Jeff bezos and amazon

Representative image (Source: Reuters) At the edge of the Colombian Amazon, in an Indigenous village surrounded by oil rigs, the Siona people faced a dilemma. The United Nations Development Program, or UNDP, had just announced a $1.9 million regional aid package. In a village with no running water, intermittent electricity and persistent poverty, any money would mean food and opportunity. But the aid program was part of a partnership between the U.N. agency and GeoPark, the multinational petroleum company. The company holds contracts to drill near the Siona reservation, including one with the government that would expand operations onto what the Siona consider their ancestral land. To the Siona people on the Buenavista reservation, oil drilling is an assault, akin to draining blood from the earth. This collaboration is one example of how one of the world’s largest sustainable development organizations partners with polluters, even those that at times work against the … [Read more...] about In the Amazon, a UN agency has a green mission, but dirty partners

(Image Courtesy: Reuters) There’s no relaxing on the beach this summer for corporate acquirers -- they’ve been busy snapping up technology companies, even after a stock rally over the past two months means the sector isn’t as cheap as it was back in June. Just look at Amazon.com Inc. The retail and cloud-storage giant announced a $3.49 billion deal to buy software company 1Life Healthcare Inc. last month, and last week it said it would pay $1.65 billion for iRobot Corp., maker of the Roomba vacuum. Just 10 days into August, about $13.4 billion of tech-related mergers and acquisitions have been unveiled in North America, according to Bloomberg data, which already would make it the busiest month since May. In the largest deal, buyout firm Vista Equity Partners agreed to buy tax software provider Avalara Inc. for $8.4 billion including debt. “August has historically been a quiet month for M&A, so it is surprising to see such a flurry of deals,” said Larry Feldman, a … [Read more...] about Amazon joins deal revival spurred by lower valuation

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Just a couple weeks ago, many folks thought they had lots of time to grab beaten-down stocks like Amazon AMZN .com (AMZN) and Microsoft MSFT (MSFT). Since then, these blue-chips have really popped! Fortunately there is a way we can still buy AMZN and MSFT at “pre-launch” prices. And collect 7%+ yields, too! We’re not buying the shares directly. We’re smarter than that. We’re picking these stocks up with the types of 7%+ dividends we favor in Contrarian Income Report— at steep discounts to their market prices. This “dividend discount” method lets us “turn back the clock” and buy the dip after the dip has already happened! We can also pick these stocks up with outsized dividend yields of 7%+. And our payouts will often come your way monthly, too. That’s a far cry from buying Microsoft on its own, with its practically nonexistent 0.88% dividend. And Amazon, of course, yields exactly 0% today—and … [Read more...] about How We’ll “Steal” A 7% Monthly Dividend From Amazon

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin After spending years hiding in the shadows of Charleston, Nashville, and Atlanta, the Queen City has quietly emerged as a vibrant Southern culinary destination worth paying attention to. Because so many people relocated to the area during the pandemic – making it one of the fastest-growing U.S. metropolises – the local community has never been more diverse, creative, or hungry for original, independently-owned spots to eat and drink. “As Charlotte grows, it’s entering a second renaissance where the people want to experience something unique that can only be found here,” says Kerrel Thompson, who co-owns Optimist Park’s Bird Pizzeria with his wife Nkem. “There are so many restaurants opening every week.” So below, 5 new and noteworthy restaurants and bars you can’t miss during your next visit to Charlotte. Bird Pizzeria There’s no mention of sourdough, hand-crushed San Marzanos, or wood-fired anything at Bird … [Read more...] about The 5 Best New Restaurants And Bars In Charlotte, North Carolina

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Mark Bucknam is unveiling what life is like away from the sand for a professional beach volleyball player. The BYB Pictures director recently released the five-part series AVP Uncovered via YouTube, detailing how four professional beach volleyball players rode the highs and lows through the 2021 AVP season. The 25-year-old Florida Southern graduate explained how the idea became clearer the more he started to play and watch these athletes operate. “I wanted to watch a show like the one we just made,” Bucknam said. “One that was behind the scenes and into these people’s lives, showing you who they are as people and not just as competitors. That show didn’t exist for beach volleyball. I saw a real opportunity to combine the things I like to do the most, which is play beach volleyball and work on video documentaries.” Bucknam noted the stark contrast between a beach volleyball player’s path to the pro ranks as compared … [Read more...] about AVP Uncovered Tells The Not-So-Glamorous Side Of Professional Beach Volleyball Life

