text:
Uncertainty in the financial markets, and in the economy is usually considered a bad thing, because it makes things more difficult and stressful for everybody. Fear about inflation and whether the Fed will move to aggressively raise interest rates or take a more moderated approach, along with the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and its global, economic and geopolitical repercussions have, at least for the time being, taken over market commentary. The bearish momentum has been strong enough to push the major indices into their own bear market lows in the last month. Even while investors seem to have been looking for reasons to buy the market and see it stabilize since then, I think that there are plenty of reasons right now for the market to remain uncertain, which means that we can expect broad market volatility to be elevated for the time being.
I find it interesting that even when conditions are uncertain, there are companies in normally cyclical industries that find new ways to succeed. Sometimes that is planned, and sometimes it happens to be the opportunistic happenstance of being in just the right place at the right time. Some of the most obvious examples of what I mean since early 2020 have come from the Tech sector, with companies that offer a variety of cloud-based, remote collaboration and networking tools and solutions that proved to be the perfect way to keep much of corporate America running amid broad-based economic shutdowns and social restrictions.
Another unexpected element of opportunity that has emerged from the difficult conditions of the past two years has come from the Consumer Discretionary sector – an area of the market that usually suffers when basic economic indicators, like unemployment demonstrate clear weakness in the broad economy while consumer prices increase. The latest consumer price numbers suggest that prices have increased dramatically since 2021, which is just one of the reasons the Fed has raised interest rates twice so far in 2022, with additional increases forecast. Rising interest rates are one of the biggest things that the market is afraid of, and that usually reflects negatively for stocks in the Consumer Discretionary sector – but the last two years have also shown an interesting shift in the narrative for some of these companies that belies traditional wisdom.
Stay-at-home orders in early 2020 included shuttering or limiting access to gyms, and changed work life for white-collar workers to long-term remote arrangements. That prompted an increase in demand for outdoor, active, and athletic apparel. The trend was driven, not just by an increased interest in staying fit, but also by remote workers who realized they could dress as comfortably as they wished to work from home, which provided a useful tailwind for apparel companies and also for their stock prices through 2021.
VF Corp (VFC) is a company that you might not recognize by its corporate name, but you almost certainly will by their brands. This is the company behind well-known apparel and footwear brands including Dickies, The North Face, Vans, and Timberland. It’s a better than even bet that you’ve bought their products before, and I’m even willing to go out on a limb and say that it’s a fair bet you have some of their products in your closet or dresser drawer right now; I know I do. Like just about every other stock in this sector, the company has had to absorb the complications and difficulties that come from an uncertain marketplace and economy; but they have also seen traction from their ability to position themselves as a performance-driven, lifestyle sports company. They also have managed to maintain a strong balance sheet even in the midst of pandemic conditions while dramatically reducing their reliance on department stores. This is also a company that enjoyed the distinction of being a ‘dividend aristocrat,’ having increased their dividend for 47 years in a row before the pandemic prompted management to reduce it.
Since hitting a 52-week high price in April 2021 at around $91, the stock saw bearish momentum force the stock dramatically lower, hitting a downward trend low at around $44 in May of this year. Since then, the stock has rallied by almost 14% to its current level at around $50. Could that mean the stock is poised to reverse its downward trend and now offers a good opportunity for value-oriented investors to buy a good company at a nice price, or is the broader bearish momentum a sign that you should stay away for the time being? Let’s dig in and find out.
Fundamental and Value Profile
V.F. Corporation is engaged in the design, production, procurement, marketing and distribution of branded lifestyle apparel, footwear and related products. The Company’s segments include Outdoor & Action Sports, Jeanswear, Imagewear and Sportswear. It owns a portfolio of brands in the outerwear, footwear, denim, backpack, luggage, accessory, sportswear, occupational and performance apparel categories. Its products are marketed to consumers shopping in specialty stores, department stores, national chains, mass merchants and its own direct-to-consumer operations. Its direct-to-consumer business includes VF-operated stores, concession retail stores and e-commerce sites. Its brands sell products in international markets through licensees, distributors and independently-operated partnership stores. Its brands primarily include The North Face, Vans, Timberland, Wrangler, Lee, and Kipling. VFC has a current market cap of about $19.5 billion.
Earnings and Sales Growth: Over the last twelve months, earnings increased almost 67%, while revenues grew by about 9.4%. In the last quarter, earnings were nearly -67% lower, while sales declined by about -22%. The company’s operating margins have seen some material signs of weakness lately that I think are attributable to broad inflationary pressures that are driving up input costs for nearly every sector of the economy. Net Income as a percentage of Revenues over the last twelve months was 11.71%, and weakened sharply to 2.86% in the last quarter.
Free Cash Flow: VFC’s free cash flow is generally healthy despite its decrease over the past year. It was $618 million in the last quarter versus $1.11 billion three quarters ago. This is a number that had persisted in negative territory since the first quarter of 2017, and was -$217.12 million at the beginning of 2019. It is generally encouraging to understand that even with the decline this year, Free Cash Flow has improved steadily from that point; in June 2020, for example Free Cash Flow was $626 million. Even so, the pattern of the last few quarters, combined with the recent, sharp decline in Net Income is a big red flag.
Debt to Equity: VFC’s debt/equity ratio is high, at 1.3. A big portion of that debt came in 2020 as the company borrowed heavily to bolster its cash reserves in order to manage its way through the health crisis. As of the last quarter, the company reported $1.275 billion in cash and liquid assets against about $4.6 billion in long-term debt. It should be noted that at the beginning of 2020, cash was around $1.3 billion versus $2.6 billion in long-term debt.
Dividend: VFC’s annual divided is $2.00 per share, which translates to a yield of 3.99% at the stock’s current price. in 2019, the dividend was $2.04 per share; however considering the difficulties imposed by pandemic conditions, the fact that the dividend has been maintained relatively close to that 2019 level is a useful sign of management’s commitment to delivering shareholder value. It is also worth noting that late last year, management increased the dividend from $1.96 per share.
Price/Book Ratio: there are a lot of ways to measure how much a stock should be worth; but I like to worth with a combination of Price/Book and Price/Cash Flow analysis. Together, these measurements provide a long-term target at about $52 per share. That suggests that despite the company’s fundamental strengths, the stock is only slightly undervalued, by about 4%, with a bargain price at around $42 per share. It is also worth noting that this same analysis offered a fair value target of about $67 in late 2021 and $59 earlier this year.
Here’s a look at the stock’s latest technical chart.
Current Price Action/Trends and Pivots: The red diagonal line traces the stock’s downward trend from a peak at around $85 in July of last year to its recent low at around $44. It also provides the baseline for the Fibonacci retracement lines shown on the right side of the chart. The stock found what may be a bearish trend low at around $44 last month, as the stock has rallied to its current price at around $50 from that point; however practically speaking, it would need to push above $60, where the 38.2% retracement line sits, to confirm that trend reversal. In the meantime, current support is around $47, with immediate resistance at $51. A push above $51 should find next resistance at around $55, while a drop below $47 should retest the stock’s 52-week low at around $44.
Near-term Keys: I think VFC’s fundamental profile in the face of the past two year’s pandemic-induced economic conditions is an interesting story – but there are rising concerns in the narrative to be concerned about in the form of declining Free Cash Flow and liquidity as well as the last quarter’s sharp decline in Net Income. Those concerns are enough to reinforce the fact that the stock doesn’t translate to a useful value. If you prefer to work with short-term strategies, a push above $51 could offer an interesting, if speculative signal to think about buying the stock or working with call options, using $55 as a practical bullish profit target. A drop below $47 would be a useful signal to consider shorting the stock or buying put options, with a practical profit target at around $44 on a bearish trade.
By the way, if you liked this article, you'll LOVE this Meaty free training I just published on the top 3 questions and challenges every investor faces AND how to overcome them. It's titled "How To Retire In 18 Months With $2.4 Million" and you can grab it for free here.


text:
(PORT HURON) — Members of the media and the sailing community came together Tuesday to gear up for the 92nd annual Bell’s Beer Bayview Mackinac Race on Saturday, July 18th. Commonly referred to as the Port Huron to Mackinac Race, the 2015 edition featured more than 230 boats participating–the highest turnout in over a decade. As a result, organizers have added sponsors and partners for this year’s event.
“All the hard work of the Mackinac Race Authority over the past four years to stabilize racing and increase competitiveness is paying dividends with an increase in the number of new boats and sailors, which also increases interest around the event,” said Kyle Burleson, 2016 Bell’s Beer Bayview Race Chairman.
“We are always looking for companies that will not only make sense financially, but will make good long-term partners like Bell’s Brewery, Grand Hotel and Pentastar Aviation,” said Hans Breiden, Bayview Yacht Club Sponsorship Committee. “This year, we have added a number of new partners including Zurn Industries and Meijer.”
The partnership with Meijer includes the Michigan-based retailer selling official race t-shirts at select locations, including the Fort Gratiot and Marysville stores.
reported by Bob Benko

