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August 3, 2018
No increase in import duties at ports – Osafo-Maafo
“We have not increased import duties at the ports, as is being claimed by some importers. What we have rather done is halt the misclassification, under-invoicing and over-invoicing of imports and are now effectively calculating duty on imported goods using the right figures to prevent corruption at the ports,” he explained.
The explanation by the Senior Minister runs contrary to speculations by some importers that the government has increased duties on imported products at the ports.
Mr Osafo-Maafo explained that the move by the government to check misclassification and miscalculations was meant to, among other measures, help protect local manufacturing industries by getting importers to pay the right duties.
“In the 2017 budget, the government removed 12 taxes and no additional import duties have been imposed. What is happening now is that importers have started paying the right duties on their goods and that is the reason behind the rise in duties,” he said.
The government has lately come under criticism from the importing community following the rise in import duties and levies at the ports.
The importers, led by the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), say excessive duties and taxes are hindering their operations.
They mention the introduction of the common external tariffs (CET) as one of the factors affecting their business operations.
They have, therefore, threatened to boycott business-related activities at the ports if more practical methods are not applied in running the revenue collection system at the ports.
But speaking at the Graphic Business/Stanbic Bank Breakfast Forum in Accra Tuesday, Mr Osafo-Maafo said the action of the government formed part of efforts to protect local manufacturers.
The forum formed part of the thought-leadership programmes instituted by the Graphic Communications Group Limited to help shape government policy to improve the lives of the citizenry.
The Senior Minister affirmed the commitment of the government to ensure that the manufacturing sector played its rightful role in the economy and pledged its commitment to evolve policies that would make the environment better for players in that sector to strive.
On the government’s special initiative to boost the manufacturing sector throughout the country, he mentioned the One- district, One-factory (1D1F) policy and said work was far advanced for a major roll-out.
He said latest reports indicated that about 781 companies had expressed interest in the policy and that 682 of the proposals had been reviewed.
He added that 15 had also been approved for implementation but did not mention the names of the companies.
The Senior Minister, who is also the Vice-Chairman of the government’s Economic Management Team, said some universal banks had also made commitments and pledged huge sums of money to support the initiative.
Reports indicate that about GHc4.5 billion has been earmarked by some banks for the full take-off of the highly anticipated initiative which forms part of the government’s industrial transformational agenda.
For his part, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Tropical Cable Conductor Limited, Dr Tony Oteng-Gyasi, wondered why the country had, over the years, prioritised what he called “talking over concrete action” about how to move the economy from import-led to an industrialised one, where local businesses would dominate the pace of growth.
He also bemoaned the indiscipline at the ports, which he said allowed mislabelled and under-valued items to flood the market, resulting in under-pricing and causing domestic businesses to collapse.
He said the country seemed lost on how to replace imports with locally produced goods.
“Where is our national strategy on fruit processing or manufacturing?” he quizzed.
“Ours is just a country where we talk, moan and agonise. We have launched a lot of trade policies with fanfare and after that we go to sleep,” he said, adding that Ghana had failed to keep pace with innovations in industrialisation.
Dr Oteng-Gyasi, who did not mince words, said it was regrettable that Ghana had lost its right as a manufacturer of television sets, electric fans, pressing irons and bulbs due to its inability to invest in research and development.
SOURCE: Daily Graphic | Ghana


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23% of issuers and acquirers indicated real-time payments are their top priority in terms of product development. #pressrelease
May 31, 2023
LONDON – Payment issuers and acquirers are prioritizing IT investments towards real-time payments in 2023, with most merchants interested in accepting real-time payments. In preparation for Money 20/20 Europe on June 6 2023, Omdia's new report has found that 23% of issuers and acquirers indicated real-time payments are their top priority in terms of product development.
Key findings from the study include:
Payment issuers and acquirers will spend $3.1bn on real-time payments in 2023 globally. IT spending is projected to reach $4.1bn in 2027, exhibiting a CAGR6.8% over 2022-2027 period.
23% of issuers and acquirers indicated real-time payments are their top priority in terms of product development, ahead of debit and credit cards, and digital wallets. Bill payment, account-to-account (A2A) and cross-border SME payments are seen as the top three products enabled through real-time payments.
Nearly four in 10 payments issuers and acquirers see open banking payments in their top three opportunities; yet greater use of the cloud is required to increase capacity and support open APIs ecosystem.
The vast majority of merchants (80%) stated they would be interested in accepting real-time payments in store while more than three quarters would be interested in accepting real-time payments online.
Regulatory initiatives are driving major change in the payment industry with the development of real-time payment infrastructure in many markets urging banks to invest in new systems. Open banking maturity and fintech partnerships will see alternative payment services grow in familiarity for consumers and businesses in 2023.
Ultimately real-time payments will evolve into a global system making payments and remittances more accessible. Coupled with this all kinds of traditional non-bank actors are now keying in on payments and financial transactions as the lynchpin of a broader technological ecosystem with superapps in Asia, especially, appealing to younger generations.
Read the full press release here.
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domain: news


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- Proceeds to repay line of credit drawn for Antamina stream
- In bought deal, banks agree to purchase stock at $16.60 each
Silver Wheaton Corp. will raise at least $500 million by selling new shares after reaching an agreement with a syndicate of underwriters in a so-called bought deal.
Banks led by RBC Capital Markets, BMO Capital Markets, CIBC Capital Markets and Scotiabank agreed to buy about 30 million shares at $16.60 each, the Vancouver-based precious-metals streaming company said in a statement Wednesday. They can purchase another 4.5 million more shares 30 days after the offering closes.
Proceeds of the offering, which is scheduled to close around April 7, will be used to repay a line of credit drawn in November for the $900 million purchase of future silver production at the Antamina mine in Peru.
Silver Wheaton shares fell 0.8 percent to $17.64 in New York on Wednesday.


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Figure this: Qatar GDP to reach record 12 figure number by year's end
Qatar's gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to touch $230 billion in the current fiscal as the country is expected to achieve a 6-7 percent growth rate for 2014-15, a report said.
Qatar has the potential to emerge as the region’s second largest economy, The Peninsula newspaper said citing a report in Al Sharq.
Qatar’s huge foreign investments by its sovereign fund in several sectors have also started paying its dividends. This will give an extra push to Qatar’s economic growth, the report said.
Economy and Trade Minister Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Mohamed Al Thani said last week the country’s GDP had reached $202.38 billion in 2013, recording an impressive growth of 6.5 percent, the report said.
- Impetus from within: why the Arab World needs a very Arab 'Marshall Plan'
- 'Fiscal juggling': just how many economic priorities will Saudi Arabia's new King have to focus on?
- Despite Erdogan's 'harsh rhetoric', Turkish-Israeli is still booming
- UAE is best MidEast economy for attracting talent, index says
- The Arab Spring's success story: what will it take for Tunisia to unlock its full economic potential?
- During 2000-04, Qatar’s nominal GDP is estimated to have grown at a CAGR of 12.5%
- Volvo Car Overseas – Middle East Region, announces record sales figures for 2006
- Audi Middle East’s record sales figures continue into February
- Dubai Chamber members’ exports in the first eight months of 2012 reach new record


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We reported recently on Nokia’s string of patent infringement wins against HTC, noting that it seemed time for HTC to take out a royalty bearing license, just like Apple did 3 years ago.
It seems HTC has decided to go a harder route, and in a filing at the Taiwan Stock Exchange on Saturday said:
“We are investigating modifications for our handsets to remove this redundant technology.”
HTC anticipates the change will cause minimal disruption to their customers.
Of course the real problem with trying to design around Nokia’s patents is the depth of Nokia’s portfolio, making it rather likely something else will pop up that HTC is infringing on.
Our message to HTC – you might as well pay the piper.
Via ZDNet.com, thanks Tom for the tip.


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Claire Calmejane, director of innovation at Lloyds Banking Group, spoke at Inspirefest 2016 about how fintech disruption is something to be embraced, not feared.
Lloyds was not caught off guard by fintech disruption, when start-ups began popping up in various spaces and slicing off different parts of the financial services pie.
According to Claire Calmejane, Lloyds was actually ahead of the game. Claiming digital banking is a story that started at her bank seven years ago, Lloyds’ customer figures point to a digitised present, not future.
There are currently 30m customers at Lloyds Banking Group; 12m operate online, and 7m users use mobile banking. “And our mobile app has been ranked first by Forrester in Europe,” said Calmejane.
“By 2017, between 50-70pc of customer needs will be served online,” she said. “We clearly see the shift, we are quite conscious of it.”
Fintech companies are everywhere and their numbers continue to swell, but there are two particular spaces that excite Calmejane most at the moment.
“Instagram went after the digital camera, [fintech start-ups] are going after the current financial services channel, finding where they can grasp onto something,” she said.
“But there are two spaces emerging in the next year: insurtech, and AI and machine learning.”
To keep pace with this, Calmejane and her team have launched a dedicated insurtech programme in Lloyds’ ‘Start-up Bootcamp’. If you can create a ground floor, you may as well get in on it.
“Banks always want to meet customers’ needs, we’re not just watching and thinking about it,” she said, noting a programme called transformation, a £1bn investment that is Lloyds’ way of adapting to its changing customers.
When it originally went online, then mobile, Lloyds satisfied certain needs of its customers, but it had to change to keep pace.
Taking the branch and telephone service of old and putting it digital is not enough, it creates “friction”, according to Calmejane. So Lloyds decided a redesign was needed, front to back, all focused on the customer.
“For example, now we don’t say, ‘I want to get a mortgage’, ‘I want to access capital’, we say, ‘I want to buy a home’, ‘I want to set up a business’.”
Elsewhere, Calmejane discussed the diversity problem in financial services. 52pc of Lloyds’ customers are female, but management demographics are not falling down the same lines.
“For us, it’s important that our leadership reflects our customer base. Part of that is the commitment of our CEO for, by 2020, 40pc of women in senior positions.”
Inspirefest is Silicon Republic’s international event connecting sci-tech professionals passionate about the future of STEM. Book now to get half-price Super Early Bird tickets before prices go up on 15 December.


