Exclusive: Stifel in lead to buy Barclays’ U.S. wealth unit – sources

By Lauren Tara LaCapra and Jessica Toonkel

(Reuters) – Investment bank Stifel Financial Corp <SF.N> is in advanced negotiations to acquire Barclays Plc’s <BARC.L> U.S wealth management unit, according to three people familiar with the situation.

Stifel is now negotiating key aspects with Barclays, although a deal is not certain and Barclays could go back to other bidders that have made offers, the people said this week.

A deal for the business – the former brokerage arm of Lehman Brothers – could come as early as next week, the people said.

The price being discussed could not be learned.

The sources requested anonymity because the matter is not public, and a spokeswoman for Stifel and a spokesman for Barclays declined to comment.

Barclays has been reaching out to potential acquirers for the business for several weeks because it views it as non-core, sources told Reuters.

Stifel Chairman and Chief Executive Ron Kruszewski has acquired several, mostly troubled retail brokerage and investment banking firms since 2005. The once low-key St. Louis firm that specialized in municipal bonds is now a national presence serving individual investors and middle-market companies.

Kruszewski, a fireman’s son who became CEO in 1997, has paid relatively low prices for the acquisitions, but often provides generous pay packages to retain employees of the firms.

A deal between Stifel and Barclays would come on the heels of Stifel’s agreement in February to buy Alabama-based Sterne Agee Group for about $ 150 million.

Sterne Agee has about 730 brokers, who together with those now working at Barclays Wealth Americas, would bring the Stifel brokerage force to more than 3,000.

(Additional reporting by Jed Horowitz, Liz Dilts and Mike Stone in New York. Editing by Andre Grenon and Christian Plumb)

Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
SRN News » Business

Navient Cleared of Military Student Loan Wrongdoing

Navient Corp., a major servicer of student loans, has been formally cleared of wrongdoing by the U.S. Department of Education after being accused of cheating active military on federal student loans. A spokeswoman from the Education Department, Dorie Nolt, said that Navient will continue in its contract to collect monthly student loan payments.

For the past year, the Department of Education has been investigating the four largest federal student loan servicers (Navient, Great Lakes, PHEAA, and Nelnet) to make sure that they have been doing right by active-duty members of the military. The investigation came after the Justice Department fined Navient $ 60 million for charging service members more than the 6% interest promised to them by law. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said at the time that the department would investigate all its loan servicers to try to stem the problem. The investigation into seven other nonprofit servicers continues.

Danielle Douglas-Gabriel of the Washington Post quotes Undersecretary Ted Mitchell on the Department’s concern over the treatment of active-duty military:

For all of the sacrifices they have made on behalf of our country, our brave service members have the right to the benefits provided to them under federal law and should not be subjected to additional red tape to manage their student loans. What’s more, every student who has taken out a federal student loan should have the peace of mind that the Education Department’s servicers are following the law and treating all borrowers fairly.

The Imperial Valley News writes that the Department of Education also streamlined the process of receiving these reduced loan rates: when someone enters active duty, their loans are adjusted automatically, when previously they had to apply and send proof of their status.

Earlier investigations of Navient came to different conclusions, writes Shahien Nasiripour of the Huffington Post. The Justice Department sued Navient in May of 2014 after coming to the conclusion that they overcharged troops and denied them rights under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. Federal prosecutors stated that their actions were “intentional, willful, and taken in disregard for the rights of servicemembers.”

A federal bank regulator, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., also found Navient guilty of “unfair or deceptive acts or practices” that violated the Federal Trade Commission Act for telling service members that they wouldn’t receive benefits unless they were deployed.

The Education Department, however, found that they were more likely to provide troops with extra benefits that they weren’t entitled to rather than to deny them benefits. The department reviewed 23 cases, and just one person was denied rights that they deserved, and six had reduced interest rates even though they weren’t technically entitled to that benefit.

This appears to be a result of different expectations for the corporations between departments, notes Kelly Field of the Chronicle. The Department of Justice took issue with Navient’s habit of not telling borrowers about the reduced rate when they applied for other military benefits, whereas the Department of Education only counted requests that had been submitted formally as per the old policy.

Author information

Jace Harr

 

|

The post Navient Cleared of Military Student Loan Wrongdoing appeared first on Education News.
Education News

U.S. economy contracts in first quarter; dollar hurts corporate profits

By Lucia Mutikani

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. economy contracted in the first quarter as it buckled under the weight of unusually heavy snowfalls, a resurgent dollar and disruptions at West Coast ports, but activity already has rebounded modestly.

The government on Friday slashed its gross domestic product estimate to show GDP shrinking at a 0.7 percent annual rate instead of the 0.2 percent growth pace it estimated last month.

A larger trade deficit and a smaller accumulation of inventories by businesses than previously thought accounted for much of the downward revision. There was also a modest downward revision to consumer spending.

With growth estimates for the second quarter currently around 2 percent, the economy appears poised for its worst first-half performance since 2011. The economy’s recovery from the 2007-2009 financial crisis has been erratic.

Weak data on consumer sentiment and factory activity in the Midwest on Friday suggested that while the economy has pulled out of its first-quarter soft patch, the growth pace was modest early in the second quarter. That mirrored other recent soft data on retail sales and industrial production.

But reports on housing and business spending plans have indicated momentum could be building, which would keep the Federal Reserve on track to raise interest rates later this year.

Economists caution against reading too much into the slump in output. They argue the GDP figure for the first quarter was held down by a confluence of temporary factors, including a problem with the model the government uses to smooth the data for seasonal fluctuations.

Economists, including those at the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank, have cast doubts on the accuracy of GDP estimates for the first quarter, which have tended to show weakness over the last several years.

They argued the so-called seasonal adjustment is not fully stripping out seasonal patterns, leaving “residual” seasonality. The government said last week it was aware of the potential problem and was working to minimize it.

“Obviously the economy is weaker than we would like it to be, but the first quarter overstates that,” said Robert Dye, chief economist at Comerica in Dallas. “We’re going see enough growth to keep job creation in place and allow the Fed to maintain their lift-off schedule for September.”

When measured from the income side, the economy expanded at a 1.4 percent rate in the first quarter. A measure of domestic demand growth was revised up slightly and business spending on equipment was much stronger than previously estimated, taking some edge off the slump in output.

U.S. Treasuries were trading higher, while the dollar was largely unchanged against a basket of currencies. Stocks on Wall Street fell.

DOLLAR, ENERGY DRAG
Apart from the statistical quirk, the economy, which expanded at a 2.2 percent pace in the fourth quarter, was hammered by a sharp decline in investment spending in the energy sector as companies such as Schlumberger <SLB.N> and Halliburton <HAL.N> responded to the plunge in crude oil prices.

Spending on mining exploration, shafts and wells plunged at a 48.6 percent pace in the first quarter, the largest drop since the second quarter of 2009.

Economists estimate unusually heavy snowfalls in February chopped at least one percentage point from growth.

Trade was hit both by the strong dollar and the ports labor dispute, which weighed on exports through the quarter and then unleashed a flood of imports in March after it was resolved.

That resulted in a trade deficit that subtracted 1.90 percentage points from GDP, the largest drag in 31 years, instead of the 1.25 percentage points reported last month.

The GDP report also showed after-tax corporate profits declined 8.7 percent. That was the largest drop in a year and the second quarterly fall, as the strong dollar burdened multinational corporations and oil prices hurt domestic firms.

Multinationals like Microsoft Corp <MSFT.O>, household products maker Procter & Gamble Co <PG.N> and healthcare conglomerate Johnson & Johnson <JNJ.N> have warned the dollar will hit sales and profits this year.

Unlike 2014, when growth snapped back quickly after a dismal first quarter, the dollar and investment cuts by energy companies continue to hamstring activity.

But growth could accelerate as the year progresses.

The value of inventory accumulated in the first quarter was revised down to an increase of $ 95 billion from the lofty $ 110.3 billion rise reported last month.

That meant inventories contributed 0.33 percentage point to GDP instead of the previously reported 0.74 percentage point, suggesting warehouses are not bulging with unwanted merchandise and businesses have latitude to order more goods from factories.

While consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, was revised down by one-tenth of a percentage point to a 1.8 percent rate, it could finally get a lift from the considerable savings households amassed because of cheaper gasoline.

Personal savings increased at a robust $ 726.4 billion pace.

“The outlook for the economy is very encouraging,” said Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics in Toronto.



(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Paul Simao)

Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
SRN News » Business

Asian shares drop, dollar at highest since 2002 vs yen

By Lisa Twaronite and Hideyuki Sano

TOKYO (Reuters) – An index of Asian shares fell on Thursday as the Chinese, Hong Kong and Australian markets slipped, while the dollar scaled its highest level against the yen since 2002 on expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise rates this year.

Spreadbetters predicted European shares would tread water just below previous closes, as talks continued about Greece’s ongoing financial crisis. Britain’s FTSE 100 <.FTSE> was seen opening between 2 and 5 points higher, Germany’s DAX <.GDAXI> was expected to open between 4 points lower and 10 points higher, and France’s CAC 40 <.FCHI> was seen opening between 11 points lower and 13 points higher.
“With G7 talks underway, we could be lined up for another choppy session with little change amid swinging sentiment between a deal being stuck and bearish talk on Greece’s chances of averting disaster,” Farbod Mimeh, a junior dealer at Capital Spreads in London, said in a note to clients.

G7 ministers and central bank heads began a three-day meeting in the German city of Dresden on Wednesday. Although the Greek crisis is not on the official agenda, it will be discussed on the sidelines.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> shed about 0.8 percent, extending losses in afternoon trading as Chinese and Hong Kong shares plunged as a growing number of brokerages tightened requirements on the margin financing.

The CSI300 index <.CSI300> of the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen tumbled 3.2 percent, while the Shanghai Composite Index <.SSEC> lost 2.8 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index <.HSI> shed 2 percent.

Australian shares gave up early gains, with the S&P/ASX 200 index <.AXJO> losing 0.2 percent after weaker than expected business spending data suggested that rate cuts were failing to energize the economy as hoped.

Japan’s Nikkei <.N225> bucked the downtrend, as the weaker yen helped the index log its 10th consecutive rise, the longest winning streak since February 1988. It ended up 0.4 percent, refreshing a 15-year closing high.

The dollar hit its highest level against the yen since late 2002, rising as high as 124.30 <JPY=>, and was slightly higher on the day at 123.66.

The dollar’s latest rally was sparked by remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, who said last Friday that she expected the central bank to raise rates this year as the U.S. economy was set to recover from a sluggish first quarter.

By contrast, many investors expect the Bank of Japan to take additional easing steps later this year, when the Fed is expected to start raising rates.

“Longer term, little stands in the way of further JPY losses,” said Greg Moore, senior currency strategist at RBC in Sydney.

An index tracking the dollar against a basket of six major currencies edged down about 0.3 percent on the day to 97.068 <.DXY>, as the euro recovered from recent lows on hopes of a deal for Greece.
The euro traded at $ 1.0931 <EUR=>, up about 0.3 percent and moving away from a one-month low of $ 1.0819 touched on Wednesday.

Uncertainty over whether Greece can get the support it needs to make payments to the International Monetary Fund on June 5 is likely to keep investors cautious for now.

Greek officials spoke optimistically on Wednesday of reaching a cash-for-reforms deal, with economy minister George Stathakis saying Greece and its international creditors have converged on key points.
But German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said there was not much progress and that he was surprised by the upbeat tone from some Greek government officials.

Crude oil prices recovered after a two-day slide, although the firmer dollar kept markets under pressure.
Brent crude futures <LCOc1> climbed about 0.7 percent to $ 62.49 a barrel, while U.S. crude futures <CLc1> were up 0.3 percent at $ 57.69 per barrel.

(Additional reporting by Samuel Shen and Pete Sweeney in Shanghai and Ayai Tomisawa in Tokyo; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Richard Borsuk and Simon Cameron-Moore)

Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
SRN News » Business

Blatter defies calls to quit as FIFA scandal widens

By Mike Collett and Brian Homewood

ZURICH (Reuters) – FIFA President Sepp Blatter rejected an emotional plea to resign from one of the world’s soccer greats on Thursday as the corruption scandal engulfing the game’s governing body drew warnings from sponsors and political leaders.

As FIFA faced the worst crisis in its 111-year history, Michel Platini, the former French international who now heads UEFA, Europe’s soccer confederation, said he had told Blatter to go but the 79-year-old had refused.

“I said, I’m asking you to leave, FIFA’s image is terrible. He said that he couldn’t leave all of a sudden,” Platini told a news conference.

“I’m saying this with sadness and tears in my eyes, but there have been too many scandals, FIFA doesn’t deserve to be treated that way,” Platini said, speaking after an emergency FIFA meeting in Zurich earlier in the day.

Platini said 45 or 46 of UEFA’s 53 eligible member associations would vote for Jordan’s Prince Ali bin Al Hussein to succeed Blatter at an election due on Friday.

But it appeared that Blatter still commanded enough of FIFA’s 209 member associations and could expect to be anointed for a fifth term as president.

Despite FIFA assertions that it was business as usual following the arrest of seven senior figures on U.S. corruption charges, Blatter kept out of public view on Thursday when he failed to show up at a medical conference.

FIFA’s medical chief Michel D’Hooghe told the medical officers: “President Blatter apologizes for not being able to come today because of the turbulences you have heard about.”

Those “turbulences” included a dawn raid by plainclothes police at one of Zurich’s most luxurious hotels on Wednesday leaving seven of the most powerful figures in football in custody and facing extradition to the United States on corruption charges. They are all contesting extradition but lawyers said the process could be completed within months.

CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION
Swiss authorities also announced a criminal investigation into the awarding of the next two World Cups being hosted in Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022.

U.S. authorities said nine football officials and five sports media and promotions executives faced corruption charges involving more than $ 150 million in bribes.

Blatter, who has denied allegations of involvement in corruption, said in a statement on Wednesday: “Let me be clear: such misconduct has no place in football and we will ensure that those who engage in it are put out of the game.”

Former World Footballer of the Year Luis Figo, of Portugal, said the day the scandal erupted was “one of the worst days in the history of FIFA”.

However, the FIFA Congress was due to get under way on Thursday evening. It traditionally begins with an address from Blatter and then some entertainment. In the past the likes of Grace Jones and Shakira have set the hearts racing of the older men in suits who comprise most of the Congress’s constituency, but that is not the case now.

The evening is likely to be a rather more subdued affair than normal under the banner “Game of Joy, Game of Hope” with dancers and musicians on stage followed by a grand buffet afterwards.
The serious business starts on Friday morning in Zurich’s Hallenstadion, which is where the announcement of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup venues was made in 2010, decisions which lie at the very heart of most of FIFA’s current malaise.

SPLITS IN WORLD GAME

With splits opening in the world game, the Asian and African confederations backed Blatter and said the election should go ahead as planned.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius disagreed, saying the vote should be delayed in light of the corruption investigation.

British Prime Minister David Cameron backed Prince Ali’s candidacy and said there was a strong case for a change of leadership at FIFA.

Britain has long been a critic of FIFA and unsuccessfully bid for the 2018 World Cup which was awarded to Russia.

Les Murray of Australia, a former FIFA ethics committee member, called for Blatter to resign as have the FA chairmen of a number of leading European countries including England and Germany.

Blatter did, however, receive endorsement from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who accused the United States of meddling outside its jurisdiction by arresting FIFA officials.

“This is yet another blatant attempt to extend its jurisdiction to other states,” Putin said, adding the arrests were a clear move to prevent Blatter’s re-election and he had Russia’s backing.

Meanwhile blue-chip sponsors, many of whom have solidly backed FIFA despite nearly 20 years of bribery and corruption allegations, appeared to be growing unexpectedly concerned at events unfolding in Zurich.
In an unusually strongly worded statement, Visa Inc said: “It is important that FIFA makes changes now, so that the focus remain on these going forward. Should FIFA fail to do so, we have informed them that we will reassess our sponsorship.”

German sportswear company Adidas said FIFA should do more to establish transparent compliance standards. Anheuser-Busch InBev, whose Budweiser brand is a sponsor of the 2018 World Cup, said it was closely monitoring developments at FIFA.

