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iPad drives even higher tablet sale forecasts
Demand for tablets is set to increase faster than first predicted, according to International Data Corporation (IDC) and it will be driven by Apple’s hugely popular iPad.
IDC’s revised forecast for 2012 has been increased from 106.1 million units to 107.4 million and a whopping 222.1 million units by 2016.
Apart from predicting an increase in the size of the tablet market, IDC also calculated a move towards Apple’s iOS, which only runs on the iPad, and away from Android, which powers many devices from various manufacturers including Samsung, Sony, Toshiba and Motorola.
IDC expects Apple to grow its market share of tablets with the iPad to 62.5 per cent in 2012 – up from 58.2 per cent in 2011.
At the same time IDC expects Android to drop away to 36.5 per cent in 2012 – down from 38.7 per cent in 2011.
“After a very strong launch of new products in March, Apple’s iPad shows few signs of slowing down,” said Tom Mainelli, IDC research director for mobile connected devices.
“The addition of the Retina Display and 4G capabilities to the third-generation products clearly enticed many current owners to upgrade.
“And Apple’s decision to keep two iPad 2s in the market at lower prices seems to be paying off as well.”
Mainellli says if Apple released it rumoured smaller iPad it would have an even larger slice of the tablet pie.
If Apple launches a 7-inch product into the market later this year as rumored, we expect the company’s grip on this market to become even stronger,” he said.


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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce...on second thought, hold the whole order.
That's the response many fast food chains are hearing more these days from customers whose changing tastes and bargain-hunting have the likes of McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's locked in a price war.
McDonald's, the world's biggest restaurant chain, has been struggling with sagging sales while AmeriKing, one of Burger King's main franchisees, recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from creditors, in part because of the recent price wars that have undercut profits.
And while sales at Wendy's International (WEN: unchanged at $26.71, Research, Estimates) have been rising, the No. 3 burger chain recently lowered its profit forecast for the year. Meanwhile, Diageo, the British firm that owns Burger King, has been having trouble finding a buyer for the chain, though it said last week it expects to sell the business in December to a consortium led by Texas Pacific Group.
"There seem to be several trends combining to pull people away from fast food," said Michelle Roehm, assistant professor of marketing at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C. "We're fatter than we've ever been here in the United States... fast casual is definitely growing."
The turmoil has led the big fast-food chains to take a variety of steps before the fat really hits the fryer.
Last week, McDonald's Corp. (MCD: down $0.26 to $17.09, Research, Estimates) CEO Jack Greenberg said he plans to retire at the end of the year. Greenberg's retirement comes as the world's largest restaurant chain continues to struggle with sagging sales and new menu items that have failed to strike a chord with customers.
Salomon Smith Barney analyst Mark Kalinowski told the New York Times last week that investors have been clamoring for a leader at McDonald's who can be an "agent of change."
Burger King is offering 99-cent Whoppers to better compete with McDonald's, which began offering a value menu in the fall with a range of items for $1. Wendy's has always offered a value menu.
The stocks of these companies have taken a hit as cheaply priced burgers cut into margins and consumers increasingly show a taste for fast-casual dining at such places as Panera Bread and Darden Restaurants' Olive Garden, where they can eat higher-quality food and have a sit-down restaurant experience, analysts said.
Shares of Oak Brook, Ill.-based McDonald's are off 41 percent from their 52-week high of $30.72, and Dublin, Ohio-based Wendy's shares are off about 35 percent from their high of $41.60. Meanwhile, shares of Louisville, Ky.-based YUM Brands (YUM: down $0.23 to $22.27, Research, Estimates), the owner of Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC, are off 29 percent from their $23.68 high.
Kalinowski maintained his "underperform" rating on McDonald's saying in a Dec. 3 research note that McDonald's dollar menu is simply not generating enough sales to make a significant difference.
Part of the problem stems from an increasing shift toward slightly more upscale fast-casual dining, some analysts said.
"I just think casual dining has become so much more affordable that whether you eat at home or in the restaurant, more people are trading up from fast food to the casual dining experience," said Jonathan Mueller, equity analyst for the AIM Constellation Fund, which owns Wendy's and YUM Brands. The fund does not own McDonald's.
Mueller said part of McDonald's problem is that they have saturated the U.S. market with 15,000 restaurants, leaving little room for growth. The company is left trying to come up with new gimmicks such as the dollar menu to lure customers into the stores.
These factors, he said, have given customers little reason to keep coming back, particularly when they are being enticed by the growth of so-called fast-casual restaurants.
Both McDonald's and Wendy's recognize this trend to more upscale casual dining, and are positioning themselves to compete at that level, Mueller said.
McDonald's recently acquired Denver-based Chipotle Mexican Grill while Wendy's earlier this year bought Baja Fresh, a fast-casual Mexican food chain and has taken a stake in Cafe Express and Pasta Pomodoro.
"This is really preparing us for 7-10 years down the road," Wendy's spokesman Bob Bertini said. "Right now, we think that, with roughly 5,400 Wendy's in the U.S., over the next decade we can double that number, but you have to look ahead in terms of profit streams."
Recent lawsuits by customers who claim fast food restaurants contributed to their obesity and lingering worries over mad cow disease, while not having a serious impact on stock prices, has added to the negative publicity surrounding these chains and helped fuel demand for more fast-casual dining, Mueller said.
Roehm said fast-casual restaurants offer customers the chance to have a sit-down meal, eat higher quality food and not have to pay the premium price of a more upscale restaurant.
Though fast food restaurants are beginning to offer more fast-casual, don't look for McDonald's, Wendy's and Burger King to start getting out of the burger business any time soon, says Mueller. Investors want to see these companies refocus on their core brands.
"I would rather see McDonald's say we're not a growth stock anymore and we're going to close underperforming stores and become more of a reset the bar-type of company," Mueller said, adding that ending the margin-eroding value-menus would also help.

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Housebuilder reports strong trading since summer
Housebuilder Barratt has reported private sales up 47% in the 19 weeks since the start of July.
The firm said the rise gave it £1.13bn of forward sales, up 47% on the figure at the same point last year.
It added the number of private reservations it received per site per week had risen by almost a third, from 0.54 to 0.71, and that prices had risen by around 1.5-2% through reductions in the offering of incentives. The firm said that it had seen no adverse effects on build costs or delivery of homes despite increased pressure on the supply of materials. It put this down to “strong supplier relationships” and a “centralised procurement approach.”
The firm said the strong trading performance, in line with that reported by other listed housebuilders in recent weeks, had been backed by the government’s Help to Buy scheme, under which it had sold 2,800 homes.
It has now sold 4,514 plots, compared to just 3,514 in the same period last year.
Mark Clare, group chief executive, said the market was being driven by better lending conditions and improving customer confidence, and the firm was responding by increasing production and investment.
He said: “Our disciplined approach to land buying over the last four years is bringing forward high return sites into production and we continue to secure excellent land opportunities. With better market conditions and the benefits of high return land, we are confident that we will deliver substantial improvements in our performance for the full year.”


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Albert Heijn accused of misleading customers
Foodwatch, a consumer watchdog organisation for the food industry, has accused supermarket chain Albert Heijn of misleading consumers about the contents of its organic and sustainable-branded products.
The organisation says that the supermarket’s puur&eerlijk (pure and honest) brand gives people the idea that Albert Heijn is concerned with health, while in fact these products contain a lot of unnecessary sugars, salt and flavour enhancers.
A spokesman for foodwatch said, "They are absolutely not - as Albert Heijn's own website suggests - produced, grown or purchased with extra care for people, animals, nature and the environment."
"They actually contain flavour enhancers, E-numbers and inhumanly farmed meat or milk."
Natural or manmade?
Puur&eerlijk, a private label by Albert Heijn and one of many commercial responses to the growing popularity of sustainable food in the Netherlands, is put on products that are fall into one or more of the categories of organic, fair trade, sustainable fish, free range or ecological.
That, according to foodwatch, is exactly the problem. While the main ingredient may be organically or sustainably produced, the rest often contains colourants and flavourings.
"Take the jalapeño burger. The main ingredient is free-range meat, but there are 20 other ingredients have been added, such as sugar and a flavor enhancing yeast extract. Also, it’s only 80 per cent meat, while the rest has been sprayed with water. I do not call it pure and honest," said the spokesman.
Social media campaign
The consumer watchdog launched a social media campaign against Albert Heijn this week, calling on people to tell the supermarket chain to reflect on their responsibilities.
They say they want to make people aware of the deception around the label, adding that it would be ideal if the supermarket only put this claim on products that were really pure and honest.
For Albert Heijn’s part, they have stated that they found foodwatch’s allegations to be inaccurate and unjustified. A spokesman said, "Albert Heijn has deliberately chosen an umbrella brand because, due to the large number of categories, consumers could not see the forest for the trees."
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Beats 1 is one of the most-watched radio stations in the world, probably not least because of its excellent placement in Apple’s music app. In the future, the station will be called Apple Music 1, but will still be available for free. Additionally, Apple is introducing two new channels.
Beats 1 was released in 2015. It is a radio station that streams live around the clock, besides pop, hip hop, and indie music, there are also live broadcasts with Zane Lowe, Ebro Darden, and others. The radio station is broadcast from studios in New York, Nashville, Los Angeles, and London.
In a press release, Apple announced that the radio station will be named Apple Music 1 in the future, but it was not confirmed if anything in the program would change. The station remains freely available through Apple’s music app, no permanent subscription to Apple Music is required – it’s unclear if this also applies to the two new stations.
With the creation of Apple Music Hits, the tech giant is launching a radio station that will play the most famous songs of the 80s, 90s, and 2000s. In addition to music, the station will also broadcast moderated programs from renowned hosts and artists. Apple Music Country has another genre radio station that should feature both modern and old music.
Apple Music Radio is available on all devices that can also stream Apple Music. This includes almost all current Apple products, as well as CarPlay-enabled cars, Android smartphones, Windows computers, and all devices that have a browser to stream radio stations directly over the Internet.


