Caution: Men Working. Repairs are underway at the Khurais oil field in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Aramco may be the worlds most profitable company, with more than $200 billion of pretax income over the past year. But even if the Kingdom manages to launch its IPO of the company, prudent investors should stay away, at any price. Heres 10 reasons not to invest:

Geopolitical risk. A September 14 cruise missile strike disabled two of oil giant Saudi Aramcos crown jewels, the Abqaiq oil stabilization plant and the Khurais oilfield. It used to be that the threat of disruption to oil flows from Saudi Arabia would be good for at least a few dollars pop in the price of oil. Not anymore. After jumping 20% when trading commenced following the Abqaiq attack, crude has since slumped to $60, lower even than before the attacks. Amid heightened tensions, President Trump appears tired of holding Uncle Sams umbrella of protection over the Kingdom, and the slog in Yemen should give no comfort that the Saudis could defend itself and its oilfields in a war against Iran. The possibility of future attacks now hangs over the market, says Amrita Sen of consultancy Energy Aspects.

No growth. In a commodity business you need scale in order to compete. But once youve achieved that scale, growth is anchored by the law of large numbers. A small company can rapidly double in size and value. Aramco sure cant. Its output has been flat, around 10 million barrels per day since 2014. And even prior to the attack on Abqaiq the company was being forced to run at less than 90% of capacity in order to satisfy OPEC volume reductions.In the first half of 2019 Aramcos net income and capital investment both fell 12% to $47 billion and $14.5 billion. According to analysis by Bernstein Research, Aramco will not have enough funds this year to pay its dividends out of free cash flow and so will have to borrow to make its payouts.

No autonomy. The companywhether active in OPEC or notacts as the primary lever of Saudi oil policy, with the king, not the board, calling the shots, says Bill Farren-Price, a director at RS Energy Group.In preparation for the IPO, King Salman in 2017 lowered Aramcos tax rate from 80% to about 50%, such that in 2018 the company had to hand over only $100 billion in taxes to the kingdom. Aramco says that upon going public it will promise dividends of at least $75 billion a year to shareholders, but with the kingdom running a budget deficit, if money gets tight that dividend could be cut by royal decree.

About that valuation. Prince MbS regularly touted $2 trillion as his valuation expectation for Aramco. This has always been too high. The worlds biggest and best-managed oil companies currently trade at a dividend yield of around 5% (Exxon 5%, Chevron 4%, Shell 6.5%, Total 5.6%, Sinopec 8%). To generate a 5% yield from $75 billion in dividends implies a market cap valuation on the order of $1.5 trillion. On a price/earnings basis, applying the average megacap P/E of 15 to Aramcos ~$100 billion of net income gets the same $1.5 trillion valuation.

Too many alternatives. Even $1.5 trillion is likely too high, considering that the world really doesnt need any more bloated, state-controlled, publicly traded oil giants. For instance, Gazprom, PetroChina and Petrobras, have each suffered corruption scandals and are down at least 40% in the past decade. Equinor, the Norwegian oil giant formerly known as Statoil, is considered the best-run of the state-owned giants; it has lost just 20% in the past decade and has made great strides in reducing the carbon intensity of its operationsa clear competitive advantage.

Capital is mistreated. In late 2017 Prince MbS arrested dozens of Saudi billionaires and tycoons and installed them in fancy prison at the Ritz-Carlton Riyadh. The captives included famous capitalists like Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, long praised as the Arab worlds Warren Buffett for decades of shrewd investments. MbS shook down his guests for $100 billion in assets with no legal due process whatsoever. You will no longer find any Saudis on Forbes list of Global Billionaires. Prince Alwaleed reportedly said the price of his freedom was $6 billion. Once a fixture on CNBC, he has hardly been seen since.If this is the treatment that successful Saudi entrepreneurs (legit or not) receive in the kingdom, why bother? Capital only flows to places where it is treated well and protected by the rule of law. In 2016 Saudi Arabia attracted $7.4 billion in Foreign Direct Investment. In 2017 FDI plunged to $1.4 billion, recovering somewhat last year to $3.2 billion.The World Bank ranks Saudi Arabia 92 out of 190 countries on ease of doing business. Theres too many better places to set up shop.

Behold the power of Americas frackers. If you absolutely must own oil and gas assets, wouldnt you rather they be in politically stable places like Texas or New Mexico, where property rights are sacrosanct, contracts upheld by the rule of law and the likelihood of Iranian missile strikes vanishingly low? Americas frackers have unlocked enormous onshore reserves over the past decade, and theyre now on sale, with many names down 50% or more in the past year. Apache Corp. is down 50%, Occidental Petroleum down 44% and EOG Resources off 17%, from year-ago levels. All have far more room to grow than Aramco and are not burdened with the pressure of being a royal piggybank.

The traditional niqab and black abayas are common, even in more liberal Jeddah, as seen in this 2018 ... [+] photo.

What human rights? The murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi last year still gets headlines, but you cant believe for a second he was the first dissident killed and dismembered by a team of Saudi hitmen. Though Prince MbS may think he can placate calls for liberalization by granting women permission to drive, he has imprisoned driving activist Loujain al-Hathloul for more than a year. Women remain second-class citizens and must cover their heads in public. There is no religious pluralism, no freedom of assembly or expression. Alcohol is prohibited. But hey, now you can get a tourist visa to come see for yourself how this absolute monarchy keeps its 30 million subjects in line.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely. In a country that outlaws all political opposition, when change finally does come to the kingdom it will not be orderly. In a conversation in late 2017, Khashoggi told me he wasnt a revolutionary. Im not against the system. Without the monarchy the whole country would collapse, he said. What he wanted most for Saudi Arabia were the freedoms we take for granted in the United States. I would wish for freedom of expression.If only that werent such a high bar.

