Why Facebook and Amazon have joined the race to bring computing to your face

Facebook and Amazon executives were 850 miles apart on Wednesday. But they were a lot closer when it came to unveiling their vision for the future of computing.

At an event in San Jose, California, Facebook introduced its plan for augmented reality glasses, where users will be able to pull up a visual display on top of what’s actually in front of them. Up north in Seattle, Amazon announced Echo Frames, lightweight glasses with the Alexa voice assistant embedded in them.

The dueling events hosted by the two internet giants showcased how the face is becoming the next tech battleground after smartphones, tablets and connected devices like the watch. Microsoft, Google and Apple all have their own approaches to augmented reality and virtual reality, but the race for the face is particularly critical to Facebook and Amazon, because they have yet to establish computing gateways. Microsoft won the PC era and now has a tablet business, while Apple and Google have the dominant mobile operating systems.

“I’ve been saying for a while that augmented and virtual reality is going to be the next major computing platform,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on stage at the Oculus Connect 6 conference. “You know, there’s only so much you can do with apps without also shaping and improving the underlying platform.”

Real money is going into building the next platform: Earlier this week, Facebook announced the purchase of CTRL Labs, a gesture recognition start-up that claims to be able to read electrical signals from your spinal cord and translate them into signals that computers can understand. Facebook paid between $500 million and $1 billion for the early-stage company, CNBC reported, acquiring technology that could potentially control computer glasses without a touchscreen, keyboard, or mouse.

To date, the market for computing headsets has hit a number of snags, because of high price points, awkward form factors and, in some cases, the need to be tethered to a bulky computer. Google took an early stab at a product in 2013, with Google Glass, which failed to gain traction among consumers but later found a market on factory floors and assembly lines, where workers now have hands-free access to computers. Meanwhile, heftier VR products from Facebook’s Oculus and Magic Leap have mostly been for gamers.

Momentum is picking up. For now, most AR apps use a phone’s screen and camera, but the technology industry is pushing toward lightweight AR glasses. Fewer than 1 million pairs of AR glasses will be sold in 2019, a number that could rise to over 30 million by 2023, according to an estimate from market researcher IDC. Apple CEO Tim Cook has said AR is “profound” and his company has integrated AR tools into the iPhone’s operating system. Microsoft’s second AR headset, Hololens 2, is expected to be released this month.

“Suddenly, it went 0 to 60,” said Mike Boland, an analyst focusing on the AR market at ARtillery. “There were no glasses, or the overall glasses space was in a rut, and now all of a sudden, there are all of these glasses to choose from.”

In the words of Gene Munster from Loup Ventures, “There’s now an arms race to capture the next computing platform.”

Saudi's crown prince warned oil prices could go 'unimaginably high' unless 'firm action' is taken on Iran

Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi's Crown Prince, warned that global energy supplies could be disrupted over the country's dispute with Iran, with oil prices jumping "to unimaginably high numbers."

The Saudi leader, in an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes" on Sunday, also said that the dispute with Iran could escalate — and would threaten the global economy. 

"If the world does not take a strong and firm action to deter Iran, we will see further escalations that will threaten world interests," said bin Salman. "Oil supplies will be disrupted and oil prices will jump to unimaginably high numbers that we haven't seen in our lifetimes."

In a wide-ranging interview, the Crown Prince told "60 Minutes" that he hoped there would not be a military response to Iran, saying a "political and peaceful solution is much better than the military one."

On September 14, two Saudi oil facilities were hit by drone strikes, which the Trump administration said came from Iran. The attack wiped out roughly half of Saudi's oil production capabilities temporarily, or roughly 5% of the world's supply. 

When trading opened on the following Monday, Brent crude oil spiked an initial 20%, and ended the day up 10%.

Bin Salman warned that the implications of the attack could hamper the global economy. "The region represents about 30% of the world's energy supplies, about 20% of global trade passages, about 4% of the world GDP," he said on the television show. "Imagine all of these three things stop. This means a total collapse of the global economy, and not just Saudi Arabia or the Middle East countries."

