Ukraine: Pro-Russia prisoners released as activists storm Odessa police HQ

A group of pro-Russia activists has stormed the police headquarters in the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa and released scores of prisoners detained at the scene of deadly violence on Friday that culminated in people being burned alive in a trade union building.

In the pouring rain, men armed with clubs battered their way into the building through a vehicle entrance.

Ranks of riot police offered no resistance. When crowds burst into the compound and began smashing windows and wrecking police vans, officers agreed to release the activists.

Men and women, many in tears, emerged from the door of their cell block and left through a tunnel of cheering supporters. Local police said later that 67 people were set free.

"The police did not interfere," said Maksim, 26, an activist wearing a balaclava and a helmet who was one of the first to get inside the compound. "They are only defending their weapons."

Residents and government officials in Kiev have criticised the police, accusing them of fatal passivity during the violence in the Black Sea city.

More than 40 people were killed on Friday during street battles that escalated until pro-Ukraine activists launched a full-scale assault on the trade union building. It was defended by people opposed to the current regime and in favour of closer ties with Moscow.

The Ukrainian prime minister, Arsniy Yatsenyuk, told the BBC that Odessa's security forces were responsible for the deaths.

"I personally blame the security services and law enforcement office for doing nothing," he said. "[They] are inefficient and they violated the law."

Yatsenyuk, who was reportedly due to visit Odessa yesterday, also said that the region's police chief had been dismissed.

Those inside the compound said that there was a lot of sympathy for the pro-Russia cause among lower-ranking police offers. "The police are with us," said Mikhail, 21, who had just been released.

One activist said that he had personally witnessed how police had covered pro-Russia fighters during street battles on Friday.

As prisoners were set free, the crowd chanted: "Odessa is a Russian city" and "Heroes, heroes, heroes!". Many expressed outrage that those who had escaped being burned alive in the trade union building had ended up in jail, while their attackers had not been arrested.

"The [event on] 2 May was a genocide of Russian people," said Timur, 28, who joined in the attack on the police station.

The trade union building was opened to the public on Sunday. Detritus from Friday's battle, including baseball bats, helmets, shields, petrol canisters and children's nappies apparently used to bandage wounds, were scattered around it. Broken glass covered the floor and pools of dried blood were still visible in several rooms.

Source: TheGuardian

Mobile Messaging Market Watch: MIM vs. SMS

The number of messages sent using mobile devices is staggering: trillions a year globally and rising. Two types of mobile messaging services are battling for users’ thumbs and wallets: mobile instant messaging (MIM) and traditional text messaging (short messaging service or SMS). In 2014, MIM will win the battle for volume, generating over double the number of messages, but global revenues from SMS should be upwards of 50 times higher.

Mobile network operators, such as AT&T and Verizon, provide SMS using the same infrastructure that carries mobile phone calls. SMS was once the only way a mobile phone user could send a message to another person’s mobile phone. That changed with the arrival of mobile broadband and MIM apps offered by third-party providers, including startups like Line, WeChat, and WhatsApp. These services let users send messages from their smartphones via fixed or mobile broadband (an approach also known as “over the top,” or OTT). Facebook’s purchase of WhatsApp for $19 billion has drawn the business community’s attention to a fact that many teenagers and other users already knew: MIM services are rapidly gaining popularity as an alternative to SMS, but also as a substitute for email, social networks, PC-based instant messaging, phone calls and face-to-face conversations.

Deloitte predicts that MIM services will carry in excess of 50 billion messages per day this year, compared with 21 billion messages per day sent via SMS. This ratio of nearly 2.5 to 1 compares to near parity in 2012. However, SMS is expected to generate more than $100 billion globally in 2014, compared with about $2 billion from all MIM services (including value-added services offered via their platforms). 

There is a simple reason for the vast gulf between revenues for SMS and MIM. “Users often incur tariffs for SMS services (up to 10 cents per message when charged individually, and up to 50 cents when roaming), or else part of most user’s monthly subscription includes a quantity or unlimited text messages. In contrast, the median cost of MIM services is typically zero,” says Paul Lee, director and head of global technology, media, and telecommunications (TMT) research, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL). “SMS should continue to generate significantly greater revenues than MIM in the short term.” Meanwhile, MIM services should continue to capture additional volume from all other forms of communication.