Coca-Cola Co, another FIFA sponsor, said the charges had “tarnished the mission and ideals of the FIFA World Cup and we have repeatedly expressed our concerns about these serious allegations”.

(Reporting by Mike Collett; Writing by Giles Elgood; Editing by Peter Millership)
Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
SRN News » Sports

Florida Nears Approving Record-High Education Budget

 The Florida School Boards Association is making a push to state lawmakers to approve Governor Rick Scott’s education funding suggestions as the state waits for an education budget to pass.

The Legislature is expected to reconvene on June 1 to discuss the budget for the state, while a plan for additional funding for the public school system is already in place. The FSBA recently voted to support record-high school funding.

The proposed budget for the public school system in the state for 2015-16 is $ 19.75 billion, the highest it has ever been. This year would see an additional $ 843 million for K-12 public schools, reports Jeffrey Solochek for The Tampa Bay Times.

Scott’s proposal would also include funding for additional aspects of state education, including Florida’s Bright Futures Scholarship program, which would be able to use the additional funding for credit hours taken over the summer, writes Allison Nielson for The Sunshine State News.

An additional $ 5 million would be put toward the expansion of STEM programs on state college campuses, which would cost $ 10,000 or less for students.

According to Commissioner of Education Pam Stewart, the state’s per-pupil funding must be increased in order to incorporate Scott’s proposal.  As it stands, his proposal would increase per-pupil spending by about $ 50 to $ 7,200 per student for the 2015-16 school year.

“I know that our districts are good stewards of our taxpayer dollars and will be able to make meaningful use of these additional funds to improve student outcomes,” she said Tuesday. “Everything is set in place for this Legislature to do the right thing by education in the state of Florida and really invest in the economic development of our state through the educational system.”

Allocating such funds would also help school districts to determine how much funding they will get next year, as many are still unclear on funding availability with no budget yet approved.

Scott warned that if the House and the Senate do not reach an agreement on the budget, his proposal may not be approved.  In a letter sent to state agency heads, Scott suggested preparations be made for the least amount of spending possible, and to list only what is truly needed in case an agreement cannot be made prior to July 1.  The two sides cannot agree on federal health care funding for the poor.
Board member Rebecca Fishman Lipsey said the state has made great gains academically, even appearing in the top 10 in national rankings, in spite of low education funding.  She added that due to the “lean” financial situation the school system is currently facing, the additional money the board is asking for is necessary.

“We need this money, and we need the Legislature to move on it,” added board member John Colon.

Author information

Kristin Decarr

 

|

The post Florida Nears Approving Record-High Education Budget appeared first on Education News.
Education News

Stocks dip, bonds fall as CPI keeps Fed on course

By Herbert Lash

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Global equity markets dipped modestly Friday but remained near record highs, while the yield on U.S. government debt rose as a gain in core consumer prices should keep the Federal Reserve on course to raise interest rates later this year.

Fed Chair Janet Yellen is expected to acknowledge recent sluggishness in the U.S. economy, including a near-stagnant performance in the first few months of the year, in a speech slated for 1:00 p.m. ET (1700 GMT).

Yellen also will highlight the economy’s steady job growth, seen as keeping the Fed on track for its first interest-rate hike in nearly a decade. A Labor Department report on the Consumer Price Index bolstered that idea on Friday.

The so-called core CPI, which strips out food and energy costs, rose 0.3 percent in April, the largest gain since January 2013. In the 12 months through April, the core CPI advanced 1.8 percent after a similar gain in March.

“This enables the Fed to move rates higher incrementally sooner. They have less room to wait,” said Lou Brien, market strategist at DRW Trading in Chicago.

The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note <US10YT=RR> was down 11/32 in price, pushing its yield up to 2.2251 percent.

MSCI’s all-country world index <.MIWD00000PUS>, a measure of the stock performance in 46 countries, slid 0.27 percent, slightly below an all-time high set in late April.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index <.FTEU3> of top regional shares closed down 0.12 percent at 1,617.91 points.

Wall Street was mixed in midday trading. The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> fell 46.51 points, or 0.25 percent, to 18,239.23 and the S&P 500 <.SPX> slid 2.63 points, or 0.12 percent, to 2,128.19. The Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> added 3.40 points, or 0.07 percent, to 5,094.19.

Oil prices fell as worries over the impact of war in the Middle East on crude supplies were outweighed by reports of profit-taking ahead of a long weekend.

Monday is Memorial Day in the United States and a public holiday in much of Europe, and many markets will be closed.

July Brent crude <LCOc1> was down $ 1.16 at $ 65.38 a barrel. U.S. crude for July <CLc1> was down 98 cents at $ 59.74 a barrel.

The dollar turned higher on the U.S. inflation report, which indicated underlying pressures are building and bolstered the case for the Fed to raise interest rates later this year.

The dollar was up 0.36 percent to 121.45 yen <JPY=>, while the euro <EUR=> fell 0.73 percent to $ 1.1031. The dollar index <.DXY> rose 0.85 percent to 96.066.

The first fall in German business morale in seven months, albeit a shallower dip than forecast, supported demand for German government bonds.

German 10-year yields <DE10YT=TWEB>, the benchmark for euro zone borrowing costs, were on track for their first week of declines out of five.

They steadied after a dramatic selloff that drove up Bund yields some 55 basis points from a record low of 0.05 percent in mid-April. The 10-year traded 3 basis points higher to yield 0.61 percent.

(Editing by Bernadette Baum and Nick Zieminski)

Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
SRN News » Business

Fewer students are reporting school bullying, according to a survey released by the Department of Education.

The results showed that 22% of students age 12 to 18 reported being bullied in 2013. That number is down 6 percentage points from numbers in 2011 and is the lowest rate since the National Center for Education Statistics began tracking bullying in 2005, writes Associated Press.
Because of social media, bullying began to spread from the hallways and bathrooms of schools, which caused an increase in public awareness of an issue which had once been fairly surreptitious. Because of this awareness, an aggressive effort is now in place to confront bullying from local school officials on up to the federal government.

The survey found that about 24% of girls reported they were bullied and 20% of boys reported the same; more white students, 24%, said they were bullied than black, Hispanic, or Asian students. 20% of black students reported being bullied compared to 19% of Hispanic students and 9% of Asian students.
Of those responding on the survey, 9% of girls and 5% of boys said they had experienced cyberbullying inside or outside of school.

The survey is from the School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey and contains a nationally representative sample. The cyberbullying consisted of unwanted texting and hurtful postings on the Internet, along with other methods of harmful communication.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan praised the news of an overall decline but with a caveat: “Even though we’ve come a long way over the past few years in educating the public about the health and educational impacts that bullying can have on students, we still have more work to do to ensure the safety of our nation’s children.”

The consequences of being bullied can include academic struggles, skipping class, possible substance abuse, and even suicide. Bullying off the Internet normally included being made fun of, being called names, or being insulted said surveyed students. Other bullying tactics included spreading rumors about a student or being threatened with harm.

The survey included approximately 4,900 students aged 12 to 18, and from the time the National Center for Education Statistics began collecting the data in 2005, the rate of bullying had remained at about 30%, writes Caroline Porter of The Wall Street Journal.

“The report brings welcome news,” said Sylvia M. Burwell, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “Parents, teachers, health providers, community members and young people are clearly making a difference by taking action and sending the message that bullying is not acceptable.”

It appears from the report that bullying is more frequent in middle school and early high school. Over one in four 6th- and 7th-graders said they had been bullied, while around one in seven 12th-graders said the same.
There are specific groups of students in which bullying continues to be a significant problem, such as drug users, gang members, English-language learners, special education students and students who are gender nonconforming.

“These data points are good to gauge overall efforts but you’re not really going to understand the most targeted, at-risk populations,” said Ms. Espelage, who has been researching school bullying for more than two decades.

Espelage pointed out that another school climate survey given in 2013 found that one in two lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth felt at risk on campus because of their sexual orientation.

The methods used to bully another student had noticeable gender gaps. Female students were more likely to be the subject of rumors, excluded from activities on purpose, made fun of, and called names or be insulted. Males were more likely to be pushed, shoved, tripped, or spit on, writes Allie Bidwell of US News and World Report.