When asked if the Crown Prince believed if the attack was an act of war, he replied "Of course. Yes," adding that he believed it was "stupidity." 

"There is no strategic goal," said the leader adding: The only strategic goal is to prove that they are stupid and that is what they did."

When asked by interviewer Norah O'Donnell if Trump should sit down with Iran's President Rouhani and craft a new deal the Crown Prince replied: "Absolutely."

"This is what President Trump is asking for, this is what we all ask for. However, it is the Iranians who don't want to sit at the table."

First gas station in America to ditch oil for 100% electric vehicle charging opens in Maryland

First gas station in America to ditch oil for 100% electric vehicle charging opens in Maryland

The first gas station in the U.S. that has been completely transitioned from a petroleum station to exclusively charging EVs opened Thursday in Takoma Park, Maryland.

RS Automotives, the local gas station, has been around since 1958.

Depeswar Doley, owner of the station since 1997, said he was already unhappy with the way oil and gasoline companies structure contracts — such as limiting the use of multiple suppliers, including clauses that extend contracts when a certain volume of sales is not met and limiting maintenance support. These business factors already were pushing him to consider other options.

A nudge from his daughter was the final step in convincing Doley to make the switch to EV charging.

“My daughter, who is 17, she is the one who convinced me after I told her that I was going to talk to the [Electric Vehicle Institute] guys,” Doley said.

A public works manager for the city of Takoma Park, Maryland, first suggested to Doley a conversation with Electric Vehicle Institute.

When he told his daughter about the idea, “she said, ‘Dad, that’s a real good suggestion.’”

"It’s not something that I expect to become rich overnight or something like that, but it’s a good cause [and] good for the environment."

Doley said he’s not too worried about how the switch will change his business income.

“You notice there are not too many electric vehicles on the road,” he said. “So it’s not something that I expect to become rich overnight or something like that, but it’s a good cause [and] good for the environment.”

There are more than 20,700 registered EVs in Maryland, and the area also has an electric taxi service in need of more chargers for their business.

The gas station conversion was jointly funded by the Electric Vehicle Institute and the Maryland Energy Administration, which provided a grant of $786,000.

Matthew Wade, EVI CEO, said the area has had issues with the supply of charging stations not meeting the demand of EVs. Takoma Park had just two chargers, one in a community center parking lot and the other at a street location.

“They were fully utilized throughout the day; people were lining up,” Wade said. “The city was happy they were being used, but then they said, ‘Wait, no one can get in this parking lot, because these taxis are using these chargers.’”

Wade says the gas station layout, which is designed for flow traffic, will help alleviate that problem.

The station will feature four dispensers that connect to a high-powered, 200kW system. The system will allow four vehicles to charge simultaneously and reach 80% battery charge in 20 to 30 minutes. Drivers can go inside and sit in an automated convenience store with screens that allow drivers to track their vehicle’s charging progress.

“Maryland is proud to be a national leader when it comes to clean and renewable energy, climate change and the promotion of electric infrastructure and vehicles,” said Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan in a release. “This fully converted gas-to-electric charging station is a prime example of our administration’s commitment to the environment and transportation.”

There are various approaches to EV charging infrastructure being rolled out across the U.S.

Elon Musk’s Tesla has over 1,600 charging stations for its car owners across the country, and a total of near-15,000 chargers. Tesla had in the past offered EV charging for free to new car owners, but now charges for the service. It also offers the Powerwall system that allows car owners to generate and store electricity, and charge their Tesla, at home.

Some of the big automakers have developed their own EV charging business models. Volkswagen funded Electrify America as part of its investments in renewables made after its diesel emissions scandal.

