About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 20, 2020)
Nate McCullough | News Editor 770-718-3431 | news@gainesvilletimes.com The Times, Gainesville, Georgia Thursday, February 20, 2020 BUSINESS Huawei suit dismissed Judge rules government ban of company tech constitutional BY MAE ANDERSON Associated Press NEW YORK - A federal judge in Texas has dismissed Chinese tech giant Huawei’s lawsuit challenging a U.S. law that bars the government and its contractors from using Huawei equipment because of security concerns. The lawsuit, filed last March, sought to declare the law unconstitutional. Hua wei argued the law singled out the company for punish ment, denied it due process and amounted to a “death penalty.” But a court ruled Tuesday that the ban isn’t punitive and that the federal government has the right to take its busi ness elsewhere. Huawei, China’s first global tech brand, is at the center of U.S.-Chinese tensions over technology competition and digital spying. The company has spent years trying to put to rest accusations that it facili tates Chinese spying and that is controlled by the ruling Com munist Party. The lawsuit was filed in Plano, Texas, the headquarters of Huawei’s U.S. operations. It was dismissed before going to trial. Experts had described Huawei’s challenge as a long shot, but said the company didn’t have many other options to challenge the law. Huawei said it was disap pointed and will consider fur ther legal options. The Trump administra tion has been aggressively lobbying Western allies to avoid Huawei’s equipment for next-generation, 5G cel lular networks. Administra tion officials say Huawei can give the Chinese government backdoor access to data, allegations that the company rejects. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has also spoken out against Huawei, including during a talk with reporters in Brussels on Monday, turning U.S. opposition to Huawei into a bipartisan effort. Living the Vanltfe’ NELVIN C. CEPEDAI Associated Press Breanne Acio, left, CEO of The Vanlife App and Jessica Shisler, COO The Vanlife App, relax in Acio’s converted van after a business meeting. The two co-founded The Vanlife App, which aims to connect travelers with free camping spots and the not-so-well- known locations. Two women launch startup for boho traveler movement BY BRITTANY MEILING The San Diego Union-Tribune Two San Diego women have created an app for travelers that’s gaining a siz able following of nomadic young people living out of vans. Inspired by a social media phenom enon, Breanne Acio, a former San Diego State University lecturer, and public rela tions worker Jessica Shisler teamed up in 2018 to pave the way for the drifter move ment known online as “vanlife.” They created a mobile application, aptly called The Vanlife App, that’s just secured the two women spots in a competitive Tech- stars accelerator program for promising startups. The app currently connects long-term travelers with one another while on the road, solving the problem of loneliness that weighs on this group of individuals. The downside of a nomadic lifestyle is that you have no community, Shisler said. “You’re constantly in places you don’t know and around people you don’t know, ” Shisler said. “You’re never a local.” For those who haven’t heard of it, “vanlife” refers to a recent bohemian trend of people buying cargo vans, old