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EU firms protest possible punitive duties on Chinese solar products
Updated: 2013-05-25 05:44
BRUSSELS - A coalition of over 580 European solar companies on Friday protested in a dramatic way against looming anti-dumping duties against Chinese-made solar products.
FUNERAL MARCH SOUNDING ALARMS
A symbolic funeral march was held earlier Friday in Brussels to commemorate the more than 200,000 jobs that are expected to be lost as a result of the European Commission's proposal to impose punitive duties on solar products from China.
The demonstrators carried a white coffin and several solar panels through the European quarter of Brussels, passing the buildings of the European Parliament, the European Council and the European Commission.
The event was organized by the Alliance for Affordable Solar Energy (AFASE), a coalition of over 580 companies in the European photovoltaic (PV) industry representing more than 60,000 EU jobs and a turnover of more than 20 billion euros (about 25.9 billion U.S. dollars) in the EU.
In front of the Berlaymont building where the European Commission is located, AFASE spokesperson Thorsten Preugschas slammed the Commission's proposal as wrong.
"The Commission's plans to impose tariffs of approximately 37 percent to 69 percent on solar products from China are wrong and do not take into account the interest of the EU industry," Preugschas said.
"Punitive tariffs will cost us more than 200,000 jobs," he added.
AFASE strongly requests the Commission to take into account the interests of the EU PV value chain that relies on high quality solar products from China to make solar affordable by creating local value-added and jobs, he said.
The symbolic funeral was taking place as EU member states were in a non-legally-binding voting on whether to impose provisional anti-dumping duties against imports of solar products from China.
In the anti-dumping investigation, the deadline for duties to enter into force is June 6 and member states will take the final decision whether to impose definitive duties in December this year.
VOICE OF EUROPEAN BUSINESS LEADERS
Due to its "disastrous" impacts on the businesses and jobs along the EU's PV industry value chain, the Commission's plan to impose punitive duties on Chinese solar products has been widely opposed by business leaders.
Karl Kuhlmann, chief executive officer (CEO) of S.A.G. Solarstrom AG of Germany, is one of them.
"I'm firmly convinced that an anti-dumping tariff will bring the entire European solar industry to a halt, not only us who build solar projects but also those who produce solar panels in Europe," he said in an interview.
"The other main point is that we will not achieve the CO2 goal, and we will get considerable job cuts by introducing such a tariff, " Kuhlmann added.
Echoing Kuhlmann, Simon Whelan, operations manager of Ecologics in Ireland, said, "Any introduction of tariffs will result in higher prices being extended to the end customer."
"This will end the ability of Solar PV to compete with fossil fuel generated electricity prices and effectively destroy the solar industry in Ireland in its infancy," Whelan added.
Gabriel Wondrausch, managing director of the UK-based renewable energy project developer SunGift Solar, also sounded alarm against the Commission's proposal.
"The level of the duties that could come in, anywhere from 20 to 120 percent, would have catastrophic effects on what is essentially in UK a pretty fragile market already," said Wondrausch.
GreenEnergy of Finland, a leading supplier of renewable energy in the Nordic countries, is also going to be hit by the proposed anti-dumping duties.
"We would be running out of business. End clients would refuse to pay for increased investment costs. It makes no sense at all to incorporate the anti-dumping duties," said the company's CEO Miko Huomo.
"We should concentrate on the things we are competitive at: engineering, integration, innovation, after sales," Huomo added.


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Audi has released detailed specifications of its new Audi A4 Saloon and Audi A4 Avant, before its public unveiling at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September this year and will go on sale at the end of 2015.
Audi will hope that the new A4 Saloon and A4 Avant will stand out against BMW 3 Series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class. The company has utilized a number of new technologies to make the A4 Saloon and A4 Avant more dominant, more proficient and more sharp.
However, the new Audi A4 Saloon and Audi A4 Avant have gone through minor changes to bring it with the company's style.
The new Audi cars will be available in seven options, three petrol and four diesel, including both four- and six-cylinder units, with power outputs ranging from 150bhp to 270bhp. The overall fuel burning up has enhanced by 21 per cent. The company also says that the new Audi A4 has the best drag co-efficient in its class at 0.23.
The new A4 will offer three transmission options - a six-gear manual transmission, a seven-gear S tronic and the eight-stage tiptronic will be offered on the FWD variants of the car, along with optional Quattro AWD system.
The frontal part of the car has got the new Singleframe grille, along with the optional headlights in LED and Matrix LED technology. The dimensions of the new Audi A4 have grown by 4.73 meters in length and 2.82 meters in wheelbase from the previous model, but the overall weight has gone down by 120 kg.
Moreover, there are two major features, the virtual cockpit, like the one fitted in the new TT, includes a 12.2-inch screen in the instrument panel, MMI (Multimedia Interface), a free-text search option along with an updated voice-control system.
The new A4 also comes with a Wi-Fi hotspot, the infotainment system will support the Apple CarPlay and the Android Auto for Smartphone integration.
Check the new Audi A4 here: (Credit: World car fans)

domain: news


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In Amerika krijgt elke auto halverwege het jaar een minieme facelift en dan plakken ze er als naam het komende jaar aan vast. Zo is nu de Chevrolet Silverado 2016 gepresenteerd. Het persbericht:
Chevy Trucks are on a roll, with Chevrolet pickup sales up 32 percent so far this year. Chevrolet intends to strengthen this momentum with significant updates for the 2016 Silverado 1500 full-size pickup.
“The redesigned 2016 Silverado will build on Chevy Trucks’ legacy of dependability. It will feature a more muscular appearance and offer new customer-focused technologies,” said Sandor Piszar, marketing director for Chevy Trucks.
“New front end designs with bold horizontal elements, sculpted hoods and dramatic lighting reflect the strength and refinement that have helped make Silverado the fastest growing full-size pickup brand this year.”
Other changes for 2016 will include expanded use of 8-speed automatic transmissions, updated Chevy MyLink with support for Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, and additional safety technologies.
The redesign of the 2016 Silverado 1500 is part of an aggressive strategy to build on Chevy Trucks’ momentum.
Since the introduction of the all-new Silverado 1500 in the spring of 2013, Silverado sales have grown by double digits, on a percentage basis, each year. Through June of this year, Silverado sales are up 14.6 percent. Chevrolet also sold 41,575 midsize Colorados during the same period.
More product details will be available this fall, closer to the public debut of the redesigned 2016 Silverado 1500.


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- Source:China Sport Show
- Release time:2018-03-16
On December 6, 2017 and December 28, 2017, the organizing committee of China Sport Show 2018 held promotion meetings in Linyi, Shandong Province and Xiamen, Fujian Province respectively.
At the promotion meetings, the representative of the exhibition department of China Sporting Goods Federation introduced the preparations for China Sport Show 2018. According to the introduction, as of now, the exhibition has attracted more than 1,300 enterprises to participate as exhibitors and the overall work proceeds more rapid over that of the same period of last year. The total exhibition area is expected to be more than 180,000 square meters. It maintains the four sections of original Sportswear, Outdoor and Leisure Zone, Stadium Facilities, Construction and Flooring Zone, Ballgames, Racket Games and Combat Sports Zone and Fitness Zone. To meet the development needs of the sports industry, China Sport Show 2018 added exhibition areas for the promising winter sports facilities and equipment, sports towns, rehabilitation equipment and services, outdoor equipment for fitness and children’s sports and recreational equipment. At the same time, to facilitate exhibitors, China Sport Show 2018 is moved from the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th of National Exhibition and Convention Center to 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th pavilions. After the adjustment, exhibitors and visitors will enter the exhibition hall from the North and West entrance which will make parking and permits issuing more convenient.
In addition, China Sport Show 2018 also increased the professional channels and invited more foreign audiences. It upgraded the professional audience management system, exchanged resources with the multinational exhibitions and related associations to ensure the accurate invitation of target audience. It also launched an exhibitors-audience matchmaking system and the function for inviting exhibitors and customers to build a communication bridge. What’s more noteworthy is that, China Sport Show 2018 will attract more end consumers and sports enthusiasts to participate while maintaining the trading function of the exhibition to build B to C platform, to promote the sports culture, guide and create consumption.
It is known that China Sport Show 2018 will be held in National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai) from May 25th, 2018 to May 28th, 2018.


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Restaurants in the countryside have also been awarded the accolade, and this year's Michelin Guide Hungary recommends restaurants across the country.Continue reading
Michelin-recommended restaurants will also be joining the spring National Restaurant Week organized by Dining City, with more than 150 restaurants offering their specialties from March 9-19 . This year, for the first time, the event will run for 11 days, with 151 restaurants across the country offering fixed-price menus to those who book a table for the event, organizers told MTI on Wednesday.
A limited number of restaurants can be booked in advance on the program’s website. A new feature of the spring event is that several restaurants recommended by the Michelin Guide French restaurant guide and awarded with the Bib Gourmand will be among the participants.
Among them are the Rókusfalvy Fogadó in Etyek, the Kistücsök in Balatonszemes, Lokal47 in Kéthely, the Macok bistro in Eger, Avalon in Miskolc, and the Végállomás Bistro. The Bib Gourmand rating, which has been in existence since 1997, was created by the Michelin Guide to rank restaurants according to value for money. Bib Gourmand restaurants offer high quality cuisine at moderate prices.
For more than 10 years, National Restaurant Week has been a spring and autumn event for those who want to taste the latest offerings from the country’s best restaurants, discover their cuisines, and learn about gastronomic trends. Participating restaurants create three-course menus based on carefully selected ingredients, often including specialties, and offered at unique, fixed prices.
For several years now, restaurants have been presenting themselves in three categories. This year, the top category will offer three-course menus starting from six thousand forints (EUR 15.70), the premium category from eight thousand forints (EUR 21), and the exclusive category from ten thousand forints (EUR 26.20), including service charges. If you want to try a wider selection of restaurants, you can do so for an additional supplement, also tailored to the event.
Featured photo via Pexels


