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Rush Enterprises, Inc. announced that its first-quarter net income was $13.5 million, or $0.34 per diluted share, compared with net income of $15.9 million, or $0.40 per diluted share, in the quarter ended March 31, 2012.
"The company's financial performance remained strong this quarter despite expected sluggishness in energy sector activity and a decrease in Class 8 new truck retail sales. Geographic expansion of our dealership network, breadth of product offerings and a sustained focus on aftermarket solutions continue to positively impact the company's financial performance," said W. M. "Rusty" Rush, Chief Executive Officer and President of Rush Enterprises, Inc. "I am grateful to our employees for their contributions to our success this quarter."
Aftermarket solutions accounted for approximately 64% of the company's total gross profits in the first quarter of 2013. First quarter parts, service and body shop revenues reached a new record quarterly high, increasing by 18% as compared to first quarter 2012, despite the usual decrease due to seasonality experienced during the first quarter.
"Our aftermarket success this quarter is the result of continued maintenance of aged vehicles, incremental revenues generated from newly acquired locations and innovative aftermarket solutions," said Rusty Rush.
"Despite the decline in the energy sector activity and integration of newly acquired locations in Ohio, we were able to achieve a quarterly absorption ratio of 111.9%.
"Our efforts to be the premier solutions provider to the commercial vehicle industry continue to drive outstanding performance of our aftermarket operations. We have invested in personnel, facility enhancements, advanced diagnostic technology, mobile service offerings, custom vehicle modifications services and alternative fuel capabilities that expand our portfolio of customer solutions. The investments we have made allow us to efficiently support our customers in our shops or their job sites and are a key factor in our ability to increase aftermarket revenues.
"We expect parts, service and body shop revenues will remain strong throughout 2013.”
In the first quarter, Rush's Class 8 retail sales accounted for 5.2% of the U.S. Class 8 truck market.
"As expected, declines in energy sector activity resulted in a decrease of our new Class 8 truck deliveries," said Rusty Rush. "In addition, U.S. Class 8 truck sales were well below normal replacement levels in the first quarter. However, our quoting activity remains strong, which should lead to stronger retail sales later this year."
Rush's Class 4-7 medium-duty sales increased 26% over the first quarter of 2012, outpacing the U. S. Class 4-7 market, which decreased 2%. Rush's Class 4-7 market share accounted for 5% of the total U.S. market, a record high and up from 4% in the first quarter of 2012.
"This is the result of solid execution by our medium-duty franchises across the country, including continued good performance from our Navistar Division," said Rusty Rush.
"Light duty truck sales were also up 43% compared to the first quarter of 2012, as a result of continued efforts at our Ford franchises. Our used truck sales also increased, up 13% over the first quarter of 2012."
Industry experts forecast U.S. Class 8 retail truck sales to remain flat with 2012 at 198,000 units. "We believe that steady U.S. Class 8 order intake over the past several months combined with increased activity in residential construction in key regions of the country will likely result in increased Class 8 retail truck deliveries beginning in the second half of 2013. U.S. Class 4-7 retail sales are expected to reach 182,000 units, up 11% over 2012," continued Rusty Rush.
"We are encouraged by Navistar's successful launch of the 15-liter Cummins ISX engine in the first quarter and the recent EPA approval of their MaxxForce 13-liter engine using SCR aftertreatment technology. We expect this to have a positive impact for our Navistar Division during the second half of 2013," Rusty Rush added.
In the first quarter, the Company's gross revenues totaled $756.8 million, a 2.6% decrease from gross revenues of $777.3 million reported for the first quarter ended March 31, 2012. Net income for the quarter was $13.5 million, or $0.34 per diluted share, compared with net income of $15.9 million, or $0.40 per diluted share.
Parts, service and body shop sales revenue was $231.5 million in the first quarter of 2013, compared to $196.6 million in the first quarter of 2012. The Company delivered 2,065 new heavy-duty trucks, 1,954 new medium-duty commercial vehicles, 395 new light-duty commercial vehicles and 1,414 used commercial vehicles during the first quarter of 2013, compared to 2,738 new heavy-duty trucks, 1,556 new medium-duty commercial vehicles, 277 new light-duty commercial vehicles and 1,252 used trucks during the first quarter of 2012.
"I am very pleased with our financial performance this quarter. Our strong financial position will enable us to continue to execute our strategic initiatives and help ensure we remain the premier solutions provider to the commercial vehicle industry," said W. Marvin Rush, Chairman and Founder of Rush Enterprises, Inc.


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A Glasgow Skoda dealer has become the first in the UK to offer a 24-hour computer-based customer service system.
Visitors to Henry’s Skoda are now able to access a touchscreen system at the dealership which allows them to request an appointment, browse brochures or arrange services such as MOTs or repairs.
Customers will be able to access the new system even when the dealership is closed and can request details to be mailed to their homes, either physically or electronically.
Retailer principal Bruce Henry stated that the new system has been installed in order to help the Scottish motor trader to better meet the needs of modern consumers.
He said: “This new system is a peek into the future and a sure sign that Henry’s is embracing the technology available to further improve customer experience.”
This comes after Glasgow car dealer Arnold Clark last month allied with vehicle information provider HPI to improve its system for providing car photos online.
Visit ChoiceQuote, the #1 for motortrade insurance

domain: news


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March 16, 2011 weblog
Google to set up a mobile payment system this year?
(PhysOrg.com) -- Mobile payment is an arrangement that has a lot of potential to make your life easier, but it also has a lot of potential to create issues with identity theft. That is why when a new company jumps into that arena they have to be fairly well trusted, in order to get a decent adoption rate.
That is where Google comes into play. Unnamed sources within the company have made mention of plans to start testing a mobile-payment system in as-yet-unnamed stores in New York and San Francisco, sometime between now and the end of July, if the sources turn out to be correct.
The system will be expected to let shoppers pay for their purchases with their mobile phones. While there is no word on whether or not this technology will only be for Android-based phones only, but at the beginning it is likely to be only for Android, since that is Google's proprietary mobile device operating system.
If these rumors prove to be true than the company will be helping business in the named cities to install thousands of cash register systems, designed to work with the mobile payment technology, made by VeriFone Systems Inc. (PAY).
While at this point everything is speculation, since Google has made no official announcement, the type of technology that is used for mobile payment is called near-field-communication. With the help of a special chip, the technology will be able to store credit card data, store loyalty card information and maybe even coupon information. It can then transmit that data to stations that have the right chip inside the register with a simple tap. The actual system may vary, since Google has announced nothing official at this time.
If you live in one of the two target cities keep your eyes peeled.
© 2010 PhysOrg.com


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Australia central banker says rates could stay low until ’24
Australia’s central bank governor says the nation’s benchmark interest rate could remain at a record low until 2024 despite pandemic-induced inflation.
The Reserve Bank of Australia board has said it won’t lift the cash rate until inflation settles in a target range of 2%-to-3%, Governor Philip Lowe told a Sydney forum of economists.
The “inflation outlook is more uncertain than it has been for some time, but our central scenario is that underlying inflation reaches the middle of the target by the end of 2023,” Lowe said.
That alone would not trigger the rate being lifted from the record low 0.1% where it has remained since November 2020. The board would also consider the economic outlook, Lowe said.
“So it is still plausible that the first increase in the cash rate will not be before 2024,” he said.
The latest data and forecasts do not warrant considering a rate hike in 2022, he said.
Australia’s inflation rate has risen as have prices in many parts of the world as economies bounce back from the pandemic, but such pressures are less pronounced than in many other countries.
The increase in Australian prices of 0.7% in July-September and 2.1% over a year earlier was higher than expected, Lowe said.
In the U.S., the consumer price index soared 6.2% in October from a year earlier — the biggest 12-month jump since 1990.
Gasoline prices in Australia have soared 24% in the past year. But Australian electricity prices are falling partly due to more wind and solar generation.
Australian pay checks grew by less than 2% in the year through June.
Australian inflation will likely lift further, but gradually, and will moderate over the next 18 months, Lowe said.
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I will believe that China is serious about rebalancing its economy when it stops posting record monthly trade surpluses. The money and lending growth numbers no more suggest rebalancing away from an investment led economy than the export growth numbers suggest rebalancing away from an export led economy. Exports were up 25%(y/y) in May. For the first five months of the year, the pace of increase was 26% -- there is no evidence yet of any slowdown.
And even with record oil prices (China imports oil you know, lots of it), import growth isn't keeping up with export growth.
China exported $73.1b in goods in May. In April, US goods exports were $81.9b. Chinese goods exports look likely to top those of the US later this year.
Unless something changes, China's 2006 trade surplus looks on track to reach $150b -- and its current account surplus is on track to approach $200b. And that comes in the face of strong price increases for all of China's commodity imports. China isn't just buying raw materials either. Aircraft imports are up 80% so far this year (with 135 aircraft delivered in the first five months in 2006). It isn't hard to figure out why US exports to China have been growing rapidly this year -- and why Hu visited Seattle.
China has not released its reserve numbers for April and May. But I am betting the increase will be shockingly large. The combined April and May trade surplus alone will push reserves up by $23b. And with over $900b in reserves (counting reserves shifted to the state banks), Chine has a decent sized euro portfolio. And the dollar value of that portfolio went up in both April and May. I would bet capital inflows into China picked up as well. I wouldn't be surprised if the dollar value of China's reserves increased by $30b in May. That is just a hunch. I suspect the underlying monthly -- that is the increase after taking out valuation gains -- increase in China's reserves is now close to $25b a month.
$25b a month is a $300b annual pace -- real money, in other words, even if divided by 1.3 billion people. Remind me again why China can not allow the RMB to move above 8 on a sustained basis? And remind me again why so many economists think the RMB isn't really undervalued?
Even if China dropped its capital controls, China would need to experience absolutely massive capital flight just to keep its large trade and current account surpluses from putting upward pressure on the RMB.


