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Swiss watchmaker Albert Riele has signed up as an official partner of sailing’s World Match Racing Tour.
Swiss luxury watch brand Tag Heuer has renewed its partnership with the Race of Champions for the motor racing event’s 2014 edition, extending its association to a 10th year.
Host venue Cowdray Park Polo Club has announced luxury watch brand Jaeger-LeCoultre as the title sponsor of the Gold Cup for the British Open Polo Championship from 2015 under a multi-year deal.
The Mercedes Formula One motor racing team has confirmed a sponsorship deal with German fashion brand Hugo Boss.
Swiss luxury watch brand TAG Heuer has agreed a deal to become the official timekeeper and timepiece of the New York Marathon.
Swiss watch brand TAG Heuer has reached an agreement to become the official watch of the IndyCar Series motor racing championship and Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Swiss watchmaker Omega has extended its partnership with the Professional Golfers' Association of America through to 2022.
Swiss watchmaker Omega has agreed a three-year extension to its title sponsorship of the Dubai Desert Classic and Dubai Ladies Masters golf tournaments.
Baku 2015, the organising committee for the inaugural European Games, has signed Swiss watchmaker Tissot as the latest commercial partner for the multi-sport event.
The Ladies Professional Golf Association has announced Hana Financial Group, Pandora Jewellery and luxury watch brand Rolex as ambassador sponsors for its inaugural International Crown tournament, which takes place on July 24-27 at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Maryland.
Luxury watch brand Longines has expanded its long-standing involvement in horse racing through a five-year sponsorship agreement with the Australian Turf Club.
Watchmaker Royal London has reached a commercial partnership with the British Superbike Championship motorcycling series.
Hublot has extended its partnership with Fifa, world football’s governing body, until 2022, according to the Swiss watchmaker’s president Jean-Claude Biver.
Japanese watch manufacturer and timing specialist Seiko has extended its long-running top-tier partnership with athletics’ world governing body the IAAF for a further six years.
Swiss watchmaker Rolex has extended its partnership with golf’s Asian Tour for another three years.
Australian touring car championship V8 Supercars has agreed a three-year partnership to make Pulsar Watches its official watch partner.


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When visiting Milan, shopping at Prada is as de rigueur as indulging in a bowl of pasta. Now there’s even more reason to bump a visit to the top of your travel itinerary. Newly redesigned by architect Roberto Baciocchi, the Prada Corso Venezia 3 store has reconceptualized its retail concept, creating an environment unlike any other Prada store. Lined with oversize metal display cases and perforated steel walls, it feels like a warm yet futuristic ode to the modern shopping experience.
The store’s centerpiece is its Made to Order service, where everything from belts and men’s sneakers to women’s boots and shoes can be customized in both color and material. Choosing from ten different shades of crocodile when selecting a pair of boots may seem a daunting task, but the price of owning a piece set to your specifications feels, well, priceless. And for those Prada fans looking specifically for outerwear, the choices are seemingly limitless, be they of the denim, puffer, or blazer variety.
“The response has been amazing,” says a Prada spokesman. “We are discovering that everybody wants to have a personal addition to their wardrobe—their own personal item—even if we are talking about denim or sneakers.” In fact, those itching to partake in this novelty experience won’t have to travel too far: Prada’s Fifth Avenue store in New York will launch an exclusive stateside Made to Order service for men’s sneakers beginning in mid-October.
“The [Corso Venezia 3] store was the first of a new era, and Prada [as a whole] started to change after the opening,” he says. “It is the second generation of the retail store.”

domain: news


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The sluggish economy and rising household expenses are casting a chill over consumer confidence, but not enough to bring back the ghost of recessions past, according to Deloitte’s 26th annual survey of holiday spending intentions and trends.
While two-thirds (67 percent) of consumers expect the economy to stay the same or weaken next year, nearly three out of five (59 percent) will put aside economic worries and spend the same or more this holiday season.
This is a slight decline from 2010 but an eight percentage point increase from 2009.
Shoppers planning to spend less this year (42 percent) point to higher costs impacting their household budgets. Six out of 10 cite higher food prices (63 percent) and higher gas prices (60 percent) as reasons for spending less this year. Roughly half (49 percent) point to higher energy costs.
“Lackluster employment growth, debt crises, and stock market fluctuations have battered consumer confidence while inflation left many with lighter wallets this fall,” says Alison Paul, vice chairman and U.S. retail & distribution leader, Deloitte LLP.
“Consumers will be conservative this holiday season, but remain resilient and maintain a more positive interest in holiday shopping than we witnessed during the recession.”
With high prices leaving less in the household budget for other things, many consumers are re-evaluating gift-giving this year.
Holiday shoppers plan to buy an average of 14.7 holiday gifts this year, down from 16.8 last year and continuing a four-year decline in the number of gifts they plan to purchase.
Higher-income households’ gift spending will hold up while middle- and lower-income groups are paring back.
Households earning $100,000 or more annually expect to trim a mere 2 percent off gift spending to shell out an average of $812 on gifts this holiday season compared with a 26 percent drop to $291 on gifts among those earning less than $100,000.
Despite smaller budgets, consumers may make the gifts more personal as more shoppers skip gift cards and cash this year. Consumers planning to purchase gift cards (45 percent) fell 11 percentage points to unseat this category’s seven-year reign at No.1 and elevate clothing (48 percent) to the top spot.
The number who plan to hand out cash slid 7 percentage points to just one-quarter (25 percent) of respondents.
Deal-seekers are increasingly using online channels to get the most value. Nearly seven out of 10 (68 percent) of consumers plan to change the way they shop to save money, and more than half in this group (51 percent) will head online to find better prices. This represents a 10 percentage point jump from last year, while 46 percent plan to buy more items that qualify for free shipping.
Among shopping destinations, the Internet jumped 13 percentage points to join discount stores at the top of the list with nearly half (48 percent) of consumers planning to shop these two destinations for holiday gifts. While online interest climbed, discounters slid 10 percentage points from the 2010 survey.
Many consumers will take out their phones before their wallets this holiday season with even more visiting social media sites before tackling their gift lists.
More than one-quarter (27 percent) of smartphone owners plan to use their devices for holiday shopping to search for store locations (67 percent), compare prices (59 percent) and check product availability (46 percent). Additionally, 44 percent say they plan to use social media to seek discounts, read reviews and check family and friends’ gift lists.
“Consumers are using online and mobile platforms to make the most of their holiday budgets, and the survey indicates that they will do more than just compare prices,” Paul says.
“Retailers that use mobile and online channels to show product availability, locations and pricing but add customized promotions, and gift ideas may encourage shoppers to come in the door for a specific gift and take additional items to the register.”
More than half of consumers (53 percent) plan to begin shopping before Thanksgiving, but nearly three quarters (73 percent) intend to hold out until after this holiday to make the majority of their purchases.
Gen Y consumers are most likely to embrace the Black Friday tradition as more than four out of 10 (42 percent) 18-24 year old respondents plan to shop that day compared to an average of 24 percent among those age 25 and older. Nearly the same amount (37 percent) intend to partake in Cyber Monday shopping, compared with just 20 percent among those in older age groups.
For more information about Deloitte’s Annual Holiday Survey, including additional statistics, historical data and useful links, please visit http://www.deloitte.com/us/2011HolidaySurvey.
The survey was commissioned by Deloitte and conducted online by an independent research company between September 16 and 26, 2011. The survey polled a sample of 5,019 consumers and has a margin of error for the entire sample of plus or minus one percentage point.
As used in this document, “Deloitte” means Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries.


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Russian consumer worse off
The majority of Russians are noticing that prices for fruit, vegetables and meat have increased, according to research done by Itar-Tass. Respondents indicated they are spending more money on these foods. Not only do consumers notice a downside to the boycott due to prices in supermarkets, products on the shelves have also changed. Belgian newspaper De Standaard visited a Russian supermarket, and found a stripped assortment of meat. It is also difficult for industry, Russian companies invested too little, and cannot compete with Western techniques.
According to the Russian static service, the consumer price index has increased by six per cent in the past 12 months. Economic indicators are also still in the red. October experienced a decrease of 4.4 per cent in retail sales.
According to the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mevlut Cavusoglu, the current crisis between Russia and Turkey indicates that the two countries are important to each other. In an interview, he pointed out that Russia is the most important supplier of energy to Turkey. In its turn, Turkey could be an important supplier of fruit and vegetables for Russia, according to the minister. By saying so, the Turkish minister ignored the Russian agenda, which is devoted to becoming self-supporting, regarding food. At another website, Yekatarina Chulkovkaya states that the Russians are not making haste in lifting the sanctions, because the country can also import these products from Central Asian countries. Besides, the boycott of, for example, Turkish tomatoes encourages Russian tomato cultivators.


