Business Archives - Page 2 of 13

America’s Largest Gun Maker Posts Record Sales, Worries about Clinton

America’s largest gun maker Sturm Ruger reported record sales in a second quarter earnings call but expressed its concerns over Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s tactics to actively campaign against a “lawful commerce.”

The gun maker’s chief executive Michael Fifer was asked on Wednesday whether the politician’s campaign has spurred the rise in demand for guns. Clinton’s efforts to outlaw gun sales in the U.S. has recently led to numerous background checks.

Fifer declined that there was a link between Clinton and a growing demand. He added that the current situation cannot be traced back to the words or actions of a single politician. He did say that we live unique times when a presidential hopeful with “a real likelihood” of getting into the Oval Office publicly said that the nation’s highest court ruled wrongly in the Heller case.

In District of Columbia v Heller, the Supreme Court rejected the state’s ban on firearms arguing that it would violate the residents’ constitutional right to own a gun for self-defense. Dick Anthony Heller was a body guard who was allowed to carry a handgun at work, but was denied the same right at home.

A few months ago, Clinton said in an interview that the case was “wrongly decided.” She argued that municipalities and states should be allowed to draft “commonsense laws” to prevent unfortunate gun-related incidents from happening in America’s homes.

Fifer described Clinton’s comments as “unprecedented” and expressed his disbelief that her remarks haven’t impacted sales. Under the current administration, both Smith & Wesson and Sturm Ruger saw record demand for handguns and ammunition.

Stock prices reached record highs after each mass shooting as the resulting scandals have prompted gun owners to stockpile firearms in case they get banned. In the last quarter, the gun maker’s sales were $167.9 million. This represents a 19 percent or $27 million increase from last year’s same period.

Profit in the first half of the year soared 30 percent and by the end of the second quarter Sturm Ruger raked more than $115 million in gross profit, a consistent gain from last year’s $89.9 million.

Fifer zoomed in on gun sales in the wake of the Orlando mass shooting at the Pulse gay nightclub, where 49 people were slaughtered. He said that the impact on sales couldn’t be measured. He said that distributors got some calls but demand “quickly died down.”

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Tesla Driver Dies while Car in Autopilot Mode

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On May 7, a man from Williston, Florida, lost his life in a car crash when a large truck made a left turn in front of his Tesla model S car which was running on autopilot. Federal investigators are currently investigating the case.

Tesla, which unveiled the accident Thursday, said that a federal agency is now probing whether its cars’ autopilot feature is safe for the public roads. The car crash could now spark a lot of soul searching within the driverless car industry, some analysts suggest.

Though it is the first time a person dies while a car is in autopilot mode, there had been other reports of incidents related to the technology.

Tesla said that the Williston driver’s car ended up under the big rig whose bottom smashed the car’s windshield. The company said that the autopilot and driver were deceived by the bright lit sky which made it impossible for them to detect the white trailer truck moving in the car’s direction.

As a result the car failed to brake in time. Tesla, which reported the collision to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that very day, said that the autopilot mode was still in beta testing.

The firm noted that the feature is far from perfect and gets constantly improved. Furthermore, the feature is not turned on by default. A driver needs “explicit acknowledgement” before activating the system that he is aware that the mode is in a beta phase.

Additionally, the system prompts the driver to keep his or her hands on the wheel while autopilot is on. The driver is also prompted to stay alert and get ready to take control of the vehicle at any time.

Industry analysts believe that the recent fatal crash won’t make customers lose faith in Tesla but in the infallibility of the autopilot feature. Karl Brauer of the Kelley Blue Book believes that the tragic incident is an opportunity to educate customers before driverless cars become mainstream.

NHTSA announced that it would probe the “design and performance” of the autopilot in Tesla Model S cars while also investigating the fatal crash and the vehicle.

Other analysts think that the car crash won’t ruin the momentum of automated driving technology unless the agency finds that driverless driving is more dangerous than conventional driving.

Image Source: Wikimedia

Gogo Drops as American Airlines Invites ViaSat On Board

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American Airlines’ choice to split an order between ViaSat Inc. and Gogo Inc. for in-flight Wi-Fi services had a rough effect on Gogo.

The company’s stocks have tumbled the most in more than three months after the decision, which left unanswered the question of who will provide services for 400 aircraft.

