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Mixed Christmas holiday result for accommodation providers
ACCOMMODATION operators have reported a mixed Christmas holiday result with some at capacity and others expericing quiet periods.
Fraser Island resident David Anderson said accommodation on the island reached full capacity.
"Christmas, New Year period was really busy as how it was for the past three years," he said.
"The weather was good and dry most of the time which encouraged people to come to the island to fish and swim.
"We also had 1300 vehicles arriving on the island just on one day, which was the Saturday after New Year's, and that's a positive indication as to how businesses fared during that period.
"There were a lot of campers along the beach and most resorts reached full capacity."
Gary Gilbert, general manager of Maryborough's Carriers Arms Motel, said business had good in some respects and poor in others.
"We had a good Christmas at the pub although most of them were locals but our motel was quiet for about four weeks during the New Year period," Mr Gilbert said.
"I think during the holidays, people rather go to the bay and even if people come to Maryborough, they don't tend to stay overnight.
"There's more things to do and see in the Bay."
The Australiana Top Tourist Park in Scarnees was fully booked during the Christmas period.
"Our visitors were mostly families, elderly people and couples from Brisbane who were visiting their families here in the bay," she said.
"We also had quite a few international visitors who booked day tours to Fraser Island.
The spokeswoman said business was about the same the previous years and believes holiday apartments had helped attract more visitors.
The Kondari Hotel's accommodation on Elizabeth St in Hervey Bay was also fully booked recording a 20% increase in visitors in 2014 compared to the previous year.
Venue manager Nathan Bensted said people were looking for the type of affordable accommodation provided by the Kondari.
"We were full for the two weeks over Christmas and we had quite a few international visitors booking Fraser Island tours," he said.
"Fraser brings a lot of people to this area and our visitors are definitely budgeting and I think Hervey Bay is economically cheaper for them."


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Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ:NCLH) has received a consensus rating of “Buy” from the eighteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $64.85.
A number of brokerages have recently commented on NCLH. BidaskClub raised shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 13th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from $64.00 to $58.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 5th. Bank of America set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 28th. Deutsche Bank raised shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 18th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 25th.
Norwegian Cruise Line traded up $0.68, reaching $49.45, during trading on Tuesday, according to MarketBeat. The company had a trading volume of 203,178 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,013,216. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. Norwegian Cruise Line has a 12 month low of $47.33 and a 12 month high of $61.48.
Norwegian Cruise Line (NASDAQ:NCLH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Norwegian Cruise Line had a net margin of 13.91% and a return on equity of 16.97%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.40 earnings per share. equities analysts forecast that Norwegian Cruise Line will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current year.
In related news, CEO Rio Frank J. Del sold 3,077 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.34, for a total transaction of $167,204.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 372,831 shares in the company, valued at $20,259,636.54. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NCLH. We Are One Seven LLC acquired a new position in Norwegian Cruise Line during the fourth quarter worth $115,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in Norwegian Cruise Line by 395.2% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,699 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,000 after buying an additional 2,154 shares during the last quarter. Vantage Financial Partners Ltd. Inc. acquired a new position in Norwegian Cruise Line during the first quarter worth $201,000. Federated Investors Inc. PA increased its holdings in Norwegian Cruise Line by 41.0% during the first quarter. Federated Investors Inc. PA now owns 4,044 shares of the company’s stock worth $214,000 after buying an additional 1,175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in Norwegian Cruise Line during the first quarter worth $215,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.85% of the company’s stock.
About Norwegian Cruise Line
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NCLH) is a global cruise company. The Company operates the Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises brands. The Company had 25 ships with approximately 50,400 Berths, as of May 1, 2017. The Company’s brands offer itineraries to various destinations around the world, including Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, South America, Africa, Canada, Bermuda, Caribbean, Alaska and Hawaii.
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Wednesday to Sunday!
31 Jan – 4 Feb 2018
Planeta Junior has closed various agreements with worldwide broadcasters across Spain, France, Canada, the UK, Italy, Greece, Poland, and Russia.
Gormiti is the new series of action and comedy in 3D animation CGI produced by Giochi Preziosi along with Planeta Junior and the animation studio Kotoc. The series is based on the Gormiti toy line, created by Giochi Preziosi in 2005.
The property has fast become a leading boys’ action property across Europe and is distributed in over 50 countries. More than 500 million figures have been sold to date, totalling around €1.5 billion in retail sales. According to the firm, the new series continues to fuel the success of its toy line across Europe.


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In the News
Facebook trying to be nicer, tbh
Facebook's purchase of embryonic app tbh makes a lot of sense. First, it follows the classic strategy of buying up a potential competitor in order to remove it as a threat. Facebook learned that lesson when it failed to buy Snapchat back in 2013, and it now sees a survey showing Snapchat as the preferred social media platform for US 16-year olds.
Second, Facebook has continually faced accusations and evidence that its open communication platform encourages trolling and harassment, and that it fails to monitor and filter messages adequately. So buying an app which encourages teenagers to be nice to each other looks like a sensible strategy. The tbh app is only 9 weeks old and has already been downloaded 5 million times - its creators say that the app's success is a sign of teenagers craving more positive interactions online. It works by as a user uploads their contacts, asking pre-determined, positive questions such as "best to bring to a party?", and giving the option of selecting one of four friends. Users are notified when they are selected, but the details of who chose them is kept anonymous.
It may also be a sign of Facebook' business practice being forced to move on. tbh's founders say that "While the last decade of the internet has been focused on open communication, the next milestone will be around meeting people’s emotional needs." That 'open communication' has been the heart of Facebook, and, for example, it has taken a great deal of pressure to persuade the company to release the contents of 3,000 ads bought by a Russian agency during the US presidential election to congressional investigators. Mark Zuckerberg has been very resistant to the idea of releasing such data, and to protecting the 'open communication' which was the origin of Facebook's business.
Now Facebook says "tbh and Facebook share a common goal of building community and enabling people to share in ways that bring us closer together. We’re impressed by the way tbh is doing this by using polling and messaging, and with Facebook’s resources tbh can continue to expand and build positive experiences."
Which can only be to Facebook's advantage.


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Helena Helmersson, the new CEO of the H&M group, the fourth largest in the textile industry, visited Barcelona last week and requested some long and thorough chats with store staff, as well as a walk through the stores themselves.
The fact that the person in charge is a woman is something that shouldn’t call much attention these days. What is indeed relevant is that she was wearing jeans made to fit perfectly using a body scanner, thanks to one of the group’s new projects. This is something they are betting on and one of the biggest trends in the industry.
Nor is it an accident that the group’s new leader has spent the last eight years in the position of sustainability manager. It all amounts to a declaration of intent. I also like to hear that she is substituting the grandson of the H&M founder – I firmly believe in the professionalization of family companies.
Helena Helmersson has made a powerful entrance with a very clear objective – to change the business model – as to continue onwards in the same manner will be unsustainable. How will she do it?
These are the six main points of her strategy to revolutionize the retail sector:
- To produce only what will be sold. This point is one of the most difficult aspects of the fashion industry. Every retailer is taking a gamble with their product selection. They will use big data and artificial intelligence to calculate the real demand and hence cut down on stock.
- To manufacture in a sustainable way using at least 30% recycled or sustainable fabrics. They will not work with or manufacture using factories that produce carbon emissions. Hermelsson does not identify with the current concept of Fast Fashion, one that creates 92 million tons of textile-related waste every year. “If we are talking about a model that provides an agile and quick response to the customer’s demands, one that provides access to a more sustainable lifestyle to a greater number of people, then I can identify with the term. But if we understand it as a way of offering the consumer items of clothing that foster an attitude of wearing something and throwing it away, then I don’t.
- Don’t throw your clothing away. Solutions that she has proposed: that they last longer and can be mended, sold (if the owner wants to), or rented. In their last report, the platform ThredUp asserted that the secondhand clothing market will reach a value of 56,800 million euros in 2028. The resale future is already here.
- More sizes in order to be an inclusive brand, one that doesn’t leave anyone out.
- Personalized products, considering that we are living in the age of personalization.
- Joint ventures with designers to foster quality, price, and sustainability with the Innovation Stories and Circular Design collections.
There are already things happening that are serving to reinforce these macro-trends and accelerate the process. The lockdown caused many people to start shopping online, and the entire sector has improved or reinforced their online channels.
Speaking of product selection and the resulting surplus, a law will come into effect in 2023 in France that will ban the burning/incinerating of unsold clothing.
And in regard to purchase trends, Deloitte asserts that one out of every four people who bought used items of clothing in 2020 did so for environmental reasons, and 35% of these environmentally-aware customers were Millennials or members of Generation Z.
I find Helena Helmersson’s challenges to be very exciting. How long will it take to achieve them? My intuition says that it will happen faster than we might think.


