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Dove and Tresemme Shampoo Recall: Unilever Recalls Dry Shampoos Due To Benzene In The US; Read Why
Unilever recalls its Dove and other aerosol dry shampoos in the US after discovering a harmful chemical benzene in their content.
Unilever had to recall its Dove and Tresemme aerosol dry shampoo in the US after learning that the products were tainted with benzene, a substance that can lead to cancer.
According to a notice published on the Food and Drug Administration website on Friday, the recall extends to brands including Tigi, Nexxus and Suave, which manufactures the dry shampoos Rockaholic and Bed Head.
Unilever is recalling those products that were made before October 2021. The incident raises new concerns about the safety of aerosols in personal care products. Aerosol sunscreens like Johnson & Johnson's Neutrogena, Beiersdorf AG's Coppertone, and Edgewell Personal Care Co.'s Banana Boat as well as spray-on deodorants like Procter & Gamble Co.'s Secret and Old Spice and Unilever's Suave, have all been removed from store shelves over the previous 15 months according to a Bloomberg report.
The recalls started in May 2021 after Valisure, an analytical facility with headquarters in New Haven, Connecticut, found benzene in a number of products. The US FDA stated that exposure to benzene can result in leukemia and other blood cancers. In fact, petroleum products are known to contain the chemical benzene. Additionally, the FDA states that propellers are a known potential source of benzene contamination.
Unilever claims that this is what prompted the dry shampoo recall. The business did not say how much benzene was present in the products, only that it was recalling them out of an excess of caution. Spray-on dry shampoo has already been identified as a potential issue. In December, P&G also issued a recall for its Pantene and Herbal Essences dry shampoos due to benzene contamination.
Although benzene levels for cosmetics like dry shampoo have not been defined by the FDA, the agency does state that such items shouldn't include "any toxic or detrimental chemical." And owing to the safety of people, US retailers have been instructed to take certain items off the shelves.
(Corrects an earlier version that misstated that HUL recalled dry shampoos)


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WELCOME TO The smallbusiness REPORT
Collaborate Effectively: 3 Tools Your Small Business Needs
DANIEL VAHAB | August 24, 2017
We’re pleased to announce that Predixion has joined the Greenwave family. Now, Greenwave’s revolutionary AXON Platform will come with RIOT™ edge analytics.
Article | April 2, 2020
With nearly $400 billion on the line between the Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise that there would be fraudsters targeting small business owners during these already challenging times. Avoiding small business lending scams and fraud related to COVID-19 requires that you are diligent and on the lookout for grant fraud, loan fraud, and phishing scams.
Article | April 21, 2020
The federal government's stimulus PPP for small businesses, the $349 billion Paycheck Protection Program, which offers forgivable loans to small businesses, ran out of money on last week. Over the weekend, Democrats and Republicans were negotiating a deal that would allocate $310 billion more into the Paycheck Protection Program, setting aside $60 billion of that sum for rural and minority groups. Another $60 billion would go to the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, a separate program offering loans for small businesses administered by the Small Business Association.
Article | August 4, 2021
After 2020 saw countless small businesses pushed to the brink, the US economy seems on the verge of a lasting revival. The good news about vaccination progress and the continued lifting of restrictions from coast to coast is that small businesses are starting to feel more optimistic about their chances in 2021.
But that's also leaving many of them at a crossroads. For some, a rapid shift to eCommerce and other non-contact sales methods was essential to stay afloat. Now that those measures aren't strictly necessary, the question is how to either unwind them or make them a permanent part of the business's strategy.
Article | April 13, 2020
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become one of the fastest-growing technologies of our generation. It has all kinds of applications in industries like healthcare, education, and of course, commerce. Small business owners can grow their companies at a faster pace and on a bigger scale on the back of AI-powered platforms. Below, we discuss 5 such amazing platforms.
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While North American and Japanese Wii U owners have had Nintendo TVii for over a month now, there is still no sign of the new service in Europe. Nintendo TVii offers users lots of choices when to comes to streaming TV and content on the Wii U console, where users can even access their DVR recordings.
Nintendo’s Satoru Iwata said during the European Nintendo Direct presentation that the company is still working on bringing Nintendo TVii to Europe “as soon as possible”, and that Nintendo “appreciates your patience”. In the meantime, Nintendo will launch the Netflix Wii U app for European users in the coming days.
For more on the Wii U service, check out our in-depth Nintendo TVii review.
- Nintendo: Switch is a new platform, not a suc
- WiiUDaily's Big Switch
- Rumored Nintendo Switch specs reveal a pretty
- Nintendo Switch has strong third party suppor
TAGS: Nintendo, Nintendo TVii, wii u


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Home Tags Siri
Don’t ask your voice assistant for a customer service number — it might supply you with a scammer’s number instead
Scammers often try to call you. But in a turn of events, Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant could help you call the scammers by accident.
Apple and Spotify are at each other’s throats, but they still reportedly held talks about putting Spotify on Siri
The two companies have bad blood as Spotify lodged an antitrust complaint against Apple with the EU in March.
You can use Siri on an iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or iPhone X in two ways: either with the Side button, or through a "Hey Siri" voice command.
A new lawsuit accuses Apple of violating user’s privacy by allegedly allowing Siri to record without consent
A new class-action lawsuit accuses Apple of violating user privacy by allegedly allowing Siri to record customers without informing them.
The news follows a report published by The Guardian which revealed that contractors involved in the program "regularly" hear confidential information.
Apple contractors working on Siri ‘regularly’ hear recordings of sex, drug deals, and private medical information, a new report says
Apple contractors in charge of quality control for Siri, the company's voice assistant, reportedly "regularly" hear private, sensitive information.
Starting at $130, Galaxy Buds are cheaper than AirPods, which retail for $159 with similar features.
The iPhone is a powerful device, if you know how to use it. These tips and tricks will make you into a pro.
This 3-minute video is an incredible demonstration of the new Voice Control feature in iOS 13, which lets you control every aspect of your iPhone with...
Voice Control is a new accessibility feature coming in iOS 13, which lets you control every single aspect of your iPhone using only your voice.
Apple’s former Siri chief says today’s digital assistants still have a long way to go before they can really understand us
Apple's former Siri lead Bill Stasior says understanding speech more naturally is one of the biggest areas in which digital assistants will improve.


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Shares of Tilray, Inc. (NASDAQ: TLRY) were up 36.5% as of 10:29 a.m. EDT on Wednesday and rose more than 40% earlier in the morning. The stock received a big boost from Tilray CEO Brendan Kennedy's interview Tuesday evening with CNBC's Mad Money host Jim Cramer.
Several of Kennedy's statements generated excitement among some investors. For example, he said that pharmaceutical companies and alcoholic beverage companies need to "hedge" by partnering with cannabis companies because cannabis is a substitute for some of the big companies' drugs and beverages. Kennedy also stated that Tilray's "intent is to build a company that dominates part of this $150 billion industry. I think you'll see multiple hundred-billion-dollar companies."
Gaining exposure to a large television audience full of investors is usually a good thing for a company. That's especially true when the company's CEO paints a very attractive picture for investors, which is exactly what Kennedy did. A modest bump for Tilray would have been expected and probably warranted. But a jump of more than 35%? That's a different story altogether.
Kennedy's statement that pharmaceutical companies should hedge against potential losses of market share for their products by partnering with marijuana growers makes sense to some extent. Obviously, not every pharma company markets products for indications that cannabis could potentially also address, but some of them do.
His comment was even more applicable for alcoholic beverage makers. These companies should be worried that legalized recreational marijuana could hurt sales of their alcoholic beverages. And they are worried, which is why we've seen Constellation Brands invest $4 billion in Canopy Growth and Molson Coors Brewing pick HEXO as its cannabis partner.
However, Brendan Kennedy said that Tilray wouldn't want to partner with Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI) because the company wants "to build ABI." He foresees a future with several cannabis companies, presumably including Tilray, with market caps exceeding $100 billion.
That optimism sounds great. But the global cannabis market isn't anywhere close to the $150 billion industry that Kennedy (and other Canadian marijuana company CEOs) predict. Arcview Market Research and BDS Analytics estimate that the global legal cannabis market will be just shy of $13 billion this year. By 2022, the market is projected to increase to $32 billion.
It's important to note that the U.S. will generate more than 85% of the total legal cannabis sales this year and roughly three-quarters of total cannabis revenue in the 2022 projection. While Tilray stock vaulted higher on Tuesday after winning approval to supply medical cannabis for a U.S. clinical study, the company can't do business in the U.S. until federal marijuana laws change.
Tilray's share price could continue to go higher. There's a euphoria right now among marijuana stock investors, especially over Tilray, that might not evaporate for a while. More good news could be on the way. The Canadian recreational marijuana market opens in October. Tilray could score a partnership with a major beverage company. (I suspect the company would be ecstatic to make a deal with ABI, regardless of what Brendan Kennedy said on CNBC.)
But I think that the reality for Tilray is that the stock has gotten ahead of the prospects for the business. Those prospects remain very good, in my opinion. However, the prospects aren't good enough to justify Tilray's gravity-defying stock performance in recent weeks.
Maybe one day there will be a $150 billion global cannabis industry, but that day is a long way off. If a market cap of more than $20 billion for Tilray seems too good to be true, it's probably because it is too good to be true.
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Guardians of Middle-earth profiles new characters
A new gameplay trailer for Guardians of Middle-earth has revealed the latest playable characters in the upcoming massive online battle arena (MOBA) title for Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. Joining the likes of Gandalf, Gollum, Sauron, Legolas and many more, is Nori, the dwarven demolition specialist and Wulfrun, the mysterious practitioner of the dark arts.[springboard type=”youtube” id=”8MMb4YnzyeQ” player=”xbla001″ width=”640″ height=”400″ ]
Guardians of Middle-earth aims to blaze new trails by bringing the MOBA experience to home consoles. It’s a move Ruth Tomandl, Senior Producer at Monolith, believes will keep it from competing head-to-head with the established PC giants of the genre, like League of Legends and the DOTA franchise. In an interview with GamesBeat, Tomandl states, “I think it’s an advantage for us, certainly, to be only coming out on the consoles. It’s let us focus on making a really good console game, but it also eliminates any question of competing.”
Though what can fans expect from a console translation of a genre that’s notoriously competitive and meticulous? “A lot of it is the pacing. The matches are shorter. You get into matches more quickly. When you get into a match, you start the larger battles more quickly,” explains Tomandl. “The map is a little smaller, so you move between lanes a lot more. There’s more incentive to move between lanes. I think it just gets into more of a fast-paced battle more quickly. Which is something I think console gamers are more interested in. PC gamers, I think, have more patience to invest a lot of time and then reap the rewards of it, whereas console gamers want to get in, play a match, get out, and get more expertise that way, by playing more matches. I think that’s the biggest difference people will notice.”
Guardians of Middle-earth is scheduled for release sometime this fall.


