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Confectionery factory "TORERO" is planning to supply its products to China.
Foreign agricultural service of USDA (FAS USDA) in its October report has retained the forecast of wheat production in Russia at the same level at 72.5 million tons, excluding Crimea (about 0.5 million tons in 2018). This figure remains significantly below the expectations of Russian analysts, whose estimates are in the range of 74.9-75.8 per million tonnes, Russian agriculture Ministry estimates this year's harvest agriculture 78 million tonnes.
The Minister of agriculture of the Russian Federation Dmitry Patrushev held a meeting with Minister of agriculture of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Harrison Pelisse, who arrived in Moscow to participate in the 21-th Russian agricultural exhibition "Golden autumn - 2019". The sides discussed prospects of bilateral cooperation in the field of agriculture
Turkey, which removed in mid-September Egypt from the first place among the buyers of Russian grain, continues to maintain this leadership, from the data of the analytical center of JSC "Rusagrotrans".
At the festival "Golden autumn" "tractor plants" presented an innovative harvester and vintage tractor equipment
4 October in Moscow has started a national food festival "Golden autumn", the most colorful and colorful exhibits which unfolded in the centre of Moscow, on red square. It was here, opposite the Spasskaya tower of the Kremlin and Manezh square is situated the exposition of Concern "tractor plants" – 21 rare tractor from the collection of the Museum of the history of tractor and combine harvester AGROMASH 3000 production of the Volga combine plant.
At the exhibition in Qingdao will be the "Primorskaya rybolovnaya Kompaniya", which presents products of Nevel complex for processing of seafood is the only Sakhalin, the enterprise focused on production of frozen seafood.
Manufacturer of fresh cheese "Umalat" will take part in the fair "Golden autumn" from 4 to 13 October. Festival of the best Russian producers will unfold in the heart of the capital — on red square. Thanks to it Muscovites and guests of the city acquainted with domestic products and goods, including well-known cheese company "Umalat". Among visitors to the fair will be a unique opportunity one of the first to purchase the new brand Unagrande — semi-hard cheese caciocavallo.
Last week, breeders of Wielkopolska froze in fright, when they heard rumors about the intentions to kill the pigs of the so-called "red zone" on one of the largest local meat processing plants. The rumors were true, because such an intention was, but its implementation did not allow veterinary services.
The Minister of agriculture of France Didier Guillaume regrets the US decision to impose duties on some agricultural products from the Republic and believes that this decision will hurt American consumers. This is stated in a statement on Friday a communiqué of the Ministry.
The Russian agro-industrial complex is successfully developing, the domestic enterprises to provide national food security and seriously strengthen its position in global markets, said the President of Russia Vladimir Putin.
Chemical and pharmaceutical company Bayer of Germany plans to create a blockchain-based system for monitoring agricultural products.
"Kaliningrad meat company", included in APH "Miratorg" reports that employed in the livestock areas in the region 6 graduates of agricultural educational institutions from among 12 graduate students - participants of the interregional internship programs in 2019.
Almost all American politicians and businessmen are ready to take measures that will help weaken the dollar to the same analysts at Saxo Bank.
Export prices of wheat from the black sea region has increased, demonstrating a fracture of the market trends. The market supported higher prices in the EU and reduce the supply of Ukrainian wheat.
In Ukraine as of September 30, according to expert estimates, about 50% of the area remained in a state of drought. In General, during the third week of September on the territory of Ukraine remained unfavourable agrometeorological conditions for planting and initial growth of winter crops due to the hard air and soil drought. This is stated in agrometeorological review the second third of September of the Ukrainian hydrometeorological.
For the week from 20 to 26 September, the US implemented export 328,5 thousand tons of wheat. Weekly sales meets the expectations of the analysts, but remain lower than usual at this time of year. The Agency said Grain Online.
Poland was not going to lose their benefits and want to earn extra money in this popular segment
Organises workshops, fairs, farm products and concerts, the main venue of the festival will be the Red square
The price index of FAO for vegetable oils in September increased by 1.4% and reached more than a year high, according to a new report by FAO.
This demand, traders did not expect and even had to introduce a limit


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The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Mele Kyari has dismissed the possibility of fuel scarcity during the Yuletide season.
Kyari assured Nigerians that there was supply of Petroleum products in stock for the season.
The NNPC boss gave the assurance during a stakeholder meeting chaired by President Muhammadyu Buhari’s Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Monday.
He said: “We are here today to take stock of our readiness for the festive period, particularly in terms of supplies and distribution of petroleum products across the country, so that this festive period will be enjoyed by Nigerians without any hitch, particularly the Christmas and new year.
“We are very sure today that we have a very robust supply plan not just for Christmas but beyond. We are assuring Nigerians that the NNPC has made adequate arrangement to make an adequate supply of petroleum products.
“If there is an issue, we have come together with other agencies of government to ensure those issues are resolved to ensure Nigerians have a very Merry Christmas this year.
“In that area, we have again increased the level of security, dedicated some officers to make sure that products are moved freely without any attempt to divert products from where they are supposed to go.
“We have gotten commitment also from tanker drivers that we will work seriously with their drivers to make sure that nobody incites them or motivates them to divert products from where it is supposed to go.
“So, we are assuring Nigerians that Christmas will be crime-free, petroleum products will be available to everybody and it will move from one part of the country to the other.”
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The rise of the retail bond
“We have come to ORB three times and each time, we have seen really strong demand from investors."
Paul Fuller, Head of Market Execution, Tesco Bank
London Stock Exchange Group’s retail bond platforms have been highly successful in the UK and Italy. But there is plenty of potential for growth, as Helen Power reports.
Retail bonds have taken the UK by storm since London Stock Exchange Group [LSEG] opened up the lucrative corporate debt market to private investors in 2010.
Initially, just ten corporate bonds were traded on the Order Book for Retail Bonds (ORB). Now there are more than a hundred, with household names including Tesco and National Grid, as well as LSEG itself, taking its lead from UK investors’ desire for a better yield than that which is on offer from standard savings accounts.
However, the retail bond market revolution actually began in Italy. More than 15 years before London’s move into retail bonds, Borsa Italiana was routinely providing sovereign and corporate bonds to domestic and European investors. Borsa’s retail bond market, MOT, which will celebrate its twentieth anniversary next year, is the biggest bond market in Europe by turnover, with trades worth a billion euros completed every day.
Pietro Poletto, LSEG’s Head of Fixed Income Markets, who oversees both ORB and the MOT, believes the trend began in Italy because successive cash-strapped Italian governments desperately needed capital.
"Investors in Italy are familiar with this type of financial instrument, probably because Italian government debt has been quite large historically, so retail investors were happy to invest in it and considered it secure," he says.
What started as a market for Italian sovereign bonds quickly became another fund-raising avenue for Italian businesses.
"There was already a strong community of brokers in place who worked in the Italian government debt market and they helped to drive a dramatic increase in interest in corporate debt," he adds.
Fast-forward to 2010, and the Italian prototype looked very compelling for UK companies struggling to borrow from a broken banking system and the banks themselves, anxious to rebuild their weakened balance sheets. At the same time, UK investors were getting a raw deal, as savings rates remained stuck at historic lows. The market was ripe for a new type of corporate fundraising that would allow corporate and financial borrowers to raise money directly from private investors.
So, with the backing of the UK Government, LSEG exported the fundamentals of Borsa Italiana’s MOT to London, launching ORB as a Financial Conduct Authority-regulated, MIFID-compliant, retail fund-raising and trading platform.
From the start however LSEG was mindful of key differences between the UK and Italian retail investment community
"It was clear that the needs of UK retail investors were quite different from those in the wider European markets.. Traditionally, UK investors have been equity driven and only recently has there been a change of attitude to bonds. Education is key to our strategy, not only in the UK, but everywhere – it’s important to educate investors and the wider community as to how to interact with a new market," says Poletto.
Top names come to market
Fortunately, an influx of new issues from household names catapulted retail bonds into the consciousness of small investors struggling to find decent returns on their capital. Tesco’s financial services arm, for example, accessed the market three times, including by way of an innovative, inflation-linked transaction.
"We have come to ORB three times, and each time we have seen really strong demand from investors. London Stock Exchange gives the market real credibility and from our perspective, ORB provides us with another funding source," says Paul Fuller, Head of Market Execution at Tesco Bank.
"ORB also allows you to do smaller deals than the institutional market," he adds.
Other issuers range from international utility, National Grid to specialist mortgage provider Paragon Group.
"We were used to the institutional bond market but ORB gave us access to a different group of investors. We also issued an eight-year bond, whereas a typical institutional deal would be three to five years," says Nigel Terrington, Chief Executive of Paragon Group.
Such was demand for Paragon’s £60 million transaction, the books were closed early.
"We had a very good experience. We were well advised by our PRs and our lead manager and we even got to open trading on London Stock Exchange. We would definitely like to come back to the market," he adds.
Oil & gas group Premier Oil accessed ORB late last year and also experienced robust demand.
"We do not have a credit rating, so when we looked at the sterling bond market, ORB was an obvious place for us. Initially, we were concerned that the issue sizes might be a bit small, given the documentation requirements. But over time, the market proved it was perfectly capable of absorbing larger transactions, so it became more attractive to us. We also structured our documentation as part of a broader MTN (medium-term note) programme so we can use it to issue bonds in other currencies and markets," says Tony Durrant, Chief Financial Officer at Premier Oil.
Broadening the scope
Looking to the future, Poletto believes macro-economic fundamentals will help to sustain British investors’ appetite for retail bonds.
"It seems that interest rates will remain at a low level for a while and many medium-sized companies are keen to secure non-bank debt. This is an area that we are just beginning to exploit but there is real potential for growth," he says.
"The UK Government has long been asking how is it might be possible to help companies in these difficult times to find alternative finance. ORB could provide these businesses with a solution to the credit crunch, particularly if they have a good story, but it will depend on their quality and on there being advisors and brokers with the expertise and knowledge to help them," he adds
Poletto points to Italy where LSEG recently acquired a majority stake in EuroTLX, another retail-focused fixed income platform, which has been used successfully by a number of medium-sized companies.
"The experience of EuroTLX shows there is appetite from issuers and investors, provided the circumstances are right and the knowledge is there," he says.
Medium-sized companies are just part of LSEG’s strategy however. In both the UK and Italy, the Group is keen to attract a range of corporate, banking and government issuers.
In London in particular, Poletto sees LSEG offering banks a platform for some mutual bond funds that they would have run in-house before the credit crisis.
"Some big banks that previously managed bond funds internally may now prefer to outsource some services because of the potential for conflicts of interest and reputational risk in the wake of recent scandals like LIBOR and interest rate swap mis-selling," he says.
Central to LSEG’s ambitions is the creation of a pan-European platform for retail bonds - and more broadly - all fixed income products.
"The idea is to maximise these assets, offering not just a market for Italian or UK investors, but a solution for all investors across Europe. The foundation is already in place, so we are in good shape to export our skills."