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The Internet based portal that we've installed to help the public find rates is now packed with providers in Florida pricing individual or multi-car plans
Tampa, FL (PRWEB) October 01, 2014
Searching for state approved vehicle insurance will be simpler this year for visitors of the Quotes Pros website at http://quotespros.com/auto-insurance.html. New state minimum car insurance providers for Florida vehicle owners have been added to the database of insurers.
Consumers who make the decision to use the database this year will find direct access to the state level pricing courtesy of a list of providers quoting rates. A FL zip code will be required by car owners who plan to review the listing of companies that have agreed to supplied price information.
"The Internet based portal that we've installed to help the public find rates is now packed with providers in Florida pricing individual or multi-car plans," said a Quotes Pros rep.
The revisions made to the open system this year are directly expected to increase the number of providers that the average person reviews when accessing the price portal. Because the tool now uses a zip code as an identifier, a car owner can review the best pricing in a local area of the U.S.
"Our database does not collect driver data or quote actual policies and all interactions with price or policy data are made with each insurer," said the rep.
The Quotes Pros company is continuing its consumer support for helping with insurance research this year. Instead of limiting the auto industry providers by state, the company has improved the database to include health and homeowner plans now viewable at http://quotespros.com/homeowners-insurance.html.
The QuotesPros.com company provides a resourceful method of researching insurance costs entirely using its web portal. The company method of matching consumers by zip code to top companies in the coverage industry has been pioneered since 2013. The QuotesPros.com company has made respected changes to its website over the past two years to improve consumer search abilities when connecting with insurers in the U.S.


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SEOUL, South Korea — Samsung Electronics, the world’s biggest smartphone maker, summoned investors to a luxury hotel here Wednesday to tell them why they should buy its stock. Despite a promise of more cash and other goodies, some investors left grumbling that it was not enough.
Samsung said it would double its dividend, increase spending on acquisitions and consider a listing of its stock in the United States, through American depositary receipts. The measures were aimed at lifting the stock price, which slumped this summer on concerns that Samsung’s days of minting profits from the lucrative smartphone business may be drawing to an end.
The share price “does not fully reflect our profit growth and our leadership position in the I.T. industry,” said Lee Sang-Hoon, the company’s chief financial officer. “Going forward, we will put more emphasis on direct shareholder returns while maintaining our strategy of growth.”
Yet the announcements failed to squelch complaints that Samsung was being stingy with the roughly $50 billion pile of cash it has amassed. As Mr. Lee and other Samsung executives spoke at a rare “analyst day” — only the second in the company’s history and the first since 2005 — Samsung’s stock price fell, ending the day down 2.3 percent.
At the meeting, executives laid out their vision for Samsung’s future, saying they would fine-tune a strategy that has helped the company carve out a one-third share of the global smartphone business. That is more than double the volume of Samsung’s nearest competitor, Apple.
Executives said Samsung’s strength lies in the fact that it is a diversified electronics company, making everything from smartphones to televisions to washing machines, as well as many of the parts that run them, executives said. While many rivals, including Apple, outsource the supply of components and the manufacturing of phones and other devices, Samsung sees its in-house capabilities as a source of strength.
For a company of its size and financial wherewithal, Samsung has been conservative, relying largely on internal sources of growth, rather than dealmaking. But Samsung said it would spend more on mergers and acquisitions, as it responds to what Mr. Lee described as a “paradigm shift” in the information technology business, where the focus of innovation is shifting from hardware, Samsung’s traditional specialty, to software.
Over the last few years, Samsung has already begun to spend modestly as it seeks to develop new sources of growth, buying companies like Medison, which makes medical devices, and mSpot, a provider of digital music.
“I know we have been conservative in M&A, but it may be different in the future,” Mr. Lee said. He and other executives said it made sense to hold on to cash in order to maintain a war chest for mergers or other investments needed to keep Samsung ahead of the competition.
To try to make its stock more attractive, Samsung intends to roughly double its dividend for this year to 1 percent of the average share price, Mr. Lee said. The dividend would be payable next year, pending board approval.
A 1 percent dividend yield would bring Samsung roughly into line with other companies in the electronics industry, analysts said, though this would still be below the levels of some of its rivals. Apple, for example, currently has a yield of about 2.3 percent.
Mr. Lee said Samsung, which is based in Suwon, just south of Seoul, was also considering another step — a listing of American depositary receipts, which would make it easier for individual investors to buy its shares. Currently, Samsung stock is listed only in South Korea, where its market capitalization represents nearly one-fifth of the benchmark stock index.
Mr. Lee said international investors valued the increased transparency that would come with the regulatory requirements involved in listing American depositary receipts.
But some investors had expected more, including a bigger increase in the dividend, or news of substantial stock buybacks, which tend to lift share prices by increasing the ownership stake of the remaining shares that are publicly held.
“These are constructive steps, but Samsung obviously has more capacity to return capital,” said a portfolio manager at one of the biggest U.S. institutional investment firms, who insisted on anonymity, citing company policy.
This fund manager said, however, that he was “very encouraged” to hear about Samsung’s plans to step up acquisitions.
“This is very new and different,” he said. “There are a lot of rich targets out there. As always, it’s a question of execution.”
Samsung still expects much of its growth to come from internal innovation. For the first time, it showed analysts -- though not the assembled journalists -- a foldable video display screen that could be used in smartphones or other devices. Kwon Oh-Hyun, Samsung’s chief executive, said the company hoped to bring devices with foldable display screens to the market in 2015.
Some analysts are concerned that the premium end of the smartphone market, dominated by devices like Samsung’s Galaxy S4 and Apple’s iPhone 5S, is becoming saturated. That contributed to the sell-off in Samsung’s stock this summer, though the price has rebounded in the autumn.
一些分析师担心，三星Galaxy S4和苹果iPhone 5S占主导地位的高端智能手机市场正趋向饱和。这也是三星股价在今夏大跌的一个因素，不过公司的股票价格在秋季有所反弹。
But Mr. Kwon, sporting Galaxy Gear, a wristwatch that works as a companion to certain Samsung smartphones, said innovations like these would breathe new life into the high-end smartphone business. To try to underline the point, Samsung showed a video of celebrities like Paris Hilton wearing Galaxy Gear, though the watch has been met with less enthusiasm in the technology blogosphere than on the fashion catwalk.
但是戴着Galaxy Gear的权五弦说，类似的创新将会给高端智能手机行业注入新的活力，Galaxy Gear是一款能与某些三星智能手机一起工作的手表。为了强调这一点，三星还播放了一个视频，其中有像帕丽斯·希尔顿(Paris Hilton)等名人佩戴Galaxy Gear的片段，但这款手表在技术博客圈引起热情不如在时尚圈子里的高。
Samsung executives said the biggest growth in smartphones would come in developing countries, where smartphone penetration remains lower. Worldwide, the company said, there are still three billion basic “feature phones” in use.
“We believe there is substantial room for smartphone demand to grow,” said J.K. Shin, head of Samsung’s mobile division.
Mr. Shin said the company also intended to increase its market share in tablet computers, where it still trails Apple. Other executives even painted a bullish picture on televisions and home appliances, in which sales have been growing slowly or shrinking in recent years.
Samsung said it intended to nearly double its annual revenue, which it expects to total $211 billion this year, to $400 billion in 2020.
But this was not enough to persuade some investors.
“Broadly speaking, the market is a bit disappointed,” said Byun Han Joon, an analyst at KB Investment & Securities in Seoul.
KB投资证券公司(KB Investment & Securities)驻首尔的分析师卞涵俊（Byun Han- joon，音译）说，“泛泛地说，市场对三星有点失望。”
But Mr. Byun said he thought investors who sold Samsung shares on the news Wednesday were taking too short-term a view. He noted that the company, in addition to moving to lift the dividend, had also pledged to review its policy on cash returns in the future. That could indicate that other increases in the dividend, or buybacks, were possible.
“You could certainly say they improved their policy on investor friendliness today,” Mr. Byun said.


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Pure Pulse, a Londonderry company, has been assisted by Invest Northern Ireland to develop ‘Pulse Eco Shower’ a highly innovative showerhead that effectively counters bacterial threats, including Legionella and Pseudomonas, and virtually eliminates limescale clogging.
Pulse Eco Shower, which has been tested by experts at the internationally respected Questor Centre at Queen’s University in Belfast, is now being trialled by a major healthcare trust and evaluated by a number of water authorities in Great Britain.
The innovative showerhead was developed by Christie Allen and James Clarke, founders of the small business with assistance through the Invest NI Innovation Voucher scheme. The company also received £30,848 of assistance from Invest NI towards the company’s total investment of almost £80,000.
Mr Allen, said: “Our design has produced a much more efficient, hygienic and healthier shower system. Questor’s research found that the new head virtually eliminates limescale clogging and dramatically reduces bacteria due to the small surface area inside the head and the use of a small metal exit point compared to traditional domestic showerheads which use a spray plate involving rubber nipples which offer a natural breeding ground for bacteria such as Legionella and Pseudomonas. Removing the spray plate means there is nowhere for bacteria and limescale to develop.”
The showerhead also reduces water consumption by between 40 and 60 per cent.
Des Gartland, Invest NI’s North West Regional Office manager, said: “This enterprising company has developed a highly innovative product that could transform the shower industry and could have immense potential in international market including healthcare. It is already attracting significant interest from potential clients in this and other important sectors.
“We have provided a range of support to enable Pulse Eco Shower to access expert technical advice in the development of the product and to assist this small and ambitious company to harness international potential through a strategic marketing campaign in Britain and further afield,” he added.
The small company, based at Claudy, is a recent winner of the prestigious Green Hospitality Award.
To find out how Invest NI can help you boost your business, click here


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Ontario’s craft brewers pan Doug Ford’s buck a beer plan
By CP STAFFIndustry Food & Beverage Manufacturing beer buck a beer Craft beer food and beverage Ford manufacturing
Can't afford to lower the price without sacrificing product quality.
TORONTO — Many of Ontario’s craft beer brewers say they won’t lower their prices to a loonie per can despite the new Progressive Conservative buck-a-beer plan.
Premier Doug Ford announced the government would offer a number of non-financial incentives, like prime spots in Liquor Control Board of Ontario stores, for selling their beer for $1- to 25-cents below the previous allowed minimum price.
A number of the province’s craft brewers decried the policy – a highly publicized campaign promise – on social media, saying they could not afford to participate without sacrificing the quality of their product.
Nickel Brook Brewing spokesman Matt Gibson says the Burlington, Ont.-based company would not be able to charge that without skimping on ingredients, firing some employees to reduce labour costs or accepting the product as a loss leader.
He says the incentives offered by the government to participating companies, like prime shelf space, could hurt Nickel Brook Brewing, which regularly pays thousands of dollars for those types of benefits.
The sole brewery that will reportedly offer a $1 beer so far is Barley Days Brewery, where Ford made the announcement.


