text:
Western Digital Corporation (WDC)
|Net Income (ttm)||1.82B|
|Day's Range||49.14 - 50.03|
|52-Week Range||41.63 - 69.99|
|Price Target||69.22 (+38.7%)|
|Earnings Date||Aug 5, 2022|
Western Digital Corporation develops, manufactures, and sells data storage devices and solutions in the United States, China, Hong Kong, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, rest of Asia, and internationally. It offers client devices, including hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid state drives (SSDs) for computing devices, such as desktop and notebook personal computers (PCs), smart video systems, gaming consoles, and set top boxes; flash-based embedded storage products for mobile phones, tablets, notebook PCs, and other portable and wearable devices,... [Read more...]
Financial PerformanceFinancial Statements
According to 33 analysts, the average rating for WDC stock is "Buy." The 12-month stock price forecast is 69.22, which is an increase of 38.72% from the latest price.
Western Digital Corp., which is considering a breakup of its hard disk drive and flash businesses, is also wrestling with a tough macroeconomic environment.
Disappointing earnings and guidance plagued this memory and storage maker.
Western Digital (WDC) fiscal fourth-quarter top line was affected by weakness in Client and Consumer segments' performance. However, higher cloud revenues were a positive.
Western Digital (WDC) delivered earnings and revenue surprises of 0.56% and 1.88%, respectively, for the quarter ended June 2022. Do the numbers hold clues to what lies ahead for the stock?
The company is forecasting first-quarter adjusted earnings per share to range between 35 cents and 65 cents, well below consensus estimates for $1.88,
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Western Digital Corp. (Nasdaq: WDC) today reported fiscal fourth quarter and fiscal year 2022 financial results. "I am proud of our team for driving strong fiscal year...
Western Digital's (WDC) Q4 performance is likely to gain from strong demand from cloud customers. However, uncertain macroeconomic conditions and supply chain woes are likely be headwinds.
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Western Digital (NASDAQ: WDC) applauds the passage of the Bipartisan Innovation Act (BIA). The BIA will help accelerate strategic investments in the next generation of...
Memory tech peers of Seagate's are tumbling after the company blames weak earnings and a sour outlook on a rough economic environment.
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC) plans to announce its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2022 financial results before the market opens on Friday, August 5, 2022. The ...
In the latest trading session, Western Digital (WDC) closed at $46.35, marking no change from the previous day.
These highly profitable stocks are valued at just three to six times Wall Street's forecast earnings for 2023.
Western Digital (NASDAQ: WDC) announced on June 7 that it is exploring strategic alternatives, including separating its flash and HDD.
The various alternatives include splitting up Western Digital's (WDC) Flash and HDD businesses.
An activist investor targeted the storage giant, making an offer that's hard to refuse.
Western Digital is considering dividing itself into a company for traditional hard drives and another for flash memory.
(Reuters) -Memory storage devices maker Western Digital Corp said on Tuesday it is reviewing strategic alternatives, including options for splitting off its flash-memory and HDD businesses.
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Western Digital Corporation, (“Western Digital”) (Nasdaq: WDC) today announced that it is reviewing potential strategic alternatives aimed at further optimizing long-t...
Western Digital (NASDAQ: WDC) stock price rose 1.65x from $37 in 2018 end to around $60 currently, primarily due to favorable changes in its P/S multiple.
These beaten-down growth stocks look like big bargains as they are now heavily oversold despite their reassuring prospects. The post 7 Beaten-Down Growth Stocks That Look Like Big Bargains Right Now app...
Wondering how to pick strong, market-beating stocks for your investment portfolio? Look no further than the Zacks Style Scores.
Jon's latest options trades
"Halftime Report" trader Jon Najarian spots unusual activity in the options market.
WDC, $56.53, Market Cap: $17.7 billion), recommending the Board to conduct a full strategic review of a value that could be created by separating the hard disk drives (HDD) and NAND flash memory (Flash)...
Western Digital (WDC) announces that it has been "sampling" its latest 22TB and 26TB UltraSMR HDDs for select hyperscale cloud customers.


text:
Evonik Industries purchased the hydrogen peroxide business of Kemira Chemicals Canada Inc. The transaction includes the production plant in Maitland (Ontario, Canada) and the customer portfolio. It also covers the employees at the site.
This makes Evonik one of the market leaders for hydrogen peroxide in North America (Canada and USA). With the takeover of the business, the company will increase its H2O2 capacity in North America by 44,000 metric tons to more than 200,000 metric tons per year. Evonik is already producing H2O2 there at the Gibbons (Alberta, Canada) and Mobile (Alabama, USA) sites.
"In taking over the Maitland production business, we're moving a step forward in our global growth strategy for hydrogen peroxide," said Dr. Dahai Yu, a member of Evonik's Executive Board. Only recently, Evonik decided to construct a new H2O2 plant in Jilin, China, which is expected to come on stream at the end of 2013 with an annual capacity of 230,000 metric tons. With its current total capacity of more than 600,000 metric tons per year, Evonik is already a leading global supplier of hydrogen peroxide.
The output from Maitland will supply mainly the North American pulp and paper industry with H2O2 as an eco-friendly oxidant.
"In our growth strategy, we give great importance to new technologies, as in Jilin, where we will supply H2O2 to a plant producing propylene oxide by direct chemical synthesis, and to selective acquisitions, as now in Maitland," said Jan Van den Bergh, head of Evonik's Advanced Intermediates Business Unit. "With our new site, we are now geographically very well positioned also in North America, and can achieve even better proximity to our customers."

domain: news


text:
A small business owner in Lockport, Illinois, is defending a controversial sign that makes reference to transgender people outside his store after facing backlash from the local community. The sign, posted outside Richard Tisch’s pawn shop, reads, “Help wanted — must be female from birth.” Some Lockport residents blasted the sign on social media, calling...
NYS Entity Status
NYS Filing Date
APRIL 30, 2013
NYS DOS ID#
NYS Entity Type
DOMESTIC NOT-FOR-PROFIT CORPORATION
2013 - A HAND UP, INC.
AROUND THE WEB
- Anti-transgender sign was ‘satire,’ store owner says
By Fox News - Friday Aug 18, 2017
- Tech Firms Ban White Supremacists, Shifting From Hands-Off Policy
Wednesday Aug 16, 2017
Recent moves by tech companies including Alphabet Inc.’s Google, GoDaddy, Uber and GoFundMe to crack down on white supremacists thrust them into unusual territory for corporations that often take a more hands-off approach to who uses their services and how.
- At Walmart Academy, Training Better Managers. But With a Better Future?
By MICHAEL CORKERY - Tuesday Aug 8, 2017
A new program for store supervisors and department managers may make them better employees but may not help them reach the middle class.
- For 18 Hours, Cabbie Sat Dead in Front Seat
By KIM BARKER - Monday Aug 14, 2017
A driver parked his taxi to take a break in SoHo. He died behind the wheel. Then, for nearly a day, New Yorkers went about their lives — just feet from his body.
- Food & Wine Magazine Will Leave New York for Alabama
By STEPHANIE STROM - Friday Jun 23, 2017
The move reflects a changing business in which traditional food magazines, and a Manhattan address, are less important.


text:
Written by Jen Finn
Executives from two multinational corporations told a Senate subcommittee in Washington D.C. Sept. 24 they are willing to consider several sources to assure the sustainability of seafood purchased for their vast retail and food service businesses.
At the same time, neither retail giant Walmart, nor Sodexo, which does millions of dollars in business with federal government agencies and many private sector entities in food services and facilities management, have yet to lift their commitment to seafood certification via the Marine Stewardship Council.
The Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and the Coast Guard, chaired by Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, was held to explore ways to make sure current and future sustainability certification efforts benefit both the seafood industry and consumers.
This past summer Begich took Walmart to task for policies that could prevent the purchase of Alaska seafood for sale in Walmart stores nationwide. Begich also sent a letter to Sodexo voicing concern over its policies which could exclude the purchase of Alaska seafood.
Read the full story at the Cordova Times>>
The Northeast Trawl Advisory Panel working group is scheduled to meet Aug. 2 in Boston to discuss using commercial fishing vessels to supplement current stock assessment surveys conducted by the Northeast Fisheries Science Center.Read more...
Pat Fiorelli, the long-serving public affairs officer for the New England Fishery Management Council, will step down at the end of July.Read more...


text:
Panasonic Solutions Unveils 'Business-Rugged' Toughbook S9
The S9 features the Intel Core i5-520m vPro processor running at 2 GHz, RAM expandable to 6GB, a widescreen WXGA (1280 x 800) LCD display with LED backlighting, and up to 11 hours of battery life. It also comes with Windows 7, a 320GB shock-mounted flex-connect hard drive, HDMI and VGA outputs, and an optional fingerprint reader.
The new Toughbook S9 is a "business-rugged" version of the ultra-solid Panasonic laptop cased in magnesium alloy, not to be confused with the "semi-rugged" class for harsh environments. Both are sealed and spill resistant with flexible internal connectors, having been designed after fully-rugged laptops priced at up to $5000.
The Toughbook S9 includes a variety of embedded connectivity options: Wi-Fi from Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6200, Bluetooth, Gigabit Ethernet, and integrated WWAN /Gobi 2000 allowing the user to choose and switch between multiple networks.
Like other products in Panasonic's Toughbook line, the S9 is aimed at road warriors who travel often and require a PC that's resistant to damage.
"The S9 is designed to expand usage of rugged computers in the executive suite," said Kyp Walls, director of product management at Panasonic Solutions, in an interview. "The lines between business-rugged and semi-rugged have been blurred," because Toughbooks for business usage, which make up 15 percent to 20 percent of all Toughbooks sold, are increasingly ruggedized -- at the risk of marginalizing the semi-rugged class.
"It's worth spending a few hundred dollars up front to do what most people consider important work, to save yourself thousands on the back end," said Walls. "Most people accept that if you drop a machine it breaks. Our philosophy is the machine should at least survive predictable damage."
Walls also affirmed Panasonic Solutions' strong ties to the channel, citing the company's unique status as a "core manufacturer," meaning it builds all of its own components, in contrast to major OEMs such as HP and Dell.
"We don't think we'd be good at fulfillment," Walls said. "What we're good at is design and manufacture, which is a totally different area of expertise from distribution and fulfillment." For this reason, he said, 100 percent of the company's products are sold through the channel.
"We have never sold a product directly," he said.
The Toughbook line consists of high-end "ruggedized" computers built to endure severe treatment from the elements and serve the mobile workforce, both in business and government -- especially law enforcement and the military -- at a significantly higher price than most laptops.
The estimated street price for the Toughbook S9 is $2499, according to Panasonic.


