Spain’s so-called ‘Golden Visas’ scheme comes under further fire as Russian nationals continued to be granted residency perfmits despite European Union sanctions being imposed on the country over the war in Ukraine.
A Russian family was granted a citizen’s residency permit based on a real estate investment as recently as January 25, ten months after sanctions were first put in place, according to On Economia.
This is despite an agreement between the Spanish ministries of Foreign Affairs, Interior, and Social Security last March to suspend the issuance of golden visas and residency permits to Russian citizens based on real estate or business investments.
The measure was designed to hinder and punish Kremlin-aligned oligarchs who had benefited from Putin’s economic system from obtaining European residency.
But Cristina Romero, a Spanish immigration lawyer has confirmed that her firm, Antonio Segura, recently received approval for a Russian citizen’s residency permit based on real estate investment
“A month ago, we received the approval of the latest residence application for a Russian citizen on the grounds that he had invested in a property.”
“What they cancelled is the possibility of requesting these visas from the consulates in Saint Petersburg and Moscow, but not the permits that tourists request from here,” she added.
While the Spanish Foreign Ministry has confirmed that ‘Golden Visas’ have been suspended for Russians seeking them from Russian consulates, the permits can still be obtained through the Spanish government’s General Business Unit.
It is a backdoor into Spain which falls under the Ministry of Social Security, Inclusion, and Migration, raising doubts about Spain’s immigration policies and potential security risks.
The news will bring increased momentum to calls to close down Spain’s ‘Golden Visa’ scheme altogether.
The Residence by Investment scheme, introduced in 2013, allows foreigners to obtain a Spanish residence permit by purchasing real estate worth at least €500,000 in the country.
But left-wing political party Más País introduced a bill to Congress calling for it to be abolished, saying that it drives up housing prices, while the lack of background checks on recipients opens up the door for crooks and fraudsters – an especial threat with Russian citizens.
The bill submitted to Congress would limit the ‘Golden Visa’ to foreigners who launch a business project with job creation or innovation that contribute to the growth of Spain’s economy.
It also follows Portugal’s decision to terminate its ‘Golden Visa’ scheme last week, driven mostly by the increased pressure on property prices that the foreign buyers bring which prices locals out of the market.


Re: Post Examples of Big Government Waste, Fraud and Abuse
During a routine checkup, U.S. Department of Family Values uncovered a major fiscal leak in the socialist state of Sweden. Young men who live with their parents are encouraged to move, and are bribed with a paid apartment, as a part of social security.
In Sweden, the feminazis are ridiculing young men who are "too tied" to their parents. Dep. of Family Values estimates that the Swedish taxes are 5-10% higher because of a bloated social security paying to satisfy the feminazi idea of "maturity".


The median home value in Queen Creek, AZ has increased $54,620 between October of 2013 and July of 2014. That’s about $40,000 more than price increases of other Arizona cities. That is great news for home owners because your home is worth more than it ever has been since the boom ended in 2006.
But is the Housing Bubble About to Burst… Again?
Despite the rumors, this is why Queen Creek is most likely NOT in a housing bubble.
Most home owners are here to live in their homes. The high demand from homes over the last couple of years has created a low supply of homes for sale causing prices to increase rapidly. But this is changing and prices may be leveling off.
As prices have increased so has the inventory of homes for sale. This is nothing to freak out about right now because it looks like the inventory of homes for sale are at healthy levels necessary to maintain current prices. But with the slow season coming up through the holidays we may see a little dip in prices until the inventory of homes levels off or decreases.
How Many Days Does It Take To Sell A Home In Queen Creek Right Now?
If you would’ve sold your home in October of 2013 you could’ve expected to sell it in around 45 days for a median price of $205,000. Now the average days on market before a home goes under contract is 93 days with a median sale price of $260,000. So the market is slower, but prices are much higher.
Here’s my quick plug… I can sell your home in 29 days at or above market value by doing a massive marketing blitz before your home goes on the market. If you are interested in finding out more contact me and we’ll start by getting you the pinpoint value of your home for free.
Any questions about the direction of the real estate market? Leave a comment below.


Argos' festive period sales were the worst they had seen in three years
Argos suffered its worst festive sales performance for three years.
Stores open at least a year posted 0.1 per cent higher turnover in the 18 weeks to January 3 compared with expectations for a 2 per cent rise.
A 0.6 per cent rise in Homebase sales was also below forecasts.
Home Retail Group chief executive John Walden said that on Black Friday sales at Argos soared 45 per cent.
Walden added: "In anticipation of the profit pressure caused by aggressive promotions, Argos pursued a more cautious trading stance.
"Next year the market will have learnt a bit.
"I expect you will see people trying to be more selective about what is on sale."
Home Retail shares fell 13p to 199p.


Casey Neistat Net Worth - $12 MillionCasey Neistat is a film maker and YouTube star. Casey Neistat net worth is an estimated $12 million.
Casey spends most of his time vlogging, tweeting and sharing pictures on Instagram. He co-founded the video messaging app called Beme together with web engineer Matt Hackett. The app was acquired by CNN late last year for $25 million.
Neistat dropped out of Ledyard high school at the age of 15, never going back to graduate. While working as a dish washer to make ends meet, Casey got his girlfriend pregnant. His son Owen Neistat is now a teenager and features a lot on his dad’s vlog videos.
He is married to Candice Pool and have daughter named Francine. He had an HBO show, The Neistat brothers that aired in 2010.
How Much Money Casey Neistat Makes On YouTube
The channel has obtained 48,743,400 views in the last month across its 759 videos, which could translates to estimated revenue of $800,000 in the next twelve months.
Casey Neistat is on an upward trend in terms of subscriptions, having acquired 125,121 new subscribers in the last 30 days.
YouTube’s average pay for 1000 monetizable views is USD 2 to USD 5. Approximately 60% of the total views on a video are monetizable. Due to various factors on the web users’ side, approximately 40% – 60% of the views are monetizable depending on your audience.
Casey Neistat net worth is boosted by income from his acting career, public speaking, directing Tv commercials for companies like Nike, Google, Samsung and Mercedes Benz.
Read Also : Chris Smoove Net Worth
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How to combat authorized push payment scams
Even before COVID-19 turned our world into a largely digital one, authorized payment fraud – where the victim agrees to send money to someone who has misrepresented who they are or what they will do with the money – was on the rise.
Now fraudsters are exploiting people’s changed behaviors, anxieties and general uncertainty to devastating effect. Following the accelerated adoption of digital payments, many are plying their trade online, where it is easier to mask their identity and motives. The scams vary from fraudulent invoices, when the fraudster sends a fake invoice seemingly sent by a regular vendor to the victim; romance scams, where the victim is courted, often over the internet, and manipulated into sending money to the fraudster; purchase scams, where the fraudster convinces someone to pay for goods or services that will never be delivered; and more. They target consumers and businesses of all sizes — even government agencies and organizations — in equal measure.
The convenience and speed of digital real-time payments make it even harder to stop these scams because the payment is irrevocable and stolen funds can be moved on or laundered quickly. What’s more, because the payment is authorized by the victim, the victim is usually liable. That means it’s more important that ever to deploy fraud prevention before these payments gets made.
P20, a forum for global payments players to work together on issues of accessibility, security and inclusivity, has released a study with best practices for industry, regulators and government leaders to combat authorized payment scams. The working group included Mastercard's Liam Cooney, vice president for financial crime solutions. The goal is to work toward a comprehensive, industry-wide approach to enable rapid information sharing and collaboration to detect and prevent money from reaching these criminals.


