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The respective boards of Idealliance and Epicomm have approved a proposed merger of the two associations. Each body of members, totaling more than 3000 companies in the graphic communications industry, now has the opportunity to vote in favor of the move; voting is expected to be completed by the end of February.
Orbus Exhibit & Display Group has released its 2016 Exhibitor’s Handbook with 175 new portable and modular displays, as well as a selection of new exhibit lines.
Highlighted additions include:
The Wallcoverings Association (WA) has chosen Al Rothschild, president of MDC Wallcoverings, for the Justin Allman Award. It’s “presented each year to a leader whose long-lasting contributions have helped to shape the future of the wallcoverings industry,” according to a release. The award was established in 1946 in honor of the founder of the Wallcoverings Wholesalers Association, an earlier adaptation of the WA.
HP has launched its inaugural competition designed to showcase creative work produced on the company’s digital printers. The North American Inkspiration award winners will be presented at Dscoop San Antonio, April 14-16. Categories include commercial printing, labels and packaging, and large-format applications. Judges include:
Canon has released the Océ Arizona 1200 UV flatbed printer series for mid-volume print providers. The series is available in three modular configurations – the 1240, 1260, and 1280 offering four, six, and eight ink channels, respectively – and two sizes: The GT printers accept boards up to 2 in. thick and up to 4 x 8 ft, while the XT printers accept boards up to 8 x 10 ft (or two 4 x 8-ft boards).
This year’s Expo was an eye-opening reminder of how pervasive imaging technology has become: In medicine, the company hopes its tiny endoscopes will enable direct visualization of hard-to-see anatomies within the human body. And in space, Canon is developing optics for a pioneering telescope that will allow astronomers to see further into the galaxy than ever before.
Epson has added the P20000 to its SureColor line of wide-format digital printers. The 64-in. model is designed for printing fine art and photography, featuring a reformulated 9-color UltraChrome Pro ink set with four-level gray technology. The P20000 also leverages dedicated Photo Black and Matte Black ink channels, as well as Resin Encapsulation Technology for improved gloss uniformity, contrast ratio, and clarity.
The annual Graphics of the Americas Expo will host a special showcase of Epson's Digital Couture project, a runway show featuring high-end fashion printed on the company's SureColor F-Series dye-sublimation printers. Keep reading on our sister site.
Contra Vision provided a 237 x 35-foot projection surface to supplement artistic performances held at Media City Salford last July to commemorate the 100th anniversary of World War I’s outbreak. The media was designed to allow visibility within the building while showcasing digital imagery of the war to the outdoor audience of 5000.
Check out more great print projects from our November/December issue:


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Cryptocurrencies have experienced some difficulty over the past year, with values rising and falling, no doubt influenced in part by Elon Musk, the CEO of influential Tesla, with Bitcoin. After Musk announced early in 2021 that Tesla It will accept bitcoin payments for car purchases in the United States, following up on the company’s $1.5 billion investment in bitcoin in February.
Despite this, a growing number of large institutions are joining digital payments, and even countries have recently joined in with El Salvador in legal tender for Bitcoin.
Because while cryptocurrency volatility remains a concern, the expectation of clearer regulatory guidelines and the emergence of central bank digital currencies now provides financial managers with more avenues for “stress testing of crypto use cases,” he says. Alexander Pant, Head of Research, Gartner Finance Practice.
This is what has given many institutions the confidence to embrace cryptocurrency in 2021, with Gartner increasing interest in digital currencies and blockchain applications among CFOs since the beginning of 2021.
Mastercard and Visa are among the large organizations that are adopting encryption
Among some of the major global players who have already made the decision to use and accept cryptocurrency this year is Mastercard, which announced in November that it would allow partners on its network to enable its customers to buy, sell and carry cryptocurrency using a digital wallet, as well as reward them with cryptocurrency under their loyalty programs. .
Credit card company Visa is also on board, experimenting with a scheme with the Crypto.com platform to accept cryptocurrency to settle transactions on its payment network, and will now accept USD Coin, a stable cryptocurrency pegged to the value of the US dollar.
AXA InsuranceAnd MicrosoftStarbucks, Tesla, PayPaland Sotheby’s, Expedia, and Coca Cola Among the biggest brand names to adapt to the use of cryptocurrencies.
At Microsoft, Bitcoin can be used to pay for a variety of services, including Xbox Live and Skype; While at Starbucks, customers can use the new Bakkt app to pay for drinks and goods at the coffee chain with transferred Bitcoin.
Even wider adoption expected in 2022
Larger companies’ wider adoption of cryptocurrency will gain momentum in 2022 and beyond, according to new Gartner The report, which predicts that a fifth of large organizations will use digital currencies by 2024.
So, what is driving this broader adoption?
The increasing mainstream acceptance of cryptocurrencies on traditional payment platforms and the emergence of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) will prompt many large companies to “incorporate digital currencies into their applications in the coming years.” Aviva Litan, Senior Analyst, Vice President, Information Technology Practice, Gartner.
Gartner says the increased acceptance and adoption of cryptocurrencies is driven in part by the already healthy environment for providers and turnkey solutions available to organizations that have identified a specific cryptocurrency use case.
According to Litan, among the primary use cases for digital currencies identified, there will be no need for most organizations to develop a custom blockchain application package. “Many large banks, payment platforms, institutional digital asset custodians, and wallet providers have already taken on the heavy burden in this space, which should provide large institutions with minimal friction in deploying their crypto applications.”
Additional factors that could make digital currency applications more acceptable to financial managers in the next 12-24 months include hedging against the highest rate of inflation in more than 39 years, increased regulatory clarity, improved energy use, and the adoption of employees, consumers and suppliers.
“There has long been a theoretical appeal in using blockchain and digital currencies for financial managers as a way to cut costs, increase transaction processing speed, reach new global customers, move toward continuous accounting and auditing, and create a system that is free of errors and fraud — now that congressional oversight begins to evolve and the possibility of joining the As more central banks join China in launching a central bank digital currency, we can see a path where the use of digital currencies can be more predictable and stable in the future.”
Pant also noted that the macroeconomic pressures associated with persistent high inflation, and its impact on fiat currencies, may prompt more financial managers to explore some digital currencies as a potential store of value for a portion of their reserves.
“2022 is the year we expect CFOs to rapidly increase their knowledge of digital assets, currencies, and other blockchain applications. When the CEO and board of directors begin to seek the CFO’s opinion, they need to have a perspective on the risks and points of differentiation for their organization,” he explains. “We are starting to see some Fortune 500 companies plotting scenarios of how they would respond if a country or supplier moved to do business with digital currency only and what steps they would take as a result.”
The use of large companies is interested in cryptocurrency
Gartner predicts that digital currencies will be used primarily by these organizations for payment, a store of value and the ability to take advantage of the high-return investments available in decentralized finance (DeFi) applications.
We highlight five recent use cases by large organizations in using cryptocurrency.
1. BURGER KING
While Burger King Moscow and Venezuela began accepting bitcoin as payment for a meal in 2020, burger king North America got into the crypto process until recently when it partnered with investment app Robinhood Crypto in a limited-time promotion, ‘Burger King with a Side of Crypto’ giveaway, allowing Royal Perks members to claim free cyptocoin every day.
Last year, the payments app introduced a way for users in the US to buy, sell and hold selected cryptocurrencies via their cash or cash as well as their cash accounts as well as learn and track crypto within their PayPal app.
3. Coca-Cola Amatil
Coca-Cola Amatil, one of the world’s largest non-alcoholic and ready-to-drink bottlers and distributors in the Asia Pacific region, partnered with online asset platform Centrapay in 2020, allowing them to accept bitcoin as an official payment method. There are now over 2,000 vending machines in Australia and New Zealand that accept cryptocurrency.
The first major auction house to accept cryptocurrency for physical artwork, Sotheby’s offered bitcoin or ether as a payment option when it presented Banksy’s artwork Love Is In The Air at its art sale in New York in May 2021.
AT&T became the first mobile adopter in 2019 to accept cryptocurrency payments, which it implements via BitPay.

domain: news


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An amateur Turkish football club claims it has become the first to buy a player using the cryptocurrency, Bitcoin.
Harunustaspor, who compete in the Turkish Sakarya First Division Group B, paid for 22-year-old Omar Faruk Kiroglu using the cryptocurrency.
Kıroglu was paid 0.0524 in Bitcoin, which works out to £370.33 at the time of printing, and 2,500 Turkish lira (£470.03) to join Harunustaspor.
Club chairman Haldun Sehit told CNN Turk that the club completed the world first “to make a name for ourselves in the country and the world.”
Kıroglu added: “As my chairman said, we are doing something new.”
This isn’t the first time a cryptocurrency has been used in the sports world.
In December, a Chinese millionaire purchased four Formula 1 cars, valued at about £4m, using the digital currency Litecoin.
According to Bitcoin News, that sale included a Ferrari-powered Sauber C30 from the 2011 F1 season, which was driven by Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi .
English Premier League club Arsenal have also recently signed an agreement with gaming company CashBet to promote its own branded cryptocurrency, CashBet Coin.


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A man was caught by police with a shopping bag stuffed full of £5,000 worth of cannabis in his Audi.
Wayne Jones, 44, from Tonyrefail , was found to have a Co-op bag packed with more than 13oz of the Class B drug in his car.
The court heard a search warrant was executed at his home on December 5 last year.
Prosecutors said Jones was seen running towards his flat, spending a few minutes inside, and coming out carrying a shopping bag.
Julian Greenwood, prosecuting, said officers searched his Audi and found the shopping bag contained a "significant amount" of cannabis.
The court heard the bag held 13.5oz of the Class B drug with a street value of nearly £5,000.
Prosecutors said the defendant had a relevant previous conviction for producing cannabis.
There was no application under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
Jones, from Caer Gwerlas in Tonyrefail, admitted possessing cannabis with intent to supply.
He entered a basis of plea, stating he was just looking after the drugs.
There was a trial of issue during which a specialist police officer gave evidence.
Judge Eleri Rees said: "I reject your basis of plea."
Lowri Wynn Morgan, defending, accepted an immediate jail term was inevitable and asked for it to be as short as possible, reminding the judge he pleaded guilty.
Jones was jailed for 12 months for a significant role and Judge Rees made an order for the drugs to be destroyed.


