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Lululemon said it is implausible to believe it intended to sell hundreds of thousands of nearly sheer yoga pants and hope consumers wouldn't notice.» Read More
RBC's Robert Sluymer says that investors are better off selling the S&P than buying in -- and the reason is all in the chart, with CNBC's Jackie DeAngelis and the Futures Now Traders.
The returns on real estate investment trusts (REITs) were more than three times those of the broader equity market in April, according to a new report.
The 5.4 percent earnings yield is considerably below its historical average, but nearly triple the 1.9 percent yield of the 10-year Treasury.
Fidelity Investments received permission from U.S. regulators to open its own actively managed exchange-traded funds.
DaisyBill makes it easy for medical workers to get their workers' comp bills paid quickly and on time.
Japanese display maker Sharp will aim to boost sales to the iPhone maker's rival Samsung Electronics under a three-year rehabilitation roadmap.
The rally in many of the most heavily shorted names is causing a "worst nightmare" situation for bearish investors and hedge funds alike, said Cramer.
Hedge fund titan David Tepper said he's still bullish on stocks and investors shouldn't worry about the Fed tapering its massive bond-buying program.
The strong rally this year is being met with a heightened level of supply, setting up a big bet that retail investors will keep buying what Wall Street is selling.
Venture Capitalist Marc Andreessen explains why you shouldn't expect a game changing tech IPO anytime soon.
Dig down into the market and Cramer said you'll find there’s something remarkable underway.
Cold and rain has made it tough for farmers to plant this year, and less than a third of the corn crop is in the ground.
Aereo, Tumblr, Spotify, Twitter, Buzzfeed. These are the media companies that made our exclusive CNBC Disruptor list. They're shaking things up in the media sector.
Communities making and selling. Social sharing as shopping. Retail is invoking the rhetoric of democratization. Introducing CNBC's Retail Disruptors.
A new study finds that taking care of their family's needs is impeding women's ability to save for retirement.
More home sales and higher home prices are adding up to bigger incomes for members of the nearly two million realtor industry.
Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman may face some intense questioning Tuesday at the firm's annual meeting. The shares are down more than 19 percent since Gorman took the helm 2010.
As the popularity of yoga grows, so does the need for yoga attire with larger waistlines. Brands are finding there is demand for plus-sized yoga apparel.
News that the Internal Revenue Service scrutinized conservative political groups has put the spotlight on another IRS target: the wealthy.
Stocks are flying high. And interest rates are near record lows. That combination has enticed investors to borrow against their stock portfolios at near-record levels in March.


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Sigma Chi Shares What He Learned on ABC's Shark Tank
In 2004, Scott Adams, CAL. STATE-SACRAMENTO 2000, appeared on an episode of ABC's Shark Tank, where he pitched Velocity Sign's product to potential celebrity investors. Adams, founder and CEO of the company, discussed its battery-operated sign-waving machine and ultimately received offers from the show's investors who wanted to work with him. The machine is a stand-in for store personnel holding a sign along a busy street to lure the attention of potential customers.
In this recent Forbes story, he says that it paid to be over-prepared while he was onstage during the TV show and that stamina was vital.

domain: news


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Gator Meat Deemed 'Really Healthy Food' - Health News Story - WESH Orlando: "CHRISTMAS, Fla. -- Gators have long been hunted as part of a sport.
Now people are hunting gator meat because it's good for the heart.
Most gators that end up on restaurant menus are not hunted; they are raised on farms.
A segment on the Today show highlighted the health benefits of alligator meat, saying it's better for you than chicken.
But that's hardly a secret to guys who have raised them for decades.
Edwin Froehlich Jr. said the little fat and high protein makes gator meat 'really healthy food.'
Gator has all the protein of beef and chicken, and more protein than fish."


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Foreign Minister Yair Lapid met with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris yesterday in Washington. Today, Secretary of State Blinken will meet with Lapid and his UAE counterpart first separately, and then together. The three countries will also be setting up two new working groups at the meeting, U.S. officials said, with one group focusing on religious coexistence and the other on water and energy issues.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will host PM Bennett for talks on Iran’s nuclear program and other regional security issues, in Sochi on October 22.
Electra Consumer Products (TASE: ECP) has signed a 20-year franchise agreement with the US-based international convenience store chain 7-Eleven to operate the brand in Israel, with an option to extend the agreement for a further 50 years. Electra Consumer Products plans to invest NIS 60 milion in opening stores throughout Israel, according to the memorandum of understanding that both sides signed in November 2020. The company plans to open 300-400 7-eleven convenience stores around Israel with the first store scheduled to open in Tel Aviv next year. The stores will be closed on Shabbat.


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Growing numbers of RVers are working while they travel across America. According to a press release, many of them are “workampers,” people who work part time handling maintenance, clerical or marketing functions for weeks or months at a time at campgrounds that are located in places they’ve always wanted to visit.
The lifestyle will be highlighted Nov. 2–3 during Workamper Discovery Days at Shadow Hills RV Resort in Indio, Calif. Workamper News Inc., a newspaper that provides classified listings of workamper jobs across North America, is conducting a series of seminars and workshops that will cover everything from RV maintenance to the ins and outs of workamping.
“This is the first time Workamper News has offered seminars like this in the Western U.S.,” said Shadow Hills RV Resort co-owner Paula Turner, who uses workampers during the winter snowbird season.
“We think this conference will be a great opportunity for people to learn about workamping and how they can afford to live the dream of RVing on a part-time or full time basis,” said Debbie Sipe, executive director of the California Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds (CalARVC).
CalARVC is the trade association that represents privately owned and operated parks across California, the very businesses that likely to use workampers to supplement their existing staffs during their peak seasons.
For more information on Workamper Discovery Days event, click here.


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Messaging apps have gained popularity and are now being used instead of SMS. WhatsApp, Kik, Snapchat and the like also allow the sharing of images, videos, voice and more.
Apple updated its Apple Store app for iOS to version 3.3, which brings the much-awaited support for Touch ID that will enable users to check receipts, make reservations at Apple Stores and avail of two-step authentication.
iPhone 6c accidentally revealed by Apple on its Lightning Dock page. The iPhone 6c is rumored to launch alongside the iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus this year.
CubeSats could be utilized to explore the solar system at a fraction of what it costs to use conventional methods. How would they function on Mars - or Titan, Saturn's largest moon?
If Assembly bill 888 makes its way through the California State Senate without trouble, it will bring a ban on microbeads. This means retailers in the state cannot sell consumer products containing the ingredient.
Want to check for structural problems without damaging a material? MIT scientists turn to nondestructive testing using a visual microphone to catch deviations in vibrational patterns corresponding to structural issues.
A new study has found that interacting with pets could help children with autism find relief for social anxiety. Does this mean parents of kids with ASD should run out to buy a guinea pig?
The world's first solar sail spacecraft is in orbit around the Earth, testing out futuristic technologies. What is next for the Lightsail program?
Used in traditional Chinese medicine, the thunder god vine contains Celastrol, a compound that improves sensitivity to a hormone to help promote weight loss and treat obesity.
The Cebrennus rechenbergi, also known as the cartwheeling spider, can do front and back flips, making it one of the 10 most fascinating species in 2015. The nocturnal spider is native to the Erg Chebbi desert in Morocco and can jump 2 meters per second.
Using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have discovered new information on a star nicknamed Nasty 1. The behavior of the Wolf-Rayet star has not been seen in the Milky Way before.


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Addressing a post-Budget press conference in Mumbai, department of investment and public asset management (Dipam) secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said that his department would hold the shares. This would be similar to the government’s holding in ITC and other companies, which was acquired due to the UTI bailout.
The company, which is not a publicly listed entity, had posted a profit after tax of Rs 1,529 crore, and its total income was Rs 15,621.1 crore for the financial year that ended in March 2022.
LG Electronics India's profit before taxes was Rs 1,589.8 crore, and its tax expenses stood at Rs 415.1 crore in 2021-22.
LG Electronics India's total revenue from the home appliances and air solution division was Rs 12,419.5 crore in FY22.
Under the home appliances and air solution division, it sells products like refrigerators, washing machines, water purifiers and air purifiers, among others.
The company's total revenue from the home entertainment division was Rs 4,416.2 crore for the financial year that ended in March 2022.
LG Electronics India's home entertainment division has products such as - televisions, audio systems, DVDs, monitors, security cameras, hotel televisions, personal computers and optical disk drives.
Its revenue from the mobile communications division, under which it was earlier selling GSM handsets, was Rs 133.3 crore.
LG Electronics has discontinued its mobile phone business. It, however, continues to provide services support and software updates for existing customers.
During the year under review, its foreign exchange earnings by export were Rs 976 crore.
"The Foreign Exchange outflow for Import of Goods & payment for services was Rs 7,761.4 crore. The outflow on account of royalty was Rs 277.8 crore," LG Electronics India said.


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Fujitsu Readies 120GB Notebook Hard Drive
Fujitsu has begun initial production of a hard drive for notebook computers that offers 120GB of storage capacity, the company says.
The new drive offers 20 percent more storage capacity and several other improvements over Fujitsu's nearest 2.5-inch rival, says Joel Hagberg, vice president of marketing at Fujitsu Computer Products of America. Samples of the drives are already with notebook vendors for testing and Fujitsu plans to begin shipping commercial versions of the drive during the second quarter, he says.
The jump in storage capacity was achieved by cramming data more closely together on the disk's surface. The result is an areal density of 104 gigabits per square inch in the new drive. The additional improvements include a doubling of the number of times the drive head can be loaded and unloaded from the disk to 600,000, a cut in power consumption and an increase in the drive's ability to handle mechanical shocks.
While Fujitsu's announcement gives the company initial bragging rights for a 120GB notebook drive, the highly competitive nature of the storage market means it's not likely to be long before the company's rivals begin announcing similar plans.
Supply and Demand
Despite the extra pressure from rivals, the market remains good for Fujitsu, says Hagberg. In the last one and a half years Fujitsu has increased its production of drives from 500,000 to 1.5 million per month in response to this demand and the company has seen its market share expand as a result, says Hagberg.
During the final three months of 2004 the company shipped 4.2 million 2.5-inch drives, a 27 percent increase on the previous quarter and 88 percent increase on the fourth quarter of a year earlier, he says. As a result Fujitsu estimates it is now the number two manufacturer of 2.5-inch drives. In the enterprise 3.5-inch disk market the company shipped 1.4 million units, up 13 percent on the same quarter a year earlier, he adds.
On Fujitsu's plans for smaller form-factor drives, Hagberg confirms that research is underway but says no decisions have yet to be made regarding entry into the market for 1.8-inch or 1.0-inch drives.
"Growth is expected to be significant [in this part of the market] over the next few years," says Hagberg. "We are working on this in the labs."
Such drives are used in portable media players, such as Apple Computer's IPod and many of its competitors, and Fujitsu's plans to enter this market were the subject of a Japanese newspaper report last week.


