শুক্রবার, ১১ অক্টোবর, ২০১৩

China iPhone Sales Data Point From Cantor - Business Insider

Apple analyst Brian White at Cantor Fitzgerald is in Asia filing daily reports. 

In today's report he says he was surprised to see that in China, there were plenty of gold iPhones in stock, but the "Space Grey" model was selling out. 


We don't think anyone can read anything meaningful into this anecdote but we read it, said, "huh," to ourselves, and thought it would be interesting to pass along.


Consider it one for the files:


The iPhone 5S Frequently in Stock at Retailers, and Even Champagne Gold. We also had the opportunity to visit dozens of retailers and resellers in Shenzhen that are focused on selling smartphones. Surprisingly, the iPhone 5S was frequently available and in many cases the champagne gold was in stock. In some cases, the space gray colored iPhone 5S was out of stock but the champagne gold was available, exactly the opposite of what we have discussed in the U.S. market. In our view, we believe Apple may have allocated higher stock of the champagne gold iPhone 5S in China versus the U.S. market. The iPhone 5C was widely available during our discussions with retailers and resellers. In fact, today’s research indicates that for every ten new iPhones (i.e., iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C), 70-80% are the iPhone 5S and 20-30% are the iPhone 5C. During our visits, the trend toward mega-sized smartphones was very clear, and Sony stood out from the pack with the new 6.44-inch Xperia Z Ultra XL39h smartphone.



Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/china-iphone-sales-data-point-from-cantor-2013-10
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সোমবার, ২৯ জুলাই, ২০১৩

The Republicans of the future? (CNN)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

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You might be getting Facebook messages you didn't know about and you might actua...

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Using Humor To Get Serious About Success: Marlon Doll And ...

If you?re having fun doing something, you?ll probably want to keep doing it. When fun is incorporated into the learning process, you?ll want to keep learning. Marlon Doll and the team at Humorcials.com know this, and it?s the basis for their new series of educational videos on topics designed to help people reach their full potential and get the success they want. We talked to Marlon recently about his goals for the website and the videos he?s producing.

7S: What made you decide to start this website and create these videos?

MD: About two years ago I felt like my life wasn?t progressing how I had imagined it to. I realized I would have to start make some drastic and continuous improvements in my life and mindset if I wanted to reach my goals. To jump-start my personal growth, boost my confidence, and motivate myself, I decided to backpack through South East Asia. I saved up and started my journey where I spent three months travelling 6 different countries.

My adventure had plenty of solitary downtime so I began reading much more than I ever had. I was particularly good at finding authority sources of information and interesting articles and videos online. In my research process, I discovered many fascinating but unconventional and overlooked skills such as Speed Reading and Lucid Dreaming. I was attracted mostly to topics that would add significant value to my life. To help the information sink in, I would apply the techniques and would teach what I had learned to other travelers. The people I taught were enthusiastic about the topics and it sparked my desire to reach a much larger audience.

It bothered me that people were so unaware of these valuable life skills. The information was accessible but the majority had never heard of it, or their original introduction to the topics made it seem boring. So I thought, if I began creating humorous but informative videos on these subjects, I could potentially get people interested and the humor would aid in retention; this would also force me to apply these skills and principles to grow in my own life and help me achieve my goals.

When I arrived back from South East Asia, I enrolled into an Entertainment Business Management Program. Fast-forward a year and a half later with a ton of new skills, I presented the idea to a few friends and colleagues. From there, Humorcials and the Success with a Punchline series was born!

7S: You?ve got a funny video about speed reading that?s already gotten thousands of views. What are some of the self-improvement topics you?re working on right now?

MD: Thanks for thinking it?s funny! We have had many great responses to our first few videos. We currently released 4 videos on Lucid Dreaming, Speed Reading, Accelerated Learning, and Introvertism. We also have a couple more in the process of editing at the moment! The next two that will be released are ?How to Avoid Procrastination? and? ?How to Make a Great First Impression?- titles pending! The next one we?re filming is on the topic of Focus and Concentration, which we are all really excited to shoot and share.

7S: How do you get the ideas for your videos? Are they things that you want to learn yourself, or do people contact you and suggest topics?

MD: We have a growing list of topics based on life skills we have acquired or want to learn more about. So far we have started with topics we think our audience will value the most from learning. We usually start with a solid understanding of each of the topics, but once we choose a topic, we delve into various sources of information, scrutinize it, and start applying the techniques into our own lives. We take note of authoritative information and the most effective techniques and, as a team, compile what we?ve learned. We try and repackage the more valuable takeaways into funny succinct videos. We really want to cover the most important points to give our audience a solid understanding of the topic, even if they?re just being introduced to it.

That being said, we are extremely interested in what our audience would like to learn more about. We are easy to get in touch with by email or any of our social media channels, so we encourage anyone and everyone to contact us!?

7S: In a recent blog post you talked about making learning part of every day, by listening to podcasts while you clean house or exercise or commute to and from work. Doesn?t it make it harder to concentrate on what you?re hearing if you?re also focused on doing something else, like scrubbing the kitchen floor?

MD: I?m a strong believer in life-long learning. Our brain is a muscle and if we do not continue to exercise and grow it, then we risk not reaching our full potential. Worse off, we risk facing cognitive deterioration and possibly mental illness as our bodies outlive our brain. Use it or Lose it.

Everybody has downtime in the day; being able to learn in that downtime is greatly beneficial. In our present information age, the more you know, the further you will advance in your personal and professional life. We are overloaded with valuable and free information in various forms. The tough part is avoiding psychobabble and having the time to source and absorb the information that will add value to your life. Cleaning your kitchen, going for a run, or commuting are all great opportunities to listen to free podcasts as they are all relatively low mental activities. You don?t need to consciously think about these things as you already know how to run or scrub the floor; why not reserve your mental processing to the podcast or audiobook plugged into your brain.

On the other hand, working or doing homework while audio learning is counter productive as your focus will just be switching back and forth which is highly ineffective. You can multitask but you can?t multi-think.?Just remember to give yourself time to reflect on what you just listened to, get your thoughts on paper, and recite it to your friends or teddy bear!

7S: You also mentioned that a good way to make sure you?ve learned something is to teach it to someone else. Do you recommend that people add humor into this process of teaching others, like you do with your videos?

MD: I strongly believe teaching is one of the best methods for memory retention. Teaching forces you to have a better understanding of the material, improve accuracy of recall, and to apply your knowledge more effectively.

I do recommend that people add some fun and humor when teaching others. People tend to tune out when they?re bored; effective humor keeps people engaged, reduces anxiety, and can make the learning process much more enjoyable. The most effective teacher I had in Film School would add bits of humor into every lesson. This kept the energy levels high and his lessons more memorable.

However, it?s also about balance. Too much humor may cause your pupil to lose focus on what is being taught as your mentally preparing for the next joke instead of the information. One term for this kind of learning is Edutainment. Edutainment is learning through a medium that both entertains and educates. Think Sesame Street, Bill Nye the Science Guy, and Magic School Bus. They were all highly successful edutainment programs that effectively taught my generation and others outside of the classroom.?With the Success with a Punchline series, we strive to create excellent edutainment videos with an optimal balance of humor and information for effective learning and enjoyment!

Source: http://www.7speedreading.com/using-humor-to-get-serious-about-success-marlon-doll-and-humorcials-com

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Weather News Headlines - Yahoo! News

