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|By Business Wire||
|June 5, 2014 08:03 AM EDT||
Skylanders Trap Team™ will get a heavy dose of girl power when Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) brings Gearshift to Portal Masters via a special pre-order program starting today. Gearshift is the latest character to be unveiled in the Skylanders Trap Team lineup and will be offered to Skylanders fans for pre-order at all major North American retailers while supplies last. This marks the first time fans will be able to get their hands on the Tech element character, months in advance of her official arrival at retail in 2015. Only a limited supply of Gearshift will be available for the October 5, 2014 launch of Skylanders Trap Team™ in North America, so fans are encouraged to pre-order her today to guarantee they can get this highly collectible character at launch!
Skylanders® fans can now pre-order Gearshift for Skylanders Trap Team™ (Photo: Business Wire)
Skylanders Trap Team brings a ground-breaking innovation to the Skylanders franchise by reversing the magic of its signature Toys-To-Life™ play pattern to let kids bring life-to-toys for the first time. In the game, Gearshift was created on the Tech island of Metallana by King Mercurus, who considered the young robot to be his own daughter. But rather than performing royal duties, Gearshift preferred to spend her time in the oily depths of the kingdom among its workers, secretly tending to the huge subterranean machines. When her father discovered this, he was furious – but then a squadron of Undead Stormriders suddenly attacked. Learning that these marauders wanted to capture her father, Gearshift used her knowledge of the labyrinth below to hide him. Seizing the emblem of her people – The Great Gear – she used it to fight the Stormriders, inspiring the workers to rise up. Together, they drove the Stormriders out of Metallana and saved the kingdom. For this, Gearshift was made part of the Trap Team, using her new awesome Traptanium-forged gear to help defend Skylands.
Skylanders Trap Team allows Portal Masters to seek out the most wanted villains in all of Skylands, capture them and pull them out of the game into their living rooms by securing them in a Trap. Fans can then use Traps to play as both heroes and villains who join the forces of good for the first time in an all-new adventure. The game will come with the Traptanium Portal™, a new device that will enable kids to hear the villain speaking to them from inside the physical Trap.
Kids will be able to place the Trap in a special slot on the Portal, next to their Skylanders figures, to defeat and capture villains, as well as play as villains. Players also have the option to switch between playing as a Skylander and a villain at any time, creating fun and unique “tag team” gameplay. They can even take their Traps and their Skylanders characters to their friends’ houses for fun, co-operative adventures across console game systems. Skylanders Trap Team will be available on Nintendo Wii™, Wii U™, 3DS™, PlayStation®3 and PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system as well as the Xbox 360™ and Xbox One™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.
Additionally, Skylanders fans attending E3 2014 will get an exclusive first glimpse of this new hero at the Activision booth, which is located in South Hall #1647.
About the Skylanders® Franchise
The award-winning, $2 billion Skylanders franchise pioneered the Toys-To-Life category in 2011 with the debut of Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure®. The game originated a new play pattern that seamlessly bridged physical and virtual worlds across multiple platforms. In October 2012, Skylanders Giants™ further evolved the genre and added the mega-sized Giant Skylanders and LightCore® characters to the collection of interaction figures. Skylanders SWAP Force launched in October 2013 and introduced an all-new play pattern – swapability. The Skylanders franchise was the top selling kids’ videogame of 20131, and is one of the top 20 videogame franchises of all time2. Skylanders Trap Team, the newest installment due out in North America on October 5, 2014, reverses the magic of bringing Toys-To-Life – incredibly letting kids pull characters out of the digital world into the physical world. For more information, please visit: www.skylanders.com and Activision.com/presscenter.
About Activision Publishing
Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Publishing, Inc. is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and leisure products. Activision maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Singapore, mainland China, Hong Kong and the region of Taiwan. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company’s website, www.activision.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in this press release that involves Activision Publishing’s expectations, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future, including statements about the expected release date of Skylanders Trap Team™ are forward-looking statements that are not facts and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause Activision Publishing’s actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements set forth in this release include unanticipated product delays and other factors identified in the risk factors sections of Activision Blizzard’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to Activision Publishing and Activision Blizzard as of the date of this release, and neither Activision Publishing nor Activision Blizzard assumes any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements believed to be true when made may ultimately prove to be incorrect. These statements are not guarantees of the future performance of Activision Publishing or Activision Blizzard and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond its control and may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.
© 2014 Activision Publishing, Inc., SKYLANDERS, SKYLANDERS TRAP TEAM, SKYLANDERS SPYRO’S ADVENTURE, SKYLANDERS GIANTS, SKYLANDERS SWAP FORCE, TRAPTANIUM, TRAPTANIUM PORTAL, LIGHTCORE, TOYS TO LIFE, and ACTIVISION are trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc.
1 According to The NPD Group, GfK Chart-Track and Activision Blizzard internal estimates, including toys and accessories
2 According to The NPD Group and GfK Chart-Track
With the Apple Watch making its way onto wrists all over the world, it’s only a matter of time before it becomes a staple in the workplace. In fact, Forrester reported that 68 percent of technology and business decision-makers characterize wearables as a top priority for 2015. Recognizing their business value early on, FinancialForce.com was the first to bring ERP to wearables, helping streamline communication across front and back office functions. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Kevin Roberts, GM of Platform at FinancialForce.com, will discuss the value of business applications on wearable ...
Aug. 31, 2015 12:16 PM EDT
Contrary to mainstream media attention, the multiple possibilities of how consumer IoT will transform our everyday lives aren’t the only angle of this headline-gaining trend. There’s a huge opportunity for “industrial IoT” and “Smart Cities” to impact the world in the same capacity – especially during critical situations. For example, a community water dam that needs to release water can leverage embedded critical communications logic to alert the appropriate individuals, on the right device, as soon as they are needed to take action.
Aug. 31, 2015 12:00 PM EDT
SYS-CON Events announced today that HPM Networks will exhibit at the 17th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on November 3–5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. For 20 years, HPM Networks has been integrating technology solutions that solve complex business challenges. HPM Networks has designed solutions for both SMB and enterprise customers throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
Aug. 31, 2015 11:30 AM EDT Reads: 887
SYS-CON Events announced today that Micron Technology, Inc., a global leader in advanced semiconductor systems, will exhibit at the 17th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on November 3–5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Micron’s broad portfolio of high-performance memory technologies – including DRAM, NAND and NOR Flash – is the basis for solid state drives, modules, multichip packages and other system solutions. Backed by more than 35 years of technology leadership, Micron's memory solutions enable the world's most innovative computing, consumer,...
Aug. 31, 2015 11:15 AM EDT Reads: 226
As more intelligent IoT applications shift into gear, they’re merging into the ever-increasing traffic flow of the Internet. It won’t be long before we experience bottlenecks, as IoT traffic peaks during rush hours. Organizations that are unprepared will find themselves by the side of the road unable to cross back into the fast lane. As billions of new devices begin to communicate and exchange data – will your infrastructure be scalable enough to handle this new interconnected world?
Aug. 31, 2015 11:00 AM EDT Reads: 160
Through WebRTC, audio and video communications are being embedded more easily than ever into applications, helping carriers, enterprises and independent software vendors deliver greater functionality to their end users. With today’s business world increasingly focused on outcomes, users’ growing calls for ease of use, and businesses craving smarter, tighter integration, what’s the next step in delivering a richer, more immersive experience? That richer, more fully integrated experience comes about through a Communications Platform as a Service which allows for messaging, screen sharing, video...
Aug. 31, 2015 10:30 AM EDT Reads: 642
SYS-CON Events announced today that Pythian, a global IT services company specializing in helping companies leverage disruptive technologies to optimize revenue-generating systems, has been named “Bronze Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 17th Cloud Expo, which will take place on November 3–5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Founded in 1997, Pythian is a global IT services company that helps companies compete by adopting disruptive technologies such as cloud, Big Data, advanced analytics, and DevOps to advance innovation and increase agility. Specializing in designing, imple...
Aug. 31, 2015 10:15 AM EDT Reads: 298
In his session at @ThingsExpo, Lee Williams, a producer of the first smartphones and tablets, will talk about how he is now applying his experience in mobile technology to the design and development of the next generation of Environmental and Sustainability Services at ETwater. He will explain how M2M controllers work through wirelessly connected remote controls; and specifically delve into a retrofit option that reverse-engineers control codes of existing conventional controller systems so they don't have to be replaced and are instantly converted to become smart, connected devices.
Aug. 31, 2015 09:30 AM EDT Reads: 123
SYS-CON Events announced today that IceWarp will exhibit at the 17th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on November 3–5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. IceWarp, the leader of cloud and on-premise messaging, delivers secured email, chat, documents, conferencing and collaboration to today's mobile workforce, all in one unified interface
Aug. 31, 2015 04:00 AM EDT Reads: 408
WebRTC has had a real tough three or four years, and so have those working with it. Only a few short years ago, the development world were excited about WebRTC and proclaiming how awesome it was. You might have played with the technology a couple of years ago, only to find the extra infrastructure requirements were painful to implement and poorly documented. This probably left a bitter taste in your mouth, especially when things went wrong.
Aug. 31, 2015 02:00 AM EDT Reads: 451
Too often with compelling new technologies market participants become overly enamored with that attractiveness of the technology and neglect underlying business drivers. This tendency, what some call the “newest shiny object syndrome,” is understandable given that virtually all of us are heavily engaged in technology. But it is also mistaken. Without concrete business cases driving its deployment, IoT, like many other technologies before it, will fade into obscurity.
Aug. 30, 2015 10:00 PM EDT Reads: 349
While many app developers are comfortable building apps for the smartphone, there is a whole new world out there. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Narayan Sainaney, Co-founder and CTO of Mojio, will discuss how the business case for connected car apps is growing and, with open platform companies having already done the heavy lifting, there really is no barrier to entry.
Aug. 30, 2015 05:00 PM EDT Reads: 138
Consumer IoT applications provide data about the user that just doesn’t exist in traditional PC or mobile web applications. This rich data, or “context,” enables the highly personalized consumer experiences that characterize many consumer IoT apps. This same data is also providing brands with unprecedented insight into how their connected products are being used, while, at the same time, powering highly targeted engagement and marketing opportunities. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Nathan Treloar, President and COO of Bebaio, will explore examples of brands transforming their businesses by t...
Aug. 30, 2015 10:15 AM EDT Reads: 230
With the proliferation of connected devices underpinning new Internet of Things systems, Brandon Schulz, Director of Luxoft IoT – Retail, will be looking at the transformation of the retail customer experience in brick and mortar stores in his session at @ThingsExpo. Questions he will address include: Will beacons drop to the wayside like QR codes, or be a proximity-based profit driver? How will the customer experience change in stores of all types when everything can be instrumented and analyzed? As an area of investment, how might a retail company move towards an innovation methodolo...
Aug. 30, 2015 09:15 AM EDT Reads: 450
The Internet of Things (IoT) is about the digitization of physical assets including sensors, devices, machines, gateways, and the network. It creates possibilities for significant value creation and new revenue generating business models via data democratization and ubiquitous analytics across IoT networks. The explosion of data in all forms in IoT requires a more robust and broader lens in order to enable smarter timely actions and better outcomes. Business operations become the key driver of IoT applications and projects. Business operations, IT, and data scientists need advanced analytics t...
Aug. 30, 2015 08:30 AM EDT Reads: 400
As more and more data is generated from a variety of connected devices, the need to get insights from this data and predict future behavior and trends is increasingly essential for businesses. Real-time stream processing is needed in a variety of different industries such as Manufacturing, Oil and Gas, Automobile, Finance, Online Retail, Smart Grids, and Healthcare. Azure Stream Analytics is a fully managed distributed stream computation service that provides low latency, scalable processing of streaming data in the cloud with an enterprise grade SLA. It features built-in integration with Azur...
Aug. 28, 2015 07:45 PM EDT Reads: 215
Akana has announced the availability of the new Akana Healthcare Solution. The API-driven solution helps healthcare organizations accelerate their transition to being secure, digitally interoperable businesses. It leverages the Health Level Seven International Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (HL7 FHIR) standard to enable broader business use of medical data. Akana developed the Healthcare Solution in response to healthcare businesses that want to increase electronic, multi-device access to health records while reducing operating costs and complying with government regulations.
Aug. 26, 2015 07:00 AM EDT Reads: 190
For IoT to grow as quickly as analyst firms’ project, a lot is going to fall on developers to quickly bring applications to market. But the lack of a standard development platform threatens to slow growth and make application development more time consuming and costly, much like we’ve seen in the mobile space. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Mike Weiner, Product Manager of the Omega DevCloud with KORE Telematics Inc., discussed the evolving requirements for developers as IoT matures and conducted a live demonstration of how quickly application development can happen when the need to comply wit...
Aug. 2, 2015 11:15 AM EDT Reads: 555
The Internet of Everything (IoE) brings together people, process, data and things to make networked connections more relevant and valuable than ever before – transforming information into knowledge and knowledge into wisdom. IoE creates new capabilities, richer experiences, and unprecedented opportunities to improve business and government operations, decision making and mission support capabilities.
Aug. 1, 2015 10:00 AM EDT Reads: 484
Explosive growth in connected devices. Enormous amounts of data for collection and analysis. Critical use of data for split-second decision making and actionable information. All three are factors in making the Internet of Things a reality. Yet, any one factor would have an IT organization pondering its infrastructure strategy. How should your organization enhance its IT framework to enable an Internet of Things implementation? In his session at @ThingsExpo, James Kirkland, Red Hat's Chief Architect for the Internet of Things and Intelligent Systems, described how to revolutionize your archit...
Jul. 30, 2015 07:30 PM EDT Reads: 1,569