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CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta talks about recent research on the risks of high sugar consumption. He goes on to explain that “…humans weren’t designed to eat this much sugar. We used to get sugar once a year when fruit fell from the trees. Even honey was protected by the bees. How much food could you really eat? I mean you can’t…10 oranges, that’s enough. Now, we eat 140 pounds, roughly, a year, on average. Our bodies simply didn’t evolve to be able to handle that.
So it hits the liver, the liver says I don’t know what to do with all this sugar, so it starts to metabolize it in unusual ways and it gets turned into what are known as low density lipoprotein particles. And that’s the worst kind of cholesterol.
The full story can be found here: http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2014/09/10/why-sugar-is-worse-than-fat/?hpt=hp_t3


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It’s déjà vu all over again in Trollhättan: “China’s National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) has temporarily halted output of its Saab car due to a shortage of funds,” the company told Reuters yesterday. The reason for the shortage of funds also sounds far too familiar. “The reason is that NEVS’ part-owner Qingbo Investment Co. Ltd has not fulfilled its commitment to, when necessary, finance NEVS’ activity,” the company which had bought SAAB assets in a fire sale said in a statement.
Fingers were pointed at the investment arm of the city of Qingdao. It bought a 22 percent stake in NEVS last year and has ordered a fleet of 200 electric Saab vehicles – which NEV so far failed to deliver, providing Qingdao with an escape hatch to untangle itself from a deal that never was sound, and that had all symptoms of previous SAAB sicknesses.
Even Saab fansite Saabsunited, the blog that previously could not find anything about SAAB it did not love, including its new Chinese owners, sounds a bit downtrodden. It raises the specter of yet another bankruptcy, if funds become so tight – again – that taxes won’t be paid – again.
“The next tax payment will be on June 12th, with a notice period of roughly 14 days until the tax authorities will demand a bankruptcy of the company,” the site reminds its readers, who know the drill all too well. Their reaction is likewise familiar and predictable. “Time to organize yet another Save Saab rally?” “Keep Calm and Carry On.”
In the I told you so dept., two years ago, I recommended that “the people of Trollhättan better don’t get their hopes up on EV exports to China.” The math of imported EVs simply does not work out. Today, the idea of volume exports of EVs to China is as much a lunacy as it was two years ago, when I wrote:
“If EVs want to receive generous government subsidies, they must be produced in China, and must be made under a brand that is owned by a Chinese entity. This is why Nissan’s Leaf will be a Venucia and made in China, Volkswagen will have Tantos EVs with SAIC and Kaili EVs with FAW, Daimler builds a Denza EV with BYD, and so forth.”
To make matters worse, bringing in EVs from abroad to China incurs serious surcharges, due to freight, customs and taxes. A Tesla Model S costs about 50 percent more in China than in California, and that’s a bargain. Imported cars often go for twice the price in China. This may be tolerable – or even advantageous – for a luxury item such as the Model S. For an electrified Saab, sitting on a tired platform from the last century, and carrying a badge that has absolutely no cachet in China, the situation is absolutely deadly.
“The BYD E6 electric sedan originally priced at 330,000 yuan ($52,900) is eventually sold for 216,000 yuan ($34,600) with 110,000 yuan ($71,600) in subsidies from various levels of government.
In comparison, Tesla’s Model S is priced from 734,000 yuan ($117,700) to more than 1 million yuan ($160,000).”
Even with huge subsidies, EVs are not moving the needle much in China. In the first quarter of 2014, a total of 6,853 vaguely electric cars sold in China, garnering a homeopathetic market share of 0.12 percent in a country that is supposed to be the hotbed of vehicular electrification.
4,024 were pure-electrics, 2,627 were plug-in hybrids.
The number of imported EVs? Four. Yes, 4. Two plug-in hybrid Volts. Two Tesla Model S.


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SiFive has received offers from other companies as well as offers of more investment to boost development of microcontroller and microprocessor cores based on the open source RISC-V instruction set architecture and associated boards.
The company has raised over $190m so far and was valued at around $500m at its last investment round in 2020.
Representative sat Intel and SiFive declined to comment, but talks are at an early stage.
Patrick Little, CEO of SiFive, joined the company last year from Qualcomm’s automotoive chip business in a move that was seen as taking on UK chip designer ARM. With ARM being acquired by Nvidia, the rapidly developing RISC-V ecosystem is seen as a viable alternative as an embedded controller. SiFive is also an early supporter of Intel’s renewed foundry strategy to build chips for customers in the US and Europe.
Related SiFive articles
- Renesas signs deal with open source ARM competitor
- SiFive creates global network of startups
- Battle of the BBC boards
Current investors include SK Hynix, Spark Capital and Prosperity7 Ventures, the venture arm of Aramco in Saudi Arabia, as well as Qualcomm and Western Digital. The company raised $61m in 2020 to bring the total to $190.5m according to Crunchbase.
Other SiFive RISC-V articles
- SiFive unveils ‘world’s smallest’ commercial 64-bit embedded core
- SiFive and CEVA partners on edge AI SoCs
- Dialog, SiFive team for PMIC
- First FPGA development kit for SiFive chip
- Expansion Board allows the building of PCs
Other articles on eeNews Europe
- Why is the chip shortage getting worse?
- Daimler, Nokia bury the hatchet
- US expands Trump’s China ban
- Bosch powers up chip production in Dresden
- Apple list shows European suppliers in 2020
- Raspberry Pi controller available as silicon


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What if Google wanted to give Wi-Fi access to everyone in America? And what if it had technology capable of targeting advertising to a user’s precise location? ...evidence gathered by Business 2.0 suggests that the company may be trying to do just that.
The quoted article is at this moment the number one linked article on blogsnow.
Who knows? I know I wouldn't be surprised. What was that Google share price again?
Jannotti tag: technology
Technorati tag: googlenet
Posted to: technology


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BRP reports Q2 profit and revenue up from year ago, raises full year guidance
Powersports vehicle manufacturer earned $2.89 per diluted share for the quarter ended July 31, up from the same quarter last year.
BRP Inc. reported a second-quarter profit of $212.9 million, up from $126.1 million a year ago, and raised its profit guidance for the year.
The maker of Ski-Doos and Sea-Doos says it earned $2.46 per diluted share for the quarter ended July 31, up from $1.43 per diluted share in the same quarter last year.
Revenue totalled $1.9 billion, up from $1.2 billion.
On a normalized basis, BRP says it earned $2.89 per diluted share in its latest quarter, up from a normalized profit of $1.14 per diluted share a year ago.
In its outlook, BRP says it now expects its normalized earnings per share for the full year to be between $8.25 and $9.75, up from is earlier guidance for between $7.75 and $8.50.
The company also updated its revenue guidance to forecast an overall increase between 27 and 35 per cent compared with its earlier expectation for a gain of between 28 and 33 per cent.


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A recent report from Sharethrough shows that branded editorial content on owned sites has attracted the lion’s share, almost 70 percent, of editorial media spend.
As opportunities in mobile continue to grow, the platform is grabbing more and more of brands' media dollars. During the first quarter of 2014, brands allocated close to 70 percent of their editorial media spend to owned sites, according to the latest report by native advertising company Sharethrough.
Analyzing data collected via the company's in-feed ad exchange platform, the report divides branded editorial media into three categories - owned, sponsored, and earned. Among them, owned sites claim the largest share of advertising dollars, with 68 percent of editorial media spend in the first quarter of 2014. This is a 31 percent jump from the last quarter of 2013.
In comparison, sponsored media, which is defined as editorial content hosted on a professional publisher's site, represents just 29 percent of total spending. And earned media, content that a brand does not need to pay for, takes the remaining 3 percent.
A deeper look at owned media shows that it can encompass a wide range of content forms, including corporate blogs, corporate sites, and branded editorial sites.
Image Credit: Sharethrough
Corporate blogs grab 46 percent of the total owned media spending. In contrast, corporate sites and branded editorial sites each claim just 23 percent.
But is this spending distribution wise? The report suggests that although brands and marketers have allocated the majority of editorial media spend to owned media, they may obtain higher value by investing in earned media, as it drives the highest engagement rates of the three.
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May 6, 2015
12:00pm ET/9:00am PT