text:
Publix opened its first in-store Starbucks in North Carolina Friday morning in Ballantyne, the Florida-based grocer’s first local store that opened in early 2014.
Publix began construction on the Ballantyne cafe, as well as another one at its supermarket in South End, in November.
The South End cafe will open in February, though an exact date is not yet available, according to spokeswoman Kimberley Reynolds.
Based in Lakeland, Fla., Publix has been gradually replacing its in-house cafes with Starbucks kiosks across its footprint in recent months, according to news reports.
The cafes should help Publix woo customers – Charlotte’s grocery market industry is a competitive one. Publix competes for customers most closely with Matthews-based Harris Teeter, which already has Starbucks kiosks in many of its area stores.
The Ballantyne Publix is at 11222 Providence Road West, and the South End store is at 2222 South Blvd.


text:
The Hero Caribbean Premier League has announced the close of its sponsorship sales programme after having signed 18 brands for the Hero CPL 2018 season. Indian two-wheeler manufacturer and one of the biggest sports promoter from India, Hero MotoCorp Limited continues to be the title/principal sponsor of the Caribbean T20 professional league.
The Hero Caribbean Premier League are pleased to announce its full line-up of sponsors for 2018, with the league having sold out its sponsorship programme, Hero CPL has stated in a Press release. Digicel, the mobile phone network brand that serves in 31 countries including the Caribbeans, is the other lead sponsor for the Hero Caribbean Premier League.
Due to the fantastic support of these companies, fans can expect even more opportunities to join in the fun when the league gets underway on 8 August, say the organisers.
Jamie Stewart, Commercial Director of Hero CPL said: “It is a great pleasure to announce that the CPL sponsorship programme is fully subscribed in 2018, and to give heartfelt thanks all of our Partners without whose support CPL literally could not happen. I would urge all CPL fans to extend their support to the companies and brands that make the Caribbean’s greatest sporting spectacle possible.”
The top-tier Official Partners include El Dorado, Guardian Group, Republic Bank and Carib. Oil sector major Repsol, Dixie Biscuit, Yello, longtime T20 supporter KFC, Viva sparkling water, and betting partner Dafabet are the new commercial associates of the Hero CPL.
Dream 11, Nescafe, Sunshine Snacks, Caribbean Airlines, Rainforest Seafoods and eZone have agreed to continue their existing relationship with the league. With all the deals closed, Hero CPL this year will have 18 brands present in the stadiums.
First started in 2013, the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2018 will be played between defending champions Trinbago Knight Riders, Barbados Tridents, Guyana Amazon Warriors, St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots, St. Lucia Stars and Jamaica Tallawahs from 8 August to 16 September 2018.


text:
Social media's fate has been in doubt and at the mercy the godmen and statesmen of this country. The businessmen have always found a way out, and they have been doing so since 2012's farcical apocalypse. Last year, when the pandemic brought down the world to a halt, we got a glimpse at that apocalypse.
The Social Dilemma
According to the news, WhatsApp filed a complaint in Delhi against India's Government seeking to block regulations that came into effect a few days back. Experts believe this would force the Facebook unit to violate privacy protections.
According to Reuters, people who are familiar with the case describe it as follows: The lawsuit seeks to have the Delhi High Court declare that one of these new rules violates privacy rights under India's Constitution. It requires social media companies and authorities to identify the "first source of information".
Social media platforms can serve as a double-edged weapon. One can use them to make long-lost friends and family connections, but on the other, they can also be used to spread hatred.
In January 2020, India had 400 million social media users. Between April 2019 and January 2020, it grew by 130 million (+48%) This spike in users could be attributed to lockdown and Work From Home.
WhatsApp has 53+ crore Indian users. YouTube is second with more than 44 million users. Facebook boasts close to 41 million users, while Instagram has 21,000,000 users. Twitter lost 1.5 million users in the number game. This could be due to Indian users switching to the Koo app instead of Twitter. Some believe that this can also be due to curiosity.
The Future of Social Media
The future of social media is mobile. Most people are now using their smartphones to access the internet. By 2020, 3 billion people will be able to access mobile phones. Future social media platforms will take smartphones into consideration from the very beginning.
People will also stop typing as much in the future. Social media platforms will be voice-driven. Algorithms are being developed to make the current UI/UX obsolete. AR and VR will play a significant role in changing the way that we use social media. For the next article, we will be discussing the whole topic of behavioral change caused by social media.
Keywordriser sees social media platforms more than just a way to update statuses, tweet, or connect. They can be powerful communication tools that can increase brand value and add personality to it. The social media marketing strategies that we create and conceptualize for our clients are a way to elevate their brand's individuality. It's amazing, right? Take a look at our work by visiting our website www.keywordriser.in


text:
GarageBand has gained new in-app Remix Sessions featuring Katy Perry and more. Here are all the details on this.
GarageBand for iPhone and iPad gets sound packs from Dua Lipa, Lady gaga, and more. Here are all the details on this.
Apple has just updated its iWork app for the iPad with Apple Pencil features, while GarageBand and Clips also get educational updates. Here's what that means for you.
Here's a guide on how to create your own free ringtones directly on an iPhone or iPad using GarageBand and any song in your music library.
Apple has today dropped major updates for GarageBand on iOS (version 2.2) and Logic Pro X on Mac (version 10.3), bringing powerful new features and UI changes to the front.
Apple has released a brand new Music Memos app for iOS, and has followed that up with a major update for GarageBand on iOS. Here are all the details.
It's amazing what you can find when you go digging through various sections of Apple's iOS operating system. Those who have the knowledge and patience to delve into the inner workings of the software can often encounter some extremely interesting things that Apple may or may not want the average user to immediately know about. Before iOS 7 and the iPhone 5s was officially announced it was revealed that the OS contained references to biometric frameworks; a discovery that pretty much confirmed the existence of Touch ID. Now it seems like it's the turn of a couple of Apple's own iOS app offerings to come under the spotlight after new icons were discovered for the iOS versions of GarageBand and iPhoto.
Tim Cook and his Apple team took to the stage in San Francisco as expected to announce the launch of the new iPad, throwing in a new Apple TV set top box for good measure. The announcement pretty much came as everyone had predicted, with no specifications or inclusions to blind side us. But while there has been plenty of talk about what hardware the company would introduce, little time was spent wondering about the software side of things and what the upgraded device would mean for the applications that we all know and love.
The announcement of the iPad 2 might have been the big news to come out of today's Apple event, but they also showed off three new apps - Photo Booth, iMovie and GarageBand - all for the iPad 2. Video demo in a official video after the break.


text:
Sergey Derkach, the commercial representative of a Russian company in Argentina that specializes in the implementation of projects, stated that the Patagonian province of Tierra del Fuego, the coldest region in the country, is interested in Russian technologies for the cultivation of vegetables.
"We have brought the technology of a Russian company to grow vegetables in severe weather conditions; the company has experience in implementing several projects in Siberia," said Derkach.
He also said that most of the vegetables that arrive in Tierra del Fuego are brought from the continent. "The authorities decided to grow vegetables, for example, to supply ships and cruises," he added.
The capital of the province, Ushuaia, is a popular place among tourists who leave for Antarctica. Each year, many cruise ships, private yachts, and ships take tourists from this port to the Antarctic continent.


text:
We begin Grain Waves March 2019 with a note about the latest Partner Sourced Ingredients Annual Report. The newsletter goes on to feature several new items about HealthSense High Fiber Wheat Flour from an infographic to a video and blog from nutrition expert Jill Weisenberger. We also have two pieces from the International Pizza Expo and International Artisan Bakery Expo, including a profile of a pizza maker who one the Traditional Division title using our Heritage High Gluten Flour.
Not already a subscriber? Get on the email list!


text:
This article has been updated to include a comment from AMT.
NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Agilent Technologies said yesterday that it has filed an intellectual property lawsuit in Delaware against Advanced Materials Technology regarding its high-performance liquid chromatography technology.
The lawsuit alleges that three former Agilent employees, who now are employed by AMT, have misappropriated Agilent’s trade secrets and thereby have breached their confidentiality agreements and fiduciary duties to their former employers, Agilent said.
Agilent claims that the breach resulted in AMT using Agilent trade secrets and confidential information to develop its Halo HPLC columns.
AMT is a Wilmington, Del.-based start-up that currently is focused on the Halo product line.
According to AMT’s website, the company is “comprised of individuals who have been responsible in the past for the invention, manufacture and product launch of the Zorbax brand columns and packing material from the DuPont company.” The same group later founded Rockland Technologies, which manufactured Zorbax products.
“This is an unfortunate, but reasonable and necessary action to vigorously protect our intellectual property,” Mike McMullen, Agilent’s VP and GM of Chemical Analysis Solutions, said in a statement.
In a statement sent to GenomeWeb Daily News this afternoon AMT said that it "believes that Agilent’s claims lack merit and intends to vigorously defend itself against the allegations contained in Agilent’s recently-filed lawsuit."
The firm added that Agilent's lawsuit is intended to "slow or stop market penetration of the Halo brand products."