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Microsoft is thought to be preparing a series of bigger additions to its Windows Phone 8 operating system.
According to The Verge, the computing giant may introduce a notification center, improved multitasking and upgrades to built-in apps in an update for 2014.
The speculation comes after Microsoft announced it would be making minor changes in an update to the operating system later in 2013. In a blog post, it said Xbox Music, Skype and Internet Explorer would be upgraded, with FM radio returning as well.
However, sources claim the lack of significant updates this year is part of a move to bring further additions early in 2014.
It is thought that Microsoft is working closely with Nokia and other Windows Phone 8 manufacturers to develop future updates.
The news comes after Microsoft recently announced it would extend its support for Windows Phone 8 until January 2016, earlier than the July 2014 date previously given.


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“Good Foods Peru is one of the most important Peruvian companies involved with the processing of cocoa, chocolate, and confectionery products,” stated its president Carlos Enrique Piedrahita.
This is the fifth major acquisition for the National Chocolate Group of Colombia, recently purchasing two companies in Panama and Costa Rica, as well as two companies in Colombia, commented Piedrahita.
The head of the National Chocolate Group noted Good Foods Peru’s strong market presence in chocolates as its major attraction, which he expects to become stronger.
Piedrahita also added he expects Good Foods Peru to serve as a platform to launch Colombian products into the Peruvian market and at the same time compliment exportations where Peru is already competitive.
Although Piedrahita did not specify the exact amount of investments made by his company in 2006, he did indicate that the Colombian group has taken out nearly 179 million U.S. Dollars in loans.
Good Foods Peru is expected to reach sales nearing 40 million U.S. Dollars with a cash flow of approximately 6 million U.S. Dollars.


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Keep up with the latest developments and legal issues in the telecommunications and emerging technology sectors, with exclusive access to a comprehensive collection of telecommunications law news,...
By Lydia Beyoud
April 1 — Congress should consider eliminating the common carrier exception from the FTC Act, even though a federal court determined that the agency continues to have the jurisdiction to bring enforcement actions against mobile carriers, Commissioner Maureen Ohlhausen said April 1.
The issue of Federal Trade Commission authority comes in the wake of the recent Federal Communications Commission action to reclassify broadband services as common carriers.
Ohlhausen, a Republican, told the American Enterprise Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington, that silo regulatory models no longer make sense in an era in which businesses compete by offering suites of products and services that cut across categories.
“We have to have our antitrust rule account for that,” and the innovation occurring in the technology and telecommunications sector is a fundamental reason the common carrier exception no longer makes sense, she said, speaking on her own behalf.
Section 5 of the FTC Act generally prohibits the FTC from taking enforcement actions against common carriers, which fall under the jurisdiction of the Federal Communications Commission.
The exception became a point of contention in a complaint brought by the FTC against AT&T Mobility, LLC, a division of AT&T Inc., of allegations that the mobile wireless provider deceived customers by not disclosing its practice of throttling the data speeds of “unlimited” data plan users who exceeded their monthly data cap.
In a March 31 order, Judge Edward M. Chen of the U.S. District Court Northern District of California denied an AT&T motion to dismiss the FTC suit based on the argument that the Feb. 26 FCC decision to reclassify broadband Internet service providers as common carriers under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934 removed the agency's jurisdiction to bring a case at all (FTC v. AT&T Mobility LLC, 2015 BL 91298, N.D. Cal., No. 3:14-cv-04785-EMC, 3/31/15).
The court determined that the common carrier exception “applies only where the entity has the status of common carrier and is actually engaging in common carrier activity.” The AT&T mobile data service wasn't regulated as common carrier activity by the FCC when the FTC suit was filed, Chen said.
Further, once the FCC Open Internet order goes into effect, the FTC will still have jurisdiction over past alleged misconduct, Chen said. The effective date of the Open Internet order, which has yet to be published in the Federal Register, would set the date after which the FTC can no longer bring actions against common carriers.
Were the court to uphold the AT&T assertion that the common carrier exception is predicated on status alone, such an interpretation would result in numerous and significant regulatory gaps, Chen said.
“AT&T’s reading of the common carrier exemption would open a giant loophole that would threaten to swallow the FTC Act,” he said. Companies engaging in de minimus common carrier activity would be able to shield all of their operations from FTC scrutiny.
While AT&T argued that there shouldn't be regulatory overlap between the two agencies, the court said such overlap “is not damning in and of itself, particularly in the absence of any apparent conflict with respect to agency regulation.”
The court noted that “FCC action is not, however, a substitute for the relief sought by the FTC” because the FCC isn't authorized to seek refunds for injured consumers and its enforcement authority is limited to conduct going back one year.
“AT&T’s throttling program has been in effect for more than three years, and has, over the course of that time, inflicted economic harm on millions of customers,” Chen said.
“We are gratified that the court concluded that the common carrier exemption does not insulate AT&T's conduct from FTC enforcement action,” FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez said in an e-mailed statement. “We look forward to proving that AT&T's marketing of its ‘unlimited’ data plans was unfair and deceptive and returning money to the millions of consumers who were harmed by AT&T's action.”
“We’re obviously disappointed in, and disagree with, the decision and will seek to appeal it as soon as possible,” an AT&T spokesman told Bloomberg BNA in an e-mailed statement.
Ohlhausen said the court's decision underscored the need for lawmakers to engage in “some serious thinking” about the best regulatory approach for the industry.
In a March 25 House Judiciary Committee hearing on the FCC Open Internet order, at least two members of Congress took note of both FCC and FTC commissioners' calls for Congress to do away with the common carrier exception . Reps. John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) said the two agencies' enforcement tools could complement one another in the telecommunications space. Rep. Tom Marino (R-Pa.), however, said having two agencies overseeing broadband providers amounted to duplicative government.
One of the loopholes that could be exploited by broadband providers if AT&T interpretation of the common carrier exception were to apply would be in the area of privacy and data security enforcement, Chen said.
“For example, Internet giants that introduce a small measure of common carrier business would be shielded from the FTC’s active privacy and data security enforcement because of their “status” as a common carrier,” he said.
The judge noted that recent announcements from Google Inc. of the edge provider's intention to become a virtual wireless carrier underscore that his example isn't just hypothetical.
Ohlhausen said she had concerns about how the FCC reclassification order could affect issues such as online behavior advertising. The FCC didn't detail how its consumer privacy rules under Section 222 of the Communications Act would apply to reclassified broadband providers, because it intends to begin a new rulemaking procedure on the issue in the future.
How the rules on customer proprietary network information (CPNI), the data collected on consumers' phone calls, will be applied to the broadband space is a key concern for carriers, several telecom practitioners have told Bloomberg BNA.
Trying to apply the CPNI rules to how information is collected and consumers are notified in the context of online behavior advertising is “very unsettling,” Ohlhausen said. “I pity the person who has to figure out how you continue to do online behavioral advertising when using CPNI rules” that were designed for telephone technology, she said.
A focus on whether certain practices cause substantial harm to consumers in the broadband context is important for light-touch regulation that encourages innovation, Ohlhausen said.
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Raw almond milk is currently gaining some serious popularity among young mothers and teenagers. It is also popular among health concerned people or healthy enthusiasts.
A number of celebrities have also made some postings about this drink on Instagram. Celebs such as Alice Norin, Andien, fashion blogger Diana Rikasari, and health conscious photographer Andra Alodita.
Milk made out of almonds is a healthy alternative for those who are allergic to cow milk or lactose intolerant.
What are the nutritional contents of almond milk and what are the benefits if consumed on a regular basis?
Numerous studies have proven the efficacy of almond milk in maintaining good health. In the framework of the National Nut Day in the United States, a study of peanut sundries was carried out. This year it focuses on almonds.
The study found that almond is high in fiber and protein. Almond also contains 15 essential nutrients. Some of these include biotin, vitamin E, vitamin B2, magnesium, and potassium which is also an antioxidant effective in preventing disruption of the blood vessels and coronary heart disease.
Almond is also beneficial to reduce levels of bad cholesterol (LDL) in the blood. According to a study done at the University of Toronto in Canada, consumption of 2.5 ounces of almonds every day can lower LDL raise HDL (good cholesterol). Almond contains antioxidant flavonoids that counteract the body from free radical attack.
Furthermore, almonds are also beneficial when consumed in liquid form. A study published in the International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders proved that almonds can help people who are overweight to lose weight faster compared with a diet high in complex carbohydrates. Consuming almonds also reduces body fat, waist size and excess fluid.
A total of 65 people who are overweight and obesity were included in the study. The group of respondents who regularly eat almonds for six months lost body weight by 18%, waistlines shrinked down by 14 percent and eroded his body fat by 30 percent. Almond diet also helps to lower body mass index up to 62 percent, a greater decline than a diet of complex carbohydrates.
Despite being healthy and all, almond consumption should not be excessive. It still contains calories and fat even though not as much as you would find in animal protein. Nutrition expert Amanda Hamilton advised to eat no more than one almond handful hands every day, and serve as a healthy snack. Almond milk, which is not given additional ingredients other than water provide the same nutrients as whole almonds. But to get the benefit of more fiber, almonds should be consumed as a whole.