domain: news


text:
Subscribe To Topics You're Interested In
I've already subscribed
Electronic Arts and Visceral Games are updating Battlefield Hardline with a brand new expansion called Betrayal. The expansion contains four new maps, seven new weapons, two new vehicles and a new way to customize and play-test weapons on the gun range.
Visceral Games and Electronic Arts will be releasing the big Robbery DLC for Battlefield Hardline next week on September 16th for Premium members. No date has been set for regular members but they did detail all the new content that will be available in the Robbery DLC.
Battlefield Hardline's upcoming Robbery DLC pack will give players a whole lot more equipment for committing or stopping crimes. Today Visceral Games gave a full run-down on these new additions.
Jade Raymond, the former head of Ubisoft Toronto, has announced her latest gig. She will be heading up a new EA-owned developer called Motive Studio.
Amy Hennig leaving Naughty Dog was a huge blow for many gamers. They felt like the cornerstone to what made the studio great was now gone. Well, Hennig may be elevating the likes of Visceral Games to what she accomplished with Naughty Dog, if actor Nolan North is anything to go by.
Battlefield Hardline expansion Criminal Activity will introduce a new game mode called "Bounty Hunter." Today Visceral Games explained how this infantry mode will work.
There are four new maps, four new weapons, two new vehicles, two new attachments and six new masks being added to Battlefield Hardline with the new Criminal Activity DLC expansion pack. There's also the brand new Bounty Hunter mode making the cut and you can get a glimpse at all the new content with the teaser trailer for the DLC.
Dead Space developer Visceral Games hasn't officially announced what their new Star Wars game is about. However, it seems that members of the development team have been dropping some major hints.
Battlefield Hardline's first DLC pack, Criminal Activity, will be arriving this summer with new content for the game's multiplayer. Hardline producer Zach Mumbach provided the first details on this add-on in a new interview.
Battlefield Hardline's launch is two days away but PC gamers can start getting ready right now. EA announced this weekend that preloading is available through Origin.
Battlefield Hardline won't launch worldwide until next week. However, select Xbox One players can dive into the cops and crooks shooter right now.
Visceral Games and Electronic Arts released the full launch trailer for the upcoming first-person shooter, Battlefield Hardline. The trailer is just over two full minutes of explosions, gunfire and more explosions.
EA set a pretty high bar for Dead Space and did what they could to help it appeal to as many people as possible by making it “broadly appealing”. But is there room for a Dead Space 4 now that the brand has cooled down and there's less chatter about the last outing?
Battlefield Hardline, just like the past two BF games, will receive several DLC packs after launch. Today Visceral Games outlined their exact plans for the game's expansions.


text:
The anxiously awaited release of next generation flagship tablet from Apple -IPad Air 2 is to hit the stores in fall 2014. Earlier, we have seen leaked specs and features about the iPhone 6, and now Apple IPad Air 2 has taken the lead in news everywhere.
The fifth generation iPad is said to be a unique great device, but there is always a room for improvement. Apple is rumored to launch its flagship devices including iPad Air 2, iPhone 6, iPad Pro, iWatch, iPad Mini3, but iPad Air 2 is expected to sell like a hot cake.
The iPad Air came with a slim design last year in 2013, but iPad Air 2 is expected to come with slimmer design. The cost of the device will not decline if the past performance of Apple is anything to go by, as there will be no big change in the design than the previous device.
The launch of iOS 7.1 came with a mention of two newer models of iPads, iPad 4.3 and 4.6 notably, that could reference the new iPad Air and iPad Mini 3. You can notice an exchange of features between portability, and screen size, but the success of rival tablets depicts that there is a market for devices larger than the iPad.
The rumors have raised the spectrum of a 12.9 inch iPad, which is definitely larger than the current’s 9.7 inch screen and running at 2K or even 4K resolution. The current Retina display is running at 2,048 x 1,536 pixels can be described as 2K or more or less closer. It will have a physically larger screen that can support photo editing and enjoying movies boasting your experience.
The speculation came from ET News which claims that exclusive access to a source with closer information about iPad Air 2 production. According to the sources, about 6.2 million LCD displays are to be installed in the iPad Air 2. There is not much known about the successor to the current iPad Air, apart from rumors that it will come with the feature of ‘Touch ID fingerprint security’ a standard on all next-gen Apple mobile devices. This same technology will be available for the iPhone 6 and iPad Mini 3, both of which are rumored to be in pipeline. Apple is not announcing it’s under process devices before the official release. The fact is that Apple has not given any new information regarding the iPad Air 2; therefore it is difficult to confirm its existence. The same can be said of the iPad Mini 3, which is the enthralled replacement of the current iPad Mini with Retina Display — popularly known as the ‘iPad Mini 2′.
The iPad Air 2 prices in Dubai is still not official just like other parts of the world but it is expected to come in somewhat similar price range like the previous ones. The iPad Air 2 release date is speculated to be somewhere in the beginning of November 2014.


text:
In the latest sign of a worsening jobs crisis, Borders Group and Cisco Systems announced huge new job cuts this week. Borders, the second largest book-selling chain in the United States, said Monday that it has abandoned attempts to find a buyer and plans to liquidate its remaining 399 stores beginning Friday, at a cost of 10,700 jobs.
Michigan-based Borders filed for bankruptcy in February and closed about one-third of its 650 stores. Since that time it has continued to lose money and has had difficulty convincing publishers to ship books on normal terms, with many insisting on immediate payment.
Borders had hoped to sell its assets to the Arizona buyout firm Najafi Companies, owner of the Book-of-the-Month-Club. However, Borders creditors objected to the terms of the sale. Borders had set a Sunday deadline to find a new buyer. The company will present its plan for liquidation to a bankruptcy judge on Thursday.
Cisco, based in San Jose, California, announced plans to eliminate nine percent of its global workforce, or 6,500 jobs, in the first half of August. The job cuts will include 2,100 employees who have elected to take early retirement and 4,400 who will be laid off.
John Challenger of the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas said the Cisco layoffs were “a cause for concern since the tech sector has generally been seen as one of the more healthy areas of the economy.” Along with the bankruptcy of Borders, the Cisco layoffs are among the largest announced this year.
Shares of Cisco moved higher on the announcement of its planned job cuts, as investors foresee increased profits and greater exploitation of the remaining workers. The company says it plans to slash expenses by $1 billion by the end of the 2012 fiscal year. The company closed its Flip video camera unit in April to focus on its networking business. Cisco is also selling a factory in Mexico that employs 5,000 to Taiwan-based Foxconn.
The liquidation of the popular Borders bookstore chain will be felt by communities across the United States. Borders has some 270 superstores and 130 small store locations. The store closures will leave shopping centers with hundreds of thousands of square feet of vacant space. The closings will increase the vacancy rate at shopping centers with a Borders store to 18.8 percent, according to one real estate analyst.
Borders liquidation will hit Michigan particularly hard. The state is already suffering from a 10.3 percent unemployment rate. Four hundred Borders employees are set to lose their jobs at the company’s headquarters in Ann Arbor. The company began with one store in Ann Arbor in 1971, eventually expanding into a Fortune-500 company.
An Ann Arbor independent bookstore owner told the WSWS that the closure of the nearby Borders “leaves a huge vacant spot in the middle of downtown and one less reason for people interested in books to go downtown looking for books. People go to areas where there are a lot of bookstores. It is going to hurt me as a bookseller.
“The only difference between Barnes & Noble and Borders is that Barnes & Noble beat them to the Internet. My customers tell me that if they know what book they want, they just buy it online. The only way to sell books now is if people are browsing, and you have a staff that really knows books.”
The Borders bankruptcy will also fall heavily on book publishers, who are the company’s chief creditors. When it filed for bankruptcy in February, Borders owed $272 million to its 30 largest unsecured creditors. The group included Simon & Schuster, Penguin, Random House and HarperCollins. The bankruptcy of Borders will likely lead to smaller print runs and the layoff of employees. Many publishers have staff that work exclusively with Borders, which held 10.7 percent of the US retail book market.
“When you lose literally miles of bookshelves, its going to have an impact,” said a spokesman for Hachette Book Group. Borders owed Hachette $36.9 million at the time of the bankruptcy filing.
Michael Norris, a senior analyst at Simba Information, a unit of MarketReasearch.com said the collapse of Borders would negatively impact both authors and publishers. “The liquidation of Borders is an irreplaceable loss of a big part of the book-discovery ecosystem. Thousands of people whose job consisted of talking up and selling books will eventually be doing something else, and that is bad for authors, agents and everyone associated with the value chain in books.”
In a statement issued to employees, Borders president, Mike Edwards, blamed the rise of e-books and the global recession for the company’s demise. Faced with stiff competition from online bookseller Amazon.com and the Barnes & Noble chain, Borders sales had been declining even before the onset of the recession in 2008. The company had not been able to develop an e-book reader that could compete with Amazon’s Kindle or Barnes & Noble’s Nook.
With the collapse of the Najafi deal Borders will sell itself to a group of liquidators led by Hilco Merchant Resources and Gordon Brothers Retail Partners. Books-a-million, the third largest US bookstore chain, is attempting to acquire some 30 Borders stores. The Borders liquidation is set to be completed sometime in September.


text:
Dell is looking for the company's recent store driven retail drive to enable them to sell to consumers in emerging markets looking for their first PCs.
The world's second-biggest computer maker has recently switched from a pure online and phone sales model to build an expanding network of retail stores, putting its PCs and laptops within the reach of consumers without Internet access.
Chief executive Michael Dell was asked at an emerging markets conference whether he aimed to sell consumers in emerging markets their second computer, once they were already online. He replied: "With 15,000 stores, we want to sell all the PCs."
Dell outlined a sales method he dubbed dell.com@retail, in which store staff, for example in India, take customers through an assisted sale on dell.com, combining a personal shopping experience with the advantages of having no store inventory.
The company said last week that slow demand had spread from the United States to Europe and Asia, and had not rebounded as expected after the summer lull.
Pim Dale, who heads Dell's operations in European, Middle Eastern and African emerging markets including Russia, said demand in Russia was "robust" although it was too early to judge the fallout from last week's banking sector meltdown.
Michael Dell, discussing the relative merits of the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) said Russia was a "great" market to which Dell remained committed, despite political turbulence there and high tariffs on some IT products.
"When markets go through these perturbations you have to be there to support your customers," he said.
In the BRIC countries overall, Dell had revenue growth of 41 percent on a 46 percent increase in units last quarter, which it said was more than three times the industry growth rate.
Michael Dell said that emerging markets continued to be an important part of Dell's growth strategy. "Five hundred thousand new users are coming on line every day, and a large proportion of these are in emerging economies," he said.
He added that growth in mobile phone sales in developing markets boded well for PC sales. "Users tend to buy their first PC about three years after buying their first mobile phone."
Dell also announced that it aimed to become a "one-percent company," giving away 1 percent of pretax profits to education and digital inclusion projects mainly in emerging markets, by February 2010.
Get the ITPro. daily newsletter
Receive our latest news, industry updates, featured resources and more. Sign up today to receive our FREE report on AI cyber crime & security - newly updated for 2023.
ITPro is a global business technology website providing the latest news, analysis, and business insight for IT decision-makers. Whether it's cyber security, cloud computing, IT infrastructure, or business strategy, we aim to equip leaders with the data they need to make informed IT investments.


