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A GROUP OF AUDITORS has warned of the dangers of placing too much emphasis on like-for-like sales in the retail sector over the Christmas period.
The report warned that placing too much focus on like-for like sales in crowning the “Christmas winner” is masking a true reflection of how the sector’s business model is changing.
Julie Carlyle, head of retail at EY and member of the ICAEW working group said: “The much publicised differences in promotional strategies over the festive period emphasise the ability of like-for-like sales to mask real performance and raises the question, whether we should be looking at the like-for-like margin? We know there is no standard way of calculating ‘like’ figures and, therefore, challenge this as the scorecard for Christmas”.
“It is critical for retail businesses to have the right data to respond in such a rapidly changing world and this is becoming more difficult.”
The working group found that the increasing popularity of digital sales was throwing up challenges to the retailers in determining what parts of the business are generating sales.
It remained unclear whether or not customers were looking online first and then visiting the store or vice versa.
The latest report is part of a wider initiative by the ICAEW to demonstrate the value of audit. This is the second retail sector report published by the institute and the fifth auditor insight.
The latest audit insights into the retail sector can be found here.
UK government should support mid-sized businesses to create a ‘new economy’ post-Brexit, says BDO report
Mid-sized British firms are currently growing faster and generating more profit than their counterparts in Germany, France, Italy and Spain, despite uncertainty surrounding Brexit, says the report
UK private investor Endless LLP acquires the high street retailer, saving 840 jobs
Simon Wright of CareersinAudit.com discusses how an effective cyber defence force is critical to businesses worldwide and how internal auditors can make the transition to a new career in cyber security
The FRC has said that the investigation will 'consider, but not be restricted to, issues regarding misstated accounting balances'


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The latest Roy Morgan Research Business Confidence levels have revealed a May increase of 9.6 points from April, which still leaves confidence below the five-year average.
Business confidence hit 114.7 in May, the highest point since the 114.9 registered in January 2015 and well below the 136.3 high seen in October 2013.
“The increase in business confidence in May was most likely the result of a generally positive immediate media reaction to the federal budget and its focus on small business,” Roy Morgan Research Industry Communications Director Norman Morris said.
“However, the tax incentive in the budget has only had a minor impact on the level of businesses considering that the next 12 months would be a good time to invest in growing their business. Currently 57 per cent think it is a good time to invest in growth, up from 53 per cent in April.”
The figures, sourced from 1,376 businesses across Australia, revealed a 9 per cent jump in outlook confidence from April. 60 per cent of businesses believe Australia will see economic conditions improve over the coming 12 months. The outlook for next five years also saw a positive rise, up 7 per cent from April to 63 per cent in May.
Mr Morris said the lowering of interest rates and small business tax rates, along with tax write-offs on offer for expenditure up to $20,000, appear to have “limited positive impact while a number of economic headwinds remain”.
“The recent positive figures on GDP growth, for example, were followed the next day by a falling share market, weak retail sales and a record trade deficit, as well as ongoing global uncertainty regarding Greece and other areas. The problems relating to getting important budget measures past the senate, the rapidly growing estimates of the budget deficit, and the fact that over two million Australians are either unemployed or underemployed do not contribute to a positive business environment,” Mr Morris said.
“Despite hopes that other industries will make up for the decline in the mining sector, they continue to show a subdued outlook and so are unlikely to offset the loss. Confidence in the construction industry is improving and is now a little above average but manufacturing continues to decline and is below average. The very high profile retail sector is steady but remains below average.”

domain: news


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Panasonic Corp. said Wednesday its group operating profit fell 43.6 percent from a year earlier in the April to June quarter to ¥56.39 billion ($519 million), hit by weak sales of industrial components in China.
Net profit fell 13.2 percent to ¥49.78 billion in the first quarter of the business year ending March 2020 on sales of ¥1.89 trillion, down 5.9 percent, as the prolonged trade friction between China and the United States hurt its business in China, the Japanese electronics maker said.
Panasonic maintained its full-year earnings forecast, which factors in the negative impact of the trade dispute between the world’s two biggest economies on its sales in China.
It expects net profit to fall 29.6 percent to ¥200 billion and operating profit to decrease 27.1 percent to ¥300 billion on sales of ¥7.90 trillion, down 1.3 percent.
The Osaka-based manufacturer said demand in China for its motors, sensors and condensers fell. Sales of TVs in Europe and Asia were also sluggish, it said.
“The outlook for our operations in China remains uncertain,” Chief Financial Officer Hirokazu Umeda told a news conference in Tokyo, adding the company will be ready to respond quickly to changes in the business climate in the country.
The impact of Japan’s imposition in early July of tighter export controls on some South Korea-bound materials used in making chips and displays for security reasons is “small,” Umeda said.
Investment costs to develop automotive equipment also weighed on operating profit. Panasonic has been shifting its focus to the auto parts sector as a core business to meet growing demand for components for hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles.
It provides batteries to U.S. electric car maker Tesla Inc. and plans to form a joint venture with Toyota Motor Corp. by the end of 2020 to manufacture and sell batteries for EVs, seeking to catch up with rival Chinese and South Korean makers.
In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.
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MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., March 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Pixazza, Inc., the leading web service that is making online images interactive, today announced key metrics demonstrating the growth and opportunity of images as an innovative advertising medium. Pixazza has moved into the top 25 in Quantcast's U.S. network ranking. Through its growing network of popular publishers, Pixazza now reaches more than 70 million unique visitors per month. This demonstrates an 80 percent increase in reach in just five months. During the same time period, the number of publishers in the Pixazza network grew 15x.
In addition, Pixazza now enables images at a rate of 20 billion image views per year, representing a 100 percent increase over the past five months. Just as page views are commonly used to measure web site traffic, Pixazza tracks image views, which count the number of times a web publisher serves a Pixazza-enabled image.
When a consumer mouses over a Pixazza-enabled image on a publisher's site, a card appears, which displays information about the products inside the picture and enables a purchase from Pixazza's network of established merchants. Pixazza cards offer an innovative way for advertisers to promote their brands to a premium demographic just when their interest is piqued. Then, once engaged, Pixazza delivers targeted information.
"Consumers access an unprecedented level of content through the Internet, a uniquely visual medium, but brand advertisers have lacked the tools to attract a viewer's attention within the context of images," said Bob Lisbonne, CEO of Pixazza. "Pixazza solves this problem by transforming online images into captivating content that connects consumers with products when their intent, interest and engagement are highest."
Founded in 2008, Pixazza, Inc. is a leading web service that is changing the way consumers interact with images online. By enabling consumers to mouse over images to learn more and see related products, Pixazza has pioneered the use of images as real estate for brand advertising and ecommerce. Through its network of leading publishers, Pixazza currently serves more than 70 million unique visitors per month at a rate of 20 billion image views per year. Developed by technologists from Netscape and LiveOps, Pixazza's platform combines Internet and crowdsourcing technology to deliver the optimal content relevant to online images. Pixazza is a private company funded by August Capital, CMEA Capital, Google Ventures, and Shasta Ventures, with offices in Mountain View, CA.
SOURCE Pixazza, Inc.


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It’s been 25 years since Live released their blockbuster album Throwing Copper and they are giving fans a very nice present. A box set that includes 2 LPs, 2CDs, unreleased material and an interview, among other goodies, drops on July 19th. More here.
The legendary Pixies are back with a new album due out on September 13th called Beneath The Eyrie. There’s a new single out now called “On Graveyard Hill” to give just a taste of what’s to come. Give your ears a treat by clicking here.


