Day: December 3, 2018

It’s going to be a cozy Christmas this year as more Americans shop for comfortable apparel and accessories like fuzzy sweatshirts and sweaters, pajamas, socks and slippers.

“I think we’re overstressed and the coziness is maybe an escape to a better time,” says industry analyst Maria Rugolo of the NPD Group, who adds that a desire for comfort, convenience and versatility extends to other products as well.

“We’re seeing those weighted blankets even, where they’re supposed to relieve stress and take away your anxiety,” she says. “Again, we’re overall a stressed-out nation where technology keeps us very connected to our work lives and what’s going on and we never get to disconnect, but maybe we do a little bit in our homes and we want to invest in it.”

Rugolo says this desire for cozy comfort is driving sales of smart homing devices — such as virtual assistants and autonomous robotic vacuums — as people stay home more.

According to NPD’s 2018 Holiday Purchase Intentions survey, 1 in 3 shoppers plans to buy products for their home this holiday season.

Traditional favorites like blenders, electric toothbrushes and espresso makers are expected to do well, too.

People are also hosting more game nights and other stay-at-home activities, according to Rugolo.

“When you’re doing those kinds of activities, you also want to look comfortable and fashionable at the same time so it’s fashion and function working together,” she says. “We even said it was spashion, which is where sports meets fashion because it wasn’t necessarily that you were going to be dressed to run a marathon, but you still wanted to look fashionable in your activewear and your loungewear.”

Clothing and accessories, entertainment, toys and electronics are expected to be the top-selling categories this holiday, according to the NPD survey.

Shoppers intend to spend an average of $693 on holiday gifts this year. The survey finds that the biggest spenders of all will be Americans over the age of 73, followed closely by the baby boomers, people between the ages of 54 and 72.

The calendar has already given retailers their holiday gift. December 25 falls on a Tuesday this year, which gives Americans more weekends to shop between Black Friday — the day after Thanksgiving, which many view as the official start of the holiday shopping season — and Christmas Day.

In addition, a strong economy might lead shoppers to open their wallets a little wider.

“I think the expectation is that there will be more spend this holiday,” Rugolo says. “Unemployment is really low right now and consumer confidence is high.”
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A group of young female business owners in Guinea Bissau have banded together to increase their business knowledge. They say the cooperation is increasing sales.

From street vendors to women who own their own shops, Adele Gomes likes to encourage young female entrepreneurs in Guinea Bissau.

Gomes is president of the “Young Women Entrepreneurs” group in Bissau, the capital.

She wants to encourage young women in the West African country to expand their businesses and become financially independent.

Gomes says they created the association because they felt weak, and by banding their ideas together, they can be stronger.

For now, they are a small group of about 12 women who have a variety of businesses – from clothing design to event planning.

This month marks the group’s one-year anniversary.

The group organizes an annual exposition in Bissau to showcase its members’ products.  They also cross-promote each others’ brands on social media.

Gomes says her business and other members’ sales have seen increases since creating the association. This means more people are eager to join, she adds.

Adele dos Santos, another fashion designer, is huddled over her sewing machine, filling orders. She, too, says her sales have gone up. But being a woman can sometimes lead to distinct challenges, she adds.

Adele, who has a daughter, is expected to not only provide financially, but also manage her household.

Sometimes family and other members of the community criticize them for spending too much time working, and not enough time at home, she says.

Part of the problem is Guinea-Bissau, one of the least developed countries in the world, doesn’t have enough jobs for men or young people.

Local economist Augusta Henriques says any development projects in the West African country must address high youth unemployment.

According to Henriques, if you give all the economic responsibility to women, and the youth have no prospects, the entire weight will fall to women.  That is a very heavy burden, she adds.

For now, the Young Women Entrepreneurs hope they can help each other carry the load.

 
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U.S. President Donald Trump boasted Monday of his “very strong and personal relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping, declaring a new U.S.-China trade deal would immediately allow American farmers to sell more of their products to Beijing.

Stock markets in Asia and Europe jumped sharply after Trump and Xi, as leaders of the world’s two biggest economies, agreed Saturday in Argentina to not impose any new tariffs on each other’s exports for the next 90 days while they negotiate a detailed trade agreement.

U.S. stock indexes also opened sharply higher in New York at the start of a new work week.

“My meeting in Argentina with President Xi of China was an extraordinary one,” Trump said on Twitter. “Relations with China have taken a BIG leap forward! Very good things will happen.”

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said the United States won Chinese commitments to buy more than $1 trillion in American products.

The United States had a $335.4 billion trade deficit with China in 2017. Trump said, however, “We are dealing from great strength, but China likewise has much to gain if and when a deal is completed. Level the field!”

The U.S. leader said U.S. farmers “will be a very BIG and FAST beneficiary of our deal with China. They intend to start purchasing agricultural product immediately. We make the finest and cleanest product in the World, and that is what China wants. Farmers, I LOVE YOU!”

Late Sunday, Trump tweeted that “China has agreed to reduce and remove tariffs on cars coming into China from the U.S. Currently the tariff is 40 percent.” On Monday, however, Kudlow said there was an “assumption” that China would eliminate auto tariffs, not a specific agreement.

Also Monday, China’s ministry of foreign affairs said the Chinese and U.S. presidents had agreed to work toward removing all tariffs.

WATCH:  Trump-Xi Dinner in Argentina Leads to Trade War Truce

Trump said he and Xi “are the only two people that can bring about massive and very positive change, on trade and far beyond, between our two great Nations. A solution for North Korea is a great thing for China and ALL!”