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Pizza Hut Is Trying Out Beer-Infused Crust
Last June, Pizza Hut shocked the world with hot dog-stuffed crust, it was unheard of and quite frankly, kind of weird. This new concoction though is something I could definitely get behind. This week Pizza Hut in London is testing out beer-infused crust for their pizza. Yep, they’re putting craft beer in the crust on the “Steak Feast” and “The American Hot” pizzas. They say that if it goes over well, they will roll it out to other stores in the U.K. which could then lead to it coming to the states.
Patrons who dine in at the restaurant on Friday and mention the secret phrase to their server — “I like it hop” — will get a free taste of pizza that features craft beer as an ingredient in the dough. Two flavors are reportedly on the menu — the steak feast and American hot — though no details on what goes into either were immediately available. Kathryn Austin, Pizza Hut’s director of marketing, told the Mirror the idea was inspired by the rising popularity of craft beer.
I’m worried on how this test will go, since customers have to whisper “I Like It Hop”, while ordering their beer (yes they have to buy a beer.) It’s not the catchiest of phrases, so hopefully enough craft beer lovers can over come their shyness to try the pizza, like it and then have it spread across the world.
Full disclosure: I may have skipped breakfast and that’s why I’m SO into this new pizza. I’d be into a sausage biscuit if it were being talked about right now.

