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If you’ve taken a bus in the UK recently, chances are you have been cooled down by a Grayson system. The company works with all the UK bus manufacturers to make sure their vehicles stay cool, both under the bonnet and for the passengers they carry.
Founded in 1978 by Graham Hateley, the family business is now run by Stuart Hateley, the third generation to take the helm. The business has evolved considerably over the years, innovating constantly to create products that are lighter, more energy-efficient, cooler and more economical.
“This isn’t like a dotcom company where you can say, ‘We’ve cracked it,” says Mr Hateley. “Our customers want continuing innovation.”
Grayson recently created an electric fan cooling system to appeal to customers keen to move away from hydraulic fan drives.
“Additionally, if you have a hybrid bus, you don’t want a diesel-fuelled heating system: it defeats the point of going electric,” says Mr Hateley; “our electric water heater is completely unique in the UK.”
The company spends a considerable sum on research and development, and has invested heavily in its facilities over the past four years. Grayson’s systems are all made at its Birmingham facility, which helps control quality and keep timescales short. The company has found its sweet spot.
“We deal in low to medium volumes, where there’s no point going to China because it’s not cost-effective,” Mr Hateley says. “Over the years we have become more and more specialist. Everything we make, we make bespoke to customer requirements. There’s no ‘one size fits all’ here.”
As a result of this strategy, the firm has achieved double-digit growth each year for six years, despite zero external investment, and will turn over £28m in 2016.
As well as buses and coaches, Grayson provides cooling systems to makers of refuse trucks here in the UK and manufacturers of airport, military and other specialist vehicles all over the world. Battery cooling is the next big niche for the company, however.
“You have to hold electric batteries at a steady temperature if you want performance,” Mr Hateley explains. “Companies from Berlin to China want our technology.” At the moment, 80pc of revenue is generated in the UK, but Grayson plans to increase exports over the coming year.
Grayson has developed a whole suite of products exclusively for the US. The company has now set up a facility in the US where its systems can be assembled to sell to American customers. “I can’t think of a single system that we sell over there that we also sell in the UK,” Mr Hateley says. “Everything is bigger in the States and there are some specific requirements in some places, such as Arizona, where it can be 42° at 11am.”
The focus on the US will help maintain Grayson’s growth trajectory, he adds. “But we don’t want to become a global monster. We’re still a family business, we want controlled growth and we want to bring value to our customers.”


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Hollywood Undead Plan March 2015 Album Release + Tour Dates
Hollywood Undead are about to be back on your radar. The L.A. rap-rockers just released a new trailer online revealing the title and release date of their upcoming album.
Circle March 31 on your calendar as that the date that 'Day of the Dead' is coming. And that's not all that fans have to look forward to as the band has booked a number of "Album Release" shows that will go on sale tomorrow (Feb. 11) in each of the markets. Every ticket comes with the digital delivery of the new album.
The trek launches March 9 in Philadelphia and continues through a March 30 finale in Los Angeles, a day before the disc officially drops in stores.
As stated, the band shot a trailer to announce their new album and tour plans. In the clip above, the group's members can be seen carry a casket ready to be shipped off. But before loading it away, they open the casket and one by one toss their masks in to signify the moving on for the band. In addition, fans get a taste of new music playing over the action in the video. Watch the trailer above.
The 'Day of the Dead' album will officially be available for pre-order as of Feb. 17, so stay tuned for details.
Hollywood Undead Album Release Shows
3/9 -- Philadelphia, Pa. -- Underground Arts
3/10 -- Boston, Mass. -- Brighton Music Hall
3/11 -- New York, N.Y. -- Gramercy Theatre
3/13 -- Poughkeepsie, N.Y. -- The Chance
3/14 -- New Haven, Conn. -- Toad's Place
3/15 -- Baltimore, Md. -- Soundstage
3/17 -- Chicago, Ill. -- Bottom Lounge
3/18 -- Minneapolis, Minn. -- Fine Line Music Cafe
3/20 -- Denver, Colo. -- Marquis
3/21 -- Salt Lake City, Utah -- Murray Theatre
3/30 -- Los Angeles, Calif. -- Troubadour

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For the fourth time in less than a week state marijuana regulators have issued a health advisory and recall of pot over concerns it is contaminated with potentially dangerous pesticides not approved for use on the crop.
Wednesday’s order by the Department of Revenue’s Marijuana Enforcement Division involves 68 batches of medical pot grown since December 2015 at Rocky Mountain Organic Medicine Inc. in Denver and sold through its dispensary in Golden.
UPDATE: Colorado issued more state-level recalls on Thursday, for marijuana grown for Denver’s Back to the Garden and High Street Growers shops
The agency did not disclose the number of plants and products derived from them that are impacted by the recall, but said consumers should not dispose of them. Rather, they are urged to return them to the place of purchase.
Officials said the plants had tested positive for two pesticide chemicals, myclobutanil and spinosyn A, neither of which is allowed to be used on commercially grown marijuana in Colorado.
Owners of the business did not immediately respond to calls on Wednesday.
The state-issued recalls are the latest in a months-long effort by regulators to establish rules over pesticide use in growing cannabis. Though the pesticides — ranging from fungicides to miticides — have tolerance levels allowed on food, there is no independent testing to show they are safe for ingestion on marijuana.
And because pot remains illegal under federal law, which also governs how and where pesticides can be used, the two cannot legally be combined. Colorado agriculture officials, however, have determined some pesticides can be used on marijuana as long as that does not violate the product’s label dictating its allowed uses.
Industry leaders have said the pesticides are harmless because they are already allowed on food products to varying degrees. They also say they are necessary to combat diseases that can be fatal to the lucrative crops if left untreated.
Estimates have placed the value of a single mature marijuana plant at about $1,000. Cultivation facilities can hold thousands of plants at a given time at various stages of growth, and a decimated crop could easily amount into the millions of dollars.
Denver health officials have independently issued 20 recalls of pot products tainted with unapproved pesticides, but state regulators have only recently stepped up their efforts after Gov. John Hickenlooper in November issued an executive order declaring pesticide-laden marijuana a “public safety risk” and mandating its destruction.
State regulators on Friday issued their first two recalls under Hickenlooper’s order, on a pair of cultivation facilities in Colorado Springs — Dr. Releaf Inc. and High Mountain Medz.
A third order, issued Tuesday, recalled plants grown by XG Corp.’s facility in Garden City, just outside of Greeley.


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REDMOND, Wash. – Aug. 8, 2011 – If there’s no place like home, there’s definitely no place like the Microsoft Home.
There’s a doorbell, but a palm-scan or mobile phone will also open the front door. Sensors let you know your plants need watering. You can check the inventory of your fridge and pantry via your phone while you’re out shopping. Grace, the home’s computer, will even help you check on your grandmother, remember to take your medicine, study up for a big anatomy test, or make focaccia without the need for a recipe book.
“Grace, what’s up?” asks Microsoft Home tour guide Jonathan Cluts once inside the front door. A pleasant-voiced computer responds with updates about appointments, messages, and even information about the weather, traffic and the electric scooter that is charging outside the front door.
“Really the goal of the home is to expand people’s ideas of what’s possible with technology, and have discussions about technology in a non-traditional setting,” says Cluts, a regular tour guide and director of the Strategic Prototyping Team responsible for the Microsoft Home. “It’s not a conference room, and it’s not a PowerPoint presentation. These ideas are much easier to show than explain, and we liked the idea of an immersive experience that showed what it would be like if some of this technology came to fruition,” he says.
The full-scale, futuristic Home, located in the company’s Executive Briefing Center, has certainly evolved since its first incarnation in 1994. Its mission, however, has remained steadfast, says Craig Mundie, Microsoft’s chief research and strategy officer.
“The Home is a terrific space that enables us to prototype a truly holistic view of what the future could look and feel like,” Mundie says.
Since Mundie created the Home, hundreds of thousands of people have visited – including presidents, soccer teams, celebrities and company partners (however, because of zoning and capacity constraints, the home is not open to the public).
“Probably the No. 1 question we get on tours is, ‘How soon can we get this?’” Cluts says.
He and his team are constantly working anywhere from three to 10 years in the future when thinking up prototypes and scenarios to incorporate into the home. Since Mundie unveiled the first version of the Home, it has received a technology update about every two years.
Grace, the Microsoft Home computer, suggests dishes and recipes based on the ingredients and tools set on the kitchen counter.
“We’re not trying to be predictive, and we’re not making engineering prototypes; we’re just trying to expose interesting ideas and let Microsoft’s really smart product teams decide what will be the best things to create,” Cluts says.
Working closely with Mundie, Cluts and his eclectic prototyping team (which has included a nuclear physicist, a musician, a commodities trader, a journalist, and a semi-pro soccer player, among others) are constantly dreaming up new ideas for the Home. They’re in the middle of a big revamp now, though Cluts isn’t saying when it will be completed.
Because the Home has been around for a while, some of its futuristic prototypes have actually come to fruition, says Cluts, a 20-year Microsoft veteran.
“The digital picture frame is a great example,” he says. “Craig was giving a speech about digital photography – it was the same year that digital cameras first outsold analog cameras – and he said digital cameras would enable people to watch their pictures on TV or to have digital picture frames.”
Inspired, the team took apart a laptop and fashioned it into a digital photo frame for the Microsoft Home. A member of the audience was also inspired by Mundie’s speech – he went on to found a company that created and sold digital photo frames.
Other visitor favorites include a countertop projection of recipes, appliance manuals and more that can be navigated by gesture or by voice (if, say, your hands are covered in the dough you’re kneading). People also love the Home’s teenager bedroom, in which all four walls can change to match the teen’s mood; the walls also feature entertainment and social connections. And if relatives are coming to stay, with one voice command the room can change from graffiti to a more serene grandma-friendly setting.
“When we added the room, we recognized it was much too clean — we all know teenagers,” Cluts says. “So we started to make an effort to throw clothes and candy wrappers around.”
In the Microsoft Home’s teenager room, the decor can be changed momentarily based on the teen’s mood, and social updates appear on the walls keeping the teen up to date on friends’ whereabouts.
Despite purposefully placing prop clutter, Cluts and his teammates would lead a tour only to find the Home’s teenager room was clean again. It took them a while to figure out that the Home’s nightly cleaning crew didn’t realize it was a fake mess and had been cleaning it up.
Not every feature has been a hit. In 2000, Cluts’ team was exploring biometrics and decided to install an iris scanner that would open the front door to authorized eyeballs.
“The eye is 1,000 times more unique than a fingerprint, but people hated it,” Cluts says. “Nobody wanted to stand in front of the door and get their eye scanned.”
Apart from the largely hidden technology, the Home looks remarkably like many present-day homes – modern design, warm wood, clean lines and comfortable furniture.
“I think at first blush, when people think of the Microsoft Home, they have a picture in their mind of a lot of chrome and steel and plastic,” Cluts says. “While I certainly think there have been a lot of advancements in architecture and design, and that people’s homes will change over time, the fact is that most homes built today still have many elements of those designed and built in 1900.”
The Microsoft Home, he says, should feel very much like people’s real homes, so they can see how technology could be incorporated into their lives without it becoming a “showcase.”
So how close is the Microsoft Home to Microsoft’s vision of the future?
“It’s pretty close, as it’s a place we showcase the vision that I, and others, have been evangelizing,” Mundie says.
For several years, the company has been championing a transition from the graphical user interface (GUI) to the natural user interface (NUI) – using voice, vision, gesture and multi-touch to make computers more like personal assistants than just tools, he says. Kinect for Xbox 360 is a great example of this – it represents several years of research, across three global labs, and enables your computers to simulate and emulate human senses. Kinect, in its first 60 days on the market, also earned a world record for being the fastest-selling consumer electronics device in history.
“We’re on a path for computing to leverage this type of interaction in many other contexts beyond gaming and entertainment,” Mundie says. “The street-level view, pictorial integrated aerial views and the oblique aerial views in Bing Maps are things I first showed in a prototype demo a few years back, and they have also been shown in the Home. These capabilities were pioneered in Microsoft Research and then transferred to the product group. As we embark on this new era in computing, such technologies will only become more powerful and useful.”
In fact, investment in research, technology incubations, and advanced prototyping such as the technology found in the Microsoft Home are priorities Microsoft is focusing on to help bring the future a little closer to reality, Mundie says.
“It’s important to invest in exploring long-term technology trends,” he says. “The Strategic Prototyping Team, working closely with me, is charged with maintaining a forward-looking view and building prototypes so that we can ‘live in the future’ today. The Home allows us to see how new experiences may impact hardware and software design, user interfaces, security and privacy, and more – and socialize those ideas with people inside and outside the company.”