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COVID one year later: Pandemic rocked Southwest Florida's economy, but some businesses boomed
- The gig economy isn't going away: Trends the pandemic brought may be here to stay
- Tourism statistics are worse than the impact from 9/11, the Great Recession or red tide
- Businesses are hiring and industries continue to thrive through the economic upheaval
Southwest Florida's economy may never look the same.
You can blame the coronavirus virus for that. There's no question the pandemic has rocked the region's economy.
Early on, it led to a flurry of furloughs and layoffs — and business closures, affecting thousands of workers.
After Gov. Ron DeSantis took steps to limit the spread of COVID-19 by temporarily shutting down what he deemed as 'nonessential" businesses across the state, many of those businesses took it on the chin in Southwest Florida, especially restaurants and retail shops.
A few months into the pandemic, Hertz, one of the area's most visible companies and larger employers, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after travel and tourism came to a virtual halt — crushing the demand for its rental cars. The company is still fighting to reorganize.
Dozens of hotels temporarily shut down for weeks across Southwest Florida due to the scare.
Although hotels fell into the category of "essential" businesses for the state's purposes, many hotel managers and owners didn't see the point of staying open, when the demand for rooms had dropped to near zero.
Still other hotels and resorts heeded local orders that restricted visitation in such tourism hot spots as Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel, forcing them to stop taking reservations and close up shop.
Unemployment quickly surged in the region, hitting nearly 15% by April — coming off historic lows at the start of 2020.
Since the spring, the local economy has come a long way, helped in a big way by the state's reopening. By late September, all COVID-related business restrictions had been lifted in a phased approach.
The magnitude of the economy's improvement can be seen in the unemployment rate: State data shows the region's jobless rate stood at 4.8% in December.
Economists consider an unemployment rate of 4% to 5% "full employment," as there are always workers between jobs and businesses in flux.
In case you missed it:Unemployment rates fell across Southwest Florida as 2020 came to an end
Southwest Florida in recovery
The low unemployment rate doesn't mean Southwest Florida's economy is out of the woods just yet. It's still in recovery mode, leaving the crystal ball fuzzier than usual about the future.
"What's the new norm? That's a good question," said Jim Wall, communications director at CareerSource Southwest Florida, which matches local employers with local workers.
Experts, such as Wall, struggle to answer the question, as the pandemic has brought about changes to the economy that may be here to stay, from an increase in automation to a spike in remote work.
"We are all not 100% sure of what the workforce of tomorrow would look like," he said.
Virtual career fairs and hiring, prompted by COVID-19 concerns, may be here to stay.
The gig economy? Well, it's not going anywhere either.
Grocery delivery services through such online platforms as Amazon, DoorDash, Instacart and Shipt have thrived amid the pandemic, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs across the country, including ones in Southwest Florida.
That trend — along with other factors — is likely contributing to one of the biggest challenges traditional employers now face as they look to recover. They're struggling to find enough workers to fill critical positions, especially those that are high-touch and customer-facing.
"Employers are willing to hire, but job seekers are leery to go back to work, where individuals are balancing financial stability with health concerns," Wall said.
In that way, the recovery from this recession may look a bit different. In his 30-plus-year career in the employment and training arena, Wall said he's never seen this kind of reluctance to return to work at more conventional jobs.
State data shows the labor force — defined as those who either have a job or want one — has shrunk in the five-county region of Collier, Lee, Charlotte, Hendry and Glades since the start of the pandemic roughly a year ago. That's not a good sign.
In December 2020, the size of Southwest Florida's workforce stood at 619,898, down by 12,207, or 1.9%, over the year. If the downward trend persists, it could stunt business growth, expansion and attraction.
Out of work
As a tumultuous 2020 drew to a close, the region still had nearly 30,000 unemployed workers, not including those who may have dropped out of the workforce to retire early, or taken a pause.
As of March 1, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity had paid nearly 2.3 million COVID-related claimants more than $23.2 billion in unemployment benefits.
In those numbers, there are more than 90,000 claimants from Lee County, representing 26% of its total labor force.
There are nearly 42,000 claimants in Collier, which account for about 23% of its smaller workforce.
Statewide, the highest number of claimants — more than 439,000 — reported that they lost work or jobs in the accommodation and food services sector.
While there's no solid data on the makeup of the affected workers in Southwest Florida, it's easy to see that the crisis has impacted women and minorities the most, as it has around the country, because so many of them work in service industries, such as hospitality and retail, said Amir Borges Ferreira Neto, an economics professor and interim director of the Regional Economic Research Institute at Florida Gulf Coast University.
In some ways, the coronavirus has shifted the composition of the local economy, but some of those changes could be temporary, including a bump in manufacturing that can be linked directly to local companies that temporarily shifted gears to make COVID-related products, such as masks and hand sanitizers, he said.
With small businesses driving so much of the local economy, Neto said he's glad to see most of them survive. He attributes that in large part to pandemic-related federal aid.
In case you missed it:Local banks helping local businesses secure federal money to stay afloat
Looking ahead at the recovery, this much is clear: Some industries will take longer than others to heal from the unprecedented crisis in Southwest Florida.
Case in point? The hard-hit tourism industry continues to suffer, with the demand for travel still low, due to fears tied to COVID-19.
For safety reasons, government restrictions on travel remain in effect in some parts of the country — and world. Foreign visitation is so small, it's hard to calculate — and the once-lucrative meetings and groups business remains at a crawl in Southwest Florida.
Although it's picking up, flying on airplanes remains a big fear for many Americans, as well as foreigners.
Tourism statistics tell the tale of a year like no other.
In Collier alone, the count of visitors staying in hotels and other short-term paid rentals fell by more than 26 percent from 2019 to 2020.
Over the year, Lee saw a more than 31% drop in visitation of all kinds, including people staying in hotels and with family and friends.
"Almost a third of our business is missing," said Tamara Pigott, executive director for the county's Visitor and Convention Bureau.
That's hard to overcome. It's worse than the impact from 9/11, the Great Recession or red tide.
"2020 definitely was an enormously challenging year for the tourism industry. No question," Pigott said.
She recalls a low point in mid-April of last year, when hotel occupancy in Lee sat at 16.9% — and revenue per available room registered at just $12.95.
"At that point, you are wondering, 'How long does this last?' 'When do we get out of this whole situation?'" she recalled.
Fortunately, the industry has seen better days since April.
"Honestly we had a surprisingly good summer," Pigott said. "And that's a little bit reassuring that when things go back to normal, the desirability of the area hasn't changed. People still look to this as a place they can come and take a respite, and have this natural outdoor experience — and they feel safe outdoors."
The bounce back for hotels, has largely depended on location.
The better the location, the better and faster the comeback, said Lois Croft, regional director of the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association.
"It's improving all the time, every week seems to be a little better," she said.
However, she noted area hotels and resorts will not see the kind of business they usually do from spring break this year, as many colleges and universities have canceled it due to COVID-related safety concerns.
Amid the pandemic, the demand for vacation rentals has surged, including single-family homes and condos, because they allow travelers to limit close contact with others. There are hundreds of such rentals advertised in Southwest Florida.
Other shifts in tourism include shorter booking windows — meaning less time between planning a trip and taking one — and a heavier-than-usual stream of drive-in visitors, especially from other parts of Florida, but also from nearby states, such as Georgia and Alabama.
Some pandemic-related changes in the tourism and hospitality industry may not go away any time soon, keeping operating costs higher and operating procedures more difficult.
"The safety protocols that we are following in public spaces, such as hotels and restaurants, will be with us in some degree for a few years," said Jack Wert, Collier County's tourism director.
Domestic leisure travel is driving a rebound in the local tourism industry. As for international and business travel they'll likely take a year or more to recover, Wert said.
"I do think that the way we conduct group meetings will change in the future to seeing attendance both in person and by remote access," he said.
Looking into the future, Wert also sees a bright light — the continued benefits that could come from the pandemic, with a change in attitudes that could lure more visitors to Southwest Florida for years to come.
"The biggest change I feel will be that people will consider a number of factors as to where they travel. They will consider the size of the destination, the reputation for safety and the ability to find open spaces, versus crowed urban centers," Wert said.
A bright spot for area hoteliers has been their ability to hold room rates relatively steady — and strong — after the initial shock of the pandemic passed.
After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, it took five years for the average hotel room rate to recover in Fort Myers, and even longer for it to rebound after the Great Recession, said Michael Collins, a professor in the hospitality department at Florida Gulf Coast University.
"I think that the industry recognized that the drop in demand was due to a situation that was out of their control and that no amount of discounting was going to restart demand," he said.
Another bit of good news? The university's hospitality students are in high demand these days for internships and permanent jobs, due to the industry's struggles to bring back or replace the employees they furloughed or laid off early on in the pandemic.
"Our industry will always employ people in positions that are not able to be outsourced, so there are always long-term opportunities in our industry," Collins said.
At some area hotels and resorts, the comeback has been better and faster than expected.
That's the case at the Pink Shell Beach Resort & Marina on Fort Myers Beach, said Robert Boykin, CEO and chairman of Boykin Management Company, which oversees the property.
The resort closed for more than 10 weeks, due primarily to town restrictions on visitation, he said, but it's "operating at 98%" today.
Despite the turn around, business dropped by 40% in 2020, when compared to 2019.
Initially, the resort kept 40 employees, letting the others go temporarily, then bringing them back after receiving a forgivable loan through the federal government's Paycheck Protection Program, known for short as PPP.
Now, the resort needs more employees to get it through the busier tourist season, even if season is slower than usual. Finding them has proven "unbelievably difficult," Boykin said.
"For every five job applicants we get one to actually make it to the hotel for an interview," he said. "The government has made it so lucrative for people to pretend to look for work that until people run through the money we expect it to remain difficult."
As for the resort's business, it's looking up from here.
"We are lucky. With three outdoor pool areas and 1,500 feet of beach at the tip of the island we are the kind of environment that people feel comfortable in," Boykin said.
He added: "People are now flying in, so we are seeing the traditional snowbirds. Originally, the client was in-state."
He doesn't anticipate the resort will see a full recovery until next year "when vaccines are in your arm and business returns to whatever normal will look like."
As for Southwest Florida International Airport, it's rebounding faster than many of its competitors in Florida, especially the larger-size ones in markets such as Miami and Orlando.
In case you missed it:In the Know: New face mask factory in Fort Myers set to expand, awaits FDA approval
Long way to go
While there's optimism in the region's all-important tourism sector, there's still a long way to go in reaching the kind of employment it boasted before COVID. State data for December 2020 showed a loss of 11,700 jobs in the leisure and hospitality industry in the three metros of Lee, Collier and Charlotte — over the same month in 2019.
"That's nearly 12,000 jobs that were just gone," Wall said. "That just vanished."
Tourism is not the only sector upended by the pandemic.
The COVID outbreak hit the retail and restaurant industries hard, especially in its first months, with the exception of essential businesses such as supermarkets, hardware stores and pharmacies.