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Optimization, integration and the human touch are all key to retail success post-pandemic
The last thing anyone wants to hear about right now is more explanation about all the different shortages, global catastrophes and other things beyond our control that are currently affecting the auto market. But, as Canadian dealers gaze out upon nearly empty car lots, they are also recognizing that somehow their bottom line is doing fine, sometimes even better than fine. Perhaps, this is just a different market, not worse, and requires more of a shift in perspective than a sea change in operations.
A DesRosiers study from June 8 reported, “the auto industry as a whole saw record dollar level figures of retail sales in Q1 this year.” The report finds automotive parts, accessories, and tire stores climbed 7.6 per cent, New car dealers increased six per cent, both “rising well above pre-pandemic highs”. Used car dealers increased 1.9 per cent for the first quarter of 2022.
The challenges are not with consumer demand, clearly. But with competition from a growing variety of direct-to-consumer models, successful dealerships are going to have to offer consumers a better buying experience. Canadian auto dealer talked with a variety of experts in the industry, from a CADA Innovation Laureate, to DMS and CRM specialists, to a digital imaging specialist, and the consensus seems to be that the successful path forward means optimizing the online appeal of the dealership, capitalizing on beneficial human interaction, using technology to remove “pain points” for the consumer, and ensuring a seamlessly integrated digital-to-in-store buying experience.
Obviously, the main advantage that dealers have over the direct sales platform is the human touch. “We know people buy things from people that they know, like, and trust,” said CADA Laureate for Innovation Award recipient, Mike Trotman, of Trotman Auto Group in BC. “That’s something that from our inception we’ve been passionate about; delighting a client. We’re the first ones buyers talk about after they have navigated through their shopping experience. Because we’ve done something to stand out, or we took their breath away, or we delighted them, or over-delivered, or something in that realm.”
Where the direct-to-consumer model wins with buyers is the transparent “one price” for everyone model. “Tesla is all one price, no negotiation,” said Trotman. “And you pay that, and your friend paid that, and your in-laws paid that.” In the dealer world, he says, there’s still negotiating, and consumers aren’t always sure they’ve gotten a good price. “That lack of trust can make dealers their own worst enemy because they haven’t been transparent,” said Trotman. “But when you appreciate that your buyer has done the online research, and celebrate that they know what they want, you both enter the negotiation from an informed, comfortable, empowered point of view. And then you have a healthier transaction.”
“By 2022, almost all of a dealership’s new customers will have started shopping online. Whether for a used vehicle or a new vehicle, customers no longer arrive at dealerships to ‘see what’s new’.”
— Vicky Goupil, Associate Sales Director, Torque Management
How a dealership is marketed and perceived online is a crucial aspect of today’s retail world, and a lot of it comes down to something as simple as “nice pictures of nice cars.” But getting the nice pictures isn’t as simple as it seems. “The photos are the first thing a potential customer sees when they go on your website,” said Peter Duffy, from Dealer Image Pro, an online auto photo app company based in Florida. “The picture is what takes the car to the market.”
Dealer Image Pro, Piranha, CarLife and other such apps can automate the task of taking the best pictures to make the best impression every time, no matter who is taking the picture. Trotman Group also uses a specialized video program, called Quickpage, on their dealership websites to help the sales team make personal connections with car shoppers, even when they are still in the online part of the buying journey.
Paradoxically, being a human selling vehicles to other humans, and doing the job well, requires some complex computer solutions. And, it turns out, transparency is still the key. Ideally, these platforms work together to manage customer data, inventory, customer communications, marketing, financing and dealership operations, so that the humans involved can focus on each other, and not all the numbers and specs involved.
Torque Management is a DMS company in Quebec. In an interview with Canadian auto dealer, Torque’s Associate Sales Director Vicky Goupil said, “By 2022, almost all of a dealership’s new customers will have started shopping online. Whether for a used vehicle or a new vehicle, customers no longer arrive at dealerships to ‘see what’s new’. Customers are informed and come on site to “touch” what they have seen online.”
When a buyer is intrigued enough by the digital marketing, social media marketing, and Google searches they’ve been doing to make a trip into a dealership, the technology now needs to enhance the interaction between the customer and salesperson.
Daniel Racine is the GM of Activix, a CRM company based out of Montreal. He told Canadian auto dealer “It’s less a question of price today, but it’s a question of availability and customer service. So, are you adapting at your leadership level to have the right tools to take the online customer into a transaction in the store?”
“Dealers need to ask, “How do I continue the digital consumer experience in-store? How do I continue that transaction, and build on it?” said Louis-Yves Cloutier, the CEO of 360 Management in Montreal. “We need to go online and offline very seamlessly to make it easier for the consumer.”
Making a seamless transition from the customer’s online shopping into a dealership transaction is the key to making sales today, particularly using the information the customer has provided when online, and not making the customer re-submit anything when they are in the store. This means integrating DMS and CRM and financing functions, to capitalize on the people skills and personal communication that give dealerships the advantage over direct-to-consumer platforms.
“It means that the salesperson needs to understand that the sales journey starts, most of the time, remotely,” said Cloutier. “And when they start to engage with consumers online, instead of pushing for a visit in store, they’ll start the transaction online, to eventually get the client to come in, to finalize the deal. “Or maybe the client may not even come in, they’re going to finalize everything remotely.”
“Dealers need to ask, “How do I continue the digital consumer experience in-store? How do I continue that transaction, and build on it?”
— Louis-Yves Cloutier, CEO, 360 Management
An integrated CRM with a DMS is also integral to serving customers once they have bought a vehicle. “As a CRM allows us to manage sales opportunities, it is important to have rigorous tools and processes in place to be able to follow your own customers and to be able to contact them at the right time,” said Goupil.
In a very supply-restricted market, which will probably remain the case for some time, dealers are also going to have to get creative with alternative revenue streams from the service department. The Trotman Group has been successful teaming up with Shopify to promote aftermarket sales.
“We’re really big into customization and accessorization of vehicles,” said Trotman. “So you buy a Jeep, or a Dodge Ram truck, and you want to put wheels and tires or a lift kit on it, or a winch, or a tow kit or roof backs or whatever. So our service guys totally build customized vehicles. And our digital team is as customized, a full online shopping experience, powered by Shopify. You can go and shop online and see before and after pictures of vehicles. It’s a full niche business unto its own.”
It’s possible to build an omni-channel sales platform that offers value to both dealers and customers. One that empowers dealers to use their data to target customers, find what they want, get it to them, and make a profit; as well as customers, who get to understand the process, what’s available, what it will cost, and how long it will take, all while feeling they are getting good value for their money.
At the end of the day, for the dealer model to remain relevant, “We need to make sure we understand, ‘Why do we exist?’” Trotman said. “If we’re not clear about that, our viability is in jeopardy.”


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Shell expects writedowns of between 15 and 22 billion dollars in the second quarter of 2020 due to Covid. What energy companies are deciding to deal with post pandemic accounts
Covid-19 will also affect Royal Dutch Shell's accounts. Due to the crisis triggered by coronavirus, which has also inevitably changed demand and supply on the energy market, the oil & gas giant expects a significant write-down after taxes in the second quarter of the year. All the details.
THE SHELL REVIEW
"In the second quarter of 2020, Shell revised its medium and long-term price and prospects for refining margins, reflecting the expected effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and related macroeconomic aspects, as well as the demand and supply of the 'power. This led to the revision of a significant part of Shell's tangible, intangible and upstream activities, integrated gas and refining ", reads the note released by the company.
DEVELOPMENT IN VIEW
In particular, Shell explains, “aggregate post-tax write-down charges of between $ 15 billion and $ 22 billion are expected in the second quarter. The expenses for impairment are recognized as identified items and no financial impact is expected in the second quarter ”.
Going into details, the impact is between 8 and 9 billion dollars for the gas sector, mainly in Australia, between 4 and 6 billion for the upstream, especially in Brazil and in the shale in North America and between 3 and 7 billion in the refining portfolio of petroleum products.
THE WEIGHT OF PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
And just looking at oil products, in the forecasts of the British giant there are fears that sales of oil products will be limited to a range between 3.5 and 4.5 million barrels per day, a sharp drop from 6.6 of the previous year , in the face of a demand that drops drastically.
THE PRICE PER BARREL
Also the price per barrel does not allow profits to fly: Royal Dutch Shell predicts that the price per barrel, for 2020, should be around 35 euros (for Brent ). Some small bullish light should be seen from 2021, when it will rise to 40 dollars. From 2022 the price per barrel will have to be 50 dollars to reach 60 dollars in the long term (and therefore return to the level of early 2020).
in the second quarter says that sales of petroleum products will be limited to a range between 3.5 and 4.5 million barrels per day, down sharply from 6.6 the previous year precisely because of the "significant drop" in demand following the pandemic.
THE DIFFICULTIES OF BP
Shell's announcement isn't the first of its kind. Just a few days ago, recalls Radiocor , BP announced write-downs of between 13 and 17.5 billion dollars, again due to the economic crisis triggered by the pandemic and the performance of the oil market.
DEVALUATIONS IN VIEW OF UP TO 300 BILLION DOLLARS
Shell and BP will certainly not be alone. According to a report by Deloitte ( details here ), "the difficult conditions of the oil market could push the shale industry to devalue or devalue the value of its assets for a value of about 300 billion dollars with significant reductions expected in the second quarter of 2020 ".
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/energia/effetto-covid-su-shell-tutti-i-dettagli/ on Tue, 30 Jun 2020 12:50:43 +0000.


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We’re very excited to announce that we’ve been nominated for not one, but two categories at the PRmoment Awards 2019. We were nominated for EVENT OF THE YEAR and HEALTH, BEAUTY, RETAIL & FASHION MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR for our work with Umpf on ‘Made Up Leeds’ for LeedsBID.
We’ve worked with LeedsBID for the past two years on a multitude of projects that showcases the cultural spectrum of Leeds. Everything from fashion to art to hair and beauty, Leeds has got it and we’ve done it!
SLBPR has always been synonymous with hair, beauty and fashion. Since our conception nearly 20 years ago we have worked with the some of the biggest brands in the UK, cementing a reputation as one of the key communications agencies brokering sponsorship deals and working with the backstage teams at the international fashion weeks. Working with forward thinking clients such as BaByliss PRO allows us to partner with the UK’s most innovative and talented designers, hair teams, make-up artists, stylists, photographers and videographers and fashion production companies. The fashion industry is worth more to the UK economy than the car industry – not that you would ever know from media coverage.
And now we are proud that our MD, Sharon, is on the newly formed British Beauty Council (BBC). Set up as a sister organisation to the British Fashion Council the BBC is seeking to highlight the importance and size of the British beauty industry – in terms of its worldwide influence, the number of people it employs and the revenue it contributes to the UK economy. The aim is to lean on government to improve training and recognise the impact the beauty profession has on all of us.
Being shortlisted for these awards is fantastic for our personal and professional profile and also demonstrates a recognition of the important work around beauty, fashion and retail.


