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Counting cost of stockpiling, UK bike maker gears up for Brexit

Bikes are seen inside the depot of Islabikes in Ludlow
Bikes are seen inside the depot of Islabikes in Ludlow, central England, Britain February 15, 2019. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh

February 18, 2019

By Andy Bruce

LONDON (Reuters) – Isla Rowntree, the founder of British children’s bike maker Islabikes, has resorted to stacking spare parts in meeting spaces and office rooms as she gets ready for a potentially chaotic no-deal Brexit next month.

But the inconvenience of finding the space for six months’ worth of stock is small compared with the financial consequences, she says.

Islabikes decided in September that it needed to prepare for the risk of delays at Britain’s ports after Brexit by stockpiling the parts it buys from a supplier in Vietnam at its premises in Ludlow, a pretty market town in western England.

Its preparations are typical of many companies — including world famous firms such as Rolls-Royce, Airbus, luxury group Burberry — who have depended on the ability to move goods easily between Britain and the rest of the world.

They are facing the possibility of border delays from new EU customs checks on goods after March 29, unless Prime Minister Theresa May can win new concessions from the EU that heal the split within her Conservative Party.

British factories last month stockpiled goods at the fastest rate seen in any Group of Seven nation since records started in the early 1990s, according to the closely watched IHS Markit/CIPS surveys.

Far from a simple act of preparation that can be reversed easily, stockpiling will have big consequences for manufacturers’ finances, no matter how Brexit turns out.

“It has a massive, massive cashflow implication,” said Rowntree, a former professional cyclist who started Islabikes after realizing that most children’s bikes were heavy and poorly designed.

She founded the company in 2006 and it now employs 40 people. It designs and assembles its bikes in Ludlow, mostly for the domestic market but 25 percent of its sales go to continental Europe.

“Even if (Brexit) goes smoothly, we will end up with a drastically reduced operating profit at the end of the year because we had to spend all this extra money on warehouse space. And that’s money that we can’t invest in the future of the business,” Rowntree said.

Repeated across the economy, that scenario might limit any rebound in business investment, even if London and Brussels strike a deal in the coming months.

Investment by companies in Britain has fallen for four consecutive quarters, the longest such run since 2009 when the economy was in the grip of the global financial crisis.

Rowntree said Islabikes was able to finance its stockpiling operation itself. “But for a lot of businesses that obviously wouldn’t be an option,” she said.

GRAPHIC – Stockpiling for Brexit: https://tmsnrt.rs/2Ebmj12

GEARING TROUBLE?

There are growing signs of financial stress for Britain’s factory sector.

Bank of England figures show manufacturers’ overdrafts as a percentage of business overdrafts, outside the financial sector, rose in December to the highest level since April 2016, at just under 20 percent.

It was the biggest jump by this measure in three-and-a-half years.

And on the ground, those who keep a close eye on the health of British companies are now worried that manufacturers are over-stretching themselves financially by stockpiling goods.

Stocks of goods are not easy to use as collateral for loans because security can be complicated, with responsibility often split between lenders and suppliers.

“If they can’t raise the finance to do that by going to a funder — borrowing by way of debt — typically it comes out of the cashflow,” said Colin Haig, insolvency partner at accountants BDO.

Haig estimates there is a three- to six-month lag between early reports of companies becoming financially over-stretched and insolvency problems, such as breaches of financial covenants, that draw the attention of insolvency practitioners.

“I do think we’re in that sort of space now,” Haig, deputy vice president of insolvency trade body R3, said.

Euler Hermes, an insurer that provides protection against non-payment between companies, is also seeing “substantial evidence” of stockpiling, mainly among large manufacturers.

This is adding pressure to manufacturers’ cashflow, with the average time between making a sale and receiving payment increased across the sector, Euler Hermes said.

“We’re seeing contract terms lengthen by up to 120 days in some instances,” said Shannon Murphy, assistant head of risk underwriting and manufacturing expert at Euler Hermes.

Murphy said stockpiling could work well for firms with fast-moving just-in-time supply chains, but those with slower-moving supply chains faced a risk of being lumbered with stock if orders dry up.

PAINFUL CYCLE

Islabikes has a relatively quick production timetable, with a steady flow of parts arriving at its assembly line more or less weekly, and more often at peak times like Christmas.

The decision to stockpile means the company has had to forecast sales patterns much further into the future than normal — another financial risk.