A dizzying number of national retailers and restaurants have closed bricks-and-mortar locations in Southwest Florida over the past year, including some that have gone belly up, such as the iconic Pier 1 home décor and furniture store and the popular buffet-style eatery Sweet Tomatoes, leaving behind swaths of now-vacant real estate.
Many local restaurant and shop owners have also suffered, with residents spending more time at home, staying away from crowds and saving more money — and visitors and their spending in much shorter supply over the past year.
Skip Quillen, owner of Culinary Concepts in Naples, said one of the most harmful effects of the pandemic came when Gov. DeSantis closed "nonessential businesses," then opened them back up slowly in phases, starting at 25% of capacity, which was difficult to manage.
The governor's order, he said, forced him to temporarily shutter his five fine-dining eateries around Southwest Florida, but it's had a lasting impact, making it appear restaurants in general aren't safe places to visit in a pandemic, causing angst and keeping customers away to this day.
In making his point, Quillen brought up the construction industry, deemed essential, and how its employees continued to work in many cases without masks, distancing — or the enforcement of other recommended safety protocols by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, such as regular handwashing.
"I don't fault them for trying," Quillen said of state officials. "They had to do something and I'm glad I didn't have to make that decision. Looking back, I hope we all learned something."
He's happy the state's business shutdown didn't drag out as long as it has in some northern states, such as New Jersey and New York. For that, he praises the governor.
"We're lucky to be in Florida, very lucky," Quillen said. "Where the governor has really helped us out."
He blames his current struggles more on the news media, which he feels has fueled fears of eating out.
It's going to take the media "to put us back together again," he said, with stories that promote the resiliency of restaurants — and their safe practices, many of which predate COVID.
The pandemic forced Quillen to temporarily let go of most of his workforce, a heart-wrenching decision, but one that made personal, professional and economic sense at the time, as his workers could make more money on unemployment, with an extra $600 per week funded by the federal government, than they could in an empty restaurant.
"It was excruciating let me tell you," he said. "It was horrible."
He's glad that's all over with and that most of his employees — whom he considers family — have returned to work, or in his eyes, home.
Some of his employees never came back, for various reasons. So, Quillen is actively looking to replace them, but he's not seen much response to his frequent job advertisements and postings.
"We want to hire," he said, "but a lot of people aren't answering those ads because they want to stay home."
Across his restaurants, Quillen needs another 25 employees or so for positions he describes as "across the board."
Restaurants across Southwest Florida have scrambled to adjust to the COVID crisis and survive. Some have been lost.
Many restaurants have added or beefed up delivery and curbside-pickup, which have swelled in popularity. For Quillen, those weren't good options, however, as an upscale restauranteur, focused not only on fine food, but a fine-dining experience.
While the hospitality, tourism, entertainment and transportation industries have borne the brunt of the COVID-19 outbreak, other sectors have taken a serious beating too, including educational and health services and government — which together have shed more than 5,000 jobs in Southwest Florida over the past year, according to the latest state data.
Businesses now hiring
Some sectors of the economy have seen little impact from the pandemic and have continued to grow, including professional and business services and manufacturing.
Among employers that have continued to hire and add jobs? Naples-based medical device manufacturer Arthrex and the Lee County Health System, which has roughly 100 openings.
Amazon, which now has a last-mile delivery center in Lee County and a newer one in Collier, continues to hire warehouse associates and drivers to meet the heightened demand for door-to-door deliveries to residents.
For the same reason, UPS and FedEx have been on the hunt for more workers too.
It's no secret grocery stores and supermarkets have performed well through the pandemic. Just ask Alfie Oakes, owner of Oakes Farms, Seed to Table and Oakes Farm Market, who said he's had a "good run" since last March.
"It was a good year for us, especially for us," he said.
While Oakes has stirred up controversy for challenging and not enforcing Collier County's mask mandate at his food stores, it appears by the flood of emails and phone calls he's getting that it's helped business more than hurt it.
After a story about his fight over the mask mandated aired on national TV in early February, showing video footage of customers and employees in close contact and not wearing masks at Seed to Table, Oakes said he immediately saw a 25% uptick in business at that store, his newest and largest off Immokalee Road.
He shared emails from happy customers, encouraging him to "keep up the great work" and to continue fighting for their "freedom."
One Oakes supporter wrote: "We left the oppressive political climate on Long Island, New York in August of 2020. Every day, we are thankful that we made the best decision of our lives. We love your store and will continue to support your efforts."
On a larger scale, grocery and supermarket chains, such as Lakeland, Florida-based Publix, have seen their sales and earnings climb, boosted by a higher demand for food, with American consumers eating at home more often, and at times hoarding essential supplies, from bread and meat to paper towels and toilet paper.
Sales in 2020 were higher than 2019
Hardware stores have done more than just weather the storm. They've benefited from a home improvement boom.
Michael Wynn, president of Sunshine Ace Hardware, with multiple locations in Southwest Florida, said: "We applied and received PPP funding but returned 100% of the monies when we were not negatively impacted by the pandemic."
Sales in 2020 were higher than in 2019.
"As people have spent more time in their homes and the low-interest environment has driven a strong real estate market, they are seeing their home as a better investment," Wynn said. "More people are cooking, entertaining and working at home. This has resulted in homeowners wanting to invest in a better grill, repaint living areas, or improve the comfort of their backyard/patio to ensure these spaces are comfortable and inviting, adding better value to their lives."
Some of the region's more unique retailers have managed to shine through the pandemic too. Take Cocoon on Fifth Avenue South in downtown Naples, for example, which sells one-of-a-kind furnishings and home décor. Owner Mitchell Siegel opened the store — his first outside of Connecticut — in January of last year, then came COVID.
After a temporary closure, Siegel said his store quickly got back on its feet. Since then it has continued to see sales growth, as word has spread about his creations, made from natural materials, with distinct designs.
While the store's foot traffic still doesn't match what Siegel saw before the pandemic, when up to 1,000 visitors were coming in on a Saturday, sales have been "outstanding," especially of late, he said.
"Our business has grown tremendously this year, which I hate saying when people are suffering so bad," Siegel said. "We are probably up 40% from last year — or more."
A few industries have thrived through the economic upheaval, including healthcare, real estate and construction.
After a brief pause, home-buying and construction have boomed in Southwest Florida. Experts attribute the trend to several factors, including a desire to escape larger, more heavily populated areas up north — and to flee states with higher taxes and bad weather.
Market watcher Denny Grimes, president of his team at Keller Williams Realty Naples, uses the acronym GOAT to describe the surge in home resales Southwest Florida has seen over the past year. The meaning of the abbreviation? Greatest of all time.
Coming off the best year seen since the home market bottomed during the Great Recession in 2009, the first quarter of last year went great, Grimes said, until COVID entered the picture.
In April and May, existing home sales — or resales — dropped by 40% over the year.
Then the unexpected happened. The market returned — and then some.
"The demand is real, however, it is not sustainable," Grimes said.
Heavy demand has resulted in triple-digit increases in home sales through the multiple listing service, or MLS, and the high-end market has done particularly well, as the wealthy clamor for a slice of paradise before it's all gone, with inventory so tight.
"The strongest market is in the most expensive areas of town," Grimes said. "Naples, for example, doubled the growth of Lee County, and the No. 1 growing market in Naples was the filet mignon, the Boardwalk and Park Place locations, Gulf Shore Boulevard, up to Pelican Bay, around the water, in Port Royal."
In 2020, 135 homes sold for more than $5 million in Southwest Florida, "the best year ever," he said.
This year, the uber-luxury market started off with a bang. Grimes offered up this as a good example: Naples Realtor Bill Earls, who specializes in the top-end of the market, has booked more than $300 million in sales since the start of 2021.
One of the homes Earls recently sold — a stately family compound at 2700 Gordon Drive in Port Royal — fetched $52 million, a new all-time record price for Naples.
"What that is saying is that people from the expensive urban markets are coming down, they are leaving closed states to go to an open state, Florida" Grimes said. "And our price point is so much better than they are used to, our comps are so much better."
These urbanites, he said, are "buying homes faster than we can put for-sale signs in the ground."
"The challenge we are now facing is we don't have enough inventory," Grimes said. "So that is going to slow our market down. There is just not enough gas to keep the fire burning."
Soaring demand and low inventory has pushed home prices higher.
In February, the median home price in Lee County hit $335,000. In Collier, it rose to $570,000.
The median is the price at which half the homes sell for more and half for less.
Later this year, Grimes expects home prices to reach their peak, but he stresses Southwest Florida is not in a housing bubble, like the one seen in the mid-2000s, so there's no reason to fear a bust — or a repeat of the Great Recession.
Excess demand and low interest rates continue to drive new home construction in the region.
New home permit activity dropped sharply after the COVID-19 outbreak rose to pandemic status in the first quarter of last year, but it didn't last long, said market expert Randy Thibaut, founder, owner and CEO of LSI Cos. in Fort Myers.
By the third quarter, permits surged.
"I would call it an epic surge in permits pulled in Southwest Florida for new homes. That has continued through right up to the date," Thibaut said.
While he describes the surge as "epic," it's not the kind seen at the peak of the housing bubble in 2005, when builders pulled roughly 44,000 single- and multi-family permits in Collier, Lee and Charlotte counties.
"We ended up at around 18,000 in 2020. Not a boom," Thibaut said.
He attributes the rise in permits in the three counties primarily to fear of COVID and a herd mentality that's pushing Americans out of larger cities and metros into smaller ones, where they can feel safer and live happier. Southwest Florida is one of the big recipients of those trends, Thibaut said.
Like the buyers of home resales, some new home buyers are also fleeing higher taxes and seeking more bang for their buck.
There's a growing urgency among buyers, who want to make sure they don't miss out on their chance to get the home of their dreams while they still can for a more reasonable price, Thibaut said.
"The biggest problem is the supply chain," he said. "We don't have any inventory, standing inventory for new homes."
How long the frenzy will last will depend on several factors and the answer should surface by the third or fourth quarter of this year. By then, more Americans will be vaccinated and the effects of the new Biden-Harris Administration's policies and influence on real estate, interest rates and taxes should be more clearly understood, Thibaut said.
"They likely are not going to be to the benefit of the real estate business," he said.
A new beginning
While construction has showed strength through the crisis, the industry hasn't gone unscathed.
In fact, the pandemic has led to to some cancelled commercial contracts. It's for that reason that Fort Myers resident Victoria Garrett, a single mom, lost her job as an administrative assistant for a mom-and-pop drywall contractor in October.
After turning to CareerSource for help finding a new job, she landed a temporary stint at its Fort Myers office, where she screens customers before they can get past the entrance, checking their temperatures and asking them a series of COVID-related questions before clearing them.
She's also gone back to school, taking classes at Florida SouthWestern State College in pursuit of a business management degree. While she doesn't have the degree yet, she's landed a permanent full-time job with CareerSource that will involve helping unemployed workers find jobs.
She couldn't be happier about where she's ended up after falling on hard financial times, forcing her to seek outside help to pay rent and buy groceries, while out of work.
"I'm very fortunate," she said. "I definitely think it's all God. He's definitely made everything work out OK. I haven't had to lack for anything."


