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40 million credit card holders may be at risk
By Jon Swartz, USA TODAY
SAN FRANCISCO The latest, and largest, breach of computerized personal data is likely to increase the drumbeat for tighter security of electronic information.
"It's the Wild West out there," Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., one of several lawmakers pursuing identity-theft prevention legislation, said Saturday. "The handling of electronic data is weighed so heavily to the convenience of the corporate world at the expense of consumers."
Late Friday, MasterCard International said 40 million card holders of all brands might be exposed to fraud. The breach involves 13.9 million MasterCard accounts, 22 million for Visa USA and an unspecified number for American Express and Discover.
This is the latest in a string of mishaps and outright thefts this year involving credit cards, bank records and employee information that have affected as many as 50 million consumers.
| Date || |
Vulnerable accounts (in millions)
Type of breach
|Feb. 25 || |
Bank of America
Lost backup tapes
|April 18 || |
DSW Shoe Warehouse
|June 6 || |
Lost backup tapes
|June 17 || |
Processor security breach
|Source: Privacy Rights Clearinghouse |
"Consumers' personal and financial data has become the gold of the 21st century, and we need to protect it," says Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., co-sponsor of a bill that would give the Federal Trade Commission sweeping power to set national standards for companies handling sensitive consumer data.
MasterCard, which said Saturday that only about 68,000 of its card holders are at "higher levels of risk," traced a pattern of fraudulent charges to credit card processor CardSystems Solutions, whose database was hacked this year. CardSystems Solutions processes payments for banks and merchants.
The FBI says it is investigating.
The filched data include card holder names, account numbers, security codes and expiration dates, which could be used to steal funds. MasterCard said Social Security numbers, dates of birth and other sensitive information that might contribute to identity theft are not stored on its cards.
Cybercrooks can sell stolen IDs in bulk on underground Web sites, purchase goods and secure cash advances, security experts say. The latest batch of compromised cards could fetch more than $250 million, says Evan Hendricks, editor of Privacy Times.
Privacy and credit experts suggest checking credit card statements and credit reports regularly. Checking online can catch problems early. Credit card holders are liable for no more than $50 of unauthorized charges, according to federal law. But many card issuers, including MasterCard and Visa, will waive the $50.
Still, the latest disclosure is sure to undermine consumer trust in electronic financial transactions as banks and merchants offer more online features, says Chris Voice, vice president of technology at computer security firm Entrust.


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Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) wants to close the gap with Samsung (OTC:SSNLF) in flash-based storage drives, DigiTimes reported. According to the report, Samsung has about 30% revenue share in the market for solid-state drives. Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and SanDisk (UNKNOWN:SNDK.DL), according to DigiTimes, both have less than 20% market segment share.
Those market share dynamics might change as soon as 2016.
New technology and price cuts could drive share gains
DigiTimes' sources said Intel's latest batch of solid-state drives -- the Intel SSD 750 series -- coupled with price reductions on older-generation drives might allow Intel to start closing the revenue-share gap during the second half of this year. The sources went so far as to say Intel could have a chance of surpassing Samsung next year.
The article noted that Intel has a lead in enterprise-oriented solid-state drives (backing up the chipmaker's claim to this effect during its late-2014 investor meeting). However, given that Intel isn't leading the overall solid-state drive market, the company is clearly behind in the lower-margin, more-commoditized, consumer-oriented side of things.
Why might Intel get more aggressive now?
Intel has been in the solid-state drive market for quite a while; in fact, its X25-M solid-state drive (launched in 2008) was praised by AnandTech as having "redefined the performance of the MLC SSD." However, over the years, as the market has grown more price competitive, Intel has seemingly been less aggressive in trying to capture share; its focus instead seems to have been on high-end desktop and data center drives.
If it's true that Intel intends to be more aggressive in trying to gain share, the question worth asking is, "why?"
My best guess is that Intel might view solid-state drives as an opportunity to capture more content share within PCs. After all, if the market for PCs is expected to be flat-to-down, the company can't count too much on unit growth to try grow sales. The market is also unlikely to tolerate price hikes.
By capturing more content per laptop and/or desktop, Intel can potentially grow its PC-related revenue even in a flat market, or keep revenue stable in a slightly down market.
How big is the potential opportunity?
According to Intel's 2014 investor meeting, the market for solid-state drives exceeded $12 billion in revenue. Furthermore, Intel showed a slide forecasting that solid-state drive market penetration will hit 50% by 2018, suggesting the opportunity once SSDs have fully penetrated the market could be substantially larger than it is today.
Intel has strong competition in this market, though, so I wouldn't get too crazy with market segment share assumptions. However, even if Intel winds up with "only" 20% share when all is said and done, overall solid-state market growth could solidly boost to the company's top and bottom lines.
As a long-term investor in Intel stock, I will keep an eye out for what management has to say about the solid-state drive opportunity, and any potential changes to its strategy, at the company's investor meeting in November.