This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on August 1, 2022 - August 07, 2022. Koong: Many SMEs are in a bind - A + A A growing number of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are stepping forward to ask for assistance to cope with their loan repayments, according to Koong Lin Loong, treasurer-general and chairman of the SMEs committee at the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM). Koong tells The Edge that the financial impact on SMEs after more than two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, compounded by current hurdles such as rising raw material prices, high operating costs and labour shortages, have led to cash flow issues and forced many businesses to their knees. “Many SMEs are in a bind as they may come to a point where they can no longer service their loans, yet their cash-strapped plight renders their businesses ineligible for new borrowings,” he says, adding that other SME groups lament similar … [Read more...] about Cover Story: ‘More SMEs struggling to cope with existing loans, and getting new loans’

The poster for Omega X's U.S. tour [SPIRE ENTERTAINMENT] Boy band Omega X will go on a U.S. tour titled “Connect : Don’t give up” from October. A poster released by the band's agency SPIRE Entertainment Thursday revealed that the tour will begin in Boston on Oct. 1, then move on to 13 cities such as New York, Orlando, Chicago, Denver, Kansas City, San Francisco and Los Angeles. The boy band is recently receiving global spotlight thanks to its first full-length album “Story Written in Music” released in June. Before embarking on the U.S. tour, the band will debut in Japan on Aug. 24 and head on a Latin American tour in September. The band recently landed on "The Tidal K-pop 10” list by global streaming platform Tidal and was selected as a rising star by K-pop columnist Jeff Benjamin. Omega X debuted in June last year with its first EP “Vamos” and has released songs such as “What’s Goin’ On” (2021) and “Love Me Like” (2022). The band consists of 11 members — Jaehan, Hwichan, … [Read more...] about Boy band Omega X to embark on U.S. tour in October

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin I’m always shocked when dividend investors ignore tech stocks. Which means I’m shocked a lot, because pretty well all income-seekers do it! That’s because most folks still think of technology as the home of profitless startups, crumbling crypto platforms or zero-dividend names like Tesla TSLA (TSLA) and Amazon AMZN .com (AMZN). But the truth is, big caps dominate the tech space, and on the whole, the sector is sitting on some of the biggest cash hoards on Wall Street. Apple AAPL (AAPL), of course, holds a legendary $202 billion. As of February, that amounted to more than 7% of the cash holdings of all S&P 500 companies! Alphabet, too, holds north of $160 billion. Microsoft MSFT ? $132 billion. The list goes on. The problem? These companies are in no hurry to hand that cash over to us dividend investors. All pay low (or no!) dividends. But there is a “backdoor” way for us to tap … [Read more...] about 3 “Cash Loaded” Funds Almost All Investors Miss (Yields Up To 8%)

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin VP of Sales & Marketing @ Outback Team Building & Training | Father | Dad-Joke Teller. Recruitment is never easy, and it’s become increasingly difficult in this post-pandemic world. As hiring managers, we reap the benefits of being able to open up our doors to global talent—but this is as much of a challenge as it is a benefit because your candidates are no longer limited to local job opportunities. I’ve been looking to welcome a new member to our marketing team since March. It’s been a time-consuming and challenging process. I constantly found myself pivoting and making adjustments. I came up with a system that worked well for me, and it might be of benefit to you. I’ll walk you through how I automated my recruitment process and generated more qualified candidates, but first, let me tell you about my challenges. Recruitment Challenges I hired a recruitment agency to help fill our open position … [Read more...] about How To Save Time And Generate More Qualified Candidates Through Recruitment Automation

- A + A (Aug 11): A global spell of high inflation, aggressive monetary tightening and the risk of a recession are prompting economists to revise Indonesia’s economic forecasts for the remainder of the year. Analysts raised inflation projections for the third- and fourth-quarters by almost a full percentage point to 5% and 5.15%, respectively, median forecasts from Bloomberg’s latest monthly survey showed. They bumped economic growth estimate for the period a tad higher, while keeping the full-year growth outlook unchanged at 5.2%. “Expected interest rate hikes by the central bank may dampen the speed of growth trajectory in the near future.” said Enrico Tanuwidjaja, an economist at United Overseas Bank. Full-year 2022 inflation outlook was raised to 4% from 3.5%, and for next year to 3.71% from 3.35%, the same poll shows. “Risks of higher inflation has started to rise once again,” said Jeff Ng, senior currency analyst at MUFG Bank, who expects Bank Indonesia to … [Read more...] about Economists see inflation spike in Indonesia for rest of 2022