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News & Events
The U.S. Grains Council is pleased to announce the promotion of Kevin Roepke to USGC regional director of South and Southeast Asia, based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Roepke has served as the Council's director of trade development in the China office since January.
China’s new inspection and permit regime for U.S. distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) has created increased interest for DDGS in other markets around the world. Contracts continue to be written and DDGS continue to be shipped to China. However, with the new uncertainty and disruption in trade with China, bargain hunters elsewhere are sensing opportunity.
With the onset of summer, hot and dry conditions swept across many of India’s key agricultural areas. Due in part to the El Niño weather phenomenon, monsoons essential to Indian agriculture are not coming as quickly as usual, leading to speculation over production and prices for summer crops.
By: Adel Yusupov, U.S. Grains Council Regional Director for Southeast Asia
In just six years Southeast Asia has undergone an amazing transformation into a rapidly modernizing economic powerhouse. Southeast Asia’s economy can be described by the trend sweeping the region: the rise of middle class consumers and companies chasing their wallets.
By: Adel Yusupov, U.S. Grains Council Regional Director of Southeast Asia
South and Southeast Asia’s rising feed demand amid a decrease in available local corn has resulted in a higher reliance on imported coarse grains and co-products. There is competition, however, with South and Southeast Asia importing corn from as many as 16 countries of origin. To encourage end-users to import U.S. grains, the U.S. Grains Council has lead led trade and technical education efforts in this region to increase knowledge of the quality and reliability of U.S. sourcing.
“The keys are planning and preparation,” said Jim Stitzlein, manager of market development for Consolidated Grain and Barge. “IP (identity preserved) programs can expand customer choice, but success can only come if there is a willingness to commit, and if interest is expressed early enough to allow coordination across the entire value chain.”
Stitzlein, a U.S. Grains Council delegate and Biotechnology Advisory Team member, noted that CGB for years has promoted both commodity and IP programs and has strengthened its relationships with growers willing to respond to the users’ needs. A recent example is a relatively new IP program created by CGB and its Japanese parent company, Zen-Noh, to source non-GM corn from the United States for Japan Corn Starch, a food manufacturer. The first shipments left Gulf ports in May.
The Philippines has been the target of rampant smuggling, fraud and price and quantity mis-declaration in commodity imports. To address these issues, the Philippine Bureau of Customs (BOC) recently announced new regulations, effective June 1, 2014, requiring inspection and certification of all bulk and container imports at the port of loading, to be performed by one of a limited number of BOC-approved inspection companies. Importers are expected to absorb the costs of inspection, which are estimated to be $5-15 per metric ton, depending on the surveyor and the volume.
Negotiators for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) convened this week in Vietnam with a focus on resolving technical issues prior to next week’s TPP Ministerial meeting in Singapore. Floyd Gaibler, U.S. Grain Council director of trade policy and biotechnology, was in Vietnam for industry meetings with chief negotiators for several countries including Vietnam, New Zealand, Canada, Japan and Mexico.
“The sense of urgency is universal,” Gaibler said. “Negotiators from all countries are well aware of the clock. But at the same time, all of them recognize that there are some very difficult political decisions at stake, and that these will have to be resolved at the Ministerial level, or even higher.”
U.S. distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) have gained popularity in markets around the world, with 9.7 million metric tons – valued at $2.9 billion – exported in 2013 to more than 45 countries. Behind this market expansion are Council-directed and implemented educational seminars and feeding trails, complimented by consistent end-user contact and support. In emerging markets around the world, the Council continues to work to expand the market for U.S. DDGS.
While Mexico is the third-largest market for U.S. DDGS, its southern region remains an underserved livestock sector with growth potential for U.S. exports. According to a 2012 Council assessment, the potential exists to more than double current exports by providing technical and practical education to local cattlemen. To further this effort the Council has conducted a feeding trial in the area.


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"Profitability" might not currently be synonomous with "streaming platform", but it looks like that might change soon - in South Asia.
Indan streaming firm Saavn has released figures today claiming that it will be profitable by the end of 2018.?
The company's upward trajectory is being fuelled by the recent introduction of unlimited data packages in India as well as its availability (since late 2016) outside of South Asia.?
In late 2016 Saavn rolled out a subscription-only model for users outside of South Asia, who now pay $4.99 (or equivalent) per month for a premium Saavn service.
Within South Asian countries, a free, ad-supported version is still available for users who choose not to subscribe to Saavn Pro.
The company reports to have converted 15% of its 2 million diaspora users so far, with 25% paid conversion (which it aims to achieve by the end of 2018) marking profitability.
The platform boasts 22m monthly active users with its paid user base having increased by 125% in the last 12 months. It also reports to have experienced four times revenue growth since 2014.
“Streaming is already the largest contributor to music revenue globally, and it’s ultimately going to be streaming that drives the future of media as a whole,” said Rishi Malhotra, co-founder and CEO of Saavn.
“Subscriber growth is a big part of that, and we’re in a position to make major strides with both paid and ad-supported users. In our view, we are investing in the future of media and are taking an active role in creating what that future might look like. We believe it includes global connection, empowered artists and innovative revenue channels that go beyond streaming and the current paradigm.” ?
Launched in 2007, Saavn employs 190 people across five offices and three time zones and is supported by 250 advertisers, including automotive, tech and fashion giants such as Bose, Amazon, Levi’s and Lexus.

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This past Saturday, The New York Times ran an eyebrow-raising profile of Apple’s retail business. A part of the paper’s ongoing iEconomy series, the controversial story deals with the 30,000 of the 43,000 Apple employees in the United States who work in Apple Stores, as members of the service economy, many of them making just $25,000 a year.
And while Apple Stores almost double per-square-foot revenue compared to second-ranked Tiffany, Apple’s retail army remains long on loyalty but short on pay, the piece concludes. Those youthful faces that greet and service you at Apple’s 327 global stores aren’t in it for the money: a retail employee makes an average of $25,000 a year, but nets Apple approximately $473,000 annually.
That’s why the company can get away with paying a modest hourly wage and no commission, offering no career path whatsoever. In fact, many former and current employees describe working for the man as a dead end. According to a new report, Apple is about to change this and has outlined a new career path initiative to employees in yesterday’s Apple Retail quarterly meetings across the United States…
The new employee training initiative is dubbed “Pathways” and it focuses on a viable career path for new Apple retail hires, writes Mark Gurman for 9to5Mac.
A few other highlights:
• new Apple retail hires will be considered to be in on-going training during the entirety of their first year working at Apple retail
• the program’s logo is a green iOS icon with a path like, curved arrow formation
• this program affects new and even current employees going through training sessions
• Pathways focuses on providing three-times the amount of core training; core training is basically the basics of working in the Apple Store; new employees are taught customer interaction, store features, and about the products
• Apple Stores will now have a new employee dedicated to managing Pathways and other training operations
Also responding to the New York Times’ article, Apple last week began informing some retail employees that they would receive substantial raises.
Cory Moll, who works for Apple’s flagship San Francisco store and was given a raise of $2.82 an hour to $17.31, describes Cupertino’ change of heart.
My manager called me into his office and said, ‘Apple wants to show that it cares about its workers, and show that it knows how much value you add to the company, by offering a bigger raise than in previous years’.
An Apple spokesman confirmed the raises for The New York Times article.
The inspiring note that Apple gives to its new employees
It’s also worth pointing out how Apple moved swiftly, promising wage increases for Foxconn workers following another controversial article that touched upon working conditions at the company’s supply and manufacturing chain in Asia, based on partially fabricated accusations of mistreatment of workers by Mike Daisey.
Apple’s willingness to relent and tap its $110+ billion cash pile to provide a fairer compensation scheme for its employees coincides with the arrival of John Browett, a former Dickson’s executive who took over Apple Retail following Ron Johnson’s departure for J.C. Penney in November 2011.
He already reached out to retail employees and promised changes that include planned fall wage increases, but it would appear those plans have been accelerated due to bad press generated by The New York Times’ iEconomy reporting series.
John Browett’s outreach to store team sounds positive, but left employees feeling nervous.
9to5Mac interviewed several former and current Apple employees on their feelings about The New York Times story. Polled workers are torn between defending the article and completely disagreeing.
It’s telling that Apple has only decided to improve working conditions in both factories overseas and its own global retail stores after a highly influential newspaper slammed the company over workers mistreatment.
I think Apple CEO Tim Cook takes it personally, because he managed the supply chain as Apple’s op-chief for years before being named CEO in August 2011. If anyone knows a thing or two about the intricacies of contracting out work to Taiwanese firms, it’s him.
To me, Apple’s actions are welcome, but not timely.
Instead of choosing to be proactive and institute supply chain and retail changes for others to follow, Apple was content with sitting on the sidelines and reaping the benefits of cheap labor. This all changed when the media exposed the company’s business operations that usually are of no interest to readers.
It was only when Apple’s supply and retail practices made headlines that had become a poster child for corporate greediness, which forced the change.
What are your feelings on this controversial topic.
The top image is credited to The San Jose Mercury News.