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Five Things to Watch in CFPB's Arbitration Proposal
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is expected to issue a proposal Thursday that would limit the use of arbitration clauses on millions of financial contracts, including cellphones, credit cards and checking accounts.
The plan is likely to allow consumers to band together in class-action lawsuits against financial institutions, rather than be forced to resolve disputes entirely through arbitration. But restrictions on arbitration clauses have been met with fierce opposition from the lending industry, which has billions of dollars at stake.
"I'm expecting a huge uptick in class-action litigation, probably in late summer of next year or early fall," said Alan Kaplinsky, who leads the consumer financial services group at Ballard Spahr.
Evidence points to thousands of arbitrations for individual claims in recent years, and there likely would have been more if not for negative publicity about arbitrations.November 20
Industry advocates say Consumer Financial Protection Bureau curbs on arbitration will eliminate a favored legal option, but where's the evidence that banks really prefer arbitration?November 13
The bureau's proposal is expected to broadly track a 32-page outline released in October as part of a small-business panel review, but there are several outstanding questions about specific requirements.
Following are five issues to watch when the agency formally unveils the plan at a public field hearing in Albuquerque, N.M.
Arbitration vs. class actions
Financial institutions say arbitration is a faster and cheaper way to resolve disputes, offering consumers more benefits than class-action lawsuits. Consumer advocates maintain that mandatory arbitration clauses deprive individuals of bringing group claims and from seeking relief for wrongdoing against powerful economic entities.
The CFPB is not expected to ban arbitration clauses outright. Rather, the agency is trying to curb the use of arbitration clauses as a way to block consumers from bringing group claims, especially if many consumers are injured by the same conduct. The bureau will probably still allow arbitration in individual claims, lawyers said.
Paul Bland, the executive director at Public Justice, said the proposal is modeled on a similar rule for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, known as Finra, which allows individual investors to bring class-action claims against brokerages.
"Companies can offer arbitration, they just can't ban class actions," Bland said. "It's about whether or not arbitration clauses that ban class actions will be permitted."
The CFPB also is expected to try and collect data from companies that decide to use arbitration clauses to resolve individual disputes. It plans to monitor the process to ensure it is fair.
Still, the consumer finance industry believes any limit to arbitration amounts to a de facto ban.
"This is like saying to your teenager, I'm not taking away your car, I'm just taking away your keys," said Travis Norton, the executive director with the Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
The chamber sent a letter Monday to CFPB Director Richard Cordray asking that he verbally address at the field hearing whether prohibiting class-action waivers would have the effect of eliminating arbitration.
"At a minimum, [the proposal] is going to ban class-action waivers and that's going to lead to a lot of banks and other companies abandoning the use of arbitration," Kaplinsky said.
Andrew Pincus, a partner at Mayer Brown, and a former assistant to the solicitor general in the Justice Department, said companies will not be able to pay for the cost of an arbitration process while reserving millions of dollars for class-action defense.
"If you're a company, you're basically running two different dispute resolution systems that are very expensive, especially the litigation costs associated with class actions," he said. "The virtue of arbitration [for the consumer] is you don't need a lawyer and the company pays all the filing costs."
What companies are affected?
Both sides agree that a large number of industries will be affected by any effort to curb arbitration agreements.
The proposal would impact credit cards, checking and deposit accounts, certain auto loans, money transfer services, prepaid cards, small dollar or payday loans, private student loans, and installment loans.
Mandatory arbitration clauses were prohibited in 2013 from being used in contracts for residential mortgages and home equity lines of credit.
Isaac Boltansky, a policy analyst at Compass Point Research & Trading, wrote in a research note that curtailing mandatory arbitration clauses "could ultimately result in higher operational and litigation expenses for impacted industries including credit cards, for-profit education and marketplace lenders."
With respect to auto finance, auto dealers themselves are largely outside the CFPB's authority but that is not true for the auto finance companies that draft and purchase retail installment sales contracts from dealers.
"Over the years, the auto finance industry and auto dealers have benefited substantially from the widespread use of arbitration provisions with class-action waivers," says Richard Gottlieb, a partner in the Los Angeles office of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP. "Prohibiting these provisions will greatly increase the number of individual and class-action suits arising out of auto consumer finance transactions because auto finance companies will no longer be able to purchase contracts containing those provisions."
Consumer finance companies are paying close attention to the timing of the proposal to determine when they should make changes to current contracts.
The new restrictions would apply to arbitration agreements entered into 210 days after a final rule is published.
Many in the industry believe the agency will try to get a final rule out before the presidential election, which means the regulation would apply to arbitration contracts entered into after mid-2017. All other arbitration contracts would get grandfathered in.
Both sides of the debate are expected to use the CFPB's arbitration study, released last year, to support claims that arbitration helps or hurts consumers.
The CFPB's study found that 75% of consumers surveyed were not aware of an arbitration clause and worse, only 7% knew the contracts had a clause that restricted them from suing. Millions more consumers could be missing out on refunds from class-action lawsuits because many agreements restrict a consumer from filing a claim in court.
Meanwhile, the American Bankers Association and other industry trade groups submitted comments to the CFPB stating that "arbitration has significant, demonstrable benefits over litigation in general and class action litigation in particular."
The CFPB study also found that 87% of class actions provided no money to consumers. Of the 13% that involved settlements only 4% of consumers received a payout, and the payouts averaged just $32, Norton said.
"The bureau acknowledges that arbitration is an accepted means for solving disputes, which is why they aren't proposing to ban them completely," Norton said.
He cited efforts by some members of Congress and the business community that wants the CFPB to reopen the study to address what the industry considers deficiencies in its survey.
But Bland said only a small number of consumers, about 400 over several years, actually file cases in arbitration. In addition, the CFPB study found that roughly 13 million consumers received more than $1 billion in payouts, and even more substantial injunctive relief in the form of having illegal debts wiped out through settlements.
The industry is crying "all these crocodile tears about how consumers will lose the amazing benefits available under arbitration, when next to no consumers actually go to arbitration," Bland said.
Likely legal challenge
The 2010 Dodd-Frank Act mandated that the CFPB release a study on arbitration and that the agency write arbitration rules. But there are questions about whether the bureau was given the power to invalidate arbitration agreements preventing class actions.
The Supreme Court has upheld in three decisions since 2011 the right of private contracts to arbitrate disputes rather than litigate them. Some lawyers suggest that recent Supreme Court decisions make it difficult to invalidate arbitration clauses without a legislative amendment to the Federal Arbitration Act of 1925.
"The Supreme Court has looked at class-action waivers and upheld the use of them," Norton said.
As with so many issues involving the CFPB, legal challenges are expected.
"How they exercise their authority and if it satisfies the special requirements of Dodd-Frank is something that I'm sure will be litigated in court," Pincus said. "Rules get challenged all the time, especially with something of this broad an impact."


