TechCrunch : The battle between hotels and Airbnb escalates in NYC

The battle between hotels and Airbnb escalates in NYC

The war between Airbnb and the hotel industry rages on, and it’s reaching new lows here in New York.

A campaign, backed by the Hotel Association of New York City Inc. and the union that represents hotel workers, launched a 10-day, 30-second ad that links Airbnb’s short-term rentals to public security threats.

The ad sets the stage for fear-mongering, stating that NYC remains the number one target of terror in the world, citing the NYPD police commissioner, and reminding viewers that there are 40,000 Airbnb listings in NYC.

The ad even goes so far as to say that Manchester bomber Salman Abedi was staying in a short-term rental apartment when he staged and executed the attack, being sent massive packages.

Airbnb has said that Abedi’s unit was not an Airbnb listing, and has rightly called the ad “an outrageous scare tactic.”

“The fact is Airbnb had nothing to do with the tragic events in Manchester and we are one of the only hospitality companies that runs background checks on all U.S. residents, both hosts and guests,” Airbnb Press Secretary Peter Schottenfels told the NY Daily News. “Hotel CEOs have a responsibility to tell us why they don’t do the same and why they continue to fund this sort of despicable, cynical advertising.”

But the company is now running its own ad, called “Scare Tactics” to counter the “Who’s in Your Building?” ad.

Schottenfels told the NY Daily News that the company will spend $500K running the ad on cable and online, adding the following:

While hotels launch desperate, xenophobic smear attacks in an attempt to protect their ability to price gouge, Airbnb hosts represent what’s best about New York — hardworking families who open their homes to travelers and are able to make a bit of extra money to stay in the neighborhoods they love.

These ads are just one small battle in a much larger war. In 2016, Airbnb was the target of a federal investigation by the FTC, and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill enforcing steep fines on New York’s Airbnb hosts that break housing rules.

The conflict continues to escalate, so expect to see more ads like these from both sides

Recode.net : ASOS is doubling down on the U.S., where it’s already a hot fashion

ASOS is doubling down on the U.S., where it’s already a hot fashion site for twentysomethings
The company is investing $40 million in a new Atlanta warehouse.

It’s been just four years since London-based e-commerce company ASOS launched a fashion site dedicated to U.S. shoppers, but it has already built a U.S. business that does around $240 million in annual sales and still growing north of 50 percent to date this fiscal year.

Now, the 17-year-old fast-fashion business is investing $40 million into a new U.S. warehouse that it hopes will help propel its stateside business to new levels.

ASOS has signed a lease for a new distribution center in the Atlanta area that can hold up to 10 million items and support a business of around $750 million annually.

Over the next five years years, the company will likely add another facility to cut down delivery times to U.S. customers and support its West Coast business.

“There’s more investment, more product and more U.S.-centric brands,” ASOS CEO Nick Beighton said in an interview with Recode.

“The next stage of the growth you’ll see is a better customer experience,” he added, calling out reduced delivery speeds as one goal.

ASOS sells a wide range of affordable fashion items and accessories to young adults, with about 40 percent of sales coming from its own ASOS brand, and another 20 percent from exclusive items created by other brands. The company currently has a market cap of about five billion British pounds, or around $6.5 billion.

Currently, 12 percent of its sales come from U.S. shoppers, with New York and Los Angeles as its strongholds; a growing customer base is emerging in and around Austin, Texas, according to Beighton.

The benefits of the new Atlanta facility will start to manifest themselves to U.S. shoppers with the cut-off time for ordering two-day delivery moving back from 3 pm to 6 pm for certain regions.

“We then endeavor to make it later and later and later,” Beighton said. “Peak shopping is between 8 and 10 in the evening.”

Within two years, ASOS plans to ship all goods to U.S. shoppers out of the facility — rather than from across the pond — which should result in more and better shipping options, he added.

>>> Apple : A Secret Health Care System Designed for a Future iPhone Surfaced to


A Secret Health Care System Designed for a Future iPhone Surfaced today at the U.S. Patent Office as a Granted Patent

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 50 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In this particular report we cover a surprise invention revelation. Apple's newly granted patent covers an invention relating to health data, and more specifically to an iPhone that computes health data. In the future an iPhone user will be able to place their finger across the face side camera and obtain health data. According to Apple, "electrical measurements may be used to measure heart function, compute an electrocardiogram, compute a galvanic skin response that may be indicative of emotional state and/or other physiological condition, and/or compute other health data such as body fat, or blood pressure.

