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Amazon Prime Day Deals Are Almost Here. Should You Take Advantage Of Them?

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NEW YORK — It’s summer, and the deals appear easy at an era when many consumer costs are high.

Since Amazon’s inaugural Prime Day in 2015, July sales events have emerged as a seasonal revenue generator for the retailer. While customers may be lured by claimed can’t-miss bargains on some products, personal finance experts warn against falling for possibly misleading marketing or succumbing to impulse purchases.

Amazon has raised anticipation in recent weeks for its tenth Prime Day event, which will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday. This event is only open to consumers who pay $14.99 per month or $139 per year to enjoy free shipping and other benefits as Prime members.

Rival merchants have previously attempted to capitalize on the Prime Day frenzy by providing deals over two days. This year, Walmart, Target, Kohl’s, and newcomers TikTok Shop and Temu launched summer sales ahead of Amazon, seeking to steal some of the e-commerce giant’s bargain-hunting customers. Meanwhile, Macy’s will launch its “best summer deals” during an eight-day discount campaign starting on Tuesday.

Amazon Prime Day Deals Are Almost Here. Should You Take Advantage Of Them?

Why are companies offering such large summer discounts?
July sales help merchants attract customers who want to jump on back-to-school shopping, the industry’s second-most crucial shopping season after the winter holiday. The markdowns also attract discretionary spending from buyers eyeing technology, household products, and seasonal items like a bikini or a new summer dress.

According to Coresight Research’s head of global research, John Mercer, discounts can help shops battle “a summer lull in retail spending” as consumers transfer their spending to summer holidays and services, such as dining out.

“It drives a bit of excitement in that mid-year period,” when shops might otherwise struggle to generate additional money, Mercer said. He said that businesses have also used discounts to stimulate consumer spending throughout the recent time of high inflation and interest rates.

Amazon does not disclose how much revenue it generates from Prime Day, but it does provide some clues of its performance. According to the firm, last year’s event was the “single largest sales day” in its history, with buyers purchasing over 375 million things.

According to Emarketer, Amazon’s global Prime Day sales will reach $12.5 billion by 2023. The company expects sales to increase by about 7% this year.

Are the offer prices truly bargains or something else?
It depends on whoever you ask.

Retailers overstate their promos to attract customers. However, the New York Times-owned product review website Wirecutter wrote this month that most of Amazon’s early discounts this year “stink.”

Kirthi Kalyanam, a Santa Clara University management professor preparing a book about Amazon, says Prime Day deals have historically been fantastic. According to Halyanam, the company was able to secure discounts from well-known brands like Apple and persuade third-party vendors to decrease their pricing by promising to feature them prominently on the Amandon website.

However, Prime Day discounts may be less relevant as shoppers acclimate to the ultra-cheap products supplied by Amazon competitors Shein and Temu, founded in China.

“Many of (the) deals may not be as competitive compared to Temu and Shien,” said Kalyanam.

At the same time, he stated that competing stores will most certainly look at Amazon’s prices and attempt to match them overnight. Last week, he reported that Best Buy discounted two products after Amazon announced some of its early bargains.

Numerator, a consumer research company, said that most of the approximately 5,000 Prime Day buyers it surveyed following last year’s event received product discounts of up to 40%. According to survey respondents, one-quarter of items were selling at a discount of 60% or more.

Some buying gurus have claimed that previous Prime discounts were smaller than they appeared.

What are some strategies for finding bargains and sticking to a budget?
If you’re on a tight budget, personal finance experts advise you to think twice before you buy.

“Avoid the false sense of urgency of manufactured holidays,” says Mark Elliot, chief customer officer at financial services startup LendingClub. “The idea that ‘The more you spend, the more you save’ — that’s just definitionally not true.”

According to Dan Egan, a vice president at Betterment, a financial advice and investing firm, buyers should compile a list of what they need before the deals begin so that they may make conscious purchases. He advises customers to avoid purchasing late at night or out of boredom.

“Once you have a list, it’s less likely you’ll get distracted by things you don’t need,” Egan told me. “If that list contains almost nothing, I would recommend deleting the (retailers’) apps from your phone for the next week or two. Or you’ll get a lot of notifications.”

He said any consumer who already has a credit card balance should be aware that the interest spent on that balance may cancel out any perceived savings from a summer sale purchase.

“A deal is not a deal if you have to pay interest on it,” according to Egan.

While it may make sense for shoppers to try out free or temporary memberships to qualify for the best deals during the summer sales, according to Erin Witte, the Consumer Federation of America’s director of consumer protection, those programs usually charge a fee to the customer’s credit card on file after a short period of time.