There are also venture capital-based EV charging start-ups, such as ChargePoint, which says it plans to create as many as 2.5 million chargers by 2025. Other major private players in the EV charging space include EVgo, which says it has the largest public EV charging infrastructure — 1,200 EV fast chargers at 700 EV charging stations in cities across the U.S. — and FLO, which offers both commercial and home-based EV charging systems.

EVI sees the station as a net positive for the community.

“Everyone gets behind it; it’s really neat,” Wade said. “It’s one of the few spaces out there that is not so divisive, and it gets people really excited.”

First gas station in America to ditch oil for 100% electric vehicle charging opens in Maryland

First gas station in America to ditch oil for 100% electric vehicle charging opens in Maryland

The first gas station in the U.S. that has been completely transitioned from a petroleum station to exclusively charging EVs opened Thursday in Takoma Park, Maryland.

RS Automotives, the local gas station, has been around since 1958.

Depeswar Doley, owner of the station since 1997, said he was already unhappy with the way oil and gasoline companies structure contracts — such as limiting the use of multiple suppliers, including clauses that extend contracts when a certain volume of sales is not met and limiting maintenance support. These business factors already were pushing him to consider other options.

A nudge from his daughter was the final step in convincing Doley to make the switch to EV charging.

“My daughter, who is 17, she is the one who convinced me after I told her that I was going to talk to the [Electric Vehicle Institute] guys,” Doley said.

A public works manager for the city of Takoma Park, Maryland, first suggested to Doley a conversation with Electric Vehicle Institute.

When he told his daughter about the idea, “she said, ‘Dad, that’s a real good suggestion.’”

"It’s not something that I expect to become rich overnight or something like that, but it’s a good cause [and] good for the environment."

Doley said he’s not too worried about how the switch will change his business income.

“You notice there are not too many electric vehicles on the road,” he said. “So it’s not something that I expect to become rich overnight or something like that, but it’s a good cause [and] good for the environment.”

There are more than 20,700 registered EVs in Maryland, and the area also has an electric taxi service in need of more chargers for their business.

The gas station conversion was jointly funded by the Electric Vehicle Institute and the Maryland Energy Administration, which provided a grant of $786,000.

Matthew Wade, EVI CEO, said the area has had issues with the supply of charging stations not meeting the demand of EVs. Takoma Park had just two chargers, one in a community center parking lot and the other at a street location.

“They were fully utilized throughout the day; people were lining up,” Wade said. “The city was happy they were being used, but then they said, ‘Wait, no one can get in this parking lot, because these taxis are using these chargers.’”

Wade says the gas station layout, which is designed for flow traffic, will help alleviate that problem.

The station will feature four dispensers that connect to a high-powered, 200kW system. The system will allow four vehicles to charge simultaneously and reach 80% battery charge in 20 to 30 minutes. Drivers can go inside and sit in an automated convenience store with screens that allow drivers to track their vehicle’s charging progress.

“Maryland is proud to be a national leader when it comes to clean and renewable energy, climate change and the promotion of electric infrastructure and vehicles,” said Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan in a release. “This fully converted gas-to-electric charging station is a prime example of our administration’s commitment to the environment and transportation.”

There are various approaches to EV charging infrastructure being rolled out across the U.S.

Elon Musk’s Tesla has over 1,600 charging stations for its car owners across the country, and a total of near-15,000 chargers. Tesla had in the past offered EV charging for free to new car owners, but now charges for the service. It also offers the Powerwall system that allows car owners to generate and store electricity, and charge their Tesla, at home.

Some of the big automakers have developed their own EV charging business models. Volkswagen funded Electrify America as part of its investments in renewables made after its diesel emissions scandal.

There are also venture capital-based EV charging start-ups, such as ChargePoint, which says it plans to create as many as 2.5 million chargers by 2025. Other major private players in the EV charging space include EVgo, which says it has the largest public EV charging infrastructure — 1,200 EV fast chargers at 700 EV charging stations in cities across the U.S. — and FLO, which offers both commercial and home-based EV charging systems.

EVI sees the station as a net positive for the community.