I often talk about how the gold trade is really two separate trades. There’s the Fear Trade that buys gold out of fear of war or poor government policies. This crowd sees the precious metal as a safe haven during times of crisis, such as when gold rose over the fear of a war in Syria, but eased when a much more limited military action became likely.
However, there were other factors beyond Syria driving gold. That’s the Love Trade. This group gives gold as gifts for loved ones during important holidays and festivals.
This is the time of the year that we are in the midst of right now. Historically, September has been gold’s best month of the year. Looking at more than four decades of monthly returns, the precious metal has seen its biggest increase this month, averaging 2.3 percent.
Indians will be getting ready for their wedding season that begins in October followed by the five-day Hindu festival of lights, Diwali, which is India’s biggest and most important holiday of the year. In December, millions of people will be gathering with loved ones to exchange gifts as they observe Christmas. And finally, millions will celebrate Chinese New Year at the end of January 2014.
In India, there’s also the harvest season to consider, as its crop production relies on rainfall for water.
One positive driver for gold this year is the fact that the country has had a heavy monsoon. The rains that started in June covered most of India at the fastest pace in more than 50 years. About 70 percent of the annual rainfall in India happens from June to September, and a strong monsoon season usually means a bumper crop, which boosts farmers’ incomes.
That could increase gold buying as well, negating the government’s efforts to quell India’s gold-buying habit. Historically, good monsoon seasons have been associated with strong gold demand. “In 2010, the last year that rains were heavily above average, demand soared 37 percent in the fourth quarter after harvests,” says Reuters.
In the rural areas of India, there is little access to banking networks, so gold is used as a store of wealth, says Reuters. And with half the population in India employed in agriculture, it’s no surprise that 60 percent of all the gold demand in the country comes from these rural areas.
India’s rural community has seen a “hefty rise” in income this year, reports Mineweb. But instead of buying gold, Mineweb says Indian farmers may purchase land due to gold in local currency reaching “dizzying heights.”
Particularly over the past few weeks, as the currency faced increasing weakness, gold in rupee spiked. Over the past three years, gold is now up 58 percent compared to gold in the U.S. dollar, which rose nearly 12 percent.
Despite this possible short-term threat to gold demand, keep in mind the East’s long-term sentiment toward the metal. You can see this encouraging sentiment in the chart below, as people in China and India have a “particular positivity around longer-term expectations for the gold price,” according to the World Gold Council (WGC).
In May and July, the WGC asked 1,000 Indian and 1,000 Chinese consumers where they think the price of gold will be in five years. The two charts show the respondents’ answers in May, when the average price of gold was about $1,400, and again in July, when the average price of gold was $1,200 an ounce.
Overwhelmingly, consumers in India and China believe the price of gold will increase over the long-term.
What’s interesting is when you compare the responses between May to July, there’s an “extremely resilient sentiment around the future trajectory of gold,” says the WGC. In May, 62 percent assumed gold would increase; in July, the number increased to 66 percent.
The survey also shows that there are not too many gold bears in the East. Only 11 percent of those who responded in July think the price will decrease.
Remember, this area of the world has a different relationship related to both the Love Trade and the Fear Trade. And it’s not easily broken.
Frank Holmesfor The Daily Reckoning
Ed. Note: The East’s view of gold has been around for centuries, and as Frank points out, that view is not easily broken. So when these “love trade” months roll around, it’s important to listen to all the facts and keep a watchful eye on the gold market. The Daily Resource Hunter gives regular and detailed analysis of all the goings on in the gold and resource markets. And it is completely free to sign up. Along with your free subscription, you’ll be given unique chances at profit opportunities every single day. This is something you don’t want to miss. Sign up for your FREE subscription to The Daily Resource Hunter, right here.
Original article posted on Daily Resource Hunter
Frank Holmes describes the things that affect the velocity of money and why gold is not the unattractive investment it seems to be. He also raises some very interesting questions as to whether today's inflation numbers are being manipulated and whether the unemployment rate is actually going down.
Frank Holmes is chief executive officer and chief investment officer of U.S. Global Investors Inc. The company is a registered investment adviser that manages approximately $2.08 billion in 13 no-load mutual funds and for other advisory clients. A Toronto native, he bought a controlling interest in U.S. Global Investors in 1989, after an accomplished career in Canada's capital markets. His specialized knowledge gives him expertise in resource-based industries and money management. The Global Resources Fund was also Morningstar's top performer among all domestic stock funds in the five-year period ending Dec. 31, 2006.
Apart from the usual sentimental human behaviour that maintains
price growth incrementally, more of a concern for metal philosophy
could be possibility of war outbreak and multiplication of paper financially.
Has the critical point reached where many became restless and itchy,
yearning some drastic measure or sentimental adventure? After decades
of major event shortages? As regard paper, the current growth is trending
and few would risk curtailing it that incidentally attracts more predicaments.
Despite rapidly rising food prices, American households still spend relatively little on groceries. And while plenty of factors contribute to lower food costs in the US, that can lead to serious competition... and that means a good investment opportunity is right around the corner. Dave Gonigam explores...
Wouldn't it be convenient to know how fragile or how prone to cracking up the stock market... bond market... and housing market are? Well, Chris Mayer recently created a new index that does just that. And it's signaling that a sharp drop in asset prices is a high possibility. Read on...
Since its introduction more than nine years ago, bitcoin has gone from fledgling digital currency to complete phenomenon. And while it still has its detractors, there's good reason to believe that bitcoin could very well be the "currency of the future" its proponents claim it is. And Google just agreed with them. Luke McGrath explains...
Capitalism has become a dirty word in America. But that's only because the current form of capitalism being practiced in the U.S. is a corrupt version of what the Founding Fathers had in mind... It's now something wholly unrecognizable and far more dangerous than what any of them had in mind. Richard Ebeling explains...
"Buy land," the old saying goes, "they're not making it anymore." Of course, there's more to it than that. But if you look closely at some of the disturbing trends in US farmland, you'll find that this could be some of the best investment advice you get all year. Addison Wiggin has the full story...
From heightened political pressure on Russia to the conflict between Israel and Palestine, it seems world events in the last week have really spooked the markets. But even before that, there was something else that was worrying investors... earnings. Today, Greg Guenthner explains how this will play out...


The Fort Edward and South Glens Falls school districts could save $3.13 million in the first year of a merger and $40 million over the next 15 years, according to a consultant’s analysis.
Deb Ayers, of Castallo and Silky Educational Consultants, said taxes could be reduced by 32% for Fort Edward homeowners and 7% for people in Moreau and Wilton.
Ayers presented the figures at the Feb. 22 meeting of the committee.
The merger, technically an annexation of Fort Edward by South Glens Falls, would save the combined district $1 million through the reduction of two elementary positions and seven secondary school positions. There would be another $650,000 in savings in other efficiencies.
However, there would be additional costs. A merger would require nearly $300,000 in additional salary and benefit costs for the Fort Edward teachers to “level up” to the South Glens Falls salary schedule. In addition, there would be another $516,000 in transportation costs.
Also, the combined district would lose $350,000 in BOCES aid because there would be some services that the district no longer needs and the district would not get state aid for them. For example, Fort Edward does not have a business manager and contracts with BOCES for that service. South Glens Falls has that position to fill that role in the combined district.
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However, the state provides incentive aid to encourage districts to merge. The combined district would receive almost $50 million over a 15-year period, with the payments gradually getting smaller each year.
The combined district would receive $5.22 million in the first year.
Ayers said the consultants recommend splitting that incentive money three ways and using one-third for the operating budget, one-third to reduce taxes and one-third to fund reserves.
The district could use an additional $1.74 million in the first year to offer new electives, replace equipment, add student support services, provide new extracurricular activities and increase professional development staff, according to Ayers.
Another $1.74 million could be used to reduce taxes. The district would receive $541,000 in additional building aid and another $360,000 in transportation aid. That totals $2.64 million in new revenues.
Even factoring in the additional costs, it would be a net positive of $3.13 million to the district.
Taxes would go down
The savings and additional revenue would allow the tax rate to be reduced, according to Ayers.
Ayers said it is a complicated discussion because of different assessed values. Fort Edward properties are only at 70% of assessed value. The district’s tax rate is currently $29.28 per $1,000 of assessed value. If all properties were at full value, the rate would be $21.37 per $1,000. That would be reduced to $19.99 under a merger.
South Glens Falls has three different communities — Wilton, Moreau and Northumberland — which all have their own equalization rates. The rate for Wilton would go from $17.64 per $1,000 of assessed value to $16.43. The rate for Northumberland would drop from $17.21 to $16.04 and the rate for Moreau would go from $15.66 to $14.59.
The owner of a home assessed at $100,000 in Fort Edward would see their tax bill drop by nearly 32%, from $2,928 to $1,999.
A Moreau resident with a house assessed at $100,000 would see their tax bill go down 7%, or $107, from $1,566 to $1,459. A Wilton property assessed at $200,000 would see the taxes also drop by 7%, from $3,528 to $3,286.
One concern expressed by committee members is the loss of jobs.
Fort Edward Teachers Association President Marianne Stark said that at the end of the day, Fort Edward would technically be annexed by South Glens Falls. The staff rosters would not be combined. Rather, Fort Edward staff would have the opportunity to obtain positions.
South Glens Falls Superintendent Kristine Orr said when there is a need to cut positions, the district always looks at reducing them through attrition. That is especially true during the pandemic, where the district has been trying to be understanding to people’s situation and avoid layoffs.
“You’re looking at other ways and other avenues,” she said.
So, Orr added that while this study mentioned cutting certain positions because of the current numbers, that doesn’t necessarily mean those teachers would be let go.
“I know we want this hard-fast guarantee that no people would lose their positions,” she said.
The nearly $300,000 cost to level up the salaries is relatively low compared to some other merger studies, according to Orr.
“When that number becomes gigantic, it becomes hard to talk about not losing people,” she said.
Consultant Alan Pole said that given the rate of retirements and normal attrition on an average year, he would be surprised if anybody lost a job involuntarily.
“You’re going to have many more vacancies than you’re going to have position reductions,” he said.
Another topic that came up was the idea of Fort Edward paying tuition to send its students in grades 7-12 to South Glens Falls.
Orr said it would not be financially feasible. Her district would have to hire staff and the tuition the district would charge Fort Edward would not make it worth their while.
Pole agreed that tuitioning does not make a lot of sense. The idea of tuitioning students inevitably comes up during merger studies. However, the district would not receive additional incentive aid in this scenario.
“We’re not going to get the $50 million that you’re looking at. Why would we do that?” he said.
The committee met again on Wednesday to discuss the issues further. Its next scheduled meeting is April 12 at 6 p.m., when the draft report will be presented.


