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By Alistair Barr and Olivia Oran
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - If "Facebook For Dummies" helped you find friends and post pictures on the world's No. 1 onlinesocial network, then consider "Facebook IPO Confidential" which purports to teach you "How To Get Rich With The IPO Of The Century."
The e-book is one of about eight self-help manuals that appear to have sprung up overnight to try to capitalize on the frenzy surrounding Silicon Valley's biggest initial public offering.
With other titles such as "The Facebook IPO Pitch: Are You In?" and "How To Invest In Facebook", these books are far from bestsellers. But, along with countless online forums and news articles about the IPO, they underscore the desire of ordinary people - many of whom have never invested in stocks before - to get in on the $15.2 billion share sale.
"If you can't invent Facebook, the next best bragging rights would be to say that you had invested in the social media phenom when it was a dorm room project. If not then, perhaps the IPO," Nancy Miller wrote in a guide titled "The Facebook IPO Primer."
Many wealth managers are advising their clients to avoid Facebook, pointing to a sky-high valuation of up to $104 billion set by the IPO, and potentially much higher once it starts trading. The company also shows signs of slowing growth, has yet to figure out how to make money on mobile, and new shareholders will have little influence as nearly 56 percent of voting shares will be in the hands of one person: Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg.
But such warnings are falling on deaf ears as many people are drawn in by Facebook's brand name and the fact that one in seven people around the globe are on the social network. Facebook Inc (FB.O) on Tuesday increased the size of its IPO by nearly 25 percent and raised the target price range.
"I can't remember another IPO that got this much attention," said Max Wolff, a senior analyst at GreenCrest Capital. "Half the people talking about the Facebook IPO probably don't know what IPO stands for."
The strong demand means that most retail investors will have to wait until Facebook begins to trade on the Nasdaq on Friday to get hold of the shares - and risk getting trampled. If the stock skyrockets, the average person might end up getting orders filled at a price much higher than they wanted and then face the possibility of losses as funds steamroll in and then zip back out, taking the price off its highs.
"I don't know if buying on the day of the IPO is the best idea, but I like the novelty factor of it and being able to say that you bought on the first day," said Micah Stubbs, a first-time investor who works in the oil and gas industry and lives in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
Facebook's share price could surge 30 percent on debut day, said Reena Aggarwal, a professor of business administration and finance at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business in Washington. She suggested retail investors may be better off holding off for a few weeks until the share price settles.
"The market will try to figure out the right price for the stock and it's going to open really high," Aggarwal said. "There are lots of risks - the company is high growth but also high risk, and there is a lot of uncertainty, so retail investors have to be careful."
Facebook is going public after accumulating almost a billion users, nearly $4 billion in annual revenue and a brand name augmented by the 2010 Oscar-winning film "The Social Network", which charted the rise of Zuckerberg who started Facebook in his Harvard University dorm room.
Most ordinary people have only the slimmest of chances of getting hold of IPO shares as Facebook's 33 underwriters, led by Morgan Stanley (MS.N), JPMorgan (JPM.N) and Goldman Sachs (GS.N), are expected to give priority to their most important clients, usually institutional investors.
Typically, only 5 to 30 percent of IPO shares are set aside for retail investors, underwriters say.
Discount broker E*Trade Financial (ETFC.O), which was added to the list of IPO underwriters at the last minute, offers some help. Last week, its home page threw up a pop-up box explaining what investors need to do to get in on IPOs.
Would-be buyers have to answer about 25 questions about their financial status and investment habits. They are then prompted to place a conditional offer for at least 50 Facebook shares and a maximum price they are willing to pay per share.
Online prediction market Intrade, which lets investors bet on major events such as the U.S. presidential election, offers another alternative. It started a contract on Tuesday for bets on where shares of the social network will close on their first day of trading.
Facebook reported $205 million in first-quarter profit, down 12 percent from the same period a year ago. While sales leapt 45 percent year-on-year to $1.6 billion, that lagged the 55 percent growth of the fourth quarter.
On Tuesday, General Motors Co (GM.N) said it will stop advertising on Facebook, amid concerns that the ads have had little impact on consumer spending. The auto maker continues to use Facebook pages for marketing its vehicles, but the news underscored the risks Facebook faces as it tries to boost revenue from its huge user base.
RegentAtlantic Capital is among the wealth managers recommending clients stay away, without much success.
"Most clients or their children have some interaction with Facebook, so I believe the demand will be high," RegentAtlantic wealth advisor Chris Cordaro said, warning that there could be "a lot of pain" ahead for investors who buy at inflated prices on Friday.
Because of such concerns, some retail investors plan to get in and get out of the stock quickly. That may be fine if they get in at the IPO price but if they end up buying once the shares have started trading up, they may not be so lucky.
"Retail participation is associated with more speculation and noise, and because of that there is more volatility," said David Sraer, a professor of economics at Princeton University. "They tend to herd together and be on the same side of the market, which drives imbalance."
Retired chemical engineer Alvan Sweet ordered through Schwab 10,000 Facebook shares worth $380,000 at the high end of the indicative IPO price range. If he is lucky enough to get an allocation, he plans to dump the shares on day one or two.
Sweet, whose son is a senior managing partner of the IPO Boutique advisory firm, has invested in IPOs before but says this is the first time friends in his Florida condo community have pestered him about getting shares. "They were hoping that because my son is in the business I would have access," he said.
One of his friends, Lucky Bloch, admits to losing money on an IPO before. But he is confident this investment will pay off.
"Initially Over-Priced is what IPO should stand for," he complained. "If you can get in before the first day, then sell a couple of days later, there's money to be made," he told Reuters. "Can you help me get shares?"
(Additional reporting by Alexei Oreskovic and Sarah McBride, editing by Edwin Chan, Tiffany Wu and Richard Chang)


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Seez, a UAE-based startup announced the launch of its automotive retail Marketplace in Denmark this March - selling the first car bought & financed fully digitally in all of Scandinavia within just a few weeks of the marketplace going Live. This marked Seez as one of the very few UAE-based startups to successfully break into the European market. Their success prompted the biggest automotive lender in Europe and the biggest insurance companies to join forces & partner with Seez.
“We analysed the Danish market in terms of the number of cars sold, the Danish are early adopters of technology, the country is highly digital” Says CEO & founder Tarek Kabrit. That is why Seez presence in Denmark was a logical step for the company “It was also very important for us to be first movers in the markets we go after as we believe this leads to economies of scale over time and nobody else is doing full digital car buying in Denmark so far.” Tarek continued
Following its launch in Denmark, Seez intends to drive its expansion into the rest of the Nordics as well as Southern and Eastern Europe. As they work together with their partners (some of the biggest & established car dealers in the market) they are able to grow their car inventory to the thousands & scale their marketplace offering over the coming 18 months. This move is in line with Seez’s vision to be the next UAE-based Unicorn startup.
Seez aims to digitise the car buying experience & reinvent the way people buy cars. Seez delivers a wider selection of almost new cars; offering value, full transparency, convenience & peace of mind to their customers. This along with a 14-day return policy, one-year warranty and free home delivery as they browse and buy their next car from the comforts of their home.
Seez Initially Launched in 2016 as an AI-based image recognition APP for cars. Evolving into a car listing aggregator APP that served five markets: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Pakistan & South Africa. Seez offers several car-buying services via the Seez APP, including a search engine, pricing models, an AI-negotiation & data tool.
In 2020, Seez signed a partnership with Enjer Hessel, the largest Mecedes dealer & second largest auto-dealership in Denmark. Enabling it to sell their car models in an omnichannel platform.

domain: news


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Dog meat could come off Chinese menus
Wednesday 27 January 2010
Dog and cat meat -- age-old delicacies in China -- could be off the menu in the food-loving nation under its first law against animal abuse, state press said Tuesday.
Dog and cat meat - age-old delicacies in China - could be off the menu in the food-loving nation under its first law against animal abuse, state press said Tuesday.
People who eat either animal, both of which are viewed as promoting bodily warmth, would face fines of up to 5,000 yuan (730 dollars) and up to 15 days in jail if the law is passed, the Chongqing Evening News said.
It said "organisations" involved in the practice would be fined from 10,000 to 500,000 yuan. The report gave no other details.
The law has been at the drafting stage over the past year and the report did not make clear when the legislation was expected to become law.
China's rubber-stamp legislature meets in March but draft legislation can often take years to be approved.
Cruelty to animals and the raising of cat and dog meat for dinner tables remains widespread in China, despite growing consciousness over animal welfare.
Restaurants touting "fragrant meat," a euphemism for dog, can be seen in cities throughout the country, where the fondness for dogs as pets co-exists with a taste for canine meat.
Cat meat is most popular in parts of southern China and there are regular reports of animal lovers attempting to block trucks carrying hundreds or even thousands of cats to meat markets and eventually dinner tables there.
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After a successful Closed beta for Gran Turismo Sport in the US, Sony and Polyphony Digital are finally rolling out a new Closed Beta for players in Europe and the action roars into life this weekend!
The news was delivered on the Gran Turismo Sport website and while the games, currently, has no release date outside of just "2017" fans will no doubt be overjoyed to play the game after a series of glowing reports across the pond.
Polyphony Digital president Kazunori Yamauchi had told fans in a news post on the official Gran Turismo site and PlayStation UK blog some weeks back that beta participants would get a sneak peek at how Gran Turismo will pave: "the future of racing, competing in highly competitive races against other users across the country, and eventually across the globe."
"the future of racing, competing in highly competitive races against other users across the country, and eventually across the globe."
Having already seen some incredible Gran Turismo Sport gifs from the game and footage of it running on the PS4 Pro, fans in Europe will certainly be sure to jump in and enjoy the game across the Easter Bank Holiday weekend.
Take a closer look at the game in the gallery below:
Kazunori Yamauchi promised prior to the launch of the US beta that European players would get the chance to play the game once testing was complete and he's been true to his word.
Yamauchi has said that the closed beta will help the development team capture data in an optimal manner.
"The sample size needs to be increased gradually and in stages," Yamauchi explained.
The reason the beta was split into two with the US going first was merely a geographical decision, with Yamauchi previously stating:
"While we begin to roll out the beta, we have decided that the time differences across the U.S. are best matched to the development team in Tokyo."
Gearnuke has suggested that Gran Turismo Sport runs at native 1080p with 60 fps on the regular PS4.
Gran Turismo Sport Beta - What to expect?
Yamauchi has indicated that participants will be able to choose from between "a select rotation of cars and tracks each day" to race online against others during the beta periods.
These track and car selections will vary during the beta phase, and the developers have been sure to offer different race class categories and course configurations to properly test GT fans and no doubt the game as a whole in the lead up to launch.
The Polyphony Digital president has also noted that this will be players first opportunity to see how GT Sport’s new Sportsmanship Rating and Driver Rating will work in-game.
This, Yamauchi says, "will ensure those that race online will be equally matched, naturally creating a balanced group of competitive drivers for every race."
As with all closed beta events, "Spaces will be limited".
But, Yamauchi has advised that if you don’t get in, players should "stay tuned for future beta activities in the run-up to launch", which would suggest that there will definitely be another beta event in the future.
It sounds obvious, but this would seem to suggest that there will definitely be another open beta event in the future, and flying in the face of comments last year that the game wouldn't conduct a beta before launch.