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Runners leave a lot of footprints, but there’s one that running shoe companies are starting to pay more attention to: the one on the environment. Running shoes are made with plastic, polyester and synthetic glues. All of those products take energy and oil to produce, waste is created in the process, and when they’re cycled out of use — and runners can go through two or three pairs of shoes each year — they can end up in landfills.
But there is a growing list of options for finding a fit for a running shoe that’s a little more environmentally friendly. Athletic shoe manufacturers have started making running shoes with biodegradable soles, water-based adhesives and post-consumer recycled materials, and are shipping them out in recycled packaging.
Brooks Sports Inc. pioneered BioMoGo technology, launched in 2008, a biodegradable athletic shoe midsole that breaks down in landfills 50 times faster than conventional midsoles.
But while running shoe companies are paying more attention — and this year’s Bolder Boulder is trying to reduce its impact — runners don’t seem to be shifting their buying patterns to match.
“Running shoes are just one of those necessities, it’s one of those things people have to have, and if you can get a shoe that’s made out of 100 percent recycled material that didn’t perform well and got you injured, you’re not going to wear the thing,” says R.L. Smith, co-owner of In-Step, which sells sports accessories and athletic footwear, including Brooks Sports’ “Green Silence,” a shoe made of 100 percent recycled materials.
“People love the shoe,” Smith says.
“But people aren’t buying it because it is a recycled shoe.”
The selling point for the shoe is its appeal to runners looking for a minimalist shoe — one that mimics or approximates running barefoot.
“People are more concerned with the performance of the shoe, what the shoe is going to do for them,” Smith tells Boulder Weekly.
Regardless, even athletics giant Nike has started making shoes that use some pre- and post-consumer recycled materials, water-based adhesives and recycled polyester, according to the company website. They’re also making leaner, meaner running shoes that use less material as a way to be nicer to runners who want to lift less weight with each step, and nicer to a planet that could use a little less waste floating around. Their packaging has also been trimmed down to use 23 percent less material, and those iconic orange boxes are 100 percent recycled cardboard.
But even eco-friendly shoes need a place to die.
Many local running stores partner with Boulder’s One World Running, which sends new and nearly new athletic shoes, shirts and shorts to Africa. If the shoes are not nearly new enough, they’re sent through Boulder’s Eco-Cycle program, which grinds down the plastic and reuses it through programs like Nike’s Reuse- A-Shoe.
Since 1990, Nike has collected 25 million pairs of shoes through Reuse- A-Shoe, which converts the plastic from running shoes into surfaces for tracks, basketball courts, gym floors and playgrounds, and has started appearing in new products. There are drop-off locations at the Nike stores in Lakewood and Loveland.


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‘It’s not fair’: Leicester residents, pummeled by traffic, air complaints over pot shop problems
"We have no life there anymore," one resident said.
Dozens of frustrated Leicester residents flooded an emergency public meeting Monday to air complaints regarding traffic, safety, and communication stemming from the customer demand for the small town’s marijuana store that opened last week — one of only two dispensaries currently selling recreational pot in Massachusetts and the eastern part of the United States.
“We have cars outside of our house seven days a week, 12 hours a day,” said Dawn Gauthier, a resident who lives near Cultivate, the 1764 Main St. shop, The Boston Globe reports. “We have no life there anymore. It’s like living in a fishbowl. … It’s not fair.”
Long lines of cars have snarled traffic and forced detours; waiting customers have littered, urinated, and consumed marijuana on properties; and communication from the store has been poor, residents said, among the many issues they raised.
“My road has become a long parking lot,” said Kim Miczek, a Main Street resident, adding that she has seen people urinating on her lawn, MassLive reports.
Cultivate, along with New England Treatment Access in Northampton, opened its doors last week, kicking off recreational marijuana sales to heavy demand, over two years after voters approved legalization at the ballot box.
Company representatives, who apologized Monday, told residents they didn’t know they would be one of the first two shops to open and added that they would work to improve communication with their customers and try to better the traffic and parking situation, according to the Globe.
“We’re here to listen to your concerns and try to address them when and where we can,” said Robert Lally, chief operating officer of Cultivate. “There’s a lot of outreach we’re doing every day.”
Leicester town officials noted that they expect much of the commotion will be quelled once the Cannabis Control Commission approves additional store licenses across the state — a move expected to alleviate the strong demand placed on the existing shops.
“We don’t expect this, obviously, to last forever,” Town Administrator David Genereux said. “There are two [retail marijuana] facilities open. Our understanding is that there will be more facilities that will be permitted and be allowed to open in the Commonwealth later on this month. At that particular point, we expect this will begin to die down.”
It also didn’t help that the stores opened two days before Thanksgiving when people have days off, according to Genereux, who said the timing “seemed to inflate the traffic count far more than we had expected,” the Globe reports.
“The number of cars we saw far exceeded anything that we expected,” Leicester Police Chief James Hurley said. “And it wasn’t only the individuals that were coming to purchase marijuana, it’s what I’ve now come to refer to as cannabis tourism and those were the individuals — and there were hundreds of them — who drove up and just wanted to see what was going on.”
Still, the influx of traffic on Main Street means residents like Marc Castonguay hasn’t been able to exit his driveway while the store has been open.
Castonguay, who has a disability, said he had to cancel his monthly doctor’s appointment last week because of the congestion on the shop’s opening day, according to MassLive.
The traffic was still present on Sunday, he said.
“Do they take a day off? Can you take one day off so I can have a day off? This is really ridiculous,” he said to applause.
If things don’t change by Jan. 1, Castonguay said he’ll put his house on the market.
Watch live: The Leicester Board of Selectmen holds an “emergency meeting” about traffic following the opening of Cultivate, one of two shops which started to sell recreational marijuana last week.
Posted by MassLive on Monday, November 26, 2018
Cultivate representatives said they had created an additional 40 parking spots at a satellite parking lot that once totaled 150 and are working to fix traffic problems. The company spends over $2,000 a day to provide police traffic detail.
Town officials said they intend to follow up on whether concerns were addressed at an upcoming meeting.
“The people that are upset are going to stay upset unless they see results,” Select Board member Harry Brooks told WBZ. “I think more results can happen. Let’s find out in the next week, see what happens with what they’re doing.”