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March 1 in Business Section
Any donations should be wired to the Japanese American Association of Los Santos. ((Bank transfer to Daichi Saejima))
The Japanese American Association is proud to announce it will be sponsoring World Foods Day this Sunday, March 28th. Located at the Ginger Street shopping complex on the Tokyo Strip in South Little Seoul. Ask about us for coupons to several local businesses!
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If the business is active, let us know.))
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The Japanese American Association is pleased to congratulate Little Tokyo resident and Bellicose MMA professional fighter D. "Kamikaze" Okimoto on his recent win at the Rockford Dome Fight Night. To celebrate the success of D. Okimoto, the JAA will be donating $10,000 to a charity of his choice.
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74.80 +0.15 (0.20%)
After hours: 7:01PM EDT
|Bid||74.65 x 800|
|Ask||74.99 x 2200|
|Day's Range||74.61 - 76.79|
|52 Week Range||37.97 - 82.42|
|PE Ratio (TTM)||13.04|
|Earnings Date||Nov 20, 2018|
|Forward Dividend & Yield||2.44 (3.02%)|
|1y Target Est||82.06|
Recently, Target Corporation (TGT) announced its plans to hire ~120,000 seasonal workers for the upcoming holiday season, 20% more than last year. The announcement indicates that Target expects the solid momentum in its sales to continue during the key holiday season. Janna Potts, chief stores officer at Target, stated that the company is expecting “a busy holiday season” and the addition of an increased temporary workforce will ensure a seamless shopping experience for its customers.
Target (TGT) and Walmart (WMT) have expressed concerns regarding the escalating trade war between the United States and China. Both Target and Walmart have emphasized the fact that expanded tariffs will eventually hurt American families, as they will force these retailers to increase their prices. Several other retailers, including Costco (COST), Dollar Tree (DLTR), Macy’s (M), and Kohl’s (KSS), have also voiced their concerns about the higher tariffs imposed on Chinese goods.
Macy’s (M) stock was up 41.7% YTD (year-to-date) as of September 21. Macy’s and its department store peers have been taking several measures to grow their top lines amid intense rivalry from online retailers such as Amazon (AMZN). Macy’s net sales declined for 11 quarters and then recovered in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017 and the first quarter of fiscal 2018.
The U.S. Census Bureau's official August retail sales data fell short of economists' expectations, with particularly poor results at department stores. But that may not be bad news for the likes of Kohl's, Macy's, and Nordstrom.
Target announced recently it would be hiring 675 employees in New Mexico across its 10 stores, including 600 for its five in Albuquerque.
Retailers and shipping companies are already mapping out hiring plans for seasonal employees. United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS) said it plans to hire about 100,000 seasonal employees nationwide, in preparation for the upcoming 2018 holiday season. Many of those will be needed in the Tampa Bay area, according to UPS spokesman Dan McMackin.
Kohl's (KSS) reported earnings 30 days ago. What's next for the stock? We take a look at earnings estimates for some clues.
Despite heavy investments, Kohl’s Corporation (KSS) is committed to its share buyback program. Share repurchases improve a company’s EPS by reducing the average share count. For the first half of fiscal 2018, Kohl’s repurchased 2.5 million shares.
Store discounts, higher wages and drawings are some ways retailers hope to attract store associates to work over the holiday season.
Over the trailing ten quarters, Kohl’s (KSS) has beaten Wall Street analysts’ estimates eight times, missing its estimates on two occasions. Kohl’s adjusted EPS for the first quarter totaled $0.64—much better than analysts’ estimates of $0.50 for the first quarter and $0.39 reported in the first quarter of 2017. Kohl’s second-quarter adjusted EPS came in at $1.76, easily beating the analyst estimate of $1.64.
Kohl’s (KSS) has beaten its sales estimates in the first quarter and the second quarter. Kohl’s has reported YoY (year-over-year) growth of 3.6% in the first quarter and 3.9% YoY growth in the second quarter. In the first quarter, Kohl’s total revenues (net sales plus other revenues) rose 3.5%. Kohl’s total revenues for the second quarter rose ~4.0%.
In the past 15 days, there has been just one price target action for Kohl’s (KSS) stock. On September 4, Goldman Sachs initiated coverage on Kohl’s stock with a “buy” rating and a price target of $91.00. Under its multiyear Greatness Agenda strategy, Kohl’s is revamping its merchandise assortment, emphasizing the omnichannel/digital experience, and optimizing its marketing spending across channels.
Kohl’s (KSS) today announced its donation of $500,000 to the American Red Cross, which is delivering vital emergency supplies and services to the communities affected by Hurricane Florence in North Carolina and South Carolina. In addition, the retailer will provide opportunities for associates and customers to support hurricane relief efforts by donating to the American Red Cross on Kohls.com or at the checkout area located within Kohl’s stores nationwide. “Kohl’s is grateful our donation to the American Red Cross will help support our thousands of associates and customers who have been impacted by Hurricane Florence,” said Michelle Gass, Kohl’s chief executive officer.
Can Kohl’s stock sustain its momentum? Kohl’s (KSS) stock has risen 46.2% year-to-date. The growing clout of online retailers has adversely impacted department stores’ business. As a result, department stores such as Kohl’s have taken to expanding their digital—especially mobile—and omnichannel capabilities to retain their market share.
Kohl’s (KSS) invites families to celebrate the holiday season by giving the happiest gifts on earth from the new Kohl’s Cares® Holiday collection that features Mickey Mouse and Friends. The Disney Mickey Mouse and Friends themed merchandise, available now in Kohl’s stores nationwide and on Kohls.com/Cares, empowers children and their families to nurture their creativity as they read and play. Whether young readers are enjoying their first book from start to finish or families are spending time with characters in the Mickey Mouse Club through the 5-minute stories and activities, Disney enthusiasts of all ages will enjoy the books in this season’s Kohl’s Cares collection. Priced at $5 each, the books and their coordinating plush pals make great gifts, with 100 percent of Kohl’s net profit benefiting charitable organizations nationwide.
Moody's Investors Service, ("Moody's") has affirmed the ratings on thirteen classes in WFRBS Commercial Mortgage Trust 2014-C24, Commercial Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates Series 2014-C24 ...
This represents an increase in short interest as investors who seek to profit from falling equity prices added to their short positions on September 11. Index (PMI) data, output in the Consumer Services sector is rising.
Amazon (AMZN) is steadily changing minds. Apparel retailer J.Crew has now joined the growing list of big-name retailers lining up to sell their items on Amazon’s online marketplace. It once rejected the idea of listing products on Amazon’s platform. But times have changed, and understanding seems to have gotten better. And maybe J.Crew is betting that the potential benefits of selling on Amazon will outweigh the risks of doing so since Amazon is currently its competitor in the apparel retail business.
Nordstrom (JWN) was trading at a 12-month forward PE (price-to-earnings) multiple of 17.7x as of September 7. Nordstrom exceeded analysts’ expectations for the fiscal second quarter and raised its outlook for the full fiscal year. As of September 7, Nordstrom’s department store rivals Macy’s (M) and Kohl’s (KSS) were trading at 12-month forward PEs of 9.5x and 14.1x, respectively.
Nordstrom’s (JWN) revenue grew 6.7% to $7.6 billion in the first half of fiscal 2018. Nordstrom’s fiscal second-quarter revenue growth was higher than its 3.9% growth in the second quarter of fiscal 2017 and 6.2% growth in the first quarter of fiscal 2018. Nordstrom’s revenue comprises its retail net sales and credit card revenue.
Nordstrom (JWN) stock surged 4.6% last week. The upscale department store is up 38.7% on a YTD (year-to-date) basis. On September 4, Goldman Sachs initiated coverage with a “buy” rating and a price target of “73,” and the stock reacted positively.
In this article I am going to calculate the intrinsic value of Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE:KSS) by taking the foreast future cash flows of the company and discounting them back toRead More...
NORTH CANTON, Ohio, Sept. 10, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Diebold Nixdorf (DBD) today announced the appointment of Bruce H. Besanko, a retail industry veteran with a history of financial leadership positions, to the company's board of directors as an independent director. Effective immediately, Besanko will serve on the board's finance committee and will replace outgoing director Rajesh K. Soin, who was first elected to Diebold, Incorporated's board of directors in 2012. Besanko is currently the chief financial officer of Kohl's Corporation (KSS), a national retailer.
Amazon hit a $1 trillion market cap on Sept. 4, becoming the second U.S. company to achieve this milestone, behind Apple. It's currently valued at more than these 21 other major retailers combined, despite generating significantly less sales.


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For the longest time, the case for a “soft landing” in the US revolved around the notion that household balance sheets were generally strong and that “excess” savings (a legacy of the pandemic) would serve as a buffer against a severe contraction in consumer spending.
I’ve explored virtually every side of that debate in these “hallowed” pages at one time or another. Part of me harbors serious doubts about the notion that the same Americans who, famously, can’t cover an expensive emergency without borrowing, are also flush with “extra” cash. Another part of me has a difficult time arguing with aggregates, some of which plainly suggest cash balances are indeed swollen, from money market funds to bank deposits.
My efforts to reconcile conflicting data typically entail suggesting that most of the “excess” cash is concentrated in the accounts of the wealthy (figure below). But even there, I often come across figures which appear to show lower-income households are actually better off on some metrics than they were prior to the pandemic.
It’s not particularly helpful if most of the extra cash is piling up in the accounts of the rich. The richer the household, the lower the marginal propensity to consume, and therefore the less “useful” the cash buffers are for sustaining the recovery. Everyone can recite that narrative by now.
Ultimately, I doubt there are any “right” or “wrong” answers to the questions posed and implied above. What I’m quite sure of, though, is that the rich are still rich and the poor still poor.
Setting aside the inequality debate and accepting as true the idea that somebody, somewhere, has extra cash, those buffers are starting to look like an albatross for the Fed and, ultimately, for the US economy. There’s a paradox around every corner in 2022, and quite a few of them relate back to the concept of demand construction, the flip side of the demand destruction orthodox economics tells us is the cure for generationally high inflation.
I’m reluctant (really I am) to keep referring back to Zoltan Pozsar’s missives penned over the first eight months of the year, but quite a bit of what he said across a dozen or so “dispatches” was borne out, although no one will remember in the event “Bretton Woods 3.0” crashes and burns, as I think it probably will.
In May, Pozsar warned that “strong balance sheets are a ‘cyclical bad,’ not a ‘cyclical good.'” That was diametrically opposed to the boilerplate narrative that prevailed at the time, but it made sense. “It means more discipline from the Fed. More hikes and more volatility injected by the Fed — by design — until financial conditions tighten more and demand slows enough,” he went on to write, in the same note. “Consider the idea that strong private balance sheets raise the risk of a recession, for they may force the Fed’s hand to shock risk assets more to make sure we get a recession, or at least a very hard landing, so that the Fed can slow down inflation enough.” Again: “Strong private balance sheets raise the risk of a recession.”
Although the core aggregates in August’s retail sales report were weak, it’s likely that savings buffers are still bolstering consumption, thereby forestalling demand destruction and quite possibly propping up core inflation. When taken in conjunction with the dramatic drop in gas prices from this year’s highs, it seems entirely reasonable to suggest that two things we typically think about as unequivocally positive for the economy (healthy household finances and lower gas prices), are in fact bad to the extent they make the Fed’s job harder.
A popular version of the soft landing narrative suggests that a resilient consumer and a strong labor market will allow the Fed to “do its work” without tipping the economy into recession. But what exactly does that mean? If it means consumers will keep consuming thanks to legacy savings and robust wage gains, then the Fed’s “work” could be for naught.
These concerns are creeping into top-tier research. “The threat of surging headline inflation is fading, but the threat from still-too-high underlying inflation has intensified,” JPMorgan said Monday. Although the bank’s base case is that rate hikes and improvements in supply chains will ultimately work to cool the labor market and help with core inflation, thereby allowing central banks to pause during the first half of next year, they see scant flexibility for overt policy easing “absent a slide into recession.”
“The greater risk now is that a recession will eventually be needed to bring inflation back in line with objectives,” the bank said, noting that “the sharp decline in gasoline prices and rising dollar are boosting household purchasing power [and when] combined with robust labor income growth and strong balance sheets, support for household spending [is] considerable.”
To be sure, JPMorgan didn’t say that strong balance sheets, wage growth and lower gas prices raise the risk of recession. But connecting the dots to get to Pozsar doesn’t require a leap of logic. You could easily suggest that the very same conditions which we’re all inclined to cite as conducive to a soft landing (i.e., a strong labor market, healthy household balance sheets, excess savings, lower gas prices and a strong dollar) in fact make a hard landing more likely by compelling the Fed to telegraph an ever higher terminal rate and commit to holding terminal for twice, three times or even four times as long as they have during historical tightening campaigns. The longer they hold terminal when policy is restrictive, the higher the odds of recession.