text:
Will CVS’s HealthHUB concept change what consumers expect of drugstores?
Since CVS made the dramatic announcement that it would no longer sell cigarettes in 2014, the drugstore chain has been focused on establishing itself as a healthcare provider. Now, CVS is looking to further ingrain that perception in the minds of consumers in the Houston area with the test launch of the chain’s first three HealthHUB concept stores.
“We believe that transforming the consumer health care experience begins with creating a new front door to health care,” said Alan Lotvin, chief transformation officer for CVS Health, in a statement. “Our new HealthHUB locations are just that — helping to elevate the store into a convenient neighborhood health care destination that brings easier access to better care at a lower cost.”
Each location will dedicate over 20 percent of its footprint to health services and products, including durable medical equipment (DME) and new product and service combinations for chronic conditions, such as diabetes and sleep apnea.
A primary feature of each location will be the Care Concierge, a professional tasked with engaging with customers in order to educate them about services offered on-site and to connect them with other providers. In early testing, CVS reports that 95 percent of customers have accepted help from the Care Concierge with half of those either interacting with a HealthHUB provider or taking advantage of a related offer.
Each store will emphasize patient support programs to manage chronic conditions through its pharmacies and, where applicable, its MinuteClinic facilities. The nurse practitioners who staff the MinuteClinics will be given the space and resources to offer additional services such as screening for diabetes, phlebotomy and sleep apnea assessments.
The HealthHUB stores are equipped with digital kiosks and “Learning Tables” with iPads to help consumers do everything from taking their blood pressure to investigating various health. Each location also includes community spaces designed to host group events, from classes on nutrition to yoga.
CVS management believes that it can reshape how healthcare is delivered in the U.S. through the combined efforts of its drugstores, the Caremark pharmacy benefits manager business and Aetna, the health insurer acquired last November.
“What’s clear to us is that it will take more than incremental steps to fix what is broken in the healthcare system,” said Kevin Hourican, EVP, CVS Health and president of CVS Pharmacy. “That’s why we’re excited about how the combination of CVS and Aetna can begin to establish an innovative health care model that will create an entirely new consumer experience and help people on their path to better health.”
- CVS Health Testing New HealthHUB Format – CVS Health
- CVS introduces new concept with more health care, less retail – USA Today
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: What do you see as the challenges and opportunities for CVS in operating its HealthHUB concept stores? Do you think the HealthHUB concept will change consumers’ expectations of what a drugstore experience should be? Will consumers be happier with the status quo?


text:
Next-gen Hyundai i20 has been spotted on its test mule, revealing its new digital instrument cluster.
Months after the Frankfurt debut of the third-gen Hyundai i10 (known as Hyundai Grand i10 Nios in India), fresh set of spy shots of the new Hyundai i20 has cropped up on the web space. Though the test mule of the third-gen i20 is still under heavy camouflage, spy photographers have captured some pics of its interior.
The next-generation Hyundai i20 has been spied with a host of changes both inside-out.
Among various updates on the 2020 Hyundai i20, the major highlight is that it features a new digital instrument cluster. It still remains to know if the new digital console will be standard across the variants. Nonetheless, spy shots have also revealed that the tachometer of the new-gen model will have new counter-clockwise spin, one that we can see on some Aston Martin models.
Also, it has come to the light that the 2020 Hyundai i20 would be had with lane departure warning system. Certainly, it is unlikely that this feature will make its way to the India-spec model due to the competitive pricing that Hyundai is employing in most of its vehicles. However, it is still heartening to see such a premium safety feature making it to a budget-end model.
The new-gen hatchback will feature an updated infotainment system with Aston Martin-like counter-clockwise spin.
Apart from these, an updated tablet-like infotainment system was spotted close to the digital console too. The large touchscreen might feature a host of controls, all the ways to eliminate the physical units. Still, there are a handful of conventional buttons mounted near the display alongside a dial which even features the engine start/stop. Other changes revealed from the concealed test mule of the i20 include redesigned sleek headlamps, tweaked front bumper and triangular fog lamps housing.
Hyundai has recently revealed that they would continue to offer diesel engines in the Indian auto market, even after the BSVI norms kick in. While details are still scarce at this point, we expect that the 2020 Hyundai i20 will use the same 1.0-litre 3-cylinder turbocharged motor that also powers the Hyundai Venue. Also, a BSVI-compliant 1.4-litre diesel engine option is in the process. Hyundai will offer a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox in the all-new i20 in India as well.


text:
Report: Nearly A Quarter Of All Teens Go Online "Almost Constantly"
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Do you have a teen that is practically attached to their smartphone? According to a new study from Pew Research Center, they're not alone.
Researchers say 24 percent of all teens report going online "almost constantly," and 92 percent of teens go online at least daily.
READ: Christie Wants To Eliminate Social Security For Those Earning $200K+
The report says the high amount of teens online is "facilitated by the widespread availability of smartphones," with nearly three quarters of teens having access to one.
Researchers say Facebook still reigns supreme among teens with 71 percent of all teens using the site. Instagram follows behind with 52 percent and 41 percent use Snapchat.
READ: Man Collects $15K In Unemployment -- While In Jail
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the study says teenage girls are more likely to use social media sites and platforms, while boys are more likely to play video games and own gaming consoles.
To read the full report, click here.
for more features.


text:
Some unlucky customers of shopping bonanza Singles' Day have seen their joy turn to rage, as courier services struggle to deliver their products on time in the face of a mountain of orders.
Start-up Roadbull has been struggling to handle what chief executive Alwin Liang called an "astronomical" number of products flooding into Singapore thanks to the Chinese sales event, "creating an industry-wide bottleneck and also affecting my operational capacity".
Logistics firm Ninja Van and SingPost have also acknowledged a spike in deliveries.
Roadbull user Francois Chang, an investment analyst, told The Straits Times that he ordered a board game from Taobao on Nov 11, and was supposed to receive it on Dec 7. He said he gave instructions for courier staff to call him at home before delivery.
Mr Chang, 27, said that he took leave on two separate days to receive the item but was left disappointed on both occasions. He even failed to get it when he went to the Roadbull warehouse, after taking another day off, to collect it himself.
He said: "I understand this is the peak season and deliveries can be slow, but you can't make an appointment and not show up. That's why I'm so angry."
Business owners have also suffered losses due to delayed or missing deliveries.
Mr Kenneth Chin, 24, who runs a gift supplying firm, was supposed to deliver electrical items worth more than $800 to his customer on Wednesday. He ordered these goods directly from factories in China on Nov 22 and, on Monday, received only one of his parcels.
He made around 40 calls to several Roadbull numbers. When he went down to Roadbull's warehouse the next day, he was told that his other parcel could not be found.
"I'm very fed up," said Mr Chin, who did not make orders specifically for Singles' Day.
He had to get some of his workers in China to buy the missing products and fly to Singapore with them. "My company has lost time, my customer's trust, my sales revenue."
For online merchants that are located overseas, Case is able to intervene only if the business is in countries which Case has signed a memorandum of understanding with.
MR LOY YORK JIUN, executive director of the Consumers Association of Singapore
Roadbull's Mr Liang said delivery delays were due to "unforeseen circumstances like the weather or vehicle conditions", which he would work to resolve.
He said that the firm increased its driver capacity by about 30 per cent in the past week alone, and that it has started Sunday deliveries too.
"We're not making any excuses. We're working around the clock and doing all we can to get the things delivered," he said.
A spokesman for Ninja Van, which received a deluge of complaints online last month about slow deliveries, told ST that the company had cleared the "backlog" of orders by the end of that month.
Consumers Association of Singapore executive director Loy York Jiun said: "Consumers should always exercise caution for international online transactions... In the event that anything goes wrong, it is onerous to recover their payment due to the complex nature of cross-border transactions and the different laws applicable in other countries."
He added: "For online merchants that are located overseas, Case is able to intervene only if the business is in countries which Case has signed a memorandum of understanding with - for example, Malaysia and China."