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Yodlee FinApp Store™ Open for Developers
Yodlee, Inc., the leading provider of personal financial management (PFM) and payments solutions today announced the availability of its latest innovation, the Yodlee FinApp Store. The FinApp Store is an ecosystem where certified developers can create the next generation of financial management applications and distribute them to millions of Yodlee powered PFM users at leading banks and portals worldwide.
"We understand that no two consumers' needs are the same when it comes to money management," stated Peter Hazlehurst, SVP of Products at Yodlee. "Yodlee has spent the last 10 years building a secure, scalable data infrastructure that safely brings together disparate, personal financial information from all over the Web. With the FinApp Store, Yodlee is opening up its proprietary platform capabilities to qualified developers, enabling the creation of the next generation of online finance applications for the benefit of the growing millions of Yodlee PFM users."
Yodlee powers comprehensive money management and transactional services for more than 24 million consumers through more than 100 leading financial institutions and portals worldwide. Available to the development community now for the first time, the Yodlee Software Development Kit (SDK) enables certified FinApp Store developers to quickly and easily leverage the rich, unique data infrastructure that only Yodlee can provide to build powerful new PFM applications. FinApp Store developers can then distribute their applications into the fast growing community of Yodlee-powered PFM users around the world. The FinApp Store supports both free and paid for applications, as determined by the developer.
Applications already under development in the Yodlee FinApp Store: -- Microsoft Money Financial Data Converter -- Savings, Budget and Goal Planning Applications -- Tax Preparation and Filing Applications -- Mortgage and Loan Calculators -- Compare Me to the Network -- Reward and Loyalty Programs
"We're excited to deliver the platform technology and services that will create new opportunities for consumers to achieve the financial control they need, for financial institutions and portals to deepen their customer relationships and for developers to build impactful and valuable new businesses in financial services," added Hazlehurst.
Benefits of this innovative new ecosystem in online finance: -- For consumers: the Yodlee FinApp Store provides the ultimate personalization of financial management features - consumers can pick and choose what functionality they need for their individual situation and goals; and whatever applications they choose will all be integrated into a seamless dashboard with real-time personal data - all through their favorite bank or portal. -- For developers: the Yodlee FinApp Store creates a marketplace for distribution of the best ideas from the brightest engineers and entrepreneurs, powered by Yodlee data and capable of potential distribution to millions of consumers via hundreds of financial institutions and portals around the world. -- For financial institutions and portals: the Yodlee FinApp Store offers a compelling new revenue stream, based on providing a valued and needed service for consumers, branded and customizable to the financial institution or portal.
The patent-pending Yodlee FinApp Store is an integrated component of Yodlee 10™, the company's tenth generation technology platform, which was recently voted "Best in Show" at Finovate in New York City. Yodlee 10 delivers flexibility and personalization far beyond the scope of existing PFM solutions.
To ensure the integrity and protection of sensitive consumer data, Yodlee is implementing a strict certification program for all developers using the Yodlee SDK and participating in the FinApp Store. Before being released into the FinApp Store, applications must pass rigorous review and testing processes to ensure they meet the highest security and performance standards. Certified applications in the Yodlee FinApp Store will also provide full support for open authentication protocol, for authorization and authentication of consumers who want to use their information and applications with Facebook Apps™, Yahoo! Widgets™, Google Gadgets™ and Apple iPhone Apps™.
Are You a Developer? Register for the Yodlee Developer Webinar: February 24
Developers interested in building applications for the Yodlee FinApp Store can attend a free webinar on Wednesday, February 24 at 11:00 a.m. PT by registering at https://solutions.yodlee.com/developers_webinar022410.html?=cid241 or emailing
The Yodlee SDK is available to FinApp Store Developers now. Yodlee 10, including the Yodlee FinApp Store for consumers, will be available for deployment by banks and portals in July 2010. For more information about Yodlee PFM solutions, visit www.yodlee.com.
Leading financial institutions and portals trust Yodlee to power critical online banking applications that increase profitability and drive more value from the online channel. Yodlee's proven personal financial management, payments, and customer acquisition solutions unify all personal financial account information to deliver a simple, centralized and secure way for consumers to manage all of their financial tasks anytime, anywhere. Yodlee makes financial institutions' websites essential to their customers and generates new deposit and revenue opportunities. Yodlee's patented data, payments and risk management utility supports more than 12,000 unique account sources and over 120,000 different account types. More than 100 leading financial institutions and portals offer Yodlee-powered solutions to millions of customers worldwide. Yodlee is headquartered in Redwood City, California. For more information, visit www.yodlee.com.
Yodlee is a registered trademark of Yodlee, Inc. Yodlee 10, Yodlee FinApp Store and Yodlee PersonalFinance are trademarks of Yodlee, Inc. All other products and services mentioned are the property of their respective owners.
First Call Analyst:
SOURCE: Yodlee, Inc.
CONTACT: Sharon Nieuwenhuis, RLM Public Relations for Yodlee, Inc.,
Web Site: https://www.yodlee.com/


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The 2017 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show was bigger and better than ever and the models gathered to watch the show in NYC on Nov. 28 looking HOT, HOT, HOT!
Adriana Lima was stunning in Jessica Choay Fearless Trousers with a slit on the side and a black blazer. She put her cleavage on display in a bedazzled bra top from the VS x Balmain collection, which you can actually buy in Victoria’s Secret stores and online at 10am EST! It’s $249, but it’s a show-stopper! Stella Maxwell went topless in a sheer, black lace outfit. She pulled her long blonde hair up into a faux bob and wore sexy cat eye makeup. Bella Hadid wore a red Atsuko Kudo latex dress that was tighter than tight! It fit her like a glove — Kim Kardashian is a fan of this brand, too, and has worn their latex dressed on multiple occasions.


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With trade tensions running high, no one should be surprised by this outlook.
That rather blunt assessment comes from WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo, who earlier this week detailed the rationale behind the organization’s downgraded outlook for global trade.
“Trade cannot play its full role in driving growth when we see such high levels of uncertainty”, he continued, before warning that “if we forget the fundamental importance of the rules-based trading system we would risk weakening it, which would be an historic mistake with repercussions for jobs, growth and stability around the world.”
It’s probably safe to say that most people (even undereducated voters in western democracies who are otherwise vulnerable to the siren song of right-wing populism) understand, intuitively, that there are myriad benefits to a well-oiled system of cross-border trade. America’s farmers understand it, that’s for sure. And if something were to go “wrong” in trade discussions between the US and China, many low income Trump voters would get a crash course in macroeconomics in the event tariffs on the $200 billion in Chinese goods that were taxed at 10% from September 24 were hiked to 25% and/or duties were slapped on all Chinese imports, driving up prices for cheap consumer goods.
In any case, it’s important not to lose track of the fact that global trade is decelerating markedly and that trend is unlikely to reverse itself immediately even if Trump does manage to seal what he pitched on Thursday as a “granddaddy of them” trade deal with Beijing.
Here’s a snapshot of the WTO’s new forecasts versus the organization’s projections from September:
Of course, trade dynamism had been waning prior to Trump and in that context, robust trade growth in 2017 (a banner year for financial markets and prior to Trump ramping up trade threats) appeared to bode well. But as the WTO lamented this week, that now looks like a false dawn.
“The above-average trade growth of 4.6% in 2017 suggested that trade could recover some of its earlier dynamism, but this has not materialized”, the organization wrote, adding that “trade only grew slightly faster than output in 2018, and this relative weakness is expected to extend into at least 2019, partly explained by slower growth in the European Union, which has a larger share in world trade than in world GDP.”
BofAML’s Barnaby Martin underscores all of the above in his latest note. “One less benign statistic of late has been world trade volumes. The latest data point suggests that global trade activity has fallen to its weakest level since mid-2009, and is now far below the growth rates in global industrial production”, he frets, adding that “in pre-Lehman times, however, note that world trade growth would often be much stronger than world GDP growth.”
As noted above, it’s not likely that this situation is simply going to inflect for the better as soon as Trump shakes hands with Xi over more chocolate cake at another surreal summit in Mar-a-Lago. In fact, given the precarious state of the euro-area economy, things could get materially worse if any subsequent rebound in China’s economic fortunes isn’t enough to offset a situation where Trump turns his (figurative) guns on Brussels.
Martin touches on this in the same cited note. “Populism in the form of tariffs and trade wars has clearly not helped global export volumes over the last year”, he writes, on the way to cautioning that “the extent to which global trade bounces back after a US-China trade deal remains to be seen: if President Trump pivots to Europe and further escalates trade tensions there, then global trade volumes may be a lot slower to recover.”
Credit Suisse echoes the above in their latest quarterly outlook piece. Although the bank harbors a generally upbeat assessment of where things go from here, they admit to being a bit surprised at the “severity” of the deterioration in some growth metrics. To wit:
- The global tradeable sector has seen a sharp slowdown. Global industrial production and trade, having slowed steadily during 2018, decelerated abruptly late last year. By Q1 2019, both output and trade were contracting. A situation rarely seen outside of recessionary conditions.
The bank’s James Sweeney attributes this to four main factors: Slowing Chinese domestic demand (in part due to Beijing’s efforts to squeeze leverage out of the shadow banking complex), capital outflows from emerging markets (catalyzed in part by Fed tightening), trade disputes (namely US tariffs on China) and idiosyncratic shocks (e.g., the US government shutdown, signs of political discord in France, Brexit jitters, Italian politics, etc.).
Again, Sweeney is optimistic, but his tone is a bit more cautious than it was in some of last year’s notes. Here’s an additional excerpt:
- Our central view remains that this is a slowdown concentrated in the industrial sector, and not one that will broaden into the rest of the economy with recessionary consequences. And we think it is a slowdown that is set to trough imminently, if it has not already. But its severity means the risks of it broadening and deepening are higher than we expected. The global economy is extremely vulnerable to an additional negative financial, economic or confidence shock.
For his part, Martin worries that the risks around protectionism might be skewed to the upside simply by virtue of the fact that tariff levels have already declined as much as they have.
“Tariff levels have already fallen significantly over the last 30 years, and room for further declines looks much more limited now”, he says. Here’s a bit more from his note:
- Since the early 90s, Emerging Market tariff rates, in particular, have fallen substantially thanks to transformational trade agreements. After 2008, though, global tariff rates have been roughly stable, and the global average tariff rate is now just 3%. With limited room to fall further, the marginal boost of new trade agreements to world trade volumes has decreased significantly (new trade agreements act more to provide trade ‘frameworks’ etc.). Moreover, non-tariff measures have become a popular approach since 2010 to restrict trade flows (as opposed to resorting to tariff increases). Chart 15 shows how the growth in discriminatory trade measures has jumped lately.
Needless to say, the US president’s latest threats with regard to using auto tariffs (“the big ball game”, as he called them) to punish Mexico for the flow of illicit substances across the border suggests Washington will continue to weaponize trade to fight political battles.
And speaking of that, the WTO rendered a watershed decision on Friday when the organization waded into the national security discussion for the first time. “The landmark ruling, on a dispute between Russia and Ukraine, both affirms the rights of nations to impose trade restrictions on national-security grounds and asserts the WTOs authority to determine whether a security threat warrants such restrictive measures”, Bloomberg writes, adding that “the Trump administration has said the WTO doesn’t have the power to rule on these matters.”
Weighing in on the situation Thursday, Roberto Azevedo said this:
- Issues that are sensitive enough to bring up national security concerns should be treated politically and not technically at the dispute settlement mechanism of the WTO. But they are bringing the cases and we don’t have an option.


