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It seems like the every other day, a new FMCG product is being launched in India. Most of these launches are in the food sector; it appears that Indians are becoming larger consumers of packaged foods. To test our theory, we had a talk with Akshay Bector, the Chairman and Managing Director of Cremica Food Industries.
The Cremica Group was established in 1978 by Rajini Bector. Since then, it has become a major food manufacturing company in India offering a collection of products including Mayonnaise, Tomato Ketchup, Chutneys, Sauces and Salad dressings. It created India’s first vegetarian mayonnaise and its first cottage style potato chips – Opera chips. They recently launched a whole host of new products including sauces and a squeeze tube of mayonnaise. Cremica also supplies products to major fast food corporations like McDonald’s.
Here’s what Mr Bector had to say:
What is Cremica’s new launch strategy in the retail sector?
Cremica is known for product innovations and offering customized and localized food products to the consumers. We are trying to offer unmatched taste and quality in products to our customers. Our recent launch of Tandoori flavored Mayo’s and Tombo spicy ketchup is proving to be a huge hit in the market. Opera kettle chips have been highly successful and are already available in premium outlets in most Metro. The product is likely to penetrate at a rapid pace and address the needs of a highly differentiated customer. We will continue this process in time ahead.
What is the current growth like in the Indian FMCG market? How much of this growth can be attributed to food products?
The retail side of the business has been growing at the rate of 40 -45% annually and given the fact that Cremica brand is today one of the most visible brand in the condiments business our penetration and increase in retail sales is expected to be pre-nominal in the coming years.
What kind of trends do you see in the Indian FMCG market?
The condiments market in India is estimated to be about Rs.1000 crores today. Cremica has become the widely distributed brand and is also a serious player into retail market. Increasing consumption of high value food products is resulting to a rapid expansion of the Indian economy which further results in changing lifestyles and aspirations.
Based on your own experiences with the FMCG sector, are Indian palates, and therefore demands changing? In what way?
As a company, we understand constant change in the taste and preferences of the Indian palate. Increase in awareness and education, consumers have become very selective in quality and taste of their food. They have become more demanding and hence the traditional offerings and approaches do not work to keep them loyal.
How has e-commerce changed the FMCG sector?
E commerce is in growing momentum but for food category it’s still in nascent stage. Though, given a substantial amount of time, it would become a major contributor to overall industry.
Where do you hope to see Cremica going over the next few years?
We have an aggressive expansion plan for future. We have taken a target to expand Cremica’s presence in across 1.2 lakh retail outlets by the end of FY 2020.


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Now that the new BMW X3 is out and about, you don’t have to be a psychic to have an idea about how the X4’s design will change for its second generation.
Taking into account the current model has been around for only about three years, some would say it seems a little bit early for a brand new car, especially since the existing model hasn’t even been facelifted. The X4 you see in BMW’s dealerships today is based on the old X3, so its life cycle will be shortened in order to take advantage of the new underpinnings.
Chances are it will likely skip the Life Cycle Impulse (LCI) altogether since multiple spy shots have already demonstrated BMW is testing prototypes of the second generation. How do we know it’s the new one rather than an update for the current X4? Simple. The test vehicles had different body panels, with the most notable changes being at the back where there were also new taillights peeking through the camouflage.
Once the disguise will come off, the production-ready 2019 BMW X4 should look quite a lot like in this render. We should point out the adjacent spy shots are depicting the sporty M40i variant, which will take after the X3 M40i we had the opportunity to take for a first drive back in June. Both crossovers are expected to receive fully fledged M models for the first time and it will likely happen before the end of the decade.
But before a new X4 comes out, BMW is preparing to downsize the controversial “coupe-SUV” recipe for a first-ever X2 scheduled to be unveiled in the months to come. Courtesy of a concept shown last year and patent images that popped up online earlier in the week, we already know how it’s going to look like.

domain: news


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Advanced Micro Devices Shares Are Crashing After-Hours On Nasty Guidance
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) shares are down more than 12 percent in the after-hours session after dropping by over 2.5 percent during Monday's trading.
The reason? AMD reported guidance that can only be described as nasty: Second quarter gross margin expectations of 28 percent versus a previously guided 32 percent, along with a year-over-year sales decline of 8 percent (5 percentage points lower than previous expectations).
The semiconductor mid-cap is expected to release earnings later this month. According to Estimize, Wall Street is expecting a Q2 loss of $0.10 per share. The company reported a positive two-cent EPS a year earlier.
After its previous earnings report in April, analysts were mixed on AMD. Canaccord's Matt Ramsay cut his price target to $2.00 on a "decline" in computing and graphics. Wells Fargo's David Wong, meanwhile, cut his price target range to $3.00-$3.50.
In a report published in May, Wong said this valuation range is based on 0.5 to 0.6 times his 2016 sales estimate. "We think this multiple range is reasonable given AMD's continuing losses," Wong wrote.
Among the risks he saw at that time: AMD hasn't yet stabilized its sales or cut its losses.
It appears that's still the case.
© 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.