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We were surprised to see that consumer sentiment rose in December despite the spike in COVID-19 cases and economic restrictions. In NYC, indoor dining was closed starting Monday. There are tough restrictions in California as well. Despite this, the December University of Michigan consumer sentiment index rose from 76.9 to 81.4 which beat estimates for 76 and the highest estimate which was 78.
Current conditions rose from 87 to 91.8 despite the recent spike in initial jobless claims and the coming expiration of pandemic benefits on December 26th if Congress doesn’t pass an extension. Expectations rose from 70.5 to 74.7 which makes more sense because the vaccines are coming soon. 2.9 million Pfizer vaccine doses are being sent to America this week following the approval by the FDA. Next up is the Moderna vaccine.
Consumer sentiment increased because politics was a bigger deal than the virus. From August to December, consumer expectations among Democrats rose 39.5 points and it fell 34.9 points among Republicans. Democrats are more likely to worry about the virus. They probably think because a Democrat is president, the virus will be handled better and vice versa for Republicans. The January 5th Georgia Senate elections will determine the balance of the upper chamber. The Dems need to win both seats to split the Senate in half. The tie vote goes to the VP which is a Democrat.
Good Holiday Shopping Season
The BAC card spending data has been better than the JP Morgan card spending data recently. On a cumulative basis, from November 1st to December 5th holiday sales were up 19%. Goods spending dominated.
As you can see from the chart above, core control group ex grocery sales were stronger in the week leading up to Black Friday than last year. Remember, sales outperformed in October because of Prime Day and the subsequent discounts from competitors with Amazon. Sales weren’t as strong as last year after Black Friday. Spending will probably peak earlier (before Christmas) than last year because people can’t buy goods at the last minute online like they can in stores. Spending at stores won’t be prominent because of the virus.
Retail Traders Lead The Charge
People are discovering stock trading on a mass scale. It’s the hot new trend like how a consumer good/service becomes popular and fades. The brokerage apps are the Pokémon Go of 2020. Scarily, new traders have discovered weekly call options and triple leveraged ETFs. This isn’t a game. We think because it is easier than ever to invest and because people are stuck at home, they are trading themselves. It also helps that stocks have done well. Retail traders have gotten so large, they move stocks themselves.
Robinhood is a relatively new trading app, but we have long term data from E*TRADE and TD Ameritrade. As you can see from the chart above, the daily average revenue trades (DARTs) have gone parabolic this year. Frenzies like this never end well. Generally, these investors are bad stock pickers as they all pile into the same names. They are buying airline and cruise stocks which have diluted shareholders all year.
This brings us to the screengrab below.
Stock bubbles always end because of added supply. Investment bankers see the areas of the market that are getting the most attention and they coordinate capital raises. It’s a natural balancing act. It’s not that difficult to start a company with high sales growth that has no profits or has no sales at all and is just an idea. When companies go public with just concepts, you know the bankers are really scraping the bottom of the barrel to add supply. This is ironically what speculators want even though they are bad businesses. Speculators don’t want to hold the shares long term. They try to get in for the rise and get out before the bust.
It’s easier if a company doesn’t have sales because they can make projections without worrying about reality. The area where this is the most common is self-driving cars. The key here is to make projections for software-like margins and then worry about if it’s actually coming later on. This is just like the 1990s tech bubble. The problem for frantic speculators was the popular stocks mostly weren’t the new technology winners.
Vaccine Coming Soon
As we mentioned, Pfizer’s vaccine was approved by the FDA. This was expected. At this point, if there are any hiccups in the distribution, it’s very bearish for reopening stocks because traders have front run the recovery. The earlier you are in buying the stocks, the most risk you are taking but the more rewards are earned if it goes well.
The chart above shows the timing of the doses given out in America and the percentage of the population that will be vaccinated in a bull, bear, and base case. About half of the country should be vaccinated by April. Experts believe 80% to 90% of the population needs to be immune from COVID-19 because of the vaccine or a prior infection to reach herd immunity.
According to a Deutsche Bank poll of investors which asked about the biggest risks facing global markets in 2021, the top 3 responses were about COVID-19. The top was the virus mutates and dodges the vaccine. The 2nd was the vaccine causes serious side effects. The third was enough people refuse to take the vaccine that it slows the reopening process.
Consumer sentiment rose in December for political reasons. BAC card data suggests this has been a good holiday shopping season. Retail traders are speculating in stocks in the largest numbers since the 1990s tech boom because it’s so easy to trade on your phone. If you are worried the bubble won’t end, don’t! Investment banks will add supply in these speculative areas until the bubble ends. The Pfizer vaccine was approved by the FDA. The first half of 2021 will be all about getting everyone vaccinated so the country can reopen.
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By Ben Levisohn
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) did everything you could ask a company to do when it reported its third-quarter financial results today. It beat earnings forecasts; its sales easily topped the Street consensus; and it increased its guidance. Still, shares of Johnson & Johnson have dropped more than 2%. What gives? Leerink’s Danielle Antalffy explains:
This morning, Johnson & Johnson continued the growth momentum the company has seen in recent quarters, delivering its 3rd consecutive quarter of organic sales growth now solidly in the mid-single-digit range even despite what is usually a seasonally weak quarter. Johnson & Johnson delivered EPS outperformance, reporting 3Q16 EPS of $1.68 (+12.8% y/y reported and as-adjusted ex. the impact of FX,acquisitions/divestitures, and Olysio) vs. us at $1.63 and the Street at $1.65. Sales of $17.82B (+4.2%, +4.3% ex. FX) came in well ahead of us and the Street at $17.550B and $17.74B, respectively. And organic sales growth of 4.3% came in nearly double our 2.3% projection. But upcoming generic Remicade competition in the U.S. — with Pfizer (PFE) announcing yesterday that it will launch at risk in late November — does add some uncertainty to the 2017 outlook and sustainability of this mid-single-digit growth profile going forward. In addition, while sales outperformed, both gross and operating margins came in below expectations, with EPS outperformance largely driven by non-operational items like tax rate and “other” income/expense. Because of this, upside to shares could be muted today despite what we believes is a continuation of an overall positive trend at JNJ in which the company is seeing: (1) Strong growth from both core and new Pharma product launches, which are the primary contributors of outperformance; and (2) A continued, seemingly sustainable rebound in core MD&D businesses like Cardiovascular, Ortho, and Surgery.
And apparently, Johnson & Johnson said that it would compete on price with Pfizer, something the Financial Times characterized as a “price war.”
Shares of Johnson & Johnson have dropped 2.1% to $115.97 at 11:38 a.m. today, while Pfizer has risen 0.9% to $32.79.


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Balancing online brand protection and budgetary pressures: an infographic
The 2017 Global Trademark Benchmarking Survey has revealed mixed fortunes for corporate trademark departments. While one-third reported budget increases over the past year, one-quarter have faced the harsh reality of reduced funding.
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In line with its ambition of enhancing the livelihoods of millions under its Sustainable Living Plan, Unilever Levant, one of the world’s leading FMCG companies and owner of global brands such as Lipton, Dove, Lifebuoy, Axe, Omo, launched ASILAH Program in Jordan, which consists of making 30 women (refugees and rural Jordanians) financially independent and personally empowered by training them to become micro-entrepreneurs.
The program which is in partnership with the UNDP, aims at training women to choose their own business or become distributors of the “Women Baqala” Program, part of the Baqala program that was launched in June 2018 in Jordan in partnership with UNDP. Baqala has developed the merchandising and sales skills of 103 unemployed Jordanian and Syrians, aged between 18-40 and who have been unemployed for at least 3 months and placed them in grocery stores for a 3-month paid internship. This program was successfully executed in Lebanon in 2017.
The development of ASILAH program is the result of the high number of refugees in both Lebanon and Jordan who face significant barriers to accessing paid work. Women face additional constraints linked to limited mobility and lack of opportunities deemed suitable for them in the face of restrictive socio-cultural norms and associated occupational segregation. However, most women, around six in ten report wanting to work.
Therefore, ASILAH Program is launched to support the integration of refugees and host community women to establish micro-joint ventures and skills exchange partnerships. In addition, it aims to increase women economic participation in the retail distribution segment and empower them in a segment dominated by male entrepreneurs by supporting women to become direct-to-consumer sales distributors and establish their home-based businesses (HBB). ASILAH aims also to create sustainable livelihoods and ensuring long-term self-reliance, to create positive social impact on improving health, hygiene and education level of the entire household, and to support the stabilization of livelihoods with a longer-term vision of building resilience among Jordanians and Syrian refugees in the targeted areas.
ASILAH program falls right in Unilever’s vision to deliver both responsible and sustainable growth. Developing innovative and holistic distribution models provides an enormous opportunity for growth,
while at the same time allowing Unilever to make a real difference to people’s lives by addressing issues of poverty alleviation and unemployment.
Ayla Ziz, Managing Director of Unilever Levant & Iraq says, “I am particularly proud to launch Asilah, an inspiring project built by Unilever employees and our partners to positively impact the lives of our communities. Creating livelihoods for local women and refugees and connecting them to markets is necessary to enhance their integration into the workforce and improve their access to long-term self-reliance.”
As for the UNDP Resident Representative, Sara Olivella Ferrer, she noted “UNDP Asilah partnership for development with Unilever, exemplifies how the private sector and multinationals are aligning corporate strategies and investments to maximizing social capital and SDGs Impact in communities who have embraced refugees and migrants, by strengthening gender equality and creating sustainable livelihoods for women and Syrian refugees in nonconventional roles that build soft skills, communication, marketing, and linkages to global business models and practices” we hope to empower these young women to become champions “Asilah” in their communities.”
Unilever Jordan marketing office was established in September 2017, having 14 employees, operating on Hellman’s, Walls, Magnum, Cornetto, Lipton, Knorr, Sunsilk, Dove, Clear, TRESemme, Signal, Closeup, AXE, Rexona, LUX, LIFEBUOY, COMFORT, OMO, JIF, ST YVES, CAMAY, SUAVE.