The oil age is ending. The world has never used more oilabout 101 million barrels every day. And theres plenty more where that came from, thanks to advances in directional drilling and hydraulic fracturing. The world is glutted with oil right now even after the near total collapse of Venezuela (which has even more of the stuff than Saudi Arabia) and the blockade on Iranian crude. When Peak Oil comes sometime in the next 25 years, it will be a function not of inadequate supply, but lackluster demand, driven by electric vehicle adoption. That will gut the price of oil and, with it, the value of Aramcos reserves. Considering that Aramco currently pumps about 4 billion barrels per year, Saudi claims of 260 to 300 billion barrels of proven oil reserves should be met with eye rolls. There is zero present value to a barrel of oil in the ground that no one will get around to drilling for 50 years.

See more here:
10 Reasons Not To Invest In The Saudi Aramco IPO - Forbes

Spearhead, an investment fund launched by AngelLists Naval Ravikant and Accomplices Jeff Fagnan, plans to raise roughly $100 million for its third fund to provide founders $1 million each to invest in technology startups of their choosing.

The firm, created in 2017, initially provided founders $200,000 in investment capital sourced from Spearhead I, a $25 million vehicle, followed by Spearhead II, a $35 million vehicle. The group now plans roughly $100 million to give its founders 5x more capital to play with.

Each founder is allotted 15% carry in his or her fund, while Spearhead holds on to 5%. This time around, says Spearheads Jeff Fagnan, standout leads, or those tapped to deploy capital from the fund, will also have the opportunity to receive another $10 million to invest at the end of the two-year program during a culminating demo day-like event.

Spearhead is designed to train founders, who tend to be well-connected to the tech ecosystem and knowledgeable about startups, to be effective angel investors. Previous Spearhead leads include Shippo co-founder and chief executive officer Laura Behrens Wu, Scale AI founder and CEO Alex Wang and Rippling co-founder and chief technology officer Prasanna Sankar. To date, 35 founders have completed the program.

Applications to join Spearheads third cohort will become available this week. Those who participate will be encouraged to write checks at the pre-seed stage.

Theres starting to be gap opening up again at the pre-seed, Fagnan tells TechCrunch. Founders are the right way to fill that gap. Founders backing their most talented friends founders backing founders is the right way for this to go. We need to redefine who thinks of themselves as an angel investor.

To be eligible to become a Spearhead lead, you must live in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston or New York City and run, or very recently have run, a startup. The firm plans to accept around 15 applicants.

We are trying to build an active community within the leads and weve found smaller equals better; fewer people coming together and taking deeper accountability, Fagnan said.

Spearhead leads can invest their capital in any tech startups, so long as theres no existing equity relationship. Existing Spearhead investments include ZeroDown, Altitude Networks, Scythe, Air Garage, Cloosiv, Height, O.School, PopSQL, Superplastic and Sword Health.

View post:
Spearhead will give $1M to 15 founders to invest freely - TechCrunch

CAIRO 20 October 2019: Kuwaiti Prime Minister Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah's two-day visit starting Sunday is set to strengthen the bilateral ties between the two countries especially at the economic level and investments.

Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak, will be accompanied, during his visit to Egypt, with a large delegation comprising a number of ministers, representatives of Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and businessmen, local media reported.

The Kuwaiti prime minister and his delegation are scheduled to meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly.

During the meetings, the two sides will sign several agreements covering some areas of cooperation between the two countries, especially the investments sector.

The Egyptian-Kuwaiti relations are based on cooperation and understanding on all issues.

According to the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Qabas, economic relations between the two countries have witnessed a steady growth throughout history. Kuwaiti investments in Egypt rank high among existing investments as it exceeds $15 billion.

Tourism and aviation between the two countries have witnessed a similar growth reflected in the increase in the number of Kuwaiti tourists to around 200,000 tourists on 64 weekly flights between.

A large Kuwaiti community is also inhabiting Egypt, including about 20,000 Kuwaitis, mostly undergraduate and post-university students. In return, Kuwait hosts around 700,000 Egyptian nationals.

In the investment sector, Kuwait is Egypt's third largest trading partner in the Arab world after the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Deputy Prime Minister Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Sabah said in the 12th session of the Kuwaiti-Egyptian joint committee that investments exceeded $15 billion.

The volume of Egyptian exports to Kuwait between 2010 and 2018 amounted to about 984.2 million dinars (about $3.2 billion), while the volume of Kuwaiti exports to Egypt reached 165.3 million dinars (about $543 million), according to statistics of Kuwait's Central Statistics Bureau.

The Kuwaiti prime minister's visit comes in the context of continuous visits between the two countries to enhance bilateral cooperation.

The Kuwaiti Fund for Arab Economic Development has covered most of the developmental fields in Egypt during the past years, according to Al-Qabas. The total number of projects financed by the Fund in Egypt since its establishment until September 30 this year is about 50 projects with a total cost of one billion dinars (about 3.4 billion dollars), while the number of grants and technical assistance amounted to about 18 grants worth 17.3 million dinars (about 56 million dollars).

The various projects financed by the Fund in Egypt included development of maritime transport, the pharmaceutical industry, sanitation, power and water plants, the expansion of natural gas networks, and the development of railways.

