Source: Takata considers bankruptcy for U.S. unit

Air bag maker Takata Corp of Japan is considering a bankruptcy filing for its U.S. unit. The company is currently looking for a sponsor to help pay for accountabilities connected to its faulty inflators, a person informed on the subject told Reuters.

Takata has been occupied in choosing a financial backer for its reversal as it faces enormous costs associated to the worldwide recall of millions of potentially defective inflators. A company-appointed steering committee has engaged investment bank Lazard Ltd as an consultant for the process.

The company is straining to supply replacement parts for the potentially faulty inflators, which have been linked to more than 16 deaths worldwide, mostly in the United States. The incidents have led to the industry’s largest ever recall, with about 100 million instructed to be withdrawn globally.

The source said a Chapter 11 filing for Michigan-based TK Holdings, its U.S. unit, was one option it was studying, although no filing was expected soon. The unit accounts for almost half of Takata’s global sales.

A filing would not be forthcoming because the company still had to pick a sponsor and finalize terms. Further, it would have to arrive at a settlement with automaker creditors, the source said.

On Friday, Takata recapped its willingness to finalize a deal with its automaker customers over the restructuring, ideally by year-end. It added though that any decision eventually would be made by the steering committee.

“Our preference would be to restructure debts through an out-of-court settlement with creditors. This has been our position since the start, and has not changed,” Takata CFO Yoichiro Nomura told reporters at a results briefing.

“Aside from that, we’re open to all options.”

He added that an out-of-court resolution would be desirable to a court-ordered bankruptcy for all of the company’s global operations. Allowing the company to continue operations would ensure a steady supply of inflator replacement parts involved in the recall.

Sources told Reuters last month that the struggle over bankruptcy is expected to defer by months the designation of a rescuer. Likewise, completion of Takata’s restructuring plans that were expected to be completed this year would have to be moved back.

Bidders for the company include Sweden’s Autoliv and Japanese inflator maker Daicel Corp, sources have said. On the other hand, its creditors include the world’s leading automakers including the Renault/Nissan alliance, Honda Motor Co, and Ford Motor Co.

Escalating air bag-related costs have battered Takata’s profits. Last year, the company booked its third annual loss in four years. Moreover, its share price has dropped 90 percent since 2014.

The company said on Friday that the threat of soaring air bag-related costs meant that it would not issue a dividend for the first half.

Still, Takata raised its full-year profit projection to 20.0 billion yen ($193.87 million) from the earlier estimate of 13.0 billion. The company is banking on a boost from asset sales in the first half.

This forecast mostly leaves out the impact of the recalls as the company has only delineated a small number of related liabilities.

If Takata were found to be exclusively liable for the inflator defect, it could face a bill of about $13 billion for recalls announced so far, according to estimates from experts and automakers including General Motors.

It would also encounter U.S. lawsuits.

These impending liabilities would dwarf Takata’s war chest of around 72.4 billion yen as of the end of September. To this point, automakers have paid most of the recall costs while Takata and its customers resolve how to divide responsibility.

Trading in Takata shares was temporarily suspended on Friday following the Nikkei business daily’s initial report that it was preparing for a potential bankruptcy filing.

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Retailers Hold Back on Black Friday Participation

The long-standing essence of discounts and promos during Black Friday seems to be weakening in the past, more so this year. JDA Consumer Survey conducted its own observation; found out that there will be lesser promo offers this coming Black Friday.

JDA Consumer Survey constitutes 1,000 shoppers, in which 47% said they plan to skip this year’s Black Friday or Cyber Monday. Furthermore, 73% of the respondents prefer to go shopping after the holiday season, waiting for better deals such as Amazon Prime Day. Another 34% said they change their mind in joining the 2016 Black Friday, even though they participated last year.

Responses from the survey indicate a decreasing trend of shoppers during the sale event that started last year. The obvious mindset of the shoppers affects the overall relevance of Black Friday.

According to Paula Rosenblum, the managing partner at RSR research and Forbes contributor said, “The basis of Black Friday is long since dead — the kick-off to the holiday season on a four-day weekend”.

The head of Your Retail Authority, Lee Kent said that “The only thing that makes Black Friday is the deals”. Shoppers come in for the discounts, Lee added, “If you offer them, consumers will come, but if you offer them on other days, the consumer has choices. It’s that simple!”

Online shopping factors in

Online shopping contributes in the diminishing Black Friday’s shoppers. Furthermore, retail stores started offering pre-holiday sales which grab more attention. This instance takes the focus off from the highly anticipated holiday retail sale.

Last week, in an online discussion of industry heads of the Retailwire Brain Trust, believed that e-commerce is not the only aspect affecting Black Friday.

As what Rosenblum stated, “E-commerce wounded the goose that laid that golden egg, but the year that retailers opened on Thanksgiving, they killed it once and for all.”

The CEO of Black Monk Consulting, Ryan Mathews thought otherwise. He said, “It isn’t online shopping that is killing Black Friday, it’s the fact that consumers have caught on to the hustle. Look how many people do their ‘holiday shopping’ after the holidays or even the New Year to capture real discounts.”