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Semiconductor Company intel company INTC announced its third quarter (Q3) financial results after the market close on Thursday. Here are the main highlights.
What happened: The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company’s third-quarter revenue was $15.3 billion. That’s down 20% year over year.
Total revenue missed Street’s estimate of $15.43 billion according to data from Benzinga Pro.
See also: Intel raises $681 million from its Mobileye self-driving tech IPO
Non-GAAP revenue was down 15% year over year taking into account restructuring charges of $664 million.
The company’s third-quarter earnings per share were 59 cents, beating Street’s estimate of 34 cents per share.
Revenue by segment was:
- Client Computing Group: $8.1 billion, -17% year over year
- Datacenter and AI Group: $4.2 billion, -27% year-over-year
- Network and Edge Group: $2.3 billion, +14% year-over-year
- Accelerated Computing Systems and Graphics Group: $185 million, +8% year-over-year
- Mobileye: $450 million, +38% year-over-year
- Intel Foundry Services: $171 million, -2% year-over-year
“Despite deteriorating economic conditions, we delivered strong results and made significant progress in executing our products and processes during the quarter,” said Intel’s CEO. Pat Gelsinger said.
Related Link: Intel Raises $861 Million From the IPO of Its Mobileye Self-Driving Technology
And after: Intel expects fourth-quarter revenue to be between $14 billion and $15 billion. For the full fiscal year, Intel forecasts revenue of between $63 billion and $64 billion. Analysts have a full year estimate of $65.26 billion according to Benzinga Pro data.
Intel is focused on reducing costs going forward with a $3 billion savings plan in 2023 and cost savings of $8-10 billion per year by 2025.
“To position ourselves for this economic cycle, we are aggressively addressing costs and optimizing efficiencies across the business to accelerate our IDM 2.0 flywheel for the digital future,” Gelsinger said. .
The company highlighted the IPO of Global mobileye MBLY it happened this week. Intel said it believes the IPO will “unlock value for Intel shareholders.”
INTC Price Action: Intel shares are up 6% at $27.90 in after-hours trading Thursday.
Learn more about what analysts are saying about Intel here.


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The ‘cheapest time’ to book flight is a myth, Google Flights says. What to do instead
(NEXSTAR) – A brutal combination of soaring gas prices, inflation and travel disruptions have many, including the team at Google Flights, looking for the best way to book a cheap flight.
Just as the price of airfare has gone up – after an 8% drop in July, it was still 30% higher than in 2021 – so has the volume of Google searches for “cheapest airline tickets.” The online query rocketed 240% from April to August, Google found.
Google Flights decided to dig into five years’ worth of data to find any reliable patterns that might help travelers find the cheapest way to fly.
The results may disappoint some who have sworn by a certain day or time believed to be the cheapest for booking.
“There isn’t much value in purchasing your tickets on a certain day of the week — sorry, Tuesday!” wrote James Byers, Google Flights group product manager in a blog post Tuesday.
Five years of price data showed that Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays wound up being only 1.9% cheaper on average than booking on a weekend day.
“So if your trip is just a couple of weeks away, don’t wait for Tuesday to roll around — book your flight now in case the price goes up,” Byers wrote.
Focusing on the departure day, not the day you buy the ticket, will save you the most money. Flights leaving on Mondays, Tuesdays or Wednesdays were 12% cheaper than weekend departures — a number that jumps to 20% when excluding international destinations.
Other ways to save money include accepting layovers. Nonstop flight prices were 20% higher on average.
Another money-saving pattern the data revealed was the number of days in advance one should book to get the best price: 21-60 days out for domestic, with an average low price of 44 days. These numbers, of course, fluctuate by route, so check early.
Planning a trip to Europe? The lowest fare was found 129 days out, but low prices ranged anywhere between 50 and 179 days in advance of the trip. For Mexico and the Caribbean, the range was 37-87 days with 59 days in advance being the sweet spot.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Regular the hill posts


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Rick Osterloh, former president of Motorola, is now senior vice president at Google and will report directly to CEO Sundar Pichai. Osterloh will lead a new hardware division at Google, and will be in charge of Google's Nexus program.
Motorola's Moto G has been a huge success, and the 2016 version is likely to be no different. Rumors about what the device will look like have already started hitting the Internet. Here's everything you need to know about the 2016 Moto G.
Georgia resident Douglas Lynch filed a class-action lawsuit against Motorola, with the lawsuit asking for $5 million in damages. Lynch argues the company's customer service egregiously mishandled a claim he made regarding his Moto 360.
Lenovo could be prepping the sequel to last year's affordable Moto E, with the rumored handset possibly making an appearance on benchmark site GFXBench. What gives it away is the model number, which includes "XT."
Lenovo is set to completely restructure Motorola, and the first victim of the shakeup is Motorola President Rick Osterloh. Osterloh led the company through the Lenovo acquisition, but his time at Moto is done.
Apple is the most preferred smartphone brand for consumers looking to change their device in the U.S., followed by Samsung, Motorola, and LG, according to the latest data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.
Fully wireless earbuds are the holy grail of wireless headphones, but they've been hard to come by up to now. Motorola showed off its take on the burgeoning tech here at MWC 2016 in the new Verve Ones.
If you own a Motorola Droid Ultra, Droid Maxx, or Droid Mini, you can stop holding your breath for Android 5.0 Lollipop -- it’s officially not going to happen. The sad news about the Verizon-exclusive smartphones was shared in a Google+…