Weather News Headlines - Yahoo! Newshttp://news.yahoo.com/weather/ Get the latest Weather news headlines from Yahoo! News. Find breaking Weather news, including analysis and opinion on top Weather stories, photos and more.en-USCopyright (c) 2013 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reservedSat, 27 Jul 2013 19:23:00 -04005Weather News Headlines - Yahoo! Newshttp://news.yahoo.com/weather/ http://l.yimg.com/a/i/us/nws/th/main_142c.gifHeavy rains flood homes, roads in North CarolinaCHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) ? A system of thunderstorms across western North Carolina stalled on Saturday and dumped about a foot of rain on the area, causing power outages and flash floods that swamped homes and washed out roads and bridges.http://news.yahoo.com/heavy-rains-flood-homes-roads-north-carolina-211549741.htmlSat, 27 Jul 2013 19:23:00 -0400Associated Pressheavy-rains-flood-homes-roads-north-carolina-211549741Warm weather means early Calif. wine grape harvest<p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/warm-weather-means-early-calif-wine-grape-harvest-142540274.html"><img src="http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/RSm2FhIre5MPgH8z2zKCBA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTg2O3E9ODU7dz0xMzA-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/0afa9dc01f5bcc19380f6a706700a975.jpg" width="130" height="86" alt="In this photo taken Friday, July 26, 2013, assistant winemaker and viticulturist Nathalie Jure Buckland looks at veraison, the onset of ripening, taking place on Cabernet Sauvignon grapes at Opus One winery in Oakville, Calif. One thing that is certain about the weather in California?s premiere wine grape-growing region is that there is no such thing as normal, and 2013 is living up to that adage. After dealing with cool temperatures in three of the past four years that slowed ripening and kept grapes hanging on the vine until the fall rainy season threated, growers in Napa Valley are dealing with an opposite challenge. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)" align="left" title="In this photo taken Friday, July 26, 2013, assistant winemaker and viticulturist Nathalie Jure Buckland looks at veraison, the onset of ripening, taking place on Cabernet Sauvignon grapes at Opus One winery in Oakville, Calif. One thing that is certain about the weather in California?s premiere wine grape-growing region is that there is no such thing as normal, and 2013 is living up to that adage. After dealing with cool temperatures in three of the past four years that slowed ripening and kept grapes hanging on the vine until the fall rainy season threated, growers in Napa Valley are dealing with an opposite challenge. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)" border="0" /></a>SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) ? There&#039;s no such thing as &quot;normal&quot; weather in California wine country, and vineyard operators say this year that truism could mean good news for wine lovers.</p><br clear="all"/>http://news.yahoo.com/warm-weather-means-early-calif-wine-grape-harvest-142540274.htmlSat, 27 Jul 2013 17:22:33 -0400Associated Presswarm-weather-means-early-calif-wine-grape-harvest-142540274<p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/warm-weather-means-early-calif-wine-grape-harvest-142540274.html"><img src="http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/RSm2FhIre5MPgH8z2zKCBA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTg2O3E9ODU7dz0xMzA-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/0afa9dc01f5bcc19380f6a706700a975.jpg" width="130" height="86" alt="In this photo taken Friday, July 26, 2013, assistant winemaker and viticulturist Nathalie Jure Buckland looks at veraison, the onset of ripening, taking place on Cabernet Sauvignon grapes at Opus One winery in Oakville, Calif. One thing that is certain about the weather in California?s premiere wine grape-growing region is that there is no such thing as normal, and 2013 is living up to that adage. After dealing with cool temperatures in three of the past four years that slowed ripening and kept grapes hanging on the vine until the fall rainy season threated, growers in Napa Valley are dealing with an opposite challenge. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)" align="left" title="In this photo taken Friday, July 26, 2013, assistant winemaker and viticulturist Nathalie Jure Buckland looks at veraison, the onset of ripening, taking place on Cabernet Sauvignon grapes at Opus One winery in Oakville, Calif. One thing that is certain about the weather in California?s premiere wine grape-growing region is that there is no such thing as normal, and 2013 is living up to that adage. After dealing with cool temperatures in three of the past four years that slowed ripening and kept grapes hanging on the vine until the fall rainy season threated, growers in Napa Valley are dealing with an opposite challenge. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)" border="0" /></a>SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) ? There&#039;s no such thing as &quot;normal&quot; weather in California wine country, and vineyard operators say this year that truism could mean good news for wine lovers.</p><br clear="all"/>Heavy rains cause flash flooding in North CarolinaCHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) ? A series of thunderstorms moving across western North Carolina has triggered major flash flooding, inundating roads, apartments and parts of several counties.http://news.yahoo.com/heavy-rains-cause-flash-flooding-north-carolina-201832512.htmlSat, 27 Jul 2013 16:18:36 -0400Associated Pressheavy-rains-cause-flash-flooding-north-carolina-201832512(345pm) T-Storm Watch until 11pm, Storm Chances this evening, then a Brief Cool DownUpdate: 3:41 PM The National Weather Service has issued a Severe T-Storm Watch until 11pm for the areas in yellow below, this does include Dallas and Tarrant Counties. Another abnormal July cold front is moving [?]http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2013/07/26/345pm-t-storm-watch-until-11pm-storm-chances-this-evening-then-a-brief-cool-down/Fri, 26 Jul 2013 16:46:41 -04002013/07/26/345pm-t-storm-watch-until-11pm-storm-chances-this-evening-then-a-brief-cool-down/Europe's Largest-Ever Telecommunications Satellite Launches With Indian Weather Probe<p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/europes-largest-ever-telecommunications-satellite-launches-indian-weather-184423152.html"><img src="http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/b40MiNLTrihqzLJ..OxYEg--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTg2O3E9ODU7dz0xMzA-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_US/News/SPACE.com/Europe%27s_Largest-Ever_Telecommunications_Satellite_Launches-6ad9743b9c6dfef28e7cfdf91d7cecb3" width="130" height="86" alt="Europe&#039;s Largest-Ever Telecommunications Satellite Launches With Indian Weather Probe" align="left" title="Europe&#039;s Largest-Ever Telecommunications Satellite Launches With Indian Weather Probe" border="0" /></a>PARIS ? A European Ariane 5 ECA rocket on July 25 successfully launched Europe&#039;s largest-ever telecommunications satellite and a meteorological spacecraft for India in the rocket&#039;s 56th consecutive success.</p><br clear="all"/>http://news.yahoo.com/europes-largest-ever-telecommunications-satellite-launches-indian-weather-184423152.htmlFri, 26 Jul 2013 14:44:23 -0400SPACE.comeuropes-largest-ever-telecommunications-satellite-launches-indian-weather-184423152<p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/europes-largest-ever-telecommunications-satellite-launches-indian-weather-184423152.html"><img src="http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/b40MiNLTrihqzLJ..OxYEg--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTg2O3E9ODU7dz0xMzA-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_US/News/SPACE.com/Europe%27s_Largest-Ever_Telecommunications_Satellite_Launches-6ad9743b9c6dfef28e7cfdf91d7cecb3" width="130" height="86" alt="Europe&#039;s Largest-Ever Telecommunications Satellite Launches With Indian Weather Probe" align="left" title="Europe&#039;s Largest-Ever Telecommunications Satellite Launches With Indian Weather Probe" border="0" /></a>PARIS ? A European Ariane 5 ECA rocket on July 25 successfully launched Europe&#039;s largest-ever telecommunications satellite and a meteorological spacecraft for India in the rocket&#039;s 56th consecutive success.</p><br clear="all"/>Young Voters on Climate Deniers: ?Ignorant, Out of Touch, Crazy?Say what you will about us millennials?we?re a wilting bouquet of narcissistic, socialistic, overeducated, underemployed, tatted-up hipsters who still live at home?but, from this day forward, don?t you dare say we?re climate change deniers.http://news.yahoo.com/young-voters-climate-deniers-ignorant-touch-crazy-184303009.htmlFri, 26 Jul 2013 14:43:03 -0400Takepart.comyoung-voters-climate-deniers-ignorant-touch-crazy-184303009Storms Chances TodayA summer cold front arrives from the northwest this afternoon. It?ll bring us some decent storm chances later today, even a slight risk of severe weather. By tomorrow we?ll enjoy cooler weather (and even slightly [?]http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2013/07/26/storms-chances-today/Fri, 26 Jul 2013 06:11:35 -04002013/07/26/storms-chances-today/Being outdoors perilous during thunderstorms<p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/being-outdoors-perilous-during-thunderstorms-003443353.html"><img src="http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/mToIK2V21x50OYOgfOM8OQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTg2O3E9ODU7dz0xMzA-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/828199b3dd8e8918380f6a706700eace.jpg" width="130" height="86" alt="This Wednesday, July 24, 2013 photo provided by the Coconino County Sheriff?s Office shows the rock wall believed to be where a victim was sitting when lighting stuck Tuesday at the Le Fevre Overlook on Highway 89A, some 8 miles north of Jacobs Lake, Ariz. A married couple was killed and a teenage boy injured when the lightning struck, authorities said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Coconino County Sheriff?s Office)" align="left" title="This Wednesday, July 24, 2013 photo provided by the Coconino County Sheriff?s Office shows the rock wall believed to be where a victim was sitting when lighting stuck Tuesday at the Le Fevre Overlook on Highway 89A, some 8 miles north of Jacobs Lake, Ariz. A married couple was killed and a teenage boy injured when the lightning struck, authorities said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Coconino County Sheriff?s Office)" border="0" /></a>FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) ? The deaths of two people at a scenic overlook in northern Arizona this week bring to 14 the number of people killed by lightning strikes in the U.S. this year, according to the National Weather Service. Many of the victims were enjoying summertime activities like sightseeing, boating, camping and fishing. Weather experts say when thunderstorms roar, you should get out of the water, drop the sporting equipment and flee to a safe area inside a building or a vehicle.</p><br clear="all"/>http://news.yahoo.com/being-outdoors-perilous-during-thunderstorms-003443353.htmlThu, 25 Jul 2013 20:35:09 -0400Associated Pressbeing-outdoors-perilous-during-thunderstorms-003443353<p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/being-outdoors-perilous-during-thunderstorms-003443353.html"><img src="http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/mToIK2V21x50OYOgfOM8OQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTg2O3E9ODU7dz0xMzA-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/828199b3dd8e8918380f6a706700eace.jpg" width="130" height="86" alt="This Wednesday, July 24, 2013 photo provided by the Coconino County Sheriff?s Office shows the rock wall believed to be where a victim was sitting when lighting stuck Tuesday at the Le Fevre Overlook on Highway 89A, some 8 miles north of Jacobs Lake, Ariz. A married couple was killed and a teenage boy injured when the lightning struck, authorities said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Coconino County Sheriff?s Office)" align="left" title="This Wednesday, July 24, 2013 photo provided by the Coconino County Sheriff?s Office shows the rock wall believed to be where a victim was sitting when lighting stuck Tuesday at the Le Fevre Overlook on Highway 89A, some 8 miles north of Jacobs Lake, Ariz. A married couple was killed and a teenage boy injured when the lightning struck, authorities said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Coconino County Sheriff?s Office)" border="0" /></a>FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) ? The deaths of two people at a scenic overlook in northern Arizona this week bring to 14 the number of people killed by lightning strikes in the U.S. this year, according to the National Weather Service. Many of the victims were enjoying summertime activities like sightseeing, boating, camping and fishing. Weather experts say when thunderstorms roar, you should get out of the water, drop the sporting equipment and flee to a safe area inside a building or a vehicle.</p><br clear="all"/>Weird Weather: Dry Seasons Start Earlier, Are Wetter<p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/weird-weather-dry-seasons-start-earlier-wetter-221316079.html"><img src="http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/WQ1WBtH52rfzplD4ALkauw--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTg2O3E9ODU7dz0xMzA-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_US/News/LiveScience.com/flooding-vicksburg-110512-02.jpg1320192772" width="130" height="86" alt="Weird Weather: Dry Seasons Start Earlier, Are Wetter" align="left" title="Weird Weather: Dry Seasons Start Earlier, Are Wetter" border="0" /></a>Call it weird, call it extreme, maybe even call it the new normal. Wild weather in the United States in the past decade has amassed a long list of toppled records and financial disasters.</p><br clear="all"/>http://news.yahoo.com/weird-weather-dry-seasons-start-earlier-wetter-221316079.htmlThu, 25 Jul 2013 18:13:16 -0400LiveScience.comweird-weather-dry-seasons-start-earlier-wetter-221316079<p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/weird-weather-dry-seasons-start-earlier-wetter-221316079.html"><img src="http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/WQ1WBtH52rfzplD4ALkauw--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTg2O3E9ODU7dz0xMzA-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_US/News/LiveScience.com/flooding-vicksburg-110512-02.jpg1320192772" width="130" height="86" alt="Weird Weather: Dry Seasons Start Earlier, Are Wetter" align="left" title="Weird Weather: Dry Seasons Start Earlier, Are Wetter" border="0" /></a>Call it weird, call it extreme, maybe even call it the new normal. Wild weather in the United States in the past decade has amassed a long list of toppled records and financial disasters.</p><br clear="all"/>Why the Price Tag for Global Warming Just Went Up by $60 Trillion<p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/why-price-tag-global-warming-just-went-60-162020917.html"><img src="http://l3.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/q4pdYhGLP.aBIzrG1swXGA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTg2O3E9ODU7dz0xMzA-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/theatlanticwire/Why_the_Price_Tag_for-4c189e5fb93ddd35d88d50e1c13ff2b6" width="130" height="86" alt="Why the Price Tag for Global Warming Just Went Up by $60 Trillion" align="left" title="Why the Price Tag for Global Warming Just Went Up by $60 Trillion" border="0" /></a>$60 trillion dollars is enough money that you could spend $1 million every minute for a century and still have about $7.5 trillion (roughly the GDP of China) left over. The world will end up spending it a lot faster than that, though, according to new research published in Nature. If the melting in the Arctic remains unchecked, the resulting release of greenhouse gasses from just one region of the world will make addressing climate change $60 trillion more expensive.</p><br clear="all"/>http://news.yahoo.com/why-price-tag-global-warming-just-went-60-162020917.htmlThu, 25 Jul 2013 12:20:20 -0400The Atlantic Wirewhy-price-tag-global-warming-just-went-60-162020917<p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/why-price-tag-global-warming-just-went-60-162020917.html"><img src="http://l3.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/q4pdYhGLP.aBIzrG1swXGA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTg2O3E9ODU7dz0xMzA-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/theatlanticwire/Why_the_Price_Tag_for-4c189e5fb93ddd35d88d50e1c13ff2b6" width="130" height="86" alt="Why the Price Tag for Global Warming Just Went Up by $60 Trillion" align="left" title="Why the Price Tag for Global Warming Just Went Up by $60 Trillion" border="0" /></a>$60 trillion dollars is enough money that you could spend $1 million every minute for a century and still have about $7.5 trillion (roughly the GDP of China) left over. The world will end up spending it a lot faster than that, though, according to new research published in Nature. If the melting in the Arctic remains unchecked, the resulting release of greenhouse gasses from just one region of the world will make addressing climate change $60 trillion more expensive.