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| Dec 5, 2011
| 4:49 PM
Most Americans are just an email, Tweet or Facebook update away from reaching someone else — or the entire world. And the trend is accelerating, as the number of email accounts alone is expected to grow by almost a billion worldwide from last year...
| Dec 8, 2011
| 5:41 AM
What better honor than to be voted the best of the best by your customers and colleagues?
In August, we asked Howard Magazine readers to tell us the most notable businesses, people and places from Marriottsville to Savage and from Elkridge to...
| Jan 25, 2012
| 4:57 PM
That download of an Angry Birds app, Katy Perry song, or "Captain America" movie could end up costing consumers more, thanks to a "digital products" tax proposal that's being pushed in Annapolis this year by Gov. Martin O'Malley.
The bill is part of a...
| Jan 26, 2012
| 3:47 AM
Today's forecast calls for cloudy skies with rain developing later and a high temperature around 50 degrees. It is expected to be rainy tonight with the temperature rising to around 54 degrees.
Check our updates for this morning's...
| Dec 27, 2011
Don't call the Ivy Bookshop's new owners New Yorkers.
Sure, Ed Berlin and his wife Ann have lived in the orbit of Manhattan for more than three decades, working in corporate careers. But they insist they love Baltimore — Ed was raised in Forest...
| Mar 7, 2012
| 4:38 PM
Apple unveiled its new iPad, but it's not called iPad 3 or iPad HD as widely speculated for weeks.
Rather it stuck with simply calling it the iPad, a move that speaks to the company's ambitions to have its blockbuster tablet supplant the ubiquitous...
| Dec 28, 2011
| 7:44 AM
So, the reindeer sweater from Aunt Emma this Christmas isn’t quite your style, so you and thousands of others are now in the process of returning gifts.
Which retailers provide the speediest returns?
STELLAService, which rates the customer service...
| Mar 19, 2012
| 1:31 PM
A budget plan moving through the House of Delegates calls for an income tax increase of less than half the size of the hike passed by the Senate last week and would spare taxpayers who make less than $100,000.
A House committee approved amendments...
| Mar 19, 2012
| 5:18 PM
A Maryland House committee voted Monday to raise income taxes — but by a significantly smaller amount than either Gov.Martin O'Malleyor the Senate has proposed.
The House plan, backed by SpeakerMichael E. Busch, would spare taxpayers who make...
| Jan 5, 2012
| 3:10 PM
Barnes & Noble said today that it may spin off the business for its Nook e-reader, the most serious competition for Amazon's Kindle.
In a news release about holiday sales, CEO William Lynch said the company wants to “unlock" the value of the...
| Jul 23, 2011
| 11:51 AM
The news that Borders, the nation's second-largest book chain, is giving up the ghost and closing its doors after 40 years came as no real surprise to anyone.
The Wall Street Journal observed last week that Borders' exit was the "'first major casualty of...
| Mar 26, 2012
| 9:17 AM
•••• "Angry Birds Space" did more than 10 million downloads in under three days. In my professional opinion, that’s a lot of flippin’ downloads. [@AngryBirds]
•••• Some simultaneous...


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This week saw the conclusion of our latest HWBOT OC contest, the ‘GIGABYTE Feel the Force’ contest. Based on the Intel Z87 platform we teamed up with Corsair to award the contest winners with some pretty tasty prizes including a GIGABYTE Z87X-OC Force motherboard, some CORSAIR Force Series SSDs and Corsair Graphite Series chassis.
After a month of failry intense competition, Vivi from South Africa came out on top with Overclockers Hero and laoshu1919 of Mainland china taking 2nd and 3rd places respectfully.
You can check out the contest conclusion at hWBOT.org
Info about the GIGABYTE Z87X-OC Force can be found here.


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Home Trust, a Canada-based provider of financial product and service alternatives, has selected Gemalto, a provider of digital security products and services, for the migration of its magnetic stripe credit cards to EMV (Chip and PIN) smart payment cards.
Gemalto said it will provide microprocessor payment cards, as well as data preparation, card personalization and fulfillment at its facility in Ontario.
Gemalto’s consulting service will be engaged with the project providing guidance in how to interact with all members of the payments ecosystem to ensure Home Trust is prepared to meet the Canadian EMV requirements. Gemalto will also train the Home Trust team on all activities associated with EMV migration.
Gerald Soloway, CEO of Home Trust, said: “Gemalto has already provided us with the comprehensive and collaborative support that we needed to begin issuing EMV payment cards and successfully participate in the pilots in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario. We are looking forward to continuing our work with Gemalto to complete our conversion to EMV technology.”
Jack Jania, vice president and general manager of secure transactions at Gemalto North America, said: “We are honored to be working with Home Trust and will leverage our global EMV migration experience to ensure a smooth transition to EMV compliant cards.”


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MOST people think about either psyching themselves up to diet or actually dieting, but very few think about whether they'll be able to keep the weight off.
What time is Super Slimmers: Did They Really Keep The Weight Off on and what's it about?
The documentary is on for an hour from 8pm on Channel 4.
So what is it about? Well the name is fairly self-explanatory. It features six people who lost 80 stone between them through various diets, and looks at whether they were able to keep the weight off.
It will look into the latest theory claiming that your body can try and sabotage your attempts to diet as it sees it as a survival threat. This is by way of releasing hormones to make food taste better.
Who is in it?
Six super-slimmers whose dramatic before-and-afters turned them into celebrities in the weight loss world are taking part in the documentary.
This includes Harriet Jenkins, who was named Slimming World's Woman of the Year after losing 15st in as many months.
Jane Hall, who was Rosemary Conley’s Slimmer of the Year in 2012 after losing 8st in two years, is also featuring in the show.
As is Leroy Wilson, who survived on 500 calories per day over seven months and dropped 20st.
The Sun met spoke to the three of them about piling back on the pounds after shedding the weight.
What diets are featured?
Harriet Jenkins followed Slimming World's Food Optimising eating plan. This saw her swap fast food and ready meals for home-cooked meals.
She dropped two dress sizes and 1.5st in a month.
Speaking to The Sun, she said that she put weight on “at about the same rate that I lost it – a stone a month”.
Jane Hall joined the Rosemary Conley Diet and Fitness Club to try and stop bingeing and comfort eating.
Rosemary Conley offers several diets, including a 1,200 calorie a day plan, a low-fat, low-Gi carbohydrate-based and high-protein-based plan and a 'Gi Hip and Thigh Diet'.
Meanwhile Leroy survived on just 500 calories a day to shed 20st.
He was on a LighterLife diet, which includes their foodpacks and a calorie-controlled diet.
They have a fasting 5:2 diet plan, a Lite LCD plan and a total VLCD plan.


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FDA warns against recalled anti-depression drugs
May 27, 2014 8:06pm
Philippine health authorities on Tuesday advised the public against buying three batches of anti-depression drugs that had been recalled by their manufacturer.
The Food and Drug Administration said GlaxoSmithKline USA recalled batches of its Paroxetine 20mg tablet (Seroxat) that were made in Romania.
"A Warning Letter was issued by the US FDA to GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), USA because the active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) manufacturer, SmithKline Beecham (Cork) Ltd. at Currabinny Carriagaline Cork, Ireland had critical deviations which caused the Paroxetine API to be adulterated," FDA head Kenneth Hartigan-Go said in FDA Advisory 2014-038.
While the advisory was dated May 12, it was posted on the FDA website only on Tuesday.
Covered by the voluntary recall are batches 601, 602M, and 603.
Hartigan-Go said proxetine is used for treatment of depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and panic disorder with or without agoraphobia or the fear of public places.
The FDA advised consumers to buy their medicines from legitimate pharmacies and drug outlets and ask for official receipts.
"If you happen to buy batches of Seroxat that are subject of product recall, the consumer may report to FDA via email@example.com or to GalxoSmithKline Philippines Inc at tel. nos.: +6328648516 and +6328920762 ext. 8643 or mobile nos.: +639178882315 and+639178594598," it said.
Suspected adverse reactions should be reported immediately to FDA by visiting www.fda.gov.ph. —Joel Locsin/NB, GMA News


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New Delhi (Sputnik) — Notwithstanding the fact that India is not among the teams participating in the FIFA World Cup, a huge number of Indians are visiting Russia to witness live the football extravaganza. According to an estimate, fans from the country are buying more FIFA World Cup tickets than their English peers who are known the world over as the biggest football fans.
"Indians, particularly from the states of Kerala and West Bengal, participate in large numbers to witness live World Cup matches and it has been a trend for a long time now. In case of the upcoming FIFA World Cup, there is additional enthusiasm for the fact that Indians feel emotionally connected with Russia and the people of that country," celebrated Indian footballer I M Vijayan told Sputnik.
Vijayan along with many of his fellow footballers is also headed to Russia to witness the football extravaganza.
Indian FIFA fans, who were successful in purchasing online tickets, expressed excitement to visit Russia for this global event.
One of the successful buyers, Rohit Saxena from New Delhi, who will be visiting Russia with his young son Vir Saxena, told Sputnik, "My son and I are very excited and looking forward to visiting Russia for the FIFA World Cup. We got a chance to purchase our tickets when the online purchasing window opened in March for a few days. Although there was an online queue the purchase process was fairly simple. A few hours later we were presented available match tickets. Out of those we quickly selected our preferred matches in Moscow. The best part of the process is the FanID — that's given to everyone who has a ticket. With this FanID we do not need a visa to enter Russia, will get free transport on the metro and between cities in Russia."
"In addition to football, I have a keen interest in the history of world wars. We are looking forward to visiting some of the popular museums and related sites in and around Moscow," Rohit added.
A report carried by the Irish Examiner news portal says that almost 400,000 World Cup tickets have been sold in the latest FIFA allocation, but England fans have remained reticent buyers. The sales window opened on March 13 and saw a total of 394,433 tickets purchased. Russia accounted for the vast majority of that number, with 216,134 going to home supporters. United States, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, and Brazil represented the top five overseas nations and Peru, China, Australia and India figured in the top 10 countries while England did not. India accounted for 4,509 sales.
Travelling to #Russia for the 2018 FIFA World Cup™? Our blog is full of brilliant tips & fascinating facts to help you get the most from your trip https://t.co/fo8EUXvLAP #football #WednesdayWisdom pic.twitter.com/HvMuY9GRii— visitrussiauk (@VisitRussiaUK) April 4, 2018
The Russian National Tourist Office has meanwhile posted on its Twitter handle that it is willing to extend all help to tourists in making their trip to Russia a memorable one.
Make your FIFA World Cup 2018 trip a reality. We can help you with flights, hotels, Fan ID, visa, match schedules, insurance, the best places to eat & drink, everything you need to have a wonderful & memorable trip to #Russia https://t.co/JHAJ4TOfKX #TuesdayMotivation #football pic.twitter.com/T2WizAHGJT— visitrussiauk (@VisitRussiaUK) April 3, 2018
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Sputnik.


