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When it comes to ramping up pick-up services, Walmart Inc. (WMT - Free Report) leaves no stone unturned to travel that extra mile. This is evident from the company’s recent stride to expand pickup tower facilities to additional brick-and-mortar stores. The company plans to install giant pick-up kiosks in 500 additional stores by the end of 2018, which will lead to the availability of such services in 700 stores. The new towers will be equipped with extra features such as pickup lockers.
With Walmart’s pickup towers, consumers can collect their online orders from stores in less than a minute. This will allow them to save cost of shipping and time. Management states that consumers’ response toward pickup towers was quite overwhelming since its introduction in 2016, which led the company to expand such facilities to more stores. Moreover, adhering to popular demand, this recent expansion will include the added feature of pickup lockers, where consumers can collect bigger-sized merchandise as well.
Well, such efforts offer better competing grounds for Walmart against online behemoth Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) , which has been expanding rapidly in the online delivery space. Since Walmart has a strong brick-and-mortar presence, its pickup towers are likely to strengthen its position in the Amazon-dominated retail space. Further, Walmart plans to install pickup towers equipped with refrigeration systems for delivering grocery and perishable items. Like Walmart, companies such as Target (TGT - Free Report) and Kroger (KR - Free Report) , have also been undertaking several initiatives to improve delivery services. This indicates that companies are rapidly transforming their operating models to suit the needs of consumers’ tech-driven lifestyle.
In addition to providing seamless deliveries to consumers, cost savings are also a vital incentive, driving Walmart to strengthen pickup in-store services. Well, the company incurs lower charges when it ships items to its stores compared with transporting them to consumers’ residences. Such savings enable the company to provide additional discounts to consumers.
Walmart’s zealous initiatives in the delivery services realm has been quite a treat for consumers seeking fast and easy shopping facilities. Earlier efforts in this respect include acquisition of Parcel, Inc., which is a last-mile delivery service and specializes in same-day delivery for perishable and non-perishable products. Other than this, the company’s Walmart Pickup program enables customers to place orders online and then pick them up at a store for free. In earlier developments, Walmart partnered with ride hailing services Uber and Lyft for speedy online grocery deliveries. Moreover, Walmart’s online ordering process are backed by efficient payment systems like Walmart2World.
Indeed, such laudable efforts have placed this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company in investors’ good books. Evidently, the company’s shares have gained 17.5% in the past year, while the industry rallied 13.5%. Clearly, Walmart’s relentless endeavors in its quest to build a robust omnichannel empire keeps stakeholders excited and boosts their optimism. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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Aston Martin’s new sports car ‘Aston Martin Vantage’ launched in India
The British Luxury Automotive Brand Aston Martin has launched its new sports car model “Aston Martin Vantage‘ in India with a price of Rs 2.86 crores (ex-showroom).
Aston Martin has launched its new DB 11 Model in India in 2016 and now it is planning to increase the market in India by launching new models in the next few years.
As India is one of the important markets which has potential to grow and emphasize our brand in this market so we are planning to increase our presence here’ said Nancy Chen (Sales Operations Manager of South and Southeast Asia.
Talking about the design, Nancy Chen Said, The new Vantage has a Sharper, Vibrant Look and Dynamic Edge. it is heavily inspired by the flagship model DB11 and hyper Vulcan.
It has a full leather interior with sports seats made with Balmoral or Caithness leather, and the center console comes with a new touchscreen display unit.
The front and rear sides of vantage are newly designed, Vantage also has a front splitter which directs airflow towards the rear diffuser.
It comes with High Powered 4-litre twin turbo v8 engine which produces 503bhp of peak power and 685nm of peak torque and it comes with eight-speed automatic transmission gear system which gives a speed of 0 to 62mph (100kmph) in 3.6 seconds and a speed of up to 195 mph (315kmph) which gives you raw athleticism and enticing performance feel.
It comes with three driving modes-Sport, Sports+ and Track with adjustable suspension.
The New Vantage is price starts from Euro 120,900 in the UK and in India it is priced around Rs 2.86 crores (ex-showroom).
Currently, Aston Martin has two dealerships in India-Delhi and Mumbai.
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- Ferrari Portofino launched in India at a price of Rs 3.5 crore

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PARIS — “Together we’re moving to a new reality, a day when home sharing is embraced by every city around the planet,” said Belinda Johnson, Airbnb’s chief business affairs and legal officer, on stage at the Airbnb Open on Thursday.
The thousands of Airbnb "hosts" filling this auditorium, here from more than 100 countries around the world, greeted the regulatory prediction with thunderous applause.
To hear the company tell it, the battles Airbnb has faced in cities and states around the world have not been a result of the company’s disregard of local laws — but instead a misunderstanding.
“People say, 'I don’t want strangers in my building. I don’t want Airbnb in my neighborhood,'” said CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky during the event's keynote. “They do not understand us."
The concepts of “us” — as in Airbnb hosts and fans — and “they” — as in politicians, regulators and really anyone who does not believe in this company-as-lifestyle — was a recurring theme during the keynote at the second annual conference for hosts, held this year in Paris.
— Airbnb (@Airbnb) November 12, 2015
Paris now has the most listings on the service than any other city in the world, which was highlighted by the city's deputy mayor in charge of tourism, Jean-François Martin, who also spoke during the keynote. Martin was a visible reminder that, despite previous disputes, Airbnb has won over Paris officials.
The company’s recent initiatives, including the announcement this week that Airbnb will pay local hotel taxes and work with policymakers, as opposed to against them, sound like an acknowledgement that previous approaches have been too antagonistic. However, the acknowledgement comes with a side of hubris.
“Home sharing is a big idea,” Chris Lehane, Airbnb’s head of public policy and former Clinton White House staffer, said to the Open audience. “So big that no army could ever really stop it. You are on the side of history.”
Do you hear that, policymakers? Airbnb is going to work with you — whether you like it or not.
The message and the reality
There is little room for debate at the Open at Paris' Parc de la Villette, as these thousands of Airbnb superhosts are the choir and they clearly enjoy the preaching.
"I hope that people when they see Airbnb they understand it’s not about a space, it’s about a host," said Chesky, again to applause. "Being a host, I think a lot of times, we’re misunderstood. Not only are we sometimes misunderstood, sometimes we are even attacked."
— Laurie McDonald (@LaurieMcDonald) November 12, 2015
Super crazy excited about #AirbnbOpen in Paris this week. So many interesting sessions! Hosting tips, safety, even making towel animals. :)
— April Rinne (@aprilrinne) November 9, 2015
The hosts, including the approximately 5,000 gathered in the Grande Halle during the morning's keynote, are more than revenue generators: They are how Airbnb expects to win over the many local and regional municipalities where "home sharing" is contentious.
Indeed, the hosts represent the image that Airbnb would like everyone to see: Honest, individual, friendly and welcoming people who are not running large businesses or illegal hotels, but who have opened their own homes to travelers in order to grow a global community — oh, and maybe make some money, too.
For a company valued at $24 billion, the topic of money is complicated.
Chesky and other company representatives tout the ability of the service to help hosts stay in their own homes; there is a clear attempt to get on the same side as affordable housing advocates: “Affordable housing is in the roots of our company," said Chesky. "In the sense that Joe (Gebbia) and I had a house that we couldn’t afford, so we started Air Bed and Breakfast."
"We don’t want to be part of the problem. We want to be, and we think we are, part of the solution.”
But what is left unaddressed is that if so many people are renting out their homes to supplement their income, perhaps it is not about opening their hearts to travelers: Perhaps it is economic necessity: in major cities like New York and San Francisco and Paris, a desperate grasp at remaining in a middle class.
What is also left unaddressed is the issue of entire home rentals. In Paris, the most popular city on the service, 93% of hosts have only one listing, according to the company — a statistic they say proves the point that hosts are regular people. But 84.1% of listings in the city are entire home rentals, according to independent Airbnb data collection site Inside Airbnb.
Where are all those regular people going while their entire apartments are being rented to tourists?
Airbnb seems to want to be something other than what it is.
It isn’t that the ideal — a global community of travelers who care more about turning strangers into friends than making a buck — doesn’t exist: It does, but there are no clear statistics on how many hosts are meeting with visitors, showing them new cities through a local's eyes, and ensuring that tourists are as respectful of neighborhoods as most locals are. The reality in cities, states and countries around the world is much more complicated, impacted by local economies and housing markets, and by the individual circumstances of the more than 1 million hosts on the global platform.
Can an ideal win over policymakers while the larger data set makes for uneasy questions?
Airbnb hopes so — and it hopes its superhosts can win some of the battles for themselves.
After last week's regulatory victory in San Francisco, the company announced a plan for hosts to organize into 100 Home Sharing Clubs in 100 cities in 2016, in order to lobby for regulations more amenable to what Airbnb offers.
Some of the groups have already formed, and many of the regulatory battles — at least in larger cities like Amsterdam and Portland — have already provided early victories. But as Johnson, Airbnb's chief business affairs and legal officer, said, there's a long way to go.
"Our company is different from most companies," Chesky said in a (very brief) press briefing at the Open. "Our product at the end of the day isn't technology. Our technology is a platform. What we actually offer are our hosts."
At the event, company officials spoke to the audience of hosts about how the matter at hand is one of understanding, about how explaining "home sharing" can open doors to regulatory acceptance, and that the Airbnb Open is not about the platform, it's all about the hosts.
Airbnb needs them.