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Normally attracting more than 5,000 global exhibitors, the 2021 event held from September 14 to 16 saw a total of 388 companies take part, with only 53% of the exhibitors taking part personally at the Frankfurt showgrounds. The remainder took part online.
Normally this big daddy of global automotive aftermarket exhibition events would use more than 13 multilevel exhibition halls along with many large outdoor areas, welcoming more than 160,000 visitors from all over the world across five days.
Known as Automechanika Digital Plus for 2021, the pandemic-affected event saw Automechanika merged with Hypermotion, the world-leading technology, urban logistics and mobility concepts, intelligent supply chains and alternative drive technologies expo.
This year’s event saw 10,000 visitors take part from 70 countries, both in person and online. More than two-thirds of all registered visitors made use of the many new Automechanika digital features including live streams, intelligent matchmaking events between suppliers and distributors, and one-on-one video calls.
This new way of running trade shows saw a total of 25,000 online interactions take place over the shortened three-day event, with 21,000 views of exhibitor streams and 1,600 video calls made. While representing a mere fraction of the business-generating activities that these industry events are world famous for, it did herald the return and the resilience of the global automotive aftermarket business despite the major disruptions placed in front of it by the pandemic.
According to Detlef Braun, Member of the Executive Board of Messe Frankfurt, organisers of Automechanika, “Finally, exhibitors and trade visitors had the opportunity to get together in person again and make new contacts, both onsite at the exhibition grounds and by using the digital event platform with international industry players.
“Following a long dry spell, the familiar trade fair feeling was quickly established, only this time it was with masks and a requirement that people be vaccinated, tested or recovered. It was a good warm-up for Automechanika Frankfurt next year,” Mr Braun said.
The concept behind this year’s Automechanika, an in-person trade fair supplemented by the ability to participate digitally, was well-received by exhibitors and visitors alike. The hybrid format enabled participation by international visitors who were unable to travel and for those who were able to attend, to deal face to face with manufacturers, marketers and distributors after being forced apart for such a long time.
Automechanika 2021 has also accelerated the trend towards digitalisation in the global automotive aftermarket. Although this was a forced situation, the clear effect of it is that digitalisation is making huge strides in the operation of independent automotive repair workshops across Europe and the world. As the response that the online component of this trade fair proved, more workshops are taking advantage of opportunities that are made available to them online.
Christian Schwer, National Sales Manager of Liqui Moly, sums up the effectiveness of this year’s Automechanika Frankfurt, “During these unusual pandemic times, this year’s smaller Automechanika presented us with a chance to reopen communications with our customers, to be on location and make our presence felt as we resume in-person encounters. After all, business is done between people, and we believe that communication is everything. Without it, nothing is possible and that will remain true in future. Automechanika is the platform for the innovations and new technologies that we must all come to grips with not only as suppliers, but also as customers and as an industry. That was Automechanika’s role in the past, and that is what Automechanika continues to represent for us today.”
Automechanika Frankfurt plans to return to its world-leading live exhibition format from September 13 to 17, 2022. Australia’s major automotive aftermarket industry exhibition, the Australian Automotive Aftermarket Expo, is scheduled to return to Melbourne from April 7 to 9, 2022, after a similarly long absence.


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Consumers across the world are denouncing fast food and soft drinks in favour of healthier options, according to several market trend reports. It makes sense, therefore, that major brands like PepsiCo which is best known for its soft drinks are shifting focus to healthier brands in their portfolio. For instance, PepsiCo has announced a tie up with celebrity chef Vikas Khanna, making him the brand’s nutrition ambassador.
Khanna’s Role As Nutrition Ambassador
In a statement to the press, PepsiCo has said that it chose Khanna to be their nutrition ambassador because of his reputation as a chef and his work with the Smile Foundation, which seeks to provide adequate nutrition for underprivileged children. Khanna’s association with PeosiCo will last two years.
With this tie up, PepsiCo hopes to convince the public that they can make nutritious as well as delicious food choices.
Khanna has already collaborated with PepsiCo to promote their Tropicana products. Now, he has moved on to campaigns around the company’s Quaker Oats brand, in which he will encourage the public to share fun recipes using the oats and conduct interactive campaigns with influencers across India.
In a recent event in Mumbai, for instance, Khanna interacted with a collection of bloggers during which he talked about the key to a healthy balanced diet and shared conversations about how to adapt current food trends so they become healthy. Additionally, the bloggers were invited to participate in a soup tasting competition, in which winners were given a Quaker Oats hamper.
— Mumbai Food Diaries (@ginni_me) April 17, 2016
— IndiBlogger.in (@indiblogger) April 10, 2016
— Salonee Sanghvi, CFA (@QuirkyLogic) April 10, 2016
Do you want a chance to meet the dashing Khanna too? Or are you just excited about the prospect of eating healthier? Either way, keep your eyes peeled for events that will be hosted by Khanna celebrating Quaker Oats, coming to a city near you!
What Kind Of Apricots Are The Best?
Fresh apricots make an awesome sweet fibre filled snack that are relatively low in carbohydrate. Dried apricots like fresh apricots...
Craftsvilla Acquires PlaceofOrigin, Ethnic Foods E-tailer
Craftsvilla is entering the online gourmet food marketplace with the acquisition of PlaceofOrigin, a Bengaluru based ethnic food e-tailer. Craftsvilla...
Simba’s Authentic Craft Beer Roars Its Way Into Bengaluru!
After a roaring response in Goa and Delhi, Simba Craft Beers has finally launched their Simba Wit and Simba Stout...
The Resto-Boutiques That Are Giving Chennaites The Perfect Escape
Over the past few years, resto-boutiques have been picking up steam and more and more have been popping up all...
Get Away From The Internet World With KFC’s New Escape Pod
After gifting a fan a Colonel Sander’s portrait, KFC is in news again for its latest venture. They’re trying to...


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Posted on 28/11/2018 by DHL Express
New Zealand begin negotiations on a new free trade agreement with the UK
The New Zealand government have started gathering views about a free trade agreement with the UK. New Zealand’s Trade and Export Minister David Parker noted that the UK is one of New Zealand’s ‘oldest friends’ and that ‘a trade deal makes a lot of sense’.
New Zealand and the UK have always had a very strong relationship, with trade of goods between the two countries worth £2.72 billion last year, and British exports increasing by 10 per cent on 2016.
Dr Liam Fox, International Trade Secretary said: “I am delighted that New Zealand’s Trade Minister David Parker is taking the necessary steps, so we can begin to negotiate a highly ambitious free trade agreement that is fit for the 21st century. This will help to create jobs in both our countries and give consumers greater choice at lower prices, as well as pulling British businesses closer to the rapidly-growing Asia-Pacific region.”Read more
The new Black Friday shopping habits
UK retailers have reported low footfall on the high street over the Black Friday weekend. Despite it being a firm fixture in the UK retail calendar and more and more retailers participating in the promotional activity, shoppers turned to online stores to place their orders.
New credit card data also suggested a growing trend that UK shoppers bought more items but spent less. Konrad Kelling, managing director of Barclaycard Payment Solutions, said: “Our data shows that people have been making a higher number of less expensive purchases than at this time last year.”See more
What are you doing to help thoughtful holiday gift buyers?
According to Google mobile searches for “gifts for ___ lover(s)” have grown by over 130 per cent in the last two years and “gifts for ___ from ___” have grown by over 140 per cent. This specific searching behaviour clearly shows that people are increasingly looking to find very special and specific gifts.
To help shoppers on their hunt for the perfect gift Google have put together some tips that your business can offer. These include curating gift lists for those hard to buy people like dads or the person who has everything and making sure your gift-related content is shared beyond just your site.Discover more


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The Ontario government will limit the number of licences it issues to retail businesses for the sale of cannabis.
This comes on the heels of the Alberta government stopping the issue any new retail cannabis licences after receiving only 20 percent of the stock it ordered from federally licensed producers.
In a statement released Thursday, Attorney General Caroline Mulroney and Minister of Finance Vic Fedeli announced the province will be phasing in the private sale of marijuana with only up to 25 licences being issued during the first phase beginning April 1st, 2019.
In their joint statement, the ministers said, “we cannot in good conscience issue an unlimited number of licences to businesses in the face of such shortages and the federal government’s failure to provide certainty around future supply”.
The federal government oversees the production of all legal cannabis in Canada.
The province says to ensure a fair and transparent process, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario will implement a lottery system to determine who is eligible for the initial licences to legally operate a store in Ontario.
All interested parties will be able to submit an expression of interest form online to the AGCO from January 7 to January 9, 2019.
The expressions of interest will be put into a lottery pool for a draw. The draw will be conducted on January 11, 2019, with the results to be posted on the AGCO’s website within 24 hours.


