Uberpreneur
Gavin Escolar is clearly an entrepreneur for the modern age. Or, as Forbes puts it, an Uberpreneur.
Mr. Escolar is a San Francisco Uber driver who, as Forbes contributor Jon Youshaei writes, doesn’t need to moonlight because he has turned his vehicle into a “mobile showroom” for his jewellery and earns more than $250,000 (U.S.) a year.
Mr. Escolar, Forbes reports, came to San Francisco from the Philippines to launch a jewellery business. Times were tough, so he did the Uber thing.
Mr. Youshaei recently caught a ride with him and spotted, among other things, earrings on the dashboard and Mr. Escolar’s catalogue in the seat pockets. He spreads the products around as “subtle hints” to riders but, Mr. Escolar said, he doesn’t solicit.
“I have 10 minutes to make an impression,” Mr. Escolar told the journalist.
Uber doesn’t have a problem with it and Mr. Escolar has a high rating.
He also has a wide offering of jewellery, which I found as I scrolled through his website.
He has made an average $18,000 a month from the jewellery and $3,000 from driving. And he’s putting money back into the business by getting more cars and drivers.
A scene I'd love to see ...
“Maybe we should make it a protected species, too? Nah.”
Bets against loonie widen
Currency speculators are taking an ever-dimmer view of the Canadian dollar.
The latest report from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission shows net short positions growing for the sixth week in a row, to more than $4-billion.
“The position is still shy of the widest level observed for 2015 … its mid-July net short of $5.1-billion,” said strategists at Bank of Nova Scotia, noting that it’s still well short of the mid-2013 record of $7.4-billion.
Telus in rebate deal
Telus Corp. is the latest of Canada’s Big Three wireless carriers to reach a settlement with the competition watchdog over misleading advertisements for so-called premium text message services, such as quizzes and ringtones, The Globe and Mail’s Christine Dobby reports.
As part of the agreement, which the Competition Bureau announced today, Telus will pay rebates of up to $7.34-million to current and former wireless customers who were unknowingly charged extra for the text-message services.
Rogers Communications Inc. reached a deal with the Competition Bureau in March after agreeing to pay up to $5.42-million in refunds and credits.
Legal proceedings have now been discontinued against both Rogers and Telus, the bureau said, but remain outstanding against BCE and the industry association that also represents other smaller wireless carriers.
Noble Group hit
The downgrade of Asia’s Noble Group Ltd. speaks volumes about the commodities rout.
Moody’s Investors Service cut Noble to junk status, citing concerns over liquidity, negative free cash flow and weak profits.
“The downgrade also reflects the uncertainty as to whether or not these factors can be improved sustainably and materially, given our expectations of a prolonged commodity downcycle, and the consequent negative sentiment impacting Noble and commodity traders in general,” senior credit officer Joe Morrison said in a statement announcing the downgrade yesterday.
The Reuters news agency, in turn, said it has seen a letter to staff from Noble chief executive officer Yusuf Alireza defending the huge commodities trader.
But there’s much more here, analysts say.
“The issues surrounding Noble Group are for equity and credit analysts to ponder but the wider story is about the evolution of the commodity price downtrend,” Kit Juckes, the chief of foreign exchange at Société Générale, said in a research note today.
“First round effects were felt in macro indicators,” he added, citing softer capital spending, the hit to the economies of commodity-producing countries, and currency adjustments, among other things.
“Second round effects will be about how the corporate sector reacts to weaker income in the longer run (some will be more resilient than others and some will fail), while at the macro level commodity exporters’ governments will also react. It’s these second round effects of lower commodity prices that may dominate in 2016.”