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DOWN A COUNTRY ROAD outside LaBelle in Hendry County, a field of plants grows like — well — weeds, on a small farm enclosed by a high, stout security fence. The sound of a horse whinnying blends with the background whir of large fans running in both a packing house as well as smaller shipping containers dotted around the 17 acres. As the fans blow through already-harvested plants that have been hung for drying, their scent in the air conjures memories of the herbal scent that lingers around college parties. Although these plants are legally grown hemp, the appearance and odor of this cannabis subspecies closely resemble that of their higher-THC cousins.
This farm, Star Manufacturing Hemp, is just one of the licensees legally growing hemp under the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) hemp program that turned two years old on April 27. The program promotes industrial hemp, which can be made into 25,000 products ranging from food and dietary supplements to textiles and flooring and even plastics, as a new environmentally-friendly agricultural commodity to benefit Florida’s economy. Florida’s program is one of very few states that regulates all facets of hemp production — from seed to sale — and requires that manufacturers make a certificate of analysis available to the public. The cannabis/hemp section of FDACS’ website shows that, in 2021, there were 802 hemp cultivation permits issued and 30,000 acres approved for planting hemp, but that more reflects the future potential rather than the current state of hemp cultivation in Florida.
“A lot of people have gotten their permits, and they do keep their permits,” said Holly Bell, FDACS’ director of cannabis. “It fluctuates anywhere from about 750 to 800 in any given week, depending on renewals and what people are doing. Those (approved) acreages are staying pretty constant, with a couple of families that have had large tracts approved, but they’re not going to the extent of planting those yet. So, we run about 450 of those acres being actively planted here in Florida. The difference between our planting and the rest of the country is that our farmers are planting not just once a year but three — maybe four — times a year, and a lot of them are growing indoors, too, for higher-quality products here in Florida. So, that’s why we have smaller amounts of acres but still have the volume of production that the rest of the states do.”
All this has been possible because the state legislature passed Florida’s hemp program bill in 2019 after the 2018 Federal Farm Bill struck the prohibition on industrial hemp that had been in place nationally since 1937. Most states now have a hemp agricultural program, and Florida is within the top 10 as far as approved acreage. Even with the small amount of that acreage planted, Florida grown hemp created an economic impact of approximately $370 million in 2020 — its first year — supporting over 9,000 jobs and generating over $17 million in federal, state and local tax revenue, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried stated in a press release on the FDACS hemp webpage. It’s expected that Florida’s hemp sector will continue to grow as farmers and agricultural university researchers solve various issues.
Overcoming cultivation challenges
Since cannabis carries the nickname of weed, it sounds as if the plants should grow easily in a sub-tropical environment where gardeners spend more time hacking back plants than nurturing them, right? Actually, it’s not that simple.
“The first year was challenging,” said Brian Dickerson, CEO of Star Manufacturing Hemp. “First, you’re trying to figure out the right (varieties of) plants and trying to figure out the right separation (between plants). Everything we were reading, everybody saying we need to do this, and we do that, but it’s completely different down here. That first year, we followed what the seed designers thought we needed to do. In all honesty, it may work that way up in Oregon and Colorado, but down here we have to do it differently.”
An attorney involved in the health care industry, Mr. Dickerson brought experienced cannabis growers into his company to help him, and even they were surprised by how differently the plants grew in Florida. Co-owner Morgan Coffey, who serves as Star’s chief science officer, had two decades of commercial growing experience before joining the company.
“I’d never grown in South Florida until I moved down here,” Mr. Coffey said. “Even after doing it for as long as I had, it was a whole new learning curve. To do this for 20 years all across the U.S., then to show up here, it’s like learning how to do it all over again.”
One of the surprises about growing hemp in Florida was that it is beneficial to leave actual weeds — such as ragweed — growing in the rows between the hemp beds. Biodegradable black plastic suppresses the various weeds from growing within the beds — important since Star grows with completely organic fertilizers and uses no herbicides or pesticides. (Black plastic beds are also how commercial tomatoes are grown in Southwest Florida.) Traditional farming practices call for eliminating undesired plants because they compete with the planted crop for water and nutrients. But what Star discovered is that the weeds serve as cover to keep the ground — and so the hemp plants’ roots — cooler, reducing stress on the hemp plants.
This proved critical because hemp plants react to stress by producing a protective substance — THC. Of course, the cannabinoid THC (delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol) is the psychoactive substance that resulted in marijuana being classified by the Federal Government under the 1970 Controlled Substances Act as a schedule 1 controlled substance (the classification for drugs considered to have no medical use and high potential for abuse). While industrial hemp seeds are cannabis cultivars that are naturally low in THC, the 2018 Farm Bill set the acceptable trace limit of delta-9 THC at an ultra-low 0.3%, which even hemp plants can run past if they’re stressed while growing. This is called “going hot.” According to The Florida Hemp Council — an industry organization of which Mr. Dickerson is a board member — 14% of Florida’s 2020 hemp crop had to be destroyed because it tested as having above 0.3% THC. A field of plants can slip past that threshold in as little as the two weeks it often takes for a farmer to receive the official lab test results of samples from that field. Farming as a business is already fraught with uncertainty and largely at the mercy of the elements, so to lose an otherwise healthy crop to so thin a test margin could be financially devastating to a farmer.
The 0.3% THC threshold stems from a single 1976 study by Canadian scientist Ernest Small, Ph.D., who arbitrarily used it as a means to describe the hemp subspecies. He didn’t intend for it to be used for legal definitions, yet many nations picked up on his research and implemented the 0.3% threshold. In a subsequent 2002 academic article, Mr. Small noted that the intoxicating effects of THC don’t begin until the plant reaches 1% and that illicit marijuana typically does not contain less than 5% THC.
“Two years ago, we had this all cleaned out between each bed, and that was the one time that we got close to going hot,” Mr. Dickerson said, pointing at the ragweed. “The reason we think was the sun hitting and making the soil hotter. So ever since, we just mow between the beds, so, it doesn’t look pretty.”
As with all plants, different varieties (or cultivars) are better acclimated to different environments. For example, gardeners grow quicker-ripening tomato varieties in the northern states because of the shorter growing season, whereas South Florida gardeners typically grow Everglades tomatoes during summer as that variety is acclimated to the area’s intense heat.
One key factor with growing hemp in Florida is day length, since the state is closer to the equator than the northern states that are better known for cannabis cultivation. On the longest day of summer, South Florida receives under 14 hours of daylight, compared to the over-16 hours the state of Washington receives that same day. Cannabis comes in photoperiod and autoflower varieties. Photoperiod hemp cultivars have acclimated to respond to long northern days, so they behave differently when planted in Florida, only growing to around 10 feet high. The light-neutral autoflower varieties flower regardless of day length, based upon a plant age of 70 to 90 days, and Mr. Dickerson said Star’s autoflower plants only grow 4 or 5 feet tall. However, he can grow the autoflowers year-round, whereas he can grow the photoperiod crop only twice per year. Given he plants some portion of his property every month because he needs to harvest raw materials continually to supply the manufacturing side of his business, the mix and rotation of cultivars are critical.
“Our first year, the plant designers wanted us to plant them 24 inches apart on the beds because they thought we were going to get these big behemoths down here like they get up North,” Mr. Dickerson said. “We don’t get those — we get a shorter, stouter, thicker plant, so now we plant them staggered 6 inches apart. To use a tomato analogy, we get fewer tomatoes on the vine, but they’re fatter, juicier, and redder.”
The autoflower cultivars seeded directly into the field while the photoperiod plants get started indoors under intense lights for 60 days for later transplant into the field. Mr. Dickerson said the reason he grows both types, despite the special treatment photoperiod plants require, is that the plants produce different quantities of the various cannabinoid and flavonoids — natural substances with medicinal qualities — he needs to extract to produce the various dietary supplements and topical skin treatments that the company manufactures and packages right on the farm.
Currently, much of the commercial hemp production in Florida centers on varietals suited for oil extraction, which then end up in products ranging from tinctures and capsules to topical creams and lotions. Not as far along is the fiber varietal side of the industry, in part because researchers are still attempting to identify the fiber cultivars best suited to Florida’s day length, heat, and humid growing conditions.
“The fiber hemp looks more like bamboo, about 8 to 15 feet tall, and it’s grown on large tracts of land and harvested with combine-like equipment for use in concrete, drywall, clothing and hemp wood,” Director Bell said. “On those large tracts of land (approved for planting), they’re waiting on some really strong genetics on the fiber side of it.”
Then, turning hemp fiber into useable products requires considerably more processing than extracting oils for dietary supplements requires. It takes time to build that manufacturing infrastructure. As one example, Director Bell said a hemp towel business has opened in Jacksonville. While it currently uses foreign-grown hemp fiber, she said plans are in process for the company to switch to Florida-grown hemp fiber that will then be woven here as well. Hemp-fiber towels require less water and detergent to launder, so the plan is to market the towels to Florida’s hotels as an economical, environmentally friendly alternative that also happens to be locally grown and manufactured.
“This was Commissioner Fried’s vision, and in years three, four, and five, you’re really going to see this start to boom for the state of Florida,” Director Bell said. “This upcoming year, you’re going to see some major investment dollars in Florida in hemp on the infrastructure side for the fiber. Three or four projects right now are really close to being finalized, and they’ll create jobs.”
Overcoming legal issues
Even when it is grown to produce dietary supplements and topicals with medicinal qualities, industrial hemp differs from medical marijuana. It particularly differs in legal status. Hemp falls under the authority of the USDA. While a patchwork of state laws has sanctioned medical marijuana, it remains illegal under Federal law, placing it under the jurisdiction of the DEA. Then, in 2018, the FDA approved CBD (cannabidiol), a non-psychoactive cannabinoid found in the cannabis plant, at a 100-milligram concentration as an anti-seizure drug under the brand name Epidiolex. This placed CBD products of lower milligram concentration, such as CBD smoothie shakes, on unsure legal ground.
“Here’s how ridiculous and gray this is,” Mr. Dickerson said. “The state law in Florida for hemp — not CBD, but hemp — defines hemp and derivatives of hemp as human food. The federal government doesn’t define it as a food, doesn’t define it as a drug, nothing. It’s the FDA’s determination that Epidiolex — CBD — is a drug. Then take a step back further to animal feed, undetermined.”
This legal murkiness for a plant and its derivative products that are legal nationwide when under 0.3% THC but Federally illegal once they slip past that low threshold, has stifled the growth of the hemp industry. Congress has considered several bills that would amend the Farm Bill to raise the plant threshold to 1%, with some stipulating that THC then be removed during processing to bring products sold to consumers down below a 0.3% threshold.
The murkiness makes conducting business difficult. Some banks, credit card processors and e-commerce website hosts don’t want to become involved until the Federal laws are completely clear. Mr. Dickerson said that he had to debate with his website host because the host won’t handle CBD.
He pointed out that his product didn’t contain CBD isolate but instead contained full-spectrum hemp extract and HempFlavin, a proprietary flavonoid extract developed by his business partner Mr. Coffey and Star’s third co-owner, chief research and development officer Jesse Riggins.
“As a lawyer I don’t want to touch CBD, so we do products other than CBD,” Mr. Dickerson said. “It comes down to ignorance. With certain banks — especially where the product is new — number one you’ve got to overcome their perception that it is marijuana. We have to educate them about how it’s legal, and the perception of banks is, they’re scared until the Federal Government tells them it’s safe. We’ve gone through three or four processors until we found one that was actually mindful of our industry.”
Star Manufacturing Hemp sells its products online as Doctor’s Hemp Solutions, which offers products to benefit people, dogs and horses. Star also packages its products “white-labeled” for various wholesale clients to sell under their own brand name. Nouveau Health & Wellness of West Palm Beach sells Star’s hemp products under its own brand on their own website. However, when C&C Feed Store in Alva placed the Doctor’s Hemp Solutions products on its website, its e-commerce host said the store had to remove the products. For the moment, the products are only available for in-store purchase.
“Can you imagine a business in today’s world that can’t take credit cards?” Director Bell said. “That’s the challenge, so they find little workarounds. They have what’s called closed-loop systems that can debit your checking account, but it really makes it complicated.”
A different solution at the Federal level has been proposed by the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, which would decriminalize cannabis and THC as well as de-schedule it from the Controlled Substances Act. Decriminalization would render obsolete the patchwork of state and Federal laws, regulations, and agencies that currently regulate the different aspects of cannabis.
The House of Representatives voted to approve the bill in early April of this year.
Hemp’s many uses
After purchasing the farm with the packing house onsite; constructing and equipping a laboratory building that met both FDA and the good manufacturing practices regulations of the dietary supplement industry; getting permits and acreage approved for planting; learning how to grow hemp organically in Florida’s environment; then doing research and development experiments with the various compounds extracted from the hemp; and white labeling products for wholesale clients, Star Manufacturing Hemp finally brought its own line of products to market in August 2021. And much of those products were for horses.
“In Florida, the equine industry is a $4.5 billion industry — third-largest in the United States with third-most horses in the country,” Mr. Dickerson said. “So, I was looking at, while we keep white labeling for our clients, $4.5 billion is perfect. We can work this market without even leaving the state of Florida.”
Researching the equine market, he discovered that 75% of horse owners also have dogs, so expanding into canine products was a natural path. And then people with horses tend to hurt themselves, so the human product line came next. Mr. Dickerson said his team used university veterinary research to determine what extracts from the hemp plant would be most beneficial to the animals, letting science guide the product development. Developing products first for horses and dogs also gave the advantage of testing products with individuals who were not susceptible to a placebo effect. Mr. Dickerson used the products first with his own horses and dogs, and then the company donated products to horse and dog rescue nonprofits (and continues to do so).
Michelle Delaney, founder of Big Cypress German Shepherd Rescue of Naples, said she has found Doctor’s Hemp Solutions canine HempFlavin derm spray superior to veterinarian medications for mange treatment. She also uses the company’s products to treat other maladies that the rescue dogs arrive with.
“We had a dog come in with a litter of five puppies, and they all had mange — it was just awful,” Ms. Delaney said. “We used the derm spray on all of them for 30 days, and it cleared up. If you see her coat now, she looks like Black Beauty. We’ve used their calming treats for thunderstorm anxiety. It’s an amazing company, to help out such a young nonprofit as us where every penny we can save helps. Brian stepped up to the plate immediately and started taking care of our dogs.”
The company’s equine line includes feed supplements, liniments, hoof treatments and a HempFlavin charcoal mud for healing open wounds that Mr. Dickerson said is now being tried in human clinical studies to see if it would benefit diabetes patients with wound healing. C&C Feed Store, located near Babcock Ranch, carries all three product lines, and store manager Victoria Brown said customers were coming back with rave reviews and purchasing more products. So, she decided to try the products with her own horses.
“I don’t like feeding supplements,” Ms. Brown said. “But I tried them, and I did see a huge difference on my two horses. They’re old, so they’re arthritic and have a hard time walking without their joints locking. They can walk out easier, so they’re at a faster pace. I’m not going to tell you that their joints have not stopped locking completely, but one of them runs out like a younger horse — he feels so good — and it doesn’t change with the weather.”
Dr. Lisa Caprio, the medical director of Vidaful Medicine in Naples, knew Mr. Dickerson as a fellow horse owner and began using the horse products. That went well, so she tried the canine products for her dog.
“I thought, ‘This guy’s got something,’ so I started taking the products myself,” Dr. Caprio said. “My husband was one of the subjects in the clinical study for HempFlavin. I haven’t white-labeled the products for Vidaful yet, so I give protocols and options for holistic therapies and refer patients who could benefit to their website (to purchase products). I get cancer patients who have already tried the traditional medicine route, so they’re trying other options. I spent 25 years in traditional medicine — I’ve seen the flaw and benefits — so I marry the two to give patients a starting point.”
The study Dr. Caprio’s husband participated in was done by Dr. Donato Borrillo to test HempFlavin’s effectiveness in treating acute and chronic pain. Of the 46 participants, 91% experienced decreased pain after using the product daily for one month.
As to the future, Mr. Dickerson and his team always have an eye toward efficiency. Star Manufacturing Hemp creates additional products from parts of the plant that other hemp manufacturers discard. Plans are being finalized for producing horse bedding made of dried leftovers that absorbs three times more moisture than the pine shavings most horse owners currently use. He also intends to move into manufacturing products from hemp fiber once the correct cultivars for Florida are identified.
Pointing at the experimental batch of horse bedding, Mr. Dickerson said, “With pine, you’re making bedding out of trees that are 14 to 18 years old. A hemp field is 180 days. So, when you look at the savings — the greenness — you’re not cutting down pine trees.” ¦