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Co-located with CIH Housing at Manchester Central, Vision are delighted to be exhibiting at the PFH Live event taking place between 27th and 29th June.
The UK’s leading procurement event for the affordable housing sector, the PFH Live event is set to be bigger and better than before with a completely redesigned programme and an on-floor seminar theatre, for the first time ever.
Vision are in good company too as we’re presenting alongside 50 other exhibitors; all showcasing the latest innovations for the social housing sector and made much more apt following the tragic events at Grenfell Tower, only a few weeks ago.
Showcasing our specialist range of Whitakers textiles, Vision are hoping to underline the importance of flame retardant fabrics in a range of housing settings.
Vision’s Whitakers range flame retardant fabrics have been stringently tested to be used in public or high-risk environments and it’s these products that have been developed to be inherently flame retardant. The range includes bed linen and coverings, curtains, blankets and numerous filled products such as duvets and pillows.
Alongside this, the Vision team will be discussing our wide range of services including full turnkey services such as bespoke interior design, refit and refurbishments, fit out and installation services, planning and design, project management and product sourcing at the event so be sure to pay us a visit to find out more.
Come and See Us at Stand P65!
Vision will be exhibiting at stand P65 at PFH Live so come along and meet the design team to discuss your project – and we’ll be giving away 20 free Vision goody bags to the first 20 visitors on each day.
We’re also offering a huge saving on your registration to the event, saving £105 per person, per day. Simply visit our link to register to receive a pass absolutely free of charge, courtesy of Vision Support Services.
We look forward to seeing you there!
For more information on Vision as well as our products and services, visit – https://www.visionsupportservices.com/shop/


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By Talking Retail
Driving down costs and increasing efficiency will be the biggest priorities for retailers in 2023, says the IGD industry think-tank.
Toby Pickard, the IGD’s global insight leader, said these efforts would help retailers to “reset the cost base” of their businesses.
The IGD’s six global retail trends, identified in its latest insight report, are:
- The efficiency imperative
With cost pressures mounting and retailers having to strip out complexity from their businesses, efficiency is a priority. Technology, automation, collaboration, new ways of working and a fresh approach to marketing all have a role to play. But caution is required, as some cost-cutting initiatives are at the expense of the shopper experience.
- The new value equation
Value is not synonymous with price. Both brands and retailers need to factor in a broader set of variables when trying to create value for shoppers. Other factors such as experience, rewards, time and doing the right thing can move the discussion beyond price alone.
- The magic of stores
Retailers must delight and surprise their shoppers. But this does not mean by theatre and entertainment alone. Time, convenience, checkout, value and range are areas that can be optimised, in-store and online.
READ the full story HERE.


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Mondelez is to bring all its Cadbury chocolate bars sold as part of a multipack under 200 calories by the end of 2021.
Assuming sales remain static, the move will see 10 billion calories removed from the UK market every year.
It builds upon the company’s pledge to bring all its Cadbury chocolate and wider biscuit products typically bought by parents for children under 100 calories by the end of 2020; Cadbury Fudge, Curly Wurly and Chomp, as well as Barny sponge bears and Cadbury Mini Fingers and Cadbury Animals are now all under 100 calories.
Louise Stigant, UK Managing Director at Mondelez, commented: “Our products have been delighting consumers for hundreds of years and we feel a strong sense of duty to preserve what makes them so special. We also recognise we must play our part in tackling obesity and are committed to doing so without compromising on consumer choice. That is why we have been focusing on the areas we know will make the greatest impact and have been backed up by consumer research and nutritional science.”


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ARSENIC IN YOUR FOOD: A CONVERSATION WITH CONSUMER REPORTS
Consumer Reports invites you to a dialogue about how arsenic gets into your food and what can be done to protect your health
Wednesday, October 3rd
Audience Questions and Cocktail Reception to Follow
Presenting a multi-perspective expert roundtable moderated by Dr. Urvashi Rangan, the Director of Consumer Reports' Consumer Safety and Sustainability Group and featuring:
3 West Club (map)
3 West 51st Street
New York, NY 10019
For press inquiries contact:
Information on Speakers:
Dr. Michael R. Harbut, Chief of the Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine at the Wayne State University School of Medicine and head of the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute’s Environmental Cancer Program
Dr. Mike Harbut is one of the country's premier experts on training primary care physicians to accurately identify and diagnose cancers and other serious illnesses resulting from exposure to arsenic, radon and asbestos, three of his state’s most frequently encountered carcinogens.
Dr. Keeve Nachman, Farming for the Future Program Director at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future
Dr. Keeve Nachman's work has focused on the human health risks from arsenic in poultry waste. He recently published two ground-breaking studies that found residues of caffeine, active ingredients of Tylenol and Benadryl, banned antibiotics and arsenic in poultry by-products that are routinely fed to chickens, pigs, cattle and fish.
Patty Lovera, Assistant Director of Food and Water Watch
Patty Lovera coordinates Food and Water Watch's food policy work. Food & Water Watch was one of the first public interest groups to raise the issue of arsenic in the food supply, urging the government in the summer of 2011 to investigate arsenic levels in apple juice.
Jay Highman, President and CEO, Nature's One
Jay Highman is the CEO of Nature's One, which offers among other products, organic baby formulas. Through a combination of changing his sourcing and a filtration system, two of his dairy formulas now have undetected levels of inorganic arsenic, according to Consumer Reports testing, showing it is feasible for companies to get to far lower levels of arsenic.
Laurie Meadoff, CEO, Cancer Schmancer
Laurie Meadoff is the CEO of Cancer Schmancer, the organization founded by cancer survivor and actress Fran Drescher, which focuses on education, prevention and early detection through innovative initiatives like TRASH CANCER parties that help people detox their homes and remove potentially dangerous carcinogens like arsenic.
Dr. Urvashi Rangan, Director, Consumer Safety and Sustainability Group at Consumer Reports
Dr. Rangan underwrites all of the organization's scientific risk assessments related to food and product safety, which she translates into actionable recommendations for both lawmakers and consumers. She recently led studies of arsenic in apple juice and rice and is a national expert on labels.


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Panasonic taps robotic engineering for new body massage chair
A massage chair that helps relax the body from the foot to the neck will be launched in Japan from August 1.
The new Panasonic massage chair, priced at approximately 500,000 yen (Bt141,000), comes with a user-friendly, touch-type operation panel.
Jul 01. 2019


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Engage Technologies picked up 96 cents, or 12 percent, to $9 Thursday, one day after it topped analysts' fourth-quarter estimates and announced plans to eliminate 175 jobs.
In the quarter, Engage (Nasdaq: ENGA) lost $23.9 million, or 14 cents a share, on sales of $66.7 million.
First Call Corp. consensus expected the online advertising and marketing firm to lose 28 cents a share in the quarter.
"We're proud of Engage's achievements in fiscal 2000," said CEO Paul Schaut in a prepared release. "Through acquisition and innovation, we have built a business model that delivers results for marketers through the unique combination of enterprise marketing applications and our global media network."
Including a variety of charges, Engage posted a net loss $112.3 million, or 64 cents a share, in the quarter.
In the fiscal year, Engage dropped $377.9 million, or $2.61 a share, on sales of $176.8 million compared to a loss of $46.6 million, or 61 cents a share in fiscal 1999.
Separately, Engage said it will consolidate its five business division into two and shed 175 employees, roughly 13 percent of its workforce.
Company officials said the move will help it accelerate its profitability timetable.
Last quarter, Engage beat the Street when it posted a loss of $38.3 million, or 22 cents a share, on sales of $58.7 million.
Its shares peaked at $94.50 in March before falling to a 52-week low of $7.44 in August.
Seven of the nine analysts following the stock rate it either a "buy" or "strong buy."
Analysts expect it to lose $1.07 a share in fiscal 2001.


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About 40% of the production has fallen due to a rapid decrease in demand which has led to the massive immigration of workers of the textile industry, warned Laxmiprasad Todi, Co-Secretary, Federation of Surat Textile Traders Association.
Surat has traditionally been a textile city of Gujarat and was later the leader of the textile producer in the entire country by producing around 65% of the total textiles. It soon came to be known as the “textile city” with large masses migrating in search of a livelihood.
However, with the introduction of new schemes like GST and alterations in Income Tax Policy, the entire textile hub of Surat has taken a massive blow.
Despite the upgradation of the Surat Airport, there are still many setbacks that the industry faces such as an increase in the cost of production, said Todi while sharing the challenges being faced by the industry in Surat.
He mentioned “Improvement in Income Tax would lead to efficient production and potentially a better growth of the industry as a whole. Better subsidies are also expected from the Government in the upcoming Budget. Structured use of GST will also be useful for the fate of Surat textiles. Currently these schemes have led to an immense downfall of the industry.”
The textile industry has been left shorthanded with a large number of people moving out of Surat in search of greener pastures and the Co- Secretary affirmed this.
“Over the course of 5 years, a lot of traders have fled away to metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai in search of work,” he said.
“There is still a demand in the Middle East. But exports have taken a hit because of the GST Act. With sustainable efforts from the government, the industry will pick itself within 1-2 years. In the short run, yes, we are floundering, but I believe the current government will aid us in the long run,” asserted the Co-Secretary.


