that represents their unique passion and experiences across games. Players will then be able to access a seasonal Season Pass containing quests that allow them to earn XP to level up their Season Pass unlock game content and access rewards, including in-game content from Forge’s partner games like cosmetics, item/character unlocks, virtual currency, and early beta access. All participating beta users will also be eligible to win additional rewards via Forge weekly bonus rewards, including everything from Amazon gift cards to a brand-new gaming PC.
"We're thrilled to support Dennis, Kun, and George - I am inspired by their passion, impact-orientation, deep player, and extraordinary track record. We expect Forge to become a critical part of the gaming ecosystem for players and developers alike. Developers can offer deeper engagement around their games, and provide rewards systems that benefit gamers and strengthen their relationships with the games they love," said Andrew Willson, Partner at Makers Fund.
"At BITKRAFT, we are firm believers in Dennis Fong, Kun Gao, and George Ng, and their vision to allow gamers to aggregate their gaming life and achievements into a single profile, and earn rewards based on their participation. What sets Forge apart is its unique flywheel approach, starting with carefully curated games and seeking incentives to support community growth. This strategy creates an enriched user experience, driving more traffic to the platform and attracting games, studios, and publishers to join, resulting in a diverse selection of high-quality games expertly curated by Forge. Forge is not just a platform; it's a catalyst for the next generation of player engagement and community growth," said Carlos Pereira, Partner at BITKRAFT Ventures.
"We like Forge because it provides game developers with an authentic way to reach real gamers interested in their products. Forge aligns well with the community-centric ethos of Animoca Brands, and we’re excited to be a part of its development," said Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands.
Forge is now open to the public in Beta
Forge is partnering with games including Genopets, Mojo Melee, Pixelmon, Portal Fantasy, Rushdown Revolt, and The Sandbox for launch week, with new games added each week during the beta period, to help them reach the Forge community and reward their most passionate players and community members. Developers interested in joining the Forge platform can sign up at: https://forge.gg/developer.
Forge is now open to the public in Beta and users can sign up at forge.gg. Players who join Forge and participate in the community will have a chance to receive a limited edition founders badge which will unlock special features in the Forge community and on the Forge service.
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Spotify is by far the biggest fish in the music streaming pond. With more than 60 million subscribers, the platform dwarfs its nearest competitors (Apple music, with only 27 million). Spotify draws in its massive subscriber numbers with its huge catalogue, along with some of the best music recommendation software available. Recent research into how this software works, however, has thrown up some questionable practices.
A research group, headed by Swedish anti-copyright advocate Rasmus Fleischer, has spent the last few years trying to figure out how the infrastructure of digital music distribution giants like Spotify works. Its findings are due to be published in a book called ‘Spotify Teardown - Inside the Black Box of Streaming Music’ sometime next year. The book promises to reveal some juicy secrets from Spotify’s past.
One of the main experiments carried out was to use hundreds of bots, or automated accounts, behaving in unexpected ways to see how the site responded. The bots explored, for example, whether the site recommended different songs for men and women.
Despite the global music industry being worth an estimated $16 billion, Spotify reported operating at a loss of almost $640 million last year. It’s no surprise, then, that it tries to keep its trade secrets well hidden. Predictably, the research group received a request from Spotify’s lawyers in May demanding written confirmation that the team had ceased their activities. However, Fleischer suspects that Spotify may have an ulterior motive for calling for a stop to the research project.
Fleischer claims that Spotify had been aware of the methods he and his team were using since they submitted their proposals to the Swedish research council as far back as 2013, and had made no move until now to stop them. It wasn’t until earlier this year when he claimed that, between May 2007 and October 2008, Spotify knowingly distributed unlicensed material, that the company made moves to shut down the activities of Fleischer and his group.
Despite these claims, Spotify has been praised by the music industry for luring many would-be pirates into paid music streaming. Recent reports have also cited Spotify and Apple Music as major influences on the recent growth in the long embattled music industry.
Unfortunately, in Africa and most of Asia, Spotify is not available due to licensing issues. There, fans may still have to rely on illegal downloads to get hold of the music they want.
Luckily, ProPrivacy.com has a workaround. Have a look at our five best VPNs for Spotify to find out how to access all the music you can shake a drumstick at, without having to steal it.