Read more:
Egyptian-Kuwaiti investments highlighted ahead of PM's visit to Cairo - Egypttoday

In case you haven't noticed, our old friend volatility is back again. Through the first six trading days of October, a historically volatile month for the stock market, the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX:^GSPC) has delivered single-day points declines (when rounded) of 36, 53, and 46.

For those investors fixated on point values rather than percentages, the start of October has all the making of a stock market "plunge." The S&P 500 has shed an aggregate of 83 points in a six-day span, and it's nearly 115 points lower than where the index closed in mid-September. Concerns about weak manufacturing data, the persistent trade war between the U.S. and China, and the inverted yield curve, have some folks talking about the dreaded "R" word: recession.

Image source: Getty Images.

But there are a couple of things you should certainly keep in mind if the latest stock market hiccup has you concerned. First, these "hiccups" tend to be pretty common. Over the previous 70 years, there have 37 corrections in the S&P 500 totaling at least 10%, not including rounding. That's one every 1.9 years. Drops in the market of 5%, similar to what we're experiencing now, are even more frequent. This is the price of admission, so to speak, for long-term wealth creation.

That brings me to the next point: long-term investors rarely suffer lasting damage from stock market corrections. Though you're going to be wrong on some of the individual stocks you buy, it's important to recognize that each and every correction in the stock market has been eventually erased by a bull market rally. Patience, time, and diligence are the keys to succeeding over the long run.

Lastly, it's never a bad idea to have a strategy in place to curb your concerns when these inevitable corrections and hiccups in the stock market pop up. When investor fear builds and emotions drive the stock market lower in the near-term, here are three investment ideas that can thrive.

Image source: Getty Images.

The first consideration for investors is to buy businesses that provide a basic-need good or service that isn't impacted by the ups and downs of the U.S. economy. Some really basic examples include detergent and toothpaste, which are going to be bought by consumers regardless of how well or poorly the economy is performing.

In terms of top-performing basic-need stocks, NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) might be worth a closer look as a healthy hedge during times of volatility. NextEra is the largest electric utility in the U.S. by market cap, and also happens to be a global leader in wind and solar energy generation. These renewable projects haven't been cheap, but it's put NextEra on track to be low-cost producer for a long time to come.

On the other side of the coin, NextEra's traditional electric generation business is regulated. This mean NextEra can't raise its prices without the approval of state-based energy commissions. However, it also means that the company isn't exposed to volatile wholesale pricing, and its cash flow is highly predictable.

Since homeowners and renters don't change their electricity usage much as a result of fluctuations in the economy, NextEra is the epitome of a defensive basic-need stock that can thrive in a volatile market.

Image source: Getty Images.

Admittedly, not every company provides a basic-need good or service. However, that shouldn't disqualify brand-name stocks from being purchased during periods of heightened volatility. Businesses that provide steady profits, pay a dividend, and offer low volatility can be especially profitable when the tide turns.

Take telecom giant AT&T (NYSE:T) as an example. I simply say the name AT&T and investors worldwide yawn. It's a relatively boring business model with a low-to-mid-single-digit growth rate that's buoyed by its wireless division and content options, such as DIRECTV. But during periods of heightened volatility, and over the long run, boring is beautiful.

The barrier to entry in the wireless space is exceptionally high in the U.S., meaning AT&T only has a few major competitors and pretty healthy market share. Its wireless division is also looking at an exciting infrastructure upgrade cycle that'll see the rollout of 5G networks really ramp up in 2020. Since data is AT&T's margins driver, 5G networks could provide years of higher-margin growth. Assuming AT&T can also monetize its Time Warner acquisition into juicier advertising rates and more streaming subscribers, this boring business could be on the verge of getting considerably more exciting.

And did I mention it offers a 5.4% yield, which is more than triple the current yield of a 10-year Treasury bond?

Image source: Getty Images.

A third way to thrive during a stock market correction is to buy a safe-haven asset stock. For instance, when uncertainty or worry build in the stock market, investors will often turn to gold as a store of value. This is why it's known as a safe-haven asset.

But buying gold, or any commodity for that matter, tends to underperform the stock market over longer periods of time. Plus, physical assets like gold don't offer a dividend. That's why it might be a smart idea for investors to consider buying a company that produces a safe-haven asset, such as gold.

As an example, British Columbia-based SSR Mining (NASDAQ:SSRM) is a company that's sitting on net cash of almost $207 million, which is pretty incredible considering that most gold and silver mining stocks are saddled with debt. SSR Mining expects production at its flagship Marigold mine in Nevada to grow by about 30% to 265,000 ounces of gold per year by 2021 or 2022, and has seen its Seabee Mine deliver record gold output year after year.

Also, after recently acquiring Golden Arrow's 25% joint venture stake, SSR Mining also now owns a 100% stake in the Chinchillas silver mining project in Argentina. Though still generating a significant portion of revenue from the gold market, SSR Mining now has recurring silver revenue that allows it to benefit from a robust economy, too.

The next time to stock market "plunges," keep in mind that there are alternatives that can allow investors to thrive.

Read the original post:
The Stock Market Is "Plunging": 3 Investments That Can Thrive - The Motley Fool

LONDON (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) still sees abundant opportunity to make money from oil and gas in coming decades even as investors and governments increase pressure on energy companies over climate change, its chief executive said.

Ben Van Beurden, CEO of Shell, speaks to Reuters reporters in Canary Wharf, London, Britain, October 8, 2019. Picture taken October 8, 2019. REUTERS/Marika Kochiashvili

But in an interview with Reuters, Ben van Beurden expressed concern that some shareholders could abandon the worlds second-largest listed energy company due partly to what he called the demonisation of oil and gas and unjustified worries that its business model was unsustainable.