ambulances, school buses and other boxy vehicles, and converting them into liv able apartments on wheels (think of it as a do-it-yourself RV). Many vanlifers are also “digital nomads” who work remotely online, such as freelance writers, soft ware developers, or content creators. With no strings tying them to specific cit ies or towns, they wander from destina tion to destination for months on end. What is “vanlife?’’The vanlife move ment began to catch fire on social media about five years ago when countless twenty-somethings shared videos and pic tures of their life on the road — catching the imagination of many aspiring travel ers. Today, a search for #vanlife on Insta- gram returns 6.6 million posts. Acio and Shisler were early partici pants in the trend. Shisler and her boy friend bought and converted a Mercedes Sprinter van in 2016, and have been trav eling periodically ever since. To this day, the van is their only residence, although they spend more time in San Diego these days thanks to Shisler’s budding business. Acio and her life partner, Lacey Mayer, live in their van — a Ford Transit — for months-long stretches while traveling, subletting their apartment in San Diego during the trips. Acio and Shisler met each other online, as they were both sharing photos and videos of their vanlife lifestyles on Ins- tagram. Each had independently risen to “influencer” status, gaining tens of thousands of followers before they ever met in real life. Today, the duo has 80,000 followers combined, and an additional 67,000 followers through The Vanlife’s social account. Sekr, the business that Acio and Shisler formed around The Vanlife App, is still in its infancy, but the entrepreneurs have a following at their heels. “We started this with community first, and it became an app later — to solve problems for the community,” Acio said. “A lot of businesses struggle with having an awesome product that they need to find users for. We have the opposite prob lem. We have the community, but the product needs to be better.” For now, the company’s app has a few main features, including allowing users to find and connect with travelers who are nearby. If they choose, users can share their locations, message each other through the app, or make arrangements to meet up in person. The app also allows users to find public parks, toilets, show ers, laundry, or propane refill sites. But the startup has plans to expand its functionality to include a whole slew of tools for campers and travelers, includ ing an easy way to find safe places to camp overnight and the ability for camp ers to know more about a campsite’s con nectedness before they arrive. Boeing finds debris in fuel tanks, orders inspections BY DOMINIC GATES The Seattle Times SEATTLE — In the latest of a string of qual ity control issues, Boeing discovered debris that mechanics left inside the wing fuel tanks of sev eral undelivered 737 Maxes during the aircraft assembly process. Boeing has ordered inspections of all the undelivered Maxes, about 400 of which are stored at various locations. Regarding the additional 385 Maxes that were delivered to customers but have been grounded for almost a year and are parked at airfields around the world, company spokesman Bernard Choi said Boeing is recommending inspections for those airplanes that have been in storage for more than a year. “It’s still undecided if we will