Revenue last year sank 17.39 percent to NT$589.2 million from NT$713.25 million in 2018 due to excess inventory in the supply chain, Ample said. The company generated 90 to 95 percent of its revenue from conductive paste used in passive components, it said. Factory utilization approached 100 percent last month, thanks to “robust inventory replenishment from customers,” Ample said. In addition, Ample has expanded its products to conductive paste for solar cells, it said. The company expects solar conductive paste to contribute about 10 percent of total revenue this year.

BloombergThe US and the eurozone face daunting economic challenges in a world of low inflation and interest rates, and central banks alone do not have the tools to cope. “The euro area still has space to do this, but time is not infinite,” he added. She ticked off a number of structural forces holding down interest rates — including an aging population and sluggish productivity — and suggested that they might be around for a while. “This is why the ECB has been consistently calling for fiscal policy to play a stronger role and capitalize” on the low rates, he said. Yellen did, though, express concern about financial stability risks arising out of an extended period of low interest rates.

By Chen Cheng-hui / Staff reporterValue Valves Co Ltd (捷流閥業) shares yesterday rose 64.1 percent during their debut on the Taipei Exchange. Value Valves became the first company to launch an initial public offering (IPO) on the local stock market this year. Headquartered in New Taipei City’s Tucheng District (土城), Value Valves manufactures a range of valves, with butterfly valves being its major revenue contributor and accounting for more than 60 percent of total sales. Cumulative revenue in the first 11 months of last year increased 29.15 percent year-on-year to NT$2.2 billion (US$73.1 million), Value Valves said in a statement yesterday. Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) yesterday said in a report that it is “positive” about Value Valves due to its solid sales growth momentum and increasing gross margin.

“This is a pilot clinic, because we cannot produce enough doctors with expertise in cannabis,” Thai Minister of Public Health Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters at the opening ceremony in Bangkok. Her mother, Supatra Ulapatorn, said cannabis oil helps her daughter to sleep better and stay calmer. Kasetsart University director of medical cannabis research Natakorn Thasnas said that the university would supply 2,200kg of cannabis leaf to the ministry. Thailand last year dropped cannabis and hemp extracts from its narcotics list, and proposed a law that would allow each household to grow six cannabis plants. The pilot clinic expects to cater to between 200 and 300 patients daily.

The same CBS News/YouGov poll released on Sunday put Sanders first in New Hampshire, the second state to vote. In Iowa, CBS/YouGov found Sanders, Biden and Buttigieg level on 23 percent, with Warren fourth on 16 percent and US Senator Amy Klobuchar fifth on 7 percent. Sanders led with US$34.5m, from Buttigieg with US$24.7 million, Biden with US$22.7 million and Warren with US$21.2 million. The CBS/YouGov poll also included telling data regarding which Democrat, whether a progressive (Sanders, Warren) or a moderate (Biden, Buttigieg, Klobuchar), voters thought most likely to beat Trump in November. In Iowa, 38 percent backed Biden to beat the president, to 29 percent for Sanders, 24 percent for Warren and 21 percent for Buttigieg.

US President Donald Trump warned of a “major retaliation” against Tehran after it threatened revenge for the killing on Friday of commander Qasem Soleimani, which shocked world markets and sparked a sell-off in stocks and a spike in crude. Some of the GCC members, including Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain, are home to major US military bases, while there are also hundreds of troops in Saudi Arabia. The losses on equity markets extended into Asia, with Tokyo down almost 2 percent as dealers returned for the first time since the New Year break. However, escalating friction between the US and Iran would likely have limited impact on Asian stock markets, according to UBS Global Wealth Management and JPMorgan Asset Management. Previous periods of increased tensions suggest that the impact on broader markets tends to be “short-lived,” said Mark Haefele, global chief investment officer of UBS Global Wealth Management in Zurich, Switzerland.

AFP, LAS VEGAS, NevadaConsumer technology spending is getting a boost from wearables, smart devices and streaming media services and should hit record levels in the US this year, organizers of a major tech gathering said on Sunday. Starting the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, organizers said they expect US$422 billion in sales of about 300 kinds of consumer tech products and services in the US market, a gain of 4 percent from last year. “More and more consumers are embracing the faster connectivity, advanced intelligence and seemingly infinite content that technology offers today — pushing consumer technology industry revenues toward another record-setting year in 2020,” CTA president and chief executive Gary Shapiro said. For streaming — including video, music and gaming — the group expects 11 percent growth in spending to US$81 billion. Smartphone sales are expected to break out of their torpor with a 2 percent increase in sales, helped by new 5G handsets.

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) seems to have neglected its duty as an opposition party over the past few years. This is something KMT members need to consider if they want to get out of their predicament. The KMT claims that Hong Kong and Macau are part of the Republic of China (ROC), and that the Mainland Affairs Office is the agency in charge of Hong Kong and Macau affairs. However, amid the Hong Kong protests, the party has gone from an anti-communist position to fearing the CCP, choking itself just to remain silent. As the KMT paints itself into a corner, it is becoming overwhelmed by the protests in Hong Kong.

