Monthly Archives

April 2018

Robots Take Over the Burger-Flipping Job

Robots seem to have started taking over the jobs of humans. First on the list — burger flipping.

Flippy, the first-ever burger-flipping machine in California has started its first shift in a Pasadena burger joint called, Caliburger. Created by Miso Robotics, Flippy’s aim is not to replace human workers but to serve as a helping hand when it comes to preparation of burgers. The robot’s sole job is to flip burger patties, cook them well, and notify its human co-workers when the patties are ready for their dressings and buns.

Flippy is equipped with a spatula arm and a grill scraper for frying patties. It’s also built with image recognition and a thermal-sensing technology that allows it to detect whether the burger is cooked raw or well. Flippy is a cloud-based artificial intelligence (AI) that can monitor the patties real-time with a screen readout that notifies its human co-workers when the patties are ready for assembling. Although, Flippy has limited abilities, it can handle 12 patties all at the same, and cook each one perfectly.

Robots flipping burgers

According to Miso Robotics, burger-flipping machines like Flippy will be installed in more than 50 Caliburger branches around the globe by 2019. Cooking burgers and flipping patties can be a monotonous job for humans. It’s a job that is done in a hot, greasy and dirty environment. So, it’s no surprise why many people who apply for the job typically last only for a short time; only a few weeks, in fact. Autonomous machines like Flippy can help business owners save money and time by avoiding hiring the wrong people for the job. Training, hiring, and monitoring people can cause great expense. Therefore, assigning robots to repetitive tasks could be a smart move for business owners. However, absorbing robots to any business is a critical investment on the business owner’s side that involves costs that could sum up to thousands of dollars. Each burger-flipping robot is priced at $60,000 with further costs that could reach about $12,000 a year.

For now, there are still more developments yet to be done with Flippy. The robot still makes mistakes, no human can make. According to the developers, the technology would still evolve and become better in the future. Nevertheless, it’s fun to watch a robot make your burger. Therefore, the burger joint invites everyone to see Flippy in action.

Some people may find it daunting seeing machines take over the jobs that humans have. However, tech experts believe that in the near future, the jobs assigned to machines will be replaced by new jobs that will be offered to humans.

Check out this video of the robot doing its thing!

April 20, 2018 0 comment

Business

How Much S&P 500 Do We Need to Match The Great Recession?

written by ferasantoonreports

Remember the Great Recession of 2008-09? Along with the evaporation of investment banks and the deeds to homes of thousands of Americans, this unfortunate economic phenomenon also affected the S&P 500. It was a one-two punch for S&P 500 that led to interests falling, and the Federal Reserve buying mortgage-backed securities. The Fed even helped bolster the bond market as well, which caused a constant decline for rates. The only place to go was the equities. Bonds were seen as stocks, and investors gave up on yield. They rather hoped that bonds priced at 110 would hit 120. This was the Great Recession 8 years ago – everything was sky high.

Since 2011, we have been experiencing a raging bull market. For 7 years, the US stock market only had one major correction, which was a 19% drop.

However, once the central banks abandon QE, and the interest rates normalize to the point the equity market steps back to pre-QE levels, you would likely think S&P 500 gets around 1500 points.

Before the Great Recession, the previous bear market happened after the dot-com bubble burst and the planes piloted by terrorists crashed into the Twin Towers in lower Manhattan on Sept. 11, 2001. Shortly, the S&P 500 dropped 49% from a high ground of about 1510. After 6 years, it fell again to 666 in Intraday trading on March 6, 2009. It has been the lowest S&P 500 hit since 1996.

S&P500 and Great Recession

We could trace the slide that took place on the second week of February to the U.S. non-farm payroll report for January, which showed an increase in average earnings growth to 2.9%.

Wage inflation scared the bond markets. The expected inflation resulted in pricing in a 0.75% rate hike, then came a prospective hike for the fourth time.

“Powell Put” which thought to be less market-friendlier than “Greenspan-Bernanke-Yellen Put,” helped equity levels reach record levels, and inflated the financial asset prices.

ETNs, exchange-traded notes was revealed. These strategies of betting on low equity volatility caused the aggravation of inflation concerns. According to BlackRock’s chief investment strategist Richard Turnill, the retreat was somehow caused by the rapid run-up in government bond yields. However, investors who prefer to remain active just had to focus on the fundamentals of the economy. But the fundamentals are still changing, says Turnill.

On the second week of February, the US congress approved a budget deal that expands the government’s spending for defense by about $300 billion over two years. This approved bill and tax cuts will stretch out the federal deficit further.

“We could see net Treasury coupon issuance more than doubling this year,” he says.

