Fed Is Hostage To The Rest Of The World - Mohamed El-Erian - 28 Jan 16 ...

We are living in the midst of massive changes -just wanted dear readers here in the new urban DTMesa to hear about conditions that are "unusually uncertain"

City of Mesa Open Data > In The Hands of A Leadership Board

Back on 05 Nov 2015 , three months after the announcement that Mesa is now a WhatWorksCities, there's been little information or data forthcoming out of the inner workings inside City Hall, except for this tweet from City Manager Chris Brady who recently celebrated ten years on the job:
Open Data Leadership Board appointed to lead open data in Mesa!
https://twitter.com/mesacitymanager

Readers will note the repeated words and phrases "open data", "leadership", "lead" and "open data'. 

The image to the right is an upload of the Twitter announcement - can anyone read it ?

What and where is this this open data portal that the City of Mesa will be creating ?

Time has moved ahead - it's now almost three months more on anybody's clock - any open data portal that we can open to find data?
What have appointed members of "The Open Data Leadership Board" been doing for the last six months? Mebbe looking for data . . .

Quite fortunately there are other available on-demand sources for open data about the City of Mesa. For example : http://www.city-data.com/income/income-Mesa-Arizona.html 
Mesa, Arizona (AZ) profile: population, maps, real estate, averages, homes, statistics, relocation, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, moving, houses, ... with income maps of neighborhoods, earnings and wage data from 2000-2013.





Here's an infographic for race distribution if you are interested in finding out:

 

Or open data about home sales

Or crime rates

Top 20 Cities by Total Venture Capital Investment (in $USD) ::)

Just a list from a friend in Toronto:

The Martin Prosperity Institute here in Toronto recently published a new report that looks at worldwide venture capital investment by city. The report is called Rise of the Global Startup City.
The data is from 2012, because that’s what was available from Thomson Reuters, so keep in mind that there might be some variation in the rankings if we were to look at more recent data. Nonetheless, here are a few of the broader takeaways (from the report page). Phoenix ranks at #19. San Francisco is #1
The United States accounts for nearly 70 percent (68.6 percent) of total global venture capital, followed by Asia (14.4 percent) and Europe (13.5 percent).”

Encore On First West : Another Vertical Rise for Housing Options in The New Urban DTMesa









Building up/construction in-progress

New construction [see image at left] is moving forward on the second parcel of land on First Avenue near Macdonald Street on what were once vacant city-owned lots that are filling in and building up the housing base downtown.
This ongoing 44-unit construction project is a good example of form-based zoning, an urban infill project on long-vacant City-owned property, transit-oriented development and public-private partnerships creating new urban downtown areas in Arizona.
It will soon join Encore On First, the recipient of a 2014 Real Estate Design Award, in the new urban landscape half-a-block close to the Mesa Arts Center, one city block from the Valley Metro Central Mesa Extension Light Rail station at Center/Main Street and the central business, retail and arts-and-entertainment district in The New urban DTMesa. 

Developers Charles Huellmantel and Todd Marshall are in the forefront of the increasing momentum for building up urban regeneration here by providing attractive housing options in urban in-fill that have set a new standard by their success in these two buildings that can lead to future development in the surrounding area propelled by public-private partnerships
The First Avenue Improvement Project from Country Club Drive past Mesa Drive has been underway by the City of Mesa for more than two years.
The lot you see in the foreground at the SE intersection with Macdonald Street may be the next site for  further development since the option with the City of Mesa for the proposed Goldwater Library expired in December.        
Leasing applications in the new building are now being accepted for occupancy beginning in April-May.
Qualifications and other criteria may apply.
For information please call the property management office @ Encore On First 480.834.4547.
[You can tell them you got that information here]

According to an AZBigMedia report, "Encore on First is one of downtown Mesa’s first private sector investments in nearly three decades. It is an 81-unit, transit-oriented apartment community for independent seniors who desire a walkable lifestyle.
The site is all about location, which is benefited by several civic amenities ...
The building mixes the urban landscape setting with metal wall panels, colored glass landscape panels and white steel elements with a more tranquil rural look with extensive plantings of trees and landscaping, a pocket park and reflecting pool with fountains. The building is built to attract residents and to catalyze future developments on the building and the surrounding area . . . sustainable resources include a 60 KW solar plant located on the roof that provides more than 50% of the renewable energy for public areas in the building that is tied into the City of Mesa’s downtown power grid, electric vehicle charging stations, LED lighting and high-performance windows and appliances."

