IBM can’t seem to escape the slippery slope. On the contrary, the company keeps posting disappointing revenue figures. IBM has just released its quarterly revenue situation, and charts show that this has been the 21^st quarter of straight revenue decline.

IBM’s Straight Revenue Decline Marks a 4% Decrease over the Last Five Years

On Wednesday, IBM made public its financial results for the ending quarter. Some analysts highlighted a 4% revenue decline over the past five years. Even though the changes are not that sharp, it is the consistency with which the line goes down that calls for an IBM crisis.

The new report reveals that the revenue numbers were down 4.7% to $19.3 billion compared to the previous year. The numbers were recorded for the three-month period ending June 30. On the other hand, the company did succeed to go beyond the expectations of a projected profit by 18 cents. However, this hike was possible only thanks to a tax gain that boosted the numbers for a moment.

Executives Gave an Optimistic Statement on Their Company’s Situation

On top of that, profits slipped 6.9% to $2.3 billion compared to previous year. IBM shares fell to $2.48. Despite this unsettling straight revenue decline, IBM executives are optimistic. All this time they’ve been working on a complex transition from computer hardware to modern trends such as artificial intelligence, the Internet could services and cybersecurity.

Therefore, executives decided to look only at the numbers that these recent targets achieved. For instance, their cloud services business scored a revenue of $3.9 billion in three months, which is 15% increase from previous year. Not only that, but the analytics unit registered a 4% improvement to $5.1 billion.

Even though IBM’s new directions made up for 43% of IBM’s revenue in the last 12 months, it is still not enough to belittle the strong influence the traditional units still hold in the organization. Company’s efforts to buy back stock and cover dividends barely made a difference. Back in March, the shares were worth $181.95 while on Wednesday the trading day opened at $150.02 which marks a 17.5% decrease.

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Chick-fil-A managed to build its American empire sustained on chicken sandwiches through 2,000 restaurants. However, the company intends to refresh its main concept with a family dinner. Therefore, its customers are going to experience a transition from food portion limited for just one person to a generous meal that can indulge several members of a family or group of friends.

Each Family Dinner Will Have One Entrée, Two Sides, and Eight Mini Rolls

Starting Monday, Chick-fil-A will introduce meals in family styles and two new sides of mac and cheese and bacon throughout three cities. These locations are San Antonio, Texas; Phoenix, Arizona; and Greensboro, North Carolina. The new type of menu has a starting price tag of $30 and constitutes of one entrée, two sides, and eight mini rolls. This meal is generous enough to provide for four people. If this product goes nationwide, it will become a direct rival to KFC’s “bucket” meals that are targeting large families or groups.

Chick-fil-A menu-development manager, Matt Abercrombie, stated that the company seeks to attract more customers during lunchtime through this move. This period of the day is the least popular meal for such restaurants after breakfast and lunch.

The Company Built Its New Menu Based on Suggestions from Parents

Therefore, all customers ordering a family-size entrée will get to choose between 12 chicken strips, 30 chicken nuggets or four chicken breasts that can be either fried or grilled. The selection of side dishes includes fruit bowl, mac, and cheese, bacon baked beans, a salad or a superfood side. The latter one is a nutrient dish of kale and broccolini with nuts, dried cherries, and a dressing made of maple vinaigrette.

The testing stage will last until November 18. Abercrombie claimed that the feedback coming from customers who order the new dish would play a huge role in the decision of rolling the family dinner nationwide. All the entries in the dish selection are based on suggestions the company asked a group of parents.

On top of that, the surveyed clients revealed that they also need ice breakers for meaningful conversation over the dinner table. Therefore, Chick-fil-A will include in each packing of a family-steal meal five suggestions for starting the conversation.

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The National Railroad Passenger Corporation that goes by its common name of Amtrak has been serving the public for 46 years. Even though it gets some government funds with regularity, the railroad is actually in the hands of a for-profit organization. At the moment, the company reaches 500 destinations in 46 states plus three Canadian provinces. However, 83% of its customers are going for short distances of a maximum of 400 miles. Amtrak decided to cut down on the leg room while Senator Schumer condemned this initiative on Sunday.

Schumer Declared that the Only Reason Why Passengers Choose Amtrak Is Its Level of Comfort

The Senate Minority Leader stated at a Sunday press conference that he would never be on board with the recent Amtrak proposal. To him, the upcoming changes would end up with a result similar to those in air travel industry.

