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Microsoft, MetroFi Partner for Free Wireless in Portland
Microsoft Corp. said it will partner with MetroFi Inc. to build a free wireless Internet service for Oregon's largest city.
MetroFi announced late Tuesday it will launch the Wi-Fi service in Pioneer Courthouse Square, a popular gathering place in downtown Portland, by the end of the year and expand it to the rest of the city within two years.
Microsoft will provide locally focused MSN content and advertising through its new online platform, adCenter. The platform, designed to compete with Google Inc., allows advertisers to target users based on their browsing habits and data such as gender, age and location.
"It's a great alliance," said Chuck Haas, CEO and co-founder of MetroFi. "Having either city or neighborhood-level content...demonstrates the next wave on online advertisement and brings more value to advertisers and subscribers."
MetroFi operates Wi-Fi networks in several Silicon Valley cities and has agreements with 13 cities across the United States to develop municipal networks.
Portland already has some free Wi-Fi spots available through the Personal TelCo project, a volunteer group in Portland. The city has been eager to provide a municipal Wi-Fi service for the whole metro area, a trend taking place across the country.
The new system will eventually cover 95 percent of the city.
MetroFi will pay to create and maintain the system. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company said the service will be maintained through advertising revenue.
Users can opt for advertising-free service for $20 a month.
Sam Klepper, general manager in the MSN Media Network Group at Microsoft, said the company partnered with MetroFi because it has one of the largest municipal Wi-Fi footprints of any provider. But Microsoft may consider working with other wireless providers and cities in the future.


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Commenting on the win, Craig Von Essen, Product and Communications Manager for Ford Motor Company, Asia-Pacific and Africa, said the company was 'thrilled' to receive not only the economy car category award but the overall supreme award.
“Women pack powerful purchasing power, representing a huge market opportunity. The fact that a respected panel of published and specialist women motoring writers selected the Ford Fiesta 1.0l EcoBoost is a significant accolade as we work to design, develop and market our vehicles, technologies and services in a way that captures the attention of this very influential buying group.”
WWCOTY Judges commented on some of the reasons for their selection, UK judge, Victoria MacMillan Bell, says Ford's styling gets better and better. “The Fiesta has such a high-end look and feel to it. Pair this with the multi award-winning 1.0 litre EcoBoost engine achieving range figures and performance never before seen and this very stylish pocket rocket wins in every category, with bells on.”
Charlene Clarke from South Africa notes that her country is a price-sensitive market both in terms of purchase price and running costs. “But South Africans adore brands they know and trust. As such the Ford Fiesta, specifically with its EcoBoost engine, is already finding massive favour with motorists in this market. “Now, of course, it comes with Ford's sensational styling and SYNC technology. The surprisingly good performance of the EcoBoost engine and superb economy means this is an unbeatable combination.”

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The most popular mobile operating system – Android is marked its 10th anniversary on September 22 which remembers its long way from 2008.
Sergei Brin and Larry page unveiled the first Android device on September 22, 2008. The Google, HTC and T-Mobile collaborative G1 was the name given to the Smartphone which is priced at $399. The Device is the first step ahead to kill the iPhone in its record.
The G1 or HTC Dream is so unique since it has launched with a slide Display, A QWERTY keyboard for efficient typing and Trackpad to navigate, But lack Touch Screen. App listing was limited to Google apps like Maps, Gmail and Google Search! Users will have Android Market (Early Play Store) to download apps and games if available!
The G1 came up with No Headphone Jack! Yes, we’re back to G1 era as we see in many smartphones with no Headphone Jack. G1 is the real competitor to iPhone even though there were other options like Blackberry and Nokia’s Symbian memories. HTC came with MAgic, the second generation of Android device and later on Tier 1 brands like Samsung, Motorola, LG came up with Android Devices in 2010.
G1 Devices were sold over a million within six months of the launch and discontinued in 2010. Which is a big number during those days! Which is your first Android device?, Do let us know in the comments below.


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Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays?
When it comes to season’s greetings, a new poll shows that the majority of Americans prefer “Merry Christmas” to “Happy Holidays.”
According to a survey from Rasmussen Reports, 68 percent of people polled prefer the traditional “Merry Christmas” while just 23 percent like "Happy Holidays," which can cover a variety of occasions.
When it comes to holiday signs, a whopping 70 percent of shoppers polled said they prefer to be greeted with “Merry Christmas” in stores rather than the more neutral Happy Holidays, according to a Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
It doesn't end there. There have been "Christmas Trees" banned or replaced with "Holiday Trees," nativity scenes scrapped to avoid offending some, and the list goes on. Some say such things as “Merry Christmas” and nativity scenes exclude non-Christians.
The so-called “War on Christmas” has been a hot topic for years, with some saying “Merry Christmas” excludes non-Christians. Others believe the religious connotation behind the greeting does not belong in government or schools.
JohnstonPatch Asks You: Do you prefer “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays?” Take our poll and let us know the reason behind your preference in the comment section below.


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The MINI is considering an overhaul in its model range for years to come. According to Automotive News Europe website, the brand is considering ending the production Coupe, Roadster and Paceman they do not fit your new list of priorities.
JAC Motors revealed on Tuesday (11) the arrival of the van T8 to the Brazilian market. Aiming to be the pioneer in the segment, the model will be sold for R $ 114,990 and bet on the large internal space for up to seven occupants.
The Vauxhall brand of General Motors focused on the UK market, showed on Monday (27) Special Editions Black & White for the new Adam. Described by the brand as "smartphone on wheels", the models come with starting price of 14,995 pounds.


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Will holiday sales herald better 2014 economy?
- Holiday sales expected to rise almost 4%25 this year %28before inflation%29
- Modest acceleration may set tone for better 2014%2C economists say
- More potential budget battles in Washington dampen outlook
Santa is likely to bring retailers a sales boost this Christmas, but the real question is whether the holiday season will prepare the economy to accelerate in the new year.
As Thanksgiving gives way to Black Friday, many economists say the fruits of the economy's recent pickup will become more visible after the holidays are done.
About 204,000 jobs have been added monthly since August, well above the 145,000 jobs a month in the three months before that, but the gains in hiring came too late in the year to produce more than a mediocre Christmas for stores, says Jack Kleinhenz, chief economist of the National Retail Federation.
The NRF forecasts a 3.9% sales gain this holiday season over last, only a bit better than last year's 3.4% increase.
"I expect a steady improvement, because employment is beginning to grow and that will help sales,'' Kleinhenz said. "We haven't had job growth early enough in 2013 to help out holiday 2013.''
The other factor holding back the holiday is that income growth has been too small to support spending sprees, said Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors, a consulting group that serves mostly regional banks.
If the NRF's holiday forecast hits the mark, that "would be really good, because we are not generating nearly that much in nominal income growth,'' Naroff said. Incomes won't rise enough to push consumer spending much higher until the unemployment rate, now 7.3%, moves toward 6.5%, a level it could reach by next October, Naroff added.
The shape of the recovery is likely to mean different holiday seasons for different kinds of retailers, as richer consumers' confidence is bolstered by rising stock and home values, as well as cash income that's rising faster than for average families.
Wal-Mart, which serves working-class customers whose incomes have been pressed during the sluggish recovery, lowered its full-year earnings projections Nov. 14 for the second time since August. But upscale jeweler Tiffany & Co. raised fourth-quarter projections on Nov. 26.
"You don't do a December-to-remember promotion to sell Lexuses to people who work in stores,'' Naroff said.
The role of Grinch is played this season by Scott Hoyt of Moody's Analytics, who argues that the holiday outcome will reveal little about prospects for 2014.
"The bigger determinant of how the first half will go is our friends in Washington,'' he said, pointing to the deadlines in January and February for funding the government and raising the federal debt ceiling. If Congress balks, it could spark a reprise of the shutdown that roiled markets in September and early October, he said.
Moody's is also less optimistic about how quickly the unemployment rate will come down even if the government doesn't spark another wave of anxiety, forecasting that joblessness won't come down to 6.5% until 2015.
"If we have nonsense coming from Washington, we don't get employment growth, we don't get wage growth, and we get stuck about where we are,'' Hoyt said.


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Shopify is one of the best TSX growth stories — a rapidly expanding tech company that is massively outperforming the benchmark. Since its IPO three years ago, Shopify’s shares are up over 1,000%, in a period when the TSX as a whole has barely budged. The company’s stock price gains have been driven by stellar growth in the underlying company, which routinely grows revenue by 50% or more year over year.
Recently, Shopify released a quarterly report that showed strong growth across the board. The following three metrics from the report can help explain why this stock is doing so unbelievably well.
48% revenue growth
In Q2, Shopify grew overall revenue by 48% year over year. This includes 38% growth in subscription services, 26% growth in MRR, and 56% growth in merchant solutions.
Not only is Shopify’s overall revenue growth strong, but it’s strong in every single business unit, which seems to suggest a business that has not a single underperforming monetized offering. And the good news doesn’t end there.
5 TSX Stocks Under $5Click here to learn more!
Adjusted earnings up 700%
Shopify’s adjusted earnings totally exceeded expectations in Q2, coming in at $0.14 compared to the $0.02 analysts expected (and which the company actually delivered in the same quarter a year ago).
On a less encouraging note, the GAAP net loss came in at $0.26 per share compared to $0.23 a year ago; however, even GAAP losses are growing smaller and smaller as a percentage of actual revenue.
High-volume retailers make up 26% of MRR
Now for what may be the most exciting metric out of Shopify’s Q2 report.
The percentage of revenue coming from high-volume retailers is way up. Specifically, the Shopify Plus plan, which serves high-volume vendors, made up 26% of MRR in the quarter, up from 23% a year ago. This is encouraging because it shows that Shopify’s revenue is increasingly coming from big retailers that can power a lot of sales.
In the past, I wrote about how Shopify had become the go-to e-commerce platform for celebrities like Justin Bieber, Adelle, and Jeffree Star. These are high-volume sellers who can bring in large and increasing sales, of which Shopify gets a cut, and they can increase Shopify’s revenue without it having to sign on new vendors. The prospect of high- and low-cost growth is very real here.
Over the past three years, Shopify has been one of the TSX’s biggest growth stories. Beating the market year in and year out, it has delivered returns that only weed stocks can equal, but without the volatility that “big weed” suffers from.
As we saw in Q2, Shopify shows no signs of slowing down. Now the only question is, how far can it go?
This article represents the opinion of the writer, who may disagree with the “official” recommendation position of a Motley Fool premium service or advisor. We’re Motley! Questioning an investing thesis — even one of our own — helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that help us become smarter, happier, and richer, so we sometimes publish articles that may not be in line with recommendations, rankings or other content.
Fool contributor Andrew Button has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Tom Gardner owns shares of Shopify. The Motley Fool owns shares of Shopify and Shopify. Shopify is a recommendation of Stock Advisor Canada.