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Apple could use a dedicated Trusted Platform Module chip to stop OSX being run on non-Macs, according to analysis published today.
As reported on VNUnet
, Apple are looking at ways to stop x86 machines running the proprietary Macintosh OSX operating system.
The TPM chip is already being used by PC vendors, but has been extremely controversial because of the fact it can be used to enforce digital rights management in hardware. For instance, licenses for digital content like MP3s can be stored in hardware, preventing any distribution - or, arguably, fair use.
By storing some kind of license key in the TPM module, OSX could be restricted to run solely on Macs featuring this chip.
Of course, the entire situation is based on the premise that the x86 version of OSX will be unhackable. Based on past experience, this is absolutely not going to be the case. Despite Microsoft's years of effort and millions of dollars pumped into copy protection and activation schemes, nothing has stopped hackers and techies getting around the various forms of protection on Windows. There's nothing to suggest that the few lines of code that will make OSX look for the TPM license can't and won't be disabled by enterprising individuals.
Indeed, we'd expect to see self-built enthusiast systems running OSX within a couple of months of the release of the operating system. Of course, the discs for the OS will only come with retail Macs, but there's no way that it won't hit Bit Torrent 24 hours after launch.
What isn't clear is that regardless of whether OSX is locked to Macs, whether Macs will be locked to OSX. Could we have a Mac dual-booting Windows? I don't think it will be too far after launch.


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By LIKHAPHA THAATHAA
The most expensive winning bid of R5 250 at the Food4Futures (F4F) Loads of Lots auction on Saturday, 28 May, was for a ‘Dinner at Home’ to be cooked by none other than F4F founder and manager Mary Birt.
F4F’s first-ever auction sold 78 items for over R80 000 in aid of food parcels for local people in need.
A quilt titled ‘Stars’ (made between 1990 and 1992) fetched R4 100. And two nights’ accommodation at Manzikhanya Lodge netted R3 800.
Among the guests at the auction, held at the Amazwi South African Museum of Literature, were several of the car guards who benefit from F4F’s Parking4Parcels project. Ticket booklets are sold to motorists, who pass on tickets to car guards or anyone approaching for food or money, who exchange them for food parcels at F4F.
R5 Parking4Parcels tickets were included in the bidding booklets of all auction participants.
Makana Residents Association chair Sally Price-Smith said the event had contributed to food sustainability for those in need. It offered the community an opportunity to come together to understand, respect, and help less fortunate people with food and other essential needs.
Mary Birt said the months-long planning of the event – logistics, procuring items, managing volunteers, and marketing – was quite a challenge.
The website was vital to the auction’s success. It attracted bidders and gave them ample time to browse their selections and place their bids.
Birt appreciated the local, out-of-town and international donors who contributed a wide range of valuable, high-demand items, from getaways to premium wines and artworks.
The auction was a massive fundraising success, and it also connected the organisation to new people. “People have started recognising us,” Birt said.
Life would be a mistake without music – and the Byrdsongs Choir led by Simon Tibbs enveloped the event with beautiful music.


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'Frozen,' Pharrell lead midyear sales
Halfway through 2014, album and digital sales are down. But it's animated at the top.
With 2.7 million copies sold, Disney's “Frozen” soundtrack is 2014's biggest-selling album, and the only one to sell more than 1 million copies this year, according to a midyear report from Nielsen SoundScan.
Pharrell's “Happy,” from the “Despicable Me 2” soundtrack, is the top digital song, with 5.6 million downloads.
Sales were calculated through the week ending June 29.
Midway through 2013, the leading album was Justin Timberlake's “The 20 / 20 Experience” with 2 million copies, also the only album to surpass sales of 1 million in that cycle. It prevailed as the year's top seller. “Frozen,” released in November, is likely to triumph at year's end, as well. It has sold 3 million copies to date.
Beyonce's self-titled disc is a distant second (702,000), followed by Eric Church's “The Outsiders” (642,000), Lorde's “Pure Heroine” (641,000) and Coldplay's “Ghost Stories” (589,000).
The top five are the year's only albums to have reached sales of 500,000, according to Billboard. Last year, there were 11.
Seven of the titles in the midyear top 20 were released last year, and two in 2012 (Florida Georgia Line's “Here's to the Good Times” at No. 14 and Bruno Mars' “Unorthodox Jukebox” at No. 15).
The Oscar-nominated “Happy” is the only digital tune to leap past 5 million downloads this year. Katy Perry's “Dark Horse,” featuring Juicy J, is second with 4 million. She's trailed by John Legend's “All of Me” (3.9 million), Jason Derulo's “Talk Dirty” featuring 2 Chainz (3.7 million) and Idina Menzel's “Let It Go” (2.9 million).
A dozen songs have sold at least 2 million downloads this year, compared to 13 last year. And 38 songs have sold at least 1 million vs. 51 in the first half of 2013, Billboard reports.
Album sales, sliding for years, are down 15 percent compared to the same period last year. Those dips have been partially offset by booms in digital sales, but downloads have also drooped, slipping 13 percent since last year's midpoint.


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AM General has restarted the production of specially designed vans for the disabled at a northern Indiana factory where it has recalled 200 laid-off workers.
Swedish truck maker AB Volvo enjoyed strong sales in the fourth quarter, but its earnings were hurt by extra costs linked to the launch of new products, write-downs and restructuring charges.
Deborah Hersman, the chairman of the nation's transportation accident investigations board, is leaving to become the president and CEO of the National Safety Council.
The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday it approved a nerve-stimulating headband as the first medical device to prevent migraine headaches.
Tesla and the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (NJMVC) were working together to resolve concerns from dealerships, but according to a blog post put up on the Tesla corporate site today, that relationship has fallen apart, and now, Tesla is banned from selling vehicles in the state directly to customers.
The problem is that American manufacturing is not growing in terms of percentage of GDP, number of employees, number of plants, and — in many cases — sales revenue.
U.S. wholesale businesses in January suffered their steepest sales drop in nearly five years, yet they continued to increase their stockpiles.
Would Parmesan by any other name be as tasty atop your pasta? A ripening trade battle might put that to the test.
WIPP has been shuttered since early February. Shipments were halted after a truck hauling salt through the repository's tunnels caught fire, and nine days later the plant's alarms were triggered by the radiation release.
A drug that was only recently hailed as a breakthrough treatment is facing skepticism from some health care experts, as they consider whether it is worth the $1,000-a-pill price set by manufacturer Gilead Sciences.
California's Department of Motor Vehicles is wading into the complex question of how to regulate the use of cars that rely on computers — not people — to drive them.
U.S. employers advertised slightly more jobs in January than in December, a sign that hiring should remain steady in coming months.
Morse Manufacturing Co., Inc., has unveiled the Morse 86-SS blow-the-hook drum lifter, the company’s high-performance option in the drum lifter line.
January U.S. manufacturing technology orders totaled $365.06 million — down 25.2 percent from December but up 1.3 percent when compared with the total of $360.31 million reported for January 2013.
A Detroit-area steel plant would be allowed to release higher amounts of toxins under a revised permit that would bring its allowed emissions more in line with what the facility actually sends into the air.
Chrysler plans to hire up to 1,000 part-time employees to give exhausted full-time workers a break at its Toledo Jeep assembly plant.
A congressional committee is investigating the way General Motors and a federal safety agency handled a deadly ignition switch problem in compact cars.
The balancing act is playing out in stark relief in Utah, where there's a long history of suspicion at government intrusion and where drones are ideally suited to help authorities patrol largely rural, unforgiving terrain.
Global growth is likely to remain sluggish as a slowdown in the developing world undercuts gains in Europe and the United States, a leading international economic body warned.
Inspections of Bangladesh garment factories under a new safety initiative have found cracked support beams, substandard building materials and exposed electrical cables chewed by rats.