S&P500 and Great Recession

That’s not good for the US Treasury bonds. The equity market is smaller than the bond market.

Turnill says, the combination of the government spending and corporate tax cuts can result in the addition of roughly 1% to GDP this year, in comparison to the 0.8 percentage point in the last report.

A strong economy can easily raise inflation, and allow the Fed to increase interest hikes faster. Along with that, the central banks will loosen up their QE programs that could drive the S&P absolutely lower than it is today. Only if the bears get what they deserve.

April 16, 2018 0 comment

World

Shania Twain on Her Health After Battling Lyme Disease, and Being an Outsider in the Music Scene

written by ferasantoonreports

Shania Twain, 52, battled against Lyme disease that took her voice for several years. Now, on her comeback, Twain admits she takes her health, ‘very seriously’.

The iconic singer had lost her voice due to the disease that damaged her vocal chords. She previously feared she might never be able to sing again.

During Twain’s interview with Sunday’s Herald-Sun, she said she makes sure she eats properly, she rests well, and spends time and effort to ‘self-care’ to avoid having problems with her health again.

Last year, the Canadian singer made a comeback with her new album, ‘Now’, after 15 years of music hiatus.

Now that Shania Twain’s back on the road for touring, she said it’s all about taking care of herself, and protecting her voice at all costs.

“I take my health seriously. There is a lot of discipline involved for me personally, eating properly, getting the right amount of rest, self-care and self-maintenance,” she said in the interview.

Shania Twain Lyme Disease

Shania added’ “You have to put the performance first and I take that very seriously.”

As a result of a tick bite back in 2003, Twain continuous to battle complications for more than 10 years.

According to the That Don’t Impress Me Much hit-maker, during her Up! Tour in 2003, she saw a tick fall off her, which was followed by dizziness in the next few days. Twain said she almost fell off the stage while performing during that tour.

“It’s a debilitating disease and extremely dangerous. You can’t play around with it, so you’ve got to check yourself for ticks,” Shania told The National Post last year.

“In my case I was lucky that I saw a tick fall off me. But a lot of people don’t even realize that they got bit. There’s a very short window to catch it and then treat it.”

Shania Twain had been known worldwide due to her 90s hits like ‘Man! I Feel Like a Woman’ and ‘You’re Still The One’, which trampled country sound boundaries with her unorthodox music style combinations.

She said the country music scene in Nashville opposes her, and she admits she will always be seen as an outsider to them.

“I don’t think anything has changed with me and Nashville, to be honest,” Twain said.

“I always will be, to some degree, considered an outsider, especially to the country music industry, but not to the fans.”

Shania Twain’s Now Tour in Australia is set to begin in Perth on November 30, and will end in in Sydney on December 14.

Have a look at this interview she recently did talking about her battle with Lyme Disease :

April 13, 2018 0 comment

Tech World

Privacy Protection Using this Facebook Setting that Removes Platform API Sharing

written by ferasantoonreports

Tons of controversies tell how Facebook is breaching its users’ privacy rights in many, unimaginable ways. Since stories revealed that Facebook has been giving out personal information of the users to third party sites, people who value their privacy have become wary of their account settings. Most of them go through complicated privacy settings to make sure that the companies they’ve entrusted their personal information would make legal efforts to protect it. But you don’t have to go through this – not anymore. There’s an easy way to keep your personal information safe, and you, in full control.

A few years ago, the Facebook privacy controversy bomb had set off, releasing a banging sound that wobbled the globe. The social media giant has access to their users’ private information, which the company lets third parties violate in innumerable ways. Just recently, the public knew that Cambridge Analytica, a data analytics company, acquired access to more than 50 million users’ data in 2014. The data were collected, shared and used without user consent. However, due to Facebook’s terms of service and API at the time, what happened wasn’t classified as data breach. It was just how Facebook’s infrastructure is designed to work.

This news is just one of the countless questions that Facebook is being thrown at including the gigantic 2016 Presidential election scandal. It reflected the privacy risks that users face such as, sharing, collecting, and storing of their personal information without giving permission to marketers, brokers and social media companies.

There are practical and realistic ways that tech companies can do to protect their users. They should give more control to users over what data can be collected, and how the data can be used. There should be transparency, and independent researches with no corporate interest must be allowed to conduct tests and audit the systems. Additionally, the users must be allowed to leave the platform together with their data when they do.

For people who value their privacy that much, leaving Facebook has been always an available choice. However, for most users, that solution isn’t viable. While legislators and regulators try to understand the implications of this privacy issue, what an average person can do to take control of their privacy settings is to prevent their data from going through Facebook’s API. This option disables all platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and Farmville. This setting also means the user can’t log into other sites using their Facebook login.