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While front-loading won't likely rock the peak season like it did last year, expectations of a weaker than usual peak, coupled with meager capacity expansion and carriers' increased willingness to trim capacity further via blank sailings, are likely to keep US importers from Asia on edge.
The eastbound trans-Pacific is highly susceptible to capacity management by carriers, as the trade learned last year when carriers used a mix of blank (canceled) sailings and extra-loader vessels to match supply with demand and force spot rates to five-year highs. Importers have few if any tools at their disposal to counter blank sailings in a highly volatile market caused by Trump administration tariffs on imports from China. Alan Murphy, CEO of SeaIntelligence Maritime Consulting, said in this week's Sunday Spotlight that the trade should brace for a second straight peak season roiled by the US-China trade war. "It would be safe to assume that given the current 25 percent tariffs on almost half of the US imports from China, carriers would adjust capacity on the trans-Pacific trade to cater to a potential loss in volumes," Murphy said.
In addition to affecting available capacity in the eastbound trans-Pacific, the blanked sailings serve to push spot freight rates higher, and this directly affects importers' transportation costs, said David Bennett, president of the Americas at Globe Express Services. "The biggest issue is that they were expecting a specific cost," he said, but suddenly the cost has increased. For example, the spot rate from Shanghai to the West Coast increased from $1,382 per FEU on June 21 to $1,720 on June 28, an increase of 24.5 percent. The East Coast rate jumped from $2,404 per FEU to $2,789 on June 28, a 16 percent increase, according to the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index.
Furthermore, the threat of some front-loading of imports to avoid low sulfur fees ahead of the Jan. 1 global mandate that could add $300 or more per TEU to transportation costs in the eastbound trans-Pacific will only add more volatility and uncertainty to the trade in the fourth quarter.
Carriers will have to drydock any vessels not fitted with scrubbers for at least a week to flush out the heavy diesel oil and replace it with the low-sulfur fuel mandated by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Beneficial cargo owners (BCOs) know carriers have the option of extending the drydock as a means of managing capacity and boosting spot rates. "Capacity availability at the end of the year when the carriers are prepping for the IMO rule. That's the big issue I'm hearing about," a non-vessel-operating common carrier (NVO) executive said. "If capacity is down, spot rates go up." On the other hand, individual carriers will be cautious about how much capacity they remove at any given time because they could lose market share, which is something most carriers fear more than anything, he said.
Carriers, meanwhile, can blank sailings on an ad-hoc basis when forward bookings are weak. They have already taken the unusual step, with the peak season approaching, of announcing three blank sailings in June and three for July. If not for extra loaders planned, that would reduce capacity by about 66,200 TEU, or about 1.8 percent, compared with a 3.8 percent capacity reduction in the entire third quarter of 2018.
Cosco Shipping, Maersk, and Mediterranean Shipping Co. will deploy six extra-loaders in July and August, focusing on the Asia to East and Gulf coasts, maritime analyst Alphaliner said in its weekly newsletter. The four announced extra loaders will inject about 22,366 TEU of capacity, though, the capacity of the two extra loaders for late July and early August isn't yet known. Through its enhanced partnership with the 2M alliance of Maersk and MSC, Zim Integrated Shipping Services will add new loops from Asia to the Gulf Coast, adding between 10,000 and 11,000 weekly TEU capacity.
Factoring out blank sailings and extra loaders, carriers this year will increase scheduled weekly capacity to the West Coast only 0.6 percent, compared with a 2.4 percent increase last year. On the East Coast, carriers last year increased scheduled weekly capacity a rather large 9.4 percent. This year, total capacity is scheduled to increase 3.4 percent to the East Coast, according to SeaIntelligence.
Carriers this year have responded early and aggressively to the soft eastbound market. Imports from Asia in the first half of 2019 increased only 1.4 percent from the same period last year, about half the compound annual growth rate of 3 percent since 2015. Imports from China declined 5 percent, compared with a 1.7 percent compound growth rate since 2015, according to PIERS. This confirms fears within the industry that the Trump administration's tariffs on more than 50 percent of US imports from China are having an adverse impact on trade between the two countries. The six blank sailings announced for June and July are mostly to the West Coast, as it took longer for Los Angeles-Long Beach than for other ports to reduce the inventory overhang from the front-loading of late 2018. All-water services from Asia to the East Coast also tend to fill up earlier than to the West Coast loops, carrying lower-value cargo that is not especially time sensitive. As the peak season progresses, West Coast vessels begin to fill up with higher-value, time-sensitive shipments for the holiday shopping season.
Trans-Pacific carriers last year used record blank sailings to manage capacity during periods when imports were sluggish. Even so, imports grew 4.3 percent in 2018, faster than the low single-digit growth projected for this year. Therefore, carriers can be expected to cancel sailings in the third quarter of 2019 if volumes do not pick up, Murphy said. "In Q3 2018, with trans-Pacific demand under-performing expectations, carriers used blank sailings extensively. We should keep in mind that carriers still have ample time to blank additional sailings in the peak season, should demand under-perform their current expectations," he said.
When the threat of 25 percent tariffs on imports from China was expected to take effect on Jan. 1, retailers and manufacturers front-loaded a large volume of imports from China in late 2018. The impact was most evident in Los Angeles-Long Beach, and the 1.5 billion square feet of industrial space in Southern California became a giant warehouse for storing 2019 spring merchandise. A former logistics executive at a large retailer said that inventory has been burned off by now, and 2019 peak season imports should begin arriving soon. However, eastbound volumes are not expected to spike this fall. Rather, the trade will return to the "normal cadence" of steady growth through the peak season that was experienced in past years, an industry consultant told JOC.com.
Source: Journal of Commerce


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SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA and SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwire - Jan 2, 2013) - AhnLab, a leading provider of information security products and services for consumers and enterprise business environments, today announced that its V3 Mobile achieved a top tier ranking in an Internal Mobile Security Test for Android from AV-TEST, the independent testing organization.
At this closed test, which took place in November, AV-TEST examined more than 20 mobile security products. AhnLab V3 Mobile was submitted for testing on Android and achieved a 96.62 percent detection rate for Android malware without a single false positive. In the performance impact test which measured the total average CPU usage, AhnLab V3 Mobile was the only security app which scored less than one percent (0.24 percent) out of the products tested.
"AhnLab V3 Mobile scored much higher in our malware blocking tests than the majority of other reviewed Android Security Apps without generating a single false positive," said Andreas Marx, CEO, AV-TEST. "We were impressed by the V3 Mobile's anti-theft features and call/message filters as well. And there was no measurable performance impact."
"We are pleased that the V3 Mobile scored such a high ranking in tests conducted by a prestigious organization such as AV-TEST," said Philip Kim, CEO, AhnLab. "With these results, AhnLab's proven solution for Android is one users can count on especially as security threats for mobile devices grow more serious and tangible."
V3 Mobile is comprehensive mobile security software designed to protect android based devices. It allows users to make the most of your mobile device while providing protection from a growing range of threats. It secures a user's personal data, blocks network attacks, protects users from harmful applications, and even helps recover a user's mobile device if it is lost or stolen. A number of mobile device makers in South Korea have standardized on AhnLab V3 Mobile for mobile security protection.
Headquartered in South Korea and with US HQ in San Francisco, AhnLab Inc., (
AhnLab' s products and services include anti-virus solutions, network, mobile and online game security, security management and consulting services. Today, AhnLab boasts a network of sales and research operations in more than 20 countries worldwide.
For more information on AhnLab, go to www.ahnlab.com or +1-866 666-3080.


