iOS 7 beta code reveals Apple?s upcoming A7 processor to contain Samsung components

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Why Ford Should Cut its Losses on Lincoln

For decades, Ford Motor Company has been struggling through its business cycle.

When business is booming, Ford spends precious capital on investments instead of paying off debt and pension liabilities, the result of which is one of the worst balance sheets in the auto industry. The longstanding struggle between management and unions has also taken its toll over the decades.

Poor capital investment decisions are often the result of poor strategy. First Ford should aim to become the dominate automaker in its domestic market for the middle class, with a full lineup of quality cars attractive to younger consumers. With the recent successes of its Fusion and Fiesta cars, it has made inroads in this regard. It also needs to clean up and strengthen its balance sheet, and devote money to fund its increasingly large unfunded pension liabilities ($9.7 billion as of Dec. 30, 2012).

Ford is in the midst of reviving its luxury brand?Lincoln. In our opinion, given the current market conditions and stiff competition, Ford should give it the same treatment as it gave Mercury years ago?that is, shutter the brand.

In order to succeed in the luxury car segment with meaningful volume in the long term, the manufacturer must be a dominate player in the mass car market in terms of quality, and to achieve that, it must have one of the best workforces and strongest balance sheets in the industry. Right now, none of the U.S. Big Three automakers (Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler) have that.

There was a time when American autoworkers were the best in the world. But after the Vietnam War, U.S. manufacturing began to decline just as Japan and Germany finally recovered from the ruins of World War II. Japan and Germany have traditionally boasted strong manufacturing bases and today have better workforces than the U.S. automakers in terms of perceived quality.

The U.S. economy has become a service-based economy. While it has attracted the top talent from across the world, the get-rich quick culture in the past few decades exemplified by Wall Street and Hollywood movies has wreaked havoc on its workforce. The most talented young people choose to become lawyers, bankers, and doctors. Vocational education, which is essential for manufacturing, has become very weak.

General Motors has done an admirable job in uplifting Cadillac in recent years, culminating in this year?s accolades among the automotive press for its ATS compact luxury sedan. Lincoln, as recently as the 1990s, was a leading luxury car brand in terms of sales in the American market. However, a lack of innovation and focus has contributed to its inability to compete with German and Japanese luxury alternatives.

If a luxury automaker doesn?t resonate with consumers in terms of quality and innovation, it will be almost impossible to generate enough sales to warrant the relatively large associated R&D costs. That is why Ford will have difficulty consistently getting a reasonable return on capital from its luxury car division. Lincoln is a drain on shareholder value.

The right strategy for Ford should be to divert its resources and attention to its U.S. operations by scaling back in Europe (where perception of its vehicles is lackluster at best), reduce capacity in developing countries where there is big potential for overcapacity, and sell off or close down its luxury division.

Warren Song and Frank Yu are contributors to the Epoch Times.

Source: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/222158-why-ford-should-cut-its-losses-on-lincoln/

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Eagles excuse Cooper from team

PHILADELPHIA (AP) ? The Philadelphia Eagles excused Riley Cooper from all team activities on Friday after the wide receiver was caught on video making a racial slur.

Cooper said the last few days have been incredibly difficult and he will step away to seek counseling.

"My actions were inexcusable," he said. "The more I think about what I did, the more disgusted I get. I keep trying to figure out how I could have said something so repulsive, and what I can do to make things better."

Cooper apologized profusely Wednesday after a video of him using the N-word at a Kenny Chesney concert last month surfaced on the Internet. The Eagles immediately fined him.

"Right now, I think it's important for me to take some time to reflect on this situation," Cooper said. "The organization and my teammates have been extremely supportive, but I also realize that there are people who will have a tough time forgiving me for what I've done. The best thing for me, and for the team, is to step away for a period of time."

The Eagles did not set a timetable for Cooper's return.

"He will meet with professionals provided by the Eagles during this period of time to better help him understand how his words have hurt so many, including his teammates," the team said in a statement.

Cooper spoke to the media again after practice Thursday, telling them his meeting with teammates a night earlier was "extremely emotional." Teammates Michael Vick, Jason Avant and others expressed forgiveness for Cooper. LeSean McCoy also said he forgives Cooper, but "I can't really respect somebody like that."

Cooper, who grew up in Clearwater, Fla., was selected in the fifth round of the 2010 draft by the Eagles out of the University of Florida. He has just 46 catches and five touchdowns in three years with the Eagles, but has been practicing with the starters since Jeremy Maclin's season-ending injury last week.

"As long as it takes, and whatever I have to do, I'm going to try to make this right," Cooper said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/eagles-excuse-cooper-team-163236395.html

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Salt levels in food still dangerously high

May 13, 2013 ? The dangerously high salt levels in processed food and fast food remain essentially unchanged, despite numerous calls from public and private health agencies for the food industry to voluntarily reduce sodium levels, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study conducted with the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

The study, which will be published May 13 in JAMA Internal Medicine, assessed the sodium content in selected processed foods and in fast-food restaurants in 2005, 2008 and 20011. The main finding was that the sodium content of food is as high as ever.