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“Driverless” Tesla Semi vid causes quite a stir among fans
A video featuring a prototype version of the Tesla Semi truck was posted a few days ago, but it wasn’t until today that the viewers noticed no one’s driving it.
Then, of course, someone had to ruin all the fun by commenting that the absence of the driver is little more than a trick of light, and that there is a perfectly visible moment when the driver’s sunglasses catch sun glare. So no, a self-driving all-electric truck this ain’t.
Not that we wouldn’t be happy to see smart vehicles freeing people from hard jobs like this one. It is just that, in any case, Tesla would never admit a prototype vehicle on a public road unattended.
The Tesla Semi has recently concluded a series of freight capacity tests. Last time it was spotted cruising along a highway somewhere in California late last month. The company later reported the semi was carrying nine concrete blocks weighing around 16 metric tons (35,000 lbs) in total. Rumor has it that the final production vehicle will be able to haul as much as 23 metric tons (50,000 lbs).
Tesla promises to start production before the end of the year. In the meantime, the company has opened pre-orders with a mandatory USD 150,000 deposit. Customers may choose Standard (483 km / 300 miles once fully charged) or Long Range (805 km / 500 miles).
Chief Editor Olga Markelova
- 2nd-gen Genesis G80 leaks in Nürburgring spy shots ahead of September premiere
- 2021 Mercedes-Benz C-Class (W206) hits the road and the Internets
- 2019 Mitsubishi Pajero Sport leaks ahead of premiere
- Cladded BMW 4 Series Coupe fails to avoid popularity
- BMW M235i Gran Coupe gets spotted out in the open


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Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc. won a tentative ruling dismissing claims that it failed to adequately warn consumers about cancer-causing formaldehyde found in some of its laminate flooring.
Monday’s decision is a victory for the company after its sales and market value fell following accusations on CBS Corp.’s “60 Minutes” news program in March 2015 that it sold Chinese-made laminate flooring with high levels of formaldehyde.
If the decision by a state court judge in Oakland, California, becomes final, it will end a trial over whether the company provided “clear and reasonable” notice about its products’ health risks.
The company was accused by a Global Community Monitor, a nonprofit environmental health group, of violating California’s Proposition 65, a voter-approved ballot initiative that requires explicit warnings for consumer products containing substances that may cause cancer or birth defects.
Jonathan Weissglass, a lawyer for Global Community Monitor, didn’t immediate respond after regular business hours to voice-mail and e-mail messages seeking comment on the ruling.
Superior Court Judge George Hernandez told lawyers for Lumber Liquidators toprepare a final order consistent with his decision.
Lumber Liquidators announced on March 22 that it agreed to pay $2.5 million to the California Air Resources Board to end an inquiry about its laminate flooring products sourced from China. There was “no formal finding of violation” or any admission of wrongdoing, the Toano, Virginia-based company said in a statement.
The company cut prices, increased discounting and tried to ease health concerns by pulling the Chinese laminate from stores. Yet the deterioration of its business accelerated last quarter, with revenue at established locations plummeting 17 percent.
As part of the accord announced March 22, Lumber Liquidators agreed to implement procedures that ensure all of its flooring products meet California’s formaldehyde standards, which are the most stringent in the U.S. The company will also work with the board to develop protocols for testing flooring.
The case is Global Community Monitor v. Lumber Liquidators Inc., RG 14733979, Superior Court of California, Alameda County (Oakland).
- Revised CDC Report Claims Higher Cancer Risk for Lumber Liquidators’ Flooring
- West Virginia Woman Suing Lumber Liquidators Over Chinese-Made Flooring
- Lumber Liquidators Sued in California Over Formaldehyde Home Test Kits
- Retailer Lumber Liquidators Faces Safety Inquiry
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Only some news has effect on markets, Southern Connecticut State University study finds
A study done by a Southern Connecticut State University professor suggests only certain types of financial news have an immediate effect on financial markets.
Gene Birz, an assistant professor of finance at SCSU, examined newspaper headlines during a period of more than 13 years that pertained to several key economic reports. The findings of Birz's study, which first appeared in the Journal of Banking & Finance, showed that headlines about the unemployment rate or gross domestic product were capable of moving markets higher or lower on the same day that they appeared.
Positive news on those financial subjects moved markets higher while negative reports caused market data to drop, he said.
"Business experts have long theorized that economic news can have an impact on financial markets, but there was no empirical evidence," Birz said.
News about unemployment and gross domestic product have an effect on financial market numbers because "individual investors understand how those subjects affect their investments," Birz said.
Headlines about retail sales and durable goods reports, an economic indicator that marks the change in sales levels of products that last three years or more, showed no demonstrable ability to move financial markets, he said.
"The average investor doesn't fully grasp the effect retail sales and durable goods reports will have on their investments," Birz said.
Although he had not seen Birz's report, Donald Klepper-Smith, chief economist at DataCore Partners in New Haven, said "a whole host of factors are responsible for moving the market rather than financial news headlines."
"It's more about speculation and emotion," Klepper-Smith said.


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An independent organisation revolutionising the startup landscape in Nigeria by identifying, unlocking, nurturing and promoting entrepreneurial talents in the country, Naija Tech Brain is set to launch its maiden National Pitch Competition and Gala Night on 11 November, 2023.
Naija Tech Brain’s National Pitch Competition will feature awards to the top ten finalists who participated in a Global Audition, Acceleration and Mentorship program and Bootcamp Demo Weekend between June and November 2023.
The Gala Night will host top startup Founders, entrepreneurs and investors to a night of music, comedy, spoken word poetry and celebrations geared towards advocating for more innovation, technology and entrepreneurship in the country.
Naija Tech Brain aims to provide a unique platform for startups, offering unparalleled opportunities for growth, recognition, and success. This event is expected to foster partnerships, valuable relationships and potential business opportunities.
Sherry Pepple, Chief Coordinator, Naija Tech Brain explained; “We are dedicated to supporting early stage startups with the platform, resources and knowledge to thrive in the heavily competitive Nigerian business environment. Our team of Mentors, Sponsors and Investors collaborate to share their experiences, stimulate Founder’s thinking and fund their talents.”
Naija Tech Brain is powered by a consortium of UK and US based business professionals and experts with the synergy to contribute and bring about real value creation in businesses across Nigeria. To contact the organization, you can send an email to email@example.com