text: While UHD/4K televisions have yet to become the industry standard, we’re guessing that at the rate technology is progressing and with customers becoming more demanding, it will only be a matter of time. However at the moment 4K TVs are just too expensive, or are they? If you’re looking to hop aboard the 4K bandwagon but don’t want to break the bank, Seiki has announced a 4K television that will set you back $700, which while still pricey for some, isn’t too outrageous for its standard. The company has announced their 39” 4K television that is expected to see a release by the end of June. The television is expected to be available for pre-orders from Sears starting on the 27th of June and will retail for a cool $699. As sometimes you really do get what you pay for, don’t expect the 39” Seiki television to take on the competition from the likes of Sony or Samsung as it really is a 1080p, 120Hz television that will be able to handle 4K. Anyone planning on picking one up for themselves?


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Bodygram Japan, a subsidiary of Bodygram Inc., an investee of Inspire Investment Corporation, announces that its AI-powered body measurement technology Bodygram is to be promoted for a limited period of approximately one month from Tuesday, March 8, 2022 at the seven shops operated by tutuanna. While choosing a brassiere used to require bust measurement in the fitting room, with this technology, it enables the measurements of the top and underbust in a dozen seconds while wearing clothes, making it easier to purchase suitable brassieres.
The Seven tutuanna shops that offer Bodygram to measure bust size
・Chiba shopping Center Ｃ
・NIKKE COLTON PLAZA
・KEIKYU Department Store Kamioooka
Bodygram Japan has been providing its AI-powered body measurement technology for the apparel sector including school and corporate uniform manufactures and department stores, as well as the bedding and healthcare sector. The company plans to use its technology to expand its business in new areas such as fitness and wellness.
Bodygram is an app officially released on the App Store and Google Play in June 2020, attracting many users by its revolutionary features which allows the measuring of a person’s body with just one smartphone. Bodygram has been ranked No. 1 in the free iOS app category and has also earned the top position in the Android’s health and fitness category.


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Lyft made its first move abroad this week, expanded its car-hailing service to Toronto. Mayors from the metro area joined Cheddar to talk about why the city is so business-friendly and to make their case for why Amazon should choose it for its HQ2.
The city was one of more than 230 to submit a bid for the tech giant's next headquarters. Toronto's John Tory and Bonnie Crombie, mayor of sister city Mississauga, tout the region's potential talent pool and relaxed immigration policies.
Canada as a country has been very open to welcoming immigrant entrepreneurs within its borders, granting permanent residence to those who attain a “Start-up Visa.” The government website states that the program connects founders with companies that can offer guidance and support in building their businesses. Candidates, though, do need to be backed by angel investors or Canadian venture capitalist groups.
But there are plenty of potential benefits for those who apply. Tory and Crombie both emphasize Canada's strong economic growth, low taxes, and quality of life.
“We know we need that talent and the companies they want to invest in. The Toronto region needs that talent,” Tory said. He adds that the new Visa program allows companies to bring software engineers from overseas to Canada in just two weeks. “It’s working quite well.”
Another incentive? Home rental prices are low in comparison to the United States. But the Canadian market faces some housing supply challenges amid the influx of immigrants.
Crombie said that to combat this issue the city of Mississauga works to “attract more investments and incentivize the development of middle-class housing stock.”
Amazon plans to start construction on a new headquarters somewhere in North America next year. The company says it will invest $5 billion in the project, which will create 50,000 new jobs. And cities are pulling out the stops to be selected.
Many are offering tax incentives, but others are going a step further. The mayor of Stonecrest, Georgia said his city would carve out a section of the town and name it Amazon, a move he says would add perpetual value to the brand. And Arizona's economic development group, Sun Corridor, even sent Amazon a 21-foot cactus as a gift if it got the nod.


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ODEON silverlink is giving you the chance to meet, eat and drink, to celebrate the release of the film Bridesmiads.
The cinema is offering teams the chance to create a bespoke cocktail from a box of mystery ingredients at their Ready, Steady, Shake event.
The team with the winning cocktail will see their cocktail on the menu in AMBAR for one month, and walk away with some goodies.
Tickets for the event on Thursday, June 23, are £3.50 and include a free first drink.
There will also be the chance to win exclusive Bridesmaides merchandise in their raffle to be held at the event.


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Q1 results re-affirm lead in China's smartphone market, but departure of Hisang-cheng Lu under cloud of suspicion raises questions.
MediaTek’s first quarter financial results, disclosed Monday (May 6), re-affirmed what the mobile chip industry has known for months: MediaTek continues to ride the growth of China’s smartphone market. But a fiercely price-competitive mobile chip race in China--fought among Spreadtrum, Qualcomm and MediaTek, with MediaTek blamed for starting it--will likely come back to bite the gross margins of all combatants.
What remains unknown is whether there’s anything behind the recent resignation of MediaTek’s head of Chinese operations, Hisang-cheng Lu, beyond alleged insider trading charges related to a tie-up between MediaTek and MStar a year ago, now under investigation by Taiwanese authorities. Lu, who supposedly deserves credit for the Taiwanese company’s runaway success in China, resigned last Friday “for personal reasons,” according to MediaTek.
Lu announced his resignation after Taipei prosecutors said they had begun
investigating him in connection with alleged insider trading. The Taiwanese authorities are reportedly
investigating three MStar employees and one other person about
suspicious trading linked to the tie-up between the two companies.
MediaTek is downplaying the potential impact of the charges on the
timing of the merger, noting that investigators are looking at employees
rather than the conduct of the companies themselves. The merger was originally supposed to have closed May 1, but has been delayed. The new target date is Aug. 1.
In the company’s first quarter revenue, MediaTek showed a solid 22.2 percent increase over the same period last year. The company said that growth was primarily driven by smartphone demand.
MediaTek also showed strong growth in profit, with its first quarter net income up 51 per cent over last year, to NT$3.7 billion ($126.4 million).
If there were any concerns over MediaTek’s otherwise stellar first quarter results, it would be over its gross margin. This number grew only 0.6 percentage point from the previous quarter, to 42.1 percent. Despite the company’s anticipated sequential revenue growth in the second quarter by more than 20 percent, MediaTek said that the company’s gross margin will make only modest gains during the same period.


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Volvo Trucks to open Iraq factory in early 2013
Volvo Trucks to open Iraqi CKD truck assembly plant in April 2013
Volvo Trucks is planning to open a truck assembly factory in the burgeoning truck market of Iraq on April 1, 2013, as it looks to rebuild its presence in a market the Swedish truck maker once dominated.
The CKD (complete kit knock-down) assembly plant will be located in Al Iskanderiyah, 60km south of Baghdad.
Stefan Soenchen, vice president of Volvo Trucks Northern Africa & Middle East, told PMV Middle East that the total truck market for Iraq is currently 1500-2000 units per year, with demand for trucks to deliver basic services such as waste disposal, as well as long-haul freight and construction.
Much of the construction effort in Iraq is currently concentrated on building infrastructure – roads, electricity, water, and waste disposal - and the vast majority of trucks that are sold are bought by government ministries.
In July last year Volvo Trucks signed up Zam Zam Spring Group to be the importer of Volvo Trucks in Iraq, as well as signing a letter of intent to deliver 1000 trucks to the Iraqi Ministry of Transport and its related state companies by 2013-15.
Prior to the production factory opening, the Volvo Trucks’ importer will open a number of new service facilities, including a large centre in Baghdad with training facilities and a central warehouse, and a large service centre in Basra, both expected to be inaugurated in the final week of October 2012. A smaller centre in Erbil will open in December.
"Our ambition is always to deliver trucks, but when we decide to enter a market, the first thing is to develop the service network," said Soenchen.
"I can tell customers that before we assemble the first truck in Iraq, they can be sure that we have a brand new service network available, from the north to the south, with everything including competence training and driver development."
Sweden has a strong relationship with Iraq, said Soenchen, which is a particular impetus for Volvo Trucks to return to the country. Following the war, the Swedish Ministry of Trade has encouraged Swedish companies to do business in Iraq.
Prior to the Iraq wars Volvo Trucks had operated directly in Iraq, with market share of around 30%. A major competitor was Scania, who currently have a truck assembly plant in Al Iskanderiyah.