text:
German auto maker giant Volkswagen has just upped its bet on electric vehicles (EVs) by announcing it will begin manufacturing batteries and charging stations for those cars, which the company plans to also start mass producing soon.
The Wolfsburg-based company said it would invest 870 million euros (about $985 million) by 2020 to develop e-vehicle components, adding that its components division, which makes engines and steering parts, will now be in charge of producing, packing and overseeing recycling of battery cells and packs.
Volkswagen has been actively promoting the electric push by creating global production capacities for the construction of one million EVs.
VW has been actively promoting the electric push by creating global production capacities for the construction of 1 million electric cars. Late last year, it announced it would spend nearly $50 billion to refocus on the making of electric cars , autonomous vehicles and new mobility services.
As part of the overhaul, the carmaker began converting three of its plants in Germany to build EVS and so ramp up production of zero-local emission cars ahead of tougher European emissions standards.
VW also said it would start developing mobile electric car charging stations at its nearby plant in Hannover, which currently makes engines and castings for traditional cars, which the company will stop producing in 2026 .
The company will bundle cells from EV batteries into storage power banks that can be used to recharge up to 15 e-cars at a time and be transported to wherever power is needed.
Drivers will be able to find mobile charging stations thanks to an app on their smartphone, it said.”It can be set up flexibly and independent of the power supply wherever it is needed: for example, in public parking lots in the city, on company premises, or as a temporary charging point at large-scale events,” […]


text:
Vietnam expects digital economy to contribute up to 20% of economic growth by 2025 and the ratio of enterprises applying tech from the fourth industrial revolution reaches 30%.
The State Bank of Vietnam issued licences to G Payment (G PAY) and VIDIVA Technology (VIDIVA), which will provide intermediary payment services in the country.
Apple is planning to manufacture its upcoming over-ear AirPods Studio headphones in Vietnam, said The Information. This comes as Apple looks to “diversify manufacturing away from China.”
inDriver, a ride-hailing service with more than 39 million users in more than 300 cities in 31 countries launched a pilot program in Vietnam after going live in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines.
- ThinkZone Accelerator Batch 04 to invest up to $0.5 mln in tech startups 1
- English learning app ELSA raises $15 million for international growth 2
- Japanese $2.5bn AI startup targets Vietnam after COVID boost 3
- Grab considers U.S. IPO this year to raise at least $2 bln 4
- Vietnam’s largest payment app MoMo raises $100 mln 5
- On-demand logistics company Lalamove gets $515 million Series E 6
Mobile transactions are expected to experience 400 percent growth in the next five years, according to the Fintech and Digital Banking 2025 report by Backbase and IDC.
JobHopin, a Vietnamese startup that wants to make job hunting in Southeast Asia easier with automated job-recruitment platform, announced it has raised a $2.45 million Series A, company said in a statement.
A mobile money pilot project has been submitted to the prime minister for approval, marking a bold step for the development of payments using telecommunication accounts in Vietnam.
Bkav Technology Group officially launched their latest series of Bphones in Hanoi on May 10, including the Bphone B40, B60, B86, and B86s models.
When US tech giants have been hastening shift away from China amid trade war and conflicts from the coronavirus outbreaks, Apple plans to produce millions AirPods units in Vietnam in this quarter.
The South Korea tech giant announced Monday a massive recruitment of high-tech employees with deadline for applications on June 7, 2020.
Tech giant Apple has listed many jobs in Vietnam on LinkedIn recently, including an operations manager based in Hanoi.
Vietnamese e-wallet users perform 1.6 to 2.2 transactions on digital platforms daily with an average spending of VND500,000 ($21.5), according to a survey.
Grab, Southeast Asia’s superapp, has begun piloting its latest service GrabMart for users in Ho Chi Minh City, helping to bolster user safety and supplementing the government's efforts to combat the coronavirus.
Vietnamese startup Lozi, a fastest-growing tech firm which operates the No.1 hyperlocal e-commerce platform providing one-hour-delivery services called Loship, plans 2020 revenue of $31 million and an expansion beyond Vietnam.
Vietnam's e-commerce market is projected to hit $17.3 billion in 2023, from $9.4 billion in 2019, according to a forecast from data and analytics company GlobalData.
Sharing economy, a peer-to-peer based business activity, which is booming around the globe is expected to suffer damage from the spreading coronavirus.


text:
Shop the top Black Friday deals online at eBay, from popular Black Friday deals to one-of-a-kind items in electronics, toys,.We found the best Black Friday offer from each of the major.The Sears Black Friday 2016 Ad has one page with Black Friday TV deals and so does Sears sister store Kmart.When it comes to finding tool, appliance, mattress and tv deals, the sears black friday sale is a good place.
Sears Black Friday hours - Business Insider
Sears Goes Heavy On Major Appliances In Its Black Friday Ad.Sears has revealed its Black Friday deals, and they include discounts of more than 50% off washers and dryers, gas ranges, treadmills, and ellipticals.So, are any of the TVs listed in those crazy Black Friday ads any good.TechBargains Picks for the Best Black Friday Laptop Deals to Look Out For.
Black Friday: latest news and the best deals - The Guardian
Coupons, Promo Codes & Daily Deals | EbatesWhile Black Friday sees deals on almost anything you could ever want to buy, be it an upgraded phone or a new pair of jeans, the iconic big score for more.
Sears Black Friday deals - Business Insider
Amazon Canada announces its Black Friday and Cyber MondayWe make up one brain to discourse this Sears Thanksgiving Sales picture on this webpage because based on conception coming from Google Image, Its one of the most notable reted inquiries keyword on Yahoo INTERNET SEARCH ENGINE.
Sears Black Friday ad leaked: Are its HDTV deals the realWe will updating with all the hot streaming deals We will be searching for.Apple extended its Black Friday deals to. a person in Las Vegas who was carrying a big-screen TV home from a Target store on.
Black Friday / Cyber Monday Deals Wiki Guide - IGNBlack Friday is always the day after Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday 2018 is on Friday, November 23rd, 2018.
Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving Day and the Friday before Cyber Monday in.
Daily Deals: The Best Black Friday and Cyber Monday - IGN
Black Friday sales got off to a calm start in stores but some websites crashed as retailers struggled to keep up with demand.The best Canadian Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. By. Find all of the best Canadian Black Friday deals.Black Friday deals: Best sales on TVs, speakers, and streaming video devices The living-room deals that TV buffs and cord cutters should actually care about.
Sears Black Friday Deals 2017 - Offers.com
Click to see the best priced television deals that will be available during Black Friday and Thanksgiving 2017, both in retail stores and.
The 20 best deals of Black Friday 2015 - The VergeSears Black Friday ad. The South Carolina DMV has released images of the new REAL ID card which will begin to appear in 2018.From many choices on the web were sure this pictures could be a good image for you, and we sincerely hopefully you are proud of using what we present.Hundreds of early Black Friday deals are available now at Best Buy.
Black Friday | Groupon
Top Black Friday Deals Online - Popular Black Friday Deals
Sears Black Friday deals include discounts of more than 50% off washers and dryers, gas ranges, treadmills, and ellipticals.Sears might not be the first name you think of when it comes to buying an HDTV, but it does offer.Save on a variety of gift ideas for everyone on your shopping list.
Sears Archives – Z103.5Sears Black Friday 2017 Deals at BFAds.net - Home of Black Friday 2017.Check out the best Black Friday and Thanksgiving Deals from top stores.
| Red tag flight coupons | Deals toyota yaris | Coupons for restore deck paint | Midway usa coupon codes jan 2018 | Ipod touch 5th gen cyber monday deals | H&m coupons 2018 free shipping


text:
I was listening to a news report this morning that was talking about the problems that Samsung are having with the Galaxy Note 7. Towards the end of the article the reporter uttered the immortal phrase ‘this is a PR disaster for Samsung’. It is a phrase used a lot to describe something that has gone wrong for a business or organisation. But is it accurate?
In the case of Samsung while the fact that the phone has a problem and then gets recalled and then the new version has a problem clearly is going to affect the reputation. It has already affected the share price during the day. But I don’t think this is the biggest failure or disaster for the company. The real issue is that it is a business disaster that has happened. This is a product failure and for me that has to be the biggest issue.
Reporters love to claim something is a PR disaster but with the latest one I believe they have inaccurately labelled it. If this was a PR disaster there would have been no problem with the phone but this would have failed to be communicated to the buying public.
As communicators there is a positive element to the highlighting of an issue being a PR disaster. Firstly, it is recognition that the reputation of an organisation or business is one of the most important things. They can survive or disappear depending on how the reputation is handled. Secondly, it means when there is a problem or something goes wrong communication and PR has to be at the forefront. Finally, it is a way that PR gets highlighted on the national and international media.
Samsung are just the latest company having operational problems. The way out of it will be to sort the technical issues and provide a reliable product. Decisive action is always an essential to recovery. If that is in place then the PR activity can swing into action and start to rebuild the reputation.


text:
Hello Sports Geeks!
We know that all of you guys are already excited about “The Fight of the Century” between
Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 2, 2015.
Tickets are almost sold out and everyone’s been preparing for the big event.
We’ll help you get ready for it by sharing this awesome update!
Funko Pop will be releasing a special edition Manny Pacquiao vinyl figure.
The pre-order price is around 795-895 pesos but the price is expected to increase soon due to its high demand.
So contact your favorite toy stores to inquire about this awesome offer! Don’t miss out!


text:
Lenovo will launch this year, probably in June, the second generation of the Moto z series, that was introduced for the first time, about a year ago.
Moto Z in comprised by three models the Moto z, Moto z Play and z Force. The first two have appeared in the separate pictures, showing their design. As you can see, they are recognizable as they share the common design of most recent Moto smartphones, like the Moto g series.
Speculations have it that the upcoming Moto z2 and Moto z2 Force would be running on Snapdragon 835 chipset. The Moto z2 Force is also expected to feature ShatterShield display.
Last year’s Moto z2 and z2 Force did not feature a 3.5mm audio jack. However, this year’s z2 Force will bring back the 3.5mm jack. There is no confirmation on whether the Moto z2 will be coming with or without the standard audio port.


text:
KUALA LUMPUR, July 10 (Bernama) -- WeChat, a leading mobile social communication application, has surpassed the 70 million registered user accounts milestone.
To further boost its strong growth momentum, WeChat this month unveiled a new global campaign featuring football superstar, Lionel Messi, who joins a glittering cast of musicians, artists, fashion icons and VIPs, to share their WeChat experience with fans and followers.
Vice President of International Business Group at Tencent, Poshu Yeung said in a statement: "We are thrilled to have reached the 70 million registered user accounts mark in such a short space of time.
"As a football superstar and WeChat user, Messi is an ideal personality to help us continue to raise awareness and communicate its benefits."
Tencent is the company behind the WeChat application .
As a part of the new global initiative, fans can follow Messi's official WeChat account, "MessiOfficial" which will include videos, voice messages and photos from Messi.
WeChat has consistently been the most downloaded mobile social application in numerous countries including Malaysia, India, Mexico and the Philippines.
Popular on WeChat are voice and video chatting, group chatting and location based features.
KAL KAL AS


text:
Havas this morning announced the rollout of a global network leveraging entertainment, sports, technology and fandom to “earn consumers’ attention,” and said high-end audio technology brand Harman International is its first client.
Havas did not disclose details on how the new network will work operationally to earn consumer attention, but said Havas Play has already begun operating in its Paris-based headquarters.
The agency described the new ad service model as being an extension of its “Meaningful” brands research and development, and said it will differentiate in three different ways:
Optimizing activation through a deep understanding of what makes brand meaningful.
Utilizing a commitment to ethics, sustainability and inclusivity, including an alliance with the U.S. Institute for Advertising Ethics.
Utilizing a bespoke approach to measuring brand experience via its global data platform, “Converged.”