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Bloomberg reports that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s closest aides earned millions of dollars a year working for Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and other Wall Street firms. Bloomberg adds that none of these aides faced Senate confirmation. Yet, they are overseeing the handout of hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer funds to their former employers.
The gifts of billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money provided the banks with an abundance of low cost capital that has boosted the banks’ profits, while the taxpayers who provided the capital are increasingly unemployed and homeless.
JPMorgan Chase announced that it has earned $3.6 billion in the third quarter of this year.
Goldman Sachs has made so much money during this year of economic crisis that enormous bonuses are in the works. The London Evening Standard reports that Goldman Sachs’ “5,500 London staff can look forward to record average payouts of around 500,000 pounds ($800,000) each. Senior executives will get bonuses of several million pounds each with the highest paid as much as 10 million pounds ($16 million).”
In the event the banksters can’t figure out how to enjoy the riches, the Financial Times is offering a new magazine–“How To Spend It.” New York City’s retailers are praying for some of it, suffering a 15.3 per cent vacancy rate on Fifth Avenue. Statistician John Williams (shadowstats.com) reports that retail sales adjusted for inflation have declined to the level of 10 years ago: “Virtually 10 years worth of real retail sales growth has been destroyed in the still unfolding depression.”
Meanwhile, occupants of New York City’s homeless shelters have reached the all time high of 39,000, 16,000 of whom are children.


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Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman thinks USB-C won’t last long on iPhone, and that Apple will make it a portless device in the relatively near future. TMO Managing Editor Jeff Butts agrees, while Ken is not so sure. Then, it turns out rollercoasters CAN set off Apple’s Crash Detection. We’ll talk about that on this happy Monday edition of The Mac Observer’s Daily Observations.
Today we’re taking a look at the new Apple Watch SE and seeing if the features not found in the device still make it a worthy purchase.
A recent study published by The New York Times reveals that parents increasingly give their children an Apple Watch SE as stopgap cell phone.
Mark Gurman reports that Apple plans to release three new Apple Watch variants, including a ruggedized model for extreme sports.
The watchOS 8.1.1 update was released on Thursday. It fixes a charging issue with the Apple Watch Series 7, MacRumors reported. I could not see the update available on my SE, even after updating to iOS 15.1.1, so don’t worry if you have an older device and also don’t see it.
According to Apple’s release notes, the watchOS 8.1.1 update addresses an issue that could cause Apple Watch Series 7 models not to charge as expected for some users. Some Apple Watch Series 7 owners have noticed slow charging speeds for their devices, and this update should fix the bug causing the problem.
Charlotte noticed a new iPhone notification recently, that told her when her nearby Apple Watch had been unlocked.
There is an Apple Watch on more than 100 million wrists, according to analyst Neil Cybart, and there are huge possibilities for growth.
If you have an Apple Watch, there’s a couple of ways that it can help you find your misplaced iPhone with the ‘Ping iPhone’ tool.
With its new Telenet One Number mobile plan, customers can add their Apple Watch’s eSIM to their plan starting November 13.


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April 2, 2020 — Charlottesville, VA — The Catering Outfit is teaming up with Sysco, Digital Minerva, Pale Fire Brewing, and York Property for “The Catering Outfit Helps,” a food bank resource to support restaurant workers during the COVID-19 crisis.
The food pantry will be open at The Catering Outfit’s event space, “The Atrium” at 221 Carlton Road, Suite 8 starting Monday, March 30, during the hours of 11am – 4pm or until we run out of food. The days will vary depending on food availability. To keep up-to-date on days and hours we will be open please follow The Catering Outfit’s Facebook page or Instagram.
A variety of non-perishable items donated by Sysco and community members will be available. Participants are asked to show their most recent pay stub to confirm eligibility. Responsible sanitation and social distancing measures will be followed at all times.
The Catering Outfit Helps is intended to provide tangible support to restaurant workers in these times of need. The restaurant industry has been hit particularly hard as our country practices necessary social distancing. Hundreds of industry workers in our area found themselves without income with little warning.
“We are so grateful for all of partners that have collaborated with us to be able to serve the food service community, Sysco, Digital Minerva, Pale Fire Brewing, and York Property. I had the privilege to employ food service industry individuals for over 20 years with my two locally owned businesses. They are some of the hardest working people you will ever meet. I consider being able to safely provide free food to them during this COVID-19 crisis essential to supporting them back and a civic duty to our Charlottesville community.” – Walter Slawski, owner of The Catering Outfit.
Restaurant workers can learn more at www.thecateringoutfithelps.com. The website was created and is being hosted and maintained by Digital Minerva, a downtown agency who donated their services to the program.
The food bank will only be available to restaurant industry workers. Participation is not limited to Charlottesville residents and all restaurant workers are welcome. If you are traveling from a long distance, please call The Catering Outfit at (434) 951-4699 to confirm availability before making the trip. Food Pantry volunteers will hand out one bag of food per participant. Participants are welcome to bring a reusable shopping bag if they would like. The program will last as long as it can safely continue to operate and items are available.
The Catering Outfit is also accepting both shelf-stable food and monetary donations to support this program, as well as volunteers. You can learn more about how you can help at www.thecateringoutfithelps.com.


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DETROIT - Chrysler abruptly agreed to recall 2.7 million older model Jeeps Tuesday, reversing a defiant posture and avoiding a possible public relations nightmare over fuel tanks that can catch fire in a rear-end collision.
L. Mark Risse, the Georgia Power Professor of Water Resource Policy in the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, has been named director of UGA Marine Outreach Programs. The appointment is effective July 1.
Launched by FTD, designer Vera Wang has just released her first ever floral wedding collection. Intended to inspire a look for the bride, the groom, and the wedding itself, Wang's designs ... Read More


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As a video was shown with Abe portrayed running late for the handover ceremony, the Japanese prime minister suddenly popped up on stage in Rio — to loud applause— dressed as Super Mario.
It has been five years to the date that Breath of the Wild released for the Nintendo Switch. And I now have fresh thoughts.
The Pokémon (videogame) series is like our childhood sports team. We support it because it was great that one time.
Kyoto-based Nintendo Co. recorded a $3.2 billion profit for the period, down from 377 billion yen the previous year. Its sales in the same period fell 6% to $11 billion.
Online gaming in its new avatar allows players to meet, greet and beat fellow challengers just like in the real world
Kyoto-based Nintendo Co. reported Thursday a 171.8 billion yen ($1.5 billion) profit for the April-September period, down from 213 billion yen in the same period the previous year.
For every life-changing Zoom, there was at least one soon-forgotten Quibi. Here's a look at the year's tech winners and losers.