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Montreal cyclists worried about growing presence of e-scooters on bike paths
Illegal to drive electric scooters on bike paths, Transports Québec says
With more electric scooters and e-bikes travelling Montreal's bike paths, some cyclists and pedestrians in the city are worried for their safety.
"It's a little bit scary," said Mariana Diez, a Montrealer who often goes out for walks pushing her baby on a stroller.
"They pass by really fast and sometimes it's not only one, there are two of them or three.... You feel that someone is going to run into you at some point."
In Quebec, bicycles and kick scooters are allowed on bike paths. Electric bicycles are also allowed as long as they have a maximum power of 500 watts and don't go over 32 kilometre per hour, according to Transports Québec spokesperson Louis-André Bertrand.
"It's a question of safety," he said. Bertrand also said the rules are clear and it's up to local police to enforce them.
Shadab Vhora, a delivery driver, uses his electric scooter for work and admits he sometimes hops onto a bike path, even though he doesn't think it's right.
"Sometimes I see kids on the bike path, and it's not safe for kids to be on the bike path when there's fast-driven vehicles there," he said. "I do sometimes when I have to, I wouldn't lie about it, but I usually don't prefer that."
Since 2018, the Quebec automobile insurance board — known by its acronym, the SAAQ — has been overseeing a pilot project to evaluate how electric scooters can be better integrated into the province's roadways. The project, initially slated to end in the fall of 2021, has been extended until September of next year.
Jean-François Papineau, who owns Mecamoto/Vespa Montreal, said more and more people are coming to his store to buy electric vehicles, with business nearly doubling in the last three years. He said many customers are asking him if they can ride their new toy on a bike path.
"They ask us if they can drive it over there but it has a plate, you need to have a helmet, so it's a street vehicle," Papineau said.
With files from Alex Leduc


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US consumer spending dropped by a record in April as the COVID-19 pandemic undercut demand, buttressing expectations that the economy could contract in the second quarter at its steepest pace since the Great Depression.
The Commerce Department said on Friday consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, plunged 13.6 percent last month. That was the biggest drop since the government started tracking series in 1959, and followed a 6.9 percent tumble in March.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast consumer spending plummeting 12.6 percent in April.
Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic here.


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Android's rise to the top of the smartphone market took longer than a lot of people realise. But the sales for tablets so far paint a grim picture for the short-term. Here's how Google can turn things around.
1 Cheaper models
Analysts are agreed: tablets are too expensive for the man in the street right now, who find it hard to justify shelling out a device that mirrors parts. And as long as they remain that way their appeal will remain confined to early adopters.
Android tablets from top-end makers are among the priciest of the lot, and looked an even worse buy when Apple opted to retain the original iPad price point for its second-gen slate.
Granted, there have been cheaper Android slates from the likes of clothes retailer Next. But if Google is serious about challenging Apple it needs to find a way to get a heavyweight like Samsung or HTC to produce an affordable kit.
In short, what’s needed is the Android tablet equivalent of the cut-price HTC Wildfire or PAYG wonder the Magic, both of which bargain blowers arguably did more to boost the spread of Android than any other handsets.
2 Google-branded tablet
Looked at from sales alone, Google’s own-branded Nexus Android phones didn’t set the world alight. But to see them as flops would be a grave mistake.
What both handsets, which showcased the Froyo and Gingerbread iterations of the platform, did was set a high standard for third-party manufacturing partners to live up. And in that respect they were both successes – something that’s highlighted by the ever-rising standard of Android phones.
A Google tablet would do the same for Android slates by showing exactly what the search giant expects from them. What’s more, while Google’s decision to break from the industry contract paradigm for the original Nexus One confused customers, the model could work brilliantly for slates. Especially in view of research showing that costly contract deals are what's really putting people off and that people would rather buy their tablets outright and use them over Wi-Fi.
3 Work closely with Amazon
Rumours that Amazon could be planning an Amazon tablet or indeed a family of tablets, have been rife for months now. And according to a lot of analysts it could be the most credible rival to the iPad.
Given the sheer clout Amazon wields in online retailing and the masses of media content it could bring to a platform where it's a bit lacking, Google would be well advised to keep it onside. That means not inciting a price war with its rival appstore, even though its obviously encroaching on Google’s turf and securing some neat, timed exclusives that make the Android Market look a bit of a poor relation.
And there’s more. Amazon’s robust finances mean it’s also in a position to subsidise the unit price of its tablet and recoup the loss from app and content sales. That means it’s arguably better-placed than any of the other manufacturers to make the credible, cheap Android tablet that the platform needs to go supernova.
4 Boost the range of tablet-optimised apps
Software support makes or breaks platforms. That’s a truth we hold to be self-evident. So it’s a worry that a year after the first Android tablets landed there are still only 17 apps available at the Android Market that are designed to take advantage of the screen real estate that slates offer.
Compare that to the iPad. Apple’s offering has a whopping 70,000-odd. If Google is to avoid becoming the Sega Saturn of the tablet sphere, it needs to work out a way to catch-up. And fast.
5 And secure some exclusive ones too
After the PlayBook failed to win people over and the HP webOS tablet remaining a cult concern, the tablet market is a two-way battle right now. But it won’t be for too much longer. Especially when Microsoft
finally gets its act together to mount a challenge on the market.
Google can set Android tablets apart with apps that are only available on its tablets. It won’t be easy. They’ll have to the break the bank to make it worth devs’ while being locked to Android tablets. But
it’ll be worth the outlay to draw in mass-market punters who don’t give two hoots about their OS innovations but could be swayed by some triple A games.
6 LTE support in the US
4G support is notably absent from the iPad 2. Apple could address this omission with the mooted iPad 2+. But we can’t see that happening.
That means that if Google equips its next-gen tablets with LTE for US customers, they’ll have months of being the fastest slates around for browsing the web in one of its key markets. That’s something tangible you can really sell tablets on the back of.
7 Cosy up to BestBuy
One of Apple’s key advantages in the tablet space is that its retail network of Apple stores, all staffed with bright young things well versed in explaining its products to the man on the Clapham Omnibus.
Obviously Google can’t rollout anything comparable quickly. But it can piggyback on other retailers. Not least the Tablet Central area planned for BestBuy stores. For the short-term and busy periods, it
needs to send out reps to demo its wares, engage with punters and turn floating voters away from Apple.
8 Wi-Fi only slates
3G support pushes up the cost of tablets – needlessly, given that they’re seemingly in less demand than those with just Wi-Fi. Insisting that entry level models are available in a Wi-Fi only flavour will
keep prices down.
9 Kybosh fragmentation
One of the few black marks against of Android’s rise in the smartphone sector has been the painful delays to getting updates out to handsets. Its move to standardise processors is a good start. But it ought to learn its lesson for slates by clamping down on customisations ASAP. Or even, get rid of them altogether. We’re not sure they’ll be much
10 Cut devs a larger slice of tablet app sales
Survey show that developers perceive there’s less chance of getting paid for Android kits than Apple devices It’s not hard to see where they’re coming from. After all, right now iOS enjoys a vastly larger user base of would-be buyers.
That means they need to be guaranteed a reasonable return somehow. And there’s no better way to do that than raising the proportion of the cost price they take home. After all, money talks.


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Young Guns Produce marks 25 years of Hatch Valley Chile
LAS CRUCES – Since starting Young Guns Produce 25 years ago, Chris Franzoy has seen some changes in the way the state’s most beloved product makes it’s way from the Hatch Valley chile fields to our plates.
But the last quarter-century of change is small, when he looks back to how his great-grandparents, Joseph and Celestina Franzoy, labored when they first arrived from Austria in 1917. Among the first to farm what has become the region’s signature crop and a staple in the kitchen of New Mexcians everywhere, great-grandfather Joseph was uncertain about the pods that have become our culinary passion.
“It is said, the first time my great-grandfather tasted green chile he thought he was poisoned because of the burn,” Chris said.


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We knew a little while back that Terry Bogard of Fatal Fury and King of Fighters fame would be making his debut in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate later this year. But an interesting trademark suggests he could be dropping as soon as this Friday.
This trademark news comes from NanaKarobi_NIN over on Twitter. They spotted a trademark for the newest Spirit Event coming to the game. And in that, there’s a listing for an SNK copyright. Considering that Terry is the only SNK-related character in the game, this indicates his possible involvement. Which, in turn, means his debut within Smash! Check out the tweet for yourself, and the images, below.
Looks like Terry Bogard may be releasing on Friday, November 1st! The newest Spirit Event lists the SNK copyright, something that wasn’t there in the previous Tetris Spirit Event! pic.twitter.com/5mfVaaR916
— NanaKarobi_NIN (@NanaKarobi) October 30, 2019
The event, titled Spirit of the Sword, starts on Nov. 1 and runs through Nov. 4. That gives players three whole days to stack up on goodies from the event. And, hopefully, play with a little bit of Terry Bogard in the process.
Nintendo hasn’t scheduled any online reveal for the character just yet, so this could just be a coincidence. But why would the company go out of its way to register a trademark for a character it wouldn’t feature?
And besides, this isn’t the first time that a Smash Bros. character has popped up by surprise. Banjo-Kazooie, the last heroes to debut in the game, found a release much earlier than expected back in September. And it has been a little while since new blood joined the party.
We’ll see what happens over the next couple of days. But, yes, Terry Bogard would make a fine Christmas present to Smash Bros. fans. Check out his reveal in the teaser trailer below!
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is available now for Nintendo Switch.


