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INDIANAPOLIS, Wednesday, April 3, 2013 – The 33 directors of the 500 Festival received their Indianapolis 500 Chevrolet Camaros in a ceremony Wednesday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a longtime tradition leading into the Month of May and “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”
The “Festival cars” have reminded Indianapolis-area residents of the upcoming Indianapolis 500 since the 1960s, and this year’s unique cars will capture more attention and start more conversation than usual as they are driven around Central Indiana.
Each of the 500 Festival cars this year is a special Camaro Hot Wheels® Edition convertible, which will arrive at Chevrolet dealerships this spring after a limited, one-time production run. It’s the first time a full-size, production Hot Wheels car has been offered for sale by any manufacturer.
The Camaro Hot Wheels Edition echoes the cues that Hot Wheels enthusiasts recognize, including a vibrant, graphics-accented metallic paint scheme and even the red-lined wheels. The result is instantly recognizable as a Hot Wheels.
Available in coupe and convertible models and in 2LT (V-6) and 2SS (V-8) trims, the Camaro Hot Wheels Edition cars feature Hot Wheels grille and decklid logos and Hot Wheels Edition sill plates among its exterior and interior styling.
SS models feature a 6.2L V-8, which is offered in two iterations: the “L99” on automatic-equipped vehicles and the “LS3” on manual-equipped models. Horsepower for the L99 is 400 (298 kW) and torque is 410 lb.-ft. (556 Nm) – and it features fuel-saving Active Fuel Management. The LS3 develops 426 horsepower (318 kW) and 420 lb.-ft. (569 Nm) of torque.
LT-based models feature the “LFX” 3.6L V-6 engine, with dual-overhead camshafts, variable valve timing and direct injection. It’s rated at 323 horsepower at 6,800 rpm.
A dual-mode exhaust system is available on SS models with the six-speed manual transmission, as well as LT models with either the manual or automatic transmission. Similar to the systems found on the Camaro ZL1, the vacuum-actuated system provides a quieter driving experience at low engine speeds and a more aggressive sound during hard acceleration.
The original Custom Camaro 1:64-scale toy from 1968 was one of the original 16 Hot Wheels issued and remains one of the most valuable Hot Wheels toys among collectors.
A Chevrolet Volt also was presented to Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard during the ceremony.
The 97th Indianapolis 500 is scheduled for Sunday, May 26. Opening Day is Saturday, May 11.
2013 Indianapolis 500 tickets: Tickets are on sale for the 97th Indianapolis 500 Mile Race on Sunday, May 26 at IMS.
Race Day ticket prices start at just $30. Fans can buy tickets online at www.ims.com/tickets, by calling the IMS ticket office at (317) 492-6700, or (800) 822-INDY outside the Indianapolis area, or by visiting the ticket office at the IMS Administration Building at the corner of Georgetown Road and 16th Street between 8 a.m.-5 p.m. (ET) Monday-Friday.
Children 12 and under will be receive free general admission to any IMS event in 2013 when accompanied by an adult general admission ticket holder.
Tickets for groups of 20 or more also are on sale. Contact the IMS Group Sales Department at (866) 221-8775 for more information.


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Thanks to a new partnership with Media One Creative, Vidyard has added production capabilities to its B2B video marketing services, along with a new kind of product: personalized videos.
Using Vidyard’s software, marketers and sales people can now customize the videos they send to potential customers and sales leads. The software makes use of motion tracking technology that allows overlayed text and graphics to move along with objects in the video, which maps customized info into pre-recorded video with a relatively seamless look.
For example, a telecom company could use the software to send a customer a video explaining their bill that displays the customer’s name and real account information rather than dummy text.
Vidyard CMO Tyler Lessard told Marketing the company’s clients have seen open rates, views and watch times increase dramatically as a result of personalization.
Lenovo, for example, saw email open rates increase by 400% using the product during a pilot test. Cetera Financial Group likewise saw a 600% increase in email click-through rates compared to previous campaigns.
Vidyard (which was shortlisted for Tech Player of the Year in 2015) tested personalized videos out itself at Salesforce’s Dreamforce conference last September. The company sent out personalized videos to attendees that showed the recipient’s name on a cup of coffee and invited them to stop by Vidyard’s booth to pick up a coffee in real life.
Prior to the formal partnership, Vidyard and Media One Creative had worked together on an ad hoc basis for four years. The new deal will see Media One handle the production of videos, while Vidyard will continue offering distribution and analytics.

domain: news


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BJ’s Wholesale Club reports 3Q results; plans expansion
NATICK, Ma. In its third quarter company call, BJ’s Wholesale Club executives told stockholders that the company is planning for greater expansion over the course of the year than previously considered.
BJ’s will open three more stores by the close of the current fiscal year, and, the company plans to open eight new stores in fiscal 2009, the company said.
In the conference call, the company said that net sales for third quarter 2008 totaled about $2.4 billion, up13.4 percent from third quarter 2007. The hike in gas prices padded net income so the total reported for third quarter was $28.2 million, up from $22.7 million at the same time the year prior.
Same store sales, not including gas, were up 6.6 percent, total comp increase of 11.9 percent, the company said. The wholesale chain reported that food comp sales were up 11 percent. General merchandise sales were down 1 percent, the company reported.
General Mills planning $100 million expansion of its Albuquerque facility
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Breakfast cereal manufacturer General Mills is dishing out $100 million toward the expansion of its Albuquerque plant, according to Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez in his state of the city address Tuesday. The 17-year-old facility, which currently employs about 190 workers, will have 160,000 square feet added, as well as an additional 60 employees. The plant will mainly manufacture snack products, and employees will make an average salary of $40,000.
The Albuquerque plant was chosen for expansion over six to eight other cities because of its low business costs and productive work force. GM needs to first acquire industrial revenue bonds from the city for the project before it can move forward with the expansion. The company anticipates hiring the new employees and beginning expansion near the end of 2009 or beginning of 2010.
Price Chopper opens store in South Burlington, Vt., promotes EatingWell resources
SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. Price Chopper Supermarkets opened a 37,000-square-foot super center Tuesday in South Burlington, Vt. In accordance with the grocery store chain’s recent agreement with the EatingWell Media Group, various EatingWell recipes, health guides, cookbooks and magazines will be displayed throughout the store, and health tips and information will be added to the Healthy U page of Price Chopper’s Web site.
The new, South Burlington store will also be included in the grocery’s recently developed “Fuel AdvantEdge,” savings/reward program, which gives buyers 10 cents off every gallon of gas for every $50 of food purchased from Price Chopper. The store is hiring approximately 150 full and part-time employees.


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The Daily Telegraph can today reveal the first images of the C-X75 concept car, which has a top speed of 205mph, making it the fastest ever electric road car.
The C-X75, which will be officially unveiled at the Paris motor show today, can also travel for 560 miles without needing to be recharged through a plug – significantly further than the current industry peak of around 100 miles – because of a gas turbine system designed by a British engineer.
The gas turbine technology from Bladon Jets, which is based in Shropshire, recharge the battery beyond its basic range and provides extra power to the four electric motors driving the wheels.
Ralf Speth, chief executive of Jaguar Land Rover, said: “The C-X75 demonstrates that Jaguar is still leading the field automotive design and technology. And will always continue to build beautiful, fast cars."
The gas turbines on the car need to be refueled, meaning the car essentially uses hybrid technology. However, it is classed as an electric car because it is driven by electric motors and there is no petrol engine.
Following the success of Bladon’s co-operation with Jaguar, Tata, the Indian owner of the luxury British car marquee, has agreed to acquire a 20pc stake in the group. Paul Barrett, chairman of Bladon Jets, said: “This is a very exciting milestone for our company.”
Because the C-X75 is only a concept car, it is not yet clear when or if Jaguar will release the car on general sale. The company’s directors plan to analyse the cars reception by critics and the public before making a decision.


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According to a report from Bloomberg
, AT&T on Thursday will introduce the Windows Phone 8 flagship Nokia Lumia 920
. It's part of an event that the carrier is holding to show off a number of new handsets besides its new Nokia branded Windows Phone 8 model. According to the report, while the Nokia Lumia 920 will be one of the new phones on display, it will not be ready to be launched immediately
according to the two inside sources that spoke to Bloomberg
about the carrier's plan for the model. Even though the phone won't launch immediately, the Nokia Lumia 920 is scheduled to be the first Windows Phone 8 model to be released in the United States.
The square-cornered Nokia Lumia 920 is equipped with a 4.5 inch LCD display with resolution of 768 x 1280 which gives users an outstanding pixel density of 332ppi. A dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 is under the hood. The Adreno 225 crunches the graphics and there is 1GB of RAM on board. The rear-facing 8.7MP camera has a dual flash and captures video in 1080p at 30fps. A 1.3MP front-facing shooter allows you to take self-portraits. A 2000mAh battery keeps the lights on, and of course Windows Phone 8 is installed.
It's unknown whether AT&T will announce pricing and a specific launch date tomorrow. Nokia is hoping that with many of the hardware restrictions seen in Windows Phone 7 now removed in Windows Phone 8, the handset manufacturer will be able to compete with the Android platform's multi-core processors and larger screen sizes


