8 years ago, Coors (an American-based beer company) bought the Quebec-based Molson brand for $4 Billion resulting in the merger company being called Molson-Coors. Recently, the brand was valued at $2.9 billion (a whooping $1.1 billion below the initial purchase price), although some analysts believe the high $4 billion was due to premiums being paid as the company was based in Canada. In its recent earnings report, Molson-Coors stated that the Molson brand may have been overvalued by some and “was close to failing a test that would require the company to write down its value.”

In commercials, Molson targets Canadians priding itself in being different and how it is patriotic to be drinking a beer which is made in our own “backyard.”

Fun Facts:

– Molson-Coors is the seventh largest brewer in the world.

– “One in every hundred jobs in Canada is directly or indirectly related to the beer business”

– For every dollar spent on beer by Canadian households, “$1.12 is generated in the economy”

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/11/14/molson-coors-risk_n_4276544.html

Sony released its long awaited successor to the Playstation 3 on Friday, November 15th to the US and Canada, while the console will launch in Europe and Latin America on November 29, 2013. Just in its first 24 hours of becoming available to the public Sony reported selling over a million consoles, with it expecting to 5 million console sales by the end of March (end of its fiscal year). The console will compete against the likes of heavyweights such as the Microsoft Xbox One and the Nintendo Wii-U.

Being Sony’s newest console in seven years it was certainly anticipated as many had chosen to ensure they got the console on release by being able to limitlessly pre-order, an option which wasn’t available at the predecessor PlayStation 3’s launch resulting in consumers having to wait numerous weeks in order to get their hands on the console. Along with the next generation PlayStation 4 comes the newly revamped PlayStation Store (an online-based store for all Sony gaming needs) which allows greater ease of use. Judging from its opening sales, it seems quite possible that Sony will be able to reach its target 5 million sold units by the end of March.

http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/17/5113704/sony-playstation-4-1-million-sales

Last month when Apple released its much anticipated iOS 7 and its fresh new batch of iPhones, it decided to take a different approach in order to sell to the average market. Historically, Apple had only sold one version of the same phones ever since it began the iPhone era, but due to customers demanding cheaper phones and choosing Android over Apple due to the vast phone choices Android offered, Apple decided to introduce two new phones in its yearly batch: the 5S (expensive) and 5C (a bit cheaper).

Apple had high expectations for the 5C, marketing it as the phone for the average consumers wanting to get the Apple experience. However, Apple made a huge mistake by overvaluing the 5C and its demand, which led to expectation problems. The 5C did not impress, where as its counterpart, the iPhone 5S, continues to show its dominance. It was reported that Apple has shut down production of the iPhone 5C at a Foxconn factory in Northern China, and plans to instead use the factory to produce the dazzling 5S’.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-iphone-5c-orders-switched-to-5s-at-foxconn-2013-11#ixzz2l0hDrZ6H

The Chinese government known for implementing its infamous one child policy which limits urban couples to only have one child, and rural couples to be only limited to two children, has loosened up a few factors to allow more births in order to promote “long-term balanced development of the population in China.” Prior to the reform which occurred during the 18th CPC Central Committee’s Third Plenary Session last week, urban couples were only able to conceive a second child if both the parents themselves had been the only child of their families. The new reform allows couples to be able to have 2 children as long as one of the parents was an only child. This change will have rippling effects for the future as China continues to emerge as a superpower country which is responsible for a huge amount of the worlds’ manufacturing.

Some changes are already in affect as the world now adjusts to China’s newest rule change, as seen in the picture above, public Chinese dairy companies’ stocks are on the rise as they will now be serving to a greater audience.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/china-announces-change-to-one-child-policy-2013-11#ixzz2l0MxdjYH

http://www.businessinsider.com/china-dairy-stocks-rise-after-change-to-one-child-policy-2013-11

Taxes are put in place by the government, to allow them to fairly charge people in order for governmental projects and infrastructure upgrades. For corporate giants, who are trying to maximize their annual profits, taxes are just another added cost which gets subtracted from the company’s gross income. So in order to maximize many companies and individuals rely on ‘offshore accounts’: these accounts are located in banks of different countries which have low or no tax jurisdictions. For anyone trying to save money, it would make sense to dump your earnings into these tax-free accounts, while abiding to the law and not committing any financial fraud.

Apple CEO Tim Cook at Senate Hearing

As was the case for Apple, who successfully avoided paying tax on $74 billion through the use of off-shore entities as reported by The Economist.  Consequently, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook had a hearing with the Senate discussing how Apple utilized loopholes to avoid paying taxes. What Apple did was completely legal yet it makes the average person question the companies ethical values. Realistically as long as tax havens are still around, companies and individuals are going to rely on such practices to maximize efficiency and profit.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/schumpeter/2013/05/apples-tax-arrangements