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Inflation feeds Winn-Dixie ident-store growth
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Inflationary increases, sales growth at remodeled stores and a boost from fuelperks! helped drive up Winn-Dixie’s second quarter identical-store sales, while net sales dipped.
According to Winn-Dixie’s chief Peter Lynch, Winn-Dixie is riding a strong headwind into fiscal 2012 powered by a number of influencers — a marketing program that better sustains margins, its loyalty program Fuelperks!, an improved stocking system and a significant focus on improving the customer experience.
And even as Florida, home to the majority of Winn-Dixie locations, remains one of the hardest-hit states in terms of a down economy, Lynch is optimistic on the coming year. However you couch the economic climate — sustained recession or slow recovery — Americans have learned how to manage their food budgets, Lynch, Winn-Dixie chairman, president and CEO, told analysts Tuesday morning. Lynch also told analysts that Winn-Dixie steadily has been improving its approach to promotions, passing along many inflationary increases to the consumer in place of heavy promotions that make sustaining margins difficult.
That should make an improved customer experience coupled with a strategic loyalty program significant points of differentiation for a grocer reclaiming its brand identity, all the while competing with the other Floridian supermarket heavyweight Publix. The company’s Fuelperks! program will expand across 80% of the chain’s store base by October, Lynch said, up from half of the company’s store base today. By the end of fiscal 2012, Winn Dixie plans to have the Fuelperks! program operative in all locations, the company has reported in the past.
Winn-Dixie pumped up its Fuelperks! program in April — giving consumers a 15-cent-per-gallon discount if a customer purchases three of any particular bonus Fuelperks! reward items. That has become a significant incentive to make Winn-Dixie a one-stop-shop as the average cost of gas remains above $3.50 per gallon.
“Many of our customers are telling us they are saving 50 to 75 cents per gallon or more by shopping at Winn-Dixie,” stated Mary Kellmanson, Winn-Dixie’s group VP marketing, at the time of the announcement.
Winn-Dixie is also well on its way to converting more locations into the "transformational format stores," that on average perform better to its older store base to the tune of 10% higher sales per week. Target sales-per-sq.-ft. range between $400 and $500, Lynch told analysts. That compares with a chain average of an approximate $300 in sales per sq. ft. The company plans to convert 17 locations to the transformational format in fiscal 2012, two of which already are completed. Eventually, Lynch wants to convert some 60% of Winn-Dixie’s store base into the better-performing format.
Winn-Dixie on Monday evening affirmed fiscal 2011 net sales of $6.9 billion, a 1.4% decline, compared with fiscal 2010. The decrease was due to the extra week in the prior0-year period and a slight decline in identical-store sales, which on a comparable 52-week basis decreased 0.1%, compared with the prior fiscal year.
Basket size for identical stores on a comparable 52-week basis increased 1.3% while transaction count decreased 1.5%, compared with the prior fiscal year.
Lowe’s builds up merchandising after poor quarter
Lowe’s second-quarter financial report was a disappointment to the company’s executives, who made no excuses for the retailer’s poor showing. Earnings were down slightly, revenues grew by only 1.3%, and comp-store sales were essentially flat. “Even after taking into account the challenges of the macro-environment, we are still not pleased with our performance this year,” said chairman and CEO Robert Niblock, speaking at an analysts’ conference call on Aug. 15.
Instead, Niblock and his executive team outlined a series of initiatives they intend to implement — or in some cases, accelerate — to address some “gaps” they’ve identified through a critical analysis undertaken earlier in 2011. “We will go to market differently beginning in the second half of this year,” Niblock said.
What exactly does this means for Lowe’s customers and vendors? The former can expect fewer promotional sales, more emphasis on “Every Day Low Pricing,” and a broader assortment on Lowes.com. If the customers are Spanish speakers, they can conduct their whole e-commerce transition in their native language on Lowe’s new Spanish website.
Customers can also get their lawn mowers, string trimmers and other outdoor power equipment repaired by Lowe’s. The North Carolina retailer just completed the rollout of this program after testing it in 100 stores and finding that customers would rather deal directly with Lowe’s than the manufacturers for repairs.
But many of the current and future changes revolve around merchandising strategies, making them harder to implement and more subtle to notice — except by suppliers, of course.
Lowe’s is calling its new strategy “integrating planning and execution” (IPE), or putting the right product in the right store at the right quantity. A cornerstone to this process is catering to the needs of local markets. This is not a new concept in retailing — you don’t send snow blowers to Phoenix — but Lowe’s wants to peel back layers of previous merchandising habits to create an “institutional memory to maintain local assortment decisions when merchants change.” More than 80% of the merchandising teams have product line reviews in process using IPE techniques, according to the company.
Bob Gfeller, EVP merchandising, said the line reviews “are uncovering significant consumer insights that are driving different product decisions.” For example, the IP&E process was recently used in a fashion category, with “talented people” from across Lowe’s organization acting as consumer advocates during all aspects of the product line review, from design to store experience. As a result, selection varied from store to store, as did price points, in keeping with what people expect to see in their local markets. The remerchandised category should be ready for the fall of 2011.
This “solutions-based merchandising” approach was developed in the first half of the year, in a test store where Lowe’s removed a lot of standard racking and experimented with more open vignettes, expanded endcaps and “drop zones.” Gfeller referred to the Holy Grail of retailing — getting customers to shop across departments and buy everything they need for a remodel at once — as one motivation for the merchandise retrenching.
“We were not satisfied with second-quarter performance, but my team has been reshaping the merchandising direction, implementing changes now that should advance us further in our multiyear implementation of our broader strategic vision,” Gfeller said. And although he stressed the “test and learn” approach to some of the new ideas, Gfeller also said resets from the current line reviews are now beginning and will continue throughout 2012.
Rooting for a category expansion in sporting goods
Target may want to rethink its space allocation for the sporting goods department in light of the success the company is having with its Fan Central initiative. Granted, Fan Central is a licensed apparel program within the sporting goods department, but EVP merchandising Kathee Tesija described the success the program is having as “remarkable” during a recap of key merchandising initiatives earlier this month in a meeting with financial analysts.
According to Tesija, Fan Central’s high-quality, team-related apparel offered at great prices is now in every store and each store features a customized product assortment across every major league and team.
“It has quickly become the most productive space in the sporting goods floor pad,” Tesija said.
That’s saying something because licensed sports apparel is inherently difficult to manage as fan loyalty can surge and wane with a team’s fortunes, while affinities for teams and players also can vary widely within the same markets. That introduces a degree of operational complexity to assortment decisions and promotional efforts in a category segment that faces the same sizing issues as other apparel categories.
The fact that Target is managing this complexity and achieving remarkable results with Fan Central suggests the company might have an even larger opportunity with sporting goods. It is evident shoppers are willing to visit and make purchases in the sporting goods department, but Target’s limited breadth of assortment means active lifestyle shoppers inclined to makes sporting goods purchases are forced to go elsewhere to satisfy their needs.