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|Bid||74.00 x 1000|
|Ask||0.00 x 2900|
|Day's Range||76.34 - 77.40|
|52 Week Range||50.04 - 79.59|
|PE Ratio (TTM)||14.49|
|Earnings Date||Aug 22, 2018|
|Forward Dividend & Yield||2.48 (3.45%)|
|1y Target Est||77.19|
Amazon's acquisition of Whole Foods has rattled the grocery industry, leading to a spate of ecommerce deals. One year ago Saturday, Amazon announced it would take over Whole Foods in a $13.7 billion deal that shook the grocery industry . In the last year, the search giant has become an increasingly attractive partner for retailers looking for ways to compete with Amazon, allowing it to explore new business models and alliances.
Amazon (AMZN) might have forever changed the grocery industry exactly one year ago when the e-commerce giant bought Whole Foods for roughly $14 billion on June 16, 2017. Today, grocery delivery is commonplace across the entire industry.
Target (TGT) is trying to gain customers by coming up with new service offerings. The company is going the extra mile to provide the same-day delivery option to customers.
) that heavily rely on Chinese-made goods to pack stores won't see an immediate or a direct impact should a trade war commence between the U.S. and China. "The focus is on high-tech [imports], not consumer goods," Erik Lundh, a senior economist who specializes in China at the Conference Board, said on Friday, June 15, about what the U.S. government is targeting.
Price cuts designed to “appeal to customers” did not likewise appeal to potential investors in HRB stock. Now, the company, which competes with companies such as Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) and privately-held Jackson Hewitt Tax Service, Inc., has left its investors wondering what will come next. Given the stock’s history, growth investors will not likely want to invest.
Walmart (WMT) stock was trading at a forward PE (price-to-earnings) multiple of 17.3x as of June 13, which is higher than that of Target (TGT) but significantly below Costco (COST). Moreover, the company is trading almost on par with the S&P 500 Index (SPY). Given the company’s 2.5% dividend yield and its expected 9.1% increase in fiscal 2019 EPS, Walmart’s valuation seems fair. In comparison, Target and Costco stock were trading at forward PE multiples of 14.6x and 27.3x, respectively.
Walmart and Target shoppers aren’t passing on the opportunity to shop at Amazon.com, too. The overlap between the retailers—people who shopped at either of the traditional retailers, as well as the fast-growing digital giant—continues to trend upward, according to a chart published Thursday by Cowen & Co. analysts. Both numbers were down from Q4, but still reflected an upward trend since the start of 2013.
Takeovers can occur for several reasons. Sometimes a successful, larger company, in order to become even more dominant, wants to acquire superior technology or a popular product developed by a smaller rival. Other times a struggling, larger company, to prevent its financial results from sinking, looks to acquire a successful rival.
Shipt, the membership-based online delivery marketplace, expanded its local presence Thursday with the launch of same-day delivery in the St. Louis area from Target stores.
Similar to how we protect ourselves online through VPN services, Privacy.com offers virtual payment cards that act like a VPN when it scrambles your IP address, shielding your true account information from possible scammers. Online banking is huge. For the longest time we would hold up our Apple iPhones and Google Android devices and say "this is more secure", but that was just a pipe dream.
Target (TGT) shares have risen 19.6% on a YTD (year-to-date) basis as of June 13. Target has outperformed its peers in terms of the growth rate. The company’s strong digital business and accelerating comps growth rate have been driving the stock higher.
Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) is pulling a Father’s Day card after complaints from customers.Source: Mike Mozart via Flickr (Modified)
Target Corp. has issued an apology after a Father's Day card depicting a black couple kissing under the words "Baby Daddy" went viral.
The retailer has joined Target Inc. in offering modestly priced wines, following in the footsteps of specialty grocery chain Trader Joe's, owned by Germany-based ALDI, which sells what's known as Two-Buck Chuck. The nickname refers to Trader Joe's house brand, made by Bronco Wine Co. in Ceres, Calif., under the name of Charles Shaw.
Recently, Target (TGT) announced 3.2% growth in its quarterly dividend to $0.64 from $0.62 per share. The increase marks the 47th consecutive year that the company has increased its dividend. Target has a strong history of returning a substantial amount of cash to its shareholders in the form of dividends and shares. Target’s dividend growth rate has fallen, which you can see in the above graph.
MINNEAPOLIS , June 14, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) today announced voting results from its 2018 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. Shareholders elected 12 members of the board of directors, ...
Shipt, a leading online delivery marketplace, and Target Corporation (TGT), today announced they will begin same-day delivery of more than 55,000 groceries, essentials, home, electronics, toys and other products to select Texas metro areas. Beginning June 28, same-day delivery from Target will be available in the following metro areas: El Paso, Brownsville/McAllen and Lubbock, Texas. Shipt is launching in El Paso and Lubbock for the first time with same-day delivery from Target.
MINNEAPOLIS , June 13, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The board of directors of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) has declared a quarterly dividend of 64 cents per common share, a 3.2% increase from the prior quarterly ...
Of the 26 analysts covering Target (TGT), 17 recommend “hold.” Target’s strategic growth efforts are gaining traction and driving its comps higher. However, continued margin pressure related to its investments in growth measures and increased competition are keeping most analysts at bay.
Could Target Stock Outperform Walmart and Costco This Year? As shown in the graph below, Target’s earnings have disappointed investors, with its growth initiatives impacting its profitability. Target lowered prices on thousands of products to attract traffic, which pressured margins, and in turn, its bottom line.
On Saturday, Target Corp. launched its first technology product line aimed towards young Millennials and Generation Z.
While the S&P 500 continues to post solid gains, many investors nonetheless are watching carefully for any signs that rising trade tensions will rein in economic growth, a prospect raised by President Trump's deep disagreements with other world leaders at the recent G-7 meeting.
Target and Shipt have reached the middle point in the rollout, with a big unveiling in Chicago and the Midwest


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When Ara Madenlian fled war-ravaged Lebanon in search of peace and prosperity in the United States, owning his own business was a big part of the dream. And, of all the opportunities he explored, operating an ice cream parlor seemed the most attractive.
Madenlian, his brother-in-law and two cousins spent about $450,000 on franchise fees and leases for several ice cream stores. But soon after handing over the money, they learned that the company they bought the franchises from had no right to sell them.
Madenlian learned an important and costly lesson: Buying a franchise can be risky business.
Risky or not, a new franchise opens every 17 minutes in the United States, and this explosive growth has spawned a debate between state and federal regulators over who should regulate the industry.
While buying a reputable franchise can provide even the most inexperienced person an opportunity to make more money than he ever dreamed of, buying a bad franchise can be a nightmare.
With that in mind, California has led the nation in requiring companies selling franchises to provide sweeping disclosures about every aspect of their business. The regulations, considered burdensome by some franchisers, are designed to combat franchise fraud.
Now, those California regulations are threatened. The staff of the Federal Trade Commission is seeking comments on a proposal that would have the federal government take over part or all regulations governing franchising.
The focus of the debate is who should oversee franchising--individual states or the FTC.
FTC staff members and one commissioner argue that there should be one set of regulations for companies selling franchises and that the FTC is the best agency to oversee the industry. Opponents say the FTC is a weak regulator compared to states such as California and is ill-equipped to do the job.
Leading the drive for uniform regulation is FTC Commissioner Terry Calvani, who says he is responding to complaints from companies who have to comply with dozens of different state regulations. “I kept hearing people say they feared we were moving toward a crazy-quilt kind of regulation,” he said in a recent interview. “We may be creating a (franchise) system where only wealthy or heavily capitalized people are able to take advantage of it.”
Calvani, who has prodded fellow FTC commissioners to consider preempting state laws, said his intention is to reduce the regulatory maze that poses an economic barrier to companies selling franchises. Consumers will still be protected, he said.
Depending on the public comments, Calvani said the FTC will draft new regulations, amend current regulations or do nothing.
The franchising debate is significant because the industry is exploding. According to the International Franchise Assn., about 35,000 new franchises or outlets are opening each year. Franchises employ an estimated 7.3 million Americans and each year create 300,000 new jobs, according to industry statistics.
Counting gasoline stations and automobile dealerships, franchised companies generated $640 billion in sales last year, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Business format franchises providing services such as mailing and printing services, contributed about $200 million of the total.
Currently, 15 state have laws stricter than the federal regulations on franchising. Most states with franchise laws require companies selling franchises to register a prospectus with state authorities. The material, including detailed disclosures about the parent company, must be approved before the company can begin selling franchises. State officials say they comb through the material and make sure every risk is outlined to protect naive investors from fraud.
The remaining 35 states rely on the less stringent federal regulations, which do not require any form of registration.
Attorneys for the California Department of Corporations, charged with enforcing the strictest franchise regulations in the country, say they oppose federal preemption.
“There is a tremendous amount of abuse,” said Alan Weinger, supervising counsel for the Department of Corporation’s enforcement division in Los Angeles. “The people need the protection of a local agency.”
Weinger and others said the federal government hasn’t the staff or funds to protect small investors from unscrupulous franchisers.
In recent years, Weinger said fraudulent franchisers have taken millions of dollars from naive investors, many of them immigrants anxious to cash in on the American dream.
He said cease and refrain orders like the one issued against the firm that sold Ara Madenlian the illegal franchises, are, unfortunately, common in California. In Madenlian’s case, the man who sold the franchise had no right to do so, state officials said.
After five years in court, the Madenlians won a settlement for some of the money they invested. But a bitter Madenlian says he is working seven days a week selling photographic equipment to recoup the loss of his life savings.
Between 1986 and the present, Weinger said the corporations department has handled 185 franchise cases and issued 46 administrative cease-and-refrain orders against companies involved in selling unregistered or unlicensed franchises.
In the same period, the department filed six civil injunctions and revoked, suspended or denied 11 franchiser registrations.
In contrast, the FTC has taken about 20 enforcement actions against franchisers in the past 10 years, according to a commission spokesman.
Craig Tergillus, the FTC’s franchise rule coordinator, said it is unfair to compare the state and federal statistics because the federal agency focuses on multimillion-dollar cases involving people across the country. And, he said, the FTC’s enforcement actions have resulted in the collection of about $20 million for wronged franchisees.
“It’s not as if franchising doesn’t have some priority here,” said Tergillus, who is coordinating public comment on the proposed changes. “The commission would be very concerned about reducing protection for consumers.”
Still, attorneys and others representing franchisees say they are concerned about what would happen if the weaker federal regulations preempted the stronger state laws.
“Everyone acknowledges the FTC rules are weaker than most of the state laws,” said Timothy Fine, a San Francisco attorney specializing in franchise law. “If this goes through, the stronger state laws would be nullified.”
One California regulation in jeopardy requires smaller, less financially stable franchise companies to deposit funds from new franchisees in an escrow account. The money remains in escrow until the franchisee is satisfied that the company has kept its promises. Fine said this rule and others have “literally saved millions of dollars for small business people.”
He argues that the extra protection provided by state requirements is necessary because the “number of franchisers that have gone into bankruptcy is staggering.” One of the most recent cases involved the bankruptcy filing by Pioneer Take Out Corp., the chicken restaurant operator.
Harold Brown, a Boston franchise attorney and author of several books on franchising, takes a dim view of FTC enforcement actions.
“The FTC is a gelding,” said Brown. “It has diminished its staff by 40% in the past eight years and devoted itself to inattention to the plight of the franchisee . . . “
Brown contends that in every fraud case so far, the FTC’s actions were “too little and too late.”
“In all but one case, they were against companies whose telephones were already disconnected,” said Brown.
Brown said he also discounts the franchisers’ complaints that the regulations are a financial burden.
“When franchisers say they have to spend tens of thousands of dollars to comply with state regulations, what they are really saying is that if they stink or have a bad record the state authorities won’t let them slip through the net,” he said.
But franchise industry consultants agree with Calvani in saying the different state registration requirements pose a burden. “They are dealing with 15 different people playing God in different ways,” said Ed Kushell, president of the Franchise Consulting Group in Century City. “I’m not out to take anything away from the states, I’m just saying the regulations should be uniform.”
Although the North American Securities Administrators’ Assn., which represents state officials charged with enforcing securities laws, has developed a uniform code of franchise regulations, there are still differences from state to state.
Meanwhile, the industry’s major trade association is trying to remain neutral in the battle.
“It’s turf warfare between the federal and state agencies, not between us and the state agencies,” said Bill Cherkasky, president of the Washington-based International Franchise Assn., which represents 765 franchisers.
“But, I wouldn’t mind if they (the states) all got together,” he said. “For goodness’ sake, it would be nice to deal with one law.”
Since New York and California have the most restrictive state regulations, franchisers say if they receive approval in those states it is very easy to sell franchises in all the others. California passed the nation’s first law requiring registration of franchises in 1970. The federal government enacted its laws in 1979.
“We welcome all those rules and regulations, we feel very good about the rules,” said Esther Muller, director of franchising for Mail Boxes Coast to Coast Inc., which has about 1,000 franchises nationwide. “It legitimizes us and gives us credibility.”
Muller said her company supports state regulation because “people need to be protected” from many unscrupulous companies.
She said she also supports upgrading the qualifications of people who sell franchises. “There should be tests like those for real estate brokers.”
Lewis Rudnick, counsel to the International Franchise Assn., said he doesn’t think that the state registration statutes have much of an impact on fraud.
“By and large, the crooks are going to ignore statutes of this kind--they always have and they always will,” Rudnick said, adding, however, that he doesn’t favor total federal preemption.
Besides the possible preemption of state laws, the other key issue being explored by the FTC is how to untangle the rules dictating how franchisers disclose information on potential earnings.
Calvani and franchise industry leaders said the regulations are so complex in many states that franchisers often refuse to provide any official information at all on such things as how much money a franchisee could expect to earn.
Instead, the dollar estimates are passed around under the table or scribbled on cocktail napkins, he said, and weaken rather than strengthen consumer protections.
“I can’t stress to you how ridiculous it is that in the name of disclosure you are going to make it impossible to provide the one piece of information they (the franchisee) needs,” said Calvani. “It’s hard to believe that it’s a choice of either screwing the franchisees or violating state or federal law.”
Calvani said if you can’t provide the information people want the most, it’s “just dumb.”
“Do you believe that anyone has ever bought a franchise and not talked about earnings?” Calvani asked.
Entrepreneur magazine ranks the top 500 franchisers in the nation annually, using a formula that includes years in business, start-up cost and growth rate. Here are the top 10 in California.
No. of Franchises
1. Chem-Dry Carpet 2,000
Cleaning Cameron Park Irvine
2. Century 21 7,000 3.Jazzercise 4,000
4. Taco Bell 1,126
5. Baskin-Robbins 3,392
6. Coverall 897
7. PIP Printing 1,164
8. ComputerLand 800
9. Mail Boxes Etc. 606
10. Denny’s 190