text:
by Roy Furchgott from https://www.nytimes.com
They see branding opportunities as the pandemic and a desire by cities to curb traffic propel e-bike sales to new heights.
The transportation industry has seen the future, and the future is 1895.
That was the year Ogden Bolton Jr. of Canton, Ohio, was awarded U.S. Patent 552,271 for an “electrical bicycle.” A century and change later, electric bikes have gained new currency as car and motorcycle companies like Ducati, Harley-Davidson, Jeep, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Yamaha have horned into the market with their own designs.
While the pandemic has accelerated bike sales, the overriding attraction is that cities worldwide are beginning to restrict motor traffic. These companies are betting that e-bikes are the urban vehicles of tomorrow — or at least vehicles for good publicity today.
“In the past 12 to 18 months, you have seen a lot of new brands come into the market,” said Andrew Engelmann, an e-bike sales and marketing manager at Yamaha, which has been in the electric bike business since 1993 and claims sales of two million worldwide. “We in the U.S. have not seen this new energy toward cycling since Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France.”
Credit the coronavirus pandemic, which has ignited bike sales of all stripes, but none so much as e-bikes. While retail unit sales of bicycles from January to October last year were up 46 percent from a year earlier, electric bikes were up 140 percent. Measured in dollars, regular bikes were up 67 percent and e-bikes 158 percent — so don’t expect a discount. Those numbers, from the market researchers at NPD, do not include online-only retailers such as Rad Power Bikes, so sales may actually be higher still.
Ogden Bolton aside, there is a historical connection between bicycles and motorcycles. Many early motorcycles came from bicycle makers that simply clapped a motor on a bike, often retaining the pedals in the style of a moped.
The automotive industry’s bicycle connection is more recent, with the likes of Malcolm Bricklin and Lee Iacocca introducing electric bikes in the ’90s. Both flopped. Mr. Iacocca’s design, typical for the time, was hampered by a lead-acid battery with a 15-mile range and a top speed of 15 miles an hour. Many car companies, including Ford, Audi, Maserati and BMW, have gotten into and out of e-bikes since.
“No car company has had any success selling an electric bicycle,” said Don DiCostanzo, chief executive of Pedego Electric Bikes, who in 2014 licensed a bike design to Ford. “It’s fool’s gold. It can never replace the profit on a car.”
Yet car and motorcycle makers are being drawn in. “I think they are seeing a lot of the same opportunity we see,” said Ian Kenny, who leads the e-bike effort at the bicycle company Specialized. “But I think there is a very big difference between demonstrating you can do something and doing something very well at scale.”
However, changes in the way people get about, especially in Europe and Asia, are enticing motor vehicle companies that operate internationally. Overseas, in cities that manage pollution and overcrowded streets by restricting motor traffic, e-bikes often fill a gap.
“In Europe, the e-bike is more of a fundamental transportation tool,” said Dirk Sorenson, an analyst for NPD. London, Madrid, Oslo and Paris are among the growing number of cities restricting downtown traffic.
The pandemic has American cities testing similar restrictions. Boston, Minneapolis and a number of California cities have instituted Slow Streets programs, restricting motor traffic on side streets in favor of cycling and walking. It even has UPS, Amazon and DHL trying out e-cargo bikes in New York.
“There is a huge opportunity for e-bikes in the U.S., which is a huge untapped market,” said Rasheq Zarif, a mobility technology expert for the consulting firm Deloitte.
Some companies are preparing now for the possibility that “micromobility,” as the buzzword has it, will catch on here.
“Let’s imagine Harley-Davison is not a motorcycle company but a mobility company,” said Aaron Frank, brand director for Serial 1, which builds an e-bike in partnership with Harley. “There is a strong argument we can do for urban commuters what Harley-Davison did for motorcycles.”
Other companies see e-bikes as a gateway to sell their primary products. Though best known for its motorcycles, Ducati North America wants e-bikes to “potentially turn people on to Ducati,” its chief executive, Jason Chinnock, said. “And we’ve seen that with people at some events and with the media reaching out.”
E-bikes may be more expensive than bicycles, but are cheaper than cars or motorcycles. And improved motor and battery technology is bringing prices down. Low-priced e-bikes with a motor in the wheel hub — similar to that 1895 design — can be had for about $1,000. Prices for versions with more complex, geared motors at the pedals can reach more than $10,000.
“Spending $1,000 on a bike seems out there,” Mr. Kenny said, “but when you don’t look at it as a toy — when it becomes transportation — it becomes a very different conversation.”
Price isn’t the only hurdle. E-bikes confront a crippling hodgepodge of laws. Although the Consumer Product Safety Commission deemed “low speed” e-bikes (with a motor equivalent to 1 horsepower or less) a bicycle, states still decide where that bike can be ridden.
“It’s up to 50 states to define the use, and that’s been a big problem in the past,” said Claudia Wasko, general manager of Bosch eBike, a prominent manufacturer of drive systems.
The PeopleForBikes coalition drafted model state legislation to allow most e-bikes in bike lanes and parks. It suggests three classes of e-bike, with a top speed between 20 and 28 m.p.h. Twenty-eight states have adopted some version of the legislation.
Some companies may be less concerned with the future of mobility and more interested in getting some attention now.
“I think it’s a halo thing,” said Mr. DiCostanzo, whose company has produced e-bikes for Tommy Bahama, Ford and others. Halo vehicles represent a brand’s aspirations, like concept cars.
“I think that’s what it is for Ford,” he added. “They wanted it for window dressing, and that’s what they got. I think they sold 500 in the five years it ran.”
Mercedes, which is taking orders for its top-of-the-line Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team V11 e-bike at $12,000, said it was a chance to showcase its ability with high-tech materials from carbon fiber to paint.
“High-performance road bikes and e-bikes provide a great way to showcase such technologies into a range of consumer products,” said Damian Cook, a spokesman.
For some in the bicycle industry this all smacks of déjà vu. In the 1970s, a bike boom was thought to presage a new future for transportation in which cycling was central. But it failed. Though there were many contributing factors, roads weren’t made more bicycle-friendly and people didn’t want to arrive at work sweaty.
With the combination of Slow Streets programs, which address the first problem, electric bikes, which address the second, and a pandemic that has given people a chance to adjust to both, experts like Mr. Zarif find hope.
“When you give people a chance to try something, it reduces resistance to change,” he said. “As a society, the reality is we go forward — we don’t go backward.”


text:
- Subscribe NowLimited Time Offer
Time: 5:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Place: The Triple Door, Seattle
Bing debuts its Android app, as Microsoft moves onto Google turf
Send this to a friend
- Todd Bishop
Microsoft's Bing team today is debuting its new application for Google Android, expanding its footprint in the mobile world. As a follow-up to the well-received Bing app for the iPhone, the rollout for Android continues the pragmatic approach that the Bing team has been taking in the mobile world -- embracing mobile operating systems that compete with Microsoft's own Windows Mobile and Windows Phone platforms.
That said, the Bing rollout on Android is truly the tech industry's equivalent of confronting the enemy on its own turf, given Google's position as the Internet search king. The pressure is on Microsoft to deliver a high-quality release, given the native Google search functionality built in to Android devices.
In a blog post announcing the news, the Bing team says its Android app is available as of today to Verizon Wireless customers. No word yet on availability for Android devices from other wireless carriers.
We knew this was coming, but the release appears to be sooner than expected. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Bing for Android would be out "in the next few months."
Previously on TechFlash: Bing loves Apple back: Details of Microsoft's iPhone 'partnership'
Update, 12:30 p.m.: A Microsoft representative says "there are plans to expand the Bing for Mobile Android App to devices with other U.S. mobile operators later this year. We don’t have specific timing to share at this time."
Microsoft has an existing mobile search deal with Verizon, and that played into the decision. "Given the deep partnership with (Verizon) on Bing search, we’ve decided to roll out our Bing search experiences on (Verizon) first," the representative said. "We’re working to make Bing available on the other mobile operators and their Android devices."
- Most popular
- These 16 huge construction projects will change the Puget Sound region
- New Boeing 777X wing plant: A lot of automated equipment, not so many
- Is this Mercer Is. mansion the second-most expensive on local market?
- 2 dead including shooter at Marysville Pilchuck High School
- 1 giant skyscraper, 1 enormous development: 2 more massive Puget Sound
- Washington state's 'best' hotel? Not where you'd think
- Seattle City Council backs developer tax to fund affordable housing
- 2 dead in Marysville shooting, 4 patients brought to Providence
- Redfin buys Seattle startup Walk Score as competition heats up
- Amazon stock tanks as losses widen to $437 million
Stay on top of the latest tech news from Seattle and beyond.
Real Estate Project Manager Antioch University | Seattle, WA
Sr. Project Manager (Vulcan Philanthropy) Vulcan | Seattle, WA
Account Executive Puget Sound Business Journal | Seattle, WA
Senior Estimator PCL Construction | Bellevue, WA
Regional Director of Sales 360° Hotel Group, Lynnwood WA 360 Hotel Group | Lynnwood, WA