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02 August 2021 • 20 min read
COVID-19 to Suez Canal Blockage
Know about the shipping challenges that the world is facing in 2021. From Covid 19 to the Suez canal blockage to the resulting port congestion, container shortages, blank sailings and soaring freight rates.
MSC, the second largest shipping company in the world calls Suez blockage "one of the biggest disruptions to global trade in recent years"
On March 29, tug boats honked their horns in celebration as the megaship MV Ever Given was refloated, ending its six-day-long blockade of the Suez Canal, one of the world’s busiest trade routes connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea. But the celebrations might have been premature. The blocking of the canal is the latest disaster to hit the shipping industry. It’s been one crisis after another, starting with the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, followed by Brexit in January 2021, and now this. In between, a record surge in imports to the United States and Europe from Asia should have elicited a sigh of relief from a battered global economy. On the contrary, it stretched the global supply chain – from shipping lines, ports and warehouses to factories – even more. What’s happening is unprecedented. And it doesn’t look like it’s going away in a hurry.
This piece tackles the current crisis hobbling the shipping industry and global trade, and also discusses ways to get around it. Given that this is a fast evolving situation, you might like to check out some of our earlier blogs on the subject:
Shipping challenges that the World is facing right now
A whole lot, actually. Here’s a round-up, starting with the latest major event:
Suez Canal – It’s not over yet
The Ever Given has been freed and the Suez Canal unblocked. But there were 450-odd vessels stranded on either side of the blockage for the six days the ship was wedged in. By the time these ships crossed the canal, it was already April 3. That’s a delay of 11 days just at the incident site. It will take weeks more for these ships – which took off from Asia and are headed for Europe – to complete their journeys. Additionally, some vessels were re-routed via the Cape of Good Hope to avoid the canal. This adds an average of eight more days to their journey.
As for the Ever Given, Egyptian authorities have impounded the vessel with its 18,300 container loads of cargo and 25-member crew. They are demanding $900 million in compensation from the ship’s Japanese owner, Shoei Kisen Kaisha. The cargo might be detained till the dispute is settled. Taiwan’s Evergreen, which was operating the vessel on a long-term charter, is considering moving the cargo to other ships. But this would be a challenging and time-consuming exercise. Given that a long delay is inevitable, reports indicate that the ship owner could face a storm of claims from cargo owners over the loss of perishable goods and delayed deliveries.
Port congestion worsens
The delayed arrival of ships stranded at the Suez is bound to clog up ports worldwide, especially in Europe. Lars Jensen, chief executive of SeaIntelligence Consulting, said cargo could flood European ports “like ketchup out of a bottle”. Terminal, warehousing and trucking operations will naturally be affected. Larger ports like Singapore, Rotterdam and New York are expected to bear the brunt of this unplanned spike in ship calls. On April 12, ships with a collective capacity of 370,000 TEU were reportedly on route to Singapore, where 83 vessels with a capacity of 299,310 TEU were already waiting to be unloaded.
Port congestion means delays. By this projection, the collective delay to shipping fleets caused by the Suez incident is 1,072 days. On the Shanghai-Rotterdam route, delays are up to seven days from three days at this time last year. In an indication of just how bad shipping schedules have been impacted, German shipping company Hamburg Süd, in an update of its North America operations between April 12 and April 19, reported delays ranging from 2.5 days to an alarming 59 days.
Even before the blockage, ports had been dealing with prolonged congestion and large-scale workforce absenteeism as a direct consequence of the pandemic. According to this report, port congestion in the second half of 2020 – when the global economy went back to work after restrictions were lifted – increased 20% from the same period in 2019. This means ships loading and unloading an average of 6,000 containers per visit spent 83 hours at ports, an increase of 20% from the previous year.
If that isn’t bad enough, traders moving their goods in and out of the UK have had to contend with increased port congestion due to Britain’s decision in January to exit the European Union and the resultant changes in customs processes. Leading UK ports like Felixstowe and Southampton are seeing a critical build-up of containers.
Container shortage plays on
For every container stuck in the UK, that’s one container less in Asia. And hundreds of thousands of containers have been grounded at US and Europe ports for months now, thanks to pandemic restrictions first and then record imports from Asia in the build-up to Christmas and New Year. For every 10 containers shipped to North America from Asia, only four reportedly return. The result is a severe container crunch in Asia that is forcing rice exporters in Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia to give up on some shipments to the US. The imbalance has been aggravated by carriers focusing on the more lucrative Asia-US and Asia-Europe routes. So, stacks of empty containers are idling at ports in Africa, South America, Australia and New Zealand. Now, with a huge fleet headed for Europe after the Suez re-opening, the container build-up in the continent is set to worsen.
Blank sailings continue
The Suez incident has also added to the scheduling problems of shipping lines. Most have planned blank sailings during April and May so that they can focus on dealing with current delays. To blank a sailing is to cancel all or part of the voyage. On April 7, German shipping major Hapag-Lloyd said that its vessel HMM Rotterdam, which was re-routed via the Cape of Good Hope, would be omitting Jebel Ali to make up for time. Cargo bound for the Dubai port will be discharged in Singapore and sent on a separate ship. Blank sailings have become a frequent occurrence in the recent past. In December too, THE Alliance, a group of carriers including Hapag-Lloyd, blanked sailings on key routes citing “unprecedented times of the pandemic”.
Impact on global trade and economy
The supply chain disruptions, caused by pandemic conditions and inflamed by the Suez Canal blockage, are expected to have massive implications, financial or otherwise. Some of these outcomes are already being felt:
- Freight rates through the roof – After the Suez incident, freight rates on many Asia-Europe and Asia-US routes have risen steadily through April, shows maritime consultant Drewry’s World Container Index. One reason for this is fresh surcharges by shipping lines. For example, CMA CGM has imposed a peak season surcharge on most of its routes. Drewry’s index also reveals current Asia-Europe and Asia-US freight rates are on average 221% higher than at the same time last year. This is primarily due to the pandemic, which consistently drove prices up. The cost of shipping goods on the China-Europe route in March 2021 was three times what it was in November 2020 while China-US West Coast rates doubled between June 2020 and March this year, according to this report. Another report shows that it now costs more to ship to North America from Singapore than from any other Southeast Asian port due to the crippling congestion in Singapore.
- Additional costs – The supply chain disruptions have added to shippers’ expenses in the form of demurrage, detention and storage fees at ports, and rescheduling charges as a result of cargo rollovers and blank sailings. Shippers are also spending more money to stock up on extra inventory.
- Delays and extended buffer times – The Suez incident’s immediate impact is a 60%-80% drop in export capacity on Asia-Europe routes, according to consultant Sea-Intelligence. This means export cargo in Europe will have to wait at least a fortnight before it can be moved, it adds. Long delays are already forcing shippers worldwide to add weeks to their delivery schedules.
- Inflation watch – There’s a real danger that the steep hike in shipping costs will have a knock-on effect on inflation. Two days before the Ever Given was refloated, The Washington Post reported an increase in oil and African coffee bean prices due to a scarcity scare. It warned that other commodities such as chemicals, apparel, iron ore and manufactured goods could be impacted as well.
- Spillover effect – The high demand for container ships is spilling over into other modes of shipping such as break bulk, according to this Bloomberg report. Break bulk is the mode of transporting loose material that cannot be shipped in containers (barrels, drums, paper reels, etc). Wood pulp, a raw material for toilet paper, is shipped as break bulk cargo. And Suzano SA, a global supplier of wood pulp in Brazil, told Bloomberg a growing demand for break bulk cargo vessels was hampering their exports to such an extent that it might lead to a toilet paper shortage.
Solution: 3 ways to increase efficiency
The supply chain disruptions are an indication of what ails the shipping industry at large and will most likely persist beyond Covid-19. This calls for long-term planning. Maritime consultant Drewry suggests three solutions, which cannot work without the entire supply chain coming together. They are:
- Ensure greater transparency of port capacity and productivity to catch early warning signs
- Urge shippers to act on the early warning signs and re-route cargo early. Re-routing means additional expense, so this might call for some form of financial incentive, Drewry suggests
- Encourage carriers to proactively adjust schedules early and refrain from cut-and-run responses
To make these suggestions action, several tech companies are offering digital solutions to shippers and carriers. These include:
- Port Intel, an online port congestion report service Launched on March 15, informs its subscribers when their ships are anchored near congested ports and helps them look for alternative routes.
- Port technology provider Portchain’s berth optimisation software provides data on berthing capacity at ports. This helps carriers plan ahead and share accurate schedule details with ports, which can optimise their berthing and equipment utilisation as a result. Portchain counts several ports in Europe and Asia as well as leading carrier Hapag-Lloyd among its customers.
- Non-profit Digital Container Shipping Association’s (DCSA) Track & Trace (T&T) standards offer shippers real-time, cross-carrier data on the status of their cargo. The DCSA T&T standards have been adopted by most of the association’s carrier members including MSC, Ocean Network Express (ONE), CMA CGM, Yang Ming and Evergreen.
- Port of Singapore Authority’s (PSA) cargo solutions, such as “Priority Discharge” for time-sensitive cargo, “Top Stowage” and “Express Delivery” for shipments requiring expedited discharge and delivery, “Flexi-Alerts” email or SMS service for timely updates on vessel arrival and departure, load and discharge times, and so on.
From the suggestions and solutions mentioned above and from UNCTAD, it is clear that a permanent fix for the current problem lies in increased digitisation of shipping services and improved communication between supply chain partners.
When will the situation normalise?
Not until 2022, by most accounts. Port and container shortages are expected to persist through 2021, lessening in degree with the passing months. Freight rates will likely stay high till 2022, according to Drewry’s latest Container Forecaster report. It tallied the collective operational profit for shipping lines in 2020 to be $26.6 billion, the highest it has recorded, and predicted that this record might be eclipsed in 2021. Freight rates might start easing up in 2022 but are expected to stay elevated till 2023, the report added.
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“I’m not a China expert, although I’m boning up as fast as I can, I would just say right now their economy looks terrible,” Kudlow said Thursday in response to U.S. President Donald Trump‘s question at a cabinet meeting about China’s prospects.
Kudlow also said the latest data showed that “retail sales, business investment is collapsing.” “There may be some manipulation” in the currency and “investors are moving out of China because they don’t like the economy,” he added.
Growth is slowing and the latest economic reports did disappoint analyst expectations. Worries about high debt levels persist. The Chinese yuan has fallen to its lowest in more than a year against the U.S. dollar. However, China’s situation is not as dire as Kudlow’s comments suggest.
First, fixed asset investment did slow to 5.5 percent year-on-year growth in July, the lowest since 1999, according to Shanghai-based data company Wind Info. Retail sales growth of 8.8 percent in July from a year earlier missed expectations of 9.1 percent and fell from 9 percent in June, according to Reuters. But that is still better than the 6.4 percent year-on-year increase in U.S. retail sales reported for July.
Beijing is trying to transition China’s economy to a consumption-driven one from one reliant on manufacturing. The economic growth rate is bound to decline in this process, since the labor productivity of the services industry is significantly lower than that of the manufacturing industry, according to Lu Zhang, a Beijing-based economist at investment research firm CEBM. The quality of China’s growth is also improving, she noted.
Overall, China’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow 6.6 percent this year, slower than last year’s 6.9 percent rate but still one of the fastest-growing economies in the world and far above the 3.9 percent global growth forecast, according to a July report from the International Monetary Fund. That compares with for the IMF’s outlook for a 2.9 percent increase in U.S. GDP this year, up from 2.3 percent last year.
Part of the weakness in the yuan is due to a slowing economy and easing domestic monetary policy. But at the same time, the U.S. dollar index has strengthened to its highest in more than a year amid Federal Reserve tightening.
The official China Foreign Exchange Trade System RMB index, which tracks the yuan’s moves against a weighted basket of currencies such as the euro, Japanese yen and Swiss franc, is down about 2 percent so far this year, according to Wind.
Third, data show foreign investment in China is on the rise, but down in the U.S. That contrasts with Kudlow’s comment to Trump that investors are moving out of China and “coming to the USA because they like our economy.”
New foreign direct investment in the U.S. fell 32 percent in 2017 to $259.6 billion, according to the latest preliminary figures from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Chinese acquisitions and investments in the U.S. also dropped 92 percent to $1.8 billion in the first five months of this year, research and consulting firm Rhodium Group said.
Actually-utilized foreign capital in China is lower overall at $76.1 billion year-to-date, but up single digits year-on-year, according to analysis of Ministry of Commerce data using Wind Info.
In another indication that capital is not fleeing the country, Chinese foreign exchange reserves rose $5.82 billion in July to $3.118 trillion, contrary to expectations for a decline of $12.1 billion, according to Reuters.
China does, however, face pressure as authorities try to reduce reliance on debt-driven growth, while the economy could also be affected if trade tensions with the U.S. escalate. Kudlow’s remarks come as the U.S. and China agreed to resume negotiations on trade later this month.
— CNBC’s Everett Rosenfeld contributed to this report