Senator Chuck Schumer is notorious for the passion with which he fights against the limited space for legs passengers have during their flight. This condition is not only making comfort impossible, but it can also yield health issues.

“When it comes to money-making ideas, railroads shouldn’t let the airline industry play conductor.”

He continued his statement by saying that passengers chose Amtrak in the first place for its level of comfort. If this advantage goes and customers keep feeling squeezed in like sardines, they might find other alternatives for their routes.

Amtrak CEO Announced Last Week an Idea of an Economy Class with Limited Leg Room

At the beginning of last week, Amtrak CEO Wick Moorman announced that his organization would weigh in the idea of a new economy class. This category of clients gets to pay less. In exchange, they will most likely get some drastically reduced leg room. However, this proposal is still in its incipient stage, and there were no decisions in place concerning it.

At the moment, the seat pitch passengers get with their Amtrak choice is the same with airlines’ first class conditions. The distance between one seat and the one in front of it is of 39 inches. However, most major airlines present their economy class with a 30-inch seat pitch. Senator Schumer issued an amendment to a FAA funding bill next year that would force airline companies to keep at least 35 inches for leg room.

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Airbnb was a new concept of hospitality service that blended old demand for accommodation with new trends, online solutions, and today’s limited budgets. Its platform harbors at least 3,000,000 lodging entries across 65,000 cities and 191 countries. In 2016 only, there were 80 million guests who received housing thanks to this company. However, one of its hosts dented the brand with a booking cancellation made through a racist comment.

Airbnb Host Sent His Racist Comment to Cancel the Reservation Only Minutes Before Client Reached Location

Tami Barker posted a lovely mountain cabin on Airbnb. The location of the accommodation is in Big Bear, California. The 26-year-old law clerk, Dyne Suh, decided to book a weekend over there for a ski adventure with her friends. However, she didn’t expect the owner to serve her with a racist comment.

Tami Barker ended up canceling Suh’s booking. However, the man took this drastic decision within minutes before the client reached the cabin. He announced the news through a text message that said that he would never rent his property to her.

“One word says it all. Asian.”

As a consequence, Tami Barker was the first Airbnb host that has ever received a fine over charges of racial discrimination. The penalty is in legal terms as the company has just signed this year a landmark agreement with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing. The official document enables the Californian watchdog to take the necessary measures in case an Airbnb host shows signs of a racial bias nature.

The Landlord Was Banished from Airbnb Platform and Has to Attend Asian American Lectures

Soon after the host canceled the reservation, Suh decided to film a video despite her shock. In this material, she explained the difficult situation the Airbnb host put her. Soon after this footage appeared online, the company took action and started an investigation. As a result, Barker was banned from the website.

However, DFEH department carried out a second investigation that was only concluded last week. As a consequence, the host has to take Asian American courses and cover a $5,000 penalty.

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Facebook Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg visited on Tuesday the second largest oil-producing state in the United States, South Dakota. The touring part included insights into the energy industry and an unrestrictive number of questions to employees about fracking, safety, and automation.

Mark Zuckerberg Chose South Dakota as His Next Stop in His Project “Year of Travel Challenge”

North Dakota deals with almost 1.1 million barrels of oil every day which makes it one of the most influential parties in the energy market. The state was part of Mark Zuckerberg’s plan to visit 50 states in a year and learn about the economy and community there. This project was part of his New Year’s resolutions and was entitled “Year of Travel Challenge.” As South Dakota is known for mostly one practice only, the young CEO chose a drilling rig as his primary target.

The 33-year-old founder of Facebook has been backing the development of clean energy for a long time now. However, he wanted to learn about those members of a community that depends on oil and natural gas production. This time, Mark got to understand their view of point as well, especially those arguments that make them oppose additional regulations in their domain.

Zuckerberg Learned More about the Country’s Energy Industry

On Wednesday, Zuckerberg published a post that tackles the things he saw and heard during his touring. First of all, he makes it clear that almost everyone at the rig knows facts about climate change. On the other hand, they can’t but feel proud of what they accomplish for their community. They are the ones who send warmth to people’s homes and help them enjoy an easier life thanks to electricity.