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Abu Dhabi: Slaughter-free meat is finally starting to make the jump from the lab to the factory line.
As Singapore becomes the first country to allow the sale of cultured meat, more startups around the world are preparing to test production of lab-grown meats like beef and chicken in factories. While there’s a long way to go, it’s a crucial step in getting cell-based products ready for supermarket shelves.
Mosa Meat BV, started by cultured meat pioneer Mark Post, is among at least eight companies building or operating pilot sites. The Dutch company, which made the world’s first cultivated beef burger, has been raising funds for those efforts and plans to upgrade small-scale output in the first half of next year, before moving to a full industrial site as early as the end of 2022.
“We proved already in 2013 that we can make a hamburger,” Mosa Chief Executive Officer Maarten Bosch said in an interview. “Now it’s all about scaling up and getting the cost where it should be. That’s exactly what this phase is all about.”
Lab-meat startups have grown from a handful in 2016 to at least 60 now, according to consultant Lux Research Inc. The sector wants to make production more humane and environmentally sustainable and has attracted record venture-capital funding this year. Just last week, Singapore approved Eat Just Inc. to sell cultured chicken, at a time when interest in alternative proteins is growing.
There are still lots of challenges — from cutting high costs and making large-scale production feasible to winning regulatory approval. With cultivated meat costing $400 to $2,000 a kilogram (2.2 pounds) to make, there’s still a long way until prices compete with conventional meats, according to Lux.
“Economies of scale are likely to help lower the cost in years to come,” said Harini Venkataraman, a Lux analyst in Amsterdam. “That is why these pilot plants are such important milestones.”
The cell-based meat market is projected to reach $140 billion in the next decade, according to forecasts compiled by Blue Horizon Corp. AG, which invests in alternative proteins.
Startups announcing test plants include Memphis Meats Inc., which has received backing from Richard Branson and Tyson Foods Inc., as well as cell-based seafood maker BlueNalu Inc. Companies such as BioTech Foods, SuperMeat and Eat Just already have started testing out sites.
“It’s not a question whether this is feasible,” said Ido Savir, CEO of SuperMeat, which has started a test kitchen for cultured chicken in Israel. “It’s a question of how long it will take us to go from a pilot setting, where we’re at, to a commercial scale. Things are becoming very exciting now.”- Bloomberg
Also read: Chicken created in a lab to go on sale in Singapore, a first in the world


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Realme’s new smartphone, The Realme C17, has been listed on Geekbench 5. It might just be the latest addition to the Realme C series family. However, the company itself hasn’t announced the launching of the phone as of yet.
Recently, Realme has been releasing new budget-friendly phones in the C series rather quickly. The most recent ones have been the Realme C12 and the Realme C15. The Realme C17 is going to be the latest addition to the family and will arrive in a few weeks.
Realme C17 Features, Price and Launch Date
The phone is going to support Android 10 and has 6 GB of RAM according to the listing. The listing also mentioned a couple of other phone specifications including its SoC; the Qualcomm Snapdragon 460.
You can find the phone on the Geekbench listing under the model number RMX2101. A device with the same model number has also been seen on a certification website that made some indications towards it being sold as The Realme C17.
The Realme C12 was priced at Rs. 8,999 while the Realme C15 was priced at Rs. 9,999 at the time of their launch. If the Realme C17 follows the same trend, it will cost a little more than its predecessors. They may also launch a cheaper variant of the phone with lower RAM to make sure that the phone is affordable for most people.
We also speculate that this smartphone will have a 6,000mAh battery like the previously launched handsets Realme C12 and C15.
You can subscribe us to get all the news directly in your mail box (We don’t spam in any condition). Else you can also like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter or Instagram to all the hot news of the technology world on your feed/timeline.


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WSJ: Apple will launch its Web TV service in September with more than 25 channels.Apple: TV subscriptions from September
After introducing Apple Watch and the new MacBook Air,Apple is preparing to launch other news for its customers. Apparently, in fact, Apple may launch a pay TV service in September with over 25 channels: only in the USA or also in Europe?
Here are all the details leaked on the net so far on new Web TV service that Apple could launch in the coming months.
At the moment we don't have much information about Apple's Web TV, but we only know that Apple may enter the pay-TV market in September, proposing an alternative to the US cable broadcasters.
The news was leaked online since The Wall Street Journal, according to which the Cupertino company would be ready to launch a service of about 25 channels to watch in streaming on Apple devices, to compete with Amazon, Netflix and everyone else.
The service will certainly work in the USA, but we still don't know anything about support regarding Europe. Apple's Web TV service will probably come to us too, but only in the future. For now, in fact, Apple has signed agreements with American companies to offer this service in the States, but it seems that there are no agreements with European broadcasters.
Always according to the first details, Apple's Web TV platform offers approximately 25 channelsat a price of 30-40 dollars per month, a figure that is not exactly cheap but in any case similar to normal overseas pay stations. Compared to the competition, however, Apple will offer high definition streaming technologies,far better in quality than the classic cable TV.
This Web TV would be integrated into Apple TV, which already supports the possibility of subscribing to monthly subscriptions, and would also be usable on iPhone and iPad.
ABC, CBS and Fox will support Apple's project as for Web TV, but not all American entertainment greats will be part of this project: NBCUniversal and others, in fact, have not yet entered into agreements with the Cupertino company.
Obviously for now we have no confirmation from Cupertino on this project, n on the possible extension in Europe, but we know very well that when the WSJ launches noises of this type it is hardly wrong.
The technology giant is in talks with programmers to offer a slimmed-down bundle of TV networks this fall, according to people familiar with the matter. The service would have about 25 channels, anchored by broadcasters such as ABC, CBS and Fox, and would be available on Apple devices such as the Apple TV, they said.
Apple's new Web TV service is expected to be unveiled in June, however, therefore we have to wait only 2-3 months to understand if it is a concrete project or just a rumor. We will update you as soon as we have more news.
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Bangladesh is a key market for PepsiCo
AT A GLANCE
- Bangladesh is a strategic market for PepsiCo
- Transcom is a trusted partner with PepsiCo for over 20 years
- Transcom is one of the best partnerships globally
- PepsiCo will continue to invest together with its partner in Bangladesh
- Pep+ is the strategic end-to-end transformation initiative with sustainability
- PepsiCo is extremely proud of the footprint that it has in Bangladesh
- PepsiCo is also scaling up snacks business locally, in partnership with Transcom
- PepsiCo is going to produce Lay's potato chips locally in Bangladesh
Eugene Willemsen, Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo for Africa, Middle East and South Asia, was in Dhaka last week on an official visit. During his stay, he talked to The Daily Star's Senior Reporter Refayet Ullah Mirdha.
DS: How important is the Bangladesh market for you? And where does it lie in the global scheme of things?
Willemsen: Bangladesh is one of our key markets because it's a market that has tremendous potential given the large population and economic development that the country has witnessed, especially in the last decade. The country has seen phenomenal economic growth and development.
It's also a market where we're keen to further scale up our business in partnership with Transcom. We signed the first agreement with Latifur Rahman, founder chairman and CEO of Transcom Group, back in March 2000. So, we're now partners for more than 22 years. We see the partnership with Transcom as one of our best partnerships globally. And we're very keen to build on this great foundation and scale up our business together with the Transcom family.
It's also a market where we're keen to further scale up our business in partnership with Transcom. We signed the first agreement with Latifur Rahman, founder chairman and CEO of Transcom Group, back in March 2000. So, we're now partners for more than 22 years.
DS: PepsiCo has been operating here for a long time. As we move forward, what kind of investment are you looking at in Bangladesh?
Willemsen: I cannot give you specific numbers. But what I can tell you is that when I look at the Bangladesh market and given some of the discussions that we've had over the last day and a half, it's very clear that this market has tremendous potential. And as such, we will continue to invest together with our partner in developing our business in Bangladesh, whether that be in capacity and agricultural capabilities that we need specifically for our food business. And we're looking and exploring ways of how we can collectively build a bigger business within beverages and foods in Bangladesh.
DS: We know that Pep+ (PepsiCo Positive) is your sustainability platform. What is PepsiCo doing in this regard?
Willemsen: Pep+ is our strategic end-to-end transformation initiative with sustainability at the centre to create growth and value by operating within planetary boundaries and inspiring positive change for the planet and people. We believe that sustainability needs to be fully embedded in the overall business strategy and our plans and hence, we launched Pep+ about a year ago. Pep+ consists of three different pillars: positive agriculture, positive value chain and positive choices.
PepsiCo is one of the largest food and beverage companies and has a significant agricultural footprint. We work globally with more than 100,000 farmers. As part of our positive agricultural pillar, we want to convert the land that we're using to grow our crops to regenerative agricultural practices, and uplift 250,000 people within our agricultural value chain and improve livelihoods. So that's a massive commitment, which we're planning to deliver globally.
The second pillar is the positive value chain, which consists of a few specific objectives. One is to become net zero by 2040, not just within our own four walls, but across the entire ecosystem within which we operate. This also aims at the inclusion of our suppliers or farmers, as well as other partners that operate within our value chain.
We're also planning to become net water positive by 2030. This means we're going to reduce water usage to the maximum extent possible within our operations and become a net water-positive company.
We want to significantly reduce the amount of virgin plastic that we're using. We want to reduce that by 50 per cent, on a per serving basis by 2030. This means that we need to look at all the possible ways to reduce the usage of single-use packaging, set up collection mechanisms for recycling, and include recycled material in our packaging, in order to ensure that we get to a full circular value chain for packaging.
The third and last pillar is positive choices. And that's all about evolving our portfolio to ensure that we continue to provide a broad set of choices for consumers with reduced or no sugar and reduced sodium and saturated fat.
In Bangladesh specifically, our endeavour is always to support the communities at large. To support communities impacted during the coronavirus pandemic, we provided 1.4 million meals to underprivileged communities through our partnership with Brac, the leading NGO in Bangladesh.
PepsiCo Foundation, along with Brac, also disseminated preventative information on Covid-19 to communities. PepsiCo has worked with Brac to provide clean water access to underserved communities in Bangladesh under the "Safe Water for All" project. As part of the initiative, local water entrepreneurs created water treatment plants providing communities with access to safe drinking water at an affordable price in the disaster-prone areas of Cox's Bazar.
DS: You have many food and beverage brands in Bangladesh. What has been the response of consumers and what is your consumer connect strategy?
Willemsen: We are extremely proud of the footprint that we have in Bangladesh. We're the leading beverage company in Bangladesh. And we take tremendous pride in that.
We're keen to build out that business, leveraging the brand portfolio that we have thanks to 7-Up, Pepsi, and Aquafina. On the snacks side, we have Kurkure, Lay's and Quaker Oats.
Consumers rate our brands very highly and while we take pride it, there comes a tremendous responsibility to ensure that we continue to deliver high-quality products and respond to consumer needs and evolving needs.
We're also going to scale up our snacks business locally, in partnership with Transcom. We're going to produce Lay's potato chips in Bangladesh in line with the government's strategy of "Made in Bangladesh".
We're going to be working with local farmers for potato farming needed to produce Lay's potato chips. To start with, we're going to have over 2,000 farmers as part of the fold. Most of these are small-scale farmers and it's phenomenal to hear them talk about the impact that the partnership with PepsiCo has on their yields, their incomes and the growing techniques that they can deploy in their fields.
DS: The partnership with Transcom has been for more than 20 years. How is the association evolving?
Willemsen: The partnership that we have with Transcom, we value it as one of our best partnerships globally. We've built a great business together. At the same time, we also believe that now after 20 years, we only are at the beginning because I think there's so much more potential for us to create and scale up the business together in Bangladesh.
We really value the ethics of the company and the investments that the company is doing in scaling capabilities, both in terms of human capital and digital evolution. In addition, the strong focus that the company has on sustainability whether that be in reducing the number of resources that we use, or water or energy, or whether that be the impact that we have in the communities where we operate, we both have synergies on that front.
DS: We've seen a lot of brands change their portfolio to address the shifting consumer needs. What kind of diversification is PepsiCo in Bangladesh planning in this area?
Willemsen: In Bangladesh, we are uniquely positioned with a portfolio of brands that are both loved and trusted by consumers. The portfolio caters to varied choices. Products like Pepsi, 7UP and Kurkure are for celebratory and fun moments and products like 7up Lite and Diet Pepsi with no sugar give more positive choices to consumers.
We are also keen to build Quaker Oats into a much bigger brand over the next couple of years in Bangladesh. All this has been done to serve the consumer better and rapidly adapt to their changing requirements.
DS: Finally, what is your take on Bangladesh's economy?
Willemsen: This is my first visit to Bangladesh. So, there's a lot for me to learn, obviously about the country and about the history and people of Bangladesh. I do believe that this country has tremendous potential to grow.
Bangladesh has been growing well for the past 10 years. Consistently, GDP has been growing around 7 per cent. It has a young and eager population that is looking forward to contributing to the success of the country and there is immense potential.
Hence, we are committed to continuing to invest not only in the business but also in the success of Bangladesh in terms of economic investment, skills transfer and training.