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New smartphone addiction “Flappy Bird” is reportedly earning $50,000 per day. The sales figures were revealed on Feb. 5 by the game’s Vietnamese developer Dong Nguyen.
"The reason Flappy Bird is so popular is that it happens to be something different from mobile games today, and is a really good game to compete against each other," Nguyen said in an interview with The Verge. "People in the same classroom can play and compete easily because [Flappy Bird] is simple to learn, but you need skill to get a high score."
Nguyen’s game inspiration came from Cheep Cheep in Super Mario Bros. Including ads in the game added a modern touch. "I want to make an ads-based game because it is very common in the Japanese market — minigames are free and have ads," Nguyen said.
“Flappy Bird” was published by Vietnam-based Gears Studio last May. The title is currently being downloaded 2-3 million times per day in Google Play and Apple iOS stores. "Flappy Bird" received an iPhone update in May and an iOS6 update in September. It topped the free category of downloadable games in the American and Chinese iTunes App Store at the end of January 2014. Take that, "Candy Crush."
“Flappy Bird” isn’t terribly complicated. Players must tap the screen to control a chubby, 8-bit bird. The objective of “Flappy Bird” is to maneuver spaces between green pipes that resemble 1985’s NES class “Super Mario Bros.”
AmongTech praised the game’s strategy, saying it could outdo “Candy Crush Saga” as the most-popular mobile game of 2014. “Candy Crush” has been the most downloaded game on iOS and Android since March 2013 and has been downloaded more than 500 million times. “'Flappy Bird' is incredibly simple and has several times been described as the “Drug of the App Store” because of how addictive it is,” AmongTech said.
Some critics believe the game's massive success is due to the use of bots, or fake accounts run by computers, to falsely create downloads or reviews. "Looking at some of the top apps in the store by Nguyen, I hate to say it, but it looks really similar to bot activity," Carter Thomas, of online marketing company Bluecloud Solutions, said in a recent blog post. "Of course, I can’t prove this and there are strong cases for lots of different potential growth strategies, but I do want to bring this up to engage a discussion and get industry leaders to weigh in with some analysis so that we can find out how this happened."
Developer Nguyen said that the success of "Flappy Bird" is simply viral -- the game lacks any major ads or marketing, but it's popularity has spread through word-of-mouth.
“Flappy Bird” is available for free on iPhones and Androids.
Are you addicted to "Flappy Bird?" Tweet me!


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Last year, Ford joined Volkswagen, BMW, and Honda in making a deal with California to meet specific emissions and efficiency benchmarks. The coalition was formed amid the Trump administration's move to dial back such measures on a national scale. Now, Ford is moving into a new marketing campaign that focuses on this effort, and the first clip isn't shy about pointing a disapproving finger at its crosstown rivals.
The ad, which is currently unlisted on YouTube, has the lengthy title California Innovation: Fighting to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions. At just shy of one minute, the bulk of the clip features quick cut scenes of people and places in California, interlaced with a theme of leadership and innovation from The Golden State. The video then loosely references the aforementioned coalition by stating California asked automakers to cut greenhouse gas emissions. That's when the gloves come off with a direct swipe at competitors Jeep, Chevrolet, and Toyota – automakers which the video claims said no.
It's certainly a very interesting coincidence that this new Ford campaign coincides with California's announcement of a ban on new internal-combustion vehicle sales starting in 2035. According to Automotive News, this was reportedly just a coincidence but it's also hard to ignore that California Governor Gavin Newsom signed this executive order on the hood of an emissions-free Ford Mustang Mach-E. At the very least, it's likely the lines of communication between Ford and California leaders are open and active.
Gallery: 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E
Ford's claim of Jeep and Chevrolet – and by association Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and General Motors – saying no is certainly a direct callout and likely debatable. According to Automotive News, GM responded to the ad by highlighting its current and future electric offerings, which are poised to expand in the coming years. Toyota reaffirmed its commitment to year-over-year increases in fuel economy standards. Curiously, FCA had no comment on the matter.
Last year, all three automakers threw public support to a single national standard as part of the Coalition for Sustainable Automotive Regulation. The coalition intervened in legal action surrounding the Trump administration's withdrawal of the waiver granted to California in the Clean Air Act, siding with the Trump administration's actions.


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WASHINGTON — Apparel executives believe regional trade deals maintain their promise as a model for international trade relations, despite some data raising questions about the benefits.
Sourcing executives and trade experts said regional accords such as the Central American Free Trade Agreement and the North American Free Trade Agreement should be a key part of U.S. strategy because they deliver more benefits than bilateral pacts and are more manageable than larger multilateral agreements like the stalled Doha Round of global trade talks.
Doha has been delayed by a range of complex issues: from African countries and Brazil demanding cuts in U.S. cotton subsidies to the U.S. seeking a deeper reduction in duties on agriculture and food products from Europe, to Western nations urging better market access to China and India.
The regional agreements give “large American retail and wholesale operations…the opportunity to look not just at a small-to-medium-sized country” but to a far wider area, said Jeff Streader, senior vice president of global sourcing for Guess Inc.
Companies can consider the range of skill sets and capabilities of the entire region in evaluating where to set up a supply chain, he said.
The flexibility of a regional trade agreement makes the model preferable to a bilateral one, but there are some unintended consequences, said Mark Jaeger, senior vice president and general counsel for Jockey International.
“Every regional or bilateral trade deal brings with it a food fight between the impacted industries,” Jaeger said. “A lot of political capital is spent in negotiating each trade agreement.”
The chance to have one deal, like Doha, instead of many regional pacts is preferable, experts said. However, getting the support of scores of nations for a multilateral agreement is challenging, to say the least. The Doha talks began in 2001.
“Regional deals make sense.…They include more countries, have a bigger economic impact [than the bilateral model] and they bring the region together,” said Mickey Kantor, who was U.S. Trade Representative for President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1996.
But there is not unanimity that regional agreements are beneficial.
“We would certainly argue that these trade agreements have not lived up to their promises,” said Thea Lee, policy director at the AFL-CIO. “I’m not sure that free trade agreements are the most useful form of economic engagement between two countries.”
Data shows some erosion of production in the existing free trade areas. In 2008, the U.S. imported $7.9 billion worth of textiles and apparel from the CAFTA region, according to statistics from the Commerce Department’s Office of Textiles & Apparel. In 2005, the year before CAFTA benefits were phased in, the U.S. imported $9.3 billion of textiles and apparel.
CAFTA has been slow to be fully implemented, creating frustrations for companies that might have shifted some sourcing to Central America and it is early to evaluate the accord’s impact, executives said.
Textile and apparel imports from the NAFTA region fell to $8.1 billion in 2008 from $11.3 billion in 1998, the most extensive data provided by the Office of Textiles & Apparel. NAFTA was initially deemed a success when imports increased after implementation in 1994, but low-cost competition in the apparel and textile sectors from Asia has eroded the region’s market.
Global forces triggered by the recession make recent trade figures difficult to interpret, but textile and apparel imports from the two largest regional trading areas were falling even before the downturn.
“Right now, people are so focused on finding the cheapest price that they’re willing to sacrifice speed to market,” said Carol Hochman, chairwoman of the American Apparel & Footwear Association and president and chief executive officer of Triumph Apparel Corp.
For critical replenishment needs, Central America is still attractive, Hochman said.
Industry experts said they expect the CAFTA region to rebound when global trade recovers from the recession.
“Until this year when everything fell off a cliff, CAFTA was going pretty well,” said Cass Johnson, president of the National Council of Textile Organizations.
The evolving political upheaval in Honduras, a CAFTA member, illustrates the benefits and the risks of regional trade agreements. Last month, a military coup deposed President Manuel Zelaya, creating civil unrest and concern for companies doing business there.
Guess’ Streader said if Honduras only had a bilateral agreement with the U.S. and the coup threatened the operation of the ports and factories in the country, production would be “crippled.” Shifting manufacturing to another part of the world like Asia would be difficult, but within the CAFTA region there is flexibility to adjust the supply chain, he said.
However, the situation in Honduras also illustrates the risks of manufacturing in volatile regions. Zelaya had not been allowed back into the country at press time and there was continued unrest in the capital city of Tegucigalpa. The potential for disruptions to the apparel supply chain hasn’t abated.
@tradesy is turning the concept of a showroom upside down with its new space in Santa Monica. Here, the company plans to hold events, art exhibits and a showcase rare fashion pieces like this Louis Vuitton boxing set. Get all the details on Tradesy’s first showroom on WWD.com. #wwdnews
Spotted last night at the @erdem x @hm launch event: Kate Bosworth, Rashida Jones, Kirsten Dunst and Selma Blair. The party, which took place in LA, also marked the opening of their pop-up shop. “I was interested in creating a collection that wasn’t in any way disposable. It was about pieces you’d create and keep forever, things that have a permanence to it,” designer Erdem Moralioglu said. #wwdeye (📷: Katie Jones)
Renee Zellweger in yellow in 2001 and again in 2017. Chosen as one of the 12 @pantone Leading Spring Colors (and dubbed “Meadowlark”), it only makes sense that the bright hue stands the test of time and is making a resurgence this season, seen already on stars like @blakelively and @gigihadid. (📷: Donato Sardello & @rexfeatures) #wwdfashion #tbt
Dior’s 70th anniversary celebration continues with a new exhibition at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. “Christian Dior,” which is scheduled to run through March 18, takes a look at the founders tenure from 1947 to 1057 and feature 40 designs. Pictured here is an evening gown from the Ailée, fall 1948-49 haute couture collection. #wwdfashion (📷: Brian Boyle)
As one of the most recognizable models in the world, Christy Turlington Burns has an insider’s view of the fashion industry and the allegations of sexual harassment swirling around it. “I can say that harassment and mistreatment have always been widely known and tolerated in the industry. The industry is surrounded by predators who thrive on the constant rejection and loneliness so many of us have experiences at some point in our careers,” Turlington told WWD, along with her suggestions for how the modeling world should protect younger women and men. Read more on WWD.com. Link in bio. (📷: Tony Palmieri) #wwdnews
@asics America has tapped a new brand ambassador: famed DJ/record producer @steveaoki. This initiative is intended to set the tone for the new brand identity and philosophy and will include partnerships with influencers and in-store and off-line activations that will continue into next year. This is Asics’ most significant marketing effort in two decades, and is expected to attract younger consumers to the brand. #wwdfashion
24-year-old Jean Prounis is redefining the rules of jewelry. Formerly a studio assistant to Jemima Kirke and a design apprentice at Ghuran, she focuses on handcrafted subtleties and ancient goldsmithing techniques. “There was a really sterile feel in the environment and I wanted to have jewelry with character that shapes how you wear it everyday,” Prounis said. Each piece is hand made in New York, either by Prounis or three other jewelers in the district. #wwdfashion
“These collections continue to build on that vision, empowering differently abled adults to express themselves through fashion,” said @tommyhilfiger of his line of adaptive apparel, which launches today. The line consists of 37 men’s and 34 women’s styles based upon the pieces from the spring Tommy Hilfiger sportswear collection. #wwdnews