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Bloomberg Entity Exchange is closing up shop soon, but there are plenty of players out there.
Bloomberg confirmed in early April that it plans to shut down Entity Exchange, a know-your-customer (KYC) solution that was supported by Citibank and adopted by multinational corporations including Coca-Cola.
Industry insiders say an internal management change led to a review of Bloomberg’s product portfolio, with Entity Exchange and the company’s sell-side execution and order management solutions businesses getting cut. Bloomberg, they say, was looking to focus on its core offerings. A Bloomberg spokesperson would only say that “the company’s intention is to exit its KYC business.”
But a look at the current state of the AML/KYC sector (AML being anti-money laundering) shows that at least for KYC, Bloomberg was up against stiff competition and facing an uphill battle just to get into the market. Large, established players, lots of new technologies being adopted, and looming industry disruptors likely forced Bloomberg to conclude it was better to put the resources toward more profitable business lines.
The current size of the AML/KYC market is about $750 million and growing, according Burton-Taylor, an international consulting firm. The market includes not just AML/KYC, but also services relating to financial crime and compliance activities. And it is “a major area for budget increases,” with estimated global spending projected to grow 18.3% in 2018, Burton-Taylor says, generating an estimated five-year compound annual growth rate of 17.5%.
Refinitiv’s AML/KYC solution, formerly a Thomson Reuters product, leads the industry with over a quarter market share, with Dow Jones, LexisNexis, Moody’s Analytics’ Bureau Van Dijk, Regulatory DataCorp and a handful of smaller players making up a large part of the rest of the market. Burton-Taylor says it considers Refinitiv “to be the largest provider of AML/KYC data and information in the world.”
Meanwhile, Bloomberg’s planned departure has intensified competition among other companies scrambling for market share.
Burton-Taylor reports that “M&A activity and in-house development” have had a big impact on the market in the last decade as providers look to “meet existing and new client needs with advanced technology and granular data.” This has meant a “new wave of technology-savvy market entrants is coming forward to supplement, and challenge, the offerings of more established, data-centric suppliers.”
Bloomberg was part of the smaller group of tech-savvy entrants, which includes info4c, Acuris Risk Intelligence, Arachnys, Opus, ComplyAdvantage, NominoData, and Kompli-Global. Also, SWIFT, the international payments network, said recently that beginning in Q4 2019, all 2,000 SWIFT-connected corporates will be able to join its KYC Registry and use it “to upload, maintain and share their KYC information with their banks.” All of these companies, both established and newcomers, bring different expertise to different areas of AML/KYC.
The established players have vast searchable databases while the newcomers offer innovative technology.
Among the players hoping to gain momentum from Bloomberg’s departure are companies touting the benefits of solutions that don’t depend on a centralized “utility,” or third party that stands between a bank and a corporate client. Blockchain is the answer to solving the problem, they argue. “I strongly believe this is the moment for decentralized KYC solutions,” says Gene Vayngrib, CEO of Tradle, which has developed a blockchain-based KYC solution. “In addition to not having a central store, Tradle leaves the data in the hands of the rightful owners, the treasurers,” he said.
Another company that is trying to gain a foothold, Aptiv.IO, is using blockchain to create what it calls company “trust vaults that allow companies to distribute their private information on their terms.”
With a trust vault, “You decide how you want to communicate with the outside world,” says CEO Guy Mounier. “It’s ‘privacy by design’ and uses zero trust architecture,” he says. Zero trust architecture works by employing a network-centric data security strategy, which in turn provides specific access only to those who need it. So if a company is giving out sensitive information through blockchain, it can better control who has access to that data.
Although blockchain can be considered a disruptor of the current model of centralized data, “This is not replacing anything,” Mr. Mounier says. “It can fit into what you have and you can map out where the data goes. It’s data enrichment as a data service.” He adds that data can be auto-refreshed as people, data or situations change.
NOT JUST KNOWING YOUR CUSTOMER
While they are known as AML/KYC providers, it goes beyond that. Many companies also offer continuous monitoring of the web, the dark web and other so-called “darknets” like The Onion Routing project, Tor or Invisible Internet Project, for any negative news or mentions of a company or the sale of IP or customer data.
“Companies don’t just want these static databases that just sit there,” says Jennifer Milton, an analyst at Burton-Taylor and author of the firm’s research on AML/KYC. “They want dynamic databases that can constantly search the web and the dark web.” She adds that machine learning is helping shape this kind of technology, where context can help detect references to companies even if the names are spelled incorrectly or hidden in some way.
THE LEGACY OF ENTITY EXCHANGE?
The end of Bloomberg Entity Exchange doesn’t mean the end of the influence it may have on the market. Several competitors say the company helped shine a light on KYC’s importance. Prior to the last couple of years, companies were reluctant to invest significantly in a cost center like compliance. “But now they are forced to spend,” says Jennifer Milton, an analyst at Burton-Taylor. “Who are you dealing with and how do you know them are important questions that companies can run into trouble with if they don’t have the answers; if there’s not an audit trail of transactions.”


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One of the Cadbury Christmas trucks has been entertaining the crowds after rolling into nearby Aylesbury’s Market Square this morning (Monday).
The chocolate maker is getting in on the festive lorry act as they launch their new Christmas campaign hot on the heels of John Lewis and Coca-Cola.
The ad from the makers of Dairy Milk - set to the Thunderbirds theme - is one of the most loved adverts this Christmas and features an advent calendar formed from 24 Cadbury purple trucks, where every truck represents a different door of the advent calendar.
Cadbury promised to excite chocolate lovers across the country, with the fleet of treating trucks randomly visiting a different location across the UK every day in December for the ultimate Christmas countdown.
Those locations were being kept a closely guarded secret, though, with the firm aiming to turn up in any given town unannounced for the ultimate surprise unlike Coca-Cola which has revealed the locations it will visit - the nearest being Watford.
And the number seven truck turned up in Aylesbury town centre this morning and turned into a stage set up for the festivities.
Crowds have been gathering all afternoon for live music, which include beat box remixes of Christmas classics such as Jingle Bells and Walking in the Air.
Free chocolate was handed out while there were a series of games and activities on offer.
The modern Christmas Choir experience saw people serenaded with personalised carols to mark the seventh day of advent, with 17 more trucks set to follow suit, travelling across the UK throughout December as part of the most delicious countdown to Christmas.
The event invited members of the public to step up on to stage for the ultimate surprise. Once on stage a carolling Christmas Choir serenaded them with classic Christmas songs but with a joyful personalised touch and a modern twist which included beatboxing to the recognisable tunes.
Claire Low, marketing manager at Mondelèz International, said: “We know that classic Christmas carols get everyone in the festive mood and we felt this was the perfect way to continue our advent countdown.
“We wanted to create something that captured the excitement felt when opening the doors of your advent calendar. We loved seeing everyone enjoy the Christmas Choir and can’t wait to unleash even more joy when we open our next door tomorrow!”


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As Microsoft’s search engine Bing gains credibility, Google appears to be suffering the consequences. Compete has found as Google’s search share has dropped 2.6% between July 2011 and 2012 that Bing has seen a 4.2% increase in market share. Fortunately for Microsoft, Bing has become the desired search engine for new platforms such as the new improved Kindle Fire as well as Windows 8 and Windows Phones; meaning that it’s nothing but good news for Microsoft.
Google still dominates approximately 65.7% of the market in comparison to Yahoo with 15.1% and Bing with 19.2%; but to be fair, Google has been active since 1998 and Yahoo in 1994, whereas Bing was only created merely 3 years ago in 2009. In addition Bing is responsible for Yahoo’s market share as Microsoft has a deal with Yahoo to provide search results for their search engine.
Hopefully the integration of Bing with Windows 8 will see a further erosion of Google’s market share.