Open Facebook and go to the App Settings page. You can also do it manually via the Settings Menu > Apps.

Once there, click the “Edit” button found under “Apps, Websites and Games,” and click “Turn Off.”

April 11, 2018 0 comment

Business

US falls off the Top 10 Most Innovative Countries for the First Time in Six Years

written by ferasantoonreports

South Korea continues to thrive in the technology race, while US drifts away.

For the first time in six years, the US left the top 10 in the 2018 Bloomberg Innovation Index, falling to the 11th place from its previous 9th. On the other hand, South Korean and Sweden remained their No. 1 and No. 2 spots.

The countries acquired index scores using seven criteria, including spendings in research and development, the attention of technology companies.

The US rank dropped, mainly because of falling scores in a couple of categories, including post-secondary or tertiary, and education-efficiency, which covers the contribution of new science and the number of engineering graduates. The sum of highly valuable manufacturing also took a downward steep. Although there’s an improvement in the productivity score, it wasn’t enough to make up for what’s lost.

“I see no evidence to suggest that this trend will not continue,” Robert D. Atkinson, president of the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation in Washington, D.C., said.

“Other nations have responded with smart, well-funded innovation policies like better R&D tax incentives, more government funding for research, more funding for technology commercialization initiatives.”

Singapore, on the other hand, successfully landed to a higher, third place rank due to tertiary-efficiency category, leaving European economies behind like Germany, Switzerland and Finland.

According to Yeo Kiat Seng, professor and associate provost at the Singapore University of Technology and Design, when talking about science, technology, engineering and mathematics, “Singapore has always placed strong focus on educating her populace, especially in STEM disciplines.” Furthermore, the country has a “steadfast commitment to funding R&D and innovation,” added Yeo, who has 38 patents.

For five consecutive years, South Korea has been the gold-medalist of global-innovations. Samsung Electronics Co., has acquired more US patents in 2000 than any firms, except for International Business Machines Corp., which made them the most-valued tech company of the country. The ecosystem of Korea’s suppliers and partners consists mostly of semiconductors, digital media and smartphones. A very similar sight with Japan when the nation developed innovations around Sony Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp.

China continue to move upward, recently to two positions higher, landing the 19th place. The nation’s high amount of new technology, engineering graduates, and increasing patents by innovators like Huawei Technologies Co., all added to its strengths and index score.

“One common trait of the U.S., Korea and China is that people accept failure as part of the process,” according to Prinn Panitchpakdi, country head of CLSA Thailand, an Asian brokerage and investment group. “Innovation lags in countries where the culture emphasizes risk avoidance and where R&D is seen purely an expense, not an investment. That’s the mindset in Thailand.”

Countries in the lead

One of the top Asian countries, Japan, moved one slot upward to no. 6. France jumped from 9th to 11th place, enlisting with other European economies in the top tier. Israel was the only nation that has beaten South Korea in the R&D category, also reached the top 10 list.

Joining back the top 50 list were Iran and South Africa, which the last time they were included was in 2014. One of the biggest winners of this year was Turkey, which leaped four ranks to 33rd due to advancements in categories, tertiary efficiency, productivity, and two other.

On the other hand, the biggest losers, New Zealand and Ukraine fell four places lower because of the changes in productivities (New Zealand), and tertiary-efficiency (Ukraine).

Compared to last year, shifts in the list this year weren’t too dramatic. In 2017, we saw Russia fell 14-spots, while Ukraine received sanctions, and energy prices plunged.

This year’s ranking method began with 200 economies. All economies had 0-10 scale scoring in seven equal categories. Countries that didn’t pass the requirements for at least 6 categories were eliminated, cutting down the list to 80. The top 50 economies with their category scores is released by Bloomberg.

April 9, 2018 0 comment

Business

The Bull Market & Surviving its End: Your Potential Keys

written by ferasantoonreports

This bull market will eventually end; we all know that. So before it does, we can some steps that can prepare us for stock market correction.

We can see it in the US stocks. It has been up and steady for quite a while. Not much has happened since the 1% drop in August that lasted until January. When Amazon.com AMZN, -0.89%, JPMorgan Chase JPM, -0.72% and Berkshire Hathaway BRK.A, +0.00% BRK.B, -0.03% mentioned they will be processing their own health insurance claims, Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.08% fell 1.4%.

Investors can easily earn $10,000 in stocks without lifting a finger, in this case. For the first time ever, gaining that much in a short time is a rare luck.