"MIM’s surging popularity is already extending into the workplace, where growing numbers of employees are informally using it. CIOs will also need to ensure that security and privacy protections are in place if employees use third-party MIM apps.

What’s Behind the Numbers?

“MIM services’ popularity arises, at least in part, because they can handle rapid-fire conversations among two or more parties, whereas an SMS conversation has a slight lag time and is limited to two parties,” says Lee. MIM users often rely on “presence awareness” features (which indicate someone’s availability) to know whether it is a good time to start conversing with another user—or multiple users.

Would-be users of MIM encounter some headwinds, however. “Although SMS is the messaging standard common to almost all mobile phones, there are many different MIM apps and they are not compatible—people need to have downloaded the same MIM app to have a conversation,” says Duncan Stewart, director of TMT research for Deloitte Canada, a member firm of DTTL. “The most popular MIM service has hundreds of millions of monthly users; SMS has billions.” MIM cannot be used on a basic mobile phone, he adds. It requires a smartphone, tablet, or mp4 player connected to a mobile data network or a Wi-Fi network. Moreover, some MIM services only work with a single operating system.

“The fact that MIM services are typically available for free or only a small fee goes a long way toward explaining their high popularity and low revenues,” says Lee. Some MIM services are a value-added offering to all users of a manufacturer’s smartphone. For example Apple’s iMessage service is included on every iPhone and there is no charge for using it. Other MIM services charge a nominal amount for a subscription—for example, WhatsApp charges subscribers a dollar a year, but the first year is free and the provider has also waived subsequent year’s fees for some users".

A Bigger Market for Smaller Tablets

It seems like everyone wants to get their hands on a compact tablet (with screens smaller than 8.5 inches diagonally). These devices have quickly captured the top spot in the product category. Deloitte estimates the installed base of compact tablets is now about 165 million units, compared with 160 million units for classic tablets (8.5 inches or larger).

Although the difference in screen size may seem small, the impact on the user experience can be significant. A tablet with a 7-inch screen has about half the area of one with a 10-inch screen. The smaller screen area can make it harder to read content and fill out forms, particularly on websites designed for PCs. As more web access moves to the compact tablet’s smaller touch screen, designers will likely need to adapt the size, shape, and function of HTML links, buttons, and other features.

People are more likely to carry compact tablets outside their home or office because these devices are also significantly lighter than classic tablets. Compact tablets’ greater portability creates an opportunity for operators to sell mobile broadband subscriptions to owners of devices capable of using cellular networks. Operators could also encourage owners of tablets that only use Wi-Fi to pair the device with their smartphone’s tethering capability to access a cellular network.

The greater diversity of tablet models means that CIOs will likely need to expand the portfolio of devices that IT supports. The best course may be to select the few options that will support the broadest range of roles and activities at the company.

Source: Deloitte

Deloitte: Understanding the ‘Phablets’ Phenomenon

Larger smartphones, known as “phablets” (phone-tablet hybrids), are gaining fans. Phablets have screen sizes ranging from 5 to 6.9 inches diagonally, which takes them up to the size of the smallest tablets.

Deloitte predicts about 1 in 4 smartphones sold in 2014 will be phablets, amounting to 300 million units. That would be a tenfold increase over 2012 but only twice the sales in 2013, so the market could be reaching a plateau. Indeed, the upper limit for phablet sales may be between 30 to 40 percent of the total smartphone market.

Phablets are harder to hold in one hand or use for phone calls without a headset—and forget about trying to squeeze them into your pants pocket. These portability issues help explain why the lion’s share of the phablet market is at the lower end of the size range. Only 10 percent of phablets sold in 2014 are likely to be six inches or larger, while two-thirds will just meet the segment definition at the low end.

Phablets’ popularity varies significantly by region. Phablet sales in North America and Europe represent only about 10 percent of the market in those regions. Phablets are much more popular in Asia-Pacific markets, in some cases outpacing sales for tablets or notebook computers.

CIOs may need to test whether phablets would appeal to some enterprise users. Workers who are on the go all day may prefer carrying only one touchscreen device. For these users, a smartphone with a larger screen that makes it easier to type, read, and display information may be just the right fit.