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Ultimo 'Boob Job Bikini' Launches And Claims To Boost Cup Size
Fancy giving your bust a boost this summer? Well Ultimo claim to have invented a new bikini which claims to instantly increase your size by a whopping two cups!
Following the success of their 'OMG Plunge Bra' the famed lingerie brand have promised their new range of swimwear will boost both your body confidence and cleavage on holiday.
The breast-boosting effect is created using in-built gel technology inserted into a foam cup which is supposed to help bump up your cup size and flatter your figure.
If you don't dare to bare, then there is also an all in one swimsuit for £40 which will help hide any unwanted lumps and bumps.
The bikinis go on sale today from bra sizes 32A to 3DD and eight to 18 for the briefs. So at £30, the Ultimo bikini top is set to be a quick solution to an instant lift!


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First Alert Weather for Friday, December 20
Get ready for another hot day. It will be almost as warm as it was on Monday and you'll feel a breeze. Wednesday starts off warm but you can expect a weather change later that day.
A day after Target announced that forty million of its customers had their credit and debit card data breached, the retailer announced a 10 percent discount for all shoppers at its stores this Saturday and Sunday.
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Gucci and Jimmy Choo might have stores in New Delhi and Mumbai, but Hermès is making the boldest statement in its entry into the country’s luxury market. The venerable, family-owned French label launched a line of saris on Friday. Though its style is in keeping with traditional Indian womenswear, its price point is typical of current global luxury pricing. The saris cost between $6100 and $8200.
Though a French luxury brand marketing very pricy Indian garb to Indian women may seem ridiculous or, well, unmarketable, the saris’ prints all come from Hermès scarves, thereby offering a potentially appealing — and unique — Western heritage accent to the clothes. And, notably, high-end menswear brands have already made analogous design adjustments for the Indian luxury market. Italian labels like Ermenegildo Zegna and Etro both offer Nehru-style collars for their male Indian customers (the Nehru collar was popularized by India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and consists of a closed, rounded neck).
The sunny outlook for Hermès’ new saris also comes from an initial positive industry reaction to the brand’s initiative. Several consultants for the Indian luxury market noted that, basically, it was about time a Western brand trying to get a foothold there offered a sari. Caroline Young, the CEO of Creative Link India, a fashion consulting firm, told the Financial Times that the move was “really smart,” and noted that all in all, she was “astonished this hasn’t been done before.”
Now, will the Hermès saris make it to the West? The market for upscale Indian womenswear exists outside India. Just look at Luxemi, an online retailer and Rent the Runway-style service that offers traditional and black-tie saris and salwars. The Hermès sari seems like a perfect fit (hah!) for the site’s audience.