Bob Phibbs, the President, and CEO of The Retail Doctor believed that the widely available discounted sales of the retailer spoiled the essence of Black Friday. He said, “With the always-discounted retailer always available, the substance of Black Friday is gone, even if the marketing is still around,”

For employee’s sake

Apple, on the other hand, ignored last year’s Black Friday promotion in all of its stores. The company toned down the significance of the anticipated holiday season sale.

They want to eliminate ‘door busters’ stress and focus their attention on caring for their employee’s welfare during holidays.

BrainTrust members share Apple’s empathy towards their employees.

Rainmaker Solutions CEO ED Rosenbaum said, “It’s almost like the meal is over and the dishes are done so let’s get in line. This is what I object strenuously to. Retail employees deserve to spend the holiday with their family.”

He added that “If retailers learned to forget the greed and fear of being outdone by the competition, Black Friday could become a sales day with none of these openings before the sun comes up”.

Retailers amass a huge amount of profit during Black Friday promotions but “have a deleterious effect on associates”, according to Richard J. George, a Professor of Food Marketing at Saint Joseph’s University. For the Ph.D. graduate, Black Friday promotions can somehow label as one of the “failed retail experiments”.

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GorPro Aims to Bounce Back After Q3 Revenue Loss

Suspect in custody following Rutgers University stabbing

A suspect is in custody following reports of a stabbing at Rutgers University, New Jersey, this afternoon.

The incident sparked a lockdown of the university’s Business School in New Brunswick while the emergency services raced to the scene.

Just a few moments ago the University issued a brief statement saying that ‘three people, including the suspect, are being treated for injuries” following the incident.

Initial reports said there had been multiple stabbings reported but few details about the incident are immediately available.

Initially the University tweeted an alert to avoid the area following the stabbing.

RU ALERT: Stabbing at Rutgers Business School (New Brunswick). Avoid the area and/or take shelter. 11/04/2016 14:45:32 EDT

— Rutgers University (@RutgersU) November 4, 2016

The incident began at 2.45pm and the lockdown was later lifted around 45 minutes later with the University tweeting that a suspect had been arrested.

RU ALERT: Suspect in custody. Area is safe. Police investigation ongoing. 11/04/2016 15:29:35 EDT

— Rutgers University (@RutgersU) November 4, 2016

Initial reports from the scene say that between three and five people have been injured.

As yet no motive has been established for the attacks and it unclear how seriously hurt the stabbing victims are.

Rutgers is a leading national research university which is this year celebrating its 250th anniversary, having being established in 1766.

It is the eighth oldest higher education institution in the United States.

According to the University website more than 69,000 students and 22,000 faculty and staff learn, work, and serve the public at Rutgers locations across New Jersey and around the world.

more follows…

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U.S. Senators: Wells Fargo Sales Scandal Includes Brokerage Unit

Wells Fargo broadened the scope of a scandal as it fired hundreds of brokerage workers for improper sales practices, three US senators said on Thursday. The fourth-biggest US bank has so far defined the controversy as a retail banking problem.

Senators Elizabeth Warren, Robert Menendez and Ron Wyden, in a letter to Wells Fargo Chief Executive Tim Sloan, questioned the bank’s revelations about those employee’s terminations in mandatory regulatory filings.

The letter is the first sign that clients of the brokerage business  ‘Wells Fargo Advisors’, may have also been affected.

Wells Fargo would pay $5 million to customers and $185 million in penalties. This is for opening up to 2 million credit card and deposit accounts in customers’ names without their knowledge.

The San Francisco-based bank said it dismissed 5,300 employees for inappropriate sales practices over a period of five years.

In October, Reuters reported that thousands of small business customers have also been affected.

“It would appear that Wells Fargo concealed key information from regulators that may have revealed the bank’s misdeeds long before the September 2016 settlement,” the senators wrote, requesting more information.

FINRA on the Case

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) informed congressional staff that it had received dismissal documents, or Form U5s, for at least 600 of those fired Wells Fargo employees. But only 207 of them have information indicating they were fired for practices that led to fake accounts.

FINRA is a non-government organization that regulates member brokerage firms and securities dealers.

The senators said that the incomplete U5 filings may have held back information from regulators that could have helped them to discover and stop the illegal activity sooner.

Spokeswoman Nancy Condon said that FINRA takes seriously the accuracy and integrity of all filings made by firms.

She disclosed that FINRA last week started a review of sales programs for all firms it administers.

Several investigations, including an internal review, were ongoing, Wells Fargo spokeswoman Jennifer Greeson Dunn said. She added that that the bank has been working for years to halt wrongful sales practices. She will be taking steps to mend the damage.

Sloan said at a conference on Thursday that he had not aware of issues outside the retail bank.

Wells Fargo’s retail branches include workers from other businesses who offer products other than bank accounts.

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US Defense Department, Lockheed Wrap Up Discussions on Ninth Lot of F-35 Jets

The Pentagon said on Wednesday that after 14 months of negotiations on the more than $6.1 billion deal, the U.S. Department of Defense and Lockheed Martin Corp ended talks on their ninth contract for F-35 fighter jets.

The unilateral agreement on the deal for 57 of the new warplanes will provide profit margin certainty to Lockheed and its partners. They have been producing the jet under a placeholder arrangement known as an “undefinitized contract action”.

People acquainted with the contract discussions who spoke under condition of anonymity said the tenth production contract, which is a 94-plane deal, was still under negotiation.