Author information

Grace Smith

 

|

The post Survey Shows Rate of Student Bullying Slowly Decreasing appeared first on Education News.
Education News

FIFA sponsors Adidas, Coke, Visa express concern over Qatar

LONDON (AP) — FIFA came under pressure from sponsors Adidas, Coca-Cola and Visa on Wednesday to push Qatar to deliver reforms for migrant workers as the country rapidly expands to host the 2022 World Cup.

The calls from high-profile commercial backers of soccer’s flagship tournament came as Amnesty International’s latest report found that Qatar is failing to make substantive changes to improve living and working conditions for low-paid laborers building its highways, hotels, stadiums and skyscrapers.

FIFA maintained that the World Cup is proving to be a “catalyst for significant change” to labor laws in the tiny Gulf nation, which relies on more than a million guest workers, many of them drawn from South Asian nations including India and Nepal.

But the statement from credit card company Visa is the strongest public expression of unease yet from a FIFA sponsor about the plight of workers in the tiny oil and natural gas-rich country.

“We continue to be troubled by the reports coming out of Qatar related to the World Cup and migrant worker conditions,” Visa said in a statement. “We have expressed our grave concern to FIFA, and urge them to take all necessary actions to work with the appropriate authorities and organizations to remedy this situation and ensure the health and safety of all involved.”

Adidas, the World Cup ball provider since 1970, said it remains in “constant dialogue” with FIFA and pointed to pressure already being applied on Qatar by soccer’s governing body.

“There have been significant improvements and these efforts are ongoing, but everyone recognizes that more needs to be done in a collective effort with all stakeholders involved,” Adidas said in a statement.

FIFA financial accounts indicate that Adidas, Visa and Coca-Cola pay around $ 30 million a year to sponsor world soccer’s governing body, which surprisingly selected Qatar as the first Middle East country to host the World Cup.

Since the 2010 vote, Qatar has faced twin-pronged scrutiny over alleged corruption in the bid and conditions for low-paid migrant workers.

Coca-Cola stressed in a statement that it “does not condone human rights abuses” but, like Adidas and Visa, did not threaten to withdraw its sponsorship over Qatar concerns.

“We know FIFA is working with Qatari authorities to address questions regarding specific labor and human rights issues,” the Atlanta-based soft drinks manufacturer said in a statement. “We expect FIFA to continue taking these matters seriously and to work toward further progress.

“We welcome constructive dialogue on human rights issues, and we will continue to work with many individuals, human rights organizations, sports groups, government officials and others to develop solutions and foster greater respect for human rights in sports and elsewhere.”

Qatar is yet to introduce long-planned labor reforms that could eventually end the controversial “kafala” system that ties migrant workers to a sponsoring employer. Rights groups have repeatedly urged Qatar to scrap the system, which is used throughout the Gulf, saying it encourages exploitation and abuse.

FIFA said it continues to urge the Qatari authorities to abolish kafala but highlighted the need for international companies and governments to press for changes.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter told Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, during a visit to Doha in March that the Gulf nation must do more to improve guest workers’ lives.

On a recent government-organized trip, The Associated Press spoke to guest workers crowded into bare-bones labor accommodations, which suggested many still are mistreated. Several workers spoke of paying hefty recruitment fees that are illegal under Qatari law. Some said they were duped into taking jobs at salaries well below what they were promised.

“Migrant workers have been working for many global companies in Qatar for decades, yet only now is real change happening in their working conditions,” FIFA said in Wednesday’s statement.

World Cup organizers say there has not been a single death on one of their stadium projects, which are subject to international construction standards.

“Our hope is that these standards are extended to serve as a benchmark in the whole country,” FIFA said.
___
Associated Press Writer Adam Schreck in Dubai, United Arab Emirates contributed to this report.

Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
SRN News » Sports

Economy’s weak spell puts Fed at crossroads over liftoff plans

By Howard Schneider and Jonathan Spicer

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve’s plan to raise interest rates this year, forged over months of strong jobs growth and a seemingly durable expansion, now faces an economy that no longer follows the script and may push the “liftoff” far into the future.

The world’s largest economy slowed to a crawl in the first quarter and may actually have contracted.
That was initially dismissed as a winter lull, but recent data may point to a more substantial slowdown just as the Fed plots its exit from a zero interest rate policy maintained since Dec. 2008.

Lackluster retail sales and investment, sagging consumer confidence, a ballooning trade deficit and stagnant industrial output have all cast doubt over the central bank’s plans.

“The Fed has been telling us for some time that they want to be data dependent, and the numbers are nothing to run up the flagpole,” said Conference Board economist Kenneth Goldstein.

The Conference Board is one of three organizations in a Reuters poll of economists that see liftoff in 2016, compared to 50 of 62 that expect the first rate rise in the third quarter of this year.

For traders, the weakened 2015 has complicated any guess at the Fed’s direction. Treasury yields will probably fall if it becomes clear the central bank has to once again delay its plans, but that raises the risk of steeper and faster rate hikes down the road.

“The penance for a delay of the hike is a much steeper hike…That’s the balance the market’s been playing with,” said Aaron Kohli, an interest rate strategist with BNP Paribas in New York. “The longer the Fed stays on hold, the more risk there is that factors like inflation will build up.”

CRUNCH TIME
The next few weeks will be key, heading into a June 16-17 Fed meeting when policymakers update their official forecasts.

Fed Chair Janet Yellen speaks about the economy on Friday and investors will look for either confirmation that she believes things remain on track, or a nod to the latest poor data.

So far, most policymakers have stuck to the mantra that the Fed will watch incoming data and assess “meeting by meeting” whether to raise rates, and have telegraphed September as a likely date for the first increase.

One of the few to advocate keeping monetary policy loose or longer, Chicago Fed president Charles Evans took his argument a step further on Monday. Not only should the Fed wait until at least early next year to raise rates, he said, but it should set a more aggressive standard on inflation.

“The odds should favor modestly overshooting our 2 percent target,” before rates are increased, Evans said in Stockholm.

But he also acknowledged the fork in the road the Fed faces. A rate rise will be on the table beginning in June, and a surge in economic performance – housing starts and permits rose sharply in April as spring weather set in – could still cause the Fed to move faster.

“If the Fed’s going to wait, they are going to make a bigger policy mistake,” said Guy Haselmann, head of U.S. interest rate strategy at the Bank of Nova Scotia in New York. “They could miss the business cycle, in which case they get put on hold even longer, and they create bigger asset bubbles.”
In a recent interview, San Francisco Fed President John Williams, who is seen to be close to Yellen’s thinking, said that even if the economy were soft, it may be time to raise rates if only so future increases can proceed more slowly.

Williams said that if the economy continues progressing as he expects, and “Say I wait one meeting longer, two meetings longer…If I then decide to raise rates, I’m going to say ‘uh oh I am behind the curve,’ I’ve got to get going, I am going to have to move faster.”

Recent central bank research even suggests that the grim first quarter numbers are more a result of how the economy is measured and less a sign of true weakness.

CONSENSUS SLOW TO MOVE
For the majority of economists expecting a September hike, continued job growth means that at some point the country will reach full employment and wages and prices will rise.

“Conditions certainly don’t feel overly robust,” right now, said Carl Tannenbaum, chief economist at Northern Trust in Chicago and a former Fed official. But “if we continue to see job creation of 200,000-250,000 per month…the Fed, under their mandate, would think it would be a good time to start the process,” of raising rates.

The Fed last raised interest rates in 2006, at the tail end of a tightening cycle that had begun on a textbook note with market expectations closely aligned with the Fed.
Conditions this time are more treacherous.

Japan and Europe continue battling a risk of deflation with aggressive quantitative easing, while larger developing nations are slowing or fighting a mix of local problems.

Organizations such as the International Monetary Fund have warned of a risk of financial volatility once the Fed begins “diverging” towards higher rates. The recent rise in Treasury yields showed markets on a knife edge: some $ 3.2 billion was pulled out of seven top emerging markets in the first half of May, according to data released on Tuesday by the Institute of International Finance.

For investors, all of that points against a rate hike anytime soon. Markets in Fed Funds futures show investors have pushed back their expectations and are now divided between December and January as the date of liftoff.

