<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/cat-clifford/ ">By Catherine Clifford</a>



If you want to become your own boss in 2019, coming up with a business idea is the first step. If that feels daunting, billionaire serial entrepreneur <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/richard-branson/">Richard Branson</a> has advice: Start by asking yourself what you could do to make your own life better or easier.



“Entrepreneurship in its truest form is about identifying a gap in the market and creating a product of use to fill that hole and make people’s lives better,”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/opportunities-are-getting-bigger-world-getting-smaller" class="">writes Branson in a blog post on Tuesday</a>.



“Often the best way to find this gap is to look around you — are there services that could be improved or a product that could make something easier?” says Branson, who is currently worth more than $5 billion,<a href="https://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/opportunities-are-getting-bigger-world-getting-smaller" class="">&nbsp;according to Forbes</a>.



You can start by solving a small problem — it doesn’t mean the business itself will be limited.



“My advice to aspiring entrepreneurs thinking of starting their own business is:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/22/casper-co-founder-how-to-figure-out-what-to-do-with-your-life.html" class="">start small</a>&nbsp;but always think big, ” says Branson. “Technology also has allowed companies to think bigger than just selling to their local community and puts the world at their fingertips,” Branson says.



Branson follows his own advice: He himself is very active on social media. Branson has 12 million followers on Twitter, for example.



“I’ve always been one to put myself out there in order to drive awareness for Virgin and with the rise of social media it has never been easier.”



But you have to have specific awareness of who you are selling to and what want: “There is never a one-size-fits-all answer to business and being flexible and adaptable is a key skill needed for success,” Branson says.



“In order to succeed in many different regions and across cultures, we have to vary the business model and mould it to fit. For example&nbsp;<a href="https://www.virginactive.co.uk/" class="">Virgin Active</a>&nbsp;has many different health clubs around the world, but they vary in sutble ways in Johannesburg compared to London. The products that work for&nbsp;<a href="https://uk.virginmoney.com/virgin/" class="">Virgin Money</a>&nbsp;customers in Australia are going to be different to the ones customers want in South Africa. Even starting three airlines —&nbsp;<a href="https://www.virginatlantic.com/" class="">Virgin Atlantic</a>, Australia and America — required different touches depending on where they were based and flying to. “ Currently,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.virgin.com/virgingroup/content/about-us" class="">Branson’s Virgin Group</a>&nbsp;includes 60 businesses with 69,000 employees who serve 53 million customers across the globe.



He encourages others to become entrepreneurs. ”[They] are the lifeblood of the economy that drive innovation, create jobs and push humanity forward,” says Branson. “It’s never been a better time to be an entrepreneur — opportunities are getting bigger as the world is getting smaller.”



This article was first published by CNBC https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/03/richard-branson-how-to-come-up-with-a-successful-business-idea.html?__source=twitter%7Cmain and is republished with its permission.

Want to be your own boss in 2019? Billionaire Richard Branson has advice: This simple trick is the best way to come up with an idea for a successful business

<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/karen-gilchrist/">By Karen Gilchrist</a>



Economic powerhouses like the <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/united-states/">United States</a>, <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/china/">China</a> and <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/japan/">Japan</a> may be home to the highest proportion of the world’s wealthy, but when it comes to minting new millionaires, opportunities abound in some surprising places.



That’s according to a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wealthx.com/report/high-net-worth-handbook-2019/?utm_campaign=HNWH2019&amp;amp;utm_source=broadcast&amp;amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;amp;utm_term=hnwh-2019-press&amp;amp;utm_source=broadcast&amp;amp;utm_medium=referral" class="">new report from wealth research firm Wealth-X</a>, which found that the countries on track for the fastest growth in their wealthy populations are select emerging nations across Africa, Asia and Europe.



The study, taken from Wealth-X’s inaugural “High Net Worth Handbook 2019,” drew on research from more than 540,000 high net worth individuals — those with a net worth of $1 million to $30 million — to forecast its outlook for global wealth growth over the next five years. It took into account current wealth levels, population growth estimates and anticipated future investment opportunities.



The report found the West African nation of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/nigeria/" class="">Nigeria</a>&nbsp;to be the front runner, set to see its high net worth population balloon by a compound annual rate of 16.3 percent between now and 2023. It was followed by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/egypt/" class="">Egypt</a>&nbsp;at 12.5 percent and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/bangladesh/" class="">Bangladesh</a>&nbsp;at 11.4 percent.



Here’s the full list of the 10 fastest-growing high net worth countries:



<figure class="wp-block-image is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/105680569-1547602238061wealth-x-1110x578.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-325929" width="698" height="364"/><figcaption> Wealth-X </figcaption></figure>



The research points to a common trend among growth forecasts, whereby less developed countries with a lower initial base line — in this case wealth — see greater relative growth.



To be sure, it would be much more difficult for incumbents like the U.S. and China — with their respective millionaire populations of 8.7 million and 1.9 million — to record the same rates,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/06/crazy-rich-asians-wealth-in-asia-grows-faster-than-us-europe-in-2018.html" class="">even though China is forecast for impressive growth</a>. However, the report unearths some interesting outliers.



Poland and Kenya, for example, are “surprising cases,” the report noted, because they are not seen in traditional groupings of top emerging nations familiarized by terms such as BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and MINT (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey).



“The top ten countries with the fast growing HNW (high net worth) populations are a motley group,” the report noted. “With a growth measure we would expect to see some less affluent countries with small HNW populations but Poland and Kenya are two surprising cases.”



The sources of each of the nations’ wealth growth are disparate too. Commodity rich nations like Nigeria and Egypt can likely attribute much of their wealth accumulation to energy exports,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.worldultrawealthreport.com/" class="">Wealth-X noted in a separate report</a>&nbsp;from 2018. Meanwhile, Bangladesh — which has seen the world’s fastest growing ultra wealthy population (those with a net worth of more than $30 million) over the past five years — draws its success from rapid urbanization and increased infrastructure investment.



Vietnam, India, the Philippines and Kenya are among the other countries to feel the impact of greater structural investment. While Ukraine and Poland can attribute their much recent growth to a boon in their tech sectors.



Lastly China, a hotbed for new wealth, continues to benefit from its government’s comprehensive national economic agenda. The Asian giant is forecast to become home to 32 of the world’s 40 high net worth cities over the next five years.



This article was first published by CNBC https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/16/countries-with-the-fastest-growing-millionaire-billionaire-populations.html and is republished with its permission.

These countries are set to see their millionaire populations skyrocket in the next 5 years

By Chris Bishop



President Cyril Ramaphosa said Wednesday that South Africa’s
Reserve Bank will be left alone despite concerns that the economy is not
creating enough jobs.



The Reserve Bank, a private company with shareholders,
manages the country’s monetary policy based around inflation targeting.&nbsp;



“There is no interest whatsoever to tamper or tinker with
the independence of the Reserve Bank,” Ramaphosa said at a pre-Davos breakfast
at a Johannesburg hotel.



“Our wish is as it goes about with policy it should keep an
eye on the issue of employment.”



The Reserve Bank has cropped up in many political speeches
in recent years as the South African economy has struggled. Critics say the
central bank should forget about inflation and concentrate on stimulating job
creation &#8211; an analysis dismissed as facile and unworkable by the people who run
the central bank.

President Ramaphosa: This is what we plan to do with South African Reserve Bank

By Chris Bishop&nbsp;



President Cyril Ramaphosa took on the thorny issue of land
that is likely to raise a number of uncomfortable questions at the World
Economic Forum in Davos next week.



The ruling &nbsp;African National Congress surprised many
last year when it vowed to go along with land expropriation without
compensation in line with the calls from the radical opposition party the
Economic Freedom Fighters. It sent shivers down the spine of many foreign
investors who fear it could be the thin end of a nationalisation wedge.



“It will not be done out of vengefulness where people go
around grabbing land. That is how we do things in South Africa,” Ramaphosa told
a pre-Davos breakfast in Johannesburg.



“We are not going to cut off our noses to spite our faces
but we are going to push the interests of our people.”



Ramaphosa said the furore around land has put the issue to
the top of the agenda, which was good. He said it had lit a fire under
government to move it forward in sorting out the land question.



“Landowners have also come forward saying they now realise
how important this is and have offered to &nbsp;put land into the pot.” Says
Ramaphosa.



The president said the government would concentrate on
appropriating state owned, abandoned and unused land.



The ruling ANC goes to the polls in May in the hope of
extending its nearly 25-years in power in South Africa. It is unlikely to lose
its grip on power but knows that the land issue is likely to be a vote winner.

﻿President Ramaphosa reveals what team SA, plans to tell investors in Davos on concerns over land expropriation

<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/courtney-connley/">By Courtney Connley</a>



On <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/make-it/">CNBC Make It</a>’s professional makeover series “Fix My Career,” bestselling management author and CNBC contributor Suzy Welch offers her no-nonsense advice to individuals looking to make a major change in their career.



In the latest episode, Welch sits down with Lisa Rachel Snyder. Snyder, 35, formerly worked in the television and film industry, and had decided to transition to entrepreneurship after her brother’s tragic death by suicide. The shock of his death inspired her to pursue a more fulfilling life, including making a career change and seeking treatment for an eating disorder she says she struggled with for 20 years.



Snyder wanted to help others build healthy relationships with food, and sought Welch’s advice on how to turn her passion into a business.



Welch says that that those looking to make it as entrepreneurs need to have three things:



<ol class="wp-block-list"><li>&nbsp;“A crazy passion for an idea”</li><li>&nbsp;“A burning desire” to be their own boss</li><li>&nbsp;“A product or service that people will actually pay money for”</li></ol>



Right now, Welch says, “Lisa’s got two out of three, and that ain’t bad.” But in order to build her business, she’ll need a clearer idea of the exact service she plans to offer.



“Lisa is at a crucial moment for any entrepreneur defining her product and its market,” she explains. “What is she selling, exactly? Who is she selling it to, and how? How much will it cost? Who else is doing the same thing? How is she different and better than her competitors?”



To help her figure out the answer to all of these questions, Welch asked Snyder to envision what she wants her life and business to look like 10 years from now. She advised her to create a business plan, and map out precisely what it is she’s selling. She told her to start thinking about where she will get her customers who truly believe in her business.