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Do you remember the Peek? It might look like a QWERTY packing smartphone, but the only thing it can really do is send and receive email. In this day and age of smartphones that do so much more, why on Earth would you want a dedicated email device? Well, that hasn’t stopped the unveiling of the new Peek 9.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Manufacturers are in a crazy race to cram more and more onto a single ship these days. Sirific Wireless Limited, which innovates in the field of single-chip CMOS RF transceivers, has thrown their latest effort into the ring. They have created the first single-chip CMOS HSDPA/WEDGE RF transceiver for the mobile industry, which they call […]
IBM today announced its lightest and brightest projector ever — the new MicroPortable Data/Video Projector featuring an integrated software capability that allows the user to automatically set up the image and just ‘plug in and project.’ Weighing in at just three pounds and about the size of a good novel (2.0” x 6.3” x 8.3”), […]


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Apple takes a hit over App Store's high commission fees in US Supreme Court Ruling
Apple has suffered a defeat in the form of a 5-4 ruling at the US Supreme Court, meaning that a group of iPhone users will now be allowed to file an antitrust lawsuit against the App Store.
In an attempt to have the case dismissed, Apple said that consumers were buying their apps from developers, rather than from the Apple store.
The iPhone owners allege that the Apple Tax - the 30 per cent commission that the company takes on App Store sales - affects users and is an 'unfair use of Apple's monopoly power' according to TechCrunch.
There are currently around two million apps from third-party developers sold on the Apple App Store, and Apple takes 30% commission on every sale. This led the court to conclude that Apple deals with app developers.
The ruling supports the move by iPhone owners to file a lawsuit against the commissions, in part because it forces users to pay higher prices than if the environment was more competitive.
The court also supported the iPhone owners case because if they had chosen to protect Apple, the ruling could have prevented consumers from suing monopolistic retailers who took commissions on sales.
There are some large app developers, such as Spotify and Netflix, who have stopped selling subscriptions on the iOS platform. The standard pricing for Spotify Premium is £9.99 but if purchased through the app store, it cost £12.99.


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Belk’s Spring Charity Sale Offers Great Bargains
Support for Community Non-Profits
Saturday, May 2, from 6 AM – 10 AM
Special discounts of 15 to 70 percent off of purchases made during the four-hour event from 6 to 10 a.m.
The first 100 customers in each store on the morning of Charity Sale will receive free Belk gift cards ranging in value from $5 to $100, and a chance to win one of three $1,000 Belk gift cards awarded company-wide.
Visit www.belk.com/charitysale for more details


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A cinema chain which runs Burton's Cineworld has filed for special form of bankruptcy in the US which means it will stay open in a bid to buy it time to restructure its business. The company, which has run Burton's cinema since 2000, filed for a Chapter 11 proceeding in the US, but its cinemas will stay open throughout the period.
It is designed to allow the debt-ridden chain the chance to bounce back from its current woes, caused in part by the pandemic and a lack of popular recent films. Chief executive Mooky Greidinger said: “The pandemic was an incredibly difficult time for our business, with the enforced closure of cinemas and huge disruption to film schedules that has led us to this point.”
Although sounding dramatic, Chapter 11 bankruptcies are quite different from other forms of declaring that a business has gone bankrupt. They mean the company will be able to hold on to all its assets and trade as normal for the time being. Cineworld said it plans to emerge from bankruptcy in the first three months of next year. It is “confident that a comprehensive financial restructuring is in the best interests of the group and its stakeholders, taken as a whole, in the long term”.
But it will be painful for shareholders, whose positions in the business are likely to be heavily diluted during the process. Its shares will still keep trading in London, Cineworld told investors. The bankruptcy will give the business a chance to renegotiate with its landlords in the US and ask for better deals.
Mr Greidinger said: “This latest process is part of our ongoing efforts to strengthen our financial position and is in pursuit of a de-leveraging that will create a more resilient capital structure and effective business. This will allow us to continue to execute our strategy to reimagine the most immersive cinema experiences for our guests through the latest and most cutting-edge screen formats and enhancements to our flagship theatres. Our goal remains to further accelerate our strategy so we can grow our position as the ‘best place to watch a movie’.”
The company added: “Cineworld and its brands around the world – including Regal, Cinema City, Picture House and Yes Planet – are continuing to welcome customers to cinemas as usual, which will not change during the Chapter 11 cases. The group expects to continue to honour the terms of all existing customer membership programmes, including Regal Unlimited and Regal Crown Club in the United States and Cineworld Unlimited in the UK.”


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Itâ€™s no longer news that HMD Global is the current owner of the Nokia smartphone brand and as such, the company appears to have a very good knowledge on how to draw more fans to itself with plenty of nostalgia-induced products. First, it was the Nokia 3310 (2017), tailed by the Nokia 8 Sirocco and the banana-shaped Nokia 8110 4G.
Another Member May Join PureView Family Soon
According to a listing on the European Intelectual Property Office (EUIPO), HMD Global is now a owner of the PureView brand, meaning we should be waiting for the revamped version of our beloved Nokia 808 PureView or a phone with the same tech like the Lumia 1020 with a 41 MP camera.
This is not the first Nokia-related moniker that HMD patents at EUIPO. We have the Xpress-On and the Asha entries, but yet to see any sound-centric smartphone or a feature phone with the respective brandings.
If the company is planning to launch a PureView smartphone, it might come in a circular setup, as some early schematics suggested back in the beginning of 2018. According to some Chinese sources, it might have up to five lenses in a rotary setup, developed by ZEISS.


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Egypt is home to one of the largest vehicle fleets in Africa, with over 6 million cars (80% of which are passenger cars) on its roads. According to this finding, most are used cars; their ratio to new vehicles is 3:1. ButThe used car market is not only huge in Egypt; it is in almost every country with a large world population.
Recently, there has been a rapid digitization of this market, with several startups disrupting incumbents such as classifieds and hoping to define the new era of used car sales platforms. Some include Cazoo in the UK, Cars24 and Spinny in India, InstaCarro in Brazil and Kavak in Mexico.
Cairo-based Sylndr is a new player in a market where unorganized resellers and classified ads dominate sales volume. The auto marketplace, which allows customers to sell and buy used cars, raised a $12.6 million pre-seed round – the largest of its kind in the MENA region and sub-Saharan Africa, surpassing what Rabbit, a 20-minute convenience delivery startup, pulled last November.
Saudi start-up venture capital firm RAED Ventures led the round. Venture capital firms Algebra Ventures, Nuwa Capital, 1984 Ventures and Global Founders Capital participated, along with several regional and global angel investors.
New cars are expensive; this is one of the explanations for the massive demand for used vehicles, particularly in emerging markets. In Egypt, popular brands such as GB Auto, Mansour Automotive and Nissan are generally known to have good resale value. But the experience of buying these cars on the classifieds can be disappointing due to several issues such as lack of trust and affordability.
“The main problem we are trying to solve in Egypt is a complete mistrust between used car buyers and sellers in the markets,” co-founder and CEO Omar El Defrawy told TechCrunch in an interview. “This is the central problem that we are trying to solve. Our vision as a company is that we want to quickly become the most trusted used car retailer in Egypt and the region.
Popular car models in Egypt cost around $15,000 on average. For many Egyptians, who earn less than that every year, it’s a substantial amount to shell out. And unlike in developed countries where systems are in place to help people finance their vehicle, it is almost non-existent in developing markets like Egypt, where only around 5% of used cars are financed.
“So imagine if you turn on the funding and make cars much more affordable for people, that’s a core value proposition that we want to ship as well,” added El Defrawy, who founded Sylndr with Amr Mazen in November 2021.
Sylndr has not yet launched to the public. However, he is adapting his model to that of Cars24 in India: getting cars from individuals who want to resell them, buying them back at an agreed price, reconditioning them, and then reselling them to new owners. According to the founders, Sylndr also plans to provide a seven-day money back guarantee, warranty, and flexible financing options for users.
The car dealership will first update its car listings by launching them to customers who want to sell their cars. Mazen said Sylndr plans to open to buyers in the fourth quarter of this year or the first quarter of 2023.
Between these two events is the refurbishment of cars. From our conversation, a refurbished car on Sylndr would be slightly more expensive than non-refurbished cars found on classifieds such as OLX and Contactcars. But the chief executive argued that Sylndr offers “fair and competitive pricing”, and that consumers would still prefer cars on Sylndr based on quality and speed of delivery.
“It’s not about the price being over; it’s a matter of paying for value. If you are a consumer with no automotive experience, you would want to buy something that gives you real value for the amount you have invested,” El Defrawy said. “Customers buy used cars and try to do the refurbishment independently, but nobody has that kind of experience. That’s what we do, and of course, if they can find that car and complete this process in 24 hours, it becomes an even more enjoyable and better experience.
The pre-revenue startup intends to make money from retail sales, auction houses, dealerships, and B2B sales. El Defrawy said Sylndr could also look at ancillary revenue streams such as interest from financing, insurance, roadside assistance fees and other value-added services. “We’re looking to develop that as we go along,” he noted.
Prior to founding Sylndr, El Defrawy worked as an investment banker at EFG Hermes and CFO of Elmenus, an Egyptian food delivery startup. Mazen has experience in the food delivery and e-commerce industries with Souq.com, Hello Fresh and Cazoo. They credit their track record, 40+ team composition and the capital intensive nature of the used car market as the reasons for lifting this big pre-seed round despite talk of capital chilling. -risk amid public sales and tech companies. ‘ devaluation.
“The automotive aftermarket is highly fragmented and more often than not consumers do not have a trusted counterpart,” Omar A. Almajdouie, managing partner of RAED Ventures, said in a statement.
“The market is huge, ripe for disruption, and we are thrilled to be part of Sylndr’s journey as they transform and set a whole new standard for the used car market. Given the journey and the unique experience of this team, we believe in its ability to break this business model.
The founders said proceeds from the investment would be spent on scaling the company’s operational capacity, technology infrastructure, growing inventory and building its sales channels at the retail and non-retail for customers. In a statement, Sylndr said he plans to more than double the size of his team by the end of the year. The company will face competition from Autochek, a Nigeria-based automotive platform that recently made inroads in North Africa via an acquisition.


