As Starbucks scrambles to regain footing in today’s cut-throat coffee war by refocusing on its roots – its coffee – it will soon be wheeling out a secret weapon. A new coffee maker called the Clover has been invented, which supposedly puts all other coffee makers to shame. The $11,000 machine allows the user to program three key brewing variables: dose, water temperature, and brew time. After the coffee steeps, a piston mechanism extracts the liquid from spent beans, resulting in a fresh cup in less than a minute.Starbucks CEO, Howard Schultz fell in love with the machine, and in…
Author: Noah Graff
Hardinge Inc. has made a significant change in management bringing in Rick Simons as CEO, a veteran of the company who had left to go to Carpenter Technology Corporation for three years before coming back ultimately to replace Pat Ervin.Hardinge stock has been on a long plunge over the last year. Simons appears to be a popular change from the old regime. Under Ervin, Hardinge focused on developing its worldwide business and had acquired prestigious Swiss brands like Kellenberger and Tschudin, but the North American machine tool business had decayed from the Haas onslaught on the less expensive end of…
The stimulus package for business will be kicking in this fall in a big way as companies and individuals figure out if they are making money for the year, and make the calculation that if Uncle Sam is giving money away they might as well catch it in their basket. The doubling of the expensing provision to $250,000 means that a small business could buy a couple of A-20 Citizens and get a fat $75,000 discount thanks to Uncle.This could be a rollicking fourth quarter for machine tool builders if they position themselves with appropriate financing packages for buyers who…
Allen-Bradley’s auction online on July 10 (see auction of the week: June 25), was a good example of the axiom that if the buyers are disinterested in a machine they will ignore it at almost any price, but if it’s something hard to find, the bidders will extend themselves even in a stinko market.The multi spindle National Acmes, though they were in nice shape and well equipped, virtually died. The 1” RAN6 machines with threading and pickoff brought from $2,500 to $6,500 plus a 16 percent buyer’s fee. The 7/16” RA6, went begging, most not even reaching the $1,000 reserve…
Today we inform you of a new, innovative, precision instrument which can help you when you’re off the job – the Rossa Monza Spider putter from Taylor Made.“Even when we purposely misfired putts, our second shots were gimmes. And when we found ourselves putting from the fringe and downhill, the Spider’s soft touch and pinpoint accuracy were the very definition of clutch,” recounts the Wired magazine’s product reviewer, Daniel Dumas. “Taylor Made claims the clubface is so well-balanced that shots hit off the toe or heel end up closer to the cup than with any of its competitors.”Dumas remarks that…
Sometimes an auctioneer obtains a deal and then gets ambushed. That appears to have happened to both Cincinnati Industrial and Great American Group of California who both ended up with Davenport deals at the same time.Cincinnati Industrial has the Southco auction, which is a collection of fastener and screw machine equipment which Southco deemed surplus as they move manufacturing to the Far East and other domestic locations. The Southco machinery is not hooked up. It is sitting in a huge warehouse near the Philly airport with cleaning equipment pushed next to the threaders and secondary equipment.The Great American deal is…
As GM’s car sales steadily decline in the U.S., its Buick brand has become one of the most coveted China. Buick recently debuted its new Invicta show car, the expected replacement for the LaCrosse model, whose purpose is to appeal to both U.S. and Chinese consumers, bridging the gap between the two markets. It features luxurious interior features valued by Chinese drivers, such as gadgets, computers and backseat roominess, but also addresses the preferences of American drivers for bold, exterior styling. It was designed in seven months, just in time for the Beijing Auto Show. Buick cars sharing many of…
The Isle of Man TT is among the oldest and famous races in motorsports. Azhar Hussain, an eco-conscious motorcycle fanatic, hopes to turn the race into what he calls the world’s first high-speed zero-emissions grand prix.If Hussain’s vision receives approval from TT organizers, TTxGP will showcase motorcycles and three-wheelers fueled by anything that doesn’t emit tailpipe pollution. They’ll race on the same 38-mile mountain course where conventional bikes hit speeds in excess of 120 mph. “This is an event where cutting-edge technology, systems and designs can be tested against the best in the world and rapidly refined and improved,” Hussain…
In the following video video TheStreet.com’s political analyst John Fout points out free trade issues which he believes both presidential candidates have flip-flopped on. He says that in the democratic primary Obama knocked NAFTA saying the country needed to “renegotiate” the agreement. After beating Hillary who had taken such a strong anti-NAFTA stance, now Obama says he supports “fair” free trade.Fout then rips McCain for touting free trade to win the Republican vote, yet afterward giving a speech in April proposing the creation of a “League of Democracies” alienating China and Russia. Fout also claims that McCain said he wants…
Today I came across a video of the Shell Eco-Marathon Americas which was held in April, 2008. The event is a competition between students from around North America (there is a different one in Europe) to create the most fuel efficient car ever. Purdue University won the prize for a solar engine vehicle reaching 2,861.8 miles per gallon. Penn State won the Fuel Cell category with a car reaching 1,668.3 miles per gallon, and Mater Dei High School claimed the first and third place trophies for the internal combustion engine category. The 5th and 6th Gen vehicles traveled 2,383.8 and…