Way to Warren Buffett's Success: "Always Try to Be a Good Person"

When Warren Buffett was 25 years old, he had accumulated about $2 million in today's dollars.

He had achieved his childhood goal of assured financial independence.

Everything after that, he explained in a talk at Ivey Business School in late February, "has been surplus."

Today at age 84, he is the world's third wealthiest person, with an estimated net worth of over $70 billion, and has cemented his reputation as one of the greatest investors in history.

In the Ivey talk, Buffett was asked about his personal definition of success. He explained that he's been motivated by an inner drive to feel proud of his work and to continue improving his business, which has been the Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate since 1970.

"The saying goes that success is about getting what you want, while happiness is about wanting what you get," he said. "For myself, happiness is more important."

Buffett advised not to judge yourself and your performance by what other people think.

"As you move along in your career, you always want to consider your inner scorecard — how you feel about your own performance and success," he said. "You should worry more about how well you perform rather than how well the rest of the world perceives your performance."

Buffett has always prioritized the success of his company over his own personal success in terms of financial returns, he said, which may be why he tells his management team that their top priority is to "zealously guard Berkshire's reputation."

According to Buffett, true success comes from working for a purpose greater than your own well-being.

"The most important takeaway is that you should always try to be a good person," he said. (www.chinainout.com)

Hillary announces her run for US president

视频中很多美国人谈到他们的希望与决心。

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has formally entered the 2016 race for the White House in a bid to become the first woman US president.

She launched her campaign website on Sunday, telling Americans she wanted to be their "champion".

Mrs Clinton ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008 but lost to Barack Obama.

In a video on her website, Mrs Clinton declared: "I am running for president".
"Americans have fought their way back from tough economic times," she said, "but the deck is still stacked in favour of those at the top.

"Everyday Americans need a champion and I want to be that champion," she added.

The video features a number of Americans talking about their hopes and aspirations.

It ends with Mrs Clinton saying: "So I'm hitting the road to earn your vote because it's your time and I hope you'll join me on this journey".

Mrs Clinton's team said would spend the next few weeks building up grassroots support in the early Democratic primary states; she tweeted that she is on her way to Iowa.

She is expected to hold her first rally, officially kicking off her campaign, in mid-May.

Hillary Clinton - her Washington career so far
Tried to reform US healthcare during husband Bill's first term as president (1993-1997) but her plan never reached a vote in Congress
Stood by her husband when his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky was exposed, 1997-98
Elected as Democratic senator for New York, 2000
Voted in favour of the Iraq war in 2003 but later distanced herself from the war
Ran for the Democratic nomination in 2008 but conceded in favour of Barack Obama
Served as US secretary of state 2009-2013
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General Administration of Customs: in First Quarter China's Foreign Trade Value Reaches 5.54 Trillion Yuan

The General Administration of Customs released, in the first quarter of this year, China's foreign trade value reached 5.54 trillion yuan, down 6%. Among them, the export value was 3.15 trillion yuan, an increase of 4.9%; import value 2.39 trillion yuan, down 17.3%; trade surplus 755.33 billion yuan, expanding 6.1 times.

Customs data showed that in March, the import and export value amounted to 1.76 trillion yuan, representing a decrease of 13.5% over the same period last year. After the seasonal adjustment and the Spring Festival holiday factors elimination, in March foreign trade value fell by 15.9%. Among them, the export value fell by 4.4%; import value fell by 25.1%.

In the first quarter, China's export value of electromechanical products reached 1.82 trillion yuan, an increase of 6.4%, accounting for 57.7% of China's total export value. Total exports of of seven categories liek textiles, clothing and other labor-intensive products reached 629.16 billion yuan, an increase of 6.1%, accounting for 20% of China's total export value. Meanwhile, the export growth of vehicles, cell phones and metal processing machines and other high-end manufacturing products is more than 20%.

In the first quarter, China's imports of bulk commodities keep increasing, but the overall import prices fell by 9.8%. (www.chinainout.com)

2014 China's Imports of Food Amount to $48.24 Billion, an Increase of 4.2 Times in Past Ten Years

On April 7, the 66th World Health Day, the AQSIQ on its official website published a white paper about "2014 National Quality and Safety of imported Food", and notified 2014 imported food safety situation in China. Data shows that in 2014, China's food imports reached $48.24 billion, an increase of 4.2 times in 10 years, an increase of 17.6% on average per year.

