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Research found that people tend to prefer eating vegetables with "appealing" names

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(Reuters Health) - People may be more likely to pile vegetables on their plates when these dishes are served up with seductive names like "sweet sizzlin' green beans and crispy shallots" than when they're peddled as health foods, a recent experiment suggests.

For the study, a team of researchers at Stanford University in California experimented with randomly naming identical vegetable dishes in one of four ways: a basic description with plain names, a label stressing a lack of unhealthy components like sugar or fat, a tag identifying positive health properties like lots of vitamins or antioxidants or an indulgent moniker designed to make the dish sound delicious and intriguing like "dynamite chili and tangy lime seasoned beets."

During weekday lunches in a university cafeteria, researchers watched how many people chose the dishes depending on how the dishes were described and then weighed how much food people put on their plates. Compared with basic labels, indulgent descriptions got 25 percent more people to select the vegetable dishes and also resulted in a 23 percent gain in the total weight of vegetables piled onto plates.

"Our results suggest that emphasizing health in descriptions of healthy foods may not be an effective approach for motivating most diners to choose healthy options, and that a better approach may be to emphasize the indulgent, tasty components of the food," said lead study author Bradley Turnwald, a psychology researcher at Stanford.

"This means that we may be able to help fight the obesity epidemic and the problematic mindset that healthy foods are not tasty by changing the way that we label and talk about healthy foods," Turnwald said by email.

Researchers did their experiment at a cafeteria that serves an average of 607 lunches on a typical weekday and ran their experiment over a total 46 days.

During the study period, 8,279 diners, or about 30 percent, selected the vegetable dish. The rest skipped the veggies no matter what they were called.

While the indulgent labels like "slow-roasted caramelized zucchini bites" lured the most diners, basic descriptions that only named the vegetables like zucchini were the second most popular option followed by labels touting positive health benefits, researchers report in JAMA Internal Medicine.

The least appealing choice for diners were dishes with healthy labels describing negative attributes that were missing, like cholesterol or sugar or fat.

One limitation of the study is that researchers didn't examine how much of the food on their plates people actually ate.

And it's unclear if people would be drawn to dishes by their labels a second time, noted Dr. Margo Denke, a former researcher at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

"For instance, poorly cooked zucchini bites might be pushed onto the poor consumer once with fun language, but if they taste bad - are undercooked and not flavorful or overcooked and slimy - the consumer will steer clear of this choice on the next go 'round," Denke, who wasn't involved in the study, said by email.

For many consumers, there's a perception that healthy food is boring and plain, and exciting labels might get some people to try things they might not otherwise eat, said Vandana Sheth, a private practice dietician and nutritionist in Los Angeles and a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

"Using descriptive words to highlight the flavor profile as well as positive health benefits can encourage people to enjoy more healthy food options," Sheth, who wasn't involved in the study, said by email. "Parents, caregivers, and consumers can certainly use this concept to encourage families to enjoy eating healthfully."

SOURCE: bit.ly/2tdSN2u JAMA Internal Medicine, online June 12, 2017.

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What's in a name? Maybe a more appealing vegetable

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(Reuters Health) - People may be more likely to pile vegetables on their plates when these dishes are served up with seductive names like "sweet sizzlin' green beans and crispy shallots" than when they're peddled as health foods, a recent experiment suggests.

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Samsung has benefited immensely from the market insight it gained from the Apple relationship, and from producing smartphones and tablets that closely resemble Apple‘s.

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SAN FRANCISCO/SEOUL, Feb 10 (Reuters) - It was the late Steve Jobs' worst nightmare.

A powerful Asian manufacturer, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd , uses Google Inc's Android software to create smartphones and tablets that closely resemble the iPhone and the iPad. Samsung starts gaining market share, hurting Apple Inc's margins and stock price and threatening its reign as the king of cool in consumer electronics.

Jobs, of course, had an answer to all this: a "thermo-nuclear" legal war that would keep clones off the market. Yet nearly two years after Apple first filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against Samsung, and six months after it won a huge legal victory over its South Korean rival, Apple's chances of blocking the sale of Samsung products are growing dimmer by the day.

Indeed, a series of recent court rulings suggests that the smartphone patent wars are now grinding toward a stalemate, with Apple unable to show that its sales have been seriously damaged when rivals, notably Samsung, imitated its products.