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Milk is one of the most popular and consumed beverages on the planet. Most of us drink it in our everyday life. We have it in our coffee and tea. We have it in our cereal. The list goes on and on.
Here are ten stories that take the phrase “Got Milk?” (and American advertising campaign slogan to encourage the consumption of cow's milk) to the extreme.
1The lactating bandit that sprayed breast milk as a distraction for stealing
I've heard of “Stick ‘em up,” but, in this case, would it be, “Squirt ‘em up?”
In October 2014, a woman in Darmstadt, Germany entered a pharmacy and asked to buy a breast pump. After handing over a €200 note to pay for her €20 purchase, she suddenly uncovered one breast and used her fingers to squirt milk from it at the person behind the register who was giving her €180 in change.
The “Milk Sprayer” (as authorities dubbed her) “sent a stream of milk into the face of the employee,” according to police spokesman Ferdinand Derigs.
The woman then moved on to a second cashier and shot a stream of mother's milk into that person's face as well. Police say after the breast-attack the woman fumbled around the store looking like she was confused. It wasn't until after she was forced out the door with her breasts still on show, that employees discovered €100 missing from a cash register.
So far, there has been no word on if the boob-spraying bandit has been, ahem, busted.
2The bodybuilders who believe breast milk will help them bulk up
Gym-lovers are always looking for new ways to bulk up, and the latest supplement they believe will do the trick is that of human breast milk. Bodybuilders have been buying breast milk supplements on websites like Only the Breast in hopes of it helps them increase in muscle mass.
Sure, “liquid gold,” as breast milk is often referred to, is packed with vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and special proteins, but is it healthy for adults? Fitness and nutrition trainer Troy Martin from TM Fitness is aware that trainers believe breast milk helps them add bulk more effectively than cow's milk, and that the growth hormones found in breast milk were also beneficial in strength training, but he says there is no research to back up these claims.
Although there is some evidence that a component of breast milk, known as HAMLET might be useful for treating cancer, a spokesperson for the British Nutrition Foundation isn't so sure that it's beneficial for anything else. The spokesperson explained: “Breast milk is designed specifically to match a baby's requirements and has all the nutrients, vitamins and minerals they need to grow. It is not designed to support adult health.”
3The girl who almost died from drinking milk
In March 2015, young Jessica Bamford of Plymouth, England was innocently drinking some milk from an Iceland market when a “white hardened substance” started to form around the six-year-old's mouth. Her parents, Dwayne and Samantha Bamford, immediately took their daughter to the emergency room at a nearby hospital.It was discovered that Jessica had most likely consumed false nail glue.
It looks like the Bamford's love of milk – along with the two four-pint cartons of whole milk Mr. Bamford bought from the market – has gone down the drain.
“The last thing you're expecting is hardened adhesive in a food product,” said Mrs. Bamford. "It's just disgusting.” The angry mother has since contacted the market that sold the tainted milk and the dairy that supplied it. The store has apologized and has vowed to investigate the incident.
4The man who landed a Guinness World Record by squirting milk from his eyes
Who thought you could squirt milk out of your eye to land yourself a Guinness World Record? Ilker Yilmaz of Turkey did; that's who!
In 2004, the Turkish construction worker poured milk into his hand, snorted it up his nose and squirted it 9.2 feet out of his left eye into a coffee cup, setting a new world's record.
The Turkish squirter can squirt milk out of his eye thanks to an anomaly in his tear gland. Yilmaz beat out Mike Moraal of Vancouver, British Columbia. He set the existing record of 8.745 feet in France in 2001. Who knew there was such a record to break?
5The cows that make milk more efficiently by listening to Lou Reed
In 2001, a pair of psychologists from the University of Leicester found that slow music played on a large dairy farm increased cows' milk production by 3% as compared to fast music, which had no effect. Scientists think these slow jams helped relax the animals, and let them produce milk in higher quantities.
Slow tunes that seemed to work are “Perfect Day” by Lou Reed, “Bridge over Troubled Water” by Simon and Garfunkel, “What a Difference a Day Makes” by Aretha Franklin, and “Everybody Hurts” by R.E.M. According to NPR, a theatrical reading of “The Merry Wives of Windsor” also proved popular for increased milk production.
Folks at Canada's Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food are a little more skeptical. According to the Canadians, no one has repeated these experiments since 2001. They gather that if the music has an effect, it probably has nothing to do with the songs themselves. Instead, the music likely drowns out all the disconcerting sounds coming from those dreaded milking machines.
Since cows dig R.E.M. so much, maybe farmers can add their song, “Man On the Moooon” or music by the Moooody Blues to the cow milking playlist that includes the old classic, “Moooon River.”
6The music legends that broke up over spilt milk
As with any band with a history as rich and long as Aerosmith's, there are bound to be high points and low points. By the mid-1970s, Aerosmith was the possibly the most popular band in America. The quintet from Boston had huge, multi-platinum selling albums like Toys In the Attic and Rocks and played hits like “Walk This Way and “Dream On” to sold-out stadiums of adoring fans.
But with great success comes great excess. The band recorded the album Draw the Line in a drug-induced haze with animosity between band members rapidly growing. By the time the boys from Boston recorded their next album, they had reached a breaking point. The album was delayed due to escalating arguing, drug use and lack of songs. In addition to all of this, guitarist Joe Perry owed the band $80,000 in room service bills from the last tour. Their manager suggested he write a solo album and pay off the bill from the record company advance.
The breaking point came when Joe Perry's wife, Elissa, poured milk over bassist Tom Hamilton's wife, Terry, during an argument after a show in Cleveland. Joe Perry quit the band shortly after.
The band soldiered on with middling success until Perry re-joined in 1984. 1987's quintuple platinum Permanent Vacation solidified Aerosmith as “America's favorite rock and roll band” once again and they haven't looked back since.
Singer Steven Tyler best summed up the 1979 split with his fellow “Toxic Twin” when he told the press, “We split up over a glass of spilt milk – can you believe it?”
7The Japanese bars that serve breast milk shots
As we mentioned, breast milk supplements have become a “thing” among weightlifters and bodybuilders, but if you're more of a non-athletic type or you just feel the need for some mother's milk, head on down to Tokyo's Kabukicho district which is home to several lactation bars.
If you go to the Bonyu Bar in the district and plonk down 2,000 yen, young mothers are more than willing to fill up a shot glass of their very own breast milk for you. For 5,000 yen, you can suck the milk straight from the teet of one of three mothers all under the age of 30.
Whatever happened to the good ol' days of sake and shochu?
8The toy dairy cow that made milk
There was no shortage of toys kids could play with in the 1970s. Slinkys, Tonka Trucks, Barbie Dolls, G.I. Joes…the list is endless.
One toy that debuted in that wacky decade has been all but forgotten and perhaps for good reason. Does anybody remember Milky the Marvelous Milking Cow? Yeah, I didn't think so.
Milky was a plastic toy cow that “drank” when kids would dunk its head in water, squeeze its tail, and thanks to special tablets in the cow's stomach, kids could coax some kind of “milky” substance out of the plastic cow's udders. Since it wasn't real milk, it probably wasn't wise for the young, would-be farmers to drink it. Udderly disgusting.
Milky the Marvelous Milking Cow came out in 1978 by Kenner Toys. That same year, Kenner also made the original Star Wars line of figures and toys which sold about 40 million units, and poor Milky was quickly sent out to pasture for good.
9The Walmart “cow” that became a criminal
It seems like weird stuff frequently happens at Walmart. So much so, there are a whole slew of websites dedicated to strange clientele and occurrences at the retail mega-chain.
In April 2011, an 18-year-old man entered a Virginia Walmart at around 10:35 pm dressed in a cow suit. He swiped 26 gallons of milk and according to police reports, proceeded to crawl – not walk – out of the store. (We think he was trying to emulate the movement of cattle.)
Witnesses told police that the criminal cow gave out the stolen milk to people passing by the superstore.
Police rounded up the milk burglar at a local McDonald's. Apparently, the cow costume he sported didn't have a mask, and the suspect just happened to have a cow costume in the back seat of his car.
10The president who died after drinking milk
Some U.S. presidents met their fate by assassination, like Lincoln and Kennedy. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on the same day, July 4th, 1826. Other presidents died of natural causes after their terms in office. And then there's poor President Zachary Taylor, who died after eating iced milk and cherries.
Zachary Taylor, the 12th U.S. president, died after eating cherries and drinking iced milk on a hot 4th of July in 1850 while attending festivities at the newly dedicated grounds upon which the Washington Monument would be erected. Later, Taylor drank a lot of water to wash down the cherries and ice milk. He died on the evening of July 9, after four days of suffering from symptoms that included severe cramping, diarrhea, nausea, and dehydration.
Rumors quickly spread that he had been poisoned. Taylor was a Southern plantation owner and conspiracy theorists believed that he was killed by Southerners who considered him a traitor for opposing the expansion of slavery into the territories.
Outbreaks of cholera, a deadly disease caused by bacteria, frequently occurred during the summer months in hot, humid Washington during the 1800s. Taylor could have contracted cholera from the water or iced milk that he drank that hot afternoon. Others believe that Taylor died of gastroenteritis caused by the highly acidic cherries combined with fresh milk.
In 1991, in an effort to put the controversy to rest, Taylor's body was exhumed and tested for arsenic. The tests concluded that he had not been poisoned, but that didn't satisfy some who argued that the tests were flawed.
That event didn't stop future presidents from drinking milk, however. Cows lived on the grounds of the White House until Pauline the cow was the last bovine to live there. She made milk for President Taft's consumption.


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Yokohama announces new assignments for executives
Yokohama Tire Corp. (YTC) has announced the reassignment of several executives and one promotion.
Satoshi Miyata was promoted to CFO and treasurer. Prior to this, he held the position of treasurer and has been at Yokohama in Fullerton, Calif., for more than four years.
Takao Oishi assumed the new title of YTC executive vice president of operations. Oishi's responsibilities are in the areas of MIS, logistics, strategic marketing and operations. This is Oishi's first assignment in the U.S.; he spent the last two years as president of Yokohama Europe and lived in Düsseldorf, Germany.
Kenichi Shirai was named YTC chief advisor, strategic marketing. Shirai will oversee product planning and strategic marketing. Shirai, also on his first assignment in the U.S., has a marketing and engineering background and was instrumental in the development of the first generation ADVAN Neova tire as well as the Parada Spec-X. He also worked with the environmental Eco-Motion group that helped produce the Super E-Spec, a new consumer passenger tire that combines citrus oil with natural rubber to form a new compound called "Super Nano Power Rubber (SNPR)" which reduces the petrochemical portion of overall tire weight to only 20%.
Iwao "Rocky" Shimomura was named YTC senior director, corporate quality assurance. Shimomura is one of Yokohama's foremost experts in tire development and quality testing, the company says. This will be Shimomura's second stint in the U.S. -– he worked in YTC's Salem, Va., plant from 1991-94 as manager of tire development. In his new position, Shimomura will oversee tire development, technology and quality assurance.
Additionally, three YTC corporate executives have returned to Japan-based Yokohama Rubber Co. (YRC) for new assignments: Takaharu Fushimi was named YRC general manager, tire overseas sales and marketing department number one, Tadayoshi Hiraga was named general manager, tire overseas technical service department, and Takeshi Masatomo assumed the new title of YRC manager, passenger car and light truck tires product planning department.