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The metropolis includes by far the most remove clubs for each capita throughout the country, those mature-video clips stores and you can “undies acting” stores, and not you to definitely but one or two swinger nightclubs.
But it is not merely physical: A huge on line environment has transformed the fresh new selling and buying of gender in the Oregon and you may in the world. Web sites devices have increased how big the commercial gender markets, led to the new close disappearance away from street prostitution making it easier for gender experts as self-employed – and also to stay safe.
Inhabiting a murky world anywhere between empowerment and you may victimization, the newest intercourse community keeps enough time attracted impassioned defenders and you will accusers. Today the latest technology is incorporating urgency so you’re able to historical debates over whether or not to decriminalize prostitution otherwise break down on the firms, most of them tech-dependent, you to definitely enjoy the unlawful gender change.
On a single element men and women agrees: When it comes to brand new earth’s oldest industry and you will, far more generally, the fresh new profitable providers of pleasure, tech are wearing down traps, creating the brand new places and you may earning their profile while the a disruptor.
More technical alter may be upcoming: To your a lot more speculative top, AI you will definitely eventually match virtual truth, motion-experience and you will robotics to produce android os gender along side outlines depicted on the this new HBO collection Westworld
In a word, technology makes the new intercourse business significantly more entrepreneurial, states Baylor School professor Scott Cunningham, among a number of economists whom training tech’s impact on gender functions. “The internet very place the separate intercourse personnel send while the new business design,” according to him.
On line just how-to-become-an-escort courses and Reddit talk community forums are making it easier to go into the new field. And while some you will blanch in the understanding, Yelp-instance escort-comment internet sites such as for example TNAboard is improving the high quality and you may reliability out-of qualities, Cunningham claims.
“In the same way you genuinely wish to features positive recommendations for the Amazon otherwise Airbnb, the latest likelihood of an adverse remark may cause the vendor to help you performs very hard in order to meet the client.”
The fresh new tech have also enabled whole new niches regarding gender functions over the past ming (the new Skype-decades brand of cell phone sex) and you may internet sites such as for example SeekingArrangement, where progressive-date mistressing blurs the new contours ranging from paid off and you may delinquent intercourse.
PORTLAND – Right now we all know Portland was a great mecca to own gender organizations
Porn went nearly entirely on the internet, where they became big and you eharmony vs okcupid visitors will ubiquitous; because of the some estimates it is the reason 31% away from sites bandwidth.
For the moment, Uber-esque smart phone apps was getting into industry, about in the Europe, where in a number of regions an even more relaxed feelings into the industrial intercourse is out there.
A software called Peppr circulated in the Germany during the 2014, coordinating consumers to help you organization having geolocation, critiques and online payment. (Germany eliminated federal height courtroom restrictions for the industrial sex for the 2002.) A year ago Peppr originator Pia Poppenreiter composed Ohlala, good spinoff application to own “paid down times,” however, at this point it operates just when you look at the New york.
Into the Portland, Mathilda Shaddows, twenty-five, epitomizes the newest tech-enabled, sex-work gig discount. Shaddows, who was looked regarding Oct. twenty-six bout of the fresh MTV reveal True life, works on the side just like the property worry provider to have good disabled customer.
But she renders the lady real living with a wide range of gender team gigs, She acts inside and you can sends individualized movies, carries the woman amount of time in personal Skype lessons, and you may obtains escort works thru on line classifieds into Backpage. She spends social network – Facebook, Instagram and you may people websites such FetLife – to find community, generate an audience and you will focus spending subscribers. And you may she get fee via Paypal, Bing Handbag and Auction web sites present notes.
Not everyone is sanguine in regards to the booming associated with new customers model. “I’m sure the portable ‘s the brothel of your own twenty-first-100 years,” claims Tom Perez, administrator director of one’s EPIK Project, a Portland-built team that works well in order to cover males for the antiprostitution and you may antitrafficking efforts.


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The new Volvo V90 might just be one of the most beautiful modern wagons to ever hit the streets. The company has a long heritage of building some of the best wagons in the world and that is absolutely evident in their newest model. Launching as part of their flagship 90 series, the V90 is not just a beautiful face, it's going to pack some serious power under the hood.
The T8 Twin Engine is a gas-powered plug-in hybrid that will produce around 400 hp and will be able to run for up to 30 miles on electric power alone. It will also feature the latest gadgets like Pilot Assist semi-autonomous drive technology and Bowers & Wilkins audio with dashboard tweeters and an integrated air-ventilated subwoofer. More importantly, Volvo believes in wagons in America and will launch the car Stateside in 2017.


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U.S. short-selling firm Spruce Point Capital Management has set its sights on Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd., announcing it has made a bet that the retailer’s shares are poised to fall.
Spruce Point, based in New York and run by a Yale-trained mathematician named Ben Axler, has launched several prior short-selling campaigns targeting Canadian companies. It issued a 108-page “strong sell” report on Canadian Tire early Thursday before markets opened.
Spruce Point stands to profit if investors accept its thesis that Canadian Tire faces a potentially large share-price decline. Short-selling shares is a bet that shares will drop, with an investor borrowing shares, selling them, and repaying the loan by returning new shares, preferably bought at a lower price.
Mr. Axler declined to say how large the firm’s short position is.
In 2018, Spruce Capital issued reports on Maxar Technologies Inc., which fell by more than 90 per cent in the months following the August report, and Dollarama Inc., which dropped by a few dollars per share before strongly recovering this year. The average return on the Canadian stocks subject to four Spruce Point short reports since 2015 – also including Intertain Group Ltd. and medical device maker TSO3 Inc. – is a drop of 57 per cent, the firm says.
Spruce Point believes the shares have a downside of as much as 50 per cent, suggesting Canadian Tire faces rising competitive challenges and has a poor e-commerce strategy. Its loans to customers and to the owners of its stores add risk, its report argues. It also believes the company’s profit margins are declining, Canadian Tire’s accounting choices are making profits seem better than they truly are, and the company is spending money on stock buybacks and dividends that it should be using to pay down debt.
Canadian Tire shares were down nearly 3 per cent in trading Thursday .
“We do not agree with the conclusions in this report, as it contains numerous inaccuracies, which we believe are solely intended to benefit its author,” company spokeswoman Joscelyn Dosanjh said. “It would be extremely unfortunate if investors took action based on the report.”
Canadian Tire, Spruce Point wrote in its report, “is a challenged brick-and-mortar retailer perceived as a dependable mid-single-digit [revenue] grower on an increasingly precarious foundation of unsustainable debt.” Recent cost-reduction measures and return-of-capital policies to investors are ill-fated, too little and too late.”
Spruce Point’s view is sharply at odds with the company’s outlook. Canadian Tire said it is ahead of its own expectations for sales growth this year and is investing in its business while also being able to buy-back stock and increase its dividend by 9.6 per cent, the 11th boost in 10 years.
“With our loyalty program and our data management and analytics stronger than ever and with great products on offer supported by our digital and in-store experience, I believe we are in a powerful position to grow and compete,” CEO Stephen Wetmore said in an investor call Nov. 7.
In the case of Canadian Tire, Spruce Point is running against the tide. The company’s shares hit a 52-week high of $157.36 on Nov. 15, and four analysts raised their price targets on Canadian Tire shares after the company’s November earnings announcement. The shares closed at $151.11 on Wednesday.
Yet other critics have also raised some questions about Canadian Tire’s accounting practices and financial risks. Toronto’s Veritas Investment Research made some of the same points about Canadian Tire’s accounting in a report published earlier this year, while U.S. short-seller Steve Eisman said in August he was short Canadian Tire, saying he saw its financial-services subsidiary, Canadian Tire Bank, as even riskier than Canada’s major financial institutions, several of which he was also shorting.
Spruce Point believes Canadian Tire’s prices are higher than at brick-and-mortar competitors such as Walmart and Costco and home-improvement chains Home Depot and Lowe’s. At the same time, those retailers, along with online-only retailers such as Amazon and Wayfair, all offer cheaper shipping options for online purchases than Canadian Tire does.
But in the November investor call, Canadian Tire executive vice-president of retail Allan MacDonald said “we’re not going to relent any [market] share. We are not going to give up share in categories that are important to us.”
Spruce Point cites a report from debt-ratings agency Moody’s that says Canadian Tire’s credit-card customers “are higher risk than peers” because they use the cards as a source of financing, rather than payment – in other words, they carry balances rather than pay them off every month.
In the November conference call, however, Mr. Wetmore said the company’s financial-services division continues to have “great performance” and there are “no signs from our data on a weakening economy or credit-card portfolio.”
Spruce Point puts it all together and produces a “high side” estimate that values the shares at $99.70, a 34 per cent discount to Wednesday’s closing price, and its “low price” valuation of $77.42 is a discount of nearly 49 per cent. “Canadian Tire’s declining margins and weak competitive positioning to U.S. retailers and online competitors deserves a valuation multiple at a significant discount to its peers.”