</p><br clear="all"/>NASA Video: Watch US Heat Up by 2100<p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/nasa-video-watch-us-heat-2100-221440308.html"><img src="http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/khZDgNerqBkBMcHYKLON4Q--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTg2O3E9ODU7dz0xMzA-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_US/News/LiveScience.com/Temperature_2100.jpg1374703438" width="130" height="86" alt="NASA Video: Watch US Heat Up by 2100" align="left" title="NASA Video: Watch US Heat Up by 2100" border="0" /></a>The United States will be a much hotter place at the end of the 21st century, according to a new climate change visualization released by NASA this week.</p><br clear="all"/>http://news.yahoo.com/nasa-video-watch-us-heat-2100-221440308.htmlWed, 24 Jul 2013 18:14:40 -0400LiveScience.comnasa-video-watch-us-heat-2100-221440308<p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/nasa-video-watch-us-heat-2100-221440308.html"><img src="http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/khZDgNerqBkBMcHYKLON4Q--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTg2O3E9ODU7dz0xMzA-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_US/News/LiveScience.com/Temperature_2100.jpg1374703438" width="130" height="86" alt="NASA Video: Watch US Heat Up by 2100" align="left" title="NASA Video: Watch US Heat Up by 2100" border="0" /></a>The United States will be a much hotter place at the end of the 21st century, according to a new climate change visualization released by NASA this week.</p><br clear="all"/>A Republican Secretary of State Urges Action on Climate ChangeA Republican Secretary of State Urges Action on Climate Changehttp://news.yahoo.com/republican-secretary-state-urges-action-climate-change-110100019.htmlWed, 24 Jul 2013 07:01:00 -0400Scientific Americanrepublican-secretary-state-urges-action-climate-change-110100019Lockheed snags contract for U.S. defense weather satellite programWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp on Tuesday was awarded an Air Force contract worth about $101 million over a decade, to modify the U.S. defense weather satellite program, the U.S. Department of Defense said. The contract work will be performed by Lockheed Martin Space System Corp in Sunnyvale, California, and is scheduled to be completed by October 2020. The program collects various weather, oceanographic and solar data for the Defense Department, and is managed by the Air Force Space Command. It has been in operation for about 50 years. ...http://news.yahoo.com/lockheed-snags-contract-u-defense-weather-satellite-program-221511202.htmlTue, 23 Jul 2013 18:15:11 -0400Reuterslockheed-snags-contract-u-defense-weather-satellite-program-221511202Storms knock out power to 15K in central ArkansasEntergy Corp. says more than 15,000 customers are without power in Arkansas' Pulaski County as severe thunderstorms roll through the area. Meanwhile, the National Weather Service issued a flood advisory ...http://news.yahoo.com/storms-knock-power-15k-central-183804126.htmlTue, 23 Jul 2013 14:38:04 -0400Associated Pressstorms-knock-power-15k-central-183804126Rainy, warm weather continues to boost SD cropsScattered rain and above-normal temperatures continued to boost crop development in South Dakota over the past week. The Agriculture Department says in its latest crop and weather report that there were ...http://news.yahoo.com/rainy-warm-weather-continues-boost-132831468.htmlTue, 23 Jul 2013 09:28:31 -0400Associated Pressrainy-warm-weather-continues-boost-1328314686 strange terms for weather phenomenaWith the summer storm season upon us in full force, you're bound to hear emergency broadcasts, news reports, and videos of massive thunderstorms, with commentary and terminology you might not be familiar with. Knowing what those words mean can tell you a lot more about what's going on than just what's shown on the screen. Here are six lesser-known terms that are associated with the storm season.http://theweek.com/article/index/247150/6-strange-terms-for-weather-phenomenaTue, 23 Jul 2013 06:30:00 -0400The Week (RSS)article/index/247150/6-strange-terms-for-weather-phenomenaNHC says 40 percent chance of cyclone near Cape Verde Islands(Reuters) - A surface low pressure system located couple of hundred miles south-southeast of the Cape Verde Islands has a medium 40 percent chance of becoming a tropical cyclone during next 48 hours, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said early Tuesday. Showers and thunderstorms have become a little more concentrated near the center of the storm system and it is expected to move west-northwestward at 15 to 20 miles per hour, the Miami-based weather forecasters said. ...http://news.yahoo.com/nhc-says-40-percent-chance-cyclone-near-cape-052154564.htmlTue, 23 Jul 2013 01:21:54 -0400Reutersnhc-says-40-percent-chance-cyclone-near-cape-052154564New Antarctic Evidence Reveals Past Melting<p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/antarctic-evidence-reveals-past-melting-180116325.html"><img src="http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/qfpV7u4KWMeY56eAi_dd5g--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTg2O3E9ODU7dz0xMzA-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_US/News/LiveScience.com/satellite-image-of-antarctica-lrg.jpg1374514757" width="130" height="86" alt="New Antarctic Evidence Reveals Past Melting" align="left" title="New Antarctic Evidence Reveals Past Melting" border="0" /></a>One of the wild cards in estimating future sea level rise from global warming is the enormous East Antarctic Ice Sheet, which holds more freshwater in its icy expanse than the whole of Greenland.</p><br clear="all"/>http://news.yahoo.com/antarctic-evidence-reveals-past-melting-180116325.htmlMon, 22 Jul 2013 14:01:16 -0400LiveScience.comantarctic-evidence-reveals-past-melting-180116325<p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/antarctic-evidence-reveals-past-melting-180116325.html"><img src="http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/qfpV7u4KWMeY56eAi_dd5g--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTg2O3E9ODU7dz0xMzA-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_US/News/LiveScience.com/satellite-image-of-antarctica-lrg.jpg1374514757" width="130" height="86" alt="New Antarctic Evidence Reveals Past Melting" align="left" title="New Antarctic Evidence Reveals Past Melting" border="0" /></a>One of the wild cards in estimating future sea level rise from global warming is the enormous East Antarctic Ice Sheet, which holds more freshwater in its icy expanse than the whole of Greenland.</p><br clear="all"/>Terry McAuliffe Is a Flip-Flopper--And That's Just Fine with Green GroupsKen Cuccinelli, the conservative firebrand running for Virginia governor, has taken lots of heat for his views on climate change. The state's attorney general drew a national spotlight for his investigation of University of Virginia climate scientist Michael Mann, and his skepticism of the science that human activities cause global warming. He's been attacked as an ideologue and is the target of an aggressive campaign by the League of Conservation Voters.http://news.yahoo.com/terry-mcauliffe-flip-flopper-thats-just-fine-green-053657417.htmlMon, 22 Jul 2013 09:32:56 -0400National Journalterry-mcauliffe-flip-flopper-thats-just-fine-green-053657417Uganda July coffee exports seen edging 3 pct lower yr/yr: UCDAKAMPALA (Reuters) - Uganda expects its July coffee exports to fall 3 percent to 300,000 60-kg bags compared with the same month in 2012 due to unfavourable weather conditions, the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) said in a report seen by Reuters on Monday. "In Central Region, the weather has been generally very hot and dry... there were fears that the hostile weather may affect development of the coffee berries and consequently reduce volume and quality of coffee expected to be picked next harvest season," state-run UCDA said in its June monthly report. ...http://news.yahoo.com/uganda-july-coffee-exports-seen-edging-3-pct-103705816.htmlMon, 22 Jul 2013 06:37:05 -0400Reutersuganda-july-coffee-exports-seen-edging-3-pct-103705816Climate Change Could Wipe Out Iberian LynxClimate change could ensure the wipe out of the Iberian Lynx, considered the world's most endangered cat, new research from Spain suggests.http://news.yahoo.com/climate-change-could-wipe-iberian-lynx-170445697.htmlSun, 21 Jul 2013 13:04:45 -0400LiveScience.comclimate-change-could-wipe-iberian-lynx-170445697Thunderstorm threat a wildcard for Calif. wildfire<p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/thunderstorm-threat-wildcard-calif-wildfire-074626684.html"><img src="http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/oXfU8AXmrcuxzrtHYASHlA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTg2O3E9ODU7dz0xMzA-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/d456cb74436d1318380f6a706700e0a7.jpg" width="130" height="86" alt="This image provided by NASA shows the agency&#039;s Terra spacecraft photo showing smoke from a wildfire near Idyllwild, Calif., right, and the Los Angeles area, left. The blaze in the San Jacinto Mountains has expanded to roughly 39 square miles and was 15 percent contained Friday July 19, 2013. (AP Photo/NASA)" align="left" title="This image provided by NASA shows the agency&#039;s Terra spacecraft photo showing smoke from a wildfire near Idyllwild, Calif., right, and the Los Angeles area, left. The blaze in the San Jacinto Mountains has expanded to roughly 39 square miles and was 15 percent contained Friday July 19, 2013. (AP Photo/NASA)" border="0" /></a>IDYLLWILD, Calif. (AP) ? Firefighters got little help from Mother Nature on Saturday as much-needed rainfall from expected thunderstorms didn&#039;t materialize for a huge wildfire burning in the Southern California mountains near Palm Springs.</p><br clear="all"/>http://news.yahoo.com/thunderstorm-threat-wildcard-calif-wildfire-074626684.htmlSat, 20 Jul 2013 23:47:02 -0400Associated Pressthunderstorm-threat-wildcard-calif-wildfire-074626684<p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/thunderstorm-threat-wildcard-calif-wildfire-074626684.html"><img src="http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/oXfU8AXmrcuxzrtHYASHlA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTg2O3E9ODU7dz0xMzA-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/d456cb74436d1318380f6a706700e0a7.jpg" width="130" height="86" alt="This image provided by NASA shows the agency&#039;s Terra spacecraft photo showing smoke from a wildfire near Idyllwild, Calif., right, and the Los Angeles area, left. The blaze in the San Jacinto Mountains has expanded to roughly 39 square miles and was 15 percent contained Friday July 19, 2013. (AP Photo/NASA)" align="left" title="This image provided by NASA shows the agency&#039;s Terra spacecraft photo showing smoke from a wildfire near Idyllwild, Calif., right, and the Los Angeles area, left. The blaze in the San Jacinto Mountains has expanded to roughly 39 square miles and was 15 percent contained Friday July 19, 2013. (AP Photo/NASA)" border="0" /></a>IDYLLWILD, Calif. (AP) ? Firefighters got little help from Mother Nature on Saturday as much-needed rainfall from expected thunderstorms didn&#039;t materialize for a huge wildfire burning in the Southern California mountains near Palm Springs.</p><br clear="all"/>More evacuate, weird weather fears at Calif. fire<p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/more-evacuate-weird-weather-fears-calif-fire-042855215.html"><img src="http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/CjSdtA4eOTmP9NOnwiz.wQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTg2O3E9ODU7dz0xMzA-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/7220de4a09f0f718370f6a7067000f0f.jpg" width="130" height="86" alt="In this photo made Wednesday, July 17, 2013, and released by the U.S. Forest Service, a DC-10 drops fire retardant along an edge of the Mountain Fire near Lake Hemet, Calif. The blaze about 100 miles east of Los Angeles had grown to more than 35 square miles in size and had destroyed at least six houses and mobile homes. (AP Photo/U.S. Forest Service)" align="left" title="In this photo made Wednesday, July 17, 2013, and released by the U.S. Forest Service, a DC-10 drops fire retardant along an edge of the Mountain Fire near Lake Hemet, Calif. The blaze about 100 miles east of Los Angeles had grown to more than 35 square miles in size and had destroyed at least six houses and mobile homes. (AP Photo/U.S. Forest Service)" border="0" /></a>IDYLLWILD, Calif. (AP) ? Residents of another 700 homes were advised to retreat to safety on Friday as crews fighting a wildfire in the mountains above Palm Springs grew increasingly concerned about the possibility of unstable weather and erratic winds that could last through the weekend.</p><br clear="all"/>http://news.yahoo.com/more-evacuate-weird-weather-fears-calif-fire-042855215.htmlSat, 20 Jul 2013 02:19:58 -0400Associated Pressmore-evacuate-weird-weather-fears-calif-fire-042855215<p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/more-evacuate-weird-weather-fears-calif-fire-042855215.html"><img src="http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/CjSdtA4eOTmP9NOnwiz.wQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTg2O3E9ODU7dz0xMzA-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/7220de4a09f0f718370f6a7067000f0f.jpg" width="130" height="86" alt="In this photo made Wednesday, July 17, 2013, and released by the U.S. Forest Service, a DC-10 drops fire retardant along an edge of the Mountain Fire near Lake Hemet, Calif. The blaze about 100 miles east of Los Angeles had grown to more than 35 square miles in size and had destroyed at least six houses and mobile homes. (AP Photo/U.S. Forest Service)" align="left" title="In this photo made Wednesday, July 17, 2013, and released by the U.S. Forest Service, a DC-10 drops fire retardant along an edge of the Mountain Fire near Lake Hemet, Calif. The blaze about 100 miles east of Los Angeles had grown to more than 35 square miles in size and had destroyed at least six houses and mobile homes. (AP Photo/U.S. Forest Service)" border="0" /></a>IDYLLWILD, Calif. (AP) ? Residents of another 700 homes were advised to retreat to safety on Friday as crews fighting a wildfire in the mountains above Palm Springs grew increasingly concerned about the possibility of unstable weather and erratic winds that could last through the weekend.</p><br clear="all"/>Thunderstorms could hamper efforts to subdue California wildfire<p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/thunderstorms-could-hamper-efforts-subdue-california-wildfire-200431331.html"><img src="http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/pOtiMX9ue7tIhdiaH9v2CA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTg2O3E9ODU7dz0xMzA-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/Reuters/2013-07-19T200431Z_1_CBRE96I1JRL00_RTROPTP_2_USA-FIRE-CALIFORNIA.JPG" width="130" height="86" alt="A plume of smoke rises into the night sky as a wildfire, or the so-called Mountain Fire, burns near Idyllwild" align="left" title="A plume of smoke rises into the night sky as a wildfire, or the so-called Mountain Fire, burns near Idyllwild" border="0" /></a>By Steve Gorman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Firefighters raced on Friday to buttress defensive lines against a fierce blaze roaring for a fifth day near the scenic mountain resort of Idyllwild in Southern California, as thunderstorms in the forecast threatened to hamper efforts to subdue the flames. The so-called Mountain Fire has already burned across more than 24,800 acres of dry brush and timber and forced the evacuation of Idyllwild after destroying seven nearby homes and other property in the rugged San Jacinto range, authorities said. ...</p><br clear="all"/>http://news.yahoo.com/thunderstorms-could-hamper-efforts-subdue-california-wildfire-200431331.htmlFri, 19 Jul 2013 19:01:04 -0400Reutersthunderstorms-could-hamper-efforts-subdue-california-wildfire-200431331<p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/thunderstorms-could-hamper-efforts-subdue-california-wildfire-200431331.html"><img src="http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/pOtiMX9ue7tIhdiaH9v2CA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTg2O3E9ODU7dz0xMzA-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/Reuters/2013-07-19T200431Z_1_CBRE96I1JRL00_RTROPTP_2_USA-FIRE-CALIFORNIA.JPG" width="130" height="86" alt="A plume of smoke rises into the night sky as a wildfire, or the so-called Mountain Fire, burns near Idyllwild" align="left" title="A plume of smoke rises into the night sky as a wildfire, or the so-called Mountain Fire, burns near Idyllwild" border="0" /></a>By Steve Gorman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Firefighters raced on Friday to buttress defensive lines against a fierce blaze roaring for a fifth day near the scenic mountain resort of Idyllwild in Southern California, as thunderstorms in the forecast threatened to hamper efforts to subdue the flames. The so-called Mountain Fire has already burned across more than 24,800 acres of dry brush and timber and forced the evacuation of Idyllwild after destroying seven nearby homes and other property in the rugged San Jacinto range, authorities said. ...</p><br clear="all"/>Weather Blog: Relentless Heathttp://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2013/07/19/weather-blog-relentless-heat/Fri, 19 Jul 2013 18:36:48 -04002013/07/19/weather-blog-relentless-heat/