Todd Marshall, the president of Urban Development Partners, says the company was founded with a passion for infill development and the belief that urban redevelopment is both an opportunity and a responsibility to create a diverse and sustainable community.

[Image credit: architectmagazine.com]



Last Call for EDC-4 Innovation Ideas!

Send Us Your Innovation Ideas Today!

January 31 is the deadline to respond to the Federal Highway Administration request for information with your ideas on technologies and practices to deploy in the fourth round of Every Day Counts

 

The Federal Register 

Every Day Counts Initiative; Request for Information

https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2015/12/10/2015-31112/every-day-counts-initiative-request-for-information 

is your opportunity to help identify proven, market-ready innovations to accelerate project delivery, enhance highway safety, cut traffic congestion and improve environmental sustainability. Your ideas could be included in the roster of EDC-4 innovations that transportation stakeholders will collaborate to implement in 2017 and 2018. 

In addition to offering suggestions, you can provide feedback on your experience using 15 “innovations of interest” listed in the request for information.

“Our partnership with state, local and tribal governments as well as the private sector is producing impressive results,” said FHWA Administrator Gregory Nadeau. “Today, our goal is a simple one: to find practices and technologies that complement the innovations that have been supported through EDC and are now being implemented across the country.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

ViaSat Gets a Big Boost from Boeing Apache AH-64E Helos

Image from ViaSat

Apache AH-64E Guardian Helicopters to Include the ViaSat Link 16 Small Tactical Terminal in Production Aircraft
Headline news story from Aerospace & Defense News
The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) has awarded ViaSat Inc. (Nasdaq: VSAT), a global broadband services and technology company, a contract for the production of approximately 90 Link 16 Small Tactical Terminals (STT) for the Lots 5 and 6 of the AH-64E Apache Guardian Attack Helicopter production line.  That news lifted ViaSat's stock by 2.5% in this morning's market activities.

The AH-64 Apache is the world's most advanced multi-role combat helicopter and is used by the U.S. Army and a growing number of international defense forces. Specifically, this STT full-rate production contract will cover Apache helicopters for the next two years.
In addition, the STT has been selected by the U.S. Government as the long-term radio solution for Link 16 and Soldier Radio Waveform (SRW) capability for AH-64E Apache helicopters. The commitment to the STT was made in recognition of the terminal's capability to meet the ongoing needs of today's warfighter while saving the U.S. government nearly $250M over the life of the program.

ViaSat has 14 locations in the U.S. and 6 worldwide - 2 in Australia, and one in China, India, Switzerland and the UK

Gilbert, AZ (Advanced Microwave Products)

This location includes development of custom RF systems, advanced microwave products (formerly US Monolithics), and information assurance technologies. Also known as the "high tech oasis of the silicon desert," Gilbert is located southeast of Phoenix in close proximity to the lively, upbeat town of Tempe and the world-famous upscale resort area of Scottsdale. With a solid workforce and an ever-expanding family-based community, the Phoenix metro area has arts, entertainment, all major league sports, and a growing electronics industry that continues to flourish.

- See more at: https://www.viasat.com/ 
Other divisions include:

Veterans in Rural Areas Get Connected to VA Services with New Tele Mental Health Service - See more at: https://www.viasat.com/news/veterans-rural-areas-get-connected-va-services-new-tele-mental-health-service#sthash.AMApQsK0.dpuf

Data in Transit Encryption for Enterprises Efficient Protection for High-Volume Content Distribution Encryption is an essential step in keeping your sensitive data safe, especially as it traverses the world from building-to-building and data center-to-data center. With ViaSat’s line of high-speed encryption appliances and virtual network functions (VNF), you get trusted high-performing protection with near-zero latency, ensuring your important voice, video, and data is securely and quickly delivered wherever it needs to go. ViaSat is the 1st to introduce true 100 Gbps Ethernet encryption! Available today, our SEC-1170 single-port high-speed appliance also delivers the industry’s lowest latency, 3x less than competing Layer 2 or 3 encryption. ViaSat encryption is accredited and used by enterprises, educational institutes, governments, and militaries worldwide. Our SEC family of products are part of a controlled supply chain and manufactured in the United States. - See more at: https://www.viasat.com/products/data-in-transit-encryption-for-enterprises#sthash.tvDg6tsz.dpuf

One Generation's Take > Downtown is Your Playground Music Video [paid for by _______ ]

Adding to the attraction of the new urban DTMesa for that targeted sector > took over a month to get it filmed here but the 3:00+ minute result is well worth the time and expense >>>> da da da downtown!
BTW in spending a lot of time in the pedestrian walkways at Mesa Arts Center, bicycle riding is not exactly permitted with security guards keeping a close watch on infractions - maybe they gave permission for the purposes of this filming but that's not the usual policy.