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Early this January after a long search, Laura Kastner, a 27-year-old consultant living in New York City, found her dream couch: a plush, Joybird brand L-shaped sectional. “It gave me butterflies when I pictured myself laying on it.” She ordered it on January 3 and was told it would be delivered in six weeks. It wasn’t. Now, it’s due on March 16th. The reason? “We are working through delays,” the company told her.
A lot of Americans have been having similar experiences lately. “A sofa is a good microcosm of how everything in the supply chain is impacted,” according to Mark Schumacher, CEO of the Home Furnishings Association. “It’s called a supply chain for a reason. What we have found is that it’s not been a weakness or a single broken link, it’s been many.”
The last few months have made the phrase “supply chain” part of everyday language. According to an Oracle survey, 45 percent of Americans say that before the pandemic, they never thought about how products were delivered. Now, 87 percent say they have been negatively impacted by supply chain issues, with 60 percent unable to buy items due to shortages and 51 percent canceling orders because of delays.
A lot of forces have combined to stress supply chains starting with COVID-19-related shutdowns by manufacturers and shippers. Those pressures revealed weaknesses in the way goods are made and delivered that long predate the pandemic.
One stress point is at the beginning of the chain: An estimated 40 percent of the world’s furniture, for instance, is made in China. Similarly, a single Taiwanese company makes most of the world’s most sophisticated computer chips as well as many of the more common varieties. Supply for both furniture and chips haven’t kept pace with rising demand. Nintendo, for instance, cut projections for sales of its popular Switch device because it couldn’t get enough chips in time for the Christmas sales season.
NEWSWEEK PODCASTS Russia & the New Global Supply Chain Order
Meanwhile furniture makers, like manufacturers of all kinds, have been hit by the fallout from the chip shortage, too. Joybird co-founder and vice president of supply chain Joshua Stellin says many things in the company’s factories nowadays rely on chips—
fork lifts, for instance—and the time it takes to get new or replacement equipment has slowed dramatically. “Things that used to take days and weeks now take weeks and months,” he says.
There is no quick fix. Professor Morris Cohen of the Wharton School of Business says, “To build a staff at the factories that fabricate the chips takes about a year, and then it takes another year to tune it and get it to work and have acceptable yields and quality. You can’t just flip a switch.”
Further down the supply chain, there have been other headaches. Last year’s winter storms in Texas, for instance, decimated the foam industry, a critical component for automobile and furniture manufacturers. Meanwhile, “The Great Resignation” has left shipping and trucking companies shorthanded.
“We didn’t catch a break anywhere,” Schumacher says. “Every aspect of the supply chain has had a hiccup of one sort or another.”
Through all of this, however, consumer demand for all kinds of products has remained strong. Joybird’s Stellin says the rise of work from home propelled a boom in furniture demand that quickly outpaced the company’s ability to provide new product. He puts it this way: “If you look at it in terms of having a bulldozer dumping things in, and then you have a bulldozer scooping things out, [the supply] bulldozer was broken and [the demand bulldozer] was kicking ass.” Joybird outsources parts from southeast Asia and manufactures mostly in Tijuana. Parts and labor shortages abroad hit Joybird’s partner factories just as furniture demand began to take off.
Even when factories could turn out new couches, those goods often wound up stuck in ports due to labor shortages there. While ships once arrived and unloaded cargo within three to four days, Stellin says, that number looks more like 35–40 now, and even that “is a flip of the coin,” with some delays as long as 90 days.
HFA’s Schumacher says shipping has become more expensive even as it has slowed down: “We have been screaming from the rooftops as an industry since the middle of 2020 about inflation. With all these shortages, container prices, which are controlled by companies that are not American companies, have exploded.” In some cases, he says, container prices are 1,000 percent higher than they were pre-pandemic.
Delays and rising prices along the supply chain have affected consumer habits. As HFA’s Schumacher puts it, “We now live in a retail world where ‘available in stock’ is everything.”
Told they’ll have to wait nine months for a product they want, he says, many consumers are likely to switch to something they can get faster instead. “I want it sooner than nine months, and this is close, so I’m going to go for it,” he says. Joybird’s Stellin agrees, saying some furniture designs that weren’t that popular have been moving quickly mainly because they are in stock in U.S. warehouses. He says consumers are likely to get products quicker if they opt for standard models rather than look for custom features.
While supply chain issues aren’t going away, Wharton’s Morris is optimistic about companies’ growing ability to adjust. For example, toilet paper shortages have generally turned out to be short-lived. “The consumption of toilet paper didn’t change because of the pandemic,” he says. People weren’t using more; they were using more at home, instead of at school or work. Makers responded by repackaging rolls made for institutional customers and putting them on supermarket shelves.
Morris adds, however, that kind of fix is easier in some industries than others. Longer term structural adjustments, like restoring supplies and redesigning products to use more standardized parts, will take more time and money.
HFA’s Schumacher is also hopeful that the second half of the year will bring down wait times for products, though probably not back to pre-pandemic standards. “This is the year we’re going to see a lot of adjustments to these crazy situations we’ve seen in 2020 and 2021,” he says.
shutdown – zamknięcie, likwidacja
keep pace with rising demand – nadążać za rosnącym popytem
fork lift – wózek widłowy
yield – korzyść, zysk, rentowność
flip a switch – wcisnąć przycisk, nacisnąć przełącznik
hiccup – czkawka, drobna przeszkoda
propel a boom in something – wywołać boom na coś
scoop out – zbierać, zgarniać
take off – rosnąć, nabierać rozpędu
wind up stuck in ports – utknąć w portach
flip of the coin – rzut monetą
bring down wait times – skrócić czas oczekiwania
Listen to the recording and answer the following questions:
1. Why did Laura Kastner not get her couch as planned?
2. What issues have been causing these negative impacts on the supply chain?
3. Where are most of the world’s computer chips manufactured?
4. How are shipping problems contributing to the growing consumer demand problem?
5. How have consumer habits changed as a result of the supply chain issues?
6. How are domestic producers dealing with the supply chain issues?
First, match the words to form collocations and verb phrases that will help you describe the issue presented in the article. Next, write down a sentence using each collocation and verb phrase. The sentences you create should relate to the topic being discussed in the text. (See Key)
a boom in something
for standard models
pace with something
Use the collocations and verb phrases above to sum up the key points of the text. Record your text analysis on a voice recorder, or practice delivering your presentation in a group setting.
A lot of Americans have been …
What we have found is that …
The last few months have made …
A lot of forces have combined to …
Now it’s time to put forward your views on the issues. Write an opinion essay on the topic: Western countries should relocate their manufacturing facilities from Asia to Europe and America.
Points to consider
∗ Decide whether you agree or disagree with the subject of the essay
∗ Make a list of your points and reasons
∗ Begin each paragraph with a sentence that summarizes what the paragraph is about
∗ Use linking words/transitions to connect your ideas (firstly, moreover, nevertheless)


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If you love yard sales, then we have some great news for you!
One of the biggest yard sales in the country is happening this weekend in your backyard.
The US 301 Endless Yard Sale runs from Weldon to Dunn and is 100 miles of shopping fun.
Sites will be set up along US 301 in Johnston, Halifax, Wilson, Nash and Harnett counties.
More than 500 vendors in the area will join in with deals on antiques, collectibles and more.
It starts on Friday, June 14, and ends the next day. It will be open each day from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The best way to get directions is by using the maps on the event's website.
100-mile yard sale coming to Johnston County area


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PRO FOOTBALL TALK's Mike Florio wrote Nike’s new NFL jerseys “will look the same" as the current Reebok jerseys "barring any changes that would be made in the ordinary course of changing jerseys.” A Nike exec said in October '10 that the company “plans on ‘changing the NFL jersey dramatically.’” However, the league is “now saying otherwise.” NFL VP/Communications Brian McCarthy said, “Logos are controlled by teams and the NFL. That will not change. Teams have to apply to [the] league to make changes to logos and colors.” The league said that the new jerseys will be unveiled “in late April, in connection with the 2012 draft.” McCarthy added that the league’s policy on players changing jersey numbers “won’t change.” However, NFL Senior VP/PR Greg Aiello said that the “requirement that a player who changes his number refund Reebok for the unsold inventory of jerseys bearing the prior number will go away in conjunction with the changeover” (PROFOOTBALLTALK.com, 1/24).
DANCING MACHINE: On Long Island, Zach Schonbrun writes Giants WR Victor Cruz “has certainly emerged as a fan favorite.” Fans filled Modell’s Sporting Goods store in Times Square yesterday to see Cruz “partake in a salsa-dancing lesson, sign some autographs and promote a new T-shirt officially on sale with ‘Cruuuuuuuuuz!’ on the front and salsa steps on the back -- an homage to his trademark touchdown celebration.” Schonbrun notes his “celebrity seems at its peak.” Cruz “recently turned down an opportunity to appear on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ in the offseason and a five-minute lesson at Modell's drew fans by the hundreds screaming his name” (NEWSDAY, 1/25).
SITTING, WAITING, WISHING: T’Wolves G Ricky Rubio said that he is “still without any local product endorsement deals.” He also said that he “hasn't heard from Nike about renewing his basketball shoe contract.” Rubio: “I'm going to wait; if not, I'll do another deal (elsewhere)” (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 1/25).
IN FLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT: U.K. heptathlete Jessica Ennis “is the star of British Airways's new in-flight ‘wellbeing’ movie, alongside gymnast Louis Smith and Paralympian Shelly Woods.” The video features Ennis “clearing hurdles, Smith completing a routine on a pommell horse and Woods hurtling down an athletics track in her wheelchair” (TELEGRAPH.co.uk, 1/25).