“I think about Lisa’s life as a before-and-after story,” says Welch. “Before her brother’s untimely death, she was trying out jobs and careers and searching for some elusive concept of success. After, her grief and recovery helped her find her dream and her drive: a life of helping people heal their relationship with food.”



When Welch checked in with Snyder seven months later, she’d settled on a name for her service,&nbsp;<a href="https://lisarachelsnyder.com/" class="">Beautiful Badass Method</a>, and created a seven-step program for individuals looking to develop intuitive eating habits and build self-love. She had completed a testing phase, offering the service for free for several months, and says 50 people signed up.



“I got wonderful feedback. I got testimonials,” says Snyder, who says she’s developed two online courses and also has a few speaking engagements lined up. “It was like my trial round.”



When asked how she thinks her brother would feel about what she’s doing now, Snyder responded confidently: “I think he’d be really really proud of me.”



Suzy Welch is the co-founder of the&nbsp;<a class="" href="http://jwmi.com/?mcv=jdg469">Jack Welch Management Institute</a>and a noted business journalist, TV commentator and public speaker. Think you need Suzy to fix your career? Email her at gettowork@cnbc.com.



This article was first published by CNBC https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/14/suzy-welch-here-are-the-3-things-you-need-to-start-and-build-a-business.html and is republished with its permission.

3 signs you’ve got what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur

<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/kathleen-elkins/">By Kathleen Elkins</a>



Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his wife of 25 years, <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/09/mackenzie-bezos-could-become-one-of-the-richest-women-in-the-world.html">MacKenzie</a>, announced in a tweet Wednesday that <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/09/jeff-bezos-and-wife-mackenzie-are-divorcing-.html">they are divorcing</a>. The news started an ongoing conversation about the <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/10/bezos-divorce-highlights-usefulness-of-prenuptial-agreements.html">usefulness of a prenuptial agreement</a>, since, TMZ reports, the couple <a class="" href="https://www.tmz.com/2019/01/10/jeff-bezos-prenup-mackenzie-lauren-sanchez-divorce-affair/">did not have one</a>.



Do you need one? How do you know?&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/make-it/" class="">CNBC Make It</a>&nbsp;asked some experts to help you figure it out.What is a prenup?



“A prenuptial agreement is an agreement entered before marriage,” says New York City divorce lawyer&nbsp;<a href="https://nycdivorcelawyer.com/" class="">Jacqueline Newman</a>. “Generally, what prenups will cover are the two big D’s in life: divorce and debt.



“Depending on how much you want to put into the agreement, it has the capacity to dictate how assets are going to get distributed upon divorce, how spousal support — or alimony — is going to be distributed, and it also will deal with the state rights.”



What a prenup doesn’t address, Newman says, is anything to do with kids: “It cannot address custody or child support.”Who should consider a prenup?



Contrary to popular belief, prenups aren’t only for the super rich, says certified financial planner at Betterment&nbsp;<a href="https://www.betterment.com/resources/author/nickholeman/" class="">Nick Holeman</a>. But “they are expensive,” he says. “Depending on how complex the situation is and where you live and which attorney you use, I’ve seen them be anywhere from $2,000 to $15,000 or more.



“It’s not just a little purchase and so I do think you need to have some assets to justify it, otherwise it’s probably not worth the cost.”



A general rule of thumb is that “if you have a few hundred thousand dollars [in assets], you should at least consider a prenup,” says Holeman. “But in my experience working with clients, the big cause for actually needing a prenup isn’t necessarily on the dollar amount.”



Rather, “it’s when there are unequal amounts coming in from the marriage.”



In other words, if one member of the couple has a much higher income or significantly more assets than the other, it’s worth considering a prenup. “When one person has way more than the other, that’s where it gets a little dicey,” says Holeman.



If you’re both bringing in roughly equal amounts to the marriage, a prenup is “less needed, because it’s more of an equal playing field between both spouses,” says Holeman. Though, of course, he adds, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t discuss getting one.



Newman agrees. Besides unequal income or assets, there are other reasons to consider getting a prenup, she says: If you own a business, are inheriting family money, had a prior marriage or you actively manage your assets.



“Let’s say you have $1 million in a brokerage account and you’re actively managing it and it appreciates to $1.3 million during the marriage,” she says. “That $300,000 worth of appreciation would be considered marital” in New York (<a href="https://www.hg.org/divorce-law-center.html" class="">laws vary by state</a>). Without a prenup, depending on where you live, that money could get divided evenly in the event of a split.



Overall, while the topic of a prenup can be uncomfortable to bring up, “marriage is a contract, and it’s a super expensive contract if it doesn’t work out,” says wealth manager and bestselling author <a class="" href="https://davidbach.com/">David Bach</a>. “It’s not fun to do — it’s difficult to do because it’s another contract — but you’re basically pre-negotiating what’s going to happen if the marriage doesn’t work.”



And that happens more than you may think:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apa.org/topics/divorce/" class="">The divorce rate in America is still quite high</a>, although&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-25/millennials-are-causing-the-u-s-divorce-rate-to-plummet" class="">millennials are doing their part to bring it down</a>. They’re divorcing less, partly because they’re marrying later if they marry at all, experts say.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/09/millennials-are-talking-about-debt-and-finances-more-before-marriage.html" class="">Millennials are also much more comfortable talking about money</a>&nbsp;than older generations.



Seen in that light, discussing a prenup with your partner could be an opportunity to grow as a couple. “I’ve had experiences where prenuptial agreements have actually been a strengthener of the marriage,” says Newman.



“If prenuptial agreement discussions are handled properly, it really can give everybody the vehicle to be able to learn how to have difficult conversations and talk about things that are uncomfortable — because marriage isn’t easy and it’s important to be able to have tough conversations with your spouse.”



This article was first published by CNBC https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/14/how-to-figure-out-if-you-need-to-get-a-prenup.html and is republished with its permission.

Billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos didn’t get a prenup—do you need one? Here’s what experts say

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s rand steadied against the dollar in early trade on Tuesday ahead of closely watched data releases including mining output later in the day and an interest rates decision on Thursday.



Reporting by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu

South Africa’s rand stabilises against the US dollar in early trade

<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/sam-meredith/">By Sam Meredith</a>



<a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/united-kingdom/">Britain</a> is scheduled to leave the <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/european-union/">European Union</a> at the end of March but, as the country’s deadline for departure creeps ever closer, what will actually happen on that day remains far from certain.



Embattled Prime Minister&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/theresa-may/" class="">Theresa May</a>&nbsp;is struggling to overcome deep opposition to her proposed&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/brexit/" class="">Brexit</a>&nbsp;plan, opening up a range of possibilities from Brexit without a trade deal to the whole process being scrapped altogether.



With less than 75 days to go until the U.K. is due to end its four-decade-long membership of the EU, CNBC takes a look at what to expect over the coming weeks.



What are the most likely options?



British lawmakers resume the fourth of five days of debate over May’s proposed Brexit deal on Monday, with the all-important parliamentary vote expected to take place on Tuesday.



Westminster must decide whether to accept May’s plans for a structured exit and relatively close economic ties, or reject it and spawn massive uncertainty over the country’s next steps.



The prime minister <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/10/uk-government-delays-parliaments-vote-on-brexit.html">abruptly postponed a planned vote</a> on her draft withdrawal agreement in December, after admitting defeat was all but certain.



Since then, in an effort to win enough support from lawmakers across the political spectrum, May has sought “legal and political” assurances from EU leaders — most notably on the so-called ‘backstop’ arrangement for the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/11/brexit-what-is-the-irish-backstop-and-why-does-it-matter.html" class="">Irish border</a>.



So far, there has been little sign of any willingness from Brussels to offer May the legal cover she has been seeking.



Sterling has fallen more than 10 percent against the U.S. dollar since reaching a peak of $1.4335 in April 2018, in part due to rising fears over the course of the Brexit process. The U.K. currency was trading at around $1.2838 Monday morning.



Some of the most likely options include: May’s vote securing parliamentary approval, no-deal Brexit, a major renegotiation to a new Brexit deal, calls for a general election, a vote of no confidence in the government or another referendum.



Deal approved



Parliamentary opposition to May’s deal looks daunting, but the prime minister appears hopeful some headway with EU leaders could make it easier to get the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) on side.



Support from the DUP is critical to May, because the party formed a power-sharing agreement with the prime minister in order to form a minority government after a snap election in 2017.



Arlene Foster, the head of the Northern Irish party has said she would prefer no Brexit deal to a bad deal, previously describing May’s current plans as amounting to “the annexation of Northern Ireland” by the EU.



 No-deal



If May’s proposed Brexit deal is rejected and nothing else happens over the coming weeks, the default position would be a no-deal Brexit.



Such a scenario could send the U.K. currency sharply lower and trigger a worse recession than the financial crisis, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/id/10000704" class="">Bank of England</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/14/reuters-america-update-4-carney-warns-of-no-deal-brexit-house-price-crash--newspaper.html" class="">(BOE) warned in November</a>.



The BOE also said it could shrink the U.K. economy by 8 percent in the immediate aftermath if there was no transition period, while house prices could collapse by almost a third.



Renegotiation to a new Brexit deal



If May’s Brexit deal is rejected by lawmakers this month, the government could propose to negotiate a new withdrawal arrangement.



With a parliamentary vote necessary to sign off on any future clarifications from London and Brussels, minor tweaks to the current deal seem unlikely with time running out before the U.K. is set to leave the bloc.



May has repeatedly insisted the alternative to her proposed Brexit deal is not having a deal at all. Jean-Claude Juncker, the European commission president, has also frequently said there is “no room whatsoever” to renegotiate the Brexit deal.



In theory, there could be a complete overhaul but that would take some time to complete.



It may also require an extension of Article 50 to push back the March 29 deadline. That is no simple task either — all EU countries would need to agree to a deadline extension at a vote of the EU Council.



On Tuesday, Britain’s Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay ruled out the possibility of the U.K. government seeking to extend the March 29 deadline.



His comments followed <a class="" href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/01/07/british-officials-putting-feelers-article-50-extension-discreet/">reports</a> that suggested U.K. and EU officials had discussed whether extending the negotiating period might be possible.



General election



In order to bolster her political mandate, May could decide the best way to break the current deadlock would be to hold an early general election.