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First came the news from EA that Battlefield Hardline would be bumped to next year, then came the news that this was not the only fall release that was having its release date moved. BioWare and EA have confirmed that Dragon Age: Inquisition has suffered a six week delay as well.
Instead of it being released on October 7th (October 10th in Europe) the game is being moved to a November 18th (November 21st in Europe) release date. The decision of delaying the game will allow the developers at BioWare six extra weeks to polish the gaming experience that the title will deliver.
The decision to move the release date could end up being tricky. While it will move out of the October launch month that will see several other titles released, it now moved into a November launch window that will put it head to head with Fry Cry 4 that is expected to be release the same time. It is difficult to say how the move may impact sales of the game.


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Will This Season Be Jolly?
2020 Special COVID-19 Report
Just like this year, a lot about the 2020 holiday season is still uncertain. With COVID-19 restrictions on gatherings and limitations on business operations, we can expect changes to shopping and celebrations.
In this 2020 Special COVID-19 Report (accessible here), we surveyed the Premise’s U.S. Contributor Network on topics such as:
- Christmas in October
- Is Shopping Safe?
- Black Friday Shopping
- COVID Calamities With Shopping
- COVID-19’s Impact On Spending
- E-Commerce Impact
- New Technologies And Holiday Shopping
- Snail Mail Concerns


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Access Segmentation and Encryption Management outfit, MyCena Security Solutions, has announced the addition of a new feature to its MyCena Desk Center (MDC) platform, designed to reduce payment card fraud at organisations processing financial transactions on behalf of customers.» Read More
MyCena Security Solutions, the pioneer and leader in Access Segmentation and Encryption Management (ASEM), today announced the addition of a new feature to its MyCena Desk Center (MDC) platform, designed to reduce payment card fraud at organizations processing financial transactions on behalf of customers.» Read More
As we enter into the New Year, I’m sure many of you will be evaluating your cybersecurity programs and identifying areas that need to be improved to help protect your business in the year ahead.
As you do this, I urge you not to overlook your corporate network access, because a foundational flaw in the way employees access networks could be putting you at risk, and it was a leading cause of breaches in 2022.
If we can say anything about 2022, it was a big year for data breaches. Uber, Optus and Medibank are just some of the companies that faced highly publicised attacks.» Read More
Five Guys initially discovered “unauthorized access to files on a file server” in mid-September, but the precise information that the documents contained was not confirmed until early December.
“This is yet another incident where attackers have managed to breach an organization’s network and the victims whose data was stolen were not informed until months later, offering attackers ample time to use that information to commit credit and identity fraud” says Julia O’Toole, CEO of MyCena Security Solutions.» Read More
Five Guys, a popular American fast-food chain, had attackers penetrate its systems, accessing sensitive employee data, such as names, Social Security numbers (SSNs), and driver‘s license numbers. Personal data taken from companion identification and work authorization documents presents attackers with a treasure trove of information to carry out cyberattacks, Neil Jones, Director of CyberSecurity Evangelism at cybersecurity firm Egnyte, thinks.» Read More


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An Exporters' meet was organized jointly by Karnataka Bank, Federation of Indian Export Organisation (FIEO) and Tirupur Exporters Association (TEA)... ...http://www.indian-commodity.com/corporate/karnataka-bank-tea-and-fieo-jointly-organise-exporters-meet.aspx
New Delhi, Aug. 24: Exporters using the e-commerce route have pitched for sops that are available to their peers using conventional transport. The... ...http://www.telegraphindia.com/1140825/jsp/business/story_18756956.jsp
NEW DELHI: Government officials told TOI that the commerce department has already taken up the issue of interest subsidy, which expired at the end... ...http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Govt-to-revive-export-interest-subsidy/articleshow/40862719.cms
Global biz is Improving and is likely to grow at 4.7 % this year and 5.3% in 2015: fieo PRESS TRUST OF INDIA New Delhi, 24 August India's... ...http://www.thestatesman.net/news/73385-exports-to-hit-750b-by-2019.html
China's overtures are part of a strategic plan, but India should not spurn them Rebooting relations At the recent BRICS summit, Xi Jinping told... ...http://www.tehelka.com/why-is-beijing-busy-courting-new-delhi/
Alsure is a generic manufacturer and...


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Bad taste : McDonald’s pushed to rebrand hamburger- swissinfo
Fast-food chain McDonald’s has been forced to rethink its latest marketing campaign for Swiss-themed hamburgers after it was revealed that the labelling of the cheese included in its Simmental Prime was not legal.
In advertisements broadcast on Swiss television, the company stated that its special burger contained alpine cheese – Alpkäse in German. This was sufficient to draw the attention of the German-language Agricultural Information Service (LID), a public relations and news service backed by farming associations.
LID’s interest was piqued by the use of the term “alpine”, which is restricted under Swiss law. In this case, it can only describe cheese produced in the mountains with milk from cows spending the summer on alpine pastures.
While McDonald’s did source its beef from Simmental cattle, it purchased its cheese slices from Emmi, Switzerland’s biggest dairy company. The cheese is not produced according to the alpine criteria and cannot carry the label.


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SA Health is asking people to be on the lookout for symptoms of hepatitis A following multiple cases reported interstate, linked to frozen mixed berries.
To date there have not been any reported cases of hepatitis A in South Australia linked to the frozen berry products.
Professor Paddy Phillips, SA Health’s Chief Medical Officer, said people should be aware of the symptoms of hepatitis A and seek medical attention if they develop.
“There are a lot of people out there who have eaten the frozen berry products and are now wondering what they should do next,” Professor Phillips said.
“Hepatitis A cannot be tested for until symptoms develop, which can take between 15 to 50 days.
“At this stage we’re just asking people to be aware of what the symptoms are and to see their doctor if they develop, particularly if they have eaten frozen berries in the last two months.
“Symptoms of hepatitis A include abdominal pain, nausea, fever and chills and yellow skin or eyes.
“We are not recommending people get a preventative vaccination as the risk of contamination appears to be fairly low.”
Hepatitis A is a viral infection of the liver which is spread when people eat or drink food or water that is contaminated by faecal matter containing the virus.
Nine adults have so far been diagnosed as part of this outbreak - three in Victoria, four in Queensland and two in New South Wales. There have been no cases in South Australia.
As a precaution, the following products are being recalled from stores and the public is advised that if they have them at home they should throw them out or return to the place of purchase for a full refund:
- Nanna’s Mixed Berries – 1kg, up to and including best before 22 November 2016
- Nanna’s Raspberries – 1kg, up to and including best before 22 November 2016
- Creative Gourmet Mixed Berries – 300g, up to and including best before 10 December 2017
- Creative Gourmet Mixed Berries – 500g, up to and including best before 06 October 2017.
An investigation by all health agencies is underway, but at this early stage it is not clear how many people may be affected.
For more information about the products involved visit the Food Standards Austalia New Zealand - Food recalls page(opens in a new window).


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Rumours of Nintendo’s next console, the NX, have been flying around ever since it was announced months ago, but it would seem that we finally have some solid info on the system itself. In a recent Nintendo US patent discovered by NeoGaf users, it would seem that Nintendo’s latest console will not include an optical disc drive.
The patent stated: “The example system is not provided with an optical disc drive for reading out a program and/or data from an optical disc. An example system includes an internal hard disc drive storing a program and/or data, a communication unit transmitting/receiving a program and/or data via a network, and a processor executing a program stored in the hard disc drive to perform game processing.”
If this news of a lack of disc drive wasn’t enough, it seems that this console’s controller will feature a ‘display unit’, which is something similar to the Wii U Gamepad screen.
Considering Nintendo has not disclosed anything about the NX other than it is a ‘dedicated game platform with a brand-new concept’, this is some pretty huge news. If the system is planning on getting rid of the disc drive (which it could still have as it is in development) the console will be entirely digitally run, which does make sense as that is where the future of gaming is heading.
This is a huge change for Nintendo however, as the company has been so heavily focused on big AAA physical releases in the past few years. If this news is indeed true, then the NX will be a considerable change for Nintendo, and maybe that is exactly what they need.
What do you think about the NX? Let us know what you think about the news in the comments.