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Over recent decades, businesses around the world have become accustomed to the idea of global markets becoming progressively more open, with governments and diplomats working concertedly to tackle trade barriers and usher in a new era of uninhibited international commerce.
In the last few years, however, there have been signs that this progress is stalling. With the global economy struggling since the economic crisis of 2008 and a growing perception in many countries that the benefits of globalization have been unevenly distributed, protectionist sentiments are on the rise, and free trade is at risk of falling out of fashion.
As such, policymakers and businesses that remain committed to the principle of tariff-free cross-border trade suddenly have a fight on their hands to rehabilitate the concept in the eyes of the public, in order to prevent the hard-earned gains of many years from being whittled away.
A weakening consensus on free trade
In its 2017 Report Card on International Cooperation, the Council of Councils assigned the progress made on expanding global trade with a grade of D+, down from a C+ in 2015. This represented the steepest decline across the ten issue areas assessed, with the organization noting that popular support for free trade is on the decline in many of the advanced economies that have traditionally championed greater liberalization on this front.
Influential bodies such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have all acknowledged that a growing perception is emerging that free trade is to blame for local unemployment and economic dislocation in some sectors and communities, as cross-border alliances often result in certain jobs moving from one country to another.
At a time when global economic growth is proving sluggish, these concerns are fuelling the protectionist rhetoric espoused by populist politicians such as US president Donald Trump, and may also have played a role in the UK's decision to leave the European Union - both developments that are seen as negative in terms of furthering the cause of international cooperation.
The potential damage
WTO figures indicate that global trade volume growth came to only 1.7 per cent in 2016, representing the slowest increase since the 2008 financial crisis. While part of this is due to slowing global demand and weak economic activity, it was also noted that WTO member countries introduced 182 new trade-restrictive measures last year, while G20 governments implemented almost 350 measures that harmed foreign commercial interests during the first eight months of the year alone.
Meanwhile, the prospects of a number of potentially important mega-regional trade agreements were dealt substantial blows last year, following the move by the US to pull out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which would have been the largest preferential trade agreement in history, but is now on the verge of collapse. The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership between the US and Europe is also unlikely to advance in 2017, while even the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement - 2016's biggest free trade achievement - was almost scuppered by opposition from the Belgian region of Wallonia.
Bodies such as the International Chambers of Commerce have raised concerns that this backward slide on free trade may not only dent future economic growth prospects, but could also harm international efforts to develop unified climate change solutions - a matter of global humanitarian importance.
How to restore the reputation of globalization
Although progress on major trade deals such as the Asian Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the African Continental Free Trade Agreement remains possible in 2017, the Council of Councils said it is "pessimistic" about the prospects of a turnaround this year, describing the current populist dissatisfaction and skepticism surrounding free trade as "growing threats to the global trading order".
As such, the WTO, IMF, World Bank, ILO and OECD have all emphasized the importance of ensuring that the reputation of globalization can be rehabilitated, with free trade positioned once again as a solution to economic and social problems, rather than their cause.
Specifically, it was noted that more of an effort needs to be made to ensure that governments combine their trade liberalization efforts with appropriate investments in education, skills development and training for people throughout their working lives, ensuring these individuals are more able to find opportunities even in cases where globalization causes major changes to the structure of their professions.
WTO director-general Roberto Azevedo said: "We need to recognize that many people out there hold a negative view about globalization and trade. We need to work hard to make sure that the benefits of trade are more widely held."


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It's more or less official: music is the hot topic of 2007. So said a majority of panelists at a 3GSM session on mobile entertainment last February when asked their opinion on the hot topics of the moment. Granted, one of them was from music label EMI, but there you go.
The buzz on mobile music goes back at least as far as the iPod, but with every major manufacturer now toting its own family of music phones, and mobile music download services up and running in a growing number of markets - digital music service Soundbuzz says mobile music downloads already outnumber PC downloads - 2007 is looking like the year mobile music will really light a fire.
What about DRM‾
If only it wasn't for the whole DRM thing. And the fact that you really need 3G to even consider downloading full tracks (as well as the fact that 3G is still a minority audience in most markets). Which may be why the vast majority of music you'll find on any given digital music device is ripped from a purchased CD and sideloaded.
Such factors don't seem to trouble the optimists much - at another 3GSM panel on mobile music, DRM didn't come up until someone in the audience (okay, it was me) asked about it (answer: no DRM, no mobile music). But even the most optimistic projections don't peg 3G as a majority service until sometime next decade. And even if DRM interoperability is resolved by the end of this year, consumer activist groups remain suspicious of DRM, arguing that it's mostly proprietary, ties users to a device or its operating system (i.e. Windows or Mac), or makes 'sharing' tracks with friends a pay-for-play affair, in which your friend has to pay for the track you just Bluetoothed to her before she can play it.
Meanwhile, cellcos keen to offer music services without the hassles of bandwidth and piracy fears have another option: audio streaming.
Take PCCW Mobile's MOOV on Mobile service, launched in December. Essentially a mobile version of its existing online music service of the same name, MOOV offers 4,000 minutes of music streaming from its music library, along with 100 minutes of airtime, for a monthly fee.
Users can construct their own playlists on the Moov Web site from 60,000 tracks (mostly local Cantopop artists) from 20 different labels and then access the same playlist via mobile. There are also eight preset playlists that refresh every 15 minutes.
Moov also throws a little Web 2.0 action into the mix by letting fans form communities and swap playlists with friends (provided all their friends subscribe to MOOV, of course).
Streaming audio as a mobile music format isn't new - mobile operators in Europe and the US have been doing it since 2004 - but it's an approach that's got some advantages over the full-track download model. For a start, it doesn't rely on 3G-level bandwidth, which means a much broader potential market of users to tap. Streaming also doesn't require massive storage capacity on the handset.
It also does an end-run around the DRM issue, since streaming is little different from customized satellite radio: users are listening, not downloading.
Whether users would rather own MP3s than rent a music library like MOOV remains to be seen. That said, according to a report in the South China Morning Post in January, Cantopop heartthrob Leo Ku generated 800,000 streams in six months on the MOOV service.
Meanwhile, mainland China - where 3G is still on hold - looks set to be the next big streaming mobile music playground. In late December, Chinese digital music service 5Fad signed a partnership contract with BrainMedia to launch a mobile version of its streaming music service. And, in a possible sign of things to come, in January EMI Music announced a partnership with search engine portal Baidu.com to launch a free online music streaming service supported by ads. The deal doesn't include mobile, but Baidu has mobile ambitions - it's already struck a deal with Nokia to have its icon pre-installed on phones in China for its mobile services - and if fans go for ad-backed music, taking that model mobile could change the ball game.
John C. Tanner Global technology editor ([email protected])


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Hurting Microsoft Hurts The Entire Computer Industry
June 12, 2000
The general argument for breaking up Microsoft is that it would have positive results for the economy and the rest of the computer industry. But a recent study says that the antitrust case is bad for the computer industry because it's very interconnected, and hurting Microsoft hurts the rest of the industry.
Between 1991 and 1997, the study found that:
- During each pro-antitrust announcement, Microsoft's stock went down 1.2 percent, while the other computer firms suffered a loss of 0.5 to 0.6 percent, on average.
- During each anti-antitrust announcement, Microsoft's stock rose 2.3 percent, while the other computer firms enjoyed a gain of 1.2 percent, on average.
- Of the past 54 antitrust events, in only 3 instances did Microsoft and the rest of the computer industry react in substantially different ways.
The study suggests that the antitrust case is reducing capital inflow to the computer industry by lowering returns on investment.
Source: "The Stock Market's Verdict of Microsoft's Antitrust Case," Economic Intuition, Spring 2000. Based on: George Bittlingmayer and Thomas W. Hazlett, "DOS Kapital: Has antitrust action against Microsoft created value in the computer industry?" Journal of Financial Economics, March 2000.
Browse more articles on Government Issues


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Actis-controlled lighting products maker Halonix Ltd (formerly Phoenix Lamps) has set in motion its plan to sell its loss-making general lighting business and will soon seek shareholders’ approval to transfer the division to a subsidiary called Halonix Technologies Ltd, ahead of the sale. The proposal was cleared by the board in a meeting last Friday (April 12, 2013).
This comes within two months of the firm disclosing such plans, which means a revival of its proposed move earlier – that of selling the general lighting business while retaining the automotive lighting unit.
The valuation of the slump sale to the subsidiary will be the average of the fair value of the general lighting business, arrived at through the discount cash flow method as on Dec 31, 2012, as determined by two independent valuers.
Halonix manufactures halogen lamps for automobiles, including two & three-wheelers, passenger cars, commercial vehicles and off-road applications. It is also in the business of branded general lighting, mostly compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs).
The general lighting business, which competes with Philips, Havells and Osram, among others, constitutes around 60 per cent of the company’s revenues, but it happens to be a loss-making business. Therefore, selling it will enable the firm to become a focused automotive lighting company. The auto lighting business is profitable but the company, as a whole, has been in the red due to its general lighting unit.
Private equity firm Actis, which struck a number of control deals in India, had acquired a majority stake in the company way back in 2006-07 with a final tranche of 20 per cent stake through an open offer – taking its holding to 66 per cent.
Halonix scrip shot up 19.9 per cent in a strong Mumbai market on Monday after the announcement and last traded at Rs 37.35 a share. The open offer was made at Rs 190 a share and Actis’ investment is deep underwater.
Earlier, in July 2010, the firm decided to sell the lighting business to Actis. However, the deal was scrapped and the company decided to continue with both automotive and general lighting as two separate and distinct lines of business.
At that time, too, the company decided to first hive off the general lighting business to a subsidiary, Halonix Technologies, and then sell the shares of the subsidiary to Actis. The firm has not disclosed if Actis will be involved in the transaction on this occasion.
Last October, Halonix acquired Luxembourg-based International Lamps Holding Company SA for an undisclosed amount.
(Edited by Sanghamitra Mandal)


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App market 'fertile ground' for cybercrime
Posted in: Mobile & Wireless at 31/03/2010 19:28
Web, social networking and smartphone applications are the "fertile ground" for cybercrime, not helped by the fact that the app market is still emerging and largely unregulated, a new study has warned.
Released Tuesday, the Blue Coat Web Security Report for 2009 indicated that Web-based business services from Google as well as social networking and smart phone apps have all been targets for attack during the past year. Malicious apps disguised as games have already begun troubling users, the security vendor added.
To read this ZDNet report in full, see:


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Tesla shares, which have gained almost 10% since disclosing the Model 3 production numbers on 3 April, were up 1.8% in afternoon trading on Wall Street. He's described the process of making the Model 3 as "production hell". Last year, despite going through extreme challenges building an entirely new Model 3 production system, we nonetheless reduced our injury rate by 25%.
Musk also stated in a 2016 shareholder meeting that the secret sauce in auto production is perfecting the machines that build the machines.
Since launching last summer, the Model 3, which costs $35,000 for the base model and is touted as the first affordable electric vehicle, has been the subject of much analyst handwringing. "Also, the issue of recall is hurting the company badly".
Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company.
Oil, gold open lower in spite of Syria strikes; Russia retaliation eyed
The mechanism would look at cases where the OPCW fact-finding mission has established chemical weapons were used or likely used. Russian and Iranian military help over the past three years has allowed Assad to crush the rebel threat to topple him.
While the Reveal reporters seem to have done a thorough job with the investigation, Tesla has disputed the findings and notes that any past safety concerns have already been addressed and dealt with. KeyCorp restated a hold rating and set a $240.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a report on Wednesday, December 27th. The rating was maintained by Deutsche Bank on Monday, March 20 with "Hold". The consensus rating is 2.8, suggesting the market has given up on the stock.
NASDAQ TSLA opened at $300.34 on Friday. Tesla has a 52 week low of $178.19 and a 52 week high of $287.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The stock's market capitalization is $39.40 billion. Additionally, analysts are predicting net losses of about $192 million and $35 million in the third and fourth quarters, respectively. As TSLA has a P/S, P/E and P/B estimations of 4.41, 0 and 11.93 separately.
On a weekly basis, the stock is 0.35%. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.58, for a total value of $284,018.58.
EPS growth estimate for this year is set at -59.70%.The earnings per share (EPS) formula is stated as earnings available to common shareholders divided by number of common stock shares outstanding. 1,000 shares valued at $334,874 were sold by FIELD JOHN DOUGLAS on Tuesday, January 9. A P/B ratio of less than 1.0 can indicate that a stock is undervalued, while a ratio of greater than 1.0 may indicate that a stock is overvalued. Company insiders own 23.10% of the company's stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. The stock increased 0.14% or $0.065 during the last trading session, reaching $45.955.
Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) shares were closed at $300.34 a share in the latest session and the stock value gain nearly 2.13% since the beginning of this year. Illinois-based Blair William Il has invested 0.02% in Tesla, Inc. Looking further out we can see that the stock has moved -3.54% over the year to date. About 2.90 million shares traded. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Tesla by 4.5% during the third quarter. Vantage Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,170 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $676,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter.


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Hollywood Company Deluxe Jumps Into VR Fray
Deluxe Entertainment Services Group has launched Deluxe VR, a new dedicated virtual reality (VR) creative services unit in Los Angeles. The company is showcasing a pair of real-time, computer-generated virtual reality experiences at next week’s National Association of Broadcasters trade show in Las Vegas.
An interactive product demo at NAB will let attendees explore all aspects of an F-14 fighter jet, including viewing detailed 3D models of the jet’s operating and weapons systems, firing its rocket payload, and watching both virtual and live-action versions of the plane’s tactical maneuvering capabilities. The company will also showcase Reco, an interactive story focused on some curious robot aliens that pulls the viewer into their world.
Malte Wagener, head of Deluxe VR, says both of these experiences were produced in less than 10 weeks.
“Reco showcases and highlights the ability to tell a story with only visuals,” Wagener says. “We went back to the era of silent movies, where a story is really told between the actor, the camera, and lighting”
Wagener says the fighter jet demo offers a preview of how training, engineering, education, and learning can work in virtual reality.
“The project speaks to new opportunities for transferring information and knowledge to address one of the key issues in teaching: How do you enable students to interact with the subject matter they’re learning about? How do you interest and excite them?” Wagener says. “VR has transformational potential here.”
Wagener believes NAB 2016 will mark the point where attendees will be seeing more substantial VR experiences and use cases.
“In the past 24 months it has been mostly short demos and visual slices, and now that we are past a first critical mass in regards to developers and content creators, we will see a new level of content quality to follow,” Wagener says.
Deluxe, which provides digital media and entertainment services across film, video, advertising, and online content from capture to consumption, has been following virtual reality over the last few years.
Facebook’s $2 billion acquisition of Oculus VR in 2014 opened the floodgates for investment in the market. Both Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive VR headsets are available to consumers today, as well as Samsung’s Gear VR and Google Cardboard. Sony launches PlayStation VR in October.
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“We see both the market for VR, and VR as a technology, as more of a marathon than a sprint, and have approached our strategy with that in mind,” Wagener says. “Ultimately, Deluxe always pushes for better solutions and new thinking, and as a company we have now built the capabilities into a truly dedicated team, while being flexible to also fully utilize the scale that Deluxe as a whole offers.”
Nokia has entered into a postproduction partnership with Deluxe and Deluxe VR to provide technical consultation, editorial, VFX, color, and stitching services for immersive content created with its Ozo VR camera system.
“We’ve developed a proprietary workflow and a set of tools that enable creators to go through long shoots where they receive the proper support from pre- to postproduction,” Wagener says. “It’s one thing to produce a two-minute piece, but an entirely different proposition to do a 20-minute shoot.”
For more on virtual reality, watch:
While the 360-degree video market is in its early stage today, virtual reality video could grow to the $5 billion to $10 billion revenue range by 2020, according to Tim Merel, managing director at Digi-Capital, which advises VR companies.
Wagener believes virtual reality will emerge as its own form of entertainment in the coming years. Fox Labs has already experimented with the technology with The Martian Virtual Reality Experience, which will launch this year across all platforms.
“Once the great storytellers of our time like Spielberg, Abrams, Scorsese, or Scott get to spend some real time with the technology, it will be very interesting to see the different approaches to it,” Wagener says. “And Deluxe is ready to support them.”


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Earnings Roundup: Nordstrom, Blockbuster
Among the earnings stories for Thursday, Nov. 12, from AP Financial News:
SEATTLE (AP) ¿ Department store operator Nordstrom Inc. said that its profit rose 17 percent in the third quarter even though its costs were higher than expected as shoppers began spending more.
DALLAS (AP) ¿ Struggling movie rental retailer Blockbuster Inc. said that its third-quarter loss surged more than fivefold as more consumers rented movies by mail or through competitors' vending kiosks instead of driving to its stores.
NEW YORK (AP) ¿ Shoppers' focus on staples such as socks and underwear is driving murky holiday outlooks at Wal-Mart and Kohl's, even as both posted higher third-quarter earnings.LOS ANGELES (AP) ¿ The Walt Disney Co. posted a surprise 18 percent increase in fourth-quarter earnings in a sign the company is beginning to emerge from an advertising market hit hard by the recession. NEW YORK (AP) ¿ Oil shipper Knightsbridge Tankers Ltd. said that profit fell in the third quarter as charter rates for its carriers declined. NEW YORK (AP) ¿ BCE Inc., Canada's largest telecommunications company, said its third-quarter profit more than doubled, helped by lower restructuring costs and taxes. MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ¿ Shares of Alliant Techsystems Inc. rose modestly after it said its fiscal second-quarter profit climbed 18 percent, helped by stronger sales of ammunition for security forces in Afghanistan. BETHESDA, Md. (AP) ¿ Satellite phone company Iridium Communications Inc. posted a profit of $15 million for its latest quarter, down 11 percent from a year ago.
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QLD Gloria Jean’s Coffees (GJ’s) Franchisees are set to experience greater success in 2014 with the proposed acquisition of the brand by Singapore-based firm Global Yellow Pages (GYP). The acquisition will be finalised in March 2014.
GYP has set its sights on ensuring greater global success for the GJ’s brand, with a push to expand GJ’s further into Asia, and in particular, China. GJ’s currently has more than 800 coffee houses in 39 countries, and this is set to grow.
GYP Non-Executive Chairman and former Singapore Government Cabinet Minister, Mah Bow Tan, said that GJ’s will benefit from a bigger global group structure whilst still having a firm focus on supporting local, Australian entrepreneurial Franchise Partners.
“We see this partnership as the best of both worlds, combining international capital, expertise and resources with Australian entrepreneurialism,” Mah said.
“The partnership is committed to the continued success of the local Australian business, in addition to expanding further into Asia,” he said.
“The coffee drinking culture is growing fast in many Asian countries and we believe that this acquisition will provide GYP with a platform to tap into this growing trend in Asia, especially China.”
“GYP shares GJ’s vision for the brand and its potential for further growth as a values-oriented socially responsible business delivering excellence in coffee and café culture.”
In this interest, current Executive Chairman of GJ’s, Nabi Saleh, confirmed he would continue to have a significant role in the Australian operations, as non-Executive Chairman. Saleh will also retain interests in the Master Franchisee business of Australia, USA and China.
“We have been looking for some time for the right partner who shares our guiding values, our dedication to excellence and our vision for the future. As a result of months of discovery and ongoing consultation, we are confident that in GYP we have found the right partner to take the business to the next level,” said Saleh.
Comforting any nerves that QLD franchisees have for the future, GJ’s confirmed all Australian-based supply chain and franchise operations will remain at Castle Hill.
A statement from GJ’s said GYP and GJ’s executive management will work closely to ensure a continued smooth running of the business.
Redmako continues to provide support to QLD’s hospitality industry, including to GJ’s franchise owners.
Redmako Business Sales currently has at least three GJ’s businesses listed for sale, with one contract expected to settle in mid-March.
“We’ve had a lot of interest in the GJ’s businesses, with savvy business investors trying to get in early before the expected brand growth later this year and into the future,” said Redmako Business Sales Senior Business Broker, Brendon Crabtree.