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On-Trend 5,000-Square-Foot Food Market Coming to Hell’s Kitchen
The Gotham Organization, the developer of a new residential building on 11th Avenue at 44th Street, will bring a 5,000-square-foot food market to the base of the property.
Vendors at Gotham West will include Brooklyn Kitchen, a Williamsburg-based butcher offering classes in pig carving and vegan tamale making, and Ivan Ramen, a self-professed “artisanal” noodle joint on the Lower East Side. Brooklyn Kitchen’s sausage-centric Meat Hook subsidiary is also a vendor at the open air Williamsburg Flea, the always mobbed seasonal food stall extravaganza that the Hell’s Kitchen market hopes to emulate.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Gotham Organization President David Picket at first planned for a grocery to fill the 15,000-square-foot ground floor space. Mr. Picket decided the space was too small for a Whole Food or Trader Joe’s.
The market will be designed by the stylish firm Avroko, which owns the downtown restaurants Public and Saxon + Parole. The venue will also include a stall with a roadhouse theme selling “American classics such as buttermilk biscuits with miso,” the Journal wrote.
Gotham West, whose four buildings span nearly a full block, contains 700 market-rate and 500 affordable housing units. The market is expected to open late this summer or early this fall.
The Gotham Organization declined to comment. Its public relations team could not immediately be reached for comment.


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NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Home Depot Inc. (HD) are down -2.32% to $90.87 after it was reported that the retailer may have suffered a massive credit card breach, according to KrebsonSecurity.com.
"Multiple banks say they are seeing evidence that Home Depot stores may be the source of a massive new batch of stolen credit and debit cards that went on sale this morning in the cybercrime underground. Home Depot says that it is working with banks and law enforcement agencies to investigate reports of suspicious activity, Krebs said.
Home Depot confirmed to Krebs that the company is investigating.
"...we are looking into some unusual activity and we are working with our banking partners and law enforcement to investigate," Home Depot said.
There are signs that the perpetrators of this apparent breach may be the same group of Russian and Ukrainian hackers responsible for the data breaches at Target (TGT) , among others.
The banks contacted by Krebs all purchased their customers' cards from the same underground store - rescator[dot]cc - which on September 2 moved two massive new batches of stolen cards onto the market.
TheStreet Ratings team rates HOME DEPOT INC as a Buy with a ratings score of A+. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:
"We rate HOME DEPOT INC (HD) a BUY. This is based on the convergence of positive investment measures, which should help this stock outperform the majority of stocks that we rate. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, notable return on equity, good cash flow from operations, solid stock price performance and impressive record of earnings per share growth. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had generally high debt management risk by most measures that we evaluated."
Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:
- HD's revenue growth has slightly outpaced the industry average of 0.5%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 5.7%. Growth in the company's revenue appears to have helped boost the earnings per share.
- The stock has risen over the past year as investors have generally rewarded the company for its earnings growth and other positive factors like the ones we have cited in this report. Looking ahead, unless broad bear market conditions prevail, we still see more upside potential for this stock, despite the fact that it has already risen over the past year.
- HOME DEPOT INC has improved earnings per share by 22.6% in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. The company has demonstrated a pattern of positive earnings per share growth over the past two years. We feel that this trend should continue. During the past fiscal year, HOME DEPOT INC increased its bottom line by earning $3.75 versus $3.00 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($4.50 versus $3.75).
- The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has exceeded that of the S&P 500 and the Specialty Retail industry average. The net income increased by 14.2% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, going from $1,795.00 million to $2,050.00 million.
- The company's current return on equity greatly increased when compared to its ROE from the same quarter one year prior. This is a signal of significant strength within the corporation. Compared to other companies in the Specialty Retail industry and the overall market, HOME DEPOT INC's return on equity significantly exceeds that of both the industry average and the S&P 500.
- You can view the full analysis from the report here: HD Ratings Report