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Beaufort County officially has a new furniture store to the delight of interior designers and homeowners wanting a new look with the new year.
The Thomasville Furniture store in the Bluffton Commons shopping center 95 Baylor Drive is now open, according to a signs posted in the store’s windows.
Representatives of the company said in November that the store will offer six furniture collections, custom pieces and will debut a line from Ellen DeGeneres later in the spring. It’s the first Beaufort County location for the North Carolina furniture store.
The store is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.


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With encouragement from parents, Muslim girls are converging at Jamia Millia Islamia, the 92-year-old central university in New Delhi, to give shape to their dreams. They are confident of their skills and hungry for success, says Meha Mathur
There are too many reasons to buy the exquisite terracotta and ceramic jewellery from Color D Earth. Hema S Subramanyam's social venture not just helps artisans eke out a living, the products are also eco-friendly, says Kavita Kanan Chandra
"The Weekend Leader stands out for its excellent coverage of news, and very well researched articles. It spreads hope, inspiration and its contagious enthusiasm to all its readers."
Chayaa Nanjappa, Founder Partner, Nectar Fresh


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If you have any interest in buying bitcoins in order to cash in on its stratospheric rise this year……DON’T. It’s too late. Bitcoin (and cryptocurrency, in general) is now a bubble commodity whose value will fall precipitously. How can we be so sure? Because 14 days after we posted this article, Bitcoin prices have dropped by almost a third of its value in just five days, with the digital currency on track for its worst week since 2013. It’s going to drop even more in the coming weeks and here’s why:
The world’s most actively traded cryptocurrency has surged seventeen-fold in value so far this year. It started the year worth less than $1,000 but has soared above $17,000. As of December, its so-called market cap (i.e. its price multiplied by the number of bitcoins in circulation) rose to nearly $305 billion, according to Coinmarketcap, a trade website. By comparison, the market value of Wal-Mart Stores Inc is around $288 billion. Bitcoin is just one version of crytocurrencies. While bitcoin is the largest, with a market value of around $250 billion, and a nearly 1,900 percent increase in the past 12 months, there have been a wave of cryptocurrencies in recent years. Two other big ones, ethereum and litecoin, have seen even larger 12-month gains, 5,100 percent and 2,600 percent, respectively, according to a main digital currency platform CoinBase.
It is allegedly a currency, and yet online service companies have halted accepting it as payment. For example, Steam is one of the most popular gaming services in the world, with 67 million monthly active players, putting it head-to-head with Sony’s PlayStation Network. It began accepting bitcoin payments in April 2016 but last month announced that it would no longer accept this “cryptocurrency”. The alleged role of this market is it’s usefulness as a currency, as a medium of exchange. But a good currency will increase the money supply to match money demand better than Bitcoin and its progeny do. A volatile and, currently, exponentially appreciating asset that people buy like a penny stock fundamentally cannot serve as a currency alternative.
Note that Tether is now under investigation by regulators. In late January, Bloomberg reported that the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission had sent subpoenas to Tether to explore whether the site really had any kind of financial backing…..all signs are that it doesn’t. There are more than 100 exchanges where blockchain-based currencies are traded—places with names like Coinbase, Bittrex and Kraken. But many of these exchanges lost their ties to traditional banking partners or were unable to find new ones, making it harder for speculators to sell their cryptocurrency holdings for dollars or other fiat money.
So what is cryptocurrency? Perhaps in the future, it may be a currency market offering an alternative to country-backed currencies. But right now it is a speculative mess. This unregulated currency market — remember it was created in 2009 by an unknown person using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto — has no oversight. It is black box trading by computers using complex algorithms. It became popular with criminals, corrupt officials trying to move money offshore and others who wanted to move money anonymously. Unfortunately, as of 2017, it’s been mom-and-pop investors who have been buying in in order to take advantage of the bubble. Many of these unsophisticated buyers are based in Japan and South Korea, where recent regulation changes have made it easier to trade bitcoin, according to experts.
Market bubbles are a well documented phenomena in which surges in asset prices to levels significantly above the fundamental value of that asset are fueled by unsophisticated speculators. Bubbles are often hard to detect in real time because there is disagreement over the fundamental value of the asset. The primary factors behind most all economic bubbles are twofold: a weak financial policy and excessive monetary liquidity in the financial system. When interest rates are artificially low (as they have been since 2008), investors tend to avoid putting their capital into savings accounts. Instead, they lever their capital by borrowing from banks and invest the leveraged capital in financial assets such as equities and real estate. This lays the foundation for economic bubbles.