Back on Nov 6, 2015 yours truly had the pleasure to see a small film crew-in action here in Mesa [they were all over the streets of Manhattan] getting some production work done for this video filming on the outdoor front stage at Mesa Arts Center with the two featured actors in this video.
Just goes to show that there are usually more people behind-the-scenes - sound, digital and video technicians, stylists and coordinators - than what you see in the final editing before release to the public. In the image to the right you can see part of both on-air talent and an off-air video crew holding a light reflector panel.

In this close-up enlarged image to the left you can see the cool moves and smooth energy and the enjoyment that the two actors project for what can be repeated takes to the get things right for the producer.

It was a pleasure to meet and talk with Laree Johnson, the media development coordinator for Owens Harkey Advertising: A traditional agency -"that kills it" in the digital space".

Nice to see the finished product and results getting released!

Economic Momentum ?? = Sputtering > Data Tells The Story Re/ U.S. GDP Growth

The U.S. economy barely grew Q4 2015 finishing the year like it had started and stoking concern about its momentum in 2016 . . . Little more than a month ago, some cheer-leading economists thought growth was running at more than twice that pace, but data shows it's hardly above zero at 0.7%. . . expectations for the coming quarters have been drifting lower as weaker data for the fourth quarter of 2015 has accumulated.

That's the report from the Commerce Department today. The Wall Street Journal said it is  "a sign of flagging momentum amid global weakness and financial market turmoil."

The latest reading concludes another year of steady [?], but unspectacular, growth.
For all of 2015, GDP expanded 2.4%, the same as 2014 and roughly in line with the 2.1% average since 2010, the first full year after the recession.
 

What is less clear [the image to the left of DJIA from FRED might help you see the dip in a possible deep dive]  is whether the fourth quarter was another dip that will be followed by a rebound—as has happened several times since the recession ended in mid-2009—or whether it signals a more persistent sputtering.
It is "unusually uncertain" to borrow a phrase from former Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke. Get your life-jackets ready!.

National Income and Product Accounts
Gross Domestic Product: Fourth Quarter and Annual 2015 (Advance Estimate)

EMBARGOED UNTIL RELEASE AT 8:30 A.M. EST, Friday, January 29, 2016 BEA 16—04

The Bureau emphasized that the fourth-quarter advance estimate released today is based on source data that are incomplete or subject to further revision --- readers will note by looking at the image to the left that 2nd revisions of quarterly GDP estimates [next one due Feb 26, 2016] are lower . . . how much lower than 0.7% can you go?

Here's what the regular "slices of the pie" look likeThe deceleration in real GDP in the fourth quarter primarily reflected a deceleration in PCE and downturns in nonresidential fixed investment, in exports, and in state and local government spending that were partly offset by a smaller decrease in private inventory investment, a deceleration in imports, and an acceleration in federal government spending.

There's a navigation bar at the right side of the news release text for links to data tables,
contact personnel and their telephone numbers, and supplementary materials.

http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/gdp/gdpnewsrelease.htm

Take a look at the image to the right from 2014 to gauge the relative performance of metropolitan areas with overall data.
 

• 
  
• 
  

Voodoo Doughnut from Portlandia : Baked Goods = Commentary on Contemporary Culture?

Voodoo Doughnut’s co-owner Kenneth Pogson said the Bundy-themed baked good had been his idea.
“We're trying to avoid politics,” he told The Oregonian, “but this whole thing seemed like such a big deal -- with them taking public property, armed to the teeth, making a stand that they thought everyone would join. It was a debacle that was on everyone's mind, left or right.”
He added that the doughnut had been created as “more of a commentary on contemporary culture and the so-called patriot movement giving Oregon a bad name” than as a jibe to the militants themselves.
There was also no intention, he said, of diminishing the death of Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, a spokesperson for the militants who died during a confrontation with law enforcement on Tuesday.
See and Read more >> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ammon-bundy-donut-voodoo-doughnut_us_56aafc9ae4b0010e80e9986d

Homeless > Much More To Do // Coalition > Events > Alliances > Action

The City of Mesa doesn't have to "re-invent the wheel" to deal with the homeless with the focus here recently when Mayor Giles was selected to pair-up and co-chair with Mayor Landrieu of New Orleans the National Mayors Conference Homeless Committee.While it might seen like an unlikely pairing of two cities with very different politics and demographics, keep an eye out how that diversity might produce innovative new strategies for the national agenda. Report is due out this Winter.