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On Tuesday – after the closing bell – Nike is expected to announce its first quarter earnings. When it comes to sneaker sales, Nike remains the top seller, but its Jordan brand is losing momentum.
Adidas has moved past Jordan brand as the second-most popular sneaker in the U.S., according to market research firm NPD Group.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think this would happen,” said NPD analyst Matt Powell. “I’ve never seen a brand grow as fast as Adidas.”
|Inside the booming collectible market for sneakers|
|Nike’s future concerns analysts|
Adidas’ market share has soared to nearly 13 percent this year, while Jordan Brand – which is tracked separately from Nike – has stayed flat at around 9.5 percent, according to Powell. He said Adidas is having success when it comes to its casual and retro sneakers.
“It seems like everything from the ’80s and ’90s is coming back into fashion,” Powell said.
Adidas is also getting a boost from deals with stars like James Harden of the Houston Rockets, said Jonathan Komp, an analyst with Robert W. Baird.
“You know, beyond that they’ve moved to areas like Kanye West, Pharrell Williams,” he said.
The Jordan brand, Komp said, is still healthy, but it may have extended its run.
“The brand typically is one you see where demand is greater than supply, and I think in the short-term maybe you’ve seen the imbalance shift a little bit the opposite way,” Komp said.
He said he doesn’t expect Adidas to lose its stride anytime soon.
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Factory Ordering Has Become the New Norm in Auto Sales
New World Order
When asked how many new cars he had on his lot, Rob Pion, general manager of Bob Pion Buick GMC in Chicopee, quickly said “eight.”
And he did so with a subdued voice that conveyed the frustration that he and every other auto dealer in the 413 is feeling right now regarding a situation that is clearly out of their control, but also a reality that must be confronted.
And the depth of that reality become clear when Pion paused after adding up his new-car inventory in his head and acknowledged that his number is certainly higher than some of his fellow dealers in the area.
“I guess that’s not really too bad compared to some others,” he told BusinessWest, adding that this situation is not going to get appreciably better anytime soon, especially when it comes to the trucks and large SUVs that comprise his bread and butter. Consumers don’t have a lot to choose from, so unless they want to settle, and many of them don’t, they must order what they want and wait for it to come in.
“Before, you didn’t see that many factory orders — it would be the oddball unit. Now, we’re almost in a build-to-delivery stage, particularly with some of the domestics, like Ford; they’re really encouraging people to just put in their order — they know they’re making a car that the customer wants.”
Or, as the case may be with many truck models, and to borrow that famous line from the start of Casablanca, ‘wait, and wait, and wait.’
Indeed, these have become the days of factory-ordered vehicles — a trend that is a world removed from what dealers in this area are generally used to.
Yes, there have always been times when a customer would have to order and then wait for a model with a number of specific features, packages, or even a rare color. And when it comes to pickups, especially the larger models used for towing, factory ordering has long been a common practice.
But in these days when factories — dealing with shortages of not only microchips but a host of other parts — are well behind in production at a time when demand is high, factory ordering has become, well, the order of the day for many makes, especially pickups and SUVs, but also luxury models, which customers are generally more willing to wait for.
“We’ve never had so many cars factory-ordered,” said Peter Wirth, co-owner of Mercedes-Benz of Springfield. “We have perhaps 50 cars at the moment that are already sold and just waiting to come in. Next month, for example, we have cars coming for inventory, and we have another 25 cars that are pre-sold.”
These factory-ordered cars are certainly helping dealers cope with inventory levels that are unprecedented, said Wirth, adding that, currently, perhaps 75% of total new-car sales are happening in this fashion.
“How many cars we have in our inventory is not a good measuring stick for us,” he went on. “It’s more a question of ‘what percentage of people who want to buy a car from us can we take care of?’ And the answer is still relatively high, as long as the customer is willing to work with us. And two things are helping us — the first is that the luxury-car buyer is generally more patient, and two, it’s been all over the media, so they’re generally used to it; they’ve heard from another brand they may have looked at, or maybe they heard it while they were trying to buy a kitchen appliance or building materials.”
Ben Sullivan, chief operating officer at Balise Motor Sales, agreed. He noted that factory ordering is becoming more prevalent, and the manufacturers are seeing some advantages to this profound change in the way things are being done — in this country, at least.
“Before, you didn’t see that many factory orders — it would be the oddball unit,” he told BusinessWest. “Now, we’re almost in a build-to-delivery stage, particularly with some of the domestics, like Ford; they’re really encouraging people to just put in their order — they know they’re making a car that the customer wants.”
Could this new way become a more permanent model for the future given what appear to be real advantages for the manufacturer and even the dealer? Sullivan acknowledged that this is a legitimate question, and that factory ordering is far more prevalent in other parts of the world, where huge showrooms and hundreds of cars on a lot are simply not practical. But he and others wondered out loud if Americans would tolerate such a process in anything but an emergency situation.
“The United States market has never operated that way,” he noted. “Ford has gone public and said they would like to move that way, so we’ll see. It will be a component of where things go, but I don’t know if it will ever completely replace what we’re used to here. Americans, once they’ve made a decision that they want to buy something, whether it’s a car or a TV … it’s a matter of immediacy.
“When you tell people you necessarily can’t get X, Y, or Z — or, if you can, you don’t know when — some people will wait, but others will say ‘I don’t need a truck right now,’” he explained. “Before, people would order vehicles, then they became trained to buy one off the lot — that Amazon-like mentality where, if I can’t have it in one day, I don’t want it, or I’ll move along.”
“I’ve had customers that have had vehicles on order for nine or 10 months for one reason or another. They haven’t been built, and they may never be built because of shortages of certain things.”
Moving forward, Sullivan said, dealers will ultimately have to be ready, willing, and able to serve customers in both ways — those who want to factory order a car and those who want to come to a lot, pick out a car, and drive it home a few days or even a few hours later.
“The way that we look at it as retailers is that we have to be adaptable enough to handle the people that want a car absolutely today, and those who want to put in an order and get it exactly how they want it and wait 12 weeks. For us, we have to be able to do both.”
Wirth concurred, noting that the current trends represent a minor shift from the way things were for his brand. Indeed, he said maybe two-thirds of those looking to buy a car wouldn’t drive home with something already on the lot. Instead, they would want something close, and the dealership would try to find it through its “pipleline” — a sister store in New Jersey or other dealerships in the Northeast.
Now, with inventories low everywhere, finding the car in the desired color and with all the preferred options and packages is becoming far more difficult. So the preferred route is now factory-ordering one and waiting for it.
Generally, the wait is a few months, but for some trucks, it can be half a year or more, said Pion, demonstrating that, even with factory ordering, there are limitations and challenges — for the dealer and the consumer.
“I’ve had customers that have had vehicles on order for nine or 10 months for one reason or another,” he told BusinessWest. “They haven’t been built, and they may never be built because of shortages of certain things.
“The problem you run into when you get to trucks is they get so granular,” he went on. “It could be as simple as ‘I want this wheel,’ and they just don’t have that wheel available. A simple option here or there makes a vehicle unbuildable.”
In this climate, some consumers are settling for somewhat less than everything they want, while others are not. “Some say, ‘it doesn’t matter if it takes a year or a year and a half for the truck to come in; I want what I want,’” Pion explained, adding that, in such cases, a new model year may arrive before the order is filled, and a 2021 model becomes a 2022.


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Candice is a graduate of Carleton University and has worked in several newsrooms as a freelance reporter and intern, including the Edmonton Journal, the Ottawa Citizen, the Globe and Mail, and the Windsor Star. Candice is a dog lover and a coffee drinker.
We've all been warned about the dangers of the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) phenomenon - employees are using their personal devices for work, and with those personal devices come their own apps for storage and
Sage North America has brought David Rumer, a former executive at Oracle Corp., SAP AG, and TopSystems Inc., on board as its vice president of market development for Canada. While Rumer's LinkedIn profile
At a time when marketers everywhere are talking about gathering data on consumer behaviour, it seems almost counter-intuitive to do something as simple as just asking consumers what they want. Don't marketers already
Calgary-based startup Slyce.it has just announced it’s acquiring Hovr.it, a graduate of the Incubes accelerator here in Toronto – and the first startup coming out of Incubes to be acquired. The terms of
Canadians using Groupon prior to March 8 were sent notice that the $500,000 settlement approval for the class action lawsuit against Groupon Inc. has gone through, giving an estimated 1 million daily deal
In another move to serve its small business customers, Toronto-based company Wave Accounting Inc. has released a new mobile app for Apple iOS, giving small businesses the ability to accept credit cards or
Financeit Canada Inc., a startup helping small businesses provide consumer financing, announced last week it had raised $13 million in a Series A funding round, backed by TTV Capital, Inter-Atlantic Group, and Second