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Saturday, November 15, 2008
McMaster University purchases Espresso Book Machine
According to an article on TheSpec.com, McMaster University’s Title bookstore is now one of the nine owners of an Espresso Book Machine. The bookstore received their machine last week and since then employees have been learning how to operate it, as they prepare for a large showing of customers at their January launch. When the machine is in full operation, consumers will be able to choose from over one million public domain-books whose copyrights have expired. Additionally, the university plans to buy the rights to publish chapters of textbooks which would allow students to save money and create an opportunity for professors to combine material from multiple sources. Local authors in the community could also benefit from the university’s Espresso Book Machine because it will allow them to publish their books one copy at a time via an initial fee followed by a per page copy fee. McMaster University is the second college store to acquire an Espresso Book Machine, with the other being at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada.


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Which European countries have the most billionaires?
Long gone are the days when to be a millionaire was a label of incredible wealth, as the number of billionaires continues to increase the world over. How are these billionaires distributed throughout Europe? Which countries have the most?
Here we looked at the 10 European countries with the most billionaires, put them in order from most to least, and had a closer look at who some of these billionaires are.
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So, without further ado, here is the list of the 10 European countries with the most billionaires:
The European country with the most billionaires is Germany. In 2022 it has 134 billionaires, who are together worth a total of €608 billion.
Well-known German billionaires include Klaus-Michael Kühne, who owns over 50% of the transport company Kühne + Nagel, and the heir to the Lidl supermarket empire, Dieter Schwarz.
Newcomers to the list of Germany billionaires include Christian Angermayer, an entrepreneur and investor, who is also a film producer.
What films has Christian Angermayer produced?
Christian Angermayer has produced 26 feature films. These include Hector And The Search For Happiness (2014), Filth (2013), The Aspern Papers (2018), Resistance (2020) and Army of Thieves (2021).
There is a bit of a jump down in the number of billionaires in the second country on our list. Italy has 52 billionaires, worth a total of €195 billion
58-year-old Giovanni Ferrero is the richest person in Italy, with a wealth of €36 billion. He is heir to the Ferrero confectionery company, and is currently executive chairman.
This year sees six new billionaires in Italy, one of which is Susan Carol Holland. Holland is chairman of Amplifon, the Milan-based hearing aid company founded by her father in 1950.
Is Amplifon the biggest hearing aid retailer in the world?
Yes, through a series of acquisitions over many years, Amplifon is now present in 29 countries throughout the world, and has an estimated 11% global market share of the hearing aid business. The company has approximately 16,000 employees, and sells through 5,000 points of sale, 4,000 shop-in-shops and nearly 2,000 affiliated stores.
#3: United Kingdom
Third on our list is the United Kingdom, which in 2022 has 49 billionaires, with a total wealth of €199 billion.
The richest billionaire in the UK is still Sir James Ratcliffe, the chemical engineer and businessman, who is founder and CEO of the Ineos chemicals group. Hedge fund manager Michael Platt is the second richest billionaire in the UK, with an estimated wealth of €15 billion. 2022 did not see any new billionaires in the UK.
Did anyone in the UK lose their billionaire status between 2021 and 2022?
Yes, seven UK billionaires from 2021 are no longer billionaires in 2022. These include Eddie and Sol Zakay from the Topland Group, Matt Molding, owner of THG plc, and Geeta Gupta-Fisker, founder of electric vehicle startup Fisker Inc.
Sweden boasts 45 billionaires in 2022, up four from last year, and together they have a total net worth of €166 billion.
Stefan Persson, the founder of fashion brand H&M, remains Sweden’s richest billionaire. Sweden welcomed six new members to the billionaires club, but lost two, including Mats Paulsson and Olsson Eriksson.
When was the fashion company H&M founded?
The fashion company H&M was founded in 1947, in Västerås, Sweden, by Erling Persson. The company was then taken over by his son, Carl Persson, in 1982, who served as manager until 1998. Carl Persson handed over the reigns to his son, Karl-Johan Persson, in 2020, but retained a 36% stake in the company.
What does the H and M stand for in the fashion brand H&M?
The H and M in H&M stands for Hennes and Mauritz. Hennes means ‘hers’ in Swedish, and the name Mauritz comes from the hunting apparel retailer Mauritz Widforss, which Erling Persson acquired in 1968.
Fifth on our list is France, which has 43 billionaires in 2022. These billionaires have a total wealth of €550 billion.
The wealthiest billionaire in France is Bernard Arnault, the French businessman, who has a wealth of €158 billion. Arnault co-founded LVMH Moët Hennessy - Louis Vuitton SE, the largest luxury goods company in the world. He is still its chairman and chief executive. Other notable French billionaires are Francoise Bettencourt Meyers of L'Oréal, François Pinault of Kering, and Alain & Gerard Wertheimer of Chanel.
How many vineyards does Francois Pinault own?
Through the family’s investment holding company, Artémis, Francois Pinault owns a total of five vineyards: Château Latour in Bordeaux, Clos de Tarn in Bourgogne, Château Grillet in the Rhône Valley, Domaine d’Eugénie in Vosne-Romanée and Eisele Vineyard in the Napa Valley.
Next on our list is Switzerland, which has 41 billionaires, who have a combined net worth of €182 billion.
Switzerland’s wealthiest billionaire is Guillaume Pousaz, founder and CEO of payment platform Checkout, who has an estimated wealth of €23 billion. There was one new Swiss billionaire this year, the CEO of Investis real estate group, Stéphane Bonvin.
What is the Investis group?
Founded in 1994, the Investis group is a real estate company based in Switzerland. Its portfolio now includes more than 3,000 apartments in the Lake Geneva region.
In 2022, Spain has 27 billionaires, who together have a total wealth of €116 billion.
Spain’s richest billionaire, Amancio Ortega, has a net worth of €59 billion. Born in the León region of Spain, and brought up in the Spanish Basque country, Ortega is the founder of Inditex fashion group, of which the Zara and Bershka clothing shops are part. 2022 has seen a 27% drop in Zara’s share price, but Ortega is still comfortably a billionaire.
When did Amancio Ortega open his first Zara shop?
Amancio Ortegao opened his first Zara shop in 1975, in A Coruña, Galicia, Spain. The shop was initially called Zorba, after the 1964 film Zorba the Greek, but was changed shortly afterwards. The first Zara shop to open outside of Spain was in 1985, in Porto, Portugal.
Norway has 13 billionaires in 2022, together worth a total of €41 billion.
Hedge fund manager Ole Andreas Halvorsen is the richest Norwegian. The second-richest is Ivar Tollefsen, founder of Tollefsen Enterprises and Fredensborg AS. He owns approximately 100,000 apartments across Europe, and has added over €2 billion to his total wealth since 2021. Norway has welcomed a new member to the billionaires club, co-founder of the Oslo brokerage house Fondsfinans, Erik Must.
What expeditions has Ivar Tollefsen taken part in?
In 1991, Ivar Tollefsen crossed Greenland on skis, and set a world speed record while doing so. He has also led several expeditions to Antarctica, and in 2009, he completed the Dakar Rally, finishing fourth.
Austria has a total of 11 billionaires, whose combined wealth comes to €62 billion.
The richest Austrian is Dietrich Mateschitz, who is the co-founder of Red Bull. His wealth has increased since 2021, to an estimated €27 billion. (edit: Dietrich Mateschitz died on 22 October 2022, in Salzburg, Austria, at the age of 78).
One Austrian billionaire has left the list, Gaston Glock, the gun manufacturer, whose company famously developed the Glock piston in 1981.
Does the drink Red Bull come from Thailand?
The idea of Red Bull did indeed come from Thailand, but it was developed by Austrian Dietrich Mateschitz. While travelling in Thailand, Mateschitz enjoyed drinking Krating Daeng, and had the idea to develop Red Bull. He founded the Red Bull company in 1984 and launched the drink in Austria in 1987.
The Netherlands also have 11 billionaires, but come in at 10th rather than ninth in our list, because their total wealth is less than that of the billionaires of Austria, at $38 billion compared to €62 billion.
Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken is the richest Dutch billionaire. She owns 25% of Heineken, the seond-largest brewer in the world, and has a net worth of €15 billion. The Netherlands lost a billionaire from the list in Jitse Groen, CEO of the food delivery company Just Eat, whose shares have dropped in value since last year.
How many beer brands does Heineken own?
As the second-largest brewer in the world, Heineken N.V. produces 348 beers and ciders worldwide. The company owns 165 breweries in over 70 countries, and has approximately 85,000 employees.


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Cairo Kids & Mother back on the billboards
Events management company Pyramids International has launched a new OOH campaign to announce the Fall edition of the fashion event Cairo Kids & Mother.
Following the same art direction of previous campaigns, the ads display the image of a mother and child over colorful backgrounds. The ad copy informs viewers of location, dates and sponsors of the event’s 62nd round.
The campaign hit the roads at the beginning of August and uses uni-poles, T-poles and flags, as well as serials, on the major roads of Greater Cairo.