That, in turn, may usher in a new phase in the complex relationship between the two dominant companies in the growing mobile computing business.

Tim Cook, Jobs' successor as Apple chief executive, was opposed to suing Samsung in the first place, according to people with knowledge of the matter, largely because of that company's critical role as a supplier of components for the iPhone and the iPad. Apple bought some $8 billion worth of parts from Samsung last year, analysts estimate.

Samsung, meanwhile, has benefited immensely from the market insight it gained from the Apple relationship, and from producing smartphones and tablets that closely resemble Apple's.

While the two companies compete fiercely in the high-end smartphone business - where together they control half the sales and virtually all of the profits - their strengths and weaknesses are in many ways complementary. Apple's operations chief, Jeff Williams, told Reuters last month that Samsung was an important partner and they had a strong relationship on the supply side, but declined to elaborate.

As their legal war winds down, it is increasingly clear that Apple and Samsung have plenty of common interests as they work to beat back other potential challengers, such as BlackBerry or Microsoft.

The contrast with other historic tech industry rivalries is stark. When Apple accused Microsoft in the 1980s of ripping off the Macintosh to create the Windows operating system, Apple's very existence was at stake. Apple lost, the Mac became a niche product, and the company came close to extinction before Jobs returned to Apple in late 1996 and saved it with the iPod and the iPhone. Jobs died in October 2011.

Similarly, the Internet browser wars of the late 1990s that pitted Microsoft against Netscape ended with Netscape being sold for scrap and its flagship product abandoned.

Apple and Samsung, on the other hand, are not engaged in a corporate death match so much as a multi-layered rivalry that is by turns both friendly and hard-edged. For competitors like Nokia, BlackBerry, Sony, HTC and even Google - whose Motorola unit is expected to launch new smartphones later this year - they are a formidable duo.

THE WAY THEY WERE

The partnership piece of the Apple-Samsung relationship dates to 2005, when the Cupertino, California-based giant was looking for a stable supplier of flash memory. Apple had decided to jettison the hard disc drive in creating the iPod shuffle, iPod nano and then-upcoming iPhone, and it needed huge volumes of flash memory chips to provide storage for the devices.

The memory market in 2005 was extremely unstable, and Apple wanted to lock in a supplier that was rock-solid financially, people familiar with the relationship said. Samsung held about 50 percent of the NAND flash memory market at that time.

"Whoever controls flash is going to control this space in consumer electronics," Jobs said at the time, according to a source familiar with the discussions.

The success of that deal led to Samsung supplying the crucial application processors for the iPhone and iPad. Initially, the two companies jointly developed the processors based on a design from ARM Holdings Plc, but Apple gradually took full control over development of the chip. Now Samsung merely builds the components at a Texas factory.

The companies built a close relationship that extended to the very top: in 2005, Jay Y. Lee, whose grandfather founded the Samsung Group, visited Jobs' home in Palo Alto, California, after the two signed the flash memory deal.

The partnership gave Apple and Samsung insight into each other's strategies and operations. In particular, Samsung's position as the sole supplier of iPhone processors gave it valuable data on just how big Apple thought the smartphone market was going to be.

"Having a relationship with Apple as a supplier, I am sure, helped the whole group see where the puck was going," said Horace Dediu, a former analyst at Nokia who now works as a consultant and runs an influential blog. "It's a very important advantage in this business if you know where to commit capital."

Samsung declined to comment on its relationship with a specific customer.

As for Apple, it reaped the benefit of Samsung's heavy investments in research and development, tooling equipment and production facilities. Samsung spent $21 billion (23 trillion won) on capital expenditures in 2012 alone, and plans to spend a similar amount this year.

By comparison, Intel Corp spent around $11 billion in 2012, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC) expects to spend $9 billion in 2013.

But component expertise, cash and good market intelligence did not assure success when Samsung launched its own foray into the smartphone market. The Omnia, a Windows-based product introduced in 2009, was so reviled that some customers hammered it to bits in public displays of dissatisfaction.

Meanwhile, Samsung publicly dismissed the iPhone's success.

"The popularity of iPhone is a mere result of excitement caused by some (Apple) fanatics," Samsung's then-president, G.S. Choi, told reporters in January 2010.

Privately, though, Samsung had other plans.