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Ecom Shares has grown over the years to become a leading ecommerce solutions provider in the United States. The company’s popularity has skyrocketed since their official launch in the country in 2017 and recently reiterated their goal of helping as many people as possible in the US to leverage the features of eCommerce to achieve their financial goals by registering as an LLC.
“Ecom Shares is proud to present our official registration from the Sunshine State of Florida. This is where we first started our partnership with eBay back in 2017, a few months before we also partnered with Amazon. Florida is what we consider our home in America. Registering our first American permit in Florida brings back a lot of memories. Our CEO couldn’t be happier now that the only thing that prevents him from making millionaires is gone.”
The global dropshipping market has grown in leaps and bounds over the years, with the increased penetration of the internet and the growing online population helping to drive the industry. According to a recent report released by ResearchAndMarkets.com, the market was valued at US$ 162.44 billion in 2019 with a projection that it will reach US$ 591.77 billion by 2027. Unfortunately, millions of people still struggle to leverage the dropshipping model to have a business presence on the internet. However, William Thomas and his team at Ecom Shares are looking to make a difference with the launch of the Product Package Share program and the subsequent LLC registration.
William Thomas, the CEO of Ecom Shares recently announced plans to help 1000 individuals become millionaires by 2022, a move that led to the launch of an exclusive eCommerce program. However, existing and potential PPS holders demanded that Ecom Shares provide proof of registration in the USA. Consequently, the company decided to register from the Sunshine State of Florida.
A foreign entity doing business within the United States of America is required to register their operations if the entity has an office or a building within the USA, a business bank account on any American bank, or if it pays taxes to any American state. Based on this criterion, Ecom Shares is not required to register in any state of the USA. However, the CEO of Ecom Shares is not letting anything prevent him from achieving the goal of liberating thousands of individuals despite not legally required to register. This informed the decision to register the company to continue in the pursuit of helping 1,000 individuals across the US become financially free by 2022.
Company registration: https://tinyurl.com/dvtfdftj


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Wagshal’s debuts Montreal-style beef brisket for foodservice operators
Wagshal’s Imports, Washington D.C., released USDA Prime Smoked Beef Brisket for foodservice operations.
“We consider our USDA Prime Smoked Beef Brisket to be a genuine labor of love,” says Aaron Fuchs, proprietor. “Our brisket, inspired by Montreal smoked meat, is a unique cross of pastrami and corned beef. The smoking and curing process involves almost two months of preparation.”


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Why it matters to you
The Nintendo Switch has been available worldwide for a little over a month and Nintendo is shifting its attention to the system’s second wave of software. A Nintendo Direct live-stream has been announced for 3 p.m. (PT) on Wednesday with the promise of more details on two hotly anticipated releases.
The broadcast will showcase Arms, the new fighting game that is based on extendable arms that can be used to punch, block, throw, and perform various other martial manoeuvres. While a vague release window of the second quarter of 2017 has already been announced, we are like to hear a more specific date as part of the live-stream.
Arms was unveiled at the Switch reveal event in January but we haven’t seen a great deal of footage since then. However, there were some very positive responses to the title during early gameplay previews, so hopes are high that the finished product will be a must-play release, bolstering the system’s growing library.
More: Here’s where to go to buy a Nintendo Switch
This week’s Nintendo Direct live-stream will also feature Splatoon 2, the sequel to Nintendo’s hugely popular paint-based shooter. Switch owners have already had the chance to preview the game firsthand thanks to the Testfire event in March.
Like Arms, Splatoon 2 doesn’t have a firm release date — it is expected to launch in either in the second or third quarter of 2017 but no further details have been offered just yet. It seems likely that this edition of Nintendo Direct will be largely concerned with informing Switch early adopters about the games they will be playing this summer.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the big Switch game for April but beyond that, the system’s release schedule looks a little spotty. However, Arms and Splatoon 2 both look very promising, and stand a good chance of holding gamers’ attention until major titles like Skyrim and Super Mario Odyssey that are expected to hit later in the year.


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SUNBELT set to grow areaPublished 10:22am Wednesday, November 23, 2011
BY CASSANDRA REID
Madison has consistently been ranked by CNN/Money Magazine as one of the best places to live and it’s no question as to why: great schools, great real estate, great people, and a great local economy.
“Our mayors have done a tremendous job promoting the area and because of it, eyes outside of the state are starting to turn towards North Alabama, particularly Huntsville and Madison.” said Melinda Tsang, a managing broker of SUNBELT of North Alabama.
SUNBELT of North Alabama provides consulting and representation services for those who are looking to either buy or sell a business. The local office represents 9 counties of North Alabama and is a part of the larger SUNBELT company, which is one of the world’s largest business brokerage firms.
“We are the place to go for buying or selling a business,” said Tsang, who has over 20 years of experience and has lived in Madison County since childhood. “We service both buyers and sellers.
For buyers, we help them choose the right business based on their interests and experience. We also help them understand the workflows and jargon often associated with transactions.”
She said SUNBELT gather all their financial information, screen buyers, and make recommendations on pricing and values.” She also says not many people are aware of the idea of business brokers.
“Business brokers are the go-to people for any kind of change in business, including relocation, expansion, or even retirement,” she said. “We are specially trained and certified to handle business related procedures and information with utmost discretion, confidentiality, and efficiency.”
Senior Broker Jerry Bong said the Madison area is “very favorable” for business owners.
“The population increase means new customers to help sustain growth for business owners,” Bong said.
There are six brokers in the office and Tsang said they are looking for more in order to keep up with the demand.
“The area is a hidden pearl that is about to expand and develop rapidly,” she said.
SUNBELT is also sponsoring the Madison Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Dec. 6, which will be held at the Holiday Inn. The luncheon is set to be one of the biggest of the year and will feature guest speaker Robert Lightfoot, the director of Marshall Space Flight Center.
For more information on the SUNBELT’s services, visit their information booth which will be set up at the commerce luncheon, visit their Web site at Northalabama.sunbeltnetwork.com, or call at (256)539-9999.