With the continuous improvement of living standards, the demand for food imports increased year by year. According to the AQSIQ statistics, in 2014, China's imported food [foods include: meat and meat products (including organ), aquatic animal and plant products, milk and dairy products, eggs and egg products, bee products, sausage, cooking oil, rice, peanuts, vegetables and vegetable products, herbs, canned food, edible protein and products, flour and grain products, cereals, oilseeds, dry nuts, kernel, tea, coffee, cocoa, beverages, alcohol, sugar, candied fruit, spices, pastries, food for special dietary uses, health food, genetically modified food, etc., but food ingredients soy, wheat, feed ingredients corn and other agricultural products not included] Reached $48.24 billion, an increase of 4.2 times in 10 years, an increase of 17.6% on average per year.

Among them, edible vegetable oil, milk powder, meat, aquatic products and other bulk goods imports respectively amounted to 8.541 million tons, 1.499 million tons, 2.792 million tons, 3.348 million tons, imported food safety has become a major event in the protection of consumer safety. The theme of this year's World Health Day is the "food security", the World Health Organization says there are millions of illness due to consumption of unsafe food, there are about 200 million deaths per year, it hopes this year's World Health Day can draw people’s attention to the importance of food safety.

In 2014, from 192 countries and areas China imported food 1.042 million batches, 35.141 million tons, 48.24 billion US dollars, an increase of 7.9%, 7.3% and 3.3%. The first 10 countries and organizations of imported food trade are: the European unio, ASEAN, New Zealand, the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Russia, Argentina and South Korea; the main imported food categories include dairy products, fats and oils, fish and aquatic products, meat, grains products , alcohol, sugar, beverages. (www.chinainout.com)

Easter Day

Easter is one of the oldest and most significant Christian holidays. It celebrates the resurrection of Christ, Christians around the world celebrate every year. Easter is also a symbol of rebirth and hope. Easter is on the first Sunday after the full moon of the vernal equinox.

Easter is a Christian holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus. It’s said that Jesus was crucified, died and resurrected on the third day. Annual celebration of Easter in the church refers to the first Sunday after the full moon of the vernal equinox, if the full moon day happens to be a Sunday, Easter is postponed for a week. Thus Easter may be between March 22 to April 25.

Typical Easter gift is related with spring and regeneration: eggs, chicks, bunnies, flowers, especially the lily, all of them are symbols of the spring. On Easter Eve, the children dye, or color, and decorate eggs for their friends and families. In the Easter morning, children will find the Easter basket filled with chocolate eggs, Easter bunnies, chicks and toys. It is said that the Easter Bunny will hide the eggs in the grassland or the indoors, and then get the kids to find the eggs. The annual White House Egg Roll is often broadcast live on the television.

In most Western countries, people always hold a grand religious procession at Easter. Marchers always wear a robe, holding a cross. They dressed up as historical figures of Christianity, singing carols to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Today, the festival procession has lost its strong religious overtones. Holiday parade is filled with festive atmosphere, with a strong folk and local characteristics. 

In the United States, the parading procession has clowns on stilts, and the lovely cartoon character Mickey Mouse. 

In the UK, the procession is always with the theme of the local history and customs introduction, the marchers make up the Scotland Pipe Band and the palace guards, attracting many tourists. 

The arrival of Easter also makes people put on new clothes. In the past, Christians always went to the church the baptism before the holiday, and then put on their new gowns to celebrate Christ's new life. The custom of putting on new clothes has been preserved, because people think they will have bad luck in the festival if they don’t wear new clothes. During Easter, people also like to thoroughly clean their own home, which means the new life begins. （www.chinainout.com）

EU lifts Milk Quota System, Milk Procurement Price Continues to Fall

According to German media reports, from April 1, the EU milk quota system officially ended, dairy farmers are worried that prices will continue to decline. Insiders said that the current low raw milk prices have made many farmers unable to balance the cost and profit. When the quota system abolished, the milk price is likely to continue to fall, but the price of milk products on supermarket shelves will not change.

Reportedly, the EU milk quota system has gone through 31 years of history, the original intention for this system was to protect the dairy industry and seek to balance supply and demand by setting up production ceiling.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, European milk was overproduced, with the so-called "Milk Sea" and "butter mountains". The European Community (now called the European unio, EU) has taken some measures, including the sale cheap "Christmas butter" sale in December, and exporting butter to the Soviet unio.

In 1984, the milk quota system came into being. This mechanism was originally planned to function only for five years, but later was extended repeatedly. Thrust of this mechanism is to limit milk production. As long as dairy farmers’ production exceeds the upper limit, farmers must pay a penalty.