This would require Westminster to vote for an early election under the Fixed Term Parliaments Act and if two-thirds of all lawmakers supported the idea, the earliest date for a vote would be around 25 days after that.



As with the renegotiate option, it could also require a request to push back the current Brexit deadline.



Vote of no confidence



If May’s proposed Brexit deal is rejected, the opposition Labour Party could push for a vote of no confidence in the government. The prime minister could also theoretically do so herself in a somewhat dramatic bid to reassert her authority.



If a no confidence vote in the government is tabled, May’s administration would need to win the vote — potentially by offering some new concessions — within a 14-day period in order to carry on.



Second referendum



The U.K. government could decide to hold a second referendum.



But this cannot just happen automatically, and with the Brexit deadline drawing ever nearer, the referendum would almost certainly be unable to take place before March 29.



Therefore, this option would also most likely need the permission from other EU states to delay the current Brexit deadline.



Brexit scrapped



At the start of December, the European Court of Justice&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/10/ecj-confirms-that-uk-can-stop-brexit.html" class="">ruled</a>&nbsp;Britain could cancel Brexit without asking for permission from other European Union (EU) member states.



The case was brought by a group of Scottish lawmakers who sought a legal ruling on whether the U.K.’s request under Article 50 to leave the EU could be unilaterally revoked before the Brexit deadline of March 29, 2019.



The House of Commons would still need to vote to stop Article 50 but those against Brexit can highlight that, beyond Westminster, there is now no legal impediment to stopping the divorce.



This article was first published by CNBC https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/04/brexit-explained-heres-where-we-stand-and-what-could-happen-next-.html and is republished with its permission.

What you need to know about Brexit

<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/sarah-berger/">By Sarah Berger </a>



For many, tipping workers such as waitstaff, hairdressers or taxi drivers is expected. But one airline is asking passengers to tip their individual flight attendants, too.



When passengers on budget carrier Frontier Airlines buy in-flight food or drinks, they’ll now find a space on their payment tablet to leave a tip for the flight attendant that served them. This change was <a class="" href="https://thepointsguy.com/news/airline-with-happy-hours-and-tips/">effective Jan. 1</a>. Previously, any tips were pooled.



Tipping flight attendants is uncommon, JT Genter of travel site The Points Guy tells&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/make-it/" class="">CNBC Make It.</a>&nbsp;On a recent flight on Frontier, Genter was surprised when he was prompted to tip on the digital tablet after purchasing a can of ginger ale.



“I’ve flown more than 350 flights on 51 different airlines in the past three years, but I’d never experienced an airline ask for a tip,” Genter says.



Flight attendants at United Airlines are not allowed to accept tips, and American Airlines crew members are instructed to decline tips,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/should-you-tip-your-flight-attendant-it-all-depends-on-the-airline-2019-01-08'" class="">Marketwatch reports</a>. Meanwhile, Southwest Airlines discourages tipping, but flight attendants are allowed to accept voluntary tips if the customer insists.



“It was considered inappropriate and undignified and most airlines forbade tipping or soliciting tipping, although of course it did happen now and then,” George Hobica, travel expert and founder of Airfarewatchdog.com tells CNBC Make It. “Most cabin crew would far prefer that a passenger write a letter of commendation to the airline to reward excellent service.”



Cabin crew is primarily there for passenger safety, points out Hobica. Shifting that focus could lead to mixed messages and strain the passenger-crew relationship, he says.



Hobica recalls one incident in first class on one major carrier where a passenger rudely demanded a flight attendant’s attention. “When [the passenger] wanted a refill of his cocktail he bellowed to a passing flight attendant, ‘More ice!,’” Hobica says. “The flight attendant said, ‘Sir, what’s the magic word?’ And he replied: ‘Don’t teach me manners just give me more ice.’”



Explains Hobica, “I worry that if a flight attendant accepts a tip, then passengers will treat [that attendant] like a servant and not as someone who might save [their] life in an emergency.”&nbsp;



Complicating matters is the guilt that can come along when passengers are prompted to give a gratuity for yet another service after they’ve already paid a lot of money for a ticket. That can put passengers in an uncomfortable position.



“Tipping is one of the most stressful and confusing aspects of etiquette today. It is a significant way to show appreciation for a job well done; however, treating the person who has served you with respect is every bit as important,” The Emily Post Institute, a popular etiquette resource,&nbsp;<a href="http://emilypost.com/advice/finer-points-of-tipping/" class="">says on its site</a>. (The site does not offer recommendations for how much to tip flight attendants, though it does suggest anywhere from 10 percent to 15 percent for food service. However, as Hobica points out, flight attendants are not waitstaff in the sky.)



Frontier’s tipping policy has been met with backlash from the Association of Flight Attendants, an organization that represents 50,000 flight attendants at 20 airlines, including Frontier. The organization opposed the tipping function altogether when it was introduced around three years ago, with AFA president Sara Nelson&nbsp;<a href="https://www.afacwa.org/afa_statement_on_frontier_tipping_policy" class="">saying in a statement</a>recently that it was an effort used to “dissuade Flight Attendants from standing together for a fair [compensation] contract — and in an effort to shift additional costs to passengers.”



Genter of The Points Guy, an avid traveler, says he’s not a fan of Frontier’s tipping policy after learning that it was initially introduced as an alternative to increasing flight attendant wages according to the Association of Flight Attendants. A Frontier spokesperson has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-travel-briefcase-frontier-tips-20190104-story.html" class="">argued</a>, “We view tips as additional compensation over and above flight attendants’ contractual wages.”



“I don’t mind travelers tipping flight attendants, but it comes across as unprofessional for flight attendants to be requesting tips and for their pay to be not-insignificantly tied to their on-board tips,” Genter says.



In 2017, flight attendants made a median pay of $50,500 per year,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bls.gov/ooh/transportation-and-material-moving/flight-attendants.htm#tab-1" class="">according to data</a>&nbsp;from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, the BLS notes that the lowest 10 percent earned less than $26,680 while the highest 10 percent earned more than $79,520.



Those worried flying just got more complicated, should note that experts doubt tipping will spread to other airlines. That said, Frontier’s passengers are tipping on paid food and drink — offerings that used to be free on many airlines not that long ago.



This article was first published by CNBC https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/11/budget-airline-frontier-asks-passengers-to-tip-their-flight-attendant.html and is republished with its permission.

Would you tip your flight attendant? Here’s why this airline is asking passengers to do so…

At a company-wide town hall in early October, numerous <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=FB">Facebook </a>employees got in line to speak about their experiences with sexual harassment.



The company called the special town hall after head of policy Joel Kaplan&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/04/facebook-employees-reportedly-outraged-at-exec-at-kavanaugh-hearing.html" class="">caused an internal uproar</a>&nbsp;for appearing at the congressional hearing for Judge Brett Kavanaugh. A young female employee was among those who got up to speak, addressing her comments directly to COO Sheryl Sandberg.



“I was reticent to speak, Sheryl, because the pressure for us to act as though everything is fine and that we love working here is so great that it hurts,” she said, according to multiple former Facebook employees who witnessed the event.



“There shouldn’t be this pressure to pretend to love something when I don’t feel this way,” said the employee, setting off a wave of applause from her colleagues at the emotional town hall in Menlo Park, California.



The episode speaks to an atmosphere at Facebook in which employees feel pressure to place the company above all else in their lives, fall in line with their manager’s orders and force cordiality with their colleagues so they can advance. Several former employees likened the culture to a “cult.”



This culture has contributed to the company’s well-publicized wave of scandals over the last two years, such as governments spreading misinformation to try to influence elections and the misuse of private user data, according to many people who worked there during this period. They say Facebook might have have caught some of these problems sooner if employees were encouraged to deliver honest feedback. Amid these scandals, Facebook’s share price fell nearly 30 percent in 2018 and nearly 40 percent since a peak in July, resulting in a loss of more than $252 billion in market capitalization.



Meanwhile, Facebook’s reputation as being one of the best places in Silicon Valley to work is starting to show some cracks. According to Glassdoor, which lets employees anonymously review their workplaces, Facebook fell from being the best place to work in the U.S. to No. 7&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/04/facebook-is-no-longer-glassdoors-best-place-to-work.html" class="">in the last year</a>.



But employees don’t complain in the workplace.



“There’s a real culture of ‘Even if you are f&#8212;ing miserable, you need to act like you love this place,’” said one ex-employee who left in October. “It is not OK to act like this is not the best place to work.”



This account is based on conversations with more than a dozen former Facebook employees who left between late 2016 and the end of 2018. These people requested anonymity in describing Facebook’s work culture, including its “stack ranking” employee performance evaluation system and their experiences with it, because none is authorized by Facebook to talk about their time there. This stack ranking system is similar to the one that was notoriously used by Microsoft before the company abandoned it in 2013, the former Facebook employees said.



Facebook declined to comment on former employees’ characterization of the work place as “cult-like.”Inside the bubble



Former employees describe a top-down approach where major decisions are made by the company’s leadership, and employees are discouraged from voicing dissent — in direct contradiction to one of Sandberg’s mantras, “authentic self.”



For instance, at an all-hands meeting in early 2017, one employee asked Facebook Vice President David Fischer a tough question about a company program. Fischer took the question and answered, but within hours, the employee and his managers received angry calls from the team running that program, this person said.



“I never felt it was an environment that truly encouraged ‘authentic self’ and encouraged real dissent because the times I personally did it, I always got calls,” said the former manager, who left the companyin early 2018.



The sentiment was echoed by another employee who left in 2017.



“What comes with scale and larger operations is you can’t afford to have too much individual voice,” said this person. “If you have an army, the larger the army is, the less individuals have voice. They have to follow the leader.”



In this employee’s two years at Facebook, his team grew from a few people to more than 50. He said “it was very much implied” to him and his teammates that they trust their leaders, follow orders and avoid having hard conversations.



The company’s culture of no-dissent prevented employees from speaking up about the impact that News Feed had on influencing the 2016 U.S. election, this person added.



The message was clear in August 2016 when the company&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/leifwalcutt/2016/08/26/facebook-lays-off-journalists-from-trending-topics-replaces-with-algorithm/#2d7e6ec34f8c" class="">laid off the editorial staff of its trending news team</a>, shortly after some workers on that team leaked to the press that they were suppressing conservative-leaning stories. Employees were further discouraged from speaking up following the election, when&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2016/11/10/13594558/mark-zuckerberg-election-fake-news-trump" class="">CEO Mark Zuckerberg brushed off</a>&nbsp;the accusation that Facebook could have impacted the election, calling that idea “crazy.”