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July 13, 2020
Clean label is a subjective phrase that remains more industry-centric versus a claim that can significantly influence consumer purchasing. Amid the COVID-19 crisis, there is a growing demand for products that consumers know, trust and believe are better for them and the environment. The key for the bakery industry is knowing which claims are important to consumers and communicating these in a clear, transparent manner.
Over the last decade, much attention has been given to the phrase “clean label.”
However, research conducted by FMCG Gurus during 2019 and 2020 shows only 38% of consumers have heard of clean label. In comparison, nearly three-quarters (72%) say it is important that products are 100% natural. The reality is clean label is not a new trend; instead, it is a continuation of consumers wanting products they deem to be natural, containing only real and authentic ingredients. In the wake of COVID-19, as 80% of consumers say they will make attempts to eat healthier, it is crucial that the bakery industry look to communicate clean label attributes in a simple and transparent manner.
In the last month, consumers were more likely to have increased, rather than reduced, the amount of bread (39% versus 27%) and cookies (35% versus 28%) they have purchased. This is a positive, as it shows consumers are continuing to purchase staple grocery items even while trying to save money on their grocery bills.
It’s critical to remember that in times of uncertainty, consumers tend to increase their scrutiny of claims made by brands, wanting reassurance that brands are not just looking to charge a premium price. This is especially true at a time when 52% of consumers say they are looking to reduce spending on food and drink, driven by fears of an ongoing recession. As such, if the bakery industry is to try and reduce price sensitivity by promoting clean label credentials, it needs to do so in a credible and transparent manner.
To read this article in full check out the Clean label innovation in the bakery aisle – digital magazine.
Will Cowling is the marketing manager at FMCG Gurus. This article is based on the firm’s New 2020 global reports including, Sports Nutrition vs Active Nutrition, Top Ten Trends for 2020, and Convenience and Simplicity. For more information please contact [email protected].
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By Accommodation Times News Serivce
Paint makers are turning their head to China for sourcing a chemical called titanium dioxide, key raw material for the industry. A major reason behind China emerging as an alternative market is that it provides cheaper titanium dioxide also known as synthetic rutile.
Titanium Dioxide is the key component for making paint and stand close to 30% of the total cost of production. It’s always cheaper when sourced from China, compared to traditional markets. The import cost is also less so many MNCs are looking at it as an alternative market said president of the Indian Paints Association (IPA). Also due to the slow growth in the domestic market this trend might become more visible next fiscal.


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According to new data, smartphones are the driving force behind the e-commerce growth the past three months. In retail especially, the future is not pop-up shops or geo-fenced flash sales. Rather, the future of e-commerce growth is palm-sized. This phenomenon continues to accelerate, with video and Instagram leading the way.
The latest information from Salesforce Shopping Index revealed that more than two thirds (67%) of visits to UK retailers came via mobile phone in the first quarter of 2018. During that period, overall digital revenues grew by 10 percent, and mobile orders grew by 25 percent. In the UK alone, mobile accounted for 40 percent of sales, desktop for 41 percent and tablets for 18 percent.
How did the UK’s overall growth fair in comparison to growth elsewhere? UK online sales grew by 14 percent in the first quarter, and 15 percent around the world. The fastest growth rates detected …New Study Says Smartphones are Driving UK Ecommerce Growth Read More


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Marimekko will soon make its fabric out of wood.
In 2017, the cult Finnish design brand partnered with a fabric innovation startup to start developing wood pulp-based fabric, featuring its iconic, maximalist prints. Now Marimekko is showing off its first prototypes, which inform a broader collection of wood-based products, which the brand hopes to make available to customers as soon as 2022. While the fabrics look and feel like Marimekko’s traditional cotton fabrics, the wood pulp requires 99% less water than cotton production. And at the end of the fabric’s life, it can be entirely recycled or composted. That’s right: You can wear your Marimekko dress for 20 years, then stick it in your compost bin in the garden.
Marimekko’s partnership with the startup, called Spinnova, is part of a larger push among fashion brands to reckon with their devastating impact on the environment. Marimekko debuted in the early 1950s, before fast fashion ravaged the fashion industry, and built its brand on classic looks in long-lasting fabrics. Over the years, it has become an iconic brand known for the way it weaves together fashion, art, and design. Fans of the brand have included the artist Georgia O’Keeffe and the activist Jane Jacobs. And over the past seven decades, Marimekko has stayed true to its approach to durable, functional fashion. The brand creates new prints every year, but it regularly reissues them. This means that if a woman bought a dress a decade ago, there’s a good chance she could wear it into a store and find a similar dress in the same print.
“We create clothes in durable fabrics that are meant to be worn for years, even decades,” says Tiina Alahunta-Kasko, Marimekko’s CEO, who spoke to me from Helsinki. “There’s a large secondhand market for our clothes because they still look good years after the owner first purchased it.”
Now, with the Spinnova partnership, Marimekko is taking its philosophy of sustainable fashion a step further. While there are other wood-based fabrics on the market, including Tencel, Spinnova’s fabric is not made with any toxic chemicals, according to Spinnova cofounder and CEO Janne Poranen. The company uses wood sourced in Finland from forests certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, then mechanically breaks it down into a microcellular pulp. This material is then spun into fibers, which can then be turned into textiles.
The simplicity of the process is partly what makes it easy to recycle, Poranen says. When a fabric contains several fibers, or many different chemicals, you have to separate out these different materials before turning it back into new fabric. But pure Spinnova fabric, much like 100% cashmere or cotton, can be more easily returned to its original state. “Our initial tests have found that recycled fabrics are actually stronger than new fabrics,” Poranen says. “The process of breaking down the fibers back to a microscopic level then reforming it seems to strengthen the fibers.” This means recycled Spinnova fabrics will be even more durable and long-lasting.
Marimekko will be the first brand to print patterns onto Spinnova fabrics. For the brand’s first capsule collection with the new material, Marimekko designer Riikka Buri chose to incorporate the brand’s best-known print, Unikko, which features large poppies. She created denim-like jackets and tote bags with oversize poppy prints, along with knitted striped shirts. These were small demonstrations to see whether it would be possible to effectively print on the Spinnova material, and it was. “Marimekko was able to apply its existing printing process that it uses with cotton and linen directly onto the Spinnova fabric,” says Poranen.


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2016 Auto Expo: Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza teaser video
Maruti Suzuki has released a teaser video of the Vitara Brezza sub four-metre SUV which will be showcased at the 2016 Auto Expo. The previous Maruti Vitara Brezza rendering revealed its styling and overall proportions. This teaser video gives us a glimpse of the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza's exterior details.
The Vitara Brezza is Maruti's all-new, sub-four-metre compact SUV that has been completely developed in-house. The project was headed by CV Raman, executive director engineering at MSIL.
The Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza will take on the Ford EcoSport and Mahindra TUV300 when it is launched later this year. It is likely to be powered by Maruti's tried and tested 1.2-litre petrol and 1.3-litre diesel engines. Maruti might also debut its all-new 1.5-litre diesel motor in the Vitara Brezza.
Also from OVERDRIVE on the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza:
Starts Rs 7.26 Lakhs
Starts Rs 7.67 Lakhs
Starts Rs 8.12 Lakhs
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Fuel help that leaves many cold
We follow the experiences of two struggling households seeking help with energy bills
The Government says that billions of pounds is being spent on helping consumers struggling to pay their gas and electricity bills, with discounted tariffs and energy efficiency measures being offered to the most vulnerable households.
But critics say that most consumers have no idea what help is available or how to claim. Many lowincome households may be ineligible for help if they rent their home or do not receive state benefits. Times Money has also discovered that in some cases even the poorest households on benefits are being denied help.
Gas and electricity bills have increased by a record 42 per cent this year, taking a household’s average annual bill to £1,300. About 5.4 million households are this winter facing fuel poverty - where one