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If you thought last month’s views generated by the top ten creators on YouTube were impressive, wait until you see July’s count. While June’s most-watched brands and creators pulled in 6.9 billion views, July’s channels decided to outdo this number by a good 7 million to hit 7.6 billion total views.
The top brand on July’s Most Popular YouTube Creators leaderboard generated over 1 billion of these views itself, while also increasing its own view count from June by roughly 4 million views. This month’s chart also saw a very high first 30-day average view count (V30) of nearly 7.5 million, and an imposing 30-day average engagement rate (ER30) of 2.8x! Here’s which brands and creators claimed these stats for themselves:
Top YouTube Channels July 2017
YouTube Viewers Love Them Some Music
In June, music and entertainment channels dominated the YouTube leaderboard, and for the most part, this held true for July, as well. Out of all of the brands on this month’s leaderboard, five of them create and distribute tune-based content.
India’s wildly popular music label T-Series, which also produces content as a movie studio, continues to dominate the monthly YouTube leaderboard. Placing at #1, the Indian music brand saw nearly 1.4 billion total views, a solid increase of almost 4 million views over its top position on May’s leaderboard. The most-watched clip for T-Series in the month of July was the music video “High Rated Gabru” by the artist Guru Randhawa; this video pulled in over 62 million views total, 9 million views more than T-Series’ most popular video in June. “High Rated Gabru” also saw an impressive 41.8 million V30 and a slightly higher-than-average ER30 of 1.1x.
T-Series has claimed the first spot on the YouTube leaderboard since September 2016, and it’s no surprise with view counts and numbers like the ones reported above. Music is, and almost always has been, a top genre on YouTube; in fact, YouTube launched its own music app to cater solely to users who visit the platform for music videos. With such passion for music exuding from YouTube viewers, it will take a particular kind of brand or creator to knock T-Series from its reigning spot (most likely another music brand or creator able to cross global boundaries or appeal to the majority of viewers around the world).
Speaking of creators popular with music fans around the world, let’s take a look at Mr. Luis Fonsi again. Ever since releasing his viral single “Despacito” in January, melody aficionados have thrown more and more views at the song’s official music video on YouTube, with the clip hitting one billion views in April (which coincides with the first time Fonsi showed up in the top ten on the YouTube leaderboard after jumping 12 spots to land at #8). This enthusiasm for Fonsi’s work apparently hasn’t slowed down, as the musician has continued to move up the ranks every month. In July, he moved up again to claim the third position on the leaderboard with over 806 million views. His most popular video for that month? An audio version of “Despacito,” of course:
As for the other music-related channels for June’s leaderboard, YouTube channel Canal KondZilla, a music entertainment label based out Brazil, maintained its fifth position with 718 million total views, a good 26 million more than in June. Canal also boasted the second-highest V30 and ER30 of all creators on July’s chart, at just over 6 million and 2.2x respectively.
Turkish music brand netd müzik notably moved up four spots to land at #7 with 661 million views, while British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran placed ninth with almost 590 million views. Sheeran claimed the highest ER30 across all brands for July’s leaderboard at 2.8x, one of the highest ER30 numbers we’ve seen in the top ten as of yet.
More Children’s Content Equals More Views
Family programming and children’s entertainment is a force to be reckoned with on YouTube. Almost every single leaderboard since July 2016 has featured a channel which produces this type of content, and it’s little surprise: they pull in massive amounts of views. Experts have theorized this is because children will watch videos over and over again or let auto-play take them to one video after another. While this wreaks a bit of havoc on ER30 rates (they tend to be incredibly low for kids’ programming), family channels rarely fail to succeed in terms of views, and those on July’s leaderboard were no exception.
The ever-popular channel Ryan ToysReview placed fourth in July with a not-too-shabby view count of 783 million. The channel also boasted the third-highest V30 of all brands in this month at just over 5 million. Similar to T-Series’ success, Ryan ToysReview has been featured in the top ten YouTube creator charts since July 2016; even more impressive is the fact that this channel has never dropped out of the top five over the course of the last 12 months. The prediction above about a music-related brand bumping T-Series out of the top spot could be wrong, as Ryan ToysReview has a great shot at claiming this feat thanks to the channel’s continually-high view counts.
Another brand we see often on the YouTube leaderboard is El Reino Infantil. This family entertainment brand based out of Argentina moved up one spot on July’s chart to place 8th with almost 606 million total views. This number is much higher than June’s view count of 522 million — 84 million higher, to be precise. In May, El Reino was not on the top ten chart, so it’s clear the brand has worked very hard over the last two months to improve its reach and attract more views to its family programming.
Finally, the last kids’ entertainment channel to place on July’s top YouTube creators leaderboard is the Ukraine-based Learn Colors With. The channel, which boasts 4.3 million subscribers on YouTube, skyrocketed up the ranks in July, passing eleven other brands and creators to claim the tenth spot with nearly 573 million total views. Learn Colors With can also claim July’s highest V30 at almost 7.5 million, a whopping 1.5 million higher than the next-highest V30 from July and an increase of 0.2 million over the channel’s V30 from June. The most popular video from Learn Colors With in July was a clip featuring water toys and games for children; what seems like such a simple topic and idea was a huge hit with viewers, as the video generated almost 48.3 million views to date, with a fantastic V30 of 35.9 million.
Most Watched YouTube Publishers July 2017
- T-Series (1.4B Views)
- SET India (809M Views)
- Luis Fonsi (806M Views)
- Ryan ToysReview (783M Views)
- Canal KondZilla (718M Views)
- Workpoint Entertainment (684M Views)
- netd müzik (661M Views)
- El Reino Infantil (606M Views)
- Ed Sheeran (590M Views)
- Learn Colors With (573M Views)
Tubular Video Ratings
You’ll notice some exclusive data in this month’s chart as we include Tubular Video Ratings, a unique group of online video metrics that set the standard for measurement of views and engagements across videos and publishers. They include a simplified first 30-day engagement rating (ER30) and first 30-day views (V30), and more information can be found here.
Tune in Every Month for the Most Up-to-Date Stats! Each month TubularInsights will publish the most up-to-date leaderboard charts, so stay tuned! In the meantime, if you’d like to check out the Top 25, please fill out the form below:
Get the Full-List of Top 25 Video Publishers on YouTube & Other Video Platforms
Every month TubularInsights will publish the most up-to-date leaderboard charts, so stay tuned! In the meantime, sign up for a free Tubular account and get access to the complete list of the top 25 video creators across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Cross-platform. Get access today just by clicking this link.


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A.R.E.S.: Extinction Agenda Summary
Aksys Games has announced that A.R.E.S. Extinction Agenda EX is now available on Xbox Live Arcade; the game was originally released on Steam back in 2009.
Indie developer Extend Studios' sci-fi scrolling shooter A.R.E.S.: Extinction Agenda, which was released on Steam back in January 2011, will be available on the 2nd October for Xbox Live Arcade.


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A sneek peek for our February/March 2018 issue
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Indonesia Delays Tourism Reopening Until 2021
The investment minister says borders will remain shut for at least another four months.
Sri Lanka Delays Tourism Reopening Indefinitely
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Capella Bangkok is Now Accepting Reservations
The ultra-luxe retreat beside the Chao Phraya River will welcome its first guests this October.
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The Hong Kong–based hospitality brand is making mandatory self-isolation a barrel of fun.
Malaysia, Brunei Now on the U.K.’s Safe Travel List
Starting tomorrow, visitors from both countries will no longer need to quarantine upon arrival in En...
Hong Kong Airport to Allow Transit Passengers from Mainland China
Current restrictions will be relaxed from Saturday, with the arrangement set to be in place for the ...


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Criminals targeted Christmas Eve and shipping cutoff days for delivery by Christmas for fraudulent purchasing, a new study finds.
The moves come as the retailer plans to invest more in digital efforts.
Multichannel books retailer Barnes & Noble Inc. has announced a pair of e-commerce appointments. Jamie Iannone will take over as president of Barnes & Noble Digital Products, while John Foley has joined the retailer as president of Barnes & Noble eCommerce.
Iannone will oversee the retailer’s efforts to sell more Nook electronic reading devices, along with responsibility for electronic books and digital content. Foley will manage Barnes & Noble’s online retail business, including books, games, music and movies, and will oversee merchandising, online and search marketing. Both executives report to CEO William Lynch. Until March, Lynch had worked as president of BarnesandNoble.com.
“Jamie and John are terrific leaders who will take our already fast-growing online and digital businesses to the next level leveraging their strong personal track records for management excellence and successes in technology, e-commerce, merchandising and operations,” Lynch says.
Iannone joined the company a year ago as an executive vice president and led the retailer’s online business, electronic books and Nook software applications. He had supervised global search, merchandising and buyer experience for eBay Inc.
Foley worked as CEO of The Pronto Network, which includes comparison shopping site Pronto.com.
The appointments come as the retailer experiences larger gains from e-commerce. Barnes & Noble increased its e-commerce revenue 24% to $573 million in fiscal 2010 from $462 million in fiscal 2009. The retailer also says it plans to invest $140 million in digital initiatives in 2011; the company made the move after learning that more than 25% of consumers who own Nooks are new to BarnesandNoble.com and Nook buyers increased their online and offline spending by 17% after buying the e-book reader.
Shortly after announcing that investment plan earlier this summer, the retailer said it was considering putting the company up for sale, though Barnes & Noble offered no timetable.
Barnes & Noble is No. 42 in Internet Retailer's Top 500 Guide.