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Sainsbury's to Sponsor British Athletics Events
British Athletics has announced that Sainsbury’s has signed a new long-term deal, building on the momentum of the 2012 Paralympics and driving even higher levels of Para-athletics participation at major UK sporting events.
Extending an existing partnership between Sainsbury’s and British Athletics, Para-athletics will continue to play a starring role in the indoor and outdoor athletics calendar with the retailer continuing as the partner of the major event series.
The four year deal sees the retailer become the Major Event Series partner, extending the successful relationship that enabled British Athletics to stage the award-winning 2013 Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games in London’s Olympic Park. The British Athletics Major Event Series includes both indoor and outdoor Grand Prix meetings and British Championship events, starting with the Sainsbury’s Glasgow International Match on Saturday 25th January. The match kicks off a home Commonwealth Games year, with an indoor track battle between Scotland, Great Britain, USA and a Commonwealth Invitation team.
The Partnership will also support and sponsor the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Para-athletic team, whose stars include Paralympic and IPC World Champions Jonnie Peacock and Hannah Cockcroft as well as driving the search for future stars.
Justin King, Sainsbury’s CEO, said: “Our involvement in the Paralympics Games and Sainsbury’s Summer Series has clearly showed the power that sport has to unite and inspire budding athletes of all ages and abilities.
“Our partnership with British Athletics and support for the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Para-athletic team is a natural way of building on our commitment to profile disability sport and encourage more active lifestyles – and perhaps we’re helping launch the stars of the future through the British Athletics talent and sport introduction days.”
Chief Executive of British Athletics, Niels de Vos adds: “Working with Sainsbury’s last year enabled us to stage the first ever IPC Grand Prix Final and to create the world’s most successful athletics event of 2013, the Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games, selling 180,000 tickets in 75 minutes.
“We are delighted and excited that Sainsbury’s will be our long term Major Event partner, bringing their retail and marketing expertise to the promotion of athletics, the British Team, and grass roots Para-athletics.
“Sainsbury’s are the fourth core partner to join British Athletics alongside BBC, Nike and The National Lottery, demonstrating the continued appeal of athletics within the UK sponsorship market.”
Sainsbury’s is committed to supporting and inspiring future generations to lead healthier, more active lifestyles and this commitment is showcased through its Active Kids* and Active Kids for All** initiatives, alongside the long term sponsorship of the Sainsbury’s School Games***.
These initiatives look to support young people, regardless of ability, by providing them with support and inspiration for healthy lives.


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Uneasy about their future prospects amid a slow-moving plan to sell stores, union employees at Shoppers Food & Pharmacy locations are staging a series of rallies at the company’s stores this week.
United Food and Commercial Workers Local 400, which represents Shoppers workers, hope the events can light a fire under owner United Natural Foods Inc., which acquired the chain as part of its takeover of distribution counterpart Supervalu last year and has pledged to divest its retail holdings, including Lanham, Md.-based Shoppers and Minneapolis-based Cub Foods units.
Local 400 has represented workers at Shoppers for more than 40 years and wants to see them sold to employers that will take on its contracts. Speculation about the future of the chain has been ongoing for nearly a year.
With thousands of union jobs at risk, we’re out here gathering signatures from customers on a petition to #SaveOurShoppers! Join us at a rally on Wednesday: https://t.co/KSNHHNse9gpic.twitter.com/RVpm9NnanG— UFCW Local 400 (@UFCW400) June 24, 2019
“For far too long, the future of Shoppers Food & Pharmacy has been in question,” the union said in a post. “We don’t know when and we don’t know how, but one thing seems clear: Thanks to a decision by the corporate office of Shoppers’ parent company, it’s only a matter of time before all Shoppers stores are sold or closed.”
Shoppers currently operates 47 stores in the Washington-Baltimore area. The chain has been selling or closing stores for more than a year. Several have been acquired and converted in the past year to the Giant Food brand, owned by Ahold Delhaize; others have closed when their leases expired.
Most recently, Shoppers shuttered pharmacy departments across the chain and sold prescription lists to CVS and Walgreens. This week, the warehouse that previously serviced the stores was reportedly closed as part of a consolidation of UNFI’s distribution facilities.
Steven Spinner, CEO of United Natural Foods, in a presentation for investors earlier this month said the company had “a very active process going” with regard to disposing retail. “We think within 10 months, we’ll have all the retail sold,” he said.
That timeline, at least in the case of Shoppers, is somewhat slower than what the company had forecast earlier this year, but UNFI remains a motivated seller: It is counting on proceeds from sales of retail stores and excess distribution facilities achieved through the Supervalu consolidation to attack debts incurred in the acquisition. “We have to sell retail,” Spinner said this month.
UNFI received approximately $25 million from divestitures during its most recently reported financial quarter. Those comprised the Shoppers pharmacy sales, one distribution center and six retail stores including the last remnants of the Shop ’n Save East business, which was in the process of a wind-down begun under Supervalu when the distributors merged.
UFCW Local 400 began staging #SaveOurShoppers events at Shoppers stores Monday and have scheduled rallies at 17 stores this week.


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CLARITY HOMES EXPANDS
Clarity Homes is completing its 20th year in business by planning to expand its market to greater Fort Worth, Benbrook, Aledo, Denton, New Fairview, Justin and Willow Park as 2019 approaches.
Clarity Homes, a multi-generational family-owned business, said in a news release that it is providing individualized affordable luxury homes.
“When we launched, we knew the need was there. We have always believed that home buyers deserve to have a home they can feel proud of,” said Will Bannister, CEO and co-founder of Clarity Homes. “Expanding in new areas throughout DFW is this goal realized.”
As a Blue Zones Approved Worksite, Clarity Homes prizes a holistic approach to living and attracts clients committed to a healthful and balanced modern lifestyle, the company said.
2 NEW FW STORES
Backwoods has announced two new retail locations coming to Fort Worth, a 6,400-square-foot flagship location at the Montgomery Plaza Shopping Center and a pop-up shop at The Trailhead at Clearfork.
“Since 1978 we’ve been Fort Worth’s most trusted outdoor store,” Kevin McConnell, CEO of Backwoods, said in a news release, “and now we’re excited to bring two new shopping experiences to Fort Worth’s community of outdoor enthusiasts.”
The flagship store at 441 Carroll St. will officially open Nov. 30. It will feature an outdoor green space, theater area with HD projector, Backwoods Adventures travel kiosk, and an expanded selection of outdoor gear and apparel from brands such as The North Face, Osprey, Simms, Sitka, oBoz and Icebreaker.
“It’s going to be a really fun space in the heart of Fort Worth,” said Tim Martin, general manager of Backwoods Fort Worth.
At The Trailhead at Clearfork, Backwoods operates out of a refurbished 40-foot shipping container designed and constructed of all recycled and re-claimed materials. It offers a mix of gear, apparel and accessories for runners, walkers and dog-lovers using the Fort Worth Branch of the Trinity Trails System. Backwoods Clearfork opened Nov. 8.
In addition, Backwoods Fort Worth will continue operating out of the Foch Street Warehouses and Panther Island Pavilion, the home of Backwoods Paddlesports.
Founded in 1973, Backwoods is an Austin-based outdoor gear and apparel company. Currently, it has four brick and mortar locations: Fort Worth, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Nebraska, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, as well as an online store.
All Tune and Lube has leased space at 7233 and 7237 S. Hulen St. in Fort Worth for an auto repair and maintenance shop. The tenant was represented by Jake Dreyer with Capstone Commercial, and the undisclosed landlord was represented by Jeff Marek of Vision Commercial.
Derek Allan’s Barbecue has leased space at 1116 Eighth Ave. in Fort Worth. The tenant was represented by an undisclosed broker, and the landlord, Zarif Inc., was represented by Jeff Marek of Vision Commercial.
A new liquor store has leased space at 2408 Azle Ave. in Fort Worth. The tenant, Champion Christina LLC, was represented by an undisclosed broker, and the landlord, Zarif Inc., was represented by Jeff Marek of Vision Commercial.
Send real deals to Robert Francis at firstname.lastname@example.org