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Jungle Jim's got your gator
Two freshly caught alligators are on ice in display cases at Jungle Jim’s International Markets — one in Fairfield and one in Eastgate – and will be filleted for sale Saturday afternoon.
A post and accompanying photos on Jungle Jim's Facebook page of the scaly black, sharped-tooth reptiles that took their last breaths in Florida are drawing mixed reactions.
“I’ll have an Alligator sandwich - and make it snappy,” quipped a man who lives in the west England city of Gloucester.
Closer to home, a Miamisburg man weighed in with, “I loved gator nuggets when we went to Florida. They (were) delicious.”
But a Maineville mother worried that, “I just can't even bring my kids to your stores, they love animals too much.”
The gator at Fairfield is more than 9 feet long and weighs nearly 400 pounds.
Measurements aren’t provided for the “East-gator,” but Jungle Jim’s says bits of both would go down deliciously with the market’s recipe for an alligator appetizer, “which combines sautéed aromatics like onion, celery, and herbs with tender chunks of gator meat.”
Jungle Jim’s will sell the alligator meat for about $19.99 per pound.
While the markets have sold frozen alligator meat before, it’s the first time they have sold fresh alligator meat – and displayed the full body of the reptiles, said Matt Rust, an assistant manager at Jungle Jim’s.
“I hope it was ethically farmed or hunted but with no source listed in the post it's unlikely,” a man from Atlanta said on Jungle Jim’s Facebook page.
“Alligator can be prepared in a variety of ways and be quite tasty but it's important to remember not too long ago these guys were put on the reserve list for species.
“So if you're going to eat alligator make sure you know where your getting it so future generations can enjoy the animals too,” he said.
Rust said the alligators were caught in the wild by licensed fishermen and purchased through licensed dealers, all of whom are required to operate under standards regarding how many alligators can be caught and how the reptiles must be treated.


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The U.S. Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index rose 0.4 percent month-over-month in May 2021, less than the 0.6 percent increase in the previous month.
The cost of services rose 0.3 percent from 0.5 percent the previous month, and goods price inflation fell to 0.7 percent from 0.9 percent. Core PCE inflation, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.5 percent and was below market expectations of 0.6 percent. On a year-over-year basis, the PCE price index rose 3.9 percent and the core index rose 3.4 percent, the fastest increase since the early 1990s and in line with market forecasts.
Meanwhile, U.S. personal spending was unchanged in May 2021 after an upwardly revised 0.9 percent increase in April and diverging from market expectations of a 0.4 percent increase. Growth in spending on services was mostly offset by a decline in spending on goods. In services, growth was broad-based, led by leisure, food and lodging services, as well as housing and utilities. The decline in spending on vehicles and vehicle parts was a major contributor to the decline in goods spending.
The US Dollar Index fell below 91.7 points after the economic data described above, and the EUR/USD pair rose above 1.1950 as the US infrastructure spending deal seems to be boosting appetite for riskier currencies and the aforementioned PCE price data failed to surprise markets. For the week as a whole, the US currency is heading for a decline of more than 0.5%, which could be a correction of an even earlier week with strong USD appreciation after the Federal Reserve meeting.
Investors in the US stock market also welcomed the inflation data, with the S&P 500 index reaching a new all-time high. After last week's bad impression and fears of a quick US interest rate hike this week, US Fed officials sought to reassure financial markets that there would be no immediate monetary tightening. This, in turn, seems to be believed by Wall Street and investors buying increasingly expensive US stocks.
Daniel Kostecki, Chief Analyst Conotoxia Ltd.
Materials, analysis and opinions contained, referenced or provided herein are intended solely for informational and educational purposes. Personal opinion of the author does not represent and should not be constructed as a statement or an investment advice made by Conotoxia Ltd. All indiscriminate reliance on illustrative or informational materials may lead to losses. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.
77.46% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.


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Samsung has thrown down the latest gauntlet in its decade-long duel with Apple, unleashing three new smartphones that it hopes will compete against the latest iPhone range.
The entry-level Galaxy S10e and higher-end Galaxy S10+ each offer something different in terms of size, specs and price but it will be the flagship Galaxy S10 that goes directly toe-to-toe with Apple’s iPhone XS.
Six months separate the launch cycles of the Android and iOS flagships, technically giving Samsung the edge when it comes to delivering the most state-of-the-art smartphone.
But how do they match up when lined up side by side? Here is a full run-down of how the two phones compare.
All three versions of each smartphone come in different sizes but the standard models are roughly the same size.
The iPhone XS clocks in slightly smaller than the Galaxy S10, measuring 5.8 inches compared to the 6.1-inch Samsung. Compared to early generations of the phones, both represent a significant step up in size.
The original iPhone in 2007 measured just 4.5 inches, with Steve Jobs famously saying “no one’s going to buy” a big phone.
Anyone looking for a compact high-end smartphone will find themselves severely limited in 2019, forced to choose between regressing to the iPhone SE or going for the Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact.
The iPhone XS sports a dual-lens 12-megapixel camera, offering an incremental improvement on the iPhone X.
In contrast, Samsung has gone for significant leap forward with its camera, adding an additional lens to make it a triple-lens setup on the rear.
On top of a 12MP lens, the Galaxy S10 comes with an ultra-wide lens and a telephoto lens.
Both the Galaxy S10 and iPhone XS feature top-of-the-line processers, with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 and A12 Bionic respectively. When it comes to storage, however, the Galaxy device defintely has the edge.
The iPhone XS can hold up to 512GB of internal storage, just like the Galaxy S10, but has no option for expandable storage.
In contrast, the Samsung smartphone can add an additional 512GB of internal storage – boosting it to a whopping 1TB of storage capacity.
The Galaxy S10 comes with a 3,400mAh battery, though it’s difficult to say how this will translate to real-world useage.
Apple doesn’t disclose the size of its iPhone XS battery, though claims it holds 30 minutes more charge than its predecesser.
While both support wireless charging, the Samsung goes one step further with the addition of reverse wireless charging, meaning Galaxy S10 owners can share their battery life with other compatible devices.
The Galaxy S10 comes with a few stand-out features, including an in-screen fingerprint scanner and Fast Wireless Charging 2.0.
A hole-punch design to fit the front-facing camera on the screen also sets the Galaxy S10 apart from its rival, which features a notch design.
The Galaxy S10 is available from £799 for the 128GB model, rising to £999 for the 512GB version.
Despite being older, the iPhone XS is still more expensive than the Android alternative.
The most basic iPhone XS starts at £999 and goes all the way up to £1,349 for the top-of-the range model.


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In the last days and hours of 2018, we’ve been reflecting on the year that was and we are now excitedly anticipating the new year.
December 31, 2018
Last month Vogue fashion writer Tanja Gacic outlined the current state of sustainable and ethical fashion across Australia including an extensive list of the brands that are trying to bring about a new wave of consumer consciousness. Her work covered everything from fashion landfill to pollution and water consumption.
July 14, 2018


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Pets at Home shares dive after profits at the retailer take a hit due to price cutting prompted by rising competition
Pets at Home said full-year profits took a hit after it cut prices to tackle rising competition, and signalled more price cuts were to come this year.
Pre-tax profits at the UK's biggest pets retailer fell 12.3 per cent to £84.5million in the year to the end of March.
The news sent shares in the company fall as much as 8.7 per cent to 143p.
Profit fall: Pets at Home said it expected more price cuts as competition intensifies
Pets at Home, which also has a veterinary business and offers grooming services, said margins fell to 51.7 per cent from 54.2 per cent a year earlier due to investments to lower prices.
It now expects a further drop of 75 to 125 basis points this year and 'single-digit' profit growth.
Pets at Home, which has 448 stores and 461 veterinary practices across the UK, said it would open 10 to 20 grooming salons and 20 to 25 vet practices during the year.
Chief executive Peter Pritchard said there would be 'some further price investments' as he referred to the company's efforts to stay competitive.
It comes as last week German rival Zooplus said it was expanding its UK fulfilment centre area by three times to improve deliveries.
Pritchard added: 'We know from history that when times are tough people are likely to cut back on a sofa, car, or holiday, but the pet market tends to fare pretty well through recessionary and tough times.'
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- The all new Toyota Mirai 2021 hydrogen fuel cell car


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Don’t forget about Free Comic Book Day today, scans and preview of the FCBD issue inside…
Archie has recently added their preview of Sonic the Hedgehog #1, their Free Comic Book Day 2008 Edition of Sonic’s first Archie comic. As reported last month, Free Comic Book Day will be taking place today across the country at participating comic shops, check out our original report for more information.
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #1—FCBD 2008 EDITION
by Mike Gallagher & Dave Manak
Sonic the Hedgehog has been speeding his way through video games, TV, and comic books since 1992! He is undoubtedly one of the biggest cultural icons throughout the world. Now, Archie Comics is paying homage to the blue blur by taking us back to where it all began. With the overwhelming success and popularity of the Sonic Archives reprint series, we are proud to bring you a reprint of the first-ever Sonic comic from the ongoing series: Sonic The Hedgehog #1! In honor of this year’s Free Comic Book Day, Archie is re-releasing the classic stories from this prized issue, but with a special bonus: the cover will be completely re-imagined with a modern “spin” by current Sonic artist, SPAZ!
32-page, full color comic


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Global Corporate Finance has recently advised the shareholders of TransferZero, which was acquired by the Kenyan company, BitPesa. TranserZero is a Spanish startup that operates in the sphere of FinTech. They created a platform that makes it possible to transfer funds all over the world. The following text outlines the transaction in more detail:
Up until now, the Internet of Things (IoT) has only existed in the peripheral vision of small and medium-sized businesses. With companies such DropCam raising an eye-watering $30 million and SmartThings taking in $12.5 million in investments to kick start their businesses, the expense of designing an IoT platform or prototype has put many smaller manufacturers out of the picture.