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Globally, open banking is at an inflection point. More than one hundred countries have either already introduced open banking regulations, or — like the US — are discussing doing so, and the space is experiencing an annual growth rate of 175%. In addition, a great deal of innovation has already happened behind the scenes, with hundreds of fintechs, banks, and incumbent payments businesses laying the groundwork for a new wave of innovation.
We think open banking-powered payments (also known as account-to-account or A2A payments) are on the cusp of true hockey-stick growth that will make it a standard payment method alongside credit cards and digital wallets.
So will 2023 prove to be a pivotal moment in open banking payments adoption? Let’s take a look at some of the catalysts.
Open banking and competition-friendly legislation is gathering momentum
Two proposed regulatory changes are already in discussion that should be major drivers of open banking in 2023.
First, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) recently announced its intention to strengthen consumers’ access to, and control over, their financial data through the release of proposed personal financial data rights in late 2023. Unlike legislation in other parts of the world (such as PSD2 in the EU), which are specifically designed to promote open banking, the proposed personal financial data rights are not explicitly an “open banking” rule. However, it is likely to accelerate adoption in two ways:
It will give entrepreneurs, fintechs, and other businesses a powerful signal that regulators want to encourage more innovation and competition in financial services by making financial data more accessible.
As these innovative businesses roll out new products and services, consumers will have more choices available for financial services and payments, and this will in turn encourage them to expect better financial services and payment options.
Furthermore, the Credit Card Competition Act is a proposed piece of legislation that aims to increase innovation by addressing practices that limit competition. It includes provisions that will require credit card companies to disclose information about their fees, interest rates, and other terms and conditions.
In addition to these two pieces of proposed legislation, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently ordered Mastercard to offer a choice of at least two networks over which an electronic debit transaction may be processed, in an effort to bring more competition to the debit card payments space also.
These regulatory changes will make consumers more aware of the true amount of the enormous (and largely hidden) costs of credit (and debit) card swipe fees — at between 3-5%, the highest in the world. And it will encourage fintechs and businesses to offer more cost-effective pay-by-bank options for better-informed customers.
Businesses are pushing back on swipe fees
It isn’t just regulators who are fed up with exorbitant swipe fees. The legislative efforts are backed by a number of businesses, including Walmart, Target, Kroger, convenience stores, and independent grocers. In a letter to legislators, the coalition of businesses noted that “Swipe fees for credit cards are higher in the United States than anywhere else in the industrialized world — more than seven times as high as Europe. They are an inflation multiplier.”
And some businesses are taking matters into their own hands even in countries where fees are far lower. In the UK last year, Amazon threatened to ban UK-issued Visa cards due to excessive fees.
Customers will help drive adoption as businesses innovate to beat the downturn
We may or may not see a serious economic downturn in 2023. Nonetheless, the challenges facing many online businesses are real — from increased competition, to supply chain issues and ongoing challenges with inflation. At the same time, consumers are concerned about an economic downturn. In fact, many are already paying down debt.
At up to 80% cheaper than traditional payment processing, open banking payments offer a number of compelling advantages for online businesses and customers alike. These include vastly cheaper costs per transaction, lower fraud, and a smoother payment experience.
Businesses that are operating in a competitive market, with low margins, or coming under pressure from supply chain issues or inflation, can save thousands of dollars or more each year by offering low-cost and secure payments. And Pay by Bank also benefits consumers who are thinking critically about debt in a time of economic uncertainty. This combination of demand and supply-side pressures working in tandem can drive a rapid adoption cycle.
And last but not least, new open banking products are launching
A great deal of work has already gone on behind the scenes as incumbents and startups have begun to build open banking-powered products in lending, personal finance, payments, and more. In fact, hundreds — or even thousands — of fintechs and millions of Americans are already using data-sharing technologies.
But we are still at the beginning of the adoption curve, and many more fintechs will launch and come online in 2023. In terms of open banking payments, solutions such as Link Money are already allowing customers to seamlessly pay from their bank account from thousands of US banks.
Yes, 2023 could be a breakout year for open banking payments in the U.S.
Financial data has long been locked down and inaccessible. And this has led to a lack of innovation from businesses and poorer outcomes for consumers. Nonetheless, much of the groundwork for a thriving open banking ecosystem has already been laid, and just a couple of catalysts falling into place could unleash an accelerated adoption rate over the next year.
In particular, as regulatory signals strengthen, investment will accelerate. New open banking payment products and services will spring up more quickly, and businesses will offer these options to better-informed, debt-wary consumers at a faster rate. And as consumers benefit from greater security and convenience, demand for pay-by-bank will grow, leading to more merchants offering this payment option. With just a little push in the right direction, open banking payments will become a standard payment method offered at the checkout alongside traditional incumbents such as credit cards and digital wallets.


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JD.com (JD -2.43%), the largest direct retailer in China, lost half its market value in 2018 amid concerns about its decelerating growth and rising expenses, along with a rape allegation against founder and CEO Richard Liu.
However, the stock rebounded nearly 70% in 2019 as its revenue growth accelerated again, its profits stabilized, and the charges against Liu were dropped. Looking ahead, I believe JD.com's stock could still surge to new highs in 2020 for six simple reasons.
1. A de-escalation of the trade war
The trade war between the U.S. and China weighed down many Chinese stocks over the past two years. Chinese companies buckled under the pressure as the growth of China's economy decelerated to its slowest pace in nearly three decades.
Yet JD's e-commerce business recently weathered those headwinds with two consecutive quarters of accelerating revenue growth. Moreover, the upcoming "phase one" trade deal between the U.S. and China could further amplify that growth by easing the pressure on the Chinese economy.
2. Its expansion into lower-tier cities
JD's number of annual active customers grew nearly 10% year-over-year to 334.4 million last quarter, marking its strongest growth in four quarters. 70% of those new customers came from China's lower-tier cities. JD's new discount marketplace, Jingxi, also posted robust growth when it launched near the end of the quarter.
JD's expansion into lower-tier cities is offsetting its slower growth in top-tier cities like Beijing and Shanghai. It also contains the growth of Pinduoduo (PDD 1.01%), its rapidly growing discount rival, which surpassed JD in total shoppers (but not revenue) last year.
3. The stabilization and possible spin-off of JD Logistics
JD stores its own inventories across a massive network of over 650 warehouses, and fulfills orders via seven fulfillment centers and front distribution centers in 29 cities. That platform can fulfill approximately 90% of JD's orders across China within 24 hours.
That logistics unit was a constant weight on its bottom line in previous years, but its losses narrowed last year thanks to its scale, tighter cost controls, and its decision to offer the service to third-party customers. The network is also increasingly automated, with warehouse robots, autonomous delivery vehicles, and drones.
JD Logistics will likely continue to stabilize throughout 2020, and a recent Reuters report suggests that JD could even spin off the unit in an IPO in the second half of the year to boost its cash flows and improve its operating margin.
4. A lower key person risk
Richard Liu's arrest in 2018 highlighted a serious flaw in JD's management model. Liu holds an 80% voting stake in the company, and an unusual clause stated that the board couldn't make any decisions without Liu's physical presence -- which effectively paralyzed the company during his brief incarceration.
Liu still holds a super-voting stake in JD, but he gradually withdrew from its operations throughout 2019. In May, Liu resigned as the manager of the Jade Palace Hotel in Beijing, which JD acquired for $400 million in February. In July, he resigned as a legal representative for a subsidiary that holds a stake in JD Digital.
In November, Liu resigned as the manager of two of JD's new cloud computing units. Throughout December, he relinquished his top roles at four of JD's healthcare subsidiaries. If Liu continues to step away from the company and lays out a clearer succession plan in 2020, it could reduce the oft-cited "key person risk" to JD's stock and attract new investors.
5. Support from its biggest investors
Tencent will continue to integrate JD's marketplace into WeChat, the most popular messaging app in China, via its in-app mini programs. Walmart, which owns a grocery delivery joint venture with JD, will continue expanding its distribution network. Google will help JD expand overseas by integrating its marketplace with Google Shopping in the U.S. and Europe, and it plans to aid its expansion into Southeast Asia.
Assistance from those tech and retail giants, which all view Alibaba (BABA -2.45%) as a common enemy, could significantly strengthen JD's core business this year.
6. An attractive valuation
JD's troubles in 2018 caused many investors to shun the stock. The stock recovered in 2019, but it still trades at less than one times next year's sales and just 25 times forward earnings -- which are low valuations compared to analysts' forecasts for 19% revenue growth and 38% earnings growth next year.
JD's attractive valuation, along with its other aforementioned tailwinds, indicate that this underappreciated stock could surge to fresh highs in 2020.


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As you're no doubt aware, those of us on the east coast are locking our doors, boarding our windows and stocking up on non-perishables (cookies, bread, wine, the three hurricane food groups), in anticipation of Hurricane Sandy's arrival.
Since we're all hunkered down in our apartments, it's hard to know exactly how the hurricane is progressing. Which is why we're lucky to have Nigel Barker--fashion photographer, reality TV personality and now, fearless weather reporter--giving us live updates via Twitter and Instagram.
Nigel Barker, who was on America’s Next Top Model for 17 seasons (seventeen--think about that, people) returns to reality tv with Oxygen’s The Face on February 12.
The fashion industry might not be shying away from television exposure now, but according to Barker, that wasn't always the case.
The UK's Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) must be really bored or something this month. First they pulled Dakota Fanning's Marc Jacobs Oh Lola ad because she was holding a huge bottle between her legs (we sort of get that one--SORT OF). They've now shifted their censoring sights to another American starlet, Hailee Steinfeld, who starred in that cute fall 2011 Miu Miu campaign. Or was it not cute at all, but secretly sinister?


