How the world sees Greece
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras chaired a government meeting with his close aides to discuss the government’s planning for equitable growth in the aftermath of concluding the Greek program review. The new plan will be unveiled at an event at the Acropolis ...
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[kay jewelers commercial screenshot] Diamonds are forever. Companies, however, are not. You have most likely heard that "every kiss begins with Kay" or that "it could only be Jared." You have also most likely passed a Zales kiosk at your local mall. If you have, you know what has contributed to making Signet Jewelers, which owns all of those brands through a company called Sterling, the biggest diamond retailer in America. But now that retailer is in huge trouble. The trouble started at the end of May, when BuzzFeed tracked down a bunch of Kay Jewelers customers who said their engagement rings did not come back the same after being sent to the company for repair. The diamonds didn't sparkle as much, and one woman said a small imperfection in her stone (that she loved) was gone. That's right. These people are saying they were getting their rings back with the diamonds swapped out, BuzzFeed reported. In some cases customers found out that the stones on their returned rings didn't have the same serial numbers as the ones they had purchased. In other cases customers were just given excuses. Signet, for its part, said the women in BuzzFeed's story were anomalies. David Bouffard, the vice president of corporate affairs at Signet, said simply: "Every year we've got millions of transactions and millions of repairs we are processing in our stores," he said, though he added that the company considers even one unhappy customer too many. The market's not buying that, though. Since the story was published, Signet Jewelers stock has fallen 16%, despite pretty decent first-quarter earnings results delivered the very next day. We should also note that more than 300 complaints have been filed against Signet with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. [signet skitched chart] ALONG CAME WALL STREET On Wall Street, a place where information can mean a payday, stories like this one rarely go unnoticed. It is, after all, on some scale, an alleged jewel heist. And so it was on June 1, when Grant's Interest Rate Observer dropped a report that included a deep dive into Signet. That's where a second, ugly part of this story comes into play: Signet's accounting. It's almost always the accounting. Signet uses an in-house credit facility to help its customers purchase their jewelry, and that facility is growing. In 2008 it was used to finance 52.6% of purchases; this year that number increased to 61.5%. In the first quarter of the year, this facility provided Signet with 18% of its profit. The way Signet marks it up, its loan portfolio is pristine — only 3.6% of loans on the books are nonperforming. Enviable, to be sure. But as Grant's notes, Signet has a funny way of considering a customer current on its payments. It's called "regency." As long as the customer makes a "qualifying payment" by its due date, that customer is considered current. That payment has to be at least 75% of the amount due and be paid on time, according to a company presentation from earlier this year. So if you owe $1,000 and pay only $750, that is marked as a "qualifying payment" and you (the customer) are good to go, for the first 60 days. A full scheduled payment is demanded 60 to 90 days after purchase. After that, the customer must start making payments on money past due, according to the company. Signet would not provide Business Insider with comment on the record for this matter, pointing us only to government documents and an internal transcript excerpting its first-quarter conference call. It said "that regardless of aging method used over one's portfolio, the balance sheet and income statement will yield the same result as under US GAAP, as receivables must be stated at the net realizable value." Analysts have found issues with revenue recognition through Signet's extended jewelry servicing plans as well. Here's just one example of the questionable way the company does it from a report by the investigative financial news service The Capitol Forum in April: In the second quarter of fiscal year 2016, the Sterling Jewelers division undertook an operational change to align the Sterling and Zale ESPs [extended servicing plans]. Prior to the change, the Sterling Jewelers division deferred and recognized revenue on its ESPs over a period of 14 years, with approximately 45% of the revenue recognized in the first two years. After the operational change, the Sterling Jewelers division deferred and recognized revenue over 17 years for all ESPs, with approximately 57% of the revenue recognized within the first two years for ESPs sold on or after May 2, 2015 and 42% of the revenue recognized in the first two years for ESPs sold before May 2, 2015. In other words, Signet is recognizing more payment for what may very well may not be paid in full for some time. [Zales] THE ANSWERS ARE USUALLY SOMEWHERE So how do we know how much of an impact this is making on Signet's books? For that Grant's points to Marc Cohodes, a former portfolio manager of Copper River Partners who is short Signet stock. Cohodes says that to really understand what the company's credit facility is doing, you need to look at how many of its customers have declared personal bankruptcy, citing Signet as a creditor. In the first quarter of 2015, 1,903 Americans filing for bankruptcy named Signet as a creditor. In Q4 2015 that number jumped to 2,663. In the first quarter of 2016 that number hit 3,274. Signet responded to Grant's report and the fallout from BuzzFeed's story with a press release on June 3. "The trust of our customers is not something we take lightly," CEO Mark Light said. "It has been an honor to help our customers celebrate life and express love through our high-quality jewelry for almost 100 years, and dedication to superior customer service and quality control is integral to who we are and how we conduct business. Our guests are our most precious commodity, and we are committed to maintaining their trust." Since then a few law firms have launched investigations into the company, citing the recent reports. This is undoubtedly uncomfortable for the company. Unlike diamonds, lawsuits are not forever. They just feel as if they are. For more on why Americans are so touchy on diamonds, listen to BI's Linette Lopez and Josh Barro discuss their value on their podcast, Hard Pass: Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: FORMER GREEK FINANCE MINISTER: How I dealt with stress when Greece nearly defaulted