Zuckerberg spent a total of two hours with on-site workers to learn more about the technological advancements that cut production time in half. Afterward, Zuckerberg organized a meeting where the most popular topics regarded housing and education. Everyone was invited except politicians.

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The White House announced on Monday that President Donald Drumpf is going to appoint Randal Quarles as the new federal banking watchdog. Drumpf has made it clear numerous times before that he intends to change the Dodd-Frank bill and eliminate its restrictive regulations. Mr. Quarles’s background designates him as a perfect fit for this job. His professional history describes him as a moderate Republican that is open to the idea of changing the banking system in alignment with modern times.

Donald Drumpf Made an Important Decision That Would Lead to Dodd-Frank Act Reformation

Randal Quarles is a former top Treasury Department authority who activated during George W. Bush administration. The current President nominated him for a new position, Federal Reserve’s vice chair commissioned with supervision. The 2010 Dodd-Frank law introduced this job as a watchdog for largest banks in the U.S. Former President Barack Obama didn’t fill this position. However, Drumpf will need Senate confirmation to make his nomination official.

Thanks to this Federal Banking Watchdog, the Drumpf administration will finally be able to change the Dodd-Frank bill. This reform act shaped the regulatory landscape as a proper system to mitigate the outcomes of a severe financial crisis. However, even though the nation left economic struggles behind, this law is still in power. Therefore, the new President wants to reshape these regulations in conformity with today’s needs.

Colleagues Describes Quarles as the Ideal Federal Banking Watchdog

Quarles did mention in the past that the Dodd-Frank act is not in alignment with today’s industry anymore. He expressed his intentions to change this bill and make it valuable to the national economy. His colleagues described him under anonymity as a pragmatic person that knows how to avoid the traps of an ideology. They believe that Quarles has what it needs to keep the good aspects and replace the bad ones with something that works for Wall Street.

Quarles’ assignments won’t ask him to recreate this field from scratch. On the contrary, his primary job will be to review the system in the first place. Based on his observations, he has a free hand to streamline regulations.

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U.S. Senator Bill Nelson is going to propose a legislation this week that would unburden a lot of students from their debts. As of recently, federal student loan interest rates skyrocketed for college attendants. The senator wants to offer a possibility of equilibrium for both national economy and parties involved in this financial practice.

Nelson Compared His Proposal for Student Loan Interest Rates with Current Home Loans

U.S. Senator Nelson’s plan of action consists of a cap for undergraduates at 4% regarding their loan interest rates. That would significantly streamline the system as the current rate is double that value at 8.25%. More than that, the bill will consider those applicants that can’t make it in this initial tier of student loan debt. Therefore, those with loan rates that exceed 4% threshold will have the possibility of a refinance. This is something inconceivable at the moment as the law is the one that dictates such rates.

Nelson accompanied his announcement with a few remarks. He stated that the goal of a higher education could not be achieved when the required taxes are not for any budget. On top of that, Nelson underlined the high chances of this proposal to get the necessary approvals as the American legislature is already harboring a similar system. This is about real estate and its current option of home loans at 4% rates.

The Current Rates Are for Students Are The Highest in Three Years

Each beginning of July comes with the decision the Congress takes regarding new student loan interest rates. However, this year’s procedure did not go easier for students. On the contrary, the rates increased to 4.45%, which is the highest point since 2014. On top of that, unsubsidized loans for graduate students reached 6%, while parents of undergraduate students enlisted in PLUS loans will have to cover 7% rates.

Nelson stated on Wednesday that he intends to address the other categories as well besides undergraduates. Therefore, he is looking to obtain a 5% and 6% rates for graduate students and parents of undergraduates respectively.

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As of recently, the largest bitcoin exchange in South Korea was attacked by hackers. There were valuable cryptocurrency funds stolen which might amount to billions of won. The breached company was Bithumb which is one of the five largest exchanges of digital currency in the world.

One Bithumb Customer Claims Missing Cryptocurrency Funds Valued at 1.2 Billion Won

Around 10% of the worldwide Bitcoin trade takes place through Bithumb. The organization is also a pillar in the ether market at the same time. However, last week its security suffered a major collapse under a hacker attack. The aftermath constituted a loss of billions of won that were withdrawn from the accounts of customers. Statements started to flood the local media by confessing how clients had millions of won disappear in an instant from their accounts.

