Corb7 International November 28, 2018 Newsletter

International Business

Feature

The History of Black Friday

With Black Friday and Cyber Monday solidly in the rear-view mirror, we thought it might be enjoyable to take a look at their origins. Black Friday marks the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season. Come Black Friday, shoppers strive to get the lowest prices on gifts for their loved ones.  Much of the focus of Black Friday is on finding the best deals, but it can be interesting to take a breath and learn how this phenomenon developed and how it has evolved over the years.

“Black Friday”

The term “black Friday” was originally associated with gold prices and manipulation on the part of speculators Jay Gould and James Fisk. This scandal occurred in September 1869. Commodity prices plummeted 50 percent as a result, and the term “black Friday” was coined to refer to that drop.
The phrase “black Friday” also became famous for all the wrong reasons in 1966. Philadelphia police used it to refer to the Friday traffic jams and crowding in downtown stores from tourists and shoppers who flooded into the city in advance of the Army-Navy football game held the Saturday after Thanksgiving each year. Bigger crowds and rowdiness contributed to long hours and stressful shifts for local police.

“Black Friday reinvented”

The retail industry started using the term “Black Friday” in the late 1980s. Spin doctors turned previously negative connotations into positive ones by associating the phrase with stores turning a profit and moving accounting ledgers from “red to black” thanks to big year-end sales. Retailers and consumers rallied around low-cost “door busters” and other discounted prices.
Interestingly enough, according to the National Retail Federation, Black Friday really hasn’t been the most lucrative day for retailers over the years. In fact, greater profits and larger crowds are often seen on the last Saturday preceding Christmas.

“Shopping weekend evolves”

While Black Friday may have been the catalyst, in recent years shoppers have made the entire weekend of Black Friday a lucrative one for retailers. Many stores now open on Thanksgiving and extend sales through the entire weekend. Small Business Saturday and Sunday promote patronizing mom-and-pop stores. Cyber Monday emerged when online shopping became a popular way to grab deals, and it marks the close of the opening weekend of the holiday shopping season. In 2017, Black Friday weekend attracted 174 million shoppers who spent an average of $335.47, , according to the NRF.

International Business

International Business Tools

The Swiss Friendly Approach to Crypto Regulations!

Swiss-friendly approach on Crypto regulations

Switzerland is ranked number one of the top ten European countries for starting a blockchain company due to its friendly regulation environment and supportive startup ecosystem with world-class service providers. It is rapidly emerging as a crypto paradise, supported by its banking skills, low-tax-system, elite universities and Switzerland as brand itself, which has attracted a large variety of foreign cryptocurrency and blockchain startups. In Switzerland cryptocurrencies and exchanges are legal, and the country has adopted a remarkably progressive stance towards cryptocurrency regulations. The long-term policy regarding crypto-currencies on the part of the Swiss Financial Market Authority and its clarification of many aspects related to their business makes Switzerland one of the best places worldwide to launch an ICO.

Crypto valley in Zug

The Swiss city Zug in central Switzerland, also known as Crypto valley, is one of the most crypto-friendly cities in the world. Perfectly positioned to get the most out of the decentralized, stable and predictable Swiss political system and its unique business environment, Zug is incomparable for an uncomplicated and pragmatic implementation of business ideas with world-class infrastructure. Zug offers a solid basis for global growth due to its business-friendly philosophy and the openness and easy accessibility of its authorities with short communication channels. With its low-tax-system, pro-business environment and fantastic quality of life Zug has attracted numerous multinationals, creating an international and cosmopolitan culture with an easy access to powerful global networks.

Swiss Trust Company as perfect support for US-investors
in engaging in business activities related to Crypto

The Swiss Trust company is one of the best-known and respected vehicles in the business world. Swiss Trust companies can easily function as a holding entity and a flagship structure for any company and investment. They provide administrators with an excellent level of discretion and security and maintain a great number of types of assets, including shares, commodities, real estate properties, fixed income assets and cash. This flexibility combined with discretion, privacy and prestige makes the Swiss Trust company the perfect business vehicle for US-investors in engaging in business activities related to Crypto, such as ICO, participation and investing in ICO or crypto assets, acting as an escrow agent or fiduciary in crypt assets related transactions.

International Business

Business Psychology

Winter Sport for Your Mental Health

Health and socialization are the driving psychological forces behind the popularity of most adult recreational sports. Many people, nevertheless, spend winter huddled indoors. Winter sports enthusiasts, however, see the arrival of snow and chilly temperatures as a means to start a season of outdoor fun. Those who perceive winter as a time to embrace their love of sport may appreciate learning more about some of the sports that are most popular during the colder months of the year. Below we offer a few insights.