Source: Deloitte

Lucho's Quequezana Interview

Music: Laguna Pai . Reggae Perú. "Libertad"

Music: Lucho Quequezana Flute & Zampona Kuntur and Peruvian Symphonic Orchestra

Music: Lucho Quequezana Perú "Somos Vivos" World Tour

Music: Meet Lucho Quequezana Proyecto Kuntur

Music: Peruvian Afro-Music Festejo & Lucho Quequezana Playing Charango

Huawei: Insights into Groundbreaking IT Transformations

WSJ: DirecTV Shows a Need for AT&T

"The world has become a tougher place for DirecTV since 2010, whenAT&T Inc.  unsuccessfully tried to buy the satellite-TV operator. After years of outperforming the rest of the pay-TV industry, subscriber growth has slowed sharply while programming costs are rising and cheap online video alternatives are multiplying.

In response to changing market conditions, DirecTV's satellite-TV rival Dish Network Corp.  has invested billions of dollars in trying to diversify into wireless broadband and launch its own online-video service.

DirecTV, in contrast, has bought back stock—lots of it. The company has spent $29.7 billion on repurchases in the past eight years, according to regulatory filings. DirecTV has taken some steps to develop online-video services but it isn't as advanced as Dish, which hopes to offer its service beginning this summer, people familiar with the matter say.

DirecTV's strategic position is in the spotlight now that AT&T has come back with yet another approach, as The Wall Street Journal reported late Wednesday.

DirecTV stock rose 4% on the report, lifting its market capitalization—and rough purchase price—to $41.1 billion

A person close to the situation says DirecTV, which became independent in late 2009 when its then-biggest shareholder Liberty Media Corp. divested its stake, is likely open to a sale. The company's board, say people familiar with the situation, is concerned with satellite TV's Achilles' heel: its inability to offer an Internet-access broadband service competitive with the packages delivered by cable and phone companies.

While the biggest cable and phone companies offer broadband speeds of up to 500 megabits a second, with some planning gigabit-per-second services, technological differences mean that satellite companies typically offer no more than 10-15 megabits a second.

That means even if DirecTV rolls out an online-video service, its customers would likely be using broadband supplied by rival cable or phone companies. DirecTV's board is worried about the possibility that cable and phone companies could raise the price of broadband connections, disadvantaging DirecTV as an online-video alternative, one of the people said".

Source: WSJ

WSJ: Huawei Founder: Company Aims to Be Viewed as 'European'

             The Wall Street Journal reports, "in a rare interview with journalists, Ren Zhengfei said the company he founded is investing and opening itself up in an effort to build trust with foreign customers and governments. Huawei has faced allegations in the U.S. that it is a security risk, as well as the threat of an European Union investigation into allegations that China is dumping or subsidizing products pertaining to mobile-telecommunications networks".

"My reluctance to meet with the media has been used as a reason to label Huawei as a mysterious company," Mr. Ren said through a translator during the interview. In a few years, "our idea is to make people perceive Huawei as a European company," he said.

As part of the push, Huawei will increase investment in European research and development, and will extend an employee incentive plan to all key non-Chinese employees this year in order to attract and keep top talent, Mr. Ren said.

Huawei's new openness comes as the company in recent years has faced scrutiny in Europe, where its growth has buffeted competitors, including Sweden's Ericsson and France's Alcatel-Lucent. In the U.S., meanwhile, Huawei has been effectively shut out of the telecom equipment market after a 2012 congressional report saying the company's gear could be used by Beijing to spy on Americans.

Huawei grabbed nearly 22% of mobile-network infrastructure spending in Europe, the Middle East and Africa last year, up from just 12% in 2010, according to market-research firm Infonetics. By contrast, in North America, Huawei had only a 2.8% share of that market in 2013—prompting the company to pull back from investments there.

Huawei, founded by Mr. Ren in 1987, has repeatedly denied it has benefited from government subsidies, and said that allegations it is a conduit for espionage are tantamount to China-bashing. Mr. Ren is a former officer of the People's Liberation Army, but the employee-owned company denies direct links to the Chinese government or military.

Key to Huawei's defense against allegations of dumping is its growing investment in research and development to improve its products and raise prices. Mr. Ren said its gear is now being priced at record highs in Europe. He also said the company would continue to increase its research spending, which rose last year to roughly $5 billion, at average 2013 exchange rates, compared with Ericsson's $4.9 billion.