Many borrowers are now living in concern about just what will take place when they neglect to pay off their loans that are payday although the genuine repercussions could be difficult to find out. Anecdotal horror tales and loan providers whom flex the rules have a tendency to blur the reality. Jail arises surprisingly usually within these sectors, that could frighten individuals into making increasingly dangerous mistakes that are financial. Therefore, can it be real? are you able to go to prison for maybe not trying to repay a cash advance?
Don;t stress. Jail isn;t a punishment that is legal defaulting on debts. Having said that, there are numerous alternative methods an unpaid loan can make life difficult. Payday loan providers, in specific, can be quite aggressive about gathering from their borrowers. This guide will show you just what really takes place to individuals who neglect to pay off their loans that are payday.
Dining Table of articles
Just Exactly Just What What The Law States States About Jail For Unpaid Debts
The buyer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) helps regulate and notify borrowers about financing. They;ve managed to get clear that legislation enforcement can;t arrest borrowers for defaulting on almost any loan.
There are 2 types of offenses and subsequent branches of legislation:
- Civil: appropriate procedures are between people (or companies). One celebration sues one other for failing woefully to perform their appropriate responsibility.
- Criminal: The dispute is between your national federal federal government and a person (or company). The us government seeks punishment for the misdemeanor or felony.
Civil offenses include breaking the rate restriction, slander, and breach of agreement. Fines as well as other way of reparation would be the only appropriate punishments. Individuals can&;t visit prison for committing an offense that is civil.
It doesn’t matter what any payday loan provider says, perhaps maybe not having to pay a financial obligation is just an offense that is civilbreach of contract). Whenever a court of legislation convicts a debtor for that, they;ll never need to visit jail.
Criminal offenses really are a great deal much more serious. They consist of theft, prostitution, and homicide. They are the full instances that will secure individuals in the prison cellular.
The Difference Between Fraud and Failure to cover
Predatory payday loan providers usually accuse borrowers of fraudulence if they default on loans. But don&;t worry, i;s bluster.
There are many forms of fraudulence. A few of them are unlawful offenses and punishable with prison time. But not one of them are synonymous with defaulting on that loan.
Usually, payday loan providers accuse their borrowers of committing check fraudulence. That;s whenever some one works on the post-dated check to avoid having to pay whatever they owe. Whenever a recipient tries to cash the check, there aren’t any funds into the account.
But to convict somebody for check fraudulence, there must be proof of an intention never to spend. That;s extremely tough to prove, specially into the full instance of a debtor who are able to state they attempted but neglected to repay their financial obligation.
Lenders may take borrowers to court for defaulting on the debts, nonetheless they canвЂ™t legitimately jeopardize prison time. They open themselves up to countersuits if they do make those threats.
Just Just What Can Payday Lenders Do If You Don;t Pay?
Loan providers can;t send borrowers to prison for maybe maybe maybe not trying to repay a cash advance, however they have actually other choices.
Cash advance borrowers often offer their banking information or even a post-dated check upfront. When they are not able to spend their loan back, loan providers will debit the lender account or try to cash the post-dated check.
In the event that debit that is initialn’t go through, theyвЂ™ll you will need to charge a few lower amounts to obtain the final little bit of money in the account. Very often contributes to overdraft charges.
After that, the lender that is payday;s next thing should be to downer from the defaulted account up to a financial obligation collector. They’d rather avoid that, if at all possible. It’s not often really lucrative. In cases where a debtor makes an offer that surpasses what the financial institution would get from the debt collector, they may go on it.
It’s far better for the debtor to help keep their account away from collections, too. Loan companies frequently utilize underhanded intimidation strategies, including aggressive telephone calls.
Of course enthusiasts canвЂ™t close on a financial obligation, they may simply take borrowers to court within the balance. It’s usually worth every penny, whether or not the loan ended up being for a amount that is relatively small.
Payday advances have actually high penalties for defaulting. Those charges and costs can easily turn a little pay day loan right into a big sum. And enthusiasts that win a court situation against borrowers can garnish their wages to gather all of it as time passes.
Exactly Why Is Arrest For Defaulting Such A Standard Myth?
There’s two main reasons that so many borrowers are worried about gonna prison for maybe maybe not paying back their cash advance.
The foremost is that predatory loan providers continue steadily to jeopardize individuals with arrests, regardless of the statutory laws and regulations against it. Regrettably, numerous borrowers think them and distribute the misconception further.
The 2nd reason is arrests often do take place. maybe maybe Not just because a debtor does not repay their loan, but since they neglect to show as much as court when summoned.
If your payday loan provider or a collections agency sues a debtor, they need to at the very least appear to court. When individuals miss their court dates, it places them at an increased risk of arrest for ignoring a court that is official.
From the bright side, turning up towards the court procedures might shock the lending company. Should they&;re not prepared to show breach of agreement, the court may dismiss the scenario. That may clear a debtor;s financial obligation, or at the very least avoid any future garnishment of wages.
Just Just What Should You Will Do In The Event That You Can;t Spend Straight Straight Right Back An Online Payday Loan?
Borrowers whom canвЂ™t pay off their loans that are payday begin negotiations making use of their lender as soon as possible. It&;s much easier to negotiate a repayment plan prior to the loan provider attempts to gather.
Payday lenders could be specially vunerable to threats of bankruptcy. Filing for bankruptcy renders numerous unsecured outstanding debts void. TheyвЂ™d be unable to gather or offer the account.
Even when a debt collections agency holds the account, settlement can nevertheless work. It never ever hurts, therefore https://autotitleloansplus.com/title-loans-fl/ the worst they are able to no say is.
In the event that lender or collector has filed a suit, it could be worth searching for counsel that is legal. They are able to help borrowers manage the nagging problem as effortlessly as you are able to. In cases where a borrower can;t afford legal counsel, they need to nevertheless show as much as their court summons.
When you have other questions regarding the way to handle your payday advances, contact DebtHammer. We assist borrowers to battle against predatory payday loan providers and acquire from the pay day loan trap.


– UK, London – Kingswood Holdings Limited (LON: KWG) today announced the appointment of David Lawrence as UK CEO, reporting to Gary Wilder, Group CEO and the board of Kingswood Holdings Ltd.
“I am delighted that David has agreed to join Kingswood as our UK CEO to drive us through our next exciting phase of growth. As the business continues to expand, we want to ensure we have an experienced industry leader in place to accelerate our growth plans including our best in class DFM proposition and to drive synergies and efficiencies from our integration efforts. In David we believe we have that person”. said Group CEO, Gary Wilder.
Following the regulatory approvals, he will also become a director of Kingswood’s UK subsidiaries.
The company also announced that Graydon Butler will also be stepping off the board of Kingswood Holdings Limited on 1 January 2021.
Buzz West, Group Chairman commented: “Patrick has been an integral leader of our business over the last two years as we built a foundation for growth and the Board is pleased he has agreed to assume the Group Chief Financial Officer on a full-time basis as we continue to expand. I would also like to thank Graydon for his service to the Company. I am delighted to welcome David to Kingswood and look forward to the next exciting phase of our development.”
About David Lawrence
David has over 30 years’ experience in financial services with Lloyds Banking Group where he has held numerous senior leadership roles in distribution and functional areas across its Retail, Commercial and Insurance divisions.
In 2014, David became the Commercial Director and then COO for Lloyds’ Private Banking and Wealth businesses with additional responsibility for its Mass Affluent proposition and strategy.
Over the last two years, David has played a lead role in the establishment of Schroders Personal Wealth (a joint venture wealth management business between Lloyds Banking Group and Schroders). David became Chief Commercial Officer for this business in March 2019 with primary responsibility for its client proposition, client experience and business development.
David Lawrence, UK Chief Executive Officer commented: “Kingswood has a clear ambition to build a leading wealth management business in the UK (and internationally) and I am delighted to be joining the business at such an exciting time.
“The UK business has a healthy pipeline of acquisition opportunities and my early focus will be on converting these, integrating them and delivering accelerated organic growth through our regional hubs.
“A complimentary focus on creating enhanced client experiences through an optimal blending of technology and adviser interaction and the development of progressive, relevant and great value client propositions, will further fuel growth as well as bringing operational efficiencies.”
Kingswood Holdings Limited is an AIM-listed international fully integrated wealth management group, with around 16,000 active clients and circa £5.0 billion of Assets under Advice and Management. It has a growing network of offices in the UK including Abingdon, Beverley, Darlington, Derby, Egham, Grimsby, Hull, Lincoln, London, Maidstone, Newcastle, Sheffield (2), Worcester and York with offices in Johannesburg, South Africa and Atlanta, New York and San Diego in the US.
Kingswood offers a range of trusted investment solutions to its clients, which range from private individuals to some of the UK’s largest universities and institutions, including investment advice and management, personal and company pensions and wealth planning. Kingswood is focused on becoming a leading player in the wealth and investment management market through targeted acquisitions in the UK and US, creating a global business through strategic partnerships.
For more information: https://www.kingswood-group.com/
- Disclaimer - News, data, and statements included in this release are intended exclusively for general information purposes. Talent4Boards does not guarantee that news is accurate or about the correct person and accepts neither liability for the consequences of the reader’s reliance, nor responsibility for the accuracy of the information. Nothing in this release should be considered for decisions about referred securities. Products and brand names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.