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The year 2016 saw an increase in focus on accessibility features to allow people with disabilities to access technology. The Microsoft Event that saw the launch of the Surface Studio on October 26, and the Apple event a day later on October 27 which saw the launch of the new Macbook Pro laptops, both opened with a video showcasing the efforts by the two companies at making their products more universally accessible. Earlier in the year, during the Facebook F8 conference, Facebook demonstrated a a new API with features for making user interfaces built using the React library more accessible to visually impaired users.
For the visually impaired, touchscreens are scary because they are devices where all controls defer to the screen. Nirmita Narasimhan, a Policy Director at The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) in Bengaluru has contributed to policy decisions by the Indian Government to help the visually impaired better use technology. One of these measures was allowing the blind to convert ebooks to any format that would allow them to read it. Narasimhan believes that accessibility to new technologies can improve greatly for the visually impaired if major app distributors such as Apple and Google take efforts to make sure the same application works for blind users as well.
Curated by (Lifekludger)
Read full article at Source
A 2011 survey by the Pew Research Center found that 2%, or 4.7 million American adults, said they suffered from a disability or illness that made it difficult or impossible for them to use the internet.
For a growing number of companies, that inaccessibility comes at a cost. The US Department of Justice (DOJ), citing the Americans with Disabilities Act, has sued and negotiated millions of dollars in settlements with big brands such as Target, Disney and Netflix, for not designing their websites to accommodate the browsing needs of disabled customers.
Yet last month, the DOJ once again delayed a plan to issue regulations spelling out the criteria necessary for websites to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. It had previously planned to issue the rules in June of this year, but it then postponed the date to April 2016. It now expects to release the regulations in 2018.
Websites designed to be disability friendly typically include features such as accurate auto-translation, better speech recognition, enhanced search engine optimization and browser zoom. Many of these features also improve the internet experience for other users. Text transcripts and video captioning are a must for the deaf, but are also widely used by the hearing: 80% of TV viewers use closed captioning for reasons other than hearing loss, according to a recent UK study.
Curated by (Lifekludger)
Read full article at Source: The high cost of digital discrimination: why companies should care about web accessibility | Guardian Sustainable Business | The Guardian


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Even before the growing craft beer trend exploded on the national stage, San Francisco has always had a vibrant beer scene, surrounded by craft pioneers such as Anchor Steam Brewing Co. and Sierra Nevada. Yet today, even with San Francisco’s long legacy of local breweries, the growth of craft beer in the city is unprecedented.
Over the last several years, a number of new craft breweries and taprooms have begun popping up all over San Francisco, offering consumers a variety of styles of beer to enjoy. Recently, the growing number of breweries opening in the Bay Area has reached such heights that it is reported that both San Francisco and Oakland are on track to nearly double their number of breweries next year.
And this craft beer explosion is not just limited to breweries as a number of local restaurants have also begun capitalizing on the increasing consumer demand. Many local bars and restaurants are now featuring rotating tap handles of some of the city’s top craft brewers and many have also begun to give their beer lists as much attention as their wine lists.
Learn more about San Francisco’s craft beer boom here


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Tourism Frontline Employees Undergo Training
Monday 29th October, 2018-In a continuing effort to ensure that employees have access to training that is relevant to raising the standard of the Tourism Industry, the Tourism Ancillary Services Unit within the Ministry of Tourism and Investment began a series of training sessions today (Mon), specifically targeted to frontline employees based at the cruise ports, beaches and the reception desk at the headquarters of the Ministry of Tourism.
The Visitor Information Center Training program will run for four days and is facilitated by Ms. Cleo Henry, operations manager of the Antigua and Barbuda Hospitality Training Institute and certified trainer with the World Federation of Tourist Guide Association.
The program is designed to provide frontline employees carrying out visitor information functions with the knowledge and skills necessary for success in delivering service to excursionists and visitors in customer relations, product knowledge and destination services.
During the opening ceremony Permanent Secretary within the Ministry of Tourism and Investment Mr. Walter Christopher said the training is a critical component in any effort to offer quality service in the tourism and hospitality industry.
“If we are to survive as a tourist destination, we must deliver consistently high levels of customer service to be competitive in this global market,” remarked Mr. Christopher who also urged the participants to make the most of the training opportunity which offers exposure to global standards of operation.
Minister of Tourism and Investment, the Hon. Charles Fernandez commended the Permanent Secretary for creating an initiative that will provide frontline employees with a foundation for effective service delivery.
“With tourism being the most important industry in Antigua & Barbuda, this training program is very important and timely as Antigua and Barbuda prepares for the upcoming tourism season,” Minister Fernandez noted.
He continued that, “this program plays a big part in the process of the ministry’s effort to improve our visitors experience and I encourage each of you to engage and participate so that Antigua and Barbuda can stand out in this very competitive industry,” the Hon. Minister concluded.
The training program will cover areas such as the role of the visitor information center, the role of service ambassadors, developing employee product knowledge, cultural sensitivities and the importance of customer service.
The Tourism Ancillary Services Unit is headed by Ms. Annette Michael.


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Storage giant, EMC, has announced a range of new Microsoft-compatible products and enhancements designed to continue its push into the mid-market.
Director of marketing for EMC A/NZ, Clive Gold, said the new offerings would be particularly relevant to the Australian market, where many companies had a small branch office in all state capitals.
He highlighted the new Celerra gateways and the NetWin 200 NAS system as the most important announcements.
The NetWin system enables users in a branch office to do storage on site but leave the backup to the IT department at headquarters. The Celerra products include an entry-level NS600S as well as the NS600G and NS600GS, which enable organisations to use SAN and NAS in a single system.
“We’ve always said the way people access information shouldn’t be a choice and never bought into the idea of [storage area network] SAN versus [network attached storage] NAS,” Gold said.
“There were two types of NAS in the market — a low-end NAS box from the corner store, based on Microsoft technology and used with a bunch of disks, or a proprietary enterprise solution bought from a NAS vendor.
“These gateways and the NetWin 200 bring what we have done in the high-end of the market to the mid-tier.”
Gold said the new products represented a huge opportunity for integrators and consultancy firms.
“Networked storage has already gained a 30 per cent market share in four years,” he said. “The cost advantages and flexibility are compelling and the expertise required to implement is where the channel comes into its own.”


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One more podcast for you this week, along with a trick for how AT&T subscribers can pick up 1,000 free rollover minutes.
The Cloud, The Daily, and Macworld Expo on Tech Night Owl Live — Listen in as Adam and Tech Night Owl Live host Gene Steinberg discuss TidBITS’s move to a virtual server, issues with News Corp.’s The Daily iPad-based publication, and Macworld Expo.
Get 1,000 Free AT&T Rollover Minutes — TUAW has confirmed that AT&T is doing a promotion that gives 1,000 extra rollover minutes to any customer who sends a specific SMS text message to a particular number. It’s good through 31 March 2011. The only catch may be opting in to AT&T special offers.


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Apple Inc. could sell millions of iPhones as the company’s main competitor Samsung Electronics has been dealing with the Galaxy Note 7’s explosion problem. Samsung has stopped the production and sale its new Note 7 devices due to battery issues. This creates an opportunity for the iPhone maker to sell more iPhones, according to S&P analyst Angelo Zino. The analyst believes that the Note 7 issues could help drive some Android users over to iOS, thus increasing Apple’s share of the global smartphone market by 1%, according to a report in MarketWatch. In the second quarter, Samsung had a 22.4% share of the market, compared to Apple’s share of 11.8%, according to data from IDC.
Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Problem
On Monday, Samsung announced that any Galaxy Note 7 devices that have been sold should be turned off because the has been not resolved yet. The company’s exploding-phone saga have worsened after replacements suffered a similar overheating issue. The Note 7 was introduced in August. On reports of battery explosions, the company issued a global recall of the phone in early September.
Samsung has already halted the production the Note 7 smartphone. The company told MarketWatch that it was “temporarily adjusting the Galaxy Note 7 production schedule in order to take further steps to ensure quality and safety manners.”
Last month, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration issued an advisory that passengers should not turn on or charge the Note 7 smartphones on board. The European Aviation Safety Agency also issued a similar guideline on September 9. After several reports of the Note 7’s problems, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission last month issued a warning to stop using the phone.
Apple Could Sell More 10 Million iPhones
According to S&P analyst Zino, Apple Inc. could sell an additional 14 million to 15 million units during the September quarter, which would mean a 7% increase from the analyst’s previous sales forecast.
On average, analysts expect the company to sell 60 million units in the September-quarter, versus 64 million units sold a year ago, according to FactSet.
“The biggest U.S. carriers have also stopped selling Note 7 phones and will allow customers to replace with a different device,” Zino said in a note to clients on Monday. “We see a more favorable competitive landscape and higher Android switcher rates for Apple over the next 12-18 months.”
Moreover, the analyst expects that the Note 7 issues will affect Samsung’s future product launches.
According to the reports from Sprint and T-Mobile, pre-orders for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s latest smartphone are strong. Both the carriers claim that the pre-orders have gone up by roughly four times from last year, but they did not disclose the actual figures.
Last month, Zino said in his report that: “While (Apple) will not reveal initial iPhone 7 orders, we expect to see robust demand near-term, aided by an aging iPhone installed base and added features that will appeal to many consumers. We believe Samsung Note 7 issues are also contributing to the momentum for the iPhone 7 devices.”


