Archives for July 16, 2017

Wells Fargo to reduce businesses following fake account scandal: FT

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(Reuters) – Wells Fargo is poised to eliminate a number of its smaller businesses, the company’s chief financial officer said in an article published Sunday.

The Financial Times reported that Wells Fargo will be spinning off a number of its products “worth hundreds of millions of dollars,” according to CFO John Shrewsberry, in order to focus on and emphasize “more relevant” ones, though he did not specify what products those would be.

“There are a handful of businesses in our mindset,” Shrewsberry said, adding that the bank had “choices to make.” “They’re not at the scale of most of our businesses . . . not top-tier providers.”

Wells Fargo recently announced it would pay $142 million to settle a class-action lawsuit over its practice of creating fake accounts and credit cards for customers without their knowledge.

The plan to reduce the number of businesses is part of an effort to restore investor confidence following the scandal, FT reported.

The bank employs 273,000 people and currently operates about 90 different businesses.

In the past three weeks, Wells Fargo has struck deals to sell its share registration arm to Equiniti (EQN.L) for $227 million and will sell its commercial insurance business for an undisclosed sum.

The 10 Best Family Cars for 2017

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Summer is getting closer, which means Americans are buckling up. According to AAA, 80% of people plan to take a road trip this summer, which could mean it’s time to upgrade your wheels. Parents Magazine and Edmunds released their annual list of 10 Best Family Cars for 2017, just in time to hit the road.

They looked at thousands of cars, and considered value, family-friendly features, and vehicle performance – including safety features and fuel efficiency – in determining which cars would make the cut.

BEST ECO-FRIENDLY CAR

The Chevrolet Bolt EV is an electric car that starts at $29,995, after a $7,500 federal tax credit. It can travel up to 238 miles on one charge. The car also has a wi-fi hotspot, and has the capability to connect up to seven devices at once.

BEST BUDGET VEHICLE

The Kia Soul starts at $16,100. It has a spacious interior, fits five and comes with a six-speaker audio system, Bluetooth connectivity, and a voice-activated entertainment system.

BEST HATCHBACK

The Subaru Crosstrek is an all-wheel drive hatchback and starts at $21,695. It’s equipped with voice control and can be upgraded to include adaptive cruise control. It also has an easy-to-clean interior.

BEST SMALL SEDAN

The Honda Civic starts at $18,740 and has ample trunk and seating space for families. It also comes with safety features like a multi-angle rearview camera.

BEST SEDAN

The Hyundai Sonata starts at $21,950 and has a variety of luxury features like Apple CarPlay and a tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel. It’s affordable, spacious, and easy to drive.

BEST MIDSIZE CROSSOVERS

The Mazda CX-5 starts at $24,045 and comes with a 7-inch infotainment touchscreen. Its roomy interior includes a folding rear-seat, which provides an extra seat in the back with enough space for cargo.

 The Honda CR-V starts at $24,045 and includes new features like a large storage bin, roomy door pockets and two device-charging ports.

BEST WAGON

The Subaru Outback starts at $25,645 and is designed for off-roading family adventures. They’ve upgraded the interior to include luxury features like user-friendly touchscreens and plush seating.

BEST MINIVAN

The Chrysler Pacifica starts at $28,595 and fits up to eight passengers. Additional features include active noise cancellation for a quiet cabin and the Uconnect infotainment system.

BEST SUV

The Toyota Highlander starts at $30,630 and has a V6 engine and an eight-speed automatic transmission. It also includes five charging ports and a safety bundle that includes a collision-avoidance system and pedestrian detection.

Here’s what happens to your old money

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Everyday, the Federal Reserve puts new money into circulation, and takes old, damaged money out. The bills that look a little too worse-for-wear are deemed “unfit currency” and destroyed.

Each year, the Fed recycles $200 billion worth of currency, and 70% of the new cash it ordered to be printed for 2017 is being used to replace old money.

Banks will give excess and old money to the Federal Reserve; it’s then taken to cash offices around the United States, where it’s counted and sorted.

What makes money too unfit to use? According the Fed, bills that have holes larger than 19 millimeters, or about the size of an aspirin, can no longer be used. Bills that are torn, dirty, or worn out are also removed. And 5-, 10- and 20-dollar bills produced before 1996 are removed automatically because of their age, regardless of condition.

All of those bills are sent to shredders and made into some very expensive confetti. The Federal Reserve used to send the shredded cash to landfills, but now 90% of the money is recycled. It’s used to make compost, potting soil, housing insulation or cement. Recycling plants in Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Seattle burn the shredded currency to generate electricity.

Want a piece, or a million, for yourself? The Fed sells 5-pound bags containing $10,000 of the now-worthless cash. At $45 a pop, think of it as a bargain…

The unfit money the Fed removes from banks is replaced with new bills, at no cost to the banks. The money is then circulated back to their branches and ATMs, where it could end up back in your hands, starting the process over again.