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Even with the release of state cannabis regulations — taking effect Jan. 1 — the overall regulatory process will still be a work in progress until next May, according to some legal firms assisting clients planning to get into the business of selling the legal recreational drug.
“It’s going to be interesting to see what Sacramento does,” said Blair Gue, an attorney and regulatory compliance team leader with Rogoway Law Group. “There are a number of things we just don’t know, such as how distributors will be able to get their product if there are only a few licensed suppliers in January. Or, how will a patient know if his or her medical cannabis dispensary obtains a state license — and how long will a patient be able to visit a dispensary that doesn’t apply for a state license? At the end of the day, it remains to be seen how many recreational dispensaries will be open in January.”
While details surrounding the state’s licensing process are still not cast in stone, those wishing to operate legally — including cultivators, manufacturers, transporters, distributors, lab testers and retail vendors of cannabis — have some decisions to make that affect their ability to function within compliance.
For example, before being eligible for a state license, cannabis operators must first receive local authorization to operate (usually in the form of a use permit, zoning clearance, or similar local permit) and all those they work with in the supply chain, from growers through retailers, must also be licensed, said attorney Kyndra Miller, CEO of CannaBusiness Law.
Each applicant faces a multitude of issues at the state and local level.
She said cannabis entrepreneurs must register with regional water quality control boards and be able to show proof that they plan to use water from a legal source.
“I’ve been accompanying local inspectors all over the state as they walk through properties intended for cannabis cultivation to see exactly what they are looking for,” said Miller. “Across the board, most people are focusing on local compliance, not state licensing requirements. While business operators may be able to negotiate with local authorities, the state typically formulates uniform rules and expectations covering all of California. My advice to those engaged in cannabis activities is keep their eyes on the prize, which is state licensing, not just municipal approvals.”
She said the land upon which a cannabis manufacturing operation is to be conducted must be properly zoned for this purpose. All 58 California counties have their own zoning rules. In most cases, manufacturers should seek light industrial or specific cannabis zoning to be in compliance.
For those planning to become distributors, track-and-trace systems must be in place from the start to record the sources and all subsequent parties that handle cannabis throughout the supply chain.
Distributors are also responsible for lab testing prior to placing cannabis on retail shelves, and these labs must also be licensed. This process can determine if pesticides are being used by farms adjacent to the cannabis growing area, which can affect the ability of the grower to market “organic” cannabis if runoff brings pesticide residue into a marijuana field.
From a federal perspective, all cannabis operations are illegal, according to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Miller observed. California clients of leading cannabis legal consulting groups are advising operators to become aware of the civil and criminal consequences associated with cannabis.


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WeChat’s last night in the United States
“I have to quickly empty the money in my wallet,” Hao, who lives in Manhattan, sent a WeChat message to a reporter from Geek Park in Beijing. The reason was a ban by the Trump administration.
In fact, the ban was issued as early as 45 days ago. At that time, the Trump administration restricted Douyin and WeChat’s “transactions” in the United States on the grounds of national security, but did not specify the scope of the “transactions”. After 45 days, the ban was clear.
On September 18, the US Department of Commerce issued a statement stating:
1. Starting from September 20th, TikTok and WeChat will be removed from the app store
2. U.S. companies are required to close WeChat payment channels
3. Enterprises are not allowed to provide any Internet hosting, content distribution, data transmission and exchange services for WeChat in the United States, nor are they allowed to embed WeChat codes and functions into other software to provide services in disguise
On August 6, 45 days ago, in the WeChat Moments, people left their email, Facebook, Telegram, Line and other contact methods to prevent netizens from “losing contact.” After 45 days, the time limit for the ban is approaching, and “WeChat ban” has once again become a hot topic. After all, for Chinese living in the United States, using WeChat to communicate with relatives and friends in China is already their daily routine.
Worried about losing contact, but also worried about derailment
Since this is a quiet lengthy article, we have added a table of contents for easier navigation.
Both Hao and Kevin worked in investment banks in Manhattan. Both were born in the 90s. After studying in the United States, they stayed in the United States to work. Their parents and grandparents were all in China, and they also retained their domestic social circles.
In their daily lives, they basically rely on WeChat to communicate with relatives and friends in China, and Facebook Messenger to communicate with friends abroad. In the past two days, WeChat has been banned as a hot topic among international students. Hao and Kevin have different views on how to contact the country after being banned.
“I’m not too worried. There are so many Chinese programmers in the United States. They can definitely come up with some cracking methods, using loopholes or other ways. I think there must be a way.” For the future of WeChat ban, Hao Maintain an optimistic attitude. But despite this, she still exercised some countermeasures in her heart.
Since the Trump administration’s ban requires “WeChat to be removed from the app store”, as long as the WeChat application is not updated, the WeChat currently installed on mobile phones can still be used. “I will definitely be very careful not to click the update button.” Hao even thought of an extreme countermeasure-buying a new mobile phone for daily use, and using the old mobile phone exclusively for WeChat.
Unlike Hao’s optimism, Kevin is worried about a larger dimensional “diameter.” “If you can’t get on WeChat, you will get farther and farther away from people in China. You don’t know what they are doing, what they are watching, and what is popular in their lives. Then you will fall behind with them.” Kevin I am worried that because of policy reasons, Chinese people will be discriminated overseas, and because they have severed ties with China, they will gradually become unpopular in China.
As for whether WeChat Pay will have an impact on life after being disabled, Hao and Kevin both said that there is almost no. “I have almost never seen merchants that can pay by WeChat on the streets of New York. I have seen those that can pay by WeChat on some websites, but very few,” said Hao, a shopping expert.
Jack is a software engineer living in Silicon Valley, and WeChat is the only way for him to contact his parents in China. “I have taught them to use QQ before, but WeChat is relatively simple. Now we use WeChat.” If Jack cannot use WeChat in the United States, it means that he is completely out of touch with his parents.
Fortunately, Jack is in the computer industry. He transferred to the United States four years ago, so he retained the WeChat account and Apple App Store account registered with his domestic mobile phone. He is not too worried about WeChat being blocked. Because if WeChat is removed from the App Store, he can switch back to the Chinese App Store account to download. Even if the Trump administration monitors the traffic and cuts off all traffic from WeChat, he can still use it over the wall.
“I am not very worried about not being able to use WeChat. I am more troubled by various rumors.” In some of Jack’s colleagues, some people have frequently reposted some “interpretations” recently. An article stated that the Trump administration can automatically delete WeChat in personal mobile phones. There are also articles that allow readers to turn off the “auto-refresh” function of the mobile phone background.
“People with a little bit of common sense won’t believe it, but there are really many people who are turning.” Even though he lives in Silicon Valley, where computer talents are densest, Jack still frequently receives such information from his colleagues. He feels very troubled. “There are also various interpretations by lawyers, from the legal level of countermeasures, I will not look at these, I think it was a waste of time.”
Compared to rumors, Jack is more worried about Tencent’s next reaction. “When India banned WeChat, Tencent chose to end its services in India.” Jack worries that if Tencent takes the same measures in the United States, the situation will be much more complicated for those who do not have a WeChat account in China.
Rebuild Baoma Group
Nan is a full-time mother in the United States. After Trump announced the ban on WeChat on August 6, the incident spread among the Baoma community.
“At that time, we built a new Baoma group in Line, as well as Instagram, Facebook Messenger, and all these can be added.” Baoma people often need group videos, so Nan and his friends even tried Zoom, “But Zoom has a 40-minute limit. When the time comes, you have to buy a member, and then we didn’t use it anymore.”
Nan doesn’t think it’s a problem to communicate with the country. “It’s okay if you don’t update it anyway. It really can’t be used at all. There is also QQ. QQ can also be used for video, and so will my parents.”
For Nan, in addition to being a tool for communicating with relatives and friends in China, WeChat is also a toy for grabbing red envelopes during the New Year. Domestic mobile phones charge up for calls.” Living in the United States, Nan does not rely heavily on WeChat Pay.
People who do daigou in the United States may find that WeChat can’t transfer money a little trouble. Nan mentioned that some of the moms who are shopping on behalf of her have added the suffix “WeChat transfers are not accepted” after their WeChat names. Since August 6th, purchasing agents are more inclined to use Alipay.
According to data from the data analysis company Apptopia, WeChat currently has 19 million daily livelihoods in the United States. According to statistics from the US statistical service provider Statista, WeChat did not rank among the top ten most popular social networks in the United States in 2019. In fact, the utilization rate of WeChat among US users is only 0.79%. In the United States, WeChat is mainly used by Chinese to contact relatives and friends in China, and a small number of users are foreigners who love Chinese culture.
Therefore, the WeChat ban in the United States this time, at the user level, most affected the communication between Chinese and the mainland. During the interview, whether it was Hao, Kevin, or Jack and Nan, they did not show undue concern about this. In terms of WeChat payment, since the use of WeChat payment in the United States is almost zero, the impact on Chinese people living in the United States is not significant.
After the Ministry of Commerce announced the implementation of the “ban” on September 18, Tencent later issued a statement saying, “It is regrettable that no consensus has been reached, but it will continue to communicate and seek long-term solutions.”
People probably know that reaching a consensus will always take “long-term”.
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Meghan Markle wedding cost 'impacted Beatrice's' says expert
Royal fans are eagerly awaiting more information on the wedding but with any news and updates taking a backseat in recent times, what have experts said about Princess Beatrice and Edoardo’s (known as 'Edo') upcoming nuptials?
Sally-Kate Duboux, from Hair by Duboux, has an interesting prediction when it comes to Princess Beatrice’s choice for hair on the big day.
Most royal brides over the years have chosen to have an up-do hairstyle on their wedding day.
Meghan Markle, Princess Eugenie, Sophie, Countess of Wessex and Princess Diana all favoured a hairstyle that kept their hair up and off their shoulders.
But Princess Beatrice, according to the expert, could be following in the footsteps of Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, as she is one of the only royals in recent years to have chosen to let her hair down during the ceremony.
Princess Beatrice could take inspiration from Kate Middleton for Royal Wedding says expert
She said: “I predict Beatrice will have her hair down, Hollywood wave ‘classic’, inspired style.
“In recent years for events and fellow royal weddings she’s [Beatrice] worn it down adorned with variations of headbands/fascinators which is a royal rule.
“[There is a] possibility of becoming a senior royal due to recent events.
“Therefore the Princess would be required to wear a Tiara possibly from the Queen's collection.
“The bouncy blow-dry is definitely a style that works well for her and compliments her features.
“Hollywood waves is the next step up, a much more refined style,” she added.
Other predictions made by experts on Princess Beatrice and Edo’s wedding is the cake.
Debbie Gillespie, a cake designer from Debbie Gillespie Cake Design, predicts that the cake will serve as a nod to Edoardo’s heritage.
“I would love to think that she would be a little flamboyant with colour (like her fashion choices) but I think she will go with a minimal colour palette of whites and ivory,” she said.
Debbie added: “As the wedding is likely to take place in the UK, they will be keen to incorporate Edoardo's heritage so I think it will be quite ornate with sculptural elements to echo Italian architecture and oodles of beautiful sugar flowers.
“There may even be a separate groom's cake of millefoglie -a traditional Italian cake made with puff pastry and filled with zabaglione,” she predicted.
When it comes to Princess Beatrice’s bridesmaid’s and their dresses Alan Dessy, CEO of The Dessy Group, Bridesmaid and Formal Wear brand, shared his thoughts with Express.co.uk
“If Beatrice follows the format of her sister Princess Eugenie of York’s wedding to Jack Brooksbank in 2018 (who had six bridesmaids and two page boys all under the age of seven in attendance) there will be no adult gowns,” he explained.
He said: “As Princess Eugenie will be the maid of honour on the big day, she will not be fitted for a bridesmaid dress at all and will potentially wear a couture gown.
“An adorable array of girls and boys in children’s dresses and pageboys in bloomers and shirts may be on the cards. Princess Charlotte, Prince George and the other small royal children will be attending the wedding,” he added.
“The last time we saw adult bridesmaids was eleven years ago at Peter Phillips wedding to Autumn Kelly in 2008. Their ladies wore pastel pale green strapless dresses,” he explained.
The expert predicts that the royal will opt for “bright hues” for the bridesmaid dresses as she is often seen favouring bright colours with her own fashion choices.
Princess Beatrice announced her engagement to property tycoon Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi on September 26, 2019. The couple released adorable engagement photos to mark the occasion which were taken by Beatrice’s sister Princess Eugenie.
In a statement, the happy couple said: “We are extremely happy to be able to share the news of our recent engagement.
“We are both so excited to be embarking on this life adventure together and can’t wait to be married.
“We share so many similar interests and values and we know this will stand us in great stead for the years ahead, full of love and happiness.”