Apple's Patent Background

It may be beneficial for a user to have information about his or her health data, including fitness data and wellness data. For example, health data may indicate emergency conditions or to enable the user to maximize fitness or wellness activities. Traditionally, health data is provided to users by health care professionals. However, it may be beneficial for users to have more access to health data

An iPhone that Computes Health Data

Apple's invention and now granted patent discloses systems, apparatuses, and methods related to an electric device that computes health data. An electronic device may include a camera, an ambient light sensor, and a proximity sensor. The electronic device may use one or more of the camera and the proximity sensor to emit light into a body part of a user touching a surface of the electronic device and one or more of the camera, the ambient light sensor, and the proximity sensor to receive at least part of the emitted light reflected by the body part of the user. The electronic device may compute health data of the user based upon sensor data regarding the received light. In some implementations, the electronic device may also include one or more electrical contacts that contact one or more body parts of the user. In such implementations, the health data may be further computed based on an electrical measurement obtained using the electrical contacts.

In some implementations, the electronic device may utilize the camera to determine the user's body part is misaligned with the camera, the ambient light sensor, and the proximity sensor for purposes of detecting the information about the body part of the user. In such implementations, the electronic device may provide guidance to correct the misalignment.

In various embodiments, a mobile personal computing device may include a camera, an ambient light sensor, a proximity sensor, and a processing unit communicably coupled to the camera, the ambient light sensor, and the proximity sensor. The processing unit may be configured to: use at least one of camera and a proximity sensor to emit light into a body part of a user touching a surface of the mobile personal computing device; use at least one of the camera, an ambient light sensor, or the proximity sensor to receive at least part of the emitted light reflected by the body part of the user and generate sensor data; and computing health data of the user, utilizing the processing unit, using at least the sensor data regarding the received light.

In some embodiments, a method for using a mobile personal computing device to obtain health data may include: using at least one of camera and a proximity sensor to emit light into a body part of a user touching a surface of the device; using at least one of the camera, an ambient light sensor, or the proximity sensor to receive at least part of the emitted light reflected by the body part of the user and generate sensor data; and computing health data of the user, utilizing the processing unit, using at least the sensor data regarding the received light.

In one or more embodiments, a method for guiding use of a mobile personal computing device to obtain health data may include: detecting, utilizing a camera, a profile of a body part of a user contacting the camera; determining, using the profile, if the body part is misaligned with a combination of the camera, an ambient light sensor, and a proximity sensor for purposes of obtaining health data for the user; and providing guidance to correct the misalignment.


Apple's patent FIG. 2 noted above illustrates an iPhone being utilized to obtain health data; FIG. 3 illustrates the view of FIG. 2 while the example system is providing guidance to obtain health data; FIG. 4 illustrates the view of FIG. 2 while the example system is providing the obtained health data; FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating an example method for using an electronic device to obtain health data. This method may be performed by the system of FIG. 1.

More specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the electrical contacts 107a and 107b may be positioned to contact the user's index finger and/or a thumb. For example, as shown a finger of the user may contact a top electrical contact 107a while a palm of the user contacts a bottom electrical contact 107b. However, it is understood that this is an example and the electrical contacts may be configured to contact other body parts of the user (such as an ear, a cheek, and so on) without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

In some implementations, the electrical contacts 107a and 107b may be positioned to contact the index finger of the user and an additional body part of the user such that electrical measurement obtained using the electrical contacts corresponds to an electrical characteristic across the user's chest.

For example, as shown a finger of the user's left hand may contact a top electrical contact 107a while a right palm of the user (connected to each other through the user's chest) contacts a bottom electrical contact 107b. Positioning the electrical contacts to contact user body parts such that the electrical measurement obtained using the electrical contacts corresponds to an electrical property across the user's chest. Such a measurement may enable information related to health data (such as an electrocardiogram) to be obtained that might not otherwise be possible absent such positioning.