What you need to know about Amazon Prime Day

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Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably know that Amazon (AMZN) Prime Day will happen Tuesday July 11.

The third annual sale by the e-commerce giant will feature thousands of lightning deals only available to Prime members – they will be in limited quantities and available for a limited time. From kitchenware to electronics, the inventory is diverse, and you’re guaranteed to find something you didn’t even know you wanted.

If you’re a Prime Day newbie, here are some things to know.

When is it?

Prime Day is July 11, but some deals will become available as early as 9pm ET on July 10. New deals will start about every 5 minutes for 30 full hours.

Certain deals that are labeled “Spotlight,” may return on July 11 while supplies last.

Not a Prime member?        

You have to be a Prime member in order to take full advantage of the deals, but it’s not too late. Simply go to Amazon.com to sign up. New members get a 30-day trial membership for free, so you could basically sign up for Prime Day, take advantage of the deals, and then cancel your account. If you want to keep it, membership costs $99 for the year, and includes free two-hour, same-day or two-day delivery. Students can sign up for a free 6-month trial here. (Check out some other Prime perks here.)

How to find deals

Own an Amazon voice activated device like an Echo? Simply ask “Alexa, what are your deals?” The voice-activated personal assistant will share exclusive deals for shoppers and even buy them for you. (Synergy!) The deals are available on the Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Show, Amazon Tap, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Dash Wand, and compatible Fire tablets.

On the Amazon app or website, go to Today’s Deals and then click Upcoming. There you can see all of the deals 24 hours before they are live. If you’re using the app, add items that you like to your watch list and get an alert when it’s available to buy.

The Amazon Echo will sell for just $89.99 on Amazon Prime Day.

In a press release, Amazon gave a sneak peek of some of the deals that will be available during Prime Day. Some highlights include:

  • Save 50% on Amazon Echo, only $89.99
  • Fire 7, our best-selling tablet, only $29.99. Usually $49.99
  • Newly released Element 55-inch 4K Ultra HD smart LED TV – Amazon Fire TV Edition, only $399.99
  • 40-inch 1080p TCL TV, only $199.99
  • 55-inch premium brand 4K smart LED TV, only $599.99
  • Save up to 50% on select video games, consoles and accessories
  • Save big on diamond stud earrings – 1 carat diamond stud earrings for 499.99 or ½ carat diamond stud earrings for $239.99
  • Save up to 70% on select Samsonite two-piece spinner sets
  • Get up to 40% off on select furniture, mattresses and rugs
  • $100 off the Bissell Multi Reach Cordless Stick Vacuum
  • Save up to 30% on select Under Armour training gear
  • Skywalker Trampolines Jump N’ Dunk Trampoline with safety enclosure and basketball hoop, 8-Feet, only $119.99

Discounts on memberships

Leading up the big event, Amazon has released a handful of membership promotions for Prime users. Currently, members can:

PrimeNow offers essential household items (think cleaning supplies) with free two-hour shipping. If you’ve never tried it before, Amazon is offering $10 off your first order with the code “10PrimeDay.” That code will also earn you $10 off future orders.

What to know

If you’re an Amazon user, the site will show you deals from your most-shopped categories first, allowing you to quickly find the stuff you want.

With all of these deals, it’s very possible to miss one. If you see that an item is “100% claimed,” join the Waitlist. This way, Amazon can alert you if it becomes available again.

Planning to spend a lot on Prime Day? Then perhaps you should buy an Amazon gift card. If you’re a first timer, and you add $100 to your gift card balance, Amazon will give you $10. It’s not a lot, but it’s free money!

Even a $2.7 billion fine can’t hurt Google

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Bei Google zu arbeiten, ist für viele Bewerber ein Traum. (Bild: AFP)
Google was fined $2.7 billion by the European Commission, but even that can’t hurt the search giant. (image: AFP)

Europe is once again mad at Google, but this time European regulators’ angst comes with a serious price tag: a €2.42 billion, or about $2.73 billion, fine to punish the Alphabet, Inc. (GOOG, GOOGL), subsidiary for pushing its product-search tool in its own search results.

“Google abused its market dominance as a search engine by promoting its own comparison shopping service in its search results, and demoting those of competitors” European Commission member Margrethe Vestager said in a statement Tuesday morning announcing the EC’s ruling.

Google general counsel Kent Walker wrote in a blog post that the EU didn’t understand how product search now transcends traditional web queries, citing Amazon (AMZN) in particular as “a formidable competitor.” He said Google would continue to make its case in Europe.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, however, the company predicted that it will pay the fine by the middle of the year. It shouldn’t feel much pain, with $18.1 billion in cash and cash equivalents on its books at the end of March. And with no prospect of a comparable penalty from the U.S., stateside searches probably won’t look any different anytime soon.