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SBC Industry News
Findings from the Q2 2018 USG Corporation + U.S. Chamber of Commerce Commercial Construction Index, released today, show four straight quarters with more than 90 percent of contractors concerned over labor shortages.
Starting with its own base of $8 million in annual sales, Atlas Engineered Products for new home construction isn’t shy about stating its goal: $50 million in annual sales in 5 years. That equates to an annual growth rate of nearly 45%.
Universal Forest Products, Inc. today announced that one of its subsidiaries has purchased the operating assets of North American Container Corp. (NACC), a Marietta, Ga.-based manufacturer of structural packaging products
U.S. LBM Holdings, the pro dealer and distributor of specialty building materials, has acquired Arizona’s R&K Building Supplies.
As lumber costs remain at historically high levels, lumber companies are investing those profits into strengthening their positions and increasing production capacity.
It is becoming easier to kick start this whole home construction process and obtain AD&C loans. This upward trend in lending provides a meaningful window into future housing start trends, and thus, demand for structural building components.
In a recent presentation, Frank Turnbull of Mercer Timber Products discussed his company’s German imports to the US, tying the work of his company into a discussion of the opportunity for European lumber imports to compete in U.S. markets.
For years, the SBCA Capital Area Chapter has hosted golf tournaments to raise money for the BCMC Build, an SBCA event that involves members in building a home for a wounded veteran in the vicinity of where BCMC is held
Fifth-graders at Albert Harris Elementary School on Tuesday took part in a unique math lesson that could help them when they get ready to choose a place to live as adults.
Yesterday, Vancouver, British Columbia–based mass timber construction and design specialist Michael Green Architecture (MGA) announced its acquisition by Katerra, a Menlo Park, Calif.–based tech company looking to "redefine the construction industry."
A South Virginia truss plant that went into business in 2005 is currently up for sale with an asking prices of $2.4M.
Mead Lumber has entered into an agreement to acquire H.L. Munn Lumber in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1891, H.L. Munn Lumber is a full service lumber and building materials supplier serving professional builders and commercial contractors in the greater Ames and Des Moines markets.
Standing close together to hear over the noise of saws and nail guns, U.S. Rep. Elise M. Stefanik, R-Willsboro and Daniel C. Tontarski, co-owner of Fabco Roof and Floor Trusses manufacturing, discussed the benefits and challenges of running a small manufacturing operation.
The owner of an Orange County factory that builds structural building components has announced a $2.4 million expansion that also will add 60 full-time jobs.
Over the first quarter of 2018, the total number of single-family permits issued nationwide reached 199,861. On a year-over-year basis, this is a 6.0% increase. Year-to-date, ending in March 2018, the total number of multifamily permits issued nationwide reached 105,562. This is 8.5% ahead of its level over the third month of 2017.
Builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes rose two points to a level of 70 in May after a downwardly revised April reading on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI).
US LBM released is Q1 financial results and a key report was that as a percentage of overall sales, engineered component sales decreased from 9.8% in 2017 to 8.6% in Q1 2018. This decline comes despite significant lumber cost increases in Q1.
U.S. LUMBER GROUP, LLC and Midwest Lumber announced today that they have signed an agreement under which U.S. LUMBER will acquire Midwest Lumber.
Builders FirstSource, Inc. today reported its results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2018.


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Although the payments industry is feeling more and more disruption from new technology, it's high time its institutions respond with a "human touch," according to Doris Daif, a vice president at American Express.
She's been the company's global head of digital customer experience for the last two and a half years, and in her 16 years at Amex she's led customer care operations, relationship management and small business acquisiton. This experience undoubtedly played a role in her more recent work managing digital products – first in the U.S. and then globally – before coming into her current role.
She describes her job as a race against industry disruptors who ostensibly offer faster, more convenient alternatives at lower costs.
"My job is to ensure that we are moving faster than those guys cutting through the noise, clutter, and veneer to what really matters to customers," she said. "We need to take our service ethos and digitize it in a way that continues to separate our 'human touch.'"
To achieve this, omnipresence is the name of game, she said. Frictionless payments, which she predicts will be one of the biggest industry developments of the year, allowing more personalization on the part of users. By improving on that area, Amex can find a way to "live in the pocket and life of the consumer," Daif said.
It's therefore important that Amex think about "not just the act of the payment (too late) but rather the upfront decisioning and choices," enabling consumers to "interact wherever and whenever they desire with greater memory and resilience," she said.
"Our ability to marry our closed loop information from both our direct relationship with cardmembers and merchants means that we can provide greater upfront value to both customer groups with greater personalization capabilities at hand," she added.
In a previous role, Daif embedded Amex's Relationship Care index across the company to help gauge customer loyalty and spending, as well as measure their growth. She called the initiative one of her proudest career moments, having led the program from its "incentive plans to portal design to Customer Relationship Management treatments, experiments, and measurement."
More recently, she also redesigned the company's website, first in the U.S. and then to outside markets, that resulted in the implementation of another impact indicator: Web interaction scores and digital engagement.
"We've embedded this way of working, along with these digital disciplines and talent pipeline, into the company in a way that is both repeatable and respected."
To encourage women in their careers in the payments industry, it is important to look both within and outside the organization, she said.
"I think helping women when they are more junior in their careers recognize the importance of that network [of leadership] and how to cultivate and nurture it is crucial to growth," she said. "The other aspect then is the 'paying it forward' — as I've observed and grown, I've also cultivated a group of women that I sponsor and mentor."


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June 4, 2019
The bell was run at the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, June 3, by a new company with a long history – Corteva Agriscience. The product of a merger between Dow and DuPont and long predetermined to be separated as the ag business, Corteva is real. But what does it mean to the market and to farmers?
Farm Progress caught up with Rajan Gajaria, executive vice president, business platforms, Corteva Agriscience, to discuss the new company and why its creation makes sense. “When you think about this as a pure ag company, you have 20,000 people waking up every morning working in the ag space and that’s powerful,” he says. “They have the focus, the drive, the innovation to bring to the market.”
This pure ag play is bringing together the strengths of two entities – Dow AgroSciences and DuPont Pioneer. And he says that enhances the potential for innovation beyond what each entity could do before; he was also frank about the strengths and weaknesses of the two separate players.
“Dow AgroSciences on the crop protection side with herbicides had a strong portfolio but on the seed side we did not have a strong germplasm pool, it was good, but not great. Pioneer has the world’s best germplasm pool, but its trait discovery was longer term with traits that might come to market in 8 to 10 years.” He added that Dow AgroSciences was ahead of Pioneer with new traits with its launch of Enlist and now Enlist E3 for the soybean market.
And finally the digital piece is coming together under Corteva with the acquisition of Granular. “None of us independently had the digital piece,” he says. “We’re now bringing crop protection, seed and digital as part of Corteva.”
The pure ag play is also the story of another company, the only other pure ag play in the market – Syngenta, which Gajaria acknowledged, then pointed out that Corteva is the “only U.S.-based pure ag global company.” It’s a dig farmers are likely to hear more as the new company gets rolling.
Rajon Gajaria, Corteva, emphasizes the newly created business is ag-focused and brings traits, crop protection, germplasm and digital tech to the market.
Looking at the pipeline
When you talk crop protection pipeline, often you hear big numbers regarding the new products coming to market. For this conversation, Gajaria was clear he was talking strictly about active ingredients, and new ones with new modes of action.
“When you look at the entire industry for the crop protection side and through regulatory data, one out of four active ingredients are coming from Corteva in the next five years,” Gajaria observes. “We have a diverse portfolio for Latin America, Asia Pacific, Europe and the United States.”
When talking about new active ingredients, Gajaria was clear that many new products will bring new modes of action to market and will be part of a strategy to reduce resistance management issues. But products will also be more naturally inspired or derived. “We’ll have more Green Chemistry awards than the rest of the industry put together based on active ingredients,” he adds.
To give an example of this “green approach” a new rice herbicide, Rinskor, that offers effective control at a low dose – 10 grams per hectare (about 4.8 grams per acre). “You can put two nickels together and that’s the amount of product there is on a hectare,” Gajaria points out. “We got registration in Europe two years before our internal expectation not only for efficacy but because of its environmental profile. That [speed of registration] is almost unheard of in Europe.”
Tough planting year
Parked planters and flooded fields are of bigger concern these days than whether there is a new input supplier to agriculture. But Pioneer is a big player in #plant19 and Gajaria says the company is working fast to help farmers get the seed at the maturities they need. “Our business model is in the backyard of the farmer and we can turn things around better than most when a farmer needs more of a shorter maturity, we can have the product in a pickup and on [their farm] as soon as possible,” he says.
He notes that Corteva is a global company and the pain of the U.S. planting season may have an impact, but it will be mitigated by its global reach. He was also quick to note, however, that the spring planting challenge – 67% of the corn crop planted by June 3 – was not missed by company management.
“During our visit to the New York Stock Exchange starting a new company it was an extremely celebratory environment,” he says. “But there was a poignant moment when we took time to think about our farmer customers. Jim Collins [CEO, Corteva] announced that we will be making donations to Farm Bureau groups starting in Iowa and Nebraska to help flood victims.”
Gajaria says there are two messages he thinks farmers can take from the creation of the new company.
First is that “we are here from an innovation standpoint with complete solutions in crop protection, seed and digital and we are in this to give them solutions in the short, medium and long term.”
Second, he adds that Corteva management understands that “improving their profitability is key and that is who we are as a company. The first two words of our corporate statement – ‘Enriching life’ - will involve working to help the farmer make more profit.”
You can learn more about the new company at corteva.com.
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THE BOTTOM LINE
Trio of becalmed JSE counters seek to abandon listing ship
Three small-cap companies want to leave the JSE, but at what price to their shareholders?
With the sorry state of the JSE – especially desultory ratings tagged to so-called SA Inc. stocks – no one should be surprised that several delisting schemes have been mooted in recent weeks.
Three small caps – industrial services business Howden Africa, logistics specialist Cargo Carriers and direct retailer Verimark – have recently indicated a willingness to buy out minority shareholders and shuffle off the bourse.
There is a common thread running through the three counters. All trade on dismissive earnings multiples, the shares are illiquid and the share register is dominated by a single dominant shareholder.
What’s more, none of these companies would need, for the foreseeable future, to use the JSE as a platform to raise fresh capital.
Of course, the critical issue for minority shareholders is the buyout price that underpins the delisting scheme.
In these tough times, a majority shareholder has nothing to lose (aside from a reputational dent) by pitching a cheeky offer to jittery shareholders.
Cargo, refreshingly, has pitched what appears to be a very generous R21-a-share offer – representing a whopping 81% premium on the R10 share price in late January, before the first cautionary related to the delisting effort was issued. The offer also represents a nearly 40% premium on Cargo’s share price in mid-October, before details of the delisting were disclosed.
Verimark and Howden have not pegged delisting prices yet.
Verimark, which was unsuccessful with an opportunistic delisting offer in 2009, might now know the value of a more enticing offer.
Howden on Monday issued an earlier than expected trading statement, which detailed some operational strain. This might suggest that any buyout offer to minority shareholders – to be curiously conducted via a share buyback – might be on the stingy side.