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200+ top-level financial institutions
(Bank of America, Banco do Basil, Citigroup Inc, Mizuho Financial Group, NBAD, Raiffeisen Bank, Türkiye Finans, UBS, Wells Fargo)
Indonesian airline cancels Boeing order, citing passenger fear
JAKARTA/OSLO (Reuters) – Indonesian airline Garuda plans to cancel a $6 billion order for Boeing 737 MAX jets, it said on Friday, saying some passengers would be frightened to board the plane after two fatal crashes, although analysts said the deal had long been in doubt.
The news came as another 737 MAX customer, Norwegian Air, played down the significance of a move by Boeing to make a previously optional cockpit warning light compulsory.
Norwegian said that, according to Boeing, the warning light would not have been able to prevent erroneous signals that Lion Air pilots received before their new 737 MAX plane crashed off Indonesia in October, killing 189 people.
Indonesia’s national carrier Garuda is the first airline to publicly announce plans to scrap an order since the world’s entire fleet of 737 MAX planes was grounded last week, following an Ethiopian Airlines crash that left 157 people dead.
“Many passengers told us they were afraid to get on a MAX 8,” Garuda CEO Ari Askhara told Reuters on Friday.
However, the airline had been reconsidering its order for 49 of the narrowbody jets prior to the Ethiopian crash, including potentially swapping some for widebody Boeing models.
Southeast Asia faces a glut of narrowbody aircraft like the 737 MAX and rival Airbus A320neo at a time of slowing global economic growth and high fuel costs.
“They have been re-looking at their fleet plan anyway so this is an opportunity to make some changes that otherwise may be difficult to do,” CAPA Center for Aviation Chief Analyst Brendan Sobie said.
Indonesia’s Lion Air has also said it might cancel 737 MAX aircraft, though industry sources say it is also struggling to absorb the number of planes on order.
Both crashes are still being investigated. But regulators have noted some similarities between the two, and attention has focused on whether pilots had the correct information about the “angle of attack” at which the wing slices through the air.
No direct link has been proven between the accidents.
Boeing now plans to make compulsory a light to alert pilots when sensor readings of the angle of attack do not match – meaning at least one must be wrong -, according to two officials briefed on the matter.
Investigators suspect a faulty angle-of-attack reading led the doomed Lion Air jet’s computer to believe it had stalled, prompting the plane’s anti-stall system, called MCAS, repeatedly to push the plane’s nose down.
The Lion Air plane did not have the warning light installed because it was not compulsory. Ethiopian Airlines did not immediately comment on whether its crashed plane had the alert.
But the Ethiopian carrier, whose reputation along with Boeing’s is at stake, issued a statement on Friday emphasizing the modernity of its safety and training systems, with more than $500 million invested in infrastructure in the past five years.
The Ethiopian crash has set off one of the widest inquiries in aviation history and cast a shadow over the Boeing 737 MAX model intended to be a standard for decades.
Boeing did not comment on the plan to make the safety feature standard, but separately said it was moving quickly to make software changes and expected the upgrade to be approved by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in coming weeks.
Chicago-based Boeing will also retrofit older planes with the cockpit warning light, the officials told Reuters.
Experts said it could take weeks or months to be done, and for regulators to review and approve the changes. Regulators in Europe and Canada have said they will conduct their own reviews of any new systems.
Norwegian said its 18 737 MAX jets did not have the cockpit warning light, but it would follow any recommendations made by Boeing and aviation regulations. The airline said last week it would seek compensation from Boeing for the cost of grounding its 737 MAX planes, which makes up 11 percent of its fleet.
Since the Ethiopian crash, Boeing shares have fallen 12 percent and $28 billion has been wiped off its market value.
Pressure has mounted on the company from U.S. legislators, who are also expected to question the FAA. The company faces a criminal investigation by the U.S. Justice Department as well.
Several lawsuits have already been filed on behalf of victims of the Lion Air crash referring to the Ethiopian accident. Boeing declined to comment on the lawsuits.
North Korea quits liaison office in setback for South after new U.S. sanctions
SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – North Korea on Friday pulled out of a liaison office with the South, in a major setback for Seoul, just hours after the United States imposed the first new sanctions on the North since the second U.S.-North Korea summit broke down last month.
North Korea said it was quitting the joint liaison office set up in September in the border city of Kaesong after a historic summit between leader Kim Jong Un and South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in early last year.
“The North’s side pulled out after conveying to us that they are doing so on the instructions from a higher level, during a liaison officials’ contact this morning,” South Korea’s Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung told a briefing.
South Korea regrets the decision and urged a swift normalisation of the arrangement, Chun said, adding the South would continue to staff the office, set up as a regular channel of communication to ease hostility between the rivals, which technically remain at war.
The move came after the United States on Thursday blacklisted two Chinese shipping companies it says helped North Korea evade sanctions over its nuclear program and cited 67 vessels it said engaged in illicit trade helping the North.
It was the first such step since a second meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi broke down over conflicting demands by the North for relief from sanctions and from the United States for Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons.
The North’s withdrawal from the office was another blow to Moon, who has seen his standing as a mediator between Pyongyang and Washington deteriorate and divisions grow within his government over how to break the impasse.
Moon’s administration had touted the office as a major feat resulting from his own summit with Kim last year despite U.S. concerns about possible loosening of sanctions.
The South’s Chun said he would not directly link the North’s move to the failed Hanoi summit. But experts saw a pattern in the North lashing out against the South when its crucial strategic position with Washington is in jeopardy.
“The North sees its nuclear issue and ties with the United States as a matter of greater strategic importance, so when they try to assert its position, they sacrifice the ties with the South, which is considered inferior,” said Shin Beom-chul of the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul.
Moon’s office reacted by holding an urgent meeting, headed by his national security adviser, to discuss the withdrawal.
The won weakened about 0.4 percent against the dollar in non-deliverable forward (NDF) trade after the news.
The U.S. Treasury Department identified two Chinese firms for new sanctions – Dalian Haibo International Freight Co Ltd and Liaoning Danxing International Forwarding Co Ltd – which had helped the North evade U.S. and international sanctions, it said.
It also cited 67 vessels for engaging in illicit transfers of refined petroleum with North Korean tankers or facilitating the export of the North’s coal.
Reuters was unable to locate contact details for either of the Chinese companies to seek comment.
The U.S. sanctions prohibit U.S. dealings with the designated companies and freezes any assets they have in the United States.
“The United States and our like-minded partners remain committed to achieving the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea and believe that the full implementation of North Korea-related U.N. Security Council resolutions is crucial to a successful outcome,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.
The latest sanctions showed there was some “leakage” in North Korea sanctions enforcement by China, but it was mostly abiding by U.N. resolutions, a senior U.S. official told reporters on condition of anonymity.
While declining to say whether Washington was trying to send a post-summit message to Pyongyang, the official said Trump “has made clear that the door is wide open to continuing the dialogue with North Korea.”
U.S.-North Korean engagement has appeared to be in limbo since the Feb. 27-28 summit, despite U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo saying on March 4 he was hopeful he could send a team to North Korea “in the next couple of weeks.”
North Korea has warned it is considering suspending talks and may rethink a freeze on missile and nuclear tests, in place since 2017, unless Washington makes concessions.
Activity was detected at the North’s main rocket test facility around the time of the failed summit, fueling concern that Pyongyang may be about to resume weapons development to ratchet up pressure on Washington.
On Monday, two senior U.S. senators called for the Trump administration to correct a slowing pace of American sanctions designations on North Korea, saying such actions had seen a marked decline in the past year of U.S. diplomatic engagement with Pyongyang.
They pointed to a recent U.N. report that North Korea continued to defy U.N. sanctions with an increase in smuggling of petroleum products and coal and violation of bans on arms sales.
A U.N. sanctions panel said in the report Liaoning Danxing was suspected of illicitly shipping Mercedes-Benz limousines to North Korea. Last July, the Netherlands seized a cargo of Belarusian vodka, also banned as luxury goods, en route to North Korea via the company, it said.
North Korea quits liaison office in setback for South after new U.S. sanctions
Chinese smartphone firms jazz up products, seize turf in home market from Apple
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Smartphone retailers in China say it’s a tough sell of late with consumers reluctant to upgrade, put off by chill economic winds.
Even so domestic brands led by Huawei have made big strides, wooing consumers with top-notch hardware and innovative features as they move upmarket in the $500-$800 price range. The result: a loss of share in a key segment for Apple Inc and fresh price cuts for iPhones by Chinese retailers.
“Of those people who are upgrading, there are many switching from Apple to Chinese brands but very few switching from Chinese brands to Apple,” said Jiang Ning, who manages a Xiaomi store in the northern province of Shandong.
Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, Xiaomi Corp, Oppo and Vivo once sought to grab share in the world’s biggest smartphone market with value-for-money devices, but consumer demand for better phones has prompted strategic rethinks.
“People are more attached to their phone than ever and have higher expectations for the function and experience it offers. The response has been constant upgrading of hardware specs,” Alen Wu, global vice president at Oppo, told Reuters.
He Fan, CEO of Huishoubao which buys and resells used phones, said he has seen a consumer shift to Huawei from Apple, driven by the Chinese love of selfies and emphasis on camera quality. Huawei has had a tie-up with German camera maker Leica since 2016.
“Huawei’s cameras have become noticeably better than Apple’s in that they suit the tastes of Chinese consumers more,” he said.
Compared to dual-cameras common in most smartphones, Huawei’s P20 Pro device boasts three rear-facing cameras, with the additional one improving zoom capabilities.
It is one of several new devices in its P20 and Mate 20 lines, which helped Huawei’s share of the $500-$800 segment in China surge to 26.6 percent last year from 8.8 percent, data from research firm Counterpoint shows.
Apple, by contrast, saw its share of the segment tumble to 54.6 percent from 81.2 percent, also hurt by its decision to move even further upmarket with the iPhone X series.
“Most Chinese smartphone buyers are not ready to shell out beyond $1,000 for a phone,” said Neil Shah, research director at Counterpoint. “This left a gap in the below-$800 segment, which Chinese vendors grabbed with both hands.”
Shipments of phones priced above $600 in China grew 10 percent in 2018, data from research firm Canalys shows. By contrast, the overall market shrunk 14 percent, marking a second year of contraction.
The weaker cachet for Apple in China was underscored this month when several major retailers simultaneously cut iPhone prices for a second time this year.
A 64GB iPhone 8 sold at Suning.com Co Ltd now costs 3,899 yuan ($580), roughly 25 percent less than it did in December. That’s also lower than its $599 price tag in the United States, where iPhones typically cost less to buy than in China. Most iPhone models through to the iPhone 8 series have seen prices in China cut, albeit not equally.
In earnings too, it seems to be a tale of divergent fortunes. Apple’s October-December revenue from the Greater China region fell by about a quarter from a year earlier. Greater China currently accounts for 15.6 percent of its overall revenue.
Huawei, the world’s No. 2 smartphone maker, has estimated revenue for 2018 rose 21 percent, which analysts attribute in large part to robust smartphone sales.
More broadly, fewer sales for Apple means fewer customers for its App Store and media streaming services. The shift to higher-end phones by Chinese brands has also meant greater inroads in overseas markets.
Huawei’s shipments in Europe jumped 55 percent in the latest quarter and it now has 23.6 percent market share, according to Canalys. That’s not far behind Samsung Electronics and Apple which saw small declines in shipments.
If Huawei is taking the lion’s share of turf that Apple once had in China, Oppo and Vivo – brands owned by electronics hardware conglomerate BBK – are the newest threats.
In June, Vivo launched the Nex which starts from 3,898 yuan ($610) and in July, Oppo launched the Find X, priced at 4,999 yuan ($755).
The models mark the first time the brands have priced a phone above $600, a sharp departure from their roots selling $300-$500 models to young consumers in second-tier cities.
The devices came with features unavailable in the iPhone, including under-the-glass fingerprint sensors and “notchless” displays, both of which increase the size of usable screen.
Xiaomi too is going upmarket, announcing in January it would split off its low-budget Redmi range of phones into a sub-brand. In doing so, it is taking a leaf out of Huawei’s book which has for years sold cheaper devices under the Honor brand, helping differentiate its products.
Redmi will target international markets and e-commerce sales, while the flagship Xiaomi brand will target China and offline retail markets, company founder Lei Jun told reporters.
Last month, Xiaomi unveiled the Mi 9, its latest flagship device with a price tag of 2,999 yuan ($450). But the company also said it might be the last time a Xiaomi flagship phone would be priced under 3,000 yuan.
“Xiaomi’s flagship series phones were once always set at 1,999 yuan,” said Lei. “This was a contributing factor to our rise, but it also became an obstacle to our growth,” he said.
Chinese smartphone firms jazz up products, seize turf in home market from Apple
May gets two-week Brexit reprieve from impatient EU
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union leaders have given Prime Minister Theresa May two weeks’ reprieve, until April 12, before Britain could lurch out of the EU if she fails to persuade MPs to back the withdrawal treaty she concluded with Brussels.
But after seven hours of summit brainstorming on Thursday, her 27 peers kept a host of options open, ramping up pressure on parliament to support May, giving Britain an outside chance of staying in for much longer – but also preparing to deflect blame for the chaos of any no-deal Brexit.
May had wanted to be able to delay Britain’s departure until June 30 to tie up legislative loose ends, and tried to reassure the EU that she could overturn two heavy defeats to clinch a last-gasp parliamentary ratification of her deal next week, so allowing a status-quo transition period to come into effect.
EU leaders had planned to endorse a shorter extension, to May 22, the eve of EU parliamentary elections, and leave any discussion of how to deal with May losing until next week. But diplomats said the prime minister singularly failed to reassure them she could win. Some sensed she did not believe it herself.
After May left the room, and with French President Emmanuel Macron pitching a surprise ultimatum for Britain to be out, deal or no deal, by May 7 — the eve of a summit on the EU’s post-Brexit future — the meeting plunged into frantic debate.
The outcome, with which May declared herself satisfied, was that the May 22 date will apply if parliament rallies behind her next week. If it does not, Britain will have until April 12 to offer a new plan or choose to quit without a treaty.
That date corresponds to the six weeks’ legal notice required for the EU election – which the Union would insist Britain hold on May 23 if it remains a member. If it does not hold the election, leaders said, the very last date Britain must leave would be June 30, before the new EU parliament convenes.
“OPTIONS REMAIN OPEN”
Until April 12, said summit chair Donald Tusk, “all options will remain open and the cliff-edge date will be delayed”.
“The UK government will still have a choice between a deal, no deal, a long extension or revoking Article 50 (the withdrawal notice),” he told a news conference.
If Britain decides by April 12 against holding the EU election, it could then leave the EU without a deal at any time up to May 22.
May said she would not cancel Brexit or seek a long delay that would mean asking people to vote in EU elections three years after voting to leave. She insisted she could secure a deal next week.
Many in London doubt that, not least after she offended many MPs on Wednesday by publicly blaming them for the deadlock. She tried to soften those remarks somewhat on Thursday.
“What this decision tonight does is show the clear choice that is open to MPs,” May said. “I think the choice is clear for people.”
But May’s stated belief in her strategy of a third vote did not communicate itself to the summit table.
“It did not go well,” said one EU official familiar with the talks. “They basically realised that she doesn’t really believe it herself. They don’t want to be seen to be forcing the Brits out now. But they are looking for ways to end the agony.”
While some brinkmanship from Brussels may be part of a strategy to bounce reluctant British legislators into backing May, there is also a growing impatience that efforts to avoid a messy Brexit are bogging the EU down when it has other priorities, from a weakening economy to rising nationalism.
“WE HAVE BOUGHT TWO WEEKS”
Macron has led the charge, calling for Britain, long a thorn in France’s plans for deeper European integration, to put up or shut up on Brexit. “We have come up with a response that protects our interests,” he said.
“It is up to the British to sort out their own internal contradictions. As for us, we don’t have any.”
May’s opponents at home range from hard-core Brexit supporters who say her deal gives the EU too much influence in Britain to others, inside and outside her own Conservative party, who would prefer to stay much closer to the EU or cancel Brexit.
Voicing the fears of business that a “no-deal” Brexit would hurt economies across the continent, German Chancellor Angela Merkel argued for caution, saying she would “work to the last minute” to avoid a disorderly departure.
By pushing the Brexit crunch toward Britain’s April 12 deadline to declare its decision on holding an EU election, EU diplomats said, the leaders also dodged potential blame if they had simply allowed Britain to crash out next Friday.
“That way, Merkel and the rest of the EU can avoid blame for forcing the British out,” one EU official said. “It will be up to the British themselves to say they are leaving with no deal.”
The basic problems of Brexit remain, however. Britain could still crash out without a transition, disrupting business and souring relations before the sides sit down to negotiate a trade pact and decide how to manage their politically sensitive land border in Ireland.
“Today was a long seven hours that bought us two weeks,” another EU diplomat said.
“It just lets us say with a clear conscience that we didn’t throw them under the bus on March 29 … But before April 12, we will face the very same questions as now.”
May gets two-week Brexit reprieve from impatient EU
|CURRENCY||PUBLICATION||ACTUAL||ORDER TYPE||ENTRY POINT||STOP LOSS||TAKE PROFIT|
|NZD/USD||22 March 2019 17:45||25 March 2019 18:00||Buy||0.6890-0.6910||0.6880- 0.6860||0.6950-0.6980|
|XAU/USD||21 March 2019 17:45||25 March 2019 18:00||Buy||1310-13.00||1310.00-1300.00||1320.00; 1330.00|
|NZD/USD||19 March 2019 17:45||21 March 2019 18:00||Buy||0.6900-0.6880||0.6900-0.6880||0.6970-0.7000|
|USD/CAD||18 March 2019 17:45||21 March 2019 18:00||Sell||1.3320-1.3290||1.3330||1.3250-1.3210|
|EUR/JPY||14 March 2019 17:45||21 March 2019 18:00||Buy||126.30-50||126.00||126.90- 127.30|
|EUR/CHF||12 March 2019 17:45||21 March 2019 18:00||Sell||1.1360- 1.1340||1.1380-1.1360||1.1300|
|USD/JPY||11 March 2019 17:45||21 March 2019 18:00||Buy||111.30-50||111.30||112.00-112.30|
|EUR/GBP||8 March 2019 16:25||12 March 2019 18:00||Buy||0.8600-30||0.8550- 0.8580||0.8690- 0.8740|
|GBP/JPY||7 March 2019 09:00||8 March 2019 18:00||Sell||146.70-50||147.00-147.40||145.70|
* Ester Holdings Inc. does not bear responsibility for the results of trade decisions, adopted using trading signals of independent analysts. All signals are informative.