So what’s happening here? Here is not where we will observe about the economy. Rather, we’ll define a particular pattern that has been happening since February 2016: markets have tended to move three steps forward, and two steps back.

The question now is, what should investors do when such patterns occur and exist for a long time? What steps shall investors make when valuations dip toward their historical means? Strategist Sam Stovall at CFRA Research, offers answers. Stovall is a vigilant historian of stock market trends, who answers to the question, should investors keep betting on what has been winning or should they ride the recent losers?

The Bull Market & Surviving its End

Stovall’s response was: do a little bit of both. Apparently, the best approach is to focus on the sub-industries that performed the best and the worst in the run-up before the correction. Choose among the 145 sub-industries from the S&P 500, and pick the top 10 best and top 10 worst industries on CFRA’s rating scale. An investor now has 20 stocks to choose from. This strategy has been used since 1991, which every year is producing 13.6% annualized returns, has beaten the market by 5.5 percentage points, and top S&P 500’s price gain with 70% of the time.

“If history is any guide, for it’s never gospel, investors have done better buying both last year’s 10 best and 10 worst groups,” Stovall said. “Despite the lack of a guarantee that what worked in the past will work again in the future, one could say that the outcome of owning the good and the bad wasn’t so ugly after all.”

Last year, the top 10 sub-industries gained a combined 56.5%, which was led by casinos, home builders, technology stocks and wine/spirits companies. When choosing the industries that fit this market, Stovall said, you might want to choose Amazon.com from Web retailing, Adobe Systems ADBE, -0.69% as the leading application software stock, D.R. Horton DHI, +1.02% as for home builders, and MGM Resorts, MGM, -1.51%, as for the casino play. More of the top picks include Deere DE, +1.58%, Best Buy BBY, -0.19%, Electronic Arts EA, -0.36%, Constellation Brands, STZ, +1.22% and Caterpillar CAT, -2.31%.

Last year, the worst-performing sub-industries include advertising, automotive retailers, motorcycle manufacturers, brewers, oil and gas drillers, and energy equipment/services companies. The last two groups fell 23% and 17%, respectively, in contrast to what one might expect from rising oil prices.

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According to CFRA ratings, the top worst sub-industries include Molson-Coors TAP, -0.33%, Omnicom Group OMC, +1.86%, Helmerich & Payne HP, -0.41%, Baker Hughes BHGE, +1.49% and Harley-Davidson HOG, -1.03%.

This strategy, in some themes make sense. For instance, oil prices are expected to boost energy earnings this year by 53%. On the other hand, the home building’s revival is expected to last due to demographic and economic factors. Typically, construction collapse after the mortgage burst takes place for a long time that the demand backlogs. Caterpillar and Deere can also be good emerging-markets play.

At this point, it’s too early to detect whether a 5% or 10% has begun. Perhaps, and most likely, it hasn’t happened, yet. Although, a few companies are trying to cut off healthcare costs, which can spur health insurance competition, still, it’s hardly the end of profit growth for the economy.

However, financial gravity will still reassert itself if not in a correction or two, but eventually, it will because it always does.

April 6, 2018 0 comment

Business

How Failures Can Help Businesses

written by Feras Antoon

Decision-making in business can be nerve-wracking. Many entrepreneurs may have experienced it, too: heart beats turn wild, the palm gets sweaty before calling a huge decision that can either make or break the business, leading to abysmal failures. We’re about to make that next, risky step that can make us fall flat on our face.

It’s a similar situation for Stephanie Weichert, a Life and Executive Coach, Strategic Interventionist, published author, speaker, strategic director for START Fitness® and business consultant. When Weichert was about to release her motivational book, she said it was a moment of stepping into the unknown, just like a scene in the movie, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. In that scene, Indiana Jones had to cross an invisible bridge to find the Holy Grail, which will be the key to his Father’s healing. Taking that perilous path had no certain outcome.

“It’s a leap of faith,” Indiana Jones said. There was no other way. Thus, despite the risk, he took a huge leap forward.

The risk was worth it. Indiana successfully landed on the right steps. But that’s not always the case, especially in business. When the big leap in business results in failure, it usually produces two outcomes. The resilient entrepreneur will learn from his mistake, and try again. The non-resilient will be afraid to try again.

Failures Can Help Business

It’s easy to understand why the non-resilient throws the towel. Failing hurts, and not everyone can take the pain. However, knowing that there’s a good reason to stand up again, and climb the leap of faith once more, fills the fuel.

We have learned from public business failures that staying safe can also take a toll on the business in the long run. Safety cannot help us adapt to change, bearing fruits only for a season. If you remember Blockbuster, its story has a valuable lesson.