Ice hockey

Hockey is one of the most popular winter sports. In 1994, Parliament passed the Canada’s National Sport Act, which declared hockey the official national winter sport of Canada. The origins of ice hockey are somewhat uncertain, though some historians claim the first set of rules to govern the sport were written by students at Montreal’s McGill University in the 1870s.

Downhill (Alpine) skiing

Snow Sports Industries America indicates that, in the 2016-2017 season, more than nine million American Alpine skiers took to the slopes, and the sport continues to attract new devotees each year.

Historians state that skiing evolved as a method to cross the landscape in the winter when marshlands froze over. Cave drawings suggest that man used skis during the last Ice Age in the Palaeolithic period. However, the birth of modern downhill skiing is often traced to the 1850s when Norwegian legend Sondre Norheim popularized skis with curved sides and made skiing a sport instead of just a mode of transport. Skiing ultimately became quite popular in Russia, Finland, Sweden, and Norway. Today there are various types of downhill skiing, including mountain skiing, extreme cat skiing and heli skiing.

Curling

Curling may now be seen as a largely Canadian sport, but it is widely believed to be one of the world’s oldest team sports, tracing its origins to Great Britain. The World Curling Federation states paintings by the 16th Century Flemish artist Pieter Bruegel portrayed an activity similar to curling being played on Scotland’s frozen ponds. The earliest known curling stones came from the Scottish regions of Stirling and Perth, dating all the way back to 1511.

Ice skating

Speed skating and figure skating are derivatives of early ice skating, which is believed to have started in Finland more than 3,000 years ago. Skates were sharpened, flattened bone strapped to the bottom of a shoe and glided on top of the ice. The Dutch added edges to steel blades around the 13th or 14th centuries. Eventually, skating was brought to England from The Netherlands.

Lifestyle

Executive Fitness

Old-Superman Inspires!

Please Click Photo for Video

We are always looking for inspiration and recently came across “oldsuperman” from the site BodySpace.  Ed Cook is well into his 50s and is helping set a new standard for aging and fitness. His story is exceptionally worth a few minutes of time, and we think you will very much enjoy the video offered above.

Lifestyle

International Spirits & Cuisine

A Hot Toddy for the Common Cold!

Cold weather is here and with winter comes the inevitable – flu and cold season.  Thus, we went in search of a possible aid to fight off the unpleasant and time wasting effects of being sick. Our discovery? Well, we thought a Hot Toddy was a reasonable answer.  It might not be a complete cure, but it truly does have scientifically proven benefits.  Enjoy the video below!

Please Click Photo for Video

Lifestyle

Living & Traveling Offshore

Four Reasons to Travel More in 2019

In addition to eating healthier, exercising more and getting more sleep, many people resolve to travel more at the dawn of a new year.

Travel is much more than leaving one’s home. It’s about setting habits aside, escaping comfort zones and trying something different – and doing so in a different location.

In its latest World Tourism Barometer, the United Nations World Tourism Organization found that 1.184 billion tourists traveled outside their countries’ borders for at least one night in 2017. Europe, Asia, the Pacific, and the Americas all recorded around a 5 percent increase in international arrivals that year. Europe was particularly popular, perhaps hedged by a weaker euro against the American dollar and other currencies. The U.S. Travel Association says that direct spending by resident and international travelers in America averaged $2.7 billion a day.

Millennials may be leading the travel-enamored pack. The United Nations estimates that 20 percent of all international tourists, or nearly 200 million travelers, are young people, and that the millennial demographic generates more than $180 billion in annual tourism revenue. The U.N. also reports that millennials are more interested than older generations in traveling abroad as much as possible.

Infrequent travelers or those who have never traveled may not understand why heading to parts unknown is so appealing to so many people. The following are just a handful of reasons why travel is so enticing.

1. Engage the mind.

Staying mentally active over the course of a lifetime promotes long-term health. Navigating unfamiliar places or reading a foreign language while sitting in an international country can engage the brain and get synapses firing. The Mayo Clinic reports that higher cognitive activity endows the brain with a greater ability to fend off brain pathologist, such as disease and dementia.

2. Connect with new people.

Travel opens a person up to not only new experiences, but also new people. English poet John Donne penned the famous line, “No man is an island,” which underscores the importance of having friends and making new acquaintances. Research conducted by the University of Michigan found the act of talking with people in a friendly way can improve a person’s memory, suppress external and internal distractions, and encourage people to see things from another person’s perspective. It doesn’t hurt to broaden one’s social network, either.

3. Build confidence.

Leaving one’s comfort zone can be a great way to bolster one’s self-esteem. Navigating cultural boundaries and overcoming those boundaries may be initially intimidating, but doing so can make a person more confident and more adaptable to change.

4. Develop opinions.

Until a person visits a place in person, he or she only has third-party information to form opinions. Visiting a city or country for the first time can offer a more complete perspective.

Business Services

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