text:
Southern Laos to Tackle Plastic Waste with Refill Not Landfill Campaign
Text by Taejun Kang
The Refill not Landfill campaign hopes to solve the problem of single-use plastic waste in southern Laos.
It is estimated that more than 100 million disposable plastic water bottles are consumed by travelers to Laos each year. Most of them are not recycled, and in many parts of the country people simply burn them due to a lack of waste management systems.
Since this poses a threat not only to the environment but also to human health, many parts of Laos are striving to tackle the issue by reducing single-use plastic water bottles and raising awareness of the country’s plastic problem.
Southern Laos, covering Champasack, Salavanh, Sekong and Attapeu, has seen a rising number of visitors over the past few years, reaching more than 900,000 last year.
“Each tourist consumes on average, 2 liters of water per day. This equals more than 6 million plastic single-use 300 ml water bottles coming from tourism alone,” said Mrs. Mala Chanthalam, Deputy Director of the ChampasackDepartment of Information, Culture and Tourism.
“It creates more challenges for the environment in Champasack Province,” she added.
Recognizing the issue, the ministry decided to set up a marketing task force to push its “Refill not Landfill Initiative,” which was designed to cut plastic usage in the region.
Champasack Province was chosen as the venue to lead the pilot stage, with support from both public and private sector stakeholders.
The Champasack Hotels and Restaurants Association and Champasack Province Association of Travel Agents, alongside Lao Airlines, have also joined the initiative.
Another key player for the project was Refill Not Landfill, a Siem Reap-based organization that is currently leading similar projects not only in Cambodia but also in other parts of Southeast Asia.
The pilot stage was conducted between November last year and April this year, and the result turned out to be more remarkable than the taskforce expected.
A total of 27 small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the region joined the project to provide water refill stations and sell Southern Laos-branded reusable aluminum bottles while there were six campaigns held during the period for to raising awareness about Laos’ plastic problem.
This resulted in a distribution of 1,060 reusable aluminum bottles and the reduction of 211,095 300 ml-plastic bottles.
In terms of numbers, it exceeded the taskforce’s initial goal to attract 20 SMEs through one awareness campaign and distribute up to 600 reusable bottles.
Now the task force is looking to push for the second phase of the initiative. Among its plans, it hopes to expand the presence of a refill network and reusable bottle purchase locations in Champasack Province, as well as Salavanh, Sekong and Attapeu provinces.
“In southern Laos, the Champasack Department of Information, Culture and Tourism is the first one to implement a plastic reduction initiative,” said Mrs. Mala. “We feel good about the pilot phase, and we think this is a great initiative to reduce plastic and clean up our environment.”


text:
Supplying 24-hour access to diesel in remote parts of Western Australia's Pilbara region has become much more feasible with the construction of what is believed to be the world's first fully-transportable solar-powered retail fuel outlets.
LandCruiser’s Prado may be a premium-priced off-roader, but it’s also the top-seller in its class and one of the most capable off-roaders going around. For 2016, there’s a new engine, new styling and new driver-assistance features aimed at keeping that #1 slot.
In 2014, as part of their collaboration with the X-Men movie franchise, Kia created a special ‘Wolverine’ Sorento. This year, the popular Sportage SUV gets the ‘X-Car’ treatment in a look inspired by the shape-shifting character Mystique.
Jeep and Mopar have teamed up to create the ‘Wrangler Red Rock Concept’; a vehicle that will be showcased at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) trade show that opens in Las Vegas this week.


text:
Hewlett-Packard has made some wild decisions regarding Palm and webOS following the acquisition in 2010. HP bought Palm for $1.2 billion in April of last year, killed webOS hardware, and then reportedly tried to sell Palm and the dead operating system for $1.2 billion, VentureBeat said Wednesday. Among the companies approached by HP? Facebook. According to the report, HP tried to offload webOS to the social network but the company was “practically laughed out of the room” by Facebook executives. HP eventually cut its losses and announced that it would contribute webOS to the open source community. Then, earlier this month, HP stunned the industry again when it said new webOS hardware, including a possible new tablet, is in development.
If you buy through a BGR link, we may earn an affiliate commission, helping support our expert product labs.


text:
Toys 'R' Us Names Simon Marketing Agency of Record
The agency will handle all high-impact strategic and promotional marketing for the toy retailer under the direction of Diana Basché, vice-president, group account director for Simon Marketing.
The agency veteran is charged with expanding customer engagement services.
How consumers' motivations differ from country to country.
The $3.7 billion deal will unite Sapient with Digitas, Razorfish, and Rosetta on a new digital platform called Publicis.Sapient.


text:
KUALA LUMPUR – After VS Industry Berhad posted a net loss of RM19.5 million (US$4.6 million) for its fiscal third quarter ended April 30, analysts expect the firm’s fiscal fourth quarter to be profitable, despite challenges related to Covid-19, according to reports.
JF Apex Securities Research analyst Lee Chung Cheng said while VSI is expected to post a profit in the fiscal fourth quarter, fiscal 2020 and 2021 will be a challenge because of strict movement control measures and anticipated fewer orders. VSI’s large UK customer is expected to lower orders.
"For its US customer, management guided earlier that the second and third models will only commence in fiscal 2021 from the initial schedule of March this year. Overall, the group expects its fiscal 2020 top line and bottom line to be weaker than fiscal 2019," Cheng said.
The company expects Indonesia and China operations to “continue bleeding.”
VSI may make up for order backlogs following the resumption of production at its Malaysian operations that started in late April, driven by more orders from a US customer.
Ching is cutting VSI's fiscal 2020 estimates by 35.1% because of the six-week shutdown in Malaysia and higher operational costs. Fiscal 2021 and 2022 net profit estimates have been trimmed by an average of 6%.
RHB Research analyst Soong Wei Siang said fiscal third quarter earnings forecasts have been cut from fiscal 2020 to fiscal 2022 by 27%, 9% and 9% respectively.
"We believe VSI will return to the black in the fiscal fourth quarter 2020. Meanwhile, the process of securing new customers was affected by border closures, and management expects meaningful progress to be achieved only after the travel restrictions are lifted. We highlight management has remained committed to the policy of paying out at least 40% of net profit as dividends and note VSI is now in a net cash position (RM147 million in the fiscal third quarter,” Siang said.
In the first fiscal nine months of 2020, net profit fell 37.4% to RM61.7 million, with revenue dropping 19.7% to RM2.4 billion.
Ed.: RM 1 = US$0.24


text:
Internet outage in Tucson area was due to cyber attack, Cox says
An internet outage that affected Tucsonans over the weekend was due to a cyber attack, according to Cox Communications.
Cox says the attack has been stopped and that no customer information was compromised.
They said their efforts to stop the attack was the reason for the internet outage.
Read more at KVOA.


text:
European tourism group TUI (TUIT.L) has agreed a deal to sell its Hotelbeds unit to private equity group Cinven and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board for 1.191 billion euros (US$1.35 billion) in cash, it said on Thursday.
TUI put its Hotelbeds unit, which sells hotel rooms to wholesale customers such as travel agencies and tour operators, up for sale because it didn’t fit with its other tour operating, cruise and hotel businesses.
Hotelbeds is the largest business globally of its kind with a market share of six percent. Headquartered in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, it reported turnover of 1.06 billion euros and underlying EBITA of 69 million in the year to end September 2015.
U.K.-based Cinven and CPPIB will back the existing management team and share governance of the business equally, said Shane Feeney, managing director and head of direct private equity at CPPIB, adding that he expected to use Hotelbeds as a platform for future purchases.
“We will be opportunistic with acquisitions,” Feeney told Reuters.
The sale comes two months after private equity firm EQT took Swiss travel firm Kuoni private for 1.35 billion Swiss francs (US$1.39 billion).
Sources familiar with the process had previously said that EQT was interested in buying Hotelbeds to go with its Kuoni purchase.
The proceeds will be used to invest in further growth and strengthen TUI’s balance sheet, TUI said, adding the transaction is expected to complete by the end of September.
TUI will likely invest in its hotel operating business and in attracting more business from Chinese customers, CEO Fritz Joussen was quoted as saying in an interview with German magazine WirtschaftsWoche on Thursday.
CPPIB and Cinven will look to expand the company’s hotel base in the Middle East, Asia and the Americas and to invest in its technology.
“We’re going to be focused heavily on building out that Asian growth, where travel growth is really booming,” said Chris Good, Senior Principal at Cinven. “There are plenty of opportunities to expand outside bed banks, into rental cars and ticketing as well.”
Cinven has experience in the travel industry having owned booking platform Amadeus from 2005 to 2011.
London-listed TUI is due to give a half-year trading update on May 11. The company was advised on the deal by Deutsche Bank and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Financial advisors to CPPIB and Cinven were Lazard, Morgan Stanley and HSBC.
Update: CPPIB’s news release about the Hotelbeds acquisition can be viewed here.
By Victoria Bryan and Freya Berry
(Additional reporting by Alexander Hübner and Arno Schuetze; Editing by Keith Weir)
(This story has been edited by Kirk Falconer, editor of PE Hub Canada)
Photo courtesy of Reuters/Christian Charisius


text:
Here’s a tough question for all you car-crazy Motor1.com readers. What is harder to look at – a wrecked supercar, or one that’s simply been abandoned? What we have today is the latter of those two situations, and it’s not just any supercar. It’s a Porsche Carrera GT that could be one of just three in the world wearing this particular shade of red.
These photos come to us from cherongermando on Instagram, who shared his shots and the story of this Porsche with us. It’s currently sitting in an abandoned dealership in China, specifically a former Ferrari / Maserati dealership that, according to Periodismodel Motor, was the first of its kind in the country. The Carrera GT apparently had a couple of owners before coming to the dealership, but it’s not clear if the car was actually on sale or just being stored there.
Gallery: Abandoned Porsche Carrera GT in China
The report claims the dealership started to decline in 2007, and it further states that a Chinese government crackdown on corruption and “excessive consumption” may well have led to the location being closed and abandoned. In any case, the photographer responsible for these shots believes the Porsche has been sitting there untouched since 2012. It does have some company, however, as a C5 Corvette Z06 and a Ferrari 575 Superamerica are also in the building.
As for the Porsche, it’s covered in a layer of dust but otherwise, it doesn’t look too bad. It’s said to be number 1,255 out of 1,270 built, and the exterior shade of Zanzibar Red Metallic is thought to be one of just three examples with that colour. Of course, time can be much harder on components you can’t see, such as rubber seals and hoses that can dry up, causing leaks and ruptures. Also, any petrol in the tank or fuel system could well be varnish by now, so simply jumping behind the wheel and driving it to freedom isn’t an option.
Unfortunately, it seems nobody is interested or able to do that anyway, legally speaking at least. The future for this Porsche and the other cars is completely unknown at this point, but hopefully, someone steps in before they deteriorate to the point of being lost causes.