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Only of two F1 ready operations will race next year
While there are four new F1 teams being built from the scratch (USF1, Manor, Campos META, Lotus) at least one of two established F1 operations is unlikely to make it to the 2010 grid.
BMW has finally managed to do what they should have done right away – after the failed Qadbak deal they sold the team back to Peter Sauber. The problem is BMW decided not to sign the new Concorde Agreement and the team has lost its entry. Before they made up their mind what to do with the Hinwil operation FIA granted the 13th entry to Lotus … All that Peter Sauber’s team has now is the “14th” entry.
Brawn GP BGP001 - The fastest car out there, for now
When Ross Brawn and Nick Fry were talking up the future of their team following Honda’s withdrawal announcement many people had their doubts. Yes, Honda F1 Racing did sacrifice 2008 season and focused on 2009, yes, they had Ross Brawn at their helm. But over the years we got used to promises and words of high hopes coming out of Brackley whether it was during their BAR or Honda days. Most of the time however delivering on those promises was entirely different matter.
The same day the takeover of Honda F1 by Ross Brawn has been announced Jenson Button took the new Mercedes powered BGP001 to the Silverstone track for shakedown. The team has released some photos – click here to view. The car is rather disappoitingly all white with some touches of black and flourescent yellow. There are some rumours flying around the web that the final livery will be metallic blue with red and white touches but I am not sure based on what those rumours are founded. This is what Ross Brawn had to say when asked about the livery:
Nick Fry resurfaced today in Geneva at the FOTA press conference. And although there is still no official announcement on the future of his team he more less confirmed the team has survived (thanks to FOTA) and that the official announcement is coming soon:
“There is an announcement due shortly… that is all I can say.”
One more season for Rubens Barrichello ?
When it comes to Honda F1 it is still difficult to separate rumours from the real developments. But the news coming out in last few days seem to suggest that:
– the team will be renamed to something close the Brawn Racing
– as expected Jenson Button will drive one of the cars
– as perhaps not that expected Rubens Barrichello will drive the second
GrandPrix.com now claims that “multiple sources” are confirming their reports that the management buyout of Honda Racing F1 has now been agreed and that Ross Brawn and Nick Fry will run the team, using Meredes Benz engines, Honda money – plus the money that comes from TV income, plus whatever sponsorship can be found. Jenson Button is said to drive one of the cars, Rubens Barrichello is said to be back in the picture if his experience outweighs the money Bruno Senna can bring. See full article here – Honda management buyout to go ahead
At almost the same time TimesOnline brought this exclusive pretty much confirming the management buyout – Exclusive: Honda saved from the Formula One scrapheap
Autosport claims that Honda Racing are getting ready to begin pre-season testing. There is no news on any buyers or takeover but according to autosport.com the team personnel have been instructed to get ready to go testing. Similar claims have been made by BBC.
More here – Honda preparing to test 2009 car and here Ex-Honda team closes on F1 return
How rosy all the things may seem after reading today’s headlines.
According to Autosport’s sources Honda’s F1 future is “looking good” (Honda meaning the F1 team). Mercedes-Benz (the engine supplier to be) will hold on as long as it can to make the deal happen. And the deal is to be management buy out involving both Ross Brawn and Nick Fry (although other people’s reliable sources predicted otherwise approximately 24 hours ago).
There has been a lot of “news” and rumours surrounding the future of the Honda team these days. That had to be expected having in mind that we are now less than 40 days away from the start of 2009 season and the team’s future is yet to be sorted out. Here is brief summary and some thoughts on the takeover by Virgin Group talk.
Bruno Senna - On his way to F1 after all ?
Grandprix.com reported yesterday that the announcement that the team formerly known as Honda will be going ahead may be made soon. The yet to be named ex-Honda team is expected to be powered by Mercedes engines and Bruno Senna should come on board as Button’s team mate. The main backing is to come from former Williams’ partners Petrobras and Honda itself (for 2009 season only probably). Petrobas’ switch from Williams to Honda has been rumoured long before Honda announced their withdrawal from F1. The Petrobras connections was probably also a reason behind Honda testing Brazilian drivers Bruno Senna and Lucas di Grassi last November. According to grandprix.com additional finances are expected from one or two Senna’s personal sponsors (quick look at Bruno Senna’s personal website reveals names such as Embratel, Santander, Carglass, Hublot, Hilton Racing, Cavalera Jeans). We still have to wait and sea how relaible will grandprix.com’s sources prove to be this time. (Update: Other reports suggest that the financing has been secured but so far only for first four races of the season – see this article at The Guardian)
Bernie has spoken again
We haven’t heard too much from Mr. Ecclestone since his FOTA and FIA shelved his medals idea. But he is back. Last week he told us what teams he would not want loose, later last week he confirmed he advanced payment of £14.5 million to Williams to help to balance their books. Now he came with an alternative to cost cuts – letting the manufacturers spend whatever they want. At a price of course, long term commitment to F1 that could prevent the 2008 Honda scenario:
BMW Sauber F1.09 and F1.08 side by side
Most of Formula One fans knew that the 2009 Formula One cars will be quite different than their predecessors. But as teams kept their ideas to themselves we could all only guess how the new cars will look.
I summarized all the main differences between 2009 and 2008 cars back in August in the post 2009 Formula 1 cars look – The most obvious differences. Around the same time this 2009 F1 car visual appeared all over F1 forums:
There was not much talk about more teams leaving Formula One for quite some time. The cost saving measures seemed to have done the trick. But last few days the F1 exit talks surfaced again. The 2009 season seems to be the make or break for Toyota. Some fresh rumours surfaced also about future of Renault (not sure how much of this is true and how much is made up), Pitpass also raised some concern about Force India finances … Well, in market conditions as we see right now, there is always the possibility of somebody following Honda and exiting F1. Bernie Ecclestone already told us whom he would miss and whom he would not want to loose:
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ASIC commissioner Cathie Armour on Friday said the Australian Securities and Investment Commission is open to the idea of facilitating the listing of crypto versions of exchange-traded funds.
Armour has seemingly sought to change ASIC’s reputation for being stuck in the mud when it comes to Bitcoin-linked products. Specifically, his comments came shortly after the National Stock Exchange rejected the listing of Cosmos Bitcoin ETF, citing they did not have appropriate regulations to protect the investors.
“For any products to be quoted on exchange markets in Australia, the particular market needs to have in place rules that facilitate the quoting of products […] Not all markets have rules in place that do that. […] These products can be made available to Australians through a managed investment scheme regime, and Australians can invest in these products in that way,” said the corporate regulator chair.
Armour added that although an ETF would give investors a cheap and easy way to get exposure to crypto assets, there must be appropriate rules in place to protect them.
Australia crypto industry has been attempting to launch a bitcoin ETF for years, and Cosmos was the last to have its proposal rejected. But now, with bitcoin’s surge to new highs, driven in part by increased adoption from institutions, the chance of approval could be higher than ever.
Australia Has Been Progressive in Crypto Regulation
Still, there are hurdles for an Aussie bitcoin ETF approval as it seeks acceptance from ASIC, and it is likely to hinge on Cosmos’ success to list on ASX Exchange, which has never approved any similar products.
“ASIC has a policy – which they have not released – which says they do not want an exchange-traded product, an MIS, listed on an exchange,” said James Manning, one of the founders of Cosmos Capital.
ASX CEO Dominic Stevens told The Australian Financial Review this week that: “The world of bitcoin has changed since the last run, and my gut feel is this is dominated by more corporate activity and institutions.”
Australia was a pioneer in crypto regulation when it declared in 2018 that Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies that shared its characteristics were legal and have been treated as property.
Additionally, the boom in crypto activity has prompted the Australian tax office to ask the nation’s cryptocurrency users to report their operations in order to verify tax compliance.
Thousands of Australian taxpayers across the country have already received instructions on how to accurately report their cryptocurrency-related income and amend their tax returns, if necessary.


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New Delhi: Indian grocery startup companies are appealing to tech-savvy shoppers with promises of delivery within 10 minutes, triggering the growth of “quick commerce” but heating fears about safety on the roads as cyclists scramble to meet deadlines.
There is currently lots of competition in India’s $600-billion retailing industry, which companies like Amazon India dominate, Walmart’s Flipkart, and Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries.
Now, SoftBank-backed Blinkit and its competition Zepto are racing to recruit employees and open new stores to capture an enviable share of the market. They offer a straightforward delivery service within 10 minutes, far less than the number of hours or days competitors need to take. Their goal is to pack groceries in just a few minutes in dark stores or small warehouses located in densely populated neighborhood structures and transport bike riders to locations nearby in just seven minutes have.
“It’s a threat to the bigger participants,” Ashwin Mehta, who is a principal IT sector analyst for Indian company Ambit Capital, told Reuters. “If people get used to ten minutes, those companies offering 24-hour deliveries will be forced to reduce their timelines.”
As the activity increases and the market expands, research firm RedSeer estimates that India’s fast commerce sector, valued at $300 million in 2017, is expected to grow by 10-15 percent to reach $5 billion in 2025.
Blinkit and Zepto, launched by two dropouts of 19 from Stanford in the US, have caught people attracted by their attractiveness, satisfying cravings for food and impulse purchases, and pressing requirements for everyday supplies. “This is very convenient. It has made a lifestyle,s change,” said Sharmistha Lahiri. She relies on Blinkit to fill in the gaps if ingredients run out of her kitchen, from tomatoes to make soup to chocolate frosting for cakes. However, the 75-year old resident of Gurugram was a frequent customer for Amazon and BigBasket. She appreciates Blinkit’s quick response to such circumstances.
The unparalleled convenience of speedy delivery is apparent in Europe and the United States, where companies like Turk’s Get and Germany’s Gorillas are increasing; however, India’s dangerous roads can make fast commerce risky. “Ten minutes is very sharp,” former road secretary Vijay Chhibber said. “If there were a (road safety) regulator, it would have said this can’t be a company’s unique selling point.”
Blinkit, along with Zepto, did not reply to requests from Reuters.
Dangerous roads, drivers are apprehensions.
Even in urban areas, many roads are filled with potholes. Moreover, cattle or other animals who wander into traffic are a common issue for motorists who often violate the basic guidelines. Accidents kill around 150,000 people every year. In the year 2000, it was reported by the World Bank said that India was a victim of the loss of a person every hour on the roads.
All 13 drivers from Blinkit and Zepto, who Reuters interviewed in significant towns that include Mumbai, New Delhi, and Gurugram, reported that they were under pressure to meet deadlines for delivery that often resulted in speeding up, fearing being told to stop from store management. “We get five to six minutes, and I feel tense and fear for my life,” said one Blinkit driver, who requested anonymity.
In August, the Blinkit chief executive’s statement on Twitter that users weren’t penalized and could operate “at their own pace and rhythm” since dark stores are always near the main sites.
Delivery drivers were not happy. In their rush, several of them have told Reuters that they marked orders as delivered before they even get to their destination. A Blinkit application screenshot shared by a driver revealed the phrase MDND, or “Marked Delivered, Not Delivered,” referring to such items. If a customer protested about this practice, the company could impose a fine of 300 rupees.
Reuters examined a sense of frustration during a conversation in a WhatsApp Group consisting of Blinkit users in Mumbai. “Ban this 10-minute (delivery),” said one user after photos were shared of a Blinkit rider believed to be injured in a rush of deadlines. These concerns indicate the darker aspect of India’s growing gig economy, where employees often complain of being inadequate or have to endure difficult working conditions.
Blinkit describes its service as “indistinguishable from magic” and declares that it is looking to be an industry worth $100 billion.
Zepto is estimated at $570 million and aims to be a $20 billion-dollar company. They are already being supported by investors like the American-based Glade Brook Capital.
The market for instant delivery is an opportunity worth $50 billion. The largest offline retailer in India, Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd., stated this month when it invested in Dunzo, another Indian startup operating the delivery service in 19 minutes.
However, in contrast to most foreign firms that charge between $2-3 per delivery, deliveries made by Indian startups are generally accessible in a country with an estimated 1.4 billion prospective customers.
“With free delivery, the business is unlikely to be viable,” said T.N. Hari. He is the head of human resources for the online store BigBasket, which can deliver most orders in five hours. “And with a delivery fee that makes it viable, the market size is likely small.”
As of now, Indians are hooked. The deliveries at New Year’s Eve featured over 43,000 bottles of fizzy beverages. A Blinkit investor tweeted on Twitter. He added, “33,440 condoms were ordered on @letsblinkit today. Someone ordered 80 condoms in one go.”
Reuters Aditi Shah, Chandini Monnappa, and Chris Thomas contributed to this report.