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Though the bitcoin price is bringing the overall sentiment down, many exciting things are happening in Bitcoin that will make this price drop temporary.
This is an opinion editorial by Adam Taha, a host of a Bitcoin podcast in Arabic and a contributor at Bitcoin Magazine.
The current bear market is on everyone’s minds. Doom and gloom are in every chart and metric. However, there is a lot to be excited about for Bitcoin HODLers and followers. Below is a list of exciting things happening in Bitcoin.
Bipartisan Bitcoin Bill
A bipartisan bill by Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis and Democrat Senator Kristen Gillibrand was introduced and will be voted on next year most likely (by the 118th Congress). This bill has been long-awaited because it would reduce many uncertainties for U.S. investors and corporate treasuries.
A few days ago, Bitcoin’s Lightning Network capacity reached an all-time-high capacity of 4,005 bitcoin, which is a 6% increase month-over-month. Soon, the world will get to learn and use Lightning Finance (LiFi) on a larger scale, especially with the launch of stablecoin transfers on Lightning. Sending bitcoin and receiving stablecoins, or sending stablecoins on Lightning and receiving groceries at your doorstep will put bitcoin adoption in high gear. This development is putting the Lightning Network and LiFi in a position to displace Visa and other payment networks in a few years.
Back in November 2021, the Taproot upgrade was launched and given the green light by nodes around the world. So far, we have 75%-plus nodes supporting it. Taproot addresses, signatures and scripting are necessary to unleash the security and innovation that we need in order to begin onboarding companies, institutions and governments at a larger scale. We will reach 100% node support soon. This is a massive development to be excited about.
Taproot Asset Representation Overlay (TARO):
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and other innovations are coming to the Lightning Network. Not just stablecoins, smart contracts, digital services, collectibles, tokenized securities and any assigned-value assets, but a myriad of other innovations. Bitcoin is a payment network that only allows bitcoin for settlement. Anything built on or transferring above Bitcoin’s base layer gets settled in bitcoin. In other words, this is how we hyperbitcoinize the world and every fiat in existence. Today, the exchange rate of bitcoin is settled most frequently in U.S. dollars on exchanges, but with TARO, everything will be settled in bitcoin, including USD. It’s a financial revolution based on sound money.
We will see more regulations from the Securities and Exchange Commission throughout this year and probably into next year. Why is this good? The SEC views bitcoin as a non-security (commodity) asset. The regulatory position of bitcoin compared to all other crytpocurrencies is clear, according to the SEC and its chair Gary Gensler.
BTC Market Dominance
In January 2020, there were approximately 2,400 cryptocurrencies. In 2021, that number grew to 4,155 (73% increase). Today, there are 19,930 cryptocurrencies or an astonishing 380% increase since January of last year. Yet, for Bitcoin that’s a non-issue and bitcoin’s market dominance tells the story of where real value is. In January 2021, Bitcoin’s market dominance when the market had 4,155 cryptos with a total market cap of $958 billion was 68%. Today, Bitcoin’s market dominance is 47% against 19,930 cryptocurrencies in a total market cap of $908 billion. By the next halving (in early 2024), Bitcoin’s market dominance will likely be comfortably above 60% with many more cryptocurrencies and certainly a larger market cap. This shows bitcoin’s real value, resilience and dominance.
Buy and HODL. Current market conditions are temporary.
This is a guest post by Adam Taha. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.


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As the festive season spending gains momentum, users of Airtel money services have got an additional solution on the platform to use. It is the international money transfer services.
Kampala, Uganda | JULIUS BUSINGE | The new service was launched on Nov.14 at Kampala Serena Hotel. It will enable users of Airtel money to send and receive money from their loved ones living in another country.
The new service is being offered in partnership with Stanbic bank as partnering financial institution and has been endorsed by Bank of Uganda.
Its launch means that competition in the international money transfer service is growing and should translate into lower costs and efficient service enjoyed by customers.
Officials said that the new service will ease the remittance of money by its customers at home and across the globe.
With this new service, the company’s customers will conveniently, safely and instantly send funds across borders to Tanzania and Malawi from the Airtel money wallets at the most competitive rates and receive money from across the globe into their Airtel money wallets from of charge. More countries will be added on the platform.
V.G Somasekhar, the company’s managing director said that the service will drive financial inclusion while deepening social networks among friends and family.
“We are launching what not Airtel needs but what Ugandans need,” he said. He said that the service will be supported by the company’s infrastructure of 650 Airtel money branches spread across the country.
He said that the service conforms to the global anti – money laundering policies enhancing international trade, regional integration.
“Uganda is a growing economy that requires simplified ways of doing business at convenient and affordable rates,” Somasekhar said. He added that the international money transfer service will complement e-commerce that the company has facilitated through its data offerings.
Customers sending money will be charged against a tiered tariff at competitive rates across the market ranging between Shs900 – Shs58, 000.
Forex exchange rates will be determined by the prevailing market tariffs.
The addition of this new service makes the company as a one stop centre for offering voice, data, mobile money, and now cash transactions.
The State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Henry Okello Oryem said the service will deepen financial inclusion in Uganda but also boost regional integration agenda.
He said that inbound remittances to Sub-saharan Africa grew nearly 10% to reach $46billion in 2018 as per the World Bank estimates and, as the primary source of external financing in the region, it is critical for the social economic development.
With the average cost of 9.4%, Sub-Saharan Africa ranks amongst the most expensive remittance corridors globally.
The introduction of this service by Airtel shows that Airtel Uganda is driving financial inclusion and supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals by reducing the cost of remittances.
Oryem added that the National Payments Systems Bill that is soon to be tabled in Parliament will further guide on how electronic transactions are made, but most importantly protect the interests of all key players.
He said that a service of this nature will contribute more to increased remittances to Uganda, which will feed into growth in GDP and foreign exchange reserves.
“These are interesting inventions of our time,” he said. He added that such a service is key to encouraging people to get off the cash system and join the electronic platform which is very efficient, fast, convenient and safe.
Globally, according to data from Bank of Uganda, the global Ugandan diaspora contributed approx.Shs4 trillion) to the country’s economy in 2017 and the figure is estimated to have increased in 2018.
Airtel is the second largest telecom company in Uganda with slightly over 10 million subscribers. The largest number of this is registered for Airtel money service.


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Don Wordell has some mid-cap ideas to help position your portfolio for recovery.
His four-star RidgeWorth Mid-Cap Value Fund is up an average of 12.29 percent per year for the last five years.
"Our process revolves around three things: Yield, valuation and fundamentals," he told CNBC.
His first pick is Mattel.
"They have the licensing arrangement for 'The Dark Knight,'" he said. "That's a tremendous blockbuster movie that's going to drive toy sales."
And that's not all.
"They have great brands: American Girl, Fisher-Price, Hot Wheels, and then, they've got the new Elmo Live toy coming toward the end of the year," he said. "We really are excited about the opportunity for Mattel."
Also on Wordell's list is Hanover Insurance Group.
"(They're) selling their life insurance business to Goldman Sachs, which is feeing up about $200 million in excess capital that they can then redeploy in higher- ROE [return on investment] businesses by making acquisitions or buying back some stock," he said. "We really think a stock trading at a discount to book value here is just a compelling opportunity."
Disclosure information for Don Wordell was not immediately available.


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Meanwhile, Apple will be slowly implementing Face ID across its lineup, creating a user experience that's consistent with the iPhone X and boosting its own competitiveness in the process. The short clip doesn't show off anything particularly notable like animoji or a Face ID fail - but it does give us a good look at the X's edge-to-edge screen sporting one of the new Dynamic Wallpapers.
While Apple might've struck gold with Face ID, assembling the feature on an iPhone isn't as easy as unlocking one with it.
The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus notably offers a huge improvements on the inside over their respective predecessors - iPhone 7 and 7 Plus - but the Apple's newest hardware product everyone is talking about is the 10th anniversary flagship smartphone, the iPhone X. Additionally, those companies may drop plans to put fingerprint sensors underneath displays, which Apple was reportedly trying to do with the iPhone X.
US Army chief: 'No risk-free options' on North Korea
More than 1.1 million people serve in North Korea's armed forces, representing approximately 5 percent of its total population. Army's annual meeting in Washington, Mattis warned that he could not say what the future holds for the DPRK.
The often-reliable CGI analyst has already told investors he expects new iPads to include OLED screen technology in 2018.
Once mass production begins and Apple starts getting the iPhone X into hands of customers, it will be interesting to see if the controversy surrounding Face ID and the device's controversial notch design will wither away. Let us know your thoughts in the comments or on Facebook. He stated in a note to MacRumors that the 2018 iPad Pro will probably come with a TrueDepth camera and the FaceID feature. But once the iPhone X manufacturing issues are resolved, the phone's sales will likely to pick up in the first half of 2018.
Are you looking forward to using Face ID? Analysts have been claiming that a lot of people will upgrade to the iPhone X and it has been referred as a super cycle.
Hackers linked to North Korea reportedly targeted USA electric power companies, according to a leading cybersecurity firm. The South's Yonhap news agency quoted Lee as saying that 235 gigabytes of military documents were taken.
The presentation also included information on programmes scheduled for Diwali celebrations in Ayodhya on October 18. The communique stated that the statue will be build at Saryughat after clearance from the National Green Tribunal.
Organisers will use the UEFA ranking system to determine the make-up of four leagues (A , B, C and D) from the 55 teams involved. When it was unveiled in January the new Uefa Nations League was touted as the answer to "rejuvenate national team football".
Nokia said the change in direction could affect the jobs of up to 310 of the 1,090 people employed by Nokia Technologies. Moving forward, Nokia said it would look to focus its Technologies arm on opportunities in licensing and healthcare.
The International Atomic Energy Agency and the U.S intelligence community will monitor Iran's nuclear commitments regardless. Trump can then legitimately claim that he has succeeded in beginning to renegotiate the nuclear agreement as he promised .
As a businessman and candidate, Trump frequently threatened to sue news organizations over unflattering coverage. We've all grown quite accustomed to Trump's posturing, but that doesn't make his antics any easier to defend.
Hours after the Gujarat government announced the tax cut, Devendra Fadnavis government also came out with tax reduction on fuel. Mr Rupani said Gujarat has become the first state to respond to the Centre's appeal to cut taxes on petrol and diesel.
Cook County board votes 15-1 to repeal sugary drink tax
Just over two months since it was implemented , Cook County commissioners have soured on a penny-per-ounce tax on sugary drinks. David Goldenberg, a spokesman for the industry-funded Can the Tax Coalition said that Consumer indignation is off the charts.
Heavy rainfall expected in Bihar, Odisha in coming days
Hence, it is anticipated that the rain intensity is likely to reduce over Gangetic West Bengal including Kolkata . Many schools reopened today after the Durga Puja vacation and students were inconvenienced due to the heavy rain.
CBS reporter: I didn't talk to Kaepernick about kneeling
It turns out that La Canfora had never spoken to Kaepernick directly about his thoughts on standing or kneeling during the anthem. La Canfora's original story was referenced by a few outlets, including the Associated Press (AP), who later issued a correction .
Rahul Gandhi take a big on BJP and Modi From Gujarat
While the cycle long got punctured, they still continue to occupy the land illegally despite an eviction notice. The Congress leader has been stopping on the way, talking to people, waving at them and promising change.
Sears Canada is going out of business
Sears last week received a revised bid from a group led by its executive chairman Brandon Stranzl to buy the business. On Tuesday, the retailer said in a statement that "following exhaustive efforts, no viable transaction" was made.
Brandon Marshall (ankle) likely out multiple weeks for NY
It was particularly painful for fans as Beckham had done much to rejuvenate the team's stumbling fortunes early on in the game. He sprained his left ankle in the August 21 preseason game in Cleveland and missed the regular-season opener in Dallas.