“Everyone gets behind it; it’s really neat,” Wade said. “It’s one of the few spaces out there that is not so divisive, and it gets people really excited.”

First gas station in America to ditch oil for 100% electric vehicle charging opens in Maryland

The first gas station in the U.S. that has been completely transitioned from a petroleum station to exclusively charging EVs opened Thursday in Takoma Park, Maryland.

RS Automotives, the local gas station, has been around since 1958.

Depeswar Doley, owner of the station since 1997, said he was already unhappy with the way oil and gasoline companies structure contracts — such as limiting the use of multiple suppliers, including clauses that extend contracts when a certain volume of sales is not met and limiting maintenance support. These business factors already were pushing him to consider other options.

A nudge from his daughter was the final step in convincing Doley to make the switch to EV charging.

“My daughter, who is 17, she is the one who convinced me after I told her that I was going to talk to the [Electric Vehicle Institute] guys,” Doley said.

A public works manager for the city of Takoma Park, Maryland, first suggested to Doley a conversation with Electric Vehicle Institute.

When he told his daughter about the idea, “she said, ‘Dad, that’s a real good suggestion.’”

"It’s not something that I expect to become rich overnight or something like that, but it’s a good cause [and] good for the environment."

Doley said he’s not too worried about how the switch will change his business income.

“You notice there are not too many electric vehicles on the road,” he said. “So it’s not something that I expect to become rich overnight or something like that, but it’s a good cause [and] good for the environment.”

There are more than 20,700 registered EVs in Maryland, and the area also has an electric taxi service in need of more chargers for their business.

The gas station conversion was jointly funded by the Electric Vehicle Institute and the Maryland Energy Administration, which provided a grant of $786,000.

Matthew Wade, EVI CEO, said the area has had issues with the supply of charging stations not meeting the demand of EVs. Takoma Park had just two chargers, one in a community center parking lot and the other at a street location.

“They were fully utilized throughout the day; people were lining up,” Wade said. “The city was happy they were being used, but then they said, ‘Wait, no one can get in this parking lot, because these taxis are using these chargers.’”

Wade says the gas station layout, which is designed for flow traffic, will help alleviate that problem.

The station will feature four dispensers that connect to a high-powered, 200kW system. The system will allow four vehicles to charge simultaneously and reach 80% battery charge in 20 to 30 minutes. Drivers can go inside and sit in an automated convenience store with screens that allow drivers to track their vehicle’s charging progress.

“Maryland is proud to be a national leader when it comes to clean and renewable energy, climate change and the promotion of electric infrastructure and vehicles,” said Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan in a release. “This fully converted gas-to-electric charging station is a prime example of our administration’s commitment to the environment and transportation.”

There are various approaches to EV charging infrastructure being rolled out across the U.S.

Elon Musk’s Tesla has over 1,600 charging stations for its car owners across the country, and a total of near-15,000 chargers. Tesla had in the past offered EV charging for free to new car owners, but now charges for the service. It also offers the Powerwall system that allows car owners to generate and store electricity, and charge their Tesla, at home.

Some of the big automakers have developed their own EV charging business models. Volkswagen funded Electrify America as part of its investments in renewables made after its diesel emissions scandal.

There are also venture capital-based EV charging start-ups, such as ChargePoint, which says it plans to create as many as 2.5 million chargers by 2025. Other major private players in the EV charging space include EVgo, which says it has the largest public EV charging infrastructure — 1,200 EV fast chargers at 700 EV charging stations in cities across the U.S. — and FLO, which offers both commercial and home-based EV charging systems.

EVI sees the station as a net positive for the community.

“Everyone gets behind it; it’s really neat,” Wade said. “It’s one of the few spaces out there that is not so divisive, and it gets people really excited.”

Apple just released an iPhone update that fixes a security flaw with downloadable keyboards

Apple on Friday released a new version of its iPhone operating system, iOS, that fixes many bugs that cropped up when iOS 13 was released earlier this month.