Lockheed said in a statement that the contract was not a mutually agreed upon contract. It was a unilateral contract action, which requires them to perform under standard terms and conditions, and earlier agreed-to items. Moreover, they said that they are disheartened with the decision by the government to declare a unilateral contract action.

However, people familiar with the purchasing process said that the unilateral resolution was uncommon.

The prior lot of 43 planes, lot 8, had an average unit price of $108 million per plane. Planes in lot 9 are about $107 million per plane, 3.7 percent lower. Hence, it is the lowest price per jet thus far.

The F-35 is the Pentagon’s most expensive arms program. The U.S. Department of Defense looks to spend $391 billion to develop the plane. It plans to buy 2,443 of the stealthy, supersonic warplanes, in the coming decades.

The ninth batch of jets includes 42 F-35 A-model jets for the U.S. Air Force, Japan, Israel and Norway; and 13 F-35 B-model jets, which can manage short takeoffs and vertical landings, for the Marine Corps and the British navy. This is in addition to two carrier-variant F-35C jets for the U.S. Navy.

Lockheed, and its key partners including Northrop Grumman, Pratt & Whitney and BAE Systems, have been building and developing F-35s for the U.S. military and 10 allies.

The price of the F-35A conventional takeoff and landing version of the jet would fall to under $100 million per plane in the 10th low-rate production batch, Jeff Babione, Lockheed’s F-35 program manager, had earlier said.

 

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Amazon Prime Lures Customers with New Marketing Strategy

Amazon, one of the leading online retail shops, rolled out a new strategy to boost more sales in their physical stores.

Currently, customers who subscribed to the $99 annual Prime Program will enjoy free shipping, free cloud storage, a variety of other Amazon services and now they are expanding it to ‘offline’ benefit too.

For the past months, cashier staff’s in Amazon physical stores are now asking customers if they are an Amazon Prime Member because members can now purchase books at the same discounted price listed on the website. However, non-members will pay the sticker price.

Amazon store did not attach price tags to their books so customers have to scan the book in the kiosk to see the price. After scanning the book, the kiosk will then show two prices, one for Prime Member and one for non-members.

This new Amazon Program is similar to Barnes & Noble’s $25-a-year membership plan, wherein members get free shipping for online orders and discounts of 10 to 40% off purchases in stores.

Amazon strategic plan

Amazon stores are a great tool for them to test what online strategies and tactics they can try and implement to hike up sales in physical stores. It is also a way to attract more Prime members due to the price differential. Amazon recently brought its online marketing strategy to local stores; they started posting book’s online reviews and star ratings and showcasing products such as the Kindle e-reader.

In a statement released by The Wall Street Journal, CEO Jeff Bezos has said “his company will open more stores in an effort to learn more about how to succeed at offline retailing. Amazon has opened modest-sized bookstores in Seattle, San Diego and Portland with plans to open soon in Chicago and a Boston suburb. The company is also planning to open a chain of small grocery stores.”

Meanwhile, Amazon hasn’t discussed much their ‘fashion products’.

According to Andy Jassy, Amazon Web Services Head said, “So far, we’re really pleased with the early results,”

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Samsung Targets a Big Comeback after Note 7 Disastrous Failure

Samsung Electronics Co LTD vowed to recover from the recent disastrous withdrawal of its Galaxy Note 7 that dragged their earnings to the lowest level in nearly eight years.

The technology giant has released statements about expanding its investigation about Note 7’s exploding battery and assured its investors they would get to the bottom of one of the worst technological failure in history.

Co-Chief Executive J.K. Shin said at a general meeting in Seoul, “We know we must work hard to earn back your trust and we are committed to doing just that.”

Investors voted on Thursday to make Samsung Group’s de facto chief, Jay Y. Lee, as Samsung Electronics director in response to the Note 7 battery failure.

Jay Lee, son of the infamous Lee Kun-hee will now play a bigger role at the group’s flagship company. He also plays a public role in setting strategy.

Chief Executive Kwon Oh-hyun said at the shareholder meeting that they would assign a new role only after the investigation is finished.

Samsung, the world’s top smartphone maker plunged 96% in their third-quarter earnings, a loss of almost 100 billion won ($87.63 million). This is their lowest level since 2008.

The mass pull out of Galaxy Note 7 resulted to -0.1% to -0.2% points from South Korea’s third-quarter GDP growth in quarterly terms, a finance ministry official told Reuters on Tuesday.

The company blames Samsung SDI Co Ltd, who supplied batteries for the first Note 7 recall. The subsidiary reported an 110 billion won operations loss for the third quarter.

Apple Inc, Samsung’s main rival aimed to achieve a fourth-quarter profit close to October-December of 2015, on the back of sales of Galaxy S7 phones and lower-tier models.

“Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, the company expects earnings to improve (from a year earlier) driven by strong performance in the components business,” Samsung said in a statement.

Samsung sees another $3.1 billion hit to profit with the Note 7 withdrawal through the first quarter of 2017.

Software issues may also exist

The company is still investigating what caused the Note 7 fire.  This is because replacements for the initial 2.5 million Note 7’s it recalled was due to fire-prone batteries.
Co-CEO Shin said the battery might not be the only problem. Consequently, they are now looking into software issues to determine the root cause.