inspect the rest” of the delivered Max fleet, he added. Mark Jenks, vice president and general man ager of the 737 program and its Renton assembly site, sent all 737 employees a message Tuesday outlining a series of actions to deal with the prob lem of what’s referred to in the aviation industry as “Foreign Object Debris,” or FOD. Boeing’s message to employees did not specify exactly what debris had been found inside the wings, saying only that “a range of Foreign Object Debris (FOD) was recently found in the fuel tanks of several 737 Max airplanes in storage.” Startup gets $20M for tracking tech BY BRITTANY MEILING The San Diego Union-Tribune Giants in technology and consumer products are funneling more cash into a small tech startup in San Diego that’s developing tiny bluetooth stick ers that can transform everyday items — like clothing, wallets, or Amazon packages — to track- able “connected” devices. The startup, called Wiliot, just raised $20 million from PepsiCo and Verizon’s venture capital arm, among several other investors. Last year, the com pany attracted the attention of tech giants Amazon and Samsung, which have also backed Wiliot. With the new cash, the startup’s executives say they’re ramping up to mass-produce their tiny bluetooth stickers, and they have customers lining up at the door. Co-headquartered in San Diego and Israel, Wil iot was founded by three former top executives at Wilocity, a chipmaker that was acquired by Qualcomm for $300 million in 2014. That industry connection transferred to the new startup, with Qualcomm Ventures jumping on board as an early investor of Wiliot. Since its inception in 2017, the startup has been designing a bluetooth chip that would be small enough to stick on anything—and cheap enough to treat as a disposable product. The size of a postage stamp, their chip has no batteries, powered instead by leftover radio signals cascading through the air. The Wiliot chip can measure temperature, loca tion and air pressure, then transmit that data back to the cloud. In theory, there are tons of applications for a cheap, disposable bluetooth sticker. For example, a restaurant bar could stick the sensors on bottles of liquor, automatically sensing when a whiskey bottle is running low and needs to be re-ordered. “We have come a long way in the last year,” said Tal Tamir, CEO of Wiliot. Stock Exchange Highlights I NYSE 14,087.13 +48.11 i Nasdaq 9,817.18 +84.44 Gainers ($2 OR MORE) Name Last Chg %Chg VirgGal un 45. ArcusBio 15. VirgnGal 37. Brookdale 8 GSX Tch n 44 QuadGrph 5. Montage rs 3 Carvana A106. Autohome 88. CheetahM 3 86 +9.84 74 +3.31 35 +7.05 39 +1.46 98 +7.12 99 +.90 93 +.55 78 +12.47 62 +9.78 75 +.39 +27.3 +26.6 +23.3 +21.1 +18.8 +17.7 +16.3 +13.2 +12.4 +11.6 Losers (S2 Name Last OR MORE) Chg %Chg BlueApr rs 3.60 Haverty 17.17 FDelMnt 29.26 HavertyA 17.74 CBL pfE 2.98 GenesisEn 15.51 AllyFincI 28.33 Knoll Inc 22.84 CBL pfD 3.24 FMajSilv g 9.32 -.77 -17.6 -3.09 -15.3 -4.75 -14.0 -2.78 -13.5 -.43 -12.6 -2.19 -12.4 -3.70 -11.6 -3.00 -11.6 -.31 -.81 -8.7 -8.0 Most Active ($1 OR MORE) Name Vol (00) Last Chg VirgnGal FordM GenElec Sprint TevaPhrm BkofAm NokiaCp Yamana g Kinross g AuroraC 832993 641917 548081 399056 302107 296065 266059 250792 237501 234575 37.35 +7.05 8.00 -.06 12.61 -.14 9.49 +.32 13.45 +1.13 34.72 +.45 4.20 -.05 4.42 +.05 5.57 +.25 1.71 +.07 Diary Advanced Declined Unchanged Total