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Amazon.com Inc. today extended its low-power, long-range Internet of Things network service, Amazon Sidewalk, to provide better connectivity to factories, farms and other non-residential areas.
Amazon Sidewalk launched in 2019, touted as a way to keep Amazon devices like the Ring or Echo smart speaker connected even when the home network goes down. It does this by using the Bluetooth and LoRa technologies built into these devices, to piggyback on a neighbor’s Wi-Fi network.
At the time of its launch, Amazon said Sidewalk was an opt-in service that will help keep things like outdoor smart lights online at all times, even if internet connectivity is lost. This reliance on neighbor membership means there are significant gaps in coverage for Amazon’s Sidewalk Network, and the company is now trying to fill some with a new gimmick.
Called the Amazon Sidewalk Bridge Pro by Ring, it is intended to cover larger areas such as college campuses, parks, or large factories. It houses the radios required to relay signals from Sidewalk to the cloud and caters to industries and organizations currently beyond the reach of Amazon’s cloud.
The Sidewalk Bridge Pro is a rugged and weatherproof device that makes it suitable for outdoor use. It can send and receive data from the device at distances of up to five miles, Amazon said. This is far beyond the range of radios on Amazon’s Ring and Echo devices.
Interestingly, Amazon hasn’t said how much the Sidewalk Bridge Pro will cost, instead favoring an approach that will allow it to explore proof of concept partnerships.
One of the first partnerships is with Arizona State University’s University Technology Office, which will install Sidewalk Bridge Pro devices atop blue light poles used as emergency stations on its Tempe campus. They will be used to relay data from environmental sensors set up by ASU faculty researchers and provide better connectivity for devices in the region.
“Exploring sustainable, long-term solutions plays a critical role in advancing our smart technology initiatives, both on campus and within the community,” said Bobby Gray, director of digital transformation at the ‘ASU University Technology Office. “Our goal is to deploy and test Amazon Sidewalk Bridge Pro to deliver smart solutions, like those installed on blue light poles, on campus on a large scale and at a lower cost. “
A second partner is Thingy LLC, a manufacturer of outdoor air quality sensors primarily used to track forest fires. By connecting these sensors to the Amazon Sidewalk, Thingy’s sensors should be better able to relay critical information about forest conditions and help firefighters guard against potentially catastrophic fires.
Sidewalk’s coverage map expansion suggests that Amazon has ambitions to become a major competitor in the evolving IoT landscape. Long-range communications are vital for many industrial and agricultural applications, and Sidewalk will help ensure that Amazon and its public cloud computing arm, Amazon Web Services Inc., play a role.
Holger Mueller of Constellation Research Inc. told SiliconANGLE that although network availability has made great strides in availability and bandwidth over the years, there are still millions of devices stranded without network access due to from their remote location. “This is what Amazon wants to respond to with its Sidewalk expansion – another example of a technology introduced and first tested by the consumer finding its way into the business world,” he added. .
“We are building a network, we are enabling players to help the IoT industry,” Stefano Landi, director of Amazon Sidewalk, said in an interview with TechCrunch. He added that several thousand companies have reached out to Amazon to ask questions about Sidewalk’s business use cases, mostly companies looking to build smart city services.


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Other than hastening the final days of humankind, why would Google be interested in drones? It’s not like Amazon or UPS, where the doom-copters could be used (prior to their inevitable uprising) to deliver parcels directly to consumers.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Google believes there are multiple ways in which the drones could be used in addition to blackening the daylight sky and raining down hellfire on civilization.
They could be integrated in to Google’s existing Project Loon, which uses high-altitude balloons to provide Internet service to parts of the world lacking standard Internet connectivity. Titan claims its drones can help deliver speeds of up to 1Gbps, the same speed that the best fiber-to-the-home currently aims to deliver, and many times faster than most people receive through standard cable broadband.
Then there’s Google’s Makani thingamajig, which is trying to develop an airborne wind turbine that can efficiently generate energy (which can then, one presumes, be used to power the ungodly army of drones that will destroy all but the few humans willing to do the drones’ bidding).
The drones can also be used for real-time, hi-res aerial photography and mapping; all the better to inform the soon-to-be self-aware flying bringers of doom.
Google joins Facebook in welcoming our new drone overlords. Facebook had previously courted Titan but recently announced the acquisition of a different drone company. Like Google, the mammoth social networking operation hopes to use drones bring Internet connectivity to currently underserved areas.


text: The retailer is in for a lot of trouble. They can only absorb the consequences of the sharply rising inflation to a limited extent and pass them on to consumers, says economist and professor by special appointment of eMarketing and Distance Selling at RSM, Cor Molenaar. In addition, consumers continue to buy digitally from their couch. As a result, the shopping streets will have to endure even harder. Catch it as an entrepreneur by binding consumers to you."


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Watertown Company Helps Dell Develop 1st Wireless Charging LaptopPlay
Dell's new wireless charging laptop, featuring technology developed by Watertown-based tech company WiTricity, hits the market Tuesday.
The Latitude 7285 is essentially the first of its kind in the computer industry. The new laptop charges through magnetic resonance technology that was developed at WiTricity.
"The power source, which is the pad that the laptop sits on, creates a magnetic field that the laptop uses to charge," explained Morris Kesler, WiTricity's chief technology officer. There's a coil in the back of the laptop and a coil in the charging pad that creates the magnetic field.
Kesler says the mat charges the laptop just as fast as a traditional power cord. But for now, wireless charging isn't as mobile as customers might imagine. Even though you don't have to plug the WiTricity laptop into a wall, the mat has to remain plugged in to function.
"The idea is you might have one of these on your desktop," said Kesler, pointing to a thin black charging mat with a Dell laptop on it. "You might have one in a conference room, where you just put your device down there and it charges. You might have one at home. You have these around and the convenience is, I don't have to worry about plugging and unplugging and carrying an adapter with me."
Of course, buying multiple charging pads could be pricey and inconvenient. But Kesler imagines a future where wireless technology is eventually integrated into our furniture.
"Ultimately, this technology can be incorporated into the desks so that it's not visible on the desk," he said.
For Dell, the appeal of this technology is its practicality. "The idea of freedom from wires is just one of the main pillars that we focus on," said Kelli Hodges, the director of Dell's Go To Market Mobility team.
Part of Dell's strategy with this new laptop is to assess how wireless charging is perceived by key customers before rolling it out across more products. "When we think about the idea of wireless charging, is it a nice to have or a need to have?" Hodges said.
For now, the Dell laptop is a specialty product, catering to workplaces more than general consumers. "I would say for it to become part of the mainstream of what we’re doing ... I think you’re looking at probably two years out," Hodges said.
To date, most wireless charging has focused on cellphones. In 2016 there were just under 240 million devices shipped worldwide with wireless charging capabilities, according David Green, an analyst with IHS Markit who covers the wireless power sector.
"Growth could be massive, you know, by 2025 you'll be talking about 2 billion devices a year," he estimated.
Still, just because a product can be charged wirelessly doesn't mean people are charging it wirelessly. For example, many people might not know that Samsung has been integrating wireless charging into its Galaxy phones for years
For now, it's still an emerging technology, in part because Green says consumers are sometimes reluctant to try it.
"There’s a bit of a chicken and egg situation, whereby a consumer doesn’t really want to know about something convenience-based because they feel what they do right now is fine," he said. "When people do start using it, they love it. So the difficulty is getting it into that first use."
Green says the first step is to make consumers aware the technology exists and convince them to give it a try. He's confident the demand for wireless charging will eventually follow.
"We’ve waited a long time to get the first [laptop] product to market," Green said. "So I think by having the first one out there it opens up the market a little bit more for others to follow."
And there are high expectations for what other laptop manufacturers might eventually offer. Apple recently joined the Wireless Power Consortium, an umbrella group of over 200 international tech companies that calls for a standardized form of wireless charging known as Qi — the same technology provided in Samsung phones.
This segment aired on July 20, 2017.


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Earlier today the entire special GTTV episode featuring BioShock Infinite appeared online. While the video featured the complete Irrational Games demo from E3 2011, it also included a handful of pauses in the action and more (potentially spoilerish) information on the world.
For those looking to watch the complete, nearly 15 minute demo shown to special attendees at E3 2011 on their own terms, the video is now available for your viewing pleasure below.
BOOM video 9690
BioShock Infinite is launching in 2012 for the PC, Xbox 360, and PS3. At E3 2011, Irrational Games boss Ken Levine revealed that the PS3 version of the game will feature undisclosed Move support as well as a new BioShock experience for Sony's upcoming PlayStation Vita hardware.