We are offering online registration for the 2020 reunion. Now you can conveniently register and pay online (Complete this form only if you plan to pay online). Please follow the steps below to complete your online registration:
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Somewhere in the middle of the 2008 financial and real estate market crisis, I began writing a semi-monthly blog to my clients, family, friends, and prospects addressing the dark and painful, and seemingly endless, drop in global economic market valuations. This moment in time was known as our Great Recession. It was real and it was devastating for millions of American families. It would forever change the investing public’s perception of risk and trust in financial institutions in our country.
There was no shortage of public commentators, news stories, and geniuses who proclaimed they predicted the financial downward spiral happening before them. The ‘Monday morning quarterback’ effect was in full swing. As people watched the equity in their homes evaporate and begin a sort of ‘sucking sound’ as the American dream of home ownership was flipped upside down, their retirement accounts were equally battered with scars as they shed 30, 40, and even 50% of their previous ‘high’ value.
Going back to the purpose of why I began writing a blog, my objective was to enlighten investors to understand that the only rational way to invest is to put markets, time, and risk into perspective. Once these basic tenets were understood and agreed upon, the only factor left to control was the behavior of my clients. Keeping someone from sabotaging their own plans by doing something (buying and/or selling) at the wrong time is the most important part of my job. This is something the day-to-day playbook used by the mainstream media would rather not discuss.
This past week, the ‘noise’ is back, and with greater abundance through multiple social media, TV, and radio outlets. The S&P 500 index dropped nearly 7% in only 3-days of trading. Scare tactics and news stories are again using words and phrases like, “Octoberphobia,” “Dow tumbles and investors are spooked,” and even “Ugly picture for bulls.” This morning, another unsubstantiated article even suggested that we are on our way to a “50% correction.” With statements like this, who wouldn’t begin to doubt their long-term plans?
After reading these headlines, I thought I would throw out some historical data to show how even a person with the worst investment luck in the world would have fared during our last great recession. And I know that many of you reading this might associate with being ‘that person’ who has the worst of luck!
Let us presume that someone, we’ll call him Bad Luckman, invested all his cash into an S&P 500 index fund 11-years ago this month on the exact day the S&P 500 hit its highest level in history (up to that day): 1,561. If Bad Luckman remained in his investment and watched it drop by 51% over the next 17-months (that’s how much the S&P 500 index dropped over that period), and rode it out until today, he would be up about 80%*…and that includes the recent 7% decline. Today, (10/16/18), after last week’s major sell-off, the S&P 500 index closed at 2,809.
In reality, having the same bad luck as “Bad Luckman” would be a hard act to follow, just as it would be nearly impossible to know exactly when to get out of the market. If you think you can pick the right time to get out, and again, the right time to get your money back in the market, then by all means, write a book and start an investing show. If you’re right, I’ll look forward to celebrating the christening of your new 100-foot yacht purchased with the proceeds of your winning formula.
But if you’re like 99.9% of investors and money managers who cannot predict the day-to-day movement of the markets, maybe you just need a guide to keep you from making an emotionally charged decision that goes against your investment goals based on a specific timeline and risk tolerance. The stock market moves up and down every trading day, and typically trends in one direction. If you want to discuss why your account value is moving the way it is, or if you aren’t comfortable with the size of the movement, give me a call to discuss. I can hopefully put it all back into a perspective that makes sense to you.
*This is a hypothetical illustration, which may not be used to project or predict investment results. The S&P 500 Stock index is a widely recognized, unmanaged index of common stocks. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Average annual returns assume the reinvestment of all distributions and/or dividends. Indices are unmanaged, statistical composites and their returns do not include payment of any sales charges or fees an investor would pay to purchase the securities they represent. Such costs would lower performance. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.


It was a week when both oil and natural gas prices recorded gains.
The headlines revolved around oilfield service major SLB’s (SLB – Free Report) majority stake purchase in Norway’s Aker Carbon Capture and European energy biggie Repsol’s (REPYY – Free Report) partnership with agribusiness firm Bunge Global on renewable fuels. Developments associated with VAALCO Energy (EGY – Free Report) , Shell (SHEL – Free Report) and Enbridge (ENB – Free Report) also grabbed attention.
Overall, it was a bullish seven-day period for the sector. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures moved up around 3.2% to close at $83.17 per barrel, while natural gas prices went higher by 6% to end at $1.76 per million British thermal units (MMBtu).
The crude price action remained positive for the third week running, primarily on the back of relatively bullish fundamentals and tensions in the oil-rich Middle East.
Meanwhile, natural gas settled with its third gain in the last nine weeks on positive inventory numbers and signs of production pullback.
Recap of the Week’s Most Important Stories
1. SLB, the largest oilfield contractor, has announced its plans to merge its carbon capture segment with Aker Carbon Capture (“ACC”). The partnership aims to expedite the global transition toward net-zero emissions by scaling up carbon capture technologies. Per the terms of the agreement, SLB will acquire an 80% stake in Aker Carbon Capture Holding AS (“ACCH”), which encapsulates ACC’s operations, for NOK 4.12 billion.
The collaboration is not just a financial transaction but a strategic alliance to enhance the carbon capture, utilization and sequestration (“CCUS”) landscape. SLB has committed to make additional payments of up to NOK 1.36 billion over the forthcoming three years, contingent on the joint venture’s performance.
The merger of SLB and ACC is poised to create a powerhouse in the carbon capture domain. The combined enterprise aims to revolutionize the market by leveraging ACC’s established commercial carbon capture product suite, and SLB’s innovative technology and industrialization prowess. (SLB and ACC Join Forces to Accelerate Decarbonization Efforts)
2. Spanish energy giant Repsol and renowned food and agribusiness company Bunge Global have decided to form a partnership to capitalize on the new opportunities aimed at meeting the rising demand for lower carbon-intensity feedstock used in the production of renewable fuel. By joining forces, both companies will work together to accelerate the expansion of renewable fuel production, keeping in mind the mandates provided by the European Union.
As part of the agreement, Repsol, which carries Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), will be acquiring a 40% stake in three industrial facilities in the Iberian Peninsula. The three facilities are owned by Bunge Iberica, a subsidiary of Bunge. The total consideration for the transaction is $300 million, with up to $40 million in contingent payments. The deal is subject to customary closing conditions.
Per the agreement, the three plants dedicated to the production of oils and biofuel will be operated by Bunge. These plants are located in Bilbao, Barcelona and Cartagena, near Repsol’s industrial complexes in the region. The collaboration allows Repsol to gain access to a wide portfolio of low-carbon intensity feedstock used in the production of renewable fuel. This also provides an immediate way to speed up the process of reducing emissions from transport, including cars, trucks, airplanes and shipping. (Repsol and Bunge to Ramp-Up Renewable Fuel Supply)
3. VAALCO Energy and its partners have signed the final documents for the Joint Operating Agreement related to the Venus Block-P plan of development (“POD”), after receiving the Government of Equatorial Guinea’s approval. VAALCO is serving as the operator of the block with a 60% interest. The other partners in the project are state-owned GEPetrol and Atlas Petroleum International Ltd.
The Block P Production Sharing Contract outlines a 25-year development and production period from the date when the POD was approved. The POD was approved in 2022. The West Africa-focused oil and gas finder will move to develop, operate and produce from the discovery offshore Equatorial Guinea in the next few years.
VAALCO will move forward with the Front-End Engineering Design study, which, upon completion, will lead to an economic Final Investment Decision (“FID”). The FID will facilitate the development of the Venus POD. (VAALCO Gets the Green Light for Block-P Development)
4 Shell’s renewable energy subsidiary, Shell New Energies US LLC, recently…