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Vision and intellect were two strengths that African American auto dealers exploited to stay on the road of profitability in 2003. They drew strength not only from flexing the marketing muscle of a large body of store locations, but also from rethinking operational efficiency. Auto dealers had to think differently and incorporate new ideas to gain the maximum benefit from expenditures, customer relationships, and staff. In some cases, they shifted dollars from expensive advertising to in-house departments dedicated to keeping in touch with existing customers and welcoming new prospects to their businesses.
“On the surface, sales were good. The U.S. auto industry prolonged the best sales years in its history to five consecutive years,” notes Paul Taylor, chief economist at the National Automobile Dealers Association. And while 2003 surpassed any year prior to 1999, it yielded the slowest movement of products since that time. The 16.6 million vehicles sold in 2003 lagged behind the slightly speedier 2002 pace of 16.8 million, which itself had not matched the 17.1 million units sold in 2001 or the record-breaking 17.4 million units sold in 2000. An increase in sales was the result of a 43-year low in short-term interest rates and stronger customer enticements like cash incentives and low- or zero-percent-rate financing deals. Taylor says that the average customer incentive for lightweight vehicles in 2003 was $2,664.
While every other class of vehicle sold fewer products in 2003, two categories sold more. Crossover utility vehicle purchases jumped 34.7%. Unlike the traditional sports utility vehicles (SUVs) that are built like trucks, crossover utility vehicles are based on a car chassis. Gaining in popularity, crossovers such as the Chrysler Pacifica, Cadillac SRX, Volvo XC90, and 2004 Lexus RX330 (successor to the Lexus RX 300) have the SUV look, variable passenger compartments, and optional all-wheel drive. They also represent six out of 10 concept vehicles that Taylor says he has seen at auto shows. Pickup truck sales rose by 2.2%, boosted mainly in the second half of the year.
“Growth in pickup truck sales was important because it indicates that the business buyer is coming back to the market [and that] consumers [are] purchasing pickup trucks. Capital budgets are starting to be freed up by corporations to purchase pickup trucks. That was very good news because capital spending has been moderated considerably by weak economic conditions in the most recent years,” says Taylor.
“The overall economy’s gradual recovery was offset by dealers’ increased cost of doing business,” observes Judson B. Powell Jr., interim executive director of Ford Motors Minority Dealers Association. “The rebound brought inconsistent seesaw effects on sales,” says Marjorie Staten, executive director of General Motors Minority Dealers Association, an organization that is not affiliated with GM. General Motors remained No. 1 in U.S. auto sales.
“Consumer insecurity about the overall economy resulted in hesitancy to buy, while the amount of money that manufacturers put into stimulating new-car sales devastated the used-car market and cramped dealers’ ability to make trades,” notes Jesse Greathouse, president of the DaimlerChrysler Minority Dealer


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The company is going back to its educational roots with a new range of low-cost tablets, a report claims.
(CCM) — Apple is about to launch its opening salvo in a fight to regain its status as a leading player in the education market, according to a Bloomberg report.
Next week in Chicago Apple hopes to woo schools and colleges with a new range of low-cost iPads and educational software, according to sources quoted in the report. A new low-cost MacBook laptop is also on the horizon, although it will not be ready for next week's product launch.
Steve Jobs saw education as an important market in the early days of the company he co-founded, but in recent years Apple's share has dwindled. It accounted for just 17% of mobile computing shipments to American students in kindergarten through high school in the third quarter of 2017, according to the report, compared to the 60% commanded by Google's operating systems on Chromebooks and Android tablets. Laptops running Windows accounted for 22%.
Overall, the market for tablets is weak, with sales shrinking by about 7% in 2017. Apple leads the tablet market with about a 25% share, but iPads and MacBook sales are now dwarfed by sales of iPhones and other products and today account for less than 20% of Apple's overall revenues.
Image: © mama mia - Shutterstock.com


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Lexaria Bioscience Corp (OTCQX:LXRP) (CSE:LXX), a drug delivery platform company, revealed Thursday that it has inked a definitive five-year pact through its subsidiary Lexaria Hemp Corp with Universal Hemp LLC.
The Kelowna, British Columbia company will provide its patented DehydraTECHTM technology to Universal Hemp LLC, a manufacturer of hemp-based raw ingredients and CBD derivatives.
Universal Hemp plans to make its CBD-infused bulk food ingredients available in the US immediately, and in Canada when new legislation takes effect in October.
The company did not disclose financial details, or royalty payment rates, although it did say that the companies have agreed to disclose minimum payments over the life of the agreement of US$3,750,000.
“We are very excited about signing this licensing agreement with Lexaria Bioscience to bring to market Lexaria’s highly effective delivery system which makes cannabidiol or hemp-derived CBD readily available in the human body,” said Universal Hemp founder CEO Chad Kahunahana.
Tech being applied to CBD at scale
Kahunahana noted that Lexaria’s technology was developed over many years for specified applications and is now, for the first time, being applied to CBD at scale.
“We anticipate our SuperBio Infusion line of ingredients will become the industry leader for CBD-infused health and beauty, food and beverage, wellness, athletic and other products where maximum performance is vital,” said Kahunahana. “In terms of bioavailability, shelf stability and taste this is the best performing technology in the market, hands down. Our corporate customers cannot wait to put our water-soluble solution into their products.”
DehydraTECH-enabled food ingredients are protected under Lexaria’s existing US patents and include CBD-infused wheat or corn flour, gum Arabic, whey protein, green tea, tapioca starch and many forms suitable for beverage and dietary supplement formulations.
Lexaria Bioscience has 40 patents pending around the world for disruptive drug delivery technologies. A patent for DehydraTECH, which improves the taste, smell, speed and absorption of compounds, has been granted in the US and Australia.
DehydraTECH, according to Lexaria, increases intestinal absorption, speeds delivery to the bloodstream and provides taste-masking benefits for orally administered bioactive molecules including cannabinoids, vitamins, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, nicotine and other molecules.
“We are pleased to announce our new licensee Universal Hemp whose well respected presence in the hemp industry will enable our patented technology to have widespread use and distribution in high-performance products providing precision dosing, maximum strength, and rapid uptake,” said Lexaria Bioscience CEO Chris Bunka.
Universal Hemp plans to make its CBD-infused bulk food ingredients available in the US immediately, and in Canada when regulations permit.
Contact Uttara Choudhury at email@example.com


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The worst year for the travel industry in living memory is nearly over, but what will be the lessons of 2020? Rob Gill investigates.
Nobody in the travel industry needs to be told how horrific 2020 has been for their business – the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has made previous crises such as 9/11, the 2008 global financial meltdown and the Icelandic ash cloud seem like minor bumps in the road for the sector.
This time last year, the focus was on the upcoming “peaks” season and the impact Thomas Cook’s demise would have on the market, while the impending arrival of Brexit was the most significant cloud on the horizon.
Fast forward 12 months and the industry has been in a battle for survival since March’s first lockdown as Covid-19 decimated international travel. Meanwhile, frustration at the government’s policies around quarantine and failure to provide tailored support for the sector has been at boiling point for months.
Thankfully, with a host of Covid vaccines now making significant progress (and one already approved), hopes for 2021 have been raised – particularly once we get through these tough winter months. But what will be the lasting impact of the crisis on the travel industry?
Refunds and protection
The industry came in for a huge amount of negative consumer media coverage as it struggled (understandably) to deal with an unprecedented deluge of refund requests from people with cancelled holidays.
While some companies – such as Kuoni, Jet2 and Trailfinders – won praise for the speed with which they refunded customers, other big names certainly did not cover themselves in glory; including Virgin Holidays, which found itself under investigation by the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) for the slow payment of refunds.
The CAA also criticised easyJet, Ryanair and Tui for “not processing refund requests sufficiently quickly” in the early months of the crisis.
While there has been some sympathy for the industry from the CAA and government in having to deal with such a huge refunding effort, expect there to be even more scrutiny in 2021 on how travel companies protect client money.
There are already signs of a move to trust accounts – where money is ring-fenced until customers return from their holiday – as an alternative to bonding through Abta or Atol, or increasingly unavailable financial failure insurance.
Both Saga and the revived Thomas Cook have moved to trust accounts. This could be a challenge to many travel businesses traditionally reliant on using customer cash as working capital, particularly when they have been starved of bookings for a prolonged period.
Whatever happens, the government and CAA is going to want to avoid a repetition of this summer’s refunds backlog and more negative publicity.
Flexibility and resilience
While there have been some big-name failures – STA Travel, as well as several smaller independent agency chains and operators – so far, the industry has been remarkably resilient.
But, as business advisor BDO points out, more collapses are “inevitable” with firms “running on fumes” and cash running out without a significant bounceback in bookings.
The industry has had to get creative to hang on to existing bookings – mainly through Refund Credit Notes (RCNs) currently protected by the CAA until 31 December for trips departing by 30 September 2021.
In cruise, a sector particularly badly hit by the pandemic, lines have been offering customers future cruise credits of up to 125% of the original price paid, as an alternative to refunds.
Booking conditions have also never been more flexible, with customers able to make changes or cancel days before departure. Travel companies have been adept at adjusting to demand for “closer to home” destinations, too, particularly UK holidays, with the likes of Kuoni, Explore and others adding domestic breaks to their portfolio.
Airlines and operators have also quickly restored flights and holidays in response to changes to the travel corridors regime – even for destinations that only enjoyed short-lived reprieves, such as Portugal and the Canary Islands.
Advantage Travel Partnership’s leisure director Kelly Cookes said: “We’ve introduced more domestic suppliers and domestic product, which helped our members during the summer. As soon as an area opens up, we have product. You have to be very reactive.”
Research from Advantage also showed some encouragement for the trade, with those aged 25-34 more likely to use an agent due to the current complexities of travel. Even if this is a short-lived phenomenon, it at least gives agents a chance to demonstrate their value.
Words like “shambles” have been regularly heard during the crisis over issues such as quarantine and the government’s reluctance to introduce airport testing or provide specific financial support to the sector.
There has been much talk about how travel fails to communicate to government with “one voice”, even when there are issues of broad agreement, such as quarantine or sector support.
Finding a solution seems remote in an industry with many divergent interests – as does hopes of having a dedicated tourism minister who understands the outbound sector and its value to the UK economy (£65 billion a year and one million jobs, according to Abta).
For most politicians, the travel industry only seems to matter when talking about domestic or inbound tourism.
This is demonstrated in the government’s muddled approach to whether travel agencies should be closed during November’s lockdown (yes to start with, then no).
Despite this, several campaigns, including Quash Quarantine and TTG’s #SaveTravel, have pushed the government into action, including the introduction of travel corridors.
While the industry has adjusted quickly to consumers’ desire for “closer-to-home” destinations, will this be a trend that lasts beyond the next few months?
A lot of product will continue to focus on short-haul travel – at least in the first half of 2021 – while some UK-orientated cruise lines are planning to resume operations in the UK and Europe.
Will other trends persist beyond the pandemic, such as the upsurge in demand for villas and self-catering properties?
EasyJet Holidays boss Garry Wilson told TTG he predicted a bounceback in demand for all-inclusive resorts in Turkey, Greece and Egypt due to their facilities and “value for money that’s always going to speak to customers”.
The importance of a Covid vaccine is summed up by European Travel Commission research showing that 51.7% of Brits are planning to resume travelling when a Covid treatment is found.
The study also revealed that UK holidaymakers continue to want sun and beach holidays as well as city breaks and cruises.
However, they were also the “most uncertain about when they will next take a trip” compared with other major European markets – with the vast majority either planning to travel domestically (39%) or within Europe (36%) within the next six months.