“People gave the first quarter a pass because there was so much bad weather across main population centers, and things would rebound,” said Brian Reynolds, chief market strategist at Rosenblatt Securities in New York. “That does not seem to be happening.”

(Additional reporting by Karen Brettell, Jason Lange, Richard Leong and Ann Saphir; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)

Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
SRN News » Business

Facebook raises minimum pay for contractors to $15 per hour

By Yasmeen Abutaleb

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Facebook <FB.O> raised wages for its contract workers, such as cafeteria staff and janitors, to a minimum of $ 15 per hour amid rising tension over the wage gap between the technology sector’s elite and the lower-paid workers.

Contractors will also receive a minimum of 15 days of paid vacation days and a $ 4,000 new child benefit for parents who do not receive parental leave, Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said in a Wednesday post on Facebook.

“Taking these steps is the right thing to do for our business and our community,” Sandberg wrote.

Facebook implemented the wage increase for some workers at its Menlo Park headquarters as of May 1. It will work to expand the policy within the year to its substantial vendors, who have more than 25 employees and are based in the United States, she said.

The company declined to say how many contract workers it employs or name any of its vendors. It initially had planned to announce the change on May 1, when Sandberg’s husband, SurveyMonkey CEO Dave Goldberg, died unexpectedly during an exercise accident.

As debates rage in Congress and state legislatures over whether to raise minimum wages and help mitigate a growing income gap, several corporations have taken steps to improve compensation for service workers, including Walmart, Costco <COST.O> and Starbucks <SBUX.O>.

Facebook’s announcement drew praise from the White House, unions and family groups.

“Corporate America is beginning to step forward to adopt these policies – in Facebook’s case, by saying the company won’t be party to poverty wages and practices that force workers to choose between job and family,” Debra Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women and Families, said in a statement.

Silicon Valley has come under increasing pressure to close the income gap given California’s high cost of living, the sixth most expensive in the country in 2014, according to data from the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center.

Google <GOOGL.O> took similar steps last year when it raised the minimum pay to $ 15 per hour for its service workers, including bus drivers, parking attendants, security guards and cafe workers in Northern California offices. It also expanded health care coverage to all service workers on U.S. Google campuses.

(Editing by Dina Kyriakidou and David Gregorio)

Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
SRN News » Business

Union calls on New Jersey Attorney General to probe Herbalife

By Svea Herbst-Bayliss

BOSTON (Reuters) – A union representing workers in New Jersey gambling hub Atlantic City said on Tuesday it asked the state’s top prosecutor to investigate Herbalife Ltd, saying it is worried the nutrition supplements company could “prey” on unemployed workers in the casino industry.

Unite Here Local 54 is the latest group to ask officials across the United States to probe Herbalife over widespread allegations that it is running a pyramid scheme. The Los Angeles-based company has denied the claims.

“We are… concerned about the potential for Herbalife to prey on unemployed or desperate casino employees in the Atlantic City area in the wake of the economic downturn,” Unite Here Local 54 President Bob McDevitt wrote in a letter to New Jersey Acting Attorney General John Hoffman.
Neither Hoffman’s office nor an Herbalife spokesman immediately responded to a request for comment.

Shares of Herbalife were down 0.8 percent at $ 46.32 in afternoon trading.

Herbalife has been in the spotlight since 2012, when billionaire investor William Ackman accused it of being a fraud and placed a $ 1 billion bet that it would fail under regulatory scrutiny. Other huge investors bought shares in the company, including Carl Icahn, who is its biggest stockholder.

A spokesman for the union said it was in touch with Ackman’s firm before it sent the letter requesting an investigation.

State attorneys general in New York and Illinois are already probing Herbalife, along with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Trade Commission, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Justice.

The spokesman for the union, which represents 10,000 cooks, housekeepers, janitors and waitresses who work in Atlantic City hotels, said about 3,000 members lost their jobs after four casinos shut down last year.

McDevitt said in the letter he would call other union leaders and ask them to contact their state attorneys general.

Herbalife detractors say the company tries to woo new members with false promises of getting rich fast by selling its products. Herbalife says it is transparent about how little some members earn while trying to sell the goods.

Last week Herbalife said the Justice Department recently sought information from the company, certain of its members and others about its business practices.

(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Lisa Von Ahn)

Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
SRN News » Business

Testing Opt-Out Movement Spurs Examinations, Legislation

Parents across the country are increasingly joining in on the opt-out movement over federal Common Core testing, causing educators and legislators to examine more closely their testing regimes and each state’s implementation of the standards.

According to a national poll performed earlier this year by Fairleigh Dickinson University, only 17% of those polled approved of the standards in comparison with 40% who disapproved. 42% who were unsure.  Women were found to be less likely to support the standards, with only 12% of women offering their approval compared to 22% of men.

In addition, wealthy parents were found to be even less likely to approve of their use and are voicing their opinions through more than merely participating in polls.  Hundreds of thousands of students across the country are participating in an opt-out movement, or boycott of Common Core-aligned state tests.  Current estimates suggest that between 150,000 and 200,000 students opted out of the mandatory English exam administered in New York State last month compared to only 49,000 who did so in 2014, writes Jason Riley for The Wall Street Journal.

New legislation was recently approved in Delaware that would allow parents the right to opt their children out of participating in the standardized tests given in public schools in the state. The bill was approved in a 36-3 vote, highlighting the tension mounting between state education officials, who feel that the testing holds schools accountable and allows for data-driven decisions that improve schools, and a number of educators and parents who feel the state is become obsessed with testing.
The Parent Teacher Association in the state stood in approval of the bill, saying that parents have the right to take their child out of a testing situation if they believe it is causing too much stress, using up too much instructional time, or not resulting in useful information for parents or teachers.

“Our position today is the same as it always has been. We support parents’ right to opt their children out of testing,” said Kristin Dwyer, a lobbyist for the Delaware State Education Association, the largest education union in the state. “However, we are not going to tell a parent whether they should opt their child out or not.  The real issue is how we assess our kids, how often and what other curricular activities it is taking a child away from. What are they missing out on?”

Meanwhile, Governor Jack Markell’s administration opposed the bill, arguing that test scores offer important information for state leaders concerning how students across the state are performing in school.  Without such data, issues such as the academic achievement gap for low-income and minority students cannot be effectively addressed, writes Jonathan Starkey for Delaware Online.
Under a bill introduced last week in Wisconsin, school districts would be required to make it clear that parents have the right to opt-out their child from statewide testing at any point between the third and twelfth grades. Districts would need to make public a list of all tests they administer, including details pertaining to the amount of time spent preparing for each exam and how long it takes to administer the exams.  The list would have to be distributed to all parents.

State law currently allows parents to opt their children out of testing for some grade levels.  It is left up to the school board’s discretion for the remaining grades.  However, an increasing number of parents opted their children out of the new state achievement test this spring, receiving little pushback from principals or school boards.

Author information

Kristin Decarr

 

|

The post Testing Opt-Out Movement Spurs Examinations, Legislation appeared first on Education News.
Education News

Sharp may slash capital, issue preferred shares; stock dives

By Ritsuko Ando and Ayai Tomisawa

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Sharp Corp <6753.T> said it may reduce its capital and issue preferred shares as part of a planned restructuring, but worries about potential dilution from the new issuance and other possible fund raising sent its shares plunging 26 percent.Battered by competition from cheaper Asia rivals in its core liquid crystal panel display business, loss-making Sharp has been working with its main lenders on securing its second major bailout since 2012.

A slashing of its capital would allow Sharp to wipe accumulated losses off its books – a necessary step before the company can resume dividend payments. The prospect of dividends in the not-too-distant future is seen as key to getting its banks and other potential shareholders on board with a rescue deal expected to be worth at least $ 1.7 billion.

A person familiar with the matter said at the weekend that Sharp is considering cutting its capital from more than 120 billion yen ($ 1 billion) to just 100 million yen. He declined to be identified as he was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

“The company will be able to start afresh after it wipes away its cumulative losses and receives new funding, so that part may be positive going forward,” said Takatoshi Itoshima, chief portfolio manager at Commons Asset Management.

But he noted that the preferred share issuance as well as the potential for other fund raising in the future had spooked investors on Monday. Preferred shares frequently have warrants attached that allow holders to buy stock later at a fixed price.