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Crypto Corner: The Sports Slice
The NFL is approaching crypto sports deals with caution, but the abundance of potential revenue is keeping the league engaged. Meanwhile, one storied football club across the pond is looking to build the first-ever ‘metaverse stadium.’ And a popular NBA player is shutting down shop on his NFT project, leaving many with a bad taste in their mouth.
It’s all in a week’s worth of action when it comes to sports and crypto. Let’s review the past seven days of activity.
The Sports Slice
De’Aaron Fox Abandons NFT Project
De’Aaron Fox is arguably the most talented player on the admittedly lowly Sacramento Kings, and has been a long-time fan favorite for the Bay Area-adjacent club. Fox was one of the first NBA players to release their own NFT projects, titled SwipaTheFox, and despite roughly $1.5M in NFT sales, it’s all coming to a screeching halt this past week.
It’s another NFT project to join a long list of celebrity-started or sponsored mints that provided a detailed roadmap, but failed to deliver. Below is a screenshot from the project’s Discord that shows Fox’s announcement of discontinuing the project:
FTX Launching Gaming Unit, Expanding Marketing Push Beyond Sports
A new report from Front Office Sports has unveiled that crypto exchange FTX is launching a dedicated gaming unit focused on blockchain network and NFT integration. The full scope of the unit is yet to be disclosed, however the move is certainly on par with FTX’s positioning. The exchange has partnered with powerhouse esports org TSM in a first-ever naming rights deal, and has spent substantial funds around GameFi and related areas.
Meanwhile, the exchange also brought on a new head of global luxury partnerships as FTX looks to build outside of it’s current sports-sponsorship heavy strategy. Lauren Remington Platt will fill the role and has a resume tailored in fashion and business development that will be tough to top. Platt previously built her own beauty service and established premiere partners such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Vogue.
Nielsen Report: Blockchain Sports Sponsorship To Hit $5B By 2026
A new global sports sponsorship report from Nielsen that was released this week reveals that the analytics and data firm is projecting massive spend from crypto competitors to continue to flood in to the sports sponsorship space. Nielsen is forecasting sports sponsorship deals from blockchain players to amass to $5B by 2026, a nearly 8-fold increase over last year’s spend. The report cites ‘legitimacy’ and ‘fan engagement’ as the two key factors to contribute to future deal’s success in sport.
We’ll have a deep dive on the Nielsen report in the days to come.
MLS: DC United Finds New Blockchain Partner
MLS club DC United has found a new blockchain technology partner this week in XDC Network, who have signed a three-year deal and will find brand assets on United’s home and away jerseys and training tops.
The XDC Foundation’s Executive Director Billy Sebell said in a release:
“This partnership is about bringing the value of blockchain to the D.C. United fanbase to elevate their experience, drive deeper engagement, and connect the growing crypto ecosystem to the club.”
Related Reading | NFTs In A Nutshell: A Weekly Review
XDC Network is the latest blockchain technology firm to find a partner in the MLS. | Source: XDC-USD on TradingView.com
The NFL’s Latest Perspective On Crypto Sponsorship Deals
Last week’s Sports Slice highlighted the NFL’s latest lobbying efforts with the SEC and other U.S. federal agencies. This week, a new report from the Sports Business Journal states that the NFL is still proceeding with care; despite massive success in the Super Bowl commercial execution from crypto companies like Coinbase, the league isn’t ready to go all-in quite yet.
League representatives told SBJ that they are “hopeful” that a league-wide crypto policy can come into place in the next 30 days, admitting that it realistically “may or may not happen.” The league’s current hesitance lies within the lack of current regulatory framework, and SBJ reports that the league is “is more confident in products based on the blockchain that don’t require cryptocurrencies to function,” citing the deal with Ticketmaster to produce NFTs. In present day, the league is certainly more prone to revenue-driving opportunities that don’t require the league to take on the level of risk that current hands-on crypto engagement is exposing.
The First-Ever Metaverse Stadium?
Manchester City has been one of the more aggressive Premier Club teams, and now the club is working with Sony’s VR team to build a “virtual duplicate of the Etihad Stadium” that will serve as the team’s virtual HQ. The club already has a fan token established with Chiliz, and despite rocky relationships at times with potential blockchain partners, it’s bullish to see Man City still pursuing new avenues to engage with fans.
Related Reading | Ukraine Asked For Donations Through Bitcoin, Ether And Tether
Featured image from Pexels, Charts from TradingView.com
The writer of this content is not associated or affiliated with any of the parties mentioned in this article. This is not financial advice.


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Bitcoin price stabilises as altcoins take the lead – and that’s a good thing
Despite its recent cooldown, BTC is still exhibiting bi-weekly gains of over 8%
- For a brief period of time on May 4, the total volume on Ether futures flipped that of Bitcoin’s.
- BTC has been exhibiting an increasing amount of stability in recent weeks
- Bitcoin’s dominance ratio currently stands at just 43%
Over the course of the last seven days, Bitcoin has continued to hover between a price range of AU $69,000-$74,500, thereby exhibiting an increasing amount of monetary stability. At press time, the flagship crypto is trading at AU $71,700, showcasing a profit ratio of around 5%.
Providing his thoughts on Bitcoin as well as the industry as a whole, Adrian Przelozny, CEO and co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange Independent Reserve, suggested that Bitcoin is the “people’s money” and that any discussion pertaining to crypto — be it BTC, ETH, or altcoins in general — is good for the ecosystem as a whole, adding:
“It’s great to see cryptocurrencies being discussed in popular forums. Musk has helped raise mainstream awareness for crypto and his advocacy will be an onramp for many people who are new to the space. His company, Tesla, has also done a lot to normalise institutional adoption of crypto.”
It is worth bearing in mind that earlier this year, Tesla added a cool AU $1.93 billion worth of bitcoin to its balance sheets, even allowing customers to make payments using crypto. Not only that, other major players such as Square, Michael Saylor led Microstrategy and even Wall Street investors like Stanley Druckenmiller have also bought substantial sums of BTC in recent months.
Is Bitcoin’s market clout diminishing?
As per data available online, the total volume on Ether futures open interest recently exceeded that of Bitcoin’s after hitting a new record at US $10 billion, albeit briefly. In this regard, over the course of the last 30 days, it bears mentioning that Ether’s price has largely decoupled from BTC, posting independent gains of over 65%.
Not only that, as highlighted by Finder earlier, BTC’s market dominance index — which calculates Bitcoin’s market share among proof of work coins — has also continued to slide since the start of 2021. For example, in January, BTC’s dominance stood at 70%, however, at press time, this value is currently hovering at 43%.
Disclosure: The author owns a range of cryptocurrencies at the time of writing
This information should not be interpreted as an endorsement of cryptocurrency or any specific provider,
service or offering. It is not a recommendation to trade. Cryptocurrencies are speculative, complex and
involve significant risks – they are highly volatile and sensitive to secondary activity. Performance
is unpredictable and past performance is no guarantee of future performance. Consider your own
circumstances, and obtain your own advice, before relying on this information. You should also verify
the nature of any product or service (including its legal status and relevant regulatory requirements)
and consult the relevant Regulators’ websites before making any decision. Finder, or the author, may
have holdings in the cryptocurrencies discussed.


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Avinash Himatsinghani (pictured), senior vice president and general manager, Southeast Asia of Fox International Channels (FIC) Asia has decided to leave the post at the end of this year.
Himatsinghani has been with FIC for more than a decade and has held his last position for nearly three years.
In his most recent role, Himatsinghani was based in Singapore and played a vital role in creating local market teams in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand and forming strong relationships in these markets.
Himatsinghani has held various positions in the company since first starting his career with the company in 2001.
He was initially part of STAR's advertising sales team in Hong Kong and later moved on to set up National Geographic Channel's regional advertising sales business across Asia Pacific.
Commenting on his departure, Himatsinghani said: "The time has come for me to move on and explore new ventures - the entrepreneurial spirit in me has been kindled and I look forward to setting up my own business in the not so distant future."


text: A. LEGISLATION, TRENDS AND TENDENCIES A.1 Disputes among China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (“CIETAC”)’s Sub-Commissions A.1.1 Disputes between CIETAC and Its Sub-Commissions On August 1, 2012, CIETAC suspended the authorization of CIETAC South China Sub-Commission (“CIETAC Shenzhen”) and CIETAC Shanghai Sub-Commission (“CIETAC Shanghai”) to accept and administer arbitration cases. CIETAC Shanghai had refused to adopt the 2012 CIETAC Rules, and on August 4, 2012 published its own arbitration rules and announced that it is an independent arbitration commission named “CIETAC Shanghai Commission”. CIETAC Shenzhen has also changed its name to South China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission and is concurrently using the name of “Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration” (“SCIA”). The SCIA released its own rules as from December 1, 2012. The conflict between CIETAC and its former Shenzhen and Shanghai sub-commissions was compounded when the Guangdong Provincial Department of Justice and Shanghai Justice Bureau separately advised in December 2012 that SCIA and CIETAC Shanghai Commission are legally formed independent arbitration bodies and have the authority to accept and hear arbitration cases. Subsequently, CIETAC Shanghai Commission announced on April 12, 2013 that the Shanghai Municipal Government approved CIETAC Shanghai Commission officially becoming the “Shanghai International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission” and that it will use the name “Shanghai International Arbitration Centre” (“SHIAC”) concurrently.