text:
Fila Holding S.p.A. stock fairly jumped last week out of the muck that has dragged down growth-company stocks, staging a huge rally that began before the sneaker and clothing company reported second-quarter earnings Thursday that for the 10th quarter in a row smashed analysts' estimates.
After a six-week beating that took $25 off the price of its stock, Fila bounced back $14.25 in a day and a half.
The rebound was spurred by the company announcing that its profits had soared 127 percent to $25.9 million, or 98 cents per American depositary share.
The spectacular recovery left previous estimates of 65 cents looking as flat-footed as the chunky kid in the Sprite commercial who tries to guard Fila endorser Grant Hill of the Detroit Pistons.
"They make it a habit," Gruntal & Co. analyst Susan Silverstein said. "Analysts keep raising their estimates and [Fila] keeps beating them."
The Italian company, whose U.S. headquarters is in Hunt Valley, followed up by telling analysts that it has signed Ray Allen of the University of Connecticut, the fifth pick in June's NBA draft, to a five-year endorsement deal that heralds another star-driven line of clothes and shoes.
"He sensed the excitement; all you have to do is look at the [company's] pie charts," said Lee Fentress, Allen's agent and head of the McLean, Va.-based firm that also represents Hill and Philadelphia 76ers guard Jerry Stackhouse, Fila's big endorsement catches of the last two years.
Fentress would not disclose the terms of Allen's deal, except to say that some of it depends on royalties on products that carry Allen's name.
"It depends on how Ray plays and how Fila does," Fentress said.
Fila officials could not be reached Friday.
Before the NBA draft, they had indicated a strong interest in Georgetown guard Allen Iverson, soon to be Stackhouse's teammate in Philadelphia, but Iverson signed with Reebok.
Fila also was attracted to Ray Allen, believing the Milwaukee Buck-to-be's physical attractiveness and speed-based game make him marketable.
Patrick Snell, a Robertson, Stephens & Co. analyst, said Allen's signing is part of Fila's plan to expand to four annual fashion seasons from three, each one built around advertising campaigns featuring Hill, Stackhouse, Allen, or Dallas Mavericks forward Jamal Mashburn.
"There's no other brand, with the exception of Nike, that has so much momentum," Snell said.
But the analyst was not convinced Allen, a bona-fide college star who is not seen as as sure an NBA bet as Hill or Stackhouse, was the right choice as Fila's next big endorser.
"I don't know if it's the right guy, but that's the guy," Snell said.
The earnings brought Fila's first-half profit to $54.4 million, up from $26.8 million in the first half of 1995. Sales were $322 million for the quarter and $661 million for the first half, both figures up more than 50 percent.
And the big gains are likely to continue for the rest of the year at least, because Fila announced that orders for delivery between July and December were also up 49 percent.
The biggest gains in shoe sales are coming in cross-training shoes and basketball shoes, Fila said. U.S. cross-training shoes were up 140 percent and U.S. basketball sales rose 90 percent.
Fila's smaller clothing business posted second-quarter sales 63 percent higher than in 1995.
The big sales gains turn into even bigger profit gains for two reasons.
First, the company's overhead other than paying contractors to make its products -- expenses like salaries and advertising -- is not growing as fast as sales.
Second, endorser-backed sneakers make up a bigger percentage of Fila's sales than in the past, and they are usually higher-priced and more profitable than the company's other models.
The profit gains provoked a short-term bonanza in Fila shares, which often are volatile because few shares are available (an Italian conglomerate owns more than half the company).
Fila shares jumped $10.625 on Thursday and rose another $8.625 to $99.875 on Friday before falling back to close at $94.75.
Everything in last week's report mirrors what Fila has been doing since it went public in 1993. The company's sales will cross $1 billion this year, up from $188 million in 1991.
The high growth rate has made Fila's stock very expensive compared to its current earnings, as analysts used expected future profits as a benchmark instead.
But such high-flying stocks were the ones that got hit hardest in the market slowdown during June and July, as skepticism mounted about corporate earnings growth in general. No analysts cut their Fila estimates during the stock's dive.
Fila had soared to an all-time high of $101 on June 10 after its first-quarter earnings report in May. But it closed at only $74.75 on July 24, as investors deserted a firm that earned just $2.42 per depositary share in 1995.
Snell says the high price is logical because he thinks Fila's profits will grow 20 percent to 25 percent annually for three to five years. He says Fila shares should move "close to 120 within 12 months."
He said the company still has less than a 10 percent share of the U.S. athletic shoe market and is nearly invisible in the running shoe market, which Fila is moving to attack.
Silverstein said Fila's stock price is not very high considering that analysts are moving their estimates higher in response to being proven too conservative.
She says Fila will earn $3.95 per American depositary share this year and $4.75 next year, adding that other analysts believe Fila will earn more. Snell projects $4 per depositary share in 1996 and $5 next year.
Before Thursday's report, the average estimate of seven analysts in an I/B/E/S International Inc. survey was $3.39 per American depositary share this year and $4.10 next year.
Pub Date: 8/05/96


text:
Want to know the upcoming Apex Legends season 14 release date? Also titled as ‘Hunter’, the subsequent season of Respawn’s aggressive FPS game will convey us a brand new character, a brand new battle go, and even a map rework, alongside the standard wave of modifications and tweaks.
The new season’s character, Vantage, was first teased with a brand new Stories from the Outlands video referred to as ‘survive’, which reveals Mara and her mom surviving in a chilly wilderness. We know Mara is Vantage, the brand new hero becoming a member of Apex Legends season 14, so this serves as an origin video. Here’s all the pieces it’s worthwhile to know concerning the new season, which is due initially of August.


text:
All stories by Martin Feldstein
Will new technology actually create large-scale unemployment?Rediff.com6 Oct 2016
There may be some losers as well as winners. And those who lose their jobs to the new technology will soon find other employment, says Martin Feldstein.
Will Americans become poorer?Rediff.com4 Sep 2015
Americans are lucky they have inherited the innovations of the past.
How the US economy can grow at a healthy paceRediff.com5 Jun 2014
The Federal Reserve must now ensure that higher inflation doesn't derail the US recovery.
Will the US economy look up in 2014?Rediff.com8 Jan 2014
Although there are serious risks facing the US economy in the coming year, there is also a good chance that growth will be substantially stronger than it has been since before the recession began.


text:
Dscoop is pleased to share this announcement: Fedrigoni, a leading international group for manufacturing and converting of premium specialty papers and substrates announces the expansion of Arconvert with a new facility in the United States.
Dscoop is pleased to share Mindfire's latest announcement on the launch of their "Lead Gen Machine" at Dscoop San Antonio. This complete marketing program is designed to not only generate leads, but also give printers and marketing service providers a jump start for easy implementation.
Dscoop is pleased to share this announcement: MindFire, the leading provider of marketing software and solutions for printers, is celebrating the 11 year anniversary of Dscoop’s founding, and a decade of helping printers build long-term relationships with their customers.
Dscoop is pleased to share this announcement: Electron beam (ebeam) technology has offered benefits to package printers and converters for decades. Recent innovations in ebeam-friendly inks and coatings formulations have enabled ebeam growth in many new applications, including digital printing.
Dscoop is pleased to share this announcement: Neenah will present at Dscoop 2016, the largest digital printing user group in the graphics industry, with a heavy focus on its ever-expanding portfolio of solutions for the various digital printing markets including digital printing, wide format printin


text:
Google partners with GoPro to launch Jump, a virtual reality service on YouTube
By Alejanro Alba
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS|
May 28, 2015 at 4:28 PM
Google is letting people jump around the world using virtual reality.
Google announced Thursday at the Google I/O event that it's launching a new virtual reality service called Jump on YouTube. The tech giant will partner with GoPro to film 360-footage of expeditions around the world for anyone to experience from their own homes.
The VR expeditions—as Google called them—will be filmed with GoPro's Camera Array, which contains 16 Hero4 cameras synced together to act as one. The spherical device has yet to receive a price or a consumer release date. However, GoPro released a video that previews what the camera can do.
The virtual reality experiences will be available on the Google Cardboard, which received an upgrade in size. The cardboard box is now big enough to hold phones like the iPhone 6 plus and other phablets, which is a big move for Google. Virtual reality experiences built for the Cardboard will no longer be exclusive to Android as it expands to other platforms such as iOS.
Clay Bavor, vice president of product management, said during the Google event that 1 million people are currently using Google Cardboard. Bavor also said that Jump will have a focus in education.
Expeditions will let teachers take their students on fieldtrips anywhere around the world and even into outer space. Google has already tested the service and gave classrooms all over the world a package that came with smartphones, cardboards and tablets.
Jump will be available on YouTube in July and the first content will be produced by YouTube stars and celebrities.


text:
With Edward Tirtanata, CEO and co-founder, Kopi Kenangan
Darius Cheung, CEO, 99.co
Weihan Liew, Venture Partner, GGV Capital
Rajive Keshup, Director, Cathay Innovation (moderator)
There has been a noticeable surge in founders of mature startups doubling up as angel investors and cashing in on the region’s vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem. In Indonesia, SE Asia’s largest market, founders are backing their own tribe to give back to the ecosystem and to capitalise on the unmissable growth opportunity that the region presents.
Indonesia is also attracting angel investment from Indian founders, who are seeking opportunities in the SE Asian country based on their learnings back home. The reasons are not too far to seek – the internet economy in Southeast Asia is expected to touch $300 billion by 2025, per the Google-Temasek-Bain report.
This session will explore how active angel investors straddle both roles – of founders and investors – effectively. . We will ask our panelists what drives them to angel investing – financial returns, brag rights, or fostering the region’s ecosystem, or all the above.
Our panelist Edward Tirtananta, the co-founder of Kopi Kenangan, has injected capital in as many as six tech startups including GudangAda, Otoklix, Klinik Pintar, BukuKas. Darius Cheung, co-founder/CEO at 99.co, has made over 10 investments and scored three exits.
Meanwhile, Weihan Liew is a serial technology entrepreneur in SE Asia having founded and successfully exited companies in the media and gaming space. Before joining GGV, Weihan started Indonesian mobile news app BaBe. He is also the founder of Main Games, the largest management platform for gaming live streamers in Indonesia.
The panel moderator Rajive Keshup is a Director at Cathay Innovation, a $1.5-billion global venture capital fund (part of Cathay Capital). The firm’s notable investments in the region include Finaccel, Coherent, Igloo Insuretech and KaiOS. Prior to this role, Keshup has been a founder, operator, and strategy consultant based out of New York City.


text:
“What the hell is an NFT?” asked Pete Davidson in a recent SNL’s skit on NFT. The question was answered twice, subsequently. Once in ‘The Matrix’ style and the second time in ‘silicon valley’ style.
Non-Fungible Tokens are all over the news since February. If you are not living under a rock, then you must have heard of them by now. The news of a small ten seconds video selling for billions of dollars made everyone lookup on the internet for NFTs. However, if you still are oblivious to this technology, then SNL has a sketch for you.
SNL or Saturday Night Live is America’s popular Television show. It has been streaming on National Television for the past 45 years. The current and mainstream topics become part of this show. In the March 28th episode of the show, NFTs were given some stage time.
Also Read: The Rise of Non-Fungible Tokens in 2021
Crypto lovers admired the show. Justin Sun, the CEO of TRON Foundation, quickly exhibited an interest in buying NFT of the sketch. And, SNL listened.
SNL’ Skit On NFT is now an NFT:
SNL has turned the last part of the skit into an NFT. People can now bid for it on opensea.io. The money earned from selling the sketch will go to an NGO.
— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) April 3, 2021
So far, the highest bid of $33, 445 is made.
Saturday Night Live plans to give show tickets to the buyers as well.
This NFT is limited to just one edition and will never be minted again. In addition to winning the “What the hell’s an NFT?” NFT, the highest bidder of this auction will receive two tickets to a taping of “Saturday Night Live” on a mutually agreed upon date during Season 47 (valid for 2 people, participants must be 16 or older). Must be holding this NFT on May 31, 2021 to redeem this offer.
The mainstreaming of NFTs, and in turn cryptocurrency, is on the way. The traditional institutes are embracing crypto more swiftly than one could expect.