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Rising trade tension casts shadow on multinational firms
The US-initiated trade dispute has triggered retaliatory reactions from the country's major trading partners, casting a shadow over the business of global multinational firms.
German car maker Daimler AG is the first major international corporation to issue a profit warning in response to the Trump administration's protectionist "America First" doctrine.
Daimler last month called the global trade conflict and tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump the "decisive factor" in the reason for lowering the annual forecast. As a consequence, Daimler now expects its earnings before interest and taxes to decline slightly in 2018 from last year.
It was also reported that BMW has joined Hyundai and General Motors in opposing the Trump administration's plan to impose tariffs on imported cars, and the automakers have written to the Secretary of Commerce to voice their concerns.
As the country where the world's most Fortune 500 companies are based, the United States is expected to bear the brunt of escalating trade tension in its corporate sector.
The US Chamber of Commerce on Monday warned that the Trump administration's new tariffs on imports are likely to spark a global trade war, as other trading partners have announced billions of dollars in retaliatory tariffs against American products.
"New tariffs on steel, aluminum, and Chinese imports, as well as the potential for additional tariffs on autos and auto parts, have pushed us to the brink of a global trade war," the US Chamber of Commerce, the largest business group in the country, said in a new study.
The US Chamber of Commerce pointed out that the move will hit American consumers and businesses -- including manufacturers, farmers, and technology companies -- with higher costs on commonly used products and materials, and as a result, it stands to slow the recent economic resurgence in the United States.
Some US companies have already been pressured to take action. Motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson announced in late June that it would shift some production of its motorcycles outside the United Sates to avoid retaliatory tariffs imposed by the European Union in response to US tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.
"EU tariffs on Harley-Davidson motorcycles exported from the US have increased from 6 percent to 31 percent," Harley-Davidson said in its filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
A group of almost 60 US business associations, including the National Foreign Trade Council, have urged Congress to exert greater oversight on the Trump administration's use of tariffs and other trade policy measures.
They pointed out that escalating tariff threats and the potential of trade wars with US trading partners, including with some of the country's most important allies, create uncertainty that will be felt by Americans across the country and by businesses of all sizes and across all industry sectors.
"Simply put, tariffs are a tax on American consumers and businesses," the US Chamber of Commerce said on its website.


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The newest algorithm by Google is out. The algorithm being called Pigeon (which is not its official name) rolled out a couple of days ago. Unlike other updates, this one is aimed at refining local search results.
Although there are no reports that could say the number of queries that are affected by this update, but observation by SEO experts say it is a significant one. The update has impacted both Google web searches as well as Google Maps.
The types of websites that have gained maximum benefit from this algorithm are the ones that provide local directory listings. Quite recently, one such popular website, Yelp complained that Google was manipulating and controlling its search results and showing its own local listings before yelp pages, even when the users were specifically looking for yelp reviews for a particular restaurant or hotel.
In one of the examples Google showed the official site of Gary Danko (a restaurant based in San Francisco) when a user fed in the query ‘Gary Danko yelp’. Along with restaurant’s official site, search engine displayed its Google+ page and links to similar associated content such as reviews.
Now that Pigeon updated has rolled out, this problem has been fixed. It seems not only Yelp, but other directory sites like TripAdvisor, OpenTable and Urbanspoon are also benefitting from this update.


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New Report Says Company Puts Profits Before Child Safety With Booster Seat Designed to Prevent Car Accident Injuries
Is your child’s booster seat actually capable of preventing injuries in the event of a car accident? According to a recent report from ProPublica, the Evenflo “Big Kid” booster seats may have a serious marketing defect that could result in child injuries and deaths in motor vehicle collisions. As the report explains, “internal video of side-impact tests shows that children could be injured or killed in Evenflo’s ‘Big Kid’ booster seats,” yet Evenflo “continued to market them as side-impact tested.” And one of the most troubling pieces of information is that the company may have known about the problem for nearly a decade.
As the report explains, an Evenflo safety engineer recommended that the company “stop selling booster seats for children who weigh less than 40 pounds,” suggesting that the seats could not prevent injuries as the marketing suggested. The engineer, Eric Dahle, made this recommendation back in February 2012. At that time, he “emailed high-ranking executives to tell them that children lighter than 40 pounds would be safer in car seats that use harnesses to hold their small bodies in place.” Dahle cited existing research, and also argued that making these changes would “match Canadian regulations and better align with recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics.”
Yet Evenflo—one of the largest makers of child safety seats—did not heed Dahle’s recommendation. Instead, internal records from the company show that a marketing executive was responsible for vetoing the engineer’s recommendation, and even wrote in an email, “why are we even talking about this?” That marketing executive also wrote emphatically, “I have looked at 40 lbs for the US numerous times and will not approve this.” Evenflo continued to sell the Big Kid booster seat and to market it for children who weighed under 40 pounds. Moreover, Evenflo marketed the booster seat as one that had been side-impact tested even though “its own tests showed a child seated in its booster could be in grave danger in such a crash.”
To be clear, then, there are two major problems associated with the marketing of the Big Kid booster seat. First, the company marketed the seat for kids weighing less than 40 pounds when research suggested that the seat was not safe for children of such weight. Second, the company marketed the booster seat as being side-impact tested even though crash tests performed by Evenflo suggested that the booster seat was not, in fact, safe for a side-impact collision. Side-impact crashes cause approximately 15% of child fatalities in car accidents. Therefore, if you currently own a Big Kid Evenflo booster, do not use it unless your child meets the correct weight and height requirements.
Safety Tips: Child Car Seats and Injury Prevention
The following information comes from HealthyChildren.org and is designed to help parents and guardians choose the right safety seat for a child passenger:
- Infants and toddlers should ride in rear-facing seats. Rear-facing car seats come in three varieties (rear-facing-only, convertible, and 3-in-1);
- Rear-facing-only seats should be used for infants weighing up to 22 or 35 pounds, depending upon the manufacturer’s instructions;
- Convertible seats should be used as rear-facing until the child reaches the weight and age requirements for forward-facing;
- Toddlers and preschoolers weighing between 40 and 90 pounds should be in forward-facing car seats;
- School-aged children should ride in a booster seat after they have outgrown the weight limits of a forward-facing car seat but are still under 4 feet 9 inches; and
- Booster seats come in two varieties: high-back and backless.
If your child sustained injuries while using an Evenflo booster seat, you should discuss your options with a product liability lawyer.


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Buyers and other visitors streamed into the Fortezza da Basso in Florence for day two of menswear trade show Pitti Uomo on Wednesday (January 13).
Pitti Uomo January 2016
The grounds of the show swelled with people on the second day, many of whom lingered outside stands enjoying the winter sun.
UK and Irish buyers spotted among the crowds included those from Arnotts, Fenwick and Stuarts London. Many agreed it was the busiest day they’ve seen at a trade show for a long time.
Alison Daly, buyer for Arnotts, said: “It’s the best show we’ve been at for a couple of years. There are lots of UK and Irish buyers here. Pitti traditionally used to be formal, but now there are more contemporary brands and more accessories.
“This is the only show we go to, except maybe Jacket Required if we’re in London. We stopped doing Berlin two or three years ago because we weren’t getting anything out of it.”
“I have never seen Pitti this busy,” agreed Shiana Haneef, menswear buyer for SecretSales.
Exhibitors across the board seemed pleased with the quantity and quality of visitors. Jason Gallen, chief executive of Victorinox’s global apparel division, said: “The show has been excellent this season, with lots of international buyers. We’ve seen good representation from the UK and a lot of buyers from Asia.”
Patrick Reijtenbagh, international sales manager for sportswear and lifestyle brand North Sails, which has been picked up by Harrods for spring 16, said: “It’s been super good. There has been a lot of interest from premium retailers, including from the UK. There are fewer peaks [in footfall] today, it’s more of a steady flow.”
Aaron Thalmann, chief executive of Weekend Offender, which is exhibiting at Pitti for the first time this season, said: “It’s been really busy, better than on Tuesday. We’ve seen a lot of Italian customers, and some from Germany, Greece and France. It’s been good.”
Vitus Overgaard, export manager for Samsoe & Samsoe, said: “We’ve tested Pitti before, but we’re doing it properly now because we have an Italian partner. Without a local partner to follow up with contacts, there’s no point.
“We’ve been very satisfied with the good flow of high quality visitors, including those from the best German and other international department stores.”
The autumn 16 edition of Pitti runs until Friday, January 15.