The former employee described “a bubble” at the company in which employees are dissuaded from giving managers critical feedback or challenging decisions.



“I’m pretty disappointed in that because I have a lot of respect for Sheryl, and she preaches about giving hard feedback,” the employee said.



“All the things we were preaching, we weren’t doing enough of them. We weren’t having enough hard conversations. They need to realize that. They need to reflect and ask if they’re having hard conversations or just being echo chambers of themselves.”Show no weakness



Many former employees blamed the cult-like atmosphere partly on Facebook’s performance review system, which requires employees to get reviews from approximately five of their peers twice a year. This peer review system pressures employees to forge friendships with colleagues at every possible opportunity, whether it be going to lunch together each day or hanging out after work.



“It’s a little bit of a popularity contest,” said one manager who left the company in 2017. “You can cherry-pick the people who like you — maybe throw in one bad apple to equalize it.”



Peers can provide feedback directly to their colleagues, or they can send the reviews to the employee’s manager. That feedback is typically treated as anonymous and cannot be challenged.



“You have invisible charges against you, and that figures mightily into your review,” said an employee who left in October. “Your negative feedback can haunt you for all your days at Facebook.”



Several former employees said that peers and managers iced them out because they had personal commitments or problems that required significant attention outside of work.



For instance, one employee who left in recent weeks said a manager was critical in a public team meeting because the employee didn’t attend a team-building event outside work. At the time, this person was going through a divorce.



“She definitely marked me down for not attending those team-building events, but I couldn’t attend because I was going through my own issues and needed work-life balance,” said the employee.



Employees are not required to attend after-hours events, according to a Facebook spokeswoman, adding that collaboration is important at the company.



Another manager who also left the company in recent weeks said she once took multiple weeks of vacation instead of going on medical leave to treat a major illness. She says she did this based on advice from her supervisor.



“I was afraid that if I told too many people or took too much time off, I would be seen as unable to do my job,” the former manager said. “I was scared that if I let up in any way, shape or form they would crumble me, and they did.”



Ironically, one of the best ways to see the desperation to be liked is to follow Facebook employees on Facebook itself.



Employees parade the company’s projects and post any report on the benefits of working at the company or the positive impact the company is making on the world. This is in part a show for peers and managers, former employees said.



“People are very mindful about who they’re connected with on Facebook who they also work with and how what they’re posting will put them in a favorable light to their managers,” an employee who left in 2016 said.



As with many social media users, the online content does not always reflect the offline emotions.



“There’s so many people there who are unhappy, but their Facebook posts alone don’t reflect the backdoor conversations you have with people where they’re crying and really unhappy,” she said.How employees are graded



Twice a year, this peer feedback comes into play in so-called calibration meetings, where employees are given one of seven grades.



Managers deliberate with their peers to grade employees in all levels below them. As the review process moves up the chain over the course of multiple weeks, lower-level managers gradually leave the room, until the company’s vice presidents finish the calibration. At this point, Zuckerberg and Sandberg sign off that their vice presidents have done due diligence, and each employee’s grade for the past six months is finalized.



But there’s a companywide limit on the percentage of employees who can receive each grade. So during the reviews process, managers compete against their peer managers to secure strong grades for their direct reports. Managers are compelled to vouch fiercely for their favorite employees, but don’t speak up for employees they don’t like or who have previously received poor ratings.



“There’s a saying at Facebook that once you have one bad half, you’re destined for bad halves the rest of your time there. That stigma will follow you,” said a manager who left in September.



According to two former executives, the grade breakdown is approximately as follows:



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>&nbsp;“Redefine,” the highest grade, is given to fewer than 5 percent of employees</li><li>&nbsp;“Greatly exceeds expectations”: 10 percent</li><li>&nbsp;“Exceeds”: 35 percent</li><li>&nbsp;“Meets all”: 35 to 40 percent</li><li>&nbsp;“Meets most,” a low grade that puts future employment at risk, goes to most of the remaining 10 to 15 percent</li><li>&nbsp;“Meets some” grades are extremely rare and are seen as an indication that you’re probably getting fired, according to multiple employees.</li><li>&nbsp;“Does not meet” are exceptionally rare, as most employees are fired before they get to that level.</li></ul>



The distribution of these grades are not a hard limit but rather a recommended guidance for managers to follow, according to a Facebook spokeswoman.



Facebook isn’t the only tech company to use a performance evaluation system where a percentage of employees is pegged to each performance grade, meaning that there’s always a fixed population at risk of being fired. Pioneered by Jack Welch at General Electric in the 1990s and sometimes known as “stack ranking,” this method is fairly common in Silicon Valley and was most notoriously used by <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=MSFT">Microsoft</a> until the company <a class="" href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/microsoft-abandons-8216stack-ranking8217-of-employees-1384279446">got rid of it in 2013</a> after widespread employee complaints.



Stack ranking systems work well at companies with competitive environments that compare employees on objectively measurable performance, according to Alexandra Michel, professor at the University of Pennsylvania who studies work culture. However, the system tends to break down and cause distrust among employees and create a political atmosphere when applied by companies that measure performance subjectively, or companies that demand employee loyalty in exchange for benefits and the promise of career advancement, Michel said.



“If you have an environment that is completely cutthroat like Wall Street, this system works pretty well,” Michel said. “But if you have employees who come in and want to be taken care of, want to learn, want to be part of a warm group and people who care about them — that’s a very jarring mismatch.”



Since early 2017, Facebook has become more rigorous in distributing grades by specific percentages, according to multiple former employees.



“I had a boss literally say to me ‘You don’t have enough people in ‘meets some,’ ‘meets most,’ and ‘meets all,’” said a former director who left earlier this year. “I was finding myself making up things to be hypercritical of employees to give them lower ratings than they really deserved.”



These twice-yearly reviews encourage employees to be particularly productive around June and December, working nights and weekends as they race to impress bosses before reviews, which are typically completed in August and February. It’s especially true in December, the half Facebook predominantly uses to determine which employees will receive promotions.



This rush causes employees to focus on short-term goals and push out features that drive user engagement and improve their own metrics without fully considering potential long-term negative impacts on user experience or privacy, multiple former employees said.



“If you’re up for promotion, and it’s based on whether you get a product out or not, you’re almost certainly going to push that product out,” a former engineer said. “Otherwise you’re going to have to wait another year to get that promotion.”



As employees begin gathering peer reviews and buckling up for their next round of calibrations in February, the process will reveal how employees are thinking of the company after a bruising 2018, according to employees who left recently.



There will be an extra level of anxiety around the process this time, one person said. Folks who have been wanting to leave will be hoping to notch a high rating so they can depart on good terms. Others who are committed to the company will be torn between speaking up about their concerns or staying in line for the sake of their careers. Any changes to company’s grading process this time could reveal whether Facebook is taking special steps to keep valued employees around, or continuing along the same lines.



“This review cycle will be particularly colorful for them,” according to a director who left recently.

Here’s a look at Facebook’s ‘cult-like’ workplace, where dissent is discouraged and employees pretend to be happy all the time

KINSHASA (Reuters) &#8211; Democratic Republic of Congo’s electoral commission on Thursday declared opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi the surprise winner of last month’s chaotic presidential election, but the runner-up dismissed the outcome as an “electoral coup”.



The result sets the stage for Congo’s first democratic transfer of power, but also a tense political standoff with the potential for the kind of violence that followed polls in 2006 and 2011 whose outcome was contested.



Vote tallies by Congo’s Catholic church (CENCO) showed second-placed opposition candidate Martin Fayulu as victor, according to two diplomats briefed on the findings.



Tshisekedi won with 38.57 percent of more than 18 million ballots cast, Corneille Nangaa, the president of the election commission (CENI), told a news conference at 3 a.m. (0200 GMT) that seemed timed to avoid any immediate reaction in the streets.



READ: <a href="http://cnbc.africa/news/international/2019/01/02/drc-elections-felix-tshisekedi/">DRC elections: Downpours,no internet drudgery and a fisherman’s find on the way to a Mandela- inspired tomorrow?</a>



“Felix Tshisekedi Tshilombo is declared the provisionally- elected president of Democratic Republic of Congo,” Nangaa said, to a mixture of cheers and gasps inside CENI headquarters.



In the Kinshasa neighbourhood of Limete where Tshisekedi lives, thousands of people danced in the streets in celebration and cars slowed down and honked their horns.



Some chanted that Congo had “turned the page” on the Kabila era, which began in 1997 when Joseph Kabila’s father, Laurent, led a rebellion that overthrew longtime leader Mobutu Sese Seko. Joseph took over in 2001 when Laurent was assassinated.



“For a ruler to pass power to an opponent is rare, and it gives hope for the rest of Africa,” said John, a school teacher in Kinshasa who declined to give his full name.



“We now want change with this new power. Poverty, insecurity, killings, we must finish with all this.”



Speaking to cheering supporters at his campaign headquarters, Tshisekedi paid his respects to outgoing President Joseph Kabila, whom he called “an important political partner”, and promised to rule for all Congo’s 80 million people.



“I will not be the president of a political organisation &#8230; I will not be the president of a tribe &#8230; I will be the president of all Congolese,” he said.



If Tshisekedi’s victory is confirmed in the next 10 days by the constitutional court, he will become the first leader to take power at the ballot box since Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba, who was toppled in a coup less than three months after independence in 1960 and killed four months later.



Opposition fears that authorities would rig the vote in favour of Kabila’s hand-picked candidate, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, did not materialise as Shadary finished a distant third to Tshisekedi and Fayulu, with about 4.4 million votes.



However, the result will fuel suspicion among Fayulu’s supporters that Tshisekedi, shown by pre-election opinion polls to be running well behind Fayulu, struck a power-sharing pact with Kabila.



Tshisekedi’s camp has acknowledged contact with Kabila’s representatives since the vote but said they were aimed at ensuring a peaceful transition and denied there had been any deal. [nL8N1Z849V]



In an interview with Radio France Internationale, Fayulu, who was backed by prominent foes of Kabila, described the vote as an “electoral coup”.