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If you have questions about Audi or our products but are not a journalist, please contact our customer service department at:
Audi optimizes quality inspections in the press shop with artificial intelligence
- First application case goes into series development
- Crack detection in the press shop to be automated with machine learning
- The process is another building block for the company’s digital transformation
As one of the first automobile manufacturers worldwide, Audi plans to apply machine learning (ML) in series production. The software Audi has developed recognizes and marks the finest cracks in sheet metal parts – automatically, reliably and in a matter of seconds. With this project, Audi is promoting artificial intelligence at the company and revolutionizing the testing process in production.


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March 18, 2015 – Artificial Pancreas
Anchor lead: Keeping blood sugar under control may soon be more automated, Elizabeth Tracey reports
Your pancreas largely uses two hormones, insulin and glucagon, to manage your blood sugar automatically. Now a new device called an artificial pancreas that also uses both hormones, may help people with diabetes, especially those who require insulin, manage things better. Rita Kalyani, a diabetes expert at Johns Hopkins, describes where things stand.
Kalyani: Development of the artificial pancreas, very exciting. We’ve seen studies where it’s been shown to be good at lowering glucose but also minimizing hypoglycemia compared to standard insulin pump. Now we’re seeing studies that are taking place in ‘real world’ settings at home. I think the barrier there is there’s still a lot of technology, it’s big it’s bulky kind of like the old cell phones, it’s not very user-friendly, but it’s very exciting the development is really escalating at a very rapid pace. :29
Kalyani says the strategy of using both hormones rather than insulin alone mimics the body’s system, and may help avoid development of the many complications of diabetes better. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.


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Poll Shows Britons Buy Books To Look Smart
via The Daily Mail:
It seems as though the Brits aren't as cultured as they want people to think they are.
A recent survey suggests that residents of the United Kingdom are more interested in displaying classic works of literature, and less interested in actually reading them. This means that if you're riding the London Tube and you see someone reading Pride and Prejudice, there's a pretty good chance that person is actually reading a Danielle Steele novel tucked inside.
The survey's numbers are pretty interesting:
- The average Briton owns 80 books
- 57 percent of respondents make sure the books displayed in their homes are literary classics
- 70 percent of books in the average bookcase remained unopened
- Four in 10 of those questioned said their books were purely for display
- 23 percent want to be seen in public with the 'right kind' of book
- 47 percent prefer 'trashy' novels they're not keen to show off
- The books people most often lie about having read: Pride and Prejudice, The Lord of the Rings, Jane Eyre, Harry Potter and The Hobbit
- The top five 'guilty pleasure' authors are: Sophie Kinsella, Jodi Picoult, Jackie Collins, Helen Fielding and Danielle Steele
Lest you think I'm Brit-bashing, let's be clear: Americans read crappy books too, they're just a little less bashful about it. That's a completely unscientific observation from the New York City subway system. (After Dan Brown's last book came out, I'm pretty sure I was the only person not reading it.)
And the desire to look smart through literature isn't a phenomenon unique to the United Kingdom. SF Weekly published a list back in April on the top ten books that will make you look smart in public. (No Anna Karenina?)
Still, it's an interesting survey. Really, the only two things about it that throw me are the fact that the average Briton owns 80 books (that is a lot of books), and the fact that the survey was conducted by Lindeman's wine. Which, I don't know, I guess they're a reputable polling entity?
Regardless, I'd love to see a similar survey done in the United States.
To leave a comment


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Microsoft is moving to bring OneNote to every devices it can, even if they aren't running some version of Windows.
The Microsoft OneNote team just launched an new application for Google's growing Android Wear platform. Users who download the OneNote app onto their Moto 360 or other Android wearable can say, "OK Google, take a note" to transcribe anything they verbalize to a virtual sticky note.
The OneNote group also announced a new Share Extension feature for iOS 8, which, by the way, heads out to iPhones and iPads Wednesday. The new functionality lets users share content from various apps that utilize OneNote without ever having to go into the app.
With the Share Extension, OneNote will also appear among social media channels like Twitter and Facebook, allowing users to upload images and share website clips. As a more work-oriented application, users will be able to transfer email attachments to Microsoft's cloud.
Saving the best for last
Of course, Microsoft isn't forgetting to improve its OneNote app for its own mobile platform, too.
OneNote for Windows Phone 8.1 is lapping up a new feature called Office Lens. This lets users take a photo of a document or whiteboard and turn it into a digital document.
As explained in a blog post, users can snap a photo of a paper doc and convert it into a Word file. Alternatively, taking an image of a whiteboard with OneNote will digitize the text and images to produce a PowerPoint file.
This isn't the only announcement Microsoft offered today; it had a few new hardware products to share, as well.
- Looks like we'll see Windows 9 on September 30


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Walkers has launched its first-ever taste guarantee promotion across its ‘Better For You’ ranges, in a bid to drive sales and tackle misconceptions regarding taste in the segment.
The ‘Better For You’ portfolio covers a range of PepsiCo products including reduced fat, wholegrain and corn snacks like Snack-A-Jacks, Sunbites and Walkers Oven Baked.
Packs include a distinctive flash to generate stand-out on shelf, stating “Great taste guaranteed, or your money back”.
Walkers Oven Baked, the fastest-growing brand in the segment, recently returned to TV with a new tag dedicated to the year-long taste guarantee campaign on the brand.
The campaign, a first for Walkers, will run across the three brands for the whole of 2019 and will be supported with a full marketing plan including TV support, influencer campaign, digital, on-pack flash, sampling and in-store stackers and POS.
Michal Iwasyszyn, Marketing Manager for the Better For You portfolio at PepsiCo, said: “We know that shoppers’ number one concern when choosing smarter snacks is the perceived taste, but as soon as people taste our products, the repeat purchase rate is phenomenal.
“Snack-A-Jacks, Sunbites and Walkers Oven Baked are all great tasting so we have no doubt that this campaign will be a real success for retailers.”


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Zopa plans to reopen to new investors by end of the year after stopping investor on boarding earlier this year; they stopped taking new money because they were finding it harder to get good quality borrowers; they also saw a big jump in demand for their Innovative Finance Isa; while the plan for opening to new investors is targeted at year end it could be delayed by existing investor’s Isa demand. Source.
Todd is the host of PitchIt: the fintech startups podcast, a weekly interview show featuring emerging fintech founders and leading venture capitalists. He is responsible for leading the content team which covers fintech through daily & weekly email newsletters, editorial, virtual events, and in-person conferences. He has been covering fintech, banking, and venture capital for more than 15 years, including speaking regularly at industry events.