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Following the news that Kawasaki Heavy Industries is splitting their motorcycle and engine divisions from their main operations, Suzuki has announced that they are splitting their US motorcycle and marine divisions.
According to the Suzuki press release, “This new direction will reorganize the Suzuki Motorcycle/ATV and Marine Divisions into two separate companies set to begin operations on April 1, 2021.”
The motorcycle division, Suzuki Motor USA, LLC, will remain at their current headquarters in Brea, California. Suzuki Marine USA, LLC. will move to Tampa, Florida, to what Suzuki calls “the heart of the marine business in North America”. The move to Tampa also places Suzuki Marine much closer to the newly opened Marine Technical Center in Panama City, Florida.
The restructuring also comes on the heels of the announcement that Suzuki has severed ties with the JGR MX Team. With the worldwide pandemic taking its toll on the motorcycle business, neither of these announcements appear to indicate Suzuki is happy with their current situation. Yet, according to the press relase, “Both the Motorcycle/ATV and Marine Divisions are enjoying solid success in their respective businesses”.
The restructuring is said to enable each company to have the best opportunity for success, in part by allowing faster decision-making and realizing “greater efficiencies”. According to the press release, “Satoshi Uchida will serve as Chairman and Masami Haga will serve as President of the new motorcycle/ATV company. Masahiro Yamamoto will serve as President of the new marine company.”
Sources: motocrossactionmag.com, suzuki.com


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The Internal Revenue Service recently warned consumers about a sophisticated phone scam targeting taxpayers, including recent immigrants, throughout the country. Victims are told they owe money to the IRS and it must be paid promptly through a pre-loaded debit card or wire transfer. If the victim refuses to cooperate, they are then threatened with arrest, […]
http://www.thenewsleaders.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/ExtraExtra-icon.jpg 311 600 graphics http://www.thenewsleaders.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/NEWSLEADERS-ONLY-LOGO.jpg graphics2013-11-04 23:52:132013-11-04 23:52:31IRS warns of pervasive telephone scam
HOURS AND LOCATION
9 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday
32 1st Avenue NW
P.O. Box 324
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Directly north of the St. Joseph Meat Market.


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Electric vehicle supplier and manufacturer Bedeo has announced a new deal to provide refrigerated vans to Ocado. Building on an inital order of 15 in 2019, this latest deal will see the number of Bedeo EVs in Ocado’s fleet rise to 32 by the end of 2021. Operating from the Park Royal depot, the vehicles, with distinctive blueberry fruit panels, deliver groceries into west and south west London. Bedeo founder and chief executive Osman Boyner said: “We expect to see […]
Suffolk EV charging company EO Charging has become a publicly listed business in the US after it was acquired by First Reserve Sustainable Growth Corp.
“Covid will evolve your business in ways you wouldn’t otherwise have seen for years,” analyst claims
The Covid-19 pandemic will speed the evolution of the transport and logistics sector and transform how some businesses operate, according to new research.
CM Show 2020: Cleaner fuels, safer fleets, skills shortages and Brexit challenges all on the agenda for day two
Day two of the Commercial Motor Show 2020 brings you a buzzing conference programme exploring alternative fuels, fleet safety, skills shortages and Brexit implications.


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RUSSIA SHOOTS ITS BUSINESS CROOKS
When Stanislaw Wawrzecki was executed in Warsaw late in March, 1965, Polish intellectuals blanched and muttered bitterly. Wawrzecki had been convicted as the mastermind of a conspiracy to divert meat belonging to state stores to sell for private profit; over a decade, the court found, the conspiracy had netted some 3.5 million zlotys (officially $150,000). His execution was apparently Poland's first in some 10 years for an economic crime, and it provoked strong resentment.
"What is the price now for human life in Poland?" asked a Warsaw resident. "Is it a ton of meat or only half a ton?"
"This is something for Asia, but not for a European country," another Pole protested.
"Asia" was probably a euphemism for " Russia" where (confirming Polish scorn for Muscovite barbarity) executions for economic crimes are now common. Only two weeks after Wawrzecki's execution, one T. Chkekheidze, the chief engineer of a Soviet candy factory, was convicted of masterminding a ring that had embezzled $76,000 by substituting____________________


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Westlake Village-based digital marketing firm Conversant stayed on track with earnings but slightly missed Wall Street’s revenue targets as it committed to returning $150 million more in cash to shareholders through stock buybacks.
Conversant will align all of its business units — including a new SET Media video unit that it acquired for $26 million in cash and $4 million in stock days after its name change — around the goal of direct conversations between advertisers and consumers.
Shares of Westlake Village-based Conversant gained sharply in after-hours trading on Feb. 11 as the company delivered profits that beat Wall Street’s expectations and announced big changes designed to lead to growth.
Online advertising firm ValueClick has changed its name to Conversant and recalibrated its business model to focus on helping marketers better target individual consumers.
Westlake Village-based online advertising firm ValueClick is selling its owned-and-operated websites to the parent company of Dictionary.com, Match.com, Ask.com and About.com. The aggregate purchase price was $80 million, according to a regulatory filing.
The $1.6 billion Westlake Village-based digital advertising company has been under fire from investors — and trial attorneys — for its reliance acquisitions to produce revenue growth. It has also faced criticism of the steep losses it has taken on selling off business lines that didn’t work out.


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E3 2013 Thursday MMO Recap
While Alex and I were busy learning about Innogames’ business plans, James and Scott hit up Warframe at the Nvidia booth. For those who can’t keep up with Warframe’s constant updates, the recently launched update 8 has basically revamped the entire title with a new clan focused Dojo builder, space ship maps based on the Grineer as well as the ancient and mysterious Orokin, three new player built mods officially added into the game, twenty new weapons consisting of both the purchasable and craftable variety, and the just released dueling system that finally gives players a chance to test their metal against each other!
Check out this video recap to get a closer look at all that’s new in Warframe and keep an eye out on MMOHuts for an upcoming video with Digital Extremes’ PR Coordinator Katie putting James in his place in the dueling mode!
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Capcom announced the publication of the Devil May Cry 5, which will include the real Nero and Dante cloaks, as well as the vest of the new protagonist – V. Most expensive for fans will cost the edition of the game with Dante’s clothes – its cost will be almost $ 8,000.
For the edition with the cloak, Nero will have to pay about $ 6,600, and for the game with the V vest in the kit – about $ 5,300. In addition to clothing, three alternative box art will be included in ultra-limited editions.
The developers will also release the usually limited edition, which will put a shirt with the logo of Devil May Cry on the chest and art with wings on the back. The cost of this kit will be only 105 dollars.
Devil May Cry 5 will be released on March 8, 2019, on PC, PS4 and Xbox One.


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Xiaomi named #1 Global Smartphone Brand for the First Time: June results
For the first time ever, Xiaomi is officially the #1 smartphone brand in the world. June 2021 sales results testify to this fact. The Chinese firm boasts the sale of the most smartphones ever that month. The most recent data provided by Counterpoint reveals that Xiaomi is showing great numbers in the markets where Huawei and Honor traditionally lead, such as Africa, China, Europe, and the Middle East. Established in 2010, Xiaomi sold its first smartphone in 2011.
Xiaomi’s June sales grew by 26% over May, leading it to own a solid 17.1% market share in smartphone sales all over the world. Samsung is second, with a 15.7% percent market share and Apple third with 14.3%. Counterpoint data further demonstrates that in the Q2 2021, Xiaomi was the #2 global brand in smartphone shipments.
Xiaomi has sold around 800 million smartphones globally since its first 2011 smartphone.
Counterpoint’s Research Director mentioned that Xiaomi has filled the space left after Huawei’s exit in markets like Africa, China, Europe, and the Middle East. In June 2021, sales in China, India and Europe have all added to Xiaomi's surge. For instance, in China, Xiaomi was the fastest growing brand in June 2021 due to the sales volumes of Redmi 9, Redmi Note 9, and the Redmi K series. In addition, Samsung production was down due to the new COVID-19 wave in Vietnam, which manufactures many of its phones.
The firm also emphasizes that depending on the pandemic in Vietnam, Samsung may continue to lag behind Xiaomi. If and when the situation improves, however, Samsung may regain its lost positions.Source


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A US jury has ordered Dutch electronics giant Philips to pay $US466.8 million ($A505.06 million) to the American corporation Masimo for violating two medical device patents.
The eight members of the Delaware jury gave their verdict on Wednesday after a two-week trial, which came after California-based Masimo had filed a complaint in February 2009.
Jurors also found that Masimo had not infringed a Philips patent, as the Dutch firm had claimed.
"We are very disappointed in the verdict and will appeal this decision of the jury," Philips spokesman Steve Klink said in a statement.
"We remain convinced that Philips has not infringed any valid, enforceable patent claims of the two asserted Masimo patents."
The case involved patents related to pulse oximetry, a non-invasive technique of determining oxygen levels in blood.
Masimo shares closed 12.88 per cent higher in New York, at $US24.02.