Rattled investors now want a concrete plan on how to revive the company’s earnings, repair its major brand, and boost shareholder returns.

LS Asset Management fund manager Kim Sung-soo said, “The key is whether Samsung will be able to remove the uncertainty surrounding the Note 7 and maintain its leading position in the smartphone market.”

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Alexa Voice Assistant To Be Available On Amazon’s Fire Tablets

On Wednesday, the Alexa voice assistant will begin rolling out to customers and designed to match what users get on other Alexa devices, such as the Echo speaker. By using voice commands, users listen to music from services such as Pandora or Amazon Music, or they can have the news read out to them.

The Fire tablets will have an apparent advantage over Echo by offering full-screen cards with additional details. For instance, when you inquire about the weather, just as she does on Echo, Alexa will speak out the current temperature and offer the day’s forecast. However, the visual card will also show the week’s forecast. The card also offers playback control such as skipping and pausing for news and music.

For those with both Fire and Echo, as long a user enables a Voicecast feature through the Alexa app, making a request on Echo will activate the Fire’s screen and present the detailed cards.

Amazon says Alexa will vary from Google’s Assistant and Apple’s Siri. It was designed for tablets first, instead of phones. That means aiming at activities usually done at home, such as recipes, entertainment, and timers. For tasks on the go, such as locating nearby establishments, the voice assistant carries out a standard web search or directs you to the Alexa app. Google and Apple have special interfaces with price ranges, restaurant ratings and more. Further, both combine that data into their chat apps, too.

Strength through affordability

Amazon.com Inc. has managed to stay strong despite the downturn in the overall tablet market by slashing prices and persuading people to buy more than one. The value of its base model is just $49. The company introduced last month a new 8-inch tablet for $90, down from $150 for comparable models in the past.

So far, Amazon is dodging business-oriented tablets such as Microsoft’s Surface and Apple’s iPad Pro. Senior product manager for Fire tablets Aaron Bromberg said that while such devices work well as laptop alternatives, “we also see an awful lot of people that want tablets to use around the house for entertainment.”

 

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iPhone 7 Shortage to Cause Huge Profit Loss for Apple

A miscalculation for the demand of iPhone 7 Plus this Holiday Season caused Apple to lose a huge amount of profits. Apple Inc. forecasted demand of the particular model fell short this year, unaware of the number of people who intends to buy their iPhone 7 Plus.

According to Mariann Montagne, Apple’s projected value of demands for the holiday quarter fell from 38% to 38.5%, but the actual value is at 39%. Montagne is the senior investment analyst and portfolio manager at Gradient Investments.

The reason for the surge of consumers who wanted to get their hand on the newest, biggest smartphone out in the market is not yet apparent. The company is looking at the customers they gained after the failed launched of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7. These are the unanticipated numbers of consumers which they had gained over their rival company.

Luca Maestri, Apple Chief Financial Officer said in a Reuters interview that it was “impossible to know” the effect of the Galaxy Note 7 recall.

Earlier in this month, Samsung recalled all of their Galaxy Note 7 handsets because of the battery defects which caused the explosions. Based on the South Korean company investigation, Note 7s are even more vulnerable to catch fire when it is charging. The company ultimately stopped the production their Note 7s.

Holiday shopping spree

Apple’s Chief Executive, Tim Cook said on Tuesday that the company is uncertain if they can mass produce the iPhone 7 Plus. The demand is too high to furnish the remaining order in time for the Christmas shopping rush. Furthermore, Maestri added that “We cannot fulfill all the demand that is out there right now,”

Cook said that the company is overwhelmed by the imminent demand, “particularly on the iPhone 7 Plus versus our forecast going into the product launch”, as the company compares their projected assessment prior to the launch. He also added that the company will just need to manage to the smaller version of the handset model, the iPhone 7.

Disappointed Investors

In the mobile business world, “the bigger phones bring bigger profits” is the magic formula for success.

In the quarterly earnings report on Tuesday, Apple’s investors raised their concern over the company’s miscalculations on the demand. John Jackson, an IDC analyst said, “You’re not able to get that product into the hands of the person who wants it right here, right now. Those are dollars not in your hands.”

On September 7, California-based Company, Cupertino launched its newest iPhones. The iPhone 7 Plus model has a 5.5-inch (14 cm) dual camera on the back, the first kind of its breed. It features a better quality for portrait shots and can be zoomed further away.

Jan Dawson, the analyst for Jackdaw Research said, “It’s inherently tough to know how things like new finishes and features are going to affect demand for a new model”.

According to him, Apple is still learning how the consumer reacts to new features of larger and smaller phones. This was apparent when the company produced only two competitive sizes back in 2014.

Quality over quantity

For analysts, rushing mass production of the unit would be difficult if not nearly impossible. Trip Chowdhry, the managing director of Global Equities Research said that the “company cannot contract new suppliers, hire more workers and open factories overnight”.

He also added, “You can’t just shoot iPhones out of an assembly line at the speed of a bullet”. While pointing out that, “Apple does things to perfection. There is no need to rush and create an inferior product the way Samsung did.”