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Statistics Canada released the Canadian International Merchandise Trade report for November on Wednesday. A favorable combination of a .7% drop in imports combined with an overall .4% increase in exports led to a reduction in Canada's trade deficit with the world to $2 billion, the 15th consecutive month of reporting a trade deficit, but at a four-month low of $1.985 billion, well-below the $3.7 billion deficit reported in March.
Total exports of all products was reported at $43.254 billion (balance of payments, seasonally adjusted), after falling in each of the past three months, while the country's farm, fishing and intermediate food product exports was reported at $2.684 billion, the first month-over-month increase in four months. This category's exports as a percentage of total exports are calculated at 6.2%, a five-month high. A major drag on the economy continues to be the export of energy products, reported at $5.919 billion, falling for the fifth consecutive month, with November being the weakest month since May 2009.
Here's a look at random agriculture commodity data reported today:
November exports of lentils were reported at 313,852 metric tons, down sharply from October and the weakest month seen this crop year. Year-to-date, 1.364 million metric tons have been exported (since the August 1 start to the 2015/16 crop year), up 64.8% from the same period in 2014 and 114.2% higher than the three-year average.
Total exports to India are at 692,157 mt, representing 50.7% of all exports as compared to the 33.5% of the total volume shipped to this country in the first four months of the 2014/15 crop year.
The current AAFC target for 2015/16 exports is a record 2.4 mmt, with current year-to-date exports now at 56.8% of this target with the data reported for the first 33% of the crop year. The current pace of exports remains well ahead of the pace needed to reach this target and availability of supplies will be the limiting factor moving forward.
November exports of dry peas are reported at 138,880 mt and this is the smallest monthly volume shipped this crop year. Year-to-date, 1.312 mmt has been shipped, 89.4% of last year's volume as of the same month, while is 13.3% above the three-year average.
To date, India has taken 692,038 mt, slightly more than the same period in 2014/15, while representing 52.7% of the total volume shipped as compared to the 43.7% of the volume shipped in the first four months of 2014/15. Year-to-date exports currently represent 44.5% of the 2.950 mmt target set by AAFC, with the November data representing the first 33% of the crop year.
As of the end of November, Canadian chickpea exports totaled 39,738 mt, 118% above the year-ago volume, while 156% above the three-year average over this four-month period. The current pace of exports represents 46.8% of the annual export target of 85,000 mt forecast by AAFC, with supply expected to be the limiting factor at some point over the crop year.
Exports of mustard are reported at 36,503 mt as of the end of November, 83.3% of the volume shipped in the same period last year and 83.4% of the three-year average for this period. As of the end of November, 30% of the 120,000 mt export target set by AAFC has been shipped, slightly behind the steady pace needed to reach this target.
A total of 51,470 mt of canary seed has been exported, 73% of the volume shipped in the same period last year and 92% of the three-year average. Just over 33% of the expected target of 155,000 mt has been shipped, with movement equal to the steady pace needed to reach this target.
The country's corn exports are reported to total 179,862 mt as of the end of November, or the third month of the row-crop crop year. This is 55.3% higher than the same period last year, while 97.6% of the three-year average. To date, 36% of AAFC's 500,000 mt target has been reached, with the crop year only 25% complete, suggesting that corn exports may prove to be higher than expected. Shipments to the United States are up sharply from last crop year, when the U.S. took 36,297 mt in the September-through-November period. This crop year, the U.S. has been shipped close to 58% of the total export volume, totaling 103,910 mt.
Canada's exports of soybeans have been reported at 2.018 mmt, up 33.5% from 2014 and 19.4% above the three-year average for the September-through-November period or the first quarter of the row-crop crop year. The current target reported by AAFC is 4.1 mmt, with year-to-date exports representing 49.2% of this target and well-ahead of the pace needed to reach this level. Volume shipped to China has jumped from 279,000 mt in the first three months of 2014/15 to 705,536 mt in September, October and November 2015, representing 35% of total shipments.
DTN 360 Poll
The Canadian government has announced fines for both CN and CP Rail for exceeding 2014/15 revenue caps in moving western grain. Is this initiative effective?
We'd love to know what you think, with the 360 poll found at the lower-right of your DTN Home Page.
Cliff Jamieson can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org
Follow Cliff Jamieson on Twitter @CliffJamieson
© Copyright 2016 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.


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For those of you who didn’t hear the latest news about depth-sensing cameras and the enormous improvement they pose for AR technology, we’ll kindly nudge you in the direction of our previous blog post. With that refresher you’ll see why yesterday’s news is an important stepping-stone for the future of Augmented Reality.
According to Metaio CTO and co-founder, Peter Meier, “Smartphones and tablets have historically made use of single, ‘2D’ cameras primarily intended for image capture, but as smart devices have become more powerful, we are demanding more and more from the optics of these devices.With the ability to understand depth information, mobile devices will become significantly more powerful when it comes to Augmented Reality and computer vision tasks.”
With giants like Google and Intel announcing new generations of high-tech devices that are able to “see” the world in 3D via RGB-D (Red, Green, Blue, Depth) sensors, it seems natural for Metaio to support this technology on the Metaio SDK.
The video below illustrates how added 3D sensors in both a Windows tablet and an iPad make Augmented Reality much more powerful by virtually eliminating the need for markers in many use cases, and even more importantly,, solving the occlusion problem – where virtual data is incorrectly rendered into the environment.
Occipital’s Structure Sensor is one of the first devices to be supported in the Metaio SDK. According to Occipital CEO and co-founder, Jeff Powers, “We share a common goal with Metaio of allowing developers to create powerful and convincing 3D and AR experiences. It’s why we created the Structure Sensor. Metaio’s support of the Structure Sensor and SDK will bring added realism to AR experiences with real world scale and occlusion.”
This brings new possibilities in Augmented Reality gaming by enabling digital objects to react and interact with physical environments. Indoor navigation that does not require a GPS signal will be possible and precise, and scanners that can extract 3D models from the environment will no longer be a vision of the future.
Metaio’s flagship SDK will be updated to version 6.0 during InsideAR Munich, and will support depth sensor input from devices including Occipital Structure sensor and others to come in early 2015.
“Knowing that the likes of Google and Intel are heavily investing in depth-sensing camera devices, we made sure our SDK is prepared for the next big surge of of innovation that this hardware provides developers,” says Peter Meier. With development options for iOS, Android, and Windows PC, and the most advanced tracking technology available, the Metaio SDK is the most powerful Augmented Reality developer tool on the market.
There will be a live demonstration highlighting the important benefits of RGB-D devices during InsideAR Munich on October 29th and 30th. Just one of the many reasons to attend this year’s most exciting Augmented Reality conference. But hurry, there are only a few days left for you to secure your ticket. Don’t miss out and join us now!
Learn more at: http://www.insidear2014.com/


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July 27 (Bloomberg) -- Alan Krueger, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, talks about the U.S. economy and second-quarter gross domestic product.
Krueger speaks with Scarlet Fu and Stephanie Ruhle on Bloomberg Television’s “Market Makers.” (Source: Bloomberg)
10:56 - Homebrew VC Partner Hunter Walk, Technalysis Founder Bob O’Donnell and IDC Chief Research Officer Crawford Del Prete discuss Apple to unveil a new TV box this fall and the future of Apple’s streaming service. They speak with Bloomberg’s Emily Chang on “Bloomberg West.” (Source: Bloomberg)
Why Would Microsoft Invest in Uber?
Why U.S. Wage Growth Has Screeched to a Halt
The China Slowdown Felt Around the World
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IPA renews 'urgent' call for online political ads register
The UK's trade body for ad agencies has today renewed calls for a publicly available, platform-neutral, industry-owned register of all political ads online - lest the industry become 'tarnished' as a whole.
The announcement follows reports that hundreds of thousands of pounds are currently being spent on Brexit-related, micro-targeted ads from both sides of the debate.
According to the IPA, these ads are served with "negligible oversight" by online platforms despite political adverts being most at risk of abuse, whilst those platforms receive "significant" advertising revenues.
The trade body therefore recommends that all online platforms take responsibility for populating the proposed register by providing all their political ad campaign data and metadata as feeds, with oversight provided by the Joint Industry Committee for Web Standards (JICWEBS).
Similar calls were made last year in response to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which the data analytics firm was accused of manipulating voters using microtargeted political advertising during the 2016 US presidential election and the EU referendum.
"In the absence of regulation, we need transparency to protect against the temptation of extreme messaging," Paul Bainsfair, director general of the IPA, told Mediatel at the time.
However, since then the online tech platforms have made "only small steps", the IPA has said. Facebook leads the way by providing political ad archiving in the UK, whilst Google and Twitter lag behind.
“While we commend some of the steps taken by the online platforms - they are constructive and going in the right direction - they are still the financial beneficiaries of this type of advertising," Bainsfair said today.
“Ultimately, no individual platform has the remit, authority and longevity to ensure fairness, transparency and consistency across the board. For this, we need a single body with the resources, cross-industry relationships and regulatory oversight."
Meanwhile, the Information Commissioners Office watchdog (ICO) yesterday called for a temporary halt to online political advertising until relevant parties and campaigns agree on new rules. The demand was contained in a report by the Electoral Reform Society, which said democracy is under threat from these "dark ads."
According to the industry's think tank, Credos, trust in advertising is now at an all time low - which advertisers and agencies alike are keen to remedy. Public favourability towards advertising fell to 25% in December last year.