text:
A MUM shared an image of what appeared to be her child’s floral skirt, but can you spot what is unusual about it?
The woman revealed to a mum’s group that she had made the chic garment from a common every day item found in the kitchen; a tea towel.
She said on the Facebook group Kmart Mums Australia that it cost her a mere £2.60 to make the skirt.
The mum wrote: “Whipped up a skirt for my almost two-year-old this afternoon using one of the tea towels I purchased recently. Could easily have made two from the one tea towel.”
Impressed mums were quick to praise her for her creativity and many said they wished they could making clothes from tea towels.
One Facebook user said: “I wish I knew how to sew.”
Another added: “Anyone done something similar in an adults size?”
After sharing her tea towel skills on the group, it soon emerged that other people use the kitchen item to make their clothes.
One woman revealed she made her daughter a Christmas skirt made from a flamingo tea towel, and she now plans to make short from a llama tea towel.
Meanwhile, another mum said she had recently made tote bags from tea towels instead, using one of the towels per bag.
MOST READ IN FABULOUS
Previously, a mum shared a genius hack for picking her son’s Lego off the floor.
Meanwhile, another mum has revealed how to stop toddlers destroying a bathroom – with just a hairband.
And these parents have revealed the hacks they swear by.


text:
Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.
On Friday night in New York City, a group of fashion journalists gathered at a SodaStream event with Scarlett Johansson in order to find out what they were doing at a SodaStream event with Scarlett Johansson. Notes were compared: Scarlett was rumored to be doing a commercial; the commercial was set to drop during a major TV event; everyone assumed it would be the Super Bowl.
With the "what" mystery solved, the international crowd (many Israelis, multiple Belgians) turned their attention to the question of why. Was SodaStream aiming to appeal to more men? Was ScarJo trying to branch out from endorsing Dolce & Gabbana and beauty products? And why were so many fashion people invited to a party for an appliance? The answer turned out to be surprisingly uncomplicated: Scarlet Johansson just really loves SodaStream.
At least, that's how she and the company's CEO, Daniel Birnbaum, explain the partnership. According to Birnbaum, Johansson first contacted the company anonymously, as a simple Paris-based user looking for a CO2 carbonator. The Paris office helped her out, and a week later Birnbaum got a thank-you note signed "SJ." Fast-forward a few months, and Johansson is now the brand's global ambassador and—as Birnbaum puts it—"First Lady." And she is indeed doing a commercial for the company during the Super Bowl.
The ad remains under wraps, but here's some behind-the-scenes footage of ScarJo talking about bubbles.
Birnbaum says the idea for the ad was in place before ScarJo came along. The New York Times offers some context: Last year, the company tried to call out rivals Coke and Pepsi by name, but CBS refused to air a commercial denigrating the other brands. SodaStream wound up running another ad, and this time around, their approach seems to be less confrontational.
Birnbaum wouldn't reveal details, but he suggested that having a bombshell celebrity fan is a secret weapon of sorts. "We're a very small company and we're competing with Coca Cola and Pepsi and they have huge budgets. In fact, my annual marketing budget is what they will spend in one day. So how can you compete? We need to be very creative, and Scarlett is helping us be very creative."
The fashion angle seems to be the look of the ad itself. "I'm just kind of casual backstage," Scarlet told us, "and then there's this big reveal. It's just very glammy and super sexy—an Old Hollywood glamour look." So will this make SodaStream the next hot fashion-world beverage—a low-cal challenger to green juice and Diet Coke? "I don't know if it's necessary fashionable," she said, "but I'd like it to be."
· SodaStream to Bring Some Heat to Super Bowl Ad With Scarlett Johansson [NYT]
· All Scarlett Johansson coverage [Racked]


text:
Easing the new restriction imposed in Nagpur city new modifications has been made for restaurants, hotels, and cinema halls.
According to the earlier official order the district administration announced strict implementation of ban on five or more persons from 9 pm to 6 am.
It allowed functioning of shops, establishments, procession, functions, wedding ceremonies, etc till 9 pm from Saturday.
However, a new modification has been made, now Hotels/ Restaurants can function till 12 midnight while Cinema Halls too can continue as usual said Commissioner of Police Amistesh Kumar.
Meanwhile, all other establishments will remain shut at 9 pm as per the order.


text: New York--Magazine advertising revenue increased 11.2% in May to almost $1.69 billion compared with the same period last year, according to the Magazine Publishers of America's Publishers Information Bureau. Ad pages were also up slightly compared with last year. Seven of the 12 ad categories tracked showed revenue growth. In particular, the technology category improved significantly, up 15.9% to $94.2 million. Direct response advertising dipped 0.8% to $92.5 million.


text:
CAIRO: The UK’s consumers’ spending on less urgent items fell sharply last week, while Sweden’s economy bounced back in the second quarter of this year.
Germany’s price levels are expected to peak as firms plan to hike prices rise, and Australia cut its growth outlook as the country's inflation continues to spike.
UK consumers slash spending on less urgent items
British consumer spending on non-urgent items — such as clothing, furniture and cars — fell last week to its lowest since February as spending on petrol surged, according to official data on Thursday based on credit and debit card usage.
The Office for National Statistics said spending on goods that it classifies as ‘delayable’ fell to 80 percent of its pre-pandemic February 2020 average level in the week to July 21, compared with 86 percent in the week before.
The figures are not adjusted for inflation, which hit a 40-year high of 9.4 percent in June.
German inflation has likely peaked
The proportion of German companies that plan to increase prices declined for the third month in row in July, an indication that inflation has peaked, an Ifo institute survey found.
“Prices are still likely to continue to rise, but the pace will slow,” said Ifo head of forecasts Tim Wollmershaeuser on Thursday, adding there was usually a few months' lag between company price expectations being reflected in consumer prices.
“This means that inflation has probably reached its peak and will gradually decline in the course of the second half of the year,” he added.
Swedish economy bounces back in Q2, but slowdown ahead
Sweden's economy bounced back after a weak start to the year with gross domestic product expanding 1.4 percent in the second quarter compared to the previous three months, flash figures published by the Statistics Office on Thursday showed.
Compared to the second quarter the previous year, the economy grew 4.2 percent. Analysts in a Reuters poll had forecast growth of 0.7 percent quarter-on-quarter.


text:
20 Jan Free at-home COVID-19 tests are now available!
Posted at 09:24h in Bethune, Capitol, Community News, CovidUpdates, District News, Dunbar, Edison, Emerson, Faith North, Garfield, Heard, Herrera, Kenilworth, Lowell, Magnet, None, Shaw, Whittier
Every home in the U.S. can order 4 free at-home COVID-19 tests. The tests are completely free—there are no shipping costs and you don’t need to enter a credit card number.
Visit CovidTests.org to learn more!


text:
As Galaxy S3 is revealed rumours of iPhone 5 are coming fast (and furious).
Apple blog iLounge reckon they’ve got some secret details on i5/i6 (they’re not so sure on names) but believe the next iPhone will be “longer and thinner”, measuring 125mm by 58.5mm by 7.4mm, according to its “sources.”
So i5 will be 10mm bigger yet 2mm slimmer, and vitally, the screen size will also enlarge to 4″ from current 3.5.”
If correct this means the next Apple smartie, which may see a September release, will be in line with the larger superphone trend followed by likes of Samsung with 5″ Galaxy Note, 4.7″ HTC One X and 4.7″ Galaxy S3, announced today.
Apple is also adding a flat metal panel to the rear of the phone, which resembles iMac design, according to iLounge.
But following on from previous versions, it will be feature (partially) hard Gorilla Glass encasing, although it will be GG 2 version which allows the device to slim down yet boast the same strengthened body.
“The change in height will include a lengthening of the prior 3.5″ screen to roughly 4″ on the diagonal,” writes iLounge editor Jeremy Horwitz.
“Apple will change the new iPhone’s aspect ratio for the first time since the original iPhone was introduced in 2007, adding additional pixels to the top and bottom of the screen,” which will impact on software.
A new Dock Connector is also expected to appear on the new iPhone, and is expected on all new Apple’s including the new iPod.
And since The Great War in smartphones is between Apple and Samsung, how does newly announced Galaxy S3, seen as rival to new iPhone matchup?
S3 has a whopping 4.8″ 22% larger Super AMOLED display with 720 x 1280 px (306ppi), major voice command improvements ( a la Siri), runs Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.4 and comes in Pebble blue or marble white.
So when ever i5/6 is launched – said to be later this year – it will be the new Samsung Apple has to beat. Get the full Galaxy low down here
Read the iLounge blog in full here.