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DB Schenker joins IRU in focus on global logistics decarbonisation
You can read this article in 1 minute
Global multimodal logistics operator DB Schenker has joined IRU as its newest corporate member, the international road transport organisation recently announced.
The company aims to collaborate more closely with the wider road transport sector on a range of issues and opportunities, including decarbonisation, digitalisation and the industry’s image and ability to attract and retain workers.
Joining IRU is important for us to better engage within the road transport sector and beyond. Working with IRU and its members will notably help us continue decarbonising our operations, with our sub-contractors and partners, sharing knowledge and experiences with the wider industry,” says DB Schenker CEO Jochen Thewes.
Jochen Thewes spoke at the recent launch event for IRU’s Green Compact to make global commercial road transport carbon neutral by 2050.
“I look forward to collaborating with them (DB Schenker – the ed.) in many areas, in particular on rolling out our Green Compact plan on carbon neutrality for global commercial road transport,” commented IRU Secretary General Umberto de Pretto on the news.


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One of the industry’s leading entertainment providers, Microgaming, has struck a deal with IWG that will transform their most successful slots into instant win games for the first time ever.
The deal between these two experienced and expert suppliers is the first of its kind and it will allow Microgaming to extend its reach in the constantly-growing sector of the online gaming market.
The award-winning supplier, IWG, will adapt a range of both classic and new Microgaming releases for the instant win market.
IWG will use its extensive knowledge and expertise in the field once again to increase the appeal of supplier’s content and drive additional revenues for the operator. IWG will provide Microgaming with new gaming solutions that aim to broaden their market appeal. The games in question will be available for the market later this year across the supplier’s operator network.
“IWG has a strong reputation for delivering instant win slot games that keep the key characteristics of a popular title while adding a new dimension to the gameplay, which captures the attention of players around the world,” commented John Quinn, director of content strategy at Microgaming.
“We look forward to seeing this transformation of our popular releases, and making them available to our ever-growing network of operators and their players.”
With over 15 years of experience, IWG has launched over 300 top selling, high quality instant win games which perform consistently at the highest level. IWG titles are engaging and retaining players while at the same time driving excellent results for the customers.
Each game’s transformation will be carefully approached in order to create a unique instant win game experience for players. IWG will combine trusted gameplay and exciting features with brand new prize structures and win mechanics. All titles will be available across Microgaming’s extensive operator base which consists of more than 800 biggest brands in the world.
“Fans of Microgaming slots will now be able to enjoy an enhanced experience thanks to this new partnership. By implementing our proven instant win mechanics into its wide range of games, Microgaming will now be able to target a different player base with this unique concept,” Leon Thomas, Chief Commercial Officer at IWG, commented the collaboration.
“We’re delighted to provide them with exciting and engaging instant win games inspired by its catalogue of games and are sure they will prove to be a big hit.”
BestCasinos team consists of online casino experts dedicated to spreading their knowledge and experience to a wider audience, all in effort to help even the most inexperienced players gain their footing in this exciting industry.


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February 16, 2006 |
NEW YORK: Billionaire investor Warren Buffett will step down as a director of Coca-Cola this year because of time constraints after 17 years on the board of the world's biggest soft-drink company. Mr Buffett, 75, told Coca-Cola that he didn't plan to seek re-election to the board that he has sat on since 1989. The announcement brings to an end a controversial episode in Mr Buffett's illustrious career, which saw him steer Coke away from the acquisition of Quaker Oats, delaying Coke's entry into the lucrative sports drinks market.
September 25, 2013
By MG Parameswaran Big acquisitions are in the news again. Microsoft acquires the devices and services business of Nokia for $7.1 billion. Verizon decides to buy back 45% of its shares from Vodafone for an eye-popping $130 billion. Closer home, Japan's Nissin foods is planning to buy out Capital Foods (marketer of Ching's Secret), and the valuation sought is 600 crore, or almost three times the sales value. And just a few days ago, Suntory, the privately held Japanese company, bought the brands Lucozade and Ribena from UK's GSK for a reported £1.35 billion ($2.1 billion)
March 22, 2012 |
NEW DELHI: PepsiCo India, reeling under several senior- to mid-level exits, on Thursday named two top officials within the company, to head its foods and beverages divisions. Praveen Someshwar, currently CEO beverages, will succeed Varun Berry who quit late last month in a sudden and unexpected move. Gautham Mukkavilli, senior VP (global nutrition group) for PepsiCo Asia , Middle East and Africa based in Dubai, has been named as CEO beverages, filling the position Someshwar is vacating.
September 11, 2011 |
NEW DELHI: PepsiCo India may have already become one of the top five global operations outside the US for the food and beverages major, but it is gunning for the top spot. "India is one of the top five markets for PepsiCo among all the international markets (outside the US) in terms of the scale of the business and PepsiCo is very bullish on India," PepsiCo India Holdings Pvt Ltd Chairman India region Manu Anand told PTI. He said the company's both food and beverages businesses driven by innovative products are seeing a robust growth here.
November 25, 2011 |
In 2009, a handful of researchers from PepsiCo India stumbled upon a piece of information that could prove revolutionary for the company. While on a visit to the Andhra Pradesh hinterland to research the market potential for an iron-fortified snack, the team came across young girls — the target consumers for such foods — who mixed either papadom or fryums to their rice to spice it up. Taking a cue, the R&D team set out for papadom substitutes and came up with the idea of spicy iron fortified puffs as the company already had the capability of producing extruded puffs (read Kurkure)
October 25, 2004 |
NEW DELHI: Steve Reinemund's, PepsiCo's global board chairman and CEO, obsession with Pepsi starts at the breakfast table. He begins his day with a glass of Diet Pepsi, a tradition he brought to the table at Taj Chambers, when he met select journalists over an informal breakfast. Mr Reinemund's appetite is noticeable. He hungers for growth, is open to acquisitions and is currently fashioning the company's image makeover, incorporating elements of health and fitness from just being a snack food and carbonated drinks behemoth.
December 29, 2009 |
NEW YORK: Sponsors of golf superstar Tiger Woods have lost around $5 to 12 billion since reports of his extramarital affairs broke out, a new survey has said. The new study by the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) examined stock market returns for the 13 trading days that fell between November 27, the date of Woods' car crash and December 17, a week after the sports champion announced his indefinite leave from golf. Two UC Davis economics professors, Victor Stango and Christopher Knittel looked at eight of his sponsors -- Accenture; AT&T; Tiger Woods PGA Tour Golf (Electronic Arts)
December 30, 2009 |
NEW YORK: Sponsors of golf superstar Tiger Woods have lost around $5-12 billion since reports of his extramarital affairs broke out, a new survey has said. The new study by the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) examined stock market returns for the 13 trading days that fell between November 27, the date of Woods' car crash and December 17, a week after the sports champion announced his indefinite leave from golf. Two UC Davis economics professors, Victor Stango and Christopher Knittel, looked at eight of his sponsors, Accenture; AT&T; Tiger Woods PGA Tour Golf (Electronic Arts)
March 17, 2010 |
NEW YORK | ATLANTA: Tiger Woods will return to professional golf on April 8 at the Masters Tournament , four months after stepping away from the sport and admitting marital infidelity. The world's No. 1-ranked golfer, Woods hasn't played in a tournament since November. His return was announced on Tuesday in a statement, three weeks after he spoke publicly for the first time about the November 27 single-car accident outside his Florida home that led to worldwide scrutiny of his personal life.
October 7, 2005 |
We're guessing Steven S Reinemund was a junk foodie or a Cokaholic — considering Coke is the older soft drink variant — while he served in the US Navy. On second thoughts, maybe he's a health freak and had long-term plans of getting into the business, doing a Pepsi and Frito Lay act and then getting down to acquiring Quaker Oats in 2001 and introducing products like Gatorade sports drink and Tropicana juice. After graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1970, Reinemund served five years as an officer in the United States Marine Corps, after which he became captain.