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LSBF Blog - Global Matters
Workers in the UK this year will experience real wages rising for the first time since 2007, according to a report from the EY ITEM Club.
The UK’s workforce will see its first pay rise in eight years during 2015, according to a new report on labour from the EY ITEM Club. The research forecasts that inflation will turn negative this year and average wages will increase around 1.9 per cent annually, fuelling the first pick up in real earnings since before the financial crisis.Read more >>
Google has signed a partnership with Softcard to further its efforts in the mobile payments arena.
Google has stepped up its battle in the mobile payments arena by forging a deal with Softcard, the mobile payments app that is owned by the three biggest wireless carriers in the US. Furthermore, the online giant secured a distribution deal with the carriers to get its Google Wallet payments app pre-installed on their phones, according to a Google Commerce blogpost.Read more >>
UK’s top 100 share index breaks above the record closing high from 1999.
Britain’s leading share index sailed past the 1999 record closing high, lifted on a generally upbeat tone in the markets throughout Europe. Investors now eye the all-time index high as the next target, which lies around 6,950.Read more >>
We look at a number of essential Twitter tips to take away to promote small businesses and generate custom.
Small businesses and startups will already know that social media is a powerful tool to promote brands and drive interest in consumers. However, many fail to do it correctly.Read more >>
British tech industry growth continued to gather momentum in the final quarter of 2014.
Business activity in the UK’s tech sector continued to experience strong growth in the final quarter of 2014, despite less than favourable global economic conditions, according to the KPMG/Markit Tech Monitor survey.Read more >>
Computer giant Dell has begun accepting payments via Bitcoin in its UK online stores.
Following a successful launch in the US last summer, Dell is now accepting payments with Bitcoin in its online stores in the UK. A partnership with payment processor Coinbase will bring the technology to the UK, and also Canada, which will make Dell the largest retailer in the UK to accept Bitcoin as a form of payment.Read more >>
A new state-backed banking initiative will offer SMEs in Ireland loans at discount prices.
In a bid to kick-start lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) the new state-backed Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SCBI) aims to provide funds at a discount to current market rates.Read more >>
Messaging app Snapchat is reportedly seeking a new round of funding that would value the company at $19 billion.
The three-year old messaging app, Snapchat, is looking to become the world’s third-most valuable venture-backed tech company as it is said to be in talks for a new round of funding to raise as much as $500 million, which would value the Los Angeles firm at a staggering $19 billion.Read more >>
Samsung is looking to enter the mobile wallet race to rival Apple Pay and Google Wallet with its purchase of LoopPay.
Samsung has purchased the mobile wallet company, LoopPay, in what appears to be a move that will see the South Korean tech company take on Apple and Google in the digital wallet arena. The value of the deal has yet to be announced, but Samsung did hail the purchase as a move that will “accelerate the next wave of innovation in the digital smart wallet”.Read more >>
The US bank Citigroup will commit $100 billion to tackle climate change over the next ten years.
America’s third-largest financial institution, Citigroup, has promised to invest $100 billion over the next decade to fund environmental projects and battle climate change.Read more >>
Details have been released of the 12 startups that entrepreneurship showcase Pitch 10 will be taking to 10 Downing Street this year.
The finalists that made it through to this year’s Pitch 10 event have been revealed and twelve digital companies from all over the UK have been selected to pitch their businesses at 10 Downing Street later this month.Read more >>
Planning consent has been granted for the UK’s first sustainable business park to be built in Kent.
Plans to build the UK’s first sustainable business park have been given the go ahead in Kent. The £40 million construction project is part of an overarching £120 million scheme to regenerate an economically deprived part of the UK and will transform the old Betteshanger colliery into a hub for business, sustainability and education.Read more >>
The UK economy could greatly benefit by further encouraging women entrepreneurs, according to a report from Lorely Burt MP.
More jobs would be created and growth would be boosted if women entrepreneurs played a bigger role in the UK, according to the findings of an independent report from Lorely Burt MP, the government's ambassador for women in enterprise.Read more >>
A new $10 million micro-investment fund in Thailand is about to be launched by venture capitalist company 500 Startups.
The notorious US startup investor and accelerator, 500 Startups, is looking to further extend its reach in Asia by preparing to launch a new $10 million micro-fund for Thailand companies, which is reported to be called the 500 TukTuks fund, according to TechCrunch.Read more >>
Seedcamp has invested in 11 startups following the accelerator’s event, Seedcamp Week, in London.
Europe’s largest pre-seed and seed stage accelerator, Seedcamp, has decided to invest in 11 startups from entrepreneurs that attended the Seedcamp Week event in London. Seven out of the 11 startups hail from the UK and six of the even are based in the UK’s capital.Read more >>
Virgin Media and its parent company announce plans for £3 billion network expansion in the UK.
The UK internet provider Virgin Media has announced plans to team up with parent company Liberty Global to invest a further £3 billion in private investment for its ultra-fast broadband network.Read more >>
Minsheng, the largest private investment fund in China, will develop a £1 billion new financial district in London.
China Minsheng Investment (CMI), the biggest private investment fund in the world’s second-largest economy, outlined plans on Saturday to develop a new financial district in London with a £1 billion investment in what will be the largest Chinese investment in the UK’s recent history.Read more >>
Japanese GDP returns to growth in Q4 of 2014 and lifts the economy from recession.
The world’s third largest economy grew by 0.6 per cent in the final quarter of 2014 when compared with the previous quarter, putting an end to the economic contraction that had plagued the nation for the two previous quarters. On an annualised basis, the economy expanded by 2.2 per cent.Read more >>
Labour leader Ed Miliband’s outline of plans to boost small businesses gains backing of Lord Mandelson.
The leader of the UK’s Labour party, Ed Miliband, laid out his party’s plans on Monday to boost productivity in the UK, in a speech at a Jaguar Land Rover plant in Wolverhampton. Mr Miliband pledged to encourage growth through a series of boosts aimed at small businesses, while promoting better training and higher wages.Read more >>
Latest inflation report from the Bank of England forecasts negative inflation in the UK and the potential to cut rates further.
The UK is headed for negative inflation, growth forecasts have been upgraded, and the governor of the Bank of England (BOE) warns that rates could be cut further if downside risks prevail - the latest inflation report from the UK's central bank had it all.Read more >>
There’s no need to go very far for dirt-cheap holidays these days due to the rising pound and falling prices.
Low-cost holidays are available right on our doorsteps and you no longer need to jet-off east to find a pint for less than a pound. Well, that’s what we’re inferring after reading a new report by the Post Office Travel Money.Read more >>
Women empowerment in business takes centre stage in Jamaica as UN study reveals 60% of all managers are women.
Jamaican women have made big advances in professions once dominated by men, according to a new UN study. In fact, the report notes the Jamaica has the world’s highest proportion of female bosses.Read more >>
Because we know how much you love Advanced Taxation...
Fall in love with the unexpected.
Valentine's Day 2015, let us as London School of Business and Finance (LSBF) help you #FindYourPassion.Read more >>
A record £4 trillion was invested in business across the world in 2014, with much of it targeted at firms in Asia.
The total value of finance provided to businesses around the globe hit a record level in 2014, according to a report from Allen & Overy. Furthermore, there was a surge noted in investors lending to Asian businesses.Read more >>
Social networking giant Twitter is set to acquire social media talent agency Niche for $30 million.
Twitter has expanded its media ecosystem with the acquisition of the social media talent agency Niche in a deal that is expected to be worth at least $30 million in cash and shares. The value of the deal could possibly even go as high as $60 million if including employee-retention incentives, according to several media agencies familiar with the situation.Read more >>


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Report from Taiwan news media that iPhone Dec. 2012 production of 44M and Jan. 2013 28M. iPhone5 production in Jan 2013 is more than 8% lower than iPhone4 in Jan 2012.
Longs wake up!
Dufus supplier getting cut cause they are whiny.
That s because iPhone 4 followed by iPhone 4S one year one year 4S to 5 now we hearing a 5S June that say inventory needs to be cut in order to build the new iPhone 5S do dtop listen to idiots named anal-ysts or unknown sources
Also because the iPHONE5 was intro'd in Sept. 2012 only 9 months after the "4S, and so alot of people are still buying the "4S model and even the "4 model, per Verizon's figures last quarter.
No way, Taiwan news media (Times) reported 38% upside!


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Douglas taxable sales flat for August
Douglas County merchants had $47.71 million in taxable sales during the month of August, according to information released by the Nevada Department of Taxation on Tuesday. Sales were essentially flat with an increase of $4,106 over the $47.7 million from August 2009.
August also posted a decrease in taxable sales from July, which had $49.39 million in sales.
The five categories that make up half the sales all came in lower, but there were some bright spots.
The county’s single largest category, food services and drinking places, showed continued weakness with an 8 percent decrease over 2009 during the month. The second largest category, general merchandise stores, also showed a smaller decrease of 2.5 percent.
Building materials came in at only 1 percent less than last year and food and beverage stores came in at 6 percent lower. These five categories account for about half of the county’s total taxable sales.
Accommodations continued to show a large increase over the previous year with a 27.3 percent jump accounting for about $400,000 more taxable sales. Another gainer was health and personal care stores with an increase of 8.7 percent.
Statewide, taxable sales rose in August – the second month in a row of year-over-year increases.
But taxation officials say the increase can be attributed to the $149 million in taxable sales reported under the Department of Taxation’s amnesty program. Without that, they say the total would have been just about the same as August 2009.
The increase for August was 4.8 percent compared to the previous year. Combined with July’s 5.3 percent increase, state revenue collections are now more than 9 percent ahead of the projections by the Economic forum last January, a pad of some $10.8 million. Altogether, businesses reported a total of $3.22 billion in taxable sales in August.
Carson City also reported growth in taxable sales for August: 1.7 percent to $62.5 million.
“We’re just happy to be positive,” said Carson City Finance Director Nick Providenti, adding that the increase is better than city officials predicted when building their budget.
He said August 2009 numbers were inflated by the Cash for Clunkers program which produced a good bump for car dealers. In comparison, sales this August were down nearly 11 percent to $15.7 million.
Providenti said he is expecting a good boost from auto sales when September numbers are released because the month will be comparing to September 2009 when car sales slumped after that federal program.
“September numbers were really bad because everybody who wanted a car bought one in August (2009),” he said. “We’re expecting much better this September.”
In addition to that, he said Kohl’s opened in September, which should boost retail sales numbers.
Statewide, only three counties were down for the month: Mineral, Lyon and Washoe. Lyon was off just less than a percent to $28.4 million.
Storey County had huge increases in several unrelated categories, the largest being a jump in the non-store retail category from $117,267 to more than $1.8 million. Auto sales increased nearly 110 percent to $327,234, furniture manufacturing 100 percent to $196,085 and mining by 222 percent to $146,374.
The net increase for Storey was 85.5 percent to $5.6 million in August.