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It’s the dog days of summer, and many people are lucky to be on vacation. But for farmers, this is the busiest time of the year, when the fruit of their labors are nearing perfection, and the hours of caring and tending to their crops must be realized. I spent a recent weekend picking peaches with many others at Masumoto Family Farm near Fresno, California, as part of their adopt-a-tree program, an innovative approach to ensuring they have a market for their fragile fruit. It’s just one of the many ways the Masumotos use their land to connect with the public about the realities of farming, and it’s also an important part of their economic survival. Read more
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So begins the film Unbroken Ground, a 25-minute production by pro surfer and filmmaker Chris Malloy, featuring four food operations pursuing regenerative food production. The person on camera, speaking passionately about the need to change the food system, is Yvon Chouinard, the founder of the sustainable outdoor-clothing company Patagonia.
But what is the leader of an apparel company doing introducing a film about food? Read more
As indoor urban farms continue to show up in more and more neighborhoods around the country, an important question has come to the fore: Can food that’s not grown in soil be certified organic? In other words, can produce that spends its entire life indoors, floating in water, or growing in synthetic material carry the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) organic label? Read more
By now you’ve likely heard the bad news about honey bees. Populations have declined precipitously in the U.S. over the past few years, due to a combination of factors including pests, pathogens, and pesticide use—so much so that beekeepers in some states have formed lobbyist groups to help draw attention to the problem. The shrinking number of honey bees is a problem, because pollinators are essential for agriculture, and honey bees pollinate an estimated $15 billion of U.S. crops each year. Read more
It is nearly impossible to calculate the real costs and benefits—including the externalized or invisible costs—of any human activity: growing soybeans, making car tires, cooking dinner for your family. When growing soy, for example, it’s easy enough to calculate the total price paid for inputs like fertilizer or pesticides and the price received for the finished crop. But accounting for the total costs and benefits—things like environmental damage from fertilizer runoff, or the social benefits of putting land to productive use—isn’t something we tend to do as a culture. Read more
Many of us buy and consume organic food every day, but few of us know its history. While the demand for organic products is exploding (up 11 percent between 2014 to 2015), less than one percent of U.S. farm acreage is classified organic, and there’s still not enough organic seed to go around. A look back at how it all started might provide some insight for the future—and inspire young farmers, too. Read more
When Kip Bichsel of Love Farm Organics in Forest Grove, Oregon started growing organic vegetables over a decade ago, there was almost no organic seed in the market. Availability has improved every year, but he estimates that even today, 40 percent of the seed the farm buys is not organic. And, for some crops—notably broccoli and cabbage—“it has been really hard to find available organic seed bio-adapted to our specific land needs,” he says.
A new report out today from the Organic Seed Alliance (OSA) underscores Bichsel’s experience. It found that the supply of organic seed isn’t keeping pace with the rising demand for organic products, which grew 11 percent between 2014 and 2015, and last year saw sales totaling $43 billion. Read more
Until recently, Vermont dairy farmer Jack Lazor has been an enthusiastic grain famer. The owner of Butterworks Farm, Lazor spent years growing grains—for animals and people—and then wrote a conversational and encyclopedic guide on grain growing in the Northeast The Organic Grain Grower. In person and on the page, the affable man offers advice on tools and practices for grain growing, harvest, and storage. Read more
A campaign aiming to prevent further consolidation of the seed industry has a new spokesperson. Meet Mr. Seed, a foul-mouthed organic cartoon character that decries the agrochemical industry’s control of seed.
In the space of 4 minutes and 22 seconds, Mr. Seed’s bleep-filled tirade mocks the chemical dependency—and virility—of modern seed, touts the vigor of organic seeds’ tougher roots, and delights in field-based breeding tips he reads aloud from the “Kama Seedra.” Read more


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How to Invest in a Big Chinese Lithium Company
Ever since Elon Musk decided to coat the planet with gigafactories, people have been looking to lithium as a possible “picks and shovels” play on related themes like electric cars or home solar units that use large home batteries. Back in August of 2015, we warned our readers about the dangers of lithium junior mining stocks and at the same time pointed out how just 3 mining companies produce 90% of the world’s lithium. At the same time, we created a motif which contained those 3 stocks and here is how it has performed since then:
So these 3 lithium companies returned just over +100% in the past 21 months while the NASDAQ returned just under +21%. We didn’t invest in these stocks because back then, lithium revenues made up just a small proportion of total revenues (kicks rocks…). Here’s how that has changed since then:
- ALB net income attributed to lithium increased from +5.5% to +27%
- FMC net income attributed to lithium increased from +2.8% to +10.7%
- SQM revenues increased +111% and gross profits attributed to lithium are surpassed+50%
Because lithium is not a publicly traded commodity, there’s no saying what the price of lithium did during that time frame but according to an article in the FT (sorry subscribers only) it’s “jumped threefold since 2014”. The above table shows that all three of these lithium stocks now have meaningful percentage of revenues coming from lithium. So what should lithium investors do (both existing and prospective)? Back up the truck and load up before the train leaves the station or trim your position and get out before the bubble bursts?
Since we missed this completely the first time around, we’ll just talk about how “cautiously optimistic” we are and avoid actually dispensing any actionable advice about what lithium investors should do at the moment. What we will do though is introduce you to one of the largest producers of lithium in China which is accessible to any U.S. investor.
We happen to have some boots on the ground in China, so we’ve talked before about how Chinese startups generally fly under the radar and how China is making great strides in developing artificial intelligence. In what seemed like a very unexpected twist, the Chinese government suddenly decided to “go green” and is now the second biggest installer of solar and also the world’s biggest producer of electric vehicles with plans to have 12% of all their cars running on electric by 2020:
A Chinese company called BYD (HKG:1211) (backed by Warren Buffet) has over 180,000 employees developing all kinds of “new energy” products being sold around the world. We’ll look to highlight BYD in a future article but right now we want to talk about Chinese lithium.
About Ganfeng Lithium
Founded in 2000, Ganfeng is a big Chinese lithium company which has traded on the China Stock market since 2010, and has returned a remarkable +555% in the past 5 years giving the Company a present day market cap of $4.58 billion USD (about half the size of SQM):
Ganfeng stock trades on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SHE:002460) and has a total of 4 subsidiaries that handle all aspects of their business from shipping to sales. Ganfeng is making aggressive investments all over the world and acquiring lithium projects, which is probably how they managed to create that chart on the right seen below:
Ganfeng is not timid about looking outside their borders for opportunity. In January of 2017, the Company made a $174 million investment in Lithium Americas (TSE:LAC) – (OTCQX:LACDF) in which Ganfeng agreed to financing terms in an aggregate amount of $174 million in exchange for 19.9% of the outstanding common shares of Lithium Americas. Ganfeng also owns 18% of International Lithium (CVE:ILC), a Canadian listed mining company who owns Lithium properties in Argentina, Canada and Ireland. They have a 43% stake in Reed Industrial Minerals which is a lithium project in Australia, and also made a 5% investment in Australian lithium firm Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) just last month.
In short, Ganfeng has their fingers on every continent securing their supply of lithium to fuel the growth of electric vehicles. All those investments have given Ganfeng a 30,000 metric ton per year production capacity, and they produce over 20 unique lithium products that are then exported around the world:
The above slides came from a presentation that is dated “2015” but hasn’t been updated in half a decade. One problem with investing in Chinese companies like this one is that you won’t find much collateral about Ganfeng that’s available in English. If you are very patient, you can probably use Google Translate to sift through their financials provided you have a good understanding of how Engrish works. We were able to find this table courtesy of AnalytixInsight which shows revenues and profitability for Ganfeng from 2011-2015 (we converted all numbers to USD):
|Revenues (millions USD)||$ 68.83||$ 91.03||$ 99.45||$ 126.00||$ 196.22|
|Revenue Growth (YOY)||N/A||+32%||+9%||+27%||+56%|
|Earnings (millions USD)||$ 7.87||$ 10.09||$ 10.74||$ 12.42||$ 18.14|
|Earnings Growth (YOY)||+28%||+6%||+16%||+46%|
|EPS||$ 0.026||$ 0.033||$ 0.036||$ 0.035||$ 0.049|
So how can you buy Ganfeng Lithium stock if they trade over there in China? You simply use one of the best brokerage firms we know of and the only brokerage firm that allows you to buy foreign stocks from all over the world – Interactive Brokers. You can see below where we’ve pulled up a trade:
Notice that the trade is happening in CNY. That means you’ll need to buy CNY first before you do the trade (unless you have a margin account). The only “downside” to Interactive Brokers is that in most cases you need $10,000 to open an account. For serious investors, it’s a must have.
China is a huge opportunity which U.S. investors largely ignore due to something called domestic bias which loosely translates to “bad isht can happen in foreign countries you can’t control and therefore people would rather invest in companies they are familiar with“. There is good reason to be cautious too. Remember Enron? China has had loads of Enrons. When you do business in China, there is something known as guanxi which loosely translates to lots of drunken nights slamming shots of baijiu in an attempt to build personal relationships. Once relationships are formed, people do not like to lose face. Sometimes this can result in things going pear shaped. The point is, things work differently in China.
Then you see exciting charts like this showing that China sold over 100,000 electric buses in 2016 and you think to yourself, “I want a piece of that action“:
Our advice? Proceed with cautious optimism.
Want to invest in renewable energy? Then why not hold the biggest renewable energy company in the world, which also happens to be a dividend champion. Become a Nanalyze Premium annual member and see all of the stocks we're holding.


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Vauxhall has released camouflaged photos of the next-generation Astra compact ahead of its unveiling in several weeks.
The new Astra, the 11th generation of the compact hatchback, moves to Stellantis’ EMP2 architecture from GM underpinnings, and will have a plug-in-hybrid drivetrain in addition to internal-combustion-only offerings.
It will be launched in the second half of this year, Vauxhall has said.
It is a sibling model to the new Peugeot 308, which will have a full-electric option starting in 2023. Opel has not confirmed that the Astra will also have an EV version. The 308 is available in two hybrid power levels as well as gasoline and diesel versions.
The Astra will be built in Stellantis’ factory in Ruesselsheim, Germany, including Vauxhall right-hand-drive versions. It will also have an estate variant.
The current Astra is built at Gliwice, Poland, and Ellesmere Port, England.
Opel said Tuesday in a news release that the Astra was completing final tests, including winter testing in Lapland and on-road tests near Ruesselsheim, and preparing for type approval ahead of sales.
The All-New Astra is nearing completion of its impressive test programme that has seen it head to the frozen arctic in the Swedish Lapland as well as undergone several laboratory, electronics and safety tests at Vauxhall/Opel’s Dudenhofen Test Centre in Germany. With the testing almost complete, the All-New Astra is one step closer to arriving in UK showrooms later this year.
“The demanding test programme of the All-New Astra is going exceptionally well”, says Astra Chief Engineer, Mariella Vogler. “The development team – which, by the way, comprises of more female engineers than ever before – has created an uncompromisingly cool new generation of Astra that will thrill our customers.”
With the All-New Astra, Vauxhall is demonstrating precision engineering in every detail and taking direct aim at the sweet spot of the compact market sector. The pure and bold design, new technologies and exciting powertrain line-up – including plug-in hybrid electric drive for the first time – are set to make the All-New Astra a benchmark
All Vauxhall Astra L related discussions