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Reliance’s scrip touched a low of Rs 2309 on the National Stock Exchange as against Rs 2363.75 at previous close.
Reliance took the decision after missing two self-imposed deadlines to conclude the transaction, for which the asking price from the Saudi state-owned giant was $15 billion.
The changing nature of the business portfolio has prompted Reliance and Saudi Aramco to mutually determine that it would benefit both parties to undertake a re-evaluation of the planned investment in the O2C (oil-to-chemical) business, the Indian conglomerate announced late Friday.
With the development leading to an over 4-per cent fall in Reliance’s share price on Monday, the stock erased nearly $9 billion or Rs 66,000 crore in market value in the previous day’s trade. In the two sessions, the scrip has fallen over 6 per cent.
The 20 per cent sale of stake in the unit was announced in 2019 but was put on the backburner because of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent crash in global oil prices due to low demand.
Accordingly, the on-going application in the National Company Law Tribunal for segregating the O2C business from Reliance is being withdrawn, reports said.
Reliance shall carry on being Saudi Aramcos preferred partner for investments in India’s private sector and will collaborate with the company and the Saudi Arabian Basic Industry Corporation for investment in the West Asian country, the Indian company said.
Meanwhile, in other news, Reliance Jio lost over 19 million wireless subscribers in September, dragging its gross user base down to 424.83 million, reflecting the massive clean-up of low-paying customers recently undertaken by the Mukesh Ambani-led telco in the fiscal second quarter.
At the same time, rival Airtel added 0.27 million wireless customers.
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- I-T Wing’s Lens on Offshore Payments by Indian Cos Now
A company, like an individual taxpayer, is also required to disclose its overseas financial interests, subsidiaries, and bank accounts in the annual I-T returns.Need More Direct and Indirect Tax Reforms
There is need for further reforms in the direct and indirect tax regimes, revenue secretary Tarun Bajaj said.Global Apparel Cos Bounce Back in Style
About half a dozen global apparel and lifestyle brands expanded anywhere between 30% and 70% to garner combined annual revenues of nearly $2 billion in FY22, reversing the performance from a year ago when Covid-induced curbs on mobility and business operations caused sales to shrink.
Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.


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SPC snacks introduces ‘user-friendly’ packs
The products are focused around providing easy-to-open packaging and come in individual portion-controlled tubs. The other strong marketing message is the Aussie aspect – in the fact of the Australian-ness of the product in the origin of the fruit and as the place of manufacture of the product.
The launch of this product range follows on the SPC announcement in May 2015 that it was using money invested by parent company Coca-Cola Amatil and the Victorian State Government to make a new easy-to-open line for older people called ‘ProVital’. That line was said to be designed for the elderly and the ill, making it ideal to attract back many of SPC’s traditional customers who were being lost due to difficulties of opening the previous design of packs.
Coca-Cola Amatil and the Victorian State Government invested a combined total of $100 million into the fruit manufacturer – despite the Federal Coalition Government having refused to assist in the funding package to the company in 2014.
SPC’s new Australian Diced Pear and Peaches are said to contain no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives. The product range has received a health star rating of 3.5 as part of the Federal Government’s health rating system.
Innovation has been a focus for SPC since it received its funding from the Victorian State Government and Coca-Cola Amatil.
For example, in December 2014, Australian Food News reported that SPC had moved into the frozen-dessert market with ‘Perfect Fruit’ which turns frozen fruit into the consistency of soft-serve ice cream.
Peters Ice Cream Australia is now selling ice cream tubs inspired by Nestle confectionary brands.
Sunny Queen Meal Solutions, the wholesale supplier arm of Sunny Queen which sells egg based meals an...
Nutella is updating its 3kg tub packaging with users having difficulties with the original design.
PepsiCo Australia & New Zealand has launched a new snack range aimed at school-aged children.
Lion Dairy and Drinks has launched a new version of its Dare Cold Pressed ice coffee range.
Kraft Heinz is now selling four new sizes of its Heinz baked bean cans, each designed for a differen...
The first batch of Four’N Twenty craft beer pies roll out in Coles and Independent supermarkets Aust...
Carlton United Breweries has launched a mid-strength version of Corona beer exclusive to the Austral...


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It’s the kind of quote that you’d see in the papers on a regular basis. “We believe it is likely that the [sic] TiVo will be bought out within 24 months,” said Albert Fried & Company analyst Rich Tullo in an April 2012 story published by Benzinga, an investor news website. Yet today, 32 months later, TiVo (TIVO) still stands on its own—just as it did after Apple was rumored to buy the digital video recording company in 2005; after DISH Network and DirecTV were alleged to buy them in 2010; and after Google, Microsoft, and Rovi were named as potential suitors in 2011. And though 2014 is a time when billion-dollar buyouts seemingly happen every quarter and the connected television market is one of the few platforms still up for grabs, TiVo is still, improbably, the one that got away.
“There are always going to be rumors,” says Tullo, commenting on his earlier remarks. “I try not to traffic on rumors. I try to look at the analysis, see if a company would be attractive in the M&A market, and leave it at that.” To wit, Tullo says his belief that TiVo would sell in 2012 had almost everything to do with a stock price in the $8 range and little to do with background noise.
For years, that noise was deafening—and defining—for what some argue is the best television experience on the market. According to Randy Komisar, a founding director who was on TiVo’s board from 1998 to 2010, the acquisition rumors were real. Though he won’t identify TiVo’s suitors, he describes them as companies in the set-top box, over-the-top, and broadcast spaces. “There was always interest, but never at a price that we felt was appropriate for the shareholders,” Komisar says.
Founded when there was was nothing other than linear programming on television, TiVo and its DVR technology served as a bridge in the 2000s to the on-demand and streaming world we live in today. “That period of time was critical for value creation,” says Komisar, who claims to have “done a lot of soul-searching on that company.” Still, there’s a question that haunts him. “Why didn’t it create more enterprise value while successfully challenging such a huge market?” he asks.
There are three reasons, as best he can figure. First, multi-service operators putting their own DVRs in consumers’ living rooms caused TiVo’s user base to shrink. Secondly, because TiVo was reliant on cable operators to support their boxes, the company was hamstrung in attracting new users through marketing and advertising. If they showed their product to be superior, or explained how it was a cheaper alternative to bundled DVRs, they risked offending their cable company partners. And thirdly, the cable company DVRs violated TiVo’s patents, the company alleged, presenting a series of do-or-die cases it would have to repeatedly win in court—and it did that later rather than sooner, Komisar says. “Fundamentally, we should have sued earlier on the intellectual property,” he concedes. These issues also scared off potential buyers.
Resume or restart?
Last June, TiVo landed on the fairer side of a $490 million settlement between itself and Cisco, Motorola, and Time Warner Cable, effectively ending years of litigation and leaving the company, in all, $1.6 billion richer after going seven-for-seven in defense of its “time warp” patent. Though the company finished with stockpiles of its competitors’ cash, its retail consumer base had been ravaged in the interim, with large multi-service operators providing the majority of in-home DVRs across the U.S.
Still, long before the legal dust had settled, TiVo’s question of how to best move forward had already been decided. It was clear that shrinking retail sales weren’t going to rebound and lift TiVo’s numbers, which dropped from 4.3 million total subscribers in early 2007 to 1.9 million in mid-2011. The best road ahead for the company was to revisit a path that had nearly broken the company the decade before: partner with cable companies. Essentially, TiVo had to time-warp itself back to its state before the lawsuits began and press “play.”
But television viewing habits had already begun to gravitate toward streaming video. TiVo would have to follow suit. “The design goal that we strive for is to be able to say, ‘Whatever content you can watch on your television, you’ve got to be able to get on your other screens,'” says Naveen Chopra, TiVo’s chief financial officer. That perspective—and a key feature in TiVo’s Roamio boxes, which can stream anything on a person’s television to their mobile device—is much more in line with today’s consumers than the company’s original value proposition of simply being able to skip past commercials. It’s also something that most cable operators either could not or did not want to develop.
So TiVo targeted mid-tier U.S. operators for partnerships and built relationships with other television providers outside its home country. In August 2009, the U.S. cable company RCN tapped TiVo to supply DVR services to its subscribers. Three months later, Virgin Media partnered with the company to develop its next-generation television platform. “Outside the U.S.,” Chopra says, “you don’t have this dynamic where the Comcasts, DirecTVs, and Verizons of the world try to build a lot of these capabilities in-house.”
In all, though TiVo’s retail subscriber count is now down to 937,000 as of August 2014 (compared to 1.7 million in early 2007), its total subscriber base now approaches 5 million total users—a boom that can be credited to cable companies from Sweden to New Zealand placing TiVo-powered boxes in their subscriber’s homes. Europe alone boasts 2.5 million TiVo users. In the last two years, the company has added more than 1 million subscribers.
Reviving the TiVo acquisition rumor mill
With cable beginning to unbundle and unravel in the U.S., no one knows how the future will play out. A prophecy of the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs was that he “cracked the code” on television, but the world has yet to see an Apple television or radically rethought Apple TV box. HBO said it plans to roll out an unbundled over-the-top offering, but it remains unclear what strings will be attached. Everyone from Amazon to Microsoft is getting into the set-top box fray (the new Fire TV and the ever-evolving Xbox, respectively), but no streaming device has proven dominant. Each addition to the category seems to be another accessory to the undead technology that is linear programming.
Should the warming trend of cord-cutting reach a boil, TiVo already has a product on the market ready to leverage it: its Roamio OTA, a $49 DVR (that requires a $15 per month subscription) that can record broadcast programming and provide access to major streaming services. Roamio OTA isn’t a cable-killer per se—but if cable happens to die from natural causes, it could teach television viewers how to love again. At the very least, it’s an option beyond the arranged marriage that viewers must endure with local cable monopolies. The device might be aimed at cord-cutters, but it’s ideal for cord-nevers—specifically under-35 viewers, which are a coveted but harder-to-capture audience. “They’re TiVoing and DVRing at best, and at worst for the industry, they’re simply going to streaming,” Komisar says. “The new audience is much less inclined to buy television through cable or view broadcasts in real-time—so over-the-top is not a small idea.”
With cable deals in place worldwide and a device that can circumvent the cord domestically, TiVo’s outlook appears healthier, its future brighter. Which prompts an old question all over again: Is the company once again open to being acquired? Its official response is that while it is focused on executing its business plan, it considers all opportunities that can drive value for its shareholders. To that end, it has used $650 million of its courtroom spoils to buy back stock, reducing outstanding shares and driving up price—at least theoretically. Since its first buyback efforts began in August 2011, the price of the company’s shares has risen 21 percent, but $350 million of its repurchase program was only announced in August.
Looking back, Tullo gives TiVo’s turnaround a grade of “A-plus” and grades its stock performance as a “B.” “It’s a company that had great success in terms of improving its fundamental execution on its business, rolling out new products to the market, and transitioning from a device-centric company to a cloud-centric company,” he says. As for talk of M&A, Tullo says he believes TiVo would prefer to remain independent but would be amenable to selling if the right deal came along.
“I don’t think they’d be open to somebody buying them for IP rights and closing them down,” he says. “I think they want TiVo as the operating system of cable TV, and as long as a deal emerges where it could be that for them, then they will be open to a discussion.” In other words: rumor has it, there’s a chance.