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Get Alerts »
Centralia Pa. then ... and now
A York native died in an apartment fire early Tuesday in Ebensburg, Cambria County.
The coroner said Francis Goulart III, 26, died of smoke inhalation.
If you've picked up fruit at Costco, Trader Joe's or Walmart stores recently, keep reading.


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Existing Home Sales Rise 1.1% in June
U.S. home resales unexpectedly rose in June to their fastest pace in more than nine years as low mortgage interest rates drew buyers into the market, a positive sign for the economy.
The National Association of Realtors said on Thursday existing home sales increased 1.1 percent to an annual rate of 5.57 million units last month, the highest level since February 2007. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a 5.48 million-unit pace in June. Sales were up 3 percent from a year ago.
May's sales pace was revised slightly lower to 5.51 million units from the previously reported 5.53 million units.
U.S. mortgage rates fell in June to their lowest levels since 2013 on bets the Federal Reserve would be cautious about raising short-term rates. Mortgage rates have declined further since Britain voted on June 23 to leave the European Union.
"Maybe that has induced some first-time buyers to come back into the market," NAR economist Lawrence Yun said.
First-time buyers made up 33 percent of sales in June, the biggest share in nearly four years, the NAR said.
Home sales have become a bright spot for the U.S. economy and add to recent retail sales data in suggesting economic activity remains on solid footing despite a growth slowdown earlier in the year and concerns over the impact of Britain's EU vote on global financial conditions.
Existing home sales jumped 3.8 percent in the Midwest and rose 1.7 percent in the West. Sales were flat in the South and fell 1.3 percent in the Northeast.
The number of unsold homes on the market in June dropped 0.9 percent to 2.12 million units. With inventory relatively tight, the median house price rose 4.8 percent from a year ago to a record $247,700 last month.
(Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Paul Simao)


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Entrepreneur Day, March 5, 2014
An Entrepreneurial Village
We are looking for student or alumni run companies to participate in the upcoming Entrepreneur Day. For more information contact Amy Checho at firstname.lastname@example.org. Last year's Entrepreneur Day was a success!
The Lavin Center would like to extend a HUGE thank you to all our companies involved in last year's Entrepreneur Day! We had over 40 student and alumni companies! The companies included: PuraVida, Volcom, Oggi's, Rubio's, SOLO Eyewear, Stance Socks, Blenders Eyewear, ShakeSmart, Betawolf Marketing, Team PHUN, and many more! Special thanks to the speakers at our "Meet the Entrepreneur Tent": Craig Stevens of Mar West Real Estate, Tanya Hertz of Omni Real Estate, Thom McElroy of Volcom, and Martin Reiman of ShakeSmart.
Entrepreneur Day is hosted by the Entrepreneur Society (ES) at San Diego State University (SDSU), in collaboration with the Lavin Entrepreneurship Center, and brings together SDSU alumni and student run companies to celebrate our mutual passion for entrepreneurship. On March 5th, 2014, thousands of students, alumni and community members walked through Campanile walkway from 10:00 am to 2:00pm. The energy of thriving businesses sold their products and energized potential customers with the spirit of entrepreneurship.
The word is out- Entrepreneur Day is a MUST for SDSU alum or student companies, both large and small! Don’t miss this opportunity to showcase and celebrate your company on the San Diego State campus!
|Student Companies at Entrepreneur Day 2012|


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The success of battle royale games like PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and Fortnite has not been ignored by Activision Blizzard. Within the first few minutes of a post-earnings investor call today, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick praised Fortnite for "attracting new gamers of all ages and genders," just one of numerous times the games and battle royale modes in general would be brought up during the call.
"New battle royale modes that have recently entered the space have compelling survivor mechanics and large, in-game player pools. They have also brought tens of millions of completely new players into gaming both on traditional platforms like console and PC, but also on newer platforms for the genre like mobile. We are very, very encouraged by this," Activision COO Coddy Johnson said.
Activision CFO Spencer Neumann continued with this line of thought during the Q&A portion of the conference call. "The battle royale mode is contributing to the innovation and expansion we're seeing in the industry. It's not only bringing the younger audiences and millions of new gamers into the shooter genre where we're already a leader in the space but importantly, it's also highlighting the ability to bring immersive gaming experiences like battle royale to mobile in both Western and Eastern markets."
"When we see people innovate in an interesting and impactful way, we are very quick to figure out how to capture inspiration from innovation"Bobby Kotick
Activision CEO Bobby Kotick added, "When we see people innovate in an interesting and impactful way, we are very quick to figure out how to capture inspiration from innovation. When we see things that appeal to our audiences, we are very good at being inspired by those."
Kotaku reported last month that the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 would have a battle royale mode. Although that has yet to be confirmed by Activision, they did stress that the next iteration of the popular shooter franchise would see a shift from its predecessors.
"This is a game that is not going to just build on our strengths. It will need to push the envelope in innovation," Johnson said.
While executives didn't pinpoint specific games they believed might have lost players to Fortnite and PUBG, it's clear the publisher has noticed their sudden popularity negatively affecting its own efforts.
"We've seen some near-term impact from battle royale, but as you heard on the call today, our business continues to perform at record levels," Neumann said.
One game that has apparently not reached the level of success expected of it is Destiny 2. When one investor asked how Activision planned to fix Destiny 2 and bring back its users, Johnson didn't dispute the question's premise, instead offering an explanation for where Bungie's first-person franchise is headed in the future.
"The three things we know we're going to do and that the community is looking for is: make the player more powerful, provide rewards, and make the endgame more meaningful," Johnson said.
Although there were no details on what will be added to Destiny 2 in the future, Johnson did hint at what will be included in the upcoming Warmind expansion as well as a bigger change coming this fall.
"Bungie recently hosted a large cohort of the top worldwide Destiny players up at their studio in Seattle and they walked through the features and updates that they're planning," Johnson said. "They also gave hands-on with not just Warmind, the expansion coming shortly, but also part of the big fall release. And it was a very positive response, even more for what's coming this fall and to the innovations in gameplay there including what we think will be an incredibly engaging new mode, one that introduces a whole new style of play for first-person-shooter gaming generally and certainly for the sharable shooter space that Destiny created."
Activision was more positive about Overwatch, especially in regards to the Overwatch League. "Viewership has been very strong and consistent each week, we've had millions of fans tuning in, and our average viewer spends more than an hour watching each day," said Blizzard CEO Michael Morhaime.
Kotick added, "[The league] has reinforced that the thing they spend hours and hours a day playing is something that they feel like is now being validated in a way that it never has before in a video game. All of our players feel like this is truly a recognition of the sense of belonging they get playing the game and the sense of accomplishment they feel playing the game and I think more than anything that's been an enormous benefit as a result of the creation of the league."