Source: http://rss.news.yahoo.com/rss/weather

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Lew says stubborn Congress risks repeating U.S. fiscal wounds

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on Sunday warned Congress against manufacturing a crisis over federal spending in the months ahead, as looming deadlines set the stage for a repeat of the political deadlock which two years ago triggered worldwide financial market turmoil.

In coming negotiations with Republicans, who control the House of Representatives, Democratic President Barack Obama will focus on ways to create economic gains for the middle class over spending cuts, Lew said.

"We have already done a lot of deficit reduction," he said in an interview on NBC. Lew spoke on four TV talk shows, setting out Obama's priorities ahead of an expected showdown this fall.

By early November, Congress must raise the legal limit on the country's borrowing authority or risk an unprecedented default on the government's debt.

A debt ceiling showdown in August 2011 between Obama and congressional Republicans sparked wild stock market swings and cost the United States its top-tier AAA credit rating.

"We need to get the debt limit extended in a way that doesn't create a crisis," Lew said.

Republicans see the debt ceiling as the their best leverage in winning a deal with Obama that would cut federal government spending to lower the deficit.

Lew, who was Obama's budget director in 2011, reiterated the president's stance that he would not consider short-term spending cuts, nor would he offset defense spending cuts with reductions in other government programs.

"The president has made crystal clear, he's not going to negotiate over the debt limit," Lew said in an interview on ABC.