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ISLAMABAD: The government on Saturday announced a massive increase in the prices of all petroleum products with immediate effect for the next 15 days.
According to a notification issued by the Ministry of Finance, the prices of petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) have been increased by Rs10.49 and Rs12.44 per litre respectively.
The price of kerosene oil has been increased by Rs10.95 while light speed diesel has got costlier by Rs8.84.
“At present, oil prices have risen around $85 a barrel (Global Benchmark Brent) highest since October 2018,” read the notification.
It added that entire energy chain prices have witnessed a strong surge in the past couple of months due to higher demand for energy spots and supply bottlenecks.
In the current scenario, the ministry said, the government has absorbed the pressure and provided maximum relief to the consumers by keeping Petroleum Levy and Sales Tax to a minimum. Therefore, prices worked out by OGRA have been approved.
The new prices of petroleum products will be effective from October 16 (today).
From October 16 (today), the new price of petrol will be Rs137.79 per litre, high-speed diesel will be Rs134.48 per litre.
While kerosene oil will be sold at Rs110.26 per litre and light diesel oil at Rs108.35.


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Canada Post opens first all-electric depot, unveils electric truck
Canada Post this week opened its first depot using battery-electric corporate delivery vehicles in Nanaimo, British Columbia and unveiled an all-electric truck.
The depot will use 14 fully electric cargo vans for collection and delivery services, replacing internal combustion vehicles. As part of Canada Post’s plan to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, the company has committed to electrifying half of its national fleet of approximately 14,000 vehicles by 2030 and the entire fleet by 2040.
Doug Ettinger, president and CEO of Canada Post, and Suromitra Sanatani, chair of the board of directors, took part in the opening.
“Over Canada Post’s long history, the postal service has always evolved to meet the changing needs of Canadians and businesses,” Ettinger said.
“Our transformation plan invests billions of dollars into service, capacity and greening our operations – because we need to deliver for Canadians, whether that’s shipping parcels or helping to build a more sustainable future. When you look at the size of our network, this depot may be a small first step, but it’s an important one as we start to build momentum.”
Canada Post is building on decades of experience experimenting with electric and other low-emission vehicles. Now in the preliminary stage of its fleet electrification, the Corporation is introducing vehicles at select plants and depots to evaluate what equipment, charging infrastructure and approaches are best suited to its operational needs.
The this week also company took part in an unveiling of the first all-electric C250 delivery truck in Indianapolis at the Work Truck Week tradeshow.
Custom-built for Canada Post by Morgan Olson, a walk-in step van body manufacturer, the C250 meets the rigorous demands of Canada Post’s delivery operations and safety requirements. While the C250 was initially developed as a gasoline model, Morgan Olson is currently developing a commercially available all-electric C250, which Canada Post is planning to test along with other electric vehicle options.
“The C250 is custom-built with employee safety, comfort and increased capacity in mind. Developed over several years, the vehicle is made to withstand the rigours of day-to-day use and to help streamline our operations for the long-term growth of our delivery business,” said Alexandre Brisson, vice-president, operations transformation, Canada Post.
Facilities and mobility
The company has also been testing other innovative, sustainable delivery options. These include e-cargo trikes, which can travel using bike paths, and a compact, low-speed electric cargo vehicle appropriate for some neighbourhood delivery routes. Canada Post will be going to market to compete for new vehicles in a variety of classes.
Canada Post has committed to a science-based target to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. The Corporation is retrofitting its facilities, constructing new net-zero carbon buildings, and sourcing renewable energy for its real estate and operations. The Albert Jackson Processing Centre, its new parcel sorting facility in Scarborough, Ontario, will operate as net zero and have the capacity to process more than a million packages a day.
“Last year, the Corporation set aside more than $1 billion to cut emissions and move forward on the electrification of its last mile fleet. This critical investment has led to important progress on Canada Post’s plan to achieve net zero emissions by 2050,” Sanatani said.
“Canadians expect their postal service to play a leading role in the country’s transition to a low-carbon future. It’s a responsibility that Canada Post embraces.”


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A frail partnership between Intel and the One Laptop Per Child educational computing group was undone last month in part by an Intel saleswoman: She tried to persuade a Peruvian official to drop the country’s commitment to buy a quarter-million of the organization’s laptops in favor of Intel PCs.
Intel and the group had a rocky relationship from the start in their short-lived effort to get inexpensive laptops into the hands of the world’s poorest children.
He demanded that Intel stop what he saw as efforts to undermine the group’s sales, which meant ceasing to sell the rival computer. Intel chose instead to withdraw its support from One Laptop this week.
So let me get this straight, Intel sat on the board and then back stabbed the OLPC?
NY times story and this is being discussed at Slashdot as well.


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Leading residential solar company Sunrun has opened a new solar design engineering center in the Southern California city of Irvine.
The new center will create customized system designs for residential solar customers across the country.
Sunrun said the facility would be an important resource for meeting consumer demand for solar. The design center will use data from homeowners who decide to purchase home solar installations to customize systems for their personal energy needs and savings goals. The San Francisco-based company is employing its Sunrun BrightPath, an end-to-end automated software platform for managing home solar projects that helps customers select hardware, pricing, scheduling, permitting and installation services.
"There is increasing consumer demand for home solar as more Americans look for cleaner and more affordable energy solutions," said Ethan Miller, Sunruns senior vice president of operations. Miller added that the design center demonstrated Sunrun's focus on simplifying the process of going solar, which ultimately leads to a better customer experience."
On hand for a ribbon cutting event on Wednesday, Irvine Mayor Steven Choi expressed his support for the new facility: "We strive to attract companies that are leading the way into the future."
More solar job creation for California
Sunrun said the center will create at least 50 new permanent jobs in the city this year. According to the recently released Solar Foundation's National Solar Jobs Census 2014, the solar industry has been adding jobs at a rate 20 times faster than the overall economy. In 2014, one out of every 78 new jobs was created by the solar industry. More than 54,000 California residents currently work at solar companies, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.
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Grant PUD Approves of Energy Rate Increases for 2023
Grant PUD commissioners approved to increase retail electric sales by 3%, in order to keep up with inflation.
On Dec. 13, commissioners voted to approve the rate changes with exception to Rate Schedule No. 17, the rate for “Evolving Industries,” after tabling that rate for their next meeting in January.
This rate increase will add an additional $3.24 per month for customers using 1,700 kilowatt-hours per month and an additional $12,600 a month for industrial customers using an average of 20 million kilowatt-hours.
This rate increase will take effect after April 1, 2023 and remain effective year after year until the end of 2028.
This increase is expected to bring in an additional $63.6 million of retail revenue for the next five years.