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Export pressure continuesExport pressure continues
Beef export value in August (most recent data) was 24% less than year-ago levels, according to the U.S. Meat Export Federation this week. Export value of $498 million was the lowest in 18 months. By volume, exports were 18% less than a year earlier.
October 9, 2015
Increased supplies from competitors, global economic volatility and high U.S. prices all continue to pressure U.S. beef exports.
“Although our direct red meat exports to China are quite limited, the aftershocks of China’s currency devaluation and concerns about the global economy were felt across the world,” says Philip Seng, president and CEO of the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF). “This definitely impacted demand in many of our key export destinations.”
Beef export value in August (most recent data) was 24% less than year-ago levels, according to USMEF this week. Export value of $498 million was the lowest in 18 months. By volume, exports were 18% less than a year earlier.
Still, beef export value per head of fed slaughter this year is a touch higher than last year at $286.51.
For the first eight months of 2015, exports were down 11% in volume and 5% in value at $4.31 billion.
By way of comparison, pork exports were 1% less in August for volume and 19% less in value at $429.8 million—the lowest monthly value in four years. For January through August, pork exports were down 5% in volume and 17% in value at $3.75 billion.
Some relief may be in the offing in terms of competitive beef supplies.
“A long-awaited slowdown in Australian cattle slaughter finally materialized this summer, and Australian beef exports have begun to pull back from their record pace,” Seng explained. “European pork prices also seem to have found a bottom, and this should help level the playing field in those key Asian markets that saw a large influx of European pork over the past 18 months. It is important that we continue to identify opportunities to recapture and defend market share so that U.S. exports can finish strong in what has been a very difficult year.”
Regarding Australia from the opposite direction, Derrell Peel, Extension livestock marketing specialist at Oklahoma State University, points out in his weekly market comments that U.S. beef imports were up 32.5% in the first seven months of 2015—much of it from Australia.
Peel explains that Australia’s lingering drought continued to force liquidation and increase beef production there.
“The combination of U.S. and Australian market conditions resulted in U.S. imports of Australian beef increasing 74% in 2014, accounting for 66% of the year-over-year increase in total U.S. beef imports,” Peel explains. “The U.S. surpassed Japan as the largest Australian beef export market in 2014 with the U.S. accounting for 30% of Australian beef exports in 2014. This pattern is continuing in 2015.”
But, Peel says, “This level of production is not sustainable and 2016 cattle numbers in Australia are projected to be 26.3 million head, down over 10% from 2014 levels. If realized, this 2016 cattle inventory would be the smallest since 1995.”
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Shares of Microsoft Corp. fell more than 6% in after-hours trading on Tuesday, as the company’s cloud computing revenue fell short of expectations and executive forecasts beat expectations by more than $2 billion of dollars.
reported tax profit of $17.56 billion in the first quarter, or $2.35 per share, compared to $2.71 per share in the same quarter a year ago, when Microsoft announced a tax benefit of 44 cents per share. Revenue rose to $50.1 billion from $45.32 billion a year ago. Analysts on average had expected earnings of $2.31 per share on sales of $49.66 billion, according to FactSet.
For the second fiscal quarter, Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood forecast revenue of $52.35 billion to $53.35 billion, while analysts on average expected sales of $56.16 billion, according to FactSet. Hood said “Intelligent Cloud” revenue is expected to grow from $21.25 billion to $21.55 billion, while analysts were forecasting an average of $21.82 billion ahead of print; forecasts for other segments missed analyst estimates by a wider margin.
Hood also suggested more cuts could be coming, after Microsoft confirmed earlier this month dismissals of less than 1,000 employees.
“As we continue to help our customers do more with less, we will do the same internally,” she said. “And you should expect to see our operating expense growth moderate significantly throughout the year as we focus on growing the productivity of the significant investments we have made over the course of the year. last year.”
Microsoft shares fell between 1% and 2% in after-hours trading after the initial earnings release, then fell more than 6% after Hood provided his guidance on a subsequent conference call. Shares closed 1.4% higher at $250.66.
The cloud computing business has become Microsoft’s biggest and most important business, and cloud growth is raising concerns as the United States faces its first possible recession since the technology became ubiquitous. Azure’s growth in Tuesday’s report was the slowest Microsoft has reported in the past two years, while Microsoft’s cloud division was the only segment to fall below estimates.
The Intelligent Cloud segment posted revenue of $20.3 billion in the first quarter, up from $16.96 billion a year ago, but slightly below the average analyst estimate tracked by FactSet of $20.46 billion. Microsoft said Azure grew 35%, while analysts on average expected growth of 36.5%, according to FactSet.
This is a marked slowdown from Azure’s 40% growth rate in the previous quarter, as well as the 50% growth posted in the same quarter last year. Microsoft is only reporting percentage growth for its core cloud computing product, even though its main rivals are Amazon.com Inc.
report revenue and profit margin for their cloud computing products.
Microsoft reported PC revenue of $13.3 billion for the quarter, roughly flat from $13.31 billion a year ago and beating analysts’ average estimate of $13.12 billion. dollars, according to FactSet. While PCs have long been what consumers largely know Microsoft for, their importance to company finances has diminished in recent years as cloud computing has grown in importance.
“Historically, Windows was a very important driver of Microsoft’s revenue and, given its high margins, a disproportionate driver of revenue,” Bernstein analysts wrote in a preview of the report, while maintaining an “overweight” rating. “Over time, other businesses, especially Microsoft’s commercial cloud, have grown rapidly while the Windows business has grown quite slowly, diminishing the relative impact of Windows.”
Microsoft’s other revenue segment, Productivity and Business Processes, posted revenue of $16.5 billion, up from $15.04 billion a year ago and above the average estimate analysts’ $16.13 billion, according to FactSet. This segment includes Microsoft’s core cloud software properties such as its Office suite of products – which is officially rebranded as Microsoft 365 – as well as LinkedIn and certain other properties.
Microsoft stock is down 25.5% so far this year, as the S&P 500 index
fell 20.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average
— which counts Microsoft among its 30 components — fell 13.3%.


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By Brian Tessmann, QDO President
Last Tuesday at Dairy Australia Melbourne’s headquarters a follow up meeting after Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce’s Dairy Industry Symposium was underway. This meeting was chaired by Australian Dairy Farmers’ (ADF) and attended by Australian Competition and Consumers Commission’s (ACCC) Rural industries commissioner Mick Keogh, Small Business Ombudsman Craig Lathem and representatives from most dairy processors state dairy farmer’s organisations, including Queensland Dairyfamers’ Organsisation (QDO).
The forum was mainly focused on the issues between dairy farmers and milk processors. This involved discussion on issues such as industry codes including the currently voluntary supermarket code of conduct as well as the use of collective bargaining groups. QDO articulated that as a tool for farmers to enhance their bargaining position, the conditions imposed on these groups by government made that almost impossible to achieve. Under pressure the ACCC did offer that the right to collectively boycott was under consideration to possibly improve their toolkit.
Also discussed were the unfair contract protections the have been extended to farmers and small business. Attending farmers highlighted the measures failings particularly that the maximum contract value cut-off for help made most dairy farmers ineligible.
Many indicated there are issues regarding contracts with domestic processors including exclusivity of supply as well as the offset term of the contracts making it difficult for farmers to potentially shift processors. Domestic farmers and processors agreed that the domestic supply curve needs to be as flat as possible. While some southern farmers are opposing seasonal variation in farm gate price it is a necessary tool for supply in places like Queensland or Western Australia.
The ACCC set out their pathway forward and its link to the Dairy Market Study which is calling for input this November. The overwhelming main issue raised by farmers from most states was the supermarket duopoly domination and generic store brands of $1 milk. It was clear to anyone in the room that the main market wrecker remains $1 milk and it has never been more vital to urgently address.


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UPDATE: As of Monday, September 21, Nikola's former Executive Chairman and co-founder Trevor Milton stepped down from the company amid fraud allegations levied by Hindenburg.
It was supposed to be such a good week for Nikola ($NKLA).
Just three short days ago, the electric vehicle company wrangled in a $2 billion investment from General Motors ($GM) as part of the latter’s effort to invest in electric or hybrid vehicles. The deal would help them develop an electric pickup truck and finally set the fledgling startup on the path to compete with the big boss of electric vehicles in Tesla ($TSLA).
Today, that all went wrong. A research firm appropriately named Hindenburg has accused the company of a massive fraud which has sent Nikola’s stock on an 18% death spiral as of the time of writing. Hindenburg alleges that Nikola vastly overstated the capabilities of its technology and vehicles and claims its partners “didn’t do their homework.”
Nikola Founder and Chairman Trevor Milton took this about as well as you could expect.
have to take it and watch as it hurts you and others. Most these points are easy to comment on and I know that. This document had to be prepared well with the SEC in mind. It will be released as soon as they give me the green light.— Trevor Milton (@nikolatrevor) September 11, 2020
After the investment from GM earlier this week, stocks shot up 53% and Nikola looked like it was barrelling towards success. Now, they could be on track to join the ranks of great startup fraudsters in history like Theranos.
So how did we get here? How did Nikola go from a promising electric vehicle company signing deals with giants to staring into the abyss? The truth is it may have been coming all along.
Nikola and Tesla
Founded in 2015 by Trevor Milton, Phoenix-based Nikola seems to have wanted to set itself apart from Tesla in everything but name. Perhaps positioning itself as the flipside of Tesla’s coin, Nikola focused on electric vehicles in the freight transport and motorsport spaces whereas Tesla’s cars are for more general consumer use.
But the real factor that set it apart from Tesla is what powered their vehicles. Whereas Tesla’s vehicles are powered by batteries, Nikola’s are powered by hydrogen. Though they use the same electronic components that make Tesla’s cars whirr, Nikola claims that its hydrogen-fueled vehicles eliminated some of the downsides of electric vehicle batteries like limited range and increased weight.
Whereas the Nickel required to create electric vehicle batteries is a limited resource that is in high demand, Nikola had access to its own machines to pump out as much hydrogen as it needed to run its operation - a strong argument in favor of Nikola’s longevity as compared to Tesla’s.
Just one short year later, Nikola would reveal its first vehicle to the world.
Signs of trouble
That first event went well. The “Nikola One” freight truck prototype was touted to the world as a fully functioning, drivable vehicle. Onlookers could get up close and personal with the controls, but were blocked off with a chain - Milton said that he didn’t want anyone driving off with the thing in the middle of the show.
The vision behind the Nikola One was a beautiful one to many; that our economy which increasingly relied on international and interstate commerce could begin to make steps towards an emissions-free future thanks to Nikola’s technological developments.
"We’ve been waiting so long to show this to the world, you have no idea. It’s hard to even contain my emotion about this." — Trevor Milton, 2016
But it turns out that even that first showing may have been too good to be true. Bloomberg reported in June of this year that the 2016 event was riddled with mistruths and tall tales from the get-go. No, the truck was not driveable. There No, it was not fully functioning. Bloomberg reported that those familiar with the vehicle and event were stunned as Milton made repeated false claims as to the vehicle’s capabilities right there and then on the showroom floor. Milton denied all the claims.
In retrospect, and with this week’s news, it's easy to cast a shadow over the entire history of the operation. But at the time, Nikola presented an exciting opportunity for eco-friendly, technological advancement. Over the next few years as Nikola continued to announce products, Tesla’s presence would only skyrocket and electric vehicles would come to be seen as the way of the future by legacy vehicle manufacturers like GM and ridesharing businesses like Uber ($UBER) alike.
The Hindenburg Disaster
Nikola only very recently went public, debuting on the market in June 4 of this year. Shortly after its debut, the stock shot up to an impressive $74 per share, solidifying their position as a legitimate name in the electric vehicle industry and positioning it to become a disruptor to disrupt the other disruptors. Nikola was going to make Tesla, the very image of a futuristic car, look doomed and obsolete.
But very shortly afterwards, the dream began to collapse. The first sign of trouble came when Bloomberg’s story about the 2016 Nikola One event was published. Markets didn’t react negatively, however, climbing comfortably back up to $75 per share just a few short days later. Still, investors began to give Nikola the side eye, skeptical about the businesses entire fleet of vehicles that exist only as digital renders and nothing more. The real blow, however, came at the end of June when investors dumped stock after fears that they could soon be diluted. Nikola was no longer the bright guarantee of a better future and suddenly became a risk. Throughout the months of July and August, Nikola’s share price would sit around $30; less than half the value of their debut.
And now we’ve come full circle to this week’s disaster. The rug has been pulled out from under Nikola and the veil lifted, and the allegation from Hindenburg that the entire business is built upon fraudulent claims has sent their stock tumbling at high speeds.
Milton is preparing to fight back, however. On Twitter, he shared images of their vehicle's production process with the challenging line, “do these look fake?” In its short history so far, and especially its short history as a public company, Nikola has seen ups and downs that take most companies decades to experience. Whether Nikola is a honest-to-goodness company or a massive lie, it will no doubt make an imprint on the history of startups.