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Barry Fieldman is known in Las Vegas for developing Showcase mall, the retail property decorated with a giant Coke bottle and M&M’s along the Strip.
Now he’s on another mission: Overhaul the bartending business with rapid-fire, machine-made cocktails.
Fieldman’s company Smart Bar USA makes the Smartender, a $25,000, touch-screen bar on wheels that holds 16 liquor bottles and 15 pounds of ice and can make at least 600 different drinks. A modular, bar-top unit sells for $22,500, with another $1,500 for installation and training.
The machine makes a beverage in six seconds and pours within 1/16th of an ounce on “every single drink,” Fieldman said.
As he sees it, the Smartender can serve more people faster, and with precise control, letting a bar sell more drinks and a server make more tips.
“The idea of being able to do something quickly, inexpensively and efficiently is very valuable,” he said.
Fieldman and business partner Juanita Wasserman, both of Henderson, took control of Smart Bar after battling in court with the company’s founder, and they plan to move its manufacturing and assembly operations from Illinois to Las Vegas in coming months.
The local bartenders union isn’t exactly thrilled at the idea of seeing Smartenders making drinks, saying automated-cocktail makers can wipe out bartending jobs. But, it seems, patrons who enjoy chatting with bartenders at neighborhood watering holes shouldn’t worry that their drink slingers will be replaced by machines anytime soon.
Fieldman’s target customers include movie theaters, casinos, restaurant chains and stadiums, not local bars. He’s going after clients that can easily afford his product and might want it to serve a few thousand drinks a day, whether it’s helping order-slammed bartenders out front, making drinks in the kitchen for servers to pick up, or wheeling it poolside at a hotel.
“We’re not everything to all people,” he said.
Smart Bar has distributed about 100 units nationwide, almost all outside Southern Nevada. Locally, Smartenders are in Downtown Summerlin’s Regal movie theater, the Cosmopolitan, the Tropicana and the California Pizza Kitchen in the Mirage, Fieldman said.
He expects to sell more than 100 units this year alone, including more than 50 to the Regal movie-theater chain. He recently received an order to send Smartenders to Sugar Factory locations around the country, including in New York and Miami, he said.
Spokespeople for Regal Entertainment Group, California Pizza Kitchen, dessert chain Sugar Factory and Tropicana owner Penn National Gaming did not respond to requests for comment. A spokeswoman for the Cosmopolitan declined to comment.
Despite being able to pour hundreds of different drinks, the Smartender has limitations.
It can’t make frozen drinks or complicated, labor-intensive concoctions, and servers still have to put in ice cubes and limes, cherries or other garnishes by hand. And even though it holds 16 bottles of booze, a typical bar may have “16 different brands of vodka” alone, said Terry Greenwald, secretary-treasurer of UniteHere Bartenders Local 165 in Las Vegas.
The machine makes one drink at a time, whereas bartenders can line up several glasses at once to fill up, said Aria bartender Nick Houck, a member of Local 165’s executive board.
Bar guns can already dispense water, soda and juice, letting bartenders quickly make a wide range of drinks. Such guns are “more efficient” than automated-drink makers, he said.
“Rum-and-Cokes don’t slow me down; it’s the complicated drinks that slow me down that these machines can’t make,” he said.
Meanwhile, Smart Bar marketing materials say its product "saves money on labor costs."
“No need for a professional bartender because now any staff member can pour drinks during peak times, happy hours, sporting events, etc.,” a brochure says. “The staff no longer has to wait for the bartender to fill each order. They can do it themselves.”
Fieldman said the Smartender cannot replace all bartenders. However, he said it could “eliminate some labor costs in certain environments,” such as replacing a back-of-house service bartender or an extra bartender who’d be out front on busy nights to help fill orders.
But, he said, “usually when you eliminate one job, you create another,” including in manufacturing, sales and repairs.
“All of those things create other jobs, and some of them may be union, some of them may not,” he said.
This past fall, the Beau Rivage hotel-casino in Biloxi, Miss., started using automated-cocktail makers, said Houck, who was trying to organize bartenders at another casino in Biloxi at the time.
The Beau Rivage, owned by Las Vegas-based MGM Resorts International, ended up laying off bartenders, according to Houck.
“The bartenders down there called it ‘The Terminator,’” he said.
MGM Resorts spokesman Gordon Absher said four positions were eliminated at the Beau Rivage, and he indicated the property is using the Easybar brand.
"Like most businesses, we continuously evaluate our operations and seek opportunities through technology and other resources to improve how we deliver guest service," he said in a statement.
He noted, however, that company officials have not decided whether to expand its use beyond the Biloxi casino.
Fieldman said he learned about the Smartender in 2012 through the Tropicana’s food and beverage director, who introduced him to its inventor, William Metropulos.
He said he was intrigued by its “total control over quality, that drinks would be made the same way every single time.”
Fieldman and Wasserman put $3 million into the company. But the investors and the inventor ended up in court.
Metropulos sued Fieldman and Wasserman in late 2013 in Illinois state court. He alleged in court filings that Wasserman wrongly interfered with a potential sale of his stake in the company and tried to steer the deal to one of her own investors at a cheaper price. He also alleged that Fieldman made “intentional false statements” about his “connection to juggernauts in the hospitality and beverage industries.”
According to a court filing by Metropulos, Fieldman had said he would arrange sales meetings with Coca-Cola executives, that he knew “every casino operator” on the Strip and would get the Smartender placed “in all of the casinos and restaurants,” and that his kids went to school with casino presidents’ kids.
“Metropulos is fairly new to the industry, and his need for marketing and sales was immediate,” his lawyer David Trout wrote in the filing. “At that time, it would have been foolish for Metropulos to pass on the chance of a lifetime to be involved” with such companies.
The dispute went to arbitrator Mitchell Marinello, who sided with Fieldman's group.
Marinello wrote that Metropulos "had significant credibility problems" and paid himself and some associates "six-figure salaries" and "personally took additional payments totaling at least $350,000" from funds provided by Fieldman and Wasserman, according to a copy of the findings provided by Fieldman.
Marinello wrote that, after spending "well over $2 million" of the investors' money "and having little or nothing to show for it," Metropulos "refused to abide by even modest and typical controls on travel spending," even though his investors had the right, under their operating agreement, to curtail spending if sales quotes were not met.
Among other things, the arbitrator "disassociated" Metropulos from Smart Bar and stripped him from the management team, and he said Metropulos had to pay $250,000 to Fieldman and Wasserman, and, apparently, about $100,600 to Smart Bar.
Metropulos could not be reached for comment. Trout said litigation was pending but that he was not involved with it.
“It is a long way from being over, but I have no comment,” he said.
All told, Fieldman said he and his investors had put $5 million into Smart Bar — including $1 million in legal fees.
But he has big plans. For instance, he's working to move company operations to Southern Nevada.
There are seven people working for Smart Bar in Illinois. After the company relocates to Las Vegas, Fieldman said, that number “will go up significantly.”