“The results have nothing to do with the truth of the ballot box,” he told RFI, and called on observers of the Dec. 30 vote to publish the real results.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">CONTESTATION</h3>



Tshisekedi is the son of the legendary Etienne Tshisekedi, who led opposition to three successive presidents over 35 years. Felix’s profile rose when his father died in 2017 after helping to negotiate Kabila’s reluctant departure.



Kabila initially refused to step down when his mandate ended in 2016. In an interview last month, he did not rule out running again for president in 2023.



Losing candidates can contest Tshisekedi’s victory before Congo’s constitutional court, which has 10 days to hear and rule on any challenges.



Any widespread perception the election has been stolen could set off a destabilising cycle of unrest, particularly in the volatile eastern borderlands where Fayulu enjoyed some of his strongest support.



The Catholic Church’s bishops conference said last week that it knew the identity of the winner and demanded that CENI publish accurate results. The Church did not say who it thought the winner was, but briefed diplomats on its conclusions. CENCO was not immediately available for comment after the results.



The vote was initially delayed by a week in part because of a fire that destroyed ballot papers. Authorities cancelled voting on election day for more than one million people, saying the vote could not go ahead because of an Ebola outbreak and militia violence.



Observers said many polling stations opened late and closed early and in some places voting machines malfunctioned.



Additional reporting by Fiston Mahamba in Goma; Additional reporting and writing by Aaron Ross and Edward McAllister; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall and Clarence Fernandez

DRC elections: Opposition leader Tshisekedi clinches surprise win in presidential election, here’s what happens next

By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/emmie-martin/">Emmie Martin</a>



You don’t have to be an expert to handle your money well. Even a few easy tweaks to how you save, spend and invest can help you build wealth.



To get you started, CNBC Make It rounded up five simple facts about money, all of which have been vetted and endorsed by experts, that can help you manage your finances like a pro in 2019.





Start investing in your 20s if you can



The earlier you begin saving and investing,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/18/suze-orman-invest-more-in-your-20s-than-your-30s.html" class="">the better off you’ll be</a>. “The truth of the matter is, you should be investing more in your 20s than you do in your 30s if you can,” personal finance expert Suze Orman tells&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/make-it/" class="">CNBC Make It</a>. That’s because the younger you are, the more time your money has to compound.



<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/27/nerdwallet-charts-show-the-power-of-compound-interest.html" class="">Compounding</a>&nbsp;means that, in addition to earning money on your contributions, you also earn on returns on those returns over time. Because of this, your money grows exponentially. So if you invest a small amount and let it grow for decades, it will generally amount to much more than if you had invested a larger amount later.



Orman gives the example of a 25-year-old who invests&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bankrate.com/calculators/retirement/roth-ira-plan-calculator.aspx" class="">$100 a month in a Roth IRA</a>&nbsp;for 40 years and earns a 12 percent annual return. When that person retires at age 65, their investment will be worth just over $1 million. If the same person were to start investing $100 per month at age 35, they’d only have around $300,000 by the time they reached 65. “Those 10 years cost you $700,000,” Orman points out.



All investments carry some risk, and you’re never guaranteed to earn a 12 percent rate of return. But even at lower rates, the difference between starting at 25 and 35 is significant.





Don’t focus too much on saving



If you’re just saving and not investing, you’re setting yourself up to lose money in the long run, says Danielle Town, author of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062672650/invested" class="">“Invested: How Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger Taught Me to Master My Mind, My Emotions, and My Money (with a Little Help from My Dad).”</a>&nbsp;That’s because inflation&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/21/life-is-much-more-expensive-for-you-than-it-was-for-your-parents.html" class="">causes prices to rise</a>, which makes money less powerful over time. While a $20 bill will always be worth $20, what you’re able to buy for that amount dwindles.



If you had stuffed $1,000 in cash under your mattress 50 years ago, today it would have the&nbsp;<a href="https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=1,000.00&amp;amp;amp;year1=201803&amp;amp;amp;year2=196803" class="">same buying power</a>&nbsp;as only $137.45 did in 1968. However, that same amount&nbsp;<a href="https://www.investor.gov/additional-resources/free-financial-planning-tools/compound-interest-calculator" class="">invested with compound interest</a>&nbsp;would have grown to about $20,000, assuming a 6 percent rate of return. Even if you only earn a 4 percent rate of return, it still grows to around $7,000.



Although experts advise having three to six months’ worth of living expenses stashed away in a liquid savings account, it’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/20/americans-are-wrong-about-the-best-way-to-invest-money.html" class="">smart to put any extra cash to work</a>. “The antidote to losing money on inflation is investing,” Town says. “You’ve got to do something with your money.”When the market tanks, stay calm



The stock market has had a volatile year. But for the average person,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/27/betterment-cfp-explains-why-stock-prices-rise-and-fall.html" class="">shifts in the market</a>, even dramatic ones, shouldn’t be cause for panic. In fact, legendary investor Warren Buffett says that the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/06/warren-buffett-and-ray-dalio-agree-on-what-to-do-when-the-market-tanks.html" class="">best thing you can do when the market tanks is to ignore it</a>.



“The money is made in investments by investing and by owning good companies for long periods of time,” the Berkshire Hathaway CEO&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2016/03/04/warren-buffett-buy-hold-and-dont-watch-too-closely.html" class="">told CNBC</a>&nbsp;in 2016 amid wild market fluctuations. “If they buy good companies, buy them over time, they’re going to do fine 10, 20, 30 years from now.”



Billionaire Ray Dalio agrees. Though it might be tempting to sell when the market drops, he says, you shouldn’t base your investing decisions on fear or emotion.



“You can not possibly succeed that way,” Dalio said at the <a class="" href="http://www.iop.harvard.edu/forum/pursuing-truth-global-economy">Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics</a>. “You’ve got to do the opposite. It’s when you’re not scared you probably want to sell, and when you are scared, you probably want to buy.”





Realize you don’t need a perfect credit score



If you want to get the best rates on mortgages, car payments and other types of loans, you need a solid credit score. But you&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/09/going-higher-than-this-credit-score-is-a-waste-of-time-expert-says.html" class="">don’t need to worry about earning a perfect 850</a>.



“Once you’re above 760 you’re getting the best rates,” says Greg McBride, chief analyst at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bankrate.com/" class="">Bankrate</a>. “That’s why obsessing over a score of 800 versus 820 is largely a waste of time.”



For John Ganotis, founder of&nbsp;<a href="http://creditcardinsider.com/" class="">CreditCardInsider.com</a>, the number to aim for is 750. Anything above that will “likely qualify you for some of the best rates and offers.”



Earning an “excellent” score that’s higher than 750 or 760 makes a difference. You could score a lower interest rate on your mortgage or qualify for the best credit cards. But stressing over a score of 780 versus 800 isn’t worth the effort.Understand how debt holds you back



Debt doesn’t just cost you money. The side effects of being in the red can affect other important parts of your life,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/03/suze-orman-pay-off-debt-asap-and-not-because-it-costs-you-money.html" class="">keeping you from earning more and getting what you want</a>&nbsp;professionally, says Suze Orman.



“When you are in debt, you feel it,” she says, and “your boss can feel that,” too. In essence, “you render yourself powerless.” Carrying debt can make you feel out of control and dependent on other people: “You walk into an interview and you need that job because you have to pay for your debt.”



That’s why Orman advocates making debt repayment a top financial priority. Once you’re out of debt, you exude confidence, she says: “You attract people to you. And guess what? Then you attract money. So get yourself out of debt and stay out of debt, the sooner the better, if you ask me.”



This article was first published by CNBC https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/14/5-ways-to-be-smarter-with-money-in-2019.html and is republished with its permission.

5 simple ways to be smarter about money in 2019

By Abigail Hess



The United States is currently experiencing <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/18/alan-greenspan-this-is-the-tightest-labor-market-ive-ever-seen.html">one of the tightest labor markets in</a> history and many say that <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/13/the-10-cities-with-the-largest-skills-gaps.html">the country is currently facing a skills gap</a>. According to the <a class="" href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm">Bureau of Labor Statistics</a>, the U.S. currently has over 7 million unfilled jobs.



This tight labor market has led many companies to become more open-minded when considering candidates. Companies including&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/16/15-companies-that-no-longer-require-employees-to-have-a-college-degree.html" class="">Google, Apple, IBM and Bank of America</a>&nbsp;no longer require applicants to have a college degree.



Instead of emphasizing the need for specific titles and experience, organizations are shifting towards a focus on the skills that a potential employee may bring. At tech companies like Facebook, this is especially true.



“Skills really matter the most,“<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/janelle-gale-b205341/" class="">Janelle Gale</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/27/how-to-land-a-job-at-facebook.html" class="">Facebook’s</a>&nbsp;vice president of human resources, tells&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/make-it/" class="">CNBC Make It</a>.



Her advice for workers interested in landing a job at an organization like Facebook is to focus on skills and apply — even if your resume does not exactly match the job description.



“We actually value skills over experience in the grand scheme of things,” she says. “Apply if you have the relevant skills even if you don’t have the right experience, because we’re looking underneath the surface for what’s really going to matter here and that’s what skills you can bring to the table.”