The 61-year-old Dutch executive in recent years became one of the sectors most prominent voices advocating action over global warming in the wake of the 2015 Paris climate agreement.

Shell, which supplies around 3% of the worlds energy, set out in 2017 a plan to halve the intensity of its greenhouse emissions by the middle of the century, based in large part on building one of the worlds biggest power businesses.

Still, the amount of carbon dioxide emitted from Shells operations and the products it sells rose by 2.5% between 2017 and 2018.

A defiant van Beurden rejected a rising chorus from climate activists and parts of the investor community to transform radically the 112-year-old Anglo-Dutch companys traditional business model.

Despite what a lot of activists say, it is entirely legitimate to invest in oil and gas because the world demands it, van Beurden said.

We have no choice but to invest in long-life projects, he added.

Shell and its peers have long insisted that switching away from oil and gas to cleaner sources of energy will take decades as demand for transport and plastics continues to grow. Investors have warned, however, that oil companies often rely on forecasts that underestimate the pace of change.

Shell plans to greenlight more than 35 new oil and gas projects by 2025, according to an investor presentation from June.

Oil and gas remain the backbone of profits for Shell, the largest listed company on London's main FTSE index .FTSE.

While oil and gas account for the entirety of Shells free cashflow today, it foresees a gradual diversification over the next two decades. Oil and gas are each still expected to provide a third of free cashflow, however, with the rest coming from power and chemicals.

Many oil and gas projects such as gas-processing plants, deepwater platforms or chemical plants take billions of dollars to develop and operate for decades.

Shell, like many rivals, has become more selective in its investments as the outlook for oil prices and demand remains unclear. It targets new projects that can be profitable at oil prices of $20 to $30 a barrel and which emit relatively low greenhouse emissions. Oil is trading at around $60 a barrel.

We can sustain an upstream portfolio all the way into the 2030s if there is an economic rationale for doing that and a societal rationale for doing that, van Beurden said.

Fortunately enough, we have more of those than we have money to spend on them.

Van Beurden rejected as a red herring arguments that Shells oil and gas reserves, which can sustain its current production for around eight years, would be economically unviable, or stranded, in the future.

A lack of investment in oil and gas projects could lead to a supply shortage and result in price spikes, he said.

One of the bigger risks is not so much that we will become dinosaurs because we are still investing in oil and gas when there is no need for it anymore. A bigger risk is prematurely turning your back on oil and gas.

Shell plans to increase its annual spending to around $32 billion by 2025 from the current $25 billion, with up to one tenth allocated to renewables and the power business.

The company, the worlds largest dividend payer, plans to return $125 billion to shareholders in the five years to 2025.

On liquefied natural gas, of which Shell is the worlds biggest trader, van Beurden said the market would exhibit oversupply in the near term. But (LNG) demand will continue to grow at a pace that is roughly four times that of oil, he said.

(GRAPHIC: Shell reserves - here)

(GRAPHIC: Shell capex - here)

(GRAPHIC: Shell's share performance - here)

Shell has become a focal point of environmental protests, particularly in Europe, with regular demonstrations outside its London headquarters and the British National Theatre dropping Shells sponsorship in recent months.

At the same time, investors have sharply increased their scrutiny of companies environmental performance.

Amid growing uncertainty over future demand, the share prices of Shell and its peers have underperformed relative to other sectors.

Van Beurden expressed concern that some investors could ditch Shell, acknowledging that shares in the company were trading at a discount partly due to societal risk.

I am afraid of that, to be honest, he said.

But I dont think they will flee for the justified concern of stranded assets ... (It is) the continued pressure on our sector, in some cases to the point of demonisation, that scares asset managers.

It is not at a scale that the alarm bells are ringing, but it is an unhealthy trend.

Van Beurden put the onus for achieving a transformation to low-carbon economies on governments, warning that not enough progress had been made to reach the Paris climate goal of limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century.

Can that happen? I think it can ... Increasingly society is not putting up with the fact we are not making enough progress.

Delaying implementation of the right climate policies could result in knee-jerk political responses that might be very disruptive to society, he said.

Let the air out of the balloon as soon as you can before the balloon actually bursts, van Beurden said.

(GRAPHIC: Shell Q2 2019 profits - here)

(GRAPHIC: Shell annual earnings 2018 - here)

(GRAPHIC: Oil Majors' Carbon emissions interactive - here)

Reporting by Ron Bousso and Dmitry Zhannikov; Editing by Dale Hudson

More here:
Exclusive: No choice but to invest in oil, Shell CEO says - Reuters

For investors with a long-term horizon, examining earnings trend over time and against industry peers is more insightful than looking at an earnings announcement in one point in time. Investors may find my commentary, albeit very high-level and brief, on Time Watch Investments Limited (SEHK:2033) useful as an attempt to give more color around how Time Watch Investments is currently performing.

See our latest analysis for Time Watch Investments

2033s trailing twelve-month earnings (from 30 June 2019) of HK$305m has increased by 4.8% compared to the previous year.

Furthermore, this one-year growth rate has exceeded its 5-year annual growth average of -3.9%, indicating the rate at which 2033 is growing has accelerated. How has it been able to do this? Well, lets take a look at whether it is solely because of industry tailwinds, or if Time Watch Investments has experienced some company-specific growth.