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[Summer] Summer movies have always represented a good opportunity for the movie studios. Many of them chose to release their big "blockbusters" to capture those movie goers trying to escape the summer heat. 2015 saw recording breaking movies like "Jurassic World" and "Avengers: Age of Ultron" released in the summer. None from 2016 have beat the records of last year yet, but summer is still only just beginning. Most of the major studios have already begun releasing their slate of summer hopefuls, which means the winners and losers of the summer are already starting to emerge. Read below to find out which studios have brought in the most at the box office this year... _All box office numbers below are provided by Box Office Mojo_ #6 SONY (TICKER: SNE) The biggest movie for Sony Picture Studios this summer has been "The Angry Birds Movie." The film hasn't quite hit the $100 million mark yet, but is on track to do so with $98.2 million in domestic grosses since its release. The other summer movie from Sony, "Money Monster", received a 56% on Rotten Tomatoes and has brought in $39 million domestically. This puts the movie towards the bottom of the summer box office. Sony shares have risen 6.8% in 2016. #5 PARAMOUNT (TICKER: VIA) The heroes in a half shell are back this summer in "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows." The movie opened June 3, and has not fared as well as its predecessor "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" which was released in 2014. The sequel has brought in $61 million domestically in its first two weeks. The other movies for Paramount's summer haven't been huge hits. "10 Cloverfield Lane" is the best performing movie that has been released from the studio this year, and has brought in $72 million so far. Still coming for the studio this summer, "Star Trek Beyond." Viacom, Paramount's parent company, is up 13.7% this year. #4 UNIVERSAL (TICKER: CMCSA) Over-the-top comedy is the strategy for Universal this summer. "Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising" and "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping", are the two summer movies from Universal that have already been released. The movies have brought in $53.1 million and $8.3 million respectively. Looking at all of 2016 bolsters the studio's lineup with several other comedy titles. "Ride Along 2", "The Boss" and "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2" all were released earlier this year. So far, none of the titles have been a break out hit, but "The Secret Life of Pets" and the new "Jason Bourne" are set to release later this summer. Universal is owned by Comcast, which is up 12.9% this year. See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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ATHENS, Greece - Scores of volunteer forces helping refugees have been arrested in Greece as the government intensifies its crackdown on asylum seekers hoping to cross the border into Macedonia. Riot police began Monday to clear a refugee camp along the ...
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Stagkou admitted conditions inside many state-organized camps are far from perfect, but, she pointed out, GREEK authorities are doing their best to ...
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Everything I knew about ouzo was wrong, especially my assumption that it was the only GREEK liquor. The sun was starting to dip behind the Acropolis ...
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“We hope it will decrease pressure on GREECE, Turkey and Italy. The refugees will see how it works and pass the information on to others. Of course ...
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Students have the opportunity to experience a Mediterranean cruise and visit historical sites in the Peloponnese, northern GREECE, Turkey and Israel.
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… number of migrants arriving on Greek shores has dropped precipitously. But … the meantime. Fewer arrivals in Greece, more in Italy Notwithstanding its … Greece. Although weather conditions have improved, the number of migrants reaching Greece …
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Greece continues clearing up Migrant camp … attempts to cross the border, Greek police finally moved to clear … camps. It is believed that Greece has over 50.000 migrants …
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… the Financial Times.Stournaras said Greece had made significant fiscal progress … ," Stournaras said, reiterating that Greece's 2018 primary surplus … socially unattainable, to demand that Greece achieve a general government primary …
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Thesaloniki belongs to FIBA Champions League. After Aris BC, the other big club of the Greek city, PAOK, confirmed today that they registered for next season’s Champions League and not in Eurocup. Meanwhile Aris BC announced the extension of 35 years old center Vasilis Symtsak’s contract. The veteran player spoke to the official site of
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Even without Giannis Antetokounmpo present yet – because of some extra days off – one of the main topic of discussion in the first meeting of the Greek national team was him. As coach Fotis Katsikaris admitted the role of the Bucks’ star will be more than crucial in the upcoming pre-Olympic tournament of Turin:
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Emergency central bank funding to GREEK lenders fell by 3.1 percent, or 2.07 billion euros, in May compared to the previous month, Bank of Greece ...