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The whining and gnashing of teeth
that immediately greet any changes to Facebook have become a cliched social networking
punchline. The site, though, is currently being hammered over very real and pertinent concerns that go far beyond mere member tempter-tantrums.
The brouhaha began early last year when Facebook implemented, and then almost immediately retracted
, new Terms of Service that many believed would give the site perpetual ownership of member information (like photographs). Over the course of the last year, despite the reversal, those concerns over privacy have only escalated, and some recent revelations by an anonymous Facebook employee
should only serve to intensify the cacophony of complaints.
The spike in Facebook vitriol has amplified primarily because of December changes to Facebook's privacy guidelines
. The new user settings were initially described as a method for members to completely control their profile activities. People steadily identified some glaring holes in the supposed security measures, though, including the inability to securely lock down profile pictures, fan pages, and friends lists.
According to the unnamed snitch, those aren't the only issues, as the employee claims that everything you do is not only permanently stored and saved, but completely available to Facebook staff and associates. The site All Facebook has expectedly and deservedly retaliated
to the whistleblower claims, and has dismissed the supposed revelations as common knowledge with which all Facebook members should be completely familiar.
Speaking to the Rumpus, the Facebook worker asserted that when a member makes "any sort of interaction on Facebook -- upload a photo, click on somebody's profile, update your status, change your profile information," that activity is stored on Facebook's servers. In order to identify a member's "best friends," a feature which quietly debuted recently, the site tracks and stores (at one of four massive data centers) every possible interaction. All Facebook countered by saying this practice is "widely known," and that "if you don't want Facebook collecting information about you, don't give it to them." (Excellent customer service -- MySpace would be thrilled
if Facebook adhered to an official "take it or leave it" approach.)
One of the most troubling revelations in the anonymous interview is the claim that any Facebook employee could log into any member account with a single master password (which was some derivation of Chuck Norris -- not so funny in this scenario). The shadowy interviewee also said that various employees (at least two of whom were terminated) were caught inappropriately using that password to gain access to accounts
. But, according to some, that password issue "isn't really that big of a deal." That may not sound comforting, but the site says it has a zero tolerance policy for snooping and it has also created a Chief Privacy Officer position.
The comprehensive interview covers even more topics, including fascinating discussions on developments in "psychological analysis," incredibly creepy Facebook interactions, the low-down on the huge programming nerds, and Facebook's international future. Lastly, make sure to check out All Facebook to get both sides of the story. [From: The Rumpus
and All Facebook
Facebook's Most Annoying Things
Traditionalists might balk, but the holiday shopping season is already underway. Skeptical? Head to your local department store and you'll be inundated by Christmas trees and ornaments. Bargain hunters, though, know that the real deals are more than a month away.
Black Friday, traditionally, is when retailers truly slash prices. Early birds can save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars off of their holiday bills. Switched.com checked with a few elves, who gave a sneak peek at what you can expect deal-wise this year.
Blu-ray Players and Movies: Blu-ray is shaping up to be the biggest door buster of this year's Black Friday. de Grandpre expects at least one retailer will offer a Blu-ray player for just $49. Look for bargains on Blu-ray films as well, with last year's hit titles (such as "Iron Man") to fall as low as $5.
Laptops: With the proliferation of Netbooks this year, it's never been easier to find affordable portable computing, but Dan de Grandpre, CEO of DealNews.com says it will get even cheaper on Black Friday. Look for well-equipped Netbooks to sell for $199 – and basic 15" laptops to go for as little as $249.
HDTVs (Pretty big): The holidays are typically the best time to buy a new TV – and Black Friday is the time to do it. If you're looking for a normal sized set, you're in luck. Piper Jaffrey analyst Mitch Kaiser says he expects to see 32-inch LCD sets for as low as $299. GottaDeal.com is estimating 37-inch plasma and LCD sets will fall to $399 or less.
HDTVs (Really big): Need something bigger? How about a 46-47 inch LCD set for $599 – a 25 percent savings? Or a 52-inch LCD for $999? Dealnews says you can expect both. Plasma deals will be a little harder to come by, but a 50-inch set should run roughly $899.
HD Camcorders: You've wanted to shoot your child's school play in HD for a while, but haven't been able to spring for the pricey camcorder. This might be the year. Low-end, flash-based 720p models could drop as low as $60 (though you won't be able to zoom with those). Expect a high quality 1080p HD camcorder for $349.
GPS: While navigation systems have dramatically expanded their reach this year – even making it onto the iPhone – there's still a market for car-based systems. Dealnews predicts you'll be able to find a no-name entry-level system for $49, while a Garmin or Tom-Tom brand will be as low as $69.
Digital Picture Frames: Showcasing your digital pictures consistently gets cheaper. This year, skip the 7-inch screens and focus on the 8- or 9-inch ones, which should be available on Black Friday for as little as $30.
Monitors: Computer monitors might not be the sexiest of gifts, but they're usually welcomed with open arms – and they'll be cheap this year. Name brand 22-inch LCD models may go for as low as $99, while 24-inch models will drop below $150.
Memory: Don't know anyone who needs a monitor? External hard drives are always popular, since they're an easy way to back-up data. Dealnews expects a 1TB drive to fall as low as $49 this year. Gottadeal is looking for 8GB flash drives to hit $15.


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The management shake-up within burger behemoth McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) just got a lot more interesting with the news that Marlena Peleo-Lazar is exiting her post as chief creative officer for advertising within the United States.
Peleo-Lazar's sudden exit is certain to prompt plenty of major concerns within the ranks at McDonald's two key roster ad agencies DDB Chicago and Leo Burnett Chicago.
For most of the past 14 years, Peleo-Lazar — known for her often flamboyant, eye-catching fashion statements — had served as the chief liaison between McDonald's and its two main ad shops.
Little that either DDB or Burnett produced got greenlighted without Peleo-Lazar's blessing. And sources familiar with her and her position of power within McDonald's marketing ranks say Peleo-Lazar is a large part of the reason why the two Chicago ad shops were able to maintain their longstanding close and lucrative ties to the burger chain for the past decade or more. Peleo-Lazar, sources say, absolutely had their backs.
But Peleo-Lazar's abrupt departure portends great uncertainty as to how McDonald's ad agency relationships will evolve in the months to come.
Peleo-Lazar's exit comes just months after Deborah Wahl arrived as McDonald's new U.S. chief marketing officer and the executive to whom Peleo-Lazar reported. Peleo-Lazar's departure also comes just weeks after Jeff Stratton retired as president of McDonald's U.S. operations.
Both Stratton's and Peleo-Lazar's departures come as McDonald's sales in the United States are trending lower.
And many within the burger chain, as well as outside observers, fear that McDonald's now may have a tough time attracting Millennial customers who have turned away from the chain in favor of competitors with a more trendy profile and menu items.
With Peleo-Lazar exiting, Wahl could end up with more hands-on oversight of McDonald's advertising in the U.S. Wahl already has tapped the Leo Burnett ad shop for a new brand advertising project that could debut by year's end.
As for Peleo-Lazar, she said through a tweeted message from her son Chris that "she's just looking forward to her next adventure." For the record, Chris Peleo-Lazar also noted that his mother "rocks" and promised "this will be an exciting time."
McDonald's, meanwhile, sought to put a happy spin on the Peleo-Lazar exit. In a statement the company said Peleo-Lazar "has had significant influence at McDonald's and in the advertising industry overall. We've been 'lovin' it'."
Now that lovin' looks to be at an end.


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The chart says it all again this month. Xbox 360′s sales dropped off by more than 30% this month, despite Microsoft releasing its most important title in its history — Halo 3. The Sony family once again reclaimed its throne for the month, pushing impressive hardware sales through the retail channel.
With Sony reaffirming its dominance in the US coupled with waning sales of the Wii in Japan, Sony is poised to easily win this generation. We don’t blame consumers for choosing the Playstation brand: it’s associated with superior quality. The competition simply cannot compete.


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With the BlackBerry Z10 and Q10 now official the focus has moved to the future for BlackBerry 10 and if the company would look at using other hardware makers
BlackBerry executive Andrew Bocking, Senior Vice President Software Product Manager has said that the company is not ruling out BlackBerry 10 on non-BlackBerry smartphones.
When asked by T3 about the possibility of BlackBerry 10 arriving through other hardware manufacturers the exec said, "As Thorsten has said there are various opportunities we are exploring but today it’s just about the Z10 and the Q10.”
He also went on to confirm that there will be new BB 10 devices arriving after the BlackBerry Z10 and the Q10 hinting that they may even be devices that aren't smartphones, suggesting a new PlayBook tablet is in the works.
Asked when the next handsets would be coming out he replied, "we will see Blackberry 10 show up in more examples and more embodiments of that platform."
Bocking was speaking at the launch of BlackBerry 10 where the company unveiled two new smartphones, the all-touchscreen BlackBerry Z10 and the Q10, a BB10 smartphone with a physical keyboard.
Both handsets will be 4G capable and feature 1.5GHz dual-core processors and 2GB of RAM while the Z10 has a 4.2-inch 1280x768 display. They will both feature NFC and Bluetooth 4.0.
It was also announced that BlackBerry 10 would feature a range of big name apps including Skype, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, WhatsApp and crucially, Amazon's Kindle app.


