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| U.S. wholesale prices shot up an unexpected 0.6% |
8/12/2020 |
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Wholesale energy prices shot up 5.3% in July, including a 10.1% surge in gasoline prices. Food prices slid 0.5%. Excluding the volatile food and energy prices, so-called core producer prices rose 0.5% last month.
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| When face mask render iPhone face unlock feature useless |
8/11/2020 |
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Apple's iOS 13.5, released in May, automatically presents the passcode field after a user swipes up from the bottom of the lock screen. Also, Apple Pay Express Transit, introduced last year, allows riders on some bus and subway lines to pay with their iPhone or Apple Watch without having to wake the device.
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| 1.8 million job gain realized in July |
8/10/2020 |
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Many employers have been reluctant or unable to hire, with about two-thirds of the nation having paused or reversed reopening plans early last month. Even counting the hiring of the past three months, the economy has recovered only about 42% of the 22 million jobs it lost to the pandemic.
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| U.S. to reinstate a 10% import tax on Canadian aluminum |
8/10/2020 |
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Trump originally imposed the tariffs on aluminum imports in 2018. He then lifted them last year on Canadian and Mexican metals to smooth the way for the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which replaced the North American Free
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| "work/learn-from-home" drives tablet sale to record |
8/7/2020 |
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Tablets have evolved from the simple entertainment slate of the boom years into devices more capable of handling work and school tasks, which has broadened the choices consumers and commercial clients face when upgrading or buying new devices for the new normal.
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| Tariffs on Chinese imports could very well impact the average consumer in America |
8/7/2020 |
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Currently, the global supply chain runs through China, and some claim that China has “weaponized” its dominance. Perhaps this trade tension will weaken China’s dominance in global manufacturing. It will certainly be interesting to see if this conflict will result in a shift in power and influence global manufacturing.
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| The latest Galaxy phones to cost $1,000 to $1,300 |
8/7/2020 |
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Samsung is touting the fancy phones, called the Galaxy Note20 and the Note20 Ultra, at a time that Apple is enjoying success with a $399 iPhone released in April. Google is also rolling out a $349 Pixel phone that has many of the same features as its more expensive model.
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| Garmin reported paid millions of ransom to hackers |
8/7/2020 |
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Unfortunately for Garmin, a recent data breach compromised its entire operation when an alleged cyber attack knocked many of its services and systems offline. And recent reports suggest that it may have been even more nefarious than we realized, saying that Garmin was forced to pay a multi-million-dollar ransom to get its files back.
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| Virgin Atlantic files for protection in U.S. bankruptcy court |
8/6/2020 |
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The bankruptcy filing is part of a court process in the United Kingdom to carry out a restructuring plan that the airline announced last month. The process is supported by a majority of the airline's creditors, and the company hopes to emerge from the process in September.
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| U.S. trade deficit fell 7.5% in June |
8/6/2020 |
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The Commerce Department said Wednesday that the gap between the value of what the United States buys and what it sells abroad fell 7.5% to $50.7 billion in June from $54.8 billion in May. Exports shot up an unprecedented 9.4% to $158.3 billion. Imports rose 4.7% to $208.9 billion.
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| Analyst predicts memory market to slow down due to material shortage |
8/6/2020 |
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DRAM shipment growth is projected to be flat q-q. Of note, hyperscalers’ data center investment concentrated on 1H20 due to a surge in non-face-to-face traffic amid the Covid-19 crisis. Therefore, as memory inventory levels at hyperscalers will likely exceed the appropriate amounts in 2H20, data center investment is expected to decline h-h.
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| US PMI notching a third consecutive month of economic growth |
8/5/2020 |
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The July PMI registered 54.2 percent, up 1.6 percentage points from the June reading of 52.6 percent. This figure indicates expansion in the overall economy for the third month in a row after a contraction in April, which ended a period of 131 consecutive months of growth.
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| Semiconductor sales rose 5.1% year-on-year in June |
8/5/2020 |
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SIA said sales during the second quarter of 2020 were US$103.6 billion, an increase of 5.1% over the second quarter of 2019, but a small decrease of 0.9% compared to the first quarter of 2020.
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