By way of illustration, electrical measurements may be taken via the electrical contacts 107a and 107b (which may respectively be configured as positive and negative terminals) that may be used to detect electrical activity of the user's body. Such electrical measurements may be used (in some cases along with analysis of the received light) to measure heart function, compute an electrocardiogram, compute a galvanic skin response that may be indicative of emotional state and/or other physiological condition, and/or compute other health data such as body fat, or blood pressure.

(ZH) Can Switzerland Survive Today's Assault On Cash And Sound Money?

Can Switzerland Survive Today's Assault On Cash And Sound Money?



“Switzerland will have the last word,” wrote Victor Hugo in the late 19th century.

“It possesses one of the most perfect forms of government in the world.” A contemporary of his, Frederick Kuenzli, a scholar of the Swiss Army, boasted: “No purer type of Republican ideals, no more fixed and devoted adherence to those ideals can be found in all the world than in Switzerland.”
On many levels, there is reason to believe that, indeed, Switzerland remains a unique oasis of rationality and intelligence in the ocean-wide bloodbath that is contemporary Western fiscal and social self-sabotage. On the other hand, there is the Swiss National Bank — the central bank — that oddly appears to be encouraging the same monetary policy dance-with-death that has tripped up the country’s masochistic neighbors.
How viable yet is the Swiss element in that which we still admire as the nation of Switzerland?First the good news:


Direct democracy is alive and kicking: No mere opinion poll, the power and vibrancy of the referendum — one that can be launched by any local who can gather 100,000 signatures in support — constitutes one of the most impressive displays of true citizen-republicanism that there is. There is an upcoming vote on the Swiss Sovereign Money Initiative — a movement to obstruct financial speculation; recent referendums that were voted into law include a phasing out of nuclear energy to be replaced by renewables, and easier naturalization of third-generation immigrants.

Cash is still very much king and carrying around personal debt is a social blackmark. In fact, the love of cash has a counter-cultural dimension to it as an anti-State, anti-globalist, anti-anti-privacy gesture intended to underscore the Swiss love of freedom. The Swiss will use huge denominations (the 1000-franc note, for example) like they use pocket change to pay for everything from monthly utility bills to buying a sandwich. Professionals regularly will pay their cantonal taxes by showing up at municipal offices and unrolling a wad of bank notes. No one bats an eye. The country’s long tradition of banking secrecy has instilled a love for the untraceable privacy conferred by cash notes and coins. In fact, so serious is the Swiss demand for privacy that the federal government appoints its own public data security officer and banking secrecy remains fully in force for domestic customers,

And then there is Switzerland the banking superpower. More than any other banking system anywhere, Swiss bankers have developed the art of learning from history. From its historic position at the crossroads of and as a safe-haven from the experience of world war, hyperinflation and political upheavals, Switzerland has cultivated that legendary conservatism which ensures that Swiss bank investments still are of the highest quality. The high standard of liquidity remains in place.
However, The creeping signs of The State are settling upon the Alpine paradise. It may come as no surprise that a central bank figures at the center of this. The strange case of the Swiss National Bank (SNB) is a phenomenon to be followed closely, if Switzerland is not to lose sight of what it means, and has always meant, to be Swiss.
At first glance, the SNB appears to be the last of the bankers’ banks. The SNB is not powerful. It is not owned by the Swiss government. It is completely independent, as expressed in Article 6 of the National Bank Act, which explicitly prohibits the bank from seeking or accepting instruction from federal authorities. Instead, the SNB has the legal status of a special-statute joint-stock company. Under Article 11, it is not allowed to acquire government bonds from new issues and monetary policy is not bankrolled by the SNB as a central bank. The SNB has private shareholders so it must report earnings like a regular company. (The Swiss Federal Government owns no shares in the bank). It has almost 640 billion francs in its currency reserves; the cantons together own 45%; a further 15% is owned by cantonal banks and the remaining 40% by private individuals and companies. But as good as all of that sounds:


Money printing fever has hit: When the SNB turned a record-setting loss into a massive profit in 2016, it was the result of the bank’s vast portfolio of U.S. stocks amounting to some $60 billion, with investments in such companies as Google parent-company Alphabet; Apple and Facebook, among others. The bank reported profits of 24 billion Swiss francs (23.4 billion USD for 2016), one of its best years ever. (This was a major turn-around from 2015, when it recorded its biggest loss in history of 23 billion francs).