The Netflix innovator proposed his idea about streaming movies to Blockbuster, and got rejected. Sometime in 2008, Blockbuster’s CEO Jim Keyes told the online publication, Motley Fool, “Neither Redbox nor Netflix are even on the radar screen in terms of competition.”

Keyes turned down opportunities to explore out-of-the-box ideas. He only focused on the current technology during that time, instead of delving to possible, future innovations. His unwillingness to take a risk, thinking his current success would provide him assured long-term prosperity, led Blockbuster to its downfall – eventually facing bankruptcy.

‘Soloprenuers’ must learn a lesson from Blockbuster’s mistake: staying in the safety zone can also mean closing doors of opportunities where big ideas dwell. Choosing to be safe can also mean avoiding future success.

Most of the time, entrepreneurs know what they like to do, but they choose not to take the leap. For most of them, it’s not arrogance that keeps them rooted to indecision; it’s fear.

We tend to doubt our own business ideas, and think that our creativity will not help us achieve a different level of success. We tend to be fearful of that leap, thinking our credentials, and our business strengths are not enough. For many times, we use our past failures as the basis of what will happen to our future. Our negative beliefs and values about ourselves are preventing us from pursuing our business ideas. A lot of entrepreneurs don’t realize that staying small and safe can cause businesses to die on the vine over time.

Failures Can Help Business

The stories that we tell ourselves have a direct impact to us pursuing our dreams. If we continue to believe that we can’t make it, then we won’t. If we tell ourselves, our ideas are not good enough, then we will not make it happen. If we tell ourselves we’ll most likely fail than succeed, then it will stop us from reaching the top.

To build our momentum, we must remember these three keys:

What we tell ourselves about our failures can either help us make our wings or add a dead weight.
We can use our past failures as lessons to make a different, and more effective move next time.
Trying and failing is always better than not trying at all. Remember the story of Blockbuster.

That next big leap can be daunting. That step is crucial, and different for each of us. However, the only way to take that next step is to convince ourselves that there are good things in store for us; there are opportunities still heading our way. Our resilience dictates our ability to make that next move. We must be willing to be vulnerable and to risk, for us to have the courage to try again. That next step into the unknown can be our huge leap of faith.

Enjoy this video that talks more about how failures can be a positive thing in the grand scheme of things:

April 4, 2018 0 comment

World

Breast Cancer and Asparagus

written by Feras Antoon

A recent study published in the journal Nature, showed the effects of asparagine, an amino acid found in asparagus, showing it can help spread the breast cancer cells to other parts of the body.

However, when included lightly in the diet of animals, asparagine causes the malignant cells outside the breast, such as those detected in the bones, lungs and brain, which is the leading cause of death of people, decrease significantly.

“This is a very promising lead and one of the very few instances where there is a scientific rationale for a dietary modification influencing cancer,” the study’s lead author, Greg Hannon, told The Guardian.

Asparagine is also produced in the body. It’s a building blocks of proteins that can also be found in dairy, whey, beef, poultry, eggs, fish, seafood, potatoes, legumes, nuts, seeds, soy and whole grains. Small amounts of asparagine can also be found in most fruits and vegetables.

In the study, the researchers were able to block asparagine in mice using the drug called, L-asparaginase. They also removed some of the asparagine in their diet. Breast cancer patients who died were also studied, and the doctors found out that patients who had multiple other tumors in their bodies had the highest amounts of asparagine.

Asparagus & Breast Cancer-

Based on the study, asparagine helps the tumor evolve, and makes them easier to transport to other parts of the body through the bloodstream. The compounds appear to help spread the tumors to the other organs, which then grow into a new tumor. Limiting the amount of asparagine in the body prevents this from happening, but it has no effect on the initial tumor growth in the breast.

The next part of the study is to translate the results of mice to humans. Researchers will determine if the findings in mice are applicable to people. If so, the future treatment for breast cancer may include low-asparagine diet and L-asparaginase drug therapy, instead of the conventional methods for breast cancer treatment that involves chemotherapy and radiation, since these compounds are highly prevalent in a wide variety of readily available food sources.

Asparagus & Breast Cancer

“This early discovery could offer a long-awaited new way to help stop breast cancer spreading — but we first need to understand the true role of this nutrient in patients,” chief executive of Breast Cancer Now, Baroness Delyth Morgan, told the news site. “On current evidence, we don’t recommend patients totally exclude any specific food group from their diet without speaking to their doctors. We’d also encourage all patients to follow a healthy and varied diet — rich in fruit, vegetables… and limited in processed meat and high fat or sugar foods — to help give them the best chance of survival.”

April 2, 2018 0 comment