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Cannabis Startup Eaze Rolls Up Another $13m in Funding

Investors continue to gain confidence in the cannabis industry despite its federally illegal status. In California, where medical marijuana has been legal for two decades, the startup company Eaze has shown incredible promise since its initial launch in 2014, having already raised $25 million in seed capital and series A and B funding rounds. The recent series B round was officially closed on October 24, 2016 and tallied an impressive $13 million, a figure practically unheard of within the cannabis industry. While some consider Eaze more of a tech startup than a cannabis startup, they wouldn’t be in business were it not for the demand, plentiful supply, and socially acceptable nature of medical marijuana in the state of California.

An App That Connects Medical Marijuana Customers to Local Dispensaries for Delivery Service

With the help of a smartphone and the Eaze app, medical marijuana customers can order their choice of smokable marijuana products or choose from a selection of edibles. Eaze then connects users to a local dispensary which provides delivery service in around 15 minutes. This business model allows Eaze to avoid the legal ramifications and licensing required to directly handle marijuana. The idea seems to be catching on, as several additional startups are following in Eaze’s marketing path.

Marijuana’s “Semi Legal” Status No Longer a Deterrent to Investors

Although still federally illegal, the changing climate towards full legalization in Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Alaska has helped soften the overall perspective towards marijuana investments. Billionaire and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel’s $75 million holding company for businesses within the cannabis industry has also drawn the attention of previously skeptical investors. Legal concerns expressed by Google and Apple (who have restricted the presence of the Eaze app within their online stores) do not seem to be deterring investors either. Eaze’s series A and B investors included Fresh VC and DCM Ventures. The rapper Snoop Dog got involved in Series A funding through his weed fund known as “Casa Verde Capital”.

An Already Expanding Industry Poised to Explode With Growth

As of October 2016, Eaze has expanded its services to almost 100 cities in the state of California. The cannabis industry as a whole is expected to expand from its current status as a $7 billion industry to $50 billion by the year 2026. Proposition 64, which would legalize recreational marijuana use for all adults over the age of 21 in California, is on the November 8th ballot. Should Proposition 64 pass, the industry is almost certain to explode at an even more dramatic rate, as California is said to contain the largest marijuana market in the country. Early investors within the cannabis industry indeed seem poised to make incredible amounts of money in a short period of time.

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Amazon Strengthens Paris Express Delivery Service With New Alliances

To expand the product range of its Prime Now express delivery service in Paris and its suburbs, Amazon is partnering with wine retailer Lavinia, luxury food group Fauchon, and organic food chain Bio c’Bon, the online retailer said on Wednesday.

The deal will put in 5,000 more food products to Amazon Prime Now’s selection of 18,000 products in Paris. Further, the deal comes as Carrefour aims to compete with Amazon Prime Now. The French retailer started testing this month its own express delivery service named Livraison in a number of Paris stores.

In recent years, Amazon has been intensifying its activity in France as speed delivery has turned into a new arena among retailers hoping to improve sales.

Amazon Prime Now was introduced in Paris in June 2016. Members get the benefit of faster delivery by paying a yearly subscription of 49 euros. Members then get a choice of paying 5.90 euros if they want their products delivered within one hour. They can get it for free within two hours if they order at least 20 euros worth of products.

Amazon said in a statement that the deals with Lavinia and Bio c’Bon are effective immediately. Fauchon, on the other hand, will join Prime Now in November.

This collaboration will bring a wider range of products, including fresh deli products, meat, wine, spirits, vegetables and fresh fruits to customers.

Extremely popular in Paris

Amazon.fr General Manager Frederic Duval said that the four-month-old Amazon Prime Now service had already seen “very strong demand” in Paris and was fully on course with the volumes targeted. However, it was still too early to say if Amazon would offer the same service to other big French cities.

Prime Now was first introduced on December 2014 in New York City. It has expanded to several other major U.S cities since then. Presently, customers in European cities such as London, Berlin, Madrid, and Milan can enjoy its services as well.

 

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Iraq Refuses to Join OPEC Cut, Weights on Oil Prices

Oil prices tumble early on Monday as Iraq declines to cut production and US drillers escalate work. Iraq said it does not want to be involved in any deal by producer cartel OPEC to decrease oil production to prop up the market.

Brent crude futures LCOc1 were down 0.4 percent, or 19 cents, from their last close as they traded at $51.59 a barrel at 1033 GMT.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was trading at $50.63 per barrel, down 22 cents, or 0.4 percent.

The price falls after comments from Iraq saying it wanted to be let off from a production cut by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), traders said. The oil cartel plans to decide on the production cut at its meeting on November 30.

OPEC plans to bring down production from 33.39 million barrels per day (bpd) in September to a range of 32.50 million to 33.0 million bpd.

If Iraq didn’t participate, it would be harder to accomplish since it is OPEC’s second-largest producer next to Saudi Arabia.

Iraq said on Sunday that its oil production stood at 4.774 million bpd, with exports standing at 3.87 million bpd.

“We are not going back in any way, not by OPEC not by anybody else,” Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Company head Falah al-Amri said.

ANZ bank said on Monday that remarks by Iraq over the weekend that it may not fall in with the OPEC deal to bring down production could see oil prices come under pressure in today’s session.

Further, US oil rigs increased by 11 last week, the first double-digit rise since August, which added more pressure to the market.

Morgan Stanley said that rig counts would continue to rise in the wake of the recent price rally.