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Merck KGaA reported second-quarter results Wednesday showing that sales for its Serono division fell 1.4 percent from the year-ago period to 1.4 billion euros ($1.9 billion), hurt by negative exchange-rate effects of 4.4 percent. However, the company noted that the biopharmaceutical unit "performed particularly well" in emerging markets, where sales grew by 16.7 percent to 415 million euros ($556 million), with China and Brazil among the main contributors. "Merck's stronger focus on this attractive region is visibly paying off," remarked CEO Karl-Ludwig Kley.
Merck noted that sales of the multiple sclerosis therapy Rebif declined by 7 percent to 464 million euros ($621 million), which the drugmaker attributed primarily to increased competition in North America and Europe. Meanwhile, Erbitux revenue rose 6.5 percent year-over-year to 229 million euros ($306 million). Additionally, royalty, licensing and commission income for the Serono division fell by 30.8 percent to 64 million euros ($85.6 million).
The company added that overall revenue was up 1.9 percent to 2.8 billion euros ($3.7 billion), in line with analyst estimates, with revenue for its consumer health division growing by 3.3 percent to 185 million euros ($248 million). The drugmaker noted that profit dipped 4 percent year-over-year to 303.3 million euros ($406 million). Commenting on the news, DZ Bank analyst Peter Spengler said Merck announced "a decent set of figures above expectations."
Kley, who described the quarter as "solid," remarked that "we want to further expand our [Serono] business with existing medicines this year." As such, he said the company is "focusing on emerging markets with a high number of underserved patients. The past quarters have already confirmed the success of this approach." Earlier this year, the executive disclosed that the company could pursue additional acquisitions in an effort to stimulate "organic and inorganic growth" over the next two years.
Based on its performance in the first half of 2014, Merck confirmed its forecast of between 10.9 billion euros ($14.6 billion) and 11.1 billion euros ($14.9 billion) in revenue and earnings ranging from 3.3 billion euros ($4.4 billion) to 3.4 billion euros ($4.5 billion). "Organic growth and the planned efficiency increases should be able to offset the effects of the decline in royalty, license and commission income, as well as the negative impact of foreign currency," the company noted.
To read more Top Story articles, click here.


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OMAHA, Neb. (CBS/AP) — Four Midwestern farmers are scheduled to be sentenced for cheating organic food buyers—the largest fraud scheme of its kind in U.S. history.
Federal prosecutors say the farmers are responsible for a seven-year scheme that tricked thousands of customers into paying premium prices for products that were marketed as organic but were not.
Prosecutors are seeking prison sentences for the alleged leader of the scheme, Missouri farmer Randy Constant, and three Nebraska farmers who worked with Constant. All four have pleaded guilty to fraud charges.
They admitted that they grew non-organic corn and soybeans, and a small amount of certified organic grains, and falsely marketed them all as organic. Most of the grains were sold as animal feed to companies that marketed organic meat and meat products.
© 2019 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
More headlines from CBS17.com:
- Granville County sheriff suspended following felony obstruction indictment
- Spam introduces limited-edition pumpkin spice flavor
- North Carolina airports to receive $17 million in infrastructure funding
- NC deputies investigating fatal crossbow shooting
- 2019 Starry Night Walk at Dorothea Dix will raise money to cure childhood brain tumors
For more stories like this that matter to you, click here to download the CBS 17 News app for free.
Watch live newscasts, get breaking news and sign up for push alerts – download now


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Posted by Abe Sauer on January 17, 2014 12:44 PM
"The direct-selling market, which helps create jobs and diversify retailing channels, is forecast to achieve double-digit growth in China in the coming years."
That was the takeaway from an April 18, 2013, giddy and optimistic report from mainland state newspaper China Daily, titled "Nu Skin sees $1b in sales for anti-aging products." And yet, less than a year later, another state media newspaper report has sent Nu Skin stock plunging, casting the company's heretofore rosy China future in deep, deep doubt. Investors are jittery as its stock halted trading in the wake of China's investigation into its selling practices.
What's more, just as the pharmaceutical scandal that proceeded it, Nu Skin's China meltdown should serve as a warning to other direct-selling brands operating in China.Continue reading...
Posted by Dale Buss on January 7, 2014 09:22 AM
Intel jumps into wearables with earbuds, watch.
BMW rolls out driverless car at CES racetrack.
Apple says App Store sales topped $10 billion in 2013.
AT&T lets content firms subsidize users' data costs.
American Airlines lands a flight after camera is found in bathroom.
Audi and BMW both plan laser headlamps this year.
BYD says Chinese cars are headed to US by late 2015.
Fitbit partners with Tory Burch for high-fashion wearable tech.
GE to spend $1 billion on Thermo Fisher buyout.
GM sees Opel/Vauxhall increase European share thanks to new Adam minicar.
Goodyear sees tire workers in France hold managers hostage.Continue reading...
Posted by Dale Buss on May 6, 2013 09:15 AM
YouTube close to launching paid subscription channels, reports say.
Amazon launches first Android app-store in China, ahead of Google.
Pfizer lets bashful buyers get Viagra online.
Al Jazeera America plans to open Detroit bureau.
Asustek plans to make small Windows 8 tablets.
Audi considers doubling production at Mexico factory under construction.
Berkshire Hathaway provides peek at era after Buffett.
BuzzFeed takes steps to expand foreign news.Continue reading...
Posted by Dale Buss on March 6, 2013 08:56 AM
Taco Bell makes new Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Tacos available a day early.
Fox reveals details of new planned national sports network to compete with ESPN.
Best Buy ends work-at-home program for corporate employees as Yahoo! policy continues to be debated.
Alfa Romeo says its performance numbers make 4C an ideal car for U.S. market.
Doritos launches first global campaign.
Fiat chief Sergio Marchionne presses full merger with Chrysler.
Groupon CFO says company's business model will stay.
JCPenney board's patience said to be wearing thin with CEO Ron Johnson, as Martha Stewart dished from the witness stand and rehashes her testimony on NBC's Today Show.Continue reading...
Posted by Shirley Brady on January 7, 2013 07:02 AM
Hostess is in talks to sell off bread brands, as makers of Thomas' English muffins and Tastykake snacks emerge as two of the bidders for Wonder Bread according to the Wall Street Journal.
Hulu CEO resigns as web TV startup faces impasse.
NHL resolves labor dispute, faces shortened season.
Apple envy one of Fast Company's suggested New Year's Resolutions for brands.
Bank of America settles with Fannie Mae for $10 billion.
BMW is paring back car discounts in Germany.
CES lures brands and marketers to Las Vegas.Continue reading...
Posted by Sheila Shayon on November 1, 2012 01:16 PM
Here's to the many brands that have been stepping up in the wake of Hurricane Sandy's devastation on the U.S., providing everything from money to food to power and their employees, products and services to help disaster relief efforts. A partial list of charitable first-responders follows (and if we miss any, please let us know in the comments):
AT&T will extend late-payment windows for wireless and wireline customers, waive late payment fees and not disconnect services because of non-payment, and in an unprecedented open-network arrangement with T-Mobile, will enable roaming to customers of both companies in the impacted areas. AT&T wireless customers can make a $10 donation (up to $50) for Hurricane Sandy relief by texting to relief organizations. AT&T and T-Mobile also joined forces on a wireless roaming agreement, while Verizon Wireless is offering free charging for all cellphones.Continue reading...
Posted by Shirley Brady on August 3, 2011 06:00 PM
AT&T challenges ESPN on 3DTV claims.
Audi signs on as Emmys sponsor.
Budweiser rebrands its can.
Burger King, Wendy's, Subway, Taco Bell, Carl's Jr. lead US fast food brands expanding in Russia.
Coca-Cola tests "FaceLook" facial recognition Facebook app in Israel.
Dunkin' Brands quarterly profits slip.
Facebook marketing director (and sister-of-Mark) Randi Zuckerberg quits to launch a start-up.
Google accuses Apple, Oracle and Microsoft of "patent bullying."Continue reading...
Posted by Shirley Brady on September 8, 2010 05:00 PM
* P&G, ahead of taking Olay global, names Carrie Underwood as the brand's first celebrity ambassador.
* Nissan is partnering with Dongfeng Motors on Qi Chen, a new Chinese car brand.
* Oracle's board rejects shareholder proposal calling for board-level accountability on sustainability.
* AOL taps former William Morris chairman Jim Wiatt as strategic advisor.
* Apple lost 20% of iPhone 4 sales due to "antennagate" (in Minneapolis), while the NYT's David Pogue reviews 2010 iPods, finds "modest improvements, a risky new design and one home run in the new iPod Touch."
* CNN makes it official: Piers Morgan will replace Larry King.Continue reading...


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Trade Finance & Invoice Finance solutions for businesses in the Netherlands to trade, import or export goods. Access 270 banks, funds & alternative lenders globally.
To learn more about the cross-border B2B payments landscape, Trade Finance Global (TFG) interviewed Ben Ellis, global head of Visa B2B Connect.
November 17, 2022 saw the unveiling of the UK's Autumn Statement. The plan hopes to create a more stable UK economy in light of the current global financial uncertainty.
The notoriously volatile cryptocurrency market suffered another serious blow earlier this month as FTX, once one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, met its rapid end.
Given the complexity of maritime transport, Annie Kovacevic sat down with Grant Hunter, director of standards, innovation, and research at BIMCO, to learn more about hot topics in the industry.
Surecomp, a Canada-based trade finance solutions provider, has announced that its major software tie-up with Netherlands’ Rabobank is now live. In a press statement released yesterday, Surecomp said that Rabobank… read more →
ABN AMRO Bank has said that it was rewarded for its early preparation for SWIFT trade finance changes, thanks to a solution from Norwegian software vendor Commercial Banking Applications (CBA).… read more →


