The Netherlands: Black Friday, "American Consumerism on Steroids", has hit the Netherlands: what the media say

The sales mania of Black Friday is everywhere – in the high street, on the internet and in the junk emails in your mailbox.

Now the Dutch media have turned their attention to the latest American craze to hit the Netherlands.

The Volkskrant calls Black Friday ‘unescapable’ and has published a list of tips for would-be bargain hunters. ‘If you can’t beat them join them but at least don’t fall for the retail trick of imaginary discounts,’ the list states.

It also recommends checking the prices of electronic goods, at sites such as Tweakers and Hardware Info which monitor prices throughout the year. The Volkskrant’s top tip: ask yourself do I really need another blender?
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The sales mania of Black Friday is everywhere – in the high street, on the internet and in the junk emails in your mailbox. Now the Dutch media have turned their attention to the latest American craze to hit the Netherlands. The Volkskrant calls Black Friday ‘unescapable’ and has published a list of tips for would-be bargain hunters. ‘If you can’t beat them join them but at least don’t fall for the retail trick of imaginary discounts,’ the list states. It also recommends checking the prices of electronic goods, at sites such as Tweakers and Hardware Info which monitor prices throughout the year. The Volkskrant’s top tip: ask yourself do I really need another blender?

Read more at DutchNews.nl:

Black Friday has hit the Netherlands: what the media say - DutchNews.nl

Obamacare: Let’s face it… the only winners from Obamacare were the insurance companies - by Jazz Shaw

Meanwhile, as Americans are suffering from rising costs and less access to quality health care, the biggest winners from the passage of Obamacare are the insurance giants. In the aftermath of the government health care takeover, there has been an explosion of health insurance company profits, windfalls and megamergers. As “stock market darlings,” health insurance company profits have skyrocketed to all-time highs and stocks have split even thanks to the health care law.

Reports show the so-called “Big Five” health insurers – UnitedHealth, Aetna, Cigna, Humana, and Anthem – have all outperformed the broader stock market by a wide margin since Obamacare was signed into law in March 2010.

 That’s why America’s Health Insurance Plans, the industry’s main trade group, filed an amicus brief to defend the Obama administration in the recent Supreme Court case, King v. Burwell. And when the law was upheld, it was no surprise that there was a boost in health insurance company stocks.

Read more: Let’s face it… the only winners from Obamacare were the insurance companies « Hot Ai

The Netherlands: Banking Industry - ING Bank reported a sharp rise in second-quarter net profit

ING NV reported a sharp rise in second-quarter net profit, boosted by one-time gains and lower provisions for bad loans, as the Dutch bank edges closer to fully rid itself from Dutch government support.

The Netherlands' largest bank by assets on March 3 said net profit for the quarter came in at €1.07 billion ($1.43 billion), compared with €895 million in the same period last year as profit at its insurance business more than quadrupled to €245 million despite lower operational results. 
 
The insurance business benefited from revaluations on a private equity portfolio and a €79 million gain on a closed book of Japanese variable annuities.

Net profit at its banking business dropped by 1.6% to €806 million, despite a 34% drop in loan loss provisions to €405 million, which was offset by higher taxes, a payment for its contribution to the nationalization of Dutch peer SNS Reaal in 2013 and restructuring costs at its Dutch Retail bank.

EU-Digest

Airlines rake in billions in add-on fees - by Rob Lovitt

A $10 in-flight meal here, a $25 bag fee there, and pretty soon you’re talking about real money. As in $32.5 billion, which, according to a just-released analysis, is the estimated amount the global airline industry will make in ancillary revenues this year.

According to the Amadeus Worldwide Estimate of Ancillary Revenue for 2011, that’s a 43.8 percent increase over the year before.

“Half of the increase is a result of the airlines doing better year over year,” said Jay Sorensen, president of IdeaWorks, which co-authored the report. “The other half is because the airlines are clearly becoming better retailers, increasing revenues of existing activities and adding more of them.”


For more: Overhead Bin - Airlines rake in billions in add-on fees

US Economy: Jobless Claims Surge - while major US Corporations made huge profits

Jeff Bater and  Luca Dileo reporting for the Wall Street Journal say new claims for jobless benefits unexpectedly surged last week to their highest level since last summer, according to data giving another sign of the economy's struggle in creating jobs.

Separately, U.S. productivity slowed in the first quarter as the economic recovery stumbled and labor costs started to rise again.

Initial unemployment claims increased by 43,000 to a seasonally adjusted 474,000 in the week ended April 30, the Labor Department said Thursday in its weekly report.
  
The going might be tough for America's labor force, but more and more evidence, most recently the newest Fortune 500 rankings, suggests the corporations are doing just fine. 

Today, Fortune released their list of the 500 U.S. companies with the highest gross revenue in 2010. According to the results, the top revenue-earning U.S. companies recorded the third-highest increase in combined profits since the list's invention. Big companies, many of which profited from a belt tightening in the form of job cuts and productivity increases, the AP notes, also continued to leave the U.S. behind, expanding more overseas than at home.

EU-Digest