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By Jonathan Sanders
From the January/February 2014 issue
Hat World, Inc., a retailer and manufacturer of hats and sports apparel, recently announced plans to expand its headquarters and distribution operations in central Indiana, creating up to 758 new jobs over the next 10 years.
The homegrown Hoosier company, which manufactures apparel and operates retail stores primarily under the LIDS brand, will invest $21.8 million to construct and equip a 150,000 square-foot office to house its headquarter operations at the Creekside Corporate Park in Zionsville, as well as lease more than 600,000 square feet of additional warehouse space in Indianapolis. Hat World currently operates out of 225,000 square feet of leased space in Park 100 and another 285,000 square feet of leased space on the northwest side of Indianapolis.
“[This] announcement continues to prove why Indiana is the best state in the nation to start or grow a business,” said Gov. Mike Pence. “Hat World took hats to new heights here in the Hoosier State when it turned a creative idea into a business that today can be found in malls across the nation.”
Hat World, which currently has more than 1,000 associates in Indiana and more than 9,000 retail associates across the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, will begin relocating its headquarter operations to Zionsville and filling approximately 300 new administrative, finance, human resource and business development positions in late 2015 or early 2016. Also, the company plans to begin hiring new manufacturing, distribution and warehouse associates in Indianapolis in the third quarter of this year.
“Hat World, Inc. has been an Indiana-based company since we opened our first Hat World store in Lafayette in 1995,” said Ken Kocher, president of LIDS Sports Group. “Today, LIDS Sports Group is a leading omni-channel sports licensed retailer that caters to fans and athletes across North America and central Indiana offers the ideal location and business climate for us to operate from.”
Founded in 1995, Hat World operates more than 1,000 retail stores under the retail brands of LIDS, Locker Room by LIDS, LIDS Clubhouse and LIDS Team Sports. The company sells officially licensed and branded headwear for collegiate and professional sports teams, along with other specialty fashion products. The company’s first location in Lafayette, IN sold more than 6,000 hats during its first holiday season. In 2004, Hat World was purchased by Nashville, TN-based Genesco Inc.
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Hat World, Inc. up to $3,4 million in conditional tax credits and up to $300,000 in training grants based on the company’s job creation plans. These tax credits are performance-based, meaning until Hoosiers are hired, the company is not eligible to claim incentives. In addition, the IEDC will provide the community with up to $250,000 in infrastructure assistance from the state’s Industrial Development Grant Fund. The town of Zionsville will consider additional tax abatement and incentives. Also, the city of Indianapolis supports the project at the request of Develop Indy, a business unit of the Indy Chamber.
“Hat World has seen tremendous growth in the past decade and I’m happy to see them continue to grow here in Indy,” said Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard. “As the company continues to grow, the expansion of their manufacturing and distribution operations in Indy shows a confidence in our workforce and our central location to support their ever-growing production needs.”
BERRY PLASTICS ADDS 336 JOBS
Berry Plastics Corp. plans to relocate equipment and related production from out-of-state locations to four Indiana manufacturing operations, creating up to 336 new jobs by the end of this year.
“There’s a reason why manufacturing companies looking for a competitive advantage continue to choose Indiana,” Gov. Pence said. “As a state that works, Indiana offers a strong legacy in building products that are used around the world. We provide the knowledgeable workforce and low-cost business environment companies like Berry Plastics are seeking when they decide where to locate their next investment, proving why Indiana is a manufacturing leader.”
The company, which employs approximately 2,800 associates in Indiana and more than 15,000 worldwide, will invest more than $21 million for new infrastructure and equipment, and $10 million to transfer existing equipment from Berry Plastics facilities outside Indiana to its downtown Evansville, Evansville airport, Princeton and Richmond facilities. The company will begin filling new production jobs at these four Indiana locations early this year.
“The relocation of production equipment to Vanderburgh, Gibson and Wayne counties from other Berry facilities supports our restructuring efforts, announced in November, to optimize our manufacturing operations, maximize production efficiencies and best service our customers,” said Jon Rich, chairman and chief executive officer of Berry Plastics. “We are extremely appreciative of Indiana’s city, county and state officials for their joint support of this initiative.”
Berry’s latest expansion announcement is the company’s fourth in five years. In 2011, Berry Plastics announced plans to grow its world headquarters workforce in Evansville by 120 associates. That same year, it also made plans to add a $5 million production line to increase manufacturing capacity at its operations in Odon, IN. In 2009, the company unveiled plans to hire 360 employees and invest $150 million to expand its thermoform operations and build an additional facility in Evansville, IN. Established in 1967 as Imperial Plastics, Berry Plastics has grown into a major manufacturer of plastic packaging including containers, bottles, closures, prescription vials, trash bags, duct tape and other packaging materials.
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Berry Plastics Corporation up to $2.35 million in conditional tax credits and up to $300,000 in training grants based on the company’s job creation plans. These incentives are performance-based. The city of Evansville will consider additional tax abatement at the request of the Growth Alliance for Greater Evansville.
“Berry Plastics continues to demonstrate its commitment to our city with another major expansion that will create hundreds of new production jobs at its Evansville facility. The partnership between the city and Berry Plastics has produced new investments exceeding $64 million and a total of 395 production jobs over the past two years,” said Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke.
BIOTECH GROWS IN BLOOMINGTON
AB BioTechnologies, Inc. and TASUS Corporation have announced plans today to expand their operations in Bloomington, IN.
AB BioTechnologies, a homegrown-Hoosier company that develops formulations and manufacturing processes for injectable drug products, will invest $1.2 million to renovate and equip its current 1,100 square-foot laboratory in Bloomington. The company, which offers contract services in pharmaceutical and diagnostic formulation, thermal characterization and process development, will create up to 10 new jobs by 2016. As part of its growth strategy, AB BioTechnologies plans to begin developing processes and injectable solutions for clinical trials.
“Since opening our first laboratory, our profits have tripled every year,” said J. Jeff Schwegman, Ph.D., chief executive officer of AB BioTechnologies. “Our foothold is growing in a niche market within the pharmaceutical and diagnostic industries, leading to this expansive growth. The wealth of qualified candidates coming out of both Indiana University and Ivy Tech, coupled with Indiana’s low cost of doing business and high quality of life, made Bloomington the perfect place for our expansion. Life science companies are dominating the landscape of Bloomington and we’re thrilled to be part of this movement.”
AB BioTechnologies plans to begin hiring scientists, project managers and accounting associates early this year. Interested candidates can learn more by visiting www.ab-biotech.com.
TASUS, a Japan-based manufacturer of plastic interior and exterior automotive parts, will invest $2.8 million to renovate its current 105,000 square-foot Bloomington production facility and expand its distributed products warehouse and North American headquarters operations. As part of the expansion, the company will lease and equip a 9,000 square-foot facility to house its administrative offices and create up to five new jobs by 2016.
“Looking forward, as a company we knew we had to expand,” said Melanie Hart, president of TASUS. “Our distributed products division was growing and we physically needed more space. I’m pleased that we were able to keep that growth here in Indiana; we are well placed geographically to reach our customers and continue growing with the help of our skilled workforce.”
TASUS, which currently employs more than 180 Hoosiers and nearly 600 associates across North America, began hiring sales and research and development associates in December.
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered AB BioTechnologies, Inc. up to $350,000 in conditional tax credits and up to $20,000 in training grants based on the company’s job creation plans. TASUS Corporation was offered up to $120,000 in conditional tax credits and up to $380,000 in training grants based on the company’s job creation plans. These tax credits are performance-based. Monroe County will consider tax abatement for AB BioTechnologies, which is supported by the Bloomington Economic Development Corporation. The city of Bloomington also supports TASUS’ project.


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Food Standards Agency
|Printable version||E-mail this to a friend|
WFAC open meeting invite
The Welsh Food Advisory Committee of the Food Standards Agency is holding its next open meeting in Cardiff on Thursday, 15 September 2016.
The meeting will include discussions on the themes of;
- Animal Welfare
- Consumer Interest in Our Food System
- Regulating Our Future
Anyone with an interest in these subjects, or the general work of the Food Standards Agency, is invited to attend this meeting to share their views and to participate in an open question and answer session.
The meeting will be held at The Food Standards Agency, Southgate House, Wood Street, Cardiff, CF10 1EW. Registration and coffee are available from 09.15, with a prompt start at 09.25.
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FSA publishes local authority food law enforcement data04/07/2017 08:05:00
The FSA has published interim food law enforcement data by local authorities across the UK for the year 2016/17. The information has been provided by local authorities and compiled by the FSA, and gives a detailed breakdown of food law enforcement activity.
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Banking trade group says use of payment cards should not be restricted
An advocacy group representing the banking industry says federal regulators should tread lightly when it comes to regulation of medical credit cards.
The Bank Policy Institute sent a letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) highlighting what it says are the benefits to patients of using medical credit cards to finance the cost of healthcare.
The letter was sent in response to indications the CFPB may take action to limit or restrict use of these financing options for healthcare purposes.
In their letter, the industry group said:
“Having different options to pay for medical care, each with different terms and features, provides consumers with the ability to select a payment product that best suits his or her individual needs and finances.”
The group says that while high healthcare costs are a concern, limiting payment options will not address that problem. Instead, the group said policymakers in Congress should take action to deal with the underlying issues behind rising costs of medical care.
The CFPB says it is seeking to understand how these credit products impact patients:
“Financial firms are partnering with health care players to push products that can drive patients deep into debt,” said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra. “We are opening a public inquiry to better understand how these practices are affecting patients in our country.”


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Its advertising slogan is "Nobody Beats the Brick," but this spring the big furniture retailer got beat up by its own blunders in a deep downturn.
It was grappling with a liquidity squeeze, inventory shortages and faltering product demand forecasting. To try to cut its losses, the company slashed its ad spending and let go almost 450 of its sales staff (about 20 per cent), crippling the company's selling machine. Same-store sales tumbled almost 33 per cent in the second quarter. Despite a refinancing in May, the company still suffered.
On July 10, Brick Group Income Fund signalled that change was needed. It named Bill Gregson, a retail turnaround expert, to replace Kim Yost as chief executive officer. Late last week, the company unveiled a $25-million life line to buy it time - up to a year - to fix its other problems.
Today, Mr. Gregson's priority is to get stock back on the shelves and sales staff back on the floor. To draw customers, he is bolstering advertising and paying less for it. He's sharpening customer demand forecasting to ensure that employees order enough of the heavily promoted products so stores don't chronically run out of them.
"We fell quite far, quite fast," Mr. Gregson said in an interview after a harried week of meetings to calm anxious suppliers, investors and lenders. "We think we can reverse that quite fast as well … We solved the liquidity issue quite quickly. We're working feverishly on internal process issues and we're already seeing an improvement in our stock position."
Brick was hit by the perfect storm. A bad economy, lax inventory purchasing procedures and a credit crisis all combined to leave the firm "a little bit paralyzed."
Enter Mr. Gregson, who in early 1997 was part of the top executive team that joined sporting goods retailer Forzani Group Ltd. (Sport Chek and other chains) and helped it return from near death. He faced many of the same snags then as now: a liquidity crunch, anxious suppliers and low inventory levels. At Brick, Mr. Gregson estimates that only 10 per cent of the second-quarter sales slump was due to the recession; the rest was the result of the company's own missteps.
"It is encouraging to see new CEO Bill Gregson take immediate action to address some of the company's operational deficiencies," said Stephen MacLeod, an analyst at BMO Nesbitt Burns. "However, the challenges and uncertainties still remain plentiful for the Brick."
Consumer spending continues to be weak in a challenging economy, he said. Uncertainty lingers about Brick's liquidity position and the firm's poor stock performance.
A pioneer in the no-money-down, hard-sell furniture business, Brick expanded from a single furniture store in Edmonton 38 years ago to about 230 outlets today at five chains. It became a destination for furniture, mattresses, electronics and appliances.
But the good times, fuelled by a strong housing market and growing demand for home goods, masked the firm's internal weaknesses, Mr. Gregson said. In the lean times, the inefficiencies helped drag it down.
More particularly, its inventory-purchasing staff were ordering too many items that customers weren't buying frequently, and too few of the popular, often-advertised sofas and front-load washers.
"Long delivery times are customers' primary frustration, so a heavy promoter like [Brick]must have its featured items in stock," said Tal Woolley, an analyst at RBC Dominion Securities Inc. "This has not been the case in recent months as supplier credit dried up and co-ordination between marketing, buyers and the supply chain evaporated."
Mr. Gregson's first step was to get financial relief and regain supplier credit. Brick's largest investor, Fairfax Financial, agreed to provide a $25-million letter of credit to the retailer's major lender, GE Canada Finance Holding Co. It's worth up to $57-million to the retailer in higher borrowing capacity.
In the stores, customers needed help buying big-ticket items like furniture, but the Brick had chopped 442 commissioned sales jobs, erasing what Mr. Gregson estimates is $300-million of annual sales. By this week, Mr. Gregson had reinstated almost all those jobs.
And the stores were attracting fewer shoppers after ad spending was sliced by 16 per cent in the first half of this year, he said. For the rest of the year, the Brick will run 15 per cent more TV ads and 80 per cent more radio ads, but pay about $2-million, or 10 per cent, less for its advertising than a year earlier, he said.
Customers faced late deliveries, as the retailer's warehouses frequently ran out of inventory. By the end of June, merchandise available for shipment had declined by 38 per cent or $50-million, he said. "We were too low - it was costing us sales." In the current quarter, he's bolstering inventory levels by 20 per cent, about $30-million, from the previous quarter, and matching merchandise more closely to the products being touted in ads. He envisages further savings by shaving expenses from marketing, transportation and other areas. He's thinking of shedding warehousing costs by storing inventory in suppliers' warehouses, rather than its own, until the goods are sold, for instance.
Its Urban Brick chain, which it launched late last year, could also be an engine of growth. Shifting the focus to downsized downtown outlets from sprawling suburban stores, the new concept offers modern chic for a burgeoning urban population. For the company, it can offer improved sales-per-square-foot productivity in a smaller space. With just three stores today, it's performing well, Mr. Gregson said. For now, however, all expansion is on hold as he dives into damage control.
Already he's seeing signs of a turnaround. Last month, Brick enjoyed its highest monthly sales of the year, he said. As well, sales in the month rose for the first time in one of its four major categories - mattresses - because they were fully in stock. And During the August holiday weekend, it generated its biggest weekend business since last December. "It can be fixed quickly," he said. "We will fix it quickly. It's not dissimilar to what I've done in the past."