The Apple Inc <AAPL.O> supplier lost nearly $ 1 billion in market value by the end of trade. At one point its shares had tumbled as much as 31 percent or their daily limit of 80 yen to their lowest in more than two years.

Sharp declined to provide further details on Monday, saying it would make a final decision by Thursday, when it announces its new business plan.

Sources have said the plan will include a $ 1.7 billion debt-for-equity swap from its main lenders including a return for a promise to cut 5,000 jobs and to split off its ailing smartphone display unit.
It has also asked Japan Industrial Solutions, a corporate turnaround fund, to invest up to $ 250 million in capital, they have said.

Japanese media said the capital reduction is also aimed at easing its tax burden as it would allow Sharp to be classified as a small to medium-sized enterprise for tax purposes. While this would help a little, it will not result in major savings, said Yutaka Ban, chief credit analyst at SMBC Nikko Securities.

(Additional reporting by Reiji Murai and Hideyuki Sano; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell and Edwina Gibbs)

Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
SRN News » Business

HBO wins libel case involving soccer ball-child labor report

NEW YORK (AP) — HBO did not defame a British sporting-goods company with a report that showed children stitching the company’s soccer balls, a federal jury in Manhattan has decided.
Friday’s verdict came after a monthlong trial over a 2008 installment of HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” that dealt with child labor.

Mitre Sports International said it was libeled when it was the only company identified in the broadcast that showed children stitching soccer balls for a nickel an hour.

“They have no childhood,” children’s rights advocate Kailash Satyarthi said in the segment. “They have no freedom.”

Mitre attorney Lloyd Constantine told jurors that HBO had delivered a “pack of lies” and “reckless and intentional falsity” to its viewers by overlooking the fact that Mitre goes to great lengths to prevent child labor in the sporting goods industry.

Gumbel, the program’s host, testified that the report was the kind of hard-hitting journalism he had in mind when he created a monthly sports magazine.

Mitre said in a statement it was disappointed with the verdict.

“We may have lost the case, but the fact remains that Mitre has, and always will, continue its work with organizations to eliminate child labor,” the statement said.

An HBO spokesman said the network was delighted with the jury’s decision.

Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
SRN News » Sports

Toyota, Mazda in talks on expanding partnership: sources

TOKYO (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> and Mazda Motor Corp <7261.T> are in talks to expand their technology partnership to fuel-cell vehicles (FCVs), sources said on Saturday, as global automakers face rising costs to comply with stricter emission regulations.

The two Japanese automakers already have a technology and production tie-up, and Toyota was now considering providing fuel-cell and plug-in-hybrid technology to Mazda, said the two sources, who were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Mazda, in return, was considering offering its partner fuel-efficient gasoline and diesel engine technology under its proprietary SkyActiv series, the sources said.

Mazda has been trying to develop FCVs on its own, but it has decided to team up with Toyota, which produces the Mirai, the world’s only mass-market fuel-cell car, the sources said.

Toyota has said hydrogen FCVs offer the most promising zero-emission alternative to conventional cars since they have a similar driving range and refueling time.

Toyota has already decided to share some of its patents concerning fuel cell technology for free, hoping this will speed up the development of the infrastructure.

The Nikkei business daily reported the two companies intended to reach an agreement on the partnership soon.

Toyota and Mazda officials said nothing has been decided.

(Reporting by Maki Shiraki; Writing by Taiga Uranaka; Editing by Alex Richardson)

Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
SRN News » Business

Alibaba has a new CEO, but it’s still Jack’s house

By John Ruwitch

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – When Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s <BABA.N> eccentric founder Jack Ma stepped down as CEO two years ago, he declared “the Internet belongs to young people,” and promised that most of the company’s leaders born in the 1960s would soon retreat from management.
On Thursday, that transition at the e-commerce behemoth appeared complete as Ma trumpeted the appointment of a fresh chief executive, Daniel Zhang, born in 1972, as part of a broader reshuffle.

Yet as the eight-year Alibaba veteran and current chief operating officer moves into the corner office, the firm remains as much Jack Ma’s company as it was when it was founded in his apartment 16 years ago.

Ma exerts an outsize influence on the company, holding the title of executive chairman and controlling a 6.26 percent stake as of end-2014, worth about $ 13.4 billion at Thursday’s closing price of $ 86 a share.

“No matter who the CEO is, Jack Ma still has ultimate control of the company,” said Henry Guo, an analyst at Summit Research.

If Ma is the visionary, Zhang’s job will be to deliver results quickly, especially as mobile commerce explodes. The company reported on Thursday that mobile transaction value in the March quarter accounted for more than 50 percent of the total for the first time.

For his part, Zhang brings a strong reputation to the job.

He was a “key architect”, the company said, of the hugely successful “Double 11″ shopping festival – also known as Singles Day, the Nov. 11 event that has overtaken Black Friday in the United States as the world’s largest online shopping event – and he helped get the Amazon-like Tmall platform off the ground.

“The business has to change because the market is changing. They need someone to really lead the company to adapt themselves to this environment,” said Tian Hou, of T.H. Capital Research in Beijing.

SHARE PRICE SLUMP
In a letter to staff on Thursday, Ma praised outgoing CEO Jonathan Lu, who will become a vice chairman and focus on developing talent. “Over these two years, Jonathan has had to face immense pressure and he embraced it with tremendous courage and sacrifice. It was in these two years that Alibaba’s business grew by leaps and bounds,” Ma wrote.

But Lu, who was born in 1969, also presided over a slump of more than 30 percent in Alibaba’s share price from its all-time high in mid-November that carved more than $ 70 billion off the stock’s value.
The company was also blindsided by Chinese regulators in January over intellectual property piracy and illegal business on Alibaba platforms. Ma quickly smoothed things over.

A company spokeswoman said speculation that Lu might have been removed for underperforming was wrong, adding that the transition had been planned since 2012.

Zhang will take over on Sunday – exactly two years after Lu took the helm. However he fares, the public face of Alibaba will be Ma’s.

“Investors, the Chinese government, CEOs and foreign heads of state courting Alibaba all beat a path to Jack’s door because of the weight he, as a founder, plays in the company internally and how it is perceived, rightly or wrongly,” said Duncan Clark, chairman and managing director at BDA China.
“In Jack’s shadow it’s hard to shine.”

(Additional reporting by Nandita Bose in CHICAGO; Editing by Matthew Miller and Ian Geoghegan)

Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
SRN News » Business

Adidas begins marathon turnaround in North America

By Emma Thomasson

BERLIN (Reuters) – German sportswear company Adidas <ADSGn.DE> turned around its sales in North America in the first quarter, helped by a marketing campaign designed to win business from dominant rival Nike<NKE.N>.

Adidas said group sales rose 17 percent to 4.08 billion euros ($ 4.54 billion), or 9 percent excluding the impact of currencies, beating an average analyst forecast for 3.91 billion and lifting its shares more than 1 percent.

Despite the hike in marketing spending, Adidas increased its operating margin by 10 basis points to 8.9 percent, still well behind the 13 percent achieved by Nike last year.

Long-serving Chief Executive Herbert Hainer, who faced calls to quit last year as Adidas lost more ground to Nike, said the sales improvement was broad-based, with particularly strong growth in the running and fashion businesses.

While western Europe and China grew fast, Hainer also highlighted a 7 percent currency-neutral rise in North American sales in the first three months of the year, which he said showed the initial success of splashy brand campaigns.

“It is just the beginning. America is not a sprint for us, it is more a marathon… We still have a lot of work ahead of us,” Hainer told a conference call for journalists.

The figures should help reassure investors ahead of the Adidas annual general meeting on Thursday, when Hainer is likely to face calls for clarity on his leadership after the board launched a formal search for a successor.

Hainer, who has been CEO since 2001, said on Tuesday that turning the business around was more important than whether he stays on until the end of his contract in 2017.

Hainer launched a new five-year strategy last month to lift sales by almost half to above 22 billion euros, focusing on speeding up the supply chain and achieving success in the United States and the world’s largest cities.

OUTLOOK TOO CONSERVATIVE?
Adidas shares, which have already risen almost a third this year on signs of improved performance, pared early gains to trade up 1.2 percent by 1105 GMT, outperforming a slightly weaker German blue-chip index <.GDAXI>.