“That’s an internal headache and it means that potentially we can’t get the right product for the customers when they want it,” Rowntree says.

Rowntree hopes that a deal between London and Brussels can be signed soon, even if the outlook for Brexit is no clearer now than it was a year ago.

“It’s really disappointing having to waste so much effort and sinking time and money on stuff that doesn’t add value for the customer,” she said. “I don’t like that, I like to put our energies into doing a better job.”

(Additional reporting by Eddie Keogh in Ludlow; editing by William Schomberg, William Maclean)

Source: OANN

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U.S. weekly jobless claims lowest since 1969; unemployment rolls shrink

Job seekers speak with potential employers at a City of Boston Neighborhood Career Fair on May Day in Boston
FILE PHOTO: Job seekers speak with potential employers at a City of Boston Neighborhood Career Fair on May Day in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., May 1, 2017. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

April 18, 2019

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits fell to more than a 49-1/2-year low last week, pointing to sustained strength in the economy.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 192,000 for the week ended April 13, the lowest level since September 1969, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Data for the prior week was revised to show 1,000 more applications received than previously reported.

Claims have now declined for five straight weeks. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims would rise to 205,000 in the latest week.

The Labor Department said no states were estimated last week. Claims tend to be volatile around this time of the year because of the different timings of the Easter holiday and spring breaks.

The four-week moving average of initial claims, considered a better measure of labor market trends as it irons out week-to-week volatility, fell 6,000 to 201,250 last week, the lowest reading since November 1969.

The claims data covered the survey week for the nonfarm payrolls portion of April’s employment report. The four-week average of claims decreased by 19,250 between the March and April survey weeks. This suggests solid employment growth after payrolls increased by 196,000 jobs in March.

Though the trend in hiring has slowed, job gains remain above the roughly 100,000 needed per month to keep up with growth in the working-age population. The unemployment rate is at 3.8 percent, near the 3.7 percent Federal Reserve officials project it will be by the end of the year.

A report from the Fed on Wednesday showed “modest-to-moderate growth” in employment in a majority of the U.S. central bank’s districts in April. The Fed’s “Beige Book” report of anecdotal information on business activity collected from contacts nationwide showed notable worker shortages “most commonly in manufacturing and construction.”

Thursday’s claims report showed the number of people receiving benefits after an initial week of aid declined 63,000 to 1.65 million for the week ended April 6. The four-week moving average of the so-called continuing claims dropped 22,750 to 1.71 million.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani Editing by Paul Simao)

Source: OANN

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Britain’s Hunt says he would choose a no-deal Brexit over no Brexit

Britain's Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt attends a joint news conference with Finland's Foreign Minister Timo Soini in Vantaa
Britain's Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt attends a joint news conference with Finland's Foreign Minister Timo Soini (unseen) in Vantaa, Finland August 14, 2018. LEHTIKUVA/Vesa Moilanen/via REUTERS

April 25, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – British foreign minister Jeremy Hunt said on Thursday he would choose leaving the European Union with no deal if he was presented with the choice between no Brexit or leaving without an agreement with the bloc.

Hunt told reporters that he believed the democratic risks of “no Brexit”, or Britain failing to leave the EU after the 2016 referendum, were higher than the risks of leaving without an agreement, something businesses say would hurt the economy.

(Reporting by William James and Kylie MacLellan, writing by Elizabeth Piper; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)

Source: OANN

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EU rejects US recognition of Israeli control over Golan

The European Union says it will not recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights, despite the U.S. policy reversal on the disputed territory.

The EU Foreign Affairs Department said in a statement Wednesday that it was the "unanimous position" of all 28 member states not to change their stance in line with U.N. resolutions that identify the Golan Heights as occupied territory and reject the seizure of land by force.

Israel captured the Golan from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it in 1981.

U.S. President Trump signed the proclamation recognizing Israel's authority on Monday, upending over a half-century of U.S. policy. The U.S. is the first country to recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan, which the rest of the international community regards as occupied territory.

Source: Fox News World

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California engineer allegedly tried to poison, kill colleague with ‘toxic amount of cadmium,’ police say

A chemical engineer in Northern California was arrested last week on attempted murder charges after allegedly poisoning his coworker's water and food with toxic metal cadmium over several years, according to court records.

David Xu, a 34-year-old senior materials engineer at Berkeley Engineering And Research, was arrested Thursday, jail records online showed.