BloombergMasked assailants on Sunday stormed India’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi in a violent attack on students that risked escalating protests against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. Members of students groups allegedly affiliated with Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party attacked hostels in the university with rods and batons, injuring dozens of students and some professors, All India Students’ Association president N. Sai Balaji said. Bharatiya Janata Party student union Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad general-secretary Nidhi Tripathi in a tweet blamed leftist students’ unions for the attack. Swaraj India party president Yogendra Yadav, who was injured in the violence, tweeted that police took no action to stop the attacks. The JNU attack was condemned by Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman, both alumni of the university.

AP, PORTLAND, MaineAn aquarium and an engineering firm in Massachusetts are partnering on a project to better protect whales by monitoring them from space. The New England Aquarium of Boston and Draper of Cambridge say whale conservation needs new, higher-tech solutions to protect whales from extinction. The work will involve gathering data from sources ranging from European space agencies to amateur radio operators to create a probability map of where in the ocean the whales might be, Irvine said. Conservation groups will then be able to monitor whales and their movements, he said. The region’s waters serve as a home to the endangered North Atlantic right whale, which numbers only about 400 and is declining in population.

The robust performance raised expectations that overall transactions nationwide could surpass 300,000 units for the whole of last year, brokers said. Jhongli (中壢), Lujhu (蘆竹) and Taoyuan (桃園) districts reported the most transfers, as builders completed the construction of presale projects, Hsieh said. Taoyuan become more attractive due to infrastructure improvement projects and relatively affordable housing prices, Taiwan Realty Co (台灣房屋) said. Housing deals rose 25.4 percent to 5,754 in New Taipei City as developers turned over ownership of more than 100 units in Banciao (板橋) and Sindian (新店) to buyers, Taiwan Realty said. For the whole of last year, transactions totaled 232,031 units in the six municipalities, a 24.4 percent increase from 2018.

Taiwan is four days away from the presidential and legislative elections, and flashpoint controversies are all but a given. In an interview published on Friday last week by broadcaster Deutsche Welle, Lin said that, in terms of national sovereignty, advocating unification is tantamount to treason. In the interview, Lin clarified that China constantly threatens the nation’s sovereignty and “continually threatens to use military force to invade Taiwan.” Therefore, she said advocating “this kind of” unification is tantamount to treason. Critics have already cast doubt on the act’s potential effectiveness, citing its relatively light penalties and narrow scope. The DPP’s reaction to the “treason” controversy casts further doubt on whether it would risk a political backlash by implementing the act.

By Dave Carroll / Staff reporterTaiwanese third seeds Chan Hao-ching and Latisha Chan yesterday suffered a disappointing start to the season at the Brisbane International, falling to a 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 first-round defeat to Karolina Pliskova and Donna Vekic in 1 hour, 18 minutes. The Chan sisters, who claimed four doubles titles last season — Hobart, Australia; Doha; Eastbourne, England; and Osaka, Japan — saved 10 of 13 break points and won three of six, but were let down by a second service on which they only won 37 percent of their points as they exited on the opening day of their season. 1s — Latisha Chan and Sania Mirza — as well as reigning Australian Open women’s doubles champion Zhang Shuai of China. COCO GAUFF CRUISESTeen sensation Coco Gauff yesterday started the year in dominant form at the Auckland Classic. The American was unflustered by two double faults as she negotiated a blustery wind in her opening service game against last year’s semi-finalist Viktoria Kuzmova.

The off-spinner led a powerful Australia bowling attack to dismiss the Black Caps for 136 and seal another heavy win after similar victories in Perth and Melbourne. The visitors then buckled under the pressure of Australia’s superior bowling attack, with Mitchell Starc taking 3-25 to support the wiles of spinner Lyon. England declared their second innings on 391-8 shortly after lunch, setting South Africa the huge task of making a world-record 438 to win. While Sibley continued to play the anchor role, Stokes went on the attack against every bowler he faced. Ollie Pope fell quickly, but Jos Buttler continued the attack, hitting 23 off 18 balls as the lead went beyond 400.

By Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterThe Hakka Affairs Council yesterday said that it is bringing Hakka products to Taipei’s Dihua Street (迪化) market and other locations ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday. Taipei’s Dihua Street market “is the most important place for nianhuo [年貨, New Year’s goods] in Taiwan,” Hakka Affairs Council Minister Lee Yung-de (李永得) told a news conference in Taipei. However, Hakka culture has been “absent” from the nianhuo shopping scene at the market, he said. By introducing Hakka products to the Dihua Street market, the council hopes that the city residents’ higher spending power would drive the development of products from remote Hakka communities, he said. As part of the initiative, starting Thursday, Hakka products, including food and other items, are to be sold at locations in Taipei and New Taipei City, the council said.