Forbes | The Technology That Will Change Accounting Forbes Lots of people speculate about the next big innovation that will take their industries by storm. In the realm of accounting and finance, there is a major technology often misunderstood by professionals that could dramatically change the game for the ... |
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U.S. stocks bounced back to record highs Tuesday as investors put an end to a two-day drop for technology companies. Energy and consumer-focused companies also made outsize gains.
In a reversal from the two previous days, investors put money into companies that stand to benefit from faster economic growth, including retailers; makers of basic materials such as paints and chemicals; energy companies; and banks. Big-dividend companies, which are usually considered safer investments, did not do as well as the rest of the market.
Tech companies reversed their losses from Monday, although they remain well below their peak from last week.
There's no question that the rally in that sector can continue as long as investors' sentiment remains positive, said Brian Rehling, co-head of global fixed income strategy at Wells Fargo Investment Institute. Rehling said he believes tech stocks are too high, but not by a huge amount.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 10.96 points, or 0.5%, to 2,440.35. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 92.80 points, or 0.4%, to 21,328.47.
The Nasdaq composite, which has a large concentration of technology companies, rose 44.90 points, or 0.7%, to 6,220.37, but did not get back to its record highs. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks advanced 6.77 points, or 0.5%, to 1,425.98.
Technology companies led the way. Facebook rose 1.5% to $150.68. Microsoft ticked up 1.2% to $70.65. Hard drive maker Western Digital climbed 3.9% to $90.05.
Even after their recent skid, technology companies have done much better than the rest of the market in 2017. Big tech firms such as Apple and Alphabet, Googles parent company, have been responsible for a huge portion of the stock market's gains this year.
Amazon helped retailers rise. The online giant rose 1.6% to $980.79. Best Buy climbed 1.9% to $57.85, and Home Depot advanced 1.2% to $153.99.
Among materials companies, Dow Chemical jumped 2% to $65.26 and Sherwin-Williams rose 1.5% to $353.25.
Energy companies joined the gains as the price of oil reversed an early loss. U.S. crude futures rose 38 cents to settle at $46.46 a barrel. Brent crude, used to price international oils, ticked up 43 cents to $48.72 a barrel.
Among energy stocks, Halliburton climbed 2% to $45.84 and oil refiner Tesoro increased 3.3% to $94.22.
Wholesale gasoline rose 1 cent to $1.50 a gallon. Heating oil rose 2 cents to $1.45 a gallon. Natural gas slumped 6 cents, or 1.9%, to $2.97 per 1,000 cubic feet.
The Federal Reserve began a two-day policy meeting Tuesday. On Wednesday, investors expect the central bank to raise interest rates for the third time since December. Rehling, of the Wells Fargo Investment Institute, said investors will scrutinize the Fed's views on inflation and how aggressive it will be in raising interest rates in the future.
The market's going to be looking to see if they're still on track, he said. Investors also want to know about the Fed's plan to start reducing its huge portfolio of bonds, he said. He doesn't think that will have much effect on the bond market.
Information technology company Science Applications International Corp. slumped 8.5% to $74.52 after its sales fell short of Wall Street's projections. The company said tight budgets for customers are hurting its sales, and greater costs affected its profit.
Restaurant chain Cheesecake Factory slid 9.9% to $52.58 after it said sales at established restaurants have fallen in the current quarter. Those sales, an important measure of how a retailer is doing, were down about 1%; FactSet says analysts expected growth of 1.7%.
Verizon officially bought Yahoo's Internet business for $4.5 billion, bringing an end to Yahoo's 21 years as a publicly traded company. Yahoo is being combined with AOL in a new Verizon unit called Oath, which is run by AOL Chief Executive Tim Armstrong. Verizon stock fell 1.5% to $46.46.
Bond prices edged up. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note slipped to 2.21% from 2.22%.
Gold fell 30 cents to $1,268.60 an ounce. Silver fell 18 cents, or 1%, to $16.77 an ounce. Copper fell 2 cents to $2.60 a pound.
The dollar rose to 109.96 yen from 109.79 yen. The euro inched up to $1.1212 from $1.1208.
Germany's DAX gained 0.6% and the CAC 40 in France advanced 0.4%. In Britain the FTSE 100 index lost 0.2%. Asian markets finished mostly higher. In South Korea the Kospi rose 0.7%, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong advanced 0.6%, and Japan's Nikkei 225 slipped 0.1%.
UPDATES:
2:15 p.m.: This article was updated with closing prices, context and analyst comment.
This article was originally published at 6:55 a.m.
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Stocks bounce back to record highs as tech companies rise - Los Angeles Times
Denver Business Journal | TSA to test fingerprint technology at DIA Denver Business Journal TSA looks at technologies and intelligence capabilities that allow us to analyze and secure the travel environment, passengers and their property. Through these and other technology demonstrations, we are looking to reinvent and enhance security ... TSA tests fingerprint technology at DIA TSA To Test Biometric Technology |
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TSA to test fingerprint technology at DIA - Denver Business Journal
Want to know if youll be dead in five years? Just let a computer look at your organs.
New research has indicated that future predicting computers could be coming to hospitals in the near future. Researchers are hoping that the technology could be used to predict serious illnesses and medical conditions such as heart attacks.
For the study, five yearold medical images of 48 patients chests were analyzed by artificial intelligence. From these images alone, the system was able to predict (with 69 percent accuracy) whether or not a patient would die within five years. It was also able to predict medical outcomes by analyzing large volumes of data and discovering subtle patterns. This new exambyAI has proven to be more effective than a physical exam from a doctor, though apparently its really not a fair fight.
MICROSOFT, OTHERS SPEARHEADING A 'SMART CITIES' INITIATIVE FOR EVERYONE
Human doctors are not trained to predict mortality, so the comparison is a bit unfair, study leader Dr. Luke OakdenRayner of the University of Adelaide told Fox News. OakdenRayner added that previous research using clincial data such as age, sex or physical fitness had between 65 percent and 75 percent accuracy, so the new study "compare[s] favorably, especially considering we excluded factors like age and sex from our analysis."