Court documents obtained by KTVU stated that a female coworker, also an engineer, noted "a strange taste or smell from her water and food" that was left unattended in her office that happened many times over the course of more than a year.

After consuming the food or water, the unnamed coworker experienced "immediate and significant health problems," even going to the hospital for emergency care.

ARKANSAS MEN IN BULLETPROOF VESTS SHOOT EACH OTHER AFTER NIGHT OF DRINKING, INVENT ELABORATE COVER STORY: COPS

Two of the women's relatives after got sick after drinking from her water bottle in November and December, Berkeleyside reported.

Surveillance video from the victim's office showed that Xu added a substance to the woman's water bottle, according to police. Later testing of the bottle and all three victims revealed the presence of cadmium, a toxic metal.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says in an online factsheet that cadmium is considered a "cancer-causing agent."

"When eaten, large amounts of cadmium can severely irritate the stomach and cause vomiting and diarrhea," the agency states. "Breathing high levels of cadmium damages people’s lungs and can cause death."

PENNSYLVANIA MAN WHO LIED ABOUT MILITARY SERVICE, LIES ABOUT ADDICTION PROGRAM -- AND JUDGE DROPS THE HAMMER

Xu is charged with 3 felonies, including premeditated attempted murder and poisoning for the incidents involving the woman and her relatives.

In a court appearance on Tuesday, the 34-year old did not enter a plea.

"These are allegations, only allegations," defense attorney Julia Jayne told reporters outside of court. "Charges have been filed, and I think all of you and the public knows that when charges are brought, an individual, per our constitutional system, is presumed innocent, and that's exactly how I intend to proceed with this case."

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

Xu remains held without bail, pending his next appearance in court, according to KTVU.

The 34-year-old earned three degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, including a Ph.D. In 2013, he passed the State of California's Professional Engineering examination, the San Francisco Business Times reported at the time.

Source: Fox News National

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Vanderbilt University chancellor to resign in August

Citing health challenges, Vanderbilt University Chancellor Nicholas Zeppos has announced plans to resign on Aug. 15 after more than a decade in the role.

Zeppos announced Tuesday he plans to take a yearlong sabbatical before he returns to Vanderbilt as a law professor.

Zeppos replaced former chancellor Gordon Gee as the private Nashville university's interim leader in 2007 and was appointed chancellor in 2008.

Zeppos, a legal scholar from Milwaukee, had served as the university's chief academic officer since 2002. He joined the Vanderbilt faculty in 1987 as an assistant law professor.

Provost Susan Wente will begin serving as interim chancellor on Aug. 15. Vanderbilt Board of Trust Chairman Bruce Evans will lead a search for Zeppos' permanent successor.

Source: Fox News National

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Dillashaw surrenders belt, suspended after positive test

MMA: UFC 173-Renan Barao vs. TJ Dillashaw
FILE PHOTO: May 24, 2014; Las Vegas, NV, USA; TJ Dillashaw (blue) pins down Renan Barao (red) during their UFC 173 bantamweight championship bout at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Dillashaw won the bout by way of TKO. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

March 20, 2019

TJ Dillashaw surrendered the UFC bantamweight belt Wednesday, announcing he was informed by the New York State Athletic Commission and the United States Anti-Doping Agency of an “adverse finding in a test taken for my last fight.”

The New York governing body also suspended him for one year and issued a $10,000 fine, citing “violations relating to use of a prohibited substance.” The suspension is retroactive to Jan. 19, the date of the fight.

Dillashaw (16-4) said “while words can’t even begin to express how disappointed I am at this time, please know that I’m working with my team to understand what has occurred and how to resolve this situation as quickly as possible. Out of fairness and respect to the rest of my division, I’ve informed the UFC that I’ll be voluntarily relinquishing my title while I deal with this matter.”

The 33-year-old had held the title since November 2017, his second title reign, claiming the belt in a knockout of Cody Garbrandt at UFC 217.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

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A Florida measure that would ban sanctuary cities is set for a vote Friday in the state’s Senate after clearing its first hurdle earlier this week.

The bill would effectively make it against the law for Florida’s police departments to refuse to cooperate with federal immigration officials.

“The Governor may initiate judicial proceedings in the name of the state against such officers to enforce compliance,” a draft version of the Senate bill reads.

A House version of the bill, which passed by a 69-47 vote Wednesday, adds that non-complying officials could be suspended or removed from office and face fines of up to $5,000 per day. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to sign off on the measure, although it’s not clear which version.