American Airlines Group Inc. chose ViaSat for satellite-based connections on its upcoming Boeing Co. 737 Max fleet of roughly 100 jets; at the same time, Gogo’s new 2Ku service was selected for 134 Airbus Group SE A319s and A320s, according to Casey Norton, a spokesman for the airline.

It is also the company’s right to disrupt Gogo connections from 550 planes, including 150 that will soon be retired and won’t need the upgrades.

American Airlines has yet to decide which provider will be chosen for the remaining 400 planes as they switch from the current ground-based offerings to faster satellite systems.

Offering speedy internet for its customers in the air is quickly becoming the standard for airlines. In this all-connected era we live in, passengers want to remain connected even at flying altitudes, being able to chat through social media, and stream music.

This ability is often impaired by the frustrating malfunctions that come from being constrained to ground-based systems. So the rivalry between internet providers has increased significantly.

“Basically, American is telling Gogo, ‘You are going to have to compete with ViaSat,”’ explained Tim Farrar, founder of Telecom Media Finance Association in Menlo Park, California.

Gogo dropped 15 percent to $9.38 in New York, after a previous fall of 16 percent for the biggest intraday decline since February 16. Meanwhile, ViaSat rose 4.3 percent to $72.90.

“At the end of the day, worst-case scenarios are off the table, the downside is bracketed” to 550 planes at most; having Gogo’s 2Ku installing on 140 planes will also allow the company to compete head-to-head with ViaSat.

As the world’s largest airline, American is in a favored spot of being able to have “multiple suppliers” for broadband Wi-Fi; this practice helps them ensure that all planes are equipped as quickly as possible.

American’s decision to use the 2Ku technology for some planes is important for Gogo, as the company was at risk of losing the airline as a customer. Gogo’s new platform has been slow to roll out while it awaits regulatory certification for the new systems on various aircraft.
Image Source: Lufthansa

Apple Inks $1Bn Investment Deal with Chinese Rival of Uber

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Taking a taxi is cheaper than driving your own car in China, and Uber’s toughest competitor in the country, Didi, owns 99 percent of the taxi-hailing market.

Apple Inc. has just poured $1 billion in Uber’s largest competitor in China, Didi Chuxing Technology Co. Analysts believe that the move is expected not only to help the U.S. company’s driverless car business grow, but also help Apple mend its tense relationships with Beijing.

The decision was announced a week after the Chinese government banned iTunes and iBooks from the country. The U.S. tech giant is directly interested in China as most of its manufacturing plants are based there. So, investing in the country’s largest home-grown ride-sharing business might be the best way to reduce the tensions.

Didi Chuxing is an important company for the Chinese government though the firm was nearly shut down when it started to offer ride-hailing services like Uber. Back then, Beijing said that Didi was putting fully licensed taxis out of business.

As a response, Didi agreed to allow taxi drivers to feature on the company’s e-hailing app and offer their services. Also, the company recently closed a deal with Shanghai-based taxi company Haibo to split revenues.

Didi network comprises 400 cities and 99 percent of the taxi-hailing market. In 200 cities the company makes profit. Furthermore, partnerships with local taxi companies also help Didi reduce traffic congestions, a growing problem in China’s urban areas.

Since up to 70 percent of Beijing residents own a car, it is very difficult to go by car to any area of the city. As a result, the government had to set some restrictions, deciding which days cars can be used. Furthermore, there’s a 100 percent tax on foreign vehicles brought to the country to discourage the Chinese from buying more cars.

So, Didi is now helping the government address the country’s ever growing fleet of vehicles. By offering cheap rides, the ride-hailing company helps both people who don’t have a car and those who seek a better alternative to public transportation. In China, it is cheaper to travel by taxi than by private car due to restrictions and taxes.

Didi is confident that with a fleet of 1 million taxis it can serve the entire population of China. At the moment, taxis are the key to solving transit issues and displacing car ownership.

Apple’s $1 billion bid is the same amount Uber is reportedly hemorrhaging in China. Plus, Didi is also interested in building a fleet of driverless cars just like Apple, which has now also the opportunity to build strong alliances with key Didi investors and partners such as Lyft, Tencent, Ali Baba, and Grab.

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Bears Get Stressed Out by Drones, Researchers Say

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Bears Get Stressed Out by Drones, Researchers at University of Minnesota say.

Led by Mark Ditmer, researches have attempted to answer the question found in the study published by Current Biology, which notes that the rising usage of drones we are experiencing can cause irreversible stress on wildlife.

One might say that this news isn’t bearable at all – pun intended.