According to the assessment of the German Federal Ministry of Agriculture, this mechanism does not really play a role in the protection of steady income of farmers. On the contrary, in the past 30 years, the price per kilogram of raw milk has fluctuations of 20 euro cents. Many small dairy farms can not sustain livelihoods and be closed.

The director-General of the European Dairy Association and the German agricultural expert Alexander Anton believes that the end of the quota system has no impact on the price of milk products on supermarket shelves.

The European Commission takes a similar view that based on past experience, there is no necessary connection between the purchase price and the end consumer price of milk. Even if farmers sell milk at a lower price, dairy products bought by consumers may not become more favorable. (www.chinainout.com)

Internet of Things to Be Searching Engine Terminator?

The smartphone revolutionized personal computing, creating a computer that most of us have within arm’s reach 24 hours a day. The Internet of Things promises to revolutionize computing again, by connecting and collecting data from everything we live in, drive in, eat in, sleep in and work in.

In just a year or two, the number of IoT devices will outnumber the number of PCs, smartphones and laptops globally. Forecasts range from as low as 41 billion to as high as 80 billion connected devices worldwide by 2020.

But how will this really change how we live and work?

Search is dead, long live search

For years people have been claiming that search is dead, but we still find ourselves on Google GOOG 1.57% looking for a restaurant, searching for the best ski equipment or researching a new company. However, the promise of Io T means never having to search again. With every connected device you have, more data is collected about you, your habits, your needs and your preferences. When this data is aggregated, a complete virtual profile of you emerges. This profile will will know what you need before you do.

The virtual you will be able to anticipate your needs, perform the necessary search and deliver the result you need, before you even have to ask. It will be able to adjust your thermostat before you realize you are too hot or place an order for tissues before you notice you have run out. Obviously, search still happens, but it is all done behind the scenes. If the Internet of Things becomes what we believe it can be, you’ll never need to visit the Google homepage again – except to check the daily doodle.

It’s all about the ecosystem

For this to happen, all our devices and all our data have to be connected. By 2020, the average person will have more than four Internet-connected devices, but they won’t be very useful if they exist in silos.

Just as operating systems have become the bases of power in the mobile ecosystem, the central platforms through which IoT devices connect will be the locus of the industry. These platforms will enable the aggregation and analysis of data from a variety of sources and will connect to mobile payments, commerce and other services so users can take action based on that information. An open platform is key to creating an IoT ecosystem that is greater than the sum of its parts.

At the company level, building a strong ecosystem is also critical to success. The winners in IoT will be companies that build large, loyal user bases. On the product side, more users create more data, which informs algorithms and delivers better results. Shipping more units also gives companies more leverage with suppliers and makes them more attractive to partners. Just as in the social sector, network effects will matter.

The U.S. and China will need each other

Being a successful IoT company is hard. In fact, IoT companies have to be three great companies in one:

1.Hardware: Building beautiful products with high-quality sensors to collect data.

2.Platform: Collecting, processing and analyzing massive quantities of data to deliver insights.

3.Software: Creating best-in-class user experiences to make insights actionable.

With such requirements, it becomes very difficult for a company to do all things well in one place. A global perspective allows the company to seek out best-in-breed solutions – wherver they may be.

We have several companies in our own investment portfolio, including Zepp and EHANG, that were founded with headquarters in both Silicon Valley and China, because they realized they needed to be in both places to succeed. In the U.S., they get experienced product designers and engineers, marketing experts and access to the high-end consumer market. In China, they have manufacturing and supply chain superiority, a breadth of engineering resources and a massive developing consumer market.

Playing in the global market also allows companies serving niche segments or use cases to still achieve massive scale. While UX and go-to-market strategies may need to adapt to different markets and segments, the back-end technologies can apply globally. We expect to see more IoT (and other tech) companies in the future throw off the limitations of being a “national” company and truly embrace being global from day one.

Mobile won’t always be on mobile

The launch last week of the Apple Watch AAPL 1.24% actually foreshadows another evolution coming in IoT: blurring the lines between hardware, software, and mobile.

IoT devices to date have been pieces of hardware that connect to an app on your smartphone, which allows you to interact with them. The Apple Watch signals an important shift as it combines the hardware and sensors with the software and user interface into one device. While it still requires an iPhone to connect to the Internet, it is easy to see a future “iWatch” that eliminates the need for the phone entirely.

As IoT devices evolve, they will take on more “mobile” qualities and become the new home for many functions we currently rely on our smartphones to perform. In addition to making search obsolete, IoT could make the smartphone irrelevant in the near future.（ｗｗｗ．ｃｈｉｎａｉｎｏｕｔ．ｃｏｍ）