Also weighing on oil is the ongoing strength of the dollar, crimping demand while it makes fuel purchases more costly for nations using other currencies at home.

Meanwhile, official data showed on Monday that, on the demand side, Japan’s crude imports dropped to 3.37 million, or 4.6 percent, in September from the same month a year earlier.

Analysts said that oil markets, despite of Monday’s lower prices, might be rebalancing in terms of consumption and production after being pulled down by two years of oversupply.

Barclays bank said in a note to clients on Sunday that statistical balances indicate that circumstances have improved markedly. They believe that the market is moving more swiftly into balance than is generally acknowledged.

“The market moved into a small deficit in Q3, will remain so in Q4 and then the deficit will expand significantly in 2017,” it added.

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Former Fat Boys rapper Prince Markie Dee wows World Series of Vaping conference

Guzzle Buddy: How to drink an entire bottle of wine at once

What’s the difference between a glass of wine and a bottle of wine?

Well with a new novelty gift for wine lovers the answer could be absolutely nothing at all.

Guzzle Buddy is an extra large wine glass with a difference…there is a stopper attached to the end of the stem so it fits directly into the mouth of a wine bottle.

Attach the device to the wine bottle, tilt the bottle back and drink away.

Novelty

According to the Guzzle Buddy website, the novelty gift turns your wine bottle into your wine glass so that you can ‘plug it and chug it.’

But who would seriously use such a device? The makers say it is ideal for weddings, bachelorette parties, house warming, kitchen gifts, birthdays and anniversaries.

When all else fails it is good for those evenings at home in front of the television when “you are just too dang lazy to get off the sofa and go pour another glass.”

It certainly does not seem the most dignified way in the world to drink a glass of wine but it does look fun.

And while it certainly is a novelty gift item, if you are seen using it too often then your friends may worry that you have developed a drink problem.

The Guzzle Buddy, which is made of high quality borosilicate lead free glass, is currently on sale on Amazon where it has received many five star reviews.

Fun

One tongue-in-cheek review called “No more waiting” said: “What a fantastic idea! Before this product, I used to drive an unbearable 5 mins from the liquor store to my house before drinking my wine, but with this product, I can start drinking right in the parking lot! It’s taken my alcoholism to a whole new level.”

Another purchaser wrote: “I absolutely love this thing. It made drinking my wine more fun then usual. I plan on buying more and giving them for gifts.”

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China’s LeEco Enters US Consumer Tech Market, Shake Up Looms

LeEco is not a popular brand in the US, but the Chinese technology company is embarking on becoming a household name with smartphones and flat-screen TVs. They want to be known as a developer of products that undercut the prices of Google, Samsung, Apple and other industry stalwarts.

LeEco announced its entrance into the U.S. market during a Wednesday showcase in San Francisco. At the event, the company introduced a sleek smartphone called the LePro 3 that will sell for $400. They also showcased an internet-connected TV with a 7-foot screen priced at $5,000.

LeEco positions the LePro 3 as an option to Google’s Pixel phone and Apple’s latest iPhone. Both have prices that start at $650. LeEco is assuring its giant TV, called the UMax 85, will be as good or superior to other high-end home entertainment systems that cost $8,000.

Both the TV and phone will go on sale Nov. 2 in LeWeb.com, LeEco’s online store. Also, the company is offering a smaller smartphone and smaller TVs with screens varying from 43 inches to 65 inches.

Moreover, LeEco is coming to the U.S. with a high-tech bicycle, a virtual-reality headset, and an electric car in a challenge to Tesla Motors.

The company plans to package the devices with other services. These include an online video suite of movies and shows that ties into its beginnings as the “Netflix of China.”

LeEco, which stands for “Happy Ecosystem,” is diversifying to dare technology leaders who have been able to command a premium for their products, partially because they have been satisfying U.S. consumers for years.

LeEco CEO Jia Yueting said through a translator during a presentation that America is the most important global market for them. “Once we get the hearts and minds of U.S. users, we can move on to the hearts and minds of global users.”

Innovation in the U.S. has come to a logjam. This makes it an ideal time for LeEco to enter the market, Jia said in an interview. He visualizes creating a platform that allows consumers to switch from LeEco TVs to phones to cars to watch its video service and utilize other applications that that company intends to introduce.

Gartner analyst Werner Goertz said the company is using the devices as “Trojan horses” to provide its digital services. “This is a general trend in the industry, and LeEco is a prime example of how companies are subsidizing hardware with ulterior motives.”

Goertz noted that Google is likewise selling its new Pixel phone in an attempt to direct more traffic to its search engine and other services. Nonetheless, that device is being offered at a superior price. Amazon’s Echo also is designed to boost sales at the company’s e-commerce site. Echo is an internet-connected speaker that understands and responds to spoken language,

The prospects for LeEco are reasonable. The research firm Strategy Analytics expects LeEco to sell about 25 million smartphones globally this year. In contrast, Apple had sold 214 million iPhones last year ending in June.

Other Chinese firms that sought to make waves in the U.S. consumer electronics market have hardly made a ripple.

But LeEco is making a major commitment.