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Official footage of the all-new Mitsubishi Outlander was released by the brand. Its debut is slated this coming February 16, with final tuning and testing being done in order to ensure its capability throughout any weather and road conditions.
While leaked images of the vehicle and other unconfirmed rumors were surfacing online just last year, Mitsubishi has then released its first teaser photo back in December which confirms the February 2021 launch of its all-new crossover.
The next-generation model was put through a series of tests. Notably, it will carry the latest version of the Super-All Wheel Control system which provides driver confidence and security in all weather and road conditions. Engineers built the all-new Outlander with considerable capability as inherited from its larger siblings, the Montero and Pajero. Plus, it also embodies the brand’s ‘I-Fu-Do-Do’ product concept, which means authentic and majestic. Mitsubishi claims that this upcoming model will deliver the highest level of maneuverability and superb driving performance.
We took everything we know about on- and off-road driving from the rally experiences to apply the latest Super-All Wheel Control technology in our newly developed platform.
No official specifications were presented just yet, however, some reports say that the next-generation Mitsubishi Outlander will have larger dimensions than its predecessor. That said, this might open the possibility for a third-row of seats as an option. Plus, the brand might be releasing a plug-in hybrid powertrain like the one found on its outgoing model.
Some reports also claim that key resemblances or shared components with the current Nissan Rogue are also possible for the upcoming model, given the strong brand alliance established between both Japanese automakers alongside Renault. Then again, these are unconfirmed details, so we’re going to have to wait for its February 16 debut, from there, we shall be able to grasp some official specifications and other necessary information surrounding its all-new crossover.
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Engine and chassis stenciling no longer a requirement according to the LTO / News
The LTO passed memorandum no. JMT-2023-2399. Engine and chassis stenciling for registration renewal are no longer needed.
BMW Philippines unveils its newest wagon: The 2023 3 Series Touring / News
SMC Asia Car Distributors Corp has unveiled the BMW 3 Series Touring in three different variants for the Philippines.
The OMODA 5 EV is also coming to the Philippines later in 2023 / News
The OMODA 5 EV will be coming to the Philippines in the fourth quarter of 2023 along with the OMODA and JAECOO brands.
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It’s a sore point for many shoppers, who are ready and eager to spend more on designer clothes if only they were available: 78% of respondents in a recent survey of plus-size shoppers said that they’d be willing to spend more money if designers offered more options, and 80% said they’d likely purchase an item from their favorite designer if that designer made plus sizes.
File under “if anything, more money. Plus, bonus: morals!”:
More and more designers and retailers seem to be waking up to that fact. The market for plus-size women’s clothing is over $20 billion, by some measures
A nice scenario’ing of brining manufacturing back to the US, told through Under Armour. For example, with factory-automation and higher labor prices, you don’t end up hiring 1,000’s of people:
Plank has lamented that we’ve been making clothes the same way for 100 years, and he hopes to change that with the innovation happening at UA Lighthouse. But a huge innovation in the footwear industry, as in other industries, is automation. Adidas now has two Speedfactories, its automated robot-helmed sites. According to Fortune, these only require 160 employees, cutting out many of the humans formerly needed for this kind of factory work.
Plank is fully aware of this tradeoff. When asked about creating jobs in the US, Plank told Footwear News, “It’s not pegged to have 175,000 of those jobs come back to America. I just wonder if there is a way that we can be more thoughtful, creative, and innovative. What if we could bring 100 of those jobs or 500 or 1,000 or 10,000 here?”
There’s also a nice discussion about a border tax’s effect on retail.
The summary is: on shoring manufacturing will create jobs, but probably much less than “like back in the good old days” notions. Further, in the overall retail system, it’ll require much investment and change.
As ever, for an administration that wants to “shock the system,” it fits what’s on the tin. Get some rubber shoes.
…a survey of the top retailers in the US and Europe. About 75 percent of them said that despite all the unprecedented investments they’ve made in retail over the last several years, they feel ill-prepared to handle and provide omni-channel capabilities.
Meanwhile, it’s clear that you need so look at online as the starting point of most purchases: “60 percent or more of in-store purchases start online ‘through digital engagement.’”
Amazon is quick to enter new retail markets:
Amazon reports e-commerce growth of 30 percent, whereas core retail is growing at only 2 percent. Amazon Fashion launched in a “very nascent way” in 2002 – it’s now the biggest fashion player in the U.S. Amazon has spent about $17 billion dollars on R&D around e-commerce. Walmart has spent under a billion. If Walmart cannot spend the money necessary to stay with Amazon, how will other retailers keep pace?
All of this was from a SFDC retail-focused person, no details on the survey.
Source: Salesforce Commerce Cloud CEO at NRF – 75 percent of retailers are “ill-prepared” for the omni-channel
I’m always amazed at how low IRL companies get valued. But: retail, manufactoring, and a history of funky management:
But fashion wasn’t the only thing to change; the retail business changed, too. The economic downturn was hard on the fashion industry as consumers cut back on spending. And brick-and-mortar stores have struggled as online retailers bite into their sales and target demographics. That can be especially harmful for brands like American Apparel, whose the business model is to open a bevy of stores and rely on foot traffic. “There are too many stores in too many places,” explained Cohen. “Everybody doing business in brick-and-mortar is migrating in some way, shape, or form to the internet. Everyone is seeing a chronic decline in the productivity of their real estate.”
It doesn’t include the stores:
All of this helps explain why the $88 million Gildan deal could be viewed as arguably the last great American Apparel marketing feat. Even with all its financial and legal woes, the company still attracted 12 bids. (Sources told Reuters that Amazon and Forever 21 were considering purchasing as well.) And while Gildan won’t be purchasing any of American Apparel’s 110 U.S. stores—which were also up for sale—the company was willing to pay nearly $90 million just for intellectual property and some equipment. That’s quite a feat given that the brand was built on the premise of selling such basic designs.
Still, that brand, tho.
It’s good enough that I’m posting a K-Mart commercial here.
(Via Hot Tacos Bob)
The research company found that owners of the Echo spent around 10 percent more after they bought the voice-powered smart speaker than they did before.
The NPD Group’s Checkout Tracking purchase monitor provided the data, analyzing customer spending and overall number of receipts, and found that there was also a 6 percent bump in the overall number of purchases made by Echo owners on Amazon.com when compared to their pre-Echo existence.
Source: Amazon Echo owners spend more on Amazon, says NPD.
“After two years in business, Casper is on track to book $200 million in sales over the next year, but its success isn’t ensured.”
Also, a new category phrase: “the digitally native vertical brand.”
Source: How Companies Like Dollar Shave Club Are Reshaping the Retail Landscape
The online retailer said worldwide orders rose more than 60 percent compared with the previous Prime Day.
Looks like things worked out well.
Some of the more popular “deals”
Source: Amazon Prime Day is biggest day for online retailer ever, sourced from my wife!
When Square asks you if you’d like to tip, declining can feel petty–especially under the expectant gaze of service workers.
While I always find tipping policy a weird mystery in other lands, I suppose we’re a bit confused over here too:
Square and other POS systems are drawing attention to the fact that our informal gratuity systems have never really made sense. Delivery drivers receive tips, but plumbers don’t. Manicurists, yes; dental hygienists, no. The bartender who opens your beer expects an extra dollar or so, but the baker who iced your cupcake doesn’t—or, at least, didn’t until recently.
Source: Square is designed to guilt us into tipping basically everyone