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That being said, trust is a key component of convincing people to open their wallets. “In 2007, we saw a group who were more adventurous and willing to take risks with brands that have limited awareness, such as niche brands,” says Karen Grant, vice president and global beauty industry analyst at NPD. “They are less apt to do that today. People are looking for brands they trust and recognize. It is about the more meaningful purchase. While price is important, it is secondary.”
The desire to find a deeper meaning is also evident in how people spend their time. Americans are spending more time at home with friends and family, and less out socializing and shopping. That has led to a direct rise in online sales, say the experts. NPD’s data shows 14 percent of women are shopping online, a 3 percent increase in the past 12 months. “Online is being driven by ease, convenience and return policies that are a lot less prohibitive,” says Grant, noting that the top sites in terms of awareness are Avon, Bath & Body Works and Sephora; the top sites in terms of where people shop for beauty are Sephora, Amazon and Avon, and that Amazon, Sephora, Drugstore.com and Ulta rank highest in terms of online conversions. “What’s interesting is that none of the big retailers come up,” says Grant. “It’s the pure plays and Sephora. The Internet is an area where the bigger retailers have a real opportunity.”
Grant notes that Wal-Mart is conspicuously absent from the list (although if you segregate out the 18- to 24-year-old age group, it does rank third in terms of awareness, behind Target and Avon), a fact that underscores the retailer’s current troubles. Although the majority of women across all income levels still buy their beauty products there, the retail behemoth has posted eight quarters of negative comp-store growth. In August, WSL published a report, “Where Did the Wal-Mart Shopper Go?” and the results were startling. “Wal-Mart has lost is credibility for everyday low prices,” Liebmann says. “During the recession, everybody learned how to compete against price. And while there are still a lot of shoppers in the store, they don’t have as much money to spend, they are not shopping as often and they’re not buying everything at Wal-Mart.”
There is a group that does have a lot of money to spend, and seems to be shopping again, however: the affluent. NPD data shows that the average spend on beauty for those earning $75,000 and over is $185. That group is coming back and is more important than ever. “The value of the affluent shopper can not be overstated,” says Liebmann. “They are the people with money who are comfortable enough—despite the roller coaster of the stock market, gas prices and unemployment—to shop. They’re not blithely throwing away money, though. They, too, are making a list and checking it twice.”
When it comes to defining rich, the recession has resulted in a new ceiling of true affluence, widening the divide between the haves and the have-nots. The era of mass affluence is gone. Whereas prior to 2008, marketers generally classified those with household incomes of $75,000 and above as being affluent, today the number has risen dramatically. When George Scribner, the senior vice president of people planning at Digitas, realized that the old classifications no longer produced reliable results, he tasked a team with redefining the affluent and their lifestyle. In terms of household income, Scribner found that statistically speaking, today a household income of $200,000 marks the beginning of true affluence. His group identified five tiers of affluence: The Aspiring, those age 35 and over, with household incomes (HHI) of $100,000 to $199,00. (This is the group least likely to move into true af- fluence.) The Emerging, those 35 and under with HHIs of $100,000 to $199,999. (This group is very likely to move into true affluence as they get older.) The Affluent, those with HHIs of $200,000 to $499,000; The Wealthy, with HHIs of $500,000 to $999,000, and The Rich, with HHIs of $1 million or more.
According to Steve Kraus, vice president and chief research and insights officer of Ipsos Mendelsohn, the research firm upon whose data Digitas created its new classification, about 20 percent of the population (44 million people) in the U.S. has a household income of $100,000 or more, but they represent 60 percent of the income and 70 percent of the net worth.
One of Digitas’ major findings was that marketing is no longer a numbers game. “We can’t think about scale any longer simply by head count,” says Scribner. “We need to think about scale according to where the assets exist, and they exist among the 8.5 million people who represent the top three tiers of affluence, not the 30 mil- lion people who belong to the aspiring or middle class.”
Scribner had another “aha!” moment when he analyzed the geographic break- down, which showed that the south has the largest population of affluence, driven by Florida and Texas but with Virginia also playing a strong role. According to recent census data, Scribner says, the state’s Fairfax, Loudoun and Falls Church coun- ties have the highest median incomes in America.


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Some traders in the Balogun market in Lagos on Friday complained of low patronage in spite of preparation for Christmas and New year festivities.
Dealers in textile and allied materials, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), blamed the low sales on the alleged invasion of the market by Chinese traders.
They, therefore, appealed to the Federal Government to introduce measure to enhance the quality of Nigerian made products.
Mrs Azeez Kuburat, who deals in textile material called "aso-oke", said that the cloth, which is indigenous to Nigerians, was now being manufactured by Chinese.
"It is a shame that Chinese produce better quality and varieties of aso-oke.
"The Chinese claimed that they get aids from their home government," she said.
Kuburat said that local products would be able to compete with those of Chinese if the Federal Government could also empower local industries.
"We still use crude method to weave aso-oke.
"We need to upgrade our technology so as to stand out and protect our cultural heritage," she said.
She said that aso-oke, which sold for N4,500 before had come down to N4,000, while the one for N3,200 was now N,2800.
"In spite of the price slash, people still go to Chinese shops to buy aso-oke," she said.
Mrs Ekwehirehmadu Florence, another trader, said that there was need for government to formulate policies to compel the use of indigenous products.
"Government should be actively involved in boosting and spreading indigenous products to a level where they can compete anywhere in the world," she said.
Mr Okechukwu Nwoko of Top Integrated Service Ltd., also complained that Chinese had taken over Nigerian markets.
"The Chinese traders have been able to make inroads into the Nigerian markets because of the strong support from their government.
Mr Pit Micheal, a Chinese trader at the Balogun market, confirmed to NAN that his clothing materials were enjoying high patronage.
He attributed this to the superior quality of Chinese products and their lower prices.
Mrs Min Zue, another Chinese trader, said that Nigerians like cheap things and so if there was a little slash in price that was favourable to them, they were most likely to jump at it.
"We make new things every day, so if you come to our shop you will see something new every day.
"So you can say we are versatile," Zue said.


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Xbox One Indie Games won’t start arriving until 2014
If you were hoping for a new and gigantic lineup of indie-games to compliment your new Xbox One console, you will have to wait a few months. November is just around the corner, and the Xbox One is set to be one of the hottest gifts of the holiday, but it seems indie-games won’t be coming along for the ride until the beginning of 2014.
While Sony has been spending a great deal of time focusing on smaller, indie-game offerings to improve its initial line, Microsoft will be holding off until the new year. Earlier this week Microsoft’s corporate vice president, Phil Harrison, spoke with Games Industry International indicating that indie-games will not be a priority in 2013, and that those games will arrive in the new year.
“I don’t think we’re going to see things at launch,” Harrison stated. He later added, “I don’t think it’s realistic to see a developer get the program and build a game and get it into the market on November 22. It’s reasonable to expect in early 2014 we’ll start seeing the first games come through.”
It was only this year that Microsoft had formulated its own Independent Developers Xbox program for indie-games. Unlike in the past, indie studios or developers will have the option to publish their own titles on the Xbox One platform. Harrison states that this program has been well-met by the indie community stating, “Now we’re working through applications and creating that dialogue with developers,” he told GII. “As we said at the time, we have phase one where we give away development kits and loan them to the teams that inevitably will have to pass some kind of a qualification to justify a limited number of dev kits being given to them.”
Although Sony seems to be making a larger case for indie games on the PS4, it to won’t be launching that many indie-titles before 2014. That being said, Sony has stated in the past that almost 200 games are already in development for the PS4 with the majority of the estimate being independent games. Harrison remained committed to the Xbox One line up calling it, “very, very strong”. The Xbox One is set to launch on November 22, 2014.
more info on pricing and availability can be found @ amazon/xboxone


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Carnival Cruise Line has once again pushed back its target restart date for its two ships in Australia — Carnival Splendor and Carnival Spirit.
On the Carnival Australia website, the line said “As the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve, we are sorry to share the news that Carnival Cruise Line is pausing operations for selected Australian sailings.”
Scheduled Carnival Splendor sailings through and including May 31 have been canceled, along with all Carnival Spirit voyages through and including May 29, 2022.
Previously, Splendor was set to restart on May 5 from Sydney, and Spirit on May 1 from Brisbane. Now, Splendor‘s first scheduled cruise is a four-night Tangalooma/Moreton Island itinerary on June 10, and Spirit‘s is a seven-night South Pacific itinerary on June 5.
Those who were booked on cruises that are now canceled have two options:
For sailings six nights or more, guests can choose between a 100 percent refund or a 100 percent Future Cruise Credit plus AUD$900 onboard credit per cabin for the next cruise, if booked by July 31, 2022 for sailings by March 31, 2024.
Guests that were booked on cruises five nights or less can choose between the same options, but with an AUD$450 onboard credit instead.
The Future Cruise Credit is the automatic option, and those who want it don’t need to take any action. Those who want a refund can complete this form by July 31, 2022.
Regardless of which option is selected, beverage, wifi, and Fun Shop purchases will be refunded to the original form of payment.
Like in the U.S., Carnival Australia will be requiring that guests be vaccinated. A limited number of exemptions will be allowed for kids under 12, as well as teens and adults who have written confirmation from their medical provider that they cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons.
Other health and safety requirements will include testing of all crew members and guests, the use of masks in certain parts of the ship, and strict shore excursion protocols.