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The Santa Clarita Valley's stagnant office market got a boost in the second quarter with the announcement that Princess Cruises will relocate its corporate headquarters to Valencia by spring 2001.
The cruise-ship company, which moved its customer service division to Valencia last year, will leave a high-rise in Century City for two new office buildings being developed by Newhall Land & Farming Co. The buildings, with a total of 270,000 square feet, will be located in the Valencia Town Center and feature retail space on the ground floor.
Princess Cruises plans to have a workforce of 15,000 in Valencia by the completion of its move, according to Newhall Land spokeswoman Marlee Lauffer.
"It is indicative of the strong regional economy and job growth occurring in Valencia," Lauffer said.
The overall office vacancy rate in the Santa Clarita Valley remains high, but it did decline during the second quarter to 26.5 percent, from 29.1 percent in the first.
Most of the drop can be attributed to a new building in Gateway Corporate Point. Explorer Insurance occupied 70,000 square feet of an 80,000-square-foot build-to-suit in the business center. Because there is relatively little office space in the Santa Clarita Valley, that lease, plus some smaller deals, was enough to cause the vacancy shift, according to associate David Solomon with CB Richard Ellis.
Despite the high vacancy rate, Newhall Land, which developed most of Valencia and Santa Clarita thanks to its giant land holdings in the area, is having no trouble finding buyers for attractive parcels.
During the second quarter it sold a 32.8-acre parcel of land to JPI, a large national apartment developer, for $32.3 million. The site will contain 900 units when completed.
"That is a new record for Valencia apartment land values," Lauffer said.
The parcel is on Magic Mountain Parkway near the Town Center, an entertainment mall that opened in the second quarter with an 11-screen movie theater and an Imax 3-D theater, operated by Edwards Theatres. Three new restaurants also opened in the complex last quarter, as well as a Borders Books & Music, Lauffer said.
In the Santa Clarita Valley industrial market there was little activity during the second quarter, according to Jim Linn, senior vice president at Grubb & Ellis.
One major transaction was the acquisition by Taitron Components Inc., a semiconductor distributor, of a 46,000-square-foot warehouse in the Valencia Commerce Center for $3.3 million from Clark Management and Development.
The industrial vacancy rate for the Santa Clarita Valley remained low at 4.4 percent, which is down from 4.58 percent in the first quarter, Linn said.
In the Antelope Valley, retail activity picked up at the Marketplace in Palmdale, where construction began on a 24,500-square-foot Barnes & Noble as well as Lowe's, a 115,000-square-foot home improvement center. Both are slated to open in early 2000.
Across the street is the Antelope Valley Mall, which boasts a 98 percent occupancy rate. In the last quarter, construction continued there on a 150,000-square-foot Dillard's department store, which is slated to open this fall.
Besides Dillard's, an additional 12,000 square feet of retail space will be added to the enclosed mall. When completed, it will total 1.2 million square feet, according to Larry Grooms, president of the Greater Antelope Valley Economic Alliance.
In Lancaster, the Factory Outlet Center was sold to SafCo Capital Corp. of Los Angeles for a reported $7.5 million. The 24-acre outlet mall opened in 1994, but it has been in receivership. The new owners have not announced their plans for the mall, which currently is only 30 percent occupied with stores like Big Dog, Mega Vitamins and Levi Strauss.
"We lost our retail market for awhile, but it is coming back well," said Grooms. He attributes the increase to a number of major aerospace contracts recently won by local companies, bringing more people to the area.
"Those things have opened the door for us," Grooms said. "We are the last place in L.A. County that has affordable land for development. Newhall is too pricey and L.A. is too crowded."
? Princess Cruises announced plans to relocate its corporate headquarters to Valencia in two new buildings with a total of 270,000 square feet by spring 2001.
? Newhall Land & Farming sold a 32.8-acre parcel of land to JPI, a national apartment developer, for $32.3 million, a new record for Valencia apartment land values.
? Construction began on a 24,500-square-foot Barnes & Noble bookstore and a 115,000-square-foot Lowe's in the Marketplace in Palmdale. Both are expected to open in 2000.
? Rancho Vista Development broke ground on an 18-hole golf course, with clubhouse and restaurant, in Palmdale. It is expected to open next summer.
? In Lancaster, The Factory Outlet Center sold to SafCo Capital Corp. of Los Angeles for a reported $7.5 million.
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MISSION VIEJO, Calif.--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--For the third year, Sizzler (Twitter @Sizzler_USA and www.facebook.com/sizzler) is participating in Share Our Strength's No Kid Hungry® campaign to end childhood hunger in America. Sizzler's goal is to raise $25,000 via guest donations and corporate contributions. The offer runs through September 30, 2013.
“We are painfully aware that too many families have kids that are going hungry, which is why it is so important that we support the restaurant industry's efforts to feed those in need.”
Depending upon restaurant, guests who make a $1 donation at participating locations will receive $1 off an entrée in October; if they contribute $3, they will receive a free add-on Endless Salad Bar in October. Some locations will donate 10 percent of kids' meals sales and/or 10 percent of gift card sales to help make sure every child in the U.S. gets the food they need. As promotions vary by restaurant, ask your cashier for details.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, one-out-of-five children struggle with hunger. Hunger affects children's ability to perform in school and can even impact their future earning potential.
"Since its inception more than 50 years ago, Sizzler has always focused on serving American families,” said Kerry Kramp, president and CEO. "We are painfully aware that too many families have kids that are going hungry, which is why it is so important that we support the restaurant industry's efforts to feed those in need."
For a searchable map of restaurants supporting No Kid Hungry with special fundraising offers this September—including Sizzler locations—go to NoKidHungry.org/dine.
From U.S.D.A. Choice steaks cut fresh in-house every day, to salads, soups and baked goods – all created from scratch in real kitchens – Sizzler® is where America comes for great food and value. Famous for its 50+ item appetizer, soup, salad and dessert bar, guests enjoy the flexibility of paying in-line and dining at their own pace, with servers delivering meals and clearing tables. There are more than 150 Sizzlers in the United States, including Puerto Rico.
Visit http://pressroom.sizzler.com for multimedia and more information.


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These giant gnomes have been taking over social media - but you've only got a limited time to snap them up.
Asda launched the range back in March but they have been flying off the shelves and their is only limited stock left.
Retail experts predicted that the colourful ornaments would make a comeback this year and the nostalgic characters have proved popular and are priced from £20.
But Asda have announced that the gnomes will only be available while stocks last.
The range includes supersized versions that measure around two and three foot tall and a traditional size of around 10 inches.
Latest additions to the range include a bride and groom, doctor and a fairy.
The gnomes have completely sold out online so you'll need to head to your nearest store. You can find your nearest Asda HERE .


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McDonald's are finally launching their famous Big Mac Special Sauce in Ireland.
On February 12, 2020, customers in Ireland will be able to buy Big Mac Special Sauce dipping pots for the first time ever.
A limited run of the pots will go on sale and they're expected to quickly sell out with restaurant staff prepared for bulk orders and big queues.
The 50ml pots will be available 24 hours a day, have a seven day shelf life and when they’re gone they’re gone!
They'll be available at a cost of 50 cent.
In 2016, a Big Mac Special Sauce cartridge and gun reached bids in excess of £65,000 on eBay and was the last time customers in the UK & Ireland were able to get their hands on the Special Sauce.


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Chrysler President Tom LaSorda announced his retirement after 32 years in the automotive industry. (Gary Malerba Associated Press)
Chrysler LLC Vice Chairman and President Tom LaSorda, who oversaw manufacturing and acquisitions for the Auburn Hills-based automaker, made it official Friday: He's retiring, effective immediately.
LaSorda had previously told reporters that after 32 years, he intends to spend more time with his wife and two daughters.
The Windsor, Ontario, native grew up in the shadow of Chrysler's minivan plant. He is a third-generation Chrysler employee from a family of labor leaders with the Canadian Auto Workers. It made for spicy dinner conversation over the years as he pursued a career on the corporate side and made his mark implementing manufacturing practices that require fewer workers.
LaSorda joined Chrysler in 2000 after more than 23 years with General Motors Corp., where he helped launch the GM-Suzuki joint venture plant -- CAMI Automotive in Ingersoll, Ontario -- as well as an Opel plant in Eisenach, Germany, that was considered a benchmark of efficiency.
LaSorda began his Chrysler career overseeing manufacturing for DaimlerChrysler AG.
He moved up the ranks to become chief operating officer, then president and CEO, guiding Chrysler through the transitional period of the Daimler divorce that led to Cerberus Capital Management LP buying a majority stake in the Chrysler division.
He was relegated to the No. 2 position when Cerberus appointed industry outsider Robert Nardelli to chairman. Lasorda remained on board, even as a second vice chairman Jim Press was added to the team.
He oversaw manufacturing, suppliers, labor, global business development and alliance.
"Tom arranged the first meeting with Fiat (SpA) and played a pivotal role in developing the alliance that will bring Chrysler a wealth of strategic advantages," Nardelli said Friday in praising LaSorda's "unselfish devotion."
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Altelium Ltd. operates on the notion that the market needs and will welcome specialty insurance coverage for batteries – industrial-strength versions used by utilities and other large-scale clients.
It all comes down to chemistry, and the idea that batteries and the chemical reactions unique to their makeup haven’t been properly covered until now, according to Altelium executive chairman and co-founder Charley Grimston (pictured).
“It’s chemistry and this is the first time that chemistry has been properly insured,” Grimston said.
Launched in early 2019, Altelium is an MGA focused on specialty battery insurance, and it has raised money in the “seven-digit” range through a private placement. It employs approximately 34 employees and consultants. Recently, the company formed a partnership with Lloyd’s insurer and reinsurer MS Amlin to provide coverage for clients that build and operate energy storage facilities of all sizes (known as battery energy storage system coverage, or BESS). Altelium also provides coverage that addresses long-term degradation of industrial strength batteries in the supply chain, backed by Tokio Marine Kiln, another Lloyd’s syndicate.
Altelium conducts business in the UK, Europe, the US, and Canada.
In the past, the closest that specialty engineering insurance has gotten to covering batteries is based on the unforeseen breakdown of the chemicals in batteries. Altelium addresses the gradual decline of the chemical elements in a battery, which for electronic energy storage systems (plus smaller electronics and toys) is typically a lithium-ion battery. Many chemical elements are involved in keeping a battery working optimally, Grimston noted.
“There are many chemicals and different manufacturing processes, and different manufacturers may use different quantities of different chemicals, so each one is unique," Grimston said. “One needs to understand exactly how those batches perform in certain temperatures, and certain current use cases, the kind of stress that the battery goes under. If you can … then you can create an insurance product which works.”
The company is stacked with experts on data and fire, as well as electrochemists, battery engineers and more. In addition, Altelium works with academic partners at Lancaster University and Newcastle University in the UK, as well as academic experts and specialists in Germany.
“We understand exactly how batteries behave,” Grimston noted.
Tech is key, customers are widespread
Technology is a key driver behind Altelium’s core products, Grimston explained.
“We’re an end-to-end system so we’re taking data in at one end that goes into probabilistic actuarial pricing models,” he said. “We’re using the AI and algorithms created by our data science team. Our insurtech platform will also get that data and we’ll send out alerts to customers if their usage is at variance to the expected, to warn them against improper [battery] use. It is very much a data-driven solution to battery insurance.”
Altelium’s potential customer base is widespread, in part due to the nature of the battery supply chain, Grimston noted.
“At one end you can have a cell manufacturer who will sell his cells to an integrator who will make a battery pack, and the battery pack manufacturer will sell his battery packs to an [electric vehicle/EV] manufacturer or to a [battery energy storage system/BESS] manufacturer, who may actually become a BESS … or an EV manufacturer themselves,” he said. “Any one of those can be a customer of ours.”
At least one company is in a related space. Global insurance broker Marsh announced earlier in May that it had launched a renewable energy facility that provides dedicated insurance cover for mid-scale solar and BESS risks in the US and Canada. The new facility developed by Marsh Specialty’s renewable energy practice, provides expedited policy issuance and uniform terms and conditions through forms customized for mid-scale solar and BESS projects.
Grimston argued that their cover is not data driven.
Altelium also stands out, he said, because of its expertise, and will continue to do so as other MGAs emerge in the space.
“There will be other MGAs that will come along but we’re not aware of any that have the kind of technical science or insurtech support for the product,” Grimston said.
In the end, the use of batteries in industry and power grids is becoming so widespread that the world is at an inflection point, he added, making specialty battery coverage all the more necessary.
“This change is so significant globally. It is affecting everyone and obviously it is also connected to global warming and climate change and all that entails,” Grimston said. “The future of Altelium is very much connected to the global change in behavior of end users of power.”