Several months back, Mozilla launched a new initiative – the MOSS program – to provide financial support to the open source software projects it relies on. Mozilla allocated $1 million to the MOSS fund to provide grants for up to 10 projects matching the program’s criteria.
Read the Docs is among the first round of awards made for the MOSS program. Our proposed grant, for $48,000, is to build a separate instance that integrates with the Python Package Index’s upcoming website, Warehouse. This integration will provide automatic API reference documentation upon package release, with authentication tied to PyPI and simple configuration inside the distribution. API reference documentation on every release will be the starting point of this work, prose documentation generation will be more difficult here, as not all packages use Sphinx or rST for documentation.
First off, a big ol’ thank you is in order for everyone that helped support us. You all helped us hit our funding goal, and with time to spare. We’re humbled to have such an abundance of support, and to know so many people share our vision for great documentation.
Really, thank you all. ❤


Arrival, the company creating electric vehicles (“EVs”) with its game-changing technologies has announced it is to float on the New York-based NASDAQ stock exchange.
The company, which has a major research and development facility in Banbury, and a micro-factory in Bicester, will combine with CIIG Merger Corp – a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) – and the newly combined company will be listed on the NASDAQ under the new ticker symbol “ARVL”
A special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) is a company with no commercial operations that is formed strictly to raise capital through an initial public offering (IPO) for the purpose of acquiring an existing company.
The transaction values the combined company at $5.4 billion and is expected to provide approximately $660 million in gross cash proceeds to the Company which will be used to deploy its first two Microfactories in Bicester (UK) and South Carolina (USA) in 2021.
Arrival is challenging the 100 year old automotive production process, by producing its EVs in low CapEx, low footprint Microfactories. Its operations utilize Arrival’s in-house proprietary technologies and advanced cell-based assembly method to bring down the cost of EVs and accelerate mass adoption globally.
Arrival’s initial focus is on the commercial vehicle market, which is undergoing a seismic shift towards electrification in line with global public policy. Arrival believes that it is well-positioned to capitalize on this market opportunity with its technology-driven approach to a traditionally underserved market. The result is its best-in-class products with an exceptional user experience that are priced competitively with fossil-fuel vehicles and have a substantially lower total cost of ownership (“TCO”) than both fossil fuel and electric variants.
Arrival’s transformative Microfactories can be deployed anywhere in the world within six months, using existing warehouses close to areas of demand. These Microfactories are designed to produce any vehicle from Arrival’s portfolio customized for the cities and regions they serve. The vehicles are designed specifically for Microfactory assembly using Arrival’s proprietary in-house developed components, software and sustainable composite materials.
Arrival’s vertical integration and new method of production break the rule of economies of scale and create strong unit economics for the whole Arrival product portfolio, which Arrival expects will enable profitability for the business by 2023. Arrival’s strategy to reach industry-transforming flexibility and scalability is based on the utilization of Microfactories, as opposed to giant, capital-intensive legacy factories.
“With Arrival’s products, our clients are not forced to compromise between being green and being cost-efficient. Our focus on the whole EV ecosystem, new methods of design and production and our enabling technologies are the key to driving down the cost of EVs and accelerating the transition to zero-emission transportation globally,” said Denis Sverdlov, Founder and CEO of Arrival. “CIIG’s leadership team has invaluable experience building businesses globally across a wide range of industries. We are excited to partner with them as we begin our journey to being a publicly-listed company and delivering our products to customers and cities around the world.”
“Arrival’s bold, game-changing approach to the production of electric vehicles made the company the clear winner in our search for a partner,” said Peter Cuneo, Chairman and CEO of CIIG. “Operating in stealth mode for five years, Denis and his visionary team have rewritten the rules of the game for the auto industry. Arrival’s development of exceptional products using its pioneering technology and software alongside its groundbreaking new method of production can create an incredibly low TCO for customers which we believe stands them apart from everyone else in the electric vehicle industry. We look excitedly to the future and to our partnership with Arrival’s talented leadership team.”
Several blue-chip companies and investment firms have invested in Arrival, including Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors Corporation, Winter Capital, United Parcel Service (“UPS”) and funds and accounts managed by BlackRock. Hyundai and Kia are also exploring opportunities to co-develop zero-emission vehicles with Arrival.
In addition, alongside investment in Arrival in early 2020, UPS, the global logistics company, announced a commitment to purchase 10,000 electric vans and has the additional option to order more thereafter.
Successful technology entrepreneur Denis Sverdlov will remain as Arrival’s CEO, with ex-Cruise Head of Strategy, Avinash Rugoobur, continuing as Arrival’s President. Mike Ableson, former VP of Global Strategy at GM, is CEO of Arrival Automotive overseeing global production.
The combined company will add Peter Cuneo, CIIG’s Chairman and CEO, as Non-Executive Chairman to its post-closing Board of Directors.


The project ESCOLIMBURG2020 deals with the translation of the ambition of the province of Limburg (Belgium) to become climate neutral by 2020 to the local Limburg context focussing on accelerating, province wide, large scale retrofitting (energy efficiency and renewable energy) of the public building stock of the 44 municipalities and the province itself.The project aims to accelerate and up-scale the concrete implementation of energy efficiency and renewable energy measures in the public building stock by making use of an ESCO-model, relieving the local authorities from complex investment processes.In 2010, the provincial energy grid operator Infrax started with an experimental ESCO-offer, but is now experiencing difficulties in enlarging and structuring this new service. This service is necessary to meet the amount and the complexity of projects already ordered by the municipalities. The ESCO offer consists in the management of the whole energy retrofitting process on behalf of the municipality, from the feasibility analysis to the tendering and implementation of the works. The investments are either paid upfront by the municipality or deferred.The project will develop the capacity of Infrax’s ESCO-department (financial & technical engineering, working processes, templates contracts…) in order to deliver large-scale investments of an estimated €19.8m. In parallel, municipalities will be engaged through the definition of detailed renovation plans for their building stocks, leading to the signature of contracts with Infrax.
In this page:
- 40 Local authorities with a customized Retrofit and Renewables action plan for their public building stock
- Development and roll-out of a performing ESCO-model taking into account scaling, bundling, repeatability, quality, comfort for the end user, cost efficiency, cost transparency, communicability of the processes, improved collaboration, allocation of risks etc.
- Bundling of province wide total energy investments of 19.837.230 €, supported by the ESCOLIMBURG2020 project
- Achieving a reduction of GHG emissions of 19.504 tons of CO2e/year and at least 4.352 MWh/year of energy savings / 2.170 MWh/year of renewable energy
- ‘Future proofing’ the construction sector through capacity building (affecting growth of the number of skilled actors in the construction sector, promoting the generation of new green jobs related to the implementation of energy facilities estimated a total amount of 100).
- For further details please refer to the project website.
Partners and coordinatorList Map
Province of Limburg
Duration:01/04/2013 to 31/03/2016


Maintaining and restoring ocean ecosystems – or ‘ocean health’ – is synonymous with growing ‘ocean wealth,’ according to a soon-to-be published report by the World Bank and European Union. With rapid population growth, limited land and fewer terrestrial resources to house, feed and provide citizens with their energy needs, coastal nations across South Asia are looking seaward. In doing so, countries are clueing in on the fact that sustainably managing and developing ocean spaces is critical to a nation’s economic advancement.
Thinking Blue - thinking how best to sustainably tap ocean spaces as new sources of sustainable growth and transition to a blue economy - is new, although South Asian nations have used the sea for food and trade for centuries. Five years ago, few had an inkling of the emerging importance of the term 'blue economy.'
By late 2017, at the Second International Blue Economy Dialogue hosted by the Government of Bangladesh in Dhaka, interest in what the blue economy is and why it matters is at an all-time high and rising. Perhaps this not surprising.
Our oceans cover more than 72% percent of the earth’s surface. It gives us food, essential protein and nutrition, as well as jobs (more than 350 million in poor countries), and recreation for a large portion of the world’s population. Oceans drive global GDP: 80% of global trade, 32% of hydrocarbons extracted for energy needs, and for almost 200 countries, tourism.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development estimates that our oceans contribute US$1.5 trillion annually, or roughly 3 percent of global value added and will be the source of the greatest number of new jobs over the next several decades.
As more and more countries look to the ocean as a new economic frontier and new source of industrialization and growth, the ecosystems upon which many ocean economic activities depend are changing at an unprecedented rate, and not necessarily for the better. While the ocean is responsible for generating 50 percent of the oxygen we breathe and can sequester up to five times more carbon than tropical forests, this important function is under threat due to climate change and other human-initiated factors.
However, of the 54 ocean-facing nations, Bangladesh stands out. It is one of the few non-island countries that has been working systematically toward understanding how their coastal and ocean area could become an engine for sustainable development and economic growth. In 2014, Bangladesh hosted the First International Blue Economy Dialogue in Dhaka and Her Excellency Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina became the first head of state to give a nationally and internationally recognized televised speech on the blue economy. She pointed out that Bangladesh’s ocean space is a “new horizon” for sustainable economic growth and development.
The Government of Bangladesh is simultaneously leading and learning - hosting and joining high level international dialogues. In fact, Bangladesh and Portugal were two coastal countries that convened with small island developing states in Grenada to consult on a World Bank report that estimated that the economic contribution of the Caribbean Sea to GDP. Policymakers of that region agreed that you can’t manage what you don’t measure. A similar strategy is unfolding in Bangladesh and other South Asian countries to guide decision-making over policy and investment.
The World Bank and the European Union are supporting Bangladesh’s effort to better understand what the blue economy is and why it matters – essentially providing high level technical assistance and policy guidance on how transitioning to a sustainable coastal and ocean economy or blue economy. Together with the government, the forthcoming report lays out four steps to be followed:
- Measure the coastal and ocean economy following accepted methodological approaches and assess valuation of ecosystems at the national level;
- Manage the interactions between the ocean economy and ecosystems, and between Sectors using the proposed methodological and policy framework;
- Invest in the transition to a blue economy through clear principles and processes that encourage sustainable growth in private investment;
- Monitor progress towards agreed targets for the country’s blue economy policy objective.