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Athletic apparel giant Nike has doubled down on its decision to use a transgender influencer. Dylan Mulvaney In marketing campaigns to promote the company’s women’s clothing.
On Nike’s verified opinion Instagram accountThe company instructed customers to “be kind, be inclusive… let’s cheer up.”
The response came as he called for a boycott of the organization, shortly after Mulvaney, who identifies as a woman, was paid. social media Content Dance by Nike Women’s Sportswear.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
Olympic swimmer Sharon Davis He is among the athletes who are asking customers to stop buying Nike products.
Davis, who won a silver medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, said Nike’s decision represented a “step-up” after some sports organizations created categories that protected biological women in competitions.
Supreme Court allows transfer of 12-year-old girl to run girls’ track in West Virginia.
“It’s very frustrating. We go two steps in protecting women’s sport at World Athletics and swimming in England and then Nike does this,” Davies told Dan Wootton on GB News tonight.
“The ad feels like a parody of what women are. In the past, ‘run like a girl’ was considered an insult, and here we have someone behaving very unsportsmanlike and very unsportsmanlike. And only 1% of America’s sponsorship dollars goes to sports.” It’s very frustrating when women leave. It’s like Nike kicking it in the teeth.”
In a social media response Friday, Nike pledged to remove any comments that were not “in the spirit of a diverse and inclusive community.”
“You are a vital part of your community’s success! We welcome comments that contribute to a positive and constructive conversation: be kind…be inclusive…encourage each other…hate speech, bullying, or other unspiritual behavior cancels out a diverse and inclusive community,” Nike wrote.
Nike has recently experienced a general sales upturn, especially after England soccer star Chloe Kelly showed off Nike gear after scoring a goal in the game. World Cup.
Davis pointed to the company’s past treatment of other athletes regarding the clothing Mulvaney wore in the ad.
“Dylan promotes sports bras when there’s nothing to put in a sports bra, when it’s really important for women to have proper support when they play sports. It doesn’t make sense.”
“Allison Felix, a longtime Nike sponsor, is one of the greatest track athletes in the world. Then when Allison got pregnant, something happened to women and they cut her sponsorship by 70%. Women are being done. It’s completely disrespectful these days, especially when physiology is changing so much in the world of sports. will be accommodated.
Caitlyn Jenner He also talked about Mulvaney’s partnership with Nike.
Click here to access the FOX NEWS app
Mulvaney has worked as a comedian, appeared in Broadway plays and has a large social media following. Malvani’s compensation for paid social media posts has not been disclosed publicly.


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Global Sources, a B2B media company that facilitates trade to and from Asia, is teaming up with cross-border eCommerce company Globex to ease friction associated with B2B trade involving China.
In an announcement Wednesday (Dec. 28), the companies revealed their partnership to develop a digital solution to support cross-border trade with China. Their new product will include digital customs declaration and clearance, integration of information pertaining to customs, banking and shipment and support of tax refund applications linked to an exporter’s account.
According to the companies, their goal is to develop an international trading platform that helps businesses gain visibility into all points of the trade process.
“We are committed to supporting the increasingly rapid pace of global trade,” said Global Sources Deputy CEO Craig Pepples in a statement. “Buyers can now use our website to distinguish between products available for OEM manufacture and those available for immediate resale in physical stores or through online sales channels. Our planned new service enables our buyers to take the next step and conclude a transaction for ready-to-order products, vastly shortening their time to market.”
“Our comprehensive eCommerce services, combined with Global Sources’ integrating export marketing offering, aim to provide buyers and suppliers with a more effective and efficient process to conduct trade,” added Shenzhen Globex e-Services General Manager Oliver Wu in a separate statement.


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Despite joining TV's pundits in gaffe-land by noting the certainty of an Alan Shearer goal before the England-Romania debacle, I'm still not through with tipping winners. This time, it's a long-range shot: mobile devices will very shortly be more important than what you currently have hogging desk space in your offices.
OK, so there's been enough hyperbole surrounding mobile computing. Eight years ago, I heard a Toshiba spokesman predict that mobile PCs would be outselling desktops by the year 2000. Here in the 1998 real world, notebooks account for about 21 percent of all UK PC sales and Toshiba has begun offering desktop products. That says it all.
There are still plenty of flaws in the argument for why mobile PCs will replace desktops. One, they're so damn expensive thanks to the incredible integration needed to manufacture these marvels. Two, they still lack the top-end features that the desktops have: giant screens, fastest processors, huge hard drives. Three, they're still too fragile. Four, the smaller formats that are truly totable still demand trade-offs: try typing on Mitsubishi's incredibly thin Pedion or on Toshiba's book-sized Libretto. I'm not saying that there won't always be trade-offs if you want mobile hardware. However, falling prices of TFTs will soon make mobiles cheaper and more attractive. The price of this single most expensive component in a notebook is collapsing as Taiwanese and Korean manufacturers reap the rewards of years of diligent R&D. Look out for usable sub-£1000 notebooks next year. This trend alone will, I believe, push waverers to buy mobile PCs instead of desktops where mobility in computing is desirable.
But the PC isn't where the real mobile action is. That spot is for much smaller devices, including PDAs, smart phones and pagers. That handheld computers are an important and growing part of the enterprise is beyond dispute. Oracle's development plans for Oracle Lite for 3Com's PalmPilot, a database that can suck data from Oracle 8, is just the latest demonstration that these devices have a place in data collection and other key tasks. See also Sybase's Adaptive Anywhere strategy for connecting a wide variety of mobile users, including those using Windows CE-based devices, to its back-end servers.
However, it's the decision of major handset players Motorola, Ericsson and Nokia to license Psion's EPOC 32 operating system that is the historic stage in the development of smart phones, which should create a strong platform for future development. That these companies are publicly backing an operating system that is fast, scalable and here right now is great news for anybody who believes the phone is the obvious place for all the data that is currently sitting on PDAs.
If you need to carry a cellphone then you're already carrying around a decent slab of processing power with a screen. Further, there is a clear development path for GSM and exciting technologies such as Bluetooth for better local connectivity. All the forces are coming together to suggest that the smart phone - not the NC, NetPC or Java terminal - will be the next really important enterprise client. The ability to dial into the Internet, remotely access office work, make voice - or even video - calls is a compelling vision that will eventually make the PDA redundant and make the desktop workstation an increasingly rare sight.


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In a summary trial, Dairy Queen Canada, Inc. (“DQ”) sought relief including damages for passing off, an injunction restraining M.Y. Sundae Inc. and two individual defendants (“Sundae”) from further operation of its franchise and use of the Dairy Queen name and marks, and a declaration that the Franchise Agreement (“FA”) was terminated. Sundae brought a Counterclaim for breach of contract and unfair dealing.
Sundae operated a DQ Grill & Chill, purchased from a prior franchise operator. Sundae agreed to abide by all covenants and obligations of the prior existing FA.
After multiple instances of non-compliance with the FA, DQ notified Sundae in July 2013 that the FA was terminated. After further discussion, the parties signed a Mutual Cancellation and Release (“MCR”) in August 2013, suspending termination of the FA until February 2014, to give Sundae an opportunity to sell the business. Sundae did not cease operation until April 2014.
Sundae argued that DQ coerced it through economic duress into signing an invalid, unenforceable and unconscionable MCR, while DQ claimed the MCR was a complete answer to the Counterclaim, as it contained terms releasing the Plaintiff from all claims, damages and actions against them, and a statement that it was “freely and voluntarily executed” and that the parties “had an opportunity to review the same [terms] with consent”.
The Court agreed with DQ and noted that the MCR was more generous on its face than the FA, allowing the franchisee more time to recoup its investment through sale of the business. The Court found the MCR validly executed and binding, thus barring Sundae from advancing its Counterclaim.
On the issue of passing off, Sundae acknowledged the existence of goodwill in DQ’s trademarks and admitted to continuing operations until April 2014. The Court was satisfied all elements of the tort were met, since Sundae presented itself as a Dairy Queen franchise after the FA was terminated. The Court noted that the damage element of the tort can be supported by the unauthorized use of goodwill alone, and can also be inferred from a loss of control over goodwill. The Court held that Sundae’s conduct interfered with DQ’s goodwill and awarded damages, however the assessment was based on a reduced time frame from that sought by DQ.
The case is available HERE:


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By Dana Mattioli
Stemcentrx Inc., a biotechnology startup backed by PayPal Holdings Inc. co-founder Peter Thiel, is pursuing strategic alternatives including a sale, according to people familiar with the matter.
Stemcentrx is working with investment bank Morgan Stanley on the sale process, the people said. First-round bids were received earlier this month, some of them said.
Late last year, Stemcentrx completed a nearly $250 million financing that valued the South San Francisco company at $5 billion. The company is seeking a premium to that, some of the people said.
Stemcentrx is expected to appeal to some of the largest pharmaceutical companies, especially those with a focus on oncology, one of the people said. It isn’t clear who is participating in the auction.
Stemcentrx is also exploring an initial public offering and partnership deals, some of the people said. There is no guarantee it will ultimately do any such deal.
Write to Dana Mattioli at email@example.com


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We need to reinvent healthcare using everything we know about consumer technology and data processing if we don't want to end up overweight and unhealthy, according to Massive Health's Aza Raskin »
Aza Raskin, head of user experience at Mozilla, is leading a charge to make privacy settings more explicit to users by creating visual cues in the browser »
There are a million guides out there explaining how to survive your first night in the dangerous world of Minecraft, but what do you do after that? »
With its vast tin reserves, the indonesian island of bangka is experiencing a mining rush that has led to environmental damage and human suffering. The cause? global demand for the solder used to make our smartphones and tablets »
There is enough here to make it enjoyable but too many inconsistencies and errors »


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World dairy trade could grow 11% over the next decade. If that comes to fruition, countries around the world would trade an additional 14.2 million metric tons of dairy products.
That projection was made by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Most of this projected growth would come from the United States, the European Union (EU), and New Zealand. All told, these countries would account for 65% all dairy products and dairy ingredients sold throughout the world.
That being said, the United States is expected to be the most dynamic large dairy product exporter, when measured by growth, over the next decade. It will significantly expand skim milk powder exports, revealed the report titled OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2023-2032. To reach this goal, this expansion in skim milk powder exports would have to be met by more drying capacity far beyond the country’s current investments. Another reason skim milk powder will grow in the U.S. is because of the country’s strong demand for milkfats.
The collective 27 countries of the European Union would continue to be the world’s main cheese exporter. However, as a single country, the United States would be the largest stand-alone country and should grow its cheese exports, too. As for the largest cheese importers? The United Kingdom heads the list, followed by Japan, Russia, the European Union, and Saudi Arabia.
Overall, 81% of the world’s milk supply comes from dairy cows. An additional 15% comes from buffalo, with goats, sheep, and camels accounting for the remaining 4%. North America, led by the United States and Canada, has some of the highest milk yields per dairy cow. While herd size is expected to remain unchanged over the next 10 years, growth ultimately will take place because yields per a cow will continue to grow.
Environmental legislation could curb milk growth in some areas. Since greenhouse gas emissions from dairy represent such a high portion of their emissions, New Zealand and Ireland could be hit rather hard on this issue, reported the OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2023-2032.