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First New Priority Release to Be a New Snoop Studio Album, “Malice N Wonderland “ Snoop to Executive Produce Commemorative Releases for Legendary West Coast Rap Label, Celebrating 25th Anniversary in 2010
EMI Music has appointed iconic, multi-media superstar Snoop Dogg to the new position of Creative Chairman of its famed Priority Records Label, where he will apply the same unique, creative and business savvy that established him as one of the most successful stars in Hip-Hop and helped define West Coast Rap as a major musical genre to develop great music for new and existing fans. Snoop Dogg will also release a new studio album for Priority that EMI will bring to fans around the world.
Snoop Dogg, a true global superstar who has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide and who has also become a beloved film and television personality, will release “Malice N Wonderland ,” his tenth studio album, this December. “Malice N Wonderland “ will have production and mixing by The Dream, Christopher ‘Tricky’ Stewart, Dr. Dre, Pharrell, Danja, Nottz, and will feature Soulja Boy, Lil Jon, R. Kelly, The Dream, Brand y and Jazmine Sullivan.
As Creative Chairman of Priority, the label that established West Coast Rap as an influential musical force, Snoop will re-launch the legacy of Priority and will drive efforts to maximize untapped digital and brand ing opportunities at the label. He will also serve as Executive Producer for a new series of Priority releases slated to begin hitting the market next year to commemorate the label’s 25th anniversary. Priority’s genre-defining catalog includes classic recordings by Snoop, as well as from N.W.A, Eazy-E, Master P, Ice Cube, Westside Connection, EPMD and others.
Ted Chung, Snoop’s long-time creative associate and manager at Stampede Management, will become Brand Strategist at Priority. “Snoop’s success is a result of constant evolution and trend-setting creativity,” said Chung. “EMI is ahead of the curve for tapping into that formula of success in its strategy.”
Motivational Podcast by RFFocus.org CEO Kevin Ross - More Episodes HERE


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Tweet Web Hosting News – Orlando, FL – TorGuard, one of the industry’s top VPN Service providers, continues to rapidly expand its VPN network to keep up with the growing demand for internet security and privacy. With increased interest from international clients, the company has recently announced new gigabit VPN endpoints across Iceland, India, Netherlands and the UK. These new server locations are intended to offer faster connections for new users based in Asia and Australia, making an already fast VPN service even faster
Tweet Web Hosting News – Nanuet, NY – Webline Services, Inc. has launched a series of high efficiency, low cost Web Hosting packages, Virtual Private Servers, Dedicated Servers, and brand new FOREX VPS plans. Each offers services from the most basic to very complex, and meet the needs of a wide variety of customers.
( The Hosting News ) – Sustainable IT solutions provider TurnKey Internet, Inc. announced today that they are launching a new line of ready-to-go virtual desktops.
Tweet Web Hosting News – ARMONK, N.Y. – IBM (NYSE: IBM) today introduced the fifth generation of semiconductor technology specialized for high performance communications. The company’s latest silicon-germanium (SiGe) chip-making process is designed to enable ever-increasing amounts of data to flow through network backbones in applications such as Wi-Fi, LTE cellular, wireless backhaul and high speed optical communications
NextiraOne looks to expand its growing accreditations with membership of the industry recognised peer-network
Tweet Web Hosting News – Dallas, TX – Well known web-hosting provider, ServerHub, is extending its data network to the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and they have chosen CoreXchange’s SSAE 16 audited data centers in Dallas as the home for all of their new Texas servers
Domainia Inc Announces the Launch of Blogdomainia.com, a Pre-registration and Awareness Solution for the New .BLOG gTLD
Tweet Web Hosting News – Kansas City, MO – Within the next year, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) will introduce hundreds of new, industry-specific Top Level Domains (TLD), such as .BLOG, to the Internet. The .BLOG domain extension will act as an alternative option to .COM or .NET, designed specifically to provide a showcase environment and information exchange network for the blog industry. .BLOG will assist bloggers and businesses in helping consumers instantly recognize you as a member of the blog niche.
Tweet Web Hosting News – Rochester, Minn. – Hurricane Electric, the world’s largest IPv6-native Internet backbone announced today that it has established a Point-of-Presence (PoP) at Neutral Path Communications, a carrier-neutral wholesale broadband transport company in Rochester, Minnesota
Tweet Web Hosting News – Jersey City, NJ – Datapipe, a global provider of managed services and infrastructure for outsourced IT and cloud computing, today announced the company has been named a finalist in the Best Large Business Hosting category by the Internet Services Providers’ Association (ISPA UK). Now in its 15th year, the ISPA Awards are the UK’s longest running Internet industry awards
Tweet Web Hosting News – REDWOOD CITY, Calif. and HONG KONG – Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX), the global interconnection and data center company, today announced that NYSE Technologies, the commercial technology unit of NYSE Euronext (NYX), has extended its global trading network into Equinix’s International Business Exchange (IBX®) data centers in Hong Kong and Tokyo


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Phoenix Solar has released its annual report, which includes the consolidated financial statements from their 2009 financial year. The company shows a growth in total revenue of €473 million, up from 2008’s €402.5 million. In addition, their module sales increased by around 70%, from 120MW in 2008 to more than 200MW in 2009.
Phoenix Solar’s components and systems segment generated €299.0 million, an increase from 2008’s €214.6 million, while their power plants division had a drop in revenue to €174.0 million from last year’s €187.8 million. Finally, the international business profits totaled €27.6 million, or 5.8%.
The company’s earnings before interest and taxes came to €12.2 million, a significantly lower figure than 2008’s €33.8 million, with an EBIT margin at 2.6%, down from the previous year’s 8.4%. Phoenix Solar credits the decline in earnings to a regression in solar module price of more than 30% in some instances.
Finally, Phoenix Solar reported a consolidated net income for their 2009 financial year of €8.6 million, a decrease from 2008 where the net income totaled €23.7 million. The earnings per share were posted as €1.28, another decline from 2008’s €3.63.


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Tonight, a unique, one-of-one example of the 2017 Ford F-150 Raptor will be auctioned off at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale, with 100% of the proceeds going to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).
The F-150 Raptor in question is the final VIN for 2017 production, and will be painted in whatever unique, custom shade the buyer desires. Ford President and CEO Mark Fields will be on the stage at Barrett-Jackson to help build excitement among bidders as the Raptor crosses the block, along with several people who had a hand in designing and developing the new off-road supertruck, and executives from the JDRF.
This Ford F-150 Raptor charity auction is a bit of a departure from the usual form; typically, automakers will auction off the coveted first VIN to affluent buyers. But hey, the last VIN of the first model year is interesting, too, and the truck will have quite the backstory.
“JDRF is extremely grateful for the tremendous support we continue to receive from Ford and its employees, who share our vision of a world without type 1 diabetes,” says JDRF President and CEO Derek Rapp. “Last year, we joined Ford to auction a one-of-a-kind Focus RS at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale, and we are thrilled to come together again as Ford introduces the new Raptor.
“Funds raised through this auction support JDRF in our mission to accelerate life-changing breakthroughs to cure, prevent and treat type 1 diabetes and its complications.”


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The Central Bank of Nigeria has threatened to shut the accounts of operators who violate the rules and guidelines of diaspora remittances. According to a circular that was released by the CBN, the accounts of such violators will be withdrawn.
This directive was made recently to all authorized dealers and International Money Transfer Operators and was signed by the Director, Trade & Exchange Department, Dr. Ozoemena Nnaji inorder to ensure measures are in place to promote transparency.
The new directive, which was titled ‘Modalities for payout of diaspora remittances’ was set up to complement the bank regulation titled ‘Receipt of diaspora remittances: Additional operational guidelines’ set up by the CBN to increase foreign exchange inflows.
In the circular also, CBN emphasized that its directives remains that all beneficiaries of diaspora remittance be paid in dollars which must not be violated so as to monitor cash flow and promote foreign exchange.
While addressing the unlicensed operators in the circular, the bank stated explicitly that it shall bar the services of the operators and ensure the closure of such accounts in Nigerian banks. According to the bank, only authorized International Money Transfer Operators are allowed to make remittances.
Also, the regulation emphasized that business transactions using diaspora remittances must be received in foreign currency, which according to the CBN implies that cash and transfers must be sent to a domiciliary account.