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Facebook launches video ads
LONDON — Facebook is rolling out a feature Tuesday that will allow advertisers to play videos in users’ news feeds.
The feature offers companies a new way to promote movies and products on smartphones and computers, and is being tested with a small group of Facebook users.
“Rather than having to click or tap to play, videos will begin to play as they appear onscreen — without sound,” Facebook said in a statement. When users tap the videos, the sound will turn on and the video will play in full-screen mode.
Investors cheered the news. Shares of Facebook gained nearly 2% in early trading and hit a new all-time high on hopes that the new video ads will boost the company’s revenues.
Analysts at Oppenheimer estimate Facebook could gain as much as $8.4 billion per year in revenue once the program is fully rolled out.
But don’t expect a flood of video to start clogging up your online experience just yet.
The company says only a few Facebook users will see video ads this week. It’s testing the feature with one company, Summit Entertainment, which is promoting its new movie Divergent, starring Kate Winslet.
Facebook has been working to improve the video experience for users since September. It says users view, like, share and comment on content more often if videos begin playing automatically.
For users who don’t want to see the videos, Facebook suggests quickly scrolling past them.
Facebook also says the new ads will not eat into mobile data plans, explaining that videos will only download when devices are connected to WiFi.
Last week, Standard & Poor’s said the social networking giant will be added to the benchmark S&P 500 index after the market closes on December 20.
Facebook had been the largest public company not in the S&P 500 index, according to FactSet. Its current market capitalization stands at $132 billion.
™ & © 2013 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.AlertMe


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‘Promising perspectives’ for on-farm tourism business
An agri-tourism conference took place in the Shearwater Hotel, Ballinasloe, Co. Galway, on Monday, October 15.
The aim of the event was to highlight opportunities for farm families in developing an on-farm tourism business.
Agri-tourism 2018 was organised by Teagasc, together with Galway County Council (CoCo) and Failte Ireland, in association with Galway European Region of Gastronomy.
Setting up on-farm holiday accommodation, in the form of bed and breakfast or self-catering cottages, was said to be a popular choice for diversification.
Speakers at the conference noted the many other choices of accommodation such as glamping, pods, shepherd’s huts and yurts.
The opportunities for farmers to coincide with existing accommodation providers by developing complementary activity businesses such as: kayaking; fishing boats; gillie services; cycling; heritage talks; walking tours; artisan food shops; and others were also mentioned at the event.
Speaking at the conference, Teagasc’s rural development specialist, Barry Caslin, said: “Agri-tourism is a perfect way to stimulate real impetus into encouraging footfall out of the towns and cities.
There is such diversity in rural Ireland’s visitor activities, attractions and our specialist farm food producers who all make a very compelling case to venture out of the city boundaries.
Acting director of services at Galway CoCo, Alan Farrell said: “Agriculture, food and tourism are key drivers of rural economies and are often underdeveloped in rural Ireland.
“Tourists want to experience locally loved places off the beaten path, to hear the stories, to meet the locals and to enjoy quality local sustainable food produced in the region.”
Sinead Hennessy from Failte Ireland said: “For some regions, tourism is a fundamental part of the local economy.
In this digital age tourists are looking for something tangible which they can latch onto and share digitally on social media.
“This event provided a comprehensive guide on developing the concept of agri-tourism in business planning and marketing,” she concluded.


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Two shopping centres in Leeds are supporting Autism Awareness Week by taking significant steps to become more autism-friendly, offering a more inclusive retail experience for all visitors.
White Rose and Trinity Leeds, both owned by Landsec, have announced a range of services to be implemented over the next 12 months to tackle some of the barriers faced by people with autism and their families.
The news comes during Autism Awareness Week, which runs from 1-7 April 2019 and aims to raise awareness and support for the 700,000 people in the UK who have been diagnosed with autism.
According to the National Autistic Society, 50% of autistic people and their family members sometimes don’t go out because they’re worried how people will react. Additionally, 79% of autistic people and 70% of family members feel socially isolated, and 28% of autistic people have been asked to leave a public space because of behaviour associated with their autism.
In a bid to help tackle these issues and support people with autism and their carers, White Rose and Trinity Leeds will offer:
- Sensory toy bags for children with autism during their visit
- Downloadable, printed guides for guests to familiarise themselves with the layout, look and feel of the destination in advance of their visit
- Weekly quiet hours, during which lighting will be dimmed and music will be reduced in central areas
- The use of a quiet room, to allow families or individuals to rest in a calm, quiet space.
In addition, front of house staff will receive training to support guests with hidden disabilities.
The new services will be introduced throughout 2019, and will be completed by Autism Awareness Week 2020.
The initiative has been announced just weeks after the White Rose Shopping Centre launched its own ‘Quiet Tuesdays,’ which offer a calm environment without music, product demonstrations, or mall activity, from 10am-12pm on the first Tuesday of the month.
White Rose has also published an Autism-Friendly Guide in association with local charity Specialist Autism Services, and the Cineworld hosts monthly autism-friendly screenings on the first Sunday of every month.
Steven Foster, General Manager at the White Rose Shopping Centre, said:
“We’ve been working hard to make sure we cater for all shoppers and give them a relaxing, stress-free visit, but we’re excited to build on this even further, making White Rose as accessible and inclusive as possible.”
This post is based on a press release issued on behalf of White Rose Shopping Centre


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Harvard University researchers estimate that 10% to 15% of couples trying to conceive encounter some fertility problems, and a lack of ovulation is a cause in a quarter of those cases.
The condition, known as anovulatory infertility, occurs when the ovaries don’t produce an egg. It can be caused by diet, eating disorders, excessive exercise, or cysts. Long-term use of the contraceptive pill is also a possible reason.
The study found that women who consume at least one daily serving of high-fat dairy reduce the risk of infertility caused by lack of ovulation by more than a quarter compared with those who eat only one such portion a week.
The study also found the more low-fat dairy women had, the less likely they were to ovulate.
More research is required to confirm the findings, but in the absence of further studies, the researchers advise women trying to conceive to swap low-fat dairy products like skimmed milk for whole-fat ones (but the overall calorie intake should remain within normal boundaries).


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Toms hardware has a couple sexy photos but nothing new along the lines of performance.
Nvidia took the opportunity to show of its new three-way SLI technology at CES 2008 this week. While packing three GPUs into a single desktop PC may seem excessive, think again. Nvidia was running Crysis on a custom Q6600 quad core system with three 8800 GTXs running at a full resolution of 1920 x 1080. And if that wasn’t enough, the game’s settings were all cranked to very high.


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The annual Alberni Valley Lions Club auction is returning for the 49th year in a row.
The auction goes live on Thursday, Nov. 11 with more than 238 items to bid on, provided by 175 donors.
Lions Club member George Smith said there are more items than last year’s auction.
“We have some newer donors this year, as well,” he added. “The response was better than I expected.”
There are gift certificates to bid on, for everything from groceries to golfing to camping trips. There are also gift baskets, local artwork and men’s and women’s clothing. Larger items include a barbecue grill, an inflatable paddle board, a marine VHF radio and a signed Vegas Golden Knights jersey donated by Port Alberni hockey product and NHL goaltender Laurent Brossoit.
Each year, the Lions Club picks a specific project to support with proceeds from the auction. This year, the club’s focus is on Roger Creek Park, with plans to build an all-ages zip track system.
Last year, the club donated $5,000 to Port Alberni’s COVID-19 relief fund, and Smith says the club has plans to make another donation for COVID-19 relief this year, as well.
Aside from the club’s annual gaming grant, the auction is their biggest fundraiser. It has raised more than $200,000 for various projects and organizations in the Alberni Valley.
This is the Lions Club’s 49th auction, and the third one hosted entirely online. The auction used to be known as the “Television Auction” and took place by TV and phone, but the Lions Club eventually switched over to an online format instead. Last year, Smith said the auction website had more than 1,300 visits and 335 individual participants.
This year, the website has been active since Oct. 30 and has so far seen “more activity” than last year.
“It seems to be growing every year,” said Smith. “People are comfortable with the online format. The response has been quite positive, and we’re pleasantly surprised.”
After the auction closes, items will be available to pick up at the Salvation Army front office (4877 Argyle Street) on Saturday, Nov. 20 (10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.) and Sunday, Nov. 21 (1 p.m. to 4 p.m.).
Bidding begins at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 11. All items are listed with a photo and description at www.avlionsauction.com. A list of items will also be available in the Nov. 10 issue of the Alberni Valley News.
People need to register for a free account in order to bid on items. Instructions for bidding, registering, paying and picking up items are available on the auction website at www.avlionsauction.com.
The auction ends at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 18.