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In the emergence of a post-Covid 19 phase, the U.K. is now facing new challenges for the economy in 2021. After vaccines have been delivered and the Delta variant got under reasonable control, it is the several on-going economic crises that are affecting the country and putting Britain in a precarious position especially now that temperatures are plummeting.
In face of labor shortages, skyrocketing natural gas prices and global supply chain constraints, the country is expecting to live through a difficult winter this year. While other Western countries have experienced similar challenges over the past months during their respective reopenings, economists argue that Brexit has intensified these issues in the U.K., as pointed out in an article at CNBC.
Such preoccupations have been entertaining experts such as Joao Vale e Azevedo, chairman of Kunst Global. In spite of other countries, like the United States, having been showing positive numbers in this period of recovery, he believes that European countries have more to worry about, especially in the long-term and if considered the on-going dispute between China and the United States for economic and political supremacy.
Azevedo fears that the European market is in danger of being engulfed by this battle: “We saw a proof of it last ‘Black Friday’, with European consumers who, with shops closed, turned almost exclusively to Amazon. We would need a strategy to support businesses and free market by the European Community institutions, but I struggle to see one.” For the chairman of Kunst Global, the United Kingdom is perhaps facing the biggest risk compared to other neighbor countries, and one of the reasons lies in the fact that Britains “will have to deal with the combined effect of the crisis and Brexit, without having the support of a nationalist like Donald Trump.”
Another reason why the current picture of the global market is not objective has to do with the fact that Western governments have heavily intervened in the economy for the past year due to the Covid-19 pandemic crisis. This, consequently, has impacted the mechanics of the free market to the point that the stock market might be recovering well, but “one thing is the stock market, another is the real economy”, as stated by Azevedo. It is especially the case of small businesses and employment that have been currently challenging to governments and firms.
But in spite of all these challenges, the chairman of Kunst Global is optimistic about future developments. He believes that history will not repeat and that Western countries have already learned well from previous crises on how to respond to the current one. For Joao Vale e Azevedo, this is the right opportunity for governments to support entrepreneurs and businesses that are working on innovative solutions. “I am sure that we will be able to turn the crisis into opportunity, in ways that we cannot even imagine at this time,” he ponders.
Kunst Global is a private equity firm based in London, Geneva and Luxembourg. The company invests in different sectors of the economy, including energy, telecommunications, fashion and entertainment.


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Iceland roasts Mark Zuckerberg in witty new tourism campaign, as the tech billionaire even threatens a visit
Iceland has once again proved it’s the master of tourism marketing, unveiling a new ad that spruiks the beauty of the country, all while roasting Mark Zuckerberg’s tech vision along the way.
Is this a pop music video or a really cool tourism ad for Iceland?
For an enhanced viewing experience, Travel Weekly recommends watching this wacky new Visit Iceland ad while devouring a plate of skyr, hangikjöt or kleinur.
Iceland’s wacky tourism campaign encourages you to ‘Let It Out!’ (with the chance for your scream to be heard in Iceland)
With 2020 turning out to be a pretty f**ked year, Iceland’s tourism board has decided that, in light of this, people might want to let off a little steam.
Register or sign in to create events, jobs and access premium features.


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The numbers: A measure of business conditions in the Chicago region fell in June into contraction territory for the first time since January 2017. The Chicago PMI business barometer declined to 49.7 in June from 54.2 in May, MNI Indicators said Friday. Any reading below 50 indicates contracting conditions. The index had been as high as 64.7 just four months ago.
What happened: Four out of the five subcomponents declined in June. The only gain came in hiring. Amid weak demand, firms slowed production to a three-year low. Businesses also continue to accumulate inventory. There were anecdotal reports of tariffs leading to higher prices.
The survey’s special question asked firms about the impact of trade tariffs on their business. About 80% of firms said that they were negatively impacted, with tariffs raising prices on their goods leading to a pullback in orders.
Big picture: Economists use the Chicago PMI and other regional indicators to gauge the health of the national Institute for Supply Management manufacturing index. That report, due Monday, is expected to be lower than the 52.1 reading in May. Jim O’Sullivan, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, said he thought the ISM index would remain above 50.
What are they saying: With customers rethinking their purchases, demand tumbled, and consequently firms pulled back production, weakening overall business sentiment, said Shaily Mittal, senior economist at MNI. “In coming months, our survey will provide further evidence as to whether the diminished business confidence is temporary amid tariffs woes or more structural calling for some counter measures,” she said.
Market reaction: Stocks were higher as investors await President Donald Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping that will take place on Saturday in Osaka, Japan. The Dow Jones Industrial Average


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When GroupM Senior Advisor Rob Norman began putting together this year's State of Video report, he noticed a couple big themes. First, that much of what he'd observed last year was still holding true: format shifts, "performance" advertisers looking to get into legacy media, etc. Second, that new behaviors and players weren't emerging as quickly as predicted.
That's not to say, as Norman is quick to point out, that nothing has changed in the last year. But the big, long-form video players like Netflix and Amazon Prime remain ad-free, and shiny new virtual MVPDs and other over-the-top services haven't quite revolutionized the video ad business.
Part of the reason is that linear TV is still a good bet for advertisers. You might think that after years of secular declines in its ratings there wouldn't be anything left to say on the subject. Norman begs to differ. "Linear TV still has enormous value for advertisers," he recently told MediaVillage. "The surest sign digital isn't the beginning, middle and end of everything is seeing an ad in a magazine for Warby Parker. Those broad reach vehicles are still important."
The broad reach of legacy media is crucial in part because its older cohort of audiences coincide with sports fans -- sports being one of the remaining pillars of the linear TV business -- and people that, Norman said, "one might say have more disposable income."
As for the younger cohort, Norman sees the fight over their attention not as TV vs. digital, but as much more specific, i.e. Twitch vs. YouTube. "What's happened is that network television forever did a pretty poor job of serving people in the 16-24 demo," he said. That led to cable channels like MTV playing an outsized role in that cohort's media consumption, a role filled by YouTube for much of the late Aughts. Now it's Twitch's turn to challenge YouTube.
The viewer itch that YouTube and Twitch scratch, Norman said, is on-demand, single-viewer experiences that often involve a perceived relationship with the creator, something that simply can't be replicated with traditional TV.
One issue Norman sees in marketers' approaches to these platforms is that the stakeholders simply don't spend enough time watching them. In some cases, though, the problem isn't just that stakeholders aren't watching enough video on a platform -- it's that nobody is. Some of the statistics regarding digital viewing are sobering: GroupM's data indicates fewer than 20 percent of Facebook videos see sustained viewing for three seconds. That's not a lot of time to work with for creators or marketers. "The creative challenges are enormous," he said. "Platform-specific creative is key." Sometimes that means shorter ads -- six seconds, or two seconds -- or vertical video as opposed to horizontal video, or a wildly different tone.
As marketers' experiment with video ad formats in the digital realm, that experimentation has spilled over into TV. Last year's report indicated the future of TV ads might be the six-second spots touted by the likes of Turner and NBCUniversal. For all the promise, though, "there's been no breakthrough moment for these formats," Norman said, adding that the key may be a combinatorial approach: six-second ads signposting a brand, followed at some later point in the programming by a much richer 60-second story.
This kind of approach might help solve what Norman sees as a problem in the ad world with the current balance of brand development and trade support -- the difference between an ad whose aim is developing a relationship with a consumer that lasts beyond just a transaction and an ad that is trying to induce a transaction. Norman sees more trade support than brand development these days, and that concerns him.
The fix is both as simple as you think and slightly more complex at the same time: advertisers need to think more holistically. "Attention and time have become so precious," Norman noted. "This only works if you think about all of the channels and their functions."
You can download the GroupM State of Video report here.
Photo courtesy of GroupM.
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The opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author and/or subject(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillage.com/MyersBizNet, Inc. management or associated writers.