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This is The Morning Shift, our one-stop daily roundup of all the auto news that's actually important — all in one place at 9:00 AM. Or, you could spend all day waiting for other sites to parse it out to you one story at a time. Isn't your time more important?
1st Gear: Consumer Reports Loves The New Impala
They like it enough to give the new near-full-sized sedan 95 points, putting it third behind the BMW 1-Series and Model S. This makes it the highest-scoring sedan ever and the first domestic car to top the best sedan rankings in 20 years.
This shouldn't be too much of a surprise as we called it Pretty Damn Good.".
It's not actually "Recommended" yet because there's no reliability data, but it's a win for Chevy.
I was busting Jake Fisher at CR Auto's half-shaded-in Harvey Balls this morning about it, but he had a pretty good response:
No it's not exciting - it just is a very well rounded car. It's really a luxury car - but it actually handles well and accelerates and brakes better than a GTI While it earns the high rating, it doesn't mean that it's the best car for everyone. Personally, I would chose something sportier even if it gives up something in terms of ride and rear seat comfort.
2nd Gear: More GM Good News
GM Made $1.2 billion dollars last quarter, roughly what Ford made, although they made $2 billion in North America. What's the problem? Europe, for one, where they lost $110 million according to The Detroit Free Press.
That's actually not bad as this time last year they'd lost $394 million.
Most of the good news is in the U.S. where the sales of pickup trucks is bringing in tons of money, and they didn't even have most of their new trucks on dealer lots. Still, they've dropped a little in U.S. market share from 18.2% to 18% but, as Nathan Bomey points out, they still have 13.9% of the important Chinese market.
3rd Gear: Chrysler Extends Life Of Caravan, Wrangler, Avenger
It's not entirely clear what Chrysler will be doing with Dodge in the future, but for now The Detroit News has the scoop on the next couple of years for some of their big products.
The Avenger, which we thought dead, is actually going to last until 2015 as they work on a better Chrysler 200. The Jeep Wrangler has to last until mid-2018 and the Caravan will last until 2017 when, everyone expects, they'll cut it altogether so they can focus on the Chrysler Town & Country.
The worst news is that they're moving the Barracuda (which is replacing the Dodge Challenger) back.
The downside to all of this is some of those vehicles look dated, but it'll give them a chance to focus on getting new product right.
4th Gear: Maruti Suzuki Raking In That Cash
Yes, Suzuki failed in the U.S., but it's making money everywhere else according to The Wall Street Journal.
Net profit for the last quarter was about $105 million, thanks largely to cost-cutting, and helped move Suzuki to more profits.
And because currency rules everything around me (CREAM!), the drop in the yen versus the rupee also made it cheaper to import parts.
5th Gear: Bring Us That Honda Wagon, Damnit
They've basically wagon-ified the Honda Civic in a Mazda5-style MPV kind of thing, rolled it out in China, and called it the Honda Jade. I love it.
I wasn't at all aware this thing even existed until Ash from China Car Times pointed it out. It looks great. Please bring it to us Honda. Pretty please.
As a dad that is currently looking at new seven seat vehicles for a 2014 purchase I cant bring myself to sit in any MPV’s from the likes of Ford or Kia, they all just seem too ‘white collar, mid 30′s, growing a beer belly‘, but this Jade seems like its a mixture of wagon and people hauler, plus its Civic based so it probably drives half decently. Guess I’ll have to give this a real look at early next year!
Reverse: Henry Ford writes fan letter to Mahatma Gandhi
On this day in 1941, the American automaker Henry Ford sits down at his desk in Dearborn, Michigan and writes a letter to the Indian nationalist leader Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. The letter effusively praises Gandhi and his campaign of civil disobedience aimed at forcing the British colonial government out of India.
Neutral: Which Big FWD/AWD Sedan Would You Get?
The fast Maxima? The lux-Azera? The well-rounded Impala?
Photo Credit: Getty Images


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With sales figures for EVs set to be very small this year (under 20,000 cars), Martin LaMonica over at Cnet muses on the difficulty of forecasting EV sales. LaMonica suggests that plug-in electric hybrids (PHEVs) could be the winners since their costs are lower, which results from smaller battery packs. As my weekly update points out, initial cost is the biggest barrier right now to EV adoption, more than any of the consumer behavior concerns like range anxiety. So LaMonica’s point about greater viability of PHEVs makes a lot of sense. I depart with LaMonica on one issue, though. I believe that we can reasonably say that while the price of oil will fluctuate, over a longer time frame, it’s definitely going to get more expensive. Which will make any car that is battery powered more attractive.
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Google rewarded mobile friendly websites back in April 2015 by displaying them in search results over non-mobile friendly websites. Google recently made this announcement about their Algorithm. The reason Google has told us about it this time, is to encourage anyone who hasn’t already got a mobile friendly site website, to start having it developed.
They rewarded mobile-friendly websites with better mobile search engine rankings beginning on April 21st 2015.
Did you miss the boat?
If your website is not mobile-friendly, it may not be visible on mobile rankings or receive a much smaller piece of the mobile search traffic results. You would have to rely on desktop-based organic traffic. This isn’t great news, considering the amount of people accessing websites from their mobile devices have increased in recent years. In fact, mobile usage has overtaken desktop based digital media. Mobile usage accounts for 60% of time spent online.
All of my new designs now come mobile ready and comply with the new requirements.
Contact Greg Cogar
If you need help with a new website or updating your existing website to comply with the new Google Search Criteria contact me to discuss your requirements and come up with the best solution for your business.


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Vietnamese traders believe they stand a good chance of getting high prices for rice this year as world supply shrinks amidst rising demand.
Private firms from the Philippines, the world's largest rice buyer, are seeking to buy up to 660,000 tons of Vietnamese rice, while Bangladesh is interested in buying 800,000 tons of rice from Vietnam in the coming months, the Vietnam Economic Times newspaper reported Tuesday.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Indonesia bought 400,000 tons of 15 percent broken rice from Vietnamese traders in the last half of February.
Around the world, policy makers are boosting stockpiles and agricultural production as they try to deal with growing demand for food and tight commodity supplies, following droughts and storms in leading agriculture producers like Russia, Australia and China.
Truong Thanh Phong, chairman of the Vietnam Food Association, said as more orders will come from Cuba,
Iraq and Malaysia, local rice traders are set to have a very good year.
Food prices are surging around the world, and rice prices in particular will not fall, Phong said.
As Vietnamese rice prices are competitive, it will be easy to attract buyers, he said, warning traders from rushing into signing contracts offering very low prices. They should wait until the end of March, he added.
The association has just raised the minimum price for 25 percent broken rice by 2 percent to US$490 a ton. It has also raised the floor for the higher quality 5 percent broken rice by 4 percent to $520 a ton, FOB (free on board).
Analysts said the devaluation of the dong against the dollar last month has helped the country attract more rice buyers. Thai rice is now at a disadvantage when compared with Vietnamese rice in terms of prices, they said.
The price of Thai rice, the benchmark for Asia, has been forecast to climb 13 percent this year to $600 a ton due to rising demand. The Philippines will open bids to import at least 1.5 million tons in the second and third quarters, while Indonesia and Bangladesh will continue importing rice to bolster inventories and strengthen food security, Bloomberg cited Thailand's Foreign Trade Department as saying.
The Philippines, Vietnam's biggest rice importer, has not signed any contracts with Vietnam so far this year.
Vietnamese traders said the Philippines' government wants to purchase the grain via the private sector first to keep prices at a low level before it starts signing government-to-government deals to purchase in bulk. They said private companies from the Philippines, knowing that Vietnam is now at the peak of its largest crop of the year the winter-spring crop, have tried to force prices down by creating competition among Vietnamese sellers.
Vietnamese rice companies have begun buying winter-spring grain under a stockpiling plan to prevent price falls. Under the plan, 65 rice exporters will buy a combined two million tons of paddy, equivalent to one million tons of milled rice, by April 15.
Vietnam, the second largest rice exporter after Thailand, may produce about 25 million tons of milled rice this year, amply sufficient to allow exports of between six million and 6.5 million tons this year.


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The more excited super sports car market attracted great attention for some sports car manufacturers in the world. One of them is a Lamborghini, a manufacturer of super sports cars the Italian recently said it would bring their latest products to the national automotive market. The new Lamborghini car is the Lamborghini Aventador LP 750 Superveloce which will be entered by Lamborghini to the automotive market by the end of this year.
The new Lamborghini car that will be available around September or October. Is currently being tuned Lamborghini Aventador Lamborghini LP 750 Superveloce from manufacturer.
Lamborghini LP 750 Superveloce surprised him the most this was only available. Under these conditions it makes supercar lovers in Indonesia should quickly buy if you want the latest supercar that has the symbol of this bull. It is known Lamborghini LP 750 is a supercar limited Superveloce edition produced only 600 units for the global market share. [Read more…]


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Apple Music and iTunes has revealed its ‘Best of 2016’ list, featuring the top selling and streamed albums and songs in the UK.
Musician Rev. Peyton and pickup designer Brian Fleming have created the most American instrument you could ever imagine – the Shotgun Guitar.
JBL Professional by HARMAN’s new PRX800W portable PA system is now shipping in the UK.
Casio has donated a Celviano Grand Hybrid piano to help BRIT School students with their academic, vocational and artistic studies.
The Hidersine Company has been manufacturing bowed instruments and producing instrument maintenance and care for well over 100 years, founded in 1890 by Mr Francis Hider, who initially started out ...
Orange Amplification has announced its fourth annual Wish Granted competition and the firm has expanded the budget to give away more gear than ever before.
The British Retail Consortium has put together a detailed ‘Festive FAQs’, packed full of stats and facts for the 2016 Christmas trading period.
Promark by D’Addario has unveiled the Matt Halpern Signature Stick.
Piano Restorations is renowned worldwide for its piano rebuilding expertise. Now, the booming Buckinghamshire business is expanding to include piano sales.
Ernie Ball Music Man has introduced a host of new models and finishes for its most popular guitars and basses.