Venture debt ($12,240 a year): The first venture-debt fund has returned almost all my initial capital, so I decided to invest $200,000 in the second fund. I took a risk investing $150,000 in my friend's first fund, so I'm hoping there's less risk in the second fund, given he has four more years of experience on top of his 12-plus years of experience running a venture-debt portfolio for another company.
Bullshit. If you have a job, you have marketable value. Maybe it’s low value, if you’re flipping burgers, but you can create value somehow. I don’t care if you have to start out by re-renting the parking spot in front of your apartment, you can find, create, or buy something valuable worth repeatedly selling or renting, or you’re not thinking hard enough. Here’s a free idea: A lot of people want to play with 3D printers. Get 5 of your friends together and buy one. Put up a website and a listing in the local paper. Charge $50/h for printing. Set up a system that verifies if payment has been submitted and then automatically prints out the files that have been emailed to you. Split the earnings with your friends. Boom. You have passive income.
Speaking from our own experience, you can’t be a passive McDonald’s franchisee. Every McDonald’s potential franchisee will need to complete at least thousands of hours of training before he/she would be approved to acquire a franchise and only if he/she has the financial resources to acquire a franchise. It could take years before one would get a single store franchise. Until the franchisee eventually has acquired multiple stores and established his/her own management team, the franchisee would have to put his/her nose to the grindstone and work his/her ass off every day. I won’t call it a passive investment by any stretch of imagination.
Almost all of these ideas require starting a personal blog or website. But the great thing about that is that it's incredibly cheap to do. We recommend using Bluehost to get started. You get a free domain name and hosting starts at just $2.95 per month - a deal that you won't find many other places online! You can afford that to start building a passive income stream.
When a taxpayer records a loss on a passive activity, only passive activity profits can have their deductions offset instead of the income as a whole. It would be considered prudent for a person to ensure all the passive activities were classified that way so they can make the most of the tax deduction. These deductions are allocated for the next tax year and are applied in a reasonable manner that takes into account the next year's earnings or losses.


UTC 2022 is upon us and we want to get you ready for some of the great topics to come.
One of those conversations is Web3. While it is still in its early stages, and as a result, it has received mixed reviews from Wall Street to the basements of crypto bros. What exactly is Web3? What does this mean for the internet’s future? The panelist will provide the business cases for Web3 creator platforms, blockchain, and smart contracts which will be discussed here.
This discussion will also cover Web3’s metamorphosis since its inception and how it now affects our perception of the tech industry. Recent reports of Web3 include,
Currently estimated to be US$ 87761.35 million by 2030 and googled more than 190,000 times a day. Web3 has proven its staying power.
1.) In 2021, more than 34,000 developers contributed code to open-source Web3 projects
2.)18,000+ developers are actively working on open-source crypto and Web3 projects.
3.) 81% of consumers who have heard about Web 3.0 think that it will improve their happiness and well-being.
Joining us for this conversation is Joe Blau, Founder of Atomize will sit on this panel discussion to add how to build a Web3 community and how Web3 is at the forefront of blockchain technology and its high-earning capability.
Sign up for UTC 2022 here so that you can join this insightful conversation, led by industry leaders.


Walmart Inc. announced the acquisition of Cornershop, Inc., a leading online marketplace for on-demand delivery from supermarkets, pharmacies and specialty food retailers in Mexico and Chile. This transaction is an important step forward in accelerating the company’s omnichannel capabilities and growth in Latin America. It follows Walmart’s recent investment in Dada-JD Daojia in China and the strategic alliance with Rakuten in Japan. Walmart has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Cornershop, Inc. for $225 million. Cornershop is a leading online marketplace for crowdsourced, on-demand delivery in Mexico and Chile and is rapidly building scale, with the number of unique users doubling in the past 12 months. Cornershop’s three founders, Oskar Hjertonsson, CEO; Daniel Undurraga, chief operating officer; and Juan Pablo Cuevas, chief technology officer, and their teams, will continue to lead the business. Click Read More below for additional information.
Profits jumped 32% at HarperCollins in the second quarter of fiscal 2017 over the comparable period in fiscal 2016. EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) was $75 million in the quarter ended December 31, 2016, up from $57 million a year ago. Revenue in the quarter rose 4%, to $466 million.
The revenue gain was attributed to a mix of strong frontlist sales from such titles as The Magnolia Story and Chaos as well as continued solid sales of backlist books such as Jesus Calling and Jesus Always (both by Sarah Young) and Hillbilly Elegy. In a conference call with analysts discussing the results, Robert Thomson, CEO of News Corp parent company of HC, attributed the improvement at the publishing company to HC’s “broad roster of books that appealed to and explain the heartland of America, focusing on all Americans and not just the narrow elite.”
HC also benefited from a 3% increase in digital sales in the quarter which was led by higher sales of digital audiobooks. News Corp CFO Bedi Singh noted that the most recent quarter was the first time in two years digital sales rose over comparisons to the comparable period in the previous year Digital sales accounted for 16% of HC revenues in the second quarter..
The improved second quarter came after a down first period in which HC struggled with comparisons to the summer of 2015 when Go Set a Watchman sold over 1 million copies. For the first half of fiscal 2017, which ends June 30, 2017, HC’s revenues were flat at $855 million compared to the first half of fiscal 2016. EBITDA was up 24%, to $123 million.


The battle to succeed in a deal to revive the paycheck program simply weeks earlier than the election is all of the extra shocking as a result of
The battle to succeed in a deal to revive the paycheck program simply weeks earlier than the election is all of the extra shocking as a result of it is one of many few points that has had sturdy bipartisan help all through the pandemic. Lawmakers overwhelmingly backed this system, which offered $525 billion to greater than 5 million companies, and employers embraced it as a result of they might convert the loans to grants in the event that they agreed to not hearth staff.
However PPP has grow to be hostage to greater fights over the dimensions of all the rescue package deal, with Republicans refusing to conform to greater than $2 trillion in spending sought by Democrats.
“The failure to go continued reduction ought to be met with way more outrage,” stated John Lettieri, co-founder of the Financial Innovation Group assume tank, and a former Senate aide. “It’s completely shameful.”
Now, eating places, retailers and different small companies which have been among the many hardest hit face existential questions on whether or not they can survive by what’s going to seemingly be a number of extra months of Covid-19 working restrictions, which may escalate if the outbreak worsens. It may take that lengthy earlier than Congress, and probably a brand new president, are in a position to reduce a deal.
About 86 % of PPP debtors have already spent their mortgage cash and about half anticipate they are going to want extra monetary help over the subsequent 12 months, in accordance…