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MTN takes on cross border remittances with mobile money platform
The mobile operator wants to disrupt traditional banks with new possibilities
MTN has armed itself with the ability to send money across borders using its mobile payments platform, MoMo, taking the fight for market share to traditional banking groups.
The movement of people and goods on the African continent, as well as a push for greater regional trade, is creating the need for simpler and more affordable forms of payment.
On Thursday, Africa’s largest mobile operator said it now allows for the movement of money in 10 countries.
“The person on the other side will receive the money in real time,” said Bradwin Roper, CEO of MTN SA’s financial services business.
The company first launched its mobile money platform locally in 2012 before pulling the plug in 2016 due to a lack of commercial viability because three-quarters of the population had bank accounts. Vodacom shut its M-Pesa mobile money service in SA in the same year, citing similar reasons.
Having taken a second swing from the start of 2020, the operator now has a base of 9-million registered users. The unit’s services include in-store payments, prepaid services, mobile wallets, micro-loans, microinsurance, and a point of sale solution.
Vodacom has taken a similar approach, offering various financial services such as loans for airtime and an e-commerce offering through its VodaPay app.
In changing its approach, MTN has taken a swipe at the traditional financial services sector, looking to entice more users to its mobile-money platform by cutting out fees on the sale of digital goods such as airtime and electricity.
On the new remittance offering, the operator is charging a 4% fee for such transactions, where the industry average sits at about 10%.
At the moment, a person in SA looking to send R10,000 in cash to Malawi may pay a bus driver making the trip R500 to physically transport the money. For many the risk is justified by the fact that formal channels can charge as much as 15% for such a transaction.
For now the service is only for outgoing payments from SA. Ultimately, MTN is hoping to capture the billions that leave SA’s shores each year, together with the cash entering Nigeria’s market. Capturing those flows for those two countries specifically would help MTN gain a strong position in the continent’s remittance market, said Roper.
SA has an estimated $1.2bn leaving its shores each year in remittances, while Nigeria is thought to have $18.6bn coming into its economy from the diaspora.
Roper says “it’s just a matter of time” before payments into SA become a reality. The cellphone provider is still working through the regulations that allow for full movement of money between the different countries.
MTN is less concerned with competition from platforms operated by other telecom operators like VodaPay. “The industry that we look at is financial services and where we can disrupt,” said Roper.
This latest offering probably benefits from work done by BankservAfrica, the company responsible for clearing payments between SA’s largest banks. In 2021, it came up with a system for reducing the time and cost associated with cross-border transactions.
BankservAfrica is the largest automated payments clearing house in Africa and processes bank card, ATM and EFT transactions between the countries’ banks as part of the SA National Payments System.
MTN is working with Cape Town based fintech operator, ClickSendNow, to enable the remittances. Outside remittances, the mobile operator has a partnership with Sanlam for its insurance offering called Ayo and works with African Bank for its digital wallet.
The development comes a few months after MasterCard moved to take up a stake in MTN’s fintech business. The deal is seen as a nod to the growth and prominence of the broader financial technology landscape in SA and the rest of the continent.
The deal, the financial details of which have not been disclosed except that it values the business at $5.2bn (nearly R100bn), slots MTN’s take on mobile payments as one of the most valuable fintech businesses in Africa.
Mastercard’s financial backing could be seen as a sign of confidence in MTN’s strategy to look for growth in financial services. At the same time, it shows that Africa’s fintech industry continues to attract deep-pocketed international backers looking for growth opportunities in this largely untapped market.
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A scrap of paper that's snapped between the windshield and the wiper blade of a rusting Ford Bronco begs: "Please do not tow. Will return to pick up."
The Bronco sits in the parking lot of a former Sam's Club at Noland Road and U.S. Highway 40. The vehicle shares a piece of weed-strewn asphalt with several truck cabs and semitrailers of various origin. Dead bugs cover the face of one cab with a Kansas license plate and Louis L'Amour paperbacks visible on the dashboard.
The lot suggests a truck stop the morning after an alien abduction. Big-rig operators and others have stashed vehicles near the Sam's Club for more than a year — "maybe even quite substantially longer than that," according to Greg Hunsucker, co-owner of Vs Italiano Ristorante a few miles down the road.
Sam's Club, a division of Wal-Mart, abandoned the site in 2001. The still-vacant warehouse store, paint peeling from its siding, used to anchor General's Plaza, one of the sadder dying strip centers in the metro. Current tenants include a dollar store and a motorcycle-riding school.
The Sam's Club died a typical Wal-Mart death. Company officials, having determined that the intersection had outlived its usefulness, decided to relocate the business to a taxpayer-subsidized shopping district three miles to the east.
Wal-Mart has abandoned hundreds of locations in the course of its aggressive expansion. Often, city governments assist with those transitions through property-tax breaks or bond financing.
Al Norman, a Massachusetts-based critic of big-box stores who advises communities on how to keep them out, says Wal-Mart's inventory of "ghost stores" is unprecedented. Norman used to conduct a yearly inventory of orphaned Wal-Marts. "I stopped doing it just because it was too time-consuming," he tells me.
The Sam's Club on Noland Road would have to be included on any list of the most depressing zombie Wal-Marts. The building looks like a poorly maintained shed suffering from elephantiasis. The spider-web crack in the windshield of one of the truck cabs makes the parking lot look like a junkyard. "Boy, it has been an eyesore," Hunsucker says.
It's illegal, too. Responding to a complaint (not from me), Kansas City, Missouri, codes officials are in the process of notifying Wal-Mart that the Sam's Club parking lot is in violation. The property's zoning category does not permit trucks to be stored on-site.
Of course, Wal-Mart isn't the one using the lot as a motor pool. But the company's neglect has allowed it to happen. "The property owner is always responsible for the property," Wilson Winn, a manager in Kansas City's Planning and Development Department, tells me.
Property records sometimes reveal the strangest things.
Wal-Mart acquired the Noland Road site in 1987, four years after Sam Walton opened the first Sam's Club in Oklahoma City.
Wal-Mart bought the land from Harry and Leona Helmsley, of all people.
The Helmsleys were indicted for tax evasion in New York in 1988. The subsequent trial of Leona Helmsley — "Only the little people pay taxes," she said, according to testimony — provided the New York papers with endless grist. (Helmsley eventually went to prison; her husband was deemed too frail to stand trial.)
The Helmsleys sold land to Walton in a part of town where it's difficult to know if it's Kansas City or Independence. The stretch of U.S. 40 that fronts the Sam's Club is in Independence. But the store itself is in Kansas City.
For a time, Kansas City tax collectors received the bounty from Sam's Club, happy in the thought that many of the patrons were surely residents of Independence. The tables turned in 2000, when Wal-Mart announced that the Sam's Club would close and reopen at the Crossroads shopping center in Independence. The shopping center, near 39th Street and Missouri Highway 291, sits in a tax-increment financing (TIF) district that Independence created in 1993.