text:
VeganBurg Launches #WorldPlantBasedBurgerDay As A Celebration Of Their 10th Anniversary
VeganBurg, the world's first award winning 100% plant-based burger joint, proudly celebrates their 10th anniversary today.
To mark this special occasion, VeganBurg has launched an official day that will be celebrated for years to come; World Plant-Based Burger Day is now an official day registered with the National Archives. WPBBD will be a great way to put an official stamp on their mission & vision in bringing plant-based burgers mainstream.
Alexander Tan, founder of VeganBurg said, "The community in Singapore has been nothing but supportive of our mission and our values during the last ten years. We want to thank our customers for their continued support in collectively proving that great food does not have to come at the cost of the environment."
For their loyal customers, VeganBurg will be offering their Creamy Shrooms meal for just $10 all day (whilst stock last as their sauces are home-made). Pop over on over Saturday, October 10, 2020, to their Singapore outlet in Eunos to celebrate with them, or have orders delivered to their doorsteps by ordering through Oddle for the same offer.
For less than $5, customers can also add yummy birthday treats such as mouth-watering plant-based brownies or coconut ice creams to make it a real birthday celebration.


text:
LONDON (Reuters) - Trinity Mirror (TNI.L) said on Monday it had agreed to sell its sports division, but decided to keep its central and southeast England newspaper titles because it wasn’t happy with the prices they attracted.
Trinity Mirror, owner of the Daily Mirror, said it was selling the Racing Post newspaper to FL Partners, an Irish investment vehicle, for 170 million pounds.
The company unveiled its plan to sell the divisions in December following a strategy review and said the process would be completed by the end of the third quarter.
Trinity Mirror’s Chief Executive Sly Bailey said she expected to maintain the group’s margins and improve cost savings following the company’s decision to keep the newspapers.
“At the first half we had 20.8 percent group (operating) margins on flat revenue. Going forward, we still see ourselves being around 20 percent,” Bailey told Reuters in an interview.
Shares in Trinity Mirror slipped in early trading, but were up 0.5 percent at 414 pence at 1220 GMT.
“The market has impacted on our ability to sell. We have always said we would not sell at any price,” Bailey said, adding she had been in regular talks with shareholders, who did not want the assets sold cheaply.
The Racing Post’s cash sale price was on a multiple of 3.4 times 2006 revenues and 11.2 times 2006 operating profit.
Trinity Mirror said its overall disposal programme would raise 263 million pounds from the sale of seven businesses in London and the South East and the Sports Division.
UBS analysts said Trinity Mirror could end up returning more than 200 million pounds, which is better than anticipated, given Trinity Mirror has confirmed it will not pay an automatic 50 million pounds for the pension deficit, and an early repayment on its private placement debt will not be triggered.
Analysts had initially expected gross proceeds ranging from 600 million to 650 million pounds, but Trinity Mirror said in August this would be nearer 450 million pounds.
Trinity Mirror said its full-year performance would be in line with expectations, reiterating comments made in August.
The announcement marks the second time in recent years that a major sale of UK regional newspaper assets has been called off, after the Daily Mail & General Trust DMGO.L decided to keep its Northcliffe division in 2006.
“The two decisions put a question mark over how much buyers are prepared to pay for what were previously seen as ‘must-have’ assets; the key change has been the (potential) impact of the Internet on the regional newspapers’ business models,” said UBS.
Bailey said she was confident about Trinity Mirror’s prospects given healthy levels of interest from advertisers. She said retail advertising was “very buoyant”, but the company was cautious on how the ad market would perform over the year.
“The ad cycle is turning. Many commentators have overcalled the impact of structural change and have undercalled cyclical change. We believe our results and ad revenues will prove that this year,” she added.
Alan Byrne, the Racing Post’s new chief executive and editor-in-chief, told Irish public broadcaster RTE Radio that FL Group had bought the paper for a good price.
“We have outmanoeuvred a number of other interested parties. There was plenty of competition for it,” he said, adding that there were opportunities to grow the paper internationally.
The Racing Post will face new competition in Britain with the launch of Racing Ahead Weekend on October 20.
The new weekly is aiming for sales of between 20,000 and 30,000 and will sell for slightly less than the Racing Post.
Anglo-Irish Bank provided debt finance for the FL Partners deal. Rothschild acted as adviser for Trinity Mirror.
Additional reporting by Mark Potter and Kate Holton


text:
Manufacturing Sales Up
CBJ — Canadian manufacturing edged up 0.2% in September to $58.5 billion, led by gains in the transportation equipment industry. The growth compared with a drop of 0.5% in August.
Manufacturing sales in September were up in eight of the 21 industries tracked boosted by a ramp up in production following auto assembly plant shutdowns in July and August that helped the transportation equipment sector increase 3.1%.
Sales in the chemical sector gained 1.4%, while the petroleum and coal product sector rose 0.9%. The machinery industry fell 6.2%, while wood product sales dropped 2.9%.
Manufacturing sales in September were up in six provinces, led by Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Ontario rose 0.6% in September to $26.7 billion, while Newfoundland and Labrador climbed 21% to $648 million.
New Brunswick and Manitoba posted the largest sales decreases in dollar terms in September.
New Brunswick sales fell 9.3% to $1.5 billion, while Manitoba dropped 8.8% to $1.6 billion.


text:
A Plastic Planet’s Frederikke Magnussen warns that plastic pollution is putting children’s health at risk.
When you ask parents about what they worry about most when it comes to their child’s diet, there are some things that come up time after time. Processed foods, sugary drinks and teeth-rotting confectionery are some of the most common enemies as parents battle to serve up healthy meals.
One item is conspicuous by its absence on parents’ lists of dietary nightmares – plastic.
Read the full article here.