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The model developed by the physicists depicts human population growth reaching a maximum level that is undermined by the shrinking of forests, which will not have enough resources left to sustain people.
Given the evidence, it is clear humans need to balance the production of food, forest commodities and other goods with the protection of tropical forests.
A government program to help poor, rural Indonesians through direct cash payments had the unexpected effect of reducing deforestation by 30 percent in participating villages.
At the cost of over $2,000 per acre—and that is the cheapest I could find—it isn’t cheap, totaling over $30 billion to replace what the Amazon lost this decade.
Due to the some of the fastest deforestation in the world, this once enormous ecosystem may soon be gone outside of protected areas.
"Global demand for meat is destroying the Amazon rainforest."
“At five years on, we’re losing the battle.”
When rain started to fall on the flames overtaking the area around the small Amazonian town of Lábrea, Brazil, Marcos Apurinã let...
There are a record number of wildfires burning in the Amazon rainforest, Brazil's space agency has said. Their smoke is visible from space and shrouded the...


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An opticians in Harborough is encouraging the local community to spread a little love this Valentine’s Day as part of a fundraiser for the British Heart Foundation (BHF).
Specsavers, at 22 St Mary’s Place, has teamed up with the BHF to offer customers the chance to purchase their very own love heart for £1, or larger love heart for £2, to write a special message on for a loved one.
The heart will then be displayed in the store’s window as a token of affection on Valentine’s Day - Thursday, February 14.
Customers can also buy British Heart Foundation pin badges in-store in exchange for a £1 donation, with all money raised being donated to the nation’s heart charity that provides quality care and support for everyone living with heart disease.
Barry Henning, store director at Specsavers in Market Harborough, said: “We’ve established a fantastic relationship with our local British Heart Foundation and this event is a great way to raise money for a charity that does so much to help others.
“February is national heart month so we’ve all chosen to wear something red on the 14th to show our support and I would encourage the residents of Market Harborough to come down to the store and share the love for this cause.”
For more information or to make a donation, pop into the store at 22 St Mary’s Place, Market Harborough, Leicestershire, LE16 7DR, phone 01858 438980, or visit www.specsavers.com/marketharborough.


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In an emailed statement, Apple said that for “qualifying premium video entertainment apps such as Prime Video, Altice One and Canal+, customers have the option to buy or rent movies and TV shows using the payment method tied to their existing video subscription.” Apple also said the services will function better with Apple devices and apps, for example by letting users ask its voice assistant, Siri, to find shows on the third-party services.
Apple Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are letting Apple Card users defer April payments without incurring interest to ease financial pressure from economic disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The card, backed by Goldman, offered the same program for March payments. Apple Card users need to opt in to the program by messaging a support representative via the Wallet app on an Apple device.
Hot on the heels of two security researchers finding a Zoom bug that can be abused to steal Windows passwords, another security researcher found two new bugs that can be used to take over a Zoom user’s Mac, including tapping into the webcam and microphone.
Apple is working to improve the iCloud Keychain password manager on iOS, 9to5Mac has learned, with two-factor password integration and more. These new features described are based on an early build of iOS 14 obtained by 9to5Mac.
Still, I play. I see what creatures are lurking near my house. Occasionally, I see if the coast is clear and dash down the block to spin my local Pokéstop. In a stressful time, even the attenuated game is a distraction and a comfort.
But it’s also a reminder of what Pokémon Go used to give me, and the one thing it can no longer deliver no matter how much it tweaks its code: the whole wide world.
After bringing the long-awaited feature to iOS last fall, Spotify has updated its app today to take advantage of Siri support on Apple Watch in watchOS 6.
Apple says the new financial report option will show developers more details on their proceeds. The report shows settlement dates for purchases, state and province details, and much more.
In an effort to encourage social distancing, Apple has indicated that it will provide subsidies to Apple Authorized Service Providers that offer product repairs on a pickup and drop-off basis in the United States and Canada.
Tile Inc, which helps users find lost items, told a congressional panel on Wednesday that Apple failed to live up to promises aimed at resolving a dispute between the two companies and introduced requirements that would hurt their business.
The smart-tracker maker was one of four companies that testified against the big tech platforms - Tile focused on Apple - in a January hearing in Colorado of a panel of the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee.
I've spend the entire morning today -- a beautiful Thursday morning here near the northern border of Singapore -- thinking it was only Wednesday.
I do use Zoom for work. I do not install Zoom on my Mac. Only on my iPad. I do hope the work done by Apple for iPadOS and iOS will protect me against Zoom.
Thanks for reading.