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Cerbona has acquired the trademarks of Boci, Melba, and Párizsi kocka (Parisian Cube) from Nestlé, which, together with Szerencsi Édesipari Vállalat, purchased the brands during privatization in 1991.
According to the joint statement of the two companies released on Tuesday, Nestlé will continue to manufacture the products during a transitional period to ensure the continuity of supply, thus guaranteeing that consumers can continue to purchase the chocolates. The transaction will be finalized on 22 May 2024.
Cerbona CEO Tamás Mészáros indicated that
the 100 per cent Hungarian-owned company will ensure further growth for the brands
that have almost a century of history. Nestlé Hungária CEO Péter Noszek explained that the sale of Boci enables Nestlé Hungária’s confectionery business to focus on its strengths, such as KitKat and Balaton.
Nestlé has been present in Hungary for over thirty years and is currently the largest Swiss investor and employer. Employing more than 2,800 people in its three factories in Szerencs, Diósgyőr, and Bük, as well as its Budapest headquarters, the company has invested over 382 billion forints in Hungary, including the investment announced in Bük in February 2024. Most of Nestlé Hungary’s suppliers are Hungarian companies, selling products and services worth a total of 54 billion forints annually to Nestlé’s global network.
Cerbona has over four decades of experience in the Hungarian food industry. Initially specializing in the production of cereal bars and muesli, the company has grown to manufacture various cereal-based food products, employing over 150 workers in its factory.
Boci is a well-known Hungarian brand that specializes in confectionery and sweets. Founded in 1976, the brand has garnered a strong reputation for producing high-quality chocolates, candies, and other sweet treats. The name Boci itself carries a warm and familiar resonance, often associated with indulgence and comfort.
One of the brand’s most iconic products is the Boci chocolate bar, which has become a staple in Hungarian households and is beloved for its rich, creamy texture and indulgent flavour. Over the years, Boci has expanded its product range to include a variety of confectionery delights, including pralines, truffles, and assorted chocolates, each crafted with meticulous attention to detail and using only the finest ingredients.
Sources: Hungarian Conservative/Nestlé


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back to the future
The Lion King? Star Wars? Titanic? Top Gun? It seems as if the new thing for Hollywood is to take an old movie, turn it into 3D and re-release it in theaters for a whole new audience to... I don't know, pay for. But why stop with those movies? Here are ten more movies that demand a 3D revival.
Nike has debuted a trailer featuring Christopher Lloyd, Bill Hader and Kevin Durant to promote the limited-edition release of the Back to the Future-inspired Air Mags.
Nike will soon confirm the planned release of Air Mags, featuring the same sort of self-lacing shoe technology last seen in 1989's Back to the Future: Part II.
So, it appears that Hollywood has finally realized that there's only so many old toys, cartoon shows and comic books worth making into movies (And somewhere, Marvel and DC are aggressively disagreeing with that last one, I'm sure), and is looking for the movie machine to start churning out original material. Which raises the question: Is anyone really ready for that?


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Nissan Canada will begin to accept pre-orders for the first allocation of its all-electric Leaf beginning at noon on Saturday, October 22.
The company is releasing 350 vehicles in the coming months. Buyers have to live within 65 kilometres of an approved Nissan Leaf certified dealer. Victoria's Campus Nissan is one of those dealers.
Starting price is $38,395, same as the 2011's.
People who are interested should register at www.nissan.ca/leaf. Once registered buyers will be asked for a $99 reservation fee (fully refundable) to secure a car.
I shall do a review of the new Leaf in the coming weeks.


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There was a good bit of excitement on Tuesday with the release of the retail sales report, which came in stronger than expectations. However, the bounce will be difficult to maintain as tapped out consumers face high unemployment and a slow recovery.
As we have discussed many times previously, the consumer is the lynchpin to the economy, comprising roughly 70% of economic growth.
The most valuable thing about the consumer is they are “financially stupid.” But what would expect from a generation whose personal motto is “YOLO – You Only Live Once.” However, this is why you “never count the consumer out,” as they always find a way to go further into debt.
Consumers are also why companies spend billions on social media, personal influencers, television, radio, and internet advertising. If there is an outlet where someone will watch, listen, or read, you will find ads on it. Why? Because psychologically, consumers are “trained” to “shop till they drop.”
As long as individuals have a paycheck; they will spend it. Give them a tax refund; they will spend it. Issue them a credit card; they will max it out. Give them a government stimulus check; they will spend it as well. Don’t believe me, then why is consumer debt at record levels?
If consumers were even partially responsible, financial guru’s like Dave Ramsey wouldn’t have a job selling products to get people out of debt.
However, consumers spending themselves further into debt is what keeps stock markets going higher and the economy going. Note, that I said “going,” and not “growing,” Take a look at the chart below:
In 1980, household credit market debt stood at $1.3 Trillion. To move consumption from 61% to 65% of GDP by 2000, it required an increase of $5.5 Trillion in debt. Since 2000, consumption as a percent of the economy has risen by just 3% over the last 20 years. To support that increase in consumption, it required an increase in personal debt of more than $11 trillion.
You should not dismiss the importance of that statement. It has required twice as much debt to increase consumption by 3% of the economy since 2000 than it did to increase it by 4% from 1980-2000. The problem is quite clear. With interest rates already at historic lows, consumers heavily leveraged and economic growth running at sub-par rates; there is not much capability to increase consumption that would replicate the economic growth rates of the past.
The Mirage of Wealth
The mirage of consumer wealth has been a function of surging debt levels. “Wealth” is not borrowed but “saved.” Such is a lesson too few individuals have learned.
This record level of household debt is also why the Federal Reserve’s (Fed’s) measure of “Saving Rates” is entirely wrong. It is also why economic growth will continue to weaken as debt continues to deter disposable incomes away from consumption into debt service.
“The ‘gap’ between the ‘standard of living’ and real disposable incomes is shown below. Beginning in 1990, incomes alone were no longer able to meet the standard of living so consumers turned to debt to fill the ‘gap.’ However, following the ‘financial crisis,’ even the combined levels of income and debt no longer fill the gap. Currently, consumers cannot fill the record $2,654 annual deficit to maintain their lifestyle without more debt.”
The gap between the standard of living and incomes is another reflection of the wealth inequality which is pervasive in the economy.
Less Than Meets the Eye
While there was a massive jump in retail sales in May, a look below the headlines revealed a different picture. As noted by Mish Shedlock:
“Despite the surge, sales numbers are back to levels seen in late 2015 and early 2016. On a year-over-year basis, sales are 6.1% below May 2019. Total sales for the March 2020 through May 2020 period are down -10.5% from the same period a year ago.
Here are the five-month totals:
Motor Vehicles and Parts: -10.5%
Electronics and Appliances: -19.3%
Building Materials: +6.7%
Food and Beverage Stores: +13.1%
Health & Personal Care: -2.4%
Sporting Goods: -9.9%
Department Stores: -21.0%
Non-store Retailers: +16.6
Food and Drinking Places: -22.3%”
Notice the only positive sectors were those directly related to the partial reopening of the economy. Such was not unexpected, but it is also likely unsustainable. The stimulus checks are gone and more checks may be problematic to get through a deeply divided Congress. The additional $600 in unemployment benefits runs out next month, and there is only talk of a bill to extend them at reduced levels.
Unemployment is still a problem.
No Getting Back
Given that retail sales make up roughly 40% of personal consumption expenditures which in turn comprises roughly 70% of GDP, the impact to sustained economic growth is important to consider. As noted, unemployment is running at very-high levels, but without a substantial pickup in retail sales, re-employment may be disappointing.
What the headlines miss is the growth in the population. The chart below shows retails sales divided by the current 16-and-over population. (If you are alive, you consume.)
Retail sales per capita were previously on a 5% annualized growth trend beginning in 1992. However, after the financial crisis, the gap has yet to be filled and currently runs at just a 3% growth rate. Assuming we recover to full-employment next month, and retail sales return to its 3% growth trend, retail sales will take another step backward.
Such is the same outcome as we discussed last week with expectations for economic recovery. To wit:
“Before the “Financial Crisis,” the economy had a linear growth trend of real GDP of 3.2%. Following the 2008 recession, the growth rate dropped to the exponential growth trend of roughly 2.2%. Instead of reducing the debt problems, unproductive debt, and leverage increased.”