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Bored? Turn your passions -- whether they are juggling chainsaws, chasing tornadoes or walking on fire -- into cool and profitable companies just like the following 12 entrepreneurs did.
When it comes to unemployment, Generation Next, or people born between 1980 and 2000, are not ones to sit around and complain. They take action. They are not about looking for jobs; they are about creating them.
These baby boomers and seniors take on and deftly handle entrepreneurship in the latter part of their lives.
Unemployment, job dissatisfaction and sheer guts created startup success for these eight entrepreneurs.
Who says small businesses aren't hiring? The following seven firms are looking for a few good employees.
The Lamborghini Asterion concept car will have a V10 engine and three electric motors.
Zombies are fiction, but the weapons on The Walking Dead are real.
For these seniors, the best retirement is not to retire. From a 102-year-old Wal-Mart worker to an activist park ranger, these workers have stayed on the job well into ...
Tens of thousands of protesters have flooded the streets of Hong Kong to demand open elections free from Beijing's influence. Eight protesters explain why they're ...
From the Microsoft Zune to the BlackBerry PlayBook, the Fire Phone is following in some unfortunate footsteps.
They may have million dollar-plus nest eggs, but they had to make some big sacrifices along the way to get there. Here's what these four savers did without in order to ...
For an exclusive CNNMoney list, research firm Universum Global surveyed college students around the world to see where they most want to work.
From ebooks to phone service, here are some tips for living your digital life on the cheap.
The new Ford Mustang has been upgraded and updated to compete globally - but never fear, it's still a monster.
|Investors are scared out of their wits|
|Hackers stole $100 million of U.S. military and Xbox tech - FBI|
|Microsoft introduces Windows 10|
|People are now bending iPhones in Apple Stores|
|Ebola drug stocks surge as virus spreads to U.S.|


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Before reporting on results, Uber’s actions rose approximately 11%, supported by a combination of financial results and promises for Lyft’s future that were highly rated by investors. This optimism spilled over to the edges of Uber.
Today after the bell, however, the global carpooling giant announced its own financial results. Analysts had expected a loss of $ 0.83 per share from $ 3.51 billion in revenue, although revenue estimates ranged from $ 2.31 billion to $ 4.33 billion – a unusually high range due to uncertainty caused by COVID-19.
Uber reported a loss of $ 1.70 a share in the first quarter and revenues of $ 3.54 billion, which gives a mixed set of results compared to expectations. The company lost $ 2.94 billion in the quarter including all costs, a figure that even for Uber seems excessively high.
Here are the key figures from the Uber earnings report, starting with spending on the platform and moving down to profitability and remaining cash at the end of the first quarter of 2020:
- Gross bookings (the value of goods and services sold on the Uber platform) increased by 8% compared to Q1 2019 to reach $ 15.8 billion.
- Gross trip bookings fell somewhat, while Uber’s food delivery service recorded gross sales growth of 54%.
- Uber’s sales increased 14% from $ 3.1 billion to $ 3.51 billion in the year-over-year quarter.
- Uber’s net loss of $ 2.94 billion was worse than its other profit metrics, including its adjusted EBITDA for the quarter, which resulted in a loss of $ 612 million. (Recall that it was the adjusted EBITDA that Uber previously promised to enter positive territory in the fourth quarter of this year before COVID-19 increased its market.)
- Uber ended the first quarter with $ 9 billion in cash and cash equivalents, and the company’s operations burned $ 463 million in cash in the first quarter.
Do you have all that? The headline in the Uber neighborhood is that its car pooling activity has declined and Uber Eats, its food delivery service, has grown like hell. Here are the figures for the latter:
- Gross bookings of $ 4.68 billion, up from $ 3.07 billion in the prior year quarter, or 52%
- GAAP revenues of $ 819 million, up from $ 536 million in the prior year quarter, or 53%
- Adjusted net revenues of $ 527 million, up from $ 239 million in the prior year quarter, or 121%
- Adjusted EBITDA resulting from a loss of $ 313 million, worse than its result of $ 309 million a year ago
It’s mainly bullish. Huge reservation gains are good, big GAAP revenue gains are good, adjusted net income gains are very good and, for Uber, don’t lose more money as it evolves – heavily adjusted losses for Uber Eats remained stable over one year. annual basis – is good.
The company, however, will have to lose less money overall, as its business struggles more in Q2 than in Q1. We will know more during his impending revenue call.
Uber has about 14% of its staff this week, and has made an investment in Lime, a scooter company in which it intends to offload its own micromobility efforts.
Uber stocks are down about 2% in after-hours trading. Shorter after his call.


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Maintaining her status as queen of Bollywood, Deepika Padukone now tops the list of most valued female celebrities in the country. Her net worth is valued at $50.4 million, or Rs 366 crore.
The latest Celebrity Brand Valuation Study 2020, released by Duff & Phelps, notes the ranking of India’s most powerful celebrity brands based on brand values derived from their endorsement contracts. The theme of the year’s study is ‘Embracing the New Normal’ and the valuation amount is calculated keeping in mind the current pandemic, its impact on brand value rankings, and the celebrity endorsement space.
Standing tall in fifth place, Padukone is ahead of her male contemporaries such as Salman Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan and Ayushmann Khurrana, as well as Kareena Kapoor-Khan and Anushka Sharma.
Deepika Padukone’s brand portfolio is a thing to reckon with. She has been the ambassador of brands like Nescafe, Axis Bank, L’Oreal Paris, Lux, Tetley Green Tea, Jio, Tanishq, Gillette Venus, Vistara, Britannia, and Kellogg’s, among others.
As far as her acting career is concerned, her films like Padmaavat, Chhaapaak and Bajirao Mastani, to name a few, have not only earned critical acclaim, but have succeeded at the box office as well. She will soon be seen on screen in the sports drama ‘83 with Ranveer Singh, and she has five other films this year. Not just that, the actress has also made herculean efforts to raise awareness about mental health, and made a considerable impact on reversing the stigma around the topic with her foundation Live Love Laugh.
She is a powerhouse of charm, elegance, and pure talent. According to a source, “It is Deepika's consistency as a successful actor, her commitment to her craft, and her work ethic that attract brands to take her on as their ambassador. Her ethereal beauty is an added bonus, which makes her a complete package and extremely viable as the face of their brand."
Always at par with her male counterparts, Padukone has managed to smash the glass ceiling. A superstar on all social media platforms, she has amassed over 53 million followers on Instagram.
Personifying beauty, Deepika Padukone is a fiery bolt of inspiration, and her ability to feature in stories and relate to people makes us feel we can never get enough of her.


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secmartin writes "Since a couple of days, Apple has been warning users that Mac OS might benefit from using a virus scanner. Their security page now offers this warning: "However, since no system can be 100 percent immune from every threat, antivirus software may offer additional protection."
Microsoft has welcomed Apple to this new reality in a blog post by one of their senior Security Advisors, and antivirus vendors are already taking advantage at the new sales opportunities. So are you already using a virus scanner on your Mac? If not, will this change in Apple's communications change your mind?"
Link to Original Source


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The co-founder of the sleep tech startup Simba has just launched a new subscription-based well-being brand for pets, ITCH, to disrupt the pet care market. It’s first product? A flea treatment subscription service.
Developed in collaboration with veterinary experts in response to increasing demand for better personalized pet care, ITCH’s tailored monthly flea subscription service makes preventing infestation and treating pets much quicker, cheaper, and more convenient for busy owners than buying over the counter.
Based in Leeds, the new startup has raised an initial €5.6 million from Seedcamp, Nigel Wray, and YYX Capital among others, with a further injection of €11 million expected for Q4 2019 to support the brand roll out to the US in Q1 2020.
ITCH plans to launch additional products into pet care market, such as personalized calming, skin, joint and dental products. There are also plans to use curated and user generated content to create an online platform and community, in collaboration with its team of veterinary experts, designed to answer the plethora of well-being questions pet owners face on a daily basis.
With research by Mintel showing that the UK pet care market is set to reach €2.3 billion by 2023 and the UK’s flea market estimated to be worth €415 million by 2021, ITCH is in the purr-fect position to take a sizable bite out of the market.
“The popularity of direct-to-consumer goods brands offering products continues to grow at pace,” said James Cox, co-founder and chairman of ITCH. “We’ve seen everything from healthcare, financial services, travel, transport and electronic goods all race to innovate so that they can directly engage with customers using social, mobile, and digital channels and devices. It’s now time for the buoyant pet care market to innovate.
“We have over a decade of experience in the pet industry, and are always looking at ways we can improve the lives of pets, and their owners. In the coming months, we’ll be launching the ITCH Care platform which will harness the power of data to connect pet owners to our network of world-class content, both curated and user generated. This will provide pet owners with access to the answers they need to the wide range of well-being questions which can arise on a daily basis.”
“Historically, pet owners have had little guidance, beyond going to the vet, when it comes to day to day questions that arise when it comes to pet wellbeing,” continued Cox. “ITCH’s AI powered platform has been built to simplify this process, providing pet owners globally, with access to easy-to-digest content at the tip of their fingers.
“We code from the ground up, making it possible to react to any therapeutic requirement, tailor advice and integrate with third party tools to further enhance the experience. We’re not replacing vets, quite the opposite, we work with them, with the aim of separating the therapeutic care market from the critical care market.”
From July 2019, busy pet owners will never need worry about forgetting to treat for fleas again. They will receive tailored flea treatment kits for their pets, through their letter box at a fraction of the cost of over the counter treatment. Via the ITCH app, pet owners will be sent a reminder when it’s time to administer treatment – the right dose, at the right time, delivered direct to their door.


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Last year in December, tipster Ishan Agarwal posted a leaked image showing a new design for OnePlus device with Pete Lau (CEO) attending the meeting. Well, there were quite a few rumors that it could be OnePlus 7 but it didn’t materialize and soon after OnePlus 7 and 7 Pro was released with a different but radical design, people did forget about this leaked image posted below.
Turns out there could be more to the story than just a leak. Another renowned tipster Evan Blass replied Ishan Agarwal under the same photo almost 8 months later with a sketch of a OnePlus device with a similar design and a caption “Can I Play Too?”
This has set the balls rolling in the rumor mill as the reports suggest that it could be the upcoming OnePlus 7T or OnePlus 7T Pro or its 5G variant speculated to launch on September 26 alongside OnePlus TV.
The design is radically changed from a dual vertical camera setup to triple camera setup and now a circular bump with probably three camera sensors embedded at the back which reminds me of Nokia Lumia series. As the speculated release date for OnePlus 7T and 7T Pro is coming closer i.e on September 26 in India and October 10 for Europe and the US, the said leak could mean a lot. If it turns out to be true, this would mean that we saw OnePlus 7T/7T Pro a year earlier than its release next month which is mind-boggling to even think of.
We don’t know much about the OnePlus 7T and 7T Pro specifications as well although there are sources suggesting that both the device will arrive with the overclocked Snapdragon 855 Plus that debuted with Asus ROG Phone 2 a few weeks ago.
Furthermore, OnePlus CEO Pete Lau did confirm that there is a 5G OnePlus device that will be released by the end of this year which means either OnePlus 7T Pro will get a 5G variant on the same day (September 26) or as per other reports, the 5G variant will probably arrive sometime in November, which is usually when OnePlus releases its second set of smartphones every year.