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Polestar has confirmed that the new Polestar 4 SUV will make its debut at next week’s Shanghai Auto Show, with the Swedish premium brand announcing that the 4 will be “the fastest Polestar production car to date.”
Few details regarding the drivetrain have been revealed, save that the 4 – the latest addition to Polestar’s lineup alongside the ‘2’ hatchback, the ‘3’ SUV – the first such model from Polestar, which was revealed in full last October – and the limited edition, two-door ‘1’. Like the 3, the 4 SUV is expected to feature a dual-motor drivetrain, meaning “the fastest Polestar production car to date” will need to surpass the Polestar 3 Performance’s 517 hp to claim that mantel (the entry level Polestar 3 boasts 489 hp).
Alongside potential Porsche Macan EV-rivalling power, Polestar is promising the design of its new SUV will usher in “a new breed of SUV coupé,” drawing in cues from the brand’s previous concept cars. Though the accompanying teaser image – a birds-eye view of the front left corner – gives little away in terms of the apparent transformative design, nor does Polestar confirm from which concepts the design has drawn inspiration (facets of the ‘Prologue’ design that do not make it to production with the Polestar 5 sedan might be up for grabs), but Polestar design staples like the sleek headlamps and the hood grooves appear to have been carried across.
A reference to “sustainability enhancements” suggest the Polestar 4 coupé’s aerodynamics – already set to be ‘fastback’-like, after its teaser appearance under a sheet last June – are likely to be even sleeker than those on the mid-sized 3, even though cabin space has also been prioritized.
“Polestar 4 is not simply a modified version of our first SUV,” Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath explains. “Instead, we reconsidered the entire design to create a new breed of SUV coupé.”
Ahead of a planned roll-out during Q4 later this year, the Polestar 4 will make its first appearance on Tuesday, April 18, the first day of the Shanghai Auto Show that is due to run until Thursday April 27.


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Omantel extends bill payment options
Mobile carrier Omantel is expanding its billing systems to enable subscribers to clear their account via debit or credit card payment at a payment machine.
The option is available to Omantel’s fixed, mobile and internet customers, who use their phone number or a barcode reader to link to their account. The service is backed by the Oman Arab Bank and Central Bank of Oman.
Mohammed Abdullah Al Shekaili, billing and operation support manager at Omantel’s consumer business unit, says the service highlights the firm’s commitment to enhancing customer experience, granting them “the flexibility to pay their bills at any time of the day, without the need to use cash.”


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Originally published November 3, 2016 (WBAY) - Check your basements. There's been another massive recall of dehumidifiers that can overheat and catch fire.
GD Midea is recalling about 3.4 million units sold in the United States and Canada.
There have been 38 reports of smoke and fire, causing $4.8 million in property damage. There are no reports of injuries.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission says the GD Midea recall involves these sizes and brand names:
25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 65, 70, and 75-pint dehumidifiers with the following brand names:
Danby & Designer
The units, which were manufactured in China, were sold at Lowes, Menards, and other stores nationwide from Jan. 2003 to Dec. 2013. The units cost between $100 and $300.
The CPSC says consumers should turn off and unplug the units and contact GD Midea for a replacement of partial refund.
To pursue a replacement or refund, call 800-600-3055. Customer service hours are 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. CT Monday through Friday.
This recall is separate from the Gree dehumidifier recall that was announced in 2013.
Malfunctioning dehumidifiers have been linked to a number of fires across the country, including ones in Fond du Lac, Kaukauna, and Green Bay.


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We raised the red flags on the potential dangers of food additives ‘Polysorbate-80’ and ‘Carboxymethylcellulose’ (sometimes labeled as ‘cellulose gum’) years ago when previous scientific studies demonstrated the potential for deleterious outcomes from consuming these chemicals. Now this year we have new scientific findings demonstrating that these commonly used food additive emulsifiers act as cancer promoters. While the potential for adverse health outcomes holds for all consumers, those at an increased risk are consumers who suffer from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and other conditions that trigger low-grade intestinal inflammation. How much more evidence are we going to need to remove these chemicals of concern from the U.S. food supply?
Dietary Emulsifier–Induced Low-Grade Inflammation Promotes Colon Carcinogenesis
The increased risks conferred by inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) to the development of colorectal cancer gave rise to the term “colitis-associated cancer” and the concept that inflammation promotes colon tumorigenesis. A condition more common than IBD is low-grade inflammation, which correlates with altered gut microbiota composition and metabolic syndrome, both present in many cases of colorectal cancer. Recent findings suggest that low-grade inflammation in the intestine is promoted by consumption of dietary emulsifiers, a ubiquitous component of processed foods, which alter the composition of gut microbiota.
Here, we demonstrate in a preclinical model of colitis-induced colorectal cancer that regular consumption of dietary emulsifiers, carboxymethylcellulose or polysorbate-80, exacerbated tumor development. Enhanced tumor development was associated with an altered microbiota metagenome characterized by elevated levels of lipopolysaccharide and flagellin. We found that emulsifier-induced alterations in the microbiome were necessary and sufficient to drive alterations in major proliferation and apoptosis signaling pathways thought to govern tumor development. Overall, our findings support the concept that perturbations in host–microbiota interactions that cause low-grade gut inflammation can promote colon carcinogenesis.
Quick overview of study:
Common food additive promotes colon cancer in mice
Emulsifiers, which are added to most processed foods to aid texture and extend shelf life, can alter intestinal bacteria in a manner that promotes intestinal inflammation and colorectal cancer, according to a new study.
The findings, published in the journal Cancer Research, show regular consumption of dietary emulsifiers in mice exacerbated tumor development.
From our book: The Food Hacker’s Handbook: A Guide to Breaking the Processed Foods and Additives Addiction
“…recent research findings have suggested that food additives Polysorbate 80 and Carboxymethylcellulose (otherwise known as “cellulose gum”), commonly used as emulsifiers in processed food to promote texture and extend shelf life, can actually alter the gut microbiota composition and localization to induce intestinal inflammation that promotes the development of inflammatory bowel disease and metabolic syndrome. Researchers working on the study reported they were alarmed at the strength with which these additives appear to promote weight gain, intestinal inflammation, metabolic syndrome, colitis and Crohn’s disease—serious illnesses that have spiked in the U.S. in recent years and have coincided with the food industry’s increased use of emulsifiers.
-P. Carlisle, Ph.D., founder Chemical-Free-Life.org / CRS Institute, and author, The Food Hacker’s Handbook
Source: The Food Hacker’s Handbook: A Guide to Breaking the Processed Foods and Additives Addiction
Polysorbate 80 (Polyoxyethylene (20) Sorbitan Monooleate); Darbepoetin Alfa)
Where Found: A surfactant and emulsifier derived from polyethoxylated sorbitan and oleic acid and commonly found in a variety of processed foods including ice cream, frozen custard, ice milk, fruit sherbet, frozen desserts, pickles and pickle products, canned spiced green beans, yeast, poultry (during the preparation process), special dietary foods, whipped toppings, gelatin desserts and dessert mixes, and chewing gum. Also used as a de-foaming agent in regular and low-fat cottage cheese, and as a surfactant and wetting agent for the natural and artificial food dyes used in barbecue sauce.
Red Flags: Scientific animal studies indicate that this industrialized food additive may act as an endocrine disruptor; it appears to affect reproductive functioning and has been linked to infertility in rodents. Polysorbate 80 has also been shown in studies to be an immunosuppressant and may cause severe allergic reactions including anaphylactic shock. Suspected carcinogen; more research is needed. Reported symptoms of adverse reactions to Polysorbate 80 have included difficulty breathing, adverse skin reactions, swelling, digestive/gastrointestinal problems, and circulatory complications. According to the authors of a recent animal study the results indicate that this additive appears to promote weight gain, intestinal inflammation, metabolic syndrome, colitis and Crohn’s disease.
Sodium Carboxymethylcellulose (Cellulose Gum)
Where Found: This derivative of acetic acid is commonly used as a thickener and emulsifier in processed foods. It may be present in foods such as ice cream, whipping creams, milk and milk products, creamers, flavored and fermented drinks, rice and tapioca pudding, pie filling, egg-based and fat-based desserts, yogurt, cheeses, dried, canned and bottled vegetables, soybean based foods, processed meats (esp. pork), fish and poultry, processed fruit, soups, broths, yeast based products, confectionery, breakfast cereals, oat-based breakfast bars, pasta, noodles, vinegars, mustard, seasonings, sauces, dressings, toppings, dietary foods, energy and sports drinks, and alcoholic beverages such as beer and wine.
Red Flags: Some people may experience digestive/gastrointestinal problems in reaction to this additive. While rare, sensitive individuals may experience allergic reactions to this additive including swelling of face, throat, tongue, dizziness, adverse skin reactions such as rash, and difficulty breathing. Individuals who have been instructed to reduce sodium in their diets such as those with high blood pressure, heart problems and diabetes may be advised by health care professionals to reduce or avoid processed foods containing this additive.
Solutions: Avoid highly processed foods and always read the ingredients labels on moderate- and low-processed food items. Just say “no” to both ‘Polysorbate-80’ and ‘Carboxymethylcellulose’ (‘cellulose gum’) and look for a competitor’s alternative options that do not use these pernicious additives. Consumers should also make their voices heard by contacting food manufacturers directly via telephone, email or conventional letters (contact information will be available on their websites) and express their position on manufacturers that continue to use these chemicals of concern in food items.
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Photos: The 2016 SCENE Downtown Oktoberfest
The inaugural SCENE Downtown Oktoberfest was a three-day celebration with German beer, food and music in the newly opened Public Square. The event featured beer from Hofbrauhaus, Great Lakes Brewing Company and Thirsty Dog Brewing Company, and the best entertainment around -- Das Glockenspiel. Here's what went down.
Photos courtesy of Emanuel Wallace
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Not long ago we reported that a petition by John Hunt was started on change.org asking...
With the amount of grinding needed to obtain characters in Star Wars Battlefront II...
The Star Wars and Reddit community have together and have nominated the 2005 version...
With all the controversy surrounding Star Wars Battlefront II with microtransactions and a rumor that Disney might revoke the Star Wars licensing rights...
According to an anonymous source for mp1st, Disney had a discussion with Electronic...
During there Star Wars Battlefront II Reddit AMA, DICE answered some questions people had on their upcoming game. One of these questions related to review...
According to VTM News, Belgium’s Game Commission is looking into loot boxes....
Star Wars Battlefront II Community Manager Mat Everett has taken to Twitter to apologize...
Despite our personal hatred for Loot Boxes, we do realize that people are still purchasing...
DICE and Electronic Arts have released a new trailer for their upcoming Star Wars game...
Sony Interactive Entertainment