In terms of returns from investment, Time Watch Investments has fallen short of achieving a 20% return on equity (ROE), recording 14% instead. However, its return on assets (ROA) of 10.0% exceeds the HK Luxury industry of 5.3%, indicating Time Watch Investments has used its assets more efficiently. Though, its return on capital (ROC), which also accounts for Time Watch Investmentss debt level, has declined over the past 3 years from 18% to 14%. This correlates with an increase in debt holding, with debt-to-equity ratio rising from 2.4% to 9.5% over the past 5 years.

Though Time Watch Investmentss past data is helpful, it is only one aspect of my investment thesis. Companies that have performed well in the past, such as Time Watch Investments gives investors conviction. However, the next step would be to assess whether the future looks as optimistic. I suggest you continue to research Time Watch Investments to get a better picture of the stock by looking at:

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the trailing twelve months from 30 June 2019. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.

Excerpt from:
Does Time Watch Investments Limiteds (HKG:2033) Past Performance Indicate A Stronger Future? - Simply Wall St

Las Vegas digital artist James Stanford will be donating his monumental work Budding Buddha to Art For Tibet for their 9th annual auction and exhibition in support of the Tibetan peoples nonviolent freedom struggle against occupation.

Founded in 2009, Art for Tibet will be taking place in New York on Thursday November 7 2019, and will bring together artists and activists to celebrate, commemorate, and support the Tibetan people.

Stanfords work Budding Buddha, a 3-flip backlit lenticular print is edition one of five, moving with the viewers gaze it transforms into three contrasting versions of itself. Depicting the Buddhas head the work refers to Stanfords own deep spirituality ignited in his teen years when he was introduced to Seon Buddhism and began practicing meditation. Other artists donating works to include Shepard Fairey, Cey Adams, Al Diaz and Pema Rinzin.

This years Art for Tibets Honorary Committee is made up of legendary hip-hop artist and Beastie Boys collaborator Cey Adams, French-Tibetan painter Marie-Dolma Chopel, Shepard Fairey and Columbia Professor of Indo-Tibetan Studies, Robert Thurman. The exhibition and auction will take place at the prestigious Gallery 8 in Harlem, where Tibetan artists will be showcased alongside leading contemporary artists. An online auction will take place from October 25 November 7 2019 and the live auction on November 7.

Stanford is widely known for his series Shimmering Zen, a group of digital works featuring mesmerising mandala designs based on photos of historic Las Vegas neon signage. The mosaics and patterns have an immaterial and spiritual quality evoking the artists strong connection to Zen Buddhism. Using a mix of traditional photography and digital techniques, Stanford layers photographs to create and discover patterns in familiar yet completely revitalised images. The exploration of light is key to Stanfords practice as he draws on his expertise as a painter photographer and professor of colour theory.

Dedicated to promoting arts and culture in his hometown Las Vegas, recent months have seen Stanford design a monumental site-specific mural covering the arts incubator at 705 North Las Vegas Boulevard. The mural spans over 2,000 square feet and commemorates the iconic Blue Angel statue that watched over Downtown Las Vegas for 61 years from its mid-century perch at the Blue Angel Motel.

Multimedia artist Stanford has earned an international reputation for an innovative and diverse oeuvre founded on the values of artistic experimentation and meditative practice. Working inventively in a wide range of media and genres, his subject matter ties into a long-term interest in the study and transformation of popular culture, most widely known in the abstract meditative reconfigurations through his Shimmering Zen series, a body of work based on the neon signage and lights of Las Vegas.His art is widely recognized for a sense of radiant light, shadowy space and an infinity of crystalline forms, aptly named modern mandalas.As a practicingBodhisattva teacher, the artist describes his approach and the transformation within his process: My works are part of my practice: meditations, and as such they act as guides to help the viewer gazedeeperinto who we really are. Popular culture can teach us all a lot about who we really are and show us our correct relationship to the universe.

James Stanford says:

I am honoured to be donating a work to Art For Tibet, a cause that is very close to my heart. As a practicing Buddhist I believe in equality, freedom and human rights, all things the Tibetan people are currently deprived of. I commend the Students for a Free Tibets (SFT) important work including their annual fundraisers which help them continue their fight to free Tibet with nonviolent action.

Notes to Editors:

About Art for Tibet:

Founded in 2009, Art for Tibet raises critical funds for Students for a Free Tibet (SFT), a grassroots network of youth and activists campaigning for Tibetans fundamental right to political freedom. Through education, grassroots organizing, and nonviolent direct action, SFT empowers youth as leaders in the worldwide movement for social justice.

Read more:
James Stanford donates Buddhist work to the Tibetan cause - ArtfixDaily

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Navneet Vyasan

Born toFrench-Canadian parents, Jack Kerouac excelled in sports from a very young age.Initially, never interested in literature, Kerouacs athletic pursuits won hima sports scholarship at Columbia University in the early 1940s.

At the same time, Allen Ginsberg, also won a scholarshipat Columbia University and then met Lucien Carr. Carr, a well-read academic,was popular for his views and writings, which were infamouslyanti-establishment.

This is the time when, the core members of the BeatGeneration Kerouac, Ginsberg, Carr, Herbert Huncke and William S Burroughs would go on to start a movement that would inspire generations to come. Throughtheir prose and poetry, they would advocate spiritual awakening, purification,and illumination through heightened sensory awareness. This, they argued, mightbe induced by drugs, jazz, sex, or, in the later years, Zen Buddhism. But itwas Kerouacs book titled On the Road, and his friendship with Ginsberg thatmade headlines every nowand then.