text:
By Sherry Bunting, previously published in Farmshine April 2021
EPHRATA, Pa. – “This organization is getting it done,” said U.S. Congressman Glenn “G.T.” Thompson (R-Pa.-15th). Thompson is the Republican leader of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee, and he gave the efforts of 97 Milk LLC and the Grassroots Pa. Dairy Advisory Committee two thumbs-up. Rep.
Thompson was a special guest addressing the group of mostly dairy farmers attending the 97 Milk reorganizational meeting at Mt. Airy Fire Hall near Ephrata, Pennsylvania, Tuesday, Apr. 6, 2021.
The groups’ efforts were formed in early 2019, after Berks County dairy farmer Nelson Troutman painted his first round bale with the words: “Drink Whole Milk 97% Fat Free”.
At the 97milk.com and facebook page @97milk, are the words: “We believe… in supporting local dairy farmers. We believe we can make a difference by sharing facts, benefits, and the good taste of whole milk so consumers can make informed decisions.”
According to Congressman Thompson, the battle to improve milk demand and to legalize whole milk choice in schools has two fronts – legislative policy and milk messaging.
“97 Milk is leading the way in the nation on messaging. Going from bales and beyond, what you have done is just incredible,” the Congressman said. “Keep doing what you are doing with the well-designed combination of influencing, marketing and providing factual information.”
In fact, Rep. Thompson took home and now proudly displays a “Drink Whole Milk – School Lunch Choice – Citizens for Immune Boosting Nutrition” yard sign in his front yard.
Grassroots PA Dairy Advisory Committee chairman Bernie Morrissey has been printing and distributing hundreds of these yard signs with the donations of area agribusinesses, other organizations and individuals.
Rep. Thompson represents 24% of Pennsylvania’s land mass across 14 counties. Even before becoming the lead Republican in the U.S. House Agriculture Committee, dairy has always been a key farm focus for him, and bringing the choice of whole milk back to schools a key issue. As Ag Committee Ranking Member, he now also represents all of agriculture with responsiveness across the nation.
He reported that “progress is being made. But we are starting in the hole, not from a neutral position. We have lost a generation of milk drinkers since whole milk was demonized and removed from schools in 2010.”
His bill, the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, could change that. H.R. 1861 is a bipartisan bill that has been reintroduced in this 2021-22 session of Congress with cosponsor Rep. Antonio Delgado, a Democrat from New York. The bill currently has 24 cosponsors.
In fact, among those attending the meeting in Pennsylvania was a contingent of folks from upstate New York looking to start a 97 Milk chapter there.
Also in attendance was David Lapp of Blessings of Hope. He confirmed that their partnership with 97 Milk was “a big success,” raising over $70,524 of which $16,000 remains for processing and buying milk. So far, those funds processed or purchased 45,000 gallons of whole milk for those in need, and over 20,000 packaged gallons were additionally donated during the pandemic.
Blessings of Hope was also involved in the Farmers to Families Food Box program through USDA, distributing a million gallons since May, of which Lapp said, 90% was whole milk!
GN Hursh, a Lancaster County dairy farmer and 97 Milk chairman, thanked everyone for doing their part to educate and promote whole milk. Referring to Berks County dairy farmer Nelson Troutman as “the seed” of the 97 Milk movement painting the first round bales with Drink Whole Milk 97% Fat Free, he asked Troutman to introduce the Congressman during the meeting — an honor Troutman put in the way only he can: “I never thought I would be introducing the Ranking Member of the House Ag Committee in ‘downtown’ Mt. Airy.”
That got a laugh from the group sitting in the rural town fire hall of northern Lancaster County.
The humble and persistent work of 97 Milk and the Grassroots PA Dairy Advisory Committee took root in southeast Pennsylvania, but is also being joined-in by dairy producers and supporters across the state and nation, noticed by dignitaries and officials in policy and legislative arenas and reaching every-day families and consumers across the nation and around the world.
The needle is being moved.
Marketing manager Jackie Behr said the key is to keep bringing ideas forward for the website, social media and events. She took the attendees through 97 Milk’s digital presence step by step and showed how the goal is to keep things fresh and keep bringing information and facts to the eyes of the growing traffic coming to the website.
Behr showed how the website and social media together give facts about whole milk, fun activities, recipes, and a personal connection of consumers to farmers.
“We always want to have new facts and something fun,” said Behr. “We rely on you to send us news articles and ideas that we can put on the website and post. We also rely on farmers to send in photos and thoughts and stories to keep it fresh.”
She reminded everyone that the website has a download section to download and print things, as well as a store to buy banners, t-shirts, hats and more. The store also has new items coming in to keep it fresh.
The Dairy Question Desk has been popular. “We want to be transparent and we want people asking questions,” said Behr.
While website visits are up, store purchases of promotional items and donations to 97 Milk are down. The 97 Milk board, including Behr, and others who assist at times with the social media work, as well as everyone doing events and other campaigns, are volunteers.
In the past 28 days, alone, the website had 1044 users and 2054 page views – 77% of them are new users. Businesses that have mentioned 97 Milk on their websites have driven traffic to 97milk.com as well.
This is something Behr wants more agribusinesses to consider. It’s an easy way to support the movement, just by putting a link to 97milk.com on a business website to support dairy farmers and milk education. This improves searchability for 97milk.com when people look for information about milk.
The top referral sites over the past year were Farmshine, FM Browns, Lotus Web Designs, R&J Dairy Consulting, Sauder Brothers, and Sensenig’s Feed Mill.
Social media data show that every age group is represented in the traffic, and followers are 60% women, 40% men, with over 400,000 people reached in the past 28 days. Some months the million-mark has been reached!
“This is all free advertising,” said Behr about the posts done six days a week. She said 97 Milk has not paid to “boost” any social media posts.
A good post about something people are interested in and don’t know about, attracts that wider reach, according to Behr.
“We are making connections and keeping the message positive,” she said. “People are responding. Since the pandemic, we see opportunity in expanding our reach because people want to support local farms and small businesses. We are giving them the simple facts that they don’t know and aren’t getting anywhere els.”
It was reported during the meeting that whole milk sales nationwide were up 2.6% in 2020 and up 1% in 2019. Flavored whole milk was up over 8% in 2019 and off by 1% in 2020, perhaps as a function of offerings more than demand. It’s important to note that whole milk sales are the largest volume category and these are USDA volume statistics, and 2% reduced-fat milk is the second largest volume category.
On a value basis, other reports put the whole milk increase at more than 5% over two years. In addition 2% milk sales have gained, but whole milk is still number one for 2019 and 2020. In the Northeast Milk Marketing Area, 2% milk sales grew by 7%, while whole milk grew 2.6%.
In the heart of the area in Pennsylvania where the 97 Milk movement started, at least two large supermarket chains have confirmed a 10 to 14% increase in whole milk sales in 2020. This shows the potential a wider reach can have as the 97 Milk movement grows.
These gains in whole and 2% milk sales volume have helped stabilize the overall fluid milk volume decline that was steepest from 2010 through 2019, after the choice of whole milk was prohibited in schools.
While talking about his Whole Milk for Health Kids Act legislation, Thompson referenced this concern also, saying that the removal of whole milk from schools resulted in losing a whole generation of milk drinkers, and some of that generation are or will soon be raising the next generation.
Both he and Behr mentioned “ripple effects.” This is an opportunity where whole milk education can impact whether the ripple effect is positive or negative for farmers and families.
When asked about current Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack’s position on getting whole milk back in schools after Vilsack was Secretary when it was removed, Thompson explained that Congress should take most of that blame. The Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act was passed in 2010 when Speaker Pelosi was Speaker of the House. He said Michelle Obama had little to do with this move. He also noted that he has had discussions with Secretary Vilsack before he was confirmed by the Senate.
“The Secretary knows my priorities,” said Thompson. During his time bringing news from Washington, he touched on milk identity labeling, Federal Milk Marketing Order pricing, and other dairy-related policy, but focused on the issues around legalizing whole milk choice in schools.
He also explained that any legislation on school nutrition must come through the Education and Labor Committee.
“I wish school nutrition legislation was in our Ag Committee jurisdiction. We would have fixed it by now. That’s something we can look into,” said Thompson, blaming bad science and those on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) Committee with an agenda. He talked about working toward Congress having a way to approve DGAs, and his desire for hearings on the DGA process.
“To get things done and make them last, we have to work on both sides of the aisle,” the Congressman said, noting how tight the votes are between Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate. Already, the list of cosponsors this session show interest among members of the Education and Labor committee.
Thompson also mentioned looking at other ways to legislatively approach the school beverage issue.
When asked what producers can do to help move the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act forward, Thompson said: “Keep doing what you are doing.”
In the business portion of the 97 Milk meeting April 6, chairman GN Hursh talked about how the group has navigated the pandemic to reach the public with the good news about whole milk.
Operated by volunteers and funded by donations and the 97milk.com store, 97 Milk accomplishes a lot with a little.
Treasurer Mahlon Stoltzfus reported income of $11,000 matching expenses of $11,000 and noted that donations have slowed even as progress in the group’s mission has increased.
Hursh asked producers to get involved. He noted that with all of the positive things happening, the key to keeping the momentum going is producer involvement.
Behr explained how important it is for dairy farmers to send in pictures and stories from their farms and ideas for social media posts.
For example, one idea that came from a farmer was to simply picture a red-cap gallon jug of whole milk and ask: “Reach for the red cap. Drink whole milk.” The post has been extremely popular and widely shared both times it was used.
During the meeting, board elections were conducted. Remaining as chairman is Hursh of Ephrata, with Stoltzfus of Bird In Hand remaining as treasurer. Outgoing secretary is Lois Beiler of Lititz, and incoming secretary is Chris Landis, Stevens. Outgoing campaign coordinator is Jordan Zimmerman of East Earl, and incoming campaign manager is Mark Leid, New Holland. Jackie Behr of R&J Dairy Consulting will remain on the board as marketing manager.
“This effort is not about just one person. It’s everyone doing their part,” said Hursh.
“There are three parts to this organization: website and social media; promotional materials and events; and the third is the key that could be missing,” he said, passing around a mirror: You.
To send photos, farm stories and to share ideas, email email@example.com
To donate to the 97 Milk efforts, visit 97milk.com/donate/ where there is a paypal option to donate online. Or mail donations to 97 Milk LLC, PO Box 87 Bird In Hand, PA 17505


text:
Gala Games is building up a multi-game ecosystem, going beyond Town Star. The most recent addition is the card collection game Legends Reborn.
The new game is yet to be listed among the major offers of Gala Games. The selection was made following a community vote by token owners. Legends Reborn is the product of Kung Fu Factory, a US-based studio for gaming entertainment.
Legends Reborn will come in PC and Mac versions possibly by the end of Q1, as announced by the Kung Fu Factory Team. This will be the next game drop for Gala Games, as Spider Tanks launch is also expected around that time.
Gala Games Bets on Walking Dead Gamers
Gala Games has also collaborated with Ember Entertainment to develop a blockchain version of the Walking Dead game. While the product is in preliminary development, Gala Games organized an AMA with the developer team.
Despite the upcoming game portfolio, for now, Town Star remains the most widely played choice with a full token and NFT model available to lock in earnings.
GALA Token Faces Weakness Despite Game Success
The start of 2022 was optimistic for play to earn projects, and there are signs of active game development.
Token prices are another story, as most assets are dragged down by what looks like a deepening correction of all crypto coins and tokens.
GALA is no exception, as the asset slid to $0.24, further distancing from expectations of a rally to $1. GALA is also one of the biggest losers in the past week, down around 23%. But despite the dramatic slide, GALA is showing bullish attitudes with the potential for faster recovery from the dip.
GALA remains one of the low per-unit price tokens, potentially lowering the entry point for NFTs, metaverse plots or other use cases for the Gala Games ecosystem. GALA was also one of the top trending game tokens in the past few days, potentially making for recovery and interest in renewed buying.


text:
The Standard hotel chain is scrapping the traditional rules around when guests can check in and out, allowing them to get into their rooms or leave the hotel at whatever time they like.
Hotels, airlines and car rental companies are scuttling old rules and rolling out new technology to make the customer experience more efficient and appealing to the tech-savvy traveler.
Those are a few of the latest offerings available in an increasingly “on demand’’ travel environment that includes mobile check-in for hotels and flights, and the growing ability to use a smartphone to enter a hotel room instead of an old-fashioned card or key.
Avis loyalty program members are now able to pick the car they want, and change the time they pick it up with the swipe of an app. And JetBlue passengers flying out of JFK can now tag and check their bags themselves, without ever having to stand in a line.
Guests at The Standard’s five hotels in New York, Miami and Los Angeles will no longer be bound by the typical out by noon, in by 3 p.m. routine. With the new “Standard Time,” guests can speak to a reservations agent or go online to dictate the check-in and check-out times that best suit them.
“There’s nothing more frustrating than arriving on a red eye, wanting to take a shower, and your room not being ready, and we wanted to eliminate that pain point,’’ says Amar Lalvani, managing partner at Standard International. It can be similarly aggravating when “you have a meeting, but you’re forced to pack up your bags to comply with check out time.”
It’s not a small change, Lalvani acknowledges. One of the reasons hotels require guests to clear out of their rooms or check in at set times is so housekeeping staff can clean the rooms and perform other tasks.
“There’s an enormous amount of logistics that goes into this,’’ he says, from retraining housekeepers and staff at the front desk, to being able to restock a room’s mini bar before the next guest arrives.
But Lalvani says Standard Time can also set it apart from competitors. “People choose us for a lot of reasons,” he says, but for “someone taking the red eye from L.A. to New York who has a meeting in the morning, this is a pretty meaningful step to improve that travel experience.’’