Currently the system is only trained to predict death within five years, although, according to OakdenRayner, with the right dataset it should be trivial to extend the technique to other time scales.
To predict mortality at ten years, for example, the system would need to analyze CT scans performed over ten years ago so that OakdenRayners team could have the follow up results. The researchers also couldnt tell what exactly it was the computers were seeing in the images to make their assessment, though they did find a strong relationship between the prediction of mortality and the presence of visible illnesses such as emphysema and congestive heart failure.
OakdenRayner explained that certain techniques could be applied to visualize how the computers were seeing the scans, but the study was too small to use them this goround.
You can identify the regions of the images that contributed to the prediction, and you can hallucinate images that exaggerate the features that the system uses (generating exemplars of "survival" and "mortality" scans), he said. We couldn't apply these techniques effectively due to our small dataset, but are currently applying them to a much larger group consisting of tens of thousands of patients.
ZAPPING YOUR BRAIN WITH ELECTRICITY CAN AID CREATIVITY -- BUT THERE'S A CATCH
For this next round of testing, OakdenRayner and his team will be incorporating highly predictive clinical information like age and sex into their models, which they expect will improve prediction accuracy.
Similar medical AI news has been cropping up lately: a startup in China revealed an AI system that can help doctors identify lung cancer by examining CT scans, and IBM now has AI in hospitals (called Watson) that can answers patient questions. However, if perfected, this new medical AI could be the most exciting development yet.
We will start looking at predicting other medical events before they happen, like strokes, cancer and heart attacks, OakdenRayner said.
The study can be found in "Scientific Reports."
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This new technology can help predict if you're going to die - Fox News
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | Touch-sensing technology born of CMU researchers grabs companies' interest Pittsburgh Post-Gazette It took two years for researchers at Carnegie Mellon University to develop technology that can add touch-sensing capabilities to everyday objects and surfaces like toys, steering wheels and walls, but it did not take long for companies to express ... |
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Touch-sensing technology born of CMU researchers grabs companies' interest - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Forbes | The Technology And Telecommunications Sectors And Trump's Crucial Second 100 Days Forbes Is it possible to keep federal government regulators' hands off the technology sector? We're in the middle of president Donald Trump's second "100 Days," and there were a number of executive actions aimed at rolling back "job-killing regulations ... |
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The Technology And Telecommunications Sectors And Trump's Crucial Second 100 Days - Forbes
U.S. stock indexes slipped again Monday as technology companies, which were near record highs last week, suffered a second day of sharp losses. Investors are changing course and selling some of the best-performing stocks of the year while buying shares of companies that have struggled.
Technology companies have surged in recent months, and Monday almost all of the losses came from the big companies that have led the way recently: Apple, Microsoft, Facebook and Alphabet, Google's parent company. Stocks fell hard in early trading, but they gradually recovered part of their losses as the day went on.
Julian Emanuel, an equity strategist for UBS, thinks technology stocks may fall a lot further and wind up 10% lower than they were last week. He said the tech firms should continue to do well, but the stocks have done so much better than the rest of the market in recent months that they are due for a downturn.
Any time that you have that degree of extreme sector outperformance, two things happen: The overall market tends to get a bit more volatile, and the leading group tends to underperform the laggards, he said.
Investors took a new look at some groups of companies that haven't done that well in 2017, including energy, telecommunications and real estate companies. Some of the best-performing stocks fell, including consumer-focused companies, healthcare companies, utilities and basic materials makers.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index slipped 2.38 points, or 0.1%, to 2,429.39. The Dow Jones industrial average, which closed at a record high Friday, fell 36.30 points, or 0.2%, to 21,235.67. The Nasdaq composite dropped 32.45 points, or 0.5%, to 6,175.46. The Russell 2000 index of small-company stocks slid 2.50 points, or 0.2%, to 1,419.21.
Apple dropped 2.5% to $145.32, Alphabet fell 0.9% to $961.81, Facebook fell 0.8% to $148.44, and Microsoft fell 0.8% to $69.78. Other 2017 top performers also tumbled: Activision Blizzard sank 2.2% to $56.76, Netflix dived 4.2% to $151.44, and semiconductor firm Skyworks Solutions declined 3% to $103.76.
Technology stocks have done far better than the rest of the market this year and were close to all-time highs before Friday's drop. The technology component of the S&P 500 index shed 2.7% Friday, erasing a month's worth of gains.
General Electric, meanwhile, made its biggest gain in almost two years after it said Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt will step down after 16 years at the helm. John Flannery, the head of GE's healthcare division, will take over the post in August. Immelt will remain GE's chairman until the end of this year. In recent years GE has sold or split off numerous businesses, including its financial services division, and focused on new technologies as it returned to its roots as an industrial company.
GE stock climbed 3.6% to $28.94, its largest one-day jump since October 2015.
Trovagene jumped 20% to 97 cents after the San Diego developer of diagnostic technology announced a deal to provide AstraZeneca with a urine biomarker test and services for use in a study.
Benchmark U.S. crude rose 25 cents to $46.08 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose 14 cents to $48.29 a barrel in London. Among energy companies, Exxon Mobil rose 1% to $82.93, and Chevron ticked up 1.5% to $108.04.
Energy companies are down 12% this year and phone companies have fallen almost 9%, but both climbed Monday. Verizon rose 1% to $47.19. Real estate companies have lagged the market this year, and they rose as well.
Stocks that took a rare downturn included Amazon, which fell 1.4% to $964.83, and drug and medical device maker Baxter International, which dropped 3% to $57.15.
The Federal Reserve is scheduled to meet Tuesday and Wednesday, and investors expect the central bank to raise interest rates for the third time since December.
Emanuel, of UBS, said that if the Fed takes an upbeat view of the economy, investors probably will keep selling technology stocks and put their money into consumer-focused companies, banks, and other industries that should benefit from continued economic growth. But if the Fed is more pessimistic, investors may look for yield and safer investments and buy bonds and high-dividend stocks instead.