The update fixes a security issue with the way iPhones handle keyboards not made by Apple. “Apple has discovered a bug in iOS 13 and iPadOS that can result in keyboard extensions being granted full access even if you haven’t approved this access,” Apple said in a security advisory earlier this week.

Friday’s update also fixes issues related to iPhone restoring, battery drain, Siri, Safari search, and Reminders sync, according to Apple’s release notes.

Anyone with an iPhone released in 2015 or later can download iOS 13.1.1 in the Settings app.

The update comes after Apple accelerated the release of iOS 13.1, a minor release designed to remove bugs, a week earlier than previously announced, a break from the way Apple handled releases in previous years.

Here’s the full iOS 13.1.1 change log:

• .Fixes issues that could prevent iPhone restoring from backup
• .Addresses an issue that could cause battery to drain more quickly
• .Fixes an issue that could impact recognition of Siri requests on iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max
• .Resolves a problem where Safari search suggestions may re-enable after turning them off
• .Addresses an issue that could cause Reminders to sync slowly
• .Fixes a security issue for third-party keyboard apps.

Beyond Meat stock soars 12% after McDonald’s announces Canadian test of its plant-based burgers

McDonald’s on Thursday announced plans to test a plant-based burger using Beyond Meat patties in Canada.

The 12-week test will start Sept. 30 at 28 restaurants in Southwestern Ontario.

The item will appear on those menus as the P.L.T, which stands for plant, lettuce and tomato. The burger will sell for C$6.49 ($4.90), plus tax.

“This test allows us to learn more about real-world implications of serving the P.L.T., including customer demand and impact on restaurant operations,” Ann Wahlgren, McDonald’s vice president of global menu strategy, said in a statement.

Shares of Beyond Meat soared 12% in morning trading, while McDonald’s shares inched up 1%. Since its May initial public offering, Beyond’s stock has surged 517%. However, in the last two months, shares have tumbled 34% after a secondary stock offering, increased competition from Big Food rivals and concerns about its valuation.

Meat substitutes from Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods have soared in popularity this year, as more U.S. restaurant chains, like Dunkin’ and Red Robin, add them to their menus. Burger King, which is owned by Restaurant Brands International, recently launched a version of its Whopper made with the Impossible burger nationwide.

“Overall, we continue to believe the best way to play on the demand for plant-based foods is through Restaurant Brands, with its national launch of the Impossible Whopper at Burger King, which could add 400 [basis points] to Burger King’s U.S. comp,” BMO Capital Markets analyst Peter Sklar wrote in a note Wednesday.

Restaurants are choosing plant-based burgers as a way to appeal consumers looking to cut down on their meat intake. The NPD Group found that 95% of people who buy these vegan burgers also made a beef burger purchase within the last year.

McDonald’s has largely stayed on the sidelines, citing a desire to better understand the trend before stepping in. It already sells plant-based burgers in Germany and Israel in partnership with Nestle, which started selling its Awesome Burger in U.S. retailers this week.

Beyond Meat has expressed confidence in its ability to supply any restaurant chain. In June, CEO Ethan Brown told analysts that it could take on the largest fast-food chains, provided that it was done thoughtfully. McDonald’s, which is the largest restaurant company in the U.S. by sales, has roughly 14,000 locations in the U.S.

https://www.cnbc.com/video/2019/06/20/mcdonalds-white-castle-burger-king-and-the-vegetarian-meat-burger-trend.html

Saudi Arabia’s oil output bounces back after attacks

Saudi Arabia’s oil production has rebounded to more than 8m barrels a day following the attacks on energy infrastructure earlier this month, with the faster than expected recovery helping to push the oil price down below $62 on Wednesday.

 The rise, shared with the Financial Times by two people briefed on the situation and corroborated by satellite heat maps of output from the fields, marks the restoration or substitution of more than three-quarters of lost production. It still leaves the kingdom’s output at least 1.5m barrels a day below the level it was before the attacks.