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Shopback, the popular cashback platform, has announced the launch of its iOS and Android app in Malaysia to give ShopBack users the convenience of using their service.
For those who are unfamiliar, what Shopback do is provide cashback on services or products seen on their site, helping online shoppers across Southeast Asia shop smarter, faster and cheaper. How this works is that e-commerce sites such as Lazada and Zalora teaming up with ShopBack who gains from purchases will give a commission to ShopBack which will then shared with the shoppers.
Starting from now, shoppers can download the ShopBack app to use their service whenever and wherever they go. In conjunction with the release of the ShopBack app, shoppers who make their first purchase via the app between July 19 to 21 will receive an additional RM5 cashback credited to their accounts. Apart from that, 11 e-retailers such as Agoda, Foodpanda, Groupon, Hermo, Lazada, Qoo10, Zalora and many more will also be giving away upsized cashback, RM10 deals, vouchers between RM5-RM20 in value, as well as promo codes worth up to 40% off.


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The nation’s truckers are not only movers of freight, they’re consumers, and they’re buying more goods on the road, according to the McLane-NATSO Index.
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The First Good HDR TV You Can Actually Afford is Here
By Lee Neikirk
May 5, 2017
For the last few years, Vizio's E Series—re-released under the same moniker every year—has been designed to give consumers a taste of the latest TV tech at "whoa, I can actually afford that" prices.
Case in point: In 2014, this meant putting LED backlights across the entire screen, a performance upgrade previously reserved for very expensive TVs; the next year, Vizio bumped the series to 4K (UHD) resolution; and last year, the TVs all got "Smart Cast," Vizio's proprietary form of Google Cast. This year, the 2017 E Series gets the best upgrade of all: High Dynamic Range, or HDR.
Despite the stacked resume—4K resolution, HDR compatibility, smart casting, and full-array LEDs—the 2017 E Series once again starts at very affordable prices, with the 50-inch debuting under $500. There are cheaper TVs, sure, but that's still a heck of a bargain. It's not perfect, though, and there are some sacrifices that may make a more expensive model a better choice for HDR fanatics.
To read this entire article, please click here.


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2020 Porsche 911 Carrera S Ride Along: A Sneak Peek At An LA-Bound Treat
When Porsche introduces a new 911, the automotive world takes notice. Not because there’s any likelihood of it looking different from the last one, but because everyone’s interested in seeing how Porsche will improve on one of the world’s most accomplished all-around sports cars.
Even here in pre-production form undergoing final testing on the West Coast of America, the “disguised” 911 strikes a familiar shape. There are revised rear lights just visible under the body cladding that bring a new look to the model, but overall, this is clearly a Porsche 911.
Before that, though, we’ve managed to hop in the passenger seat alongside a veritable “who’s who” of Porsche personas tasked with validating the 992 as it reaches the sign-off stage prior to its LA unveiling.
Sitting behind the wheel as we ride shotgun is “Mr. 911,” a.k.a. August Achleitner, vice president, Product Lines 911/718. Achleitner is joined by Matthias Hofstetter (director, Powertrain Product Lines 911/718), Andreas Pröbstle (project manager, Complete Vehicle Model Lines 718/911, and Alex Ernst (team leader, Testing). These three, among many others, will drive the 992 thousands of miles to ensure that it meets, and ex...


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After Periscope’s acquisition from Twitter and Facebook’s launch of it’s Live feature, Meerkat saw its usage share drop dramatically; as a result the live video platform announced that it can no longer compete with the big names.
According to Re/Code, Meerkat CEO Ben Rubin informed the platform’s investors via email about his plans regarding the future of the service. According to that email, Rubin’s hopes about exponential growth of live streaming video were not quite accusation.
Sure, the two major social networks are already offering live streaming solutions and the corresponding integrations, however, the industry is hard. And Meerkat has been left standing alone, facing not only a stalled market, but also fierce competition from Facebook and Twitter.
During March 2015, Meerkat caused a sensation during SXSW, where the app was crowned as the darling of the event with brands live streaming through the platform. So what’s next for Meerkat? According to the same sources, the app is looking to explore a video social media network that will help users share their videos with a smaller network of friends and connections. Although no more details were made public, we will be keeping a close eye and hoping for a successful next step for Meerkat.
If you like our stories, there is an easy way to stay updated:
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Instagram has announced a range of changes to protect young people on its platform, including defaulting certain accounts to private.
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Vimeo's powerful video editing tools are coming to TikTok to help marketers easily create more content on the video-sharing platform.
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Criminals stole data after consumers swiped their credit or debit cards at five venues operated by Madison Square Garden Co.
Scammers are taking advantage of the massive credit-card-industry switch to chip-based credit and debit cards.
The next debit card you get will probably have a little golden chip in it, and that’s a good thing.
As data breaches continue to make headlines, Bank of America is enhancing the encryption capabilities on debit card transactions.
New, thinner ATM skimmers are creating a headache for banks battling fraudsters.
Two Canadian 14-year-olds used an old ATM manual found online to hack into a Bank of Montreal ATM.
EMV chips protect against fraud, but they won’t necessarily preclude you from a data breach.
Chase will boost security with chip-and-PIN credit cards later this year.
Wells Fargo expands its offering of EMV chip credit cards to its Visa credit cardholders.
Chase is adding an EMV chip to its Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card, starting mid-November.


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Consumer beauty giant Coty has taken a majority stake in the beauty business of celebrity Kylie Jenner for $600m.
Coty said its purchase of a 51% stake in the cosmetics and skin care business would help develop the company into a “global powerhouse brand”.
It stated: “Coty and Kylie will set and lead the strategic direction of the partnership, focusing on global expansion and entry into new beauty categories.
“Kylie and her team will continue to lead all creative efforts in terms of product and communications initiatives, building on her unrivalled global reach capabilities through social media.”
Jenner has over 270 million followers across her personal and brand social media channels, with her Kylie Cosmetics and Kylie Skin two of the fastest-growing and most-engaged beauty brands on social media.
Coty expects the transaction will be accretive to the net revenue growth of its core fragrance, cosmetics and skin care portfolio by more than 1% per year over the next three years.
The transaction is expected to be neutral to Coty’s bottom line in year one, and accretive thereafter.
The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of fiscal year 2020. All beauty categories within the new partnership will continue to be sold through leading luxury beauty retailers as well as owned digital channels.
Coty said the transaction also represents a “key milestone” in its “ongoing transformation into a more focused and agile company”.
Coty will have overall responsibility for the portfolio’s development. In addition to its responsibilities within the partnership, Coty will act as a licensee for skincare, fragrances, and nail products.
Coty CEO Pierre Laubies commented: “We are pleased to welcome Kylie into our organization and family. Combining Kylie’s creative vision and unparalleled consumer interest with Coty’s expertise and leadership in prestige beauty products is an exciting next step in our transformation and will leverage our core strengths around fragrances, cosmetics and skincare, allowing Kylie’s brands to reach their full potential.”
Kylie Jenner said: “I’m excited to partner with Coty to continue to reach even more fans of Kylie Cosmetics and Kylie Skin around the world. I look forward to continuing the creativity and ingenuity for each collection that consumers have come to expect and engaging with my fans across social media. This partnership will allow me and my team to stay focused on the creation and development of each product while building the brand into an international beauty powerhouse.”
Coty shares were up 2.6% in the US to $12.22 yesterday on the news.
French retail giant Groupe Casino has agreed a new €2bn revolving credit facility with 21 French and international banks as part of its refinancing plan.
The facility, which has a maturity date of October 2023, includes two financial covenants, which will be tested on a quarterly basis (and for the first time on 31 March 2020).
It will be dependent on a ratio of adjusted gross debt to EBITDA (the level of which varies over time) and a ratio of EBITDA to financial expenses that needs to be higher than 2.25x.
The amount of the existing Casino and Monoprix revolving syndicated facilities (currently €2.25bn), maturing in 2021 and 2022, will be reduced by the amounts extended into the new revolving credit facility. The existing Casino and Monoprix bilateral lines, for a total amount of €0.64bn, will be fully repaid and cancelled.
Elsewhere, Ahold Delhaize has updated the market on the progress of its €1bn share buyback plan.
The group has repurchased 877,616 of Ahold Delhaize common shares in the period from 11 November 2019 up to and including 15 November 2019 at an average price of €24.17 per share for a total consideration of €21.2m.
The total number of shares repurchased under this program to date is 42,136,097 common shares for a total consideration of €918m.
On the markets this morning, the FTSE 100 has started the day up 0.6% to 7,347.6pts.
Early risers include Naked Wines (WINE), up 2.9% to 267.5p, PayPoint, up 2.1% to 946p and Bakkavor, up 1.6% to 130.8p.
Fallers so far this morning include Hilton Foods Group (HFG), down 1% to 1,000p, PZ Cussons (PZC), down 0.8% to 199.8p and Tate & Lyle (TATE), down 0.5% to 703.8p.
Yesterday in the City
The FTSE 100 started the week edging up 0.1% to 7,307.7pts.
A number of grocery retail names started the week on the front foot, including Sainsbury’s (SBRY), which was up 2.3% to 209.6p, while Marks & Spencer (MKS) rose 2.2% to 181.5p and Morrisons (MRW) was up 1.5% to 199.3p.
Other retail gainers yesterday included B&M European Value Retail (BME), up 2.3% to 386.6p, McColl’s (MCLS), up 2.3% to 45.5p and Ocado (OCDO), up 1% to 1,164p.
Amongst the day’s biggest risers were AG Barr (BAG), up 4% to 605p, FeverTree (FEVR), up 3.3% to 1,907p, Stock Spirits Group (STCK), up 2.5% to 200p and Domino’s Pizza Group, up 1.9% to 295.6p.
Yesterday’s fallers included DS Smith (SMDS), down 1.3% to 382.9p, Glanbia (GLB), down 1.3% to €11.30, Coca-Cola HBC (CCH), down 0.9% to 2,454p, Tate & Lyle (TATE), down 0.8% to 70-7.4p and Cake Box (CAKE), down 0.7% to 141.5p.