The debt ceiling is one of two fiscal deadlines facing Obama and Congress. By October 1, they must agree on a stop-gap measure to keep the government funded or face a shutdown.

Republicans have eyed this budget deadline as a way to roll back steep spending cuts for defense programs. But that is not an option, Lew said.

"The across-the-board budget cuts that kicked in are not good policy," Lew said in a Fox News interview. "We think they should be replaced by sensible, alternative entitlement and tax reforms."

Congress is scheduled to leave town August 2 for a five-week recess.

Asked about the possibility of a federal response to Detroit's recent bankruptcy declaration, Lew threw cold water on any chances the struggling city will get federal aid.

"Detroit is going to have to work with its creditors on this," Lew told ABC.

(Reporting By Patrick Temple-West; Editing by David Storey)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lew-says-stubborn-congress-risks-repeating-u-fiscal-131024700.html

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Breakthrough in detecting DNA mutations could help treat tuberculosis, cancer

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Source: www.sciencedaily.com --- Sunday, July 28, 2013
Researchers have developed a new method that can look at a specific segment of DNA and pinpoint a single mutation, which could help diagnose and treat diseases such as Cancer and tuberculosis. ...

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/vdI2RsLBX-o/130728133857.htm

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Leak causes oil spill off Rayong

About 50 tonnes of crude oil spilled into the sea off Rayong on Saturday morning after a leak occurred in a pipeline operated by PTT Global Chemical Plc (PTTGC).

PTTGC said the oil slick, enough to fill one tanker truck, was quickly contained.

The incident occurred at 6.50am about 20 kilometres southeast of Map Ta Phut seaport in the eastern province.

The company said it detected the leak as crude from an Omani tanker moored offshore was being transferred to the pipeline for delivery to the PTTGC refinery at Map Ta Phut.

The amount of crude that spilled into the sea was about 50 tonnes or equivalent to the capacity of one large tanker truck, said PTTGC.

As soon as it detected the leak, the company said workers shut the pipeline valve to prevent any further spills.

Anon Sirisaengtaksin, the chief executive of PTTGC, said quick action by the company in cooperation with the Royal Thai Navy and the Marine Department contained the damage.

"All the crude had been eradicated an hour after the accident and residents and fishermen near Map Ta Phut will not be affected by the crude oil spill," said Mr Anon.
?
He said the company staged frequent accident drills to deal with spills and related incidents. It also monitors pollution with the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT) and the Pollution Control Department.
?
Mr Anon said PTTGC would continue to monitor conditions in the Gulf of Thailand until it can be certain that not a drop of crude oil remains in the water.

"Tourists and fishermen who live there can be sure that no oil spill will reach their places," said Mr Anon.

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শুক্রবার, ২৬ জুলাই, ২০১৩

Korean divide lives on 60 years after end of war

In this photo taken Tuesday, May 14, 2013, a North Korean soldier, left, looks at the southern side through a pair of binoculars as a South Korean soldier stands guard at the border village of Panmunjom, which has separated the two Koreas since the Korean War, in Paju, north of Seoul, South Korea. Some Americans call it the ?Forgotten War,? a 1950s conflict fought in a far-off country and so painful that even survivors have tried to erase their memories of it. The North Koreans, however, have not forgotten. Sixty years after the end of the Korean War, the country is marking the milestone anniversary with a massive celebration Saturday for a holiday they call ?Victory Day? - even though the two sides only signed a truce, and have yet to negotiate a peace treaty. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

In this photo taken Tuesday, May 14, 2013, a North Korean soldier, left, looks at the southern side through a pair of binoculars as a South Korean soldier stands guard at the border village of Panmunjom, which has separated the two Koreas since the Korean War, in Paju, north of Seoul, South Korea. Some Americans call it the ?Forgotten War,? a 1950s conflict fought in a far-off country and so painful that even survivors have tried to erase their memories of it. The North Koreans, however, have not forgotten. Sixty years after the end of the Korean War, the country is marking the milestone anniversary with a massive celebration Saturday for a holiday they call ?Victory Day? - even though the two sides only signed a truce, and have yet to negotiate a peace treaty. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

In this photo taken Tuesday, May 14, 2013, South Korean soldiers stand guard at the border village of Panmunjom, which has separated the two Koreas since the Korean War, in Paju, north of Seoul, South Korea. Some Americans call it the ?Forgotten War,? a 1950s conflict fought in a far-off country and so painful that even survivors have tried to erase their memories of it. The North Koreans, however, have not forgotten. Sixty years after the end of the Korean War, the country is marking the milestone anniversary with a massive celebration Saturday for a holiday they call ?Victory Day? - even though the two sides only signed a truce, and have yet to negotiate a peace treaty. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

In this photo taken Tuesday, May 14, 2013, a cap with flags of, clockwise from bottom left, North Korea, China, the United Nations, the United States and South Korea, is seen at Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission, or NNSC's Swiss camp at the border village of Panmunjom, which has separated the two Koreas since the Korean War, in Paju, north of Seoul, South Korea. Some Americans call it the ?Forgotten War,? a 1950s conflict fought in a far-off country and so painful that even survivors have tried to erase their memories of it. The North Koreans, however, have not forgotten. Sixty years after the end of the Korean War, the country is marking the milestone anniversary with a massive celebration Saturday for a holiday they call ?Victory Day? - even though the two sides only signed a truce, and have yet to negotiate a peace treaty. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

In this photo taken Monday, July 22, 2013, North Korean soldiers stand guarding the truce village of Panmunjom at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) which separates the two Koreas in Panmunjom, North Korea. Some Americans call it the ?Forgotten War,? a 1950s conflict fought in a far-off country and so painful that even survivors have tried to erase their memories of it. The North Koreans, however, have not forgotten. Sixty years after the end of the Korean War, the country is marking the milestone anniversary with a massive celebration Saturday for a holiday they call ?Victory Day? - even though the two sides only signed a truce, and have yet to negotiate a peace treaty. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

In this photo taken Monday, July 22, 2013, North Korean soldiers stand guard the truce village of Panmunjom at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) which separates the two Koreas in Panmunjom, North Korea. Some Americans call it the ?Forgotten War,? a 1950s conflict fought in a far-off country and so painful that even survivors have tried to erase their memories of it. The North Koreans, however, have not forgotten. Sixty years after the end of the Korean War, the country is marking the milestone anniversary with a massive celebration Saturday for a holiday they call ?Victory Day? - even though the two sides only signed a truce, and have yet to negotiate a peace treaty. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

PANMUNJOM, North Korea (AP) ? Some Americans call it the "Forgotten War," a 1950s conflict fought in a far-off country and so painful that even survivors have tried to erase their memories of it.

The North Koreans, however, have not forgotten. Sixty years after the end of the Korean War, the country is marking the milestone anniversary with a massive celebration Saturday for a holiday it calls "Victory Day" ? even though the two sides only signed a truce, and have yet to negotiate a peace treaty.

Signs and banners reading "Victory" line the streets of Pyongyang, the North Korean capital. The events are expected to culminate with a huge military parade and fireworks, one of the biggest extravaganzas in this impoverished country since leader Kim Jong Un took power in late 2011.

Here at the border in Panmunjom, the war never ended. Both sides of the Demilitarized Zone are heavily guarded, making it the world's most fortified border, and dividing countless families with sisters and brothers, fathers and mothers, on the other side. The North Koreans consider the presence of 28,500 U.S. troops in South Korea a continued occupation.

In some ways, war today is being waged outside the confines of the now-outdated armistice signed 60 years ago.

The disputed maritime border off the west coast of the Koreas is a hot spot for clashes. In 2010, a South Korean warship exploded, killing 46 sailors; Seoul blamed a North Korean torpedo. Later that year, a North Korean artillery attack on a front-line South Korean island killed four people, two of them civilians.

Earlier this year, Kim Jong Un enshrined the pursuit of nuclear weapons as a national goal, calling it a defensive measure against the U.S. military threat. In recent months, the warfare has extended into cyberspace, with both Koreas accusing the other of mounting crippling hacking attacks that have taken down government websites in the North and paralyzed online commerce in the South.

Sixty years on, as both Koreas and the United States mark the anniversary Saturday, there is still no peace on the Korean Peninsula.

___

The two sides don't even agree on who started the war.

Outside the North, historians say it was North Korean troops who charged across the border at the 38th parallel and launched an assault at 4 a.m. on June 25, 1950.

North Korea agrees that war broke out at 4 a.m. ? but says U.S. troops attacked first. A photo offered as proof at a Pyongyang war museum shows U.S. soldiers advancing, rifles cocked, as they run past the 38th parallel.

"The real history is that the U.S. started the war on June 25, 1950," Ri Su Jong, a 21-year-old guide at a flower show in Pyongyang, said Tuesday. "They first attacked our country, and we quickly counterattacked."

Ri, whose grandfathers both fought in the war, said she was taught that the North Koreans marched into Seoul three days later, "liberating" South Korea from U.S. forces. A panoramic diorama at the war museum shows soldiers hoisting the North Korean flag in a sea of fire and destruction.

As North Korean troops advanced further south, the U.S. retaliated with bombing campaigns that left both Seoul and Pyongyang in rubble.

"The U.S enemy engineered the war, boasting of the advantage of their air power, flying normally 500 or 700 flights, sometimes up to 1,000 flights a day, both on the front and in the rear," said North Korean Maj. Gen. Kim Sung Un, a war veteran who is now 84. "All the factories and workplaces ... were reduced to ashes."

Then came the counterattack.

Dick Bonelli was a 19-year-old from the Bronx, a self-professed troublemaker, who was shipped off with the U.S. Marines to fight in a country he never knew existed. He arrived in September 1950 with the amphibious assault known in as the "Inchon Landing," the surprise attack that helped the U.S.-led U.N. forces push the North Koreans back.

Bonelli later took part in one of the most costly fights of the Korean War: the 17-day winter campaign in the mountainous region of the North then known by its Japanese name, the Chosin Reservoir. Several thousand were killed in combat, and thousands more died of frostbite.