To be absolutely clear from the get-go, this isn’t an in-depth research. Mark Ditmer, along with his group, frolicked around with a rather small quadcopter around four American black bears. All of the bears were equipped with a heart tracker, and a GPS tracking collar.

Mark and his crew flew-over them 17 times, and only once a bear slightly changed his behavior when he acknowledged the drone’s presence.

But on every occasion, researchers noted a spike in heart rate – one case noted an increase to 123 bpm, and another high bpm for a bear that was supposed to hibernate.

Bears returned to their usual mood after Mark and his drone left. The group didn’t notice any out of the ordinary behavioral change, but they did observe physiological responses.

However, the study didn’t answer the question aimed by the Current Biology study. Instead, they noted that more research should be done on how much of an impact do UAV flights have on wildlife, given the huge surge of users across the world that adopt this new kind of hobby.

The fact that wildlife is stressed-out when encountering low-altitude flights by helicopters, or any other aircraft is already known in the science community, but not regarding drones.

In 2014, paired with results Mark and his team brought-up, the US National Park Service banned the use of UAVs withing the park’s territory, but there are still some drone enthusiasts that don’t abide be these rules.

Park Rangers note that because bears get stressed out by drones, they could react in unforeseen ways, even trying to hunt, and attack the UAV. Considering that quadcopters have an average range of 330 feet, this could be incredibly dangerous to people visiting the park.

Bears are borderline awesome, and they are borderline dangerous. Nobody wants to upset an already pissed-off 800 pound bloodthirsty bear.

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Facebook’s Messenger App Will Add Business in the Mix

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Facebook’s Messenger app is transforming and evolving into a tool that will be used for more than sending a funny cat emoji to friends, it’s also going to help its users get some business done.

In order to make this happen, Facebook is opening Messenger up to outside programmers, so that they can start building new features that will help Messenger be more business oriented. Messenger will also have added the ability to display store receipts and information about shipping to help its users keep track of their various interactions with businesses and merchants. This new feature will be rolled out starting with the beginning of April and it is expected to be available around the world by the end of April.

Facebook’s decision to update and upgrade its Messenger is, many believe, a means to keep up with the current trends. There is a growing number of mobile messaging applications that offer more direct and also more intimate ways to converse and connect with one’s friends.

Facebook is sensing that its young crowd is spending less time on Facebook and more time on the wide range of mobile messaging apps, such as Snapchat, Kik, Viber, Whisper, Tango, Secret and Line. These apps are taking young Facebook users away from Facebook and the social media giant feels the need to do something to fix it. Improving its Messenger is the main way to do that.

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO, talked about the Messenger expansion at a developers’ conference on Wednesday in San Francisco. He stated that the company has been building Messenger into a service to express more than just text. Zuckerberg promised that even more features would be rolling out in the coming months.

Facebook’s Messenger was introduced four years ago, and since then Facebook has been doing various tweaks to it, such as the ability to attach photos, video, swap stickers, make phone calls and even send money.

Messenger has more than 600 million users, it was revealed by Zuckerberg at the conference. The main reason for that is the fact that it is connected to Facebook, which has more than twice as many users, around 1.4 billion.

But there is a consequence to the popularity of mobile messaging, which translates to less time spend on social media. Less time on Facebook means fewer chances for the social media giant to learn about its users’ lives and interests and show the ads that bring in the big bucks for the company.

This threat is also what lead Facebook’s CEO to, aside from expanding Messenger, to spend a whopping $22 billion to buy WhatsApp last year. WhatsApp is a mobile messaging service with more than 700 million users; a big part of WhatsApp’s users is located in Western Europe and other less affluent countries outside the United States.

It is expected from Facebook to begin showing ads on Messenger, the moment people start spending more time on Facebook’s Messenger to do more than just chat. Obviously, Messenger is heading towards becoming a marketing vehicle, even though the mother company did not reveal its plans to turn it into one.

Eight years ago, Mark Zuckerberg made the decision to open Facebook to other programmers, and this current decision mirrors that in the entirety. Keeping in mind that the move turned Facebook into the multipurpose giant that it is today, one can only imagine what it would do for Facebook’s Messenger.

David Marcus, in charge of Facebook’s Messenger and former CEO at PayPal, hopes that Messenger becomes the multipurpose giant that Facebook is today. He concluded the company has opened the floodgates.

The social media giant is counting on apps from other developers to allow Messenger users to speak their minds with audio clips, GIFs and other dynamic formats that will make people smile and get them engaged.