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Impossible Burger's Imitation Meat Earns Its Halal Certification
Although Impossible Foods burst onto the scene a while ago, 2018 may have been its biggest year yet. The company's plant-based burger—which isn't just similar to meat in taste and texture, but also “bleeds” like the real deal—was deemed safe by the FDA (“heme,” the iron-containing molecule responsible for that "bleeding" effect, had previously been called into question), offered nationwide at White Castle (hi there, Impossible Slider), and certified kosher by the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America. And now, the imitation meat is set to receive its official halal certification from the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America next Tuesday, December 11.
“Securing halal certification is a significant milestone for us,” David Lee, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Impossible Foods, said in a statement. “Our goal is to make plant-based meat available to everyone around the world—including to those who have religious dietary restrictions. We’re thrilled that the Impossible Burger can now be served in halal establishments.” Distinctions like this could also help Impossible stay ahead in the growing imitation meat market—Beyond Meats, one of the brand's biggest competitors, is not yet certified kosher or halal.
Before receiving this certification, Impossible Foods' Oakland, California manufacturing plant was inspected by a halal auditor, who observed the production process from start to finish to make sure that everything adhered to Islamic dietary laws, as defined in the Koran. The term halal, which is Arabic for allowed or permitted, applies to all kinds of products, from cosmetics and toiletries to food.
So now that the Impossible Burger has some new bragging rights, what's next? To start, 2018 Vendy Award Winner Royal Grill Halal Food—a popular Midtown food truck run by a husband and wife who make a killer chicken and rice—will serve Impossible products on December 11. Guests will "pay-what-you-wish" with all proceeds going to The Street Vendor Project, a non-profit organization that provides legal and business assistance and advocates for vendors across New York City.


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Welcome to this edition of IP Five in 5 – where we’ll cover the top five IP news stories in 5 minutes or less. Highlights from this week’s edition include Sonos’ triumph over Google, the FTC’s warning against improper patent listings, and the USPTO’s launch of their cloud-based trademark search system.
FTC Warns Drugmakers about Improper Patent Listings
On September 14, 2023, the FTC cautioned brand-name drugmakers, threatening legal action for improper patent listings with federal health regulators. The agency emphasized potential harm to competition by keeping prices artificially high.
Sonos Triumphs over Google in US Patent Dispute
On September 18, 2023, Sonos successfully avoided a ban on the import of their voice-controlled speakers in its ongoing patent dispute with Google following a U.S. International Trade Commission ruling.
Amazon Prevails in Jury Trial for Kindle and Music Apps Technology
On September 19, 2023, Amazon was cleared of patent infringement claims in a Delaware federal jury trial. The jury found that Amazon’s music and e-reader apps’ features for seeking song lyrics and audiobooks didn’t infringe on Curt Evans’ TrackTime patent.
USPTO Launches Cloud-based Trademark Search System with Basic and Advanced Search Features
On September 18, 2023, the USPTO announced its launch of a new trademark search system (currently in beta and available here) to replace the Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS). The new cloud-based system offers improved search capabilities.
Grisham and Other Prominent US Authors Sue OpenAI for Copyright Infringement
On September 19, 2023, The Authors Guild, representing writers like Grisham, Franzen, Saunders, Picoult and Martin, filed a class-action lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging ChatGPT was unlawfully trained on their work. Multiple similar lawsuits target other AI providers.
Source: U.S. News & World Report


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Astec Industries, Inc. (ASTE - Free Report) has been disappointing investors, of late. Shares of this manufacturer and marketer of road building equipment have plunged around 41% year to date.
Estimates Moving South
The company’s earnings estimates for fourth-quarter 2018, full-year 2018 and 2019, moved south over the past 60 days, reflecting bearish analyst sentiment. For the fourth quarter, the estimate moved down 5% to 91 cents per share in the past 60 days.
For 2018, the estimate has dropped 14% to $2.78. For 2019, the estimate has declined 17% to $3.08 per share.
Negative Earnings Surprise History
The company missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the last reported quarter by 49.15%. Notably, Astec missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in two of the preceding four quarters with an average negative surprise of 10.98%.
Falling Behind the Industry
Over the past year, Astec has underperformed its industry with respect to price performance. The stock has lost around 37%, while the industry has recorded a decline of around 13%.
Astec's trailing 12-month price earnings (P/E) ratio is 13.2, while the industry's average trailing 12-month P/E ratio is lower at 11.5. This implies that the stock is overvalued.
Near-Term Headwinds Remain
Astec’s gross margin in the third quarter was 22.7%, impacted mainly by negative change in the absorption variance and lower sales. Though the company maintains its target of attaining 25% gross margin in the current quarter, it will be a challenge, considering the product mix and competitive pressure. For the fourth quarter, Astec anticipates revenues to be in line with prior-year quarter. The company trimmed its core sales growth guidance to 1-3% for 2018 from the previous guidance of 7-12%.
The implementation of the new strategic sourcing initiative and improved inventory management will go on till July 2019. As a result of these initiatives, SG&A expenses will be higher during the period.
Astec utilizes steel as a major raw material to manufacture products. The company is facing input cost inflation, particularly of steel, due to the imposition of tariffs. Given the competition, it might not be possible for Astec to raise prices in order to combat the raw material cost inflation.
Unfavorable Zacks Rank
Astec currently carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).
Stocks to Consider
Better-ranked stocks in the same industry include Enersys (ENS - Free Report) , CECO Environmental Corp. (CECE - Free Report) and Rexnord Corporation (RXN - Free Report) . While Enersys flaunts a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), CECO and Rexnord carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Enersys has a long-term earnings growth rate of 10%. Its shares have rallied 22%, over the past year.
CECO has a long-term earnings growth rate of 15%. The company’s shares have surged 45%, in the past year.
Rexnord has a long-term earnings growth rate of 16.4%. The stock has gained 14% in a year’s time.
The Hottest Tech Mega-Trend of All
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Mumbai: Soaring prices are making Indians hesitant about buying gold as the Hindu festival of Diwali approaches, despite it being seen as an auspicious time to purchase the precious metal.
Firm international and local prices have made people delay or stagger buying, hoping that prices level off as the annual wedding season starts next month, analysts and consumers said.
Shantilal Makwana is typical of many Indians. He is looking to buy jewellery for his teenage daughter, which he will give to her when she gets married.
But he has been watching and waiting for three months to see if prices fall.
“I’ve saved up money. It is an auspicious time, but gold is just too costly,” said the 46-year-old, who works at an electronics repair shop in India’s financial capital, Mumbai.
“I will wait till prices drop,” he said.
International gold prices have gone up by 27% this year, hitting a record $1,387 an ounce, as investors look for a safe haven amid continuing economic uncertainty and a weakening dollar.
Since 2000, when gold was an average of $255 an ounce, prices have skyrocketed by nearly 400%. Industry figures have predicted that prices could hit $1,450 an ounce by the end of next year.
India is the world’s largest importer of gold, with jewellery bought either as an investment or to wear. Bars, coins and exchange-traded funds are usually purchased for wealth creation.
Demand traditionally peaks in early November on Dhanteras, the first day of Diwali.
But this year could be different, an industry body said.
“Demand is down by at least 40%,” said the director of the Bombay Bullion Association, Haresh Kewalramani, who owns a silverware firm in Mumbai’s jewellery quarter. “People are waiting for a correction.”
Analysts also say demand could waver.
Anand James, chief analyst with trading firm Geojit Comtrade, expects demand to “taper down marginally” this year.
“It will not be drastic fall but we could see an impact,” he said.
The country head of the World Gold Council, Ajay Mitra, said he was confident that sales would pick up.
“Indian consumers are price sensitive. They wait and watch during periods of high volatility but when prices show signs of stabilising, demand comes back,” said Mitra.
India buys an average 700 to 800 tonnes of gold every year, making the country the largest consumer of the precious metal in the world.
In the first six months of this year, India bought 365 tonnes of gold -- nearly double last year’s volume -- worth $13.5 billion, according to the WGC.
The country’s largest importer, state-run trader MMTC Ltd, has said it plans to bring in more than 200 tonnes of gold in the financial year ending March 2011.
One of India’s oldest branded retail jewellery chains, Tanishq, which is owned by the Tata conglomerate, says demand for gold jewellery has risen by 10% since last year.
“Consumer confidence has improved due to economic recovery and a boost in rural income,” said Sandeep Kulhalli, vice president of Tanishq, which has 120 showrooms across the country.
But Kewalramani argues that gold has got costlier.
“With a fixed sum, you could have bought more gold last year,” as local prices have jumped 25% from October last year, he said.


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Strategist explains why supply chain issues cause IMF to downgrade global growth expectations
With gathering concerns about the supply chain impacting everything from cars to clothes, the big question now is how big an impact is it going to have on companies? And what difference will it make to advisors and their clients?
“In September, we started hearing from companies talking about supply chain issues, and we’ve heard from a few more since,” Kristina Hooper, Invesco’s Chief Global Market Strategist, told Wealth Professional. “Now it’s the issue most often mentioned as far as earnings calls for this quarter, and the IMF has updated its forecast in its world economic outlook and slightly downgraded global growth expectations.”
Hooper did not expect it to have a big impact on earnings this quarter, or more companies would have warned of it.
“What I think is more an issue is the guidance that we get this earnings season for the next quarter and beyond,” she said, wondering how it will impact the earnings of companies impacted by it.
Hooper expects this to be a very short-term phenomenon that doesn’t have much impact on long-term investors as it should be worked out within a few quarters. But, she noted that tactical investors should be aware that lower-margin companies will be more impacted by it as they face rising input costs from supply chain disruptions at the same time as they may also experience heightened labour costs because of the labour shortage.
“The companies that will be least impacted are those with limited raw materials needs and a relatively small workforce, such as tech and healthcare, so the financial sector should benefit in this environment, especially since the yields are likely to rise,” Hooper said.
“The most important thing financial advisors can do is just hold the hands of their clients and explain this could very well dominate headlines,” she said. “It’s just one of those experiences that can unnerve investors and cause them to divert from their-long-term plans. So, we just need to be there as trusted advisors to encourage them to stay the course and to expect that we might see some scary headlines, but this is a relatively short-term problem.”