Building Ecoworld

The company shelled out $2 billion for budget-TV maker Vizio during the summer. Vizio a popular brand in the U.S. that retails in Costco and other well-known chains. It retains several workers at its U.S. headquarters in San Jose, California, with plans to expand in Silicon Valley. It spent another $250 million earlier this year to grab a 50-acre site in Santa Clara, California. The company aims to build an office complex that could extend over to 3 million square feet and have room for about 12,000 workers. Jia plans to name the complex “EcoWorld.”

Goertz said that they are not taking a half-baked attitude. However, he thinks they are going to be bleeding money for the immediate future. The question is how long they can support this strategy?”

Jia has accumulated an estimated fortune of nearly $5 billion.

Jia will assume a large piece of any losses because he owns half of LeEco. He refused to divulge how much LeEco has splurged in the U.S. so far.

“We are financially prepared to bring a new model and a new value for the U.S. consumers,” Jia said.

 

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Verizon’s Revenue Falls Due to Disappointing Subscriber Numbers

Amid a price war with the competition in an over saturated phone market, Verizon Communications Inc tallied far fewer wireless subscribers than expected in the 3rd quarter. The company hopes to draw out new revenue from its fledgling digital advertising and media business.

The company said on Thursday total operating revenue fell 6.7 percent to $30.94 billion, from $33.16 billion. Analysts had anticipated revenue in the quarter of $31.14 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Verizon’s shares were down 2.6 percent at $49.07 in premarket trading. Share prices have surged about 9 percent this year so far.

It said it added a net 442,000 retail postpaid subscribers, those who pay their bills on a monthly basis. This number falls considerably short of analysts’ projected 766,300 according to market research firm FactSet Street Account.

Smaller rivals such as Sprint Corp and T-Mobile US Inc have launched aggressive promotions to convert Verizon’s subscriber base.

As the company staves off competition in a ripening wireless market, it has picked up AOL and plans to buy Yahoo. Moreover, their attempts for a set of digital web properties and ad technology tools that will help it compete with internet giants Alphabet Inc’s Google and Facebook Inc.

Verizon may ‘call off’ Yahoo acquisition

Since the Yahoo data breach concerning 500 million email accounts was reported in September, investors have pondered how Verizon will proceed. Verizon’s general counsel has said the incident may signify a material event that could allow Verizon to call off the deal.

Net income creditable to Verizon dropped to $3.62 billion, or 89 cents per share, in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, from $4.04 billion, or 99 cents per share, a year earlier.

The company netted $1.01 per share excluding items, outdoing the average analyst estimate of 99 cents per share.

Churn, or customer defections, among postpaid wireless retail customers improved to 1.04 percent of total wireless subscribers, in relation with the average estimate of 0.99 percent, according to FactSet.

See Related News: Yahoo’s Sudden Revenue Increase Places Merger with Verizon Under Hazy Cloud

 

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Yahoo’s Sudden Revenue Increase Places Merger with Verizon Under Hazy Cloud

Last Tuesday, Yahoo Inc. got an unexpected increase in their quarterly adjusted profit; this good news, however, has a slight effect on Verizon Communication due to the recent email hacking issue.

In 2014 almost 500 email accounts were hacked, which puts the $4.38 billion deal on shaky ground, Verizon’s general counsel said.

Customer loyalty

Recent profit increase shows that the data breach did not lead to a massive withdrawal of yahoo customers, as some had expected. Customer trends showed positive growth in page views and email usage, Yahoo said.

JMP’s securities analyst Ronald Josey says, even if the recent customer trends are “encouraging,” it’s too early for us to tell the long-term effect of the massive Yahoo hack.

“The message here is email and messaging is a very sticky product and people want to get to their messages,” Josey added.

The increase in page views and email usage could be “500 million people trying to figure out if they’re exposed,” says Fatemeh Khatibloo, a security analyst with Forrester Research.

Khatibloo added, loss of customers and lawsuits related to the breach, may affect the Federal Communications Commission’s vote to limit telecommunications companies to use customer data. Furthermore, it could encourage Verizon to back out of the deal.

However, the fact that Yahoo did not see a sudden decrease in users was a sign that email hacking may not lead to negative effects. For instance, results that could influence a deal with Verizon, says Scott Kessler, an analyst with CFRA Research.

“The bottom line here is from a fundamental operational and financial perspective, it doesn’t seem like much has changed at the company over the last quarter,” he added.

Verizon would need to prove that the breach leads to a material adverse change that would allow it to pull out of the deal, the legal expert says.

Profits still rising

Another bright spot for Yahoo was that profit from Mavens – short for “mobile, video, native, and social”, climbed up 24.2% to $524 million. This made Chief Executive Marissa Meyer brag about its growing businesses.

However, despite good standing with Mavens, Yahoo, in general, is still failing in major profit categories. Gross profit dropped 14.1% to $752.5 million.

According to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, Total profit hiked up to 6.5 percent to $1.31 billion, just beating the average analyst estimate of $1.30 billion. But after deducting fees paid to partner websites, profit went down to $857.7 million from $1 billion.

In a statement last Friday about Verizon deal, Yahoo said, ‘it would not hold a call or webcast after the release of the results’.

Meanwhile, Analyst at Needham & Co said on Tuesday that Yahoo’s decision to not disclose anything about the deal cast doubts, which lead to the downgrade of their stock rating from “Buy” to Hold.”

Yahoo shares closed up 1.3% on Tuesday extended trading session.