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Scientists have long tried to decipher the purpose of Antikythera Mechanism and understand its place in the Ancient GREEK'S world. The technological ...
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Relations between Greece and France, particularly in the economic sector were discussed in a meeting between State Minister Nikos Pappas and French counterpart Harlem Desir in Paris. The two men discussed economic issues as part of the “Strategic ...
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The meeting on the Greek island of Crete due to start on Sunday would be the first in more than a millennium. Hilarion, a bishop who heads the Moscow Patriarchate's department of external church relations, said in a televised statement that Russia would ...
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The head of Marfin Investment Group (MIG) and former Laiki Bank boss Andreas Vgenopoulos will be questioned by GREEK authorities next week, ...
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A fragment of the 2,100-year-old Antikythera Mechanism, which was discovered in a shipwreck off southern Greece in 1900. Credit Thanassis ...
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GREECE'S central bank governor has urged the country's creditors to rework a core element of Athens' new bailout, saying ambitious budget surplus ...
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Some countries have a bit of a history of defaulting on their debts. And you can see this clearly via the Bank of America Merrill Lynch chart below, courtesy of Yahoo Finance's managing editor Sam Ro. It shows the share of years in default or rescheduling since independence or 1800, as well as the total number of external defaults and reschedulings for a bunch of countries. > The history of sovereign debt defaults - BAML > pic.twitter.com/D5ILb8JsUo > — Sam Ro (@bySamRo) June 13, 2016 As a postscript, we'd like to point out that this chart doesn't tell the _whole_ story. Greece, for example, first defaulted back in the 4th century BC. But, still, it's a great chart. SEE ALSO: AN IVY LEAGUE PROFESSOR EXPLAINS CHAOS THEORY, THE PRISONER'S DILEMMA, AND WHY MATH ISN'T REALLY BORING Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: FORMER GREEK FINANCE MINISTER: How I dealt with stress when Greece nearly defaulted
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36 leftist SYRIZA MPs submitted a question to Greek Health Minister Panagiotis Kouroumblis regarding the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes. The question, titled “National plan for medicinal cannabis,” follows a previous request for the legalization of medical marijuana production in February. The SYRIZA deputies note that one of the consequences of their first request
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The latest round of talks on the confidence-building measures (CBMs) between Greece and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia was held in Athens, on 13 June 2016, on the basis of the agreement reached by the two Foreign Ministers in Skopje a year ago, on 24 June 2015.The discussions were held in a friendly and constructive atmosphere and they were focused on connectivity projects, police cooperation, European programmes, culture, education, civil protection, public administration, health, Diplomatic Academies’ cooperation and launching business initiatives. The talks were held with the participation of experts from the respective relevant authorities.It was decided that the...
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Following the hanging of the provocative and confrontational banner at the EURO 2016 Albania-Switzerland football match, we announce that the following actions were taken:Foreign Ministry spokesperson Efstratios Efthymiou issued an immediate response, setting out the Ministry’s position on the hanging of the provocative banner.Deputy Culture and Sports Minister Stavros Kontonis sent a very stern letter of protest to the Secretary General of UEFA, Theodoros Theodoridis.The Greek Embassy in Paris proceeded to an expression of protest to the French Foreign Ministry.Demarches were made by the Greek Foreign Ministry to the French and Albanian Ambassadors in Athens.Two very stern demarches were made...
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… Federation of Industries of Northern Greece (FING) signed a Memorandum of … improving the investment environment in Greece and in other countries of … agrees to distribute information to Greek businesses on the credit and …
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… refugees have been arrested in Greece as the government intensifies its … refugees are still on the Greek territory despite a deal reached … of refugees in countries like Greece. Zeid Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein …
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MOSCOW (AP) — The Russian Orthodox Church is suggesting postponing a historic meeting of all of the world’s Orthodox churches. The meeting on the Greek island of Crete due to start on Sunday could be the first in more than a millennium. Hilarion, a bishop who heads the Moscow Patriarchate’s department of external church relations,
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The Aegean island of the moment seems to change every summer. We've uncovered this year's must-know isles—along with how to get there, where ...