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“In what is a first-to-market response by Absa, customers now also have the ability to personally reverse unauthorised debit orders at any time by logging on to Absa Online” says Marius de la Rey, Chief Executive, Customer Channels & Distribution, Barclays Africa Retail and Business Banking. By Staff Writer
Absa customers have been empowered to view all debit orders that have gone off their accounts during a given period of time, request that any debit order which has taken place in the last 40 days be reversed (and they will receive the money back in their account instantly) as well as stop debit orders from going off their account in future.
“Unauthorised debit orders have become a huge challenge for all banks. Customers now have the ability to view and stop debit orders quickly and easily using online banking,” added De la Rey.
The use of this functionality is completely free for all Absa customers and available any time and any place.
According to data from the Payments Association of South Africa (PASA), South African banks collectively process approximately 31 million debit orders every month, of which around 120 000 are disputed.
Many of these disputes are due to fraud and invalid mandates and the media regularly reports on complaints from customers who have been fleeced by way of unauthorised or fraudulent debit orders. PASA is working hard to crack down on this scourge, and since November 2013, about 300 rogue users have been taken off the debit order system, meaning they cannot have debit orders processed by any bank.
In line with the TCF (Treating Customers Fairly) principles, customers have a right to dispute an incorrectly concluded transaction and stop future transactions.
“Such debit orders can be reversed or disputed within 40 days after the debit or thereafter while an instruction to cancel a debit order remains on Absa’s system for a period of six months. After this, the service provider may again attempt to debit the account and it will be processed,” says Marius.
It is therefore important that clients check their statements regularly for any fraudulent debits, which in most cases are very small amounts which can easily be missed.
Marius however cautions customers against cancelling debit orders in an attempt to manage their cash flow.
“Many consumers unjustly dispute debit orders when they are short of cash or run into financial difficulties. It is important for customers to note that, if they use the dispute process to manage cash flow, they run the risk of losing out on policy pay-outs when they claim, due to inconsistent payment history. Similarly, a high dispute ratio in a person’s account will lead to that person’s risk profile being negatively impacted,” he warns.
The debit order reversal, stop and authorisation feature is now available online to existing and new Absa customers at www.absa.co.za


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We’re about to find out what Google has in store for the next Pixel. On Wednesday (Oct. 4), Google is taking the wraps off its next smartphone — along with a host of other revamped products — so we can see what’s new with the device that’s supposed to embody the purest Android experience.
Early leaks suggest we’re not in for a radical overhaul of the Pixel lineup. The larger Pixel XL could get a bigger screen with smaller bezels, while the follow-up to the 5-inch Pixel doesn’t sound all that different from this year’s model. And Google may struggle to match what Samsung and Apple have done with their 2017 phone releases.
Given all that, will the Pixel 2 have what it takes to succeed? That all depends on whom you ask, and how you define success. If the rumors about Google’s next phone lacking dual cameras and wireless charging pan out, the Pixel 2 has an uphill battle to win smartphone users’ hearts and minds. But wider distribution could make a big difference.
Where’s the Wow?
Thanks to an abundance of leaks, we already have a good idea of what we’re likely to see with the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. The phones are expected to feature a Snapdragon 835 processor, 4GB of RAM, 64GB or 128GB of storage and high-resolution OLED displays. They’ll be waterproof, and the larger Pixel 2 XL will have a taller 18:9 aspect ratio and very slim bezels. Sadly, the headphone jack looks to be gone; that’s happening to a lot of phones these days.
“Google needs to give consumers a reason to buy the Pixel beyond its camera and a clean Android software experience.” — Avi Greengart, research director, GlobalData.
But the Pixel 2 phones appear to be missing two features that customers are starting to expect in an $800 smartphone — dual-rear cameras and wireless charging. These aren’t found on every high-end phone, but they’re starting to become standard, and they’ll be conspicuous by their rumored absence in the new Pixels.
Google’s going to have to make the case that neither of these things matter. Wireless charging isn’t necessary because — perhaps — the battery life on the new phone will be so amazing that you won’t ever need to top off in the middle of the day. Or that the single lens on the new phone can easily achieve amazing portrait shots with neat faux-bokeh effects that don’t require a second lens.
And maybe we’ll see really cool augmented-reality apps (using Google’s ARCore tools) that quickly and accurately track difficult environments using only a single camera.
That’s all possible, but it doesn’t mean Google doesn’t have its work cut out for it, especially after all that Samsung and Apple have done this year. Samsung added dual-rear cameras to the Galaxy Note 8, joining Apple, LG, OnePlus, HTC and others in offering that feature. Apple just improved its existing Portrait Mode on the iPhone 8 and iPhone X with lighting effects while also adding wireless charging capabilities to its phones. With those features getting such heavy play, Google’s going to have a tough time convincing people that its new Pixels stand out for other reasons.
That’s not to say the Pixel 2 won’t have great features, only that they’ll be tough to market beyond the well-informed enthusiast market.
Making the Case for the Pixel 2
The current Pixel has three primary selling points. One is an amazing camera — it ranked among the best of any smartphone before the arrival of the iPhone 8 Plus and Note 8 — with unlimited full-resolution cloud storage in Google Photos. Look for Google to double-down on camera hype, and that’s definitely the kind of thing you can stuff into a 15-second TV commercial to get the public excited.
But the Pixel’s other distinguishing features are more difficult to advertise. The Pixel is the only Android phone that gets OS updates right away. Other premium phones get them only after months of waiting — if at all.
What’s more, the Pixel’s real-world performance is truly a cut above. No matter what the benchmarks numbers say, the responsiveness and smoothness you feel when using a Pixel, especially after many months, is unmatched by other Android phones.
“Remember last year how distribution was limited to Verizon Wireless and Google Store? Now we expect it to be across all the major carriers here in the U.S.” — Ramon Llamas, research manager, IDC
These are likely to remain standout features when the Pixel 2 arrives as well, and they’re going to be the reasons Android enthusiasts will want it. But Google needs to reach out way beyond the faithful. It needs to somehow market these strengths to the average smartphone buyer. And it needs to do so without angering its partners that make other Android phones, or carriers who insist on loading those phones with bloatware.
Google needs a compelling “wow” feature, and from the looks of the leaked images, the design isn’t going to be it.
“Google needs to give consumers a reason to buy the Pixel beyond its camera and a clean Android software experience,” said Avi Greengart, research director at GlobalData. A great camera is a start but Google needs other marketable features.
Tuong Nguyen, of Principal Research at Gartner, believes Google is likely to make its case by showing how well software features work together: “Yes, hardware is good, but I think what they do with it and how they integrate it with other technologies, that’s going to be the differentiator. I think one of the big ones will be around A.I. — how Google Assistant is going to integrate with all your applications. Recognizing my voice, recognizing my contacts, anticipating my needs based off all the stuff it knows about me.”
Last year, Google Assistant and Daydream VR appeared on the Pixel months before other phones. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Google Lens, an image-recognition feature that integrates with Google Assistant and made a big splash at Google I/O, to make its debut on Pixel 2.
Ramon Llamas, research manager for market research firm IDC, argues that success for Google isn’t about sales numbers, but building a holistic experience.
“Think of all the announcements that Google made at I/O this past spring relative to Google Lens, Daydream, and recent announcements around VR and AR,” Llamas said. “Google’s success will depend on how well those experiences are vis-à-vis what Apple and Samsung have out there now.”
Still, to what degree can Google rely on touting software features that will eventually make their way to other Android phones in a few months? The original Pixel may have been the first to offer Google Assistant, but it’s now fairly ubiquitous on most major smartphones — even iPhone owners can download an Assistant app. It’s the same story with the Daydream View virtual reality headset, which now works with multiple phones.
For this year’s phones, Google will have to persuade the public that its early-access features are, if not exclusive to the Pixel 2, at least best on Pixel 2.
What’s at Stake for Google
Even if Google manages that feat, there’s no way the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL can hope to match the sales numbers of the iPhone. No matter how high the demand for Google’s next phone may be, the supply chain infrastructure and manufacturing capacity of Google and its partners is simply insufficient to crank out more than 200-plus million phones in a year.
It’s also unreasonable to expect Google to outsell Samsung’s high-end phones (the Galaxy S8 and Note 8). Samsung has many years invested in carrier partnerships, worldwide distribution channels, and all the deals necessary to get all the parts they need to manufacture tens of millions of those phones. Google’s working on it, but those things take time.
But being a sales leader may not be necessary for the Pixel 2 to be a success. The Pixel brand is meant to be a standard-bearer for Android on the high end; it allows Google to show the world the way Google thinks mobile devices should be done. The Pixel brand is a success not if it “wins” the sales race, but if it fosters a desire in the public for high-end Android phones that don’t deviate from Google’s harmonious software and services stack.
Google wants to make “stock Android” (or something close to it), Google apps and services, a lack of carrier or manufacturer bloatware and rapid software updates into gotta-have-it features for high-end Android phones. To do that it doesn’t necessarily need to outsell Samsung or Apple, but it needs to be popular enough to be a part of our cultural conversation around phones. Something that even the non-enthusiasts have heard about and will seriously consider.
GlobalData’s Greengart summed it up nicely: “Google does not need to unseat Samsung at the high end, but if it wants its AI and VR solutions to succeed in place of Samsung's proprietary options, it must have a credible installed base.”
Greengart estimates that the Pixel phones have sold over a million units, but that falls way short. “I would think that it needs a multiplier, not simply strong growth year over year,” he added
Sales estimates for the original Pixel vary, but most put it in the 3 million to 5 million range at best. Gartner’s Nguyen agrees that sales need to increase drastically, even if the goal isn’t to outsell Samsung or Apple. “When you think about 3 to 5 million phones, that’s a drop in the bucket,” he said. “Even if they did slightly better than that…there were 135 million premium phones sold last quarter.”
An End to Exclusivity?
The Pixel was only available through one carrier: Verizon. You could buy the phone unlocked from Best Buy or directly from Google, but the vast majority of buyers in the U.S. get new phones from their carriers.
If Google hopes to have a cultural impact that makes its vision for a Google-centric high-end Android phone a reality, it’s going to have to get into other carrier stores.
That’s tricky. Google’s deal with Verizon limited the apps that Verizon could install on the phones to just three: My Verizon, Go90 and VZ Messages. These apps simply downloaded from the Play Store upon initial setup and could be removed as easily as any other app. What’s more, software updates to Pixel phones bought through Verizon roll out at the same time as all the unlocked phones. Verizon phones got Android Oreo a mere three days after Google rolled it out to unlocked Pixels.
These are massive quality-of-life improvements for consumers, but totally anathema to the way carriers typically operate. Can Google strike similar deals with the other three major carriers?
IDC’s Llamas believes it’s going to happen. IDC data indicates that the Pixel sold only 2.8 million units worldwide, but the Pixel 2 will be more widely distributed. “I think it is a forgone conclusion that Google will sell more than that number,” he said. “Remember last year how distribution was limited to Verizon Wireless and Google Store? Now we expect it to be across all the major carriers here in the U.S. Given that dynamic alone, I think Google will sell more.”
It’s not just about carriers, but countries and production volume, too. Greengart points out that the Pixel was limited to North America, Australia, the U.K. and Germany. Even with that limited global footprint, production problems made the phones hard to keep in stock. “If Google wants to maximize sales,” he says, “broad distribution is crucial.”
The HTC Factor
Google just bought HTC’s smartphone design and engineering departments for $1.1 billion. How does that factor into the Pixel 2’s odds of success?
The short answer is: It doesn’t. According to reports, the smaller Pixel 2 will be manufactured by HTC and the larger Pixel 2 XL by LG. It’s way too late to change that, and as Google integrates HTC’s phone design and manufacturing over the coming year, it’s not going to have any real material change on these particular phones.
The HTC deal sets Google up to have a greater hand in the design and manufacture of the next Pixel, or perhaps the one after that. It’s a big step toward giving the company the capacity to entirely design and build its mobile products in-house. But designing and manufacturing a high-end phone is a very long process.
Even if Google moves incredibly quickly, the first phones to show the fruits of this deal are at least a year away.
With the Pixel 2, Google has a tough road ahead. Simply making the phone broadly available — more carriers, more countries, better production — would go a long way toward boosting sales. But it’s tough to get carriers to go along with Google’s “no bloatware, rapid updates” policies.
Even with greater availability, Google must make a jaded public with a lot of other options want a premium phone that doesn’t have some of the features Samsung and Apple heavily market on their comparably-priced models. It needs a “wow” factor, and none of the early information we have has shown that it’s got it. If Pixel 2 has a compelling story to tell, it’s going to have to be in software and services.