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The Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) has changed the base year for the calculation of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) as well as the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) from 2004-05 to 2011-12 and as per the new series, April WPI inflation stood at 3.85 percent and March IIP at 2.7 percent .
The Consumer Price Index-based inflation in April stood at 2.99 percent but it is already calculated at 2011-12 base year.
With the change in baseline for the IIP and WPI, the Government is trying to bring in more accuracy and include the latest growth parametres in the level of economic activity. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has earlier changed the base year for the country's national accounts, including the gross domestic product (GDP) and the gross value addition (GVA). The retail inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) at the moment is calculated on the base year of 2011-12 already. The CSO and the DIPP moved to the new and recent base year to reflect the new economic changes.
This was a long standing demand for a new series of WPI and IIP so that GDP numbers can be based on more accurate and realistic data as growth has been more pronounced in the last three years. This would help policy makers get a more accurate picture of output and price trend. Under the old series with a base year of 2004-05, the IIP rose by a mere 0.7% in the full year and 2.5% in March.
The base year is revised periodically to capture the changes in the structure and composition of the industry over time due to technological changes, economic reforms and consumption pattern of the people. With the new base year series, the difference between the WPI and CPI will narrow , feel economists.
In the new series, the mining sector will have almost the same weightage (14.4%) as in the old series (14.2%) and manufacturing has a higher weightage at 77.6% up from 75.6%. The weightage of electricity in IIP undert he news series has declined from 10.3% to 8%.
The IIP gives a broad outlook on output of various types of goods like basic, consumer and capital ones, which helps in gauging the level of economic progress and investments in the economy
According to the government press release, the WPI series in India has undergone six revisions in 1952-53, 1961-62, 1970-71, 1981-82, 1993-94 and 2004-05 so far. The current one is the seventh revision.
"The revision entails shifting the base year to 2011-12 from 2004-05, changing the basket of commodities and assigning new weights to the commodities," the release said.
Data released by CSO showed India's retail price inflation fell to a new low of 2.99% in April from a five-month high of 3.89% in March on lower food prices.
DIPP updated the WPI to the new series by assigning revised weights to reflect bter price movements.


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Urgent Warning Released for Peloton Tread+ Owners With Children
In response to the warning issued by the Consumer Product Safety Commission regarding the hazards the Tread+ poses to children and pets, Peloton released a statement calling the CPSC'S claim a “misleading, inaccurate bulletin on Tread+ product safety.”
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has released an urgent warning telling consumers to stop using the Peloton Tread+. This comes after one death and dozens of incidents of children and pets being sucked beneath the equipment.
“To date, CPSC is aware of 39 incidents including one death,” The statement says. ”CPSC staff believes the Peloton Tread+ poses serious risks to children for abrasions, fractures, and death. In light of multiple reports of children becoming entrapped, pinned, and pulled under the rear roller of the product, CPSC urges consumers with children at home to stop using the product immediately.”
The CPSC also shared a disturbing video showing an example of how a child became temporarily trapped under one of the treadmills.
Although the CPSC urges customers with small children and pets to stop using the treadmill, it also explains what people can do if they choose to continue to use it. The Commission stresses using the product in a locked room and keep children, pets, and other things away from it.It adds to unplug the equipment and store it away when not in use.
Peloton has since refuted CPSC’s claim and called it a “misleading, inaccurate bulletin on Tread+ product safety.” "The importance of following Peloton's safety warnings and instructions is abundantly clear in the video that CPSC included in its unilateral press release,” the fitness company wrote.
“In particular, Peloton instructs Members to remove the Safety Key when the Tread+ is not in use, precisely to avoid the kind of incident that this video depicts. When the Safety Key is detached as instructed, the Tread+ cannot be turned on. The Tread+ includes safety warnings and instructions in several places, including in the user manual, in a safety card left on top of the Tread+ tray on delivery, and on the product itself.”
Peloton claims it had invited CPSC to make a joint announcement about the danger of not following warnings and safety instructions, adding, “Peloton is disappointed that, despite its offers of collaboration, and despite the fact that the Tread+ complies with all applicable safety standards, CPSC was unwilling to engage in any meaningful discussions with Peloton before issuing its inaccurate and misleading press release.”
Peloton Founder and CEO John Foley said in a statement to Peloton members Sunday: "After we learned about the child’s death, we immediately reported to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Since then we have fully cooperated with CPSC and responded to all of their requests, with one exception: we resisted their demands for personally identifiable information of certain Members because those Members had specifically requested that we not provide that information to CPSC. At no time was Peloton trying to impede CPSC’s investigation.
"We were simply standing behind our Members’ right to maintain their privacy, and we remain committed to providing this type of information only with a Member’s consent or pursuant to a subpoena. Government agencies shouldn’t have unfettered access to consumers’ private information, and I am proud that we took a stand to protect these Members’ privacy," Foley continued, according to Yahoo! Finance.
"I imagine some Members asked for their information to be protected in order to avoid personal attacks like some that we’ve seen in response to the Tread+ incidents that CPSC publicized yesterday," the statement continued. "Our hearts go out to Members who have had an incident where a child or pet was injured and who want their privacy at this time. As a parent myself, I hope that our Peloton community continues to treat each other with respect and compassion."
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IHG in deal to manage InterContinental Muscat
Muscat, April 29, 2012
IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group), the world’s largest hotel group by number of rooms, and Muscat Golf Course Project have signed a 20-year management agreement for InterContinental Muscat Hills Golf Resort in Oman.
Signed during the 2012 Arabian Hotel Investment Conference taking place in Dubai, the hotel will form part of the Muscat Hills Golf and Country Club – a 1.2 million sq m development set in a unique hillside location with panoramic mountain and sea views over the Gulf of Oman.
Muscat Hills is a mixed use development with upscale residential villas and apartments, an 18-hole championship golf course, country club and hotel.
InterContinental Muscat Hills Golf Resort will have a total of 250-rooms and four food and beverage outlets, a fitness centre, spa and swimming pool.
The InterContinental team will also manage the golf Club House located next door to the hotel. The hotel and Club House are due to open in 2015 and the project is projected to be worth a total of $90 million.
Rawy Kais Al-Said, owner of the Muscat Hills Golf and Country Club, said: “When choosing a hotel partner we were looking for a top international brand that would add real value to the development and help us to compete with the best golf resorts in the world.”
“InterContinental Hotels & Resorts were exactly the right fit, bringing the quality standards and first class management skills we’re looking for. With the InterContinental team on board I have every confidence the resort will continue to go from strength to strength.”
Jan Smits, IHG’s chief executive for Asia, Middle East and Africa, said: “The Muscat Hills development is already proving a great success and we were eager to become a part of it. InterContinental Muscat Hills Golf Resort will be a new type of resort for Muscat, offering guests a range of sporting facilities in a spectacular setting. This hotel will be a fantastic addition to our growing portfolio in Oman and we look forward to its opening in 2015.”
There are 170 InterContinental Hotels & Resorts in more than 60 countries around the world, with an additional 58 hotels in the global development pipeline. – TradeArabia News Service


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A rare antique camera to be auctioned at Bonhams in November may be sold for over £1 million, according to experts.
The Leica Luxus II camera is one of only four ever made and has been valued between £500,000 and £800,000. The camera has a case made of crocodile skin, making it very distinctive.
As the Leica brand is extremely popular, experts believe that the camera could be sold for far more than predicted and stands a chance of breaking a world record.
A presenter and expert from Antiques Roadshow, Marc Allum, first saw the camera 12 years ago while filming the programme. He said that Leica, which developed the 35mm film and produced some of the best cameras, also made special editions of its devices. As the Leica Luxus II is just one of several manufactured, it is likely to be one of the rarest available worldwide.
The late owner was a keen amateur photographer and was given the camera following World War II, possibly by a friend of the family. The managing director of Bonhams, Jon Baddeley, said that the owner wasn’t a collector and would have been unaware of its potential value.
Antiques of all types can create excitement as some of the history is discovered by experts. Rare pieces of vintage technology – such as cameras, watches and type writers – and antique furniture will generally be available at a lower price at reputable dealers than at auction, as a buyer’s premium won’t be added to the final amount.
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Forget elves, Santa and reindeer – Christmas 2016 is all about the mermaid. Or, to put it more accurately, the mermaid blanket. Resembling a knitted sleeping bag with a fish-like tail, and available for children and adults, the mermaid blanket is this year’s answer to the slanket or the onesie.
Sceptics might not appreciate the slightly fishy design, not to mention the impracticality of whipping it off for that ad-break cup of tea, but this accessory has already become the most-watched deal on Amazon on Cyber Monday and a bestseller on Asos.
Anyone who uses public transport in London will be familiar with Blue Vanilla’s Ariel mermaid blanket – advertised on the tube with the image of a glamorous young woman on a couch, in full hair and makeup, blanket pulled up to her chest.
The online fast-fashion retailer has already sold more than 11,000 Ariels at £29 a pop, and has a waiting list of roughly 1,000 people. Online marketing manager Teresa Ktistaki predicts another 6,000 could be sold before Christmas. “It’s a nice gift because it’s useful but also fun,” she says of the product, which was originally launched in October.
Mermaids have been a thing in pop culture for a while – from Azealia Banks’s Mermaid Ball performance in 2012 to Rebel Wilson’s mermaid dancing in Pitch Perfect, the Instagram trend for a #mermaidcrowns (a tiara made from conch shells), and the upcoming Splash remake starring Channing Tatum. Mermaid blankets are already massive on social media, with more than 27,000 posts for #mermaidblanket – and that’s before the tearing of wrapping paper on Christmas morning reveals several thousand more.
Celebrities including Geordie Shore’s Holly Hagan have further boosted the chances of finding a mermaid blanket under the tree – in September, she posted a picture on Twitter of her wearing one, accessorised with a Barbie-like manicured hand.
It is reality TV stars such as Hagan, says Ktistaki, who influence her customers as well as the current cross-generation preoccupation with mythical undersea creatures. “The feedback we’re getting is that everyone loves mermaids,” she says. “Grandmothers, grandchildren … it’s a bit of a dream.”