"The iPhone's emergence means the time we have to change our methods has arrived," Samsung mobile business head J.K. Shin told his staff in early 2010, according to an internal email filed in U.S. court.

Later that year, Samsung launched the Galaxy S, which sported the Android operating system and a look and feel very similar to the iPhone.

STANDOFF

Jobs and Cook complained to top Samsung executives when they were visiting Cupertino. Apple expected, incorrectly, that Samsung would modify its design in response to the concerns, people familiar with the situation said.

Apple's worst fears were confirmed with the early 2011 release of the Galaxy Tab, which Jobs and others regarded as a clear rip-off of the iPad.

Cook, worried about the critical supplier relationship, was opposed to suing Samsung. But Jobs had run out of patience, suspecting that Samsung was counting on the supplier relationship to shield it from retribution.

Apple filed suit in April 2011, and the conflagration soon spread to courts in Europe, Asia and Australia. When Apple won its blockbuster billion-dollar jury verdict against Samsung last August, it appeared that it might be able to achieve an outright ban on the offending products - which would have dramatically altered the smartphone competition.

But Apple has failed to convince U.S. judges to uphold those crucial sales bans - in large part because the extraordinary profitability and market power of the iPhone made it all but impossible for Apple to show it was suffering irreparable harm.

"Samsung may have cut into Apple's customer base somewhat, but there is no suggestion that Samsung will wipe out Apple's customer base, or force Apple out of the business of making smartphones," U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh wrote. "The present case involves lost sales - not a lost ability to be a viable market participant."

Samsung, meanwhile, came under pressure from antitrust regulators and pulled back on its effort to shut down Apple sales in Europe over a related patent dispute.

A U.S. appeals court recently rejected Apple's bid to fast-track its case, meaning its hopes for a sales ban are now stuck in months-long appeals, during which time Samsung may very well release the next version of its hot-selling Galaxy phone.

THE WORLD IS OURS

The legal battles have been less poisonous to the relationship than some of the rhetoric suggests.

"People play this stuff up because it shows a kind of drama, but the business reality is that the temperature isn't that high," said one attorney who has observed executives from both companies.

Still, the hostilities appear to have put some dents in the partnership. Apple is likely to switch to TSMC for the building of application processors, according to analysts at Goldman Sachs, Sanford Bernstein and other firms. But analysts at Korea Investment & Securities and HMC Securities point out that Apple will not be able to eliminate Samsung as a flash supplier because it remains the dominant producer of the crucial chips.

Apple declined to comment on the details of its relationships with any one supplier.

Meanwhile, both companies are deploying strategies out of the other's playbook as they seek to maintain and extend their lead over the pack.

Samsung has developed a cheeky, memorable TV ad that mocks Apple customers, and dramatically ramped up spending on marketing and advertising, a cornerstone of Apple's success. U.S. ad spending on the Galaxy alone leaped to nearly $202 million in the first nine months of 2012, from $66.6 million in 2011, according to Kantar Media.

For its part, Apple is investing in manufacturing by helping its suppliers procure the machinery needed to build large-scale plants devoted exclusively to the company.

Apple spent about $10 billion in fiscal 2012 on capital expenditures, and it expects to spend a further $10 billion this year. By contrast, the company spent only $4.6 billion in fiscal 2011 and $2.6 billion in fiscal 2010.

But Apple and Samsung retain very different strategies. Apple has just one smartphone and only four product lines in total, and tries to keep variations to a bare minimum while focusing on the high end of the market.

Samsung, by contrast, has 37 phone products that are tweaked for regional tastes and run the gamut from very cheap to very expensive, according to Mirae Asset Securities. The company also makes chips, TVs, appliances and a host of other products (and its brethren in the Samsung Group sell everything from ships to insurance policies).

Apple devices are hugely popular in the United States; Samsung enjoys supremacy in developing countries like India and China. Apple keeps its core staff lean - it has only 60,000 employees worldwide - and relies on partners for manufacturing and other functions. Samsung Electronics, part of a sprawling "chaebol," or conglomerate, that includes some 80 companies employing 369,000 people worldwide, is far more vertically integrated.

It is those differences, combined with the formidable strengths that both companies bring to the market, that may render quiet cooperation a better strategy than all-out war for some time to come.