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Spring is here and the Northeast is buzzing with plans for the brief window of enjoyable weather, but even the most ironclad of plans can be sunk without warning. Illness, an unexpected business trip, missed flights — any one of these scenarios can cause ruin for travel plans, yet most travelers don’t buy travel insurance and travel on luck instead.
“Years ago (prior to AAA), a honeymoon couple came in booking a Hawaiian honeymoon — I will never forget it — I asked them if they wanted to purchase insurance and they said, ‘No, we are in love; we are not going to cancel,” said Jill Rosenberg, manager of group and executive travel services for AAA Northeast, whose coverage area includes New York and Connecticut.
The couple ended up getting married in a hospital after the man broke his back defending his fiancée from an aggressive goose while touring the grounds for their wedding, Rosenberg said.
According to a 2014 US Travel Insurance Association survey, one in six Americans (17 percent) said their travel plans had been impacted by medical conditions, natural disasters including severe weather, or airline-caused problems.
Of those, only 22 percent had travel insurance, according to the survey.
In 18 years working with AAA and nearly 30 years in the travel industry, Rosenberg said she has seen consumers go from thinking of travel insurance as an afterthought to a serious consideration, as travelers are booking vacations earlier — a trend noticed by others in the industry as well.


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Indian music streaming service Dhingana has launched an app for Windows 8 smartphones, as it seeks to broaden its presence across all key mobile platforms.
The Spotify-like streaming service targeted at Indian and Bollywood music fans is already available on the Web, mobile Web and as an app for the iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry and Windows tablets.
The Windows Phone Store app will help users discover new music by recommending more albums or playlists based on what the user is currently listening to. It features genre-specific listings, where users can listen to top songs and featured albums within a chosen genre. The app also lets users share songs and playlists with friends via Facebook, Twitter or email.
“We expect that this launch will only add to the growth of our loyal listenership across the Windows eco-system,” said Swapnil Shinde, the co-founder and COO of Dhingana.
Image Credit: Tauseef Mustafa via AFP/Getty Images


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LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ: ACIW), a leading global provider of electronic payment and banking solutions, today announced the expansion of its relationship with PKO BP, the largest bank in Poland. ACI will support the bank’s ambitious growth plans in one of Europe’s most innovative and fastest-growing markets.
The new agreement will see PKO utilize ACI's UP Consumer Payments offerings over the next seven years. One key element is PKO’s migration from its current BASE24 system to ACI’s next-generation UP BASE24-eps payments platform, which will support the bank’s extensive network of more than 3,000 ATMs. UP BASE24-eps supports the acquiring, authorizing, routing and switching of consumer transactions, including card and non-card payment types such as mobile and email addresses. UP BASE24-eps leverages ACI’s Universal Payments (UP) framework, a set of technologies that orchestrates all aspects of payment processing for any payment type, any channel, any currency and any network.
PKO has been an ACI customer for almost 20 years, with ACI’s UP solutions behind the successful roll-out of PKO’s IKO payments initiative. IKO is a mobile app that allows PKO and Inteligo (its Internet brand) customers and non-customers to make mobile payments across a wide network of stores - both traditional and internet-based - and transfer funds to beneficiaries identified by their telephone numbers. Additionally, it allows users to withdraw money from ATMs via their mobile phones. Thousands of retailers and restaurants across Poland have already joined the scheme, which is globally regarded as a market-leading payments innovation.
In 2013, six Polish banks decided to build a common mobile payment standard based on the IKO technology. The new payment system, which is called BLIK, will be launched this year and will connect the different banks via a common payments platform, while allowing them to develop their own application software. The project is unique in terms of its scale, considering the market share of the participating financial institutions, and in terms of the many offerings it will deliver to users.
The agreement between ACI and PKO BP also includes an upgrade to ACI Issuer to support the bank’s card issuing business, a new license for the ACI Payment Testing tool (ASSET), and a Premium Customer Support arrangement.*
“This is an exciting time for the payments industry in Poland, which is quickly emerging as one of the largest, fastest growing and most innovative markets in Europe. As with many well established banks, the challenge for Bank PKO BP is to grow while also maintaining a reputation for reliability,” said Sylvie Boucheron-Saunier, vice president and general manager, Continental Europe, ACI Worldwide. “We are delighted that Bank PKO BP has strengthened its longstanding partnership with ACI, bringing the best payments capabilities to its customers.”
PKO BP currently operates nearly 1,200 branches in Poland and manages accounts for more than eight million customers, including a large corporate customer base. In 2014, PKO BP took over the Polish branch of Nordea, the largest financial group in Scandinavia. ACI is also expected to assist with the integration of Nordea’s and PKO BP’s systems.
Note to editors:
*ACI Issuer supports the complete life cycle of back office processing including setting up card product terms and conditions, opening accounts, issue and re-issue of plastics, account management, transaction management and customer service. The ACI Payment Testing (ASSET) is a tool which simulates and tests all elements of the underlying payments infrastructure including ATM, POS and network interfaces to ensure payments systems are reliable and error-free.
About ACI Worldwide
ACI Worldwide, the Universal Payments company, powers electronic payments and banking for more than 5,000 financial institutions, retailers, billers and processors around the world. ACI software processes $13 trillion each day in payments and securities transactions for more than 300 of the leading global retailers, and 21 of the world’s 25 largest banks. Through our comprehensive suite of software products and hosted services, we deliver a broad range of solutions for payment processing; card and merchant management; online banking; mobile, branch and voice banking; fraud detection; trade finance; and electronic bill presentment and payment. To learn more about ACI, please visit www.aciworldwide.com. You can also find us on Twitter @ACI_Worldwide.
About PKO Bank Polski
PKO Bank Polski is a leader in the Polish banking sector. After three quarters of 2014, PKO Bank Polski Group posted a consolidated net profit of PLN 531, 5 million. PKO Bank Polski ranked #1 with six stars in the overall classification in the Forbes magazine Best Corporate Bank ranking. The Bank ranked #3 in the Banking Quality 2013 ranking of TNS Polska and Puls Biznesu. The Bank’s Contact Center, for the sixth time in a row, was a winner in a regular survey of banks’ hotlines carried out by ARC Rynek i Opinia. PKO Bank Polski was awarded for the implementation of the IKO application in the Electronic Banking and E-Finance category of the 12th edition of the Financial Institutions IT Leader 2013 competition of Gazeta Bankowa. According to a prestigious magazine The Banker, which values PKO Bank Polski’s brand name at USD 1.25 billion, the Bank remains the most valuable brand in Polish banking sector.
© Copyright ACI Worldwide, Inc. 2015.
ACI, ACI Payment Systems, the ACI logo and all ACI product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of ACI Worldwide, Inc., or one of its subsidiaries, in the United States, other countries or both. Other parties’ trademarks referenced are the property of their respective owners.
Product roadmaps are for informational purposes only and may not be incorporated into a contract or agreement. The development release and timing of future product releases remains at ACI’s sole discretion. ACI is providing the following information in accordance with ACI's standard product communication policies. Any resulting features, functionality, and enhancements or timing of release of such features, functionality, and enhancements are at the sole discretion of ACI and may be modified without notice. All product roadmap or other similar information does not represent a commitment to deliver any material, code, or functionality, and should not be relied upon in making a purchasing decision.


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October 1, 2018
Electric cars are poised to arrive en masse in European showrooms after years of hyped concept-car launches and billions in investment by automakers and suppliers. Now comes the hard part: selling them at a profit.
Battery models making their car-show debut in Paris this week, from PSA Group’s electric DS3 Crossback to the Mercedes EQC, will erode profitability as they struggle to stay in the black, executives generally acknowledge. But concerns are mounting that the impact could be worse, as consumers resist paying more for electrified vehicles – forcing carmakers to sell them at a bigger loss to meet emissions goals.
“What everyone needs to realise is that clean mobility is like organic food – it’s more expensive,” said Carlos Tavares, chief executive of Peugeot, Citroen and Opel manufacturer PSA.
A Sept. 25 profit warning by BMW, blamed in part on electrification costs and tightening emissions rules, was “a first alarm signal”, Tavares said in a weekend radio interview.
“Either we accept paying more for clean mobility, or we put the European auto industry in jeopardy.”
After declining for a decade, new-vehicle carbon emissions are rising again as customers flock from cars to SUVs, and from diesel to gasoline engines. Diesels emit more nitrogen oxides and particulates, but less CO2. Early signs suggest electric-car prices may fall sooner and faster than production costs, as carmakers adjust for stalled emissions progress and weak consumer appetite. That promises more red ink, as discounted battery car sales finally take off.
FULL ARTICLE: Electric cars cast growing shadow on profits