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Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) released staggering results today for its second-quarter, fueled mostly by surging iPhone sales. The company’s nearly three-year old mobile-phone unit is clearly becoming one of the company’s most important staples as iPod sales decline and Mac sales grow incrementally.
The iPhone’s contribution to the business was discussed at length during Apple’s quarterly conference call today with COO Tim Cook and CFO Peter Oppenheimer. While analysts were eager to ask about iPad demand, which Apple characterized as shocking in the U.S., they completely avoided inquiries into yesterday’s supposed next-generation iPhone leak to Gizmodo.
Here’s a snapshot of how the iPhone contributed to Apple’s business in fiscal Q2:
— Apple sold a record 8.75 million iPhones.
— iPhone sales jumped by 131 percent compared to the same period a year earlier.
— iPhone sales grew three times faster than IDC’s estimate for the overall smartphone market in the March quarter.
— iPhone revenues totaled about $5.45 billion, or about 40 percent of the company’s overall Q2 revenues.
— The iPhone costs an average of $600 each.
— iPhone sales are fueled, in part, by larger distribution. Apple’s COO Tim Cook said iPhone sales in the Greater China region were up nine times year over year, and that in the first six months of the company’s fiscal year, revenues totaled $1.3 billion, which is up over 200 percent year over year.
— Beyond the actual device, Apple has ancillary revenue-makers, like the App store. The company said it is more than breaking even on the App Store, but that it is not supposed to be a huge money-maker. The App Store to date has generated 4 billion downloads and has 185,000 apps. There’s 3,500 specific apps made for the iPad.


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Yesterday CNBC broke the story that Facebook uses its platform and mobile app to track the location of its users that it deems to be “threats” to the company. Leveraging the fact that more than 2 billion people around the world have Facebook accounts and allow the company to track their location and even realtime location through their IP addresses and smartphone app, Facebook uses this information to track users it believes pose a threat to the company, creating geofencing alerts when they come near Facebook facilities. This previously unpublicized practice raises serious concerns about the ways in which Facebook may repurpose its users’ most intimate information for its own business purposes. Most seriously, it raises the question of whether Facebook may use a similar tactic to track the realtime location of journalists, diplomats and politicians around the world that it considers to be “threats” to the company’s business interests.
Like many large global companies, Facebook maintains lists of individuals that are banned from its premises. Most companies, however, are limited to matching these lists against visitor requests and alerting their security staff to be on the lookout for particularly high-risk individuals.
According to CNBC, Facebook, on the other hand, has leveraged its position as a global surveillance and intelligence database to repurpose its own platform to track problematic users in realtime. Given how many users install the Facebook mobile app on their smartphones, Facebook can use its own app to secretly track those users as they go about their lives. Without any notice or warning to the user, Facebook can simply flip a switch and view where that user is on a map and even create a geofence around its facilities to know when that individual comes near them.
On paper, Facebook’s location tracking operation exists to protect its facilities and employees from physical threats. In a request for comment, the company stated that it performs location tracking when it believes there is a credible risk of physical violence against one of its employees.
However, notably, the company’s response specifically avoided stating that this is the only reason it uses location tracking, leaving open the possibility that it may track users for other reasons.
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Asked about the ethics of using user location data, the company noted that users consent to allow the company to do whatever it wishes with their realtime location information, per its Data Policy: “Data from device settings: information you allow us to receive through device settings you turn on, such as access to your GPS location, camera or photos.”
It is worth noting that that the line above, which Facebook cited in defense of its location tracking program, also permits it to access the user’s camera and photos stored on their phone. Such access has eerie echoes of the NSA phone hacking activities publicized by Edward Snowden.
The company also cited this line in its Data Policy: “We use the information we have to verify accounts and activity, combat harmful conduct, detect and prevent spam and other bad experiences, maintain the integrity of our Products, and promote safety and security on and off of Facebook Products. For example, we use data we have to investigate suspicious activity or violations of our terms or policies, or to detect when someone needs help.”
It also cited a third line in its Data Policy with regards to accessing private user data: “When we have a good-faith belief it is necessary to: detect, prevent and address fraud, unauthorized use of the…


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Woah! It’s Friday already! Although the days at work seem really long, it feels like the week has really flown by. It seems like a lot has been going on in the news in terms of food and the like. This gave me (what I thought was) a great idea– compiling a short list of the most interesting food-related news blurbs I’ve found in the past week. Hopefully I’ll be able to make this a regular Friday post!
On Monday, Oxfam released a report and put a new campaign, Behind the Brands, into full swing. The report asseses the social and environmental policies of the ten largest food brands in the world. Mostly, Oxfam wants to point out that the companies are neglecting the people in their supply chain that allow them to make their products and turn a profit. For example, preventing discrimination against women, paying a fair price to workers and farmers, and reducing emission and environmental impact are all on the list of Oxfam’s grievances. If you’re interested in reading a little more about this, check out the report and the Behind the Brands or Marion Nestle’s blog post about it.
Salt Sugar Fat by Michael Moss was released on Tuesday of this week. I wrote a post earlier about the article the New York Times Magazine ran last week regarding his new book. I bought my copy when it came out and I have absolutely loved reading it. He explores the use of these three ingredients in processed foods and how the processed foods business is responding to the obesity epidemic that we now face. The most shocking part of the book I’ve found so far is the food giant’s use the Monell Chemical Senses Center, an independent research center funded in part by taxpayer’s money, to aid in product development in ways that will get us hooked on their food (such as finding the ‘bliss point’ of sweetness in sugary drinks and snacks). I’m sure as the book unfolds, even more surprising points will be touched upon. I totally recommend reading this one!
What’s more disgusting than liquid chicken? Chicken that’s a few months old and appears (and tastes!) as fresh as the day it was processed. Melanie Warner’s new book, Pandora’s Lunchbox was also released this week. There was a great article in the Huffington Post about her new release and how processed foods stay good for months without decaying… totally gross.
At the beginning of the week, I received an e-mail from King Arthur Flour warning me of a voluntary recall of their flour (unbleached bread flour and all-purpose). This one isn’t so much news as it was surprising (we bake a lot and always buy KAF). Apparently, small polyurethane balls were accidentally packaged with the flour during the final step in the milling process. I think I’m going to start checking the FDA recall website more frequently just to make sure I’m not missing anything. I have an unopened bag of bread flour sitting on my shelf that I hope to find little blue balls in…
Last but not least, the Mediterranean Diet was found to reduce the instance of heart disease. The diet includes eating lots of olive oil, fish, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and beans. Things to avoid would be red meats, processed foods, sugary foods, and dairy products. Lucky for me I’ve been chowing down on lots of nuts lately and started sprouting my own seeds and beans again. Unluckily for me, my favorite food is cheese. Also, I love that Rachel Johnson was interviewed/quoted for this New York Times article. She was the dean of the University of Vermont’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences… my alma mater!
(Image credit: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090108101621.htm)
Happy Friday! 🙂


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Good piece from last year on the people who curate playlists for streaming music services:
“As streaming has gone mainstream, these curators, many of whom began their professional lives as bloggers and DJs, have amassed unusual influence. Their work, as a rule, is uncredited — the better for services designed to feel like magic — but their reach is increasingly unavoidable. Spotify says 50% of its more than 100 million users globally are listening to its human-curated playlists (not counting those in the popular, algorithmically personalized “Discover Weekly”), which cumulatively generate more than a billion plays per week. According to an industry estimate, 1 out of every 5 plays across all streaming services today happens inside of a playlist. And that number, fueled by prolific experts, is growing steadily.”
“All the signs point to playlists being the dominant mode of discovery in the near future,” says Jay Frank, senior vice president of global streaming marketing for Universal Music Group, the largest of the major label conglomerates. “When it comes to trying to find something exciting and new, more people are going to want to go to trusted playlists.”
I hope these folks always have a job and I sort of think they will. Not convinced an algorithm can do the voodoo they do.