Said Brad Silverberg, a former Microsoft executive who was involved in the Mac vs. Windows wars, "Apple had learnt a lot of lessons from those days."

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intellectual property / copyright / counterfeiting

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judicial process / court cases / court decisions

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machinery : equipment and components (trbc)

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electrical components and equipment (trbc)

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cyclical consumer goods and services (trbc)

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electrical components / equipment (legacy)

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INSIGHT-Apple and Samsung, frenemies for life

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SAN FRANCISCO/SEOUL, Feb 10 (Reuters) - It was the late Steve Jobs' worst nightmare. A powerful Asian manufacturer, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd , uses Google Inc's Android software to create smartphones and tablets that closely resemble the iPhone and the iPad.

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As wages rises, corporate profits will be under pressure as wages are their biggest expense.

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Good things come to those who wait-and U.S. workers have waited a long time to get a raise. Their increased pay could come at the expense of corporate profits, however, and put pressure on the shares of companies with high labor costs.

That wages are heading upward after years without growth isn't a matter for debate. Earlier this month, the government reported that average hourly earnings grew by 2.5% year over year in May, and all...

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Rising Wages Will Pressure Corporate Profits

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Good things come to those who wait-and U.S. workers have waited a long time to get a raise. Their increased pay could come at the expense of corporate profits, however, and put pressure on the shares of companies with high labor costs. That wages are heading upward after years without growth isn't a matter for debate.

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Google will stop supplying pixel phone as a result of spending more money on the production of the pixel 2.

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The Google Pixel and Pixel XL were only released in October, but according to a Canadian phone network, production is already stopping.

Softpedia reports that customers of the Telus network who'd ordered either of the phones got an email from the carrier letting them know they'd better pick a different handset:

"Please be advised that we have received notice today that Google will be ceasing production of their Google Pixel line and we will not be receiving further inventory of this phone. Therefore we will not be able to fulfil your order for the selected product. We apologize on behalf of TELUS and Google for this inconvenience."

Of course, this is only one source - but the Pixel XL in particular has been dogged by supply problems since release, and it's entirely possible other networks have had the same notification but didn't pass on the reason. The HTC-manufactured phone was well-received (when it was received), being awarded the highest-ever DxOmark score for a smartphone camera and being considered Android's answer to an iPhone by many - although not our reviewer.

If production has indeed stopped, it's likely that Google is gearing up for the Pixel's successor. Let's hope the Pixel XL 2 is a little easier to get hold of - in both senses.

Update: Google has provided a statement to 9to5Google:

We're really excited by the demand for the Pixel XL in Canada. Telus is currently out of stock of the Pixel XL. We're working with our partners to restock inventory across our retail channels and we can confirm that production of the Pixel has not stopped.

However, while the site says this refutes Telus' statement, technically it doesn't: the Telus email says "Google will be ceasing production" and Google's says "production has not stopped." Both of these things could be true, and it seems a bit strange for Telus to make that up and email it to a bunch of customers. So who's right? We'll see.

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UPDATED: Google Is Stopping Production Of The Pixel, Says Telus

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The Google Pixel and Pixel XL were only released in October, but according to a Canadian phone network, production is already stopping.

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Monsanto and Atomwise collaborate to discover new crop protection options using artificial intelligence technology.

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ST. LOUIS & SAN FRANCISCO--( BUSINESS WIRE)--
Monsanto Company and Atomwise have formed a unique research
collaboration to increase the speed and probability of discovering and
developing new crop protection products using artificial intelligence.

"Each growing season, farmers around the world are challenged with
yield-robbing pests and diseases, yet the average crop protection
product takes up to 11 years and more than $250 million to
commercialize," said Jeremy Williams, Monsanto's Agricultural
Productivity Innovations Lead. "Discovering new solutions is critical,
and this collaboration will help bring much-needed crop protection
solutions to farmers faster."

Atomwise develops artificial intelligence systems for molecular
discovery. Through this research collaboration, Atomwise's
groundbreaking AtomNet technology will employ powerful deep learning
algorithms and supercomputers to analyze millions of molecules for
potential crop protection products.

"Feeding a growing population is an urgent priority for global health
that calls us to use every available technology," said Dr. Abraham
Heifets, Chief Executive Officer of Atomwise. "We are taking everything
Atomwise has learned fighting deadly human diseases with artificial
intelligence, and using that knowledge to combat the destructive pests
that plague our food supply."