Right here at home next to City Council Chambers and less than a 100 yards from City Hall your MesaZona blogger took the time to notice this homeless person with a low profile. It is time we take notice - however overdue that may be.
Two other images of the homeless have been featured in posts on this blogsite as well as a previous post on Keeping The Promise [to vets] back on 02 Sept 2015.
Fortunately the high interest in vet issues for homelessness, healthcare, supportive services, and job training apply across the whole spectrum with women and children included.

City Manager Chris Brady and City Councilmember Chris Glover were on the local airwaves on December 29, 2015 in a 27:00 production by city-owned Mesa Channel 11 about the city's initiatives to end veteran homelessness that you can watch right here

  

It's only been viewed 171 times with 1 Like . . . it is featured here on this post for your 411.

 

Yesterday and today this event is taking place in Phoenix

The Arizona StandDown is an alliance of community-based organizations that come together to provide annual, one to three day events that bring together the State's homeless and at-risk military veterans, connecting them with services ranging  from  VA Mental  Health Services, Clothing, Meals, Emergency Shelter, Transitional and Permanent Housing, ID/ Drivers License's, Court Services and Legal Aide, Showers and Haircuts and myriad other services and resources.  Arizona StandDowns are held at various locations throughout the State with the largest, serving approximately 1,500 veterans, at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum at the Arizona State Fairgrounds in Maricopa County.

While its primary goal is helping homeless veterans access the resources needed, including housing, to regain their highest level of independence; its secondary goal is to bring our community and service providers together in a collaborative format that can build relationships throughout the year that positively benefit homeless veterans.  Ultimately, it is our hope that such events can bring forth the awareness, political/community will and consistent data necessary to assert the on-going resources it will take to end veteran homelessness once and for all.

http://www.arizonastanddown.org/

 

The Arizona Coalition to End Homelessness seeks the end of homelessness in Arizona, and will lead in this effort through advocacy, education and coordination with local communities.

Please help us in our mission by learning more about this issue through information on this site.  You'll find overview information about homelessness, solutions, and opportunities to help and donate as AZCEH is recognized as a charitable tax credit organization.

You can also learn about innovative community collaborations under our Special Initiatives section.

http://www.azceh.org/

 

 

 

Find-Out > Royal Neighbors Of America $200 Grants

Royal Neighbors of America Launches Difference Maker Fund

/EIN News/ -- MESA, Ariz., Jan. 28, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- It pays to be good. Royal Neighbors of America, one of the oldest, women-led life insurers in the U.S., announced the launch of its Difference Maker Fund, a new program that offers Royal Neighbors members* $200 in seed money to support a community project that aligns with the life insurer's mission

Dear readers, please note that fhis post is a near-straight feed from a newswire with some comments about how the recipients will be selected and judged. The offer comes from from an all-women professional group selling life insurance with a social cause tie-in.

Every February the life insurance industry has a campaign called Insure Your Love

Royal Neighbors is reaching out to members who have a vision to help their community and a crew of family along with friends who want to help make it happen. Our new program, the Difference Maker Fund, offers members $200 of seed money to support a community project that aligns with Royal Neighbors’ mission.

 

The focus is to improve the community and cover at least one of the following purposes:

• Support a charitable cause that specifically helps women and/or girls
• Support women who organize and complete community service projects
• Provide financial literacy opportunities for women, girls, or other community groups

General Guidelines:
Projects can be a fund-raiser, service activity, or educational event. All Royal Neighbors members are eligible to apply for one grant per year. Members are encouraged to form volunteer teams of friends, family, and people in their community to help with the project. Team members do not have to be Royal Neighbors members to participate. Only 60 grants will be awarded each quarter so apply soon!