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The latest Ipsos SA vehicle survey results has been released. Find out which automaker rates highest in terms of customer purchasing and vehicle service.
'It is possible that fuel prices will test new highs in the coming months, placing yet more stress on consumers,' says the Automobile Association as all grades of fuel in SA are set to increase in June.
Copyright 2010. TopCar SA is a division of Media24.
Site by OnNet.


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Posted: 30.09.20 at 17:32 by Tim Lethaby
The TSB bank in Wells will be closing next year as the company looks to cut 900 jobs across the country.
TSB today (September 30) announced that 164 branches across the country will be closed, with Wells confirmed as one of these.
It will remain open until May 19 2021, and after that customers are being encouraged to use the Midsomer Norton branch, which is nearly 12 miles away.
TSB says the changes have been driven by a significant shift in customer behaviour, including a reduction in the number of customers using branches and a big acceleration in digital adoption.
Debbie Crosbie, chief executive of TSB, said: “Closing any of our branches is never an easy decision, but our customers are banking differently – with a marked shift to digital banking.
“We are reshaping our business to transform the customer experience and set us up for the future.
"This means having the right balance between branches on the high street and our digital platforms, enabling us to offer the very best experience for our personal and business customers across the UK.
“We remain committed to our branch network and will retain one of the largest in the UK.”
Robin Bulloch, customer banking director at TSB, said: “Alongside these changes, we will continue to invest in our remaining branch network to offer high quality banking services, fully integrated with improved digital capability.
“We are working to ensure the transition towards digital – which is being seen right across the economy – is handled sensitively and pragmatically for our colleagues and customers. We’re taking steps to support vulnerable customers and those in rural locations.”
TSB is making a total of 969 role reductions while 120 new operational roles are being created meaning there will be an overall net reduction of 849 roles.
Changes are being made across the branch network, and in mortgages and customer service operations teams.
Where possible, role reductions will come through voluntary redundancy and TSB is implementing a training programme to support those leaving the business find future roles. TSB has consulted with its recognised unions Accord and Unite.


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Hainan provincial health authorities have revoked Boao Yinfeng Healthcare International H
Baidu, Sina Weibo and Douyin have joined the league of sending digital red envelops. Ba
Last year, Alibaba-backed Taobao.com tied up with the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, sending a total of 600 million yuan in digital red envelops and prizes.
“Supporting the huge amount of transactions is China’s mature digital payment standard,” said Wang Pengbo, a finance industry analyst at Analysys.
Wang told the Global Times on Tuesday that as the cost of attracting new online users has ri
Jon stopped to watch a moment as Horse pressed Hop-Robin back toward the well. Horse had the makings of a
had no other choice. Stalker might suit him better, the younger male … though One Eye was larger and fiercer, and it was One Eye who took Sly whenever she went into heat.
fiercest. Stalker was leaner, quicker, younger, Sly more cunning, but both went in fear of One Eye. The old wolf was fearless, relentless, savage.


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Confianza Integrated Communications (P) Ltd. hosted the BFSI India Conclave on the 14th & 15th May 2015 at the Holiday Inn ...
Confianza Integrated Communications (P) Ltd. hosted the BFSI India Conclave on the 14th & 15th May 2015 at the Holiday Inn Resorts, Goa. The event saw a gathering of over 40 plus decision makers of the Indian BFSI sector along with some of the most prestigious organizations as partners of the event namely Xerox as Platinum Partner, Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. as the Gold Partner, CtrlS as the Keynote Partner, Cigniti as the Bronze Partner and f5 Networks as the supporting partner.
The event began with an opening keynote presented by Ashish Agarwal, Vice President – IT, Max Life Insurance addressing the issue of eroding customer trust and satisfaction followed by a keynote by Vishal Awal, Executive Director – Services, Xerox South Asia on Digital Alternative – Reshaping the BFSI landscape. Panel discussions were held on the topic Transitioning and transforming from physical to digital content, Mobile Banking vs. Online Banking, Which poses a higher security and privacy risk and Digital transformation in BFSI to enable high quality customer self service. Ajit Pillai, Sales Director for Enterprise Accounts, Check Point Software Technologies presented a talk on Beyond The Cyber Security Headlines while Anil Nama, CIO, CTRLS spoke about Datacenter and Managed services in Banking. Sushant Dwivedi, Client Managing Director & RSM, Xerox & Sandeep Dhanoa, Associate Director, Technology & Channels Xerox also conducted a workshop on the theme of The Next-Gen Banker’s desk.
“A well conducted event , we spent quality time with the participants . As committed by the organizers we did achieve the desired objective. All the best & a great show !!!” said Ajit Pillai.
Sai Chintala, Senior Vice President at Cigniti Technologies Ltd. said “I had an opportunity to participate in the BFSI India Conclave at the Holiday Inn Resort, Goa. I met with several senior IT executives from the Indian BFSI Industry, and most importantly delivered a lightning talk on the topic of QA initiatives that are needed for Digital Success of BFSI industry. I had the fantastic opportunity to interact with many senior executives of India’s leading BFSI Industry. It was also great to learn the emerging trends in the industry, and the challenges that need to get addressed. I also had a chance to experience one of the finest beaches (and cuisine too) in India, thanks to the awesome event location”.
Ashwin Khorana, CTO, Kotak Mahindra Bank was quoted “The event was well managed with interesting topics and a good representation at senior level from the industry” while Chandrakant Kamath, VP –IT, Barclays Bank India said “ The event was a good mix of business with pleasure. The atmosphere was very relaxed and informal”.
Mithun Shetty, Director, Confianza Integrated Communications said “The event was very well received both by our partners and our esteemed delegates. We are now looking forward to our next event The IoT India Conclave(IOTIC) that will take place on the 24th & 25th of September this year. Considering the population of India and the number of devices owned by this population, it only makes sense to leverage this growing network of people and machines. The IOTIC will bring together resources, industry experts and technology to enable businesses to redesign their business models and strategies.”
Confianza Integrated Communications (P) Ltd. is an international service provider of business forums, corporate events, B2B conferences and corporate trainings. More information on the organizers and IOTIC can be found at www.confianzaglobal.com .


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HOUSEHOLDERS in Kirklees are spending more on improving their homes, a survey claims.
Figures from Hitachi Capital Consumer Finance showed that homeowners in some parts of Yorkshire, including Huddersfield, Bradford and Harrogate, has increased spending on home improvements by 50% compared with a year ago.
Top of the list for house proud purchasers were conservatories, kitchens and bathrooms followed by white goods such as washing machine and dishwashers.
Gerald Grimes, divisional managing director of Hitachi Capital Consumer Finance, said: "We are seeing a growing trend with homeowners across the Yorkshire region looking to add value to their homes by investing in their properties inside and out.
"During the property boom, people were releasing equity or taking out loans to finance purchases. However, in the current climate when funding is much tighter, it seems local homeowners are using point of sale finance to make changes to their home."
Hitachi Capital Consumer Finance has a 27 year history, providing consumer finance to more than 1,200 UK high street retailers and offering a comprehensive range of in-store and online finance products for quality retailers.


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Why is the Lordstown Endurance Such a Big Deal?
Everywhere we look, we see more and more stories about the Lordstown Endurance electric pickup truck. But What’s so great about Lordstown Motors? Is the 2022 Lordstown Endurance worth paying attention to?
Is the 2022 Lordstown Endurance a good truck?
Yes, the Lordstown Endurance is making waves in the automotive industry. According to Cleveland 19, it already has 100,000 fleet preorders. This all-electric pickup truck is expected to take years to fill these orders, though.
It’s unclear when this truck will be available to regular customers. However, Legislation is being introduced to allowing the direct sales of the Lordstown Endurance electric pickup truck instead of offering them through dealerships.
This is pretty exciting because it would potentially cut out the middleman to provide lower prices. Generally, dealers add a markup to the MSRP of vehicles to make a profit. After a rebate, the Endurance is expected to begin around $45,000 after rebates.
The Ford F-150 Hybrid begins at about $51,900 before markups, and the destination fee has been added. The Ford F-150 EV that’s fully electric could have a higher starting price, so the Endurance may have a really competitive price.
What can the Endurance do?
The 2022 Lordstown Endurance is supposed to be an incredibly capable truck for off-roading, and it’s already being put to the test. According to CNET, the Endurance will race in the San Felipe 290-mile desert race this April in Baja, California.
This truck will travel through grueling desert conditions but should be well equipped. The 109-kWh battery provides 250 miles of range, and the four in-hub electric motors provide 600 hp.
Lordstown Motors says the truck has 4,400 lb-ft of torque, but this number may have been multiplied by the final drive. This is how the Hummer EV produces 11,500 lb-ft of torque. However, it’s safe to expect that the Endurance will have 700 to 800 lb-ft of torque.
The Endurance will race, despite not having a finalized production model. It will have the skateboard architecture that the final pickup will have, though. As it crawls over the most challenging Baja sections, the four-wheel drive will be put to the test.
Drivers will have to take it slow because the Endurance doesn’t have a love-ravel suspension, and care will be taken to prevent braking components. Because the conditions are so rough, the charge could get depleted faster than expected, and no details have been released about how Lordstown will keep this truck charged.
What else do we know about the Endurance?
The Lordstown Endurance should be able to tow about 6,000 lb. That’s pretty weak compared to rivals. Even the Ford Ranger can tow up to 7,500 lb. According to Car and Driver, the payload capacity hasn’t been released yet.
Not much about the interior has been revealed, but the Endurance may take styling cues from the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra. Tech features should include an extensive touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
The safety features haven’t been revealed either. But modern features that may be standard or optional could include blind-spot monitoring, adaptive cruise control, parking sensors, and more. Hopefully, we will learn more toward September 2021 as the truck enters production.