The pandemic continues to create ripple effects across the global economy. No growth in 2020, rapid growth in 2021, slow growth in 2022. Looking to 2023 with a base case of recession in the United States, Europe and the United Kingdom, and growth in China should be below trend for at least a good portion. of 2023.
But what are the growth drivers for infrastructure in 2023, and how have recent macro drivers created tailwinds for the asset class?
On top of its relative appeal versus equities, infrastructure should benefit from several macro drivers in 2023 and beyond. First, energy security is driving policy globally, and achieving energy security will require building a significant amount of infrastructure.
Supply constraints brought on by high gas prices and the Russia/Ukraine war highlight the importance of energy security and energy investment. It supports energy infrastructure, particularly in Europe, where additional capacity is needed to replace Russian oil and gas supplies, and in the United States, where new basins are being opened up, partly from Europe. To meet the current demand.
Market impact on infrastructure
Bond yields are likely to move higher in 2023 before leveling off along with inflation later in the year. For equities, contracting multiples driven by higher bond yields characterized the first part of this bear market.
The second phase of bear markets is typically a slowdown in earnings, this is expected to be especially a force in early 2023. However, the impact on infrastructure should be muted, especially for regulated assets, where companies derive their cash flows, earnings and dividends from their underlying asset bases.
Those asset bases are expected to grow over the next several years. As a result, infrastructure earnings look better protected than global equities.
Utilities look set to perform well
Inflation is correlated to the revenue or returns of most infrastructure companies. Regulated assets, such as utilities, have their regulated allowed returns adjusted for changes in bond yields over time. As real yields rise, utilities look poised to outperform.
As a result, changes in inflation and bond yields generally do not affect the underlying valuation of infrastructure assets. However, we have observed that equity market volatility associated with higher bond yields tends to affect the prices of listed infrastructure securities, making them more compelling than unlisted infrastructure valuations in private markets.
demand for new transport infrastructure
In transportation, adjustments in supply chains to change trade routes and bring production closer to home, either through reshoring or near-shoring, are driving demand for new transportation infrastructure. Airports are still struggling to return to pre-pandemic passenger levels, and that is likely to be hampered by a global recession in 2023.
In addition, the industry is experiencing changes in long-term trends such as business travel. Communications infrastructure continues to roll out 5G, develop 6G technology, and work to reduce network latency, driving significant investments in wireless tower businesses, which are typically associated with long-term inflation. carried out under contracts. However, in the short term, higher interest costs are affecting the bottom line.
IRA industry will be transformative
In terms of fiscal policy, the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), signed into law in August 2022, is one of the most important pieces of climate legislation in US history. This has the potential to be industry-changing, especially for utilities and renewables.
The growing need for electrification—including more electric vehicle charging infrastructure and more residential and small commercial rooftop solar—will require new substations, new transformers and upgraded wiring along the distribution network.
We are already seeing its impact in utilities’ 2023 capital expenditure plans, with forward order books of companies involved in the energy transition – such as renewables, storage and components suppliers – increasing their growth profiles.
One key macro takeaway from the IRA: There’s no reason to build anything except renewables from now on. main reason? tax credits. Production tax credits for solar/wind are available until 2032 or until a 75% reduction in greenhouse gases is achieved (based on 2022 numbers). Either way, it’s expected to be a favorable wind for investing for more than a decade.
Secular growth drivers for infrastructure should be on full display in 2023. US President Joe Biden wants to reduce emissions in the United States by 50% by 2030, with about half of US energy coming from solar plants by 2050.
Going net zero by 2050 would require approximately US$320 billion to be invested in electricity transmission infrastructure by 2030.
Infrastructure spending is desperately needed for the next decade and beyond, and the first steps are being taken to meet these long-term goals.
Charles Hamieh is managing director and portfolio manager at Clearbridge Investments, which is part of Franklin Templeton


The Davos Real Estate Group recently introduced Davos CAP Calculator, which is a new mobile application. This new mobile application is an innovative tool that is designed for offering investors with a clearer way in purchasing financial visions for real estate property in the United States. The Davos Financial Group, an investment committee that’s led by David Osio, has suggested consideration in the allocation of alternative assets within a broad portfolio and investing into real estate, since this could improve return on an individual’s investment portfolio, achieve balance with yield spreads, and reduce the associated risk levels. So of the factors that were highlighted by David Osio during his analysis was improved levels of performance, diversification criteria, the ability for influencing performance through improvements for an active property, and protection from inflation that is associated with income that is adjusted for income. Investment, just like with alternative assets, special and assessment considerations are required, these considerations may include the maintenance and selling of a property, and capitalization levels over time. This is the reason why the Davos Real Estate group, who are committed to quality service has developed the Davos CAP Calculator. The application helps to accurately and simply calculate capitalization rate, net income, and cash flow for the individuals investments in real estate. Among these functions the application provides, if entering mortgage information exist, it shows the terms and conditions that will impact the cash flow and profitability of the investment. The app is available for free in the iTunes store on the iPad, iPhone, and for androids it is available in Google Play. http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/david-osio-and-his-executive-team-at-davos-real-estate-group-launch-its-new-real-estate-application-300288823.html
David Osio is the CEO and founder of the Davos Financial Group, through this position he has been responsible of the global and domestic strategy firm. In addition to this, the board for the Davos Financial Group has helped to define the mission and vision of the company. David Osio, from 1989 to 1993, was the vice president of Banco Latino International, a commercial banking company located in Miami. During his time in this
position, he was responsible over defining strategies. During his time at the bank, increases were reached in the international portfolio for the bank, and the counterbalancing of relative instability in the Venezuelan banking industry of the time. David Osio graduated with honors from the Catholic University Andres Bello of Caracas in 1988 as a lawyer. The most recent achievement Osio was in 2010 when he reached advancement in professional credentials, while he studied Management Investment Portfolios at the New York Institute of Finance.


Chris Christie accepts tax settlement from Donald Trump, essentially waving $25 million in casino tax payments for New Jersey.
Casino operators across the United States have to pay a certain amount in taxes as well as fees to be able to operate under individual state regulations. Each state that offers casino gaming has a set percentage that has to be paid based on such factors as gaming type, location, etc. These rules apply in the state of New Jersey just like anywhere else. It was recently revealed that Donald Trump has not paid $30 million on owed casino taxes and he has now been allowed to forfeit $25 million of that tax amount.
Chris Christie Agrees to Deal
New Jersey decided to sue Trump for casino taxes that were not paid from a time frame of 2002 to 2006. The amount owed was $30 million. Trump was accused of filing false reports with regulators of state casinos on the amount of taxes in which his company was paid. The legal battle took place for six years until Chris Christie, the governor of the state, decided to step in.
The New York Times is reporting that the administration of Christie decided to accept the $5 million tax settlement proposed by Trump which is basically like 17 cents on the dollar based on what auditors have stated the casinos owed the state government. Many believe that the friendship between the two played a part in the deal that was agreed upon. Christie and Trump have known each other since 2002 when Christie was introduced to Trump by Maryanne Trump Barry, Donald’s sister.
The two have been quite chummy since meeting, with Christie being invited to a wedding for Trump, Trump attending the inauguration of Christie for governor, etc. It has also been revealed that Trump made huge donations to a nonprofit organization that works to maintain the residence of the governor.
Trump has also been linked to donating to the Republican Governors Association and given as much as $170,000 to help back the election campaign of Christie. Trump has reportedly spent over $600,000 in donations to the republican group.
A spokesman for the governor, Brian Murray, has made a statement in regards to the settlement, maintaining that Christie was not involved in the deal being made. Murray stated that the Department of Treasury and Office of the Attorney General for the state were the ones involved in the closing of the settlement.
Murray actually accused the New York Times of showing bias by using a complex bankruptcy settlement to create a piece of political fiction. Murray stated the newspaper ignored the simple fact that Christie had no knowledge of the settlement nor was he involved in the matter.
What Does This Mean for the Presidency and Online Gambling Industry?
Individuals in the United States are certainly divided when it comes to the 2016 presidential election of which Trump is a part of. While some are split between voting for Trump or Hilary Clinton, many do not want to choose between the two. Those who enjoy casino gambling want to see a presidential candidate decide on the issue of online gambling. Many wish to see a federal measure put in place that would allow for online gambling such as casino and poker gaming take place across the board.
In the state of New Jersey, online casino and poker gaming is prevalent. If Christie and Trump are such big buddies, will Trump make a move to see federal legislation put in place in regards to online gaming? Trump has not come out with a stance on the issue so many are wondering just where he stands.
Overall, Trump is going to be scrutinized for being able to cut such a deal in regards to owing taxes within the state of New Jersey.