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October 29, 2004
In Brief: Power Shift ... Exit at Wilsons
POWER SHIFT: Prada declined to comment on a report in Italian daily MF that it has tapped former San Paolo IMI banker Carlo Mazzi to fill a newly created but yet-to-be-named position at Prada. The luxury goods company has said it is...
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Games that were created as part of the Indie Speed Run game jam are now available on the event's official website for the public to play.
The Indie Speed Run is a global game jam where teams of one to four developers create a game in any 48-hour span during the game jam period. The most recent jam ran from Nov. 28, 2012 to Jan. 6, 2013.
Judging is currently taking place and the panel includes the likes of Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson, thatgamecompany co-founder Kellee Santiago, BioWare co-founder Trent Oster, Limbo developer Dino Patti, creative director of Papo & Yo Vander Caballero, game critic Ben "Yahtzee" Crowshaw and Sleep Is Death and Diamond Trust of London developer Jason Rohrer.
The games can be played now at Indie Speed Run.


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Shoes Of Prey to make sneakers in 'athleisure' play
Shoes Of Prey, the customised shoe maker and e-tailer whose 6 million designs to date have been dominated by strappy high heels, has invested in a major expansion into sneakers.
But founder Jodie Fox claims the business still has plenty of funding to keep jogging along.
The move into sneakers is the first unisex product for Shoes Of Prey, which has raised $US24.6 million ($30.6 million) since launching in Sydney in 2009, and first major announcement since the closure of its physical shopfronts inside David Jones and Nordstrom stores last October.
Ms Fox told The Australian Financial Review that the reversion to Shoes Of Prey's origins as a pure online retailer had reduced cash burn at the company, which according to accounts obtained by News Limited had been nearly $1 million a month by September 2016. Ms Fox said that was a "one month snapshot" that did not give "an accurate insight into an eight year growth story", and that the spend in that particular month had been "meticulously planned for.
Those same accounts indicated Shoes Of Prey had $7.7 million in cash remaining at the time. Ms Fox declined to provide updated numbers but said an improved cash position was evident in the fact the business would not need to raise for the foreseeable future, despite a big investment into product development that has seen it introduce 15 new dress shoes styles in the past 12 months, as well as retool to make sneakers.
The company's physical retail operations had represented 25 per cent of its cost base, but ony 15 per cent of sales, and Ms Fox said their closure had allowed the business to focus resources on among other things the sneaker launch. She described this as "critical" given the growth of the "athleisure" fashion category, where activewear and everyday wear are increasingly influenced by design.
"Any good fashion business needs a good merchandising strategy, and all our trend forecasting tells us athleisure is a growing category that is here to stay," said Ms Fox.
She cited the return of Alex Wang's collaboration with sneaker brand Adidas for a second season, and the US success of Australian athleisure brand PE Nation, as further evidence that making sneakers would be crucial for growing "share of wardrobe" for Shoes Of Prey.
'A potential growth market'
The company owns its own factories in China, which Ms Fox said this was important given the complexity of introducing sneakers to the customised manufacturing process.
"For every size you want to make, you need to build a new "last" – the mold the shoe is built around – and that cost is why so few shoemakers do half-sizes," she said.
However, Shoes Of Prey's dress shoes are available in every size from a US "2" to a "15", including half-sizes, as well as five different widths .
"But in a high heel a woman's foot is slightly shorter, and slightly wider around the ball of the foot and the toes than it is in a sneaker, so we've had to build a whole new set of lasts," Ms Fox said.
The entry into sneakers allowed Shoes Of Prey to target males for the first time, she added.
"That's obviously a potential growth market, but the concept of mass-customised shoes itself is still very early in its evolution," Ms Fox said.
"I think we've got at least a good five years where customer acquisition is as important a metric for us as as lifetime value."
Ms Fox added that although sneakers were unisex, in the interest of avoiding confusion, women were still the primary target customer for Shoes of Prey for now.
Ms Fox also declined to indicate when Shoes Of Prey expected to become cashflow-positive. Last year the investment director of major investor Blue Sky Private Equity, Elaine Stead, said she expected the business would become profitable in 2017.
However, Ms Fox said signs of strong traction in sneakers could put the company temporarily further into the red if it decided to invest to shore up its market position.
Inspired by the "gold standard" of Amazon, Ms Fox said Shoes Of Prey had also invested heavily in logistics and reduced its standard order-to-delivery time down to two weeks, from up to eight weeks when it launched.
The US is now "by far" the largest market for Shoes Of Prey, Ms Fox said, with Australia second. She said the company's strongest demographic in both those countries – women aged in their 30s or 40s with sufficient income to afford the customised brand's minimum $200 price tag – were now far more comfortable transacting online than they had been when the company opened its first physical storefront in 2013.
Shoes Of Prey is backed by venture capital firms including Blue Sky Private Equity and Khosla Ventures, as well as Nordstrom, which remains an online distributor of the brand.
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France's data protection supervisor, the Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés, (CNIL) notified the end of the transition period of it’s amended guidelines & recommendations on cookies and other tracers. If your website is accessible in France, chances are website owners have to bring their cookie consent practices in line with the new rules.
The Dutch data protection authority, Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (AP), fined Booking.com B.V. 450,000 euros for violations related to a 2018 breach. The AP alleges the Dutch company did not report a breach involving more than 4.100 customers until 22 days after the reservation service provider was made aware of the incident. The delay fell outside of the 72-hour breach notification requirement.
Major impact for everyone in EU-non EU partnerships.
After the Schrems II judgement, privacy pros around the world were at a loss what to do. Now, a judgement by the Conseil d’Etat — France's highest administrative court — seems to have shed light on the situation.
European Union Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders stated he does not expect a replacement for the EU-US Privacy Shield agreement to come quickly. Reynders said a new data transfer deal between the EU and US could take years rather than months as ‘it may be challenging to find a solution to protect European citizens' data from US intelligence agencies’.
Moet je als zorgaanbieder ook een DPIA doen voor bestaande verwerkingsactiviteiten?
Ja, soms moet je alsnog een data protection impact assessment (DPIA) uitvoeren voor een bestaande verwerking. Dat is als er iets verandert aan het risico van de gegevensverwerking. En de gegevensverwerking vervolgens (na de verandering) een hoog privacyrisico oplevert.
The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) grants California residents rights and control over their personal data. As consumers become increasingly aware of their granted rights, the number of data subject requests received by organisations under the CCPA have also been increasing. Responding to these requests is often a challenge, given the complexity of the process and the tight deadlines. In this blog post, our objective is to provide you with a clear overview of the key information for responding to Consumer Right Requests.
Throughout the last couple of years, the healthcare sector in the Netherlands has been one of the frontrunners in terms of the amount of data breaches reported to the Dutch Data Protection Authority (2017, 2018, 2019). With the recent data breach of the GGD, exposing the personal data of tens of thousands getting tested for the coronavirus, the crucial issue of data breaches in the sector has received very strong public attention as well. This blog provides insight into how a data breach can be recognised, what practical steps organisations can take to reduce the risk of a breach, and how organisations can respond.
The first days of 2021 had news outlets across the world displaying headlines about recent developments in privacy of the American tech giants. If you yourself are using their services, do read on, as these developments can have a big impact on you, the privacy of your company, and your customers.
On the 13th of January, the Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) Michal Bobek delivered his opinion in case between Facebook and the Belgian Data Protection Authority - Facebook Ireland Limited, Facebook Inc., Facebook Belgium BVBA v Gegevensbeschermingsautoriteit (Case C-645/19).
The opinion follows after the Belgian Data Protection Authority went to court against Facebook for collecting information on the surfing behavior of internet users in Belgium through cookies. The Court of Appeal of Brussels decided to question the CJEU whether the Belgian DPA could indeed start legal proceedings against Facebook.
So, you have a website, or maybe you want to have one for yourself or for your company.
Of course you want to make sure you are sticking to the law and protect the privacy of your visitors - you want to make sure your website is GDPR compliant. But you don’t want to read a book (or, god forbid - the Law!) on the matter. We’ve got your back. This is what you need to know.