"I tried for 30 to 40 years to forget it all," Bonelli said in Pyongyang on Thursday, an American flag pinned to his blazer. "Who wants to remember that? It's war. It was terrible."

He's back in North Korea for the first time since 1950. His hope is to revisit Fox Hill, the remote spot that he guarded that first cold winter of the war. Tears in his eyes, he called it an emotional journey to a place that he tried for decades to forget.

___

How the main players in the war will mark Saturday's anniversary is a telling indication of how each country considers the conflict.

North Korea is treating it as a celebration, an occasion to rally support for the country's leader and draw attention to the division of the Korean Peninsula.

In South Korea, it's a day of remembrance. For the government, it's a day of thanks to the 16 U.N. nations that came to South Korea's defense during the 1950-53 war. For many, it's also a day of sorrow as they remember family members left behind in the North, forever divided from their loved ones.

In Washington, President Barack Obama on Thursday declared July 27 National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day. He paid tribute in his proclamation to the veterans who fought to "defend a country they never knew and a people they never met." He is to speak Saturday at the Korean War Veterans Memorial.

___

Back in 1953, the architects of the armistice that took two years to negotiate were so sure the truce would be temporary that they cobbled together corrugated sheds to serve as conference halls in just a handful of days.

Sixty years later, those once-temporary buildings are still standing. On the North Korean side, the drafty building that served as the venue for armistice talks is now the "peace pagoda," a popular stop on a fledgling tourist trail from Pyongyang. A tattered version of the armistice agreement and the U.N. flag are displayed.

The sheds straddling the border where the two sides sometimes meet are still called T1, T2 and T3: the "T'' stands for "temporary."

Peace is up to Washington, North Korean Lt. Col. Nam Dong Ho told The Associated Press recently.

"The division of the Korean Peninsula is less an issue between the North and South and more of an issue between North Korea and the U.S," he said. "Last time, we negotiated an armistice agreement. But next time, we will bring the U.S. to its knees to sign a letter of surrender."

Ri, the flower show guide, also blames the U.S.: "Of course we want peace. ... But the American imperialists keep provoking us with their hostile policy."

The visiting U.S. veteran, Bonelli, says simply that a peace treaty is long overdue.

"It's ridiculous to have an armistice this long and not to sit down, break bread and make peace," he said. "The future is about the children. Let's stop it."

___

Associated Press writer Elizabeth Shim contributed to this report from Seoul, South Korea. Follow AP's Korea bureau chief at www.twitter.com/newsjean.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-07-26-Koreas-Armistice-Divide/id-58f2d0a51f024eb3a81429cd80d1d59f

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Starbucks Corporation (SBUX) CEO Discusses F3Q 2013 Results - Earnings Call Transcript

Starbucks Corporation (SBUX) F3Q 2013 Results Earnings Call July 25, 2013 5:00 PM ET

Executives

JoAnn DeGrande - Vice President, Investor Relations

Howard Schultz - Chairman, President, and CEO

Adam Brotman - Chief Digital Officer

Troy Alstead - Chief Financial Officer

John Culver - President, China and Asia Pacific

Cliff Burrows - Group President, Americas and US, EMEA and Teavana

Analysts

Sharon Zackfia - William Blair

John Ivankoe - JPMorgan

Joe Buckley - Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Brian Bittner - Oppenheimer Company

Matthew DeFrisco - Lazard

Jeffrey Bernstein - Barclays

Keith Siegner - Credit Suisse

Michael Kelter - Goldman Sachs

John Glass - Morgan Stanley

Nicole Miller - Piper Jaffray

David Tarantino - Robert W. Baird

Andrew Barish - Jefferies & Company

Operator

Good afternoon. My name is Mike, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Starbucks Coffee Company?s Third Quarter Fiscal Year 2013 Earnings Conference Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers? remarks there will be a question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions)

Thank you. Ms. DeGrande, you may begin your conference call.

JoAnn DeGrande

Thank you, Mike. Good afternoon. This is JoAnn DeGrande, Vice President of Investor Relations for Starbucks Coffee Company. Joining me on the call today are Howard Schultz, Chairman, President and CEO; Adam Brotman, Chief Digital Officer; and Troy Alstead, Chief Financial Officer.

This conference call will include forward-looking statements, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from these statements.

Any such statements should be considered in conjunction with cautionary statements in our earnings release and the risk factor discussions in our filings with the SEC, including our last annual report on Form 10-K.

Starbucks assumes no obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements or information. This call is being webcast and an archive of the webcast will be available on our website at investor.starbucks.com later today.

With that, let me turn the call over to Howard Schultz. Howard?

Howard Schultz

Thank you, JoAnn, and welcome to everyone on today?s call. I?m very pleased to share with you the extraordinary third quarter result that Starbucks reported today. Starbucks global comparable store sales grew 8% in Q3, 9% in each of our Americas and China Asia-Pacific segments, driven by 7% increase in traffic and representing Starbucks 14th consecutive quarter of comp growth in excess of 5%.

Our revenue in Q3 increased the full 13% over last year to a record $3.7 billion. Operating leverage and our continuing emphasis on increasing efficiency and controlling costs drove operating margin up 150 basis points to a record, Q3 record of 16.4% and an operating income of up 25% to a Q3 record of $615 million.

Together, these factors contribute to a record Q3 EPS of $0.55 per share, 28% over last years? third quarter and the second highest EPS of any quarter in Starbucks 42 year history.

Particularly noteworthy, these results were delivered in the phase of challenging economic and consumer environments in many of the 62 countries around the world in which we operate.

At our December 2010 Investor Day conference, I laid out a strategic vision that completed Starbucks leveraging all of our unique assets, our robust and growing pipeline of innovation, would grown into over 19,000 store global footprint, our fast growing CPG presence and our best-in-class digital card loyalty and mobile capabilities to create a flywheel effect whereby each asset would leverage and enhance our brands and customer experience elevating the relevancy of all things Starbucks and driving increase profitability. I left the conference recognizing that this would have to be executed in a way that would be fully appreciated after the conference.

The results we announced today, demonstrate the success of both our vision and our strategy for achieving it. Continued innovation in our core coffee and beverage portfolios, solid progress against the reinvention of our food platform and an increasing ability to leverage and translate Starbucks? brands and strong U.S. revenue growth into revenue and profit growth in multiple markets and channels around the globe all contributed meaningfully to our record Q3 results.

No single Q3 metric exemplifies the success of our strategy more than a 7% increase in global traffic. For the first time in our history we are bringing customers into our stores all around the world and across all data parts with complete offerings of innovative beverages and both indulge and healthy foods to satisfy their evolving needs and tastes. Today Starbucks global footprint complimentary channels of distribution and unique and powerful digital assets puts us in a class by ourselves. And we're just getting started with further integration and expansion of our flywheel. And the introduction of disruptive and transformative food and beverage industry innovations and technologies around the world in the months and quarters ahead.

I?m going to provide a high level overview of segment performance in Q3 and then turn the call over to Adam Brotman, our chief digital officer who will discuss our world class digital and loyalty assets and share what is about to come in terms of digital. Then Troy will take you through our Q3 financials and fiscal ?14 targets in detail. And we?ll close with Q&A.

Let me begin with the Americas, Starbucks Americas segment is firing on all cylinders with 9% comp growth driven by continued beverage innovation and increased food attachment resulting from the success of our transformed and reinvented food program. Our strong summer refreshment line up including the new Valencia Orange Refresher and the limited time offering of Caramel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino is being extremely well received by our customers and exceeding even our most optimistic expectations.

In Q3 we significantly expanded our La Boulange baked goods platform. Truly delicious and differentiated La Boulange branded products are now available in over 1,000 Starbucks stores across northern California and the Pacific Northwest. The La Boulange launch you will understand why we're seeing both an enthusiastic customer response and substantial lift in incrementally compared to the baked goods that La Boulange is replacing. And they're now on track to bring La Boulange Food to more than 2500 of our stores by the end of September, including stores in New York, Chicago, Boston and Los Angeles. We're also deep into the strategic development and integration of Teavana.

Tea as we?ve shared with you before is a $40 billion global category and we're leveraging all of our unique internal assets including our knowledge in creating best in class retail experiences and handcrafted beverages to create the premium tea experience for our customers just as we?ve done for coffee. You will see all of these strengths come together this fall as we open our first reimagined Teavana street front store on New York City?s Upper Eastside and evolve the Tazo tea concepts store in Seattle under the Teavana brand. Over time many in these handcrafted Teavana tea beverages will also find their way in Starbucks stores.

Turning to EMEA, I?m very pleased to share renewed optimism that we are on our way to delivering sustained profitable growth in our EMEA region. Our EMEA team is bringing markets specific food and beverage innovation across the region and working hard to enhance our customer experience in each of our nearly 2,000 EMEA stores. While early, we feel the results are beginning to show. With super cent comp stores increase that EMEA posted in Q3 was the segments first comp store increase in six quarters. In UK the largest individual market within our EMEA segment also reported positive comps in Q3.

Turning to China and Asia Pacific regions our China/ Asia Pacific region continue to be at the very forefront of Starbucks global expansion initiatives. And we're now on plan to surpass 4,000 stores in the region by the end of 2013. Noteworthy are that our strong 9% increase in China/ Asia Pacific comps store sales improved in Q3 included 8% traffic growth, a doubling of our Q2 traffic growth. And that increased operating leverage enabled China/ Asia Pacific to deliver some of the highest margins in the company. We will open, we will also open our 1,000 store in China by year end and remain on track for China to become Starbucks? largest market outside of the U.S. in 2014.

We continue to invest ahead of the growth curve to build out our in market operational and management capabilities in China and to successfully execute against the plan calling for strong comp growth and further margin expansions well into the future.

Moving to Channel Development and Emerging Brands, Channel Development and Emerging Brands will be a significant contributor to our future growth as we continue to expand customer occasions outside Starbucks stores leveraging our flywheel strategy. I?ll touch on just a few particularly noteworthy developments and opportunities. We continue to strengthen our leadership position in the $8 billion premium single cup category, a segment that?s grown nine times faster than the overall coffee category during the past year and now it accounts for nearly 30% of total coffee sales and grocery.