Instead of the traditional trial-and-error and process of elimination to
analyze tens of thousands of molecules, the AtomNet technology aims to
streamline the initial phase of discovery by analyzing how different
molecules interact with one another. AtomNet accelerates this process
using deep learning to predict which molecules could have a positive
effect in controlling harmful diseases or insects. The software teaches
itself about molecular interactions by identifying patterns, similar to
how artificial intelligence learns to recognize images.

"By combining Atomwise's sophisticated artificial intelligence systems
with Monsanto's ability to apply real-world validation through the
integration of plant breeding, plant biotechnology, crop protection, ag
biologicals and data science platforms, together we can develop
technologies that support farmers as they work to grow better harvests,
protect their crops and deliver more to society in the face of mounting
environmental challenges," added Williams.

Monsanto is the first company in the agriculture industry to partner
with Atomwise. This collaboration complements Monsanto's unique
partnered approach to crop protection discovery.

About Monsanto Company

Monsanto is committed to bringing a broad range of solutions to help
nourish our growing world. We produce seeds for fruits, vegetables and
key crops - such as corn, soybeans, and cotton - that help farmers have
better harvests while using water and other important resources more
efficiently. We work to find sustainable solutions for soil health, help
farmers use data to improve farming practices and conserve natural
resources, and provide crop protection products to minimize damage from
pests and disease. Through programs and partnerships, we collaborate
with farmers, researchers, nonprofit organizations, universities and
others to help tackle some of the world's biggest challenges. To learn
more about Monsanto, our commitments and our more than 20,000 dedicated
employees, please visit: discover.monsanto.com
and monsanto.com.
Follow our business on Twitter ® at twitter.com/MonsantoCo,
on the company blog, Beyond the Rows ® at monsantoblog.com
or subscribe to our News
Release RSS Feed.

About Atomwise

Atomwise uses artificial intelligence to help discover new medicines and
agricultural compounds. Its groundbreaking AtomNet technology reasons
like a human chemist, using powerful deep learning algorithms and
supercomputers to analyze millions of potential molecules each day.
Atomwise has launched 27 discovery projects with innovative
organizations, including Merck and Harvard, advancing research in areas
as diverse as Ebola, multiple sclerosis, leukemia, and now, fungicides
and nematodes. Today, through its many partnering programs, Atomwise is
actively seeking new collaborators to address the global health
challenges of our time with the power of artificial intelligence.

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Monsanto and Atomwise Collaborate to Discover New Crop Protection Options Using Artificial Intelligence Technology | Monsanto

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ST. LOUIS & SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Monsanto Company and Atomwise have formed a unique research collaboration to increase the speed and probability of discovering and developing new crop protection products using artificial intelligence. "Each growing season, farmers around the world are challenged with yield-robbing pests and diseases, yet the average crop protection product takes up ...

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Expectation of a shortage for the supply of the iPhone X as demand rises and quantity supplied is finite.

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If you fancy that new iPhone X by the holiday season, you might want to get in quick.

Apple refreshed its website at 12:01 a.m. Pacific time Friday morning to allow the world a chance to pre-order the new iPhone X but wait times are already on the rise.

Within two hours of going on sale, buyers in the United States are now having to wait as long as five-to-six weeks for the high spec phone.

Apple fans in the U.K. face a similar wait and it's reported that the online store in Hong Kong sold out in less than 30 minutes.

The iPhone X will be available for walk-in customers on November 3.

Several reports had suggested Apple wouldn't have enough iPhone X units to meet demand. Industry analysts will now get their first take on how many iPhone X units Apple has available for sale. Apple sold 13 million iPhones during the opening weekend of the iPhone 6s, the last time it disclosed opening weekend figures.

CNBC has been looking at how consumers can beat the crowds and lay their hands on Apple's latest phone.

WATCH: Here's how the iPhone X compares to the Galaxy Note 8

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Apple iPhone X wait times rise as demand exceeds supply

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If you fancy that new iPhone X by the holiday season, you might want to get in quick. Apple refreshed its website at 12:01 a.m. Pacific time Friday morning to allow the world a chance to pre-order the new iPhone X but wait times are already on the rise.

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An increase in disposable incomes is resulting in increased consumer spending.