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Leeds United players will be sending the club's fans wild in the aisles when they drop into a local supermarket later this month.
A string of United stars are due to spend part of the afternoon of Thursday, February 24 at Sainsbury's in the White Rose Shopping Centre in support of the retail giant's Active Kids campaign.
Leeds manager Simon Grayson is also scheduled to attend the health and fitness promotional event, which starts at 2pm.
And the Whites boss is hopeful that plenty of young fans will come
along to meet him and his players during the visit, which has been arranged to coincide with school half-term week.
Grayson said today: "As a football club we are firm believers in doing all we can to encourage healthy lifestyles within the community.
"With Sainsbury's promoting an Active Kids campaign, we are both delivering similar messages, and this is an ideal opportunity for us to visit the store and get involved.
"We're looking forward to teaming up with Sainsbury's to meet the people in the community and hopefully we can deliver a positive message about healthy lifestyles and good eating habits for kids."
Active Kids was launched in 2005 with the aim of persuading youngsters throughout the UK to take more exercise.
Much of its work is done by providing vouchers to customers that schools can redeem for sports, cooking and gardening equipment.
The campaign has won backing from a host of high-profile stars, including Olympics heroine Dame Kelly Holmes.
* The YEP is running a competition that's guaranteed to make United's supermarket date a real afternoon to remember for one lucky reader.
Our winner will get to have a team photo taken with the Leeds United players on the day.
They will also scoop an exclusive Sainsbury's goody bag and the opportunity to go on a behind-the-scenes tour of United's Elland Road stadium with a guest.
To enter, send a postcard with your name, address and daytime telephone number to Sainsbury's Competition c/o Shirley Whitehead, Yorkshire Evening Post, Wellington Street, Leeds, LS1 1RF.
Entries should be received no later than this Friday, February 18.


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Data centre directors must dread the arrival of Keith Appleyard, director of technology for American Express. Appleyard and his team are responsible for inspecting sites to ensure the physical and virtual security of the credit card company’s data, and to satisfy themselves that the centre “is not detrimental to Amex’s customers or the brand”.
It’s a job that produces “numerous horror stories”, most of which Appleyard bluntly attributes to “the stupidity of people; we see history repeat itself time and time again”.
For Appleyard, the core of the problem for any organisation that stores sensitive customer information is the obligation to protect that data. “While we’ve outsourced a lot of business processes so they are performed more efficiently, we haven’t absolved ourselves of the responsibility for data protection.”
His advice: believe nothing suppliers tell you about the high standards of their security and business continuity. Often, they are not even aware of their own shortcomings.
Many businesses, he says, talk a good security game but “don’t verify it”. That means Appleyard fails 50% of data centres before he even gets to the reception desk.
“One of the first things we look at is whether employees have photo ID on display,” he says, describing one company with 450 to 600 employees which said, “We don’t need ID – we all know each other.”
Physical security at data centres can be equally lax, he says, describing a data centre belonging to a large Japanese company he inspected that keeps a key “buried in the soil of a cheeseplant in the foyer”.
And even though they knew he was coming, a famous London retail store with its own data centre had no reception or even a visitor’s book for him to sign in and out. “My instructions were to go through a ‘no entry, staff only’ door, and go through two PIN-protected doors that had been propped open with bits of wood.”
Even high-tech security is worthless when applied in the wrong way – and is no substitute for good policies and processes.
“One French company has a three-kilometre-long infrared beam. But if you stepped over the beam the CCTV was so dark and burned out that it was impossible to see whether a person had two arms and legs,” Appleyard says. A data centre of a major US bank boasted 19 CCTV cameras – 12 of which were out of order. “In one place I asked to see the CCTV control, but they said it was locked in the managing director’s office and he was away. He was using it for monitoring staff.”
At a Bangalore data centre belonging to “one of the top five Indian IT companies”, a high-tech electronic lock on the server room was fitted on the wrong side of the door: “You could get in with a Philips screwdriver.”
Appleyard says Indian companies also struggle with the cultural issue of access control being given on the basis of role rather than rank. “Senior managers cannot cope with the idea that lower-ranked members of staff have access to something they don’t,” he says.
Despite the high-tech environments Appleyard monitors, he says even basic workplace safety practices are often ignored: “I’m amazed at how many organisations break basic fire-safety regulations. A UK service provider in south London had no fire alarm, no smoke detectors and no extinguishers, which showed a disgraceful lack of respect for its 39 employees.”
Not on the runway
Disaster recovery and business continuity is another area that many data centres fail to research properly, Appleyard relates. He describes a UK data centre 10 miles from a major oil refinery that keeps its backup site less than five miles from the refinery, and a major transatlantic airline that stores its backups “in a shed next to the runway”.
However, he admits that Amex found flaws even in its own recovery plans following 9/11: “Amex had a small data centre [near the World Trade Center] destroyed in 9/11. We didn’t know that while we were on the third floor underground, on the sixth floor underground were 200,000 litres of diesel. There was a shot from 9/11 on YouTube of something going up like a rocket – we think it was one of our CPUs.”
Following the attacks, he says, Amex didn’t expect to have a long delay in getting access, “but staff weren’t allowed back into the company’s New York HQ until six months later”.


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Nokia plans to cut up to 10,000 jobs and take the savings to invest in its 5G networking business.
The restructuring, announced by Nokia Tuesday, will save EUR 600 million by the end of 2023. According to Nokia, the savings from the restructuring will gradually be reinvested in new products and research and development.
Nokia plans to outline its strategy and long-term outlook during its Capital Market Day on Thursday.
Target markets for Nokia will be 5G, cloud and digital infrastructure.
Nokia added that it will take charges of EUR 600 million to EUR 700 million with 50% of that hit to land in 2021. The remainder of the charges will be taken in 2022 and 2023.
The company added that the total amount of job cuts will be determined by market conditions. Ultimately, Nokia expects to have a workforce of 80,000 to 85,000 down from 90,000 today.
As for the restructuring, Nokia will form three business groups.
Mobile Networks will focus on 5G and wireless mobility networks. Nokia plans to streamline its portfolio in mature and declining markets such as 4G.
Cloud and Network Services will move to more of an as-a-service model and refocus on emerging growth opportunities. To that end, Nokia announced partnerships with AWS, Microsoft and Google Cloud on March 15.
Network Infrastructure will remain largely unchanged but spend on advancing Nokia's portfolio via more R&D.
In February, Nokia reported better-than-expected fourth quarter results with sales of €6.6 billion and €0.14 a share. In 2020, Nokia delivered sales of €21.9 billion.