Trump, at his political rallies and news conferences, often praises the increase in U.S. military spending during his nearly two years in the White House.

But he tweeted that “at some time in the future,” Xi, Russian President Vladimir Putin of Russia, and he “will start talking about a meaningful halt to what has become a major and uncontrollable Arms Race. The U.S. spent 716 Billion Dollars this year. Crazy!”

The 90-day truce in the escalating trade war between the U.S. and China came during a dinner meeting between the two presidents following the G-20 summit of the world’s biggest economies in Buenos Aires. For months, Trump and Xi have engaged in tit-for-tat increases in tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of exports flowing between the two countries.

Trump, speaking to reporters on Air Force One after the plane departed Argentina, said his agreement with Xi will go down “as one of the largest deals ever made. … And it’ll have an incredibly positive impact on farming, meaning agriculture, industrial products, computers — every type of product.”

Trump agreed he will leave the tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese products at 10 percent, and not raise it to 25 percent as he has threatened to do January 1, according to a White House statement.

“China will agree to purchase a not yet agreed upon, but very substantial, amount of agricultural, energy, industrial and other product from the United States to reduce the trade imbalance between our two countries,” said White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders. “China has agreed to start purchasing agricultural product from our farmers immediately.”

Trump and Xi also agreed to immediately begin negotiations on structural changes with respect to forced technology transfer, intellectual property protection, non-tariff barriers, cyber intrusions and cyber theft, services and agriculture, according to the White House statement.

“Both parties agree that they will endeavor to have this transaction completed within the next 90 days. If at the end of this period of time, the parties are unable to reach an agreement, the 10 percent tariffs will be raised to 25 percent,” the statement said.
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U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is warning the world is “in deep trouble with climate change.”

Speaking Monday at the opening of two weeks of climate talks in Poland, Guterres said it is “the most important gathering on climate change since the Paris Agreement was signed.” He called on the nearly 200 countries represented in Katowice, Poland, to take the issue seriously, and commit to the course of action agreed to in Paris in 2015.

Signatories to the landmark 2015 Paris Accord pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions and limit the rise in global temperatures to less than two degrees Celsius by 2030.

To reach this goal, emissions must be halved from 2010 levels by 2030, Guterres said.

“I remind all Parties that this is a deadline you set for yourselves and it is vital you meet it,” Guterres added.

Citing bleak recent reports, including one from the U.N. expert climate panel in October, Guterres noted devastation from hurricanes in Barbuda and Dominica which he called “heart-breaking,” but also “preventable.”

President Donald Trump has threatened to pull the U.S. out of the Paris agreement because of what he says is the economic damage the treaty’s provisions would cause.

Trump is a promoter of fossil fuels and nuclear power and has proposed renegotiating the Paris Accord — an idea many dismiss as impractical.

Host country Poland is expected to propose what it calls a “just transition” for the oil, gas, and coal industries to ease the financial blow from the move away from such polluting sources of energy.

But nations more immediately threatened by climate change, including Fiji, whose prime minister, Frank Bainimarama, served as president of last year’s climate conference, urged developed nations to act now to save the planet.

“Or, God forbid, [we] ignore the irrefutable evidence and become the generation that betrayed humanity,” Bainimarama said.

 
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Nigeria’s unemployment numbers jumped by nearly 30% this year to 16 million, according to a November report by the National Bureau of Statistics. Another two million are expected to be unemployed by the end of the year. The negative trend comes as Nigeria this year overtook India as having the world’s largest population of people living in extreme poverty and just ahead of February presidential elections. Timothy Obiezu reports for VOA from Abuja.
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China’s president on Sunday signed new trade deals with Argentina as the Asian giant expands its growing role in Latin American economies.

Presidents Mauricio Macri of Argentina and Xi Jinping of China announced the more than 30 agriculture and investment deals during a state visit following the Group of 20 summit of leaders in Buenos Aires. The deals include an agreement to export Argentine cherries to China and an expansion of a currency swap.

China is among Argentina’s top export markets, especially for agricultural commodities that are the engine of its economy. It is also one of Argentina’s biggest lenders, financing about $18.2 billion in infrastructure and other projects, according to the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based think tank.

“China’s development benefits Argentina, our region and the world,” Macri said during a ceremony at the presidential residence in the outskirts of the Argentine capital.

“We have complementary countries. There are few countries in the world that can buy so many of the high-quality products that we’re capable of making,” Macri said.

The visit comes after U.S. officials said they had reached a 90-day truce in the trade dispute with China that has rattled financial markets and imperiled global economic growth. That announcement followed a Saturday dinner meeting between Xi and President Donald Trump.

Argentina also granted Xi the top honor awarded to foreign politicians, and the Argentine polo association gave the Chinese leader a polo horse. The South American country is home to the world’s top polo players, and Macri said that he wants the sport to make a comeback in China.

Photos released by Argentina’s presidency showed a smiling Xi petting the pony with one hand and holding the reins with the other.

Macri also put a red polo helmet emblazoned with China’s flag on Xi’s head.

Xi congratulated Macri on a successful summit and said that both nations believe that the G-20 spirit of solidarity must prevail in “the firm defense of multilateralism and free trade to build an open global economy and foment the world’s prosperity and stability.”

Xi will go on to visit Panama, which has been negotiating a free-trade deal with China after shifting its diplomatic recognition to Beijing from Taiwan last year, a move that led to complaints from U.S. officials.

 
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