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Despite missing its annual growth target, Tesla’s record deliveries in the fourth quarter of 2022 demonstrate the continued demand for electric vehicles. The company’s decision to offer discounts in its major markets is a strategic move to stimulate growth and expand its customer base.
The company’s proactive measures to stimulate growth and commitment to sustainable energy make it a company to watch in the coming years. The CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, stated in December that “radical interest rate changes” had affected the affordability of all cars.
The EV maker delivered a record 405,278 vehicles in the fourth quarter, although the company failed to reach its 50% annual growth target. Net profit for the quarter was $3.69 billion, or $1.07 per share, compared to $2.32 billion, or 68 cents per share, a year earlier.
CEO Elon Musk’s comments about “radical interest rate changes” affecting the affordability of cars suggest that the company is aware of the potential impact of economic factors on consumer purchasing power and is taking proactive measures to mitigate this.
Furthermore, the company’s announcement of plans to increase vehicle deliveries by 37% this year to 1.8 million vehicles is a bold move that indicates confidence in the continued growth of the electric vehicle market. This also highlights Tesla’s commitment to achieving its goal of transitioning the world to sustainable energy through the mass production of electric vehicles.
Despite a lower automotive operation margin in the fourth quarter, Tesla’s net profit for the quarter was still an impressive $3.69 billion. This demonstrates the company’s ability to maintain profitability while implementing strategies to stimulate growth. Tesla’s fourth-quarter results show that the company is continuing to lead the way in the electric vehicle market and is well-positioned for future growth.
In recent years, Tesla has outperformed the industry, breaking sales and profit records while managing to weather the pandemic and global supply-chain challenges better than its competitors. However, the company’s recent steep global price cuts indicate a shift towards stimulating growth at the expense of profit margins, indicating a softening demand.
What is Tesla Motors?
Tesla Motors is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells electric vehicles, energy storage systems, and solar panel products.
The company was founded in 2003 by a group of engineers who wanted to prove that electric vehicles could be better than gasoline-powered cars. Today, Tesla is one of the world’s leading producers of electric vehicles and has gained a reputation for producing some of the most advanced and high-performance electric cars on the market.
The company’s mission is to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy through the mass production of electric vehicles and clean energy storage systems.


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There’s recent reports of Sony PlayStation Network down issues on today 9/21. Many are wondering if the PSN will be back online anytime soon. Should PS3 players be concerned over the PSN, or is the latest status update reassuring?
Stanley A. Miller II of Journal Sentinel notes that players are having issues connecting to the Sony PlayStation Network today. He reports that Sony and its PSN workers are aware of the issue as they tweeted earlier:
“We’re aware that some of you are having issues trying to log into PSN. We’re working to resolve the issue, and we’ll update you here.”
There’s no timetable right now on when the network will be back online again and no recent Playstation blog updates. Miller notes that the most recent Sony PlayStation Network update included a new terms of service agreement. This agreement in effect said that players who want to use the online service must agree to waive their right to collectively sue the Sony company.
This latest Sony PlayStation Network down issue may give many players haunting flashbacks. The network was hacked months ago, and lead to serious downtime before the PSN was back online. It also lead to an uproar over how the company responded to the hack attack and how info was not secure on the network. Sony can ill afford another repeat of that incident. Luckily, it appears this latest downtime is more about fixing some upgrades, or a minor issue. That may not be re-assuring, but give it a few hours, or a day. At this point, those who were patient with the last downtime issue, know that good things come to those who wait!


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An invention that hopes to limit the consumption of salt in a country, Japan, where the population is used to foods that are too savory and therefore unhealthy
Excessive salt consumption can cause serious health problems - primarily hypertension which, as we know, causes major heart problems such as stroke and heart attack. However, salt is also tasty for our palate and for many to deprive oneself of it represents an impossible challenge to overcome.
The Japanese know something about it, among the first consumers of salt in the world, who season their dishes with very savory sauces (miso and soy sauce), ingesting up to 10 grams of salt daily - more than double the amount of salt recommended by the Organization's experts World Health.
A campaign is currently underway in Japan, promoted by the Ministry of Health, which invites the population to reduce the daily consumption of salt to a maximum of 7,5 grams for men and 6,5 grams for women, to reduce the occurrence of diseases such as hypertension and heart attack that weigh on the national economic balance.
(Also Read: The amount of salt you eat could hurt you a lot more than you think, according to a new study)
An ingenious invention by researchers at the Meiji University in Tokyo goes in this direction: these are traditional chopsticks that have the power to "Fooling" our brain and our palate, making food seem saltier than it actually is. The chopsticks are connected to a mini-computer attached to the eater's wrist and use a weak electric current to artificially amplify the taste of the salt.
In practice, the small wrist computer generates sodium ions that end up in the food (and in the mouth of the eater) through the chopsticks: these ions create a perception of "artificial" sapid, even if the salt is not present in the dish or if it is present only minimally. Clinical tests conducted on people on a low sodium diet have shown that the device improves the flavor of the dish by about 1,5 times.
The invention has been very positively received by the scientific community and by Japanese public opinion, which hopes to solve the thorny problem of excessive salt consumption. the researchers are now perfecting the prototype and hope to market these sticks starting next year.
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Fonti: The Guardian / Reuters
We also recommend:
- 10 alternatives to refined salt
- There is too much salt in "healthy" snacks, more than chips, peanuts and even sea water
- Canned tuna and packaged fish: still too much salt and little transparency on fishing conditions


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Android apps are being “poisoned” by this awful malware
Researchers have discovered a program that is binding malware to use legitimate Android applications.
As reported by The Register (opens in new tab)analysts from cybersecurity firm ThreatFabric learned about the “Zombinder” service while investigating another malware distribution campaign involving the ERMAC banking trojan, malware that TechRadar Pro have before reported on.
In their report (opens in new tab)the researchers said “while investigating ERMAC’s activity, our researchers spotted an interesting campaign masquerading as applications for Wi-Fi authorization. It was distributed through a fake one-page website containing only two buttons.”
ERMAC and Droppers
These buttons acted as download links for Android versions of ERMAC-developed “dummy” apps, which are useless to the end user but designed to record keystrokes as well as steal two-factor authentication (2FA) codes, email credentials and bitcoin wallet seed phrases, among others.
While some of the malicious apps available from the platform are likely the responsibility of core ERMAC developer DukeEugene, the team also found that some of the apps were disguised as legitimate instances of the Instagram app, as well as other apps which has lists on it. the Google Play Store.
As is often the case with malware campaigns, a “dropper” obtained from the dark web is used by the threat actors so that their applications can evade detection, in this case, Zombinder. Droppers install what is functionally a clean version of the app, but then offer users an update that then contains the malware.
It’s a smart delivery system, especially with apps pretending to come from common, “trusted” providers like Meta, as users are more likely to install an update from app developers they recognize.
This particular dropper service was announced in March 2022 and, according to ThreatFabric, has already gained popularity among a number of threat actors.
“Dropper” attacks are made possible largely due to the “open” nature of Android which allows users to “sideload” apps obtained from repositories other than the Google Play Store, and even from app developers themselves.
While this open ecosystem benefits security-conscious users, users who see it simply as a way to use apps that normally cost money can become easy pickings for threat actors armed with banking trojans, who are then free to steal data, credentials, and even money from innocents. users.


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According to The Washington Post, following the success of a tablet app, first launched on the Amazon Fire tablet last year, The Post will begin testing ways “to expand that experience to the web.”
“Based on the success of our new tablet app, we decided to experiment with different ways to carry that experience to the Web,” said Martin Baron, executive editor of The Washington Post. “We think it could be an excellent way to both provide users of the app a seamless experience as they navigate to the web, and to continue expanding our national and global audience, particularly among Millennials, whose readership of The Post is growing steadily.”
WashPost PR Blog stated that “a subset of mobile readers who click on a shared link will be taken to a new version of The Post’s site, which will evolve over the coming months, based on their feedback.
“We are seeing the benefits of rapid iteration and experimentation. We are paying close attention to what our customers are telling us and responding accordingly,” said Shailesh Prakash, chief technology officer of The Washington Post. “The only path to success is to try, test, learn and adapt. There is no ‘done.’”
“This testing is happening concurrent with the redesign of The Post’s existing homepage and web experience to continually improve the site for The Post’s most dedicated readers,” continued the Post’s piece.
According to Baron, “We have a lot of momentum right now, adding more unique visitors in the first quarter of this year over last year than any individual news and information site in the United States.”