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That upbeat mood comes in sharp contrast to businesses, which have sharply cut spending on investment in new equipment since late last year. Those spending cuts have created a major drag on the overall U.S. economy, which grew just 1.1 percent in the quarter that ended June 30.

Businesses are jittery for a lot of reasons, not least because of the uncertainty surrounding the November elections.

But there are other forces dampening business spending, including a strong dollar, a slowdown in global trade and weakness in corporate profits.

"I don't see that nervousness disappearing even after the elections," said economist Greg Daco at Oxford Economics. "So I don't expect a rapid bounce in business investment."

That means the only thing standing between the U.S. and another recession is the American consumer. For now, it looks like household spending will continue to hold up, according to Joel Naroff, founder of Naroff Economic Advisors, as long as disposable income keeps rising.

"Much of that has likely come from the strong gains in payrolls rather than a rise in the income of those currently working," he said. "Still, money is money, and the added funds will power spending going forward."

At some point, economists expect to see a slowdown in the rapid pace of hiring: nearly 200,000 jobs a month in the latest quarter.

Even as payroll growth slows, economists like Daco expect disposable income to continue to rise. That's because, with unemployment now down to 4.9 percent, companies will find it harder to acquire and keep skilled workers.

"Companies will have to pay more to retain their good employees and avoid them switching jobs for higher wages," he said.

That's already happening, according to Monday's data.

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Rising wages fuel American shopping spree

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That upbeat mood comes in sharp contrast to businesses, which have sharply cut spending on investment in new equipment since late last year. Those spending cuts have created a major drag on the overall U.S. economy, which grew just 1.1 percent in the quarter that ended June 30.

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Macy’s will hire 80,000 seasonal employees for this holiday shopping period

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Macy's Inc. plans to increase the number of seasonal employees it hires who will help fulfill online orders this year compared to years past, but its total holiday hiring will decrease.

Macy's, No. 6 in the Internet Retailer 2017 Top 500, expects to hire 18,000 employees for its fulfillment centers this holiday season, up 20% from the 15,000 seasonal employees it added last year.

In total, Macy's will hire 80,000 seasonal employees for this holiday shopping period, down 3.6% from 83,000 in 2016. E-commerce-focused holiday hiring will account for 22.5% of Macy's total seasonal workforce this year, compared with 18.1% last year.

Here's a look at Macy's holiday hiring since 2014, and how the amount of e-commerce-focused positions compares to the amount of overall positions:

"By increasing the number of associates in our direct-to-consumer fulfillment facilities, we're ensuring our customers get the service and seamless omnichannel experience they want during this important time of year," Macy's CEO Jeff Gennette says.

More seasonal personnel will focus on fulfilling online orders because-as is the case with a number of retail chains-online sales are growing but store sales and total sales are stagnant or declining.

Macy's online sales grew by double digits year over year for the 32 nd consecutive quarter, chief financial officer Karen Hoguet told analysts on the retailer's second quarter earnings call last month. An Internet Retailer analysis of Macy's past 14 quarterly earnings releases shows that Macy's has posted year-over-year net sales declines in the past 10 consecutive quarters, and has only managed to post year-over-year sales gains in two of the past 14 quarters dating back to its fiscal first quarter of 2014.

In an effort to turn around Macy's sales and create a stronger connection between its online and offline stores, Macy's last month hired e-commerce veteran Hal Lawton from eBay Inc. to be its new president.

Macy's isn't alone in unveiling its holiday hiring plans.

On Friday, department store chain The Bon-Ton Stores Inc. (No. 171) announced plans to hire 500 seasonal employees to work in its e-commerce fulfillment center and other distribution centers, which is the same number it hired last year. It also will add 10,000 seasonal employees for its store locations, down 23.1% from 13,000 hired last year. Bon-Ton's stores include Bon-Ton, Carson's, Bergner's, Herberger's and Boston Stores.

Target Corp. (No. 20) last week said it will hire 104,500 seasonal employees this holiday, up 34.8% from 77,500 last year, with 4,500 of those working in its distribution and fulfillment centers, down 40% from 7,500 last year. Some of the 100,000 in-store seasonal workers are expected to help fulfill more online orders from Target stores, though the retailer has not specified how many.