Funds are limited to seed money to get new projects started. Grants will be awarded at the sole discretion of Royal Neighbors of America and a post-event report is required. Funds cannot be used as a direct monetary contribution (re-grant), nor can multiple members apply to receive grants for the same project or event.
An Added Bonus!
Be sure to complete a post-even report! Those projects with submitted reports and the highest number of “likes” and “shares” on the Royal Neighbors' Facebook page will win a $500 prize  towards the charitable organization helped by that project.
All remaining projects with qualified final reports will be entered into a drawing for a second $500 prize, also to be awarded to the cause served by the project.
Don’t wait. Act now
http://www.royalneighbors.org/community-connections/difference-maker-fund

Sunset Galaxy Mural > Time-Lapse + Fast-Forward

Really like this artist Jesse Perry's moves, creativity and energy!
He was featured in another post here some time ago doing one of the four Retro-Eccentric Neon-Inspired Murals on the west side of what used to be The O.S. Stanley Company.
Word on the street [yours truly talked with Jesse outside of Desert Eagle Brewery on Friday] is that he might be doing another work in the New Urban DTMesa . . . stay tuned

Mesa 11 Live Stream City Council Study Session Mon 25 Jan 2016

2 Police Officer-Involved Shooting Incidents in Mesa Attract Media Attention

[Lessons in Transparency??  See previous post here on 26 Jan, two days ago] Included there is this statement from one of two open data crime map resources
The open release of datasets like CAD/RMS, use of force, arrests, officer involved shootings, and complaints give the community an ‘inside’ look of day-to-day events within an agency.
This type of transparency introduces a constructive line of communication between the community and police agencies. Problems and red flags can be identified quickly and collaboratively.

• Cities like Seattle, DC, LA, and Portland have been releasing these kinds of datasets for years.
• Albuquerque, Detroit, and New Orleans recently began releasing this data.
• Baltimore added arrest and calls for service datasets to their open data portal around the time of the Freddie Gray protests.
• NYPD recently announced the new public version of CompStat (they’re calling it CompStat 2). 

Two recent incidents, one involving a pellet gun has been the subject of 91 articles, and another one about a notice of claim filed against the Mesa Policepartment two days ago has been the subject of at least 14 articles.

We all know that that there have been repercussions from mostly racial-based episodes in Missouri, South Carolina and Chicago based on how police departments and cities have tried to handle the news - not releasing real-time videos, conflicting witness and officer reports, and withholding the names of police officers involved. In one more shocking incident here last week of child abuse and sex trafficking [that's b een the focus of 194 articles] the Mesa Police Department took to the airwaves right away with full disclosure of the crime and their fast actions and response.

One of the officer-involved shootings that's resulted in a noticed of claim for a possible lawsuit was reported yesterday in the East Valley Tribune by Shelley Ridenour.  The family of man shot and killed by Mesa police last month has filed a claim against the city, the police department, the police chief and the two involved officers.Chandler attorney Troy Hendrickson filed the notice of claim on Monday, for the “wrongful death” of Ivan Krstic.

The report goes on to state:

• Three phone calls and two emails to the city of Mesa seeking comment for this story were not returned to the East Valley Tribune.
• No information about the incident is on the police department’s crime log.

The city has 60 days from the day the notice was served to respond to the claim. If it doesn’t respond in that time, a civil lawsuit may be filed against the city, Hendrickson said.

Hendrickson said the claim identifies Police Chief John Meza, but the two involved officers are referred to as unnamed officers . . .

He said the city has refused to release the names of the officers who were involved in Krstic’s death, despite repeated requests for that information.

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/arizona/article_f5a2ffaa-c52e-11e5-8cda-3734663089a1.html

Do You Know What Time It Is??



The Doomsday Clock is an internationally recognized design that conveys how close we are to destroying our civilization with dangerous technologies of our own making. First and foremost among these are nuclear weapons, but the dangers include climate-changing technologies, emerging biotechnologies, and cybertechnology that could inflict irrevocable harm, whether by intention, miscalculation, or by accident, to our way of life and to the planet, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists said Tuesday.

- See more at: http://thebulletin.org/overview#sthash.KioBn99r.dpuf

"It remains the closest it has been over the past 20 years," said Rachel Bronson, executive director of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, during a press conference in the US capital.
Global warming, terrorism, nuclear tensions between the United States and Russia, concerns over North Korean weapons, tensions between Pakistan and India, and cyber threats remain destabilizing influences, said Lawrence Krauss, a cosmologist and professor at Arizona State University.

Doomsday Dashboard
SOME OF WHAT WE CONSIDER, WHEN WE SET THE DOOMSDAY CLOCK
http://thebulletin.org/doomsday-dashboard

Phoenix Light Rail Extensions Accelerate with Implementation of T2050

People in Mesa can imagine more than this focus in a newsflash from Valley Metro five minutes ago, but take a look at the extension plans in the works to extend light rail service.