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Economists are part of a fashion industry. Each group of policymakers seems
to have its own priorities, together with certain key statistics or performance
measures that matter more than others. For the first 30 years of the post-war
era, for example, the balance of payments dominated the headlines and worries
about a run on the pound kept the authorities on tenterhooks. Money supply
became the trendy indicator as monetarist theories were tested in the 1980s –
but now, especially since the early 1990s, inflation is the most watched
economic number used to attempt assessment of where interest rates and activity
But like flared trousers and mini-skirts, the old measures are still there,
waiting for their next turn in the spotlight. After years on the back-burner,
while attention focused on the Consumer Price Index, the balance of payments has
deteriorated to the point where some are wondering if the UK can continue
running huge deficits indefinitely. The balance of payments is back en vogue.
In 1997, the year New Labour took office, the UK’s deficit on its trading (or
current) account with the rest of the world was just £840m, one of only two
years since 1980 when the shortfall was less than £1bn. After ten years of New
Labour, and ten years of sustained growth, more jobs and falling unemployment,
the deficit reached a massive £57.8bn in 2007, equivalent to 4.2% of GDP.
In terms of its share of the UK economy, we have been here before – most
recently in 1988, when the sudden jump in the deficit signalled the unravelling
of the Thatcher-Lawson boom.
Are last year’s numbers, therefore, an early warning of a re-run of the early
These data, however, need to be put into the context of today’s economy, which
is very different from the 1960s when the balance of payments was a regular
source of grief for Harold Wilson.
Back then, we lived in an era of fixed exchange rates (the pound was $2.80
when Wilson became Premier in 1964) and there was constant nervousness that a
bad set of trade figures would spark a run on the pound. So our diminishing gold
and dollar reserves had to be used to protect the currency. Edward Heath solved
the problem at a stroke in 1971 by floating sterling, and the balance of
payments moved to the back-burner. Although, today, governments ignore currency
movements at their peril, there is now no specific rate of exchange they are
pledged to defend.
Second, during periods of sustained growth, deficits tend to rise as spending
exceeds our own production. This is more true today than 40 years ago, since
much of our manufacturing capacity has disappeared and we are more dependent on
imported goods. When the economy cools, therefore, the gap between exports and
imports should narrow, both because we spend less on foreign produced goods and
because UK companies become more export focused.
Especially worrying is the £88bn deficit on our trade in goods – a number
that has increased every year since the £12bn shortfall in 1998. This is
partially offset by the robust (£38.5bn last year) surplus the UK consistently
enjoys on its trade in services, primarily financial and business and by
investment income, though this dipped in 2007. Even after the positives have
been added back in, however, the UK still spends nearly £60bn a year more than
it receives from overseas.
Going forward, the issue is how much the surge in the deficit in 2006 and
2007 reflects strong domestic demand (a cyclical trend) or is a structural (more
long-term) problem. If markets were seriously concerned, sterling would take the
strain, as the dollar has with the huge US deficit, but the currency has been
quite resilient. This reflects the ease with which the UK has been able to
finance the deficit, which can be tracked on the capital and financial accounts
of the balance of payments. Investors have looked favourably on Britain’s
business environment and money has come in from a range of sources, and into
various parts of the economy.
But once all the Premier League football clubs and Times 100 companies are in
foreign hands, the UK has to work out how it is going to pay its way in
international trade. We are, after all, dependent on imports for many
essentials. North Sea oil is a diminishing national asset and the manufacturing
base has been shrinking for 40 years. On top of this, the world is changing.
Where previously we looked to our trading partners in Europe and to the US as
our key export markets – this accounted for 70% of all exports in 2007 – the
newer economies such as the BRICs of the world are now driving global growth and
we have been slow off the mark in selling to these markets.
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An excess of consumption as well as borrowing has led to the current slowdown
in activity. If any recovery is to be sustainable, and living standards
maintained, we must rebalance the economy.
This means a bigger contribution to GDP has to come from international trade.
The balance of payments deficit of £57.8bn in 2007 shows the size of the
challenge ahead and makes it clear that this is not going to be easy.


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Photographs by AP/FRANZISKA KRAUFMANN
Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen speaks with Mark Carney (left), governor of the Bank of England, and Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, during the G-20 finance ministers meeting Saturday in Baden-Baden, Germany.
Originally published March 19, 2017 at 03:30a.m., updated March 19, 2017 at 03:30a.m.
The world's top economic powers dropped a pledge to oppose trade protectionism after push-back from President Donald Trump's administration, which wants trade to more clearly benefit American companies and workers.
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SAFFORD — Where the garden grows, healthy food can go further.
According to the findings of the Graham County Community Health Analysis survey, the majority of Graham County residents get their food from local grocery stores. However, 21 percent of the individuals who answered the survey said a personal food source is their gardens.
Since January of 2020, a new Gila Valley Farmer’s Market group has sprung to life with the goal of gathering local farmers to sell their homegrown vegetables and fruits to the rest of the community.
“FMI gave Our Neighbor’s Farm and Pantry a grant last fall to do an assessment on healthy local food. We have four committees working simultaneously together. The committee I’m in charge of is the Farmer’s Market Committee,” said Graham County Chamber Director Vance Bryce. “A farmer’s market is like a garden — you have to do it one step at a time and it will grow. We’re going to try to have a couple of producers at wine fest to try to work out some kinks that we might have just as a test.”
Last Friday, the Gila Valley Farmer’s Market group met at the Graham County Fairgrounds for a site assessment. At this point the Gila Valley Farmer’s Market has a weekly meeting as well as a Facebook page for individuals who are interested in the possibility of selling their home-grown items.
Bryce told the Courier that the ripple effect of a farmer’s market could bring many positive results. For instance, a farmer’s market could bring a boost to tourism. Also, it could possibly encourage “farm-to-table” dining at local restaurants.
Calling himself a midwife to a Gila Valley farmer’s market, Bryce told the Courier that once established, he hoped to pass on the reigns of the market to an individual who would be in charge of it and paid for the work.
“There’s a lot of people in their 30s (and) late 20s that are looking for this stuff in our community,” Bryce said. “We can’t do this without the community. Farmer’s markets are all about community. There will end up being someone who runs this and will be a director. But if you’re interested in a farmer’s market and you want a farmer’s market, we need you. We can’t do this without you.”


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May's figures show that South Africa have recorded a trade deficit of R6.57 billion, compared to a trade deficit of R12.39 billion recorded in April 2014.
"The improvement in the trade account reflects a sharp decline in imports, mostly machinery and equipment as well as vehicles. In contrast, exports remained relatively unchanged despite some decline in precious metal exports, which probably relates to the recent strike in the platinum mining sector," Kevin Lings, chief economist at Stanlib, said in a statement.
The R6.57 billion deficit for May includes trade with Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland.
Exports increased from April to May by R0.45 billion, and imports decreased from April to May by R5.37 billion.
Precious metals and stones decreased by R2.1 million, and vehicles and transports equipment decreased by R1.2 million. Mineral products increased by one million rand.
Vegetable products increased by R618 million, machinery and electronics increased by R573 million, and wood, pulp and paper increased by R436 million.
"The April to May change in imports of goods is mainly reflected in [the] vehicles and transport equipment decrease by R2.1 million, [and the] machinery and electronics decrease by R1.7 million rand," the South African Revenue Service said in a statement.
The decrease in chemical products by R922 million also contributed to the change.
"Trade statistics with Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland for May 2014 recorded a trade surplus of R8.99 billion. The R8.99 billion surplus for May 2014 can be attributed to exports of R10.83 billion and imports of R1.84 billion," SARS explained.
"Exports increased from April to May by R1.23 billion and imports decreased from April to May by R0.36 billion. The cumulative surplus for 2014 is R41.64 billion compared to R32.65 billion in 2013."


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Even under new CEO Oliver Blume, Volkswagen Group will continue to reduce the number of models with combustion engines. Audi, for example, will no longer have combustion engines in their price lists from 2033 Cars and Sports. Before that, however, a key series of models with combustion engines would be reworked so that they could still be sold outside Europe after the EU plans to ban combustion engines from 2035. This applies to all of the company’s main brands.
According to the car magazine, the model schedule shows that next year VW will present new generations of the Tiguan and Passat and will give the T-Cross a facelift. VW will only offer the Passat as a station wagon, while sister company Skoda will continue to offer the Passat Superb competitor as a sedan with a combustion engine. The Tiguan will be presented in a new model with a two-liter TDI and a smaller, recently revised 1.5-liter TSI evo2, which as a plug-in hybrid provides a system output of up to 200 kW (272 hp). Golf will facelift in 2024.
According to the report, the combustion engines in Audi will also be updated at this time. The A3 will enter the market in 2023 in an additional “All Street” variant, the electric variant will not be available before 2026. The new generation of the A4 combustion engine will come in 2024, in 2025 the next A6 combustion engine will be introduced to the market. From 2026 Audi only wants to launch new models worldwide with fully electric drives. By this time, more than 20 battery models will be available from the brand.
At Skoda, the 2023 model schedule focuses on a new version of the Superb as a combustion engine, followed by the Kodiaq and a facelift of the Octavia in 2024. At Seat, the subsidiary that is increasingly relying on the new Cupra brand, there will be a new combustion engine and Terramar 2024, which Seat wants to offer as petrol, diesel and plug-in hybrid.
Porsche is also improving its combustion engine design with a view to synthetic fuels (“e-fuels”). In the next few years, the 911 will be modified first: in 2023, the 911 Journey will come, a road variant. Porsche plans to launch a hybrid version in 2024.


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Netflix has had a rough year with its stock plummeting by almost 50% in just the last month, with the streaming service losing subscribers for the first time in almost a decade. Now, a report by the New York Times claims that an internal memo from Netflix executives outlined plans to introduce a cheaper ad-supported subscription sometime in the final three months of this year.
Co-CEO Reed Hastings said in April that the company might be considering an ad tier to rectify its stalled-growth issue, following in the footsteps of rivals HBO Max and Disney Plus. The strategy seems to be moving forward faster than anticipated as Hastings previously said Netflix would be trying to “figure it out over the next year or two.”
Another upcoming change that will affect users is an additional fee for users sharing an account with different households, which is already being tested in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru. According to the memo, Netflix might implement the account sharing charge around the same time as the lower-cost ad-supported plan.
The streaming giant revealed during its earnings call that over 100 million households globally share a Netflix account and it wants to tap into it. While its net loss of subscribers for the last quarter was quite alarming, the platform’s growth had been waning since last year. However, it has made moves in emerging markets such as Kenya and Vietnam by offering free plans with limited content.