Yet James Grant, of the legendary Wall Street newsletter Grant’s Interest Rate Observer, is having none of it. As he told the Swiss economic journal Finanz und Wirtschaft last August, this buying spree consists of francs created from “the thin alpine air where the Swiss money grows”. He adds: “All this is done with a tab of a computer key. And then the SNB calls its friendly broker – I guess UBS – and buys the ears off of the US stock exchange. All of it with money that didn’t exist. That too, is something a little bit new.”

Then there are negative interest rates…The Swiss National Bank imposed sub-zero rates in early 2015, prompting many lenders including UBS Group and Credit Suisse Group to pass on the burden – it is not known how much-- to cash-rich clients like asset managers and big companies. Now, cash hoarding is going like never before, a nice problem for the SNB’s “monetary policy” if there ever was one, effectively nullifying the effect of negative rates. Swiss insurance companies are having a field day as customers pile in to buy policies to protect their cash from theft or damage given the increasing demand for cash storage.

To top it all off, the Swiss are selling off their gold. Gold holdings had been a standard par excellence of the Swiss. Over the course of the 20th century, the Swiss accumulated large gold reserves and ran a steady current account surplus. This placed the SNB in opposition with the International Monetary Fund, which Switzerland did not join until 1992. Thereafter, membership meant weaning the Swiss franc off its gold standard and in 1999, Switzerland became the last industrial nation to go off that standard. At that time, the Swiss National Bank held some 2,600 tons of gold, representing about 41% of its total currency reserves. By the end of 2008 its gold holdings had dwindled to just 21% of reserves. And as of August this year, they had fallen to just 7.9%. The raw tonnage has fallen over that time to just 1,040 tons, a 60% decline from 1999. The highly-anticipated Swiss Gold Initiative of 2014 — an initiative that called for the Swiss central bank to hold at least 20% of its assets in gold, prohibit selling any gold in future, and bring back all its gold reserves to Switzerland — failed.
It is to Switzerland many in the West turn today for a model of solid fiscal conservatism, love of individual privacy, subordinate central government and true community-based freedom, as if a beacon light in a trans-Atlantic fog of warfare and welfare state indoctrination. One hopes the SNB and its adherents understand the folly of sabotaging the great success that their country has enjoyed by sticking to one fundamental principle above all: that of keeping Switzerland Swiss—and with apologies to no one.

>>> Janus Henderson Group beats by $0.15, misses on revs (34.08)

Janus Henderson Group beats by $0.15, misses on revs (34.08)
  • Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.68 per share, $0.15 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.53; revenues rose 49.7% year/year to $384.8 mln vs the $394.97 mln Capital IQ Consensus.
    • Assets under management increased to $345 billion, up 4% on a pro forma basis from the first quarter 2017, driven by positive markets and foreign currency translation gains.
    • Investment performance was strong and improved notably from the prior quarters to, as at 30 June 2017, 69%, 71% and 89% outperformance of benchmark on a 1-, 3- and 5-year basis, respectively.
      31 March 2017 50%, 60% and 82% outperformance of benchmark on a 1-, 3- and 5-year basis, respectively.
    • Total Group net outflows of $1.0 billion, on a pro forma basis, reflect a $6.0 billion improvement from the first quarter 2017, driven by positive Equity flows and moderation in Quantitative Equity outflows

(BFW) MiFID Trade Rules Leave Swap Transactions in Dark, Lawmaker Says

European Union policies will exclude many interest-rate derivatives from MiFID II trade transparency requirements until mid-2019 and should be reconsidered, says Markus Ferber, lead lawmaker on the act in European Parliament.
  • Ferber comments on so-called “transitional transparency calculation” for interest-rate derivatives published July 3 by European Securities and Markets Authority
  • “In my view, ESMA is aiming too low,” Ferber says in e-mail today. “Just because it’s an interim regime, it can’t mean that a significant part of the market for interest rate swaps is exempt from MiFID II transparency provisions for almost one and a half years. That’s fundamentally opposed to the goals of MiFID II.”
  • Ferber, in July 14 letter to ESMA, says transitional calculation will exempt “nearly all” interest rate swaps in U.S. dollars and euros and all those denominated in pounds and deemed illiquid from transparency rules
    • NOTE: MiFID II starts Jan. 3 and EU policymakers continue to debate fine details of restrictions; law seeks greater pre- and post- trade transparency of transactions
  • Ferber asked if ESMA “could give the matter another look to determine if the results ESMA has come up with are really in line with market practices and if nearly the entire market for interest rate swaps should really go into the dark”
  • Steven Maijoor, ESMA’s chairman, in July 20 letter to Ferber said “we opted for a rather cautious approach at the start of MiFID II application”
    • “The results of the TTC will only apply for 17 months and will thereafter be replaced by the annual calculations,” Maijoor said
    • “ESMA has always been strongly in favor of transparent markets and is fully supportive of the MiFIR pre- and post-trade transparency regime for non-equity financial instruments,” Maijoor said, referring to companion regulation to MiFID II