Bond prices wobbled and turned lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.21% from 2.20%.
In other energy trading, wholesale gasoline slipped 1 cent to $1.49 a gallon. Heating oil fell less than 1 cent to $1.43 a gallon. Natural gas fell 2 cents to $3.02 per 1,000 cubic feet.
The dollar fell to 109.79 yen from 110.20 yen. The euro inched up to $1.1208 from $1.1195. The British pound continued to fall after Britains general election, sliding to $1.2657 from $1.12724. The elections outcome could affect Britain's bargaining position in its exit talks with the European Union.
Gold slipped $2.50 to $1,268.90 an ounce. Silver fell 28 cents to $16.94 an ounce. Copper fell 3 cents to $2.62 a pound.
Overseas stock markets also stumbled. France's CAC 40 dropped 1.1% and the Germany DAX shed 1%. Britain's FTSE 100 lost 0.2%. The benchmark Nikkei 225 in Japan fell 0.5% and South Korea's Kospi declined 1%. The Hang Seng of Hong Kong dropped 1.3%.
UPDATES:
2:05 p.m.: This article was updated with closing prices, context and analyst comment.
This article was originally published at 7:55 a.m.
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Stocks fall further as technology sell-off continues - Los Angeles Times
Wall Street Journal (subscription) | Decline in Technology Stocks Moderates in Monday's Session Wall Street Journal (subscription) A decline in technology stocks moderated Monday and the shares of several chip makers turned higher, alleviating some concerns that last week's pullback could be the start of a deep rout. Nvidia Corp., the S&P 500's worst performer on Friday, Micron ... |
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Decline in Technology Stocks Moderates in Monday's Session - Wall Street Journal (subscription)
By Stephanie Brick By Stephanie Brick June 12 at 9:00 AM
In our techno-savvy, ultra-connected society, there is always something greater cooler, better just around the corner, shouting at you from a screen.
The innovation of new software, computers, cellphones, cars, televisions and general electronic conveniences is constant, and the Internet of Things, referring to physical objects connected virtually (as through wireless Internet or Bluetooth), gains more momentum and connectivity with every passing nanosecond. Upgrades are no longer purely out of necessity; they are often born of the simple desire for the next new, ultra-connected, wireless convenience.
Regularly, though, we forget about the household electronics that have sustained us over the decades. These retro home staples are used and abused everyday but not associated in the same sexy category as cellphones and tablets though maybe they should be.
Once revered as the latest and greatest in home innovation and convenience, home fixtures and appliances have waited decades for their moment to shine again. Todays fast-paced, constantly evolving society of electronics has finally collided with the biggest home-remodeling boom in a century: Exciting, techno-upgrades are finally ready to debut in every room of your home.
[More Brick: How to size an island thats right for your kitchen]
Virtually every home is wirelessly connected to the outside. But now you can truly start wirelessly connecting your home on the inside. Asnever before, electronics of all sizes from 500-pound refrigerators to two-ounce cellphones are now capable of communicating with each other to enhance your day-to-day life.
Efficiency is the pivotal driver of innovation in kitchen appliances (with the cool factor leading a close second place). After a long day at work, who wants to come home and wait 20 minutes for the oven to preheat? If you choose to be smart, there are Bluetooth and wireless ovens to solve that problem. What about standing at the grocery store, racking your brain to remember whetheryou have enough milk or berries or ketchup? You could check your in-refrigerator camera to answer that question.
Your kitchen is not the only room in your home ready for upgrades. Maybe you do not want a computerized fridge or baking unit; maybe those upgrades are just too mundane for you. Maybe you want the greatest technology experience money can buy for the second most popular room to be renovated in todays home: the bathroom.
Overwhelmingly, trends in bathroom design are pointing toward a luxurious, spalike experience. Not surprisingly, many of the technologies available for the bathroom are geared toward that very experience, and the boom in techno-savvy upgrades directly reflects that. There are standard upgrades, such asheated radiant floors and LED mirrors, or the elevated experience options: coffee makers built into your vanity cabinetry (why wait to go downstairs to jump-start your morning) and anti-fogging mirrors with integrated televisions behind the mirror glass.
[More Brick: How to make your home organic and healthier]
Using technology in the bathroom can, on the spectrum, lean a little more toward fun than function. The ceiling tub filler is a popular-to-show-off innovation that streams a narrow column of water from the ceiling straight into your tub. Inversely, you can choose to integrate a virtual tub spout, which invisibly fills the tub internally from the bottom of the tub up.
More than any other feature in the bathroom, the shower takes center stage when it comes to technology upgrades. Chromotherapy, aromatherapy, steam-integration, body sprays, ceiling water tiles, Bluetooth speaker systems if you can dream it, you can design it into your shower. Whether you prefer to shower in an idyllic spring rain or full-blown carwash, there is a shower experience just waiting for you to remotely turn it on (preset to your personal user preferences and temperature).
Another, debatably more functional, techno-integrated fixture in the bathroom is the toilet. Now truly deserving of its Porcelain Throne title, heated seats, night lights, touchless-flushes, pre-misting bowls, and motion-censored open/close lids (and auto-close seats) are readily available upgrades. In-wall tank systems and wall-mounted bowls give both a clean look and easy-to-clean functionality.
Lighting is a technology integration that is transforming both bathrooms as well as other spaces throughout the home. With motion-sensor LED lights, a softly glowing path can illuminate the way to a hall bathroom in the middle of the night (especially helpful for visiting guests and children). Attached to the toe kick of vanities, a motion-activated LED night light can greet anyone who opens the bathroom door in the dark. Staircases, closet rods and full-length mirrors are also receiving LED integration for better, more energy-efficient lighting where you need it most.