In the 1960s, as their writing gained momentum, adorationwas closely followed by denunciation. However, their works, in time, influencedthese popular trends, then engulfing the world.

The hippiemovement

I was surprised, as always, by how easy the act ofleaving was, and how good it felt. The world was suddenly rich withpossibility, wrote Kerouac in his seminal work, On The Road. Published in1957, this part travelogue part novel, took Kerouac only three weeks towrite. Written in a single, effortless flow, the book was inspired by Kerouacstravel across the rapidly changing post-war United States.

Cited by legendary artistes including, Bob Dylan, JimMorrison, and David Bowie as an influential read, Kerouacs work inspired ageneration of hippie trails. The quest for soul searching, lied in travel, andfor him, the journey he underwent before writing the book, was just a start.Unsurprisingly, American teens read the book cover-to-cover and before late, hebecame a literary icon.

In fact, the term hippie was introduced in the 1960s.Before that, the American media coined the term, beatnik, to describeAmericans, setting on a long journey inspired by Kerouacs writings. His works,acquired a global reach after hippies became prevalent around the world. The trail,required Americans to fly to Europe, which is where it would start. The finalstop, more often than not, being Southern India, the travellers used the passesthrough pre-revolution Iran, and Afghanistan, before it was invaded, finallycrossing over to Pakistan and entering India before settling in the southernstates of Goa and Kerala.

Countercultures

Arguably, nothing influenced music and literature the waycounterculture did. Constantly associated with liberation, one can see the riseof ideals of pacifism, LGBT acceptance and marijuana legalisation when onereads works like Post Office by Charles Bukowski or Fear and Loathing in LasVegas by Hunter S Thompson.

Counterculture literature grew with time when authors,notably, used their writings as a tool to critique the establishment that wasgoverning them. Risking imprisonment and sedition charges, Kerouacscontemporary, Allen Ginsberg penned his much acclaimed poem, Howl. Ginsbergregularly mentions Kerouac in his works.

What is obscenity? And to whom? he wrote in the initialpages of his book, Howl and Other Poems. Ginsberg was frustrated that therapidly growing American economy was masking the countrys military ventures.He accused the everyday white collar worker of ignoring the countrysatrocities. I saw the best minds of my generation who threw their watches offthe roof to cast their ballot for Eternity outside of Time, and alarm clocksfell on their heads every day for the next decade, he wrote about how the USgovernment was fooling them by luring them with jobs, as a way to mask VietnamWars atrocities. Subsequently, he had to face sedition charges.

Religion andspirituality

In Kerouacs final days, which would also mark theconclusive years of the Beat Generation, he set out in search of spiritualityand was fascinated by Eastern religions. Ginsberg made a historic trip to Indiaand Kerouac published, The Dharma Bums, what is now considered the hippie handbook.

My karma was to be born in America where nobody has anyfun or believes in anything, especially freedom, he wrote. Raised a devoutRoman Catholic, Kerouac after being introduced to Buddhism, mentionsBodhisattva frequently in his works which followed The Dharma Bums. Moreover,this was the early 1960s, when hippies, in their Volkswagen buses, thronged thebeaches of California chanting Hare Rama, Hare Krishna.

(HT Media)

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Jack Kerouac: On the road to immortality - The Navhind Times

After an off-season in which it seemed like the N.B.A. never took a break, The New York Times talked to a few of the leagues stars about some of the other important things in their lives anything but basketball.

First is Jimmy Butler, the four-time All-Star who joined the Miami Heat this summer after a deep postseason run with the Philadelphia 76ers.

MIAMI The day before he won a gold medal with the United States mens basketball team at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, Jimmy Butler tried a form of game preparation that was completely foreign. He watched the mens soccer final as a fan at Brazils famed Maracan stadium.

It was the first soccer match that Butler, then 26, had ever attended.

I watched the greatest soccer player of all time win gold as well, Butler recalled. You know who Im talking about, right?

As usual with the Miami Heats ever-edgy Butler, there was little subtlety in his delivery. He was, of course, referring to the star forward Neymar, whose goal and subsequent clinching penalty kick in a shootout against Germany finally secured Brazils first Olympic gold to go with its five World Cup crowns.

He won gold in his own country, which is even better, Butler said. It was the first time I really paid attention to it and he was killin look at 10 go. And the crowd was just going nuts. I went that one time, and that was it.

What he means: That initial exposure to the 5-foot-9 Neymar da Silva Santos Jr. was enough to turn the 6-foot-8 Butler into Neymars self-proclaimed biggest fan.

Upon Butlers return to the United States, it wasnt long before he started regularly wearing Neymars club and national-team jerseys and posting pictures to Instagram. Friends say Butler, who turned 30 in September, also will routinely throw thank yous for the gift of Neymar Jr. into the blessings he recites before meals.

Neymar said in an email that Butlers support was very special to me and added: Jimmy has a big heart. Our friendship is based on sincerity and honesty. He is shy and at the same time, his fun side is what makes him different.

By the summer of 2018, Butler and Neymar were full-fledged pals, connecting through social media in what surely ranks as one of the most high-profile bromances in sports.

In August 2018, after his first season with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Butler went to France to watch Neymar play for Paris Saint-Germain. This June, Butler prepared for N.B.A. free agency by traveling to Rio to spend time with Neymar.

Now we kick it every summer as much as we can, said Butler, who also was treated to a dose of Neymar on United States soil last month when Brazil played Colombia in Miami in an international friendly.