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UK: Ferrero promotes UK exec to regional role
Ferrero has named Dave Tucker as regional commercial director for the US, South America, Canada, Australia and the UK.
Tucker, formerly marketing director for Ferrero UK & Ireland, replaces Federico Bellomo in the Luxembourg-based role.
The confectioner said Tucker, who joined the business five years ago after a stint at Coca-Cola Co., had been "integral to the growth of Ferrero in the UK". Ferrero said it had doubled its share of the UK confectionery sector from 2% to 4%.
Mauro De Felip, an executive from Ferrero Italy, will take Tucker's role in the UK and oversee all Ferrero brands including Tic tac, Nutella, Ferrero, Kinder Bueno and Kinder Kids.
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There was some big news in the tech world during the past weeks. The one I’d like to refer to is the Nokia mobile phone unit, taken over by Microsoft. Not that I’m very thrilled with that event, but I am not as opposed as the Finns who reportedly became quite depressed. When it comes to me, I couldn’t be less bothered, perhaps odd for a person loyal to their mobile phones for a good decade.
However, the takeover coincided with a weird phenomenon that occurred to my, yet another, Nokia phone. The device, which has been serving me well throughout the last two years, has suddenly lost more than a half of its battery life. In less than a week, the fully charged battery, thus far enough for at least three days of careful usage, started to run flat in less than a day and now needs to be recharged every evening.
Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised, as all devices become worn out over time. But incidentally, it happened just a few weeks after the warranty period expired. This is only one of the things telling me that, in fact, it wasn’t a coincidence at all.
It may just be my own conspiracy theory, but I wouldn’t be surprised if my phone was deliberately designed to breakdown at a certain point of time. Is it credible, that the company, which had released a phone with a 38-days battery life two years ago wasn’t even capable of producing a battery that wouldn’t become practically useless after two years of moderate usage?
The practice of making products so that they last shorter and force you to constantly buy new ones has been utilized by many manufacturers and is called ‘planned obsolescence’.
Of course, planned obsolescence is not the kind of thing producers want to boast about. They usually try to keep it concealed from the customers in a more or less successful way. Sometimes though, they are surprisingly frank about it and I have a story to exemplify that. Be it my bad luck or not, it also happened to me this year.
A few months ago, the laptop I was using for the last couple of years, produced by the company known for a fruit-shaped logo on its products, refused to obey my commands and eventually broke down. It happened in a similarly suspicious manner (the investigation is underway), and I was forced to replace it with a new one.
You can call me a muttonhead, but I decided to go for a laptop of the same brand, being too scared of the need to convert to another operating system and too mesmerized with the videos peddling all those convenient tricks I never used. I also thought that, despite my previous laptop being fairly useless at that point, I could make use of some of the accessories I had bought with it.
How naive of me! At the first occasion, when I wanted to display some photos from the brand new laptop and tried to plug the beamer cable in it; I decided to use the nicely designed adapter I used for the previous laptop. Yes, you guessed correctly – it didn’t fit.
Quite appalled that this kind of incompatibility can occur among the products only different in that they are from two (consecutive) generations, I went to the producer’s website and read the whole list of available adapters. Putting it mildly, I wasn’t pleased to find my adapter just below that list, in a box labelled as “Legacy adapters”.
Legacy adapters. What an elegant way to call it a pile of useless electric crap. This phrase, in its deceitful wording, draws together the entire nature of the fact that millions of electronic devices are continuously pushed away from the market just in order to force the muttonheads like me to spend just a bit more cash on a new, re-designed piece of electric cable.
As a result, once you buy a new, innovative gadget, you no longer expect it to last more than until the new one is released. Once it is, the battery in your device will swell and explode, the display will black out. If by some miracle none of the programmed technical failures occurs, the producer will make sure that the next software update will be incompatible, causing your device to crash every split second and transforming your smartphone into a ‘legacy smartphone’ in less than a season.
Every year, millions of products such as furniture, car tyres as well as fully operational electronic devices are thrown away to the scrapyard of industrial innovation at the expense of the consumers and of the environment.
The reason why I tell you these stories in an EU-oriented website is that they inspired me to think of a way to alter this process. Couldn’t the European Commission take care of that, just as it kindly did take care of the roaming charges?
I’m not asking because I believe that any regulation or action plan could effectively address this issue and strike it to the core. I do it because I already know that the EU officials are aware of the problem and believe that there is a way to solve it.
A few months ago, at a meeting with the EU Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik, I saw his enthusiasm towards an idea of the car tyre manufacturer Michelin, who developed a new scheme for merchandising its products. The idea is simple, revolutionary, and it has the potential to put an end to the vicious circle of planned obsolescence.
Imagine that, instead of buying a set of tyres for your car, you sign a contract with the tyre producer. In the contract, he obliges himself to provide you with tyres forever, in exchange for a fixed annual fee. You would get a new set of tyres any time the old ones become too fatigued.
It sounds a bit utopian, but this is precisely what Michelin offers to more than 250 thousand trucks in 20 European countries. The system of tyre leasing has become a way for the transportation companies to get what they need the most – predictability and optimized costs in their fleet management. If it works in cargo transport, why couldn’t it be spread to other sectors?
This way, it would be in the interest of the producer to make his products as durable as it is technically possible. The market forces, which are currently driving the products to be the poor quality they are, could be reversed to enforce the highest achievable product quality, without any harm to competition or consumer choice.
The environmental benefits are easy to predict. For instance, electronic devices would be designed to accommodate more powerful software rather than to become obsolete and be replaced every second year. Resource efficiency, currently the most neglected part of the business, would become the main field where companies could look for ways to increase their profits. Isn’t that a perfect way to pair economic growth with cutting resource consumption?
In addition, it’s not hard to figure out the benefits for the EU’s economy. The quality companies pushed out from the market by the avalanche of flimsy foreign products would regain its competitive position. The whole system would pave the way to bring jobs in manufacturing back to the EU. It would be a market-based way to implement the rising slogan of reindustrializing Europe and all of which would happen in a way that is environmentally sound.


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BBK Electronics brand Realme has teased its upcoming Realme X7 Max 5G ahead of its launch in India. The Realme X7 Max 5G microsite has already been made live on Realme.com, which hints that the Realme X7 Max 5G will be the first smartphone in the country that will come with the MediaTek Dimensity 1200 chipset. The launch is expected in the coming weeks as the company has officially started teasing the Realme X7 Max 5G online. The smartphone’s launch was initially delayed due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis in the country. Realme X7 Max has been previously rumoured to be launched as a rebranded version of the Realme GT Neo. Realme India CEO Madhav Sheth has separately posted an image of the smartphone on his social media, which also shows a Realme GT Neo-like design.
According to the microsite launched by Realme, the Realme X7 Max 5G is confirmed to come with a MediaTek Dimensity 1200 chipset and will be the first smartphone to come with the SoC in India. Realme has also posted the AnTuTu benchmark scores for the Realme X7 Max that is more than 700,600. The company has also partnered with Asphalt 9 Legends mobile racing game. Further, the Realme X7 Max 5G will feature two 5G SIM slots.
According to the image shared by Realme India CEO Sheth, the design is similar to the Realme GT Neo that was launched in China back in March this year. The image shows that the smartphone sports “Realme” and “Dare to Leap” branding on the back panel, with a blue strip running through the back panel.
If the Realme X7 Max 5G is launched as a rebranded version of the Realme GT Neo, it will feature a 6.43-inch Super AMOLED full-HD+ display along with 120Hz refresh rate. The MediaTek Dimensity 1200 SoC could be paired with up to 12GB of RAM and the smartphone could have up to 256GB of internal storage that will be further expandable via a microSD card. The Realme X7 Max 5G could come with a 4,500mAh battery with 65W fast charging support.