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25 Feb 2021
Posted in Business Fundamentals
Consumer discretionary sector drives S&P 500 index performance
Consumer discretionary stocks led the S&P 500 charge between 31 January 2020 and 31 January 2021, while energy stocks remained the worst performing sector, according to analysis by GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
Aggregate market cap of S&P 500 index constituents grew 18% from $28.4 trillion to $33.5 trillion over the period, and the index posted an annual return of 15.2% – whereas the return was significantly up by 66% from its lowest level on 23 March 2020. The top ten stocks (Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Tesla, Facebook, Berkshire Hathaway, J&J, Visa and Walmart) accounted for 30.1% of S&P 500’s aggregate market cap.
The sectors that drove index performance were consumer discretionary with aggregate market cap growth of 56%, followed by information technology (35.1%), materials (21.3%), and communication services (20.9%), whereas energy remained the worst performing sector.
Consumer discretionary stocks witnessed an exceptional surge. There were seven stocks, which reported over 50% growth in market values, that helped achieve this growth. These included L Brands (+77%), Chipotle (+71.9%), Aptive (+66.7%), Target (+61.7%), Amazon (+60.9%), General Motors (+52.1%) and Tractor Supply (+50.1%). Tesla’s entry into S&P 500 in December 2020 also contributed to the growth of this sector.
Information technology market cap grew to $9,044bn over the previous year. There were 50 tech companies out of 75 that reported growth, with as many as 19 growing over 50%. The sector continued to witness some big mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deals such as Nvidia’s acquisition of Arm, AMD’s acquisition of Xilinx and Salesforce’s acquisition of Slack.
Parth Vala, Company Profiles Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Tech stocks are the new gold and are being considered as safe bets. The world has become more technology dependent in these unprecedented times, which is likely to continue as businesses across the globe invest heavily in technologies that would not only help them survive but also thrive.”
Some of the best performers in the materials sector were Freeport-McMoRan (+142.8%), followed by Albemarle (+103.4%), DuPont de Nemours (+54.2%) and Packaging Corp of America (+40.7%).
While communication services was bolstered by the likes of T-Mobile US, which posted a growth of 131% as its acquisition of Sprint and 5G expansion plans received a positive response from the investors, the overall sector was up by 20.9%. Other players growing more than 50% were Take-Two Interactive Software, Twitter, Activision Blizzard and Netflix.
In the energy sector, 20 out of 24 stocks were in the red over the previous year. With worsening market performance, energy stocks accounted for only 2.3% of S&P 500’s aggregate market cap.
Vala adds: “COVID-19 added another downside facet to the already battered energy sector as the world went into lockdown, which caused significant decline in oil consumption and the International Energy Agency does not expect it to return to pre-crisis level until 2023.”
With vaccine distribution gaining momentum across the globe, the stimulus package in the US and expected corporate revenue and earnings rebounds, market performance is expected to be brighter in 2021.


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To be sure, this gimmick won't be free forever. Satisfries will be given away just this Saturday and Sunday during "regular business hours".
The lower-calorie French fries –touted by Burger King for having 40% less fat than McDonald's fries – will be given away this weekend during regular business hours. But, before you back up a pick-up truck to your nearest Burger King drive-thru, note that they're giving away the "value size" option (priced at $1.29) and only one per customer.
Burger King launched Satisfries less than a month ago, taking aim at its largest rival McDonald's. But, it may also have been a shot at number two Subway which has positioned itself as healthier fast food.
However, over the past month, Burger King's stock hasn't been as healthy as the rest of the market. While the S&P 500 index is flat since one month ago, shares in Burger King are down 6%. McDonald's is also down over the last thirty days, but only by 3%.
Steve Cortes, founder of Veracruz TJM, says Burger King is in a good position. While casual dining names like Ruby Tuesday's are disappointing investors, lower-priced fast food shows more promise, according to Cortes. And, unlike McDonald's, much of Burger King's revenues are US-based, shielding its business from global uncertainties.
Cortes also thinks the new fries don't hurt Burger King, either.
"They have created a good bit of social media buzz about this new fry," says Cortes. "I am a fan of this stock and this move."
Yet promoting healthier alternatives may not be healthy for Burger King's bottom line. One bitter rival, Wendy's, has been promoting its Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger since July 4, notes Talking Numbers host Brian Sullivan. Buying Wendy's stock on that date would have given investors a 42% return versus a loss of 2% for those who bought Burger King's stock instead.
(Read more: Burger King to serve free french fries)
Burger King's technicals may not be that tasty, either. "The charts aren't really consistent with thinking this has got a lot of upside," says Andrew Busch, author and publisher of The Busch Update.
Busch sees a bearish signal for the stock that has been formulating since early summer. Still, there are technical levels Burger King's stock must hit before taking on a short position.
To see the rest of Cortes' fundamental analysis and the technical levels Busch says traders should know, watch the video above.
More from Talking Numbers:


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Philippine National Bank, the fifth-largest lender in terms of assets, said economic growth in the third quarter would likely stay below 6 percent, given the anemic demand for imports during the period.
PNB said in a report Monday that the lethargic re-stocking among local producers coupled with easing capex-related expenditures for much of the third quarter hindered local demand-driven imports.
“On this note, we sense broad-based, mediocre demand remains entrenched in 3Q19 that’s likely to mirror 3Q GDP growth of less than 6 percent. This less-than-ideal demand condition through weaker imports curbed the risk of a deteriorating trade shortfall,” PNB said.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that the country’s trade-in-goods deficit narrowed by 33 percent in August to $2.4 billion from $3.6-billion a year ago, as exports rose 0.6 percent while imports fell 12 percent.
This brought the trade deficit in the first eight months to $24.7 billion, down 8 percent from $26.8 billion a year ago.
Local demand-driven imports succumbed to weakness in August as reflected by lower purchases of capital goods (down 9.8 percent year-on-year), fuel/lubricants (-11.9 percent) and consumer goods (-0.3 percent).
Raw material imports posted the heftiest decline (-18.7 percent), led by manufactured goods (-22.6 percent) such as iron and steel imports which suggested de-stocking in construction-related and in other materials.
Lackluster imports of materials/accessories for the manufacture of electrical equipment (-15.9 percent) presumably for exports, further weakened total imports in August. The latest import update was the fifth straight monthly decline.
ING Bank Manila senior economist Nicholas Mapa earlier said capital goods, raw materials, fuel, and consumer imports all contracted as elevated borrowing costs and the budget delay knocked down capital formation.
Mapa said the weak imports signaled continued sluggishness in gross domestic product growth in the third quarter. GDP grew 5.5 percent in the first half, below the 6 percent to 7 percent growth target for the year.


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A movie that is receiving standing ovations in China, 'Dying to Survive' is based on the true story of Lu Yong who was arrested for selling 'illegal' Indian drugs.
Have you watched the famous Oscar-winning movie, Dallas Buyers Club? It is the story of Ron Woodroof, an AIDS patient diagnosed in the mid-1980s. Unable to buy exorbitantly-priced US government FDA-approved drugs, Ron Woodroof (played by Matthew McConaughey) smuggled cheaper, yet effective, generic drugs from outside the country to assist other AIDS patients.
Last month, popular Chinese actor and director, Xu Zheng, released Dying to Survive—a movie which follows a similar plot. It chronicles the life of businessman Lu Yong, who was arrested for selling cheaper, ‘illegal,’ yet highly popular, Indian cancer drugs in China to patients who couldn’t afford the prohibitively priced Western-approved drugs. The movie is a smash hit, amassing nearly $200 million on the opening weekend.
Indian generic drugs are not yet approved for sale in China, although that may change soon.
The story of Lu Yong is remarkable. In 2002, he was diagnosed with leukaemia and was prescribed Novartis-manufactured Gleevec, which costs approximately 25,000 Yuan (Rs 2.5 lakh) a bottle. After nearly spending nearly Rs 70 lakh of his own money, Lu switched to Veenat, an Indian cancer drug which is not only as effective as Gleevec but is also sold at one-tenth of the price.
Besides treating himself, Lu also made it his mission to assist hundreds of other cancer patients by selling them Veenat. In 2014, the Chinese authorities arrested him.
According to China Daily, however, the Chinese Supreme Court took a lenient view of Lu’s case considering his health and the fact that he had helped hundreds of other patients.
The court went onto pronounce that selling a small amount of unlicensed foreign drugs that don’t hurt patients isn’t a crime. Many scenes of the movie were shot in Mumbai, from where the drugs are smuggled in ships to Shanghai.
Pharma major Novartis is subject to some heavy criticism in the film, showing how their prohibitively-priced drugs have a debilitating effect on the Chinese healthcare system.
In fact, there is one scene where an executive from the Pharma major is seen sitting in meetings of the Shanghai police looking into how to crackdown on the sale of Veenat in China. In another scene, Xu reprimands a police officer for misbehaving with a protestor/cancer patient outside Novartis’ office. “What is his crime? He was only struggling to survive,” he says.
Earlier in May, the Chinese government announced that it had removed import duties on 28 medicines, including critical cancer and cancer alkaloid-based drugs, from India.
Also Read: This Move by China Spells Good News For Medicine Manufacturers of India!
“We believe the expansion of imports and slashing of tariffs on anti-cancer medicines will usher in great opportunities for India and other countries in the region,” said Hua Chunying, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson on Monday.
(Edited by Gayatri Mishra)


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Last week was the official launch of the new collaborative Jack Purcell style sneaker from Converse and Denham the Jeanmaker, held at the denim company's showroom store in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Jason Denham, British founder of the Denham label revealed that he had always dreamed of creating his own sneaker. "I have over 150 pairs of Jack Purcell Converse sneakers at home," the designer revealed during the launch party.
"We have been selling Converse in our men's store since it first opened. Then one day I was talking to their executives and the idea to work together on a collaboration collection came up." The Converse Jack Purcell x Denham sneaker is the start of a full collaborative collection between the two companies said Denham, with more sneakers and designs to come.