<a class="" href="https://learning.linkedin.com/blog/top-skills/the-skills-companies-need-most-in-2019--and-how-to-learn-them">LinkedIn</a> recently analyzed hundreds of thousands of job postings in order to determine which skills companies need most in 2019. They found that employers are looking for workers with both soft skills and hard technical skills and matched these skills with <a class="" href="https://www.linkedin.com/learning?trk=lilblog_01-01-19_skills-companies-need-most_tl&amp;cid=70132000001AyziAAC">LinkedIn Learning</a>courses that are free for the month of January.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Here are the 5 most in-demand soft skills in 2019:</h2>



5. Time Management



Recommended courses:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/learning/tony-schwartz-on-managing-your-energy-for-sustainable-high-performance/spiritual?trk=lilblog_01-01-19_skills-companies-need-most_tl&amp;amp;cid=70132000001AyziAAC" class="">Tony Schwartz on Managing Your Energy for Sustainable High Performance</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/learning/finding-your-time-management-style/find-your-time-management-style?trk=lilblog_01-01-19_skills-companies-need-most_tl&amp;amp;cid=70132000001AyziAAC" class="">Finding Your Time Management Style</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/learning/time-management-for-managers?trk=lilblog_01-01-19_skills-companies-need-most_tl&amp;amp;cid=70132000001AyziAAC" class="">Time Management for Managers</a>



4. Adaptability



Recommended courses:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/learning/strategic-agility/welcome?trk=lilblog_01-01-19_skills-companies-need-most_tl&amp;amp;cid=70132000001AyziAAC" class="">Strategic Agility</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/learning/developing-adaptable-employees/welcome?trk=lilblog_01-01-19_skills-companies-need-most_tl&amp;amp;cid=70132000001AyziAAC" class="">Developing Adaptable Employees</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/learning/developing-adaptability-as-a-manager/adapt-to-change?trk=lilblog_01-01-19_skills-companies-need-most_tl&amp;amp;cid=70132000001AyziAAC" class="">Developing Adaptability as a Manager</a>



3. Collaboration



Recommended courses:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/learning/collaboration-principles-and-process?trk=lilblog_01-01-19_skills-companies-need-most_tl&amp;amp;cid=70132000001AyziAAC" class="">Collaboration Principles and Process</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/learning/being-an-effective-team-member/be-a-strong-teammate?trk=lilblog_01-01-19_skills-companies-need-most_tl&amp;amp;cid=70132000001AyziAAC" class="">Being an effective team member</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/learning/business-collaboration-in-the-modern-workplace?trk=lilblog_01-01-19_skills-companies-need-most_tl&amp;amp;cid=70132000001AyziAAC" class="">Business Collaboration in the Modern Workplace</a>



2. Persuasion



Recommended courses:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/learning/persuading-others?trk=lilblog_01-01-19_skills-companies-need-most_tl&amp;amp;cid=70132000001AyziAAC" class="">Persuading Others</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/learning/becoming-a-thought-leader-2?trk=lilblog_01-01-19_skills-companies-need-most_tl&amp;amp;cid=70132000001AyziAAC" class="">Becoming A Thought Leader</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/learning/advanced-consumer-behavior?trk=lilblog_01-01-19_skills-companies-need-most_tl&amp;amp;cid=70132000001AyziAAC" class="">Advanced Consumer Behavior</a>



1. Creativity



Recommended courses: <a class="" href="https://www.linkedin.com/learning/creativity-bootcamp/defining-creativity?trk=lilblog_01-01-19_skills-companies-need-most_tl&amp;cid=70132000001AyziAAC">Creativity Bootcamp</a>, <a class="" href="https://www.linkedin.com/learning/the-five-step-creative-process?trk=lilblog_01-01-19_skills-companies-need-most_tl&amp;cid=70132000001AyziAAC">The Five-Step Creative Process</a>, <a class="" href="https://www.linkedin.com/learning/creativity-generate-ideas-in-greater-quantity-and-quality/introduction?trk=lilblog_01-01-19_skills-companies-need-most_tl&amp;cid=70132000001AyziAAC">Creativity: Generate Ideas in Greater Quantity and Quality</a>







<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Here are the 5 most in-demand hard skills in 2019:</h2>



5. UX Design



Recommended courses:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/learning/ux-foundations-multidevice-design-2/welcome?trk=lilblog_01-01-19_skills-companies-need-most_tl&amp;amp;cid=70132000001AyziAAC" class="">UX Foundations: Multidevice Design</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/learning/ux-design-1-overview-2/understanding-the-benefits-of-user-centered-design?trk=lilblog_01-01-19_skills-companies-need-most_tl&amp;amp;cid=70132000001AyziAAC" class="">UX Design: 01 Overview</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/learning/ux-research-for-agile-teams/welcome?trk=lilblog_01-01-19_skills-companies-need-most_tl&amp;amp;cid=70132000001AyziAAC" class="">UX Research for Agile Teams</a>



4. People Management



Recommended courses:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/learning/motivating-and-engaging-employees-2/welcome?trk=lilblog_01-01-19_skills-companies-need-most_tl&amp;amp;cid=70132000001AyziAAC" class="">Motivating and Engaging Employees</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/learning/managing-team-conflict/how-to-be-both-assertive-and-cooperative-in-team-conflict?trk=lilblog_01-01-19_skills-companies-need-most_tl&amp;amp;cid=70132000001AyziAAC" class="">Managing Team Conflict</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/learning/leading-with-purpose/next-steps?trk=lilblog_01-01-19_skills-companies-need-most_tl&amp;amp;cid=70132000001AyziAAC" class="">Leading with Purpose</a>



3. Analytical Reasoning



Recommended courses:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/learning/making-decisions/conclusion?trk=lilblog_01-01-19_skills-companies-need-most_tl&amp;amp;cid=70132000001AyziAAC" class="">Making Decisions</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/learning/decision-making-strategies/choosing-a-decision-making-style?trk=lilblog_01-01-19_skills-companies-need-most_tl&amp;amp;cid=70132000001AyziAAC" class="">Decision Making Strategies</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/learning/executive-decision-making/welcome?trk=lilblog_01-01-19_skills-companies-need-most_tl&amp;amp;cid=70132000001AyziAAC" class="">Executive Decision Making</a>



2. Artificial Intelligence



Recommended courses:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/learning/artificial-intelligence-foundations-neural-networks/next-steps?trk=lilblog_01-01-19_skills-companies-need-most_tl&amp;amp;cid=70132000001AyziAAC" class="">Artificial Intelligence Foundations: Neural Networks</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/learning/artificial-intelligence-foundations-machine-learning?trk=lilblog_01-01-19_skills-companies-need-most_tl&amp;amp;cid=70132000001AyziAAC" class="">Artificial Intelligence Foundations: Machine Learning</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/learning/machine-learning-and-ai-foundations-classification-modeling/classification-problems-in-machine-learning?trk=lilblog_01-01-19_skills-companies-need-most_tl&amp;amp;cid=70132000001AyziAAC" class="">Machine Learning and AI Foundations: Classification Modeling</a>



1. Cloud Computing



Recommended courses: <a class="" href="https://www.linkedin.com/learning/learning-cloud-computing-networking-2?trk=lilblog_01-01-19_skills-companies-need-most_tl&amp;cid=70132000001AyziAAC">Learning Cloud Computing: Networking</a>, <a class="" href="https://www.linkedin.com/learning/learning-amazon-web-services-aws-for-developers/how-to-get-started-developing-on-aws?trk=lilblog_01-01-19_skills-companies-need-most_tl&amp;cid=70132000001AyziAAC">Learning Amazon Web Services (AWS) for Developers</a>, <a class="" href="https://www.linkedin.com/learning/aws-for-architects-advanced-security?trk=lilblog_01-01-19_skills-companies-need-most_tl&amp;cid=70132000001AyziAAC">AWS for Architects: Advanced Security  </a>



Creativity and cloud computing came in first as the most in-demand soft and hard skills in 2019, according to LinkedIn.



According to Paul Petrone, editor of LinkedIn Learning, this year’s list reflects a change in employers’ priorities.



“Interestingly, the newcomers to our list were uniquely human traits: Among soft skills, creativity and adaptability joined the list for the first time, and among hard skills, people management was a new addition,” he tells&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/make-it/" class="">CNBC Make It</a>&nbsp;via email.



“While digital skills like cloud computing and artificial intelligence topped the list of hard skills companies need most, the emergence of these three new skills suggests that employers recognize the importance of embracing modern technologies as well as recognizing those things technology can’t do: connect with other people, engage in out-of-the-box thinking and quickly adapt to new priorities or problems.”



By paying attention to in-demand skills like these, workers can make sure they remain in-demand among employers.



This article was first published by CNBC https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/04/the-30-most-in-demand-skills-in-2019-according-to-linkedin-.html and is republished with its permission.

The 10 most in-demand skills of 2019, according to LinkedIn

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s rand firmed to a two-week best on Friday as emerging markets were boosted by increased expectations of the United States central bank cutting lending rates this year.



At 0810 GMT the rand was 1.1 percent firmer at 14.1500 after an overnight close of 14.3075.



With little on the local data front in the first week of the new year, the rand looked to offshore events for direction, and has seen volatile trade with swings in the dollar setting the tone.



Survey data on Thursday showed U.S. factory activity slowed more than expected, the latest sign the world’s largest economy was losing steam, igniting bets the Federal Reserve could switch from raising to cutting rates before the end of the year.



That aided the rand recovery from Wednesday’s “flash crash” that saw the unit plunge to a three-month low in a global selloff.



Progress in trade talks between Washington and Beijing also soothed sentiment. The two superpowers are due to hold trade talks in China next week.



Bonds opened firmer, with yield on the benchmark paper due in 2026 down 5.5 basis points to 8.795 percent, its lowest since mid-August.



Stocks edged up, with the Johannesburg Stock Exchange’s Top-40 index up 0.24 percent at 45,734 points.



Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana; Editing by Joe Brock&nbsp;

South Africa’s rand firms to a two-week best

By <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/folashade-soule-649516">Folashade Soule</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-oxford-1260">University of Oxford</a>

“You don’t negotiate with China !” I was quickly told when I started interviewing African public servants about their infrastructure deals with Beijing. There is a widespread view in Africa that you accept whatever terms are offered, for fear that the money might go somewhere else instead. 

China is <a href="https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/business/New-US-fund-to-rival-Chinese-push-into-Africa/2560-4840700-l6y8e4z/index.html">the leading</a> infrastructure finance provider on the continent – as demonstrated by a recent <a href="http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-09/03/c_137441596.htm">pledge</a> of US$60 billion (£47 billion), most of which is for infrastructure projects. Big <a href="https://www.thebusinessyear.com/top-10-china-infrastructure-projects-in-africa-2018/focus">projects</a> on the slate <a href="https://www.businessinsider.co.za/here-are-150-million-rand-projects-in-africa-funded-by-china-2018-9">include</a> hydropower plants in Angola and Guinea, an oil refinery in Nigeria, and a new city in Egypt. 

Yet, when you look closely at what happens on the ground, some African countries are much better at negotiating with the Chinese than others. Railway projects in East Africa appear to be a good example. In Kenya, the Standard Gauge Railway is the largest infrastructure project since independence from Britain in 1963. China Eximbank <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-40171095">provided</a> most of the finance for the first phase – 472 kilometres of track between Nairobi and Mombasa – at a cost of US$3.2 billion. 