Just imagine, by 2023, you will be able to board Valley Metro Rail from Baseline Road, travel to a concert at Talking Stick Resort Arena in downtown Phoenix and complete the evening in north Phoenix at destinations around Metrocenter Mall. A major north-south rail connection will be in service sooner as Phoenix takes its first official steps to implement Transportation 2050 (T2050), a 35-year, multi-modal transportation plan approved by Phoenix voters in August 2015.
Yesterday the Phoenix City Council approved accelerating segments of the future high-capacity/light rail transit system to advance into the Regional Transportation Plan. These changes will be forwarded to the Valley Metro Boards of Directors and the Maricopa Association of Governments Regional Council for additional discussion and final adoption into the plan this summer.

Valley Metro provides eco-friendly public transit options to residents of greater Phoenix and Maricopa County including the planning and operations of a regional bus system and the development and operations of 23 miles of light rail. In Fiscal Year 2015, total ridership for the system was 71 million passengers. Six light rail extensions are planned or are under construction that will create a 66-mile system by 2034. Valley Metro also offers transit options including alternative transportation programs for seniors and people with disabilities, commuter vanpools, online carpool matching, bus trip mapping, bicycle safety and telework assistance. Two Boards of Directors set the policy direction for the agency with the intent of advancing the regional public transit system. Get the latest news by following us on Facebook and Twitter or visiting valleymetro.org.

Hey! Watch This >> American Dad - Mesa, AZ

Boeing Goes Boing! Boing! Apple Gets A Big Bite // Up, Down + All Over The Place

Forward-looking statements and financial markets can be fickle, or even "unusually uncertain" . . . one day it's rosy and sweet//extreme market conditions everywhere!
The problem: projections and forecasts - local examples Boeing and Apple and the list "accomplishments" put out by the City of Mesa Office of Economic Development . . . it's not accomplished simply by saying that. Case in point:
Boeing Plunges as 2016 Profit Forecast Misses Estimates
That's one of today's headlines in Bloomberg Business
January 27, 2016 — 5:47 AM MST Updated on January 27, 2016 — 6:05 AM MST

"Boeing Co. tumbled in premarket trading after the planemaker said profit this year would miss analyst estimates by more than a dollar a share as it delivers fewer jetliners. . .
The company has already announced plans to slow output of its 747 jumbo jetliner this year and executives have said they are studying a similar production cut for the best-selling 777 jetliner amid a transition to an upgraded model.
Boeing shares declined 6.5 percent in early trading."

Readers can see in the infographic to the right data from 2005-2014 for projections of Free Cash Flow compared with what's reported and a trending with an upward slope with estimated annual growth of about 3%.
A post yesterday from Aerospace Defense News featured, without comments, what Boeing was saying about financing. Keep in mind Boeing is in a very competitive global marketplace in both commercial aircraft and the defense industries.   

Here's a micro of Boeing's stock performance for about a month's period Dec 2015-Jan 2016 - Boing! Going! bouncing up and down in "unusually uncertain" markets.

That's the way it goes.

What's not "unusually uncertain" is what appears in a slick in-house brochure put out by the City of Mesa Office of Economic Development for one "accomplishment" in 2014 [two years ago] for a capital investment by Apple of $$1,500,000,000 - notice all the zeroes - it would have been usual just to use $1.5B but that's not so impressive for sure.
It's always been puzzling to yours truly why a company like Apple [listed in the brochure under the industry category information -  it's quite more than that] need two "global command centers" within a few hundreds mile of each other, but we'll leave that consideration aside. The OED is always bragging about job creation frequently using sweet projections and not reporting the actual jobs that get people employed and earning salaries, usually saying they're going after "high-paying" jobs. - not so with Apple line entry: the average wage is listed as TBA or to be announced. Jobs were listed as 150 - seriously revised down in industry reports before the brochure got published to about 80.

The company's first-quarter net profit rose to $18.36 billion from $18.02 billion, while revenue increased 1.7 percent to $75.87 billion, both records for the company. Analysts, though are worried.
[see chart to left]





52 minutes ago Market Watch published this

Dow sinks triple-digits as Apple, Boeing weigh ...

Dow industrials dropped more than 100 points as disappointing quarterly results from corporate heavyweights Apple Inc. and Boeing Company 

 

More >> Extreme conditions everywhere

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-26/apple-forecasts-first-sales-drop-since-2003-on-iphone-slowdown