Change has its limits, however. Mr. Ren rejected the idea of taking his company public in the coming years, saying that public shareholders would force Huawei to focus too much on the short term, rather than long-term research and development.

Huawei has an unusual private structure in which it is owned by its Chinese employees, including Mr. Ren. He holds roughly a 1.4% stake, but has veto power over important decisions, a right he says he has had no reason to exercise yet.

"Shareholders are greedy and they want to squeeze every bit out of the company as soon as possible," Mr. Ren said. By contrast, Huawei's employee-owned structure, he said, is "part of the reason Huawei could catch up and overtake some of our peers in our industry."

WSJ: Highlights from the April Jobs Report

        The WSJ reports,"U.S. payroll growth was the strongest since January 2012. Gains were broad-based, led by professional and business services (including temporary workers, management and computer systems design), retail trade, food services, construction, health care and mining. Despite signs that the housing market is faltering, construction employment is up by 189,000 over the past year, with almost three-quarters of the gain occurring in the last six months, the Labor Department said".

"Unemployment: The unemployment rate dropped to its lowest level since September 2008. But the big decline isn’t all good news. The Labor Department’s figures, obtained by a separate survey of households, showed the labor force shrank by 806,000 and the number of employed people fell by 73,000. The labor force participation rate was down to 62.8%, around a three-decade low. People are dropping out of the workforce. That’s been a concern for Federal Reserve officials, who worry that too many Americans have become frustrated with a slow recovery and simply dropped out of the work force".

"U-6: The unemployment figure only captures those who have a job or are actively looking for work. A broader measure of joblessness, known as the “U-6,” accounts for people who have stopped looking for work as well as people working part-time for economic reasons. That number dropped to 12.3% from 12.7%".

"Part-timers: The Fed is also monitoring the number of part-timers. In April, almost 7.5 million were working part time but would have preferred a full-time job, a very slight increase from the prior month. The figure remains relatively high, suggesting there is still quite a bit of slack in the labor market".

"Revisions: February and March payrolls were revised up by a combined 36,000. Monthly job gains have averaged 238,000 over the past three months. In the 12 months prior to April, employment growth averaged 190,000, the Labor Department said".

"Earnings and Work Week: Neither the work week nor wages budged. Taken together, the figures show how much money workers are taking home each week, a key metric for consumer spending''".

WSJ: Obama: U.S., Germany United in Imposing Costs on Russia Over Ukraine

     May 2, 2014 1:02 p.m. ET   

  The WSJ reports,"If Russia continues on its current course, we have a range of tools at our disposal, including sanctions that would target certain sectors of the Russian economy," Mr. Obama said during a news conference at the White House. "And we've been consulting closely with our European and G-7 partners, and we're stepping up our planning."

"Ms. Merkel said if further destabilization should happen, Europe will move to so-called Stage 3 sanctions".

"What we're talking about are sectoral measures," she said. She said part of that effort is a diversification of Europe's energy supply in the short, as well as long, term.

Targeting oil and gas sectors next might be unrealistic, given opposition from within the EU, but there are other key sectors that could be hit, Mr. Obama said.

"We're confident that we will have a package that will further impact Russia's growth and economy," Mr. Obama said. "Our hope is that we don't have to deploy them."

WSJ: Retirement Investors Flock Back to Stocks

      The WSJ reports,"retirement investors are putting more money into stocks than they have since markets were slammed by the financial crisis six years ago.

Stocks accounted for 67% of employees' new contributions into retirement portfolios in March, according to the most-recent data from Aon Hewitt, which tracks 401(k) data for 1.3 million people at large corporations.

That is the highest percentage since March 2008, when stocks were teetering under the weight of mounting mortgage defaults, and compares with 56% in March 2009, when the market hit bottom.

The rising deposits, combined with the powerful bull market that took the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a record high on Wednesday, have left retirement savers with their biggest exposure to stocks in more than six years. In March, stocks made up 66% of the assets in the 401(k)s surveyed by Aon Hewitt, up from 48% in February 2009.

The stock crash deeply scarred investors, and even after the bull market began, they stuck with low-yielding bonds for the better part of three years.