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S.A. SWANSON | OCTOBER 27, 2020
This story originally appeared in the November/December 2020 print edition of Middle Market Growth magazine. Read the full issue in the archive.
Companies are rethinking their preferred “shoring” prefix. For years, “offshoring” meant minimizing costs and maximizing profit. Then trade tensions and tariffs heightened supply chain anxieties—which were in turn exacerbated by pandemic disruptions.
Combined, those factors have prompted U.S. companies to consider bringing parts of their supply chains home, a process known as reshoring. They’ve also spurred more discussion about nearshoring, which places suppliers in neighboring countries, like Mexico. Both moves reflect companies’ reluctance to depend on suppliers an ocean away.
For manufacturers and their investors, reshoring is not a new idea, but problems caused by COVID-19 have renewed—and amplified—their supply chain concerns. As companies strike a balance between domestic suppliers and low-cost countries, some are questioning the emphasis on reducing cost, at the expense of mitigating risk. Although price still matters, reliability has become a bigger differentiator, and it’s generating new business for some U.S. manufacturers.
At Incline Equity Partners, a private equity firm headquartered in Pittsburgh, reshoring and nearshoring discussions began about three years ago. The pandemic added to Incline’s supply chain concerns—the firm was already “increasingly nervous” about U.S. relations with China, says Jack Glover, managing partner at Incline. “As the owner of these businesses, we want to have control over our supply chain. Our customers feel the same way,” he says, noting that many of Incline’s portfolio companies sell to large U.S.-based customers.
Although trade tensions increased companies’ focus on supply chain risks, the pandemic forced them to rethink their solutions. That’s what Larry Naughton, a corporate attorney at law firm Mintz, has observed while working with private equity firms and other investors. As the U.S.-China trade war heated up, companies considered moving their supply chains from China to other Asian countries with good trade relations. With COVID-19, says Naughton, that analysis prompted business leaders to ask themselves, “OK, we don’t want to trade with a key supplier that’s on the other side of any ocean. Can we find one in the United States?”
At Fifth Third Bank, Chief Investment Strategist Jeff Korzenik sees a resurgence in reshoring discussions among middle-market manufacturers. “We’ve been talking about [reshoring] for a decade, but the interest level today is much higher than it has been the last 10 years,” he says.
TURNING THE TIDE
Incline is among the firms translating that interest into action as it helps one of its portfolio companies, a manufacturer of electrical products, shift production from 100% in China to a minimum of 50% in Mexico.
“AS THE OWNER OF THESE BUSINESSES, WE WANT TO HAVE CONTROL OVER OUR SUPPLY CHAIN. OUR CUSTOMERS FEEL THE SAME WAY.”
Managing Partner, Incline Equity Partners
“The reason we went to China in the first place was to be more cost-effective,” Glover says. Now the company has other costs to assess—like tariffs, potential supply disruptions and working capital considerations. Glover notes that by the time orders from China leave the harbor, the portfolio company has paid for 100% of the shipment—and then doesn’t receive it for 30 or 45 days. “So we have all that money tied up,” he says. “With Mexico, because we’re closer, we don’t actually have to spend as much money up front. Then rather than have the stuff out there for 45 days, we send them the money, it ships, and we get it two or three days later.”
Incline started thinking about moving the portfolio company away from China a few years ago and began working on that process in 2019. Glover would like to see the shift to Mexico happen “yesterday,” but it will likely be complete by the end of this year.
He expects the total costs related to manufacturing will be similar to those in China. “They could be 3% to 5% higher nearshored in Mexico than they are in China. But we don’t expect that we’re going to have the tariff issue. That’s the first thing,” Glover says. “Secondly, because it’s significantly closer, you don’t have 30 days on the water, so you need less working capital.”
Preserving working capital has become critical amid the uncertainty caused by COVID-19. For many businesses with overseas suppliers, the pandemic also has interfered with their ability to fulfill domestic orders, creating an advantage for those able to manufacture products closer to their customers.
Ethan Klemperer at Monomoy Capital Partners, a private equity firm based in New York City, says many businesses are seeking a balance of domestic and low-cost country suppliers— a trend that predates COVID, but that has picked up since its onset.
Klemperer, Monomoy’s senior operating executive and head of the operating team, points to a consumer product manufacturer in Monomoy’s portfolio that experienced double-digit revenue increases (year-over-year) for June and July. Because that company has manufacturing facilities in the U.S. and China, it’s been able to meet demand for its products by expanding capacity at its U.S. facility, while its competitors struggled to keep up because most of their production was overseas, Klemperer says.
“SUPPLY CHAIN CONCERNS ARE DRIVING COMPANIES TO, AT A MINIMUM, REVIEW THE FEASIBILITY OF RESHORING PRODUCT.”
General Manager, GLE Precision
Monomoy worked with the management team to develop a more efficient factory layout and production lines, and then spent the next six months implementing the plan. This included targeted SKU (product) reduction, which allowed the U.S. facility to group similar, low-volume products together in one plant. Previously, the products had occupied sections of two plants. “We were then able to take the empty buildings and ramp up production of our core products,” Klemperer says. Those changes helped the company increase production capacity by more than 40% in less than a year. Automation also played a role, says Klemperer. He expects the company will add even more automation to expand capacity further.
PRESCRIPTION FOR RESHORING
Although interest in shifting to North American suppliers is creating new business for some companies, the transition isn’t seamless. Supply chain relocation is a slow process—like “poking at a whale with a pencil,” says Fifth Third’s Korzenik. The planning takes time, and it requires addressing challenges posed by the North American market.
GLE Precision, a manufacturer based in Bridgeport, Michigan, is among the companies that are beginning to benefit from the shift toward American manufacturing, even as it works to manage the higher costs associated with U.S. production.
In August, the company was finalizing the reshoring of a medical project involving ejector pins used to form insulin syringes. Clint Bucholz, GLE’s general manager, says he believes the project was previously manufactured in China.
Although that was the company’s only reshoring project at press time, Bucholz sees possibilities for many more, based on conversations he’s had with current and potential customers. “Supply chain concerns are driving companies to, at a minimum, review the feasibility of reshoring product,” he says.
For GLE, which is owned by private equity firm Colfax Creek, customer order sizes range from a single component for research and development, to 20,000 units a year for a “big job,” Bucholz says.
In a typical year, GLE would have about two to four possibilities for “step increase projects,” which Bucholz describes as projects that would increase GLE’s overall business by 15% to 100%, and worth anywhere from $1 million to more than $10 million. “Since COVID, we have seen three to four times this rate, year to date … we’ve got just such an explosion of these opportunities,” he says.
Yet relatively high wages in the U.S. can make it difficult to compete against suppliers in other countries. To help control costs, GLE has turned to automation technology. That reflects a wider trend in U.S. manufacturing, particularly as automation becomes cheaper to implement. Bucholz notes that seven or eight years ago, it could cost around $75,000 to put a robotic arm on a machine—now it might cost about $35,000.
He says that a large-scale shift to U.S. suppliers won’t be possible unless another challenge is addressed, too: raw materials. “If you reshore the manufacturing, but a company still has to get their raw material to win those jobs from offshore, it still doesn’t quite get you there,” he says, noting that the cost of U.S. raw materials is still quite high. Says Bucholz: “That plays a heavy part in success in truly reshoring … America needs to develop our raw materials network.”
Enhanced Healthcare Partners (EHP), a private equity firm headquartered in New York City, is doing its part to improve access to raw materials for pharmaceutical manufacturing. Specifically, the firm is looking for investment opportunities in U.S.-based makers of APIs (or active pharmaceutical ingredients) used in prescription drugs.
Most API suppliers have been located overseas historically, but EHP believes there will be increasing demand to produce these components closer to home, after the pandemic revealed the supply chain disruption that can occur when countries limit exports. As of August 2019, 72% of the manufacturing facilities making APIs to supply the U.S. market were based outside the United States (including 13% in China and 18% in India), according to the Food and Drug Administration.
“WE’VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT [RESHORING] FOR A DECADE, BUT THE INTEREST LEVEL TODAY IS MUCH HIGHER THAN IT HAS BEEN THE LAST 10 YEARS.”
Chief Investment Strategist, Fifth Third Bank
EHP is three years into a five-year plan to invest over $100 million into capacity expansion. Part of that money is for API reshoring investment, but most of it will benefit the three pharmaceutical manufacturers in its portfolio: SCA, Aphena and PAI.
Matt Thompson, partner at EHP, says the firm has always believed that quality would be a differentiator in the highly regulated pharma manufacturing world. That means a high standard for the pharmaceutical products themselves, as well as reliable access to those products through stable supply chains. The customers for EHP’s manufacturing companies—mainly hospitals and doctors’ offices—have always been concerned about supply chain issues, and the pandemic has amplified their fears.
To reinforce supply chain security, EHP’s portfolio company PAI, which manufactures and markets generic oral liquid pharmaceuticals, started a safety stock initiative last year. The company now holds 12 weeks of additional stock on hand for each SKU, and six months’ worth of API. That’s a “meaningful increase” compared with the stock and active ingredients the company kept on hand before, Thompson says, adding that customers have appreciated the reliable access to liquid medications.
In recent months, Mintz’s Larry Naughton has seen other companies reconsider their approach to “just-in-time” inventory. Rather than trying to maximize margins by keeping minimal supply on hand, he says businesses are now thinking, “Maybe we do need to keep a little extra inventory on hand. We can’t be prepared for a nine-month shutdown on our supplier, but what if the supplier is shut down for three weeks?”
“RIGHT NOW, WE’RE IN ONE OF THE CYCLES WHERE PEOPLE SAY, ‘YOU KNOW WHAT? IT’S WORTH IT TO PAY A LITTLE BIT EXTRA TO HAVE THE BALANCED SUPPLY CHAIN.’ IT’S ABOUT BUILDING AN ORGANIZATION THAT CAN REACT TO CHANGES IN THE MARKETPLACE.”
Senior Operating Executive, Monomoy Capital Partners
As U.S. pharmaceutical businesses look for domestic partners, Thompson says EHP’s portfolio company Aphena, a pharmaceutical packaging and manufacturing services provider, is seeing more business inquiries, and the company plans to add jobs. In Eaton, Maryland, Aphena has a 110,000 square-foot facility and will be adding a 54,000 square-foot facility adjacent to its existing location. It’s slated for completion by December. The Eaton location currently employs 150 full-time workers and plans to add an additional 100 jobs over the next two years.
Aphena’s three Tennessee locations will add about half-a-million square feet of production capacity, slated for completion in January. The Tennessee locations currently have 340 employees and are projected to add another 50 in the next eight to 12 months.
Companies have always made trade-offs when managing their supply chains, either to minimize cost or maximize reliability. Some observers see the events of 2020 shifting that dynamic.
“I think the needle moved, maybe not in a game-changing direction, but a little bit more toward resiliency of ‘let’s make sure that the supply chain is going to remain intact,’” Naughton says.
It’s important to stay flexible, because today’s supply chain risk may be tomorrow’s asset. Three years ago, when Monomoy acquired a manufacturer with critical operations in Mexico, that location was considered a key risk. “Now that is one of its best assets, as most of its competitors manufactured in China and are having to deal with tariffs and freight surcharges,” Klemperer says.
At Incline Equity, COVID-19 has heightened awareness of supply chain diversity as well as country of origin, Glover says. “One of our big issues now is, we look at country concentration for vendors,” he says. “Ten years ago, I will tell you this, we were not concerned about a company that was manufacturing all of its products in China. We are now.”
Glover notes that China is only one example. The firm sees risk in having all key suppliers in one country, whether that’s Vietnam, Cambodia or India. Such a scenario would spark caution around a potential investment, he says.
It would concern Glover and his colleagues even more if a manufacturer had a single supplier for a particular component. “Our next question would be, ‘Okay, is it just one vendor, or are there a dozen?’ If there’s a dozen, we feel better,” he says. Having multiple vendors shows a component can be produced elsewhere if needed. But a single vendor may have a specialized process that’s hard to reproduce—which makes it difficult to shift component sourcing to a different region.
Monomoy’s Klemperer notes that companies continue to move back and forth between prioritizing a diversified supply chain, or saving a little money by giving a huge chunk of volume to a sole supplier. “Right now, we’re in one of the cycles where people say, ‘You know what? It’s worth it to pay a little bit extra to have the balanced supply chain.’ It’s about building an organization that can react to changes in the marketplace,” he says. “Because you know there are going to be changes. You just don’t know what they’re going to be.”
S.A. Swanson is a contributing editor at Middle Market Growth.