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Ted Bauman has been preaching caution regarding the US stock market because he feels the bull market is about to come to end. He is an advisor who feels comfortably applying low-risk investment strategies to profit in the markets. He feels that the US stock market could continue to rise but there are factors that will eventually kill the bull market.
Ted Bauman and many financial analysts agree that the US stock market needs to come to fair value. Mr. Ted Bauman utilizes a tool known as the CAPE ratio to measure whether a market is undervalued or overvalued. he ratio for the US stock market has a reading of thirty-two and the historical average is seventeen. This means that stocks would have to fall almost fifty percent to be considered fair value. Currently, most investors on Wall Street seem to be overlooking the overvaluation of US equities, but once most analysts come to Mr. Bauman’s conclusion, US equities could start to fall rather quickly.
Ted Bauman is also worried that increasing interest rates will eventually put an end to the bull market in US stocks. An environment of raising the interest rates may entice many investors to flee from the overvalued stock market into the safer bond market once interest rates become more appealing. Continuing to raise the interest rates are going to exert pressure on the global economy. There is so much debt in the financial system and increasing the interest rates make debt service an absolute burden. Many respected analysts are of the opinion that a fed funds rate of three percent is too much for the economy and Mr. Bauman believes that a four percent rate will surely end the bull market in US equities.
One issue that concerns Ted Bauman greatly is the current trade war between Cinna and the US. The Trump administration is playing tough with China and has imposed sections on Chinese exports. Ted Bauman feels that China has done very little to retaliate so far against the US. However, if the trade war does not end, he feels that the Chinese government may hurt US multinational corporations that rely on revenue from conducting business in China. This would hurt the share prices of these companies, many of which trade on the major stock exchanges.
Jason Hope is an entrepreneur, investor, consultant and futurist. One thing that he promotes is the Internet of Things or IoT. This technical process is going to change how people communicate and interact within society. Hope believes that the Internet of Things will be a huge success but he also says that it won’t work unless everyone is on the same page. The following material will elaborate on this point.
As a futurist, Jason Hope reveals that the Internet of Things will be greatly restricted if companies focus on branding. Instead of every company supporting their own independent IoT platforms, they will have to figure out how to combine all of their devices into one system for communication. This will not be an easy task to perform unless a companies decide to work together. They will have to come together to make a platform that will allow multiple machines, appliances and devices to interact with one another.
The tech expert, Jason Hope also states that companies might lose profits and probably will be reluctant to combine their technology into one cohesive unit. Unfortunately, if they don’t commit to some unifying standard, the IoT will not be able to function at its fullest potential. Each brand will have their own unique system for their specific products and it will extremely hard for people to use various products together across the board.
Health and mental well-being are one of the most pursued courses by humans both scientifically and spiritually. Spiritually there are institutes and facilities that offer services like Yoga to promote both spiritual and mental well-being. Scientifically there have been researched and experiments surrounding the brain and how it operates. The brain is made up of millions of microscopic neuron’s that chemically generates electricity that is used by the brain to communicate within the brain and from the brain to the body. Visit Patch.com to know more about Neurocore.
Advancement in brain-related technologies e.g brain mapping, EEG and neurofeedback, have come a long way and have given scientist a better chance in understanding how the brain operates and how to use their knowledge to improve or rectify such operations. Companies have started to apply scientific knowledge in Neuroscience to help tackle mental disorders. One such company is Neurocore.
Neurocore was founded in 2004 as a brain performance center. It applies Neuroscience in its when providing training and brain-based assessments to improve the mental status of both adults and children. There is extensive use of Neurotherapy in Neurocore operations. Neurocore uses Neurotherapy in treating ADHD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. This is one of the most persistent brain development disorder that can last well into adulthood. See more information at Linkedin about Neurocore.
Treating depression in Neurocore. The company uses Neurotherapy and neurofeedback in the treatment of depression. Neurocore trains it’s patients through neurofeedback, to train their brains to face and overcome depression and it’s extreme symptoms. The company combines introduces qEEG, quantitative electroencephalogram, a brain mapping technology that read the patients brain activities and projects it to a monitor to be studied by the experts.
Neurocore Why video.
Neurocoreutilizes advanced technology in the undertaking of its treatment of ADHD, stress, depression, anxiety, ASD, memory, migraines and sleep disorders. It also uses videos for illustration of how it’s therapy sessions are delivered.
Steve Ritchie is the Papa John’s current CEO. Papa John’s is an international pizza company, owning about 120 000 teams of members. As a leader, Ritchie has shown compassion, empathy as well as concern to the company’s workers and officials. Additionally, Ritchie comes out to have held the company’s value at a higher esteem. In addressing the matter of racism and somewhat senseless language, he confirms to the company officials that such will not be tolerated.
President and CEO Steve Ritchie further goes ahead to confirm that all the officials of the company play an important role in the communities with the services that they provide. The customers as well were not left out in his considerations on the interests of the company. As a leader, therefore, considering the customers and official’s impact on the company is quite a positive reaction.
As per Biz Journals, in an attempt to meet his set goals on the welfare of the company and officials, Steve Ritchie outlines three main objectives. To start with Ritchie outlines that the company is working into it that they set clear goals through identifying the workers’ strengths as well as weaknesses, which is to be achieved through a conducted life audit, done by experts. Besides the life audit, the company as well takes a keen look into the employees’ practices.
Secondly, the senior management team as well is mandated to pay attention to the employees and give a feedback. The views of the employees, as a result, contribute to the better running of the company. Additionally, Steve Ritchie promises that the company will be as transparent as possible. The transparency intern makes the employees be accountable, hence earning the much-needed trust in the company.
Steve Ritchie as well addresses the company’s customers, recognizing their effort and loyalty. He points it out and makes it well known to the customers that they serve a greater purpose in the company. Steve Ritchie Papa John’s hence states that gaining and maintaining the customers’ trust is the company’s main aim and he would personally actively involved in the effort to regain the much-needed trust in the company.
The development of blockchain technology has been a wild ride. From humble beginnings as a cryptocurrency driven technology, to the modern day where blockchain tech is being adopted by everyone from big banks to mortgage companies- we are living in a second tech revolution and this time it is not the internet- it is blockchain that is driving the changes. Net1 and Serge Belamant are helping with that revolution. Their use of the tech allows Net1 to create very large free-cash flows as a fintech company. If everything remains the same, and this company is still undervalued it will very likely be able to buy back all of the public shares of the company that are currently available on the open and investor markets.
The technology that according to Serge Belamant and they are using to drive this phenomenal growth is their own patented form of blockchain tech that is integrated with a smartcard. This card acts as a debit/credit card using transactions that are processed using the blockchain. These cards are accepted anywhere that EMV, or Euro Mastercard/Visa cards are accepted. This proprietary blockchain based card can be used anywhere as long as the reader and the card are present- that means they do not need complicated POS computer systems or an internet connection to safely process transactions.
Every transaction using these cards is recorded using a specially built device from Net1 that has an onboard battery. This battery allows one to take payments and process transactions in different situations where you might not otherwise be able to do so. In addition, once the transaction goes through a ledger is added to the blockchain that verifies the transaction safely and securely. Serge Belamant and the others have developed an excellent technology for outdoor, rural, and electricity-free transaction processing.Serge Belamant and Net1 are likely to change the face of the blockchain industry forever. When this technology becomes adopted en masse, we will see a quick spread throughout regions of the world where electricity and internet access may not be as ubiquitous as in the deeloped countries of the global north.
Sunday Riley has always worked towards bringing consumers the most innovative and best quality skin care products on the market. Her name is synonymous with skincare so it’s no surprise why everyone is so excited about the addition of Sunday Riley’s facial cleaner Ceramic Slip into this month’s Allure Beauty Box. In addition to her debut with Allure, Sunday Riley has thrown us a curve ball with her new and improved version of Ceramic Slip that introduces ingredients such as bentonite, French green and white Kaoline to offer consumers a smoother more skin-friendly version of the cream.
If the cream was such a success, why the change? Sunday Riley’s team gave us a few reasons for the changes, in particular why this version is even better. The first reasons are due to the fact that not all skin types can use the previous version, so with the removal of some oils and the addition of others such as neroli that hydrate the skin now more people can enjoy the benefits.
In addition to the changes made to its ingredients, the presentation in terms of the box and product has also gone through a makeover. Sunday Riley heard all the comments and suggestions over the packaging, because of this the bottle is now presented in bright blue instead of the dark brown pump bottle which we were used to. Secondly, and we are so excited about this, the new version will be over $10 dollars cheaper than the original, which means not only do we get a better product but we also pay less!
According to their site sundayriley.com, this new version is sure to be a must-have for your carry bag as it’s great for sensitive skin and even gets rid of those pesky side effects like the redness that other creams cause. Keep an eye out for it on the next Allure Beauty Box.
Aloha Restoration is a new company that has been introduced in Illinois to provide home maintenance services in Illinois and parts of Wisconsin. This company has been created as a sister company to Aloha Construction a roofing and siding services provider in Illinois for the past one decade. The new company has been created as an extension of the services they offer. After offering the roofing and siding services, they saw that more services needed to offer.
Aloha Restoration will now be dealing with interior designs and home remodeling. This division specializes in mold removal and water removal. The services that this company is offering for the people are meant to make every American feel safe in their home. The quality of services is expected to be on the same level as the sister company.
Aloha Construction has an excellent reputation in Illinois, and the effect is expected to trickle down to the sister company. The management of the company will remain the same. CEO Dave Farbaky will continue leading the new company. He has done a great job with Aloha Construction which has even won the 2017 BBB Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics. Already there is a good reputation in the market, and it will only be a matter of delivering high-quality services maintain it.
Aloha Restoration is going to help people with home maintenance services such as water removal, mold removal, and remodeling. Mold and water removal are important exercises since they protect people from health problems. Mold is known to cause respiratory problems, and therefore it needs to be removed as soon as it is spotted. Water removal and mold removal are therefore essential services that should be easily accessible when need be. Aloha Restoration is seeking the necessary certifications so that it can be on top of all companies in the region.
Very few people assume leadership positions while below the age of 30, as most folks are usually trying to figure out what life has in store for them, and finding out their passions. For Zeco Auriemo, however, he had already taken up executive management at JHSF, becoming the president of the company before he was thirty years old. JHSF, Auriemo’s family business is in the real estate business in Brazil where it builds commercial and residential properties, read (Aloalobahia.com).
The rise of Zeco Auriemo to the presidency of the company did not surprise family and friends, as he had worked at JHSF since he was young, and also as an Engineering student at Fundação Armando Alvares Penteado (FAAP) University in São Paulo. However, the passion for being involved in JHSF’s everyday business would eventually conquer his dedication to his studies. Consequently, Auriemo decided to go all in, and be fully engaged in the company business. His father, Fabio Auriemo, was already convinced that Zeco Auriemo was a natural leader who would run the gamut at JHSF.
Zeco Auriemo lived up to his father’s expectations, and he displayed his skills in the early 2000s, when he used his business prowess, and savvy to convince JHSF to invest in a project called Parque Cidade Jardim. That project turned out to be one of the most profitable investments of JHSF. In turn, JHSF reaped from the project handsomely that the company was prompted to list its shares on the São Paulo Stock Exchange.
More about Zeco Auriemo
At a tender age, Auriemo participated in the International Youth Coexistence in Japan, and also learned Horse riding in Europe, which was taught by Nelson Pessoa Filho. Zeco is a dedicated husband and father, who always finds time in his packed schedule for his two children, and his wife, Mariana Landmann Auriemo. Besides, he is advent golf –lover, and practices the sport, whenever he has a chance.
To understand what Freedom Checks are all about, one needs to know the source of the idea. Matt Badiali introduced the system. He introduced this as a business idea because he believes it has the potential to change the lives of the investors who would take up the idea. According to Matt Badiali, there were huge amounts of money that would be won by investors who would take up the idea. It is however not a lucky dip. Freedom Checks is an investments system, and anyone who would like to benefit from it needs to know that it is an investment and not free money. Just like in the stock market, one must invest in the right business. It is the same case for this system. The only difference is that in this case, one will be investing in companies known as Master Limited Partnerships.
Matt Badiali came up with Freedom Checks after he did thorough research and found out that there were so many new investment opportunities that were hidden from the public. He got this idea when he came across statute 26-F of the internal revenue act. Through this statute, some companies are given tax relief based on the nature of operations they are involved in. The Congress wanted to encourage local companies to invest in the investment exploration of natural resources found in the country, and they, therefore, offered an opportunity to companies that perform this role tax relief. However, it was on the condition that they would get 90 percent of the revenue from within the United States and give huge investment payouts.
Matt Badiali projected that MLPs would be making huge returns because of the challenges in the international oil market in the business world. Oil prices would go up, and the more demand for locally produced oil would come into effect. When he looked at these two facts, he concluded that MLPs would be making super normal profits and since they are required to pay huge dividends, investors would make huge investment returns on their investments. With this idea, the Freedom Checks idea was born and has so far benefited many people as it turned out as Matt Badiali had projected.
It is estimated that more than 120 million bags of coffee are sold each year. It is the second most consumed beverage in the entire world behind water. No company has capitalized more on this fact than Organo Gold. Formed in 2008 by marketing expert Bernardo T. Chua, Organo Gold is on a mission to use their products to change lives across the planet. Their hope is to help people everywhere to find balance and well-being through their products.
Organo Gold’s success is in part because of their strong team. Working alongs side Bernardo T. Chua is co-founder Shane Morand and chief medical consultant, Dr. Irma Prado. The company has an array of products that includes beverages, personal care products and body management products. Their most popular product is their coffee. Their coffee, along with many of their other products, is focused on the mushroom ganoderma, also known as reishi. This mushroom is thought to have many powerful effects on human health including lower cholesterol and providing antiviral qualities.
Coffee is not Organo Gold’s only product. Their line of beverages include green and black tea, latte’s and hot chocolate. The company produces a number of personal care products which include premium soap and even toothpaste. Their plethora of products has led to massive success. In 2010 it was estimated that Organo Gold made more than thirty-five million dollars in revenue. Currently the companies products are offered in several countries including the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, Jamaica and Peru. Organo Gold continues to be an innovator in the health world, and appears set to continue making an impact for years to come.