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One year after sticking its toe into U.S. waters with a store in SoHo, Suitsupply is ready to expand.
The Amsterdam-based men’s wear retailer will open two additional units in the U.S. this summer — one on Rush Street in Chicago, on June 29, and another on 29th and M Streets in Georgetown, in July.
“We have a very strong belief in the U.S. market,” said Fokke de Jong, founder and chief executive officer. The company operates 40 stores in Europe and Asia and specializes in European-style suits, dress shirts and furnishings. “We’re very pleased with the SoHo store. We’ve found and hired 40 people in the U.S., and we’re looking for a lot more. We’re setting up buying teams, and we’re looking for online and visual merchandising people. We know everything starts with talent and that’s the biggest challenge.”
De Jong said since opening, the SoHo store has done well with suits and sport coats. And the “more elegant casualwear” has also garnered fans as well, particularly online. “We get a lot of feedback on our higher-priced product, Jort and Sienna, which has handmade features, so we’re going to be expanding that. We also have seen big demand for outerwear and knitwear, which is very good news because that’s the newest part of our collection.”
As a result, the stores will offer a beefed-up assortment of knitwear, outerwear, denim and accessories such as shoes, belts and ties.
The Chicago unit will be 5,500 square feet and located in the penthouse of the old Barneys New York building. It has a 3,000-square-foot rooftop garden, where customers can relax or tap into the store’s free Wi-Fi. “Our idea is to create the ultimate men’s fashion destination in the Midwest in our new Chicago location at Oak and Rush Street,” de Jong said. “We are building a green Chicago oasis on our rooftop garden, providing a nice escape to relax in while your suit is being tailored on-site.” He added that the company wants to make sure it can be successful outside of New York, and Chicago is “a good test market.”
In D.C., the store will be span 5,800 square feet on the ground floor. “We are opening in D.C. because even just from walking around town, you see how many young professionals are in suits and [we] really wanted to make it easier for our D.C.-based online customers to shop closer to home,” he said. “We like the Georgetown vibe and think there’s great opportunity there.
De Jong said there are no immediate plans to add additional stores outside of the two opening this summer. “We have no carved-in-stone rollout plan,” he said. “We’ll see how Chicago and D.C. go, but you don’t have to be a scientist to figure out that there is good potential for more stores in the U.S.”
Alberta Ferretti's "Rainbow Week" sweaters are back. The designer closed her #MFW show with a few day-of-the-week sweaters, which first debuted on the catwalk last January as part of the pre-fall 2017 collection. #wwdfashion (📷: @delphineachard)


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Using the Robinhood trading platform, investors may now trade in their favourite currencies commission-free and with as little as $1 (roughly Rs. 73.66) on a timeline of their choice. Through the recurring cryptocurrency investments function, Robinhood app users will be able to make daily, weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly bitcoin investments. Recurring investments assist consumers in saving for the future and establishing a rainy-day fund.
Many potential investors may be put off by the bitcoin market’s inherent volatility. By investing on a regular basis, investors may be able to avoid the dangers and stress of market timing.
According to a Robinhood blog post, regular investments are an efficient method to grow wealth over time while potentially mitigating the effects of Bitcoin market volatility.
Instead of pushing trading, the online brokerage business introduced this tool to encourage automated investment. This implies you shouldn’t be concerned about market swings, but rather invest the same amount each month to build up an account that will ultimately generate profits.
Unlike other platforms, which charge up to 4% for each cryptocurrency exchange, Robinhood advertises that customers may invest in several currencies without “ever incurring a cost.” ‘If you spend $100 on bitcoin, you’ll get $100 back in bitcoin.’” According to the website, “our objective is democratisation of money for everyone.”.
According to ‘Robinhood,’ the feature will gradually be sent out to all users this month.
“Dogecoin,” a meme-based cryptocurrency, accounted for 62% percent of Robinhood’s second quarter cryptocurrency profits,” the business said. There is a bitcoin trading platform that does not charge commissions.
In addition to commission-free trading for new consumers, Robinhood has generated considerable profits from cryptocurrencies, according to the company’s website.
62 percent of cryptocurrency income was generated by Dogecoin, according to Robinhood’s data for the second quarter of 2018.
RocketMusk was tweeting against Bitcoin and in favour of Dogecoin at the same time the stock was surging.
In the second quarter of 2014, Dogecoin generated $233 million (about Rs. 1,730 crores) in income for Robinhood, according to a research. Its crypto income soared from $5 million (approximately Rs. 37.2 crores) in Q2 2021 to $233 million in Q2 2021 compared to the same period last year.


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Hanergy said its new HanTile solar panels combine a thin-film solar collector with high transmittance glass in a package that can replace regular roofing.
The company said HanTiles incorporate a single layer of glass and weigh about 11.5 pounds each.
Details on price, rated capacity, and distribution were not included in the company's release.
Jeff Shubert, Hanergy America's director of sales and marketing, said in a call from the Hanergy sales office in Burlingame, California, the tiles were still being evaluated for certification by Underwriters Laboratories. That will have to be completed before the solar tiles can go on sale in the U.S., a process Shubert hoped would be wrapped up by June.
Hantiles would join a short list of building-integrated solar products designed to be less obtrusive than conventional racked rooftop panels. The best known is Tesla's solar tiles, manufactured with a tempered glass surface that mimics the look of tile or slate. But Tesla's rollout has been very slow to date.Read More


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Nortel Networks, Sun-Netscape Create Directory Solution
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Designed to help Internet service providers and application service providers create new service bundles and manage them more efficiently, the solution is expected to provide a standards-based framework for the fully-integrated delivery of next-generation applications and services.
ISPs and ASPs face challenges to meet customer and market demand using today's fragmented service delivery infrastructures. With no shared concept of a user, it is difficult and expensive to offer tailored packages and bring new services to market quickly. The proposed solution from Nortel Networks (NT) and the Sun-Netscape Alliance will be designed to give service providers more control over the content and delivery of their service packages so that they can attack new markets and offer their customers more choices.
"We looked at ISPs and ASPs and realized there is no common infrastructure for providing directories," said Steve Nicolle, vice president and general manager of Nortel's Preside Service Ware Solutions unit. "So, it was an easy equation."
Nortel Networks and Sun-Netscape will jointly define a directory schema, which they plan to propose it as an open industry specification. Each party plans to support this proposed standard with compliant products by the second half of 2000.


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The #vanlife movement was already in full swing before the pandemic, fueled by envy-inducing posts on Instagram and DIY van conversion videos on YouTube. But as the pandemic took hold, more and more antsy Americans who could work remotely decided to join the vanlife community.
That’s sent demand for utility vans, as well as the companies that specialize in converting them into mobile homes, through the roof.
The pandemic put the van life industry on “steroids,” Brian Jagodnik, marketing and creative director at Outside Van, a luxury van conversion company in Portland, Oregon, told CNN Business.
The #vanlife hashtag now has more than 10.6 million posts on Instagram.
“People wanted to get out. They wanted to get away from other people and stay safe, and we were all limited in what we could do,” Jagodnik said. “It pushed people outside and to travel away from others and take the road less traveled, and so the industry just continued to grow.”
Since the start of the lockdown, Outside Vans has a growing backlog of orders and a growing waitlist. Customers can expect to wait at least eight to 12 months before the company can even start on their projects.
Supply chain woes
It’s one thing to decide to hit the road. It’s another to find the right wheels for the trip. The auto industry has been hit especially hard by the one-two punch of a shortage of vital computer chips that’s hampered production. Some clients couldn’t get a van in time to meet the date their builds were scheduled to start, said Alexa Owens, co-founder of Cascade Custom Vans in Bend, Oregon. “That was kind of nerve-wracking.”
Another culprit in the struggle to secure vans: Amazon. As sales surged during pandemic lockdowns, the online retailer kept expanding its fleet to keep up with deliveries. And unfortunately, Amazon’s preferred models — Mercedes Sprinters, Ford Transits or RAM ProMasters — are the most popular choices for vanlifers.
For Cascade Vans, one of the worst shortages has been windows, which are three months to eight months backordered, Owens said. Cascade, which is fully booked through the year, anticipates at least another year of supply shortages while vendors play catch-up.
#Vanlife is hardly cheap
A typical van conversion starts starts by gutting a utility van before replacing the interior with the makings of a mobile home: loft beds, mini sinks, toilets, refrigerators and built-in seating.
It’s not a cheap endeavor. “With costs of goods going up, our prices have to reflect that,” lamented Bryan Walker, co-owner of Cascade. “It’s one of those unfortunate things but I think a lot of people are understanding of it right now.”
An increasingly crowded scene
While growing interest in van life, and camping generally, has been great for business, it also has raised questions about the movement’s sustainability and effect on the environment. The surge in demand has been “bittersweet,” says Walker, who owns a van with Owens.
“Five, six, seven years ago, some of the places we’d go, you’d be up there alone. Now, there’s no trespassing signs, and they’ve banned camping in a lot of places because it’s just gotten so trashed,” Walker said. “You see the places that you love and get to experience doing that lifestyle, and now you’re seeing it become kind of exploited.”
Kim and Jesse Butler of Port Angeles, Washington moved into their Ram PROMaster, named “The Walter Mitty,” right before the pandemic started. They have since traveled traveled up and down the West Coast, pandemic restrictions permitting.
The Butlers say they are “totally self contained,” and don’t leave sewage or trash behind.
“We always do our best to leave no trace and to make sure that we are clean with what we do,” Jesse told CNN Business.