>>> Single Trader with Enormous Bankroll is Manipulating Bitcoin Price, But to W

Single Trader with Enormous Bankroll is Manipulating Bitcoin Price, But to What End? http://bit.ly/2uBKEoR

Rumors are swirling about a trader with nearly unlimited funds who is manipulating the Bitcoin markets. This trader, nicknamed "Spoofy," received his nom de guerre because of his efforts to “spoof” the market, primarily on Bitfinex.

What is spoofing?
According to the Dodd-Frank act, spoofing is the practice of:

"Bidding or offering with the intent to cancel the bid or offer before execution"

In other words, spoofers place a large buy order just below other buy orders, or a large sell order just above other sell orders. The idea is to make traders think that somebody with deep pockets is getting ready to buy or sell, in hopes of moving the market. If traders see a sell order of 2000 Bitcoin, for instance, they may rush to panic sell before the whale crashes the price.

The catch is this: If the price approaches the spoofer’s order, he immediately cancels it. Spoofing is actually illegal, but as Bitcoin markets are largely unregulated, it’s quite common. What is unusual in this case is the enormous bankroll that Spoofy has at his disposal. He regularly places orders approaching $60 mln.

Even more unusual is that most of Spoofy’s activity occurs on a single exchange: Bitfinex. This exchange came under fire earlier this spring when Wells Fargo cut off their banking ties. As a result, it’s virtually impossible to deposit fiat on Bitfinex without going through intermediaries. Spoofy has massive sums of both fiat and Bitcoin on that exchange, and is likely one of the only traders who does.

Other tactics
Spoofy has a number of weapons in his arsenal, including spoofing and wash trading. As BitCrypto’ed points out in a recent blog post:

“Spoofy makes the price go up when he wants it to go up, and Spoofy makes the price go down when he wants it to go down, and he’s got the coin… both USD, and Bitcoin, of course, to pull it off, and with impunity on Bitfinex.”

The BitCrypto’ed blog also describes Spoofy’s wash trades, when he trades with himself by either selling into his own buy orders or vice versa. Wash trading at high volumes can induce a frenzy of buying or selling, as other traders respond to the high trading volume. Spoofy can execute wash trades at very low cost, about $1,000 per million dollars of volume.

When Bitfinex announced its plan to distribute Bitcoin Cash, it initially planned to distribute Bitcoin Cash to holders of short positions. Immediately following that announcement, a single trader short sold tens of thousands of Bitcoin all at once. It’s likely this trader was Spoofy himself, planning on acquiring as much Bitcoin Cash as possible.

The large number of shorts on Bitfinex also led many to believe that an epic short squeeze was coming, and many Bitcoin traders purchase coins in expectation of this. Suddenly, he “claimed” all of his own shorts, closing them using his own Bitcoin. The number of shorts dropped drastically without affecting the price at all.

Who is he?
The identity of Spoofy remains a mystery. He may be a single trader, a group of colluding traders or even the Bitfinex management themselves. He sometimes seeks to drop Bitcoin price, and sometimes acts to increase it.

Not just Bitfinex
Spoofy’s activity also drives the price on other exchanges, as arbitrage takes place. Because BItcoin is so thinly traded, a single large “whale” can potentially move the entire market. While Spoofy is certainly exercising outsized control over the Bitcoin price, it is uncertain how much of an affect this is having on the markets. The price is currently rising, having finally surmounted the $3,000 barrier. The only problem? Nobody knows how much of this increase is organic and sustainable, and how much is due to the market manipulation of Spoofy and others.