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A new boutique is scheduled to open in downtown Ypsilanti next month, and it promises to be a bit more than the average retail operation. Vivid Inks will offer intricate, high-end tattoos and piercing services along with clothing, jewelry and other art.
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Tik Tok has announced a program that allows viewers to pay to subscribe to a live broadcast they want to support, live dubbed, and for fans to access privileges such as subscriber-only chat and adoration, the creator and badges that distinguish them from subscribers. Launch It will be launched in beta on May 26, following a post on the TikTok Live Creator page.
Next Page While the poster banner posters for entries participating in subscriber-only shared chats are more opportunity for viewers, a few creators, excited, have also noticed its enrollment scheme,” explains a TikTok demo video.
Making money directly from TikTok (as in without having to make your own sponsorship deals) was a bit tricky in terms of relocating and jumping into The verege for TechCrunch.
It wasn’t until earlier this month that the foundation announced that it would start sharing a portion of ad revenue with Dialogue creators. You can also watch live streams, faces from the creator program, and scenes that appear as in-app currency that you can watch for real money.
It was as simple as it being simple – accounting for financial accounting in a month, and the money goes into the money,
This type of program is familiar to Twitch users, as it has a very similar subscription program.
Sight for TechCrunch, TikTok Live subscriptions will be priced “similar” to Twitch packages, viewing starting at $4.99 per month (although there are tiers up to $24.99 per month).
For a TikTok ad post, you can offer a paid subscription, creators can only offer to subscribe to Beida, unless it has less than 1,000 followers. It also indicates that this is only available, and that is available now.
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gay teen porn,


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Gartner Survey Reveals the Three Top Brand Challenges for Marketing Leaders
Marketing Leaders Report They Struggle With Management, Relevancy and Measurement. Fifty-eight per cent of marketing leaders believe the brand is a critical driver of buyer behaviour for prospects, and 65% believe it is a critical driver of buyer behaviour for existing customers, according to Gartner, Inc. However, the Gartner Brand Survey 2019 revealed that 35% […]
Marketing Leaders Report They Struggle With Management, Relevancy and Measurement.
Fifty-eight per cent of marketing leaders believe the brand is a critical driver of buyer behaviour for prospects, and 65% believe it is a critical driver of buyer behaviour for existing customers, according to Gartner, Inc. However, the Gartner Brand Survey 2019 revealed that 35% of marketers struggle with managing a global brand (see Figure).“Managing a global brand is a complex, multidimensional task,” said Chris Ross, vice president analyst at Gartner. “Even brands that may not see themselves as global are operating in a more tightly connected global ecosystem. As a result, the challenges of being a global brand extend to a large number of marketing leaders today.”Also Read: Top 10 Applications of AI in Marketing
Many marketing leaders also express frustration about keeping the brand relevant and aligned to the changing needs and interests of their target audiences, while demonstrating their brand is tuned in with what is happening in the world.“Brand relevance and resonance can be extremely fluid based on a polarized marketplace, new disruptive business models and ever-changing consumer requirements,” said Ross, adding, “Marketers who want to stay relevant must be highly attuned to their customers, competitors and larger cultural and economic trends.”Also Read: Businesses Anticipate 17% ROI From Digital Transformation Activities Over Next 12 MonthsMarketers are also challenged with accurately tracking their brand investments. Despite technology advancements and the creation of more sophisticated attribution models, not every brand expenditure can be precisely valued.To overcome these challenges and improve brand performance, Gartner recommends that marketing leaders:
Watch for new competitors launching in other parts of the world, and be aware of regional or cultural trends that may impact their category or products — no matter their size or reach. Marketers must find the right balance between maintaining brand consistency while also being responsive and adaptive to individual market needs.
Commit to the ongoing pursuit of relevance by actively monitoring the marketplace to remain tuned into the trends, preferences and cultural factors that shape the collective mindset. It is important marketers have a pulse on how their brands resonate across the environment via their own research, customer insights and diligent measurement and observation of the impact of brand activities.
Measure every brand investment possible, but be open about what can’t be measured. It is critical that marketers be equally ambitious about quantifying brand initiatives and realistic about brand spending that cannot be easily assessed.


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The August read on builder sentiment continued its slow rise to a nine plus year high of 61, up one point from July. The index has been at 60 or more since June and above the tipping point of 50 since July 2014. Components measuring current and future home sales also rose to or remained at new heights not seen since late 2005. The current sales index rose one point to 66 and the expected sales component remained at 70 after rising to that level in July.
Regional indicators (as measured by a three-month moving average) also rose or remained at heightened levels. The Northeast remained at 46; the Midwest rose three points to 58; the South rose two points to 63 and the West rose three points to 63.
Even with the slow rise in confidence, builders continue to face difficulty obtaining lots to build on and labor to build the homes. Prices are rising for both inputs putting some profit squeeze on builders and making it more difficult to build affordable homes for first time buyers. While existing home prices have risen, they have not risen enough to compensate builders for the added supply costs, particularly land. While actual sales prices of new homes have been rising because of the compositional shift, quality constant new home prices have risen less than quality controlled existing home prices. This trend is likely to shift to higher new home prices in order to induce more builders to build.


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Fairytale Brownies is putting on a new face in time for the holiday season. After a months-long rebranding process, working in partnership with Scottsdale branding and development company Lunabrand, Fairytale Brownies is launching its new look online and in print.
Staying true to its "fairytale" roots, the firm's signature character received a makeover and the brand added a new tag line, "A Taste of Pure Enchantment."
The new look is being introduced in the Phoenix firm's holiday catalogs and also can be seen on its Web site. The aim of the rebranding effort is to take the Arizona-grown business to the next level.
Founded in 1992 by David Kravetz and Eileen Spitalny, Fairytale Brownies shipped more than 2 million of its brownies across the country in 2007. This year it expected revenue to exceed $9 million.
For more: www.brownies.com.


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Google’s Nexus 7 marked one of the first marginally successful Android tablets in a sea of devices that were either overly expensive or poorly marketed. Despite attempts from nearly all of Google’s manufacturing partners, there’s been very little to compete with the iPad. As Apple prepares to compete with the Nexus 7 by launching an iPad Mini, Google has partnered with Samsung to release a 10-inch Nexus-branded tablet with a resolution that is much higher than the Retina iPad.
At this time next week, it’s reported that Google will unveil the next in their line of Nexus devices. Included in the announcement, alongside the 32GB Nexus 7 and the unveiling of the LG Nexus 4, will be a 10-inch Nexus-branded tablet. Manufactured by Samsung, the new tablet will pack a 10.1-inch 2560×1600 resolution display and an Exynos 5 processor.
The display is expected to have a density of around 300ppi, making it pretty clear that the target is to use a screen that is superior to the iPad 3’s Retina display. Because Samsung is the manufacturer, the rich colors and deep blacks commonly found on their displays will no doubt be among the key features.
This new Nexus tablet are said to run Android 4.2 with a UI that has been modified from the original 10-inch tablet found in Android 3.0. One of the key features to the tablet will be the multiple sign in feature, allowing for multiple users to have accounts on the device. A guest mode will also be available, which will allow someone who is not signed in to use the tablet without access to any of the personal apps and private settings. Guest users will have the ability to download apps, but their data and settings are removed as soon as the guest account is logged out.
The big missing detail for this tablet is price, which has historically been an issue for 10.1-inch Android devices. If this new Nexus tablet isn’t able to compete with Apple in pricing, the tablet will more than likely join the ranks of the Android devices no one remembers.


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The president’s letter in the January-February edition of the Michigan Beer and Wine Wholesalers newsletter suggests that association members are not primarily motivated by economic self-interest, but are merely active supporters of public safety. He then offered to sell the Mackinac Bridge to potential buyers at an excellent price.
OK, just kidding about the bridge. But the absurdity of the “disinterestedness” suggestion was indirectly revealed in the president’s letter, writing on a state of Washington effort to privatize the state’s liquor control regime and reform beer and wine distribution by repealing that state’s distributor monopoly. Reportedly, the initiative was financially supported by Costco and other retailers. Costco also allowed petitioners to gather ballot-access petition signatures on its properties.
The Michigan Beer and Wine Wholesalers president wrote, “As is often the case lately, beer and wine distributors stood shoulder to shoulder with state regulators and public safety officials to help defeat this glaring example of corporate greed.”
That’s rich coming from the head of an organization that exists only because the state has assured its members lucrative distribution monopolies that cost consumers and taxpayer millions of dollars.
According to Meininger’s Wine Business International, in 2007 Costco Wholesale Corp. was the world’s largest seller of fine wines. It earned that status by purchasing high quality goods in volume and passing the savings on to customers. In contrast, Michigan’s beer and wine wholesalers acquire much of their profits by getting the government to prohibit potential competitors.
Those monopoly profits come at the expense of consumers, and yes, also at the expense of retailers, who might add to their bottom line if the beer and wine distribution monopoly was broken. Or maybe not: Unlike monopolists, they operate in a competitive environment, and the store down the street might promote a “Broke the Monopoly” sale, forcing outfits like Costco to lower their own prices.
That’s the kind of thing that makes a free people prefer competition to monopoly, and makes voters irritated when legislators take those benefits away by preserving archaic laws that grant monopoly favors to politically active special interests. Especially special interests that add insult to injury with pious remarks about standing “shoulder to shoulder” with government officials in the name of "public safety."
Like every other special interest that seeks riches in the political arena rather than providing value in competitive markets, the beer and wine wholesalers in Michigan and in other states with similar monopolies don’t check their self-interest at the state capitol door. Indeed, there’s a reason why the families that own these distributorships are called “The Millionaires Club.”
Permission to reprint this blog post in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author (or authors) and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy are properly cited.
Permission to reprint any comments below is granted only for those comments written by Mackinac Center policy staff.