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For those who have not yet had their coffee, the phrase "Sofa King low" could be read as "so f***ing low".
The Northampton-based company has used the slogan since it was established in 2002 and features it on company vehicles, warehouses and advertising.
Complaints have been made as far back as 2004 and were referred to the police, but the Crown Prosecution Service took no action and no complaints were made directly to the company.
In its defence, the company said the slogan did not run words together or use punctuation to emphasis an offensive interpretation.
However, the Northampton Herald & Post, which ran the ad, said they had received two complaints about the slogan but the ad had run for "some time" without complaint.
The ASA said: "[the ad] could be interpreted as a derivative of the swear word 'fuck', which consumer research had found to be a word so likely to offend that it should not be used in ads at all, even when it was relevant to the name of a product.
"Because of that, we concluded that the slogan was likely to cause serious or widespread offence and that the ad breached the CAP Code."
French Connection has used the brand name FCUK since 1997, but dropped its use in advertising slogans in 2005 after concluding it had become "unfashionable", although the company continues to use FCUK.
The brand had been censured at least six times by the ASA for featuring the slogan in ads.
Sofa giant DFS was rapped by the watchdog in 2009 for featuring full-price items in its half-price sale.


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After celebrity site TMZ.com posted a photo over the weekend of Anne Hathaway tooling around Los Angeles in the new BMW i3 electric city car, some in the media jumped to the conclusion that the "Les Miserables" star managed to acquire the vehicle for her husband, jewelry designer Adam Schulman, ahead of the vehicle’s mid-2014 U.S. debut.
“Anne Hathaway: Check Out My New Smuggy Buggy,” blared the TMZ headline on Sunday. The news was quickly picked up by the U.K.’s Daily Mail under the headline, “Taken for a ride! Anne Hathaway goes for a spin with husband Adam Shulman in his electric car.” On Sunday, the New York Daily News ran with this: “Anne Hathaway rides in BMW i3 electric car not yet available in America.” Meanwhile, azcentral.com put it most bluntly with this snoozer of a headline: “Anne Hathaway imports electric car.”
The only problem with all this coverage (apart from citing TMZ as the primary source) is that the car depicted in the image isn’t one that could legally be sold in the U.S. because it’s a pre-production model being used for test drives ahead of the launch of the U.S. production version.
As pointed out by Green Car Reports on Monday, the car carrying the 31-year-old star has a window decal clearly indicating it was one of the European pre-production models that was on display at the Los Angeles Auto Show last month.
“If you look at the photos in the Daily News and Daily Mail links, there's a number on the windshield ("27" in this case) that will be familiar to anyone who attended the LA Show or got a ride in one of those cars,” Green Car Reports’ John Voelcker wrote on Monday.
What’s most likely is that BMW loaned the vehicle to Hathaway, or her husband, in order to get some free publicity from TMZ and other news sites (like this one). That reporters assumed the car belonged to its passengers because TMZ said as much is just a symptom of a larger problem with so much celebrity-focused journalism: Facts don’t seem to matter.


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UK supermarket sales did not recover from a disappointing Christmas in January, while the Co-op Group’s sales once again trailed only to Aldi and Lidl in the 12 weeks to 25 January, according to Nielsen.
New Nielsen data revealed that supermarket sales grew by just 0.7% in the last four weeks, compared with 3.3% growth in the same period last year.
Over the 12-week period sales at the Co-op Group grew by 2.6%, ahead of Tesco (-0.4%), Asda (-1.5%), Morrisons (-2.7%) and Sainsbury’s (-0.2%). Waitrose also experienced a sales decline of -1.4%, while Marks & Spencer’s sales grew by just 0.1%.
Lidl overtook Aldi with sales growth of 10.8%, with the latter recording growth of 5.6%.
Nielsen’s UK head of retailer and business insight, Mike Watkins, said the Co-op and other smaller store formats benefited from consumers’ underlying ‘little and often’ shopping behaviour.
“We know that shoppers are always more conscious of their spending after Christmas, yet this behaviour is impacting the basket more so now than last year. Overall, the number of items purchased per trip is less than last January, resulting in lower supermarket spend - even if visits to stores are up,” he said.
“‘Little and often’ is still the underlying shopping behaviour, and with shoppers less inclined to spend on a big shop, sales at the Co-op and other smaller store formats, were more buoyant. Although sales have continued to increase at the discounters, growth at Aldi has fallen behind Lidl, and whilst they are both attracting new shoppers and visits to stores are up, they face the same pressures as the rest of the industry in maintaining spend per visit.”
He added that consumer confidence was improving but it would take a number of months to be reflected in sales.
“Assuming there is no late winter disruption, we anticipate that industry growth will improve to around 1% over the next couple of months, whilst volume growth will remain relatively weak until Easter, where this holiday should provide much needed momentum mid-April,” Watkins said.