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Regulation nightmares are keeping many small business owners up at night. Red tape is either adding more costs or gumming up the hiring process. Here's what seven entrepreneurs had to say about it.
Politicians, statisticians and economists all have something to say about small business and hiring. Here's what small business owners had to say.
We asked 10 small businesspeople the one thing they'd ask President Obama to do to make it easier for them to hire. Below are edited excerpts of their conversations.
Business incubators are a critical lifeline for budding entrepreneurs. These startup boot camps provide fledgling companies training, counseling, facilities, office space and the most essential element for a small business -- access to funding. Here are seven that are on fire.
Next year still looks rocky for small business. But if you want to start a business, go for it. Some of the most successful companies got started in tough times.
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These are the best budget cars, according to the experts at Kelley Blue Book.
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Report: Amazon is turning Alexa into a home robot
Lab126, which created the Kindle and Echo, is reportedly working on a domestic robot
Amazon's secretive research and development unit, called Lab126 and responsible for the Kindle and Echo smart speaker, is busy working on another all-new device — a household robot.
That is the claim of unnamed sources speaking to Bloomberg. These people claim the robot, which is known internally as 'Vesta', after the Roman goddess of the hearth who was rarely depicted in human form, will be tested in employees' homes by the end of 2018, before heading to consumers in 2019.
Read more about Amazon Alexa:
However, it should be said right away that Amazon and other companies of its scale regularly develop products into the prototype and testing phase, but which never see the light of day. That said, Amazon is reported to be aggressively ramping up its hiring to make the robot a reality. Lab126 currently has dozens of open positions for roles like "software engineer, robotics" and "principal sensors engineer."
Although Amazon is known to build robots for working in its enormous warehouses, it is claimed that the Vesta project is unrelated, and is instead a domestic product intended for consumers.
As well as runaway successes like the Echo smart speaker range — and slow-burn success stories like the Kindle — Lab126 was also responsible for the ill-fated Fire Phone, Amazon's range of budget Fire tablets, and the Fire TV streaming devices.
The report claims that people familiar with the project speculate the Vesta robot could be a mobile Alexa device, following owners around their home and giving them access to Amazon's listening virtual assistant in rooms without an Echo speaker. Prototypes are said to have advanced cameras and computer vision software, helping them navigate around furniture and through doorways like an miniature autonomous car.
The idea of domestic robots is not as far-fetched as it first seems, although even the world's largest technology companies still have some way to go before they can be considered commercially viable, let alone a success. At the CES technology show in January this year, LG showed off its household robot called Cloi, but a demonstration in front of the world's press failed several times.
Also this year, Sony launched a new version of its Aibo robotic dog, 20 years after the original. The new Aibo can respond to a handful of spoken commands and recognizes when it is being petted, but cannot do much else despite its $1,700 price tag.
Although there is no indication that Amazon is getting into the cleaning market, shares in iRobot, the company which produces Roomba robotic vacuum cleaners, fell as much as 8.6 percent on Monday, April 23 as news of Amazon's robot spread.


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SEC's crowdfunding strategy seemed to be 'what's the hurry?'
It took the Securities and Exchange Commission 18 months, but it finally issued proposed rules to allow small businesses to use crowdfunding to sell stakes in their ventures to ordinary Americans.
This overdue action by the SEC is No. 7 on my list of the top stories of the year involving business and government.
Under the proposed regulations, small businesses could raise up to $1 million a year through crowdfunding without having to register with the SEC. All crowdfunding transactions would have to be conducted by a registered intermediary, which would operate websites that would link issuers with potential investors.
Crowdfunding was one of the key provisions in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, which was enacted in April 2012. The JOBS Act was designed to make it easier for small businesses to raise capital. Through crowdfunding, small businesses will be able to use the Internet to sell shares in their businesses to a much broader pool of investors. Previously only wealthy "accredited investors" could invest in privately held companies.
The promise of equity crowdfunding, however, is yet to be realized because of the SEC's slow pace in implementing it. The agency is still taking comments on its proposed rule. We won't find out until next year how successful crowdfunding will be as a means of raising capital for small business.
The SEC also took action this year on another piece of the JOBS Act, allowing businesses to advertise private offerings to accredited investors. The agency lifted its ban on general solicitation in July.
Meanwhile, more companies went public this year thanks to part of the JOBS Act that went into effect in 2012. The law eased regulatory requirements for emerging growth companies -- businesses with less than $1 billion in annual revenue -- that want to go public. For example, these companies could confidentially submit their registration statement for an initial public offering, so they can get their act together before being subjected to public scrutiny.
Lots of emerging growth companies took advantage of this so-called IPO "on-ramp" in 2013 -- including one you may have heard of, Twitter. As a result, nearly 240 companies went public this year, the highest number of IPOs since 2007.
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How to find hope and embrace the challenges of life — Dr. Randy Ross, Remarkable!
In his brand new book, “Fireproof Happiness: Extinguishing Anxiety & Igniting Hope,” Dr. Randy Ross makes the case that hope and happiness are integrally related. Today Inside Automotive, Dr. Ross, founder, and CEO of Remarkable! dives deeper into the concepts from his book and explores the four core beliefs of hope. After persevering through COVID and the challenges of lockdowns and supply chain interruptions, Dr. Ross wanted to try to provide some solid wisdom and suggestions people could use to become more hopeful and embrace the challenges of life. Watch the complete segment here.
Toyota‘s profit fell 43% (578.66 billion Yen) in the last three months due largely to supply chain issues. Last year, Toyota earned an average of 997.4 billion Yen or $7.48 billion US dollars in profit during the same quarter. The company responded by repeatedly cutting output goals as china’s COVID-19 shutdowns affected the global chip supply. Analysts expected a 15% drop in revenue but were surprised that it was almost three times their prediction. Read More
Yesterday, Lordstown Motors announced its first profitable quarter after selling some of its assets, including its Ohio production plant, to Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn. The company’s stock increased 4.8% in premarket trade as it also reduced its estimated capital needs for the year, citing fewer expenses, from around $150 million to between $50 million and $75 million. Read More
California electric vehicle startup, Fisker, announced that they have 56,000 reservations for its newest vehicle, the Ocean EV SUV. According to Fisker’s second quarterly earnings, they suffered a loss per share of 36 cents, better than the expected drop of 41 cents. Chief Executive Officer Henrik Fisker believes the company is on the right track to begin production by late this year. Read More
Due to the Fed’s ambitious approach to combating inflation, borrowing costs have gone up and are anticipated to reach 3.5% or more by year’s end. Lower-income households are being hit hardest by US inflation, and many industry observers anticipate a sharp rise in loan defaults and vehicle repossessions. But according to Cox Automotive Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke, repos have yet to reach crisis levels. In fact, current default and repo rates are well below historical averages, even if they are increasing slightly. Read More
News & Opinion:
Auto loan defaults and car repossessions are rising—should car dealers be concerned?
Dealership owners are concerned as repossessions continue to increase. According to the Cox Automotive Industry Insights 2021 presentation, repossession in 2020 was the lowest in the last five years, but 2021 and 2022 saw increases in car repossessions, but the question is why? According to a recent report, car repossessions have increased about 11% when compared to 2020, and even ‘prime’ borrowers are not immune. One likely cause is increased sale prices for both new and used vehicles. New vehicle affordability hit a record low in June of this year as the average monthly payment for new cars increased to $730, according to new data from Cox Automotive. Read More
Dealership mergers and acquisitions keep going strong in July
Profit levels are rising even with high inflation and increasing interest rates. This has prompted many dealerships to merge or completely acquire others. July was a hot month for dealership mergers and acquisitions, a trend we will likely continue to see for the next few months. Some preliminary results of the Kerrigan Dealer Survey point in the direction that dealers are happy with their profit margins. Dealerships with less than three stores are also seeing little to no change, while dealerships owning over five physical locations continue to expand and merge with other companies. Read More
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“Boat dealers increase their digital presence and boost boat sales with our live chat. A certain percentage of shoppers will actually prefer to text over chat, so we’ve added that capability,” said Jeff Sterns, Vice President of Sales. “We know dealers using our fully managed chat generally see a website sales lead increase of around 50 percent, and this can boost performance even more.”
SMS Text conversations can start from desktop or mobile device
Other features of BoatChat SMS Text include:
- Ability to save a conversation in the console and continue at later time
- Simple and convenient for boat shoppers
- Allows for local phone numbers
- Automatically shortened URLs
- Shoppers don’t need data or wifi connection to participate
“One thing our dealers like is they can put the local SMS phone number on their boats with a “text us now” sign and collect contact information from their own lot after hours,” explained Sterns.
Another benefit is that the shopper has already provided their phone number so they may be more open to getting a callback from the dealership. BoatChat’s SMS Text ability is the latest in a continuous development of industry innovations. Other advancements include the industry’s best mobile chat, a custom chat operator console, SignalR server technology to boost chat reliability, TRUSTe security certification, and more.
Call, chat, or text today to schedule a quick web demo.