For much of Butlers N.B.A. career, one of his signature quirks was taking an American football with him to throw around in his spare time wherever he went. Butler, in 2016, elicited incessant ribbing from his Olympic teammates in Brazil for repeatedly insisting loudly that he was an N.F.L.-caliber wide receiver.

But after Neymar introduced him to the racket sport padel, Butler adopted it as his new conditioning hobby. Now he travels with a professional padel bag loaded with rackets and plays frequently with James Scott, his personal performance coach.

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Butler is the first to admit that pastimes such as padel and watching soccer werent in the cards for me at all. Growing up in the Houston suburb of Tomball, Texas, he never kicked a soccer ball.

Nope, Butler said. Only kicked a basketball when I got angry.

But Butler has done a lot of changing since his arrival in the N.B.A. as the 30th overall pick of the Chicago Bulls in 2011. He blossomed into a four-time All-Star with a reputation as a hypercompetitive and demanding teammate, unafraid to also challenge coaches, team executives, whomever. In an interview with Yahoo Sports last season, Butler acknowledged that he could rightly be described as confrontational. He has also described himself as a little extra at times.

None of that, though, has prevented him from bonding with some of world soccers elite. In addition to Neymar, Butler enjoys a budding friendship with the mercurial Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba whom he met over FaceTime in July after a chance introduction to Pogbas mother, Yeo, in Senegal.

While Butler was on a trip to Senegal to visit the family of the Philadelphia 76ers player-development coach, Remy Ndiaye, Yeo Pogba spotted him in a hotel lobby and arranged for the basketball star to speak to her son. Within a month while spending six weeks of his off-season in London to help feed another one of his passions, international travel Butler made a trip to Old Trafford on Aug. 11 to watch Pogba and Manchester United rout Chelsea, 4-0, in the English Premier League.

Im Neymar to the death of me, and Im Paul Pogba to the death of me, Butler said.

The sudden manifestation of Butlers soccer fandom has earned him some further needling from fellow players especially since he wasnt lured to the game through the much more common route for N.B.A. players: playing Electronic Artss popular FIFA video game series.

One example: Miamis veteran guard Goran Dragic, much more seasoned as a soccer-watcher after growing up in Slovenia, doesnt hesitate to challenge Butlers frequent Neymar is the G.O.A.T proclamations by telling him Lionel Messi is the smarter choice for the greatest of all time.

But Butler makes it clear that he is serious about his soccer no matter what anyone thinks. When a reporter sought to Americanize the conversation by asking which of Neymars jerseys he owns, Butler offered a stern rebuke.

Theyre called shirts, by the way, Butler said. Not jerseys. You sound like a rookie.

As he prepares to begin his new work life with the Heat, Butler is pushing back harder against those around the N.B.A. who have criticized him for how much he has changed from his early days in the league. Back then, he was known as a coach-pleaser who liked to accentuate his Texas roots by wearing cowboy boots and oversize belt buckles, and listening to country music.

I like it, Butler said of the knock that he has changed too much. I am different. Ive picked up a lot of different hobbies. I dont want to stay the same.

I do what makes me happy. Some people just dont like it. Some people just dont want people to be happy.

And some people, like Butler, think it is perfectly reasonable to sit on a balcony in Rio days before committing to join the Heat, sketching a green No. 10 inside a yellow square and then announcing to the world in an Instagram video that hes drawing pictures of goats.

I just saw him that first time and I was like, damn, damn, hes tough, Butler said. Ever since then, hes my friend, and Im a fan.

Read more:
Jimmy Butler and Neymar: a Bromance Among Superstars - The New York Times

Nestle's CEO Mark Schneider believes acquiring product lines to improve overall health will shake up the 100-year-old brand. In a recent bold move, the company purchased Persona, a personalized vitamin program delivered right to customers' doors.

Scott Mlyn | CNBC

Mention global food behemoth Nestle and the name will likely conjure up images of chocolate, frozen pizza and ice cream. Yet recent moves by its Lausanne, Switzerland-based Nestle Health Science division is making the company look more like a drug giant. The wholly-owned subsidiary, which specializes in nutritional products to improve overall health, has been investing heavily in companies that treat everything from gut health to Alzheimer's. Its latest acquisition: Persona, a personalized vitamin program delivered right to customers' doors.

Nestle Health Science's August purchase of Persona comes at a time when interest in personalized nutrition is exploding. The category includes wellness products, dietary supplements, so-called nutraceuticals (pharmaceutical alternatives that promise health benefits) and functional foods that help aid in overall well-being or performance. Analysts at Grand View Research in San Francisco estimate that retail sales for these products will reach $50 billion by 2025, up from around $11 billion today.

It makes sense. With health-care costs skyrocketing, consumers are doing all they can to get and stay healthy. Preventative measures getting enough sleep, exercising and eating a diet with more fruits and vegetables have always been part of the equation. But now the rising trend for customization of everything from movie recommendations to the kinds of workouts we do is expanding to vitamins, supplements and medical foods, and companies like Nestle are taking notice.

"In the deal between Persona and Nestle, both companies anticipated the considerable market potential of personalized nutrition," says Rubik Barar, a research manager of biotech, diagnostics and pharmaceuticals at Grand View Research. He believes larger companies will continue to form alliances and collaborations with smaller, personalized nutrition companies to ensure they don't miss out on this revenue stream.

The acquisition demonstrates the moves CEO Mark Schneider is making to shake up the 100-year-old brand since he took the reins in 2017. Diversifying into new lines of business has been key. On Thursday the company announced sales of $68.4 billion for the first nine months of 2019, noting it is on track to meet its target for operating margin a year early. It also plans to return another $20 billion to shareholders by 2022.