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Data is inundating the economy, overwhelming consumers and businesses with swathes of information that they struggle to comprehend. The overload is set to spiral as social media, mobile and geo-location technologies spew forth yet more reams of data.
With billions of web searches made every month, more than 20,000 new books published weekly and more texts sent daily than there are people on Earth, data is increasing exponentially. The number of exabytes (EB - equal to 1bn GB) of information created in 2011 hit 1750, double the 2009 figure, according to IDC estimates. There is twice as much data as storage capacity.
This torrent of data makes it hard for marketers to ensure their brand messages are heard above the noise. Consumers have become reluctant to open the floodgates to receiving more irrelevant information, and some are wary of providing personal details.
Research company TNS has analysed the way in which consumers 'eat' at this table of information and created five consumer segments based on their readiness to absorb data. It calls the data deluge 'information obesity', and looks at the way people create their own 'eating plans' (see box, page 32).
You are what you 'eat'
'Fast foodies', it says, consume the easiest, lightest data they can find. 'Supplementers' devour as much information as they can. 'Carnivores' consume only meaty chunks - whole books and in-depth research. 'Fussy eaters' are loath to consume information from any source, while 'balanced dieters' never consume too much information; what they do take comes from a variety of sources.
TNS marketing sciences director Russell Bradshaw says these 'eating plans' are a good way for marketers to target resistant consumers. 'By understanding the predominant "eating plans" that exist among their brand franchises, brand managers and chief marketing officers have a tool for maximising the reach, resonance and values of their campaigns,' he says.
TNS analysis suggests that 'carnivores' are more likely to shop at Marks & Spencer, while 'fussy eaters' tend to stock up at Asda. This gives M&S leeway to bolster its communications, giving customers big, meaty chunks of information they can savour slowly. Asda, meanwhile, would do well to deliver information in bursts and offer online nuggets such as tweets to appeal to voucher-hungry customers.
Marketers acknowledge that segmenting consumers by their propensity to consume information can be useful, but many see it as an add-on to the already tough task of identifying relevant audiences.
David Torres, global manager of chemicals technology at Shell Research, says that Shell intends to embed the TNS eating plans into its work, adding that brands need to search the data they have for clear and relevant insights.
Meanwhile, Stephanie Maurel, head of retention at Sport England, says the 'eating plans' could be useful if blended with other tools. 'The TNS data obesity segmentation makes a lot of sense and rings true anecdotally. It is a great idea to segment by the information consumers are prepared to receive, although perhaps this is an extra step to be added to current tools,' she adds.
Maurel's role at Sport England is to use data to help various sports' governing bodies to increase participation and attendance, a challenge for smaller sports, such as hockey. One solution is to take data from grass-roots sources, such as social media, and integrate it with information from elite sports events.
While small sports may be unsophisticated when it comes to data collection, Maurel says some governing bodies are using real-time data to build their popularity.
British Cycling, for example, gets feedback from locally organised Sky Ride mass-cycling events and feeds it through to its board meetings. This, in turn, helps it shape the way in which Sky Rides are organised.
For many brands, the UK's data-chain is dominated by retailers. They control the all-important information about sales, which they then sell back to brand-owners. Nonetheless, retailers, too, are suffering from information overload, according to Chris Osborne, retail principal at software supplier SAP.
A recent survey by SAP found that more than half of retailers believe they have more information than they can handle. 'Structured' data - such as till receipts showing items purchased, times of day, quantities and prices - has been around for decades. Osborne advocates combining this information with 'unstructured' data - such as the random chat of social media - as the next great challenge for brands and retailers.
The prize will be to build a total view of each customer's likes, behaviour and loyalty, and target offers accordingly. A crucial step is ensuring both types of data are gathered and acted upon in real-time.
Osborne believes the development that will enable this is 'in-memory' data analytics, where the data is stored in the computer's memory for quick retrieval, rather than on a conventional database where it is stored on a hard disk, making it harder to access and wasting capacity.
He envisages a two-track economy where success will depend on efficient use of data. 'The retailers that win out will be the ones that are very careful about how they use data and don't swamp consumers with irrelevant offers,' adds Osborne. 'Retailers that create competitive advantage are (also) careful about how often they communicate with consumers.'
Useful data vs 'noise'
Given the retailers' iron grip on data, some brands have turned to comparison website Mysupermarket.co.uk to gain access to information about their own performance through mini-shops on the site. Reckitt Benckiser, Kellogg, Danone and Nivea are among those to have created such stores.
James Foord, vice-president of business development at Mysupermarket.co.uk, says brands are only just beginning to grasp the distinction between 'data noise' and what is useful. The site allows brand-owners to create a direct relationship with consumers and thus control their data. Brands can analyse the battle between their products and stores' own-label versions, for example - data retailers rarely release. 'This is the tip of the iceberg of what is possible. Brand stores will open up a whole new level of insight that has real value,' adds Foord.
The battle for data control is about more than simply capturing as much information as possible and keying it into a database. Finding 'smart' data can save time and money in research and bring significant benefits for brands. The challenge is to find the pieces of information that help a brand locate its best customers and give insights into their motivation for buying a product.
Mike Dodds, chief executive of integrated agency Proximity, recalls a cat-food brand's CRM programme in which customers were questioned about their behaviour. The question that delivered the best data was: 'Do you celebrate your cat's birthday?' The responses helped the brand discover the most involved and valuable customers.
A potential barrier to the development of data-driven marketing will be consumers' attitudes to privacy and control of their personal details. The online giants, such as Google, Facebook and Twitter, have built their businesses on getting users to give up their data in return for 'free' services. If the public refuse to play, this could put a spoke in the wheel of the data economy.
Chris Combemale, executive director at the Direct Marketing Association, says brands have to be upfront about privacy and make their policies simple and readable: 'If you can't put the policy on one page and make it clear, you have an issue.' He also warns brands to avoid being 'creepy' online - by serving ads based on details consumers thought were private - which, he argues, can make digital marketing appear intrusive.
Modern marketing is essentially a battle for data. However, consumers themselves have the ultimate weapon: to switch off and stop sharing their information.
Technology was supposed to make life easier, but, in reality, it has made the world far more complex. The task of creating marketing campaigns that get heard above the din will only get harder still in a society deluged with data.
TNS: INFORMATION OBESITY
TNS divides consumers into five groups according to the way they consume data - the 'fast foodies', 'supplementers', 'carnivores', 'balanced dieters' and 'fussy eaters'. By targeting campaigns to suit these different groups, TNS argues that brands can overcome consumer resistance to the data deluge.
'Fussy eaters' - 15% of the UK population - seem reluctant to fit into modern life and long for a bygone age when the world was less complicated but more personal. They are the hermits of the digital age. They are likely to be retired, working-class people and tend to read the Radio Times. They are horrified by the idea of information obesity and believe new sources of information are alien and destructive to their natural world. They like to have time to reflect and take comfort from what is familiar.
'Supplementers' comprise about 25% of the UK population, although about 40% of marketers belong to this group. They see information as a means of building social status and are desperate to consume as much information as possible.
They are 10 times more likely to use Twitter than 'carnivores', tend to shop at Next and use eBay. The way they are perceived socially is important to them and they feel pressured by the world and their place in it. They will cram in whatever information they can from mobile internet, RSS feeds or podcasts. They want facts, but in capsule-sized chunks, delivered imaginatively while being from credible sources. The drawback is that all this knowledge is pointless without context and they will never remember all the information anyway. They suffer data obesity because they crave too much information.


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The team, whose members include Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) benefited greatly from the COVID-19 pandemic as men and women sheltering in position used the devices of theirs to shop, work and entertain online.
During the older year alone, Facebook gained 35 %, Amazon rose seventy eight %, Apple was up eighty six %, Netflix discovered a sixty one % boost, as well as Google’s parent Alphabet is up 32 %. As we enter 2021, investors are actually wondering if these tech titans, optimized for lockdown commerce, will provide very similar or even much more effectively upside this year.
From this particular number of five stocks, we’re analyzing Netflix today – a high-performer during the pandemic, it is now facing a unique competitive threat.
Stay-at-Home Appeal Diminishing?
Netflix has been one of probably the strongest equity performers of 2020. The business enterprise and the stock benefited from the stay-at-home environment, spurring demand due to its streaming service. The stock surged aproximatelly 90 % off the low it hit on March 16, until mid-October.
NFLX Weekly TTMNFLX Weekly TTM
But, during the past 3 months, that rally has run out of steam, as the company’s main rival Disney (NYSE:DIS) received a great deal of ground of the streaming battle.
Within a year of the launch of its, the DIS’s streaming service, Disney+, now has more than eighty million paid subscribers. That’s a substantial jump from the 57.5 million it reported to the summer quarter. That compares with Netflix’s 195 million members as of September.
These successes by Disney+ came at the same time Netflix has been reporting a slowdown in its subscriber development. Netflix in October reported that it included 2.2 million subscribers in the third quarter on a net basis, light of its forecast in July of 2.5 million new subscriptions for the period.
But Disney+ isn’t the only headache for Netflix. AT&T’s (NYSE:T) WarnerMedia division can be found in the midst of a comparable restructuring as it concentrates on the new HBO Max of its streaming platform. As well, Comcast’s (NASDAQ:CMCSA) NBCUniversal is realigning its entertainment businesses to give priority to the new Peacock of its streaming service.
Negative Cash Flows
Apart from growing competition, what makes Netflix a lot more vulnerable among the FAANG group is the company’s small money position. Because the service spends a lot to develop its extraordinary shows and shoot international markets, it burns a lot of money each quarter.
In order to enhance the money position of its, Netflix raised prices due to its most popular plan during the final quarter, the second time the company has done so in as several years. The move could prove counterproductive in an atmosphere in which folks are losing jobs as well as competition is warming up. In the past, Netflix priced hikes have led to a slowdown in subscriber development, especially in the more mature U.S. market.
Benchmark analyst Matthew Harrigan last week raised similar fears into the note of his, warning that subscriber development may well slow in 2021:
“Netflix’s trading correlation with other prominent NASDAQ 100 and FAAMG names has now clearly broken down as 1) belief in the streaming exceptionalism of its is fading somewhat even as two) the stay-at-home trade might be “very 2020″ despite having some concern over just how U.K. and South African virus mutations could affect Covid 19 vaccine efficacy.”
The 12 month price target of his for Netflix stock is actually $412, about 20 % below its current level.
Netflix’s stay-at-home appeal made it both one of the greatest mega caps as well as tech stocks in 2020. But as the competition heats up, the business needs to show it continues to be the top streaming choice, and that it is well positioned to defend its turf.
Investors seem to be taking a break from Netflix inventory as they delay to find out if that could happen.