text:
- Insider spoke to CoinShares' James Butterfill about the future of regulation.
- Governments can't truly ban crypto so they are fighting to stay relevant with central bank digital coins, he said.
- Regulatory action is feeding the volatility in bitcoin and the market needs clarity, Butterfill said.
Regulators around the world are tightening the screws on cryptocurrencies, but greater oversight and increased transparency is the only way the market can evolve and progress, according to CoinShares investment strategist James Butterfill.
In the wake of a sustained crackdown across various countries on Binance, a crypto exchange and China's severe restrictions on bitcoin mining, CoinShares' Butterfill said it was really up to the regulators to offer clearer guidance and better definitions for the market.
"I think bitcoin has got an identity crisis. It's a birth of a new asset class, and both investors and regulators are struggling to figure out where to place it and how to categorize it," Butterfill told Insider in an interview this week.
CoinShares is Europe's biggest crypto asset manager. The company had $3.35 billion under management by the end of the first quarter, according to its most recent earnings report.
He explained how the lack of clear definitions for the asset - such as whether regulators and tax authorities treat it as a currency or a security - means any changes or developments on the regulatory front inject a lot of volatility into the price.
"When new regulation comes along, bitcoin does tend to be volatile, because people don't know how it's going to impact the crypto space," he said.
"As an investor, it's important to be able to categorize different assets, you know when you're making investment decisions what you do is you make an economic construct of the world, and you say 'okay I can see what works in that economic construct'," Butterfill said.
How to define bitcoin
In the United States, for example, the Internal Revenue Service calls it a taxable property. The Commodities Futures Trading Commission says it's a commodity and the US Securities and Exchange Commission has no official clarification.
"With something like cryptocurrencies, it's none of those, it's its own thing, its ownership of a distributed peer to peer monetary ledger system. And to further extend that, it's a diversified non-sovereign asset... So, it definitely does warrant its own asset class and all the regulators are slowly discovering this," Butterfill said.
He said regulators must deal with cryptocurrencies and not ban them because that just drives people to "more nefarious places to buy bitcoin."
"The only way you can essentially ban it in the end is by cutting off the internet," he said. "That is a bit like cutting off your foot to spite your toe and economically that has big ramifications so it's not really practical from that standpoint. So, I think most of them have decided: 'let's launch CBDCs'," he added.
Central banks and the digital world
A number of major economies are exploring digital versions of their own currencies and many have been clear about the risks attached to standard cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin or ether.
China is running trials of its digital yuan and the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England are looking into the possibility of their own central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), while European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde has said she expects a digital euro to launch in the next four years.
The future of central banks and digital currencies is not all doom and gloom. El Salvador has already made bitcoin a legal tender and the Bahamas has a functioning CBDC.
"We could see people use crypto alongside their own native currencies or we could start to see in the developing world more countries like El Salvador start to adopt bitcoin as a currency instead," Butterfill said.


text:
“Snaplications,” a term coined by McDonald’s, is a “first-to-market hiring tool in the U.S. that allows job seekers to be served an ad and opportunity to begin the application process for a job at a McDonald’s restaurant through the Snapchat app,” according to officials with the fast-food chain.
McDonald’s will also be using platforms such as Hulu and Spotify to reach potential job seekers.
“We’re always looking for new and innovative ways to find job seekers. We thought Snaplications was a great way to allow us to meet job seekers where they are – their phones,” Jez Langhorn, a human resources executive with McDonald’s USA, said in a statement.
“As we see the younger generations seeking out their first jobs, we want to make them aware of the great opportunities available at McDonald’s, especially considering we’re committed to being America’s best first job.”
The recruitment plan will roll out a series of 10-second Snapchat ads that show McDonald’s workers talking about why they like working for the company. Viewers can swipe up to go straight to McDonald’s careers website, where they can apply for jobs at local restaurants.
The positions are temporary and will last from June to August, according to McDonald’s spokeswoman Andrea Abate.
Summer jobs are popular within the chain – last year, McDonald’s said it expected to hire more than 130,000 people ages 16 to 24 for summer jobs.
The company declined to share how many seasonal workers it ultimately brought on, but has said that this year’s number marks an increase.
McDonald’s currently employs around 850,000 restaurant employees in the U.S., Abate said.
Join Over 40,000 Recruiters. Get our latest articles weekly, all FREE – SEND ME ARTICLES
Recruiters love this COMPLETE set of Accredited Recruitment & HR Training – View Training Brochure


text:
Capcom has issued an update for Resident Evil Village that removes the Denuvo anti-tamper tech from the game. Denuvo is often used by developers to prevent piracy, but it has been known to cause performance issues on certain machines. Capcom’s decision to remove Denuvo could be an attempt to address these issues and improve the overall gaming experience for players. The removal of Denuvo has been confirmed on the game’s Steam store page. It is worth noting that the removal of Denuvo is not expected to have any impact on the game’s content or functionality. It may, however, make it easier for some players to access the game.
Today: December 2, 2023


text:
A recent news article published in the MSN states that CMA CGM expects shipping slowdown after another strong quarter.
Weakening consumer spending
Weakening consumer spending is curbing shipping demand and freight rates, transport giant CMA CGM said on Friday as it reported another jump in quarterly profits.
French-based CMA CGM, one of the world’s largest container lines, reported a net profit of $7.6 billion for the second quarter, up from $3.5 billion in the year-earlier period and also surpassing $7.2 billion in the first quarter.
Higher container revenues helped offset rising operating costs in the past quarter, including a near 75% year-on-year jump in ship fuelling costs, it said.
Echoing its peers, CMA CGM said economic pressures were starting to be felt in shipping, cooling intense demand for ocean transport since the coronavirus pandemic.
Easing demand in recent weeks has led to a decline in spot freight rates in some regions, added CMA CGM.
Container volumes shipped by the group fell 1.3% year on year in the second quarter due to persisting congestion at ports, although the level was up 6% from the first quarter.
Soaring profits at the group, privately controlled by the Saade family, prompted the French government to call on the company this year to help cushion inflation pressures. CMA CGM responded with shipping rate discounts for cargoes to France. [L1N2Z30CG]
The group, which says it re-invests 90% of profits in its activities, has expanded in non-maritime logistics and this year become a shareholder of Air France-KLM as part of an air cargo partnership.
Did you subscribe to our daily Newsletter?
It’s Free! Click here to Subscribe


text:
Comdirect sold for £16.5m
COMDIRECT, Britain's second-biggest online stockbroker, has been sold for £16.5m by its similarly-named German parent.
The sale of the UK business ends the company's costly and loss-making excursions into European countries such as France, Italy and Spain started at the height of the stock market boom several years ago.
The buyers are Lloyds TSB Development Capital which will own just over 40%, comdirect's UK management with just over 30% and Numis Corporation, the institutional stockbroker. Comdirect has some 60,000 retail customers and handles an average of 2000 deals a day.
Comdirect, controlled by Germany's third-largest bank Commerzbank AG, also said it would book a pre-tax profit of e2.4m (£1.7m) this year as a result of the transaction.
Consolidation has gathered pace in the industry in recent years with larger players becoming more dominant.
Barclays Stockbrokers, the UK's largest retail stockbroker, took over Charles Schwab Europe last year to create the leading market player in UK retail broking with 500,000 clients.
Most watched Money videos
- Richard Farleigh reveals how he chooses shares to invest in
- Jaguar confirms plans to build electric cars in the UK
- What next for Neil Woodford and his investors?
- Alauda Racing presents the new flying sports car Airspeeder
- Ford unveils brand new five-seater Puma model in thrilling promo
- Highways England explains why drivers should not ignore Red X
- The solar car that is powered using energy from the sun
- Ray Massey drives Aston Martin's DBS Superleggera Volante
- Bentley teases first ever electric car launching at EXP 100 GT
- Bentley's EXP 100 GT car of the future revealed
- Take a first look at the Nobe 100 electric car
- Lotus' new £2million electric car has top speed of more than 200mph


text:
Vistatec is pleased to announce the recent appointment of Edward Robetcky to the position of Director of US Sales. An experienced localization professional, Edward has been in the industry since 2007, working with Fortune 500 companies such as Toyota, Yamaha and Hyundai and holding senior positions at SDL and Crestec.
Edward, who is based in California, will help to continue to align Vistatec’s world-class innovation with industry-leading business development practice and to drive and extend the next generation of Vistatec’s market growth around the world.
Upon his recent appointment, Edward stated "I am excited to be working with growing a number of global brands and clients while helping the wider team here at Vistatec. It is a pleasure to be working with a global leader in this industry. Vistatec is very well respected in the industry and I am looking forward to helping deliver their expertise and innovation to some of the biggest brands in the world."
Michele Smith, Vistatec Senior Vice President, New Business, Worldwide commented "Edward is a super addition to the expanding Vistatec global team. Edward's commitment to his customers is of a high quality and he will be actively driving the Vistatec growth plans."
Vistatec have been helping some of the world's most iconic brands to optimize their global commercial potential since 1997. Vistatec is one of the world's leading localization solutions providers. HQ in Dublin, Ireland, with offices in Mountain View, California, USA.