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Hotel News in Brief
The Rocco Forte Collection announced that its Prague property is to be named The Augustine. The 101-room hotel, due to open in early summer 2008, is being created from a complex of five historic buildings, the largest and most important being the 13th century Augustinian St Thomas's Monastery, after which the hotel is named. Rocco Forte's The Augustine will be the twelfth hotel to join The Collection. Located at the very heart of the city in the Lesser Town, the hotel boasts spectacular views of Prague Castle and the Wallenstein Gardens. The monastery will provide The Augustine with a picturesque setting of established courtyards and elegant garden squares, while retaining certain areas for the practising Augustinian monks who remain in situ. Key historic features such as cloistered terraces, wooden ceilings, wine vaults and stone arches have been incorporated into the hotel's design. New additions include a tranquil courtyard entrance and a glassed-in courtyard, which will become The Augustine's main restaurant, complete with two protected trees.
Base announces two new backpacker hostels for Taupo and Wanaka. Australia and New Zealand's premier hostel network, Base, today announced that it would expand its New Zealand network from eight to ten hostels with the addition of two new purpose built hostels to be completed by July 2008. One hostel will be located in the central North Island town of Taupo and is scheduled for completion in December 2007. A second hostel is under construction in the Southern region of the South Island, in the popular ski resort town of Wanaka. Situated near to the snow fields of Treble Cone and Cardrona, Base Wanaka is scheduled to open in June 2008 to coincide with the start of the New Zealand's famous ski season. These two new properties cement the Base brand as Australasia's leading privately owned operator of quality backpacker accommodation and will increase the region's network to a total of 13 hostels in prime CBD and leisure destinations from Auckland in NZ to Magnetic Island on Queensland's Great Barrier Reef. Partly owned by hotel group Accor Asia Pacific, Base made its debut on the backpacking scene in 2002 with the launch of three hostels in Auckland, Rotorua and Wellington. Since then Base has gone from strength to strength, merging with the New Zealand owned Beyond Backpacker group in 2006.
The Chedi Club named Indonesia's leading boutique hotel. The Chedi Club at Tanah Gajah in Ubud, Bali, a luxury property managed by General Hotel Management (GHM) Limited, has been named Indonesia's Leading Boutique Hotel at the World Travel Awards 2007 held in a ceremony in Bangalore last Friday. GHM, a luxury hotel development and management company, is the market leader in conceptualising, developing and operating a selection of exclusive hotels and resorts worldwide. GHM manages a portfolio of three brands including highly regarded properties such as The Datai in Langkawi, The Setai in Miami, The Chedi hotels and The Serai hotels worldwide.
New trend in Atlantic City hotel growth. As reported by the Press of Atlantic City: "It may be early, but the signs are unmistakable. "Atlantic City's business leaders are rushing to find rooms for the growing number of tourists. "Cranes towering over the city are assembling hotel additions to the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, Harrah's Atlantic City and Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort. "But for the first time in memory, investors outside the casinos are spending tens of millions of dollars to renovate or build three separate hotels in the resort without public subsidies. "These generally high-end properties add nearly 600 rooms to the city. They include a two-year renovation of a former Quality Inn, a plan to combine two down-market destinations into a designer hotel and a small boutique establishment that just cleared the city's zoning board this month. "The head of the Atlantic City Convention and Visitors Authority similarly thought now was a good time for hotels. "...The first of the new wave of hotel development to open likely will be the new Courtyard at Marriott, in the homestretch of an $8.4 million renovation and expansion that would add about 200 rooms. "...The next to open probably will be a $93 million project that takes the resort's separate Holiday Inn and Howard Johnson and turns them into a single upscale property called 'The Chelsea' designed to shelter the young, hip and affluent resort visitors. "...Resort businessman Spiros Trupos received zoning board approval Oct. 11 to build a boutique hotel called 'The Adelphia' across the street from The Quarter at Tropicana Casino and Resort..." Source: Casino City Times
Hotel Leelaventure Ltd has finalised a private equity investment of 50 billion rupees ($1.3 billion) to fund expansion and the investor may be Blackstone, an Indian newspaper said on Monday. The Times of India newspaper said Leela Chairman C.P. Krishnan Nair confirmed the investment but declined to name the private equity firm or the size of the stake it had bought. The paper cited unnamed industry sources as saying the investor was likely to be Blackstone, which it said had been in talks with Leela. "We have got close to 5,000 crore rupees worth of funding, which will be spent on our ongoing projects and for expansion purposes," Nair told the newspaper. The company also planned to launch a second chain of 5-star luxury hotels which would come up in religious destinations, Nair told the paper. Officials of the two firms were not immediately available for comment. Earlier this year, Blackstone bought a majority stake in apparel firm Gokaldas Exports Ltd and agreed to invest $150 million in Nagarjuna Construction Co Ltd. Source: Reuters India
Westin becomes first hotel chain to create Superfoods focused menu as part of their commitment to personal renewal. As part of Westin's ongoing commitment to personal renewal they are teaming up with SuperFoods Partners LLC, owners of the SuperFoodsRx brand to become the first hotel brand to create a SuperFoods focused menu for their guests. Superfoods known for being health-enhancing and rich in antioxidants and phyto-nutrients will be the main ingredient in Westin signature dishes such as banana oatmeal brulé, green-tea-infused salmon and molten dark chocolate cake. The initiative, which is currently rolling out in 25 Westin hotels in the U.S. and Canada, will go global in 2008 with the introduction of the Westin Signature Breakfast, a SuperFoods breakfast selection that will be offered at all Westin properties. To kick off the launch in Asia Pacific, all the 23 Westin hotels in the region will start to introduce SuperFoods items in their in-room dining menus.
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Poll: Ikea set to open new store in Norwich, but does that shatter hopes of the chain coming to Ipswich?
- Credit: PA
Global furniture giant Ikea has confirmed they are opening a new experimental type of store in Norwich, despite the chain originally denying claims they had their sights set on the city.
There have been repeated calls for an Ikea closer to Ipswich, but will this new store mean the company will rule out ever opening here?
At 19,000 square feet, the store will open at the Sweet Briar Retail Park, off the outer ring road, and take on the unit currently occupied by Currys/PC World.
The Swedish company admits it would be much smaller than the majority of Ikea’s current outlets, and they are describing it as a “test” of a new retail format.
An Ikea spokesman said: “We want to provide our customers with a simple, convenient and enjoyable shopping experience. As such, we are reviewing our expansion strategy on an ongoing basis and exploring opportunities to become more accessible to many more people.
You may also want to watch:
“We can confirm that we have identified a site in Norwich that we will use to test a new retail format that aims to make Ikea more accessible than ever before. We will provide further details on our plans for the site in due course.”
Last November, Ikea denied plans for a city branch in Norwich after a website link was circulated appearing to advertise jobs there.
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The nearest Ikea outlet to Ipswich at present is Lakeside, a 130-mile round-trip. It would be a 90-mile round trip to the new store.
On calls for an Ikea in town, Paul Clement, chief executive of Ipswich Central, said: “Ipswich now has a commitment to significant investment in its retail and leisure offer with work started on the new Sailmakers scheme and planning just granted for changes to the Buttermarket.
“We can do much better on attracting missing high street names, but improvements to the overall town centre offer must come alongside appealing to new retailers”.
• What do you think? Leave your comments below.


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Hey everyone, welcome to another edition of the daily gaming news. Here I'll be discussing all the latest goings-on in the gaming industry, from new releases to game announcements and everything in between. So without further ado, let's get started!
PlayStation Play At Home
60 million games have now been redeemed as part of the PlayStation Play at Home initiative. That initiative was set up by PlayStation during the Pandemic to help gamers get through it. They gave out a bunch of free games. 60 million games redeemed is a huge number. Thank you to PlayStation for supporting us during the pandemic.
GTA Trilogy Definitive Edition
The next bit of news for today is Grand Theft Auto The Trilogy - Definite Edition has now been officially announced by Rockstar Games. They released a trailer about it yesterday. It's just a teaser trailer. It's like 20 something seconds long. It just has the announcement and the old music from Grand Theft Auto 3, but it's to show that it's a real thing. It's not just a rumor anymore and hopefully we'll get our hands on it sooner than later. Apparently it will feature modern gameplay. Hopefully it's not just a remaster of PlayStation 2 games. They will actually try and spice up at least a little bit, but we have to wait and see.
Honkai: Star Rail Announced
And then the last bit of news for today is miHoYo, who is the developer behind Genshin Impact has announced a new project called Honkai Star Rail. It's going to be based in the Honkai Impact universe and Closed Beta Access has started as of yesterday. We will see when more details comes out about it. Like I said in my previous videos, I did play a lot of Genshin Impact. I did really enjoy it at the time, but I felt it was spoiled by the cash shop. We will see what they do with Honkai Star Rail in the future.
That's all for my roundup of the latest gaming news. What do you think? Are any of these stories big deals in your opinion? Let me know by leaving a comment on the video. And don't forget to check back tomorrow for more exciting gaming news!
Mithrie - Gamer & Trophy Hunter
Mithrie is a full time content creator. He has been creating content since August 2013. He went full time in 2018,
and since 2021 has published 100s of Gaming News videos and articles. He has had a passion for Gaming for more than 30 years!


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Releasing in the coming months.
The fourth collaboration between the duo.
In addition to the release of much-anticipated collaborations between JJJJound x New Balance, Bad Bunny x adidas, Chris Paul x Jordan Brand and more.
Featuring “Ironstone” and “Sail” detailing.
Unveiled ahead of the official launch in late October.


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GVC has stated the effect of Coronavirus is expected to hit earnings by up to £150m, with a number of high-profile international sporting and racing events cancelled or postponed.
Approximately 43 percent of the gambling group’s net gaming revenue is generated from sporting events across its stable of brands including Coral, Crystalbet, Eurobet and Ladbrokes.
“There will be substantially fewer sporting events through to August of this year and EBITDA may be down by £130m to £150m,” stated the firm.
“If shops in the UK are closed we anticipate EBITDA would be down by £45m to £50m per month, including employment costs of approximately £20m per month.”
The announcement follows the postponement of the Euros until 2021, and a hiatus on all professional football matches until July, alongside the cancellation of Royal Ascot and Aintree.
Prior to national efforts to stem the spread of Coronavirus, GVC had seen net gaming revenue for the first two months of 2020 increase five percent year on year, alongside a 15 percent rise in NGR online.
However, the group’s 931.6p share price high on 12 February dropped by almost two thirds in just over a month, with trading on 19 March seeing GVC shares priced at 323.7p.


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It’s summertime & that means multiple companies are releasing their new ice cream treats for consumers to purchase. This includes Baskin Robbins & the Sonic Drive-Thru, who both announced new items on their menu over the 1st weekend of June. When it applies towards Baskin Robbins, they’ve been releasing a unique flavour each month over the summer of 2020. The most recent selection made by Baskin Robbins Execs is named “Surprise Party”, which is meant to have flavour profiles similar to cake batter & buttercream.
Three colours are seen in Surprise Party, with Blue & Pink supporting the cake batter flavour profile. It’s the yellow ice cream that’s flavoured to resemble buttercream. Unlike multiple companies releasing their “Cake Batter Products” during this 2020 trend, Baskin Robbins has created a desirable flavour that doesn’t taste like it was mass-produced. Expect feelings similar to good cake batter & buttercream.
Those wanting to purchase the Baskin Robbins Surprise Party Ice Cream have until June 31st to reach their nearest location. That’s because by July 1st there’ll be a new flavour announced on their website & released to retail locations. It should be mentioned that Baskin Robbins is selling containers of Surprise Party Ice Cream, meaning those who enjoy these flavours can consume the delicious treat into July or August. Just make sure to buy plenty of containers!
The Sonic Float
Baskin Robbins isn’t the independent company that’s released a new summer ice cream for consumers. The Sonic Drive-Thru announced their “Red, White, and Blue Slushie Float. It’ll be available for consumption between June 29th to August 2nd. The flavour profiles associated with this July 4th-themed float includes the Sonic Blue Raspberry Sonic for the top layer. The middle layer comprises Sonic’s vanilla ice cream, with the bottom layer having the Strawberry Real Fruit Slush.
This combination of flavour profiles will be perfect for the associated price of $2.99. It should be noted that this is a nation-wide product that’s supported by all retail locations. There are multiple other summer beverage options at Sonic Drive-Thru, including the recently announced Brownie Blast Float. There’ll be something for everyone in the family at Sonic.