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GREECE is the only country in Europe that still remains under an adjustment programme. The Greek political system failed the country in the second half ...
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The Eleftherios Venizelos Athens International Airport’s (AIA) data and the data of hoteliers found that ten percent of passenger traffic was unaccounted for as it did not end up at a hotel. The study lead to the conclusion that the missing ten percent ...
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TARPON SPRINGS — "The time frame is all wrong," said Michael Houllis, 70, by phone from his mother Bertha's retirement center. "By 1917 it was a done deal." He was speaking of the many theories posited in the story I wrote for last week's Taste section ...
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GREEK canning apricots cheaper than last year ... ex-field and at EUR0.20/kg for purée. GREEK canners are paying at least EUR210 per tonne less than.
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GREECE has continued to expand shelter space to house stranded refugees and migrants. Authorities said a site previously used to store grain had ...
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Lauren Williams struck gold again as GB Taekwondo fighters completed a full house of medals at the GREECE Open in Salonika. In her first outing since ...
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The shooting which occurred in Orlando Florida over the weekend has touched the hearts of people all around the world. Monday, the Greek Foreign Minister expressed his condolences to the families and friends of the victims and to the American People as well as condemned the attack in a press statement. “We express our unequivocal condemnation
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The Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) has been on a rollercoaster ride. On Monday the ASE fell by 3 percent points. This is following a turbulent week, when on Friday the ASE saw a plunging dip of 4.18 percent. The drop represents a notable 4 billion euros in capital losses. The climate for Greek bonds has also worsened with yields for
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Despite frustration with Brussels-imposed austerity, Greeks see the EU as a essential to strengthening their democracy and ensuring peace on the continent
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Investing.com – Greece stocks were lower after the …
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Cruise ship companies warn they will avoid the ports of Piraeus and Thessaloniki if strikes by workers there don't end soon.
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Scores of riot police were deployed as more than 400 Syrians and Iraqis were moved from a camp set up around a gas station near the GREEK border ...
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Banks have relied on emergency liquidity assistance (ELA) drawn from the GREEK central bank since February last year after being cut off from the ...
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“If Greece counted only payments to GREEK companies and individuals – as other countries do – the deep-sea shipping industry's contribution would ...
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- "The Memory of Lemon" is the sequel to "The Cake Therapist." Judith Fertig is a long-time, award-winning cookbook author and ...
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Refugees seeking asylum say one of the things they want most is information. A radio station in a makeshift camp in Greece is hoping to give them that - along with a voice to the world, as Kristina Jovanovski reports.
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[Refugees and migrants are briefed by a UNHCR staff before a pre-registration process that gives them access to the asylum procedure, at the premises of the disused Hellenikon airport, in Athens]By Karolina Tagaris ATHENS (Reuters) - Dozens of migrants and refugees stuck in Greece queued up in Athens on Monday to register for access to its asylum system, a new process that Greece hopes will speed up their relocation to other EU member states or reunite them with family elsewhere. Some 48,000 refugees and migrants are stranded on the Greek mainland by the closure of Balkan borders, which has shut the main overland route used last year by a million people from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and beyond headed for western Europe. Authorities hope to register 1,400 people a day from two sites, the head of Greece's asylum service, Maria Stavropoulou, told journalists.
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The last time I saw Greek winemaker Thrass Giantsidis I was riding on the back of his Vespa down the backstreets of Thessaloniki at dusk, heading to a fish restaurant for dinner. That was in 2011, when Greece was in the grip of violent protests over the ...
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Bulgaria has completed the upgrade of a gas compressor station at Petrich, near the border with Greece, which completes the first stage of upgrades to the country’s gas grid and allows for larger gas flows from Greece, the country’s Energy Ministry ...
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According to the Greek Shipping Ministry, the Greek Coast Guard has launched a rescue operation for a vessel with about 200 migrants on board which sent a distress signal off the island of Crete. They reported that the Greek Coast Patrol along with other ...
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The ancient GREEK dramatist Sophoclean three of whose plays have survived to this day has much to offer to our understanding of Kashmir today.
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GREEK Festival: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. June 24-25 and noon to 7 p.m. June 26, GREEK Orthodox Church, 25 Bigelow Ave., Watertown. Featuring homemade ...
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