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E-commerce company Quidsi recently launched Wag.com, an online pet supply and petfood store.
The website offers 10,000 pet-related products, ranging from petfood and treats to grooming supplies, clothing and pet health products. Consumers can also browse through animal-specific special boutiques like "Posh Puppy," "Canine Classic" and "Culinary Cat." Quidsi says customers who buy from the Wag.com site by itself will get free two-day shipping on orders above US$49.
“It’s a pretty common thing among our competitors to advertise free shipping for orders over US$59, but then exclude things like bags of pet food or kitty litter—all the heavy items that you’re actually most likely to want to buy online,” said Matt Lindenberg, associate marketing director. “We offer free shipping on our whole inventory. And if customers shop some of the other sites, they can get up to the US$39 limit very easily.”
By Lindsay Beaton
As work continues on creating a new nutrition label that focuses on simplifying information for consumers, challenges remain.
By Tang Yu


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Smart glasses might be the next big thing, many years after Google tried it out, and now even Amazon might be preparing to jump on the bandwagon.
According to a report from the Financial Times, Amazon is currently developing smart glasses that will feature the company’s digital personal assistant, Alexa, built right in. Amazon is aiming to get the wearables to feature bone-conduction technology, and they will reportedly look like a regular pair of glasses. With the bone-conduction technology, it means that owners will be able to hear Alexa without needing a separate earphone or speakers.
The report indicates that the device might not feature any type of display or camera, which would certainly make it a different approach from what Google tried with its own effort, Google Glass. What’s more, it’s different than what we’ve heard Apple has been working on for quite some time as well, with Apple’s own efforts apparently featuring some type of display, too. Although, some rumors have suggested Apple could let wearers use their connected iPhone as the display, too.
Apple’s own efforts with augmented reality (AR) are no secret, as Tim Cook sees the technology as one of the most important for the general audience. Under Cook’s watch, Apple has turned iOS into one of the biggest platforms for AR in the world, thanks to the recent launch of iOS 11 and ARKit.
If Apple is working on a pair of smart glasses, while AR will be a big deal, so will Siri, so it will be interesting to see what Apple is working on, if they ever do get around to unveiling it.
Would you buy a pair of smart glasses with Amazon’s Alexa built in?[via Financial Times]


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The Day One winners include two Australian practices – Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp (FJMT) that won the Office Award in the Completed Building category for its Liberty Place project, and Ian Moore Architects that won the House Award in the Future Projects category for its the Olive Grove project.
Cultural ribbon or coastal connections?
The City of Sydney’s program of design excellence forums recently focused on cultural precinct planning. With three of the city’s iconic beaches currently undergoing renewal, what is the role of the seaside CBD in the context of Sydney’s cultural identity? Written by ADR’s contributing online editor, Sara Anne Best.
Should architects register upon graduation?
Many aspiring (and registered) architects around the world have been calling for the radical reform of the architect registration process. ADR’s contributing online editorial assistant, Wesley Perrott, looks at changes being made in architectural registration in the UK and US, in comparison with Australia.
The new Gaggenau 200 Series ovens
The 200 series oven range consists of ovens, Combi-steam ovens and Combi-microwave ovens and is complimented with a range of microwaves, fully automatic espresso machines and warming drawers.
Fringe Furniture 2014 winners announced
The annual Fringe Furniture exhibition displays the 2014 winning entries along with an array of designer products, including homewares, furniture and lighting.
The Edge 2015 applications now open
The Edge competition presents an exciting opportunity for a select group of emerging local lighting and furniture designers to showcase their latest works.
Cloud Citizen awarded joint top honors in Shenzhen Bay Super City Competition
The competition brief required a new 170-hectare financial district, including three high-rise structures, cultural buildings, and a large green space to connect the district to the surrounding city. An article by Evan Rawn.
IDEA 2014 Gala Party early bird tickets close on Sunday
Don’t miss out on your early bird tickets to join (inside) magazine, our sponsors and a host of Australian design luminaries at the 2014 IDEA Gala Party.


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Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The specialty retailer reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.15), Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.56 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 1.26% and a return on equity of 23.79%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.58 EPS.
MUSA traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $85.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 509,924 shares, compared to its average volume of 217,925. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $85.22. Murphy USA has a 12 month low of $69.98 and a 12 month high of $89.38. The firm has a market cap of $2.84 billion, a PE ratio of 15.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.00 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.
Several research firms have recently issued reports on MUSA. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $91.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. ValuEngine cut shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. The company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.00.
About Murphy USA
Murphy USA Inc operates a chain of retail stores in the United States. The company's retail stores offer motor fuel products and convenience merchandise. It operates retail stores under the Murphy USA and Murphy Express brand names. As of December 31, 2018, the company operated approximately 1,474 retail stores, including 1,160 Murphy USA and 312 are standalone Murphy Express stores located primarily in the Southwest, Southeast, and Midwest United States.
Recommended Story: What is the Ex-Dividend Date in Investing?
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Meilishuo seeking IPO in New York
Online fashion retailer Meilishuo, backed by Tencent Holdings, is seeking an IPO in the US that could value the start-up at about US$4 billion.
Many tech corporations in China opt for New York for their debut listings as it offers a wide investor base and higher international profile.
Meilishuo is reported to be talking with investment banks about the move.
Founded in 2009, the company sells clothes, shoes and handbags. In 2016 it had about 15,000 merchants on its website and a mobile app that had been downloaded 100 million times. That year it merged with rival Mogujie, which was founded in 2011 and had about 130 million registered users. The re-formed company was valued at $3 billion.


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There has been much discussion recently about the movie industry’s efforts to maintain its product release “windows,” so that theatrical performances precede pay-per-view, followed by DVD sales, pay TV (HBO, etc.) and finally advertiser-supported television. My view is that these folks are shooting themselves in the foot, because DVD sales actually declined in 2009 for the first time. The lesson is not that DVDs are being sold OR rented “too early,” rather that technological convergence is making more and more options available to consumers, so building a library of physical DVDs is relatively unimportant, and certainly no longer a priority.
But as usual — see their opposition to the VCR — Hollywood has this all backwards. Again.
Netflix, Warner Bros., Adjust Online Movie Renting [CNet News.com].
In a ground-breaking deal for the online movie renting, Netflix and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment announced Wednesday that they have reached a deal that calls for Netflix to get access to more of the studio’s catalog content.In exchange, Netflix agreed to do something it has never done before. Netflix won’t offer new releases from the studio on DVD and Blu-ray for a period of 28 days after they go on sale.


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Americans keep spending
A surge in consumer prices is putting pressure on household budgets, derailing confidence in the economy and weighing on President Biden’s approval rating — but it’s not stopping Americans from a shopping spree as the holidays approach.
Retail sales jumped for the third consecutive month in October, according to data released Tuesday by the Census Bureau, rising 1.7 percent on the month and beating analysts’ expectations. While those figures are not adjusted for price changes, Americans are spending freely on a wide range of nonessential goods still in high demand and short supply.
“Today’s data suggest that spending momentum has reaccelerated heading into the holiday season, in line with reduced virus fear and strengthening job creation,” wrote Lydia Bossour of Oxford Economics in a Tuesday analysis.
“An improving health situation amid vaccination progress should support consumers’ willingness to spend heading into 2022.”
While October is a historically strong month for retail sales thanks to the combination of Halloween and the impending arrival of the winter holidays, sales rose across almost every industry tracked by the Census Bureau.
Sales by online retailers rose 4 percent last month after falling by 0.8 percent in September, while sales by big box stores rose by 2.8 percent for the second consecutive month. Sporting goods and hobby stores also saw sales rise 1.5 percent.
Some of the biggest gains came in sectors hit hardest by supply chain issues.
Electronics and appliance stores, which have struggled amid the global chip shortage, saw sales bounce back by 3.8 percent after falling in the previous month. Motor vehicle dealers saw sales rise 1.8 percent in October despite surging costs for both new and used cars.
“An improving Covid situation, easing supply constraints in the auto sector and an early start to holiday shopping all boosted purchases last month. Households were still willing to open their wallets in the face of higher prices,” Bossour wrote.
The steady gains in consumer spending — particularly on nonessential purchases — is a stark contrast from public opinion about the economy in general.
Economists say the U.S. has made solid progress shaking off the blow of the delta variant, which slowed job growth, diverted business away from the service sector and set back school openings shortly after it emerged this summer. Financial markets have also continued to rally in the face of inflation, and corporate profits have remained high despite the sharp rise in prices.
But rising inflation has demolished consumer confidence in the economy, according to the University of Michigan Survey of Consumer Sentiment. Michigan’s index of consumer sentiment fell to 66.8 in November, the lowest point since 2011 and far below the previous pandemic nadir of 71.8 set in April 2020.
“Consumer sentiment fell in early November to its lowest level in a decade due to an escalating inflation rate and the growing belief among consumers that no effective policies have yet been developed to reduce the damage from surging inflation,” wrote University of Michigan professor Richard Curtin, who leads the survey.
Curtin said 25 percent of respondents said inflation diminished their quality of life in November, with most complaints coming from lower income and older consumers. Households with low or fixed incomes often experience more hardship from rising prices, particularly for food and energy.
“The reactions of consumers to surging inflation should be no surprise,” Curtin said. “Economic policies counted on a quick and automatic self-correction to supply and labor shortages. Instead, the pandemic caused economic dislocation unlike any prior recession.”
While the Biden administration has scrambled to clear up supply lines and help struggling industries hire enough workers to meet demand, economists say there is little the president can do on his own to tame a global problem driven largely by the pandemic.
But Biden and Democrats have nonetheless taken intense heat from voters and Republican lawmakers, who’ve sought to blame the global rise in prices on their $1.9 trillion March stimulus bill. High inflation is one of several factors Republicans credit for Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin’s (R) victory in the Virginia gubernatorial race and one of their leading pitches heading into the midterm elections.
Views on the economy are far more correlated to partisanship now than in previous eras, Curtin said. That explains why some Americans see a recovering economy under Biden as worse than a decimated economy under former President Trump, but also why some Democrats can brush off inflation.
“Partisan supporters of one or the other presidents either mentioned or ignored rising home and stock values, inflation and income growth rates, or mentioned or ignored employment or unemployment rates,” Curtin said. He added that political differences in opinion were bigger than differences across income, age and education.
And while inflation poses the biggest threat to those with the least financial flexibility, researchers from the JPMorgan Chase Research Institute found that low-income households were still able to keep more cash available on hand than they were before the pandemic.
The typical low-income family had 70 percent more cash on hand than in 2019, according to the bank’s research, due to a combination of expanded child tax credit (CTC) payments and the lingering impact of pandemic stimulus.
“A cash buffer of $1,000 is a substantial increase but by no means a thick security blanket for low-income families,” wrote JPMorgan Chase’s Fiona Creig, Erica Deadman and Tanya Sonthalia.
“That said, in addition to CTC payments, wage growth among the employed, student loan and mortgage forbearance, rent relief, and spending cuts among jobless workers who have lost UI benefits may all be continuing to sustain cash balances.”