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After a brief exclusivity window for Battlefield 3 Premium subscribers, the Aftermath Expansion is now available on all platforms. The quake themed DLC is not the last stop for Battlefield 3 fans however. DICE does have at least one more trick up their sleeve when it comes to expansion content for their 2011 shooter, and it’s called End Game, which was announced earlier this year.
Battlefield 3 Premium members will be the first to find out what the next round of DLC will be, when DICE releases the seventh Premium member video detailing the content on December 21st. Judging from the earlier art work revealed for this expansion, the only thing we know about this new content is that it will feature motorcycles.
While two-wheel action will be a new way to get around the sprawling terrains of the game, new rumors are also suggesting a twist in the setting department as well. 4News is reporting that the Premium Video to be released later this week will reveal that End Game will feature a jungle-style “Apocalypse Now” map. The site also includes that End Game will consist of four new maps, new vehicles (including motorcycles), new assignments, and new weapons.
Battlefield 3 End Game is due out in 2013, and what’s in store for Battlefield fans after that is anyone’s guess. Earlier this year, DICE revealed that they had indeed begun working on Battlefield 4 and offered an exclusive beta opportunity for Medal of Honor: Warfighter patrons. When that new game is slated to arrive is anyone’s guess, but many are assuming that the game could arrive in the fall of 2013.
- This article was updated on:March 7th, 2018


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Equities gained even higher ground for the second day in a row on Tuesday, but conviction was much more subdued than it was on Monday when the major averages rose over 1.0% apiece. The S&P 500 climbed 0.3% to notch its second record-high close of the week, while the Nasdaq and the Dow each managed to notch their first. Small caps outperformed, sending the Russell 2000 higher by 0.6%.
The biggest event of the day was Apple’s annual product unveiling, in which the tech giant showed off three new iPhones, including the iPhone 8, the iPhone 8 Plus, and the high-end iPhone X–which CEO Tim Cook called “the biggest leap forward since the original iPhone.” Apple also introduced a new 4K Apple TV and its Apple Watch Series 3, which is the first series to include LTE-capability, allowing users to make phone calls and stream music without hauling a phone.
On the whole, the product event provided little new information as many of the details had been leaked to the public beforehand. Nonetheless, Apple shares were volatile following the event’s afternoon kick off, first surging from their flat line to a new session high and then dropping sharply to a new session low. In the end, Apple shares finished lower by 0.4%.
Unsurprisingly, the top-weighted technology sector–and the broader market to some degree–mimicked Apple’s volatility as the company is the largest component by market cap within the sector. The tech group ended Tuesday’s session a tick above its flat, but held a gain of 0.4% at its best mark of the day and a loss of 0.4% at its worst. Conversely, the influential financial space proved to be pillar of strength on, settling comfortably above the broader market for the second time this week.
The sector benefited from a curve-steepening trade within the Treasury market, which sold off once again as investors dialled up their appetite for riskier assets–like equities. The yield on the benchmark 10-yr Treasury note climbed five basis points to 2.17%, hitting its best level in over a week, while the 2-yr yield ticked up just two basis points to 1.33%. Like financials, the lightly-weighted telecom services space comfortably outperformed the broader market, but the remaining advancers finished with more modest gains, ranging from 0.1% to 0.8%.
The consumer discretionary sector settled in the middle of said range (+0.4%), overcoming a disappointing performance from McDonald’s which tumbled 3.2% on the heels of some cautious commentary. At the opposite end of the sector standings, the rate-sensitive utilities and real estate sectors struggled amid the increase in interest rates. The two groups were the only sectors to finish Tuesday in the red, registering sizable losses of 1.8% and 1.2%, respectively.
JP’s Dimon Slams Bitcoin as a ‘Fraud’
JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon said he would fire any employee trading bitcoin for being “stupid.” The cryptocurrency “won’t end well,” he told an investor conference in New York on Tuesday, predicting it will eventually blow up. “It’s a fraud” and “worse than tulip bulbs“. If a JPMorgan trader began trading in bitcoin, he said, “I’d fire them in a second. For two reasons: It’s against our rules, and they’re stupid. And both are dangerous.”
Bitcoin has soared in recent months, spurred by greater acceptance of the blockchain technology that underpins the exchange method and optimism that faster transaction times will encourage broader use of the cryptocurrency. Prices have climbed more than four-fold this year — a run that has drawn debate over whether that’s a bubble. Bitcoin initially slipped after Dimon’s remarks. It was down as much as 2.7 percent before recovering.
Last week, it slumped after reports that China plans to ban trading of virtual currencies on domestic exchanges, dealing another blow to the $150 billion cryptocurrency market. Tulips are a reference to the mania that swept Holland in the 17th century, with speculators driving up prices of virtually worthless tulip bulbs to exorbitant levels. That didn’t end well.
In bitcoin’s case, Dimon said he’s skeptical authorities will allow a currency to exist without state oversight, especially if something goes wrong. “Someone’s going to get killed and then the government’s going to come down,” he said. “You just saw in China, governments like to control their money supply.” Dimon differentiated between the bitcoin currency and the underlying blockchain technology, which he said can be useful. Still, he said banks’ application of blockchain “won’t be overnight.”
Foxconn $3 billion incentive deal comes closer to reality
A $3 billion state incentive package for electronics maker Foxconn, the largest ever of its kind, moved much closer to becoming reality Tuesday by passing the state Senate. The bill passed on a 20-13 vote with two senators breaking party lines. Republican Sen. Rob Cowles of Allouez voted “no,” while Democrat Bob Wirch of Kenosha, near where Foxconn may locate, voted “yes.”
Senate Republicans had moved more cautiously than their Assembly counterparts on the Foxconn measure. Its passage returns the bill to the Assembly for what likely will be a swift approval on Thursday. The bill then would head to its champion, Gov. Scott Walker, for a signature. The city of Kenosha announced Tuesday that it’s dropping out of the running for the proposed $10 billion Foxconn campus, which would build liquid crystal display, or LCD, screens.
The mayor wrote a letter saying the bill could leave the city “unable to support and/or absorb the development of the project.” That appears to tip the Foxconn sweepstakes in favor of Racine County, also believed to be vying for the facility. Sites in western Kenosha County also may still be in the running.
WhatsApp co-founder to leave company
Brian Acton, co-founder of WhatsApp, now owned by Facebook will leave the messaging service company to start a new foundation, he said in a Facebook post on Tuesday. Acton spent eight years with WhatsApp, which Facebook bought in 2014 for $19 billion in cash and stock. A Stanford alumnus, Acton co-founded WhatsApp with Ukrainian immigrant Jan Koum in 2009. The duo worked at Yahoo before starting WhatsApp.
Amazon’s Rapid Rise Put Online Giant on EU’s Tax Hit List
Amazon is in the EU’s cross hairs because its rapid expansion may have been fuelled by tax measures that slashed its costs, according to the EU official spearheading a state-aid probe into the online giant. Gert-Jan Koopman, whose department at the European Commission was responsible for slapping Apple Inc. with a 13 billion-euro tax repayment order last year, told a Brussels conference that the EU is targeting methods that are a menace to fair competition. “We are concerned that a company that is essentially in the position to lower its tax base, and as a business model is penetrating markets and scaling up, can do so more rapidly than some of its competitors,” Koopman said when asked about the EU’s investigation into Amazon.
He pointed to an “internal form of financing which allowed it to expand very significantly.” Amazon and burger chain McDonald’s Corp. are tipped to be the next in line as the EU clamps down on tax deals it deems to be unfair. Both are under investigation for their fiscal arrangements with Luxembourg, which has gained a reputation for doling out special deals to big firms in the Grand-Duchy. At stake in the EU’s probes are billions of euros that multinational companies have squirreled away in tax havens, out of the reach of authorities in the countries where they make most of their sales.
Faced with some 300 companies to look at, the EU can prioritize cases that may harm competition more widely, said Koopman. Further pressure on Amazon?
Important events today:
9.30 am – UK unemployment data: August claimant count forecast to rise 8800 from a 4200 fall in July, while the July unemployment rate remains at 4.2%. Average hourly earnings expected to rise 2.1%, in line with the previous month. Market to watch: GBP crosses
1.30 pm – US PPI (August): factory-gate inflation expected to fall 0.1% MoM. Market to watch: USD crosses
3.30 pm – US EIA crude inventories (w/e 9 September): last week’s reading showed an increase of 4.6 million barrels. Markets to watch: Brent, WTITrade now
NOTE: This article is not an investment advice. Any references to historical price movements or levels is informational and based on external analysis and we do not warranty that any such movements or levels are likely to reoccur in the future.
In accordance with European Securities and Markets Authority’s (ESMA) requirements, binary and digital options trading is only available to clients categorized as professional clients.
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October 6, 2020
Thinking of Financial evolution, the global economy witnessed shifts and advancements with the purpose of making monetary transactions easier, quicker, and secured. It moved from paper money and coins to online transactions and the use of debit/credit cards. Blockchain technology is here now to offer plenty of advantages in making financial transactions even smoother with the user’s full consent.
A huge global bank- Deutsche Bank realizes the potential of cryptocurrency and states boldly that the current money system is fragile. Deutsche Bank sees that by 2030 digital currencies will rise to over 200 million users. In the “Imagine 2030” report, the global Bank suggests that digital currency could eventually replace cash one day, as demand for anonymity and a more decentralized means of payment grows.
Cryptocurrencies may become legitimate substitutes for fiat currency with regulatory hurdles being surmounted. The decentralized future of cryptocurrency has become more popular than we can think. There is widespread criticism of the shortcomings of current financial structures, leading to an unparalleled wave of interest in innovative ways to conduct economic transactions effectively while maintaining high standards of transparency and accountability. As crypto acceptance will increase, Cash, credit, and debit cards will slowly become obsolete and may continue on this course with wider crypto usability and unique payment solutions.
As a possible instrument for fundamentally altering financial environments for the improvement of society, cryptocurrencies have gained a great deal of publicity. However, the success and willingness to replace and improve conventional financial systems has led to expanding user adoption and media interests.
Cryptocurrencies and digital currency as a whole are obviously the future of money, but it is increasingly apparent that as the crypto market is still very young and dynamic, economic experts must discuss cryptocurrency more and more to make every single user aware of the benefits of owning crypto assets and cryptocurrency market can truly grow and flourish and serve the promised benefits. It is a well-known fact that the greater the user’s confidence and adoption the greater is currency’s worth and credibility.
New blockchain technologies like proof of stake, proof of history, proof of work, etc. help to make digital currencies more viable competitors that can replace traditional money and produce benefits for users across large transaction volumes globally over the internet within few clicks.
The crypto users are creating the value of a cryptocurrency by accepting it as a means of payment. In various ways, the cryptocurrency market generates new possibilities, as this is a growing market that never sleeps and one is able to access his crypto funds anytime, anywhere.
Cryptocurrencies are decentralized in nature, which implies no central authority or third party regulates the money supply. Cryptocurrencies remove the need for the existence of central banks and any need for a middleman. In order to gain general acceptance, any such proposed cryptocurrency system must prove to be adapted/oriented so as to operate across established financial and government institutions and stable coins may ultimately provide the road map to more widespread adoption, with stronger oversight by government regulators.
The need for enhanced usability is standard for all crypto-currencies. A crypto-asset must be adaptable and easy to use and safeguard the interest of its economic user against attempted theft and misuse. While cryptocurrencies provide open participation, only those with a technical understanding and adequate equipment can have access to these. The demand and need for crypto-assets are identified on the market, and the possibilities that a cryptocurrency would entail are currently being explored by various parties.
While the number of merchants embracing cryptocurrencies has risen gradually but still remain in the minority due to lack of global acceptance. A cryptocurrency that aims to become part of the mainstream financial system may have to meet widely divergent requirements fast so that the users are fully aware of the variety of uses of digital assets and carry out all their monetary transactions via crypto payments. Cryptocurrency can make the world look entirely different until fully booted and incorporated into our lives, in ways we can only begin to understand