For the third quarter ended Sept. 30, net income attributable to Yahoo jumped to $162.8 million, or 17 cents per share, from $76.3 million, or 8 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding some items, Yahoo gained 20 cents per share, beating analysts’ average estimate of 14 cents.

Verizon acquired Yahoo for $4.4 billion last year, which includes Yahoo’s search, email, and messenger assets as well as advertising technology tools with its AOL unit

Major revamp after acquisition

The acquisition would revamp Yahoo into a holding with a 15 percent stake in Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and a 35.5 percent interest in Yahoo Japan Corp as well as Yahoo’s convertible notes, certain minority investments and its non-core patents.

The deal should close in early 2017, after which Yahoo plans to change its name and become a publicly traded investment company.

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PepsiCo to cut-down calorie content by 2025

Indra Nooyi Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo committed on Monday to cut down calorie count of the company’s famous beverages as they look at the counter health concerns about sugar-sweetened beverages. As part of their new sustainability initiative, they plan to double water efficiency companywide.

Nooyi told CNBC “Over the last decade, we have made progress in reducing sugar.” She added, “but there’s a lot more we needed to do because countries which loved sugar were growing faster than countries which were consuming lower-sugar products.”

PepsiCo pledged to reduce at least two-thirds of the companies famous beverages. It will contain 100 calories or less than 12-ounce per serving by 2025. The company’s goal is to increase its efforts to zero or lower-calorie products.

Available in about 180 countries worldwide, the company earns over $1 billion yearly. Most of this revenue, from the sale of its most famous product the sugar-based Pepsi drink. PepsiCo is definitely taking a huge commitment. The decrease of calories will be followed by several communities to raise tax on sugar-based drinks as a way to fight rising incidents of obesity worldwide.

“Technology breakthroughs right now are resulting in better-tasting colas, almost as good as the full-sugar colas, but with lower calories,” said Nooyi. “So we’re now faced with [an] interesting opportunity to step the consumer down to lower sweetness levels.”

Today almost 25% of the company’s global revenue is coming from soda based products. They also make Pure Leaf iced tea products and Starbucks unsweetened ready-to-drink coffee. Furthermore, there are several sparkling flavoured water and juice under the Gatorade sports drink brand.

According to Mintel estimated 74% of total market shares belongs to diet carbonated soft drinks. Diet category is around 26%, which makes carbonated soft drinks the majority of the category sales industrywide.

Mintel added that the said diet soda business has been decreasing. This is the result of “negative health perceptions surrounding artificial sugar. Also helping the decline is the large number of “better-for-you and low/no calorie beverages available.”

PepsiCo’s initiative to decrease calorie isn’t limited to North America. According to the company’s CEO, as part of the initiative, it has lowered 30% sugar of 7-Up products in Mexico, UK, China and India.

“The consumer can’t tell the difference, and that’s the greatest thing about all of the R&D work, which is now yielding results,” she said.

They also have started efforts to lower-down sodium in products including the snacks sold by the Frito-Lay division.

“By applying the seasoning differently, we can actually still make it a salty snack, but with lower sodium levels, and that’s what we have managed to do with… our products in countries like the U.K. and China, where we’ve reduced salt levels significantly,” she said.

PepsiCo said by 2025, three-quarters of its global foods portfolio will contain sodium volumes not exceeding 1.3 milligrams per calorie. Moreover, not more than 1.1 grams of saturated fat per 100 calories.

The company had made a significant progress and is now frying snacks using a “heart-healthy oil”. The CEO added that they have developed a new frying technique to reduce saturated fat levels by 20%. On the other hand, increasing the machine’s capacity by 25%.

Hello goodness

As part of their “Hello Goodness Initiative”, PepsiCo is now taking its vending machines to contain most company products. These include Frito-Lay’s baked chips, Sabra hummus products and other healthier beverages.

Hello Goodness Machine sales are moving higher than other vending machines. She said “because all of a sudden, people look at this and go, ‘Gee, I can eat everything I want out of this machine rather than, you know, having to go to convenience store or going to my pantry to bring stuff.”

PepsiCo’s sustainability goal is to reduce the company’s total carbon footprint and to increase water savings worldwide.

“We cannot keep operating in communities if we don’t have prudent water goals or greenhouse gas emissions goals because societies won’t allow us in,” said Nooyi. “So I think in many ways, what we are doing with our goals right now is much more — you know a way to drive our performance on a sustained basis, so we are financially motivated with a very strong conscious.”

By 2030, the company’s target is to reduce 20% greenhouse gas emissions across its valued chain. This includes everything from production activities, packaging to transportation, and its agricultural supplies worldwide.

PepsiCo said they are now working to reach their customers and business suppliers to reduce emissions.

The company is targeting “15% improvement in water efficiency of its direct agricultural supply chain in high water-risk areas by 2025”. That means saving equivalent to the total amount of water used in manufacturing operations.

The water saving efforts would lead to 100% replenishing of its water consumption in manufacturing operations within “high-water-risk areas.”

PepsiCo committed that it would “improve water efficiency of its direct manufacturing operations by 25% by 2025”. This is in addition to the 25% savings the company achieved since 2016.

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Vaper Expo UK 2016 – The Return: Much more than just bearded men with tattoos