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China on Thursday said it would halve additional tariffs levied against 1,717 U.S. goods last year, following the signing of a Phase 1 deal that brought a truce to a bruising trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
While the announcement reciprocates the U.S. commitment under the deal, it is also seen by analysts as a move by Beijing to boost confidence amid a virus outbreak that has disrupted businesses and hit investor sentiment.
Casting doubts over the immediate outlook, however, was the prospect raised in a local media report that Beijing could invoke a disaster-related clause in the trade agreement, which might allow it to avoid repercussions even if it cannot fully meet the targeted purchases of U.S. goods and services for 2020.
The ministry did not state the value of the goods affected by the decision, but the products benefiting from the new rule are part of the $75 billion of goods that China announced last year that it would impose 5% to 10% tariffs on, which came into effect on Sept. 1.
The reductions will cut tariffs on soybeans from 30% to 27.5%, although some traders say the impact could be limited as the 25% tariffs remains in place. Duties on crude oil will fall to 2.5% from 5% that was imposed in September.
The remaining tariffs were scheduled to kick in Dec. 15 but were suspended due to the interim trade deal.
“The announcement shows China’s commitment to implement the phase one trade deal despite the disruptions from the recent virus outbreak,” said Xie.
The news was positive for financial markets and comes as Beijing seeks to shore up investor and business confidence in China as a virus outbreak casts deep uncertainty over the economic outlook.
The yuan hit its highest in two weeks, while Asian stocks and Wall Street futures also rallied after the announcement.


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WEST CHESTER, Pa. — QVC proved this week that when it comes to beauty, the television shopping network is brimming with ideas to connect with viewers.
On Monday, the TV retailer hosted its first Pink Ribbon Beauty hour and this Saturday it will dedicate an hour to Benefit Cosmetics, marking the first time the LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton brand has appeared on QVC.
During the Pink Ribbon Beauty hour, hosted by Jane Treacy, eight beauty vendors paid homage to Breast Cancer Awareness Month with products designed in honor of the cause. A portion of the proceeds will go to organizations dedicated to stamping out the disease. The show was broadcast in front of a live audience that included breast cancer survivors and their families. In true QVC style, audience members could request a phone — which was then brought to their seat — to purchase any of the items shown.
At the end of the hour, Treacy invited breast cancer survivors, each of whom carried a bouquet of roses, onto the stage to close the show. Each woman is an example of "early detection, early cure," noted Treacy. QVC would not comment on sales, but industry sources estimate the hour generated more than $306,000. For its part, QVC has donated nearly $20 million to the cause over the last 11 years through its annual FFANY Shoes on Sale event.
Monday's fund-raising assortment included Prescriptives Super Line Preventor, a limited-edition Lorac Platinum Pinks Lip Gloss Palette, Stila Breast Cancer Awareness Lip Pot, Tarte Ladies Night Clutch with Mini Cheekstain and Lip Sheer, L'Occitane Special Edition Pink Ribbon Hand Cream, Models Prefer Beyond Beauty Eye Opening Eye Palette, Philosophy Shower for the Cure shower gel and Mally Beauty Pilar Lipstick in a pink, fake snakeskin pouch.
Mally Roncal, the tour-de-force makeup artist behind Mally Beauty, said she named the lipstick for her mother who died of breast cancer after a 15-year battle with the disease. Roncal exclusively launched her namesake beauty collection on QVC last spring, and said the excitement of the partnership has not worn off. "I love coming here, it's like Disneyland," she said.
Allen Burke, QVC's director of beauty merchandising, credited the celebrity makeup artist with creating a signature makeup look. "Every product has to have a point of difference," noted Burke.He added the addition of Benefit Cosmetics fits right into that philosophy. "Benefit has got so much personality," said Burke. "It's really a fun brand that has carved its own niche in the beauty industry." Benefit has recruited its veteran director of beauty Arianne Damboise as its on-air personality. During tomorrow's show, Damboise will feature Benefits signature "fake-it" items, such as Ooh La Lift, a pink balm designed to de-puff and firm the under-eye area.
Said Burke: "We love to show people how to solve a problem."
A room full of toiles at the haute couture atelier in the Dior exhibition at Les Arts Décoratifs, open in Paris since July 5. This is just one of three major exhibitions that have been timed to coincide with the house's 70th anniversary. See the rest of the exhibits, plus read WWD's look into the iconic brand's history. Link in bio. #wwdfashion (📷: @dominiquemaitre)
For spring, Pamplemousse's Danica Zheng presented her signature slip dresses attached to a white T-shirt along with floral windbreakers, off-the-shoulder cotton blouses and more. For more highlights from the New York trade shows, go to WWD.com. #wwdfashion
The Green Carpet Fashion Awards closed out Milan Fashion Week yesterday. The fashion industry flocked to the event, showing its efforts to support and spread the message of sustainability. Supermodel Gisele Bündchen said "if each one of us took at least one step is this direction, there is no saying how much could be done." #wwdeye #wwdfashion #mfw (📷: Lodovico Colli di Felizzano)
Etro’s show, titled “The Tree of Life,” was a celebration of the house’s 50th anniversary. “My father founded the company in 1968, which was the year of counterculture and psychedelia. It’s really a show that celebrates that and the paisley design of India and its origin,” said Veronica Etro. #wwdfashion #mfw #ss18 (📷: @delphineachard)
For @msgm’s spring 2018 show, creative director @massimogiorgetti said “Words, sounds, colors. Synthesis and therapy of a collection,” were the inspirations behind the collection, showing today. Read the rest of Milan spring 2018 inspirations on WWD.com. #mfw #wwdfashion #ss18
For her first solo album in over 10 years, Fergie tapped Carine Roitfeld, Mert and Marcus, Giovanni Bianco and more to create a fashion-focused video approach for the record, Double Dutchess. "Giovanni really helped me get back in touch with my tomboy side, my hardside," said the singer. #wwdeye #wwdfashion ( : @slovekinpics)


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E-liquids producer Riot Labs claims to have launched the world’s first carbon negative disposable vaporizer, QBAR.
Available in U.K. stores and online from Jan. 11, the compact device is Riot Lab’s first disposable product. The product will be available in several U.K.-manufactured flavors and three nicotine strengths. Each device offers 550 puffs—equivalent of 30 cigarettes—before requiring disposal.
“The launch of QBAR, our first venture into disposables, and our new brand campaign, is all geared up to changing the status quo on smoking cessation, and continue to deliver on our mission to help people quit smoking,” said Ben Johnson, who founded Riot Labs in 2016.
QBAR is made from three elements that are all 100 percent recyclable. The outer casing is made from PLA plastic cornstarch, which is decomposable, but will be recycled into clothing, vinyl records and material for 3D printing. The 420 MAH A battery will be being reused in future devices and other electronic devices. The mouthpiece, which contains the liquid, will be incinerated power going into the national grid
Riot Labs is also launching a Riot Recycle program to make it simple for stores and customers to recycle their devices, of. Consumers can drop their QBARs off at Riot Recycling Bins in specialist stores for dismantling and recycling.
Ambitiously aiming for Zero Waste, Riot Labs also plans to work with stores to track how much waste each has saved so they can continue to optimize and find ways to achieve further reductions.
“From day one, it’s been our mission to help people quit smoking for good, through creating products that are better for people, and better for the planet,” said Johnson.
“Everywhere you look, companies are making efforts to be greener but that isn’t happening fast enough in the vape sector. We’re proud to lead the way with the first carbon negative disposable device—with its unique benefits we believe it will make a big impact on people’s smoking cessation journeys.”


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The first class-action suit over the iPhone 4's antenna is filed in Maryland
Is there any company that sues or gets sued more than Apple (AAPL)?
According to the Wikipedia entry Apple Inc. Litigation, Apple itself has filed more than 350 cases with the U.S. Trademark Office alone between Jan. 2008 and May 2010, including suits over the use of the term "apple" by people who sell the fruit.
So there's a certain divine justice in the fact that the iPhone 4's widely publicized issues with its antenna design triggered a race among America's personal injury law firms to be the first to file a class-action suit.
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New high for UK sheep meat exports to non-EU markets
Shipments to these markets increased by 53 per cent compared with the same period last year at 5,430 tonnes, with the Far East and West Africa the leading destinations.
Hong Kong is now second only to France as the largest volume destination for UK sheep meat exports, with volumes for the first quarter of 2014 up 38 per cent on the same period last year. It accounts for more than 75 per cent of the UK’s non-EU trade.
West Africa has also become an increasingly important region for exports of UK sheep meat, with Ghana the ninth largest global destination.
Jonathan Eckley, EBLEX export marketing executive, said: “Securing market access to more non-EU markets continues to be one of the key focuses of EBLEX’s export team. We’ve experienced a strong growth in trade with non-EU markets since 2008 and the first quarter figures for 2014 are very encouraging.
“While Hong Kong remains the largest non-EU market for UK sheep meat, we’ve also seen growth in exports to other destinations in the region, such as the Philippines and Singapore. Similarly, Ghana is very much the gateway to West Africa, with volumes also increasing to Congo, the Ivory Coast and Liberia.”
The UK currently has access to 74 non-EU markets for sheep meat and 101 markets in total, including the EU.
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text: China exports jumped 21.8% in February, exceeding the median economist forecast of a 8.1% gain, following a 25% increase in the previous month. Combined exports for January and February increased 23.6% from a year earlier, compared with previously released data showing a 6.8% gain in the same period in 2012. To the contrary, imports dropped a more-than-estimated 15.2% in the last month, while analysts had anticipated a 8.5% drop. However, the decline comes after imports gained 28.8% at the beginning of the year. China’s trade balance closed with a surplus of $15.2bn in February, compared to $29.15bn in January.