It took last year's rally—with the S&P 500 soaring 32%, including dividends—and signs of an improving economy to coax them back to stocks in significant numbers.

Individual investors, notorious for mistiming the market, didn't fare well in the financial downturn. At the stock market's peak in October 2007, investors put 69% of new 401(k) contributions into stocks, according to Aon Hewitt. The S&P 500 went on to lose 57% of its value by March 2009.

Some financial advisers now worry that retirement investors could be late to the game, pouring into stocks after much of the easy gains have already been had. This year, the S&P 500 is 1.9% higher, but it is 0.4% off its record high hit at the beginning of April. By comparison, in the first four months of last year, the S&P 500 was 11% higher.

Meanwhile, large investors such as pension funds, banks and insurance companies are showing less appetite for risk. Demand for shares of newly public companies has weakened, and utilities, considered safe when economic growth isn't robust, are the best-performing group this year".

WSJ: AstraZeneca Rejects Pfizer Bid

        The WSJ reports, "AstraZenecaPLC on Friday rejected an improved takeover offer fromPfizer Inc.  worth more than $106 billion, saying the proposal substantially undervalued the company and putting the onus back on Pfizer Chief Executive Ian Readto either raise his bid again, go directly to shareholders, or walk away.

The British company said the financial and other terms described in the U.S. group's latest proposal were inadequate and not a basis on which to engage in talks.

"The large proportion of the consideration payable in Pfizer shares and the tax-driven inversion structure remain unchanged. Accordingly, the board has rejected the Proposal," AstraZeneca said in a statement.

The rejection came roughly four hours after Pfizer announced a fresh offer worth £50 ($84.47) a share, valuing the U.K. drug maker at £63 billion ($106.43 billion).

The revised offer represents a premium of about 7% over Pfizer's previous bid, made back in January, and increases the cash component of the offer to about 32% from 30% previously. Under the revised offer, AstraZeneca shareholders would get 1.845 shares in the combined company and £15.98 in cash.

Investors, too, appeared underwhelmed by the new offer. AstraZeneca shares were trading down about 1% in late morning London trading, hovering around £48 a share, still well below the £50 offer price, suggesting market skepticism about a deal getting done or a white knight emerging.

"We are showing strong momentum as an independent company, in particular with our exciting, rapidly progressing pipeline, which the board believes will deliver significant value for shareholders," AstraZeneca Chairman Leif Johanssonsaid. "Pfizer's proposal would dramatically dilute AstraZeneca shareholders' exposure to our unique pipeline and would create risks around its delivery. As such, the board has no hesitation in rejecting the proposal."

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, AstraZeneca Chief Executive Pascal Soriot said the revised offer "underappreciated" the company's pipeline of new drugs in development and that no investors had approached him to ask him to consider the offer. "We haven't had anybody contacting us to say, 'Please engage, it's a good starting point,'" he said

Mr. Soriot added that he worries a deal could disrupt drug development. "Any merger creates disruption, and if you want to look for savings it creates even more disruption," he said".

WSJ: Russia warns of gas disruption to Europe

WSJ: Oil Majors Stay Close to Russia

EXXON HOLDS LINE IN RUSSIA

       The WSJ reports,"despite tensions between the West and Moscow over Ukraine, Western oil majors show no sign of pulling back on bets they’ve made in Russia in recent years.

Take ExxonMobil: As Daniel Gilbert writes, the U.S. giant is pushing ahead with plans to drill in the Arctic off Russia’s northern coast, in partnership with state-controlled Rosneft.

The Arctic is a key region for oil majors desperate to ensure their production keeps rising. Exxon reckons the prospect it is involved with there could contain 9 billion barrels of oil, equivalent to more than a third of the company’s current proven reserves.

The problem for oil majors has long been that maintaining growth has meant having to get involved in areas that are politically tricky. Exxon isn’t alone in having sought partnerships and investments in Russia in recent years: BP has gone so far as to take a near-20% stake in Rosneft. They will be hoping that the current crisis will blow over. But if it doesn’t, the safety of oil-industry bets on Russia will be questioned ever more closely".

Geopolitics: Ukraine's Crisis

"A spokesman for Vladimir Putin said the Geneva agreement to defuse the situation in eastern Ukraine was no longer viable after Kiev launched a military operation against the rebel-held city of Slavyansk.