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Most of the vegetables showed relatively higher pesticide residue detection in rainy season followed by summer and winter seasons, it said.
However the samples of meat, milk and surface water did not have pesticides above maximum residue level, it added.
The study was conducted as part of the central scheme 'Monitoring of Pesticide Residues at National Level' operational since 2005. The present report details pesticide residue levels in food items for the year 2013-14.
"A total of 16,790 samples have been analysed, out of which, 509 samples were found above maximum residue limit(MRL) as prescribed under Food Safety Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) under Ministry of Health and CODEX," the report said.
The samples were collected from various wholesale and retail markets located at different parts of the country and analysed by 25 laboratories, it said.
According to the report, 221 out of 7,591 vegetables samples were found to have pesticides residues above MRL.
"Among all the vegetables samples analysed, capsicum, green chilli and cauliflower samples were found having high number of above MRL residues followed by samples of cabbage, brinjal, tomato, okra, bitter gourd, cucumber, green pea and coriander leaves," the report said.
The pesticides which commonly found above MRL in the samples were chlorpyrifos, ethion, acetamiprid, dichlorvos and cypermethrin, it added.
In case of fruits, 36 samples out of 2,235 had residues above MRL and grapes had higher level of pesticides above MRL.
Out of 1,161 spices samples, 128 samples contained residues above MRL and cardamom were found having high number of above MRL pesticide mainly with quinalphos, cyhalothrin-L, profenofos, bifenthrin, triazophos and cypermethrin.
Among cereals, 73 out of 886 rice samples and and 39 out of 823 wheat samples, as well as six out of 776 fish samples were found to have above MRL pesticides.
Tea and pulses were also reported to have pesticides at above MRL, the report said.
- Front Page
- Pure Politics
- Learn more about our print editionMore
- Byju’s New India CEO to Cut More Than 4,500 Jobs
Arjun Mohan, who took charge as the new chief executive of the India business at Byju’s last Wednesday, is set to unveil a series of changes at the financially troubled edtech firm, including cutting the headcount by a third or about 4,000-4,500 people to further tighten costs, people aware of the matter said.ADIA Looks to Put $600m into RIL’s Retail Business
After QIA, yet another oil-rich Gulf sovereign fund, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), is looking to buy an additional stake in Mukesh Ambani’s retail empire. ADIA is seeking to invest $600 million into the organised retailing business of Asia's richest person, people aware of the developments told ET, at valuations that significantly exceed those during an earlier concluded round three years ago.Bigger Ecommerce Sales Set to Light up Volumes
The upcoming festive season sales are expected to bring the steepest online discounts since Covid, up to 60% in certain categories, with several ecommerce majors indicating a push to expand volumes.
Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.
ETPrime stories of the day
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- Business of Brands
- 1 min read
Amway India to invest up to Rs. 30 crore to ramp up its digital platform
Amway has forayed into herbal skincare market in India with the launch of the Attitude Be Bright Herbals range recently
The India arm of the $8.6-billion direct selling company Amway, which sells a range of personal care and household products, will ramp up its digital platform with an investment of Rs 20 to 30 Crore.
The company has taken this step to cater to direct sellers and preferred customers. Amway plans to invest Rs 100 crores in boosting R&D, Manufacturing and Digital initiatives in India over the next 2-3 years.
Amway has forayed into herbal skincare market in India with the launch of the Attitude Be Bright Herbals range recently.
Amway India’s Vice President, East Chandra Chakraborty who was in Guwahati on Tuesday said, “We are targeting business of Rs 45 Crore in next three years with the launch of herbal skincare product. The size of herbal skincare market in India is 1,000 crores, which is growing at a healthy double-digit rate, given the rising consumer demand for skin brightening and pollution protection skincare solutions.”
He added, “The range is targeted at youths in the age group of 18-25 years who are on their journey of chasing their dreams and like to care for their skin and flaunt it.”


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Abbott’s second-quarter earnings showed a mixed bag with pandemic disruptions on the medical device side of the business, and sales of COVID-19 tests driving growth for the diagnostic side.
https://i0.wp.com/mtgelectronics.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/shutterstock_105421997.jpg?fit=1000%2C667&ssl=1 667 1000 admin https://mtgelectronics.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/MTG-logo-for-site-300x100-1.png admin2020-07-23 08:40:452021-03-03 08:55:55Abbott’s COVID-19 tests did the heavy lifting in Q2
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It might not be on any school supply list, but whether it’s your kid’s first school year with a phone or their last year of high school, keep them and their phones safe for just $10.
PopSocket is offering a compatible PopPower wireless charger that has a recess to perfectly fit the company's popular PopGrips.
Whatever phone grip you like, you should probably start using one, if not for your phone’s sake then for your health.
PopSockets has a variety of styles to add a new flair to your phone and make it easier to hold. Even select PopSocket mounts are on sale today while supplies last.
PopSockets got a major upgrade last year, and if you haven’t been using a phone grip up to now, this is the grip to start with.
Phones can be large, flat, and hard to hold onto. Smartphone grips can add not only some in-hand peace of mind, but some important functionality. But which one is right for you and your hand?
The Samsung Galaxy S10 is a large phone with a large, lovable screen, and before you give yourself an RSI trying to reach the top of its hole-punch display, get yourself a phone grip to use with it!
PopSockets are great phone grips; they can stand out in a crowd, but they also stick out from your phone. A new case collaboration between OtterBox and PopSockets wants to fix that.
Be an expert in 5 minutes
Get the latest news from Android Central, your trusted companion in the world of Android


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May 27, 2015
A RelayRides user discovered his car was impounded with a 30-day hold while it was being rented, leaving the man carless for more than a month.
June 20, 2014 in Legislative
A judge of Arizona’s Maricopa County Superior Court has ruled that a car rental tax can’t help pay off the Cardinals Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. Taxes imposed on the use of vehicles are restricted to funding road construction, maintenance and related purposes.
March 12, 2014 in Legislative
As the result of more than 150 consumer complaints and an undercover investigation by the state, Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne has filed a consumer fraud lawsuit against Dennis N. Saban and his rental car companies.
February 13, 2013 in Fleet Acquisition
High Life Auto Rental has taken delivery of new Nissan and Toyota vehicles.
January 14, 2013
With more of its customers traveling to Arizona for popular events this year, Newport Beach-based car rental service company Go Rentals added two more locations for a total of four locations in Arizona.
October 17, 2012 in Rental Operations
Sixt opened a location at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on Oct. 11.
September 5, 2012 in Legislative, Rental Operations
The tax, which varies depending on if the rental is used as a replacement vehicle or not, is argued to be interfering with interstate commerce by unfairly taxing out-of-state renters.
June 1, 2012 in Rental Operations
In its annual one-way rental promotion, Budget Car Rental is offering unlimited mileage and no drop-off fees starting at rates of $9.95.
May 29, 2012
The new law takes effect July 1.
May 9, 2012 in Rental Operations
This is the car rental operator's second consecutive year winning the award.
Auto Focus Blog: A blog covering fleets, auto rental and the business of cars
In the new mobility eco-system, goods, services, and people still need to be moved — the hard part will be figuring out how and where fleets will take advantage.
Better technology, education, transparency, and a way to show the correlation between price and customer service are needed.
The 2016 International Car Rental Show convened the first meeting of association directors from around the world that represented an important step to communication, problem-solving, and idea-sharing between the groups.
Job Finder: Access Top Talent. Fill Key Positions.


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Stay on Top of Enterprise Technology Trends
Get updates impacting your industry from our GigaOm Research Community
Just a year after the Audit Bureau of Circulations decided to modify the requirements for counting sales of a digital magazine in the U.S. and Canada toward a title’s circ, the organization is tweaking its stipulations. The big change: the editorial and photography still have to be the same in the print and digital versions, but the ad placements don’t have to mirror a title’s ink and paper editions.
There is one caveat to that modification, however. Advertisers in national print editions must have the chance to appear in the digital version too, if publishers want to count that e-edition toward paid-circ numbers. So if a publisher decides to keep the advertising completely separate between print and digital, it won’t be counted.
Although sales of magazines on digital editions are still relatively small, publishers do expect their app and HTML5 versions to start paying off soon. And although magazine circulation isn’t as bad as newspapers’ sales, any incremental boost helps, so publishers appealed to the ABC (NYSE: DIS) to make some changes.
In complying with the publishers’ requests, ABC President Mike Lavery said in a statement that the changes reflect digital publishing’s new realities and its new deadlines.
Up until the release of the iPad last year, digital editions were commonly PDFs of the print version. So ABC required a digital replica to be just that-an exact version of the print issue, Lavery said, adding that e-paper editions are much more than that. “Even static print ads often require reformatting for digital publication,” he said. “These production requirements can put a burden on the deadline-driven communication between client, agency, and publisher to ultimately determine the advertiser’s wishes, especially for fractional and classified buys. The new parameters simplify the process, make the advertiser’s intent clear, and streamline the audit requirements.”
A number of publishers, such as Condé Nast, had already been complying with the ABC requirements. But Hearst Magazines wasn’t as interested in making sure its titles necessarily fit last year’s guidelines, saying that they wanted to do as much to reach the audience first with added features designed to make more of their magazines. Once that happened, they would worry about ABC circ compliance. Now, as digital readership is expected to grow steadily with sales of the iPad expected to reach about 25 million this year, it looks like both the technology, the consumer and the circ rules are starting to catch up with each other. Release


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#DisneyParksLIVE is celebrating the holiday season at Disneyland this Thursday, November 30th, with a live stream of “Believe … in Holiday Magic” fireworks spectacular!
The holidays have begun at the Disneyland Resort, and Holidays at the Disneyland Resort is in full swing, with returning favorites such as “Believe … in Holiday Magic” fireworks, “A Christmas Fantasy” parade and Sleeping Beauty’s Winter Castle at Disneyland park; and Festival of Holidays, including Disney ¡Viva Navidad! and “World of Color – Winter Dreams” at Disney California Adventure park. There is even new festive holiday decor at Downtown Disney District and the Hotels of the Disneyland Resort.
Tune in for the live stream of “Believe … in Holiday Magic” fireworks spectacular November 30th beginning at 8:40 p.m. PST, and find out how you can participate in the live stream yourself on the Disney Parks Blog and on Twitter at @DisneyParks!
From the Disney Parks Blog