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The Microsoft Corporation announced yesterday that it would appeal a Federal judge's temporary order to change one of its marketing practices and called the judge's ruling an ''error'' and ''inappropriate.''
With the appeal pending, Microsoft also sketched out how it planned to comply with the court order, issued last Thursday, to allow personal computer makers to unbundle Microsoft's Internet browser from its Windows operating system.
In a move that underscores the company's contention that its browser and its operating system are effectively a single integrated product, Microsoft will offer PC makers two choices: the current bundled product or the original version of Windows 95 with slight programming changes -- an operating system that is more than two years dated.
A Justice Department official said that Microsoft's plan gave PC producers no real choice and ''violates the spirit, if not the letter, of the judge's order.''
Microsoft insists that the upgraded versions of Windows 95 in the last two years have increasingly embedded Internet software into the core of the operating system, making it impossible to strip out the Internet files without disabling Windows altogether.Continue reading the main story
Yet the aged version of Windows 95 that Microsoft will offer PC makers as its way of complying with the judge's order will not properly run recent versions of on-line services like America Online and Compuserve, the popular personal-finance program Quicken 98 or the Lotus Notes groupware software. In addition, Microsoft officials noted, the old Windows would even have trouble storing and retrieving information from modern computer hard drives.
In a conference call yesterday with industry analysts and reporters, the older Windows program was termed the ''dumbed down'' version -- a characterization Microsoft officials agreed with. And Microsoft informed the major PC makers yesterday of its plans for complying with the Federal judge's preliminary injunction.
The alternative to bundling Windows and Microsoft's Internet Explorer that the company is proposing as its way of complying with the judge's order is not viewed in the industry as much of an alternative. ''I'm not aware of any PC manufacturer that has expressed interest in the dumbed-down version of Windows 95,'' said Brad Chase, a Microsoft marketing executive.
Microsoft also said that after reviewing the judge's order the company intended to push ahead with its planned introduction of Windows 98 in the second quarter of next year. In Windows 98, the Internet software and the operating system will be even more interdependent.
When asked, Microsoft executives said they were not yet sure how they might fashion a version of Windows 98 without the Internet software if the judge's order was still in force next year when the company plans to introduce the new version of its operating system.
Some industry experts said that Microsoft seemed to be taking a particularly literal-minded interpretation of the judge's order to support its contention that the order is misguided meddling in software design -- or an act that ''threatens every American technology company's right to innovate,'' in the words of William Neukom, Microsoft's senior vice president for law and corporate affairs.
Last Thursday, Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson of Federal District Court in Washington ordered that Microsoft not force PC makers to bundle Internet Explorer with Windows and that the company offer an alternative to the bundled product.
''Microsoft is doing what in the army is called 'dumb obedience,' '' said Andrew Schulman, author of ''Unauthorized Windows 95,'' a guide to the programming features of Windows. ''Microsoft's alternative is to roll back the calendar on everything in the operating system, whether it's Internet-related or not.''
Critics of Microsoft said the company's move was a characteristically aggressive bid to challenge the Federal judge. ''Every time Microsoft is confronted by Government authority, it reacts like a surly child,'' said Gary Reback, a lawyer who represents the Netscape Communications Corporation, Microsoft's main rival in the browser market.
For its part, Microsoft contended that its legal appeal was simply an effort to correct a judicial order that seemed to go well beyond the mandate provided by its 1995 consent decree with the Government, which was the basis for the Justice Department's suit. In its order, Mr. Neukom of Microsoft said, ''The court denied the Justice Department's petition for contempt'' of the consent decree.Continue reading the main story


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CFIB survey finds Canada's small businesses owe $135B due to COVID, urging more forgivable loans
Many small businesses that manage to survive the COVID-19 pandemic will be emerging with a heavy debt burden, according to data released Thursday.
A Canadian Federation of Independent Business survey found that Canada’s small businesses owed a collective $135-billion in debt as of early February due to the pandemic.
Seven in 10 small business owners that responded to the survey said they have taken on additional debt, reaching an average of $170,000 per business.
Renewed restrictions and lockdowns that mandated the closure of non-essential businesses in regions across the country amid the virus’ second wave have pushed many of them to the edge.
“While many businesses had previously reopened and were attempting to regain lost sales, the second wave and the restrictions that came with it are putting a massive wrench in an already slow recovery for small businesses," said CFIB Executive Vice-President Laura Jones in a release Thursday.
Of the firms that incurred more debt, about three-quarters believe it will take them more than a year to repay it, while 11 per cent worry they won’t be able to repay the debt at all.
The federal government has rolled out a number of relief programs aimed at supporting businesses through the pandemic, including the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy and the more recent Highly Affected Sectors Credit Availability Program. However, CFIB says uptake of some programs remains low among smaller firms.
CFIB’s data was collected via an online survey of more than 3,500 small business owners in Canada conducted from Feb. 4-8.


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Readers who have been following news coming out of Japan on the development of SEGA's follow up to Valkyria Chronicles may know the game as Valkyria Azure Revolution. Along with information on the game's western release window in a press release today comes the news that the western release will drop 'Azure' from the title, naming it Valkyria Revolution. The game, set to release in Q2 2017 on Playstation 4, Vita, and Xbox One, will be a dramatic departure from the previous title which is part of the reason for the name change, according to the developer. The sequel will feature a new world, new timeline, characters, and gameplay and SEGA say that the new name ensures the games stand "equal but apart."
One of the most dramatic changes for Valkyria Revolution is the switch from turn-based gameplay to a real-time system on a 'living battlefield' with the ability to set tactics for your squad through customizable AI. SEGA promises that the customization options will go right down to the nitty-gritty of your squad's behavior, allowing you to set everything from general roles like attack and defense to when to use different weapons and which enemy types to target. The game will also feature unique upgradeable melee weapons for each character as well as a variety of ranged weapons, from pistols to rocket launchers. There has been some controversy already over the new battle system and changes have already been made after an initial demo was released alongside a remaster of Valkyria Chronicles in Japan, as we previously reported here. A second demo of the game's revamped system was released on October 6th which addressed many of the issues fans had given feedback on, as seen in this list of improvements published by SEGA at the time. As well as combat, information from the developers that can be found on the PlayStation blog suggests the game will have features involving making contacts to further your military intelligence operations and developing relationships with squad members.
Valkyria Revolution will also have some common features from the previous title; permadeath returns when your squadmates fall in battle and the titular Demi-Gods will return in the game's deep and weaving storyline. The new title follows the story of five friends known as the 'circle of five' as they use their combined military and political influence to spark a revolution against their imperialist oppressors. The game also looks to question the morality of such revolutionary action, asking whether the five will be remembered as heroic liberators or traitorous conspirators and promising a look at war's blurred lines of morality from the ground up.
Deep Silver will handle the EU publishing of the game, with SEGA handling North America, when the game releases in physical and digital form in Q2 next year on Xbox One and PS4 and in digital format only for PS Vita. You can see the latest duo of screenshots for the game below.
[gallery type="slideshow" size="full" ids="116079,116080"]


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Last year’s awards, known as the PANPAs, attracted more than 700 entries from the Pacific region.
The awards, sponsored by Norske Skog, are open to national, metropolitan, regional, rural and community news media brands in Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands and Asia.
There will be six categories for this year’s Newspaper of the Year awards:
The awards will place an emphasis on the quality of journalism, cross platform execution, design and the ability to engage audiences across multiple platforms. Audience scale is determined by emma (Enhanced Media Metrics Australia) data.
Entries will close on July 8 and finalists will be announced on August 5.
The awards will be presented at a gala dinner on Friday, September 2, at the conclusion of the NewsMediaWorks’ annual Future Forum news media conference to be held at The Ivy in Sydney.
“Our news media brands are among the best in the world,” NewsMediaWorks chief executive Mark Hollands said.
“Our industry creates innovative print and digital solutions that engage our audiences, deliver results for advertisers and grow revenue and these awards recognise commercial, editorial and technical excellence. The PANPAs continue to be the pre-eminent awards in the region’s news media industry.”
The winners of the concurrent PANPA Advertising & Marketing Awards will be announced at The Art Gallery of NSW in Sydney on Thursday, September 1.
Further information about the Newspaper of the Year awards and entry criteria can be found at: http://www.newsmediaworks.com.au/awards/
For more news from NewsMediaWorks, click here.