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In a recent statement, EatSure revealed its collaboration with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), one of the teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL) T20, as their official food delivery partner.
The company will be responsible for creating a unique culinary experience for all RCB home games held at Chinnaswamy Cricket Stadium in Bangalore. Additionally, exclusive deals will be available on the EatSure app platform during match days, as per reported by BW Disrupt.
Not only will the food delivery app curate the dining experience exclusively at all RCB home matches in Chinnaswamy Cricket Stadium in Bangalore, but it will also provide exclusive offers on its platform during match days.
Speaking on the occasion, Rajesh Menon, Head and Vice President of RCB, said, “We are delighted to partner with EatSure this season. RCB believes in creating a wholesome match experience for fans and F&B is central to the at-home and stadium match viewing experience. We look forward to creating a great viewing experience during this season, especially when the team returns to its home stadium after three years.”
As part of its food court experience for fans at the stadium, EatSure plans to feature several renowned brands, including Faasos, Oven Story Pizza, Behrouz Biryani, Sweet Truth, and Wendy’s.
Addarsh Barathi, Brand Head, EatSure, said, “With the rollout of RCB’s lifestyle ambitions and T20 being a huge platform for engaging with consumers, we believe our association with the team will enable us to enhance our brand visibility and drive consumption during the coming cricket season.”
In addition to serving as the official food delivery partner, EatSure has also been named as the official sponsor of “The RCB Podcast” show.


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Full article at WisconsinInno Apr2020
Scanalytics, the Milwaukee-based company that makes floor sensor technology to track and collect data on human movement patterns, is providing its tech to Wisconsin grocer Metcalfe’s Market free of charge to help the company with COVID-19-induced capacity at its stores.
Metcalfe’s has three stores in Wisconsin, two in Madison and one in Wauwatosa. The grocer is only admitting 50% of its general capacity at any single time. Once the number is reached, customers are required to wait in a line outside the store, and the next shopper is only allowed to enter when someone inside completes their trip and leaves.
Scanalytics and Metcalfe’s began talking about deploying the technology in early April, said Scanalytics CEO Joe Scanlin. Scanalytics had a previous working relationship with Metcalfe’s, who initiated the conversation, he said.
The first installations will be in Metcalfe’s Madison stores, followed by the Wauwatosa location.
Scanalytics’ system will provide real-time data to Metcalfe’s workers that can be viewed on mobile devices. The system includes an indicator that alerts workers when capacity is reached.
Read Full article at WisconsinInno


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GCC countries are seeking outward-looking solutions to guarantee their food security. Supported by government initiatives, private agribusiness companies are buying land across the world to secure agricultural goods from cereals to meat, particularly in destinations closer to home in South Asia and East Africa. However, the new phase of investments is laden with risks that must be delimited through strong bilateral ties.
Gulf Monitor | Daniel Moshashai | Agriculture
By 2025 the GCC’s population is set to reach 57m, some 15m more than in the late 2000s, when some governments in the region, such as Saudi Arabia, announced their first overseas agricultural investment initiatives after concluding that the Arabian Peninsula’s scarce water supplies could not sustain local agriculture without endangering the environment.
Developing countries were designated from the start as targeted destinations, although investments flowed more easily towards destinations which are safer but further afield, such as Australia, the US and Canada. Nonetheless, economic incentives, including affordable and long-term land leases, and low water and tax rates, are driving private agribusiness firms to new destinations whose closer proximity to the Gulf makes economic sense.
These endeavours are high risk and require a high degree of attention be paid to governance, regulatory and environment parameters if the GCC is to continue importing 60-90% of its agricultural products from abroad.
Developing strong bilateral ties in high-risk destinations is key
The incentives for investing in developing countries are fast overcome by hidden costs, environmental degradation being the most inevitable. Investing closer to home means operating in food insecure and water scarce countries, which are at risk of farmers’ unrest or export bans, this latter issue being the driving force behind GCC plans to diversify the countries it imports agricultural products from.
The key to investing in risky environments is politics. Since nothing can be done at the micro-level with private agribusiness, GCC states need to place agriculture at the heart of bilateral ties. In other words, before investing private companies must ensure that their country has some sort of agreement with local governments which prioritises agricultural exports.
At the same time, investors must pay close attention to the local agricultural policies of the countries they select. While agribusinesses can operate even within environments with hallmarks of bad governance – including lack of infrastructure, political instability or corruption – if local policies are inconsistent and do not insure against local opposition, operations are unlikely to be sustainable.
Inclusiveness in agricultural policy is also an important consideration. Large-scale farming, with the ability to guarantee management, supply chains and ownership, has operated efficiently in developing countries, but the flip side has consistently been disruption to businesses of traditionally small-scale and mixed-crop farmers, who feel marginalised, leading to widespread discontent.
Finding destinations with agriculture export policies which align with GCC demand can gradually decrease regulatory risk. There is still a lot of catch up to be done in health standards, trademark protection, land ownership rights and tariffs, but the more bilateral ties push strategic agricultural partnerships forward, the more harmonisation is possible through lobbying, joint ventures and cooperation between regulatory bodies.
India becoming increasingly attractive as import partner
For the GCC, there is a great deal of potential for a strategic agricultural partnership with India. Bilateral ties are already strong, with the region being India’s largest trade partner and supplier of energy. India, a country self-sufficient in food production, accounts for just 2.5% of global agricultural exports currently, but plans to double its share by 2022. It has set a target of achieving $60bn in food exports, up 70% from current levels, over the next three years.
These objectives, enshrined in the Indian government’s new agricultural export policy announced in December 2018, dovetail with GCC interests because their achievement will require the establishment of institutional mechanisms to secure market access and tackle trade barriers, including sanitary issues. One example of a concrete action which supports the new policy is a scheme called PM-KISAN, which aims to double the income of small and medium-scale farmers by assisting in the procurement of inputs to ensure crop health and good yields.
The good news for India’s export ambitions is that there is a great deal of potential for it to expand food shipments to the GCC. At present, the majority of imports – 90% – go to three countries – Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait. Overall India provides the GCC with almost one-fifth of its agricultural imports.
There is also plenty of scope for the country to expand into higher value processed food products. The majority of India’s GCC food shipments are low value; vegetable products make up the majority, with cereals – the largest category in this group – accounting for 37% of India’s export revenues last year.
Efforts by New Delhi to build some 40 large-scale or “mega” food parks across the country could significantly bolster the India-GCC strategic agricultural partnership. The scheme aims to bring farmers, processors and retailers together to control quality, minimise waste, upgrade the value chain and improve farmers’ livelihoods. Of the $7bn the UAE is investing in Indian agriculture up to 2023, some $5bn will go towards this initiative. If successfully implemented, the parks could become an example in creating a win-win situation for most stakeholders.
What comes next? Diversifying partners, strengthening key relationships
In order to achieve food security it is imperative that GCC countries strike a balance between fostering highly diversified pool of food providers while maintaining a strong but more limited pool of strategic agricultural partnerships.
Diversification will require agribusinesses to invest in riskier destinations, including Africa, which holds 60% of global arable land.
In terms of strategic partnerships outside of India, Russia and Eastern Europe – especially Ukraine – present good opportunities. In addition to being the world’s first grain producer with an ambitious agricultural export policy, Ukraine is strongly incentivised to adopt best-in-class standards and regulation compliance due to its EU Association Agreement, which came into force in 2017.
Daniel Moshashai is the Regional Analyst at Castlereagh Associates. He specialises in Iran, the GCC, economic diversification in national agendas and geopolitics in the Middle East.


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Lululemon relies on brand ambassadors to engage with consumers during the pandemic.
Sophie McGuire & Koch House teamed up to provide masks for their community!
Certain states like Texas have allowed non-essential businesses like clothing retailers to resume sales via curbside pickup. Will it work?
As coronavirus closures put an increasing strain on retail, the historic department store group is set to file for bankruptcy.
There’s a bright side to all of this…
Fashion brands are stepping up to help slow the spread of the virus.
Panicking about the coronavirus isn’t worth the economic fallout.
As the fear surrounding coronavirus reaches a fever pitch and markets begin to reflect its deepening uncertainty, the question becomes: Can the luxury market recover from the panic of pandemic?
The health crisis in China has left many luxury brands scrambling.
COPYRIGHT © SMU LOOK 2020 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.