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Scrappage scheme for diesel cars 'is being considered' as Government considers throwing cash at cleaner air
- Critic warns the proposed scheme could leave the Government with a 'huge bill'
- Proposals are being drawn up in response to recent emission scandals
Government officials are drawing up plans to introduce a scrappage scheme for diesel cars in a bid to improve air quality across the UK.
Diesel car owners could be offered cash to replace their particulate-spraying vehicle for a low-emission alternative, the Daily Telegraph reports.
But, Steve Gooding, director of motoring research at the RAC Foundation, claims any scheme runs the risk of triggering a 'huge bill' for the Government and could end up having little long-term impact.
Proposed scheme: Government officials are drawing up a plan to introduce a scrappage scheme for diesel cars
A Government spokeswoman did not confirm that a scrappage scheme is being considered, but said air quality plans are being developed and there will be an update later this year.
The spokeswoman said: 'We are firmly committed to improving the UK's air quality and cutting harmful emissions.'
The RAC's Mr Gooding said: 'The risk is that a scheme could quickly run up a huge bill for the Exchequer, have only marginal impact in problem areas, and falter in encouraging the take-up of electric cars because the charging infrastructure isn't really in place to support their widespread use.'
Meanwhile, AA president Edmund King said: 'As it was Government that encouraged the dash for diesel with fiscal incentives, it would be poetic justice for the Government to now provide incentives for dismantling older diesels.
'We believe that such a scheme for cars over 10 years old could prove popular with drivers.'
Cash incentives: Diesel car owners could be offered cash to replace their gas guzzling vehicle for a low-emission alternative
The proposals are being drawn up by the Department for Transport and Defra in response to emission scandals and health risks linked to emissions from diesel cars.
Concern over the impact of diesel cars on nitrogen dioxide levels were raised by the Volkswagen emissions scandal in September 2015.
Globally, around 11 million Volkswagen diesel cars were fitted with software known to release fewer smog-causing pollutants during emissions tests than in real-road conditions.
Analysis by Defra found that nitrogen dioxide is estimated to be responsible for 23,500 deaths in the UK every year.
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"Advance Auto Parts has funded the car show portion of the evenings for the last several years, which has been wonderful because that helps pay for advertising and off-duty police officers for the event and Porta Potties," said Cartersville DDA Executive Director Liz Hood. "So that's been wonderful. What we are still seeking sponsors for are the cost of the bands. With the economy the way that it is, we are doing more local bands. Babe's Bayou will return in August.
"Etowah Jazz will be here in April. ... June is still open because we cannot book bands until we have sponsorships. We would love to have The Tams return. It's going to depend on how much we receive in corporate sponsorships. So if you want to see The Tams come back, we'd love to have you help sponsor that."
To raise the needed $10,000, the Cartersville DDA is offering a variety of sponsorship levels, ranging from $200 to $1,000.
"As opposed to a one-time event, [the businesses will] be receiving publicity really from March through August," Hood said. "We have posters out. You're in all the media stories, the radio announcements, the banners on the fence, the table tents that go into restaurants and retail shops to let people know about the upcoming concert series and car show."
Like last year, the Summer Concert Series will be held in conjunction with the Tom Clayton Memorial Car Cruize on the second Saturday in April and the first Saturday in May, June and August. To be held at Friendship Plaza, beside the Cartersville train depot, the concerts will begin two hours after the 5 p.m. car show, with both offerings ending at 9 p.m.
While an act is still being sought for June, the concert series' tentative lineup will include April 14 -- Etowah Jazz Society, May 5 -- The Sock Hops and Aug. 4 -- Babe's Bayou. Instead of offering a show in July, downtown Cartersville will host a patriotic concert featuring the Bartow Winds Concert Band June 30. As in past years, there will be no admission charge for the car show and concert series.
"The main concern is getting the entertainment in downtown Cartersville so that we can draw people in to shop downtown," said Loretta Brown, special events coordinator for the Cartersville DDA. "We are here to help promote and enhance the businesses [in] downtown Cartersville. So everything we do is centered around trying to help them gain more customers, more business.
"From what my perspective is, I believe that these type of events will keep downtown Cartersville thriving because people [say], 'Oh wow, we haven't been to nothing like this before.' People come from all over Georgia just to see the concerts and to participate. So I think it's a nice, fun, family event."
For more information about becoming a corporate partner, call the Cartersville DDA at 770-607-3480.


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Mar 1, 2013
Giving greeting cards is very much part of the British culture. A recent study by Ofcom found that UK consumers send more greeting cards than any other surveyed country;Â France, Germany, Italy, USA, Japan, Australia, Spain, and China.
Greeting cards remain an important part of the UK social culture, and UK consumers are sending more than ever before. One of the key factors driving this growth is the increased demand seen in online print and the growing popularity for personalised photo cards.
InfoTrends tracks the UK photo card market and our research found that the UK market sells more personalised photo cards than any other Western European country; representing around a quarter of all photo cards sold in Western Europe. Furthermore, more volume of photo cards have been sold in the UK than any other paper based photo product; more than photo books, calendars and canvases combined.
Greeting cards are a practical item and are popular all year round, so it is no wonder that photo cards contribute to such a large share of the photo product market. However, the success of the market strongly reflects the marketing investments made by local players to raise consumer awareness and interest. Companies such as Funky Pigeon and Moonpig have been fundamental players in the success of the UK photo card market, in particular Moonpig, with their strong investment in TV advertising.
As consumers’ awareness of photo cards continues to grows, we expect to see the UK photo card market continue to flourish. InfoTrends anticipates the photo card market to experience double-digit growth in 2013.
Industry players would do well to invest in marketing efforts to raise consumers’ awareness in personalised photo cards. The market is growing at a healthy rate, but there many opportunities to expand the market and drive further growth. The InfoTrends 2012 Western European Photo Merchandise Forecast is available on the InfoTrends report store. The forecast includes market data for photo books, cards, calendars and canvases, split by the five major markets in Western Europe; France, Germany, Italy, Spain and The UK.
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Canfor Co. (TSE:CFP – Get Rating) – Raymond James decreased their Q1 2023 EPS estimates for shares of Canfor in a report issued on Wednesday, March 1st. Raymond James analyst D. Swetlishoff now anticipates that the company will earn ($0.42) per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of ($0.40). Raymond James currently has a “Strong-Buy” rating and a $34.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Canfor’s current full-year earnings is $0.74 per share. Raymond James also issued estimates for Canfor’s Q4 2023 earnings at ($0.08) EPS and FY2023 earnings at ($0.59) EPS.
Several other research firms also recently commented on CFP. CIBC dropped their price objective on shares of Canfor from C$29.00 to C$28.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Canfor from C$33.00 to C$30.00 in a report on Monday, January 9th.
Canfor Stock Up 1.6 %
CFP stock opened at C$23.04 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is C$23.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$22.86. The company has a market capitalization of C$2.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 2.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.47, a current ratio of 3.45 and a quick ratio of 2.14. Canfor has a 12 month low of C$18.42 and a 12 month high of C$30.37.
Canfor Corporation operates as an integrated forest products company in the United States, Asia, Canada, Europe, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Lumber, and Pulp and Paper. The company manufactures and sells finger-jointed lumber, engineered wood products, wood chips and pellets, and logs, as well as custom specialty products, including strength-rated trusses, beams, and tongue-and-groove timber; and generates green energy.
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Dr. Bronner’s and Sea Shepherd Celebrate Partnership to Protect Our Oceans
Top-Selling Soap Brand Donates New Ship, MV Emanuel Bronner, to Support Wildlife Protection in the Baltic Sea
June 15, 2017
VISTA, CA – Dr. Bronner’s, the top-selling natural brand of soap and body care products in North America has partnered with Sea Shepherd to launch Sea Shepherd Germany’s first vessel, the MV Emanuel Bronner. Dr. Bronner’s donated the ship to support the organization’s efforts to defend wildlife in the Baltic Sea.
To commemorate this partnership, Dr. Bronner’s and Sea Shepherd have each released new limited edition co-branded merchandise for sale on their respective websites. Dr. Bronner’s has also published a video, available at: https://youtu.be/0piximd79AU and an interview with Sea Shepherd leadership by company President, Michael Bronner, on the company’s All-One! blog to mark this unique collaboration, available at: https://info.drbronner.com/all-one-blog.
“On June 1, I brought my family to Bremen, Germany, where Sea Shepherd Germany’s first ship, the MV Emanuel Bronner, named after my grandfather, was unveiled to press and supporters,” says Michael Bronner, President of Dr. Bronner’s. “The more I’ve gotten to know the amazing individuals involved in this organization, the more I’ve understood that the soul and mission of Dr. Bronner’s and Sea Shepherd is All-One! Motivated by a mutual concern and compassion for the environment and wildlife, both organizations hold a deep belief in the power and responsibility of individuals to take direct action to right the wrongs of the world.”
The goal of Sea Shepherd Germany’s Baltic Sea campaign is to finally establish real sanctuaries for endangered harbour porpoises. These small and shy members of the dolphin family are seeing their numbers decrease dramatically because they are frequently caught in fishing nets and die as bycatch. To protect this species, Germany should be following EU regulations and designate the porpoises’ habitats as sanctuaries where fishing is completely prohibited. Right now, the use of gillnets is still legal and not monitored at all, which Sea Shepherd asserts, must change.
“Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is celebrating our 40th anniversary this year. We are honored to partner with Dr. Bronner’s, a rare company that has a deep understanding of the consequences of human actions on the planet,” says David Hance, Chief Operating Officer of the U.S. based Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. “Their support has helped our German partners with the means to set sail this summer to protect the threatened harbour porpoise in the Baltic Sea,” Hance continued.
Dr. Bronner’s has created a special “Protect Our Oceans” label to promote this partnership and to support Sea Shepherd. A 4oz. soap bottle with this special label is free with purchase of a co-branded Dr. Bronner’s and Sea Shepherd toiletry bag available on both organizations’ websites. (MSRP: $25.00.) To view or purchase, visit: https://www.drbronner.com/merchandise and https://www.seashepherd.org.
Dr. Bronner’s is also selling a limited run of T-Shirts (MSRP: $25.00) and Hoodies (MSRP: $45.00) with a special graphic celebrating the launch of the MV Emanuel Bronner available on the company’s website while supplies last. To view or purchase, visit: https://www.drbronner.com/merchandise.
Sea Shepherd is an international non-profit, marine wildlife conservation organization. Founded in 1977, their mission is to end the habitat destruction and slaughter of wildlife in the world’s oceans, in order to conserve and protect ecosystems and marine species. Sea Shepherd uses innovative direct-action tactics to investigate, document, and take action when necessary, to expose and confront illegal activities on the high seas. By safeguarding the biodiversity of the world’s delicately balanced ocean ecosystems, Sea Shepherd works to ensure their survival for future generations. For more information on Sea Shepherd, please visit: https://www.seashepherd.org.
Dr. Bronner’s is a family business committed to honoring the vision of founder Emanuel Bronner by making socially and environmentally responsible products of the highest quality, and by dedicating profits to help make a better world. The company’s commitment to animal and environmental protection and progressive business practices is part of the company’s mission to put into practice the principles that inform the philosophy printed on the company’s iconic soap labels written by founder Emanuel Bronner. The company is the top-selling natural brand of soap in North America and widely renowned around the world. Based on 2015 sales, a bottle of Dr. Bronner’s soap was sold on average every 3 seconds. For more information on Dr. Bronner’s, please visit: https://info.drbronner.com.