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TOKYO (TR) – Following a deluge of complaints, a large Tokyo-based travel agency has canceled a promotion in which customers could travel in the presence of “Beautiful Girls” from the nation’s top university, the company announced on its Web site on Wednesday.
H.I.S., which is based in Shinjuku Ward, offered an apology for any “uncomfortable feelings” that may have resulted from the promotion, which offered winners of a drawing the chance to travel with one of five female students, studying various fields, from the University of Tokyo.
The move follows a surge of claims on social media, according to the Asahi Shimbun (May 12), that the promotion is “vulgar” and a form of “sexual harassment.”
All of the students are featured in “The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Beautiful Girls of the University of Tokyo,” a book produced by a club at the university that shows the students doing a number of activities, including strumming a shamisen and posing beneath cherry blossoms.
Since it first went at sale at the university’s “May Festival” in 2014, the book has proved to be a huge hit. After the initial run of 300 copies sold out quickly that year, the club upped the number to 1,000 at the festival the following year.
Under the promotion, travelers were to be able to “be seated next to one of the girls” on a flight to an overseas destination. The companion would also convey information connected to their field of study about the destination and points of interest.
“The concept was (for the customer) to pass the time in the cabin of the aircraft in a fun and meaningful way,” a representative of H.I.S. is quoted by NHK (May 12), “but this has given rise to a misunderstanding. We took everyone’s opinions seriously and decided to cancel the promotion.”


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AMSTERDAM — Ahold here yesterday said it has reorganized its business in the U.S. and Europe to better focus on local market nuances and growth opportunities.
The company divided its Stop & Shop operations into two divisions based on geography — Stop & Shop New England and Stop & Shop Metro New York — creating a total of four U.S. divisions, including Giant-Landover and Giant-Carlisle.
Carl Schlicker, who had been chief executive officer of Stop & Shop and Giant-Landover, was named CEO of all four U.S. divisions.
Sander van der Laan, who had been CEO of Giant-Carlisle, will return to the Netherlands to become general manager of Ahold’s Albert Heijn chain, effective in January, 2010. A successor to head Giant-Carlisle will be named in the near future, Ahold said.
Other changes in the U.S. include:
- Robin Michel, formerly general manager, Giant-Landover, has been named president of that division.
- Mark McGowan, formerly senior vice president, sales and operations, Stop & Shop, has been named president of the new Shop & Shop New England division.
- Ron Onorato, formerly SVP, sales and operations, Stop & Shop, was named president of the new Stop & Shop Metro New York division.
- Bill Holmes, most recently executive vice president and general manager of sales and operations, Stop & Shop, was named EVP, retail operations development.
In addition, these executives were named to lead the combined core functions at Ahold USA:
- John Bussinger, formerly EVP of human resources, Giant-Carlisle, was named EVP, organizational development, Ahold USA, to help transition to the new structure.
- Tom Hippler remains EVP and general counsel Paula Labian remains EVP, human resources.
- Jeff Martin becomes EVP, merchandising and marketing.
- Paula Price remains EVP and chief financial officer.
- Don Sussman becomes EVP, supply chain.
Read More of Today's Headlines


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Despite the fact that Hillary Clinton called the retail giant a “mixed blessing” in Saturday’s debate, Wal-Mart is unquestionably good for both America’s economy and America’s people. The discount super-store is unfairly singled out as the symbol of “corporate America” and all of its evils.
In reality, Wal-Mart’s greatest evil is its own success, which has made the company subject to the forces of union politics and has allowed politicians, ideologues and academics to capitalize on the retailer as a political asset as an effective scapegoat for haters. Although in the age of globalization and Enron, a degree of corporate distrust may be warranted, in this case it is certainly misdirected.
How does Wal-Mart generate its millions? By constituting such a huge market share, Wal-Mart is the only retailer capable of delivering the products and services they do at the low prices that make them affordable to the low- and middle-income individuals the company caters to. To blame the corporation for its decision to continue improving itself and its efforts to achieve its aim fully and efficiently is to spit on the American dream.
Further proof of its virtue comes in health care. The retailer has just announced its plans to install health clinics for low- and middle-income families in its stores. By 2014, the company plans to be running about 2,000 such clinics, offering a range of services at low prices with high efficiency and uncompromised quality.
Now, it is true: Profit is a motive. And it should be. It is not wrong for individuals with bright ideas to be rewarded for their efforts. The desire for profit does not negate the positive effect a company, entity or individual can have. The CEOs at Wal-Mart and many other successful companies are being handsomely rewarded, it is true… but so are the millions of people who can now afford a wealth of consumer goods that were previously out of their price range or mobility range.
For as much as you have undoubtedly heard of their unfair labor practices or poor benefits, you must also acknowledge that the company is the largest, private-sector employer in the history of the world.
Furthermore, a new study by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that Wal-Mart is actually having a substantial effect on keeping inflation down, by as much as 15 percent or more. The study also concluded that about 12 percent of the economy’s productivity gains in the second half of the 1990s could be traced to Wal-Mart alone.
People who bought their groceries from the store – which accounts for about 20 percent of grocery sales – saved an average of 17 percent. A McKinsey & Company study determined that Wal-Mart saves shoppers as a whole more than $200 billion – an amount that far surpasses the benefits from federal programs like the Food Stamp Program, which provided $30.2 billion in fiscal year 2006, and the Earned Income Tax Credit, which provided $34.6 billion in 2005. These programs are aimed at the same constituency that Wal-Mart benefits most.
Could John Kerry have meant “success” when he stated in 2004 that Wal-Mart represents everything that is wrong with America? If this information comes at all as a surprise to you, you must consider whose leash the Democratic candidates are on – the unions. Because the grocery store unions are among the strongest, it makes more sense that in having to compete with Wal-Mart, they have become resentful of the massive retailer and they have not hesitated to convey that resentment to the folks in office who do their bidding.
We are educated individuals, so let’s stop playing “Blame Wal-Wart.” Wal-Mart has never put another company out of business. Never. We, as consumers, must bear responsibility for any such occurrences when we choose to pay less at Wal-Mart than next door. You need not feel too guilty, however, because according to McKinsey & Co., for every 50 retail jobs Wal-Mart might cost an area, it generates 100 more.


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Audiosurf II tweaks its signature style with a new game mechanic that’s sure to be polarizing.
It's another step towards Xbox assuming Microsoft's all-encompassing entertainment brand, but don't expect this to open the achievement point floodgates if you're on non-Windows systems.
The man who helped make Myst talked about working on a new project during an IndieCade talk.
Valve Software has revealed that 300 lucky beta testers will receive Steam Machines in a variety of configurations -- all based upon Nvidia graphics hardware.
The leading men of GTA V comment on the controversies surrounding the game.
Ron Gilbert's The Cave is out on iOS, which is pretty great. Hey, Stardock is here too!
Sony's PlayStation 4's lower price will help it to outsell Microsoft's upcoming Xbox One during the year-end holiday season, according to IDC.
Steam's Early Access has encouraged a slew of developers to take the beta-release route for quick cash. This may not be the best idea.
The game Hover! was originally bundled with Windows 95, and puts players in the seat of a hovercraft on a 3D map.
Nvidia's Battleboxes are the polar opposites of Valve's Steam Machines: big, bulky, and unabashedly high-end.


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#MONDAYMOOD: things we love and things you should know about this week
It's Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, and we're here to get you in that #mondaymood. Here's some things we're loving and some things we think you should know about this week - one for each day to be exact.
We woke up to some heartbreaking news this morning - the deadliest mass shooting in US history just occurred in Las Vegas, Nevada last night. A gunman opened fire from the 32nd floor of his hotel room after a country festival killing at least 50 people and leaving over 500 injured. Our hearts are heavy, and our thoughts and prayers are with Las Vegas and the rest of the world.
The new pumpkin loaf at Starbucks is the perfect pairing with your #PSL. Fall is officially here, all and we're praising Starbucks for coming out with this banana bread-like masterpiece. Once you try it, you will too.
The fall weather is finally here too, which means its time to pull out that fall wardrobe. Time for cozy sweaters, leather jackets, cute booties, fun layers... the list goes on. Correct us if we’re wrong, but fall fashion is the best fashion. Kaylee of The Blondielocks, seems just as excited as we are. We're swooning over this adorable look!
Downey’s Farm, located just outside Toronto, ON., is now officially open for the fall season and it should definitely be on your October bucket list. Check out this adorable vintage barn pumpkins.
Coffee's the world's most sustainable plant? It could be. Amazing non-profit Organizations like Conservation International are working to make it so. Search #sustaincoffee to find out more!
About that PSL... Well + Good had Lily Kunin of Clean Food Dirty City whip them up a healthy version that we're dying to try.
In light of all the senseless violence that's been happening in the world, we appreciate Teen Vogue publishing this article about how to take care of yourself after witnessing disaster. If you're experiencing any difficulties, both mentally and emotionally, after any one or all of the recent incidents, take a minute to read it.