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Riding the crest of newfound popularity for America’s oldest Japanese originated car brand, Honda fans purchased 31,810 Civics in June, bettering last month's count by 10.8%.
Granted, following a 2 year market hiatus, there’s a bit of pent up consumer demand for the reinvented 2017 Honda Ridgeline Pickup.
n a recent CNNMoney article, we’re once again reminded of the magnitude of the greatest auto related product recall in history.
As a research based auto journalist, I spend many hours on the Web viewing auto manufacturer's websites, some are better than others.
The short story: I like the 2016 Honda Civic. It’s good looking, fun to drive and fuel efficient.
Truthfully, because 2016 was a major “refresh” year for the best selling midsize (retail) car in North America, Accord sedan and coupe will come to market mostly unchanged for 2017.
Our friends up at Portland’s Digital Trends are an eclectic grouping of tech-obsessed car lovers, Who isn’t these days.
I was one of the lucky few to experience 2017 Honda Ridgeline before its dealership arrival the week of June 20. Sure, Ridgeline as often stated as versatile and truck-tough. But how tough?
First off, we all have different driving styles. My dear wife Nancy tells me that I drive like to 60’s cartoon character Mr. Magoo, a blind eccentric, slow and erratic driver with an attitude.
As Honda News announced Monday morning, select Honda Dealers in Canada and the U.S. should receive the initial stock of 2017 Honda Ridgeline pickup trucks the week of June 20.
Buying a new car is a major rite of passage for many young adults in North America.
With 2016 Honda HR-V compact crossover sales outpacing the Japanese manufactured Fit in North America, Honda kicks it up a notch.
With temperatures on the course exceeding 120 degrees F, the 3.5 Liter turbocharged V6 Baja Race Truck completed its class in the 2016 running of the Baja 500.


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Where's Our Economic Recovery? Despite economic stimuli and talk that the recession is over, some entrepreneurs and experts aren't convinced we're through the woods yet. Here's what you can expect for the rest of 2003 and beyond.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Last month, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), a privateorganization that analyzes American business cycles, announced thatthe U.S. recession ended in November 2001 and that the economy isnow beginning to rebound. A rebound makes some sense: In the secondhalf of 2003, a combination of powerful stimuli will be enteringthe American economy, providing the best chance since the 9/11attacks for the nation to return to 1990s growth rates.
Yet despite the NBER report and the influx of stimuli, manyeconomists and businesspeople remain doubtful that a full recoveryis in the cards. Many entrepreneurs have thus far been unable toaddress the factors that caused the recession. As a result, mostsmall businesses have not begun hiring again. In fact, someentrepreneurs actually are preparing for the stimuli to fail andare digging in for a long economic slowdown. "I wouldn'tcall it pessimism, but there's a kind of continued edginess andfear about the future in the small-business community," saysJoel Marks, executive director of the American Small BusinessAlliance, a Washington, DC, trade group.
There is a possibility that the U.S. economy will take off inthe second half of 2003. President Bush's most recent round oftax cuts, which included some cuts of taxes on capital gains anddividends, will pump at least $60 billion into the economy in thethird quarter of the year. These cuts may boost consumer spending,which has historically been one of the main drivers, along withbusiness investment and foreign capital, of the U.S. economy.
Meanwhile, the Bush administration plans to boost militaryspending in the second half of 2003 and the first half of 2004, andnew regulations that foster greater competition in militarycontracting may allow smaller companies to compete on a more evenplaying field for these deals. The Federal Reserve has cut interestrates to their lowest point since the 1950s, and Fed Chairman AlanGreenspan has indicated that he is willing to cut even further inorder to goose the economy. And the continuing decline of the U.S.dollar against other major currencies like the euro and theyen--the greenback has dropped more than 10 percent against theeuro so far this year--will help American exporters. "Thedollar should fall significantly. It looks like it will declinemore, and that will help companies in the fall," saysChristian Weller, an economist at the Economic PolicyInstitute (EPI), a Washington, DC, think tank.
And as Edward Hudgins, Washington director of the ObjectivistCenter, a Poughkeepsie, New York, think tank, notes,trade-resistant policies that might hinder American exporters--suchas bills currently in Congress designed to shield somemanufacturers from foreign competition--probably will go nowhere."These policies always get pushed out around election time andin the wake of a recession," Hudgins says. "But theydon't normally go far."
At the same time, the Bush administration is increasing taxwrite-offs for small companies making new capital investments, atrigger that may be prompting even some cash-strapped entrepreneursto consider buying expensive new items. In a survey completed inJuly by Hewlett-Packard, nearly 50 percent of small businessesquestioned said that today is a favorable climate for smallcompanies to invest in new capital, and more than 40 percent saidthey planned to make computer technology purchases relatively soon.And last month, the SBA reported that loans to small companies rose bymore than 30 percent between October 2002 and July 2003, suggestingthat some firms are making new investments.
Some indicators suggest that a recovery is already underway.The Conference ofMayors, an organization of leaders of metropolitan areas, haspredicted that metro areas' economic growth rates will behigher in 2003 and 2004 than in 2002. The Dow Jones and the Nasdaqhave posted major gains this year, with the best-known technologystocks gaining more than 30 percent in the past four months. In arecent USA Today survey of economists, the 67 analystspolled expected the economy to grow more strongly in the secondhalf of 2003 than it did during the first half of the year.Meanwhile, in May and June retailers in key industries such aselectronics, home construction and clothing posted gains in sales,suggesting that consumer spending has remained relatively strong."If you compare America to any other country in the world, byany standard, our economy is doing reasonably well," saysHudgins.
What's Standing in the Wayof Recovery?
Yet though the economy has begun expanding again, it has not grownfast enough (it grew by only 2 percent the first half of 2003) toallow most companies to address the key factor that caused therecession--excess inventories--and return to a solid base ofprofitability. Huge state budget deficits have hindered theeconomy's growth, as states and municipalities cut spendingjust as the federal government provides tax cuts and spending.Other major economies such as Japan and Germany remain stuck inlow-growth cycles, unable to help boost American exporters. Themajority of the tax cuts passed by the White House may not helpsmall companies, Marks says, because they'll go to upper-incomeAmericans who historically save money from reduced capital gainstaxes rather than going out and spending the windfall. And asWeller notes, though the greenback has fallen against other leadingcurrencies, "there's still not enough momentum for thekind of sharp decline in the dollar that would really boost exportsand trade and allow companies to draw down inventories."
Consequently, though some entrepreneurs may be considering newcapital investments because of government incentives, economistssay that, despite the recession and reductions in business stocksand capacity, small companies still are carrying larger inventoriesand higher debt burdens than they did five years ago. "I knowalmost no small businesses that have slashed their inventoriesenough to be able to make new investments," says Marks."Everyone is still struggling, not planning for the future butjust trying to make it today. That group [the NBER] that says therecession is over--I don't know what universe they're in.They don't understand the situation on Main Street."
Unable to slash inventories and become profitable again, andaware of workers' productivity gains, most entrepreneurs do notplan to hire new workers in the near future. In the early 1990s,small companies led the recovery, becoming the first to hire newworkers and ultimately pulling the economy out of the doldrums. Buttoday, the story is different: In the same Hewlett-Packard survey,58 percent of small companies polled said now was a bad time tohire new employees. In fact, analyses by the EPI show that over thepast six months, "labor market trends have grown somewhat morenegative"--that payrolls lost more jobs between December 2002and June 2003 than they did during the previous six months. InJuly, EPI President Larry Mishel told the Financial Timesthat the employment climate is "the greatest contraction inprivate-sector employment since the Great Depression."
Some economists fear these trends are leading to longer-termunemployment problems in which many Americans simply take earlyretirement or otherwise give up looking for jobs. "As thedistribution of income widens and the economy weakens, more peopleare asking themselves whether they can traverse thesebarriers," says Andrew J. Rettenmaier, associate director ofthe PrivateEnterprise Research Center at Texas A&M University, inCollege Station. And once skilled laborers decide they can'tfind a job and leave the work force, it is difficult for Americancompanies to rebuild that intellectual capacity, Weller says,thereby limiting economic recovery. "Physical capacity likebuilding a new plant is easily recoverable, but skilled labor isnot," he says.
With entrepreneurs unable to significantly slash inventories,book profits or hire staff, they are increasingly planning forlong-term economic weakness--a situation Greenspan has dubbed"pervasive caution" on the part of American companies. Acentral part of this planning has been increasingly competing forcustomers on price, a dangerous trend that could only exacerbatethe economy's problems. "People have gotten used tooperating in a poor economic climate" and are making changesto anticipate it continuing indefinitely, Marks says. But byslashing prices in an attempt to boost sales and return toprofitability, economists warn, companies could foster nationaldeflation, in which prices for most consumer goods fall. Ashappened in Japan in the 1990s, in a deflationary cycle, consumersdon't continue opening their wallets because they expect pricesto keep dropping, firms cannot boost their profits and cutinventories, companies cannot afford to hire new workers, andincreased job and wage reductions further dent consumers,continuing the devastating cycle.
Yet despite some bleak indicators, some entrepreneurs remainhopeful that the second half of 2003 will deliver the kind ofgrowth needed to allow them to slash inventories and even beginhiring again. Some believe the Bush administration's recenttrip across the heartland, in which Cabinet members held smallmeetings to listen to the concerns of entrepreneurs, will result inmore government assistance for small companies, such as anincreased focus on high health-care costs and American pressure onChina to revalue its currency, which would make Chinese exportsmore expensive. Others have been heartened by the fact that factoryorders rose slightly last month, a sign that the manufacturingsector, long the bellwether of economic recovery, may finally berighting itself.
Joshua Kurlantzick is a writer in Washington, DC.