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Bank of America is under fire as federal regulators have accused the financial institution of engaging in deceptive practices, including opening accounts without customers’ knowledge, overcharging for overdraft fees, and withholding credit card reward points.
In response, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has imposed a substantial penalty on the bank, amounting to $250 million, with $100 million designated for customer restitution.
The CFPB Director, Rohit Chopra, expressed concern over Bank of America’s actions, stating that the bank wrongfully retained credit card rewards, applied unjustified fees, and initiated unauthorized account openings. Chopra emphasized that such practices are illegal and erode customer confidence, vowing that the CFPB will work towards eradicating such behaviors throughout the banking industry.
The allegations against Bank of America also include claims that the bank unlawfully accessed customer information to create fraudulent bank accounts on their behalf. This echoes a scandal from 2017 involving Wells Fargo, where employees were found guilty of opening millions of fictitious accounts to meet unrealistic sales targets, unbeknownst to the customers affected.
According to the CFPB, Bank of America employees illicitly applied for and enrolled consumers in credit card accounts without their consent, dating back to at least 2012. As a result, customers were unjustly burdened with fees, experienced negative impacts on their credit profiles, and were forced to invest time rectifying the errors.
Furthermore, the regulators assert that Bank of America failed to honor promised credit card account bonuses and rewards, despite enticing customers with cash rewards and bonus points during the sign-up process.
Bank of America has taken measures to address the issues that led to the penalties imposed by regulators. Spokesperson Bill Haldin confirmed that the bank has voluntarily eliminated non-sufficient fund fees and significantly reduced overdraft fees since the first half of 2022. These changes have resulted in a considerable drop in revenue from these fees, decreasing by more than 90%.
However, Bank of America did not directly address the CFPB’s allegations concerning the creation of fake credit card accounts and the wrongful denial of reward points. The $250 million penalty levied against the bank is among the largest it has ever faced. In recent years, Bank of America has confronted multiple fines, including a $10 million penalty for improper wage garnishment in 2022 and a $225 million settlement for mishandling state unemployment benefits during the pandemic. In 2014, the bank paid $727 million for illegal marketing of credit-card add-on products.


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Following the release of a final labeling rule for added solutions in raw meat and poultry products, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) is urging the Obama administration to turn their attention to mechanically tenderized meat.
DeLauro has been calling on the Department of Agriculture to finalize a rule, which will require meat packers to label beef that is mechanically tenderized, before the end of the year. Mechanically tenderized meat carries a higher risk of being contaminated with bacteria that causes food poisoning.
“This is not a small problem: a 2008 USDA study indicated that about 50 million pounds of mechanically tenderized beef products are sold every month. The Administration must act quickly to address this so American consumers will not be left in the dark for another three years.”
If the rule is not finalized by the end of the day today, food safety advocates say it won’t be implemented until January 2018 due to Food Safety and Inspection Service uniform compliance date requirements for labeling meat and poultry products.
On Wednesday, the USDA published a final rule that requires meat packers to label raw meat and poultry products that contain added solutions.
“I am pleased with today’s announcement that the administration has finalized the added solutions rule,” DeLauro said. “As families sit down to celebrate the new year they may be unaware their ham, turkey or roast contains a solution with added sodium."


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SPACs, a potentially hot IPO market, and the growth of at-home fitness companies could create an exciting 2021 and 2022 for the fitness industry. As the world looks forward to a non-pandemic time, the potential for financial movement within fitness-related companies clearly exists. However, for four-wall traditional retail fitness companies, the future is less certain.
As the light at the end of the pandemic becomes clearer, fitness-related companies aren’t just looking at how they can get customers back. Many are also looking to enter the capital markets publicly. Doing so can raise significant funding for these companies and allow founders/early investors to cash in.
However, going public in 2021 might not look the same across the entire fitness landscape. Even though gyms and other retail-oriented fitness companies may be able to reopen more and increase revenue, it will take time for investors to warm back up.
“The four-wall, more retail fitness companies I believe are not going public anytime soon. I think they have to share recovery numbers,” says Jon Canarick, managing partner at North Castle Partners, a private equity firm that invests in a variety of health and wellness companies such as Barry’s and Echelon.
Instead, the home fitness and fitness tech sectors could be where the action is. For example, in February, Beachbody and Myx announced a merger with Forest Road, a special acquisition company (SPAC), in order to go public. SPACs raise money and go public with the intent to acquire a company and therefore turn them into a publicly traded company, such as with the Beachbody/Myx deal.
Another example of public market fervor can be seen with Affirm. This fintech company counts Peloton as one of its top clients, allowing Peloton customers to purchase the bike but pay over time. Affirm had its initial public offering (IPO) in January 2021, and shares soared nearly 100% in the first day of trading, reports CNBC.
In 2020, several notable fitness companies were either planning to or rumored to be going public, such as F45 and Xponential. Yet ultimately they did not go through with these plans, in large part because of how the pandemic affected more retail-oriented businesses like gyms.
For example, in June 2020, Crescent Acquisition Corp, a SPAC, announced they would acquire F45 to take it public. However, less than four months later, the deal fell apart before its finalization.
“While we remain optimistic about the current performance and long-term growth prospects of F45, the prolonged uncertainty around the pandemic has challenged our ability to successfully complete the business combination,” said Robert Beyer, Crescent’s executive chairman, and Todd Purdy, Crescent’s CEO, in a press release.
But that doesn’t mean retail fitness companies will be locked out of public markets.
“I could see these companies going public again as soon as they show recovery in their numbers,” says Canarick. “I just don’t know if that’s 2021 or 2022.”
Much depends on whether fitness companies will be able to fully stay open in 2021 or if there are stops and starts as there were in 2020.
“If there’s a sustained period of time where these activities can continue for [around 3-6 months], it will give the impression to companies and investors that there’s a path forward and they can see the light at the end of the tunnel,” says Jason Pizza, national managing partner, transaction accounting and IPO readiness, at Grant Thornton. “If they can feel more confident in the industry, I see no reason not to venture back into public markets.”
Meanwhile, home-oriented fitness companies could increasingly go public. For example, ICON, the parent company of NordicTrack, is expected to go public or at least announce plans for an IPO in 2021. And with the stock market success of companies like Peloton, similar companies could follow.
“The current market absolutely incentivizes mature companies to go public,” explains Elizabeth Weil, founder and partner of Scribble Ventures, an early-stage venture firm that has investments in companies like Recess, a fitness streaming platform. “It’s not only the success of companies who have recently entered the public markets; it’s also the SPAC craze where you see your competitors going public and building a war chest. Nobody wants to be at a disadvantage and that leads companies to go public earlier than they might otherwise have.”
Surging Forward Through SPACs
As a whole, 2020 was a record-setting year for IPOs across U.S. financial markets, driven largely by the surge in SPACs, according to FactSet. And there are no signs of a slowdown.
“I absolutely think the IPO market will be as hot in 2021 as in 2020. With the Covid vaccine rolling out…and continued low interest rates, I think we could even see an acceleration, as crazy as that sounds,” says Weil. “I also think it will be interesting to see where the SPAC frenzy turns out and how it affects plans of late-stage companies and, in many cases, companies that we traditionally wouldn’t consider being listed on a well-known exchange.”
In essence, SPACs provide an IPO shortcut. A traditional IPO takes 6-18 months, but a SPAC can bring a company public in around three to six months, says Grant Thornton’s Pizza. This condensed timeframe reduces uncertainty, which makes SPACs so popular and likely to grow throughout at least 2021.
“You don’t know what anything’s going to look like in 18 months,” he says. “Everyone knows what’s going on right now, so why not take advantage. Right now company valuations are at an all-time high, and there are plenty of suitors looking to get into this market.”
For fitness-related companies, the growth of SPACs and the overall hot IPO market could create more opportunities to go public, including for smaller startups that want to try to cash in on the search for the next Peloton-esque company. Somewhat more established companies that may have otherwise stayed within private equity portfolios or at least taken on funding at a more measured pace could also jump into public markets.
At North Castle, the firm typically exits their investments by selling to strategic buyers, and they have not taken a company public. But that could change.
“The size of going public has changed because of SPACs,” says Canarick. “The whole stock world has lowered the enterprise value that one needs to achieve to become public. So it’s more on our radar than it would have been in prior years.”