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Macy's will hire 20% more holiday employees this year to help fulfill online orders

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Macy's Inc. plans to increase the number of seasonal employees it hires who will help fulfill online orders this year compared to years past, but its total holiday hiring will decrease. Macy's, No. 6 in the Internet Retailer 2017 Top 500, expects to hire 18,000 employees for its fulfillment centers this holiday season, up 20% from the 15,000 seasonal employees it added last year.

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Poll showed most Americans put ticket prices among their chief considerations when booking personal travel, outweighing travel perks or an airline’s reputation.

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. airlines striving to boost profitability are up against an army of penny-pinching customers who would rather sit in a dreaded middle seat than pay more to fly, says a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Wednesday.

Airlines have sought to lure travelers into business and first class with plush airport lounges, fancy onboard cocktails and high speed internet connections.

But the poll showed 83 percent of Americans put ticket prices among their chief considerations when booking personal travel, outweighing travel perks or an airline's reputation.

Sixty percent of those polled said they would not pay extra to avoid being assigned a middle seat. About 52 percent said they would not pay more to fly on their preferred airline. (For a graphic on the poll, see: tmsnrt.rs/2hopAAW)

The results underscore the challenge for airlines to boost revenue with pricey extras like faster boarding and seats with extra leg room when customers in the backs of their planes are price-conscious and brand-agnostic.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online in English from June 22-29. It gathered responses from 2,316 American adults and has a credibility interval, a measure of accuracy, of 2 percentage points.

A GOOD DEAL

The consumer focus on ticket price can work to the advantage of airlines. Carriers like United Airlines and Delta Air Lines may be shielded from public relations disasters when travelers care most about getting a good deal.

"If they're competing for the infrequent traveler, price is the number one issue. And that is why airlines have decided to match the prices of the lowest fare airlines via these basic economies," RW Mann and Co analyst Robert Mann said.

Within the last several months, the largest U.S. carriers have all introduced their own versions of a no-frills, bare economy fare, a tier - and a few dollars - below what used to be the cheapest tickets. Basic fares on carriers American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines will buy a seat in the main cabin of the plane, but with no advanced seating assignment and no option to upgrade. American and United go a step further, forbidding basic economy ticket holders from using overhead storage bins, though bags can be checked, at a fee, at the gate.

Despite the inconveniences of a basic economy ticket, about 40 percent of United passengers buy the cheaper, more restrictive option when presented with a choice between the two, and about half of American Airlines passengers now choose the basic economy fares, the airlines said.

"We recognize that many of our customers are price sensitive, and that's a big part of the reason we rolled out our basic economy product earlier this year," American spokesman Matt Miller said.

The Reuters/Ipsos survey found evidence of distrust of big airlines among passengers. About 53 percent of respondents said airlines prioritize profits over passenger safety despite eminent safety records and enhanced airport security measures.

American attitudes toward air travel have soured over airline efforts to bolster profits by charging for checked baggage and squeezing more seats onto planes.

United posted a better-than-expected financial performance for the quarter ending in June despite a storm of criticism when a passenger, 69, was hauled down the aisle of a flight in April for refusing to give up his seat to crew members.

"We rolled out a number of initiatives to be a more customer-focused airline," spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said.

United last month said third quarter passenger unit revenue would be flat.

Reporting by Alana Wise and Chris Kahn; Editing by Joseph White and Howard Goller

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Perks? No! U.S. flyers prefer the cheap seats: Reuters/Ipsos poll

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. airlines striving to boost profitability are up against an army of penny-pinching customers who would rather sit in a dreaded middle seat than pay more to fly, says a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Wednesday.

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Disney thinking of buying century fox to expand its TV business, hence the factor is market size.

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Disney Approached 21st Century Fox to Buy Entertainment Assets

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Walt Disney Co. recently held talks to purchase a large chunk of 21st Century Fox's entertainment businesses, people close to the talks said, signaling Disney is serious about bolstering its TV operations and Rupert Murdoch is open to a restructuring of his empire.

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Egypt tightened rules for obtaining food subsidy cards, capping the number of new claimants per family and setting income limits as it works to reform its bloated economy.

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monetary / fiscal policy / policy makers

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Egypt tightens eligibility for food subsidy cards

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Egypt on Tuesday tightened rules for obtaining food subsidy cards, capping the number of new claimants per family and setting income limits as it works to reform its bloated economy.