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Wall Street Market Darknet Review
Here's how to stay safe on the dark underbelly of the internet. According to Europol, who led the takedown, Wall Street Market had more.By C Easttom 2018 Cited by 2 reviews of dark web drug markets to lower traffic (Markopoulos, Xefteris & Dellarocas 2015). data, such as the Wallstreet market. A lot of the darknet markets mentioned above are third-party/escrow Be confident, this World Market article will be a genuine darknet market review. Market Abuse Regulation three years on: is this still a priority for the than 10,000 due to bad Corporate Event data, Wall Street Horizon survey finds. By A Bracci 2021 Cited by 8 COVID-19 mentions, computer, drugs, scam (excluding listings in the Ilascu I (2019) Dark web's Wall Street market and Valhalla seized. So once he said the dark web had totally changed his business model in mobile phones were only used by Wall Street types in the 1980s.
Prabhakar, H. (2012) Black Market Billions: How Organised Retail Crime Funds Wall Street Journal Online: fake-. Wall Street Market (WSM) is a dark web market and is currently a defunct marketplace on Tor. wall street market darknet review (1).Related Listings. Take, for example, the vendor drunkdragon, who has been active on Wall Street Market since its inception in March 2017: @drunkdragon-09Oct-1. The dark web has given life to black-market e-commerce. Silkkitie and the world's second largest platform, Wall Street Market. Bankers and those that work in the financial industry have a bit of tor2door market darknet a bad reputation. They wheel and deal in the markets with money they. By SL Chua 2021 down Silk Road, the darknet market he managed (United States Attorney's Third, buyers are required to leave reviews for the vendor. Oxford Review of Economic Policy 14 (2): 1829. Ayaz, Erum. Wall Street Journal, April 14. The Black Market Peso Exchange and the Small Exporter.
Our team of security experts reviewed tens of thousands of listings on three of the most popular dark web markets, Dream, Point and Wall Street. According to the study published by the cybersecurity company Trend Micro, the crackdown on marketplaces like Dream Market, Wall Street. Overview of Wall Street Market (WSM)..........11. B. Platinum45 and Ladyskywalker Were Major Drug. Vendors on WSM in the Central District. HazelNoick. 09/16/2021 at 8:58 PM. how to use darknet markets reddit darknet market noobs wall street wall street market darknet review market darknet review white house market darknet. Oxford Review of Economic Policy 14 (2): 1829. Ayaz, Erum. Wall Street Journal, April 14. The Black Market Peso Exchange and the Small Exporter. Wall Street market was shut down by law enforcement in 2019 following the market administrators tried to pull off an exit scam. Every day new scam websites are.
Darknet markets, or cryptomarkets, are sites on the dark web offering illicit have user review systems similar to e-commerce sites like eBay and Amazon. On Wall Street alone, Pagan sold over 325,000 in counterfeit wall street market tor2door darknet market darknet review. A review of H00k3d's sales on Dark Market revealed 475 voluntary. But police said they were running an exit scam, "transferring the customer's Bogus 20 bills previously for sale on Wall Street Market. This darknet market list is a work-in-progress. Eventually, this page will list all of the verified markets on Tor and I2P. Wall Street Market. Wall Street Market (WSM) is a dark web market and is currently a defunct marketplace on Tor. wall street market darknet review (1).Related Listings.
Illegal drugs found included counterfeit Xanax, methamphetamine, and heroin. Like the Wall Street Market investigation, both the FBI and Europol. So once he said the dark web had totally changed his business model in mobile phones were only used by Wall Street types in the 1980s. But police said they were running an exit scam, "transferring the customer's Bogus 20 bills previously for sale on Wall Street Market. The controversial darknet markets facilitate anonymous e-commerce on the with tor market most reviews expressing satisfaction from the Wall Street. By G Branwen 2013 Cited by 3 Mirrors of 89 Tor-Bitcoin darknet markets & forums 20112015, Market (TFM)/Wall Street Market (WSM) forum posts, vendor profiles, reviews, and market.
This research was done pre-COVID; now, Professor Broadhurst said, buyers seek alternative means of supply, such as small stealth packages posted home. It’s likely that this is how law enforcement was able to shut down Wall Street Market and arrest suspects, but this has not been confirmed. Its features are pretty basic, too, but it does allow you to share your files publicly. Parallelization is often performed using a multi-core processing system that makes use of several core processor units at the same time to increase system performance. Persistent - The opposite of Amnesiac, a persistent software or OS stores data upon shutdown to be used the next time it is launched. And what do you need to know ahead of time, should you choose to wade in? Researchers of the BFH are investigating this marketplace and analyzing the sales, as our author Emmanuel Benoist writes. Such manuals are written by seasoned users and often include learning outcomes derived from successful law enforcement actions, package interception, controlled delivery stories and so on. This paper theorises drug markets through the concept of digital territory. Top posts may 7th 2020 Top posts of may, 2020 Top posts 2020. Xiaojing Liao, Department of Computer Science, Indiana University Bloomington, 700 N Woodlawn Ave, Bloomington, IN, United States, Phone: 1 wall street market darknet review 8646508137, Email: ude.
In case you want to try the wall street market darknet review darknet's equivalent to Google for easier product wall street market darknet review searches on Agora, check out Grams. In December of 2017, the United States and United Kingdom and Australia formally asserted that North Korea was behind the attack. Nicht nur im Alltag, sondern auch in der Promiwelt schlug der lebendige 70er Look um sich. If they have to exchange products, they must either meet in person or use the mail, either is trackable by the authorities.
- Darknet Market Stats
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Livecoin, a crypto trade platform has publicly urged its users to stop buying and selling crypto following a brazen attack on its servers. It announced to his users that it had lost control of its servers (based in Metairie, Louisiana) and that they needed to stop trading. According to the UK based exchange, they were labouring under a “carefully planned attack.”
The exchange declared that they had “lost control of all of our servers, [backend] and nodes”
Its correspondents continued that they:
“were not able to stop our service in time.”
It is not yet ascertained if users lost their monies, valued at $805 million due to this attack or their investments are protected. The world continues to await what becomes of this.
Below is the caveat entered on their site:


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German-based ingredients firm Nutrinova has announced a
double-digit price hike for its sorbate range of additives, used
increasingly by global food developers to preserve food products
such as confectionery and baked goods.
Despite a warning in April that raw materials and currency would
have an impact on second half earnings, the UK ingredients firm
Associated British Foods, which in July laid down €1 billion for
leading yeast supplier Burns Philp,...
Swedish oils and fats firm Karlshamns, which saw its profits slip
at the end of 2003, has acquired UK flaked fats company Kelanco,
and with it a drive into value-added speciality fats for the
booming UK convenience food market.
Krispy Kreme is fast becoming the lame duck of the New York Stock
Exchange as investors desert the US maker of doughnuts amid
concerns over the rising levels of obesity, writes Sibonelo
Radebe. And the company appears to have little...
Ongoing demand for healthy products helped Irish food and
ingredients firm Kerry to a strong first half performance. And with
recent acquisitions pushing it into other high growth sectors,
there is little to stop the group from making...
CSM, the Dutch food ingredients company, is considering the sale of
its sugar confectionery unit in order to concentrate on its core
bakery supplies and sugar operations - despite a very poor
performance from the bakery unit in the...
Interstate Bakeries Corporation (IBC) has continued its
cost-cutting programme with the closure of yet another bakery, in
Buffalo, New York. The closure, which will take place in October,
will see the loss of 200 jobs but will help...
Another $100 million has been thrown into the beleaguered US bakery
wholesaler, Interstate Bakery Corporation (IBC) in what appears to
be a final desperate move to keep the group afloat, writes
US cereals and snacks group Kellogg is to centralise its European
operations in a new office in Ireland, giving it a major presence
in the market with the world's highest per capita consumption of
ready-to-eat cereals, writes...


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With the stroke of a pen, California Gov. Jerry Brown funded a $5 million program that supports local farmers and families in need.
It's the kind of good news we don't hear enough about.
In this new program, the California Nutrition Incentives Act will offer discounts on fresh fruits and vegetables at farmers markets for low-income shoppers receiving federal benefits.
Keep Reading Show less
farming health food california farmers fresh food groceries nutrtition produce farm low-income farmers marketMost Shared


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High Risk Meat Recall Due to Listeria Contamination
A New Jersey Company is recalling more than 300,000 pounds of meat because of a listeria contamination.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says this is a high risk recall, and was issued after meat tested positive for the bacteria.
Buona Vita, Inc., produces ready-to-eat meat poultry products, including meatballs, chicken and beef patties.
There have been no reports of illness.
The meat is carried under several different brands throughout the country. For a complete list of the meats affected, click here.


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German exports dropped by 0.9% month-on-month in July, from +0.2% MoM in June. At the same time, imports increased by 1.4% MoM, from -3.2% MoM in June. The trade balance narrowed to 15.9bn euro, from 18.7bn euro in June.
From last summer until the start of this year, German exports were extremely volatile. Since then, exports have stagnated and seem to be basically going nowhere. Trade is no longer the strong resilient growth driver of the German economy that it used to be.
Since the beginning of 2022, net exports have been a drag on the economy in four out of six quarters. Supply chain difficulties, a more fragmented global economy and China increasingly being able to manufacture goods it previously bought from Germany, are all factors affecting the German export sector.


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A pop-up store on Sydney Harbour? Yes please.
Sunglass Hut marked the start of its summer season by launching Australia’s first floating pop-up store – one of three located on Sydney Harbour.
Customers will be able to take in 360-degree harbour views while they shop, thanks to a transparent fit-out.
The floating store is designed around the Sunglass Hut circle logo and incorporates a DJ booth.
Customers will also get to ogle an exclusive 150-piece collection of never-seen-before sunglasses that won’t be available for purchase anywhere else in the world until February 2012.