text:
As Delaware County begins to move to the Yellow Phase of Governor Wolf’s Plan for Reopening the state, Delaware County Council, the Delaware County Commerce Center, and the Delaware County Chamber of Commerce have joined together to convene a task force to assist business leaders both before and during the reopening.
The Bringing Back Delco Task Force, comprised of community, business and government representatives will assist and support the Delaware County business community to ensure a safe reopening of the local economy.
Members of the newly created Bringing Back Delco Task Force met virtually as a group this week to begin preparing for Delaware County moving into a yellow phase.
Last week, Governor Wolf announced a timeline that projects a June 5th transition to the Yellow Phase for Delaware County and the four surrounding counties of Bucks, Chester, Montgomery, and Philadelphia. Under a Yellow Phase, restaurants may offer outdoor dining and most retail stores may open, although curbside and delivery for retail stores are preferred. The Governor also announced that based on the progress counties make to keep the spread of COVID-19 to a minimum while in the Yellow Phase, counties may move into the Green Phase as soon as the end of June. Under the Green Phase, all businesses will be allowed to open and there are less restrictions on social gatherings, but all residents and businesses should still follow CDC and Health Department guidelines.
“We are very excited to see our business community get back to work,” said Delaware County Councilwoman Elaine Schaefer. “It has been a long two months of hardship for almost all of our small businesses and we recognize that they are anxious to be back up and operating, and also that our residents are eager to support them. As we approach the Yellow Phase, we need to do so in a way that continues to allow for the safety and health of employees and residents.”
The Task Force has created a website and will be offering webinars to assist business owners with safety guidelines, reopening protocols and plans, and industry-specific information. The website also includes downloadable flyers and graphics for business owners to display and share with their employees. The website is: www.BringingBackDelco.com
The Task Force will hold a webinar on June 3 at 2:00p.m. geared towards addressing the needs of small businesses and restaurants as they open up and detail how local government can assist these businesses to make the transition safe and successful. More details will be posted at: www.BringingBackDelco.com
A helpline has also been set up for business owners and managers who have questions and need help navigating the CDC and state guidelines and who may need support interpreting the guidance. Businesses can call: 610-565-3677.
Plans are underway for an online small business support store to help businesses procure the supplies they will likely need to reopen safely, many of which are in short supply. Items available will include: hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, gloves, masks, six-foot floor markers, and Plexiglas barriers for counters. These items will be available at a discounted price and orders can be placed on the website, and picked up at a central storage location.
“Once again, Government, civic, business, labor and nonprofit leaders have united to ensure Delco remains strong.” said Patrick Killian, Director of the Delaware County Commerce Center. “We are proud to be a part of that effort."
The Task Force will regularly convene to address the concerns of the community, coordinate, and share best practices that are proven to be successful and distribute information that is needed for an effective and safe transition.
Members of the Task Force include:
Elaine Schaefer, Delaware County Council
Brian Zidek, Delaware County Council
Kevin Madden, Delaware County Council
Monica Taylor, Delaware County Council
Christine Reuther, Delaware County Council
Trish McFarland, Delaware County Chamber of Commerce
Patrick Killian, Delaware County Commerce Center
Laura Goodrich Cairns, Delaware County Commerce Center
Steve Byrne, Visit Delco, PA
State Senator Tim Kearney
State Senator Tom Killion
State Senator Anthony Williams
Jack Stollsteimer, Delaware County District Attorney
Marianne Grace, Delaware County Executive Administrative Director
Sam Haber, Delaware County Planning Department
Maria Edelberg, Delaware County Intermediate Unit
Frances Sheehan, The Foundation for Delaware County
Amanda Serock, Concord Township
Dr. Maureen Reusche, Haverford School District
Mike Ranck, Community YMCA of Eastern Delaware County
James Harper, Laborers' International Union of North America, Local 413
Chris Kovolski, Villanova University
George Piasecki, AFL-CIO
Mike Corrigan, Boeing
Adam Gattuso, Monroe Energy
Chris Todd, Christopher's A Neighborhood Place, Wayne Business Association
Tom McCormack, C&M Sports
Pamela McCormick, SEPTA
“Collaboration is critical as our community begins to transition into this next phase,” said Trish McFarland, President of the Delaware County Chamber of Commerce. “The Chamber has been listening to our members to identify their needs and working with business representatives from across the state to understand what has worked and what hasn’t worked in their transitions to the yellow phase. This type of collaboration in our county will help to streamline this process and ensure that we are assisting and protecting the businesses, their employees and the public as we begin to rebuild our economy.”


text:
Welcome to This Week in PC Gaming, a show where we take a look at the new games, updates, events, and more coming at you over the next week, every week, until the end of PC games as we know it.
This stacked week has got a ton to chew on such as Bloodhunt, a battle royale set in the Vampire: The Masquerade universe, the best Sonic game comes to PC in Sonic Colors Ultimate, and a mix of murder and the supernatural in Life is Strange: True Colors.
The PC gaming forecast shows that we have an incoming open beta for Amazon's epic fantasy MMORPG, New World. Let's hope our video cards fare a bit better this time around.
Catch the new episode every Sunday here on PCGamer.com or subscribe to our YouTube channel to get notified when a new episode goes live.


text:
Trading could be more subdued after Monday
According to CNBC, stocks are likely to be more subdued Tuesday, taking their cue from the bond market and keeping a wary eye on Europe.
The U.S stock market shot higher Monday following world equity markets higher on optimism that European officials may move more quickly toward a closer fiscal union. The 16 percent jump in Black Friday weekend retail sales also helped boost sentiment.
Euro zone finance ministers meet Tuesday, and there is also an 8 billion euros Italian bond auction that traders are watching. In the U.S., S&P/Case-Shiller home prices are released at 9 a.m. EST, and consumer confidence is reported at 10 a.m. Tiffany reports earnings before the opening bell. There are also several Fed speakers throughout the day.
The Dow Monday was up 291 at 11,523, a 2.6 percent gain, and the S&P 500 jumped 2.9 percent to 1,192. The Nasdaq rose 3.5 percent to 2,527. Traders said stocks had become extremely oversold after last week’s near 5 percent decline.
Euro zone finance ministers meet over two days. Dolan said he’s watching to see if the euro zone finance ministers can come together and work out a plan to increase the fire power of the ESFS (European Financial Stability Facility).
To read more follow this link http://www.cnbc.com/id/45469916
It is always interesting to know what the markets are doing, however, it doesnt matter whether the market is going up or down, as we can trade in either direction.
To read more about our newest strateiges click here


text:
The huge mixed-use "live-work-play" development in south Orlando known as SoDo -- for South of Downtown -- is on track for an October grand opening.
That's the latest word this week from the owner-developer of the project off South Orange Avenue, Kimco Realty Corp.
Known as an urban-infill "lifestyle" development, it will have a SuperTarget and other big box stores, restaurants and small retail, luxury residential units, office space and a "pedestrian-friendly atmosphere."
Seth Layton, Kimco's executive vice president-Florida region, said SoDo will provide residents and visitors access to shopping, recreation, and business in one environment, "without the hassle of downtown traffic or access to parking in a village-like setting."
In addition to restaurants and boutique shops, SoDo will boast more than 70,000 square feet of various-sized office suites.
Morrison Commercial, the Orlando-based office brokerage firm for the project, is accepting reservations for space, which will include free parking.
Wood Partners of Orlando, the project's residential developer, will soon begin preleasing its 300-plus luxury apartments.
North American Properties Inc. serves as a development partner in this joint venture project.


text:
Financing offer is an alternative energy breakthrough
Two New Hampshire business owners have come up with a seemingly small breakthrough in credit access that could have a big impact on small-scale alternative energy products in New Hampshire.
Jack Bingham is president of SEA (Seacoast Energy Alternatives) Solar Store in Dover, and James Gamble runs GreenSource Energy Solutions in Concord. Their stores are part of a retail store chain (USA Solar) focused on the alternative energy market, and both have been seeking a way to make it easier for residential and smaller commercial customers to undertake alternative energy upgrades.
Bingham and Gamble said they had an expanding product line and expertise for custom design and installation. They also have noticed that state and federal grant and tax credit incentives were starting to make a difference and helping to level the playing field.
But they wanted to move the market beyond government incentives and needed lower-rate financing from the private sector to cover the up-front costs of installations that can cost from $10,000 for a new hot water system to as much as $40,000 for a full-scale solar electric system.
Unfortunately, few such financing options existed, and there were no partnerships in the region involving alternative energy stores and banks. Bingham and Gamble believed this was dampening the breakout potential of alternative energy development.
“It’s critical to our business, and it was a real missing link in the bigger picture,” said Gamble, who opened his store in July 2009. “What I was finding right out of the gate was that our ability to sell systems was limited to those folks with sufficient means ready available.”
So he approached five banks, both small and large, to pitch his idea – one no more radical than the concept of automobile financing. But he was surprised by the lack of interest.
“They sort of looked at me like I was crazy,” Bingham said. “I don’t think they took the time out to research the alternative energy market or the products we sold. They offer financing for a $35,000 car that won’t be worth anything in five years.”
Bingham found it hard to believe that banks couldn’t see the economic opportunity in financing a project that would save a great deal of money for customers in the long run and would enhance the value of their homes at the same time, especially the solar electric customers who could eventually make money from the electricity they generate.
“In the case of a solar power generation, what we’re offering is an energy system that’s going to last 25 years or more, cut down on operating expenses, and save lots of money,” Bingham said. “It’s a unique situation and it was hard trying to get them (banks) to see it from this perspective of an improved financial condition because of the loan.”
But he persisted and finally found one bank that did share his vision – Rochester-based Holy Rosary Credit Union.
All USA Solar Stores throughout New Hampshire – including stores in Keene and Nashua, as well as in Groton, Vt. – are partnering with Holy Rosary to extend what Bingham calls “attractive financing options” for would-be customers.
“We already offered home equity loans for certain efficiency measures, so it was really a natural fit,” said Julie Coakley, director of lending at Holy Rosary. “When we saw their Web site and what they were doing, we were impressed and wanted to add this to our initiatives.”
Currently, the fixed and home equity lines of credit rates range from 3.99 percent for up to five years and as low as 6.49 percent for 11 to 15 years. Bingham said this could lead to a chain reaction in financing options that could be used in tandem with existing rebates and credits – and providing homeowners with even more of an incentive to invest in technologies with a proven track record of saving money down the road.
Even in an uncertain economy and tight credit market, Coakley said the long-term potential of what the loans cover offer more rewards than risks. “When you look at it from a risk standpoint, yes we finance up to 100 percent, but we feel that what they’re putting into their home is increasing the home’s value, which is good for everyone,” she said.
“It sounds to me like a very positive development,” said Jack Ruderman, director of sustainable energy for the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission, of the financing option. “It’s meeting a need that hasn’t been addressed otherwise. I really see an upside and hope it will move more people to buying alternative energy systems.”
Ruderman said he’s unsure about how large the impact of bank financing for alternative energy improvements might be, but he knows that rebates through the state’s renewable energy fund – from which more than $1.5 million has been approved – are being released at a rapid rate that shows that consumers are interested.
The renewable energy fund program, which was created by the state Legislature in 2008, covers solar hot water, small wind and solar electricity generation up to 5 kilowatts as well as central wood pellet heating systems.”There has been much stronger demand than we estimated,” Ruderman said. “It’s been a very heartening trend. There are a lot more people who are committed to clean energy to combat climate change and reducing our reliance on fossil fuels.”
The affordable financing option has been in place for almost two months, and it’s too early to get a gauge on how popular the program will turn out to be, but Bingham and Gamble say that initial interest is high, and Bingham will soon run radio commercials to spread the word.
At Holy Rosary, Coakley said, “there is quite a buzz” about the program. She has already approved two loans and has received several application requests that are pending.
“They’ve made it pretty simple, and you can get a decision within a few days,” Bingham said of the credit union. “I think this was the piece that was missing. Solar electric costs have gone down 40 percent, and incentives have become more aggressive. Alternative energy has become more cost -effective and obvious.”