In neighbouring Ethiopia, an electric train line from Addis Ababa to Djibouti, which is also <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-37562177">Chinese-financed</a>, opened two years ago. The cost for this more expensive type of railway was US$3.4 billion – for 756 kilometres. Kenya <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-40171095">claims</a> that its railway cost more for reasons like the terrain and the need to carry higher volumes of cargo. At the same time, however, many believe other issues to have been at play – including failures around the negotiation process. 



My <a href="http://www.lse.ac.uk/international-relations/assets/documents/global-south-unit/WPS2.pdf">ongoing</a> research into China funded infrastructure projects <a href="https://www.routledge.com/New-Directions-in-AfricaChina-Studies/Alden-Large/p/book/9781138714670">is confirming</a> that African governments can learn from best practice in this area. The best deals depend on the following four conditions being met. 

<h2>1. Involve everyone</h2>

The process in Chinese deal-making tends to go like this: Beijing will begin by making financial pledges, often aimed at a number of countries; these are followed by meetings at state level between a Chinese delegation and the African head of state and their senior officials. Infrastructure projects under discussion have often already been passed over by Western donors.

Once a project is broadly agreed, the relevant Chinese contractors, mostly state owned enterprises, will typically contact African civil servants in the relevant branches of government to get detailed negotiations underway – with support from the Chinese trade mission and local embassy. Topics to be discussed will include costs, but also the use of materials and workers; technology transfer; and the effect of national regulations in areas like labour, construction and the environment. 

<hr>

 
 
 Read more:
 <a href="http://theconversation.com/trumps-africa-strategy-should-have-cast-china-as-a-regional-partner-not-a-global-adversary-108901">Trump&#8217;s Africa strategy should have cast China as a regional partner, not a global adversary</a>
 
 

<hr>


In countries like Togo and Cameroon, key ministries like finance, planning or even the cabinet will lead the negotiation. In the likes of Benin and Senegal, the relevant technical ministry, such as transport or housing, will lead instead or take over. They are supposed to consult with departments like finance and planning, but <a href="http://www.lse.ac.uk/international-relations/assets/documents/global-south-unit/WPS2.pdf">they often</a> press ahead on their own to speed up the process – sometimes without any experience of dealing with China. 

In practice, such deals can be less beneficial to the country in question. Where one arm of government is not clear about what another is doing, it increases the potential for corruption – there has been a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-kenya-corruption-railway/kenya-arrests-two-top-officials-for-suspected-corruption-over-new-3-billion-railway-idUSKBN1KW07L">corruption investigation</a> in the case of the new Kenyan railway, for example, and I have been told during my research that this was also linked to coordination failures during the negotiations. 

When all relevant government departments are involved in a negotiation, it does take longer. The process is more coherent, however, and the resulting project is less likely to breach national regulations. 

<h2>2. Empower the negotiators</h2>

The president or his senior advisors also frequently intervene during negotiations. This is likely to be politically motivated – a need to fulfil electoral promises around infrastructure development, perhaps, or pressure from the Chinese authorities. 

Where civil servant negotiators are being pressed to hurry up, it can mean that national regulations get ignored. In Benin, for example, during negotiations over road projects several years ago, the Chinese contractors were unhappy about certain conditions being imposed. Then president Yayi Boni agreed to intervene on their behalf to bypass national regulations in areas including labour and construction. Such situations are best avoided. 



On the other hand, some outside interventions can be positive. In Togo, Senegal and Tunisia, and the current government in Benin, I’ve seen examples of the cabinet hiring international law firms with experts who have worked in the Chinese government and its development banks. This can bridge the differences in Chinese and African negotiating styles. 

The Chinese often adopt a take-it-or-leave-it approach. In many cases, Africans are not confrontational enough in return. They don’t appreciate that China <a href="https://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/S/bo22657847.html">has a surplus</a> of domestically produced materials they are seeking to offload, for example. Wiser negotiators will play China off against other countries seeking to finance infrastructure projects on the continent, such as South Korea or the United Arab Emirates. 

<h2>3. Keep the public onside</h2>

China <a href="http://afrobarometer.org/sites/default/files/publications/Dispatches/ab_r6_dispatchno122_perceptions_of_china_in_africa1.pdf">tends to be</a> popular in Africa – more so than the US in around 60% of countries on the continent. Yet the public also see negatives: many think Chinese products are poor quality, while there is a growing perception that dealing with China tends to favour Chinese labourers.

African governments need to bear these concerns in mind. If not, they risk being denounced by the media or civil society organisations – as <a href="https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/article/2000229994/why-kenya-may-have-got-short-end-of-the-stick-in-sgr-locomotives-deal">has happened</a> in Kenya over the railway, for instance. 

<h2>4. Increase knowledge</h2>

African governments are still relatively new to dealing with China; they should take every opportunity to share lessons with one another. There is a role for African universities here. They should set up more centres of Asian studies to close the gap in information and knowledge.

Some have argued in the past that many African governments fail to negotiate successfully with the Chinese because they <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/25/africa-needs-to-know-what-it-wants-from-china-expert-says.html">lack a strategy</a>. I actually see plenty stratagems and tactics on the African side. What is required is a more coordinated and coherent approach – something China has <a href="https://www.die-gdi.de/en/the-current-column/article/next-steps-for-chinas-new-development-agency-1/">been working on</a> from its own perspective. It is better for African governments to have no deal than a bad deal. With the right approach, they can achieve much more than is often thought to be the case.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/109116/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important" />

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/folashade-soule-649516">Folashade Soule</a>, Senior Research Associate, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-oxford-1260">University of Oxford</a>

This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-negotiate-infrastructure-deals-with-china-four-things-african-governments-need-to-get-right-109116">original article</a>.

Here’s what African governments need to do to negotiate better infrastructure deals with China

<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/dawn-kopecki/">By Dawn Kopecki</a>*



KEY POINTS



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>The trade war between the world’s two largest economies is starting to slow their pace of growth, especially in China.</li><li>Apple lowered its first-quarter revenue projection, blaming a slowing economy in China and the trade war for a drop in consumer demand.</li><li>Stocks in Asia were mostly lower Thursday morning and U.S. futures pointed to another volatile session for Wall Street following Apple’s forecast.</li></ul>



The health of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/china/" class="">Chinese</a>&nbsp;economy is becoming a big worry for some international firms.



Buffeted by the ongoing trade war between Beijing and Washington — not to mention an already-anticipated slowdown in domestic growth engines — the world’s second-largest economy has drawn negative commentary out of sectors ranging from consumer technology to autos.



On Wednesday,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=AAPL" class="">Apple</a>&nbsp;CEO&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/tim-cook/" class="">Tim Cook</a>&nbsp;cut his company’s revenue forecast, laying some of the blame on falling sales in China and the trade war that has levied high tariffs over the last several months across hundreds of different products and commodities sold between the world’s two largest economies.



Stocks in Asia&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/03/asia-markets-wall-street-apple-oil-currencies-in-focus.html" class="">traded mostly lower</a>&nbsp;on Thursday and U.S. futures pointed to another volatile session for Wall Street following Cook’s comments.China sales growth slows



As the trade war tariffs continue to take their toll — despite an agreement between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping not to apply and new levies during a 90-day negotiation period — there are plenty of signs that China’s growth is slowing. The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a government-led think tank, recently cut its growth estimate for China’s economy from 6.5 percent this year to 6.3 percent. While that seems like a small difference, it signifies a big drop in consumer spending when spread out over the country’s 1.4 billion people.



Retail sales in China grew 8.1 percent in November, the slowest rate of growth in 15 years, Coresight Research said, citing data from the National Bureau of Statistics of China. Growth in exports plummeted to 5.4 percent in November, from 15.5 percent in October, Coresight said.



“We did not foresee the magnitude of the economic deceleration, particularly in Greater China,”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/02/apple-warns-on-q1-results.html" class="">Cook said in a letter to shareholders</a>Wednesday.



Apple lowered its first-quarter revenue projection to $84 billion, down from the $89 to $93 billion it had previously expected.



Although&nbsp;Apple&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/03/apples-china-business-was-under-pressure-even-before-the-trade-war.html" class="">has faced significant pressures</a>&nbsp;in China since before the trade war kicked off, Cook told CNBC: “It’s clear that the economy began to slow there for the second half and what I believe to be the case is the trade tensions between the United States and China put additional pressure on their economy.”It’s a ‘big market’



<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=INTC" class="">Intel</a>&nbsp;CFO and interim CEO Bob Swan said on an earnings call in October that “China is a big market for us,” adding that the company was working with customers and suppliers to adapt to any new tariffs. “It’s going to be a wait-and-see as we go into 2019,” he said.



<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=HPE" class="">HP</a>&nbsp;CEO Dion Weisler told investors in November that China was a “very strategically important market for us.”



“We obviously continue to assess the situation and the potential impact on our business and our plans that we may or may not need to make as a result — but again, we’re not chasing ghosts, but we’re also not sticking our heads in the sand either,” he said of the trade war.



The tariffs have already cost U.S. automakers, especially&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=F" class="">Ford</a>. CEO Jim Hackett complained earlier this year that the tax penalties on steel and aluminum were costing it $1 billion last year alone.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/24/why-china-is-getting-tougher-for-ford-gm-and-other-automakers.html" class="">That pain has been exacerbated by a slowdown in car sales</a>&nbsp;in China in recent months. Auto sales there fell 14 percent in November over the same month in 2017, according to the Chinese Association of Automobile Manufacturers.Ford sales fall



Ford’s sales in China fell more than 30 percent during the first 11 months last year compared with the same time frame in 2017. In November, Ford’s China sales fell more than 50 percent over the same month in the prior year.



“This is the first sustained downturn in memory,” said Michael Dunne, CEO of ZoZoGo, a firm that advises automakers on doing business in China. “We would have to go back to the Asian financial crisis in 1998-1999 to see the last time China had flat or down sales for four months or more in a row.”