In May, we announced an extension of our long-term strategic partnership with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters that will enable Starbucks to add many more K-Cup SKUs and gain additional share in the U.S. and abroad. And in Q3, we shipped 1 billion K-Cups, a significant milestone in 20 months since we had our first ship.

While packaged coffee competition down the grocery aisle remains fierce, the price decrease we took in the third quarter has allowed us to be more competitively positioned in our CPG coffee portfolio. And we believe that price decrease positions us to build share and maintain our leadership position in the months and quarters ahead.

Finally, on Tuesday, we announced a very exciting new agreement with Dannon, a world leader in fresh dairy products. In the past several years, we have been committed to evolving and enhancing our customer experience to the introduction of innovative wholesale and healthy products in our stores.

Our new multiyear relationship with Dannon will enable us to leverage our acquisition of evolution fresh business and brand, elevating our existing yogurt offerings and bring out our health enrollment strategy to life, not only at Starbucks stores but also down the grocery aisle, leveraging the evolution fresh branding on multiple product categories, including the initial acquisition of the juice business.

Our evolving portfolio include the exclusively formulated evolution fresh inspired by Dannon-branded ready-to-eat Greek yogurt in our retail stores and evolution fresh branded CPG products co-created by Starbucks and Dannon. These products will bring rolling out the Starbucks stores in North America in the spring of 2014, reach grocery channels in 2015 and reach global distribution over time.

In conclusion, Starbucks coffee company today exists within the universe of one. And our Q3 results demonstrate the increasing relevance and power of our brands, the strength of our management and operations around the world, success of our multiple go-to-market strategies and our increasingly deeper connection to our fast growing global customer base.

With our values in one-on-one direct emotional engagement we have with our customers and our Starbucks? partners around the world remain at the core of our business and our brand. And because the level of innovation and expertise that we?re bringing to are already best-in-class digital and loyalty capabilities has never been greater and to worst, capabilities of any competitor.

I have invited Adam Brotman to join us on this call to discuss his team?s contribution to flywheel strategy and how we?re leveraging our success in U.S. to create a truly, global, unified, comprehensive digital royalty platform.

Before I hand it over to Adam, I just want to take a moment to recognize the world-class Starbucks? leadership team. The strongest group of leaders this company has ever had that has made the results we reported today possible. And of course, we should have never delivered our remarkable Q3 results with the 13th consecutive quarters of record results before, without the daily contribution of over 200,000 Starbucks partners around the world. We?re grenade and deliver the unique Starbucks experience to nearly 70 million customers at over 19,000 stores in 62 countries around the world each week.

Half of the entire leadership team, I thank you all for you do every day. Adam?

Adam Brotman

Thanks Howard. As Howard said, there are number of factors that contributed to the strength of our U.S. business in Q3. From a digital perspective, these kind of past several years building an engine of digital touch points with our customers that not only allows us a deeper relationship with our customers but also pays off with incrementality for our business.

Let me talk for a moment about the growth we're seeing in a variety of key digital card loyalty and mobile programs. In our third quarter, we saw 3% year-over-year growth in total dollars loaded on Starbucks card in retail North America and nearly 100% year-over-year growth in dollars loaded on our cards via Starbucks mobile apps and web properties.

And the Starbucks card continues to represent nearly one-third of U.S. in-store transaction. We also saw over 30% year-over-year growth in total dollars spent in our stores from My Starbucks Rewards or MSR loyalty members in the U.S. And this momentum in loyalty is not just in volume. We?ve also expanded integration between MSR and our CPG channel as well as with our Teavana source.

Regarding mobile, our momentum as the leading retailer in the mobile payment space also continued its rapid growth in Q3. I?m pleased to report that now when 10% of all transactions in our U.S. stores are made with a phone mobile devices have become increasingly important part of the customer experience at Starbucks as the fastest and easiest way to pay in our stores. And we will continue to bring more innovation to this space.

As we?ve been building capabilities and customer enrollment in our card, loyalty and mobile initiatives we haven't taken our foot off of the pedal at all when it comes to Starbucks presence on the web and social media. We continue to see huge traffic for our Wi-Fi network and our web pages. And earlier this month we passed the 4 million Twitter following online. And we continue to leverage Instagram, Pinterest and our global Facebook following to engage with our customers every day around our brand and topics of interest to these customers.

Our internal measures tells us that these various digital initiatives have added demonstrative impact for our U.S. business in Q3 with the promise of even greater growth in the months and years to come. And we are not resting on any of our previous successes. We currently have a robust pipeline of development in each area of our digital ecosystem. And we expect to deliver a number of improvements and innovations to our existing programs throughout the last quarter of FY13 and well into FY14 as well as introducing new concepts and new platforms.

I?ll give you one example of that today. I?m pleased to announce Starbucks in partnership with Duracell Power Mac will stand the trial of wireless charging for our customers? mobile devices in select Starbucks stores in Silicon Valley. This effort, especially initial test of this technology in certain Boston stores earlier this year, the installation of multiple wireless charging tarmac surfaces in our stores will allow our customers to recharge their Smart Phones quickly and effortlessly. This is the kind of improvement to the digital experience that our customers expect from Starbucks and the kind that we will deliver at scale moving forward.

Turning to the international front, we continue to be committed to leverage the success we?ve had in the U.S. in digital around the globe. Over the last month, my team and I spent time in China and Europe. And we?ll visit Latin America and Canada in the coming months. And the purpose of these trips is to determine how we can accelerate deployment of our foundational digital platforms in all of our key global markets. And by no means are we at a cold start in terms of accelerating our digital strategy globally. In China for example, we already have 2.5 million My Service Rewards members and that?s without a mobile payment platform of eGifting in place.

In Q3 we also made global payment available to apps on Android and IOS to Starbucks customers in our Hong Kong market and we're already seeing strong response from that. In fact these IOS and Android apps became the number one free application in the Hong Kong app store with less than a day of having launched them. Once the full breadth of our digital plan comes fully online in CAP and EMEA, the complement to what we're doing elsewhere, the potential for digital creates similar incremental impact to our business in those markets is as strong, if not stronger using digital than anywhere else in the world. I truly believe that no other retailer (inaudible) that?s as far as long as Starbucks in terms of building an end-to-end digital customer experience across a variety of digital touch points both in store and out of store, across channels and now across geographies. We are truly only just getting started.

I?m going to turn it over now to Troy to go through Q3 results in more detail. Troy?

Troy Alstead

Thanks, Adam and good afternoon everyone. The third quarter results we announced today are a testament to the continue efficiency, diversity and overall strength of our business. We grew revenues by 13% with every segment contributing to that growth. We grew global comparable store sales by 8% with each region accelerating compared to last quarter. We expanded operating margin by 150 basis points with margin expansion in every segment. Starbucks cards loads grew by 30% with 24 countries now contributing.

Our investment income grew 23% with both store and CBG partnership contributing. All of that together produced earnings per share of 55 cents. Our best third quarter ever, growing 28% over last Q3.

For the next few minutes I will provide more context on our outstanding third quarter performance as well as update you on our fourth quarter projections. Then I will provide our initial outlook for fiscal 2014. Consolidated net revenues in the third quarter grew to $3.7 billion, 13% higher than a year ago. The growth was largely driven by global comparable store sales growth of 8%, including 7% traffic growth and a 1% increase in average ticket, also contributing revenues from 1,558 net new stores in the past 12 months, including 355 Teavana stores.

Operating income grew 25% in the third quarter to $615 million. Operating margin expanded 150 basis points to 16.4%. Although coffee cost continue to be a benefit to us, contributing 60 basis points this quarter. Leverage on our strong sales was the biggest driver of the margin improvement.

As an illustration of strong operationally effectiveness of our teams across the globe, our store operating expenses as a percentage of related revenues continue to dip near all time lows.

As evidence of the deep cost discipline our partners have embraced, the continuous improvements we?ve made with labor scheduling and productivity, and the scale we are now achieving in many of our smaller growing markets.

The very strong operating performance in Q3 resulted in higher performance based compensation expense which along with a discretionary of $10 million donation to the Starbucks Foundation drove G&A expenses higher in the quarter across the operating segments and unallocated corporate expenses.

Now I will take a moment to speak to the results of each operating segment. First in the Americas, the performance delivered in the third quarter was broad based exceeding even our own expectations and was nothing short of phenomenal. Revenue was $2.8 billion grew 12%, driven by comparable store sales growth of 9%, with 7% coming from increased traffic and 2% from higher average ticket.

While we experienced moderate slowing in the month of June last year, comparable last Q3 was still a strong 7%. Despite the challenging comparison, the Americas regional leverage strength across all day parts and all geographies to grow at its highest rate in six quarters.

Like the Americas regional role, the U.S. grew cost by 9% in the third quarter, contributing to the comp growth was strength in beverage innovation and promotions with the combination of the Marciaro platform, Limited Time Frappuccino offerings and still new refreshers beverages adding a combined 4 percentage points of comp growth.

Operational improvements leading to continued growth in labor productivity also drove higher comp growth in Q3. Our peak hours of 7 to 9 a.m. in the U.S. again showed strong traffic trends as they drive through stores where our focus on enhancing the customer experience while improving speed of service is paying off.

Food again contributed towards the growth in the U.S. business, adding 2 points of comp growth in the quarter as our lunch offerings continue to expand in popularity. While Howard mentioned the enthusiastic response our La Boulange bakery items are receiving, it?s important to note that this quarter?s comp growth contribution from food is not impacted by La Boulange due to the still early stage of the rollout.

Operating income in the Americas region of $619 million grew 24% in the quarter as we continue to turn strong topline growth and even higher bottom-line growth. As a result, Americas operating margin expanded 210 basis points to 22.3%. Strong sales leverage combined with lower commodity cost of 30 basis points were the main drivers behind the improvement.

In addition to the strength in the U.S., Canada and Latin America each had great quarters as well. Canada also grew comparable store sales at the highest rate in the past year and half, and Latin America delivered significant topline growth and margin expansion in the third quarter.