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100% recycled plastic bottles from Britvic
Britvic’s staple soft drinks, Robinsons, Lipton Ice Tea and drench 500ml bottles, will soon be made from 100% recycled plastic (rPET) at the Esterform manufacturing facility in Yorkshire, England.
The Britvic company is headquartered in London and has a revenue of £1.4bn.
Sustainable manufacturing move from Britvic with Esterform
Using recycled plastics, known as rPET, in the manufacturing process allows food and drinks companies to:
- Reduce their carbon footprints
- Decrease pressure on landfill
- Strengthen the circular economy
- Win over the ever growing number of customers focused on sustainability
By 2022, Britvic aims to have all bottles made in Great Britain manufactured from recycled PET.
The company claims that the Robinsons, Lipton Ice Tea and drench rPET transition will prevent 1,354 tonnes of new plastic being created each year.
Previously, Britvic’s Ballygowan Mineral Water and Fruit Shoot Hydro changed to rPET bottles, which saved 1,900 tonnes of plastic.
In addition, after Britvic invested £5mn in Esterform in 2019, the packaging company is now run on 100% renewable energy.
Recycled PET progress at Britvic
Esterform Packaging has taken Britvic’s PET orders for over 15 years and is the largest independent converter of PET in the UK.
“Our £20mn project to produce 42,000 tonnes of recycled food grade PET could not have got off the ground without Britvic’s support and we look forward to working together to rollout recycled PET usage across Britvic’s portfolio”, said Mark Tyne, Esterform’s Managing Director.
This progress is a part of Britvic’s new sustainability strategy: ‘Healthier People, Healthier Planet’.
“We are extremely proud and excited to see the first use of Esterpet in our iconic brands as they make the move to 100% rPET”, said Sarah Webster, Director of Sustainable Business at Britvic. “It’s a fantastic example of the progress made in the facility with Britvic’s investment support and the first in a series of changes using Esterpet packaging as we continue our journey to fulfil our rPET commitment.”


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Hargreaves Services is confident it can rebuild turnover and profit in its logistics business after the division suffered a 47% drop in operating profit to £2.3m last year. Turnover in its logistics operation fell from £68.3m to £54.5m in the year to 31 May 2016, which it mainly attributed to changes in waste movements following a clarification of waste classification by HMRC. It said the sale of Imperial Tankers to Sutton Group in 2014 accounted for some £7.3m of the drop in turnover. […]
Eddie Stobart saw turnover and earnings grow in the first six months of its financial year, but the cost of refinancing, its stock market listing and the end of an Irish retail contract resulted in a pre-tax loss.
Suttons Tankers, part of Suttons Group, said it is in its “best interests” to walk away from its eight-year relationship with British Sugar when its contract expires later this year.
Turnover and profit both rose by some 12% last year at Newmarket, Suffolk-based Turners (Soham), as a prudent approach to rates and new business continued to pay off. In the 12 months to 31 December 2011, turnover jumped 11.9% to just under £235m (2010: £210m); while pre-tax profit rose 12.5% to £24.3m (2010: £21.6m). All three of the firm’s divisions enjoyed a significant boost during the period, with turnover up 7.69% in the temperature controlled division, 10.63% in the general […]


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The deal, first reported by Sky News, is expected to be announced on Monday alongside news the joint venture will also close its loss-making megastores business in Britain.
The person said Carphone Warehouse would return some of the proceeds from the sale of a share in profits of Best Buy Mobile to its shareholders.
Carphone Warehouse declined to comment. Best Buy could not immediately be reached for comment.
(Reporting by Mark Potter; Editing by Matt Scuffham)


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NYC’s vacation home windows are a glittering homage to hope
Pleasure to the world: The vacation home windows have come!
The COVID-19 pandemic has upended just about each vacation custom — sitting on Santa’s lap, caroling, gathering at Grandma’s. Nevertheless it really is starting to look rather a lot like Christmas exterior Bloomingdale’s, Bergdorf’s, Saks and Macy’s.
“The vacation home windows and light-weight present are our annual reward to New York Metropolis,” Emily Essner, chief advertising and marketing officer at Saks, advised The Submit. Saks’ notably luxurious home windows depict a wide range of Yuletide celebrations, from the tride and true (just a little lady getting an autograph after “The Nutcracker”) to the extra well timed (a socially distanced gathering at a meals truck).
“This 12 months, we felt it was extra essential than ever to uphold this long-standing custom,” added Essner. And to “ship enjoyable and escapism this vacation season.”
Some shops tailor-made their themes in response to the pandemic. The home windows at Macy’s pay tribute to NYC’s important employees, with neon indicators flashing “thanks” in 16 completely different languages.
Bergdorf Goodman, nonetheless, had began planning its designs again in January, with a give attention to giving again. The ensuing theme, “Bergdorf Goodness,” options dazzling stained-glass home windows with phrases like pleasure, peace, equality and hope in massive mirrored block letters. “Little did we notice simply how essential [that message] would develop into,” stated Linda Fargo, senior vp of the style workplace and retailer presentation at Bergdorf’s.
Executing such lavish shows — whereas following social-distancing pointers — additionally proved a problem. “Most years we have now beehives of artisans at work creating elaborate and collaborative handmade objects,” stated Fargo.
As a substitute, planning and visualization conferences came about by way of Zoom, and factories and artisans delivered samples to particular person houses to evaluation. “This was undoubtedly an adjustment for groups which can be used to touching and feeling supplies and in-person manufacturing visits,” stated Saks’ Essner.
Bloomingdales’ John Klimkowski, in the meantime, stated that the home windows gave the shop an opportunity to rent native artisans who had misplaced work to assist construct their whimsical scent-enhanced shows, from a Christmas tree made from inexperienced stuffed teddy bears (which has a pine scent piped open air) to an enormous candy-cane-striped tongue (a peppermint scent) to a huge orange glitter canine. (That one, fortunately, doesn’t have a odor.)
“We regarded to costume designers from Broadway who aren’t working proper now, or native artists who [have been] displaced as a result of COVID,” stated Klimkowski, VP of visible merchandising and home windows. Plus, the surrealist, gleeful props helped carry the employees’ moods. “They create a smile to everybody,” Klimkowski stated.
And after a tricky 12 months, New Yorkers actually do have to smile.
“We’re a nationwide firm, however our [59th Street] flagship actually is a neighborhood retailer,” stated Klimkowski. “After I was strolling dwelling final evening, I circled and the shop simply turned a beacon on the avenue, with the cheerful colour and the colourful lights. It felt like there was hope.”
Macy’s theme this 12 months — Give, Love, Consider — pays tribute to the primary responders, important employees and marchers who confirmed “grit, good humor and hopeful spirit throughout a tumultuous 12 months.” Lights spell out “thanks” in a number of languages over an iconic New York skyline — full with fireworks — and Macy’s elves drape phrases of gratitude over a cityscape that includes clapping fingers.
Bergdorf Goodman celebrates “the goodness that’s throughout us” with every kaleidoscopic window that includes gigantic block letters spelling out completely different “values,” equivalent to love, hope, concord, pleasure, peace, equality, kindness and unity. The three-dimensional letters are plated in groovy polychromatic acrylic mirror, to actually and figuratively replicate every worth again onto the viewer.
Bloomies urges passersby to “Give Pleased,” with every window a tableau of infectious good cheer and “avant-garde whimsy.” Strive to not smile as you stroll by an evergreen-scented scene that includes a tree made from teddy bears with rhinestone eyes or a smiley-face disco ball, by native artist Allison Eden, spinning above shiny vacation baubles.
Saks’ shows have fun the myriad methods New Yorkers honor the vacation season, from the standard to the well timed to the hyperlocal. Lush, detailed scenes embrace a pair on their method to ship a mountain of presents on the Roosevelt Island tram, neighbors competing for probably the most lavish gentle shows in Brooklyn’s Dyker Heights, a younger lady getting an autograph from a prima ballerina, and a vacation block social gathering that includes masked revelers round a meals truck.
And it’s not simply home windows …
#NYCs #vacation #home windows #glittering #homage #hope


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A wedding is one of the most amazing times in a person’s life. However, the stress of such an important day does tend to take a toll out on people. Celebrities including. During a wedding shower hosted by Gillette Venus, Chrissy Teigen shared with The New York Daily News that her must-have item for the wedding day will be her daily dose of Xanax.
“I’ve got to be honest,” the brunette bombshell said Tuesday, at a “bridal shower” in New York thrown by Gillette Venus, for which Teigen is a spokeswoman. “I have such bad anxiety that sometimes I don’t believe I’ve even taken the pill in the morning!”
Whew! Someone needs a spa day or something! She also shared that her dress designer is Continue Reading →