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MEDIA, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- As the farm manager at Linvilla Orchards, Norm Schultz's job is socially distant. He has a team of six that helps him farm the 300 acres.
"We're lucky that the crew, they live together on the property, so they're very isolated," he said.
Schultz says while the orchard should be enjoying the crowds the annual strawberry festival would bring, business has doubled in the market and the garden.
"Right now, it's been a balance. The farm market is actually busier than the past because people like the experience of less crowds than a supermarket," he said.
The store has adopted a lot of precautions, requiring masks inside and limiting guests, putting up plastic covers at registers and offering curbside pickup.
"We've been in business 106 years," said Wayne Matsinger, the store manager. "We've gone through catastrophes - our barn burned down. That was our main building 20 years ago. This company can adapt better than anyone I've seen."
Linvilla said where business is taking a hit is on the entertainment side as festivals have been canceled. The playground is closed, and when strawberry picking does begin, it won't come with any hayrides.
The owners say they think people will come because it's outside.
"We did notice a couple farms are doing drive-thru festivals, so that's something we're looking at if this situation continues into the summer," said Schultz.
For now, rather than worry about what's ahead, the orchard is just hoping people will enjoy picking strawberries without the flare of a festival.
"We're asking people to come out and support the pick your own, but to be safe," said Schultz.
Delaware County orchard owner says farmers market sales have doubled amid pandemic
More TOP STORIES News


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Senate Votes to Screw Consumers in Bank and Credit Card Abuse Cases
On October 24, 2017, tens of millions of Americans lost a key protection against abuse by bank and credit card companies when Mike Pence cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate to repeal a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule that made it easier for people to sue banks and credit card companies. The rule prevented financial institutions from forcing consumers into binding arbitration and, as a result, opened up class-action suits as a way for people to join together to fight abuses.
Class-action lawsuits are a mechanism for bringing together many small claims into one case that would not be feasible to file separately.
Arbitration on the other hand is an incredibly expensive method of resolving disputes in secret, and the results are often slanted in favor of the industries who routinely hire arbitrators, i.e., banks and credit card companies.
Wells Fargo, for example, used arbitration clauses to block lawsuits by its customers who alleged that unauthorized accounts had been opened in their names. Ultimately, the bank estimated that as many as 3.5 million such accounts were opened.
The bank agreed to settle several class-actions suits, but not until the CFPB, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Los Angeles city attorney’s office fined the bank over those practices last year. Even in cases that the bank settled, it had argued that the plaintiffs could not sue because of arbitration clauses.
U.S. banks earned a record $171 billion in profits in 2016, whereas the cost of the CFPB regulation was less than $1 billion per year to the financial industry.
This development is important because many consumers unknowingly agree to binding arbitration when they open a checking account or sign up for a credit card or a prepaid card. Unfortunately, the arbitration clause is buried deep within the contract’s fine print and is frequently overlooked.
With the repeal of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s rule prohibiting financial institutions and credit card companies from forcing arbitration clauses on their customers, Washington has once again chosen to put the interests of their mega donors ahead of their constituents.


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Reports are emerging that Microsoft has once again renamed and relaunched its Windows 10 upgrade files for Windows 7 and Windows 8 users, apparently in an attempt to circumvent increasing push back from...
Blockchains are slow, wasteful and ill-suited for digital currencies, say researchers who believe they've found a better way
GitHub says it has found the problem and is working to resolve it.
Measures technologists can take to ensure the products they create are resistant to coercive control
The first wave of RPA may be over but it may have a big future in self-service IT
Members of the Microsoft's Windows Insider Programme will be the first to test the beta


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We blogged about the Loremo a while ago, but some cool news has accompanied the actual physical prototype's launch at the Frankfurt Auto Show.
Production begins in 2009 and prices are being listed as under 15,000 euros ($22,500) for the basic model, or 20,000 euros ($30,000) for the GT, which is incredibly cheap considering the alternatives coming to market. It also looks considerably less weird (and more attractive) than the Aptera, which we wrote about earlier this week, though the Aptera is, in the end, over twice as efficient. Still, I'd prefer to drive around in something that wasn't pre-owned by George Jetson. No word, though, on whether we will be able to get our hands on how much is viagra this sucker in North America.
Keep reading for a sweet video from Club of Pioneers' visit to the Frankfurt Auto Show.
written by Nick, February 21, 2008
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BiBiBop coming to Upper Arlington area, with more planned for 2014
The second BiBiBop Asian Grill will be just like the first – only bigger.
“We have a saying, ‘just like Grandview,’” Ellie Robinson told me. “There’s not much we want to change.”
Robinson is concept administrator for the fast casual Asian startup owned by Gosh Enterprises Inc., the Columbus-based owners of the Charley’s Grilled Subs and Charleys Philly Steaks chains.
BiBiBop took a step away from Gosh’s grilled steak roots when it opened its first restaurant in August at 1270 W. Fifth Ave. near Grandview Heights. The chain doles out rice bowls topped with meats, vegetables and Asian-style sauces in that assembly-line delivery system made ubiquitous by the likes of Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE:CMG) and Piada Italian Street Food.
The new BiBiBop will be at 1836 W. Henderson Road, a space that was a Charleys Philly Steaks until it closed late last year.
“Closing Charleys was sad, but we realized it’s a great space for a BiBiBop,” Robinson said.
The biggest benefit? More space. The 3,600-square-foot site is more than double the original restaurant and will have seating for around 90 versus 50 on Fifth Avenue.
“It’s easy to get to maximum capacity,” Robinson said of the first restaurant. “We needed a larger space. This gives us more room for prep too.”
There is more parking as well, which should be welcome news to anyone who has hit the original store at its peak times.
Menu, interior design and operations will stay the same, save for one tweak made possible by the bigger building. A carryout-only line will be added to handle call-ahead and online orders and separate those customers from the diners coming in off the street.
Dan Eaton covers retailing and restaurants for Columbus Business First.
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Retailers across the region claimed a successful Black Friday weekend, with the heaviest traffic in years at area shopping malls.
Although more people than ever are doing their holiday shopping online, two of the area's biggest malls reported substantially more shoppers in their stores than on the typical weekend.
More than 95,000 people went through Cherry Hill Mall on Black Friday alone, said Lisa Wolstromer, the mall's team marketing director. That compares with the usual Friday mall crowd of about 25,000 shoppers, she said.
King of Prussia mall, the area's biggest shopping center, reported a 10 percent traffic increase for the first official weekend of the holiday season.
"It looks like the Thanksgiving weekend, Thursday through Monday, was good for retail, although not in the traditional sense," said Bill Park, a partner at financial consultant Deloitte & Touche L.L.P. and head of the firm's retail consulting group for the Philadelphia region. "Shopping habits have changed, largely due to the Internet.
"While mall traffic was good overall, there were only a few cases of long lines," Park said. "Many opted to order that 'must have' gift online in the comfort of their own home."
Indeed, online sales reached $3.11 billion on Cyber Monday, an online shopping record for any one day, according to research firm comScore. The shopping surge on mobile devices and computers the Monday after Thanksgiving demonstrates the changing shopping habits of some consumers.
Not Sumera Rembert, 43, of Woodbury, who went on a shopping tear for holiday gifts in New Jersey and Philadelphia from Wednesday to Sunday.
While camped in a tent outside the Best Buy across from Deptford Mall, she hit Macy's on Wednesday night, Best Buy, Target, and back to Macy's on Thursday night; then it was Philadelphia Premium Outlets, Philadelphia Mills Mall, and Atlantic City Premium Outlets - all on Friday afternoon.
She was still going strong on Saturday afternoon, shopping at Gloucester Premium Outlets in Blackwood, N.J., and J.C. Penney at Deptford Mall. She rounded out the holiday weekend online, shopping Sunday morning to get a jump on Cyber Monday deals.
She estimated her tab for the five shopping days at more than $2,700.
"Black Friday is the only time of the year I get together with family and friends, and we make it a weekend event," said Rembert, who works for a hospital. "We had fun."
Kathy Smith, director of marketing and business development at King of Prussia, which is owned by Simon Property Group, said the bump in traffic was the "result of a combination of factors."
"The weather certainly played a critical role in motivating people to get out of the house to capitalize on some great deals," Smith said, "along with new store openings such as Primark last Wednesday, which attracted a lot of shoppers who were eager to explore the new brand."
Jim Malervy, director of marketing and business development at Oxford Valley Mall in Langhorne, said that at midnight on Thanksgiving night, more than 70 percent of his mall's stores were still open.
"Holiday shopping patterns have changed significantly over the past several years," said Joseph Coradino, CEO of Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, which owns several malls in the region, including Cherry Hill and Moorestown. "The Thanksgiving opening has extended the traditional Black Friday shopping surge to last the entire weekend . . . as shoppers were coming out to our malls in droves between Thursday and Sunday."
Penny Wilson, 48, from Croydon, Bucks County, entertained relatives for the holiday. The family went out to eat for an early Thanksgiving dinner and then went shopping.
Wilson missed out on coupons that were being handed out at the Penneys at Oxford Valley Mall on Thanksgiving. From there, her family hit Michael's Crafts, Kmart, Walmart, and Kohl's - all in Bucks County.
On Black Friday, they went to the Philadelphia Mills Mall. The Wilson family stayed home and rested on Saturday and Sunday.
Wilson's daughter Kristen Palmer, 29, who was visiting from Baltimore with her husband and two young sons, bought mostly toys and clothes online, while at her mother's house.
"We did pretty good," Wilson said of the weekend shopping adventure. "There were a lot of good sales this year. The only place that there was really a long line to get in was Kohl's in Bensalem. Otherwise, everything was in and out."