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Google has just lost a battle before a UK court. Safari users will be able to file a complaint for breach of privacy.
In February 2012, a researcher had unveiled the practices of Google and other advertising companies to force targeting. They had voluntarily modified the code of their advertisements to override the privacy settings of the Safari browser on iOS and Mac OS X. By default the browser actually rejects all third-party cookies.
Google had to explain himself before justice and this collection which lasted 9 months. The Californian giant was eventually sentenced to pay the sum of $ 17 million. The company also had to face a fine imposed by the Federal Trade Commission and 38 different states.
But users do not want to stop there. According to the BBC, the UK, Google now has just lost another battle before an appeals court. It actually felt that the complainant seronts able to submit their applications. This applies to all Mac users, iPhone and iPad in summer 2011 and spring 2012.
In 2012, several American users had already filed a joint complaint against the giant California has made use of their personal information. In January 2013, Google had wanted to cancel a class action in the United States.
Edited on 03/27/2015 at 4:18 p.m.


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Entry tickets for Saturday’s 2015 Africa Cup of Nations final preliminary round qualifier between the Flames and Benin are currently on sale.
Football Association of Malawi (FAM) chief executive officer Suzgo Nyirenda said the pre-sale of ticket started last week at Chiwembe Technical Centre and extended to other points on Tuesday.
“From today, tickets will be sold at Blantyre Youth Centre and Kamuzu Stadium,” said Nyirenda, adding FAM’s expectation is K17 million gross from gate-revenue.
“If we can make K17 million or thereabout from open stands, it should be satisfactory,” he said.
According to Nyirenda, tickets for open stands are going at K1 000, MBC Stand has been pegged at K2 000, covered stand at K5 000 and K10 000 for VIP Stand.
Meanwhile, Carlsberg Malawi, official sponsors of the Flames, have launched an activation where fans who patronise outlets which sell Carlsberg beer will win entry tickets to the Open Stands and they have set aside 1 000 tickets.
The match will be played at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre on Saturday.


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Buy Drugs Online Darknet
Tor, or any another sophisticated software to buy drugs online. a darknet drug vendor shop that sells drugs from 10 categories. Mar 30, 2022 Over thelast year, Reddit's "dark net markets" discussion forum has grown into one of the central fixtures of the online drug scene. As you'll recall, Swiss police seized a program called Darknet Shopper, a bot that visited darknet markets and bought random items with. Calling himself Dread Pirate Roberts or DPR, the. 29-year-old white male had amassed at least 80 million in transaction commissions, all hidden. Everything with the topic 'buying drugs online' on VICE. Right now AlphaBay has almost 600,000 users and 8,000 vendors, making it the best darknet market to go to for people looking to buy something on. New anonymous marketplaces such as Silk Road and Black Market Reloaded mark a paradigm shift in how drug crimes are committed today: Illegal substances are. RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) - It's the summer of 2022 and Ryan Nichols is looking to get high. His drug of choice? Fentanyl.
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Butter is booming, whole milk is back and dairy is surviving
(Bloomberg Opinion) – With Americans staying home more than usual due to the pandemic and baking and cooking a lot to pass the time, this has been a banner year for butter.
Land O’Lakes, the Minnesota-based dairy cooperative, expects to sell 275-300 million pounds of produce this year – a 20% increase – as increased retail demand more than offsets lost business catering. Nationally, according to the US Department of Agriculture, butter production increased 6% in the first nine months of the year and is on track to exceed two billion pounds for the first time since. 1943.
As the graph shows, this year’s boom is part of a longer-term comeback. On a per capita basis, Americans eat far less butter than in the early decades of the 20th century. But they eat more than in the 1980s and 1990s.
After fending off margarine competition thanks to nearly a century of lobbying for margarine bans, taxes and color restrictions, butter producers lost their regulatory advantages in the 1940s and 1950s. and ceded a large market share to the cheaper spread – which was originally derived from beef fat, but was then made mostly of vegetable oil. As medical researchers began to link animal fat consumption with heart disease in the 1950s and 1960s, margarine gained even more ground as a supposedly healthier alternative.
These health claims were then mostly debunked, and the price difference between butter and margarine began to matter less as incomes rose and families declined (food purchased for consumption outside establishment accounted for over 18% of consumer spending in the early 1950s and only 6% in 2019).
Butter also benefited from the emphasis on authentic ingredients accompanying the revival of good food that began in the 1960s (Julia Child was definitely not going to use margarine). And let’s be honest, it’s better. Corn oil, olive oil, and other vegetable oils now play a much larger role in the American diet than before, so butter will likely never regain its central status there. a century ago. But it’s not going away.
“It’s a story of survivors,” says Peter Vitaliano, vice president for economic policy and market research at the National Federation of Dairy Farmers.
The same goes for the dairy industry in general. It can seem terribly under siege from time to time, and for good reason. Giant and highly productive dairies have driven many small farmers into bankruptcy. Competition from “milks” made from almonds, oats, soybeans and other plants has taken market share from real products and has led to a dairy industry lobbying campaign reminiscent of the wars of. the margarine of yesteryear. President Donald Trump’s trade policies have also caused problems. Two major milk distributors, Borden Dairy Co. and Dean Foods Inc., have filed for bankruptcy in the past 12 months.
But the bigger picture for the industry since around 1980 is that the decline in demand for its staple product (i.e. milk) is more than offset by rising sales of almost everything. which can be made from milk.
Even within milk sales, there has been an interesting shift in recent times, with whole milk surpassing 2% of milk for the first time in 15 years in 2018 and building on its lead in 2019, and sales of decreasing skim milk. If you’re going to drink milk, and not crushed almonds mixed with water, then you might as well drink the milder type of milk.
Whole milk happens to be the most profitable product for dairy farmers because it is basically what comes out of the cow and therefore does not require them to share a lot of income with processors. It also benefited from the new pandemic home consumption standard, with sales up 4.1% through August (2% milk sales are also up, with skim milk and 1% falling).
But overall, it was milk-based products that kept the industry alive. The revival of butter is one aspect. The boom in yogurt, which was virtually non-existent in the United States before the 1970s, is another, although it has faded a bit lately.
However, the main driver of the resilience of the dairy industry has been cheese. Americans consume nearly three times as much per person as in 1970.
All of this is not the result of what you would call organic consumer demand. Yes, the big gains in eating Italian cheese seem to reflect the fact that we are eating a lot more pizza than before. We can also see clues in the data of the growing popularity of Mexican cuisine (which in its incarnation north of the border contains a lot of Cheddar and Jack cheese), the emergence of bagels from regional food status (cheese a la cream!) and other fun food trends.
But since cheese can be stored longer than milk, butter, or yogurt, it’s also something the dairy industry makes when they have more milk than they know what to do with it, resulting in the famous “mountain of cheeses” which is sometimes reduced in size by large government purchases. These have been particularly significant this year, with the Agriculture Department having so far delivered more than 118 million boxes of food – each containing several pounds of dairy products, mostly cheese – to food banks and to other charities as part of the pandemic efforts.
The industry has also found new things to sell beyond milk, butter, yogurt and cheese, and new places to sell them. Forty years ago, the United States hardly exported dairy products. Today, it exports a fair amount of cheese, mainly to Mexico, South Korea and Japan, and even larger amounts of cheese-making by-products such as whey powder, isolate of whey protein and lactose, all of which are used in the manufacture of foods and dietary supplements.
The main by-product of modern buttermaking is skimmed milk powder, most of which is exported to Mexico and Southeast Asia to be reconstituted, often in combination with vegetable oils, into various beverages. milk type. Overall, Vitaliano says, the United States exports about 4% of the milk fat it produces and 19% of the skim solids.
To put it simply, the United States actually imports more than it exports, with Irish Kerrygold being the No. 2 butter brand in the United States after Land O’Lakes. But the quantities imported are still low compared to national production. Thus, this year of high demand for butter has been good for American dairy cooperatives specializing in this product, such as Land O’Lakes and the No. 1 producer California Dairies Inc., which makes Challenge butter and Danish Creamery. (Land O’Lakes and California Dairies also produce private label butter for retailers, so their role in supplying the country with butter goes well beyond their own brands.)
It was also a good year for California dairies in general, given that the state accounts for just over 30% of the United States’ butter production, and Land O’Lakes has a big presence there as well. Wisconsin, “America’s Dairyland,” focuses more on cheese, with a quarter of American production. New York is the top when it comes to yogurt, with around 15% of production.
In terms of all-purpose milk production, California is No. 1 with over 18% of the national total. He is in first place since the move from Wisconsin in 1993, but Wisconsin has narrowed the gap in recent times. Idaho recently passed New York for third place, and Texas may soon follow suit. For an old, not exactly rapidly growing industry, dairy has a lot more drama than you might think.
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Editorial Board or of Bloomberg LP and its owners.
Justin Fox is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering business. He was Editorial Director of Harvard Business Review and wrote for Time, Fortune, and American Banker. He is the author of “The Myth of the Rational Market”.
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Headlines about FedEx (NYSE:FDX) have been trending somewhat positive on Friday, Accern reports. The research firm identifies negative and positive news coverage by analyzing more than twenty million news and blog sources in real time. Accern ranks coverage of public companies on a scale of negative one to positive one, with scores nearest to one being the most favorable. FedEx earned a media sentiment score of 0.04 on Accern’s scale. Accern also assigned media stories about the shipping service provider an impact score of 45.5006892713644 out of 100, meaning that recent news coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the stock’s share price in the near term.
Here are some of the news articles that may have impacted Accern’s rankings:
- Is a Beat in the Cards for FedEx (FDX) Stock in Q3 Earnings? (finance.yahoo.com)
- Could FedEx Meet Operating Margin Expectations in Fiscal 3Q18? (finance.yahoo.com)
- Trade of the Day: FedEx (FDX) – Investorplace.com (investorplace.com)
- The “FedEx Junior Business Challenge” Returns For its Second Season on the PGA TOUR (finance.yahoo.com)
- Paycom Software, Autoweb, FedEx and Amazon highlighted as Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day (finance.yahoo.com)
Shares of FedEx (NYSE FDX) traded up $4.63 on Friday, hitting $252.03. 2,165,965 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,833,027. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.50. FedEx has a 12-month low of $182.89 and a 12-month high of $274.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $66,144.62, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.32.
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 9th. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.43%.
Several research firms have weighed in on FDX. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of FedEx from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of FedEx from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of FedEx from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $290.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of FedEx in a research note on Friday, January 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of FedEx in a research note on Monday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. FedEx has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.47.
In other FedEx news, COO David J. Bronczek sold 46,555 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.49, for a total transaction of $11,894,336.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 48,562 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,407,105.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Robert B. Carter sold 3,970 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.73, for a total transaction of $995,398.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 187,025 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,892,778.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 53,541 shares of company stock valued at $13,692,142. 8.45% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
FedEx Company Profile
FedEx Corporation (FedEx) provides a portfolio of transportation, e-commerce and business services through companies competing collectively, operating independently and managed collaboratively, under the FedEx brand. The Company’s segments include FedEx Express, TNT Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight and FedEx Services.
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Price briefing 15–21 September
Published: Friday, 22 September 2017
Chinese fused magnesia prices hit all-time high; a ban on sales of explosives propel bauxite prices; brown fused alumina hit two-year high; iodine rises as consumers stock up; lithium prices held firm
Chinese fused magnesia (FM) prices continue their march
upwards to a new high on the back of the supply constraints in
the magnesia market.
The rapid appreciation of...