FLORIDA MAY SEND A BIG MESSAGE TO SANCTUARY CITIES

Florida Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith (D-Orlando), during a press conference at the Florida Capitol in Tallahassee, speaks out against bills in the House and Senate that would ban sanctuary cities in the state.

Florida Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith (D-Orlando), during a press conference at the Florida Capitol in Tallahassee, speaks out against bills in the House and Senate that would ban sanctuary cities in the state. (AP)

LAWRENCE JONES: NEEDLES, DRUG USE AND HUMAN WASTE ARE THE NEW NORMAL IN SAN FRANCISCO

Florida is home to 775,000 illegal immigrants out of 10.7 million present in the United States, ranking the state third among all states.

Nine states — Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, North Carolina, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas — already have enacted state laws requiring law enforcement to comply with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Florida doesn’t have sanctuary cities like the ones in California and other states. But Republican lawmakers say a handful of their municipalities — including Orlando and West Palm Beach – are acting as “pseudo-sanctuary” cities, because they prevent law enforcement officials from asking about immigration status when they make arrests.

“There are still people here in the state of Florida, police chiefs that are just refusing to contact ICE, refusing to detain somebody that they know is here illegally,” Florida Republican Rep. Blaise Ingoglia said earlier this month. “So while the actual county municipality doesn’t have an actual adopted policy, they still have people in power within their sheriff’s department or police department that refuse to do it anyway.”

Florida’s Democratic Party has blasted the anti-Sanctuary measures, while the Miami-Dade Police Department says it should be up to federal authorities to handle immigration-related matters.

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“House Republicans today sold out their communities to Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis by passing this xenophobic and discriminatory bill,” the state’s Democratic Party said Wednesday after the House passed their version of the bill. “It’s abhorrent that Republican members who represent immigrant communities are now turning their backs on their constituents and jeopardizing their safety.

“Florida has long stood as a beacon for immigrant communities — and today Republicans did the best they could to destroy that reputation,” they added.

Fox News’ Elina Shirazi contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News National

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FILE PHOTO: Supporters of the Spain's far-right party VOX wave Spanish flags as they attend an electoral rally ahead of general elections in the Andalusian capital of Seville
FILE PHOTO: Supporters of the Spain’s far-right party VOX wave Spanish flags as they attend an electoral rally ahead of general elections in the Andalusian capital of Seville, Spain April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Marcelo del Pozo/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By John Stonestreet and Belén Carreño

MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s Vox party, aligned to a broader far-right movement emerging across Europe, has become the focus of speculation about last minute shifts in voting intentions since official polling for Sunday’s national election ended four days ago.

No single party is anywhere near securing a majority, and chances of a deadlocked parliament and a second election are high.

Leaders of the five parties vying for a role in government get final chances to pitch for power at rallies on Friday evening, before a campaign characterized by appeals to voters’ hearts rather than wallets ends at midnight.

By tradition, the final day before a Spanish election is politics-free.

Two main prizes are still up for grabs in the home straight. One concerns which of the two rival left and right multi-party blocs gets more votes.

The other is whether Vox could challenge the mainstream conservative PP for leadership of the latter bloc, which media outlets with access to unofficial soundings taken since Monday suggest could be starting to happen.

The right’s loose three-party alliance is led by the PP, the traditional conservative party that has alternated in office with outgoing Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s Socialists since Spain’s return to democracy in the 1970s.

The PP stands at around 20 percent, with center-right Ciudadanos near 14 percent and Vox around 11 percent, according to a final poll of polls in daily El Pais published on Monday.

Since then, however, interest in Vox – which will become the first far-right party to sit in parliament since 1982 – has snowballed.

It was founded in 2013, part of a broader anti-establishment, far-right movement that has also spread across – among others – Italy, France and Germany.

While it is careful to distance itself from the ideology of late dictator Francisco Franco, Vox’s signature policies include repealing laws banning Franco-era symbols and on gender-based violence, and shifting power away from Spain’s regional governments.

TRENDING

According to a Google trends graphic, Vox has generated more than three times more search inquiries than any other Spanish political party in the past week.

Reasons could include a groundswell of vocal activist support at Vox rallies in Madrid and Valencia, and its exclusion from two televised debates between the main party leaders, on the grounds of it having no deputies yet in parliament.

Conservative daily La Vanguardia called its enforced absence from Monday’s and Tuesday’s debates “a gift from heaven”, while left-wing Eldiario.es suggested the PP was haemorrhaging votes to Vox in rural areas.