And while I?m discussing Latin America, I want to point out the news of a week ago. So we?ve agreed to sell the remaining 18% of our equity in Argentina and 82% of our equity of Chile to our fantastic partner Alsea.

This will enable further growth in these vibrant markets. It will enhance profitability for both parties. This transaction will close in the fourth quarter and we anticipate realizing a $0.03 earnings per share gain in Q4 as a result.

Moving now to the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, where the third quarter results continue our measured steady progress towards long-term profitability. Revenue in EMEA grew 2% to $287 million in the third quarter as growth in license store revenue was nearly offset by lower company operated store revenue. The license store revenue growth was primarily the result of the addition of 117 license stores over the past year combined with strong growth in existing license stores.

The company operated revenue decline was a result of the declining company operated store base from closures, as well as the sale of a number of company operated stores to license partners as part of our store portfolio optimization last Q4.

Comparable store sales grew 2% in Q3 with 5% growth in traffic partially offset by a 3% decline in average ticket. We are encouraged by this for a number of reasons. It is our first quarter of positive comparables in EMEA in the past year and a half, and our highest score of traffic growth since early 2011. Comp growth improved in our largest company operated market in the EMEA compared to the last quarter reflecting a broad based contribution to seek acceleration.

In our largest EMEA market the UK, comp growth was positive in every month of Q3 with particular success coming from the launch of Origin Expresso, (inaudible) and salads in some stores and growth in the My Starbucks Rewards program. The ticket decline in the quarter was partially due to fewer items per transaction which we believe is a reflection of broader current spending patterns in Europe combined with modest discounting as a result of promotion and the rewards program. EMEA operating income grew from $1.6 million last Q3 to $9.3 million this year. Operating margin expanded in the quarter as it has in every quarter thus far in fiscal ?13 this time by 260 basis points to 3.2%. This was largely driven by the team?s continued focus on cost management as well as the impact of the mix of our store portfolio moving to more heavily licensed models.

In fact, 42 of the 43 net new stores opened in EMEA Q3 were licensed stores. We anticipate both the cost focus and proposed mix shift will be an ongoing driver of market expansion on a year-over-year basis.

In China/ Asia Pacific region the third quarter brought acceleration of top line growth to a significant translation to the bottom line. Revenues of $234 million were 29% higher than last Q3, driven by a combination of 523 net new stores over the past year and 9% comparable store sales growth. The 9% comp growth was entirely due to increased traffic driven by a combination of new locally relevant products and strong growth in the core offerings. And like in the Americas, the contribution of strong comp growth was broad based across the region.

There are so many great examples I'd like to give of the success we're seeing across Asia but Japan stands out this quarter as a real highlight. Sales growth in our joint venture market does not included in the reported comp, however, I want to call out the comparable store sales in Japan normally were a moderate steady grower, ruled by double-digits. We saw tremendous success with local innovation there while at the same time delivered strong execution in operations and the store experience. While emerging markets received many of the headlines, Japan represents around one third of CAP?s operating income, with China contributing a third and the rest of the Asia Pacific markets making up the remaining third.

Our partnership in Japan is critical to our performance in the region and we are delighted with the direction of this market. In the third quarter we opened 119 net new stores in CAP including 61 net new stores in China, 25 in South Korea and 5 in India where we now have 16 incredible stores. Our discipline around site selection and (inaudible) continue to make very impressive returns on our new stores and our pipeline for Q4 and beyond is strong. On 119 net new store this quarter, up slightly from last Q3 but down from the first and second quarters of this year. This is simply due to the timing of opening as we have a busy fourth quarter planned and we continue to target 600 net new stores in CAP for the full year.

Operating income for CAP in third quarter grew 38% to $85 million. Operating margin expanded 250 basis points to 36.2% with sales leverage strong performance from our joint venture operations and 50 basis points of favorable coffee costs contributing. Poor margins in CAP are significant impacted by the pace of new store openings in the particular quarter. In the margin expansion in Q3 also partially reflects the relatively fewer new stores in the quarter. However, given our acceleration of new stores expected in the fourth quarter and the resulting investment required Q4 margins in CAP will remain our best in the world but will likely decline compared to the third quarter.

Channel development also contributed to our consolidated revenue and operating margin growth this quarter albeit at a slower pace. Revenues up $336 million in this segment were up 6% over last Q3 with both the CPG and the Food Service businesses growing at a fast pace. Premium single cup including K-cups, Veva and (inaudible) continues to drive the revenue growth in CPG adding $29 million versus last Q3.

There were a few important milestones reached in the third quarter. Aside from the billionth K-cup shift and our extensions of partnership between Green Mountain that Howard mentioned we saw our share of K-cup dollar sales in U.S. food and drug matched channels hit an all-time high in the quarter at 14.9%. Now the overall premium single cup category grew by a very healthy 46% over last year. Starbucks sales growth of K-cups at 51% outpaced overall category growth. And we have a significant innovation right around the corner that we can continue to derive share gains in this rapidly growing category.

The growth in revenue of the premium single cup was partially offset by softness in package coffee, which was impacted by the significant broad based competitive price declines and by the list price reduction we took in May. Our price reduction was not fully reflected down the aisle from much of the third quarter, but has now made its way into most grocery shops.

Due to the price positioning, innovation in premium single cup and a growing international business, we expect revenue growth in channel development to be stronger in the quarters ahead. Channel development expanded operating margin in the quarter with operating income up 14% over last year. Lower coffee cost provided a gross benefit of 320 basis points this quarter partially offset by the margin impacted the list price reductions on package coffee.

Finally, let me address the results of other segments. All other segment is comprised of our emerging brands including Teavana, Evolution Fresh and Seattle Best Coffee as well as our digital ventures business. Revenue in these other businesses grew to $108 million, more than doubling over the last year.

Teavana, which was not in our base last year, contributed $51 million of the increase. Evolution Fresh while still small also contributed, growing 21% over the last Q3. We continue to increase share and velocity in grocery channels and our new state-of-the-art juiceries began production in June, which will enable us to meaningfully expand availability of Evolution Fresh Juice in both Starbucks stores and CPG channels. We have already gained a nearly 6% share of Western U.S. in super premium juice sales, and look forward to gains coming from both greater distribution and increasing events.

Turning now for our financial division. Our balance sheet has never been stronger and our financial discipline tighter than it is today. Given the current favorable market conditions, we anticipate issuing $750 million in additional long-term debt over the next quarter or so to provide us with financial flexibility for general corporate purposes.

We lost the benchmark interest rate on this issuance in their early part of Q3, when rates were approximately 80 basis points lower than they are today. As we move forward, we will continue to evaluate our capital needs and may increase our debt, if we needed a strong liquidity and to see the right returns from our leverage.

As we think about the target network range, I would know that we are comfortable with our current S&P rate of A minus. So our future leverage will likely be targeted around that rating.

Now, before I move into the outlook for 2014, I want to provide an update on how we expect to finish fiscal 2013. First, let me say again, the third quarter just completed really was a phenomenal quarter by heavy measures, particularly the 9% comp growth in the Americas.

For the fourth quarter, we expect very good results but we do not expect that 9% level of comp growth from our third quarter to continue into the fourth quarter. Q4 is likely to return at strong levels we reported in the first half of fiscal '13 in the range of 5% to 7% global comp growth.

We anticipate continued strong revenue growth of 10% to 13% in the fourth quarter driven by that strong global comp growth. We?re getting in approximately 180 basis points improvement in operating margin in the fourth quarter versus last year. With increased confidence in the strength of revenue growth and operating margin expansion, we expect fourth quarter earnings per share in a range of $0.59 to $0.60.

This includes the $0.03 gain, we will recognize in Q4 on the sales of our equity announced at Argentina and Chile that I mentioned earlier. For the full year, we are targeting earnings per share in the range of $222 to $223 which includes the combined $0.06 gain on the sale of equity in Mexico in Q2 and Argentina and Chile in Q4.

Commodities will continue to benefit as in the fourth quarter as we expect a gross $0.02 earnings per share benefit partially offset by our recent pricing actions down the grocery aisle. Conversely, we expect an unfavorable foreign exchange impact of approximately $6 million in Q4 driven by weaker Japanese Yen. And with regard to the Kraft arbitration, we?ve had no further update on anticipated timing of the resolution.

Looking ahead to fiscal 2014, we are anticipating another year of exceptional growth. We expect revenue growth of 10% to 15% driven by global comparable store sales growth in the mid single digits, 1400 net new stores globally and accelerated channel development growth. The acceleration in new store openings in fiscal '14 will come from the China, Asia Pacific region where we are anticipating a net 700 new stores.

We are targeting 600 net new stores in the Americas and 100 in the EMEA consistent of growth in fiscal '13. Full year consolidated operating margins is expected to improve by 150 to 200 basis points in fiscal '14 as we continue to drive leverage from strong revenue growth and operational efficiencies throughout the business. We will provide segment specific target when we report our fourth quarter results in late October. We are anticipating higher interest expense through the debt offering I mentioned and a moderately higher tax rate. And finally we're targeting earnings per share in the range of 255 to 265 in fiscal ?14. This represents growth at 18 to 22% over fiscal ?13 excluding the six-cent impact of equity sales in Latin America in 2013 contributing to the improvement will be another year of (inaudible) coffee costs shortly expected at a 9 to 10 cents net for the year.

We have a little more than 80% of our coffee beans locked for FY14 providing us with great visibility into this benefit. The 9 to 10 cents net benefit reflects the gross coffee impact partially offset by the recent price changes in CPG as well as routine investments in the business.

The results we presented today and the guidance we?ve laid out for next year are the products of our continued deep focus on operational estimates, enrolled innovation, and rigorous financial discipline. We're confident in the trajectory for many reasons, including a diverse set of significant growth drivers, a strong tenure management team, the best collection of store operators in the world, and a proven growth strategy that drives countless returns on capital and leverage the success in our stores for growth in other channels. Thank you.

I will now turn the call back over to the operator for Q&A. Mike?

Earnings Call Part 2:

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/starbucks-corporation-sbux-ceo-discusses-004202125.html

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