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Holiday events a boon for Lakewood Ranch merchants
Published: Thursday, December 5, 2013 at 9:39 p.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, December 5, 2013 at 9:39 p.m.
LAKEWOOD RANCH - When an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 people stroll past a business over a span of a few hours, visions of cash registers filling up appear.
What: Main Street festivities.
Where: Lakewood Main Street, 8100 block of Lakewood Ranch Boulevard, Bradenton.
Music on Main: Monthly gathering from 6 to 9 p.m. today features music by the Gamble Creek Band. Vendor sales benefit the Lakewood Ranch Auxiliary. Call 907-9243 or visit www.lakewoodranch.com/musiconmain.
Holidays Around the Ranch: Event from 6 to 9 p.m. Dec. 13 features Santa Claus, Harvest United Methodist Church choir, stage performances by dance and music studios, lighting of the tree, outdoor skating on an acrylic rink, Dance Heads Florida, sugar cookie decorating and candy cane ornament crafts. Street vendors will sell hot cocoa and egg nog. Call 757-1530 or visit www.lwrcac.com.
Christmas Season Celebrated: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Dec. 12, 19 and 20 features strolling carolers, light displays and visits with Santa Claus.
Meals and photos with Santa Claus: Breakfast 8:30 to 11 a.m. Sunday at MacAllisters, photos 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at Main Street Cinema, breakfast 9 to 11 a.m. Dec. 15 at Ed’s Tavern, breakfast 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Dec. 21 in the Fête Ballroom at Polo Grill, and lunch noon to 2 p.m. Dec. 22 at Main Street Trattoria. RSVPs required with the restaurants.
Information: Visit www.lakewoodranch.com/mainstreet.
Merchants along Main Street in Lakewood Ranch will get an infusion of holiday shoppers the next three weeks. Special events start tonight with the monthly Music on Main and continue with Christmas celebrations and visits with Santa Claus.
The pace already is hectic at Healthy Living Organic & Natural Market, which opened Sunday. General Manager Maria Rosabal spent Thursday unpacking and storing frozen items as workers assembled components for the indoor juice bar, which she hopes will be ready to serve crowds this weekend.
The advertising value of the organized events is immeasurable, Arts A Blaze Studio owner Theresa Barion said.
Barion, who is beginning her fifth year in the shop, is a success story for Lakewood Ranch branding. She lives in Lakewood Ranch, her children attend local schools and her shop is thriving with both walk-in customers and scheduled parties for people of all ages.
Some of the event-goers will be children taking part in her Kids Night Out ceramic painting parties. For $20 each, children select a plain ceramic item and paint it with a myriad of colors. After Barion glazes the pieces and puts them in a kiln at 1800 degrees for 30 hours, families return to pick up the artwork.
For other stores, such as Wish gift shop and Village Bikes, the sheer traffic at night events ranks higher than sales, but in a positive way.
“They expose people to the store that might not otherwise know about it,” Wish owner Sandy Brinkmann said.
Sidewalk shoppers glimpsing inside Wish will see holiday displays that feature a new line of Old Saint Nick collectibles, fragrant Fraser Fir candles and items that made Oprah Winfrey’s list of favorite things: painted bamboo salad bowls by Enrico, Nest candles made with essential oils and personalized maple cheeseboards.
Those venturing inside will find that Wish is the only store between Naples and Tampa carrying the popular Alex and Ani bracelets that emphasize positive energy for women.
The specialty items bring shoppers back to Wish, one of the original Main Street stores to open in 2005, said Brinkmann, who has owned the store for three years.
For Village Bikes manager John Hansen, the crowded streets are not the optimum time for customers to test high-performances bicycles, but the shop staff enjoys the extra visitors.
“We build relationships with people that come back later,” he said.
Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.


text: NEW YORK, Nov. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Yieldbot, a digital media technology and marketplace that connects brands with active consumer intent announced it placed second on Deloitte's Technology Fast 500™, a ranking of the 500 fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and energy tech companies in North America. Yieldbot, which delivers measured engagement and sales lift for brands across their Search, Display, Shopper, Mobile and Social advertising grew 39,783 percent over a four-year period. IntentRank™, Yieldbot's machine learning system on consumer intent and IntentGraph® its intelligent real-time decision technology, measure the active motivations of consumers and responds with relevant messages to produce industry-leading results across all channels, devices and tactics. "Our tremendous growth has been driven by the impactful results our data and technology deliver for brands and publishers, especially in mobile," said Jonathan Mendez, CEO, Yieldbot. "We are honored by this recognition. It emphasizes and validates our belief that understanding and activating the immediate needs of consumers is the best way to deliver relevance," said Mr. Mendez. "Today, when every organization can be a tech company, the most effective businesses not only foster the courage to explore change, but also encourage creativity in using and applying existing assets in new ways, as resourcefully as possible," said Sandra Shirai, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP and U.S. technology, media and telecommunications industry leader. "This ingenious approach to innovation calls for the encouragement of curiosity and collaboration both within and outside the office walls." "This year's Fast 500 winners showcase that when organizations are open to diverse perspectives and insights, they are able to create an environment for their employees and customers to see the possibilities and ingenious solutions that might lie ahead," added Jim Atwell, national managing partner of the emerging growth company practice, Deloitte & Touche LLP. "Entrepreneurial environments foster change and innovation within businesses, and we look forward to watching these companies continue to drive change across all sectors." Overall, 2016 Technology Fast 500™ companies achieved revenue growth ranging from 121 percent to 66,661 percent from 2012 to 2015, with median growth of 290 percent.


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Why you should target your Christmas Twitter campaign toward younger consumers
With Christmas just around the corner, many brands using content marketing are taking to social media to target online consumers – but narrowing your aim down to young shoppers might be your best bet.
Although popular microblogging site Twitter attracts millions of people from all different demographics, recent statistics have shown that the majority of Twitter users are on the younger side.
A recent study by Statista looked into the age of users on social networking sites Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. The results showed that half of Twitter's unique visitors are between 13 and 34 years old.
In recent years there has been an increase in older users active on social media. Sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn have become incredibly popular among older consumers, but Twitter is still dominated by a younger audience.
Twitter is not only good for increasing brand awareness, but it has also been proven to influence purchasing decisions. With an increasing number of people in their late teens to early 30s on the site, there is a great opportunity to capitalise on Twitter's power this holiday season.
Social networking has changed the way modern-day consumers shop. Twitter recently commissioned a study with research company DB5, which showed these younger consumers are turning to Twitter during all stages of shopping, from planning and research to purchasing.
The study interviewed 2,000 US holiday shoppers, and found many use Twitter to plan and share gift ideas. The results revealed that 30 per cent of Twitter users began thinking about holiday shopping before October, and 55 per cent of users discuss gift ideas.
Changing your social marketing strategy to attract these younger users can also help boost sales. Two-thirds of Twitter users reportedly discovered a new product on the site, while 57 per cent said they use the site to determine where to shop.
When it comes down to the making the purchase, 64 per cent of users said they have bought a product because of what they've seen on Twitter. The study also found that 62 per cent tweet about the purchases they've made.
Modern consumers use Twitter as a source of information. In order to reach these younger users your brand must have an online presence to appear credible.
Posted by Dylan Brown


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Based on recommendations from Communities of Practice, the Digital Public Goods Alliance produces reports highlighting sector-specific digital public goods for their potential to address critical needs in specific sectors. Thus far in 2021, these reports include DPGs for Financial Inclusion that are digital public infrastructure (DPI) projects with high relevance for advancing financial inclusion at scale, and DPGs for Health that are Global Goods (mature, health-focused digital public goods) with high relevance for immunization delivery management.
These are the first of many sector-specific reports forthcoming from the DPGA.
This report highlights digital solutions specifically for their relevance to facilitating inclusive financial workflows at scale and enabling other solutions as DPIs, in addition to their ability to meet the DPG Standard. Six digital public goods are being highlighted by the DPGA: Apache Fineract, Mifos, Mojaloop, MOSIP, OpenCRVS, and X-Road.
Responding to the urgency of the COVID-19 pandemic, the CoP complemented and extended existing efforts to showcase health solutions with relevance to: immunization delivery management; the Digital Public Goods Standard; and the Digital Square Global Goods Maturity Model. Thirteen digital public goods are highlighted in this report.


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According to examiner.com, "Walmart store brand pizza is now on the recall list. Following on the heels of the Kellogg's cereal and Scope mouthwash recall this week, Great Kitchen's Inc. has recalled the Marketside, 16-inch BBQ Recipe Thin Crust Chicken Pizza that is sold at Walmart stores nationwide."
"Why the recall? There is a concern that small pieces of plastic may be in the pizza. The recall includes 110,000 pounds of BBQ chicken pizza. According to the USDA's press release, 'The company discovered small pieces of plastic during production of the product.' No reports of illness or injury have been reported. Recalled pizza: 28.5-ounce Marketside, 16-inch BBQ Recipe Thin Crust Chicken Pizza, 14-pound, 4-ounce cases of Marketside 16" BBQ Chicken Pizza, with eight 16-inch pizzas, with case codes of 11016611, 11016621, 11016711, or 11016721. Boxes have the establishment number P-2539B inside the USDA inspection mark."


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LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- When it comes to full-service brokerages, SWS Group Inc is the best little star in Texas.
A report in Barron's Online on Saturday said the largest such borkerage in Texas has
That's well below regional competitors such as Raymon James Financial Inc
Southwest Securities -- which generates 60% of the revenues for parent SWS -- provides securities clearing, brokerage, investment banking, asset management and trust services. Southwest Securities Bank -- the company's big money maker -- accounts for the remaining 40% of revenues.
On a price/earnings basis, SWS shares trade for only 8.8 times profits of $1.80 in the June 2005 fiscal year, more modest than nearly any other broker. Bulls believe that SWS could trade at 22 in the next 12 months, nearly half again the current quote and more than a 30% premium to today's stock level, Barron's noted.
The stock also trades at a meaningful discount to the sum of its brokerage and banking parts, and fans say the share price could climb based on SWS' developing regional retail-brokerage growth story.
"I think relatively few investors understand our market position," says Chief Executive Officer Donald Hultgren, in a Barron's interview. "Our competition in the region is less today than it was five years ago because of the bear market and the number of firms that were acquired by large, out-of-state institutions."
The company caters to customers who don't want to deal with mega-firms and who prefer custom-tailored solutions, and also hasn't attracted the fast-money hedge fund crowd. Its accounts average $145,000 from customers with a typical net worth of about $500,000, the company says. The firm doesn't require a minimum account size.
Barron's Roundtable member Mario Gabelli, who owns about 4% of SWS said the company is well-placed "to benefit from the recovery in the financial-service business, it has a decent book, and they are getting their earnings together."
SWS swung to a profit in the fourth quarter ended June 24, up from a year-ago loss caused in part by the regulatory penalty. The company posted earnings of 30 cents per share, compared with a decline of 25 cents per share.
Investors say SWS shares are worth $22 based on its banking operations and on its broker business, which has been in turnaround mode since Hultgren took over as CEO in August 2002.
If SWS could produce quarterly earnings at a 36-cent rate in 2006 -- about $1.45 a year -- that would imply a stock price of $20 per share. Still, the valuation would be under 14 times earnings per share, or 1.2 times book at the end of 2006. By both counts, Barron's said the group is cheaper than any other retail broker or Texas bank.
Shares of SWS closed up 33 cents to $16.18 on Friday.