Ignacio Jurado, politics lecturer at the University of York, agreed the main source of additional Vox votes would be disaffected PP supporters, and called the debate ban – whose impact he said was unclear – wrong.

“This is a party polling over 10 percent and there are people interested in what it says. So we lose more than we win in not having them (in the debates),” he said

For Jose Fernandez-Albertos, political scientist at Spanish National Research Council CSIC, Vox is enjoying the novelty effect that propelled then new, left-wing arrival Podemos to 20 percent of the vote in 2015.

“While it’s unclear how to interpret the (Google) data, what we do know is that it’s better to be popular and to be a newcomer, and that Vox will benefit in some form,” he said.

For now, the chances of Vox taking a major role in government remain slim, however.

The El Pais survey put the Socialists on around 30 percent, making them the frontrunners and likely to form a leftist bloc with Podemos, back down at around 14 percent.

The unofficial soundings suggest little change in the two parties’ combined vote, or the total vote of the rightist bloc.

That makes it unlikely that either bloc will win a majority on Sunday, triggering horse-trading with smaller parties favoring Catalan independence – the single most polarizing issues during campaigning – that could easily collapse into fresh elections.

(Election graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/2ENugtw)

(Reporting by John Stonestreet and Belen Carreno, Editing by William Maclean)

Source: OANN

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The Amish population in Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County is continuing to grow each year, despite the encroachment of urban sprawl on their communities.

The U.S. Census Bureau says the county added about 2,500 people in 2018. LNP reports that about 1,000 of them were Amish.

Elizabethtown College researchers say Lancaster County’s Amish population reached 33,143 in 2018, up 3.2% from the previous year.

The Amish accounted for about 41% of the county’s overall population growth last year.

Some experts are concerned that a planned 75-acre (30-hectare) housing and commercial project will make it more difficult for the county to accommodate the Amish.

Donald Kraybill, an authority on Amish culture, told Manheim Township commissioners this week that some in the community are worried about the development and the increased traffic it would bring.

___

Information from: LNP, http://lancasteronline.com

Source: Fox News National

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Fox News correspondent Geraldo Rivera has warned that if Democratic 2020 presidential candidates don’t take the crisis at the border seriously, they’ll do so at their own risk.

Speaking with “Fox & Friends” hosts on Friday morning, Rivera discussed the influx of candidates entering the race, including former Vice President Joe Biden, and gave an update on the newest developments at the border.

“If [Democrats] don’t take it seriously they ignore it at their peril,” Rivera said.

He went on to discuss the fact that Mexico is experiencing the same problems dealing with volumes of people at the border as the United States is. Processing facilities, as many have argued, are understaffed and underresourced, resulting in conditions that have been controversial.

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“It is very, very difficult when hundreds and hundreds become thousands and thousands ultimately become tens of it is very difficult to have an orderly system,” he said.

Rivera asserted his opinion that the United States could lessen the influx of migrants coming into the country by investing in the development of Central American countries, where many are fleeing from violence and economic instability.

“I believe, as I have said before on this program, that we have to stop the source of the migrant explosion, by a comprehensive system of political and economic reform in Central America where people have the incentive to stay home,” Rivera said.

“I think we have help Mexico with its infrastructure. Mexico has a moral burden, as the president made very clear, not to let unchecked herds of desperate people flow through 2,000 miles of Mexican territory to get our southern border.”

Rivera also brought up President Trump’s controversial comments about Mexican immigrants during his campaign in 2016.

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The Fox News correspondent said that having been so excited about Trump’s campaign, the comments made him feel “deflated” as a Hispanic American.

However, as the crisis at the border has accelerated over the last few years, Rivera argued that ultimately, the president’s comments weren’t incorrect.

“He is now in a position where he can justly say I was right, that the that the anarchy at the border doesn’t serve anybody,” Rivera said. “Maybe he said it in a language I felt was a little rough and insensitive, but there is no doubt.”

Source: Fox News Politics

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FILE PHOTO: The logo of the OPEC is seen at OPEC's headquarters in Vienna
FILE PHOTO: The logo of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries at OPEC’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria December 5, 2018. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/File Photo

April 26, 2019

JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he called the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and told the cartel to lower oil prices.

“Gasoline prices are coming down. I called up OPEC, I said you’ve got to bring them down. You’ve got to bring them down,” Trump told reporters.

(Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Writing by Makini Brice; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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