Adidas shares trade at 21 times forward earnings, still at a discount to Nike on almost 26 times.
“Good start into 2015 as previously hinted. Full year sales growth forecast looks somewhat conservative, we reckon, given the around 9 percent growth in Q1 against a strong Q1 2014,” said Equinet analyst Ingbert Faust, who rates the stock “buy”.

Adidas reiterated it expected 2015 sales to rise by a medium single-digit percentage rate on a currency-neutral basis, after a 6 percent increase in 2014, while net profit from continuing operations should climb 7-10 percent.

Hainer said he was “very optimistic” about the outlook, but noted that Adidas faced tougher comparisons for the second and third quarter due to last year’s World Cup.

Adidas slipped to third place in the United States last year behind Nike and fast-growing Under Armour <UA.N>, while Nike advanced in the German firm’s home territory of western Europe and in soccer, to take its global market share to 15.9 percent compared to 10.5 for Adidas, according to data firm Euromonitor.

Adidas has responded by increasing marketing spending by more than a quarter and putting a new emphasis on the United States, the world’s top sportswear market, important not only for sales but also for setting global trends.

Hainer appointed a new head of the North American business, poached key Nike designers and moved several executives to the Adidas U.S. base in Portland, as well as spending more on sponsorship in baseball, basketball and American football.

Hainer has seen the group’s U.S. market share gradually decline despite buying American brand Reebok in 2006, prompting some investors to suggest he should sell it off again.

But Hainer has rejected such calls, noting that Reebok, repositioned as a fitness brand, is now performing well, benefiting from the booming popularity of training.

Reebok saw sales rise a currency-neutral 9 percent in the first quarter – an eighth consecutive quarter of growth – even though they fell 3 percent in North America due to closures of factory outlet stores as the brand seeks to shift more upmarket.

Fashion brand Originals grew 29 percent, benefiting from the catwalk success of its relaunched “Superstar” sneakers supported by celebrities including pop star Pharrell Williams as well as its “Yeezy” shoe developed with Kanye West.

Meanwhile, the running business recorded a sales increase of 13 percent, helped by the introduction of a new range of shoes with springy, lightweight “Boost” soles – worn by the winners of 32 recent marathons, including those in Berlin and New York.

(Reporting by Emma Thomasson; Editing by Keith Weir and Anna Willard)

Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
SRN News » Business

Monmouth Park close to breaking even fiscally

OCEANPORT, N.J. (AP) — Three years after taking over Monmouth Park, the operators of the New Jersey shore thoroughbred racetrack believe the facility either will break even this year or make a profit.

Speaking at the track’s season opening news conference on Tuesday, Dennis Drazin said the track has reversed recent losing trends, seen increases in betting handle and attendance the past two years and is now self-sufficient.

Drazin continues to be optimistic about the future of racing in New Jersey, saying the struggling industry will be the verge of a turnaround if either sports betting is legalized or the state legislature approves the expansion of casinos outside of Atlantic City.

State Sen. Raymond Lesniak, who has led the push for sports betting in New Jersey, wants the legislature to put a referendum on the November ballot for voters to approve casino expansion outside of Atlantic City.

Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
SRN News » Sports

China April HSBC PMI shows biggest drop in factory activity in a year

By Kevin Yao

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s factories suffered their fastest drop in activity in a year in April as new orders shrank, a private business survey showed on Monday, hardening the case for fresh stimulus measures to halt a slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy.

The latest indication of deepening factory woes raises the risk that second-quarter economic growth may dip below 7 percent for the first time since the depths of the global crisis, adding to official fears of job losses and local-level debt defaults.

The HSBC/Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 48.9 in April – the lowest level since April 2014 – from 49.6 in March, as demand faltered and deflationary pressures persisted.

The number was weaker than a preliminary reading of 49.2, and below the 50-point level that separates growth from contraction compared with the previous month.

“China’s manufacturing sector had a weak start to Q2, with total new business declining at the quickest rate in a year while production stagnated,” said Annabel Fiddes, an economist at Markit.
“The PMI data indicate that more stimulus measures may be required to ensure the economy doesn’t slow from the 7 percent annual growth rate seen in Q1.”

The overall new orders sub-index dipped to 48.7 in April, the sharpest contraction in a year. That suggested a marked deterioration in domestic demand, as new export orders showed tentative signs of improvement.

Both input and output prices declined for a ninth month, while manufacturers shed jobs for an 18th month, auguring poorly for an economy that grew at its weakest rate for six years in the first quarter.
An official survey released on Friday showed China’s factories struggled to grow in April as domestic and export demand remained weak. The official number of 50.1 was the weakest reading for the month of April since the data started in 2005, HSBC noted.

The private survey focuses on small and mid-sized firms, while the official one looks at larger, state-owned companies.

China will release its April economic data over the coming weeks, starting with trade on Friday.

GROWTH COOLING
Aside from weakness in the manufacturing sector, China is struggling with a downturn in its property market, slowing investment and high levels of domestic debt.

On Thursday, the Politburo, the ruling Communist Party’s top decision-making body, said that authorities will step up policy “adjustments” and urged further tax cuts. It also said the government must resolve financing glitches that are holding up big infrastructure projects.

Analysts believe the Politburo’s emphasis on stabilizing growth signaled top leaders’ increasing concerns about a sharper slowdown.

Economic growth is expected to slow further to 6.8 percent in the second quarter from 7 percent in the previous quarter, the State Information Center, a top government think tank, said in a research report published on Monday.

Millions of workers lost their jobs when China’s growth tumbled to 6.6 percent in early 2009. A massive stimulus package pulled the economy out of the slump, but at the cost of saddling local governments with a mountain of debt.

The think-tank, which is affiliated to the National Development and Reform Commision, the top planning agency, called for interest rate cuts of 50 basis points in the first half, coupled with reductions in banks’ reserves requirements.

The People’s Bank of China last cut benchmark interest rates by 25 bps on Feb. 28 – its second cut since November.

The central bank has also reduced banks’ reserve requirements (RRR) twice this year, by a total of 150 basis points, in a bid to boost their lending power, while home purchase rules have been eased to help the real estate market.

The think-tank also urged the government to lower the yuan currency’s real effective exchange rate by 1-2 percent this year to help boost exports.

“Underlying economic activity appears to have slowed further from March, warranting more aggressive easing measures in the coming weeks in order for the economy to stabilize toward mid-year,” Julia Wang, China economist at HSBC, said in a note.

Wang also expects a 25-bps rate cut in the second quarter.

Most economists believe China’s economic growth could cool to a quarter-century low of around 7 percent this year from 7.4 percent in 2014.

(Reporting by Kevin Yao; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore & Kim Coghill)

Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
SRN News » Business

Mesosphere’s Data Center OS Comes to Azure and AWS

Data switches

Data switches play an integral role in supervising the traffic of a website. A data monitoring switch belongs to the category of data switches and is installed to monitor the flow of traffic to a website. A data monitoring switch proves extremely instrumental for an organization in supervising the traffic control tools in a more effective manner. Not only does it allow the centralization of the traffic monitoring but also enable effective sharing of the tools among different groups.

How it works

A data monitoring switch offers 24 to 38 ports which function as input or output tools. The input ports can be assembled for an integrated Tap function whereas the output ports function to derive input from external Taps. A large number of data monitoring tools are linked to the ports so that traffic reports from any of the ports can be transmitted effectively to the data monitoring tool. Advanced data switches are built with the technology of offering higher security both on individual and group front. These also facilitate an efficient management of multiple devices from a single interface.

Benefits

Data switches pre-filter the on-flow of traffic thereby offering a strong resistance against tool oversubscription.

Sharing tools among the wide category of groups becomes extremely feasible with data switches.
These are built with adept data conversion skills which allow 1 Gigabit tools to be strong enough to support 10 Gigabit links and the latter becomes capable enough to assemble as much as multiple 1 Gigabit links.

These boast of high port densities and are significantly higher in comparison to discreet Tabs. Consequently, these data switches have higher storage capacity along with high power ability.
Since these have an inbuilt remote controlling technique, one need not literally move to remote locations for installing the tools. Hence, one can easily save on time and indulge in other activities.
The user gets freedom from the tedious use on SPAN ports to attain the monitoring function as one can directly Tap network links with these data switches.