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The rise of virtual reality gaming in recent years has been unprecedented, with very few people expecting the VR gaming experience to take off as quickly as it has. While the devices required for virtual reality gaming are still considered to be quite pricey in the modern games market, developers have continued to convert their best titles to bring their fans an incredible first-person experience.
Standing as the biggest game that Electronic Arts has to offer; we wonder if FIFA will ever receive a virtual reality version.
Jumpstart the Franchise
The FIFA video game will always boast a massive audience and will always be able to rake in tonnes of extra cash through the micropayments employed in their most popular game mode, Ultimate Team. So, one would assume that they would have the resources to expand into any new area that they want.
Over the last few releases of FIFA, EA has been given some stick for doing little to evolve the game, seen to mostly just update rosters and graphics with a few added gameplay tweaks. So getting on the VR wagon would certainly help to jumpstart the football game and win back some of the disgruntled fans that are joining the crusade against microtransactions following the outrage caused by fellow EA creation Star Wars Battlefront II.
FIFA did formerly expand to the Wii console to bring players a new way to play the game, so they certainly have a history of adapting to new technologies.
Other Gaming Experiences Already Successful in VR
While FIFA mainly concerns video gaming, it should be noted that other gaming sectors have utilised the virtual reality technology to their advantage.
When it comes to video gaming, PC and PlayStation gamers have the edge with access to so many great titles adapted and created for VR gaming. With Resident Evil, Skyrim, Driveclub, Batman: Arkham, Robinson: The Journey, Farpoint, and Eagle Flight among the many incredible experiences available via the VR headset, there’s no doubt that the technology is holding up, and that there’s a market for it.
The VR FIFA experience
Speaking to Eurogamer, Oculus VR co-founder Nate Mitchell depicts a VR FIFA experience of the player sitting in the crowd while controlling the game on the field as usual, which would immerse the player in the atmosphere of being at a football stadium. But, with so many of the leading VR titles moving the focus to first-person for full immersion into the game, people may expect EA to do the same with FIFA – possibly in the popular Be A Pro game mode.
Virtual reality gaming is here to stay, seeing so many game developers across varies corners of the gaming industry already creating VR experiences for their fans. It now seems as though we are at a point where the popularity of VR has become so huge that big titles are going to want to start getting onboard to establish themselves in the field. Given the backlash from their recent antics, now is a good of a time as any for EA to go big on bringing in a fantastic new experience to their dedicated players in the form of FIFA VR.


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Sources have told DigiTimes the US is putting TSMC under pressure for its plans to expand their operation in China as they plan to expand their facilities there. TSMC is the world’s largest foundry and is the backbone for many in the silicon industry that are fabless. This includes customers from around the globe including China and the US. TSMC currently has operations in both regions with facilities in Nanjing and another close to Shanghai. TSMC plans to expand these locations but resistance from the US seems to be stalling this decision.
It is currently uncertain if the resistance from the US is from the government or from US-based customers (who may be under government pressure as well) or a mix of both. It can be recalled that TSMC is building a new plant in Arizona with more fabs planned in other states. The United States has been increasingly on-alert about the situation between China and Taiwan and TSMC expanding their operations in China and aids the US in possibly denying China access to leading silicon development technology and while also protecting TSMC from potential issues once China decides to take action against Taiwan as the political tension between the China and Taiwan has become further strained.
US chipmakers have went on record to state that this is one of the biggest issue threatening western customers if they grow too dependent on TSMC. One of TSMC’s most notable customers is AMD and Apple.


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Safeco sells headquarters building
Safeco Corp. said Monday that it has sold its headquarters building in Seattle’s university district to the University of Washington for $130 million.
The sale is part of a previously announced plan to lease space in two downtown Seattle buildings to save money. The company has already sold its offices in Redmond, east of Seattle, to Microsoft Corp.
Safeco said in a statement that it expects the sale to the University of Washington to close in September. But the company plans to lease the building back from the university through the end of 2007, and to move most employees downtown by fall of 2007.
“Amazon.com Inc. said Monday that it may buy back as much as $500 million in stock over the next two years, marking the first time the company’s board has authorized a share repurchase plan.
The Seattle online retailer said it may buy back shares if it believes the company’s stock is undervalued.
Amazon.com shares have fallen nearly 40 percent so far this year. The company has riled Wall Street by investing heavily in things like cheap or free shipping deals and new technology, while also slashing prices.
“Western Refining Inc. said Monday it is buying Giant Industries Inc. for $1.23 billion in cash, creating the fourth-largest publicly traded independent oil refiner in the United States.
The combined company will have the capacity to handle about 216,000 barrels per day from four refineries. That is about 84 percent more than Western’s current capacity.
Western has a refinery in El Paso, Texas, where it is based. The deal will give a refinery in Yorktown, Va., and two refineries in New Mexico.
In addition to its refineries, Giant Industries, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., owns a crude-oil gathering pipeline system based in Farmington, N.M., a fleet of crude-oil and finished-product truck transports and retail service stations in New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona.
“Satellite TV provider EchoStar Communications Corp. said Monday it has reached a $100 million settlement with affiliate associations of three major networks over distant-programming service but has been unable to resolve differences with Fox Network.
The agreement could end a nine-year lawsuit over the Dish Network operator’s practice of selling programming from ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox stations that originates in one market to subscribers who live in a different city. It still must be approved by a judge in Florida.
EchoStar said it will pay the affiliate associations $100 million to protect subscribers from the shutoff of distant channels and expand the number of markets in which it offers local network services from 165 to 175 by the end of the year.


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It seems that McDonald’s wants its fingers in all the pies, with plans to go beyond the burgers and step into digital music.
As reported by CNBC, the fast food giant has just appointed its first ever U.S. vice president of digital, Julia Vander Ploeg – former executive of Ticketmaster – and intends to increase its digital presence with a range of as yet unannounced services, which seem to include music.
The company’s jobs website indicates further expansion, with advertisements seeking a product director of music and entertainment to ‘create the customer strategy and product roadmap for a variety of digital music and entertainment experiences that McDonald’s will provide to customers’. In addition, the fast-food chain wants to ‘reward [its] most enthusiastic customers and drive frequency’ with the establishment of ‘multi-channel music and emerging entertainment programs’.
It also advertises a position of release manager for e-commerce, which includes the McDonald’s global mobile ordering app. The app, released in June of this year, is currently being tested in selected parts of the U.S. and provides special deals to customers, as well as features to find the nearest McDonald’s restaurant and browse the menu.
With 70 million customers served daily across 119 countries, McDonald’s is a huge player in the field of fast food – and these plans could see it go ‘supersize’ before long.
Main image via Mike Mozart at Flickrcc.


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NEW YORK: Marketing operations at Johnson & Johnson, the healthcare and CPG business, have been restructured over the past two and a half years to produce a recognisable company framework in which the idea of "trans-creation" plays a key role.
"If you came here two years ago, we were great marketers, but probably all came from different places or grew up in different companies," said Vineet Mehra, president of J&J's consumer group. "There wasn't really a J&J way of marketing," he told Advertising Age.
That has all changed with the appointment of the division's first global chief marketing officer. Alison Lewis has developed a framework that sets out how J&J brands should allocate resources and how they ought to work with agency partners.
At the same time, she has sought to "globalise brands that in some cases didn't have as much scale in certain parts of the world".
For Lewis that means being able to take a global idea and "trans-create" it, adapting it to local market languages and needs without losing the sense of the original message.
"You see executions that take into account the sort of cultural nuances in Asia versus what would happen in the US," she explained.
"So it's really getting to the relevancy thing … what's going to work in my marketing to connect with the consumer in my market."
When Mehra spoke at last year's ANA Digital & Social Media Conference he emphasised "relentless relevance" as J&J's mission.
"We have to drive relevance by putting a deep sense of purpose into our brands, and connecting that purpose via content in moments that matter," he said as he outlined the company's 'Moments That Matter' initiative.
"A lot of the content that we're creating is [based] off the same ideas that travelled to over 20 countries around the world. And it's working extremely well, wherever we go."
Data sourced from Advertising Age; additional content by Warc staff


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Today, Huawei launched new mobile camera image technology – XMAGE. Huawei said this new technology will have to increase the image quality and make the photograph on smartphones clear and colorful.
“Huawei Image XMAGE is officially released. This is the condensation of our past innovations in the field of imaging and our commitment to the exploration of the field of imaging in the future. Breaking through new heights of moving images, so stay tuned.” Said Huawei
Huawei XMAGE is an innovative mobile camera technology developed by the Chinese tech maker to give their upcoming flagship smartphone a new imaging touch with the promise of ultra-ideal images to capture your real-time moment with a clear view.
The company mainly concentrated on the three fields which include:
- Technological Innovation
- Shooting experience
- Imaging culture
Currently, there’s no confirmation regarding the smartphone that this technology will come with. But the Mate 50 launch is still pending and Huawei is likely to go with this flagship to feature XMAGE image camera tech. Below you can check the example images of the XMAGE technology.
Ultra Vision Technology:
Huawei launched the Ultra Vision camera with the P40 series. This technology includes triple, Quad, and Penta-camera configurations empowering massive light and clear images.
The Ultra Vision sensor comes with RYYB color mapping with 40% more light intake the comparison to another CMOS sensor. Huawei XD Fusion Engine improvement in picture quality.
True Chroma image engine pushes for the Huawei P50 Pro flagship smartphone that helps to improve image quality as it embedded P3 color Gamut to their n house Huawei XD optical.
The True Chroma Engine creates very detailed digital photography from the merged image in color. The power of computational photographers to create memories within a single take.
Likewise, we can expect that company can embed this XMAGE imaging camera with the Huawei Mate 50 series. For now, the company has not mentioned anything about featuring this tech on the upcoming flaghip.