[More Brick: Upgrades to make your home more entertainment-friendly]
Keep in mind that, just as with cellphones and laptops, there is always going to be a new, great, technological innovation just around the corner. These innovations may be fun, functional or both or sometimes neither. As whole-house technology hubs, artificial intelligence assistants and the Internet of Things are integrated into our lives and homes, knowing some of the available technologies, as well as being able to prioritize function or the cool factor, will help you navigate the world of new and exciting household tech upgrades.
Stephanie Brick is senior architectural designer at Sustainable Design Group in Gaithersburg, Md.
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Whole-house technology systems can be functional and fun - Washington Post
Global stock markets fell on Monday, led by technology shares, as investors look ahead to policy meetings this week by the central banks of the U.S., Britain and Japan.
KEEPING SCORE: France's CAC 40 dropped 1 percent to 5,247, while Germany's DAX dropped 0.9 percent to 12,703. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.1 percent to 7,518. U.S. shares were set to drift lower, with Dow futures slipping 0.2 percent and S&P 500 futures 0.3 percent lower.
TECH SELL-OFF: A drop in technology stocks in the U.S. on Friday echoed through markets on Monday. In Germany, Infineon Technologies was down 5 percent and SAP 3.5 percent. Finland's Nokia was down 2.8 percent. Investors seem spooked the prospect that tech stocks might be overpriced after months of strong gains. The Nasdaq fell 1.8 percent on Friday.
CENTRAL BANKS: Looking ahead, market players are watching central banks' meetings in Britain and the U.S. later this week. Analysts say the Fed is likely to raise interest rates, while the Bank of England is expected to keep them unchanged. The Bank of Japan is also meeting on monetary policy later this week, but little is expected to impact markets, they say.
THE QUOTE: "The start of the week may be quiet, but we'll get monetary policy decisions from the Federal Reserve, Bank of England and Bank of Japan on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, respectively. The Fed will be of particular interest with markets now fully pricing in a rate hike and instead more concerned with whether they'll signal another this year or focus more on balance sheet reduction," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA.
ASIA'S DAY: Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped 0.5 percent to finish at 19,908.58. South Korea's Kospi slipped 1.0 percent to 2,357.87. Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 1.3 percent to 25,703.83, while the Shanghai Composite index dipped 0.6 percent to 3,139.88. Trading was closed in Australia for a national holiday.
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude added 74 cents to $46.57 a barrel. It had gained 19 cents on Friday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, added 85 cents to $49.00 a barrel in London.
CURRENCIES: The pound continued to drop after falling over 2 percent versus the dollar after the Conservatives lost their majority in Parliament. The vote's outcome is creating disarray in Britain's negotiations to leave the European Union, due to start June 19. The pound was down at $1.2680, from $1.2721 on Friday. The dollar weakened to 109.88 yen from 110.36 late Friday. The euro strengthened to $1.1221 from $1.1182.
Yuri Kageyama can be reached on Twitter at https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
Her work can be found at https://www.apnews.com/search/yuri%20kageyama
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Oil companies are applying new hydraulic fracturing techniques to early Bakken wells, a process industry leaders say has the potential to recover more oil without increasing the footprint on the land.
Operators are targeting wells drilled between 2008 and 2010, the early years of Bakken development before fracking technology advanced to where it is today.
Companies are refracturing the older wells using todays technology and getting promising results, said Justin Kringstad, director of the North Dakota Pipeline Authority, who recently analyzed the wells.
On average, theyre getting better performance from the wells, Kringstad said.
Fracking or pumping a high-pressure mixture of water, sand and chemicals deep underground and horizontal drilling techniques allowed operators to recover oil from the Bakken.
But the industry believes its only recovering about 5 to 15 percent of the oil available, Kringstad said.
More than 140 wells in the Bakken have been refractured, and most saw an increase in oil production from 200,000 to 250,000 barrels, according to Kringstads analysis.
The newly fracked wells are injected with larger volumes of fluid and sand and the fracture treatments are applied to smaller segments of the well, he said.
North Dakota legislators also are interested in the potential for refracturing existing oil wells and are planning a study during the interim focused on the fiscal impact to the state.
Sen. Kelly Armstrong, R-Dickinson, said recovering more oil would mean more tax revenue and more jobs.
Armstrong, one of the legislators who introduced the study, said legislators plan to invite experts to learn more about refracturing and discuss if there are economic incentives the state could consider.
We are only getting a small, small amount of the total potential reserve down there, Armstrong said. Everybody would benefit if we could figure out a way to recover more.
Monte Besler, a Williston oilfield consultant known as the FRACN8R, said not all wells will be good candidates for refracturing. But it can pay off in wells that were completed with technology now considered outdated, he said.
Kringstad said companies will typically want to see at least an additional 200,000 barrels of oil to justify the investment.
Lynn Helms, director of the Department of Mineral Resources, said refracturing oil wells can recover more oil without expanding the footprint of the Bakken.
Theres no additional environmental impacts and theres generally already a pipeline there, Helms said.
Kringstad also is studying the impact refracturing could have on the pipeline industry and working to provide oil and natural gas pipeline operators data to help them plan.
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New technology could recover more oil from early Bakken wells - Bismarck Tribune
NEW DELHI: Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Jio today said telcos not investing in new technology and instead leveraging their balance sheet are themselves to blame for financial difficulties.
Newcomer Reliance Jio, which met the Interministerial Group (IMG) today said operators need to raise funds by selling stake or invest in new technology through internal accruals.
"Operators (excluding Jio) need to invest Rs 1,25,000 crore, payback debt and they need to invest in technology, as growth is happening in data...they can do this by selling stake," said a senior Jio official who did not want to be named.
Stating that the financial stress being faced by operators was "their own creation", the official said the only policy intervention required is in form of reduction in GST rates, licence fee and USO levies.
Lowering of these levies can generate Rs 20,000-25,000 crore additional EBITDA for the industry, the Jio official said after coming out from the 45-minute meeting with the IMG.