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Havas Media study determines world's most meaningful brands
If 77% of all brands disappeared tomorrow, people would be indifferent. However, 76% of people believe brands to be essential to their livelihoods, at least in some capacity.
Havas Media, a division of the global marketing and communications group Havas, has recently completed the first phase of their ongoing study entitled ‘Meaningful Brands’ with the goal of determining how brands tangibly improve people’s lives and the role brands play in society. Havas Media defines a meaningful brand as one which has an impact on both our personal and collective well beings, in addition to offering functional benefits.
What Havas Media ascertained from this contradiction is the brands that people deem ancillary to their lives are those that produce high quality content, which accounts for only 55% of all content. Havas Media says great content ought to inspire, entertain, educate, inform, help and reward the consumer, otherwise the brand cannot make a strong connection with its audience.
To gather the most helpful data pertaining to content effectiveness, Havas Media incorporated brands from 22 industries to analyse any quality consistencies within a subset of branding. The automotive, electronics and travel industries are the ones with the highest amount of excellent content, while the energy, restaurant and insurance agencies struggle the most with developing outstanding content.
Havas Media underscores the importance of a brand making a connection with their consumers, as it is in the brand’s best interest to do so. Havas does this most strikingly by showcasing the fact of meaningful brands boasting more than double the percentage of repurchase intent among clients than brands that aren’t meaningful. This is great news for companies such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW, both of which are among the top ten most meaningful brands, as the companies can expect consumers to remain loyal to their products. The equivalent metric for free brands would be revisit intent, and it comes as no surprise that Google, the most meaningful brand in the world according to the report, would have such a high revisit rate.
The study commenced in 2008, and featured research involving more than 350,000 citizens across 31 markets.


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Bethesda has a number of big games coming out before the end of the year, and maybe even a smaller one we don't know about yet.
In an interview with Tek Syndicate, Bethesda marketing guy Pete Hines mentioned that Skyrim Switch, Wolfenstein 2, The Evil Within 2, Quake Champions, and Dishonored Death of the Outsider were all still due out this year from his company.
Then he said this: "We even have a game coming out this year that we haven't even told anyone about yet. They can wait, it won't be so long."
He wouldn't say whether the game was a new IP or not. (Skip to 2.40 in the video below to hear the conversation.)
Hines later poured cold water on his own statement: "I probably just had a concussion from the beating I took online and was rambling. Ignore."
I probably just had a concussion from the beating I took online and was rambling. Ignore.— Pete Hines (@DCDeacon) September 6, 2017


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An 83-year-old woman with a badly infected lower jaw had the entire thing replaced with a 3D printed titanium/bioceramic replica. The surgery was performed by doctors from the University of Hasselt (Belgium) in collaboration with Dutch surgeons.
The 3D printer prints titanium powder layer by layer, while a computer controlled laser ensures that the correct particles are fused together. Using 3D printing technology, less materials are needed and the production time is much shorter than traditional manufacturing. The mandible was finally given a bioceramic coating compatible with the patient's tissue by BioCeramics in Leiden. The artificial jaw weighs 107 grams, it is only 30 grams heavier than a natural jaw, but the patient can easily get used to it.
The operation was performed in June last year in the hospital in Sittard-Geleen. One day later the lady could start talking and swallowing.
A better understanding how a sperm swims its way toward an egg could help inform new treatments for male infertility. Researchers from the University of York have now come up with a mathematical formula to model how large numbers of moving sperm interact with fluid they’re swimming through. From the University: By analysing the head […]
Dr Gale Ridge is a public entomologist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, where an average of 23 people a day call, write or visit; an increasing proportion of them aren’t inquiring about actual insects, they’re suffering from delusional parasitosis, and they’re desperate and even suicidal.
The Raspberry Pi Foundation has done outstanding work packing a fully capable desktop computer into a package the size of a deck cards—especially one that only costs $35. But if you already have a working laptop, why should you care? Oh, how much you have to learn. Besides operating well as a compact digital media hub, […]
Custom coffee vessels are the perfect piece of office flair, but it’s just a matter of time before your VOTE FOR PEDRO mug will start to lose its relevant wit. Why not have a new one every day, with whatever silly nonsense you want sticking off the sides? You can save big on your novelty […]
The Lightning port has thus far resisted the cruel fate that befell the headphone jack, and despite rumors that it may be disappearing come iPhone 8, for the present and foreseeable future, Lightning cables are a hot commodity for iPhone users. As such, we must make do in this strange time in which long, glorified […]


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Marketers have faced challenges in finding jobs in the past, but 2013 could be significantly different for many qualified professionals. For example, Fortune Magazine noted that digital marketing could be a popular area for companies this year, and job growth in this sector may lead to more opportunities for marketers in the United States.??
Digital marketing allows businesses to reach target audiences through online platforms such as email??and social networking. The growing web-based audience could provide numerous marketing opportunities to companies and help a variety of firms enhance their outreach.??
Meanwhile, digital marketing professionals possess skills that could make them attractive to employers. These specialists can effectively use the internet to deliver content to a wide range of audiences and provide insight into what it takes to develop effective marketing plans.??
Additionally, digital marketing could affect the U.S. economy by helping companies grow. Businesses that invest in hiring and training digital marketing specialists can promote various goods and services, which could help these firms expand. The overall impact on the U.S. economy could be substantial, as marketing firms may help companies become more efficient and productive.
Content provided by executive search organization, MRINetwork.


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When El Salvador President Nayib Bukele made the controversial decision to make Bitcoin legal tender in his country, many people were skeptical and concerned about the potential risks.
Bukele announced on Twitter that the country would purchase one Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) each day starting Nov. 18, 2022. How is that going in 2023? The latest news out of El Salvador suggests that the government’s bet on cryptocurrency is paying off.
According to Treasury Minister Alejandro Zelaya, the government has successfully repaid one of two outstanding $800 million bonds. This move is likely to allay concerns about a potential default, which had grown amid the country’s adoption of Bitcoin.
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Zalaya announced the news via Twitter on Jan. 23, highlighting the government’s commitment to meeting its debt obligations and proving the skeptics wrong. Bukele tweeted, “Well, we just paid in full 800 million dollars plus interest. But of course, almost no one is covering the story.”
The government still owes $367 million plus interest on an additional bond set to mature in January 2025, but the successful repayment of the 2023 bond is a positive sign for the country’s financial stability.
The small Central American country made headlines in 2021. The legislation required all businesses within the country to accept Bitcoin as a form of payment for goods and services, granting it the same status as traditional fiat currencies.
Chivo Wallet, the wallet created by the government of El Salvador, said 2.2 million Salvadorans were onboarded just one month after Bitcoin became the country’s legal tender. To encourage adoption, every user who successfully downloaded the app immediately received $30 in Bitcoin. By early 2022, about half of Salvadorans had downloaded the app.
The “Bitcoin bet” has been met with mixed reactions from international organizations and governments, with many expressing their concerns about potential risks that may arise from the use of cryptocurrency. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently issued a statement on El Salvador’s decision to accept Bitcoin as legal tender, cautioning against potential risks associated with such adoption.
Although there have not been any significant risks thus far following El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin, they noted it’s important for authorities to be vigilant when providing government exposure to digital assets. According to the statement, crypto markets are still largely speculative and unpredictable in nature and should be approached with caution for El Salvador’s economy to be safeguarded against potential losses.
The IMF also highlighted the importance of transparency when dealing with cryptocurrency transactions and emphasized that it is crucial for regulators to ensure they remain compliant with anti-money laundering laws and regulations. It advised El Salvador to develop effective regulatory frameworks aimed at mitigating financial stability risks associated with cryptocurrency use.
El Salvador appears undeterred by the IMF’s recommendations. In January, its congress approved a digital securities law, paving the way for the country to raise funds through the issuance of the world’s first sovereign blockchain bond. The law allows for the use of blockchain technology in the issuance, trading and clearing of securities, enabling greater efficiency and transparency in the process. The additional step forward for the country could potentially attract investment from tech-savvy investors looking for new opportunities in the cryptocurrency market.
El Salvadorian Prosperity in a time of uncertainty
While the U.S. market faces uncertainty around banking and a general decline in U.S. equities, El Salvador’s bet looks to be paying off. While El Salvador began buying Bitcoin at a significant premium to the current price, they also announced a purchase of 80 Bitcoin at a price around the $19,000 mark in July of 2022. They have also committed to purchasing one Bitcoin per day, every day since November of 2022. At the time, the price of Bitcoin was below $16,000. Roughly 126 days have passed since then meaning the company is still pouring millions into the digital currency, despite the controversy, much of which has been at a steep discount to it’s current price of over $28,000.
Many aspects of the blockchain-based asset market have began to rebound. Gamestop Corp.’s NFT marketplace has seen a considerable boom. Some of the top NFT projects on the platform have seen volume booms as high as 21,446%.
Similarly, leading NFT marketplace startup Gameflip recently crossed $900,000 raised from retail investors in their active equity crowdfunding raise. This comes after their announcement of hitting $160 million in lifetime volume on the platform earlier this month and a host of other milestones.
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