Amazon Prime Day Deals Are Almost Here. Should You Take Advantage Of Them?

“Set a calendar reminder to cancel if you don’t want to proceed with that subscription,” Witte told me. Think about it from the beginning. Remember that these corporations designed this product to make it simple to sign up but more difficult to cancel.”

Consumer Reports also provides some tips: Download Amazon’s app, sign up for invite-only discounts available to a few buyers, and get in the queue for limited-time specials that have already sold out.

Remember to browse around.
Filling up an online Amazon cart appeals to Prime members because they are paying for Prime Day specials. However, comparing costs from multiple websites before buying is always a good idea.

Unlike Prime Day, Walmart’s monthly discount event was available to anyone. However, the business sweetened the bargain for Walmart+ members by giving them early access.

Target only gave discounts to Target Circle members and utilized the weeklong event to promote a new membership program aimed at increasing sales and traffic.

TikTok Shop, the e-commerce arm of the famous video-sharing app, has made its summer sales event available to everyone. The event began on July 9 and continues till Wednesday.

SOURCE | AP

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Trudeau Accelerates Bond Selloff Over Mass Spending Fears

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Trudeau accelerated a bond selloff due to expectations of faster growth and a deeper deficit

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has accelerated bond selloffs, citing fears of a larger deficit over his GST giveaway. Investors were concerned he was returning to his free-spending strategy as an election loom.

On Thursday, Trudeau unveiled a C$6.3 billion ($4.5 billion) tax relief and rebate program. It includes a two-month moratorium on federal sales tax on various commodities such as Christmas trees, wine, toys, and books and a C$250 check for almost 19 million Canadians, or over half of the population.

The declaration looked to mark the end of a brief period of fiscal restraint, as Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland committed to contain budget deficits to prevent stoking inflationary pressures.

Now that inflation has returned to the Bank of Canada’s 2% target, policymakers have reduced the benchmark interest rate by 125 basis points since June.

Trudeau’s Liberal government sees an opportunity to dig deeper into the public purse, but some analysts believe investors are keeping a careful eye on the country’s debt.

Bonds continued to fall on Thursday following the announcement, as the 10-year benchmark yield rose 7 basis points to 3.457%. After retail data showed a rise in consumer spending on Friday, it increased by up to 3.488%.

As the Trudeau government considers additional fiscal spending, concerns about Canada’s financial situation persist.

Budget Shortfall

Freeland has yet to publish final spending and income figures for the fiscal year that ended in October. Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux predicts a deficit of C$46.8 billion, much exceeding Freeland’s self-imposed aim of a C$40 billion shortfall.

Despite promises to reduce deficits, the Trudeau government continues to increase expenditure. This year’s budget includes a new capital gains tax inclusion rate to balance the cost of new housing and social initiatives.

This sparked anger from investors and entrepreneurs but allowed Freeland to present a consistent deficit despite significant spending.

The recent declaration indicates that Trudeau’s government no longer feels restrained in its capacity to use economic stimulus to restore favor.

Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives have led most surveys by roughly 20 points for over a year. They have pounded the prime minister on affordability and promised to reduce taxes, especially income taxes. An election is expected in late October 2025.

The sales tax break will run from December 14 to February 15. The left-wing New Democratic Party intends to support it but has stated that it will continue to advocate for its permanent implementation and expansion to include additional items.

Let the Bankers Worry

Following Trudeau’s announcement, traders in overnight swap markets reduced their bets that the Bank of Canada will drop interest rates by 50 basis points for the second time in December, lowering the odds to fewer than 25% by the end of Thursday. As of late Friday morning, the odds were less than 17%.

The announcement also encouraged several experts to improve their short-term projections for Canada’s GDP. Analysts at the Bank of Montreal predict that the country’s GDP will increase at a 2.5% annualized rate in the first three months of 2025, up from 1.7%.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Trudeau praised his government’s approach to program expenditure, claiming it fosters optimism and possibilities for families and the middle class.

“We’re focusing on Canadians. “Let the bankers worry about the economy,” Trudeau stated.

Related:

Canada’s Budgetary Watchdog Warns Over Trudeau’s Spending

Canada’s Budgetary Watchdog Warns Over Trudeau’s Spending

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Forced Sale Google Chrome Could Fetch $20 Billion

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Antitrust officials in the US could force the sale of Google’s Chrome browser for up to $20 billion, demonstrating the tremendous worth of the world’s most popular web browser.