issues New Highs New Lows Volume 1,431 1,212 91 2,734 238 56 3,423,731,362 Gainers ($2 OR MORE) Name Last Chg %Chg CyclerTh 5.84 Enphase 57.22 ShotSpot 37.54 LMPAuton 14.69 LeapTher 2.90 Cemtrx pf 2.10 Tivo Cp 8.49 Xperi 18.70 AridisPh 7.57 Soligenix h 3.30 +1.80 +44.6 +17.05 +42.4 +9.22 +32.6 +3.25 +28.4 +.60 +26.1 +.43 +25.5 +1.70 +25.0 +3.68 +24.5 +1.42 +23.0 +.55 +20.0 Losers ($2 Name Last OR MORE) Chg %Chg GloryStar 2.31 Genprex 3.90 SciGames 24.10 Cortexym n 58.97 Cellectar 2.69 NSecGrp 12.54 CleanSp n 3.50 SelasLf rs 2.34 XBiotech 14.55 BroadwdE 2.07 -4.59 -66.6 -1.00 -20.4 -5.30 -18.0 ■11.91 -16.8 -.48 -15.1 -2.00 -13.8 -.54 -13.4 -.35 -13.0 -1.98 -12.0 -.28 -11.9 Most Active ($1 0R more) ' Vol (00) Last Chg Name Groupon 1545427 AMD 583440 PlugPowr h515080 FuelCell rs 444995 ViveMdrsh 366492 Enphase 352728 Microsoft 298704 Cisco 275968 Tesla Inc 252477 Apple Inc 234291 1.70 -1.35 58.90 +2.01 5.72 +.87 2.79 +.33 1.80 +.44 57.22+17.05 187.28 +.56 46.29 -.30 917.42+59.02 323.62 +4.62 Diary Advanced Declined Unchanged Total issues New Highs New Lows Volume 1,799 1,147 179 3,125 252 56 2,402,937,453 Stocks of Local Interest Name Ex Div Yld PE Last YTD Chg %Chg AFLAC 1.12 2.2 16 51.55 -.33 -2.6 IBM 6.48 4.3 16 150.86 -.24 +12.5 AT&T Inc 2.08 5.4 17 38.44 +.18 -1.6 JohnJn 3.80 2.6 25 148.94 -.20 +2.1 AbbottLab 1.44 1.6 47 89.36 +.48 +2.9 Kinross g 43 5.57 +.25 +17.5 AMD 58.90 +2.01 +28.4 Lowes 2.20 1.8 27 123.44 +.21 +3.1 Altria 3.36 7.4 14 45.14 -.08 -9.6 McDnlds 5.00 2.3 33 215.63 -.52 +9.1 Apple Inc 3.08 1.0 30 323.62 +4.62 +10.2 Merck 2.44 3.0 31 82.00 -.46 -9.8 ATMOS 2.30 1.9 22 119.60 -.97 +6.9 MicronT 7 59.99 +2.24 +11.5 AuroraC 1.71 +.07 -20.8 Microsoft 2.04 1.1 37 187.28 +.56 +18.8 AutoZone 191066.79 -7.06 -10.5 NorflkSo 3.76 1.8 22 209.17 +1.15 +7.7 AveryD 2.32 1.7 39 136.77 +.79 +4.5 OfficeDpt .10 4.0 7 2.50 +.08 -8.8 BP PLC 2.46 6.8 11 36.25 +.16 -3.9 Onconv h .54 +.04 +39.7 BkofAm .72 2.1 12 34.72 +.45 -1.4 Penney .71 -36.3 BarrickGId 2.82 10 21.00 +.42 +13.0 PepsiCo 3.82 2.6 16 145.53 -.07 +6.5 Boeing 8.22 2.4 31 338.30 -.58 +3.8 Pfizer 1.52 4.2 14 36.23 -.09 -7.5 BrMySq 1.80 2.7 22 65.71 -.36 +2.4 PhilipMor 4.68 5.3 18 87.88 +.44 +3.3 CSX 1.04 1.3 19 80.17 +.66 +10.8 PlugPowr h 5.72 +.87 +81.0 CampSp 1.40 2.9 17 47.79 -.41 -3.3 Primerica 1.60 1.2 16 135.69 +.07 +3.9 Caterpillar 4.12 3.0 12 136.86 +.28 -7.3 ProctGam 2.98 2.4 29 125.44 +.57 +.4 ChesEng 1 .48 +.04 -42.0 RegionsFn .62 3.8 12 16.43 +.12 -4.3 Chevron 5.16 4.7 15 110.74 +.50 -8.1 SiriusXM .05 .7 33 7.25 +.01 +1.4 Cisco 1.44 3.1 18 46.29 -.30 -2.8 SouthnCo 2.48 3.6 32 68.61 -.79 +7.7 Citigroup 2.04 2.6 11 78.05 +.47 -2.3 Sprint 5 9.49 +.32 +82.1 CocaCola 1.60 2.7 36 59.77 +.24 +8.0 SynovusFn 1.20 3.3 10 36.13 +.38 -7.8 ConAgra .85 2.9 20 29.80 -.88 -13.0 Tesla Inc 917.42+59.02 +119.3 Cummins 5.24 3.1 47 167.84 +1.78 -6.2 3M Co 5.88 3.7 22 159.34 +.46 -9.7 Disney 1.76 1.2 19 141.30 +2.16 -2.3 ToughBIt .16 +.01 -20.5 Dupont rs 1.20 2.2 6 53.50 +.06 -16.7 TruistFn 1.80 3.3 14 54.61 +.60 -3.0 Enphase 57.22+17.05 +119.0 Tyson 1.68 2.2 14 77.83 -2.32 -14.5 Equifax 1.56 1.0 28 161.88 +2.25 +15.5 Uber Tch n 41.05 +.87 +38.0 ExxonMbl 3.48 5.8 14 60.34 +.46 -13.5 UtdCmBks .72 2.5 17 28.64 +.25 -7.3 FordM .60 7.5 6 8.00 -.06 -14.0 UPS B 4.04 3.8 18 106.76 +.34 -8.8 FuelCell rs 2.79 +.33 +11.2 VerizonCm 2.46 4.2 15 58.22 +.31 -5.2 GenElec .04 .3 12.61 -.14 +13.0 VirgnGal 37.35 +7.05 +223.4 GenuPrt 3.05 3.1 18 99.35 +2.59 -6.5 ViveMd rsh 1.80 +.44 +42.9 GlbeLife .69 .6 9 110.57 +.24 +5.2 Vodafone .96 4.8 20.04 -.16 +3.7 Groupon 1.70 -1.35 -28.9 WalMart 2.16 1.8 68 117.68 -1.95 -1.0 HP Inc .70 3.1 7 22.43 +.19 +9.1 WeisMk 1.24 3.3 9 37.22 -.39 -8.1 Haverty .80 4.7 18 17.17 -3.09 -14.8 WellsFargo 2.04 4.3 10 47.09 +.10 -12.5 Hershey 3.09 1.9 35 160.49 +.43 +9.2 Yamana g .05 1.1 4.42 +.05 +11.9 HomeDp 5.44 2.2 25 243.64 -.30 +11.6 YumBrnds 1.88 1.8 38 105.19 +1.16 +4.4 Intel 1.32 2.0 23 67.11 +.97 +12.1 Zomedica .24 +.11 -27.5 Name Ex Div Yld PE Last YTD Chg %Chg Stock Footnotes: g = Dividends and earnings in Canadian dollars, h = Does not meet continued-listing standards. If = Late filing with SEC. n = New in past 52 weeks, pf = Preferred, rs = Stock has undergone a reverse stock split of at least 50 percent within the past year, rt = Right to buy security at a specified price, s = Stock has split by at least 20 percent within the last year, un = Units, vj = In bankruptcy or receivership, wd = When distributed, wi = When issued, wt = Warrants. Fund Footnotes: m - Multiple fees are charged, usually a marketing fee and either a sales or redemption fee. Source: The Associated Press. Sales figures are unofficial. Stock Market Indexes Dow Jones industrials Close: 29,348.03 Change: 115.84 (0.4%) 29,600 29,280* 28,960 10 DAYS A S O N D J F 52-Week Net YTD 12-mo High Low Name Last Chg %Chg %Chg %Chg 29,568.57 24,680.57 Dow Industrials 29,348.03 +115.84 +.40 +2.84 +13.08 11,359.49 9,676.06 Dow Transportation 10,943.24 +77.66 +.71 +.38 +2.97 963.80 736.58 Dow Utilities 950.01 -10.88 -1.13 +8.06 +27.36 14,183.26 12,238.40 NYSE Composite 14,087.13 +48.11 +.34 +1.25 +11.15 9,748.32 7,292.21 Nasdaq Composite 9,817.18 +84.44 +.87 +9.41 +31.09 1,518.94 1,199.74 S&P 100 1,518.94 +7.82 +.52 +5.32 +24.33 3,385.09 2,722.27 S&P 500 3,386.15 +15.86 +.47 +4.81 +21.60 2,106.30 1,802.58 S&P MidCap 2,098.57 +9.38 +.45 +1.72 +9.01 34,474.00 28,107.06 Wilshire 5000 34,533.94 +170.77 +.50 +5.01 +19.47 1,715.08 1,450.32 Russell 2000 1,692.57 +9.05 +.54 +1.44 +7.01 Mutual Funds Name Total Assets Obj (SMIns) NAV Total Return/Rank 4-wk 12-mo 5-year Pet Load Min Init Invt Vanguard 500ldxAdmrl LB 319,196 313.28 +1.9 +24.2/A +12.3/A NL 3,000 Vanguard TtlSMIdxAdmrl LB 251,491 83.79 +2.0+22.7/C +11.8/B NL 3,000 Fidelity 500ldxlnsPrm LB 236,283 117.71 +1.9 +24.2/A +12.3/A NL 0 Vanguard TtlSMIdxIns LB 154,922 83.81 +2.0+22.7/C +11.8/A NL 5,000,000 Vanguard TtlnSIdxInv FB 153,621 17.76 -2.3+11.2/C +4.7/B NL 0 Vanguard TtlSMIdxInv LB 139,212 83.76 +1.9+22.6/C +11.7/B NL 3,000 Vanguard InsIdxInsPlus LB 125,310 304.99 +1.9 +24.3/A +12.3/A NL 100,000,000 Vanguard TtlnSIdxInsPlus FB 120,120 118.83 -2.2+11.3/C +4.8/B NL 100,000,000 Vanguard Insldxlns LB 114,787 304.96 +1.9 +24.2/A +12.3/A NL 5,000,000 Vanguard TtBMIdxAdmrl Cl 110,568 11.25 +1.6 +9.7/B +3.3/B NL 3,000 Fidelity Contrafund LG 98,204 14.87 +4.0+27.1/C +14.3/B NL 0 Vanguard WlngtnAdmrl MA 95,354 76.97 +0.8+17.9/A +9.0/A NL 50,000 Cl -Intermediate-Term Bond, FB -Foreign Large Blend, IH -World Allocation, LB -Large Blend, LG -Large Growth, LV -Large Value, MA-Moderate Allocation, WS -World Stock, Total Return: Chng in NAV with dividends reinvest ed. Rank: How fund performed vs. others with same objective: A is in top 20%, E in bottom 20%. Min Init Invt: Minimum $ needed to invest in fund. Source: Morningstar.