During his presentation, Facebook’s CEO made a prediction that, at one point in the future, messaging apps will incorporate virtual reality technology. His prediction is largely based on Facebook’s decision to buy Oculus for $2 billion last year.

Facebook’s revenue for last year went up 58% to $12.5 billion, which allowed the company’s stock price to more than double from $38 in its initial public offering price in 2012.

Image Source: Digital Trends

Euro in Stable Positiony on German Data, Dollar Decreased

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This Monday, euro ascended as compared to other currencies such as yen and dollar. The comments of European Central Bank and German business are the major reason behind the sudden rise of the two currencies.

Earlier, Mario Daraghi, the president of ECD painted a displayed a pretty miserable picture of the 18 countries in its euro bloc. He emphasized to speed up the gradual rise of Euro.

In response to these steps and comments, heads of Bundesbank stated that ECB actions to resolve low inflation is not an easy goal to achieve. Currently, the currency experiences a few legal limitations. These remarks from the president of Bundbank puts a big question mark on the measures of the president of ECB for the improvement of euro zone.

All this leads to an immediate increase of $1.2443 in euro. Additionally, it places yens at 147.385 which is certainly a wonderful comeback of the currency. Consequently, the dollar index reached 88.440 which is its highest since June 2010.

The change in dollar signifies that the Chinese and Japanese central banks plans to improve the monetary strategies. The alteration in the policies will definitely erode their currencies.

On the other hand, the German business survey beats all the predictions of analysts this time. It gives hope to people regarding the retrieval of the economy of Europe. Recently, the largest Economy of the world faced an extreme recession in its final quarter.

They’re Going to Need a Bigger Gift Shop

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This summer, the Sharks have a very remarkable effect on Cape Cod because of which several Merchandisers needs a bigger wallet. This gain in number of Sharks gives rise to curiosity. These Sharks are normally not dangerous for swimmers, but still the Harobormasters have announced a warning.

After this declaration, the owner of Cape Cod beach Chair Co., who charge fees for its paddle boats and kayaks beginning to worry whether it’s safe to go to sea or not. He said in one of his press release that no doubt their sales has increased to a great deal due to shark attire. The cost of, T-shirts, hoodies, hats, belts, dog collars and other accessories bear the iconic, torpedo-shaped image of great whites and sell is between $10 to $45. His store earned thousands of dollars attributable to this shark theme product.

Field glasses are in demand since tourists want to throw a glance of shark fin from the beaches. Same is the case with the posh resort town which are located near the beaches. However, the shops are selling candies, jewelry, cakes, stuffed animals, clothes on this paper. In short, these days in Cape Cod just name it and you can have whatever you require in the shark theme.

These sharks have gained a lot of attention since they are one of the iconic species of society. According to Gregory Skoma, a senior marine fisheries biologist these sharks are coming nearer to the shore to feed on the seals.

Fidelity Contrafund Cuts (NASDAQ: AAPL) Apple Stake

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Apparently not everyone is in love with Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL). The Fidelity Investments Contrafund reportedly cut it’s stake in Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) by 9 percent.

The Contrafund Is the largest active shareholder of Apple stock, only 9.2 million shares at the end of April, down to 10.1 million shares in March. The stock held the second heaviest weighting in Contrafund, behind Google’s (GOOG) 5.7%.

Fund manager Will Danoff cut the funds stake by 12 percent during the first quarter. To add to this news,

A US government lawyer has accused Apple of teaming with publishers in 2010 to drive up the prices of the books.

The Justice Department attorney, Lawrence Buterman, opened a New York trial by telling a judge Monday that Apple’s scheme cost U.S. consumers hundreds of millions of dollars.

Lawyers for Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple say the allegations are based on “faulty assumptions and unfounded conclusions.”

Clarion-Ledger staff takes up the ALS ice bucket challenge

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On Friday, the Clarion-Ledger took up the ice-challenge for ALS. The challenge has helped raise millions of dollars in the past several weeks for ALS research. The Clariod-Ledger teamed up with the ALS Association of Louisiana and Missisippi, they took the challenge and called out to others in the community, posting videos online. No one is off limits including state leaders, to business executives to and former colleagues. If someone gets called out, they either have to contribute a $100 for ALS or man-up to endure a shower with a bucket full of ice water. Staff members have contributed up to $250 each and have actively encouraged others to do the same.

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