The Ukrainian military launched its first serious offensive to retake the city, which is being held by pro-Russia militia, early on Friday morning. The rebel militia said Ukrainian troops had launched attacks on several checkpoints. Ukraine's defence minister, Arsen Avakov, said his forces had taken control of nine checkpoints to form a "tight ring" around the city.

Two Ukrainian helicopters were shot down and their pilots killed, both Russian and Ukrainian media reported. One militant was killed and another injured, according to the reports. Ukraine's security service said one helicopter had been brought down by a surface-to-air missile, citing this as evidence that Slavyansk's defenders were not just citizens who have armed themselves.

Four of those who had shot at helicopters were captured, Ukraine's defence ministry said, but rebel leader Vyacheslav Ponomaryov denied this.

"Basically, at the same time that Russia is taking pains to de-escalate and regulate the conflict, the Kiev regime has begun shooting up peaceful towns with military helicopters and has started a punitive operation, essentially destroying the last hope for the viability of the Geneva agreement," Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said.

"Earlier, when he was still in Minsk, Putin called the possible operation a criminal action. Unfortunately, the development of events completely confirms this appraisal."

Russia, Ukraine, the US and the EU agreed in Geneva last month on a series of steps to reduce tensions in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russia protesters and militia have seized government buildings in at least a dozen towns and cities.

The agreement called on illegal armed groups laying down their weapons and vacating buildings in exchange for a broad amnesty, but since it was signed, Kiev and Moscow have accused each other of not pressuring their supporters to disarm"

Source: theguardian

Goldman Sachs initiates coverage on GTE. Neutral Rating. PT US$ 9.50

U.S. Bureau of labor Statistics: Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 288,000, and the unemployment rate fell by 0.4 percentage point to 6.3 percent in April

   THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION -- APRIL 2014

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 288,000, and the unemployment rate 
fell by 0.4 percentage point to 6.3 percent in April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor 
Statistics reported today. Employment gains were widespread, led by job growth 
in professional and business services, retail trade, food services and drinking 
places, and construction.

Household Survey Data

In April, the unemployment rate fell from 6.7 percent to 6.3 percent, and the 
number of unemployed persons, at 9.8 million, decreased by 733,000. Both 
measures had shown little movement over the prior 4 months. Over the year, the
unemployment rate and the number of unemployed persons declined by 1.2 
percentage points and 1.9 million, respectively. 

Among the major worker groups, unemployment rates declined in April for adult 
men (5.9 percent), adult women (5.7 percent), teenagers (19.1 percent), whites 
(5.3 percent), blacks (11.6 percent), and Hispanics (7.3 percent). The jobless 
rate for Asians was 5.7 percent (not seasonally adjusted), little changed over 
the year. 

In April, the number of unemployed reentrants and new entrants declined by 
417,000 and 126,000, respectively. (Reentrants are persons who previously 
worked but were not in the labor force prior to beginning their job search, 
and new entrants are persons who have never worked.) The number of job losers 
and persons who completed temporary jobs decreased by 253,000 to 5.2 million.  

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) 
declined by 287,000 in April to 3.5 million; these individuals accounted for 
35.3 percent of the unemployed. Over the past 12 months, the number of long-term 
unemployed has decreased by 908,000. 

The civilian labor force dropped by 806,000 in April, following an increase of 
503,000 in March. The labor force participation rate fell by 0.4 percentage 
point to 62.8 percent in April. The participation rate has shown no clear trend 
in recent months and currently is the same as it was this past October. The 
employment-population ratio showed no change over the month (58.9 percent) and 
has changed little over the year. 

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred 
to as involuntary part-time workers) was little changed at 7.5 million in April. 
These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back 
or because they were unable to find full-time work. 

In April, 2.2 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, down 
slightly from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) These 
individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, 
and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted 
as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding 
the survey. 

Among the marginally attached, there were 783,000 discouraged workers in April, 
little changed from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) 
Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they 
believe no jobs are available for them. The remaining 1.4 million persons 
marginally attached to the labor force in April had not searched for work for 
reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities. 

Establishment Survey Data

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 288,000 in April. Job growth 
had averaged 190,000 per month over the prior 12 months. In April, employment 
growth was widespread, led by gains in professional and business services, 
retail trade, food services and drinking places, and construction. (See 
table B-1.)