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Severe Weather a Reason to Back up Company or Home Data
OKLAHOMA – With tornadoes and severe weather a constant threat this time of year, companies and individuals are more vigilant about protecting their personal property from damage and loss. One point of vulnerability – the potential for data loss – often doesn’t make the list of concerns until it is too late and the damage is already done.
Every day companies and individuals lose critical data to severe weather, fires, computer failure or human error. The loss of vital client files, confidential information and billing records can have devastating effects on businesses. For families the loss of treasured photos and videos – even financial or tax information – can be devastating.
“The sad fact is, it doesn’t take a natural disaster to cause harm to valuable information,” said Jeff Cato, vice president of marketing for CoreVault, a company specializing in online data backup and time-sensitive restoration. “While a tornado can cause irretrievable loss, human error, hardware and system failure are the more common villain when it comes to destroying important data, either business or personal.”
That’s why many companies and consumers are finding an ally in CoreVault. With clients in more than 30 states and several countries, CoreVault offers online data backup that resides in two private and totally redundant data centers. One center is in Oklahoma City, while the other is located over 120 miles away, ensuring the service will remain operational. The company conducts regular “failover” testing and secures stringent third-party certifications like 70 Type II.
Ironically, the company was started in 2005 when CoreVault’s parent company, Dobson Technologies, experienced its own need for a better off-site data backup solution. After careful consideration of options that did not meet their stringent security requirements, Dobson Technologies chose to create their own company and CoreVault was born.
Cato says the company has seen an increase in business as companies look to improve their security, automation, regulatory compliance and off-site data storage to prevent lawsuits and damaged reputations that result from data loss.
“Not having an off-site data storage system in place for your home or business is like not having insurance,” said Cato. “You are virtually unprotected in the event of an emergency, whether it is severe weather, a computer meltdown or human error. Data protection and recovery is often one of those things you ‘don’t need until you need it.’”
Data storage and restoration are vital to a company’s survival. All it takes is one significant data loss — like critical customer billing information — and it could mean losing clients. Companies are urged to back up the following information:
With the steady rise of “paperless” systems, explosive data growth and a growing dependence on technology, most companies need storage capabilities that are more automated, secure and reliable than external hard drives. That’s why an online service like CoreVault that automatically stores your data off-site is an ideal solution. Then recovery is no longer a worry.
“Consumers should also consider backing up personal information on their home computer often, and to keep it off-site at a second location,” said Cato. “In the event of a fire or tornado, there is a good chance your computer and external hard drive could be affected.”
“The bottom line is that companies need to be prepared,” said Cato. “That’s why it’s important they select a trusted provider that secures information at two sites and can quickly re-establish information in the event of a loss. It’s just one less thing to worry about.”


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Healthcare IoT startup Evelabs Technologies on Wednesday said it got investment worth USD 200,000 from JITO Angel Network and Smart Sparks Angel Network under Venture Way Sports Ecosystem, besides half-a-dozen individuals.
The six-year-old firm founded by Sanjai Rajendran, Sruthy Gopal and Vishnu M S is based in Kerala Technology Innovation Zone, near here.
Housed in Maker Village at Kalamassery, the company’s pilot product is Dripo, which is a connected infusion monitor that helps healthcare practitioners set, manage and monitor infusion therapy at ease.
The investment comes at a time when, according to RedSeer Consulting, India’s e-health industry’s gross merchandise value is poised to reach between USD 9 billion to 12 billion by 2025, and USD 40 billion by 2040.
“The growth shows a huge opportunity for companies in this segment,” according to Anoop Ambika, CEO of Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM), which is the nodal agency of the Kerala Government for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the state.
The 2016-founded Evelabs is working on connected devices for in-patient experience and safety in hospitals and home cares. Its pilot product Dripo, which has over 99 per cent accuracy in drop detection, is a connected infusion monitor that does not need calibration and costly infrastructure. Evelabs has set up its ISO13485-certified production facility for the products in Maker Village.
The company is supported by organisations such as TIMED-Sree Chitra Institute of Medical Sciences, IITMK Maker Village, Kerala Startup Mission, IKP Hyderabad, DERBI Foundation, BIRAC and Department of Biotechnology.


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Faced with the impact of Utah’s exceptional drought, some cattle ranchers are looking to sell.
Hay — which is a heavy user of water — is hard to come by, said state agriculture commissioner Craig Buttars. Some ranchers in the state are looking to sell their cattle herds to its downfall. This could impact Utah’s food supply down the road.
“What we will see is disruption, if we see a lot of cattle coming to market this fall and then a year or two later we will see shortages,” he said during a recent interview.
To help ranchers stay afloat, the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food has set up a website to facilitate connections between farmers who still grow hay during the drought and ranchers who need it. Many farmers have harvested hay and called it good for the year, while others are still trying. The site may also facilitate out-of-state purchases.
The website has just been launched, but Commissioner Buttars said he hopes it can at least help some agricultural producers during the drought.
“I heard there had been online hookups that would help a bit,” he said.
The website can be found here.
The entire state is in drought, but much of Utah is now in the worst drought categories – extreme and exceptional. Governor Spencer Cox called on Utahns to conserve and reduce outdoor watering.
The agricultural industry, which is a large user of water, has also had to make changes. According to the Utah Department of Natural Resources, farmers have 75% less water this year than last year. Some farmers are making changes to maximize water savings, including lining canals, modifying sprinklers, and using different planting techniques.
US Department of Agriculture awards $50 million grant to sugar beet industry – Agweek
New York State Department of Agriculture Announces Statewide Urban Agriculture Study
Department of Agriculture Launches New Favorite PA Website Connecting Pennsylvanians to PA Products and Agricultural Destinations


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Three years after acquiring consumer residential portal Homesnap for $250 million, CoStar is now suing the company’s founders, claiming they stole company secrets and poached employees as they attempted to launch what appears to be a rival product.
Filed last week in federal court, the suit names Guy Mazur, Thomas Goff, Guy Wolcott and Jeffrey Repanich as defendants, along with Happening Technology, Inc, a Maryland-based company formed in January 2023.
Wolcott was the founder of Homesnap, while Mazur was its CEO. Just a week before Happening Technology was registered as a corporation in Maryland, CoStar announced that it would be essentially killing off the Homesnap brand, merging assets with another residential portal it owned, Homes.com.
The lawsuit demands injunctive relief, including that Happening Technology cease marketing products that have utilized CoStar trade secrets, as well as requesting an unspecified award of damages.
CoStar lawyers are also requesting a forensic audit to remove its trade secrets from tech created by Happening Technology.
RISMedia attempted to contact Happening Technology representatives through a phone number provided on public disclosures forms. Messages left at that number were not returned at press time.
A CoStar Group spokesperson called it “unfortunate” that “a small group of former-employees sought to capitalize on their time at CoStar Group by taking the hard-work and innovations of others here at CoStar Group, and attempted to pass it off as their own.”
“We have therefore filed suit to protect CoStar Group’s intellectual property and our employees’ innovations,” the spokesperson said.
According to the lawsuit, Repanich was a principal engineer at CoStar, who was asked to take “a leading role” implementing a new CoStar residential data transfer product shortly before resigning. Goff worked on the same product, and resigned the same day as Repanich in late 2022, the lawsuit says.
Mazur, who had continued to oversee Homesnap and CoStar’s other residential platform, Homes.com, departed the company along with Wolcott in early 2023.
Wolcott, Goff and Repanich are now listed as executives on an SEC form filed by Happening Technology, while Mazur is listed as a director. Another person listed as a director of the company, William E. Savage Jr., is not named in the suit.
This past summer, Wolcott set up a meeting and pitched Happening Technology’s new platform directly to his former employers at CoStar, “(i)n an apparent effort to convince CoStar to bless (the) misappropriation and misuse of CoStar confidential information and trade secrets.”
After that presentation, made to CoStar CTO Frank Simuro and VP of Software Development Adam Kleiner, Wolcott allegedly sent a follow-up email claiming he was already having “similar conversations” with Black Knight, a CoStar competitor.
Simuro and Kleiner “realized” that the platform Wolcott was pitching had been built with CoStar trade secrets. After CoStar lawyers reached out to the former employees alleging breach of contract, the defendant’s lawyers handed over documents “improperly retained” from their time at CoStar, including photos of whiteboards with strategic plans for the data transfer technology.
At press time, the defendants had not responded to the lawsuit in court.
The lawsuit comes as CoStar has begun to see its influence and marketshare grow in the residential space. In a recent interview with RISMedia, CoStar Founder and CEO Andy Florance credited the company’s commitment to a speedy, technically sound and reliable online platform as part of the reason its Homes.com platform has grown to compete with portal giants like Zillow and Redfin.
This is a developing story. Stay tuned to RISMedia for updates.


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Sevastopol DI team opens school store
SEVASTOPOL- A Sevastopol Destination Imagination team brought its service learning project to fruition Thursday with the opening of its Sharing is Caring school store.
Destination Imagination (DI) is a global competition that gets students involved with hands-on activities that include science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), fine arts and service learning. Each team picks a category to compete in. Team Owsam; made up of Oliver Mathews, Jordyn Welch, Nicole Olson, Eve Andreae, Danica Schultz and Mekhi Welch chose Project Outreach, a service learning project. The team is a mix of fourth- and fifth-grade students. The team manager is Sarah Olson and the assistant manager is Megan Kasten, a Sevastopol senior.
Thursday's opening, though quiet, showcased the work the team had done. This included getting permission from school principals for use of a room, permission to open the store, and soliciting donations. The Sharing is Caring store is open Thursdays for staff, students and parents. Tables around the room hold everything from blankets to a variety of clothing and shoes.
People who come in can fill two paper bags with anything they want in the room, Jordyn Welch said.
The idea for the project started with a request to a teacher to wear Halloween costumes all day at school, Jordyn said. The teacher denied Jordyn and another student's request because not all children are able to afford Halloween costumes.
When it came time to choose a project for DI, the students took that information and broadened the idea.
"Halloween only comes once a year and it was already past Halloween. So, we were like, 'Why would we do it to Halloween costumes if Halloween already passed?'" she said. "So we decided to expand."
All the items in the store are donated. The store is open for at least the next two months.
"We are hoping that other schools in our community start up a school store like we have,"Jordyn said.
The team also donated needed items to a family that lost its belongings in a fire and business attire to Northeast Wisconsin Technical College for adults who need clothes for job interviews.
The team will present its project at future DI competitions.
-email@example.com, Samantha Hernandez on Facebook or 920-743-3321, ext. 4112.