UPDATE: One year later.
Bitcoin has dropped from over $15,000 to about $3300 in the last 12 months. Ouch! for those buyers who didn’t read this December 2017 post. Congrats to those who did.


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This week The VAR Guy chatted with Eric Webster, chief revenue officer and resident channel chief for Accelerite, an endpoint management, cloud and mobility vendor. As his main duties entail managing Accelerite's global sales, business development and marketing operations, Webster is heavily involved with the company's channel sales.
Prior to his appointment at Accelerite in January 2014, Webster served as chief revenue officer for Doyenz, a company which was purchased by Persistent Systems, Accelerite's parent company. Webster has also served as vice president of Sales and Marketing at Intronis and has executive experience with companies including Oracle and NetBrowser.
What is Meet the Chiefs?
Meet the Chiefs shines the spotlight on the channel’s head honchos and offers an opportunity to learn a little bit about the person beyond his or her company profile. Click on each photo to learn more about the channel chief you’re viewing.
Want to be included in an upcoming Meet the Chiefs? Send an email to The VAR Guy Associate Editor Michael Cusanelli at [email protected] for more information. He’s really good at answering emails on time, we promise.


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Morning Toast Jan 25th
Tech on the rise. Podcasts reach their peak.
Australian shares were poised to open lower, tracking modest moves in New York. US stocks started to turn more positive in afternoon trading as investors assessed and awaited this week’s wave of quarterly results. The Australian dollar erases all its losses from 2022.
Tech companies helped boost the market again yesterday as investors started to let themselves believe that the Fed might really start slowing down rate hikes soon.
Wayfair’s stock soared after multiple analysts smiled on the online furniture seller in the wake of its layoff plans.
Climate tech was inoculated against the worst symptoms of the 2022 startup funding contraction, but it wasn’t entirely immune. As the excellent Climate Tech VC newsletter reports, overall investments last year were about $40 billion, spread over an astonishing 1,000-plus deals. That latter stat spiked more than 40% in 2022 versus 2021, reflecting the diverse universe of climate tech innovation.
None of this probably surprises most Climate Tech Weekly readers, but this revelation might: According to BloombergNEF, a huge chunk of that money came not from venture capital firms but from corporate venture arms — such as ABB Technology Ventures, managed by Swiss engineering firm ABB, and SE Ventures, the venture arm of digital automation and energy management company Schneider Electric.
The corporate podcasting boom may be ending, not with a too-long preamble before the guest, but a whimper. Spotify announced yesterday that it will lay off about 600 employees, or 6% of its workforce, in the latest Big Tech recession hedge. The shakeup could signal a pivot in the company’s podcast strategy.
Like most of the other major tech companies making cuts, Spotify cited overly ambitious pandemic growth as the primary cause, and CEO Daniel Ek took “full accountability.”
Along with the layoffs, Ek announced a major departure from the audio streamer: Chief Content Officer Dawn Ostroff, who was the driving force behind the company’s $1+ billion podcasting arms race to sign deals with companies like Gimlet and high-profile talent like Barack and Michelle Obama, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and Joe Rogan.
Although the layoffs don’t specifically target Spotify’s podcasting staff, the departure of Ostroff is yet another sign that the company is slowing down its full-steam-ahead approach to the space. Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that Spotify froze its US budget for new podcasts. The company also didn’t re-up its exclusive deal with Brené Brown, and back in October it pulled 11 originals from the platform.
The podcast megadeals of the pandemic may have been premature—podcasting made up just 7% of total listening on Spotify in Q1 2022, the company said, despite the massive investment in tentpole shows. And the exclusive show model that makes popular shows available only to subscribers of a given streamer hasn’t proven wildly successful. The Gimlet and Parcast unions announced that making certain shows Spotify exclusives reduced their listenership by as much as 75% in some instances.
Sirius XM and Amazon Music have also hit the brakes on pods, reducing signing offers and increasing their share of advertising revenue. On the whole, 2022 just wasn’t the best year to talk into a microphone. According to data compiled by Chartr, the number of new shows created last year dropped 80% from 2020.