text:
MUMBAI: Multiplex chain operator PVR expects to add at least 23 screens in the current financial year to take the total to 500 in the same fiscal.
"Our target is to reach 1,000 screens quickly. The shorter target is to get to 500 screens in this financial year and then look at going to 1,000 screens," PVR Cinemas Chief Operating Officer Gautam Dutta told PTI here.
PVR currently operates 477 screens across 44 cities in the country.
It has four brands across different price points - PVR Talkies, PVR Cinemas, PVR Premium and newly launched PVR Icon.
Dutta said the new screens will largely be in PVR Cinemas and PVR Premium.
The company has a capex of Rs 200 crore this fiscal, which includes Rs 135-140 crore for new projects and the remaining for renovation and the cost of each new screen is around Rs 2-2.5 crore.
It recently launched the PVR Icon brand, which is an ultra-premium category, at one of its multiplexes at a suburban mall here with an investment of Rs 25 crore, Dutta said, adding that they will be launching PVR Icon in Bengaluru and Pune in the next fiscal, taking the total to three properties under the newly-created brand.
The company would be spending Rs 60-70 lakh on marketing for the new brand PVR Icon.
PVR enjoys an occupancy rate of 35-37 per cent, with a reported footfall of 66 million.
Online sales contribute around 35-36 per cent of the total ticket earnings.
Food and beverages contribute 25 per cent of the revenues, while advertising accounts for 12 per cent of the income.
The company's consolidated revenue for FY15 stood at Rs 1,486 crore.
On acquisition, he said, "We don't see much. Whatever had to be acquired, it got acquired. There will always be consolidation which is happening but the larger players have all settled and I think it is going to remain like this for a little while now.
"We are all open (to acquisition). Some of the players that we knew who were wanting to acquire or wanting to sell, largely some trading has happened within the industry, some consolidation, there could be a few more but we feel that the time has come where the industry will settle down and move."
In June, PVR acquired real estate major DLF's DT Cinemas for Rs 500 crore.
In January, Mexican multiplex chain operator Cinepolis fully acquired Essel Group's Fun Cinemas.
In December 2014, Carnival Group acquired Big Cinemas from Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group for an estimated Rs 700 crore, making it the biggest deal in this sector.
In July 2014, Inox had acquired Gurgaon-based rival Satyam Cineplexes in a Rs 182-crore deal to strengthen its presence in north India.
It also bought multiplex cinema theatre firm Fame India and Calcutta Cinema Private (CCPL) in West Bengal.
According to the sources, Reliance plans to partner with the state governments to promote artisanal products and also take 'Swadesh' global. It has already signed an agreement with the West Bengal government for this.


text:
Commercial finance demand 'patchy', says CAFBA president
Business activity remains robust despite the pressures of inflation and rising interest rates, the latest CreditorWatch data shows.
CAFBA president Matt Atkin (pictured above left) said that businesses still had an appetite to borrow but were proceeding with caution.
In its March Business Risk Index, released on Wednesday, CreditorWatch said that business activity had rebounded to pre-COVID levels.
Credit enquiries, a leading indicator of business activity, rose 28% from February to March, and were up by 149% year-on-year, the credit agency said.
CreditorWatch CEO Patrick Coghlan (pictured above right) said the March BRI data, particularly the increase in business activity, was “an encouraging sign”.
“From a pandemic to labour shortages, supply chain disruptions, high inflation and rising interest rates, Australian businesses have had it all thrown at them,” Coughlan said. “To now be registering these increases in turnover is a very encouraging sign.”
As demand drops and cost pressures remain, Coughlan warned against ignoring economic forecasts for more tough times ahead.
Average trade receivables, described as the number of open invoices a business has on its books, sat at $122,223 in March, which was 8% below March 2020, CreditorWatch said.
Court actions were back to pre-COVID levels (up 22% year-on-year) and business to business trade payment defaults rose 20% year-on-year.
Atkin, who is also the managing director of Atlas Broker, told MPA that while businesses were still showing a healthy appetite for commercial loans, it was “patchy”.
He said that it was difficult to determine whether settlement volumes over the last quarter were buoyed by the pipeline, or new deals.
“Clients appear to be proceeding with caution at the moment with some clients shelving projects until they get a better read in the economy,” Atkin said.
Anecdotal evidence shows new business lending has slowed, he said. If it wasn’t for the immediate expensing of assets coming to an end in June, Atkin said that he would expect the current volume of credit applications to be a lot less.
“I will be interested to see what happens in July when this program finishes if it is not replaced,” Atkin said. “At CAFBA, we are advocating for the Instant Asset Write Off to be reinstated with a limit of $100, 000 to incentivise businesses to continue to invest.”
In response to trends around credit demand within certain industries, Atkin noted that large and small businesses involved in infrastructure projects continued to do well.
SMEs with steady contracts in place that don’t have a concentration of debtors represent good opportunities for commercial brokers, he said.
“Commercial brokers need to stay close to their clients to understand the opportunities and risks,” Atkin said.
As they provide rate for risk solutions, non-bank lenders appear to be doing very well in the current economic environment, he said.
CreditorWatch chief economist Anneke Thompson said that the increase in trade receivables and monthly business activity could be partly explained by the still “very high workloads” that many industries were dealing with.
The construction industry in particular is still working through high volumes of work, and is invoicing at a very high rate, but due to rising material costs, faces ongoing challenges, she said.
Six regions with highest risk of default located in Western Sydney
The CreditorWatch BRI ranks over 300 regions by relative insolvency risk based on data from around 1.1 million ASIC-registered credit-active businesses.
Six of the 10 highest ranking regions for probability of default are located in Western Sydney, CreditorWatch data showed.
The credit agency said it expected Western Sydney to be hardest hit by insolvencies over the next 12 months, noting that relative debt levels were high and many small businesses in the region were sensitive to slight movements in demand.
Ten regions with highest risk of default
The ten regions viewed by CreditorWatch as most at risk of default over the next 12 months are below. (Note: percentage shown is default rate for next 12 months)
- Melton – Bacchus Marsh: 7.01%
- Fairfield (NSW): 7.06%
- Kogarah – Rockdale (NSW): 7.13%
- Southport (QLD): 7.31%
- Bankstown (NSW): 7.37%
- Surfers Paradise (QLD): 7.38%
- Auburn (NSW): 7.43%
- Ormeau – Oxenford (QLD): 7.45%
- Canterbury (NSW): 7.55%
- Merrylands – Guildford (NSW): 7.80%
Ten regions with least risk of default
The 10 regions viewed by CreditorWatch as having the least at risk of default over the next 12 months are below. (Note: percentage shown is default rate for next 12 months)
- Norwood - Payneham - St Peters (SA): 4.68%
- Yarra Ranges (VIC): 4.77%
- Cottesloe – Claremont (WA): 4.81%
- Adelaide City (SA): 4.86%
- Cairns – South (QLD): 4.94%
- Ku-ring-gai (NSW): 5.03%
- Kingston (VIC): 5.06%
- Pittwater (NSW): 5.10%
- Warringah (NSW): 5.12%
- Geelong (VIC): 5.12%
Across the main cities, the risk of default for Perth CBD is 5.36%, 6.13% for Melbourne city, 6.19% for Sydney inner city and 6.34% for inner Brisbane.
The industries representing the highest probability of default over the next 12 months are food and beverage services, transport, postal and warehousing and arts and recreation services, CreditorWatch said.
The industries showing the lowest probability of default over the next 12 months are healthcare and social assistance, agriculture, forestry and fishing, and wholesale trade.
CreditorWatch said it expected business to business payment defaults to “rise sharply” in the later part of the year. Demand is expected to reduce, particularly in sectors reliant on discretionary spending, posing some of the toughest trading conditions experienced for some time.


text:
From the Niagara Falls Review:
Last spring, my cohort Ray Spiteri and I did a three-part series on the Destination Marketing Fee, the notorious tourism fee several Niagara Falls hotels and restaurants have been charging since 2004.
In recent years, the fee – up to 10 per cent in some places – has angered countless tourists. And with good reason: There still isn’t accountability for it. Businesses collect the money, but do not remit it to a proper tourism agency or association. We are supposed to take their word for it that it goes toward tourism-related projects.
You can see why this is a problem. And why it hurts the industry as a whole.
Last week I received the latest email newsletter from the Clifton Hill Resort.
You can subscribe to the Clifton Hill Resort Update newsletter by visiting the Clifton Hill Newsletter page.
From the Buffalo News:
Remember all of those rooms Niagara Falls hotels expected to book for Nik Wallenda’s dramatic tightrope walk?
If they really want to protect the tourist attraction’s brand, they should offer full refunds to anyone who cancels after finding out the death-defying feat they thought they were coming to see will be nothing of the sort.
In fact, any marketing of Wallenda’s June 15 stroll that doesn’t include “tethered” before every mention of his name will constitute the biggest fraud since Anonymous.
For those who forget, the public was duped that time into believing the bestselling “Primary Colors” was written by a Clinton White House insider, instead of by a Newsweek columnist.
This time, the public was duped into believing Wallenda would risk all in his walk across the falls in a Friday night special that ABC will stretch into three hours of ads and promos.
Now it turns out that Wallenda will risk no such thing. Instead, he’ll wear a safety harness tethered to the wire so that he couldn’t fall if he wanted to.
Which means the stunt now should elicit a shrug and the obvious question: What’s the point?
From Niagara This Week:
Sleep Cheap, Charities Reap is back for its sixth year.
Hotels started taking reservations on Monday for annual promotion that sees Niagara residents getting discounted rooms in Niagara Falls hotels over a four day period.
This year, Sleep Cheap will be taking place over four nights: Nov. 15 through 18. Niagara residents who are 21 years of age and older can reserve a room at one of 28 participating hotels. City councillor and current mayoral candidate Jim Diodati organized this event six years ago and said each year it has been growing steadily.
“It’s great to see it grow every year,” he said.


text:
Read this tip to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. LifeTips is the place to go when you need to know about Marketing and other Entrepreneur topics.
If your company has exciting news that you want everyone to know about, write a press release. Press releases are sent out “over the wire,” which means multiple news sites, TV stations, and newspapers receive your release. Typically, your press release will be posted instantly on the majority of the news sites that get it. Television, newspapers, radio and magazines are harder to get into. If your news is earth-shattering, or extremely relevant to a specific population, one of these forms of media may contact you to do a followup story or interview. But in general, your best best is the online news sites that publish your release.
Keep in mind, no one wants to read fluff. You should genuinely have news to share. Your news may include:
· Grand opening of company
· New product being introduced
· New addition to executive leadership
· Company going public
· Award or recognition given
· Major client secured
Your press release should be quick and to the point. The first paragraph should have all the pertinent information: who, what, when, where, and why. Readers will only spend a few seconds skimming the first paragraph before deciding if they want to read the entire thing in detail.
It should be no more than 400 words. It can be challenging to get everything you want to say in 400 words, but the purpose of a press release is to give a news blurb, not a detailed story or feature.
Be sure to include your company's contact information and website so that people who want to learn more about your products can do so.