Greg Behar joined Nestle Health Science as president and CEO in 2014 after spending more than a decade in the pharmaceutical industry. He says the division was founded in 2011 as a way for Nestle to tap into the rapidly growing field of nutritional science. Over the past eight years, the unit has developed a portfolio of science-based consumer health, medical nutrition and supplement brands, including its purchase of Persona. Nestle Health Science has made more than a dozen acquisitions so far, focusing on nutritional therapies for brain health, gastrointestinal issues, aging, food allergies and obesity, among others.

In September, Nestle invested in Before Brands, specialists in early childhood allergy prevention. Before Brands is the developer of a line of childhood nutritional products called SpoonfulOne, aimed at reducing food allergy development. Earlier this year, Nestle Health Science acquired an equity stake in Amazentis and now has global rights to use its patented Urolithin A technology for dietary supplements and medical nutrition products.

Behar says "consumers are really looking for more custom solutions, so we've been scanning the marketplace searching for start-ups and more established companies that have at their core strong science and technology."

The main focus for Nestle so far has been on lightly regulated dietary supplements. After all, they don't require expensive and time-consuming clinical trials the way pharmaceuticals do, so products (like Persona vitamins) can get to consumers fairly quickly. In fact, two of Nestle Health Science's biggest sellers Boost, a high-protein nutritional shake, and the Meritene brand of shakes and soups to combat fatigue account for about 25% of Nestle Health Science's $2 billion annual revenue. That's still a small sliver of parent company Nestle's global revenues of $93 billion, but NHS executives have said they envision sales increasing to as much as $10 billion in the coming years.

That doesn't mean Nestle is shying away from the regulated side of the business. It recently got the go-ahead from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to start late-stage human trials for a proprietary medical food that targets Crohn's disease. It's also submitted paperwork to the FDA explaining its plans for late-stage testing for a drug compound to treat ulcerative colitis, a disease that affects more than 1 million people worldwide.

But not every investment by Nestle Health Science has gone smoothly. In 2012 it invested in Accera (now known as Cerecin), a biotech firm focused on acute and chronic neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's. Accera had developed a product called Axona, which was marketed as a medical food to manage the metabolic processes associated with mild to moderate Alzheimer's. In 2014 the FDA issued a warning to Accera, saying it failed to prove that Alzheimer's has distinct dietary or nutritional requirements. The company stopped marketing Axona as a medical food and is now trying to develop a more traditional drug to treat Alzheimer's.

CNBC Evolve will return, this time to Los Angeles, on Nov. 19. Visit cnbcevents.com/evolve to register.

The event highlights the challenge food companies face when they attempt to make health claims about vitamins, supplements and medical foods. To keep things like this from happening more frequently, the FDA in 2015 created the new Office of Dietary Supplement Programs. It comes as the supplement industry has grown from about $6 billion to more than $35 billion over the past 20 years.

The office has been busy. In February the FDA posted 12 warning letters and five online advisory letters to overseas and domestic companies that are illegally selling nearly 60 products many sold as dietary supplements that are unapproved new drugs or misbranded drugs that claim to prevent, treat or cure Alzheimer's and other serious diseases and health conditions.

By contrast, the Persona acquisition fits in nicely with NHS's personalization strategy, says Behar. The Seattle-based company was launched in 2017 by Jason Brown, Tamara Bernadot and Prem Thudia, longtime business colleagues who have worked in the health-care and supplement business for the past 20 years. One of the features that Behar says he found so intriguing about Persona is its technology. A detailed, online questionnaire based on a proprietary algorithm lets consumers answer questions about their biggest health and nutrition concerns. Persona CEO Brown claims the questionnaire goes one step further than any other personalized vitamin program on the market because it also includes detailed questions about a person's prescription drug usage.

"We can give customers the finest nutritional products out there, but we've got to make sure that we're not going to give them anything that interferes with any prescription medication they're on," Brown says. "Our questionnaire makes sure we're not recommending anything that would conflict with that medicine."

Once a customer completes all the questions, Persona makes a recommendation of which vitamins and supplements best address their particular health and nutrition concerns, whether that's stress, fatigue or weight management. The products are packaged into daily dose packets typically, there's a morning and evening pack and shipped to customers once a month. The price of each monthly program varies by customer, but Brown says that on average it breaks down to about $1 to $3 per day.

Now that it's part of the company fold, Nestle Health Science is looking to launch Persona even further afield. So far, Brown says more than 750,000 people have filled out Persona's online questionnaire. Last year the company posted revenues of $4 million, up from $200,000 in 2017. By November the products manufactured in the U.S. will be launched globally and be available in 32 countries throughout Europe and Asia. Persona currently has 50 employees, but with Nestle Health Science's investment, Brown says that number will grow by 150% over the next 12 months.

Of course, it's not lost on Behar that a company better known for products like Hot Pockets and Haagen-Dazs ice cream is backing a portfolio of vitamin and wellness brands that aims to make us all healthier, more energetic and better rested. But he says customers are willing to listen.

"Consumers recognize what Nestle is doing to reduce the amount of sugar and salt in its products and to reduce its packaging impact on the environment," he says. "We're moving the needle on a number of things, and consumers recognize that and trust us."

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that Nestle invested in Before Brands in September. An earlier version stated that Nestlepurchased the company.

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Food giant Nestle pivots to gain a foothold in the personal nutrition market - CNBC