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At their E3 press conference today, Sony finally revealed one of their worst-kept secrets: the PlayStation Network downloadable title Ratchet and Clank Future: Quest for Booty. But here’s the surprise: it’s an all new Ratchet and Clank Future adventure on par with the full retail title released not too long ago.
The Insomniac Games-developed title will offer up to four hours of brand new Ratchet and Clank Future-style gameplay as a standalone title that will not require the original title. Booty will feature an entirely new story that finds Ratchet washing up on the shores of a small village, and even teaming up with Ratchet and Clank Future‘s baddie, Rusty Pete. The game will feature new enemies, including the totally sweet sounding “Undead Robotic Pirates,” and will take Ratchet across four different locations (Planet Merdegraw: Pirate Fleet, Hoolefar Island, Morrow Caverns, and Darkwave Cover).
Insomniac are saying that the game will have a stronger focus on platforming and puzzles, with new wrench mechanics that will allow Ratchet to push, pull, and manipulate objects in the environment. With new areas and all new gameplay, it really looks like Insomniac are taking downloadable titles to another level, offering a quick Ratchet and Clank experience on par with a retail title for only $14.99.
The fact sheet says Ratchet and Clank Future: Quest for Booty will be available this fall, but Sony’s Jack Tretton told an entire crowd of people that the game will ship this summer. We’re excited, and we’re going to hold him to that.


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LOUISVILLE, Ky.–(hospitalitybusinessnews.com)–Papa John’s International, Inc. celebrated the opening of its first restaurant in Madrid, Spain with a launch party on May 9th. Media and VIP attendees were the first to be able to sample menu offerings and enjoy a better pizza experience. The new restaurant, located in the Serrano area of Madrid, is one of more than 100 Papa John’s restaurants planned for Madrid and the surrounding area.
The new venture is owned and operated by Drake QSR, which was awarded Papa John’s Franchisee of the Year in 2015 and is one of the fastest-growing, most successful franchise business partners for Papa John’s International, Inc. with more than 45 units in Chile. “We’re excited to continue the momentum of our launch event and introduce Papa John’s legacy of quality to our fellow Spaniards,” said Antonio Rostagno, Managing Director of PJ Spain. “Not only are we bringing Better Pizza to Spain, we are also bringing better career opportunities for young people.”
“Enjoying Papa John’s pizza is a shared experience and brings people together all over the world,” said Tim O’Hern, Senior Vice President & Chief Development Officer. “Quality is something that everyone understands and appreciates. People know when they’re getting quality ingredients and that is why Papa John’s pizza continues to expand into new countries and territories. In addition, we will be adding much needed jobs to the labor market which is a win, win.”
The entry into Spain continues Papa John’s expansion in Europe. Papa John’s International has over 300 restaurants in the U.K. In addition, Papa John’s recently opened its first restaurant in Northern France on May 24, 2016 and will be opening in the Netherlands in July 2016. Papa John’s International is currently looking for potential franchisees in other areas of France, as well as Poland, Czech Republic and Belgium.


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Huawei, the Chinese multinational technology company that provides telecommunications equipment and sells consumer electronics including smartphones, has been all over the news in recent weeks. With the tech giant set to lose access to Google’s Android Platform, it’s not surprising that talks about the future of Huawei has been on everyone’s lips.
But exactly what is going on with the company? At Cheap TVs, we’re taking a look at Huawei and why everyone is talking about the brand.
What is Huawei?
The Chinese company, which provides telecommunications equipment and consumer electronics – and sells more mobile phones around the world when compared to Apple – has its headquarters in Shenzhen, Guangdong. While initially focused on manufacturing phone switches, Huawei grew their business to include building telecommunications networks. As of 2017, the company invested $13.8 billion in research and development and, in 2018, when the Huawei P20 Pro mobile was released, they saw a massive increase in sales.
Huawei products have reached over 170 countries and their 2018 revenue showed a 21% increase from 2017 at $108.5 billion. The company has come under fire lately, mainly due to cybersecurity accusations made by the USA.
What is the Problem – And What do Other Countries Think?
The reason why everyone has been talking about Huawei is that many believe the company is using its technology and infrastructure to spy on people. With the development of 5G wireless networks, the USA has tried to prevent Huawei products from being used, which prompted the company to withdraw from the US consumer market last year.
New Zealand has prevented Huawei from supplying a local mobile network with 5G in 2018 and Australia has already stopped the company from having any involvement in their next-gen networks. Canada is, currently, reviewing the security of Huawei products and, in the UK, BT is taking Huawei out from the core of its 5G network. The UK hasn’t banned the use of Huawei equipment so far, but the company’s products are regularly put through security tests by the GCHQ intelligence agency.
Germany has considered blocking Huawei from its next-gen mobile network as well and are also raising security concerns over the issue. They fear that the Chinese government may be utilising the tech company to spy on other nations, although Huawei deny any of these accusations and say they only give their government the relevant taxes, nothing else – this is disputed by many, who wonder how free the Chinese business can actually be from the government’s influence.
How Are Other Businesses Reacting?
In May 2019, the US signed an executive order preventing transactions involving information technology between American companies and ‘foreign adversaries’ – because of this, many vendors have restricted their business with Huawei or stopped working with them all together.
In addition, Google has now limited the use of its Android operating system on Huawei phones. This means that the company, whose sales of smartphones is second only to Samsung, will not have access to certain apps, including Google Maps and YouTube. The company has relied on Google’s operating system to run its devices, so this will come as quite a blow to Huawei. Existing phones will not be able to update the system either, meaning millions of UK users will be impacted by this decision, as the company sold around 2.6 smartphones in the country just in 2018.
It’s also important to consider that this ban will affect Huawei hugely as well. After all, there is a ‘duopoly’ of operating systems in the market at the moment with iOS and Android; other brands have tried to create their own operating system but without success. For example, who remembers Windows Phone, Palm OS, Blackberry OS, Tizen, Sailfish or Symbian? If a system is unable to provide apps, they won’t be able to compete against the two titans. Selling outside of China, therefore, has just become incredibly difficult for Huawei.
Other partners lost by Huawei include Corning and ARM. And, while Microsoft have stayed quiet and haven’t outright banned products from the Chinese company, they did pull Huawei laptops from their website. In January 2019, Vodafone halted the use of Huawei equipment in Spain because of security worries.
While it’s normal for Huawei users to be concerned over security issues, it’s also important to remember that the company hasn’t actually been found guilty of anything. At Cheap TVs, we believe it’s important to keep up to date with relevant news in the technological world, including the controversies surrounding the Chinese company.


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The healthe trim testimonials page is not the first of its kind that the team has come up with.
Houston, TX. (PRWEB) November 13, 2011
Healthhound.org has recently opened a Healthe Trim testimonials sections on their website. Customers who have experience with the product will now be able log onto the Health Hound site and leave their testimonial of the product.
The Healthe Trim testimonials page is not the first of its kind that the team has come up with. According to Michael Toner, One of the sites leading developers “this is not a new departure for us from what we have been doing. We have developed a number of review pages on different weight loss products over the years and now we are turning our attention towards Healthe Trim. We intend to publish as many testimonials as possible on our site about the Healthe Trim product in the coming weeks.”
In addition to new Healthe Trim testimonials section on the site there is also new customer service satisfaction page that has been picking up comments from customers about the addition of the testimonials page. The general reaction to the news so far is very positive with one commentator, Mary Rogers from healthandfitnessshow.net saying that “I love the way the Health Hound team always go that extra mile when dealing with any new products in the market place. I knew in the back of my mind that they would do a testimonial page on Healthe Trim after all the publicity the product has received.”
When customers log on to the Healthe Trim testimonials page, in addition to leaving their thoughts about the Healthe Trim product they will also be able to download a free report on how to lose weight quickly and easily that the Health Hound team have put together.
The free report can be downloaded at http://www.healthhound.org/healthe-trim/.
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Investors: Don’t Forget Auto makers!
Signs of economic recovery can be seen in the automotive sector! Chrysler Group saw auto sales rise by 11% in April led by double digit growth in its truck sales. Truck sales jumped by 14.8% and car sales increased just over 4%. This was expected for the industry as a whole anyway. New auto sales in the US in April were expected to grow by 10% from the previous year but dropped by 10% from the total sales in March.
Another auto maker seeking redemption from the recent past is General Motors (GM). The company has a lot going for it right now including a string of very profitable quarters and a war chest boasting $40 billion. GM, based in Detroit, will probably report its 13th straight quarter of profit May 2 when it announces results for the first three months of the year. The first quarter of this year saw sales rise 9.3% which is far above the industry average of 6.4%.
Even Ford (F) is doing well as it inches closer to its 52 week high. The company expects to announce solid double-digit growth the first quarter of this year as its “Fusion and Focus” were in big demand as the year started. Kelly Blue Book has the company’s sales estimates at 15.3%.
Seems like a good season for the auto makers as they continue to show signs of healthy sales. It will be interesting to see how they fare this second quarter as many of the economic indicators are signaling a slowdown. Will these cause consumers to buy less big-ticket items like autos? We will see how this plays out!


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Each year, around ten million tons of plastic enter the oceans. Some analysis claims that, if action is not taken, there could be more plastic, by weight, than fish by 2050.
In response to such jaw-dropping statistics, 2021 saw single-use plastics banned across the state of Queensland. This move has been echoed across many governments across the country and around the planet, in a move to reduce environmental plastic waste. But plastic still has a place in the fast-moving hospitality industry and in our society… it kind of has to.
Even though we’d like to see a future free of harmful plastics it will remain a permanent fixture in the hospitality and catering industry. For example the plastics used in vacuum sealing – with no alternative present, these plastics are essential in ensuring goods are shipped and stored safely and hygienically across the globe. For big chain restaurants using vacuum sealing helps to ensure every one of their outlets is delivering the same trustworthy and tasty product. Other examples of plastics that remain essential are plastics used in healthcare, such as a wide variety of PPE, sanitary products and plastic water bottles.
But if these plastics remain inevitable in our world has the plight of green change gone to waste? The Petrochemical industry has taken notice and from 1990 to 2016, the European chemicals industry cut its GHG emissions by 60.5% while increasing its production by 85%. Chemical sector emissions of CO2 are set to decline by 45% by 2050 under a ‘clean technology scenario’, this means that the process used to produce the plastics will become cleaner.
These companies are beginning to set their sights on producing cleaner plastics – future regulations will encourage the production of polymers with improved recyclable qualities that would make it easier to put used plastics back into our economy and invest in cutting the industry’s carbon footprint. We can even see this today in our sister company PacFood’s biodegradable piping bags, providing an environmentally friendly alternative to something that has often been a single-use plastic.
The development of efficient anti-plastic pollution measures and the implementation of greater regulatory incentives for the petrochemicals sector is a complicated process that necessitates a worldwide, systems-level approach. Only by prioritising our activities and policies for the greatest long-term environmental goodwill, we may be able to achieve sustainability, a circular economy, and a zero-emissions aim.