text:
- ALSO READ
India’s largest drug maker Sun Pharmaceutical Industries has posted a 43 per cent rise in net profit for the first quarter of the current fiscal year, to Rs 2,061 crore, beating street estimates, riding on robust sales across India, US and emerging markets. The firm’s gross sales were up 10.1 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 10,644 crore during the quarter, from Rs 9,719 crore a year ago.
Excluding the exceptional items of Q1 last year, the adjusted net profit was up 4.1 per cent.
EBITDA for the quarter came in at Rs 2,884.4 crore (including other operating revenues), and at a margin of 26.8 per cent.
The company said excluding sales of Covid-19 products, the overall sales are up by about 14 per cent. The India formulations business was up 13 per cent on a like-to-like basis, excluding Covid-19 product sales of Q1 last year. “On a reported basis, the growth is 2.4 per cent over Q1 last year,” the company said.
US formulation sales came in at $420 million, up 10.7 per cent over Q1FY22, while emerging market formulation sales were $245 million (12.6 per cent). Rest of world formulation sales came in at $190 million (2.6 per cent).
Dilip Shanghvi, managing director of the company, said, “For Q1, all our businesses recorded good growth, driven by a combination of sustained scale-up for our specialty business and all-round growth across markets.”
The growth in Q1FY23 was led by the rise in Sun Pharma’s specialty business.
“Specialty business has grown 29 per cent, driven by Ilumya, Cequa, Odomzo and Winlevi. Our India business continues to grow faster than the market, leading to an increase in market share. We have been able to report healthy margins despite rising costs. We continue to focus on expanding our global specialty business, growing all our businesses and improving our market share,” Shanghvi said.
He added that specialty R&D constituted 21 per cent of overall R&D. There were four specialty molecules, which are in clinical trials now.
India formulation sales accounted for about 32 per cent of total consolidated sales while the US accounted for over 30 per cent. Sun Pharma improved its market share to 8.5 per cent in India as of June 2022. There were no sales of Covid-19 drugs during Q1FY23 in India. In the US Winlevi, the specialty drug that got approval late last year, has seen 10,000 doctors prescribing it.
Sun Pharma’s Israeli subsidiary Taro posted Q1FY23 sales of $157 million and net profit of $14 million. Taro’s financials include the first full quarter of consolidation of the Alchemee acquisition.
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
First Published: Fri, July 29 2022. 16:33 IST


text:
S1 features a sophisticated design that resonates the stylish youth through the super AMOLED Halo Full View Display, that provides accurate, vibrant and rich natural colours allowing the users to immerse themselves in a fully integrated user experience when consuming videos, capturing images or even surfing the Internet.
Z1 is said to feature a 6.38-inch full-HD Super AMOLED display.
S1, which is supposed to be the first handset in the new S Series, boasts of features not found in other smartphones in its class.
Read on as we explain how Vivo
S1 stands above the rest.
has the perfect choice that is as attractive as it is competitive.
Ahead of MWC Shanghai 2019, Vivo
announces its strategy to accelerate its innovations across smart devices and applications for the 5G era.
Electrophysiology company Catheter Precision Inc reported on Wednesday the receipt of the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) clearance for the launch of its new VIVO
(View into Ventricular Onset) system for the US cardiac arrhythmias market.
Intellia will gain expanded rights to Novartis' lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology for all genome editing applications in both in vivo
and ex vivo
Energy's IDR is constrained at 'BB+' by the group's limited geographic diversification and concentration of operations in Africa.
's TOF 3D Sensing Technology features industry-leading performance in depth of information captured with its 300,000 sensor points, which is 10 times the number of existing Structured Light Technology.
"Through this landmark cooperation between Vivo
and Qualcomm, Vivo
's industry leadership and innovation on 5G mm-Wave antenna design will contribute to creating optimal devices for end users," said Dr.


text:
By the conclusion of its fiscal year, which ends March 31, Mumbai-based automaker Tata Motors hopes to sell 50,000 electric vehicles, according to Natarajan Chandrasekaran, the company’s chairwoman.
According to Chandrasekaran, as reported by Reuters, Tata — which manufactures luxury automobiles, trucks, vans, coaches, buses, passenger cars, and construction equipment — hopes to reach 100,000 EV sales in the 2023–2024 timeframe.
The move toward EVs is in line with a national initiative to increase the percentage of electric passenger vehicles sold in India to up to 30% by 2030 from its current 1 percent level. 80 percent of two-wheeler sales, up from 2 percent today, will be made up of e-scooters and e-bikes.
The success of domestic manufacturing will be crucial in encouraging Indians to transition to electric vehicles due to the government’s hefty import taxes on EVs.
Tesla appears to have given up on attempts to establish a factory in India after attempting to sell its EVs there.
When entering new markets, Tesla typically takes the “try before you buy” strategy, importing cars to gauge demand before devoting the necessary time and resources to establishing local manufacturing.
Tesla hasn’t pushed further with those plans since Nitin Gadkari, the country’s transport minister, said the manufacturer was welcome to build a factory there but couldn’t import vehicles from China for sale and servicing.
Currently, Tata sells three electric vehicles (EV) models: the Nexon EV, Tigor EV, and the most recent Nexon EV Max.
Tata claims that by recycling a popular internal combustion engine model, the Nexon, and replacing it with a battery pack, it is able to keep costs low for the Indian consumer, in contrast to the strategy many U.S. manufacturers have adopted of establishing new EV production lines from the ground up.
Although not precisely affordable for the average Indian motorist, Nexon’s starting price of $19,000 is unquestionably within reach of the nation’s upper-middle class.
Tata controls 90% of the market for electric vehicles in India and seems to be on track to meet its target of selling 50,000 EVs by March 2022.


text:
10 things not to buy at grocery store
The Humane Society for Shelter Pets (HSSP) is reminding all pet lovers that while the holidays are a festive time of year for humans, for pets it can be filled with stressful and even potentially hazardous situations.
While the holidays are a festive time of year for humans, for pets it can be filled with stressful and even potentially hazardous situations.
Three Afghan National Army soldiers, who were in Massachusetts for training, have gone missing after a trip to a shopping mall, authorities said. It's the second time in a week that Afghan security trainees in the United States have disappeared.
No email address was supplied by
To complete your registration on this site, please supply an address.
Please confirm or modify the email address to which you will have subscription offers sent.
For a more personalized experience, please supply the following optional information.


text:
Pimlico Plumbers founder Charlie Mullins axes his £1m dividend - but increases his pay to almost £500,000
Charlie Mullins, founder of celebrity favourite Pimlico Plumbers, has ditched the £1million dividend he received last year but increased his pay to almost £500,000.
The London-based company increased its turnover for the year to May 31, 2013, by 5.4 per cent to £18.1million, while pre-tax profits grew from £1.1million to £1.6million.
As the highest-paid director, Mullins saw his pay jump from £420,000 to £480,000, though this was still some way off his £2million payday in 2010 when he earned the title of ‘Britain’s richest plumber’.
Pay rise: Charlie Mullins, founder of celebrity favourite Pimlico Plumbers
Pimlico also carries out building, roofing, electrical and carpentry work and has its own standalone business in Marbella.
Mullins said the firm is on track to record its first ever financial year sales above £20million.
Most watched Money videos
- Could these LED lights on crossings save lives on the road?
- Aston Martin showcase the new Vantage with a top speed of 195mph
- New Jaguar I-Pace takes on Tesla in race against the clock
- Jaguar I-Pace prototype smart cones driving test in Geneva
- Car shop shows their Seat Toledo 1.6 TDI 115 Style Advanced
- Take a look at the brand new Jaguar I-Pace prototype
- Ray Massey takes Range Rover new plug-in hybrid PHEV for a spin
- British car maker Morgan shows off new Aero GT in Geneva
- Jack Whitehall stars in Jaguar I-PACE promotional video
- Tips to invest your Isa - and why it is worth doing
- Will stock markets start to rise again?
- Range Rover races through the 99-turns of the Tianmen Road


text:
jesustilapia says: did anybody besides okcupid boycott (or kinda boycott) mozilla because of the CEO?
» SFB says: Yes; the whole thing really heated up after the company Rarebit announced it would stop making products for the Firefox Marketplace specifically because of Brendan Eich’s appointment. OKCupid’s boycott came roughly a week later. (Rarebit, led by a married gay couple, expressed sadness that Eich ended up stepping down.) Also, the foundation’s board lost three members during this period, though the members insist they didn’t leave because of his donation. — Ernie @ SFB