The IMG today began consultation with operators as part of efforts to address the financial difficulties being faced by the sector. The telcos are reeling under a massive Rs 4.6 lakh crore debt, and are facing pressure on revenue, profitability and all other financial matrix in face of increasing competition intensified by the entry of Jio.
Over the next few days, the IMG will also meet other operators including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular, as well as top officials of telecom PSUs Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd.
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Telcos not investing in technology reason behind financial stress: Reliance Jio - Economic Times
Modern technology could shore up the European project, boost transparency and help governments collect taxes. Author Jamie Bartlett told EURACTIV.com that the EU should become the great technological innovator but warned that politicians simply arent prepared for massive changes ahead.
Jamie Bartlett is a writer, journalist and director of the Centre for the Analysis of Social Media at UK think tank Demos. In 2014, he published The Dark Net and has just released his latest book, Radicals.
In Brussels at the invitation of Full Circle, Bartlett spoke to EURACTIVs Sam Morgan.
Whats the EUs role in technological advancements like Bitcoin, blockchain etc.?
Theres a battle going on in terms of regulation. It seems to most people, including myself, that the European Commission is one of the only places that has the courage to give it a go. My view has changed slightly over the years. I used to think that regulation was pointless and wouldnt work and that the nature of borderless digital communication meant that it was like the little Dutch boy with his finger in the dyke. But the coming progress in artificial intelligence, peer-to-peer platforms and the power of modern computing means governments are going to have to start regulating if they want to maintain a serious tax-paying base, if they want all the things about modern society we have come to depend on to remain. They are all going to be under unprecedented threat in the next decade.
Is it something governments are aware of or even willing to be aware of? Is there a comparison with denial of climate change to be made here?
These new businesses become so large and so valuable before the regulators notice them that suddenly they are too big to regulate. Its unreasonable to expect politicians to have a handle on these issues but they do need to understand the scale of the challenge coming, the biggest of which is AI. I dont mean killer robots but the twin forces of automation and machine learning, and the effect they are going to have on millions of jobs. The optimist says humans will create new jobs, itll be fine, thats what weve always done. But Im not so sure its the same this time around. When you combine that with a more precarious workforce that inevitably comes with the gig economy, the sorts of skills people are going to need and the type of jobs that will become available, I think politicians simply dont have a clue what is looming on the horizon. We are talking ten years and we are talking massive disruption.
Supporting innovation should be the driving force behind the EU response to the emerging field of financial technology, European lawmakers said in a draft resolution adopted yesterday (25 April).
Is that linked to how short a shelf-life governments and leaders have now? We have referendums and elections all the time, are politicians now not interested in thinking long-term?
Possibly. The horrible factor with global warming is that democracy perhaps isnt the best political model to deal with it. It might not be right for artificial intelligence either. I think that the last year has been a little skirmish ahead of what lies ahead. The big political parties are going to have to actually decide how to deal with these problems, so were not shocked when this all hits us further down the line. When populists make certain promises that cant be delivered upon and when centrist parties mimic those pledges to try and keep control it results in spiralling frustrations that push people towards the extreme right or left. We are going to have to change how we do politics. Do we really think that people who are in their early twenties or even younger are going to accept the way we do politics in a decades time? I dont.
If its a generational thing, what can the EU do to bridge that gap? Should they leap on new technologies like Bitcoin, blockchain, etc.?
Absolutely. Like I said, the institutions have already shown leadership on these kinds of issues, including privacy and antitrust cases against Google and Microsoft. Thats a good example of the size and power of these big companies, and the scale of the technology; it needs a framework with the scope of the EU to confront them. We know the challenge is borderless, like climate change. The EU needs to harness things like AI and Bitcoin in order to address the needs of people. We cannot let technology run away with us.
Youve previously highlighted how these new technologies can be used illegally and immorally. If a body like the EU were to focus on something like blockchain, do you think it would appropriate the tech for good?
Well there will always be people that use technology for bad. But if the EU were to do more then it would mean that it wouldnt just be in the hands of the FinTech industry and criminals. You could well imagine the Commission, which is often seen as being very distant from people, taking that technology and trying to use it in a way where it establishes itself as an innovator, a leader. There are always going to be people abusing new technology but, this way, the benefits could at least be shared.
So could blockchain be a real weapon in the push for transparency? Its something the Commission has beat the drum about for a while now.
I would love it if the European Union bodies were able to use it to deliver on these promises. The EU has always talked about creating a pan-European identity, where citizens across Europe can discuss ideas with each other. Well thats already happening, all the time, on these massive platforms. So why cant the institutions follow suit? Why cant policy-based documents be crowd-source edited by people from across the EU? Thats how you bring disparate people together and make them feel close to decision-making procedures.
Youve written before about crypto-anarchists, many of whom hope these new technologies can bring about a form of stateless society. Do you think the EU and national governments are aware of this threat to their existence?
Of course not! I talked to the European Commission in 2011/2012 about a paper I had done on far-right activists across Europe, which said that populist groups were building a really good online presence with enormous support bases, which would make a big impact on formal politics. That was five years ago. No one listened. Now, I think they are now going to put all their energies into finally dealing with this so they are going to miss out on other movements. The people involved in this crypto-anarchic world are the very people who run these tech companies, who are building all this technology we use, and they hate the European Union. They hate it because its this distant, centralised body that represents everything they dislike about politics.
The sharing economy hasnt exactly sprung up out of nowhere but everyone has heard of Uber, Airbnb now
Four years ago, did anyone imagine they would advance like they have? I didnt see blockchain or Bitcoin coming. But every single person who worked on the internet now says that blockchain is completely revolutionary. Its as revolutionary as TCP/IP. Does anyone in this town really understand that? I dont think so.
Is there a glimmer of hope in Estonia taking over the rotating presidency of the EU? Its often been described as the first digital nation.
I hope people will go there and see the things they are willing to pilot. This is the kind of hackers mentality we need, where things are tried and failures arent terminal. But this is at odds with how policy is made at the moment. I hope Estonia bangs home the point that Russias propaganda campaign is only going to get bigger and bigger in the Baltics.