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Report: Older Tesla Autopilot Demonstration Video Was Faked by Engineers
Regardless of how you feel about Tesla, there’s no amount of wishful thinking on anyone’s part that makes its “full self-driving” technology work as advertised. The company’s cars cannot drive themselves, do not operate without a human watching, and cannot safely manage complex situations on the road. That hasn’t stopped Tesla from trying to convince everyone, though, and as we’re now learning, its efforts haven’t always been above board.
Department of Justice Launches Criminal Probe Into Tesla Self-Driving Claims
News broke Wednesday that Tesla was under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, regarding the company’s claims about the self-driving nature of its vehicles. The DOJ has been working on the investigation for some time, as it was launched in 2021 but was not disclosed at that time. Turns out it might be time for a government evaluation of whether “Full Self-Driving” Teslas are misleading.
California Tech Mogul Launches Senate Run to Destroy Tesla
Dan O’Dowd, the billionaire founder and CEO of Green Hills Software, has announced he’s running for the U.S. Senate and his campaign has a single platform — destroy Tesla Inc.
“Today I launched my campaign for U.S. Senate to make computers safe for humanity. The first danger I am tackling is @ElonMusk‘s reckless deployment of unsafe @Tesla Full Self-Driving cars on our roads,” O’Dowd tweeted on April 19th.
The tweet was accompanied by a 60-second advertisement that showed clips of various Tesla vehicles equipped with the contentious software nearly striking pedestrians and making other mistakes in traffic while a disembodied voice explains does its utmost to make you feel like Tesla is an evil company that wants its cars to kill people.
Tesla Recalls 54,000 Models Over 'Rolling Stops'
Tesla is recalling 54,000 cars equipped with its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software over a feature that allows vehicles to roll through stop signs under the right conditions.
While technically still in beta and incapable of legitimate (SAE Level 5) self-driving, the software suite has been a premium item on Tesla products for years. Introduced in 2016, FSD was originally a $3,000 addition to the company’s $5,000 Autopilot system and allowed customers to financially embrace the promise of total automotive autonomy that’s supposedly forthcoming. Features have improved since 2020, when the public beta was officially launched, however the company has remained under criticism for failing to deliver the goods. Among these were allegations that the latest version of FSD allowed vehicles to conduct rolling stops through some intersections. The issue resulted in the public flogging of Tesla online and subsequent recall.
Twist: NHTSA Tesla Autopilot Probe Now Includes Other Automakers
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been doing a deep dive into Tesla’s Autopilot to determine if 765,000 vehicles from the 2014 model year onward are fit to be on the road. We’ve covered it on numerous occasions, with your author often making a plea for regulators not to harp on one company when the entire industry has been slinging advanced driving aids and distracting infotainment displays for years.
Apparently someone at the NHTSA either heard the blathering, or was at least of a similar mind, because the organization has expanded its investigation to include roughly a dozen other automakers.
NHTSA Identifies 12th Autopilot Related Crash Involving Emergency Vehicles
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has identified another traffic incident pertaining to Tesla’s driver assistance features and emergency vehicles, making the current tally twelve. These wrecks have been a matter of focus for the agency ever since it opened a probe to determine whether or not Autopilot can handle hiccups in the road caused by scenes where flares, cones, disabled automobiles, and first responders coalesce.
Though concerns remain that Tesla is being singled out unjustly when there’s little evidence to suggest that other manufacturers are providing more capable systems. Tesla’s issues appear to be heavily influenced by irresponsible marketing that makes it seem as though its vehicles are self-driving when no manufacturer can make that claim. U.S. regulators now want to place more restrictions on vehicles boasting autonomous features and, thus far, Tesla has been behind on those trends. But it’s hard to support claims that they make vehicles safer when none seem as effective as they should be.
NHTSA Resumes Inquisition of Tesla Autopilot
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been keeping tabs on Tesla’s Autopilot for years, sometimes giving crashes involving the system a bit more attention than they otherwise would have. But the extra scrutiny seemed to dissipate as practically every automaker on the planet introduced their own advanced driving suites and Telsa seemed to preemptively adhere to fast-approaching government regulations (and industry norm) by introducing driver-monitoring cameras.
On Friday, the NHTSA returned to business as usual and announced it had opened a preliminary evaluation of Autopilot to determine if there were any problems with the system. The agency has claimed it received at least 11 verifiable crash reports since 2018 where a Tesla product struck at least one vehicle that was already at the scene of an accident. It’s sort of a weird metric but allegedly worthy of the NHTSA wanting to look into every model the company produced between 2014 and 2021. However, actually reading the report makes it sound like the agency is more preoccupied with how Tesla’s system engaged with drivers, rather than establishing the true effectiveness of Autopilot as a system.
Tesla's Autopilot Gets a Closer Look Due to Lawsuits, NYT
The New York Times went deep over the weekend on a subject that has long been talked about in this industry — Tesla’s Autopilot and its failures.
In this case, the paper of record goes in-depth and talks to people who are suing the company over crashes in which Autopilot is alleged to have failed.
Stuck in Reverse? Tesla Abandons Radar, Restricts Features
Tesla is abandoning radar on its more affordable vehicles so it can deploy something that sounds like a vintage color motion picture process where the hues really manage to jump off the screen.
“ Tesla Vision” is the current process the company will use to collect and interpret the information necessary to operate semi-automated systems on the Model 3 and Model Y. But it feels like a step backward, if we’re being honest, and will result in cars that have “temporarily limited” abilities.
Elon Musk Takes Center Stage on Saturday Night Live
Billionaire Elon Musk will host “Saturday Night Live” on May 8th, the comedy series announced last week. Known for his controversial, biting remarks, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO apparently did not win over any fans among the cast. Cast members were not happy with Musk’s invitation. Social media comments indicated their displeasure.
Tesla Stans Can't Handle the Truth
Last week, we reported about a crash in the Houston area involving a Tesla Model S – a wreck in which authorities claim there was no one in the driver’s seat at the time of the impact.
It’s unclear if the car was equipped with Tesla’s Autopilot autonomous-driving system, and it’s also unclear if the authorities’ claim has been verified (The Verge reports someone may have been in the driver’s seat after all). Still, there has since been debate over whether it’s even possible for Autopilot to be defeated in such a way that someone could leave the driver’s seat.
Consumer Reports Tricks Tesla's Autopilot
We wrote earlier this week about a Tesla crash in Texas in which the car may or may not have been driving itself, although the driver’s seat was apparently unoccupied.
It’s still not clear if Tesla’s Autopilot feature was activated or otherwise played a part in the crash.
Authorities Claim No One Was in the Driver's Seat in Tesla Crash
A crash involving a Tesla Model S in Texas killed two passengers.
We say “passengers” instead of “occupants” because it appears there was no one in the driver’s seat at the time of the crash.
Your Regular Reminder That Fully Self-Driving Cars Don't Exist Yet
While we’re on the subject of Super Bowl commercials, there wasn’t just one, but two, that irritated me on Sunday.
This one has little, if anything, to do with politics, so you can relax and cancel out that angry email you were about to send me.
Nope, this one has to do with the misinformation circulating about autonomous cars.
Tesla Takes $331 Million in 5th Consecutive Profitable Quarter
Tesla continued to prove itself as the electric automaker par excellence by posting its fifth profitable quarter in a row on Wednesday. The California-based (for now) automaker reported a net income of $331 million and a 39 percent improvement in revenue to $8.8 billion.
Of course, a huge amount of that money came via regulatory credits Tesla sold to its rivals. By nature of being an EV manufacturer, the company was able to sell $397 million in environmental absolution while helping its own bottom line. Though third-quarter deliveries were quite strong as automotive revenue jumped 42 percent to $7.6 billion.


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Advertiser Disclosure: At ElectricityRates.com, our number one goal is to help you make better energy decisions. We adhere to strict editorial guidelines, however this post may include references to products offered from our partners.
According to the news source, electricity rates are expected to go up only slightly this summer, however, any rise is worth noting, considering the price of natural gas has dropped 43 percent in the last year. In fact, the longstanding fall in electricity rates may even reverse soon, experts believe.
“It's caused us to scratch our heads,” said Tyler Hodge, an analyst at the Energy Department who studies electricity prices.
Although the recent heat waves have contributed some to the higher prices, there are a number of factors to the widespread upward trend in prices. In several states, retail electricity rates are readjusted by state regulators every few years, helping protect customers from dramatic spikes in fuel costs.
Still, many electric customers in states with energy deregulation laws are able to shop around for electricity rates to find a package that best suits them. In these states, which include Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania, many energy providers offer incentives to switch to their services.


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A spa, a Brazilian steakhouse, and a variety of retailers will be joining the lineup at the South Shore Plaza in Braintree this spring.
According to a press release, Call It Spring by Aldo, Vans, Expressions, DSW Shoe Wearhouse, iSpa, and the Rodizio Grill will open in the next few months.
“South Shore Plaza is thrilled to offer these new stores and dining option as we prepare for the spring shopping season,” said South Shore Plaza Director of Mall Marketing Vicki Bartkiewicz, in a release.
The new locations will join Lush Cosmetics and Tilly’s, which both joined the mall in the past year.
According to a release, Call It Spring will open in March on the first level. Presented by the Aldo brand, the store is known for footwear and accessories.
Vans will also be joining the mall on the first floor. A shoe store offering the original skate shoe, Vans has been designing shoes since 1966.
Designer Shoe Warehouse (DSW) will also open in March in the former Filene’s Basement on the basement floor of the plaza. The national chain has several locations throughout Massachusetts, including ones in Dedham, Boston, and Plymouth.
The Plaza will also welcome iSpa, which will be located on level 2 in the Nordstrom wing. A spa experience, the store provides a relaxing environment like that of a normal spa, but with a technological twist.
Adding to the restaurants in the plaza, Rodizio Grill will open in March on the first floor. The chain describes its an authentic Brazilian Steakhouse.
For more information about plaza openings, visit the mall's Facebook page.