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Sears Canada & JPMorgan terminate credit card deal
JPMorgan Chase and Sears Canada said Monday they plan to terminate their credit card agreement starting next November.
"JPMorgan Chase will continue to service the Sears Canada credit card business to at least Nov. 15, 2015 and will have no obligation to do so after such date," the joint statement said.
The two companies said in a release that they will explore a sale of the credit card portfolio to another party. If that happens, JPMorgan has agreed to pay Sears up to $174 million, but there's no guarantee that will happen.
In a release, the two companies said they will "work together using a request-for-proposal process to help identify options for the future of the program."
Both companies said card holders can continue to use their cards until that date and can expect the same level of service to continue, without interruption.
Sears is in the midst of a turnaround plan that has seen the company close underperforming stores. But there are still 176 Sears stores and more than 220 Sears Hometown stores across Canada.
With files from Reuters


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Veteran leadership succession team announced but the CEO post remains open
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Jim Heinitz, CEO of Furniture Mart USA, retired from the post Jan. 1, after a dozen years in the position, where he helped shepherd the company through an aggressive growth phase.
He’ll continue to serve on the retailer’s board. A new CEO has not been named, and there are no immediate plans to do so, the company said.
Heinitz joined the Sioux Falls, S.D.-based company as sales manager in 2004 after a long coaching career and was promoted to CEO in 2008, but he knew close friend and Furniture Mart founder and Chairman Bill Hinks long before then.
The two were once business partners at a nearby mobile home business, and it was that surplus of mobile home furniture that was used to open Hinks’ first Unclaimed Freight Furniture store on West. 12th Street in Sioux Falls more than 40 years ago.
Today, the company is one of the nation’s largest home furnishings retailers with more than 34 stores under four divisions — Furniture Mart, Ashley HomeStore, Unclaimed Freight and Carpet One — operating in 34 communities across South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois.
The succeeding leadership team announced prior to Heinitz’s retirement includes:
Bill Hinks, who continues as chairman is recognized as an industry leader, having grown Furniture Mart USA from a single store in the 1970s to the nation’s 35th largest furniture retailer with 1,100 employees in six states, according to a release.
Hinks is a two-time recipient of the Ashley HomeStore Chairman’s Award and a member of the South Dakota Hall of Fame.
Gordy Wallenstein, president, has been with Furniture Mart for 41 years. He evaluates inventory levels, productivity, and selects showroom inventory with the buying team. He’s responsible for researching market trends, current fashions, and potential suppliers.
Tami Wallenstein, executive vice president, is the lead buyer for accessories. She also works with accounting, human resources, and philanthropic requests. Tami has been with the company for 35 years.
Cory Price, president of strategic planning and company development, brings together Furniture Mart USA’s sales and marketing efforts, leading and enhancing the customer experience teams. He has also served as corporate pilot for the past 10 years.
And Troy Eichmann, chief operating officer, is responsible for company operations and strategic operational direction. He oversees the delivery process, supply chain management, operations of the distribution centers, and customer delivery. Before joining the retailer, Eichmann held leadership positions with Fortune 100 companies including Delta Air Lines and Starwood Hotels & Resorts.
In a release, Heinitz noted how he and Hinks built a friendship through athletics and then a business relationship when Hinks started University Homes in the 1970s.
“Bill had the entrepreneurial instinct and ambition to take it to the next level when he opened the first Unclaimed Freight Furniture store in 1977,” he said. “It has been a privilege to witness that success over these many years.”
Prior to becoming CEO, Heinitz had a 30+ year coaching career and retired as the winningest football coach in school history at Augustana University.
“I have been blessed to work with some great people through the years,” Heinitz said. “Retail in general, and the furniture industry in particular, has been put to the test this year. We are proving that strong relationships and a commitment to customer service can help you not only overcome these challenges but actually grow and thrive during unprecedented times.”
Hinks called Heinitz “a winner — in athletics, in retail, and in life.
“His common sense, people skills, and competitive nature helped drive our growth and success over the past decade,” Hinks said. “Sales increased by 133% with the addition of 20 new stores during Jim’s time as CEO. He has been our quarterback during a pivotal point in our company’s history.”
Still, Hinks said he’s “delighted with the strength and experience” of the leadership team that remains in place, “and confident that not only will we continue to grow but we will continue to provide great value and service to our customers at the same time.”
The company opened its 31st Ashley HomeStore Dec. 29, a 100,000-square-foot store in College Square Mall in Cedar Falls, Iowa, It’s the retailer’s ninth Ashley location in the state. Renovation of the former Younkers department store included a 15,000 square foot expansion of the retail space. A grand opening event is slated for early February.
The company also is it is “doubling-down on its commitment to customer service,” with a 275,000-square-foot expansion of its corporate headquarters and distribution center in Sioux Falls. Excavation is underway and construction is slated to begin in spring 2021.
When completed, the more than 600,000-square-foot facility will be one of the largest freestanding buildings in South Dakota, the company said. Also, inside its headquarters, Furniture Mart USA recently installed an additional 55 workstations which more than doubled the size of its customer service operation.


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January 27, 2014
According to a new report from U.K.-based Generator Research, online movie streaming can be as profitable as television downloads and disc sales. The report estimates that film producers are projected to earn $29.4 billion from television and home video sales in 2014. However, the report also recommends a shift in distribution strategies for home entertainment, as revenue from DVD and Blu-ray sales are expected to decline by 38 percent over the next four years.
“If movie producers charged a $15 monthly fee to just 45 percent of the world’s online subscribers, they could rake in just as much cash as they currently do through TV downloads and disc sales,” reports Computerworld.
“Movie producers have little to fear from online distribution in the long term,” suggests the report. “It is the distribution part of the movie business that should be worried because online distribution will replace a sizable portion of their current industry… For those operating in developed Internet markets, this will mean that corporate strategies must change.”
The report focuses on the emergence of online movie services such as Netflix and iTunes, consumer expectations regarding entertainment on connected mobile devices, and the migration away from physical formats towards an array of online alternatives. It also examines a range of payment models including electronic sell through, download to own, online rental, online subscription services, and subscription VOD.
Key takeaways include:
- Online movie revenue is expected to increase by 260 percent from $3.5 billion this year to $12.7 billion in 2018.
- Forty-five percent of the world’s broadband subscribers equates to 348 million people.
- Revenue from television downloads and rentals are also expected to increase from $11.7 billion in 2014 to $14.3 billion in 2018.
- Box office revenues are also expected to increase over the next four years by 22 percent, from $33.2 billion in this year to $40.5 billion in 2018.