 The recovery is quicker than analysts had been anticipating, with state oil company Saudi Aramco acting to fire up spare capacity at offshore fields and bring production back online, while restoring processing capacity at one of the damaged facilities.

 Officials in the kingdom, which is trying to arrange the stock market listing of a stake in Saudi Aramco, have told analysts that total production capacity, a term that includes oil being extracted from fields plus spare capacity not being utilised, could soon hit 11.3m b/d — just 700,000 b/d below where it was before the attacks. There remains some scepticism, however, over whether this includes the ability to process the crude to a level that makes it viable for export.

 Full repairs to the Abqaiq facility and Khurais field, which were hit by missile and drone strikes that western powers have said originated in Iran, are still expected to take months to fully complete — with specialist equipment required to be custom made to carry out the fixes. Iran has denied involvement.

 12m the number of barrels a day in crude oil processed by Saudi Arabia before the attacks But the quick return of production is still helping to calm oil markets, after prices jumped as much as 20 per cent in the immediate aftermath of the strikes. Brent crude, the international benchmark, has fallen back to below $62 a barrel from a high above $71 a barrel on Monday last week, and is roughly where it was trading before the attacks occurred. Concerns about the US-China trade war have also weighed on oil prices, with signs that demand for crude has weakened.

 “They have been able to restore some of the capacity, but they are not yet able to restore everything,” said Per Magnus Nysveen at Rystad Energy, a consultancy. He said it was “astonishing” how little the disruption had affected markets, adding that the depletion of oil in storage tanks could push prices higher.

 Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, vowed after the attacks that full output would be restored within weeks. The company is keen to emphasise its resilience, and has said processing at Abqaiq is recovering partly due to redundancy built into the facility.

 Genscape, which provides oil traders and other clients with data sourced from satellite monitoring, told the FT it had detected a steady increase in production since September 16, two days after the missile strikes had temporarily slashed output by half.

 Heatmapping used by the company to monitor Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities indicates production has risen at onshore and offshore fields that are not as reliant on the Abqaiq processing facility, which is used to prep the majority of Saudi Arabia’s crude for export.

 Genscape said it had detected production at the Khurais field getting back to about 725,000 b/d, roughly 50 per cent of the field’s maximum capacity. One person close to Aramco said production was even higher.

 Total production, Genscape said, was slightly above 8m b/d as of the start of this week, a number also given to the FT by two people briefed by officials in the kingdom.

 “We can detect that Saudi Arabia’s output has been steadily rising,” said Genscape global director Devin Geoghegan, saying that some of the recovery came from fields affected by the strikes while more than 500,000 b/d came from increasing production at other sites.

 Genscape said the Shaybah oilfield in the east of the country had continued to produce at full volume, near 1m b/d, since the attacks. One of the people briefed by the kingdom said Shaybah’s large natural gas liquid processing facility, which was built earlier this decade, was helping to prepare crude for market.

 The same person said some of the total 8m b/d production might not be fully available to the market, however, with some raw crude likely to be held in separate storage to be processed at a later date.

 To keep oil markets well supplied while the kingdom’s production is depressed, Saudi Aramco has scrambled to rejig its system. The company is running its domestic refineries at approximately 1m b/d below their normal capacity to free up crude for export.

 Saudi Aramco’s trading arm has also been in the market buying up additional cargoes of gasoline to replace the shortfall caused by squeezing its own refining system, according to traders outside the company. It has also looked to buy crude from other countries for Saudi Arabia’s own refineries.

The company has also been pulling barrels from storage to keep its exports going at as close to a normal level as possible.

 Aramco did not respond to a request for comment.

 Orbital Insight, a company that uses satellite imagery and artificial intelligence to measure the amount of crude held in storage tanks, said it had seen an average of 1.3m b/d of crude being withdrawn from Saudi storage in the past seven days, or more than 10 per cent of the country’s total inventories.