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Apple Music has launched in Canada and worldwide radio station Beats 1 is now live. (more…)
A Russian newspaper reports that Apple has filed for iWatch trademark in the country.
Samsung has obtained an import ban on AT&T iPhone 3GS, 4 and iPad 3G, iPad 2 3G.
Apple has started to decorate Moscone West ahead of WWDC 2013, set to take place June 10.
The iPhone is the choice of 39.2% of American looking to buy a smartphone, comScore’s recent study says.
Apple has released OS X 10.8.4 for download, which contains numerous bug fixes and improvements.
TELUS stores are offering an iPhone 5 case, screen protector and Apple Lightning to 30-pin adapter for $40.
Costco has a 2-pack of Ozone iPhone 5 cases for $9.97.
Jean-Pierre Blais, CRTC chairman speaks about the Wireless Code and the CRTC’s plans to serve Canadian consumer interest.
Rogers has announced further expansion of their LTE Max network.
Fido has launched a new unlimited $60 smart plan with 5GB data for customers in Manitoba.
Brian White has said in a new research note that Apple will debut its long-rumored TV set with motion detection technology later this year.


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BY PRUDENCE WANZA- Xiaomi , Chinese technology firm has unveiled the mainstream phone(Mi CC9 Pro) to feature a 108 megapixel camera in the world.
The Mi CC9 Pro is the company’s newest high end Smartphone featuring a 6.4 inch display and a large 5260mAh battery. It has also been rated to deliver extremely sharp photographs that are rich in detail.
For now, the Mi CC9 Pro Premium has only been announced for the Chinese market, where the base model costs $400.
The firm is currently the world’s fourth best selling vendor with a market share of 9.1% and a rapidly growing market in Europe as plans are underway to venture into Japan by 2020
Mi CC9 Pro outstanding features include;
- Wide angle camera lense of 108MP with 27MP image output. A 20MP Ultra-wide camera with 2 tele- lenses for optimized performance
- Front camera 32MP
- An aluminium frame, Gorilla glass 5 front and back
- A display of 6.7 inches
- Memory: 6GB of RAM; 64/128GB storage or 8GB of RAM, 128/256GB storage for premium edition
- Battery 5260Ah 30W fast charging, 0-100% in 65mins.
- Fingerprint scan
- Dual sim
Xiaomi also stated that it will use the same component in the Mi note 10, which will be launched soon and sold more widely.
The 108MP camera is surely going to captivate many as most customers are focused on phone with good camera quality
However earliest tests of the gadget have indicated that its images contain more digital distortions than those produced by lower-resolution smart phones.


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Last week didn’t start well for Beijing Baofeng Technology Company. An online-video company whose products include a cheap virtual-reality headset, it saw its stock tumble twelve per cent over two days of trading, after Chinese regulators said that they were looking into possible share-price manipulation on the ChiNext board of the Shenzhen Exchange, where Baofeng trades. Still, Baofeng shareholders can’t really complain. The company went public just two months ago, and in the first thirty-four days of trading its stock rose by ten per cent every single day except one. Even after the recent stumble, Baofeng is up twenty-five hundred per cent this year.
Baofeng isn’t an outlier, either. Of seventeen hundred stocks on the Shenzhen Exchange, only four have fallen this year, and more than a hundred have seen their shares rise more than five hundred per cent. The Shenzhen Index as a whole has doubled since January, and is up more than two hundred per cent in the past year. The action on China’s other major stock exchanges—in Shanghai and Hong Kong—hasn’t been quite as torrid, but they’ve had their share of extraordinary winners. The Shanghai Composite Index has risen a hundred and forty per cent since this time last year. In Hong Kong, Jicheng Umbrella Holdings (which makes, yes, umbrellas) went public in February: its shares are up almost seventeen hundred per cent.
There’s something weird about these success stories, because these are tough times for the Chinese economy. The government has pegged this year’s G.D.P. growth rate at seven per cent—the slowest rate in decades—and independent studies suggest that the real number is well below that. Exports, which are almost forty per cent of the economy, fell fifteen per cent in April. Industrial earnings fell, too, in the most recent quarter. The country is also facing the fallout from a huge borrowing spree—between 2007 and 2014, the total debt load quadrupled. A McKinsey study suggests that Chinese companies are currently spending more on interest payments than they are earning in profits. This should all be bad news for stocks. Yet prices just keep going up.
Why the disconnect? “China has never been a market driven by economic fundamentals,” Michael Pettis, a professor of finance at Peking University, told me. “It’s always been a speculative market.” In most markets, you have a mixture of fundamental investors, arbitrageurs, and speculators. But in China the dearth of reliable macroeconomic and corporate data makes it very hard to be a fundamental investor. As a result, Pettis said, “the market is dominated by speculative investors. They buy when they think something is going to happen that may drive prices up tomorrow.” Right now, credit is easy, and the government is doing all it can to keep the market booming, by cutting interest rates and increasing spending. So speculators are buoyant, and they’re buying.
Speculative markets can meander along, as China’s did between 2010 and 2014. The danger is that, when they start to boom, they take on a life of their own and you end up with a bubble. As Robert Shiller, a professor of economics at Yale and the author of “Irrational Exuberance,” puts it, during a bubble “news of price increases spurs investor enthusiasm, which spreads by psychological contagion from person to person,” drawing in more and more investors, who buy simply because they believe that others will buy, at even higher prices, tomorrow.
That sounds a lot like China today. The market’s ascent has been propelled by a flood of new money, much of it from inexperienced investors. Fourteen million new trading accounts were opened last year, and, according to one study, two-thirds of those who opened accounts never finished high school. Investors are also increasingly relying on borrowed money to buy stocks, which hugely amplifies the risk of investing. Either these investors don’t see the Chinese market as precarious at all—a quintessential sign of a bubble—or they believe they’ll be quick enough to avoid the crash. Pettis told me about acquaintances who have been speculating: “They’re aware of the risks, but, as one said, ‘I’m going to get out before it starts to fall.’ ” Then, too, Shiller has argued, the media plays an important role in inflating bubbles, and, sure enough, last fall China’s government-controlled press ran a series of pieces claiming that the Chinese stock market was undervalued and due for a rally.
Some observers have made the case that the boom will continue, because Chinese investors have notably few places to put their money. Their ability to invest abroad is sharply restricted, and Beijing has recently made it harder to invest in real estate. Be that as it may, once stock prices start tumbling, money will quickly head elsewhere, even if it’s just under the nearest mattress. And, while the government has been doing all it can to support the market, there’s a limit to what it can achieve. In 2007, prices on the Shanghai Composite Index were higher than they are today. But even though the government was firmly behind the market, and there was plenty of liquidity, the boom ended, and the following year stock prices fell sixty-five per cent. Even if the government succeeds in keeping the Chinese economy on a steady growth path—no mean feat—the fact remains that Chinese stocks are no longer priced for steady growth. They’re priced for a huge boom that will likely never come. In the end, even in speculative markets, fundamentals have a way of asserting themselves, and, when they do, no umbrella maker in China is going to be worth $1.2 billion. ♦


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Thursday, February 14, 2013
If you're single on Valentine's Day, the world is your oyster!
Thursday, February 14
If you haven’t been shot with Cupid’s arrow yet or your Valentine is yet to be found because he or she is still hiding under a rock, fear not. You have a whole list of things to celebrate on Feb. 14, also known to many as Singles Awareness Day. It’s great to be single on Valentine's Day because you don’t have to please anyone or care about anyone’s opinion of what you want to do. Go see that horrible or cheesy movie that you’d never go to on a date at Multiplex Cinemas. You can also really enjoy being with your friends. Get a group together and go to a fun concept restaurant in East Windsor such as Brewster's Pub, a local gastropub. If dining out isn’t your thing, try out a kickboxing class at Everson's Karate & Cardio Kickboxing with …
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
If you're looking for great Valentine's Day ideas without having to travel too far, check out this list of romantic gifts below.
If Godiva chocolate and a weekend stay at a resort are out of your price range, here are some ideas for a nice, budget-friendly Valentine’s Day with your date around East Windsor, Cranbury, and Hightstown. Cook your own dinner with ingredients from Shop Rite and Molto Bene Cafe & Italian Market. Have dinner at The Americana Diner and see a movie at Multiplex Cinemas. Have dinner at the most romantic restaurants in the area! The Peacock Inn was voted the most romantic restaurant in Patch's Reader's Choice 2012, but there three restaurants that took second place were The Blue Rooster Bakery & Cafe, Cranbury Inn Restaurant, and Fernando's Grille. Enjoy a musical night out at City Streets Cafe. Rich Genoval Solo is playing acoustic music from…
CBS News takes a look at the upcoming holiday by the numbers, including how much the average consumer is expected to spend and what people are expected to buy.
Wednesday, February 13
A CBS News report says 60 percent people plan to celebrate Valentine's Day this year. That number comes from the National Retail Federation, which says the average consumer will spend $130, with 51 percent gifting candy, 36.6 percent buying flowers and 19.7 percent springing for jewelry — about $4.4 billion worth. The National Retail Federation, the world’s largest retail trade association that represents retailers from the United States and more than 45 countries abroad, estimates total Valentine's Day spending on cards and gifts this year at $18.6 billion — with consumers spending $10.5 billion on a significant other, almost $3.8 billion on gifts for other family members and even $815 million on pets. Are you part of the 60 percent who…
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Here's a guide to great Valentine's Day gifts to purchase in East Windsor, Hightstown and Cranbury .
To help you think outside the (chocolate) box for Valentine’s Day gifts for your sweetie, here’s a list of places to go shopping, wine, dine, and be merry in East Windsor, Hightstown and Cranbury! Get your sweetie a gift card for a massage from Hand and Stone Massage and Facial Spa. Save $10 off of Valentine Spa Gift Cards and $20 off Valentine Spa Gift Packages. Help your lovely lady complete her Valentine's Day look with a manicure and pedicure from one of the area's nail salons. If you're sweetheart wants something sweet, pick up something special from El Buen Gusto in Hightstown or Blue Rooster Bakery and Cafe in Cranbury. Looking for something chocolatey? Pick something up from David Bradley Chocolatier in Windsor. And, if you can't …
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Why not use any day to express your feelings toward a loved one?
- On Patch
Thursday, January 17