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Another family, clambering excitedly on the rocks, kept looking up, smiling and waving, as their drone flew backwards and forwards ... Forvie National Nature Reserve, about 15 miles south of Peterhead ...
We bring together the very latest drone news from hundreds of sources across the web! Product releases, reviews
& videos combined with help on finding some of the very best drone deals from stores and online outlets!
Constantly updated through the day - every day -
the site has everything for the beginner right right through to the seasoned drone professional!


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Starting July 13 and continuing through July 20, teachers can save 15 percent on school supplies at Target.
The retailer’s second annual Teacher Prep Event will enable teachers to get discounts on the following items:
All school supplies, including: pens, pencils, crayons, notebooks, folders, binders, arts and crafts items like markers, colored pencils, scissors, glue and classroom storage;
Essentials: disinfecting wipes, tissues, hand sanitizer, and food storage bags;
Bullseye’s Playground items;
Men’s and women’s apparel and accessories, including performance, basics and shoes.
Items that will not be eligible for a teacher discount include electronics, backpacks, lunch bags, trial and travel size items, swimwear, sleepwear, Fan Central, clearance items, items sold and shipped by Target+TM Partners, and Levi’s Red Tab.
To participate in the event, teachers will need to provide proof that they are an educator. Target said it will email the coupon to teachers able to verify the information online.
"We can take any document that ties your name and/or email address to an educational system" for verification, Target said on its website. "Eligible guests who are not able to validate online can visit their local Target store and present their ID to the cashier for assistance."
Target will also accept a school ID card, letter of employment on a school letterhead, or a current pay stub as verification.
While the event is primarily aimed at K-12 teachers, the retailer says it will also offer discounts to teachers who work in daycare centers, early childhood learning centers, and home schools.
“We want to ensure all teachers get the opportunity to use this coupon,” Target says.


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So you’ve been wondering, where’s the flying car you were promised when you were young?
The Flying Car Is Long Overdue
Chances are you have dreamt of a flying car, like in the “The Jetsons”, since you were young. Like a lot of us, you are probably still dreaming of a flying car. In fact, about a century ago, when cars had just starting to become popular, flying was already getting its start from people like the Wright Brothers. Nevertheless, airplane technology took off but the concept of a flying car; well it didn’t develop very quickly, until now.
Sky’s The Limit
TomorrowCar is taking emerging technologies and integrating them into the first generation of what is being referred to as the Passenger Drone industry. The new Passenger Drones will fly you safely from one place to another and back all while using only voice commands if you desire. Putting safety first, all new passenger Drones will include collision avoidance systems technology currently used in commercial drones and self-driving cars.
Turning Dreams into Reality
TomorrowCar is currently developing affordable Passenger Drones which we hope to make available to everyone, soon. The concept of a person safely flying from one place to another and back is going to be a game-changer. Initially, the TomorrowCar passenger drone will be designed to operate as a recreational vehicle over water and open terrestrial areas. Today, here at TomorrowCar we are proud to say, we are almost ready to take you soaring, just like in “The Jetsons”.
Why & How
The Passenger Drone is being made possible by advancements in many different technology areas including Artificial Intelligence, self-driving cars/vehicles, commercial drones, battery storage and, the electric motor.
The Passenger Drone
TomorrowCar is developing a Passenger Drone apply named, The Passenger Drone. When completed, the state-of-the-art aerial transport vehicle will be the first affordable recreational passenger drone available to everyone. Initially, the Passenger Drone will be designed to operate as a recreational vehicle over water and terrestrial areas.


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The sharp rise in their value promises big profits for investors (before coin prices fall, that is). And the "fortunes" that can be created from fictitious mining are reminiscent of the gold rush back in the 1800s. team of the global cybersecurity company ESET.
In fact, if you are interested in cryptocurrencies today, you are very likely to run the risk of being scammed. This is the new Wild West - a lawless, uncontrollable world where malicious criminals often have the upper hand. Fraud prevention rules apply here as well. Everything you read on the internet should be carefully reviewed and checked. Keep your reservations about the "noise" of publicity and you will have a good chance of staying safe, says Phil Muncaster from ESET.
Why are cryptocurrency scams on the rise?
Scammers use current affairs and popular trends to deceive their victims. And there is nothing more topical than cryptocurrencies. Media articles and social media posts are partly responsible, as they create a cycle of publicity feedback that reinforces the hysteria surrounding virtual currencies. The result; From October 2020 to May 2021, Americans lost about $ 80 million (€ 71 million) in thousands of cryptocurrency scams. according to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. In the United Kingdom, the amount is even higher: the British police claim that the victims lost more than 146 172 million (€ 2021 million) in the first nine months of XNUMX.
Why are such scams on the rise? Because:
- In the cryptocurrency market there are few or no rules for investors, compared to the traditional stock market.
- The huge interest of the media is a good bait for phishing and other types of scams.
- Cryptocurrency boom attracts people who dream of getting rich quick
- Social media helps to amplify the noise, real or imagined
- There is also the lure of coin mining for money, which cybercriminals can use as a hook.
What are the most common cryptocurrency scams?
If you have digital money stored securely in a cryptocurrency exchange, you may be threatened by hackers. In many cases, cybercriminals have managed to extract funds from these companies, sometimes even "raising" hundreds of millions. However, usually the companies that are violated promise to compensate their customers. Unfortunately, there are no such assurances for victims of cryptocurrency fraud. If you fall victim to fraud you can lose a lot of money.
It's worth understanding what these scams look like. According to Phil Muncaster from ESET these are some of the most common:
Investor "pyramids": This is a species investment fraud where victims are tricked into investing in a non-existent company or a "quick fortune" scheme, which in fact does nothing more than fill a scammer's pocket. Cryptocurrencies are ideal for this type of scam, as scammers are always inventing new, undefined "cutting-edge" technologies to attract investors and generate greater virtual profits. Data falsification is easy when the currency is fictitious anyway.
The "bubble" phenomenon: Exhibiting false information scammers encourage investors to buy shares from not-so-well-known cryptocurrency companies. Then the share price rises and the scammer sells his own shares, making a satisfactory profit and leaving the victim with useless shares.
Fake celebrity ads: Scammers hack into celebrity social media accounts or create fake accounts and encourage their followers to invest in fake schemes like the one above. In a well-made scam, about $ 2 million was lost to fraudsters who they even included the name of Elon Musk in a Bitcoin address, in order to make the trick more reliable.
Fake exchanges: Scammers send emails or post messages on social media promising access in virtual cash stored in cryptocurrency exchanges. The only pitfall is that the user usually has to pay a small fee first. In fact, the exchange does not exist and their money is lost forever.
Dangerous applications: Cybercriminals falsify law cryptocurrency applications and upload them to app stores. If you install one of these applications it may steal your personal and financial information or install malware on your device. Others may trick users into paying for non-existent services or trying to steal passwords for their cryptocurrency wallet.
Fake press releases: Sometimes scammers even manage to trick journalists, who republish false information. This happened on two occasions, when major news websites wrote stories about large commercial chains preparing to accept certain cryptocurrencies. The fake coupons type on which these stories were based were part of plans aimed at increasing the value of the cryptocurrencies held by the fraudsters.
Phishing/ authentication: Phishing is one of the most popular ways for fraudsters to act. Emails, text messages, and social media messages are falsified to appear to be sent from a legitimate, trusted source. Sometimes this "source" - for example, a credit card provider, a bank or a government official - requests payment in cryptocurrencies. They will try to force you to act hastily without thinking about it.
What can you do to avoid being scammed?
The best weapon in the fight against fraud is suspicion. Unfortunately, we live in an age where not everything we read on the internet is true. Many of them are designed to deceive and harm us. With that in mind, try the following to avoid being scammed:
- Never give out your personal information to anyone who comes in contact with you unannounced, via email, text, social media, etc. It may even appear that the sender is a friend of yours, but in reality it could be a hacker who has compromised his email or social media account. Communicate individually with each other in some other way.
- If something looks too good to be true, then it probably isn't. Deal with any investment schemes with a high degree of distrust
- Enable two-factor authentication for each cryptocurrency account you have
- Reject any investment "opportunity" that requires a down payment
- Never use unofficial app stores
- Install anti-malware software from a reputable provider on your PC and mobile devices
"People may have lost their minds about cryptocurrencies, but that does not mean you should be fooled," says ESET's Phil Muncaster. Keep your cool and ignore the doro.
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