The company mobilized quickly and surveyed its clients in the search for a concrete number of the suffered losses. It turns out that there were around 100 investors who were directly impacted by the recent cyber attack. One person only stated that his or her cryptocurrency funds are missing 1.2 billion won.

Hackers Resorted to Voice Phishing to Gain Access to Digital Wallets

Hackers reportedly came into possession of personal details pertaining to 31,800 Bithumb website members. These stolen data contained email addresses, names, and phone numbers. This number of victims accounts for around 3% of Bithumb database of clients.

Bithumb discovered the security breach on June 29 and the next morning reported the attack to the police. Since then, around 100 customers notified the National Police Agency of being damaged by this hacking operation.

Despite all these filed complaints, the organization claims that hackers gained no direct access to their funds. That’s because the breach was operated through an employee’s personal computer. This gadget had no connection to exchange’s servers, digital wallets, and internal network. Therefore, attackers could retrieve only clients’ personal information. From here to stealing, they resorted to voice phishing by impersonating Bthumb executives and contacting customers to find out their One-Time Password.

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In this period of time, US farmers usually apply one strategy to get the most of their work. They are holding their sales despite their increased grain storage to sell their product at bigger scores. However, a new federal report highlights the fact that the country cannot provide these producers the right circumstances for a high demand. This is because there are still grains in great supplies around the country.

Grain Storage Scored Record Numbers as of June 1

On Friday, the U.S. Agriculture Department underscored some challenging conditions for farmers. Their report suggests that as of June 1, farmers possessed 2.841 billion bushels of corn in their storage bins. This is the fifth largest quantity of merchandise for this summer time. On top of that, data show that this is the largest production of corn in 29 years.

All these numbers point to a concerning situation where the market remains under pressure from a lower demand than the existing supply. However, things may change with the next harvest. The total amount of grain storage was of 5.225 billion bushels starting with June 1. This is the largest ever recorded number in 30 years.

The Next Harvest Is Expected to Bring in Another Wave of Product Excess

According to the USDA, U.S. farmers were proactive and transported around 2.067 billion bushels out of their personal storage bins. Even though the operation took place between March and June, it was still not enough to accommodate a balanced market.

This issue stemmed from last autumn’s harvest which enabled grain dealers to remain with some weak bids. The situation might preserve these conditions as the next harvest is expected to be opulent as well. No matter what price tag they are looking at, US farmers will have no other choice than to empty their storage bins to store their next harvest. This implies extremist solutions, such as even dumping their merchandise altogether.

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Martin Shkreli is currently dubbed as “the most hated man in America.” He is a young entrepreneur who managed to make it on his own. However, he placed shareholders’ interests for money above clients and common sense. His peculiar yet offensive business strategies wreaked havoc among competition and increased the price tag for a vital drug from $13.50 to $750 for one pill. His reputation caught up with him, and no potential jurors can be unbiased towards Shkreli.

The Defense Lawyer Portrayed Shkreli as a Crazy Genius

On Wednesday, Martin Shkreli went through the opening statements for his own criminal trial for fraud. While the prosecutor identified the suspect as a fraudster and a liar, his defense lawyer portrayed a young genius instead. Ben Brafman opened the case by stating that Shkreli might be crazy, but that doesn’t change the fact that he offered his investors millions of dollars.

“Maybe he’s nuts, but that doesn’t make him guilty.”

The current Brooklyn federal case has nothing to do with the 5,000% price hike for a vital drug that happened under Shrkeli’s leadership. However, there are other eight litigations against him for wire fraud, securities fraud, and money mismanaging. Shkreli pleaded not guilty. If the jury finds it otherwise, the young CEO might get 20 years in prison.

All 250 Potential Jurors Knew Shkreli by Reputation

On the other hand, his public image marked him as “the most hated man in America.” Out of the 250 potential jurors that appeared in front of the committee for this case, no one was a good fit to take up this role. All of them knew Martin Shkreli by reputation, and some had even someone dear to them who depend on the pills for which Shkreli increased the price with no justification.

The case is scheduled to take four to six weeks for a verdict. However, it needs 12 jurors and six alternates to start the procedures. Shkreli’s lawyer asked for a mistrial and interdiction for journalists to attend jurors’ interview. However, none of these demands were approved.

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