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Sales were sputtering last fall at Ken Vance Automotive in Eau Claire, Wis. Overall sales at the company's two dealerships declined 25 percent in September and October 2008 compared with the same period in 2007. On slow days, salespeople hit the phones in an effort to entice former customers into the showroom to kick the tires on new and used Buicks, Cadillacs, Hondas and Volkswagens. Only brisker business in parts and service kept the firm's General Motors-Hyundai operation in the black.
President Ken Vance blames the tough economy for most of the drop in vehicle sales, but he said that "the credit picture has obviously had a great bearing" on depressed sales at his dealerships.
The credit picture—the availability of auto financing—is anything but clear, and decidedly cloudy for some people who would like to buy a car. Many lenders have tightened their standards, especially for people with spotty credit histories. For customers with marginal credit, Vance said, "the odds were better a year ago than they are today" of securing an auto loan on terms that they could live with.
Slumping sales that worsened in the wake of the financial crisis—light vehicle sales in the United States fell 32 percent in October from the same month in 2007—are causing great distress in the automotive industry. GM and Chrysler have been pushed to the brink of bankruptcy, and auto dealers in the Ninth District and across the country are struggling for survival. In Minnesota, dealers shed 2,000 jobs in October, according to state employment figures.
Whether, and to what extent, tighter credit has contributed to the slump is the subject of intense debate by district auto dealers, manufacturers, lenders and other industry stakeholders. Are willing buyers walking out of dealerships because credit has become too expensive, the terms demanded by lenders too stringent?
Certainly the auto finance industry has become more averse to risk than it was a few years ago, when buyers with shaky credit could get seven-year loans with minimal money down. Auto credit markets were tightening even before the onset of the banking crisis in mid-September, thanks to rising default rates, the travails of domestic auto manufacturers and difficulties selling subprime auto debt to investors. Fewer auto loans were being written, and the share of new loans going to people with prime credit was increasing.
Lenders appear to have further tightened their purse strings since September. Concern that tight credit is stifling auto purchases and other consumer spending was the impetus for a Federal Reserve program announced in November to lend up to $200 billion to the holders of securities backed by consumer debt, including auto loans.
All of which doesn't mean that district consumers can't buy a new set of wheels today. For buyers with reasonably good credit, loans with good terms are still available from banks and the finance arms of many auto manufacturers. Even low-income, subprime borrowers may be able to secure financing from credit unions, which haven't appreciably tightened their credit standards and are expanding their auto lending.
Credit obstacle course
A collective shiver ran through the auto industry in October when GMAC Financial Services, the country's biggest auto lender, announced that it was taking a more conservative approach to auto financing. Henceforth, car buyers would have to score 700 or above on FICO (Fair Isaac Corp.'s yardstick of credit worth), put more money down and pay off the loan in less time. The changes—on top of higher interest rates introduced early in 2008—put GM vehicles and other autos financed through GMAC out of reach for millions of Americans with less than prime credit.
Sales of GM vehicles were already trending downward at Vance Automotive, but after GMAC's move, they plunged 32 percent in October compared with the previous October. Along with "unrealistic" interest rates, Vance said GMAC is "completely out of sight on the quality of the buyer, and the restrictions that they are throwing up." Soon after the new rules went into effect, a long-time customer with excellent credit walked away from a sale when GMAC demanded a 20 percent down payment on a used car.
GMAC's credit crackdown is only one of the most dramatic and recent examples of tautening auto credit. Many other auto lenders have been pulling in their horns for a year or more, lending less and paying much more attention to credit quality than in the past. Auto finance as a whole has become more conservative because of fallout from the subprime housing debacle and subsequent economic downturn, said Tom Libby, an analyst with J.D. Power and Associates, a national marketing research firm focusing on the auto industry. "Everybody has tightened up," he said.
Despite a large drop in the prime interest rate in 2008, the finance arms of the Big Three U.S. automakers raised their interest rates last fall. According to the Federal Reserve, the average annual interest rate for new loans financed by the subsidiaries, or "captives," of domestic auto lenders (a group that includes Ford Motor Credit and Chrysler Financial) was 6.2 percent in September. That's more than a percentage point higher than the rate in the third quarter of 2007.
The Fed data also show an increase in the average down payment required by the captives. The typical loan in September was for 85 percent of the vehicle's value—a sharp drop from 95 percent in July and well below the average loan-to-value ratio in this decade.
In addition to this general reeling in of credit by U.S. automakers, all three domestic captives cut back on low-interest incentive financing last year, and GMAC and Chrysler Financial retreated from the auto lease business.
No money down, no car!
A new caution in auto lending extends beyond the Big Three finance companies to banks and independent auto finance firms. JPMorgan Chase and AmeriCredit, a nationwide auto finance company, have reduced their auto lending and tightened their credit standards in the past year or so. Chase Auto Finance, the country's largest bank-owned auto financer, is demanding higher down payments and capping subprime loans at five years.
J.D. Power auto lending data show a broad tightening of credit standards in 2008 for a broad swath of the Midwest that includes Minneapolis-St. Paul and parts of district states Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. Average auto-loan interest rates in the region declined year over year in October—the opposite of the Big Three trend. But the average down payment increased to over 21 percent of the purchase price (see chart).
Small, independent banks in the district don't do much auto lending, and historically they have concentrated on serving existing customers with prime credit. But these banks appear to be following the lead of big banks in lending more conservatively. Bill Underriner, the owner of an auto dealership in Billings, Mont., noted that one local bank hiked its interest rates in October. "Don't worry, I was over there talking to them about it," he said.
In Minnesota, community banks have not appreciably tightened their standards for prime borrowers, said Marshall MacKay, CEO of Independent Community Bankers of Minnesota, which represents about 250 small banks in the state. But he added that local bankers have even less appetite for subprime, stand-alone auto loans than they had six months or a year ago.
Banks have also joined the captives in driving a hard bargain on commercial loans used for "floor planning," or dealer inventory. Restricted financing has left dealerships scrambling to buy vehicles to sell, said Scott Lambert, executive vice president of the Minnesota Auto Dealers Association (MADA). "The dealers are having a hard time getting credit on reasonable terms, and that is as big a problem as consumer credit right now," he said.
Keeping it loose
Timidity isn't universal in auto lending. Ford Motor Credit and the finance arms of foreign auto manufacturers haven't significantly raised their credit standards in the past year. These firms are financially healthier and have higher credit ratings—and therefore lower borrowing costs—than Chrysler and GMAC. Ford Credit spokesperson Meredith Libbey said that the firm began shedding risky loans in 2002, and so has seen no need to restrict credit further. "We have not tightened our standards; we've got good criteria and we're sticking by them."
Likewise, there's scant evidence of tightening at Toyota Motor Credit Corp. and Nissan Motors' finance subsidiary. Both firms launched zero-percent financing campaigns in October in a bid to wrest more market share from their Detroit-based rivals.
Another bright spot for borrowers is credit unions, which are aggressively pursuing auto lending. According to the Credit Union National Association, 31 percent of credit union loans nationwide are for autos, and in the first nine months of last year outstanding credit union loans for used vehicles (which accounted for more than half of auto lending) increased almost 6 percent. Flush with deposits and not weighed down by toxic mortgages, credit unions are disposed to lend, said Steven Rick, the association's senior economist. "Credit unions haven't tightened up their lending standards as much as their competitors, like the banks and captive finance companies," he said.
Interlakes Federal Credit Union in Madison, S.D., doubled its auto lending last year as its growing membership took out loans on new and used cars at interest rates 1.5 percent to 2 percent lower than the prevailing rate offered by area banks. General Manager Lynnette Taylor said that in most instances a FICO score of 650—50 points less than GMAC's cutoff for financing—qualifies borrowers for a five-year loan covering 90 percent of the vehicle's purchase price.
Nevertheless, the overarching trend in auto lending, both nationwide and in the district, is a migration from risk toward safety. Prime credit is desirable; anything less is to be handled gingerly, if at all.
One reason for this change is climbing delinquency rates. A recent report on automotive lending by Experian PLC, a multinational credit bureau, showed that in the second quarter of 2008 the number of loans 60 days past due was 11 percent higher nationwide than in the same quarter in 2007. District states have much lower rates of auto delinquency than the country as a whole, but Experian data suggest that auto delinquencies have also been creeping up in the region (detailed state statistics were unavailable).
The rise in delinquencies coincides with a shift in the quality ratio of new auto loans. Nationwide and in the district, lenders wrote more prime loans and fewer subprime loans in the second quarter of 2008 than they did the previous year, according to the Experian report. The subprime share declined nationally and in every district state (see chart).
More recent Experian data were unavailable at press time, but it's probable that this flight to quality has accelerated since the banking crisis hit in September, hastened by the fragile finances of many lenders and problems selling subprime loan contracts in money markets leery of securitized consumer debt.
Waiting for the thaw
So if you're pining for that new- (or used-) car smell, chances are the credit bar has been raised since you last set foot in a district showroom. Consumers with prime credit can buy the vehicle they want at a good price, because many dealerships are desperate to bring in revenue. However, depending on the lender and the borrower's FICO score, the loan contract may come with strings attached—a bigger down payment, a shorter loan term—than was customary for prime borrowers a year ago.
Drivers with less than sterling credit can still buy a vehicle, but they're likely to pay a lot more up front and face higher monthly payments on shorter loans. "People with spotty credit records are going to have a harder time at least getting prime credit," said Lambert of MADA. "They may be paying more for their loan." For buyers with bad credit—a FICO score of 400 or lower—there's always the bus. As of November most auto lenders were rejecting those loans.
Consumer confidence will undoubtedly return when the national economy regains its footing, reviving the sagging fortunes of auto dealers in the district. The weekend after the presidential election, sales picked up at Ken Vance Automotive—a sign to the owner of rebounding consumer optimism following months of uncertainty about the direction of federal policy.
But dealers must be able to extend credit to their customers if they are to capitalize on pent-up demand for automobiles. No one knows whether the progressive tightening of auto credit that has occurred over the past year or two is temporary, or the beginning of a prolonged period of more conservative lending.
If major lenders continue to restrict credit, that could spell trouble for auto dealers in the district, leading to consolidation and higher prices because of reduced competition. In some district states the ranks of dealers have been thinning for a while. According to MADA, more than 60 dealerships have closed their doors in Minnesota over the past five years.
Just before Thanksgiving, six Denny Hecker Automotive dealerships shut down in the Twin Cities, resulting in 400 layoffs. Owner Denny Hecker attributed the closing to a "perfect storm" of financial misfortunes, including Chrysler Financial's decision to cut off his credit lines in October.


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Update 8/22/2019 2:17 p.m. ET A Microsoft spokesperson issued a followup statement to our initial inquiry indicating that the company has stopped the practice of summarily listening to Xbox recordings for product improvement purposes. Xbox continues to record user voice activity, per the Xbox terms of service, but only listens to the audio in instances where a user reports audio that violates their terms of service and the company needs to investigate.
“We stopped reviewing any voice content taken through Xbox for product improvement purposes a number of months ago, as we no longer felt it was necessary, and we have no plans to re-start those reviews. We occasionally review a low volume of voice recordings sent from one Xbox user to another when there are reports that a recording violated our terms of service and we need to investigate. This is done to keep the Xbox community safe and is clearly stated in our Xbox terms of service,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in a written statement to Tom's Hardware.
The original story continues below.
Microsoft contractors have been recording and listening to pieces of audio from Xbox users as far back as 2014, according to Vice News. The audio was recorded as part of an effort by Microsoft to improve the voice command features on the Xbox. Contractors began to record and listen to users during the launch of the Microsoft Kinect system in 2014 and continued through the company’s switch to the Cortana virtual assistant, which was released in 2016.
The audio recordings were supposed to be triggered during specific vocal commands users would give the Xbox, such as "Hey Cortana." However, there were times when recordings were triggered accidentally and contractors were left listening to the private conversations of users, many of whom were underage.
"Most of the Xbox related stuff I can recall doing was obviously unintentional activations with people telling Cortana 'No' as they were obviously in the middle of a game and doing normal game chat," a current contractor granted anonymity by Vice News told the publication.
The contractors listened to the snippets of audio in an attempt to improve the reliability of the algorithms in voice activated systems.
“We’ve long been clear that we collect voice data to improve voice-enabled services and that this data is sometimes reviewed by vendors," a Microsoft spokesperson told Motherboard in a written statement. Microsoft also gave Tom’s Hardware the same statement.
"We’ve recently updated our privacy statement to add greater clarity that people sometimes review this data as part of the product improvement process," the company added. "We always get customer permission before collecting voice data, we take steps to de-identify voice snippets being reviewed to protect people’s privacy, and we require that handling of this data be held to the highest privacy standards in the law. At the same time, we’re actively working on additional steps we can take to give customers more transparency and more control over how their data is used to improve products," the spokesperson said.
Last month, Microsoft announced that it plans to drop Cortana from the Xbox entirely this fall, though the system will still be able to be controlled by the virtual assistant through the Cortana Android and iOS apps.
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A lot of my friends gave me crap about not wanting an Xbox as long as Kinect was required. They chastised me for being paranoid about this very thing. Well...look at all the companies that having been listening to us.Reply
Where there's a speaker and recording capabilities , there's somebody listening.Reply
Doesn't this breach the heck out of COPPA? (I mostly know COPPA from LGR's tech tale on Bonzi Buddy)Reply
Or do people have to say that they are a certain age or older to use the voice feature, thus not capturing data from underage individuals?