The German army launched a dedicated cyber-defence unit recently. Its offensive capabilities have been criticised but is this likely to be the norm from now on?
They have to go on the offensive. They also knew they were going to be criticised, as we live in an open society, but armed forces are going to carry on doing it anyway. Look at the scale of the offensive propaganda campaigns weve always run in Europe, Ive got no reason to believe well change now.
We can rent a car or house anywhere we want, you showed that you can buy whatever you want on the dark net, but have advancements in technology outstripped how we have developed as a society? Can we be trusted with the power literally at our fingertips or is it like giving a toddler a hand-grenade?
The mere smartphone gives us near godlike powers. Encryption can be used for good and bad, as can the sharing economy. It all makes systems more fragile. British Airways latest IT crash was caused by just one person not following the right protocol. Expect more fragility too. Look at the huge increase in the amount of information that has been hacked over the last three or four years from companies: thats the new normal.
So its something we are just going to have to accept and get used to?
It also means a smaller number of people can do greater damage than before. My only hope is that this turbulence we are going through will teach us how to deal with these problems. As a society, we will have to develop new ways of dealing with these threats. At the moment, these are the growing-pains of a system that we are currently not equipped to deal with.
Optimists say we will deal with automation and Industry 4.0 by retraining people in IT, code-writing, etc. Do you think that increases the chances of these threats, if more people know how to manipulate this technology?
Well have to think really hard about what we train people in.The stock answer seems to be computer programming but computers are going to be better and faster at that too.Thats only going to lead to a spiral of frustration. Theres also going to be a form of inequality springing up between those who can use technology and those who cant. Its going to exacerbate the levels of inequality we already have.
If you could drive the EU towards a certain policy topic or run it in a certain way, how would you handle it?
The EU should somehow be the great innovator and great regulator. A pity that we in the UK will only watch from the sidelines.
How is Brexit going to affect privacy and other developments long-term?
The government has already said it intends to stay with the data passporting system, because its too difficult for British businesses without it. So much of the economy involves data and the government is desperate to encourage digital technologies. I originally thought that the UK would say data regulations are too onerous and that it would decide to set up its own little system, with really lax rules, which could attract tech firms. Companies will be attracted by this kind of data-haven as much as by a tax-haven. But the draw of European and American business will ultimately be too great, so Brexit wont actually have a massive impact on privacy.
This technology seems to offer governments a new source of revenue if anything
Cryptocurrencies certainly offer them a chance to collect tax more efficiently. Taxes are going to get harder and harder to raise. Truck and taxi companies are suddenly software companies, which are harder to tax than the taxi firm just down the road. Without a tax-raising base, everything goes to pot. But if they start experimenting with cryptocurrencies, the people involved are going to get more frustrated and create more systems that make it harder to raise taxes, so well find ourselves in a vicious circle and a form of digital arms race.
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Darknet guru: New technology can help build European identity - EURACTIV
Indian shares dropped as industrial-equipment makers declined ahead of a factory output data that some investors gauged would fall short of estimates. Lenders also fell on concerns that farm-credit waivers by states would add to bad loans in the banking system.
The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex closed 0.5 percent lower in Mumbai, its steepest decline in nearly three weeks. The NSE Nifty 50 Index also fell 0.5 percent. Larsen & Toubro Ltd., the nations biggest engineering company, retreated 2.3 percent to be worst Sensex performer along with Tata Motors Ltd.
Investors may be positioning themselves for a bad set of manufacturing data later in the day and thats reflecting in the capital-goods shares, Ashish Shah, head of equity at Mumbai-based A.C. Choksi Share Brokers Pvt., said on phone. The market is under some selling pressure after its rally so far this year, he said.
Indias index of industrial production rose 2.7 percent in April versus a year earlier, according toestimates compiled by Bloomberg. The index is likely to miss that forecast and rise 2.3 percent, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.
Ten of the 13 sector gauges compiled by BSE Ltd. retreated, led by the S&P BSE Capital Goods Indexs 1.6 percent drop. The S&P BSE Information Technology Index rebounded from a fall of more than 1 percent to close 0.4 percent higher, the best performer.
A gauge of lenders also fell 1 percent after the Maharashtra governmentannounced that it will waive farm credits, adding to investor concerns of a further increase in bad loans at banks, already the highest among major economies globally. Uttar Pradesh, the nations most populous state, made a similar announcement in April.
Read the central banks views on farm-loan waivers
Farm loan waivers have created negative sentiments, mainly for banks and financial companies, which have largest weights in indexes, said Sanjay Sinha, founder of Mumbai-based Citrus Advisors. Credit discipline suffers and these measures are also economically regressive, he said.
Indias Sensex and Nifty indexes have both rallied 17 percent in 2017, the best-performing gauges among major Asian markets.
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India's Sensex Drops Most in Two Weeks, Led by Technology Stocks - Bloomberg
The response to my last column, which warned of an ominous pattern in charts of big technology stocks, shows that while professionals are hedged against a decline, the average investor is full of bravado.
The real question
The real question for investors is what comes next bloodbath or bliss. To find the answer, we need to take the equivalent of an X-ray of the U.S. stock market. At The Arora Report, to do the X-ray, we mostly depend on the ZYX Global Multi-Asset Allocation Model. This is an adaptive model it changes along with market conditions. The algorithms used in the model involve a large number of macro, fundamental, quantitative and technical indicators. Today I am going to expose readers to a technical indicator that is of special note at this time about big tech stocks. On Friday I wrote: Pay attention to the ominous pattern in big technology stocks.
The most useful indicator
To see this indicator, please click here for an annotated chart.
The chart shows the difference between advancing and declining issues of the Nasdaq 100 index NDX, -1.02% The popular ETF that represents Nasdaq 100 is QQQ, -0.93% The index contains popular technology stocks such as Apple AAPL, -2.94% Facebook FB, -1.67% and Nvidia NVDA, -2.14%
Here are my observations from the annotated chart.