 Kpler, an oil analytics company, said that loadings from Saudi Arabia’s ports had, however, fallen since the attacks, declining to about 6m barrels a day. They have averaged near 7m b/d for much of 2019.

 Data compiled by the FT show that the kingdom’s processing facilities to stabilise oil, which is necessary to remove sulphur from sour crude oil before it is exported, could have been as much as 12m b/d before the attacks.

 Saudi Aramco can produce about 2.6m b/d of sweet crude from its Safaniya, Shaybah and Zuluf oilfields, which does not need stabilising at processing facilities, according to research from the Harvard Kennedy School.

FDA enlists DEA in vaping probe, will prosecute sales of illicit e-cigarettes as a crime

The Food and Drug Administration has asked the Drug Enforcement Administration to assist in its investigation of a vaping illness that’s caused hundreds of people to fall ill in recent weeks, killing at least nine patients.

The health regulator also said it will pursue criminal charges against anyone who makes or sells e-cigarettes that have been tampered with and cause anyone to get sick.

“To be clear, if we determine that someone is manufacturing or distributing illicit, adulterated products that caused illness or death for personal profit, we would consider that a criminal act,” acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Ned Sharpless testified before the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Wednesday. He said the FDA’s probe is focused on vaping manufacturers, “following the supply chain to its source,” not on individuals who’ve used the products.

Sharpless said the agency has called on the DEA for help because a number of the deaths have stemmed from people who’ve vaped THC, the ingredient in marijuana that produces a high.

The FDA recently issued a warning letter to Juul Labs for marketing unauthorized, modified tobacco products, including at a presentation to children given at a school.

The agency said last week it would be opening up a criminal probe into the cause of the mysterious vaping-related lung disease, which resembles a rare form of pneumonia. Hundreds of people have become sick from it so far, with nine people dying in recent weeks.

But many lawmakers have blamed the spike in teen e-cigarette use on the FDA’s 2017 decision to delay the review of the products.

In retrospect, “the FDA should’ve acted sooner,” Sharpless said. The accelerated investigation should help the agency “catch up,” he added.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told consumers to avoid all vaping products as health officials work to figure out what’s making people sick.

Correction: This article was updated to reflect the correct name of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Hedge Fund Boom Lures Former Brazil Central Banker Le Grazie

Reinaldo Le Grazie, a former director of monetary policy at Brazil’s central bank, joined an asset manager to launch a new hedge fund focused on finding the winners in the digital transformation sweeping Latin America’s biggest economy. The plan is to start the fund by the end of October, Le Grazie said in an interview.

“There are several companies fighting for digital supremacy in Brazil,” he said. “We want to be specialists in that.” Le Grazie said he’s been looking into how digitization affects businesses in the payments, banking and consumer sectors.

The fund will be called Panamby Inno -- short for innovation -- and invest about 40% of its assets in equities. It will also have a fixed-income book focused on Brazilian assets, and a so-called “back book,” which will handle hedging and keep the fund’s volatility in check, he said.

It will begin with enough capacity to manage as much as 5 billion reais ($1.2 billion), according to Le Grazie, who will head the fund’s investment committee. Pedro Mollo, a 25-year veteran of Banco Votorantim SA, will be chief investment officer.

Le Grazie’s focus on innovation is no passing fad: During his tenure at Brazil’s central bank, he was one of the architects of regulatory changes designed to foster competition and reduce rates in Brazil’s payment industry, including putting a cap on debit-card interchange rates and clearing hurdles for card acceptance.

He’s also no stranger to the asset-management industry, having spent five years at Banco Bradesco SA’s asset manager, the nation’s third biggest, including a stint as chief executive officer from 2014 to 2016.

Fund Boom

The firm Le Grazie is joining, Panamby Capital, was founded by Mollo and other partners late last year as a wealth manager and structured-fund manager. Le Grazie will be responsible for the new hedge fund expansion at the firm, which has about 30 employees, with roughly a dozen working in the hedge fund division.