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When Google announced Android Wear 2.0, the biggest change new platform brought was support for standalone apps. The same support was missing for older Android Wear versions, where applications were distributed from the smartphone to the watch.
The good news is that Google will change this. The search giant has updated the terms of its Play Store policy, encouraging developers to work towards bringing the apps to Android Wear 1.0. Those apps that combine Wear and a mobile app will no longer have the “Enhanced for Android Wear” tag.


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“One OS that runs everywhere” Android 4.0 codenamed Ice Cream Sandwich will be a universal Android OS that runs on Phones as well as Tablets and it may be expected by the end of 2011.This was officially announced by Google at the Google’s developer conference in San Francisco on Tuesday.
Google says the Ice Cream Sandwich version of Android will “all be open source,” including APIs for face-tracking and other new features. Developers will be able to account for all form factors within this same version of the OS, and Google will be adding a lot of UIs to accommodate Android devices of all shapes and sizes.
The announcement of Ice Cream Sandwich followed news of Android 3.1, which carries desirable features like re-sizable widgets in the application launcher. Android 3.1’s trip over to Google TV will also carry with it the Android Marketplace and the usability of USB devices. At the keynote, Hugo Barra, director of Android product management, demoed the use of an XBox 360 controller with an Android game.
No official launch date has yet been announced for Ice Cream Sandwich, but Android 3.1 is now available to compatible devices.
Share your thoughts via comments…


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In response to a challenge posed by the parent company of Cablevision Systems, the National Advertising Division said it has determined that Verizon Communications has “provided a reasonable basis” for TV ads claiming that FiOS Quantum TV subs can do things like record up to 12 shows at once, watch TV “on the go,” store up to 200 hours of HD and watch recordings in other rooms.
The NAB said Cablevision contended that TV ads from Verizon entitled “Why Not?” that feature comedian Craig Robinson made false and misleading comparisons between Verizon’s FiOS TV and the MSO’s Optimum TV platform. In the ad (watch a 30-second version here), Robinson tells his young nephew that his provider “can’t” record a certain number of shows at one time, save “every single cartoon,” and pause what he’s watching in one room and resume it in another room.
FiOS Quantum TV is Verizon’s new top-end video platform. Introduced last April, FiOS Quantum TV is anchored by the Arris-made Verizon Media Server, a whole-home DVR with six tuners and 1 terabyte of DVR storage that can be paired up with client devices on the home network. The Premium version of FiOS Quantum TV ties together the functions of two VMSs, giving customers access to 12 tuners and enough storage to record 200 hours of HD video, according to Verizon. The Premium-level set-up allows customers to watch or record up to ten shows at once. The Enhanced FiOS Quantum TV tier uses just one VMS. FiOS Quantum TV is matching up with Cablevision’s Multi-Room DVR, a network-based offering that, following an upgrade last April, is now capable of recording up to 15 shows at the same time.
The NAD held that the issue in this case was whether the net impression of the challenged commercials, taken as a whole, reasonably conveyed, as Cablevision argued, a comparative superiority message regarding the DVR service offered by FiOS Quantum TV and providers of other DVR or related services such as Cablevision.
“With respect to the 30-second commercial, NAD determined that consumers were unlikely to take away a comparative superiority message that Verizon offers features that other DVR service providers or DVR providers cannot provide,” the NAD said, but recommended that Verizon discontinue the “reasonably conveyed (but inaccurate) message that with FiOS Quantum TV DVR service a subscriber can ‘save every cartoon’.”
For its part, Verizon stated to the NAD that it “respectfully disagrees” that humorous statements made by Robinson “would communicate anything about Cablevision's services,” or that any reasonable consumer would take the cartoon-recording claim literally, but said it would consider the NAD’s recommendations in future ads.
Update: Cablevision issued this statement: “Verizon has not been truthful to consumers in its advertisements, and Cablevision is gratified that the NAD recommended that Verizon discontinue its latest false and misleading claims. Cablevision’s DVR product records 15 shows simultaneously, which is more than Verizon’s DVR product, and it was wrong for Verizon to claim otherwise in its ads. In addition, Cablevision is pleased that the NAD has recommended that Verizon discontinue certain claims that overstate their DVR product capabilities.”
Administered by the Council of Better Business Bureaus, the NAD is an investigative unit of the advertising industry’s system of self-regulation.
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Beijing: China's economic growth may ease to below 9 percent in 2012, partly due to a weak global economy, a senior Chinese foreign exchange official said on Tuesday, backing market expectations that the world's No 2 economy is set for a mild easing.
But even as the economy cools, Huang Guobo, the chief economist at China's currency regulator, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, told a forum that inflation is still a policy focus for Beijing in coming months.
"The Chinese economy is facing serious challenges despite strong growth," Huang said.
"The weakening global demand for Chinese exports will be a challenge...Next year, if the situation continues, China's growth rate may fall below 9 percent."
Huang's forecast for slowing activity is in line with market expectations. A Reuters poll in July showed analysts expect China's economy to grow 8.8 percent in 2012, down slightly from 9.3 percent in 2011.
Also See: 10 business fakes made in China
However, the mild slowdown in growth is still well within Beijing's threshold. Under China's five-year economic blueprint ending 2015, China Premier Wen Jiabao said the economy should grow an average 7 percent over the period.
Even so, Huang said inflation would remain Beijing's focus, especially since an increasing amount of hot money will flow into emerging markets, including China, exacerbating price pressures.
"Globally, we see weakening growth. Also, this year, the sovereign debt crisis has worsened, particularly in Europe. This has greatly undermined global confidence and has also caused volatility in the global markets," Huang said.
"Facing such a slowing economy and the sovereign debt crisis, I think there is a dilemma. Fiscal policy cannot be massively used and monetary policy has already been eased."
Also See: Chinese, Indian workers most likely to call in 'sick'
Still, the comments from SAFE represent an official acknowledgement that 2012 will be a tougher year.
Many private economists have cut their growth forecasts sharply because of concern that weakening global growth will take a bite out of exports.
Economists see 8 percent as a critical line because growth below that level may not create enough jobs to keep up with China's rapidly urbanising population.


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Railways to allow foreigners to book ticket 360 days in advance
New Delhi, July 3: The Indian Railways on Monday said that it will soon allow foreign nationals to book tickets 360 days in advance in order to promote tourism.
"Now the foreign nationals or NRIs (non-resident Indians) can book their tickets under foreigners quota in 360 days advance," a Railway Ministry official said.
As of now, foreigners are allowed to book ticket 120 days in advance of their planned travel. The official said the new facility would be officially announced on July 7 or July 12. Under the new facility, foreign nationals can book first AC, second AC and executive class tickets in premium trains like Rajdhani Express, Shatabdi Express, newly launched Tejas Express and Gatimaan Express.
Foreign nationals would require to give details of their passport, visa and their mobile numbers through the IRCTC site. "IRCTC would charge Rs 200 per ticket as service charge from the foreign national passengers," he said. The official added that for cancelling the ticket, existing rules would apply.