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Monday, January 20, 2020
By Kamal Swami
Tata Tigor: Emerges as the Best Selling EV In India
Tata Tigor the premium compact sedan by domestic carmaker Tata Motors had been a game-changer for the company, which not only succeeded in ruling the hearts of the buyers in India but also succeeded in grabbing an opportunity of joining the fleet of vehicles used by the government departments. Now once again the Tigor has succeeded in making its makers proud of it. According to recent reports between the period from April 2019 to December 2019, the homegrown carmaker sold out 669 units of the electric Tigor in India, thus becoming the best-selling EV in the Indian car market. The EV Tat Tigor offers an impressive average of 213 km, approved by ARAI.
Underhood, the Tigor EV is equipped with 21.5 kWh battery and takes up to 90 minutes to charge up to 80 percent with the help of Dc 15 kW fast charger. On the other side while using the regular AC wall socket it almost takes six hours to touch the mark of 80 percent. It would be interesting to know that recently going through the reduction announced on GST by the Government, the prices of Tigor EV were cut down by the company. The compact sedan is offered with dual airbags and anti-lock braking system as standard safety features. It is also offered with an inbuilt three years warranty or 1.2 5 lakh km, whichever is earlier.
With India moving towards electric mobility the performance of Tigor EV can be regarded as an illustration for other manufacturers who are hesitating in extending the production of their existing line-up to electric vehicles. With the starting price of Rs. 9.44 lakh for fleet operators and Rs. 12.59 lakh (ex-showroom) for individual buyers (after deducting subsidies offered by the government. Along with this it also qualifies for FAME II incentive for specific commercial buyers.


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For many theme parks that note it, Pride month is a retail opportunity. Parks signal their welcoming of the LGBT+ guests by opening their cash registers to the community's dollars, offering a range of rainbow-splashed merchandise, food, and beverages for sale during June.
Heck, only in the past year or so have some parks (notably Disney) publicly declared the connection between all that limited-edition rainbow merch and the LGBT+ community, having slid by with a - sorry to say it - "don't ask, don't tell" mentality about the rainbows in the past.
With that connection being made now, moving beyond the retail sales, the next logical step for parks' appeal to the community would be programming entertainment and limited-time attractions for Pride month, much like what Disneyland has done with its Celebrate Soulfully events to reach out and include the Black community, and other parks in Southern California have done with Lunar New Year for the many Asian communities in the region.
The Legoland parks now are taking that next step - and they are doing it in the heart of their theme parks. Legoland has created a nationwide Pride parade of more than 1,530 Lego minifigs that stretches a total of nearly 100 feet long from locations in the three Legoland theme parks in the United States through seven Lego Discovery Centers from coast to coast.
In the theme parks, Legoland New York's Pride parade takes place in front of the park's Miniland reproduction of the Stonewall Inn - the birthplace of the modern fight for LGBT+ rights in the United States. At Legoland California, the parade passes in front of the Painted Ladies homes in the San Francisco section of that park's Miniland, since San Francisco has a long association with welcoming LGBT+ people and their allies. And at Legoland Florida, the Pride parade takes place... in the New York section of their Miniland.
So many jokes just want to write themselves there.
More than 250,000 Lego elements were used in crafting Legoland's celebration of Pride across the United States, according to the company. For tickets to the Legoland theme parks and many Legoland Discovery Centers, please visit our authorized travel partner's Attractions Discounts page.
And for more theme park news and discounts, please sign up for Theme Park Insider's weekly newsletter.Tweet


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Good artists copy, nice artists steal. The pithy commentary typically connected to Picasso seems to use not solely to the artwork world, however to cryptocurrency as properly.
Back in 2013, the creators of Dogecoin by no means supposed the digital foreign money to function something greater than a comedic parody of Bitcoin. They definitely by no means envisioned it as an funding that shops any considerable worth or represents a materials holding in somebody’s diversified portfolio.
In truth, they first positioned the altcoin, or non-Bitcoin cryptocurrency, as a joke – not an precise funding to carry in your portfolio.
Because while you fast-forward to 2021, you would be hard-pressed to see that was the intent. Rocketing northward of fifty cents per Dogecoin not too long ago, up from roughly half a cent at the 12 months’s starting, the altcoin is now up by greater than 10,500% to date this 12 months. As a outcome, it holds a whole market capitalization of greater than $65 billion and makes the digital foreign money something however “a joke” – at the very least in the eyes of these shopping for it in droves.
Dogecoin now garners appreciable retail investor consideration, following in the footsteps of different monetary style fads presenting themselves in 2021, akin to GameStop (GME), SPACs or non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
But a lot of the investments have delivered flash-in-the-pan returns that at the moment are discovering extra losers than winners. And much like these different headline-grabbing investments, many individuals doubtless will probably be left holding the bag on Dogecoin.
Why? Let’s dig in.
What Is Dogecoin?
Dogecoin is a cryptocurrency, or digital illustration of cash, that operates on a peer-to-peer transaction community known as the blockchain. These trades get logged in a digital decentralized ledger by folks verifying them by “mining” (or “digging,” in the case of Dogecoin – the token’s creators stated canines do not “mine”) and receiving a nominal quantity of the digital foreign money in return.
The coin’s founders designed it as a satirical tackle Bitcoin, although with out the advantage signaling many have come to see Bitcoin representing. Instead, Dogecoin’s founders noticed no actual goal for the coin past producing laughs.
While Dogecoin accomplishes a lot of the similar features of different digital and fiat currencies, duties like facilitating commerce, storing worth and appearing as a unit of account, it would not do something distinctive to elucidate its meteoric rise. Rather, it is similar to the digital currencies earlier than it, however with buyers’ requirements decrease, bidding up the worth so that you can consider it is actual.
But make no mistake: Just like the scorching air that is leaving (or already left) these different “meme” investments made well-known by 2021, so too will Dogecoin deflate.
How Did Dogecoin Get Here?
Dogecoin’s journey requires suspended disbelief. Most noticed it as a joke relegated to social media banter or, at greatest, a caricature mocking the complete emergence of cryptocurrencies.
What’s been driving its current rise to a market valuation better than a number of publicly traded corporations in the Fortune 500 has largely come from three contributing components:
- Individual buyers utilizing Robinhood and different free stock trading apps to position commission-free trades out and in of the foreign money.
- A 3rd wave of stimulus checks that has fueled the market’s epic rise over the final 12 months
- Retail buyers taking to social media websites like Reddit and Twitter to supply funding concepts
To reveal the sheer silliness that may affect this coin, these trumpeting the digital foreign money aimed to pump the worth to as excessive as $1 per Dogecoin on April 20. The date, colloquially generally known as “4/20,” is successfully an unofficial vacation celebrating marijuana. While this effort failed, it reveals the susceptibility of this coin’s worth to be influenced by greater than market fundamentals.
Events like this do not essentially maintain true just for Dogecoin, after all.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has given the foreign money vital credence with a sequence of goofy tweets all through the 12 months, for example. But then, he and different influencers routinely promote investments on social media and in the information. In truth, over the previous 12 months or so, Musk has by chance moved a number of shares which have tickers much like the names of the non-publicly traded corporations he was truly speaking about.
That an asset may be moved by hype would not routinely make it a unhealthy funding.
However, Dogecoin’s exceptional rally can solely really be tied to this hype. The foreign money would not present a distinctive, moat-laden funding rationale to justify this valuation. It additionally fails to serve a market needn’t met by the different main cryptos in circulation.
Bitcoin began the crypto revolution and continues to supply worth from its first-mover benefit and its relative shortage. Ethereum powers the DeFi, or Decentralized Finance, community eradicating the want for a lot of current monetary establishments. Ripple, or XRP, makes use of a totally different authenticity verification method than Bitcoin, known as “proof-of-stake” versus “proof-of-work” employed in conventional crypto mining.
Dogecoin does none of this. And it provides no driving motive behind its unbelievable rise to this point.
The ethical of this Dogecoin story is that the market worth has moved not on account of basic values nor being a differentiated asset. Instead, it has moved largely due to social media pumpers and media our bodies.
That has made for a implausible journey (and loads of bragging rights) for early speculators. But it would not make for a sustainable funding technique.