Use of data switches do not affect the network traffic in any way unlike the SPAN ports where there may be disruption if the switch is not properly installed.

Though the data switches have large number of benefits, one cannot certainly overlook its harms. Since data monitoring switches use the passive network Tap, these tend to more expensive in comparison to other types of data switches. These do not follow any particular standard; instead are managed differently by different vendors.

Some variants of the data monitoring switches offer advanced functionalities which make their uses a comparatively complicated ones. Consequently, these may require more time owing to the multiple functionalities installed on them. Many of these data switches require command line interfaces.

The disadvantages of the data switches stand negligible in comparison to its multiple uses. The switches are highly functional in monitoring the traffic flow and hence serve as the most effective tool in updating the website accordingly.

Vin Cent has been writing many articles and blogs online related to Data Switches and USB Data Switches
 

The software is now easy to deploy across all the major cloud providers, positioned as mission control for deploying containers and applications at massive scale Read More
Data Center Knowledge

Buffett celebrates 50th year at Berkshire, gave no hint of successor

By Luciana Lopez and Jonathan Stempel

OMAHA, Neb. (Reuters) – Berkshire Hathaway Inc shareholders on Saturday celebrated Warren Buffett’s 50th anniversary running the conglomerate, as the billionaire expressed optimism the company would thrive over the long haul, even after he’s gone.

Buffett and his second-in-command Charlie Munger fielded hours of questions from shareholders, analysts and journalists at Berkshire’s annual meeting, including some that leaned toward the business practices of firms that Berkshire owns or works with, such as Brazil’s 3G Capital.

The meeting had a more festive air this year, with one of the more than 40,000 people expected to attend shouting out “Warren and Charlie, we love you” at the start of the main event of what Buffett calls “Woodstock for Capitalists.”

“It’s not Disneyland, it’s Warrenland,” said David Rolfe, chief investment officer of Wedgewood Partners Inc.

Berkshire holds more than 80 companies including the Burlington Northern railroad, Geico car insurance, Benjamin Moore paint, Dairy Queen ice cream, Fruit of the Loom underwear, and See’s candies, and owns more than $ 115 billion of stocks.

It’s breadth and depth, which includes $ 63.7 billion of cash, has given Berkshire a strong balance sheet that Buffett said will help it thrive should the economy, propped up by low interest rates that many expect to rise soon, heads south.

“We will be very willing to act if economic turbulence of any kind occurs, and will be prepared, and most people won’t be,” he said. He denied that Berkshire needed special oversight by having become too big to fail.

Buffett gave no hints about who would succeed him, though he said he would not want someone whose sole background is in investments to become chief executive.

Buffett said experience in operations is very important. “I would not want to put someone in charge of Berkshire with only investing experience and not any operational experience,” he added.

He also offered ringing praise for the turnaround at Burlington Northern, Berkshire’s largest non-insurance unit, which was plagued last year by service delays.

“The improvement has been huge, and I want to thank Matt Rose and Carl Ice for their really extraordinary performance,” he said, referring to the railroad’s executive chairman and chief executive.

Rose, considered by some a potential Berkshire CEO candidate, was not mentioned by Buffett in his annual letter, which led some to believe his standing had been lowered.

Other potential candidates for the CEO job include insurance executive Ajit Jain, whose decision to join Berkshire three decades ago was hailed by Buffett as was one of the “luckiest” events he experienced, and Berkshire Hathaway Energy chief Gregory Abel, who answered a question over renewable energy.

Ken Shubin Stein, founder of Spencer Capital Management LLC in New York, said the idea a CEO should have an operational background “makes sense since the CEO needs to work with the investment team and understand their use of capital for investments, versus using the capital for investing in acquisitions.”

3G DEFENDED
As is usually the case, no major controversy has been hanging over Berkshire.

But Buffett did get two questions that led him to praise 3G Capital, which critics say ruthlessly cuts jobs at companies it acquires. In 2013, Berkshire and 3G bought H.J. Heinz Co, which is now buying Kraft Foods Group Inc.

“The 3G people have been successful in building marvelous businesses,” Buffett said. “I don’t know of any company that has a policy that says we’re going to have a lot more people than they need.”

Buffett also defended Berkshire’s Clayton Homes manufactured homes unit, which was criticized in a recent Seattle Times article for predatory sales practices that can trap low-income borrowers in homes they cannot afford.

“I make no apologies whatsoever for Clayton’s lending terms,” he said, adding that Clayton itself faces losses when borrowers default.

DEVOTEES LINED UP EARLY
Berkshire’s annual meeting is Omaha’s top annual draw other than baseball’s College World Series – reflected in hotel rooms that can fetch more than $ 400 a night and often sell out nearly a year in advance.

Devoted and sleep-deprived shareholders began lining up outside the venue hours before doors opened at 7 a.m. (CDT).

Kyle Cleeton, a research analyst for an investment firm, may have gotten there first, saying he showed up at 10 p.m. the night before.

“I wanted to be first in line,” he said. “You’re not sure how many more years you’re going to have.”
Bill Guenther, a state forester from Brattleboro, Vermont, said, “I’m one who likes a good seat.” He arrived at 1:04 a.m. despite having last year suffered a major foot injury when he collided with another shareholder as he tried to get that good seat.

“My girlfriend said, ‘You’re not going to do this again,’ and I said, ‘I have to, it’s the 50th year.'”

(Reporting by Luciana Lopez and Jonathan Stempel in Omaha, Nebraska; Editing by Jennifer Ablan and Bernard Orr)

Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
SRN News » Business

Amazon Rolls Out Whispercast 3.0, Self-Service Digital Content Platform

Amazon launched Whispercast 3.0, free software that lets students discover and manage their educational content on tablets, iPads and Chromebooks. The latest release allows schools to obtain content and distribute it to appropriate devices and students more easily.

Whispercast 3.0 is a “free, self-service platform for organizations to easily discover, procure, manage and distribute digital content to nearly any device,”  Amazon states in a news release.

Feedback from previous release users allowed Amazon to roll out Whispercast 3.0 packed with sought-after features such as tiered administration and group management which lets administrators set permission parameters, scale, centralize and delegate device and content management more easily.

Other integrated features include a more user-friendly interface and a digital transition service where K-12 and higher education organizations will be provided with free expert guidance from Amazon.

Lastly, more purchasing options like purchase orders and purchase cards are made available.

“Whispercast removes logistical concerns associated with traditional course material distribution. The benefits from both the student and program operations perspectives are tremendous,” Jan Furman, Ed.D., Program Director at Seton Hall University said.

The Center for Digital Education says that Whispercast enables Amazon to be part of the over $ 20 billion market of Ed Tech products and services for K-12 through Higher Education, CNET’s Ben Fox Rubin writes.

“Without a doubt, Amazon’s Whispercast solution and device selection aligned best experientially and financially with our requirements and student needs,” Matthew Johnston, President of Santa Barbara Business College says.

Businesses, too, are using Whispercast to deploy and manage material across their staff, but for now Whispercast is mostly used in education.

Amazon offers concurrently with Whispercast 3.0. its Digital Transition Services to organizations that want to implement, scale or switch to Whispercast. The service aims to make the transition more seamless for administrators and students alike:

“We’ve all seen for the past couple of years the trend toward one-to-one deployment of devices” in schools, Rohit Agarwal, General Manager of Amazon Education says. “We believe giving every student a device is a great starting point, but it’s not the be-all end-all,” Agarwal says, pointing out the importance of the human factor in taking full advantage of Ed Tech and its services.

Hundreds of educational apps through the Amazon Appstore and over 3 million books, textbooks and online newspapers and magazines are available on Whispercast. Material from National Geographic, Lerner Publishing Group, Sleeping Bear Press and Penguin Random House are also made available through the platform.

According to Amazon.com, 130 of the 250 largest school districts in the US are using Whispercast. The number of higher education institutions using Whispercast amounts to over 2,400 and includes the University of Texas and the Seton Hall University.

The post Amazon Rolls Out Whispercast 3.0, Self-Service Digital Content Platform appeared first on Education News.

Education News