Prediction of fair isaac corporation
- FICO | USA Stocks
- Last update
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- 40% from 5
Our current prediction of fair isaac corporation (fico)
Fair isaac corporation is listed under symbol FICO.
FICO is going down according our predicted trendThe stochastic gives the following signals: Stochastic K plus is going below the Stochastic D | 70. Close is below valley line | 40.
Show Technical Analysis calculation Fair isaac corporation
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At their Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Basel today, the Straumann shareholders approved all the proposals put forward by the Board of Directors by a large majority. 374 shareholders attended the meeting. Together with proxies and online voters, they represented 74% of the total share capital.
The shareholders approved the following:
- The Management Report, the Annual Financial Statements and the Consolidated Financial Statements for the 2018 business year.
- The Compensation Report for the 2018 business year, in a consultative vote.
- The appropriation of earnings and dividend payment for the 2018 business year: CHF 83 million for the dividend with a balance of approximately CHF 1 billion carried forward. The approved dividend corresponds to CHF 5.25 per share, an increase of CHF 0.50 on the previous year. The dividend will be paid as of 11 April; the ex-dividend date is 9 April.
- The discharge of the Board of Directors for the 2018 business year.
- The fixed compensation of the Board of Directors for the next term in a maximum amount of CHF 2.7 million. Approximately 40% of the compensation is paid in shares at market value; these shares are blocked for two years.
- The compensation of the Executive Management, including a maximum total fixed compensation of CHF 7.3 million for the period from 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020, a short-term variable compensation of CHF 6.1 million for the 2018 business year, and a maximum long-term, variable compensation of CHF 3.9 million for the 2019 business year.
- The re-election of Gilbert Achermann as Member and Chairman of the Board, as well as Monique Bourquin, Dr Sebastian Burckhardt, Ulrich Looser, Dr Beat Lüthi, Dr h.c. Thomas Straumann and Regula Wallimann as Board Members – each for a term of one year. The election of Juan-José Gonzalez as an additional Board Member for a term of one year.
- The re-election of Monique Bourquin, Ulrich Looser and Dr h.c. Thomas Straumann to the Human Resources & Compensation Committee for a term of one year.
- The re-election of Neovius AG in Basel as the independent voting representative for a term of one year.
- The re-election of Ernst & Young AG, Basel, as auditors for the 2019 business year.
The voting results are published on the Straumann Group's website.
The next ordinary general meeting of Straumann's shareholders will be convened on 7 April 2020 at the Basel Congress Center.
About the Straumann Group
The Straumann Group (SIX: STMN) is a global leader in tooth replacement and orthodontic solutions that restore smiles and confidence. It unites global and international brands that stand for excellence, innovation and quality in replacement, corrective and digital dentistry, including Straumann, Neodent, Anthogyr, Medentika, ClearCorrect, Dental Wings, and other fully/partly owned companies and partners. In collaboration with leading clinics, institutes and universities, the Group researches, develops, manufactures and supplies dental implants, instruments, CADCAM prosthetics, biomaterials and digital solutions for use in tooth replacement and restoration or to prevent tooth loss.
Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, the Group currently employs more than 6000 people worldwide and its products, solutions and services are available in more than 100 countries through a broad network of distribution subsidiaries and partners.


Are you happy about your contribution increase to TFSAs?
If you haven’t heard already, the new 2015 budget was released last Tuesday April 21st, 2015 and it has a HUGE contribution increase to TFSAs (or Tax Free Savings Accounts, for those not aware of them). We’re talking a 82% increase to our 2015 contribution room. This brings the 2015 contribution room to 10,000 dollars, which is effective immediately!
What I like about TFSAs is that anything earned in them is able to be withdrawn completely tax free. The down side of this is that if you’re holding higher risk investments you do not get to claim capital losses on this. So just follow the 2 rules for investing from the most successful money manager ever, Mr. Warren Buffet’s and you’ll do fine:
- Never lose money
- Never forget Rule #1
Ok so we can’t all be Warren Buffet, after all someone has to lose in the market for the rest of us to gain. So let’s look on the conservative side. If you were 18 as of 2009 when the TFSAs were introduced, this means you have 41,000 dollars of contribution room. Max your contributions yearly for 30 years into something relatively safe like an index fund to match the market you’ll end up with $693,828.68 before retirement as you can see from the investment calculator output below.
Now that’s an extremely conservative interest rate. The S&P 500, which is an index of the 500 largest companies listed on the NASDAQ or NYSE based on market capitalization. Basically it’s a share of each of the 500 largest public companies. It’s a pretty safe bet. As you can see from wikipedia’s chart of annual returns of the S&P 500, since 1970 the median of the 5 year annualized returns is 13.96%
Statistics are a funny thing
I’m no expert in statistics but I do enjoy how people manipulate statistics to serve their points. In this article (link) they state “Individuals with annual incomes of less than $80,000 accounted for more than 80 per cent of all TFSA holders…”. Which seems like the government is trying to play down the “only helping the rich” angle a lot of people try to play.
After a quick check on some statscan information I noticed that only 14.27% of Canadians have an income greater than $75,000 annually. So really I might not be too far off assuming 80% of Canadians who drink water everyday have an income of $80,000 annually or less. All that fact is telling us is that the people starting TFSAs are proportionally equal to the average Canadian based on income.


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After a string of leaks yesterday, Microsoft has confirmed that the Xbox Series S will be launching at $299.99. The Series S is set to be Microsoft’s lower-end next-generation hardware, reportedly coming in a much smaller box and lacking a disk-drive. That said, the system will supposedly be able to play all of the same games as its bulkier counterpart, the Xbox Series X. It will also likely severally undercut the price of Sony’s PS5, which has been predicted to be around the $499.99-$599.99 price point.
While Microsoft has only confirmed the Series S’s price-point and design, this announcement partially corroborates previous leaks. The Verge reports that the Series S will have a weaker GPU than the Xbox Series X, making it unable to output games at 4k. Windows Central’s reporting indicates that both models will be launching on November 10th of this year. Additionally, they report that the Xbox Series X will be launching at $499.99 and will also be available through a financing option that charges $35 a month with Xbox Live and Gamepass included. The Xbox Series S will be available through a $25 a month version of the same plan. Xbox Live is Microsoft’s online service for multiplayer, and Gamepass offers access to hundreds of games, including first-party titles at release. Xbox Live is currently priced at $59.99 a year, and Gamepass is priced at $9.99 a month.
In recent years Microsoft has doubled down on its subscription service Gamepass. By guaranteeing that their blockbuster first-party titles will launch there, they have created a value proposition to many players already invested in the company’s output. They have also made an effort to scoop up a wide variety of third-party and smaller games, many of which launch on the service.
The news about the Series S seems to reiterate Microsoft’s interest in pushing a subscription model in the gaming space. The cheaper price point and option to finance the system through a service subscription seems squarely aimed at lowering the initial barriers to entry so that they can instead monetize their users over an extended period. This service model for entertainment has come to dominate the world of movies, television, and music through companies like Netflix and Spotify.
While Gamepass’ 10 million subscribers are still a ways off from Netflix’s 183 million, if they continue to grab new users, their approach could have a systemic impact on the video game industry. Whether that change will come to pass, and whether or not it will be a “positive” one remains to be seen, but it will be one of many stories to follow during this upcoming hardware generation.


Personal Budget Worksheet for Daily Cash Flow Management
Our free personal budget worksheet allows you to effectively manage your daily cash flow. This is one of several tools that are available as part of our free 10 Steps to Conquer Debt ebook.
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As you may know, cash flow statements are used regularly in business to better manage the flow of cash coming in from sales revenue, and cash going out for various expenditures.
So why don't we do the same
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How often have you been
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"If I had to run a company on three measures, those measures would be customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction and cash flow."
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To manage all costs effectively, the timing of when you receive your paychecks must be accounted for and compared to the timing of when your various bills are due. Some creditors will work with you on the timing and others will not.
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Free Personal Budget Worksheet for Daily Cash Flow Management
The following template helps you to effectively manage your daily cash flow, which is a critical step in personal financial management. This free tool is available in our Leadership Tools library, which is accessible to subscribers of our free newsletter.
Daily Cash Flow Management Determines Your Financial Success
Using this tool, you can manage
your cash flow with confidence, ensuring your bills are never late and that you’ll
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Upon downloading the personal budget worksheet for managing your daily cash flow, use the information you've already collected if you've completed our personal financial statement tool and begin plotting the amount of income and expenditures for the upcoming
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If you find yourself running
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is all part of being a responsible adult who is pro-actively managing cash flow. Use our personal budget worksheet and other free tools to get on this today!
"No one's ever achieved financial fitness with a January resolution that's abandoned by February."
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As you begin to direct your money with a clearer purpose - not just once a month, but every single day - you'll begin to feel greater confidence in leading your financial life. It’s important that you continue to calculate your cash flow regularly throughout the debt reduction process.
A common benefit of daily cash flow management is that you’ll start spending less money overall. Why? Because now you’re tuned into the bigger financial picture; you’re no longer spending mindlessly.
Now just because you have some extra money, don’t go spending it. The money saved should be placed in a savings account or applied toward paying down your debt even more rapidly.
"Just as a fisherman must watch the ebb and flow of the tides, an investor and businessperson must be keenly aware of the subtle shifts in cash flow."
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Our daily cash flow template is
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Once you have completed your
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The difference between the two
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it comes to money, success is in the details. Our daily personal budget worksheet tracks daily cash flow and assists
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You will immediately receive a password that grants access to our entire leadership tools library, including our personal budget worksheet to manage your daily cash flow. Getting your arms wrapped around your monthly cash flow is simple and straightforward. Begin getting your financial life in order today.
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