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For 137 days now, a yet to be identified company has left a database containing over 10 million Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) exposed online with no authentication.
This means that anyone who knows what to look for can mass-scan the Internet and download loads of sensitive information without any restriction.
Discovered by researchers from the Kromtech Security Research Center, the company's experts believe the database was compiled for marketing purposes.
Based on the data contained within the exposed database, researchers believe the DB belongs to one or more US-based dealerships.
The database's content is organized into three main sections, each holding information on customers, cars, and sales details.
For example, the database tables pertaining to customer info holds details such as full name, address, mobile/home/work phones, email, date of birth, gender, and the number of children over 12 years old.
The database table holding vehicle information includes a car's Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), model, model year, assigned sales representative name, mileage, and more.
The last part, the one holding info sales pitches includes details such as VIN, mileage odometer, sales gross, pay type, monthly payment amount, purchase price, and payment type (cash, bank, card).
Besides exposing customer PII (Personally Identifiable Information) that could be used in online fraud and identity theft, the database, if discovered by other threat actors, will cause lots of more problematic issues.
Believe it or not, the most sought-after information exposed in the database is the VINs, a serial number unique to each vehicle.
For the last decade, car thieves have been using stolen VIN numbers to pass stolen cars as legitimate. Below is the FBI's explanation for this technique, called "car cloning."
Besides car cloning, VINs can also be used for other criminal operations. For example, last week, a motorcycle gang from Mexico known as the Hooligans have shown the world another way of using stolen VINs.
The group operated by initially obtaining the VIN of a car they wanted to steal. The group focused only on Jeep Wranglers.
After getting his VIN, the gang would illegally access a car dealership's proprietary database from where they'd steal two codes necessary to create replacement keys.
The gang would then use these secondary keys to open cars and drive off with people's cars in the middle of the night.
Compared to car cloning, this method is more complex, as it requires access to proprietary car key codes databases, but if an attacker finds 10 million VINs on the Internet than he's already halfway there.
Bob Diachenko, a member of the Kromtech team who discovered the database, has provided a copy of the exposed database to Have I Been Pwned (HIBP), a service that indexes leaked data sets.
HIBP is currently in the process of importing the leaked VIN database. Once the data has been added, US car owners can use Have I Been Pwned to search by their name or other details, and see if their car VIN was exposed via this database.
And since we're on the topic of car hacking, yesterday, security researcher Aaron Guzman presented a method of hacking Subaru cars. His work is detailed in an exclusive article on Data Breach Today.


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Preventing ‘Frankenfish’ from landing on your dinner table
Seattle is a city where ocean-caught fish are thrown at Pike Place Market daily and fresh seafood from the Pacific can be found in most grocery stores.
Councilmembers want to keep it that way. They voted unanimously today to approve a resolution opposing the genetically-engineered fish critics call “Frankenfish.” Salmon that have been genetically engineered grow twice as fast as their natural counterparts.
The Food and Drug Administration says they’re safe. It issued a statement several months ago saying genetically-altered fish do not pose a threat to the environment and are “as safe as conventional Atlantic salmon.”
Food-safety activists, environmental groups and traditional salmon-fishing industries oppose the super salmon saying they have concerns that the new fish could cause allergic reactions in some people.
Others worry that if the fish escaped from farms they could destroy the wild salmon populations.
On a national level, several lawmakers from the Northwest have concerns about the fish.
Alaska Senator Mark Begich has said, “The notion that consuming Frankenfish is safe for the public and our oceans is a joke.”
Alaska Representative Don Young is even more direct, saying recently, “You keep those damn fish out of my waters. It will ruin what I think is one of the finest products in the world.”
Washington’s Patty Murray is behind legislation to “seek a more comprehensive environmental review of this and other genetically engineered fish, and require labeling of any such products sold in the U.S. so consumers are aware of what is on their dinner plates.”
The engineered fish are part of a broader debate over the consumption of genetically modified foods.
Initiative 522 seeks to require labeling of GMOs – genetically modified organisms.
By LINDA THOMAS


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Security experts have issued several warnings about security holes in recent versions of the Java software from Oracle. Java is used in web browsers across operating systems like Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X, and is primarily used by websites to display dynamic content on your browser and some downloadable applications.
In order to protect yourself it’s important to understand how a phishing attack occurs. Phishing basically comes down to this: An identity thief composes an email that looks official and sends it out to a huge lists of emails that may be either generated by a computer or obtained by other sources. This official looking email ends up in your inbox and usually prompts you to do something like re-verify personal information, like your email address and password. There may be a link in the email that appears to take you to a legitimate website.
How effective is your strong password if an identity thief can change it themselves?
Plenty of attention has been given to helping find ways to generate stronger passwords–avoiding birthdays, pet names, phone numbers, and of course, the list of the most popular, such as “password”, “love”, “hope”, etc. But now that users are starting to make their passwords harder to guess, identity thieves are turning to a new weapon—the secret question.


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GameTracker is your one-stop social network for gamers with game server stats, website plugins, and game server banners.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), the renowned multiplayer first-person shooter, is set to shake up the gaming world once again with an exciting announcement. In a surprise move, Valve Corporation has unveiled a brand-new operation, accompanied by significant gameplay enhancements, breathing fresh life into the beloved title.
Counter-Strike 1.6, the iconic first-person shooter that has captivated gamers for two decades, is marking its 20th anniversary with a thrilling new content update. This update, released today, introduces a host of exciting features and enhancements, reinvigorating the beloved game and reaffirming its place as a timeless classic.