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This Tantrum Is Good News for Emerging Markets
I do not have a trade for this week. With all the emotions weighing on stock markets globally, it makes no sense to dive in yet.
But I will say that significant opportunities are emerging, particularly in Hong Kong blue chips and in a class of Chinese stocks that trade in Hong Kong known as “China Enterprise” stocks. These are mainland Chinese companies that began as entrepreneurial companies rather than state-owned enterprises. They represent some of the best of China’s business community — and many are trading at very cheap, single-digit valuations today.
I will also say that the August panic has created the rationale for a new move higher in emerging-market stocks. Though that might sound crazy at this particular moment, remember that nothing in an economy happens in a vacuum. There are knock-on effects from everything, and the effects of the August tantrum will play out inside the halls of the Federal Reserve … and that, in turn, will provide the fuel for the next leg higher in emerging markets.
Investors are already coming to the conclusion that I’ve been talking about routinely for more than a year: The Federal Reserve doesn’t have any leeway to raise rates anytime soon because doing so would push the dollar even higher, thereby destabilizing emerging-market economies, causing a tidal wave of economic troubles around the world.
That’s precisely why the dollar fell on Monday in the biggest decline in seven months — a surprising move.
Normally in a global, financial/stock-market panic you would expect the dollar to rally strongly. It is, after all, the so-called safe-haven currency. It is one of the major currencies, along with the Swiss franc and gold, that investors typically flood into when times turn dicey. And yet the dollar fell.
Odd … until you realize that global currency markets are sending a message to the Federal Reserve.
The Dollar’s Days Are Done
The currency market is telling the Fed unambiguously that the dollar is part of the global problem!
The dollar is too strong already. It’s part of China’s problem, which has the market in an emotional tizzy, but more on that in a moment.
The Fed has the power to strengthen or weaken the dollar with its interest-rate decisions. Raise rates, as hawkish (and dead wrong) Fed governors think is necessary, and the dollar gets stronger. But if that happens, then U.S. multinationals will suffer because their overseas sales will suffer, and their sales at home will suffer since foreign products will be increasingly cheaper. Emerging-market companies and countries will suffer because they’ve loaded up on trillions in dollar-denominated debt in the last seven years.
And a stronger U.S. dollar means they’d have to raise even more local currency to buy the dollars necessary to repay those debts — likely leading to a currency crisis, à la the Thai baht crisis of the late 1990s.
In turn, that would send ripples through the region as other countries rush to devalue their own currencies to remain competitive … which would undermine the local consumer and local businesses, thereby crushing the local economy. And that would ultimately wash upon the economies of Europe and America, putting us back into a global recession — all because the Federal Reserve has painted itself into a corner from which it cannot easily extricate itself.
So the dollar sank because currency traders were collectively telling the Fed to back off — that raising U.S. interest rates now will harm the global economy’s resurgence.
And the thing is, the global economy is actually OK. Germany has been reporting good economic results. Spain, once one of the derided PIIGS nations, has been reporting Continent-leading results. The U.K. has been reporting good results. French unemployment is falling and business sentiment is at a four-year high. Here in the U.S., our economy isn’t wowing anyone but it’s not on life support either, and it is managing positive growth.
If the Fed heeds the message of the currency market, then it won’t raise rates until 2016. By then, there’s a good chance the world economy will look markedly better and then multiple central banks can raise rates simultaneously. That would give the Fed the cover it needs to raise rates here at home without the threat of a dollar rally.
And that plays directly into China…
China Wants Out of the Dollar Trap
As I’ve noted, China has long pegged its currency, the yuan, to the dollar.
That has proven problematic for China because our buck has risen 30% since mid-2011. As the dollar rose, so rose the yuan, which made Chinese goods less attractive overseas and boosted the fortunes of other Asian manufacturing nations that compete with China.
A decline in orders for Chinese goods meant a decline in factory output, which meant a decline in exports, which meant disappointing GDP numbers — all ingredients that prognosticators throw into their bouillabaisse of data to divine China’s future. And what popped out was: “China is slowing!”
But no one seems to have connected the dots between the rise of the U.S. dollar and the knock-on effects the dollar has had on China’s manufacturing and export economy. Like I said, though, nothing in an economy happens in a vacuum. Push the balloon here and you get a bulge over there.
China devalued the yuan (the proximate cause for this week’s August tantrum) to relieve currency pressures that were making its economy less and less competitive.
Yet that devaluation isn’t an omen of impending doom. It’s not a sign the economy is slowing faster than expected. It’s simply China’s way of managing itself out of a currency trap.
Apple has pointed out that China’s consumers seem to be doing just fine. E-commerce in China is booming, and that’s where a large slug of the Chinese consumer economy is taking place these days. Yes, there is a bubble in real estate, but the Chinese aren’t real-estate investors the way we think of it in the U.S. So we have to push past that way of thinking. Yes, Chinese stocks have plunged … but the mainland stock market (as opposed to Chinese stocks listed in Hong Kong) is a gambling den at best still, so volatility there doesn’t mean what it does in a market populated by investors rather than punters.
In the end, what we’ve experienced in Profit Seeker in recent weeks is an exaggerated and emotional reaction to exaggerated worries about the Chinese economy and what it might mean to the world.
We are now on the cusp of a rally in emerging-market stocks because the Fed cannot raise rates. So it won’t raise them — at least not until other nations are talking about raising rates too. That realization will see the dollar decline and emerging-market stocks rally.
A big upswing is coming.
OptiBiotix (London: OPTI, buy up to £0.42) jumped 4% in trading today in London. Management reported half-year results and told investors that it has “completed preclinical studies and gained ethics approval to start human clinical studies” for what is potentially a breakthrough cholesterol-lowering product that is tied to microbes rather than drugs. The microbes are incorporated into food products without changing taste or texture.
It also has signed an agreement with an unnamed multinational company that could soon see OptiBiotix’s cholesterol product incorporated into yogurt. And it has partnered with a company now developing a health care portfolio targeted at the rapidly expanding elderly market.
In short, the future is shaping up nicely for OptiBiotix. We’re up about 7% so far, but at £0.39 the stock is still below the £0.42 buy limit. Thus, OptiBiotix remains a buy.
Until next time, keep a global view…
Jeff D. Opdyke
Editor, Profit Seeker


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Following the announcement of Monster Hunter Iceborne expansion, Capcom also revealed the official website for the 15th anniversary of Monster Hunter series.
As of writing, no other details have been revealed yet, but we are hoping that we will be getting more in the next few months. While the information that we have right now is very limited, the official 15th-anniversary website shows a sneak peek of what’s coming to all Monster Hunter fans.
The sneak peek shows an eye of a monster which looks like Tigrex. Behind the reflection of the monster’s eye is a hunter which seems to be hunting him. Tigrex is one of the most iconic monsters in Monster Hunter series. It was a flying wyvern which was introduced in Monster Hunter Freedom 2.
Capcom also announced the expansion coming to Monster Hunter World called Iceborne and we are hoping that there will also be something coming to Nintendo Switch.
Monster Hunter World Iceborn expansion is set to release on Autumn next year and the Monster Hunter series 5th anniversary celebration will begin on March 2019.


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Computer experts are warning of a serious new internet security threat that allows hackers to launch malicious programs on a victim’s computer or capture information a person volunteers on a web site, such as credit card numbers.
The threat, called “cross-site scripting,” involves computer code that can be hidden within innocuous-looking links to popular internet sites. The links can be eMailed to victims or published to online discussion groups and web pages.
The vulnerability is especially unusual because it is not limited to software from any particular company. Any web browser on any computer visiting a complex web site is at risk.
No one apparently has been victimized yet. But the risks are described as potentially serious enough and affect such a breadth of even the most successful web sites that the industry’s leading security group says nothing consumers can do will completely protect them.
Only a massive effort by web site designers can eliminate the threat, according to the CERT Coordination Center of Carnegie Mellon University and others. (CERT does not stand for anything; it is a registered service mark of the university.) Software engineers at CERT issued the warning together with the FBI and the Defense Department.
“This is a serious security issue, with potential implications that are only starting to be understood,” said a warning from the Apache Software Foundation, which supports widely used software running many of the world’s web sites.
The problem, discovered weeks ago but publicly disclosed Feb. 2, occurs when complex internet sites fail to verify that hidden software code sent from a consumer’s browser is safe.
Experts looking at how often such filtering occurred found that internet sites failing to perform that important safety check were “the rule rather than the exception,” said Scott Culp, the top security program manager at Microsoft.
“Any information that I type into a form, what pages I visit on that site, anything that happens in that session can be sent to a third-party, and it can be done transparently,” Culp warned. He added: “You do have to click on a link or follow a link in order for this to happen.”
The dangerous code also can alter information displayed in a consumer’s web browser, such as account balances or stock prices at financial sites. And it can capture and quietly forward to others a web site’s “cookie,” a small snippet of data that could help hackers impersonate a consumer on some internet pages.
“It really goes across a huge number of sites,” said Marc Slemko, a Canadian software expert who studied the problem. Slemko said internet-wide repairs will be “a very, very major undertaking.”
In the interim, experts strongly cautioned internet users against clicking on web links from untrusted sources, such as unsolicited eMail or messages sent to discussion forums.
They also recommended that users at least consider preventing their web browser software from launching small programs, called scripts. But they acknowledged that many internet sites require that function to operate.
Microsoft published full details and step-by-step instructions for consumers at its web site. Sun Microsystems Inc., whose software powers many of the world’s largest internet sites, also published information at its site, as did the Apache Software Foundation.
CERT Coordination Center
CERT’s Cross-Site Scripting Advisory (Advisory CA-2000-02)
Microsoft Security Advisor Program
Sun Microsystems’ Cross-Site Scripting warning
Apache Software Foundation’s Cross Site Scripting information


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Apple Music, Apple’s music streaming service, has benefited from multiple exclusives lately and this continues even today with the launch of the new album by Frank Ocean. In fact, the American songwriter and performer has just released his album called ” Blonde hair ” Normally, this one should have been called “Boys Don’t Cry” and the planned release date was August 5. But for reasons we don’t know, the date was suddenly pushed back and the title changed.
The new album “Blonde” consists of 17 songs including the latest songs by the artist. It is only available on Apple Music and iTunes at the moment. However, we should be able to find it on other platforms in some time. Besides, if we believe the information disclosed by the site The Verge, the exclusivity will last only two weeks and after this time, the album will be released on other services.
As a reminder, this is not the only work by this American star to be offered exclusively on Apple Music. Two days before, Frank Ocean already launched his visual album called “Endless” as well as his new title “Nikes”.