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Today’s expected to be one of the busiest days of the year for the post office. One way Iowans can avoid the long lines is to ship their packages with help from the world wide web. Jim Ahlgren, spokeman for the U.S. Postal Service, suggests an on-line mailing program. With Click-N-Ship, you can actually download mailing labels and download postage right from your desktop. You can then make an appointment for the letter carrier to come and pick up your package. Ahlgren says the two Mondays prior to Christmas are generally the busiest days of the year at the post office. Generally speaking, what people do is — on the weekends they fill out their Christmas cards and write on them, then do their Christmas wrappings, bring all their packages and cards in on Monday when they come to work. While today is shaping up to be a very busy day for the postal service, Ahlgren says next Monday — December 20th — will likely be even worse.
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Mumbai, India – August 22, 2016 – Thermaltake India under its gaming gear brand Tt eSPORTS has announced the newest member of the CRONOS family, the CRONOS AD. This highly functional stereo gaming headset features an auto-adjusting headband that provides a comfortable fit. The CRONOS AD also comes with an upgraded retractable microphone that makes the headset with better overall aesthetics when the microphone is not used.
According to Nil Bhowmik, Country Business Head (India) Thermaltake, “Tt eSPORTS latest addition Cronos AD Gaming Headset is a classy modern day gaming professional headgear. This affordable and ergonomic headset will enhance the gaming experience for all gamers providing high quality sound output. Aesthetically designed and with standout features, this headset will take the gaming experience to a whole new level.”
Kenneth Chang, Thermaltake’s India Account Manager of Integrated Sales and Marketing (HQ), added, “We at Thermaltake are dedicated to provide the best gaming experience for gamers in India. The eSports scenario in India is getting stronger, and we are committed to support the same in every way we can.”


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Nothing brings a family closer than cold cash, am I right?
When athletes come into money and fame, they're typically faced with questions like: "How are we going to spend this wisely?" and "How can I make sure this money is here for my kids when I'm gone?" Sometimes, however, spending heads take a more careless direction, where the only questions are "How much for the baby elephant?" and “Does the John Varvatos edition come in gator skin?”
Like any other brand of celebrity, athletes coming into money have to deal with these quandaries, as well as the issue of how to distribute the wealth to their families.
The following are some instances where members of sports figure's families, who have gone hog-wild with the checkbook, lived with impunity off the family fortune or acted in a way that’s led to a hemorrhaging of cash.
Hey, it’s not the athlete’s fault they're so generous. Or is it?
Modeling and singing are Paulina Gretzky’s “professions,” but it doesn’t seem like she’s been doing much of it lately.
Honestly, I have no idea what Wayne Gretzky’s daughter is doing now in terms of making her own money, but based on her frequent vacation photos on Twitter and complete lack of “Doing work on the runway” posts, I think it’s safe to say her current job is being the “hot girl at the bar” wherever she goes.
She’s burning someone’s money, but it might have shifted from her dad’s to boyfriend Dustin Johnson’s at this point.
Actually, she’s definitely still living off the royalties of her hit-single “Collecting Dust,” from MTV’s The Real Orange County show. That’s it.
The son of U.S. Olympic decathlete Bruce Jenner has been off and on MTV reality shows throughout his twenties, mostly for being young, rich and spending his father’s money.
The “prince” of Malibu is making some money these days on Keeping Up With the Kardashians, but at the age of 29 is attached to his father’s funds and that of the Kardashian entourage living in his father’s house.
At this point, it’s probably safe to say even Bruce is living off his daughters’ money now. There’s no way he’s still bringing in his own dough.
So Marcus Jordan—son of NBA G.O.A.T. Michael Jordan—didn’t blow dad’s money in this instance, but his obstinance cost his university a cool $3 million in endorsements.
When Marcus began playing for UCF in 2009, he refused to honor the school’s contract with Adidas by wearing their brand of basketball shoes. The freshman played in a pair of white Air Jordan’s in his first college game, and as a result, Adidas canceled its contract with the university.
Marcus wasn’t asked to leave the team, of course.
The shoe is on the other foot for this one—an athlete’s parent is using their kid for financial gain.
Kobe Bryant’s mother Pamela has just entered into a legal dispute with her son over a collection of his basketball memorabilia, of which she’s trying to auction off for money for a new house.
Pamela decided to auction the money after her son refused to front enough money for the million-dollar house her and her husband wanted, and decided to finance the rest of their home purchase by selling a collection of Kobe’s basketball trophies, gear and memorabilia to auction company Goldin Auctions
Et tu, madre?
As Aziz Ansari once said, “700 thread-count sheets? It’s like sleeping in lotion.”
Deion Sanders Jr. is a freshman at Southern Methodist. Primetime’s son might’ve only been a two-star recruit in high school, but based on a tweet sent out by his father, Junior is sleeping like King Tut in his dorm room.
Yep, those Egyptian sheets are Versace, player.
Kobe Bryant’s daughter Gianna will never want for anything, considering his net worth is estimated to be somewhere around $200 million these days.
That being said, Gianna was spied sporting in this full Marc Jacobs outfit and Gucci ballerina shoes before celebrating her seventh birthday last week. The shoes alone cost over $200. Mind you, those are shoes for kids.
Silver lining: it's definitely nowhere the worst daughter-spoiling in here.
Her father isn’t an athlete, but the daughter of AS Monaco owner Dmitry Rybolovlev is throwing money around like peanuts shells at a Logan’s Roadhouse Grill.
The potash tycoon has bankrolled his daughter’s many expensive buys across the world, including an $88 million apartment in Manhattan (the most expensive apartment in New York City).
Sure, she wasn’t holding a gun to his head and saying “Show me the money,” but the 24-year-old also didn’t turn down using dad’s money to buy a $153 million private island in Greece.
Joe Unitas—a son from legendary NFL quarter Johnny Unitas’ second marriage—is planning to shoot a film about his father’s life titled “Unitas We Stand.”
The movie is slated to feature Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco, and has spurred a firestorm of controversy in the Unitas family.
Johnny’s oldest son (from his first marriage) John Unitas Jr. has threatened to seek legal action if Joe goes through with the film, saying his half brother is riding “on the coattails of [his] father’s name.”
I can’t say who is truly at fault in this instance, but I will say that some portion of Johnny’s money is probably going to fund this insufferable feud.
Presumably trying to be the cool uncle, Yankees star Alex Rodriguez took his 21-year-old niece Michelle Silva shopping at Blue & Cream, a New York fashion boutique.
Going for broke, Silva’s purchases totaled $17,600 by the end of the spree, including over $1,200 in shoes. It wasn’t a ridiculous amount for a guy like A-Rod, but not something the rest of us can yawn at.
The worst part of the whole affair was Silva’s mother taking the clothes away and making A-Rod return them to the store—except Blue & Cream doesn’t do returns.
So yes, somewhere in A-Rod’s apartment is a bag filled with $17,000 collecting dust.