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://image.cnbcfm.com/api/v1/image/104882401-RTS1KBH0.jpg?v=1529452406&amp;w=740&amp;h=" alt="RT: Ford China: Visitors look at Ford models at Auto Guangzhou in Guangzhou, China November 17, 2017. "/></figure>



Visitors look at Ford models at Auto Guangzhou in Guangzhou, China November 17, 2017.Bobby Yip | Reuters



<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=TSLA" class="">Tesla</a>, meanwhile, is speeding up construction of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/06/teslas-china-factory-set-to-begin-production-late-next-year.html" class="">a factory outside of Shanghai</a>&nbsp;and has cut prices on some of its models in China to try to offset the trade war’s impact on sales there. The company said it was operating at a 55 to 60 percent cost disadvantaged to local manufacturers in the country.



Wells Fargo analyst Ike Boruchow told investors Wednesday there are high levels of uncertainty around potential new tariffs in 2019, raising fears that the rhetoric between the two governments will lead to a backlash against American brands that operate in China. This has already played out between China and Canada: Chinese consumers were reportedly boycotting the Canada Goose brand due to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/10/china-daily-canada-puts-on-show-trial-for-arrested-huawei-cfo.html" class="">the recent tension between the two countries</a>.Chinese tourists



Retailers are getting hit particularly hard on China-related news, even if the impact hasn’t quiet hit their bottom line. Tiffany’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/28/tiffanys-stock-plunges-as-weaker-chinese-tourism-puts-a-dent-in-sales.html" class="">shares fell 9.6 percent on Nov. 28</a>&nbsp;after the jeweler released disappointing third-quarter sales that were hurt by weaker spending from Chinese tourists in the U.S. and Hong Kong. The luxury jeweler’s earnings were in line with estimates, but revenue of $1.01 billion was shy of the $1.05 billion estimate from analysts surveyed by Refinitiv.



<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=TGT" class="">Target</a>&nbsp;said in September that it was “deeply troubled” by the Trump administration’s escalating trade war, saying it threatens to undermine the U.S. economy, penalizes American families and raises prices on everything from backpacks to playpens.



The trade war hasn’t impacted all U.S. companies equally.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=LULU" class="">Lululemon</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=NKE" class="">Nike</a>&nbsp;have cited China as a bright spot in recent earnings reports. Nike sales there grew by 31 percent during the company’s fiscal second quarter that ended Nov. 30.



“Now, while there has been uncertainty of late regarding US-China relations, we have not seen any impact on our business,” Chief Financial Officer Andy Campion told analysts on a conference call last month. “Nike continues to win with the consumer in China.”



Lululemon,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=SBUX" class="">Starbucks</a>&nbsp;and other U.S. retailers have fared better by partnering with local companies in China.



China is also the world’s fastest growing aviation market, and a slowdown would hurt aircraft manufacturers and carriers, although it hasn’t affected them so far.



The <a href="http://cnbc.africa/news/east-africa/2018/12/12/%EF%BB%BFafricas-airline-industry-is-the-weakest-in-the-world-this-is-how-bad-it-is/">International Air Transport Association</a>, an industry group representing commercial airlines around the globe, has said it expects China to overtake the U.S. as the largest aviation market in the world by 2022.



So far, the industry mood has been upbeat. In September,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=BA" class="">Boeing</a>, the world’s largest commercial aircraft manufacturer, raised its estimate for the number of planes China will need through 2037 by 6 percent to nearly 7,700, planes worth some $1.2 trillion.Luxury products



Luxury retail and product companies, meantime, are at risk of losing a valuable set of customers should Chinese sales slow. Chinese shoppers are expected to account for 45 percent of the luxury market by 2025, according to a recent study by consulting firm Bain.



So far, the effect has been slight. Sales of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=EL" class="">Estee Lauder’s</a>&nbsp;premium cosmetics in China slowed to 4.4 percent in November, down from 7.8 percent in July, according to analysts at Jefferies.



Executives at luxury goods maker&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=MC-FR" class="">LVMH</a>&nbsp;told analysts in October it is seeing only a modest decline in demand from its Chinese shoppers.



Still, fear of losing Chinese luxury customers has rattled the market nonetheless. LVMH executives in October said Chinese authorities are enforcing regulations around luxury importation with more strength. That acknowledgment sent shares of luxury companies worldwide skidding, including Gucci owner&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=KER-FR" class="">Kering SA</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=1913-HK" class="">Prada</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=4911.T-JP" class="">Shiseido</a>.



—CNBC’s Steve Kovach, Jordan Novet, Ari Levy, Lauren Hirsch, Lauren Thomas, Amelia Lucas, Joanna Tan, Robert Ferris and Leslie Josephs contributed to this article.



This article was first published by CNBC https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/03/us-companies-are-flashing-warning-signs-about-the-chinese-economy.html and is republished with its permission

Why anyone interested in markets can’t ignore what Apple cutting its revenue forecast signifies

By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/tom-huddleston-jr/">Tom Huddleston Jr.</a>



The next avocados you buy at a grocery store might stay fresh at least twice as long as they used to, and it’s all because James Rogers didn’t listen to his mother.



Rogers is the founder and CEO of Apeel Sciences, a Southern California-based food technology startup that is trying to battle food waste. It’s a problem that the United Nations estimates costs the world roughly <a class="" href="http://www.fao.org/zhc/detail-events/en/c/243143/">$2.6 trillion</a> each year, and results in consumers in rich countries wasting almost as much food (222 million tonnes) as the entire net food production of sub-Saharan Africa (230 million tonnes). Much of the wastage  stems from fruits, vegetables and other perishable foods going bad before they’re consumed.



Rogers’ Apeel, recently named to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/21/apeel-sciences-2018-disruptor-50.html" class="">2018 CNBC Disruptor 50 List</a>, thinks it can combat the problem of food waste with its primary product, Edipeel, a tasteless, odorless, edible coating made from plant materials. Edipeel can keep produce like avocados or oranges from going bad for weeks longer than usual — it can double the shelf life in some cases — even without refrigeration.



The trick to keeping produce from spoiling, Rogers tells&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/make-it/" class="">CNBC Make It</a>, is relatively simple. “The two leading causes of produce spoilage are water loss and oxidation — that’s water evaporating out of the produce and oxygen getting in,” Rogers says.



The point of the Edipeel coating is, simply, to act as a physical barrier that slows down the evaporation process and regulates how much oxygen gets into produce. And because Apeel&nbsp;<a href="https://apeelsciences.com/questions/" class="">makes its invisible coating</a>out of the fatty acids and other organic compounds taken from the peels, seeds and pulp of other fruits and vegetables, the FDA has deemed it safe to eat. Avocados sprayed with Edipeel are already being&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/19/apeel-which-makes-coating-to-preserve-produce-signs-costco-deal.html" class="">sold at grocery stores</a>&nbsp;like Kroger, Costco and Harps Food Stores across the U.S.



“Our philosophy is: The only thing that belongs on food is food,” Rogers tells CNBC Make It.



Rogers founded Apeel in 2012 and the company has raised a total of $110 million in funding from investors who include the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation as well as investment firms Viking Global Investors and Andreessen Horowitz.



Rogers, 33, got the idea for Apeel when he was working on his Ph.D. in materials science at UC Santa Barbara, where he was trying to develop a solar paint that could harvest the sun’s energy much like solar panels. One day in 2012, he was driving between Santa Barbara and the university’s Berkeley Lab and he was listening to a podcast about world hunger while looking out at acre after acre of abundant farmland. He wondered why so many people in the world were going hungry (roughly&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldhunger.org/world-hunger-and-poverty-facts-and-statistics/" class="">one in 10 people</a>) when the world actually&nbsp;<a href="https://www.oxfam.ca/there-enough-food-feed-world" class="">produces more than enough food</a>&nbsp;to feed everyone on the planet.



“The problem came down to distribution,” Rogers says he came to learn. “We couldn’t get the food that was being grown to where the people were who need to eat it. And so I was curious what precludes us from distributing food and it all comes down to this notion of perishability.”



Rogers started researching how water loss and oxidation spoil produce, and it reminded him of how the steel industry uses coatings to prevent metal from rusting. He thought he could come up with a similar solution to coat produce and prevent fruits and vegetables from spoiling so quickly.



It was kind of a wild idea, especially considering Rogers had no agricultural experience, which is exactly what his mother told him when he called her and explained his idea for fighting world hunger by inventing a protective coating for produce.



“I called my mom and I said, ‘Hey, Mom, I got this idea for a company,’” Rogers tells CNBC Make It. “And, she said, ‘That sounds really nice, but you don’t know anything about about fruits and vegetables.’”



Rogers had to admit that his mother was right, but he didn’t let that stop him from diving into his idea. He went to the library and checked out a pile of books about the biology of plants.



In fact, he learned enough that he was able to flesh out his idea and apply for a research grant from the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation, which gave him $100,000 that marked the beginning of Apeel. Rogers hired two researchers he knew from his Ph.D. program and they got to work developing the product that would become Edipeel.



Six years later, Rogers has legitimate hope that Apeel can make a real difference in fighting the global hunger epidemic. Apeel’s business is starting to take off thanks to selling Edipeel to major fruit and vegetable producers like Del Rey Avocado, Horton Fruit and Eco Farmsand, and partnering with US retailers (who currently lose more than $18 billion a year due to wasted food). But, Apeel is also working with farmers in Kenya and Nigeria, where Edipeel is awaiting regulatory approval, in order to help them keep their produce fresh long enough to be transported from rural areas to larger markets where they can feed the local population.



At the moment, Apeel’s coating is only being sold on avocados, but the company is also working on selling Edipeel to produce growers to use on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.freshfruitportal.com/news/2018/10/24/apeel-avocados-expected-at-every-u-s-grocery-store-within-a-year/" class="">asparagus and various citrus fruits</a>, among other produce. (The Edipeel formula differs for each variety of fruit or vegetable because the product is derived from the materials of the very produce it’s meant to protect.)



Looking back now, Rogers can chuckle at the fact that his mom initially threw cold water on his produce plans. But, he says there’s an important lesson in that story. “Don’t not do something because there’s a part of it you don’t know about,” he tells CNBC Make It.



Instead of giving up because you’re not fully versed on something, even if it’s a major aspect of what you want to do, you can just commit to learning more and filling in those gaps in your knowledge, Rogers says. “It’s oftentimes the combination of the stuff that you know about and the willingness to learn the stuff that you don’t know about which leads to some really cool innovations.”



With additional reporting from CNBC Africa.



This article first appeared on CNBC https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/31/bill-gates-backed-apeel-sciences-makes-fruit-avocados-last-longer.html and is republished with its permission

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