Do Tesla’s results represent Musk’s ‘moment of truth’? Tesla will report its latest quarterly results after the closing bell on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT) and for Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives, it will be “a moment of truth” for Elon Musk.
“While every quarter is important for Tesla, we would highlight this upcoming call and guidance commentary as one of the most important moments in the history of Tesla and for Musk himself,” Ives said in a note.
Ives said after experiencing unprecedented hyper growth over the past few years in the EV market which was essentially created by Musk, Tesla faces “a darker macro in 2023 with fierce competition coming from all angles”.
“Adding to that backdrop is Musk who has essentially gone from a superhero with a red cape to a villain in the eyes of many investors after the ongoing Twitter fiasco has cast a dark shadow over Tesla’s stock.”
Shares in Telsa were 0.4% lower to $US143.25 at 2.04pm in New York. The stock has rallied more than 30% since early this month after having shed more than two-thirds of their value from April.
Douugh, did you know?
Fees fees fees. At a time where everyday people are struggling with the cost of living and volatility in investment markets is impacting people's nest eggs. Key Australian brokers are increasing their fees.
Stake are now charging $3 up to US$30k and then 0.01% thereafter on US sharetrading;
Stake says it’s due to “rising costs in the current economic environment” and plans to build a “robust financial services company”
Neither ASIC’s warnings about $0 fee models nor declining retail trading activity were behind the decision Stake chief marketing officer Bryan Wilmot said.
Tiger Brokers are now charging a fee of USD 0.005 / Share on US Stocks & ETFs, as a minimum of USD 1 / Order and a maximum charge of 0.5% × Trade Value
Sharesies are also increasing their fees as of today. Now 1.9% up to a cap of US$5 for US shares, and $6 for Australian Shares.
Was 0.5% up to $3000 across both US and Australian trades. Trades above $3000 incurred 0.1%
Brendan Doggett (Sharesies country manager for Australia) said fee changes were designed to help investors place larger trades by capping rates.
Douughs fees work a little differently. Our platform is still free until the 1st of February when we will begin charging a single charge of $2.99 every 28 days for US Shares, charged only if you place one or more trades with Douugh. Meaning you can buy and sell Shares as often as you like with one single fee. Plus if you don’t trade - you don’t pay!
Investing involves risk. You aren't guaranteed to make money, and you might lose the money you start with.
Douugh Australia Pty Ltd ABN 76 617 000 138 operates under Douugh Australia Pty Ltd AFS License No. 500063. Although we endeavour to ensure the accuracy of information we provide, we do not accept responsibility of liability for any errors or from any loss from its use. Any information provided is general advice only and has been prepared without considering your objectives, financial situation or needs. We don't provide personalised advice or recommendations. Before making any investment decision you should consider whether it is appropriate for your situation and seek appropriate taxation and legal advice. For more details, see our FSG, Terms of Service and other disclosures.
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At the MeeGo conference 2010 in Dublin, Ireland earlier today, AMD announced its plan to join the MeeGo project. MeeGo, as you might know, is the result of Intel and Nokia combining their mobile operating system projects into a single effort. AMD Software Development Corporate VP Ben Bar-Haim was on hand and had this to say:
"MeeGo represents an exciting, open-source mobile operating system we expect to be adopted by mobile and embedded device makers over time,"
"We are glad to provide engineering resources to joint industry efforts like MeeGo and expect that this operating system will help drive our embedded plans and create expanded market opportunities for our forthcoming Accelerated Processing Units."
A glance at AMD's CPU/APU roadmap adds some clarity to the initially confusing idea of AMD joining forces with Intel. In 2012, AMD plans to release its 28-nm Krishna and Wichita APUs, which are overtly aimed at consumer ultraportables, netbooks, and tablets alike. It just so happens that MeeGo is geared toward the latter two categories, too. Today's move will likely pave the way for AMD-powered MeeGo slates in a year or two. (Thanks to Engadget for the tip.)
|Merry Christmas, everybody!||60|
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|Steam sale serves up Shadow of Mordor, Thief, CS:GO||19|
|Don't hold your breath for GPU process shrinks, report suggests||58|
|Report: Jumbo Chromebooks are coming next year||28|
|Boxing Day Shortbread||9|
|Christmas Day Shortbread||21|
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|Gigabyte's wireless scissor-switch keyboard still has gaming chops||7|