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As I’ve written earlier, covered malls are at risk unless they entice shoppers through their doors to spend money rather than shopping online. That means major retailers have to be willing to change their business models to survive. There is no holy grail waiting to be discovered but being innovative is a starting point. Don’t be surprised if we see more consolidation in the Amazon–Whole Foods mould.
For those of us involved in community plazas, it is paramount to focus on retailers and services that cannot be offered online and require walk-up traffic. Until recent years, that included banks as a key anchor tenant but that may be changing. As lease renewals come up, banks are now considering smaller premises or stand-alone pads as they become less about bank tellers and more about online services. It is likely the traditional 15-year tenancy agreement will be shortened as the banks try to figure out their future in each community landscape.
As the banks try to reposition themselves, we are seeing new companies emerge as principal players in local communities – the most notable has been those offering child care services. The key to success is becoming more than a single-service outlet. Instead, they are facilitating evening and weekend courses, such as English as a Second Language and cultural awareness nights.
These outlets are operating more like old-fashioned community centres. As a result, they increase foot traffic in the plaza, which in turn boosts potential sales opportunities for other outlets. Some say we will look back on 2018 as a year of slow-and-steady growth as we deal with interest rates inching higher.
For some tenants, this could be the best time to lock in a lease as it will provide cost certainty. For landlords, having plazas near to capacity, or full, is the best advertisement to attract new tenants.
This year will be great for those who pay attention to details and are prepared for the next upturn. What we are experiencing is a “New Normal” that remains cyclical, but with fewer extremes.
As always, the best measure of your decisions and hunches will be hindsight. On that, some things never change.


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Apple's iPhone 6S Sales: How to Beat Wall Street
U.S. stocks looks set to end the week on a positive note, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 up 1.24%, and 0.77%, respectively, at 1 p.m. EDT.
There was a time when only Wall Street analysts could produce sales forecasts for new products, with the help of privileged access to the company's own estimates. But the days when they had a monopoly on data are long over.
First, these are the commentsAppleitself has made in a statement on its outlook for iPhone 6S sales in the run-up to the launch:
Local search app Foursquare agrees; in fact, it predicts that this year's launch weekend sales will comfortably beat last year's figure, with an estimated 13 million to 15 million units sold.
How did Foursquare come up with that number?
First, using data collected from the Foursquare app, it compared the number of visits to Apple stores during the weeks leading up to the launch day and for the week following the launch. Not surprisingly, when it looked at the data for the last three launches (2012, 2013, and 2014), it found a massive spike in visits on the Friday of the launch.
Foursquare then looked at data from Apple to compare launch weekend sales to average weekly sales during the quarter. When it combined its own data with Apple's, it found that there was a very close relationship between the increase in visits on launch Friday versus average visits on a regular Friday, and the increase in unit sales during launch weekend relative to an ordinary week:
It's not all that surprising that foot traffic should be closely related to sales. The tricky part is getting decent foot traffic data, which plays to Foursquare's strength since users "check in" with regard to the locations they are visiting. Foursquare believes it has access to "the world's best "panel" of global foot traffic and is a strong enough sample size to be a strong indicator of sales overall."
On that basis, it concludes:
Before you start to pop the champagne corks, it's worth noting that not all crowdsourced data confirms Foursquare's optimism outlook. The following graph shows the search interest on Google for the term "iPhone 6S" over time (blue line), as well as the interest for the terms "iPhone 6" (red) and "iPhone 5S" (yellow):
You can see that the most recent point (this month) on the graph for "iPhone 6S" is much lower than last year's spike for "iPhone 6," but it's at roughly the same level as "iPhone 5S" on its launch in September 2013. (Caveat: Google only has partial data for this month.)
With all of that said, in the frenzy of attention surrounding Apple's launch weekend, it's easy to overstate the importance of the sales numbers. As Toni Sacconaghi of Bernstein wrote in a recent research note to clients:
Perhaps Wall Street analysts are still useful after all.
The article Apple's iPhone 6S Sales: How to Beat Wall Street originally appeared on Fool.com.
Alex Dumortier, CFA, has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns and recommends Apple. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Copyright 1995 - 2015 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.


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voco Dubai has appointed Fady Atwan as director of sales and marketing.
Atwan, an Egyptian national, has over 17 years of sales and marketing experience. He formerly served as the area director of sales and marketing for InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) Abu Dhabi and the director of sales and marketing at InterContinental Abu Dhabi. Before this, he held senior sales positions in Dubai for IHG and other notable luxury brands.
In his new position, Atwan will work to boost existing sales and marketing structures, while also implementing new initiatives to boost profit and grow market share.
He is also responsible for strengthening the hotel’s existing partnerships, keeping an eye on new and emerging markets and promoting brand awareness.


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Revenue equal to almost 11 percent of this year’s projected collection at the Bureau of Customs (BOC), or some P50 billion, were seen escaping the tax net as a result of motor vehicle, oil and cigarette smuggling identified as the top sources of revenue leakage. The BOC is tasked with collecting at least P467.9 billion this year.
Based on data assessed by US-based think tank Global Financial Integrity and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the BOC were to miss on P22.5 billion from oil smuggling alone, P16 billion more from illegal cigarette sales and another P21 billion from vehicle smuggling.
According to the BOC, the revenue loss from all three big-ticket items translate to some $3.85 billion annual import revenue loss from smuggling, or 35.4 percent of the current revenue target. This translates to P165.5 billion in revenue losses at an exchange rate of P45 per US dollar.
The agency is already looking into the billions of pesos in revenue losses from the smuggling of these imported products every year.
Customs Commissioner Nicanor E. Faeldon, in response to a public clamor, has directed its intelligence and investigation service to look into reports of rampant oil, luxury vehicle and cigarette smuggling in many parts of the country.
Oil smuggling is common through pilferage or siphoning-off of oil from tankers to barges in the high seas and then on to oil trucks on land for delivery to depots. These activities result in huge government revenue losses. Luxury vehicle smuggling is carried out through misdeclaration misclassification, and undervaluation. Cigarette smuggling robs government of revenues from the nonpayment of duties and taxes, aside from use of fake tax stamps of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
The BOC vowed to ramp up efforts to address misinvoicing of imported goods, or the fraudulent misrepresentation of the real value of goods, which is a prevalent malpractice.
He has a list of companies suspected to be engaged in oil, high-end motor-vehicle importers and cigarette smugglers that fake tax stamps of the BIR to defraud the government.
In its 2016 report, the agency’s legal services said oil, motor vehicle and cigarette companies have disputed billions of pesos in excise liabilities that are still under court litigation.
“We are ready to use all available options in the probe against erring companies of oil, motor vehicles and cigarette to make sure we control all forms of revenue leaks that are detrimental to hitting the revenue targets, including proper trade facilitation processes at the BOC,” Faeldon said.


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PARIS – Renault will give operative independence to its remarkably successful industrial van unit and is planning a new electric powered modular motor vehicle in cooperation with an additional, unnamed enterprise.
CEO Luca de Meo claimed Tuesday in an update of his Renaulution strategic program that a standalone device will be equipped to unlock far more benefit from a sector that plays a key job in Renault Group’s profitability.
“LCV has generally been a profitable phase for us, accounting traditionally for around 20 p.c of our earnings,” de Meo claimed.
Vans ended up a cross-business device at the Renault-Nissan Alliance beneath previous Chairman Carlos Ghosn but did not have their own gain and reduction statement.
Rival automaker Stellantis in March introduced it was heading to develop a fully independent world-wide professional automobiles small business unit.
Vans have historically been a separate device also for the Volkswagen model and, extra not too long ago, at Ford of Europe.
Study much more: 9 things to know about Renault’s new strategy
Renault, which says it has a 14 p.c industry share in a European van marketplace really worth an approximated 60 billion euros in earnings this calendar year according to S&P Global Mobility, says it hopes to benefit from two sector trends.
The very first is an once-a-year expansion of 10 percent per 12 months in “last mile” shipping vans since of a surge in on the internet retailing, and the 2nd is new emissions and air pollution polices that de Meo suggests will involve the substitute of about 30 % of the present fleet by 2030. The huge vast majority of vans on the highway these days are diesel driven.
On Tuesday, de Meo announcd that Renault would start in 2026 an electric powered, modular design named FlexEVan. It will be centered on a “skateboard” platform developed to enhance flexibility and personalization, and can could be upgraded with new batteries and offer you software program-defined functions.
The FlexEVan will have the measurement of a Kangoo compact van but a cargo place equivalent to a greater Trafic medium van, de Meo reported. It will be produced by a new, committed corporation named Flexis and will be designed in cooperation with yet another, unnamed “OEM.” De Meo did not recognize the corporation but stated it would not be a further automaker.
He said that FlexEVan would have a overall value of possession (TCO) that is 30 % fewer than existing designs. He believed TCO at about 100,000 euros for the lifestyle cycle of a van, of which 20- 30,000 euros is the acquire selling price. Just one variation of the FlexEVan has by now been unveiled in thought sort: The Hippo, from Renault’s Mobilize mobility solutions device.
The Hippo is centered on the previously EZ Flex concept, which is already undergoing early assessments with probable customers.