"The voluntary approach has failed," said Stephen Havas, M.D., corresponding author of the paper and a research professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "The study demonstrates that the food industry has been dragging its feet and making very few changes. This issue will not go away unless the government steps in to protect the public. The amount of sodium in our food supply needs to be regulated."

Excess sodium prematurely kills as many as 150,000 people in the U.S. each year. About 90 percent of the U.S. population develops high blood pressure and high salt in the diet is a major cause. High blood pressure increases the risk of developing heart attacks and strokes, often resulting in death or disability.

"High salt content in food benefits the food industry," Havas said. "High salt masks the flavor of ingredients that are often not the best quality and also stimulates people to drink more soda and alcohol, which the industry profits from."

A typical American consumes an average of almost two teaspoons a day of salt, vastly higher than the recommended amount of three-fifths of a teaspoon or no more than 1,500 milligrams, as recommended by the American Heart Association. About 80 percent of our daily sodium consumption comes from eating processed or restaurant foods. Very little comes from salt we add to food.

"The only way for most people to meet the current sodium recommendation is to cook from scratch and not use salt," Havas said. "But that's not realistic for most people."

The FDA needs to begin regulating food processors and the restaurant industry -- as has been recommended by the Institute of Medicine and others -- as soon as possible, Havas said.

Havas noted that our taste buds rapidly adapt to less salt. "If it's reduced by 20 percent a year, no one would know the difference," he said.

The study found that between 2005 and 2011, the sodium content in 402 processed foods declined by approximately 3.5 percent, while the sodium content in 78 fast-food restaurant products increased by 2.6 percent. Although some products showed decreases of at least 30 percent, a greater number of products showed increases of at least 30 percent. The predominant finding was the absence of any appreciable or statistically significant changes in sodium content during six years.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/2ERgCl3K4c8/130513174042.htm

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From this week, ABC will become the first TV network to offer up live streams of its local programmi

From this week, ABC will become the first TV network to offer up live streams of its local programming to users of its Watch ABC app.

Source: http://gizmodo.com/from-this-week-abc-will-become-the-first-tv-network-to-504221777

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OJ back Vegas court as lawyers mount new trial bid

LAS VEGAS (AP) ? O.J. Simpson is back in a Las Vegas courtroom for day two of a hearing dissecting his former lawyer's work in his 2008 robbery-kidnapping conviction.

Simpson's lawyers asked the judge on Tuesday to let the shackled former football star and actor have one hand free so he can take notes and sip water while a Nevada judge hears evidence that the 65-year-old deserves a new trial.

The judge agreed.

The hearing is aimed at proving Simpson's trial lawyer, Yale Galanter (gah-LAN'-ter), had conflicted interests and shouldn't have handled Simpson's case.

Simpson is serving nine to 33 years in prison for his 2008 conviction in the armed robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers in a Las Vegas hotel room.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/oj-back-vegas-court-lawyers-mount-trial-bid-153159286.html

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Earnings Beat for PETS, Margins Up - May 13, 2013 - Zacks.com

America?s largest pet pharmacy, PetMed Express ( PETS - Analyst Report ) reported earnings of 23 cents per share in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013, 2 cents ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate and up 15% year over year. Fiscal 2013 earnings per share were 86 cents, up 7.5% year over year.

Net sales in the quarter were down 8.6% year over year to $51.1 million, way below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $55 million. The decline was a result of the negative impact of the colder-than-normal weather on sales. For the full year, the company reported $227.8 million in sales, a decline of 4.4%. The fiscal sales were adversely affected by the unavailability of branded products from Novartis ( NVS - Snapshot Report ) due to the suspension of its production. However, the company noted that the loss from this suspension was to some extent compensated by certain brands. Moreover, online sales at the end of the fiscal, occupied 77% of total sales, compared with 75% in the year-ago period.

Gross margin expanded 176 basis points (bps) to 35.7% during the quarter on the back of a shift toward higher margin product mix, including generics. A 19.7% decline in advertising expenses (to $5.6 million) as well as a 4.8% drop in general and administrative expenses (to $5.2 million) led to a 13.1% reduction in operating expenses (without depreciation) to $10.7 million. Consequently, operating margin improved 285 bps to 14.7%.

PetMed exited the fiscal with cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments of $33.6 million compared with $57.1 million at the end of fiscal 2012.

Recommendation

Although PetMed is still struggling with sales, we are encouraged with the company?s cost reduction initiatives, which aided margin expansion. PetMed is currently trying to implement several strategies to revive its top line. These strategies include focus on advertising efficiency to improve new order sales and shifting sales to higher margin items, including generics, while expanding its product offerings. The company currently offers a wide range of products for dogs, cats, and horses, and is working on expanding its portfolio. The stock retains a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Other Stocks to Consider

While we prefer to remain on the sidelines on PetMed, other medical device stocks worth a look are Conceptus, Inc. ( CPTS - Snapshot Report ) and Myriad Genetics ( MYGN - Analyst Report ) . Both the stocks carry a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Source: http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/99201/earnings-beat-for-pets-margins-up

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