Professional and business services added 75,000 jobs in April. Employment in 
this industry had increased by an average of 55,000 per month over the prior 
12 months. In April, employment growth continued in temporary help services 
(+24,000), in management of companies and enterprises (+12,000), and in 
computer systems design and related services (+9,000).

Retail trade employment rose by 35,000 in April. Over the past 12 months, 
employment in this industry has grown by 327,000. Within retail trade, job 
growth over the month occurred in food and beverage stores (+9,000), general 
merchandise stores (+8,000), motor vehicle and parts dealers (+6,000), and 
nonstore retailers (+4,000). Electronics and appliance stores lost 11,000 
jobs in April. Wholesale trade added 16,000 jobs over the month and has added 
126,000 jobs over the year. 

In April, employment rose in food services and drinking places (+33,000), 
about in line with its prior 12-month average gain of 28,000 per month.  

In April, employment in construction grew by 32,000, with job growth in heavy 
and civil engineering construction (+11,000) and residential building (+7,000). 
Construction has added 189,000 jobs over the past year, with almost three-fourths 
of the gain occurring in the past 6 months.  

Health care employment increased by 19,000 in April, about in line with the 
prior 12-month average gain of 17,000 per month. Employment in other services, 
which includes membership associations and personal and laundry services, rose 
by 15,000 over the month.  

Mining added 10,000 jobs in April, with most of the gain in support activities 
for mining (+7,000). 

Employment in other major industries, including manufacturing, transportation 
and warehousing, information, financial activities, and government, changed 
little over the month. 

The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged 
at 34.5 hours in April. The manufacturing workweek decreased by 0.2 hour in 
April to 40.8 hours, and factory overtime was unchanged at 3.5 hours. The average 
workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls 
was unchanged at 33.7 hours. 

In April, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls 
were unchanged at $24.31. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings 
have risen by 1.9 percent. In April, average hourly earnings of private-sector 
production and nonsupervisory employees edged up by 3 cents to $20.50. (See 
tables B-3 and B-8.)

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for February was revised from 
+197,000 to +222,000, and the change for March was revised from +192,000 to 
+203,000. With these revisions, employment gains in February and March were 
36,000 higher than previously reported. 

_____________

Automotive: Mazzanti moves closer to production on its suicidal Evantra supercar

It didn't take long for the newly formed Mazzanti Automobili to release its first design, a collaboration between Luca and designer Zsolt Tarnok first dubbed "Mugello," before being renamed "Evantra." Mazzanti first showed the supercar in 2011, and since then it has popped up every now and again, including as a prototype at last year's Top Marques Monaco. At this year's show earlier this month, it was introduced as a production-ready design.

We've come to treat terms like "production ready" and "specs" rather loosely when it comes to single-digit-run supercars from small start-ups. Such cars have a way of making big debuts and then disappearing for years, sometimes never to return.

With the Evantra extra looseness is warranted because the 01 chassis car that was pranced out for Top Marques is still covered in black testing camouflage, with Mazzanti admitting that the camo is there for continued track testing. That sounds a lot like "close to ready" but not quite "finalized for production." Potato, potahto.

Fortunately, Mazzanti has spent much of the year ushering the ice-blue 00-chassis Evantra to testing and photo shoots, so we can have a proper look without the lackluster camo job getting in the way. Mazzanti explains that the car was styled to find a balance between the classic and the modern, and it's not hard to see the two themes hard at work.

The rolling, three-dimensional front fenders look as though a villain triggering a Tommy gun should be hanging out the window, while the voluptuous pontoons give way rather abruptly to sharp LED headlights and a front-end sliced and diced into geometrical vents. The neo-retro styling is even more apparent when you look at the aforementioned Antas V8, a car that tipped the balance in favor of classic over modern. The Evantra shows similar shapes, but with more restraint on the "retro" side.

Given Mazzanti's background in restoring Maseratis and Ferraris from the late 80s through the 2000s, the route of blending classic with modern is not all that surprising. What is surprising is that the Evantra design doesn't show a lot of the Italian curvaceousness that those marques bring to mind. Its harder, more masculine lines and features appear inspired by a different subset of European exotics, like the Pagani Zonda/Huayra and Spyker C8 Aileron.