Not a new complaint

The EC’s complaint centers on a relatively small part of Google’s search: the illustrated ads you’ll see atop some product-centric search results. Type “Washington Nationals cap,” for instance, and Google will display a strip of listings for stores selling hats with the logo of D.C.’s baseball team.

Other search sites may also help you comparison shop, but they appear far lower in Google’s results. I saw none in several pages of results in my search for a Nats cap.

The EC heard a version of this complaint eight years ago, when a British shopping-search engine called Foundem asked for an investigation into Google’s promotion of its own Product Search.

Google Product Search was unavailable for comment on the EC’s new ruling: In 2012, Googlescrapped that attempt at building a comprehensive indexing of items for sale in favor of simply selling ads atop some results. The EU complaint treats the two as basically the same thing.

This is not the first time the wheels of justice have turned slowly in Europe. See also: Europe requiring Microsoft (MSFT) to add a “browser ballot” interface to Windows in 2009, years after Mozilla Firefox had fractured Internet Explorer’s near monopoly.

What about customers?

Meanwhile, Europeans have kept on using Google at even higher rates than U.S. users.

According to StatCounter, Google’s share of all searches stands at 91.9% in Europe, versus87.7%  in the U.S. In mobile search, where Google’s lead is still larger, Europeans direct 97.7%of their queries to Google while Americans “only” use it for 96.3% of theirs.

Unlike Microsoft’s past attempts to stop computer manufacturers from installing other browsers and impede setting IE alternatives as a default browser, it’s harder to see coercion behind that overwhelming market share.

On my own Android phone, it takes six touches of the screen to change its default search site: Open Chrome, tap the menu button, scroll down, select Settings, tap “Search engine,” pick one of four non-Google options, two owned by Yahoo Finance’s parent firm Verizon (VZ).

It’s even easier to go directly to another site or app.

“Around half of searches for products now start on specific e-commerce sites or apps, especially Amazon in the countries where it operates,” emailed Jackdaw Research principal Jan Dawson.

If European users sometimes don’t want to waste time tapping around to look up the price of something, is it wrong for Google to sell ads against that curiosity?

“Next up: EU to decide a search engine offering news, image & local search is somehow a violation of being a ‘fair’ search engine,” Danny Sullivan, founder of the trade-news site Search Engine Land tweeted.

Many industry observers do worry about how much Google dominates the online ad business, with Facebook (FB) close behind. But the EC’s action doesn’t speak to that.

Will this make a difference to Google competitors on either side of the Atlantic?

Dawson doubts that the EC ruling would revive the market for non-Google product-search tools.

“Although those comparison shopping sites still exist, they’re far less relevant today, and even a change to Google’s search engine isn’t going to turn that around.”

How to switch from iPhone to Android and vice versa

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Change is good. It’s, as the cliché goes, the only constant. But change is also hard. And the hardest kind of change, outside of my transformation from obnoxiously dressed teen to a just plain obnoxious man-child, is changing the kind of smartphone you use.

I’m not talking about going from an old iPhone to a new iPhone; I’m talking about changing from your old iPhone to a new Android device and vice versa.

Whether you’re moving from Android to iOS or vice versa, these are the steps that will get you there the fastest.

It’s almost as if Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOG, GOOGL) don’t want you to leave their respective device ecosystems. And many consumers just stick with their current operating system, because they either don’t know how to change or are worried they’ll lose out on features.

But there is a way to jump between these two types of smartphones.

Moving from Android to iPhone

So you’ve been using a Samsung smartphone for the past three years and want to check out Apple’s latest iPhone. Well, buckle up, because you’re in for a … relatively painless process.

First, you’ll have to download Apple’s Move to iOS app through the Google Play Store. The app, which you’ll want to make sure is made by Apple, will copy your messages, photos and contacts from your Android device to your new iPhone.

Download the move to iOS app.
Download the Move to iOS app.

To get started, turn on your new iPhone and run through the setup process for the iPhone until you get to the Apps & Data screen.

From there, select, “Move Data from Android.” Your iPhone will then prompt you to download the Move to iOS app, which you’ve already done. Tap “Continue,” and you should receive a series of numbers.

Now, open the Move to iOS app on your Android phone. You’ll see a screen that says Find your Code. Tap “Next” in the top right corner of the screen.

You’ll now be asked to enter either the six-digit or 10-digit series of numbers displayed on your iPhone. Your Android phone will then automatically connect to your new iPhone.

From there you’ll have to choose if you want to carry over your Google Account, Messages, Contacts, Calendar and Camera Roll. Tap “Next” and you’re all set.

Transferring data to your iPhone.
You’ll need to select the data you’d like to transfer to your iPhone.