Bloomberg Intelligence attributes Chrome’s projected worth to its more than 3 billion monthly active users. The US Department of Justice is preparing to request a federal judge order the browser’s separation from Google’s parent company, Alphabet.

Chrome’s worth comes from its overwhelming 61% market share and its crucial role in Google’s advertising ecosystem. User data enables businesses to better target adverts, and the browser also acts as an important distribution mechanism for Google’s AI technologies.

Industry analysts think it may be difficult to find a suitable buyer. While tech behemoths like Amazon could finance the purchase, they would likely face regulatory scrutiny.

AI businesses, such as OpenAI, may emerge as more viable contenders. They could potentially leverage Chrome to broaden their reach and develop an advertising business.

“It’s not directly monetizable,” one analyst told Bloomberg. “It functions as a gateway to other things. It’s unclear how you would assess that in terms of pure revenue generation.”

Google opposes prospective sales, claiming that they will hamper innovation. The firm does not break out Chrome’s revenue individually in its financial filings, even though the browser’s user data plays an important part in the company’s principal revenue stream, advertising.

The DOJ’s suggestion follows Judge Amit Mehta’s August decision that Google had illegally monopolized the search industry. The judge will consider the recommended remedies at a two-week hearing in April 2024, with a final judgment due in August 2025.

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Appeals Court Delays Order For Google To Open Its App Store In Antitrust Case

Appeals Court Delays Order For Google To Open Its App Store In Antitrust Case

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Bitcoin Has Set a New Record And Is Approaching $100,000.

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(VOR News) – Bitcoin broke beyond the $98,000 mark for the first time on Thursday as investors awaited Donald Trump’s second term as president. All of this happened during the day. As such, cryptocurrency has reached a significant turning point.

According to Coin Metrics, the top cryptocurrency was trading at $97,541.61 during the most recent trading session. Merchants provided this information. This suggests a price gain of more than three percent during the previous trading session.

When the period began, Bitcoin peaked at $98,367.00.

During the premarket trading session, MicroStrategy, a platform that facilitates cryptocurrency foreign exchange trading and serves as a bitcoin proxy, saw a 13% gain. Coinbase, on the other hand, had a 2% rise during that period. Furthermore, all of these increases occurred simultaneously.

The market value of Mara Holdings increased by 9%, which helped raise the valuation of mining companies overall. This was among the factors that led to the total rise.

Because of the widespread belief that President Trump will usher in a new era of prosperity for cryptocurrencies, one marked by more favorable laws and the possible creation of a national strategic bitcoin reserve, the price of Bitcoin has been rising steadily this month.

The most recent change brought about by the increase was the consequence of higher financing rates and more open interest in the futures market during Asian trading hours. The rise was the catalyst for this change. This action was prompted by the ensuing rush.

Throughout its lifespan, this legislation was the catalyst for this change for a variety of reasons. At the same time, spot market premiums decreased, according to CryptoQuant statistics. All of this happened at the same time.

Furthermore, a number of short liquidations have been sparked by the recent spikes in Bitcoin’s price, which has caused the price to rise overnight. As a result, the price has gone up much more. As a result, the total number of short liquidations has increased.

According to CoinGlass, these liquidations have effectively produced more than $88 million in capital during the last 24 hours.

Rob Ginsberg, an analyst at Wolfe Research, noted in a study released on Wednesday that “historically, following previous movements of this magnitude, Bitcoin has either entered a consolidation phase or disregarded the overbought condition as investors accumulate.” This phrase relates to the fact that this particular move has happened before.

Ginsberg stated this in reference to the evolution of Bitcoin over time.

Ginsberg’s answer makes reference to Bitcoin’s propensity to go through a period of consolidation. The comment also made reference to this.

He said, “Considering we are emerging from an extended consolidation phase and the price has reached a new high, it suggests that the pursuit is underway.”

The crucial psychological milestone of $100,000 is expected to be reached in the upcoming weeks, and this breakthrough could happen as early as Thursday. It seems likely that this level will be reached. There is a chance that this new development will take place.

This task will be carried out against the backdrop of this historical era. In addition, if Trump were to win a second term, federal budget deficits would increase, inflation would likely increase, and the dollar’s position in international affairs would change.

The administration that Trump would run during his presidency would be responsible for these consequences. All of these characteristics would positively impact the value of Bitcoin as a currency if they were taken into account in the order that they are presented.

The price of bitcoin had risen by more than 130% by the beginning of 2024.

SOUREC: CNBC

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