Brazil’s hedge fund industry is in the midst of a boom after a fourth consecutive year of net inflows and almost 200 billion reais in new money since 2016.

“All-time low interest rates have investors hunting for assets at the same time new digital-distribution platforms have brought people to the industry that had been left out,” Le Grazie said.

He’s betting the nation’s benchmark rates, currently at a record low 5.5%, will get even lower, reaching close to 4.5% by the time the central bank finishes the cycle. The speed of cuts “should be as fast as possible, so it’s clearly stimulative,” he said, adding that the biggest risk for Brazil’s growth is the lagging private-sector investment rate. That will pick up if the government speeds asset sales to the private sector, he said.

Le Grazie is joining the ranks of government officials from Brazil’s last administration moving on to jobs in the finance industry. His previous boss, former central bank president Ilan Goldfajn, is joining Credit Suisse Group AG as chairman for Brazil, the bank announced earlier this month. Former Finance Minister Eduardo Guardia was recruited by Banco BTG Pactual SA as a partner and head of its asset-management unit, and Ana Paula Vescovi, the former treasury director, will head the macroeconomic department at Banco Santander SA’s Brazilian unit.

How to treat your business website costs for tax purposes

How to treat your business website costs for tax purposes

These days, most businesses need a website to remain competitive. It’s an easy decision to set one up and maintain it. But determining the proper tax treatment for the costs involved in developing a website isn’t so easy.

That’s because the IRS hasn’t released any official guidance on these costs yet. Consequently, you must apply existing guidance on other costs to the issue of website development costs.

Hardware and software

First, let’s look at the hardware you may need to operate a website. The costs involved fall under the standard rules for depreciable equipment. Specifically, once these assets are up and running, you can deduct 100% of the cost in the first year they’re placed in service (before 2023). This favorable treatment is allowed under the 100% first-year bonus depreciation break.

In later years, you can probably deduct 100% of these costs in the year the assets are placed in service under the Section 179 first-year depreciation deduction privilege. However, Sec. 179 deductions are subject to several limitations.

For tax years beginning in 2019, the maximum Sec. 179 deduction is $1.02 million, subject to a phaseout rule. Under the rule, the deduction is phased out if more than a specified amount of qualified property is placed in service during the year. The threshold amount for 2019 is $2.55 million.

There’s also a taxable income limit. Under it, your Sec. 179 deduction can’t exceed your business taxable income. In other words, Sec. 179 deductions can’t create or increase an overall tax loss. However, any Sec. 179 deduction amount that you can’t immediately deduct is carried forward and can be deducted in later years (to the extent permitted by the applicable limits).

Similar rules apply to purchased off-the-shelf software. However, software license fees are treated differently from purchased software costs for tax purposes. Payments for leased or licensed software used for your website are currently deductible as ordinary and necessary business expenses.

Software developed internally

If your website is primarily for advertising, you can also currently deduct internal website software development costs as ordinary and necessary business expenses.

An alternative position is that your software development costs represent currently deductible research and development costs under the tax code. To qualify for this treatment, the costs must be paid or incurred by December 31, 2022.

A more conservative approach would be to capitalize the costs of internally developed software. Then you would depreciate them over 36 months.

Third party payments

Some companies hire third parties to set up and run their websites. In general, payments to third parties are currently deductible as ordinary and necessary business expenses.

Before business begins

Start-up expenses can include website development costs. Up to $5,000 of otherwise deductible expenses that are incurred before your business commences can generally be deducted in the year business commences. However, if your start-up expenses exceed $50,000, the $5,000 current deduction limit starts to be chipped away. Above this amount, you must capitalize some, or all, of your start-up expenses and amortize them over 60 months, starting with the month that business commences.

We can help

We can determine the appropriate treatment for these costs for federal income tax purposes. Contact us if you have questions or want more information.

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