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Consumers research Executive Director Will Hild explains how the group is calling out “woke companies’ in a brand new initiative.
Consumers Research, an educational nonprofit that provides information about consumers, has announced a series of brand new marketing initiatives aimed at Coca-Cola for the company’s “woke” stories about politics.
The new campaigns consist of ads that will be aired in Atlanta as well as a brand new website named AlwaysWokaCola.com as well as mobile billboards connected to trucks that will be driving around the headquarters of Coca-Cola, its museum, and The Georgia State Capitol over the next 28 days – form part of the organization’s ongoing seven-figure ad campaign targeting “woke” businesses.
“Today we’re the first to launch AlwaysWokaCola.com as well as the accompanying advertisements as a satirical rebuke to Coke to pay attention to their customers, not on woke lawmakers,” Will Hild, the director for Consumers’ research stated to FOX Business on Thursday.
The ads spotlight Coca-Cola’s role in its impact on the United States obesity problem; The report says that Coca-Cola along with other major U.S. brand names lobbied against legislation that aims to prohibit companies from employing laborers on behalf of the Chinese Xinjiang Province, where Muslim minorities are the victims of forced labor as well as others human rights violations (though Coca-Cola has denied it makes use of any form of forced labor) as well as other health issues related to Coke drinks.
“The company has turned away from the wellbeing of the consumer,” Wild said. “Their product continues to be a major contributor to children’s obesity. They have purchased sugar from businesses located in China that are reported to be using forced labor. They also have inadequate quality control, so racist guidelines, such as “be less white,” are incorporated into staff training.”
Hild’s comment refers to the soft drink company’s efforts to advertise an online seminar for training accessible on LinkedIn which urged participants to “try to be less white” to fight the discrimination based on race.
Coca-Cola sent a letter to FOX Business in the same time that said the slides in the company’s training programs “are in no way part of our education course,” and its “Better Together” global training program is part of the company’s learning program to build a more environment that is inclusive.”
Consumers’ Research has criticized Coca-Cola during May as did American Airlines and Nike The three companies have placed people before their customers as part of the initial phase of the campaign. The group also focused on Major League Baseball and Ticketmaster earlier in the month.
The May Consumers’ research ad highlighted Coca-Cola’s worries regarding the new GOP legislation to vote in Georgia.
“We recognize everyone’s right to voice their concerns and voice their opinions however, we believe that the best approach to making progress right now is to be able to hear and respectfully discuss concerns and come together on a path towards a better future,” Coca-Cola told FOX Business in a statement released at the time. “We are open to constructive discussions with groups that may disagree with us on certain issues.”
The company also pointed out Consumers’ Research’s criticisms regarding sugary drinks that cause obesity and said that the company has “taken steps to assist consumers to reduce how much sugar they drink” throughout and around the U.S. and around the world.
Hild said that he hopes that the new campaign “will help to increase the voices of those who are frustrated with the way Coke is failing them, and also serve as an alert to Coke as well as other corporations.”
“Any business that decides to distract themselves from their mistakes by taking a radical stand on social and political issues that have nothing to do with their business in order to get favorable praise from media and politicians is put in danger, and it’s not going to be successful,” he said.


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MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. (KARE) It's been a busy year for the brewing industry in Minnesota. Especially since Minneapolis and St. Paul joined a growing list of cities allowing growler sales on Sundays.
For more than a year, Sundays haven't been the same at Fair State Brewing Cooperative in northeast Minneapolis.
"Growler sales have been huge ever since day one," said Evan Sallee of Fair State Brewing Cooperative.
CEO & co-founder Evan Sallee says that success comes from a once untapped market in Minnesota.
"Sunday is definitely far and away our biggest day for growler sales. We probably sell four or five time as many growlers on a Sunday as opposed to a normal day." explained Sallee.
Shortly after the new state law took effect in the summer of 2015, Minneapolis passed a measure allowing the sale of growlers on Sundays. St. Paul followed suit, it'll be one year on July 5.
"There was sort of this pent up demand for Sunday beer sales in Minnesota," said Sean O'Byrne.
Sean O'Byrne is owner of Great Waters Brewing Company in downtown St. Paul. He says Sunday makes up 35 percent of their total growler sales.
"I sort of thought it would just like shift sales, it would take those sales away from like a Wednesday or Thursday or Friday. And just move them to Sunday, that didn't happen. It's like all those days stayed the same or went up and the Sunday sales went up," said O'Byrne.
"Well like tomorrow, can't buy anything, right? So thought I'd pick up a growler today and saves a trip over to Wisconsin." said one man picking up a growler.
Those in the market, like Evan, will tell you, the craft beer craze isn't slowing down.
"Minnesotans really like drinking beer and they really like drinking beer that taste good," said Sallee.
Throughout the past year, cities passed their ordinances at different times. However, Bemidji and Nisswa are among the ones that have not passed a Sunday ordinance.


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Amazon marketplace has been selling counterfeit Canon batteries and chargers, apparently. Amazon.com and Canon USA have issued a joint lawsuit against the companies selling fake goods via Amazon.com. In a bizarre twist, Amazon.com is basically suing itself.
The lawsuit was filed against 29 Amazon accounts selling the fake chargers and batteries for infringement of Canon’s trademark.
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ANSWER LA food and toy distribution to strikers
We at ANSWER LA distributed a pickup truck filled with food and toys directly to striking grocery workers at a Vons at 3rd and Vermont in Los Angeles on Saturday.
Hey, when you see the results of your work, when a young immigrant mom striker with two small kids walks away happily with food and toys, then it really makes it worth it. And they’re the ones on the front lines, fighting for health care, to not have their unions destroyed by greedy pig management – fighting for the rest of us too.
Steven Burd, CEO of Safeway and ringleader of the grocery companies whose stated goal is to break the unions, makes millions in stock options. He’s not taking a pay cut, having his health benefits slashed, or telling management they must accept a two-tiered pay scale. Yet he whines that he must do this to the workers so as to “stay competitive”. Start with yourself, Steven. Then people might actually believe you.
There was a rally with several speakers in the Vons parking lot, followed by a spirited march. Banners were posted at the entrances and, um, intense discussions were had with scabs and those crossing picket lines.
I’m told there was a bit of a hubbub inside the Vons. Some shoppers loaded their carts to the gills, got halfway checked out, realized they’d forgotten their wallets or something, then walked out. Other shoppers apparently performed physics experiments. If you put eggs at the bottom of a shopping cart, then load heavy canned goods on them, the eggs break. The same type of thing seems to occur when you drop baked hams on top of cakes. Who knew?
Grocery store management is now refusing to pay their mandated amount into the workers health funds, and workers may lose benefits within days, including those who are on serious and costly medications.
Amber Scott, a seven-year Vons employee, choked up Wednesday when talking about her health-care needs. The 31-year-old Long Beach woman said she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease last year and must go regularly to her doctor for checkups and undergo tests to monitor her condition.
Of more concern was her 3-year-old daughter, Bleu, who has cystic fibrosis. If they lose their health benefits, she said, it will cost her $5,000 a month for prescription medicines to keep Bleu’s lungs clear and allow her to absorb the nutrients in the food she eats.
Deep Audit, our resident forensic accountant opines there could well be some wrongful injury lawsuits as a result of this – not that Steven “Heart like a Peach Pit” Burd cares. To him it’s just the cost of doing business – while fattening his own bank account with cushy stock options of course.


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SWIFT gpi payments account for nearly 10% of SWIFT’s cross-border payments traffic a year after launch.
SWIFT’s global payments initiative (gpi) has made a strong start in life. New data released by SWIFT shows that over US$100bn in gpi messages are being sent every day. This accounts for nearly 10% of SWIFT’s total cross-border payments traffic.
These payments are flowing daily across 220 international payment corridors. This includes the USA-China corridor, where gpi payments already account for more than 25% of the payment traffic.
The speed at which these payments are happening is also notable, with nearly 50% of gpi payments credited to end beneficiaries within 30 minutes. Those payments that take longer typically require more complex foreign exchange conversions, compliance checks or regulatory authorisations and are settled within 24 hours.
“SWIFT gpi continues to gain significant traction, and we are delighted with the total number of banks using the service, the geographical diversity of these institutions and the customers and sectors they serve,” says Harry Newman, Head of Banking at SWIFT.
A payments revolution
Launched in February 2017 to much fanfare, SWIFT gpi is designed to improve the customer experience in correspondent banking by increasing the speed, transparency and predictability of cross-border payments.
Using gpi, corporates can today make payments with same day value, obtain transparency over fees, increase certainty by offering end-to-end payments tracking and ensure that remittance information is transferred unaltered.
To achieve this, SWIFT has enforced a new service agreement for banks. Each bank then has the responsibility to translate the innovation brought by SWIFT gpi into a value proposition for their customers.
It is not just the data that shows the success of gpi, corporate treasurers have also recently come out in approval of the initiative.
For example, last year a handful of the leading Swiss corporates – including ABB, Nestlé, Swiss Re and Roche – explained the benefits that they thought gpi offered the treasury community. They also urged that the world’s banks get fully behind the initiative.
This sentiment was echoed by The Luxembourg Association of Corporate Treasurers (ATEL). Its Chair and Head of Corporate Finance, Treasury and Enterprise Risk Management at the RTL Group, François Masquelier said: “SWIFT’s gpi is beginning to solve an issue that the corporate treasury community has demanded be changed for years. We, therefore, endorse and encourage SWIFT to bring this to fruition.”
The banking community has certainly listened and today “more than 150 banks are currently using the service in total,” says SWIFT’s Newman. “This includes 48 of the world’s top 50.”
Gpi and blockchain
Given the success of gpi in bringing increased speed, transparency and predictability to cross-border payments, it puts into question where blockchain technology fits into the equation, if at all.
Ripple, for example, has been very outspoken about the need to replace the existing payments infrastructure with a blockchain-based system. Whilst blockchain-based payment methods may have some advantages over gpi, SWIFT has the benefit of incumbency. And it also has the speed now, with 50% of gpi cross-border payments being credited in under 30 minutes. It begs the question of whether the few minutes that blockchain potentially saves is worth the time and effort required to revamp the global payments infrastructure.
The debate will continue.
SWIFT is also looking at how blockchain could work within a SWIFT context. But its “immediate goal is adoption and, over time, steady expansion and upgrading of gpi,” says Newman. “A number of planned upgrades are set to be introduced to SWIFT gpi in 2018 and will be announced in due course.”