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Learn More About Paladins: Champions of the Realm OB48 Patch with Overview Video
Hi-Rez Studios released an overview video for the Open Beta 48 (OB48) Patch for Paladins: Champions of the Realm today.
This update adds a brand new champion: Seris, Oracle of the Abyss. You can watch a video that covers her abilities here. This update also brings. Maeve has gotten a new skin collection themed around cats that players can purchase, and Mal’Damba has received the brand new Chancellor collection, which can be found in a chest. 10 new sprays have also been added. You can read the full patch notes here.
You can watch the video below. Paladins: Champions of the Realm is currently in Open Beta on PC, and Closed Beta on PS4 and Xbox One.


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Hertz (NASDAQ:HTZ) stock is charging higher on Monday after announcing plans to purchase electric vehicles (EVs) for its fleet from Polestar.
This deal will have Hertz purchasing as many as 65,000 EVs from Polestar over the next five years. Polestar is a premium EV maker in Sweden with its Polestar 2 being the EV that Hertz is purchasing first.
According to Hertz, this will have the Polestar 2 showing up at rental locations in Europe in spring 2022. Customers in North America and Australia will start seeing the EVs sometime late this year.
Hertz’s effort to electrify its fleet has it aiming to provide the EVs to more than just rental customers. It also wants to extend to customers seeking ride-hailing options as well. Its overall goal is to create the largest rental fleet in the world.
This new deal builds on previous ones made by Hertz to increase the size of its EV fleet. That includes one made with Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) that will see some 100,000 of the company’s EVs added to the Hertz fleet by the end of the year.
To go along with that EV purchase, Hertz reached an agreement to add some 50,000 vehicles to Uber’s (NYSE:UBER) ride-hailing service as well. This has it planning to fill that order with Tesla’s and its set to do so by the time 2023 rolls around.
Stephen Scherr, CEO of Hertz, said this about the deal sending HTZ stock higher today.
“By working with EV industry leaders like Polestar, we can help accelerate the adoption of electrification while providing renters, corporate customers and rideshare partners a premium EV product, exceptional experience and lower carbon footprint.”
HTZ is up 4.3% as of Monday morning but is still down 11.1% since the start of the year.
Investors on the lookout for more stock market news today are in the right place!
InvestorPlace has all the stock market news that traders need to know about for today! Among that is what has shares of Mullen Automotive (NASDAQ:MULN) stock, Jumia Technologies (NYSE:JMIA) stock, and TSLA stock on the move today. You can find out all about this news at the links below!
More Monday Stock Market News
- Why Is Mullen Automotive (MULN) Stock Up Today?
- Why Is Jumia (JMIA) Stock Up Today?
- Why Is Tesla (TSLA) Stock in the Spotlight Today?
On the date of publication, William White did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.


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By: KDKA-TV News Staff
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Five local Sam’s Club stores will start vaccinating people against coronavirus next week.READ MORE: Motorcycle Driver Injured In Crash With Car In Larimer
The stores in Hempfield, Monroeville, Trinity Point, West Mifflin and Pittsburgh Mills will distribute the coronavirus vaccine.READ MORE: Bethel Park Resident Raises $1 Million For AbleGamers Charity
Walmart, which owns the chain, will launch an online scheduler for people who are eligible to make an appointment.MORE NEWS: Police Arrest Two Men In Kiski Twp. Following Reports Of Man Prowling Around Homes
Click here for more.


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80% of Diners Would Visit a Restaurant More if There Were Digital Coupons: Study
In its new Digital Coupons and Loyalty Index, Tillster, a provider of digital ordering and engagement solutions for restaurants, examines how a restaurant’s digital coupons or loyalty strategy can help them to grow sales and engage with customers. The Index showcases how QSR and fast casual customers are increasingly motivated by digital coupons and rewards.
For the second year in a row, Tillster partnered with esteemed research firm, SSI, to conduct the study on the digital coupons and loyalty program usage of more than 2,000 QSR and fast casual customers. The Digital Coupons and Loyalty Index summarizes the proprietary study's key findings, studying trends from the last year and looking ahead to the next year. One significant finding from the study is that more than 80 percent of all QSR and fast casual customers would visit a restaurant more if digital coupons were offered or if they were part of a rewards program.
Tillster facilitates more than 50 million orders a year. The company says it's clear that digital savings are no longer just for the tech-savvy or for the price conscious. App-based rewards are today, as its study shows, an important driver of brand loyalty and a growth opportunity in QSR and fast casual dining.
Digital Coupons Drive Change
Digital coupons are playing an increasingly important role in influencing customer choice. The Tillster Index found that a significant percentage of customers would choose one brand over another, or would try a new brand if a digital coupon were offered. Additionally, loyalty and rewards programs are driving restaurant visits across all age groups and income brackets.
While consumers always trend towards a good deal, the Tillster Index highlights the importance of deploying digital coupons and loyalty programs at the right times and places to help restaurants drive incremental revenue, reward loyalty and target personalized offerings for greater effect. To see key stats on how digital coupons and loyalty programs are best deployed, download Tillster’s full Digital Coupons and Loyalty Index.


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The awesome New 2019 Audi Q4 Rear High Resolution Pictures photograph below, is part of 2019 Audi Q4 editorial which is assigned within Audi, Audi Q4 and posted at May 10, 2018.
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Audi's validated it'll put a compact SUV coupe called the Q4 into production in 2019. This new, more elegant alternative to the upcoming Q3 replacement is expected to cost from ₤ 30,000.
2019 Audi Q4 Styling
The 2019 Audi Q4 is expected to draw inspiration from the TT Offroad idea, shown above, and the brand-new Q3 due in 2018. It'll most likely favour a sloping roofline in location of the Q3's boxy shape and could boast more aggressive front and rear bumpers to highlight its sportier intents, too.
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4 New Video Game Rumors: ‘Resident Evil 7’ and More
Like anything popular enough to spark rabid fandom, the video game industry is full of secrets. Companies wait for just the right time to announce new games and hardware in hopes of making the biggest splash possible. Fans, for their part, want to know everything that’s coming down the line as soon as possible. In that kind of environment, video game rumors and leaks are bound to trickle out.
This week we’ve uncovered four rumors and leaks that have a decent chance of being true. So follow along as we try to find out the secrets the video game industry doesn’t want to let out yet.
1. New Resident Evil 7 details emerge
Aside from a suitably creepy demo that Capcom says is quite different from the actual game, we don’t know much about Resident Evil 7, other than it’s set to release in early 2017. But thanks to a slip-up with the ratings board, we now know a little more.
It seems that the ESRB posted its listing for Resident Evil 7 before Capcom was ready to release the information to the public, so Capcom asked the ESRB to pull the listing. But since this is the internet, the cat’s already out of the bag.
Gematsu captured the ESRB description of the M-rated game, which centers on a man named Ethan who explores a run-down mansion in search of his missing wife.
From the listing:
From a first-person perspective, players explore the environment and use pistols, shotguns, flamethrowers, explosives and chainsaws to kill mutant creatures. Combat is accompanied by realistic gunfire, screams of pain, and exaggerated blood-splatter effects. As players progress through the story, cutscenes can depict instances of gore and intense acts of violence: a character’s arm dismembered by a chainsaw; a man’s leg taken off at the knee with a shovel; a character impaled through the face with a shovel. Some areas also depict mutilated corpses with exposed organs/viscera. The words “f*k” and “sht” are heard in the dialogue.
So there you have it. Resident Evil 7 will be violent and disturbing. That’s pretty much what you’d expect from the series, though doubts had begun to spring up when players discovered that the demo has no combat at all.
2. This is probably the new PlayStation 4 controller
Last week, we got wind of a new slim version of the PlayStation 4 that’s almost certainly going to be announced at a PlayStation event on September 7. A number of these unannounced consoles have somehow made their way into the wild, so details are coming in fast on forums and social networks.
The details aren’t all that mind-blowing, seeing as it’s mostly just the standard PS4 but smaller. One difference is that the trackpad on the new PS4 controller allows a narrow band of light to come through, letting players see what color the light-bar on the back of the controller is currently displaying.
3. Is a Duke Nukem 3D World announcement coming soon?
Thanks to a mysterious countdown timer that appeared recently on the Duke Nukem website, we know something is planned for the 20th anniversary of Duke Nukem 3D, an early first-person shooter that helped advance the genre. A Redditor claiming to have inside information says the timer is counting down to the announcement of a new game called Duke Nukem 3D: World Tour. It will be a “remaster/remix” of Duke Nukem 3D. He even links to screenshots of the game.
While it’s certainly possible the classic first-person shooter is coming to modern consoles, it’s a stretch to call the game depicted in the screenshots a “remaster.” It basically looks like the original game, but with some of the textures appearing sharper, while others seem untouched. In other words, the screenshots don’t look too exciting.
So I don’t know quite what to make of this leak, but we’ll get the full story Friday, when the countdown timer reaches zero.
4. Will NX have Wii-like motion controls?
Each new week seems to bring at least one new Nintendo NX rumor. This week’s rumor, which appeared on Let’s Play Video Games, suggests that the yet-to-be-unveiled console will feature detachable controllers that “support basic motion control, similar in fidelity to the Wii Remote Plus, and a form of ‘advanced vibration force feedback.’”
The idea of motion control will be familiar to anyone who used a Wii. As for the force feedback feature, apparently it will be based on a vibration motor that offers a wider array of feedback than most other controllers. For instance, the clash of a sword will feel much different than a rumbling of thunder.
It’s impossible to say whether this rumor is true, but seeing as Nintendo has offered motion controls on its past two consoles, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them on NX.