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Publisher Warner Bros. has confirmed that the upcoming Batman: Arkham Knight title will not be receiving a physical release for Windows in the UK, being instead distributed exclusively via digital distribution.
The latest entry in developer Rocksteady Studio's Batman: Arkham franchise which began with 2009's Batman: Arkham Asylum, Batman: Arkham Knight follows the titular hero as he confronts villain The Scarecrow. While building on the existing titles, the game is eagerly anticipated by fans thanks to the addition of the Batmobile as the first driveable vehicle in the series, new combat mechanics including Fear Takedowns for stealth gamers, and the introduction of the character of the Arkham Knight which was created specifically for the game by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee.
Having been scheduled for release last year but delayed twice, the game is due to arrive in the UK on the 23rd of June - but will do so without the option of a physical purchase, at least for the Windows variant. Speaking to trade press site MCV
late last week, Warner Bros. confirmed that while a Windows physical release is on the cards on North America, the UK will see only the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 ports on shop shelves. Windows gamers eager to play the title, the unnamed spokesperson explained, will need to purchase the game as a digital download with no option for a physical disc.
Neither Warner Bros. nor developer Rocksteady has explained why the UK market is being restricted to digital download, but it is like the UK is serving as a test market for a future withdrawal from physical distribution. Previous Warner Bros. titles, including those in the Batman: Arkham franchise, have come with in-box redemption codes designed to stifle second-hand sales; a move away from resalable physical copies to account-locked downloads is a logical next step.
Batman: Arkham Knight launches on Windows, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on the 23rd of June, assuming there are no further delays to its launch schedule.


text: Earlier in the week, bemanistyle said they'd heard about an Activision/Konami-branded Guitar Hero arcade game. Not the first time we'd seen one, but it was probably the first official one we'd see. We figured we'd see/hear more at the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions get-together in Orlando during the week, and we are not to be disappointed. Bemanistyle today have some new info: the game will be "a modified version of Guitar Hero III" running on PC hardware, and the guitars will look like the new World Tour peripherals, but be built more in line with Konami's Guitar Freaks controller standards. So, yeah, indestructible guitars. In addition, online play will be supported, along with the possibility of online song updates. All of which would be awesome news had the world not played this game to death already - in the comfort of their own homes - in 2007.


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ClimaCell, the climate forecasting and intelligence service that’s utilizing quite a few attention-grabbing new strategies to assemble climate knowledge, as we speak introduced that it has raised a $23 million Series C spherical co-led by new investor Pitango Growth and present investor Square Peg Captial. With this new spherical, the Boston- and TelAviv-based firm’s complete funding now exceeds $100 million.
As ClimaCell co-founder and CEO Shimon Elkabetz informed me, the spherical got here collectively nicely after the worldwide COVID-19 lockdowns had began and the crew by no means met with its new buyers in particular person. Because the pandemic affected lots of ClimaCell’s clients within the journey business, in latest months, the corporate did take some steps to scale back value and increase its general runway, however Elkabetz pressured that the corporate didn’t want to boost this new spherical and that the buyers approached the corporate.
“We took some aggressive however respectful actions round decreasing our bills and created a major runway,” Elkabetz defined. “We didn’t actually need to boost cash now, however this chance got here to us and we determined to take it, as a result of it offers us a major alternative to put money into strategic issues.”
Given the altering enterprise local weather, the corporate did double down on its efforts to model its service as an intelligence platform that helps companies make good choices concerning the operations, even when they don’t seem to be meteorologists. In apply, this implies a stronger deal with its Insights service, which helps operators in varied industries to make good choices primarily based on the corporate’s forecasts. With this, ClimaCell will help a development firm be sure that a worksite is secure when a storm is coming and when it ought to shut down its crane operations due to wind, for instance, or when a logistics firm ought to count on slowdowns due to heavy rains. Instead of simply giving its customers a climate forecast, the corporate’s instruments present actionable solutions as a substitute.
“65% of the world’s GDP is being impacted by climate occasions. ClimaCell is the one SaaS firm that permits actionable gadgets forward of climate occasions reasonably than reacting to them and their implications and ramifications,” mentioned Aaron Mankovski, Managing General Partner at Pitango Growth, in as we speak’s announcement. “The alternatives coming to ClimaCell throughout industries together with provide chain and logistics, railroads, trucking, delivery, on-demand, power, insurance coverage, and extra signify an entire upending of the present aggressive panorama and is a testomony to being laser-focused on buyer worth.”
Elkabetz famous that the corporate plans to make use of the brand new funding to increase each its go-to-market efforts and to deal with the elemental R&D that makes its platform work. He wasn’t fairly able to share what these R&D efforts will appear to be, however he expects to have the ability to announce these new capabilities “quickly.”
The firm additionally expects to launch some updates to its client cell app quickly. While the patron app might not be ClimaCell’s predominant focus, it makes use of the identical expertise within the backend, together with a model of Insights for leisure actions, for instance. For Elkabetz, the patron app helps unfold the ClimaCell model however he additionally expects that it might turn out to be an actual enterprise in its personal proper.


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According to drug experts, marijuana is the most popular illegal drug. (1) it increases the price of drugs in the black market thereby attracting major. Drug Seizures. DrugsDashboard thumbnail price of black market drugs. Border Patrol Recidivism Rates. Recidivism percentages are updated at the end of each fiscal year. RAND Corporation. "Spending on illicit drugs in US nears 150 billion annually: Amount rivals what Americans spend on alcohol." ScienceDaily. By B Gilbert 2022 Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance all have subsidies for prescription drugs. The subsidy makes the transaction price appear smaller to. On Friday, someone in New Bedford paid a dealer 2 for a 5-milligram hydrocodone pill, a price deemed cheap in the busy black market for. Inflated black market price of Rs 50,000 for a vial of the anti-coronavirus drug when they needed it recently for a family member. The US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Office of out of the market and/or markedly raise purchasing costs in the short term..
This is the printed price on the drug. injection is not available in stores, incognito market darknet it is being sold in the black market at very high prices. Objective To assess the possibility of crowdsourcing black market drug price data by cross-validation with law enforcement officer reports. Managing diabetes usually entails a restrictive diet, regular physical activity, and regularly taken medication. Approximately 30 percent of. Iii The higher relative price of most Canadian generic drugs explains why a smaller percentage of such drugs are resold to Americans through Internet pharmacies. These markets are largely hidden from public view, making them difficult to analyze. Even so, data about drug prices and purity offer. Millions of consumers are battling rising drug prices. But for diabetics who rely on daily medication, supplies and monitoring equipment. Government measures to counter the COVID19 pandemic have affected all aspects of illegal drug markets, from production and trafficking to.
If the price is too good to be true, it's probably a counterfeit. If you find a website that you think is selling illegal drugs, contact the FDA. Cross-Border Drug Runs, Deadly Rationing and Black Market Sales incognito darknet market Define world's insulin market, have raised their list prices in lockstep. Supply in drugs tends incognito link to be elastic, but demand is less elastic due to addiction: if prices rise, addicted buyers may be more limited in the short run by their. The newly launched site is an attempt to assemble and organize information about the price prescription drugs fetch on the black market. Fentanyl has flooded the market across the country, said Dr. Nora The price makes it a popular drug among low-income minority groups. How Big Is the US Market for Illegal Drugs? drug diversion opioid abuse and diversion rates and street prices for illicit sales. Bloomberg: Drug Prices Drive Many Americans To Black Market For Medicines During graduate school, Lacy Mason got insulin from elderly.
The Price of Denial Eva Bertram, Morris Blachman, Kenneth Sharpe, Drug - control efforts have succeeded in raising the price of black market drugs black - market price for drugs. Cocaine, heroin and price of black market drugs marijuana have become cheaper and stronger over the past two decades, despite increases in drug seizures by authorities. Furthermore, inflation cap reforms would apply to the private market, preventing exorbitant drug price price of black market drugs Research from GoodRx shows. With generic drugs, which often have multiple providers, distributors are able to negotiate better rates. Details like this contribute to the. Patients and their families are being forced to shell out as much as Rs price of black market drugs lakh for 400 mg of the drug. Black market for Truvada PrEP may undermine treatment adherence in People who didn't sell their drugs also reported being approached by. Fentanyl has flooded the market across the country, said Dr. Nora The price makes it a popular drug among low-income minority groups.
Black Market Hospital Beds and Price-Gouged COVID Drugs Selling on Indian Twitter. SELLING OUT. What does the illegal drug hydra market market look like to an economist? of price dispersion in the illicit-drug marketthat is, how drugs of the. Prohibition also meant the emergence of a black market, operated by criminals and Although the rates of drug use among white and non-white Americans are. Inflated black market price of Rs 50,000 for a vial of the anti-coronavirus drug when they needed it recently for a family member. Yes, the black market for drugs gives criminal organizations something So the drug war has not eliminated drug use, but high prices have. Each year, Americans spend nearly 100 billion on illegal drugs such as cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine. This is the case with drugs like heroin and cocaine in the United States. As in other markets, supply and demand will determine prices in black markets.
Darknet Market Lists
His voice is youthful, easy-flowing, and flexible, and lends itself to many different types of storytelling. FerucciFrances who claimed to be part of the exit scam demanded 0. You can learn more about how Substack’s private podcasting works and see examples here. The site, which boasted almost half a million users, more than 2400 sellers and some $170 million USD worth of transactions, allowed price of black market drugs anyone with a Tor browser and some cryptocurrency to buy and sell drugs, forged money, stolen credit cards, anonymous SIM cards and malware. However, the mainstream use of the term has devolved to mean peer-to-peer renting as seen with AirBnB (a website enabling individuals to rent out rooms or whole houses), Uber (a crowd-sourced taxi service), and Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (a platform for temporary employment that price of black market drugs is often informal). So the hackers on this list either wanted the world to know what they did, or made a critical mistake that left them exposed. If you are found to be selling or purchasing, discussing or offering such items, you may receive a permanent ban. This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access. Bitcoin is also supported, as well as several payment methods such as Escrow, so that both the buyer and the seller are protected during the transactions and there are no attempts at fraud.