The top pane shows candlesticks for the difference between advancing and declining issues among Nasdaq 100 stocks.
Traditionally, only the closing value is used as an input into further studies. In my three decades-plus in the markets, I have concluded that the traditional way often gives misleading results.
To overcome the limitation of the traditional way, at The Arora Report we use an average of open, high, low and close.
The bottom pane of the chart is simply a cumulative sum of daily averages.
The cumulative sum is still in an uptrend.
The cumulative sum has its own limitations.
The middle pane shows cumulative adjusted value that overcomes some of the limitations.
The cumulative adjusted value is beginning to roll over more than the cumulative sum, but it is still above the trend line.
Ask Arora: Nigam Arora answers your questions about investing in stocks, ETFs, bonds, gold and silver, oil and currencies. Have a question? Send it to Nigam Arora.
Money flows
Investors may consider combining the difference between advancing and declining issues in the stock market or the index of their choice with money flows to gain valuable insights. To learn more about money flows, please see Four big events that are prompting investors to sell stocks and buy bonds and gold.
What to do now
This column is written for investors and not for day traders. At this time, there is no reason to panic and any dip is likely to be a buying opportunity. Having said that, the market is very overbought from a long-term perspective and valuations are stretched. Overbought markets tend to be vulnerable. Vicious selling can start at any time. Selling on Friday was nothing compared with what can happen.
For prudent investors, a defensive posture is warranted.
Here is our last call to subscribers of The Arora Report: It is important for investors to look ahead and not in the rearview mirror. Consider continuing to hold existing positions. Based on individual risk preference, consider holding cash or Treasury bills 18%-28%, short- to medium-term hedges of 15%-25% and very short-term hedges of 15%. It is worth remembering that you cannot take advantage of new upcoming opportunities if you are not holding enough cash. When adjusting hedge levels, consider adjusting partial stop quantities for stock positions (non-ETF); consider using wider stops on remaining quantities and also allowing more room for high-beta stocks. High-beta stocks are the ones that move more than the market.
Disclosure: Subscribers to The Arora Report may have positions in the securities mentioned in this article or may take positions at any time. All recommended positions are reviewed daily at The Arora Report.
Nigam Arora is an investor, engineer and nuclear physicist by background, has founded two Inc. 500 fastest-growing companies, is the developer of the adaptive ZYX Global Multi Asset Allocation Model and the ZYX Change Method to profit from change in trading and investing. He is the founder of The Arora Report, which publishes four newsletters. Nigam can be reached at Nigam@TheAroraReport.com.
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Opinion: What's next for technology stocks bloodbath or bliss? - MarketWatch
OCALA, Fla., June 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- MARS Company, global leader in water meter testing and technology solutions, announced today that it has launched new water meter test bench technology and feature enhancements that provide unique abilities with regard to meter testing performance, form factor and application.
Patented, Ultra-Low Flow Water Meter Testing and Accuracy Measurement Optional Feature
MARS Company announces that it has optimized the design of a patented, test bench meter adapter to assist in accurately measuring the next generation of ultra-low flow water meters. As water meter technology advances and water conservation becomes more vital, the need to monitor and test the meters at ranges lower than the current testing parameters is of increasing importance. MARS Company has designed the Ultra-Low Flow feature to adapt to existing and new installations, with minimal impact on field installations for current customers. "Our state-of-the-art test bench system coupled with the industry's only Enterprise-grade Software provides the industry with unparalleled flexibility to meet the most demanding water meter test requirements. Our technology can revolutionize how water meters are tested for generations to come," said Dave Corey, CEO of MARS Company.
Advanced Ultra-Low Flow Water Meter Testing Option
The Ultra-Low Flow Feature may be coupled with other MARS Company products to further minimize disturbance issues and achieve a high degree of accuracy for the meter test. These products include, but are not limited to, the MARS Gravity-Based Recirculation System and the MARS M3 2017 Enterprise Software System.
Backflow Preventer Testing - Optional Feature
Customer and market demand led to the new MARS optional test bench feature for comprehensive testing of backflow preventers, in compliance with state or local directives. In addition, this system not only tests the backflow device but also records the data for report generation and historical reference and storage. MARS Company has developed this exclusive solution to provide in-house testing of the backflow preventer prior to field deployment and when the unit is returned to the testing center after field removal.
Back Flow Water Meter Testing Option
The patented, Ultra-Low Flow optional feature is immediately available and the Back Flow Optional Feature will be available in the 3Q of 2017. MARS Company will be exhibiting at AWWA 2017 Trade show, June 12-14 in Philadelphia, PA at booth #2225. For more information about MARS Company please visit http://www.MARSwater.com.
About MARS Company
MARS Company is a global leader in water meter testing and technology solutions. With more than 30 years of experience assisting municipal and private utilities throughout the world, MARS has a long track record of success. MARS core business and expertise include: Patented Water Meter Testing Systems & Software Technology, Innovative AMR/AMI Technology Products and Software Solutions and Water System Specialty Products. Innovative thinking allows MARS to leverage its unique, proprietary technology, patent positioning, manufacturing infrastructure and world-class management strength, to further position itself as the leader in the water industry.
CONTACT: Mike Mastic, Director of Test Bench and Software Systems; Tel: (352) 414-7690; 163855@email4pr.com
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements containing the words "planned," "expects," "believes," "strategy," "opportunity," "anticipates" and similar words. Such forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties or other factors that may cause MARS Company's actual results to be materially different from historical results or any results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. MARS Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances arising after the date hereof. The potential risks and uncertainties which could cause actual growth and results to differ materially include but are not limited to, customer acceptance of the company's services, products and fee structures, the success of the company's brand development efforts, the volatile and competitive nature of the water industry, and changes in domestic and international market conditions, and foreign exchange rates.
To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mars-launches-new-water-meter-test-bench-technology-and-feature-enhancements-300472240.html
SOURCE MARS Company
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Moscow is home to the Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy, an enormous recreation and museum complex. One of its buildings is decked out with a spectacular exterior thats designed to look like the conductive tracks on a circuit board.