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Agrium says not approached by potential buyers for retail side
Nov 7 (Reuters) - Canadian fertilizer company Agrium Inc , under pressure by its biggest shareholder Jana Partners to spin off its farm retail division, has not been approached by potential buyers, CEO Mike Wilson said on Wednesday.
"We get people sniffing around all the time, just like we do looking at other companies, but we haven't really been approached to buy our retail business," Wilson said in an interview with Reuters.
"I haven't had anyone come to give me an offer on our retail business."
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- Stocks turn higher ahead of Fed meeting, oil up


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These powerful, reversible charging ports are all the rage, and are coming to a phone near you. Here's everything you need to know as new USB-C phones trickle out.
With its biggest hardware gamble a failure and Windows 10 about to arrive, the software maker is pressed to prove what it can achieve in the phone business.
A security research company claims to have found a vulnerability baked into Google's Android operating system that could leave devices open to attack. CNET's Lexy Savvides reports on how Google has addressed the issue and how users can minimize the risk.
Available on Verizon Wireless, the LG Lancet runs Windows Phone 8.1 and features a 4.5-inch display, an 8-megapixel camera and a quad-core processor.
With the help of motion detection, Android Doze enables handsets to "doze" into a deeper sleep when inactive, and thus improves battery life.
Sporting a rugged and water resistant design, the DuraXV for Verizon Wireless is a basic phone that can take a few punches.
The tool will allow users to pick the design of their choosing for Motorola's upcoming smartphone, but the smartphone has since gone dark after briefly appearing online.
Soon to be available globally -- in markets the Chinese company is currently in -- this affordable sub-$120 smartphone shows just how good low-priced phones can be.
Although its market share fell last quarter while Apple's share rose, Samsung retains the crown for the world's leading smartphone vendor, says research firm IDC.
The world's largest mobile-chips company got backing from several major device makers that plan to use its new top-tier chip, the Snapdragon 810.


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Dominic Chappell, the former owner of BHS, tried to pay for a family holiday to the Bahamas on company expenses and took a £90,000 loan from the department store chain to pay a personal tax bill, according to evidence submitted to MPs.
The allegations were made by Darren Topp, chief executive of BHS, in a submission to the parliamentary committee investigating the demise of the company, which accuses Chappell of treating the retailer’s money as if it was his own personal funds. However, Chappell said the claims were “pathetic and petty” and accused Topp of “deliberately lying” to discredit him.
The latest claims and counter-claims by Topp and Chappell are likely to infuriate BHS staff and creditors. BHS collapsed into administration in April, putting 11,000 jobs at risk and leaving debts of more than £1.1bn, including a £571m pension deficit. The demise of the company could cost the taxpayer £36m in unpaid tax and redundancy payments.
Topp alleges that Chappell created a “clear nepotistic environment” at BHS, bringing in friends and family into key positions, including his uncle as chairman.
In a series of allegations about Chappell’s conduct, he said Chappell, who has been declared bankrupt three times, tried to buy flights to the Bahamas for his family from the company travel budget. After Topp refused, Chappell asked for his salary to be paid early so he had the money for his holiday. The human resources department agreed to the payment on the basis of “hardship”.
Topp also alleges that Chappell instructed BHS’s finance department to pay him a £90,000 loan while the company’s finance consultant, Michael Hitchcock, was on holiday.
“This was at a time when cash resources were limited and needed to pay both suppliers and employees payroll,” Topp said. “Chappell saw no distinction between the company’s money and his own personal money; he saw them as one and the same. The level of financial governance shown by Chappell was very poor.”
Chappell hit back at Topp, saying he wanted to book the flights to the Bahamas through the company’s travel agents because they were offering a competitive price. He he asked to pay for them on the company account because he had been out of the office for “a number of days” on the day they needed to be booked and did not have access to his credit card or bank log-in details.
Chappell said he planned to pay for the trip when he returned but Topp blocked Chappell’s request. “There was no intent whatsoever to have the company pay for my private travel, it was purely an issue of logistics,” Chappell added.
The former BHS owner said the early payment of his wages had been suggested by the company’s management and that the £90,000 loan was approved by Topp and repaid within seven days through a post-dated cheque that Chappell handed over when the loan was agreed.
“It is absolutely childish for Darren Topp to suggest this when he often acted against the board’s decisions,” Chappell said of the allegations. “If these are the only two points that Darren Topp can find to suggest that I was running BHS bank account as my own bank account, it’s pathetic and petty.”
Chappell alleged that Topp received a first-class rail season ticket worth between £5,000 and £6,000 and that BHS was paying for the insurance on his new Porsche car. Chappell said Topp did not have approval for this, although a spokesman for BHS said this was part of Topp’s contract, which was negotiated with Chappell.
Frank Field, the chairman of the work and pensions committee, said the allegations against Chappell and his Retail Acquisitions consortium were quite extraordinary.
The Labor MP added: “We are still elucidating the full story of the final collapse of BHS, but it happened under Dominic Chappell and RAL’s [Retail Acquisitions’] stewardship. They should account fully and properly for their decisions and actions, some of which appear quite extraordinary.”
Separate documents released by the committee from Olswang, Chappell’s advisers, claim that Sir Philip Green forced Retail Acquisitions into buying BHS earlier than it wanted. Green owned BHS for 15 years until he sold it for £1 to Retail Acquisitions on 11 March 2015.
Olswang states in a letter to the Pensions Regulator that on 5 March 2015 it was told by Arcadia, Green’s retail business, that it needed to complete the deal “immediately” when Retail Acquisitions wanted another four weeks to conduct due diligence. The deal was completed on 11 March.
The document also claims that Retail Acquisitions only discovered on 26 February that it was buying BHS with the pension deficit, as opposed to Green restructuring it seperately. The evidence will raise further questions for Green about his handling of the sale of BHS and its pension deficit.
It has been published as administrators warned that unsecured creditors to BHS, including landlords and suppliers, were likely to receive less than 3p for every £1 owed. Duff & Phelps, the administrator, delivered the news at a meeting for creditors in London on Thursday when it announced that FRP has been appointed as the second administrator after the Pension Protection Fund raised concerns.
Malcolm Weir, the head of restructuring and insolvency at the PPF, said: “At the BHS creditors meeting we voted to appoint additional administrators to work with the current administrators. This is an unusual step, but one we regard as appropriate given the circumstances of this administration.”
A spokesman for FRP said: “Once appointed, we shall focus on investigations arising from the insolvency of BHS and look forward to working with Duff & Phelps as they continue to focus on trading the business and exploring opportunities to maximise realisations for creditors.”
Creditors speaking outside the meeting expressed their frustration at the collapse of BHS, with one saying the interests of suppliers and landlords had been “completely swamped” by the PPF, which is by far the largest creditor owing to the state of the BHS pension fund.
A representative for a home furnishings supplier said: “They [the PPF] are disenfranchising all the other creditors. The government wants all creditors to be protected but the government created PPF is riding roughshod over small independent creditors.”
The administrators told the creditors that they may get more than 3p in the pound if Green agrees a deal with the Pensions Regulator to make a cash injection into the BHS pension scheme.
The allegations against Dominic Chappell in parliamentary evidence
Retail Acquisitions loaned £1.5m to a company that owns the house that Chappell’s father lives in.
Just days before BHS called in administrators, Chappell moved £1.5m out of the company and into BHS Sweden, an unconnected company. The money has since been paid back.
Chappell put none of his own money into BHS.


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Biogen Inc (BIIB.OQ)
20 Jul 2018
NEW YORK U.S. stocks climbed on Friday, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq hitting their highest levels in two weeks, as strong U.S. jobs growth blunted the impact of an escalating U.S.-China trade dispute. | Video
NEW YORK, July 6 U.S. stocks climbed on Friday, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq hitting their highest levels in two weeks, as strong U.S. jobs growth blunted the impact of an escalating U.S.-China trade dispute.
* Indexes up: Dow 0.6 pct, S&P 0.9 pct, Nasdaq 1.3 pct (Updates to late afternoon, changes byline, adds NEW YORK to dateline)
* Indexes up: Dow 0.56 pct, S&P 0.88 pct, Nasdaq 1.27 pct (Updates to early afternoon)
* Indexes up: Dow 0.37 pct, S&P 0.64 pct, Nasdaq 0.88 pct (Changes comment, adds details; updates prices)
July 5 Japanese drugmaker Eisai Co and Biogen Inc said on Thursday that the final analysis of a mid-stage trial of their Alzheimer's drug showed positive results for patients who received the highest dose.
SEOUL Biogen said it had exercised its option to purchase additional shares of biopharma developer Samsung Bioepis Co Ltd, a joint venture established in 2012 by Samsung BioLogics Co Ltd and Biogen.
* Matter has bearing in regulatory scrutiny into BioLogics-sources
SEOUL, May 18 Samsung BioLogics said on Friday that its joint venture partner Biogen would exercise its call option to increase its stake to 50 pct minus one share in Samsung Bioepis.
SEOUL South Korean biotech drug manufacturer Samsung BioLogics Co Ltd lost almost $6 billion in market value on Wednesday in its biggest intra-day share drop, after the country's financial watchdog said it breached accounting rules.
|Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N)||$125.85||-0.09|
|Pfizer Inc. (PFE.N)||$37.33||-0.03|
|Novartis AG (NOVN.S)||CHF82.20||--|
|Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK.N)||$62.52||+0.01|
|Roche Holding Ltd. (ROG.S)||CHF234.00||--|
|Roche Holding Ltd. (RO.S)||CHF238.60||--|
|Bayer AG (BAYGn.DE)||€92.05||--|
|Bayer AG (BAYE.F)||--||--|
|Sanofi SA (SASY.PA)||€72.36||--|
|GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK.L)||1,549.80||--|