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There is now a slew of manufacturers that are working on electric bikes, the likes which include Tork Electric and Ather Energy. Emflux is also working on a bike and the Bengaluru-based company will take the wraps of its first e-sportsbike at the 2018 Auto Expo.
The bike claims to be able to hit 100kph in 3sec flat and hit a top speed of 200kph. The bike will be powered by a liquid-cooled AC Induction motor that puts out 68hp and 84Nm. The bike is capable of covering 200km on a full charge. The company also claims it can quick charge the bike in as little as 36 minutes. A standard wall charger will take three hours.
The bike will be fitted with a 7” TFT display and will also feature GPS navigation, real-time vehicle diagnostics and auto updates. You can also access data about the bike on an app.
Once the company shows its bike at the Auto Expo, it will begin accepting orders. However, the deliveries will be in the first quarter of 2019. The company will start with a limited run of 199 units, and is looking at pricing it between ₹5-6 lakh. Purchases can be made through the company’s website through digital payment methods.


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The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.
Quick Pitch: A shopping discovery engine built on the Twitter platform
Genius Idea: Although many retailers, brands and consumers share information about discounts and other offers on Twitter, it's not easy for shoppers to browse these deals in aggregate.
Tweetalicious, a six-person startup out of Pennsylvania, is aiming to address that very problem. The team has released a Twitter client for the web and iPhone devices [iTunes link] that surfaces deals shared on Twitter based on a users' preferences by category, such as apparel or home, and designer.
Users can give offers a thumbs up to help Tweetalicious better understand what they like, as well as save deals to a wishlist for later perusal. Deals are refreshed every few days to make sure they are up to date and relevant, says CMO Harrison Lee.
The client isn't robust enough for a heavy Twitter user, but it will serve the needs of casual users primarily interested in shopping, particularly as its algorithms are further refined. The company currently scrapes deals from Twitter and a handful of online retail partners, but is working with mall operators to facilitate offline shopping at the local level as well.
"We don't just want [Tweetalicious] to be a community of online shoppers," Lee says. "We also want to reach people who primarily shop within [their own] general vicinity."
Tweetalicious, which has not yet raised any funding to date, is currently focused on improving its existing product and growing its userbase. Soon, the startup hopes to incorporate deals pulled in from other social networks, including Facebook and LinkedIn, and to add verticals for users with interests outside of shopping.
An Android app is in the pipeline but no launch date has yet been set.
Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark
The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.


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By Mark Patterson New Zealand First MP, Spokesperson on Primary Industry.
The sale of Kiwi ice cream brand Tip Top to European company Froneri was a sad occasion indeed for New Zealand – a piece of kiwiana flogged off to the highest bidder.
But New Zealand First’s concern with Fonterra’s sale of the brand isn’t just about losing an iconic Kiwi company to foreign control – it’s the setback it represents in the pursuit of the volume to value dream we all share for the New Zealand economy.
That dream is of a value-led export sector.
This is achieved through the manufacturing of products such as ice cream and timber, instead of the low-value and volume-centric export of milk powder and raw logs, which leaves our economy perennially exposed to the volatilities of commodity markets.
However, that dream is at risk.
Continually, we witness an alarming trend of some of our largest value-add companies being sold to foreign interests. Tip Top certainly isn’t the only such company to be sold off overseas recently.
Silver Fern Farms, our leading marketer, processor and exporter of premium quality lamb, beef, and venison to the rest of the world, was sold to Chinese company Shanghai Maling in 2016. Westland Milk, our second-largest dairy cooperative, is currently under offer from Chinese multinational Yili.
And Tip Top, our country's largest ice cream manufacturer, has now sold to a company part-owned by Swiss giant Nestlé.
Now, no one disputes the economic reality of Fonterra’s situation.
Its debt position is concerning and it needs a capital injection to reduce that debt, after reporting its first ever full-year loss, Tip Top was at the top of its list of assets no longer deemed ‘core’.
But it can’t be understated just how much these sales harm New Zealand’s long-term interest.
As explained in my April column for Magic Talk, despite the foreign ownership of land being the more emotive issue, retaining control of our productive industries is of equal strategic importance to our economy.
That’s because the higher returns that, for instance, Tip Top captured by adding value to our basic milk product now goes to a company headquartered in London, instead of staying onshore.
Simply put, to transition to a high-value economy our productive sector must remain Kiwi-owned.
Companies like Fonterra, Zespri and Alliance Group must lead the way. In Government, boosting the value of our exports is a key focus and New Zealand First is walking the talk.
We recognise the need to boost productivity and move away from commodity production to become price-setters, rather than price-takers, on the international stage.
That’s why New Zealand First negotiated a $1 billion Research and Development tax credit and a $3 billion Provincial Growth Fund to realise those high-value economic growth opportunities in the regions. To realise the full benefit of these investments for our economy, we need to resist the urge to sell off our assets that create value-added opportunities for short-term gain, and instead put in the hard yards to retain their control.
Foreign investment needs to support New Zealand’s interest.
Which is why we secured a review of the Overseas Investment Act. With the first tranche of reforms complete, the second phase will review the nationally strategic asset provisions of the Act. With an increasingly large portion of the productive sector falling to foreign ownership, this review couldn’t come soon enough.
The Coalition Government is doing what it can to make the volume to value dream a reality.
To realise that future for our export sector, companies like Fonterra need to do what they can to ensure our value-added local industries remain in Kiwi hands.
Mark Patterson MP is New Zealand First Spokesperson on Primary Industry.


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Last month we reported on a number of trailers for the upcoming racing title, GRID 2
which showed tracks from around the world
Today we get to see some of those tracks again in a lot more detail and in daylight this time, as developer Codemasters has released a clip from one of their livestream events. The gameplay video, running at a lengthy 28 minutes, shows off a number of tracks, some very new cars, and a couple of new features and game modes. All of which is accompanied by commentary and additional information from the development team. It's worth noting however, that the team clearly state that the gameplay shown comes from a PC, but is being played using an Xbox controller.
will be racing into North America on May 28th and in the UK on May 31st.


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Dallas Salon Owner Says She Has No Other Choice but to Re-Open Despite Stay-at-Home Order
"It's either come in and make money to be able to feed your family or stay home and freak out," Shelly Luther told Inside Edition.
Like a lot of small businesses right now, hair salons are struggling financially during the coronavirus pandemic. One Dallas salon owner has made the controversial decision to re-open her business tomorrow in violation of Texas's stay-at-home order shuttering all non-essential businesses.
A mom of three, Shelly Luther said she feels she has no other choice.
"I'm behind on my mortgage," Luther told Inside Edition. "I know a lot of my stylists haven't paid their mortgage. It's either come in and make money to be able to feed your family or stay home and freak out."
Since news broke that she's defying the order, Luther said her phone has been ringing off the hook with people who want their hair done.
"Obviously I don't want anyone to get sick and I don't want the virus to spread," Luther said. "It will be one of the safer places for people to go rather than going to Walmart or Home Depot."
The state of Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation told Inside Edition that if they receive a formal complaint, they will open a case that will be investigated.
There are 19 stylists who work at the salon. Luther said they need to get back to work immediately, with strict precautions in place for both workers and clients.
Luther could face serious consequences for opening, including a possible $1,000 fine and even up to 180 days in jail.
"No one wants to go to jail, but if push comes to shove I'm willing to take that risk," Luther said.
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European stocks struggled for direction on Thursday ahead of high level talks between U.S. and Chinese negotiators as the impact of the trade war hit one major exporter.
The Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, -0.21% increased 0.04% to 380.45.
Attention was squarely on the high-level talks between the U.S. and China taking place in Washington. U.S. stock futures ES00, -0.05% were volatile in overnight trade amid varying published reports characterizing either an imminent deal or a possible breakdown.
Shares of Philips Electronics PHIA, -8.02% tumbled 8% in Amsterdam as the company issued a warning over its connected-care business, which the company blamed on the impact of tariffs as well as reduced production levels.
“While it is good to see growth coming through and Philips has a good track record of margin expansion over the past few years, Q3 is a slip-up and Connected Care remains the perennial underperformer,” said Scott Bardo, an analyst at Berenberg.
LVMH Moet Hennessy MC, +4.12% shares surged 4.6% as the luxury-goods giant reported 17% revenue in the third quarter, with watch and jewelry sales growing despite Hong Kong unrest. “We see LVMH as a high quality, defensive earnings growth name, which is not reflected in its valuation,” said Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts in reiterating a buy rating.
Kering KER, +2.59% , the owner of Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent brands, added 3.6%.


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Songs stored on USB flash drives could soon be included in the UK singles charts. After the success of Keane's single 'Nothing's in my way' which was released on a flash memory drive last year, Glaswegian band The Fratellis are doing a similar thing.
They've released their new single 'Baby Fratelli' on a USB drive this morning, amid calls by industry insiders that USB single sales should count in the official UK singles chart.
It's a move that could spell the beginning of the end for CD singles, with a new generation preferring to buy digital downloads instead of chart songs on CD. Keane's USB single last year sold out within one day of being released.
The Fratelli single has been put onto 7,000 USB memory sticks and shipped to music stores around the UK.
Gennaro Castaldo of HMV said, "Success for this format would create a growing case for the Official UK Charts Company to consider making them chart eligible."