The building in question is the Pavilion of Moscow Information Technology Department, a 1,600 square meter presentation space that showcases Russias electrical achievements. Russian architectural firm Wall designed the exterior of the pavilion in 2016, according to Dezeen. The outer panels were formed out of concrete in a local factory, and house an exhibition space, business center, and childrens play area.
WALL | [] | [] | | | | 2016
WALL | [] | [] | | | | 2016
The structure is supposed to stand for another ten years, and the result is really something. The detailing adds an intriguing texture to the walls, which lends itself nicely to the purpose of the building itself: promoting the countrys technological achievements.
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The walls of this Russian technology exhibit are imprinted with a circuit board design - The Verge
The fibreglass-concrete facades of this technology centre in Moscow, designed by architecture practice Wall, are imprinted with a pattern based on the conductive tracks of circuit boards.
Moscow-based Wall, astudio led by architectsArakelyan Ruben and Navasardyan Ayk, designed the Pavilion of Moscow Information Technology Departmentfor the city's exhibition centre and amusement parkVDNH.
Also known asPavilion DIT, the 1,600-square-metre temporary pavilionstands at the intersection of Kolcevaya Road and Serenevaya Alley.
It is expected to remain in place for10 years, and will be used to show off the most interesting achievements inelectronics.
Lines and circles are imprinted into the fibreglass-concrete panels that clad the building, creating thetactile facade intended to reference the circuit boards used inelectronics.
The panels, which continue onto the ground at the pavilion's entrance, were designed by Wall and made in a local factory.
These imprinted walls arewindowless, placingfurther emphasis on the pattern. This approach also helped todraw visitors towards the full-height glazing that fronts entrance points to the building.
Inside, thesingle-storey space isdivided into three parts an exhibition space, business centre and a children'szone that are separated by a recess in the building's facade.
"Thematic areas create open spaces for flexible use in the summer season, open exhibitions, lectures, workshops, kid's activities," explained thearchitects.
Other recent examples of contemporary architecture in Russia's capital city include OMA'sGarage Museum of Contemporary Art and David Adjaye'sMoscow School of Management.
Just outside the city, London-based Zaha Hadid Architects is working on a building for theSkolkovo Innovation Center, Russia's answer to Silicon Valley. The131,000-square-metreSberbank Technopark buildingreferences Hadid's well-documented interest in the Russian Avant-Garde.
Photography is by Ilya Ivanov.
Project credits:
Architects: Wall Other participants: - Product brands: GRC, Guardian, MDM
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Information technology pavilion in Moscow features circuit-board-patterned walls - Dezeen
How many screens are in the cab of a farmer's planter?
Jason Watson's has five, and he said that's typical.
"It's full of electronics," said Watson, who farms near Villa Grove.
This includes:
A screen attached to the tractor's basic controls.
A backup camera, so farmers are "able to know when a car's behind them," Watson said.
The planter monitor, which "is recording all of our skips, doubles, down force, all the things that we need to know to make adjustments to best plant the seed," Watson said.
A global positioning system for guidance. "The tractors are being driven by a satellite signal that's allowing us to stay straight," he said.
An iPad, which combines the planter monitor data with the GPS data and displays it on a map of the field.
All this technology isn't necessarily cheap, and farmers always have to weight the costs and benefits.
"The constant game with technology is making sure that you're benefiting from it enough to afford it," he said. "It's never easy. You want all the bells and whistles, and you want all the gadgets, but it's about understanding what you can do with the information and how that technology can benefit you."
Link:
Just Askin': Technology on the farm - Champaign/Urbana News-Gazette
A new project by The Texas A&M Transportation Institute could soon make Texas Department of Transportation road evaluations more consistent, efficient and effective using technology similar to what is being developed for autonomous vehicles.
The project is among a number of innovative studies being overseen by TxDOT's Office of Research and Technology Implementation.
Paul Carlson, head of TTI's Traffic Operations and Roadway Safety Division, said the monitoring system would replace the agency's current method of evaluating roads by eye -- a practice he said often lends itself to subjectivity and inconsistency.
"The idea is to add low-cost sensors to TxDOT vehicles so that they essentially act like robotic eyes, looking at the infrastructure, providing infrastructure information and condition assessment information," Carlson said. "[Right now] TxDOT employees have to drive their roadways twice per year doing windshield inspections, driving down the road and judging what needs to be rehabilitated and what needs to be maintained. ... This provides a much more objective way for that to be done with consistency across the board."
TxDOT RTI project manager Chris Glancy said while the technology is still in the testing phase, it already is garnering attention from department employees across the state.
"Every time I show district personnel the project, they want to implement it locally," Glancy said in a statement. "This is an example of what we expect to be many future innovative opportunities to utilize new vehicle technologies to improve safety and efficiency of many of the field operations that the department must undertake to effectively maintain our transportation system."
Carlson said the technology is now in the field for testing to measure accuracy and the cost-benefit of the system. He said four fleet vehicles of TxDOT's Bryan District already have been equipped with the system, and 26 are scheduled for installation across the state by the end of the year.
Should the system prove successful, Carlson said the technology could provide transportation officials with a more timely and cost-efficient way to get the most out of the "limited dollars" in maintenance funding they receive each year.
Carlson said the "unobtrusive" technology is designed to cost less than $1,000 per vehicle.
In addition to its potential cost-saving benefits, Carlson said the monitoring system is automatic and connected to a cloud service in which data is collected and analytics are compiled.
"The idea is that we provide the TxDOT personnel with no additional duties," Carlson said. "[The drivers] just go do their normal work."
He said the information then would be available to officials in the form of a "near-real-time map" of road conditions.
Carlson said in addition to its potential use in TxDOT vehicles across the state, the technology could also be commercialized and marketed to other state transportation agencies as well.
Link:
TTI project using technology to improve road-evaluation process - Bryan-College Station Eagle