The retro-modern body work is supported by a steel chassis and chrome-molybdenum roll cage. The curb weight needles in around 2,866 lb (1,300 kg) when the buyer opts for the carbon fiber Pro Body. A hand-formed aluminum body is also available.

Pushing that skin and bones is a 701-hp, 7.0-liter V8 mid engine working with a six-speed sequential transmission. A set of high-performance Continental 255/30 R20 front and 325/25 R20 rear tires put that engine muscle to the road. According to its spec sheet, the car reaches 62 mph (100 km/h) in 3.2 seconds, and the speedometer keeps cranking until 217 mph (350 km/h).

Some of the recent modifications that have been applied to Evantra chassis 01 include a new rear diffuser with variable inclination and a revamped Alcantara and Luxpel leather interior with carbon steering wheel and full-digital dashboard.

"Evantra V8 was not born to please everyone, instead to be herself and to generate emotions with her character and exclusivity," Luca Mazzanti states.

When the Evantra does become full-on production-ready, Mazzanti plans to build just five examples per year. Each model will be individually personalized to the buyer's tastes.

Source: Gizmag

Meet AltSchool, The Startup That Is Going To Reinvent Primary Education

Education is one of the last industries that is still going through massive change and disruption with the introduction of technology. In particular, we’ve seen the rise of iPads,  the introduction of learning technologies and educational games enter the classroom, but we haven’t actually seen the physical classroom change for children. AltSchool, a new startup aiming to transform K-8 education and schools, is hoping to change that.

Founded by Max Ventilla, AltSchool is a new school that focuses on child-centered education supported by a technology platform. The school is also predicated on the belief that most students vary in skill level in subjects like math, reading, science, art, physical education and social studies, and “grades” are confining. Enter highly customized “playlists” that serve as a personalized curriculum for each child.

    Child-centered education and micro-schools supported by a technology platform is his plan to disrupt education, and this serves as the foundation for AltSchool. The school is also predicated on the belief that most students vary in skill level in subjects like math, reading, science, art, physical education and social studies, and “grades” are confining. Most children learn at different levels, so they need specialized attention.

Source: TechCrunch

Metals Drop as Asia Stocks Swing Before Data; Won Gains

Copper fell 0.3 percent by 9:38 a.m. in Hong Kong, set for a 2.1 percent slide this week, while zinc, silver and platinum lost at least 0.2 percent. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index swung between gains and losses of 0.1 percent. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures rose less than 0.1 percent. The won climbed 0.2 percent from April 30. Soybeans sank 0.6 percent after tumbling 3.4 percent yesterday.

A report today will probably show the biggest increase in U.S. nonfarm payrolls since November, according to economists. Private data on factory output from India to the euro zone is due today, as markets in mainland Chinaremain shut. Most Asian markets were closed for May Day yesterday, when a gauge of Chinese manufacturing rose less than economists projected.

U.S. employers probably added 218,000 workers to payrolls in April, up from an increase of 192,000 in March, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of 94 economists. The Federal Reserve, which announced its fourth straight $10 billion cut to stimulatory bond buying April 30, says the job market in the world’s largest economy is improving.

Asian Stocks

Japan’s Topix index fell 0.2 percent, paring its weekly gain to 0.9 percent as more than 200 members released earnings. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.1 percent as it reopened from yesterday’s holiday. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index is little changed on the week.

South Korean markets were closed yesterday, when the country reported a year-on-year inflation rate of 1.5 percent for April compared with 1.3 percent in March. A separate report showed growth in exports and imports exceeded economists’ projections, with exports surging 9 percent. HSBC Holdings Plc issues manufacturing PMIs for Taiwan, Vietnam, Indonesia and India today, while Markit Economics Ltd. releases a similar gauge for the euro zone, Germany and France.

The won climbed to 1,031.24 per dollar, set for a 1 percent advance in the week, the best performance among 10 Asian currencies tracked by Bloomberg.

The yen, regarded as a haven investment, is headed for a weekly decline of 0.2 percent and traded little changed today at 102.36 per dollar. Japan reported a bigger-than-expected increase in household spending today while the nation’s jobless rate held at 3.6 percent in March.

Source: Bloomberg