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byuneebuns · 6 years

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Attribution (Part 2)

Doyoung x Reader Hacker/Secret Agent AU

Rated: M for Violence and Eventual Smut

Tags: Violence, Smut (eventual), Hacker AU, Secret Agent AU, Political Intrigue

Author’s Note: I’m truly sorry for how long this has taken. I’ve had a lot going on and I honestly really struggled with what direction to take this in and I still have no idea what I’m even doing so hopefully it’s not awful!!!!!!! (it is sorry). Also 20 Yen is about 0.20 cents in USD just fyi

Part 1

Part 3

“So, what you’re telling me is that you have no plan.”

Doyoung shrugged, choosing to ignore you for the endless strings of code scrolling down his monitor. You clenched your fists, trying to keep your temper under control.

You’d been Doyoung’s captive for a week now, and it had been almost astonishing how uneventful it was. Zero progress was being made on anything, at least as far as you could tell. Granted, you weren’t privy to whatever the hell he did on his computer all hours of the day, but the most excitement you’d endured all week was when you woke up one morning to his face buried in your chest. You clenched your fist tighter at the recollection.

“How am I supposed to help you when you can’t even help yourself? You antagonized entire countries without so much as an idea for how to get out of this alive?” You tried to keep your voice calm but you could hear the exasperation seeping through.

“That isn’t very fair. I’m a genius hacker, not a genius strategist. My first and primary concern was trying to ascertain our country’s stance on the matter, but seeing as they didn’t deem you worth sharing it with before they all but dumped you in my lap, I’m kind of at a loss for the moment.”

You winced at Doyoung’s cold words. You had already started to become accustomed to his condescending attitude but it still stung to be looked down on, even if it wasn’t always entirely intentional on his part.

“Besides, aren’t you supposed to be skilled in problem-solving and getting out of messes like this? Where are your suggestions?” He continued, still not taking his eyes off of the screens flashing before him.

“You honestly want my opinion?”

He turned to face you at last, the backlighting from his monitor giving him an ethereal glow that made you uneasy for reasons you couldn’t quite place.

“Of course I do. You’re a secret agent. A highly trained specialist. You’re obviously very capable. If I wasn’t infinitely more intelligent than you I have every confidence that you would have murdered me at least twice already. I highly doubt you would have been assigned to my pursuit if you were incompetent.” He said matter-of-factly. You couldn’t help but swell a little at the praise, even amidst the biting sarcasm that you were used to from him.

“Well, as underwhelming as it may sound, I think our best chance of success starts with staying right where we are. You’ve insisted that it’s impossible for us to be located here, so it’s an optimal base of operations. We need to gather more information about what we’re up against and what they know before we risk making any moves. The only information I was privy to was that your freedom was a risk to national security and that because the threat extended to other nations that we would be cooperating with the units they sent here, but only to an extent, they would primarily operate independently and intelligence sharing would be limited.” You tapped your finger to your chin thoughtfully, trying to recall any other pertinent information.

Doyoung blinked at you slowly, his face neutral.

“So what you’re saying, in so many words, is that you have no helpful suggestions and intend to rely on my information gathering skills.” He said with a flat tone.

“Don’t disappoint me, genius hacker,” You said shrugging. You had no desire to open more doors for him to decimate your ego. To your mild surprise, he smiled, his bunny teeth gleaming in the artificial lighting.

“Don’t worry, I won’t.”

He swiveled back around, typing with a renewed fervor. You smiled at his back before turning on your heel to meander off and find some way to be useful while he worked.

“Wait.”

You looked over your shoulder at Doyoung, who was rigid in his seat and leaned close to his screen, so close his nose was almost touching.

“Come look at this. Now.”

You obeyed, your curiosity outweighing your disdain for being bossed around, and peered over his shoulder at the screen, stiffening when your eyes registered what he was trying to show to you.

“Where did you find this?”

“I’ve been data mining your agency and this came up. What does this mean to you?” He stared at you expectantly, his eyes piercing.

Your eyes drank in the familiar code that had become like your native tongue in your time undercover. A screen that was blank save for several lines of what would have appeared to be nonsense to most. This was a message. To you.

“It’s a riddle.” You plopped on to the floor, crossing your legs and massaging your temples as you stared holes into the carpet beneath you, mind racing.

“What does it say? Something about an eye?” Doyoung’s eyes narrowed. You were impressed that he knew that much of your code already, he was definitely not someone to underestimate.

“It says ‘I have a single eye, but cannot see. What am I?’.” You said, still distracted by the racing of your mind.

“That’s easy. It’s a needle. I don’t understand the context, so please enlighten me.” Doyoung said, growing impatient with your lack of explanation.

“Yes. A needle. It’s referring to Seoul Tower, actually. The numbers throughout are a date and time if you unscramble them, tomorrow night. It’s a meeting request.”

Doyoung stared at you, his expression unreadable.

“How do you know that?”

You scoffed.

“You mean aside from being a trained code breaker? What happened to thinking that I was a, how did you put it, ‘highly trained specialist’? This wasn’t exactly difficult. It helps that I know exactly who sent this though, it isn’t the first time he’s used this stupid riddle to tell me to meet him there. The more important question here is the one you haven’t gotten to yet: whether or not we should go.” You said bitterly, growing more uneasy by the second.

“Who sent this? One of your co-workers?”

You grimaced.

“Not quite. His name is Yuta Nakamoto. He’s a Japanese information broker that I’ve worked with on occasion. He’s a little shady and that probably isn’t even his real name but he’s never done me any harm.”

“Why the hell is a Japanese information broker trying to meet up with you? And why did he ask you to meet at Seoul Tower before?”

Your face colored at Doyoung’s questions.

“Well, I’m not too sure what the reason is this time, but we can probably assume that it has something to do with you. Information on you would probably be worth a lot right about now.”

Doyoung glared.

“And the second half of my question?”

“It’s how he asked me out on a date once. That’s so humiliating to say out loud, so please never make me do it again.” You moaned hiding your face in your hands.

“So, your ex-lover. The shady Japanese Information Broker. Wants to ask you on a second date. And this is how he chose to do it.” Doyoung said, his voice monotonous to further emphasize his disbelief.

“He’s not my ex, stop it.” You whined, swatting at Doyoung’s arm.

“Oh, sorry, I meant your CURRENT lover-”

Doyoung was cut off by you landing a well-placed kick at his ankle, causing him to yelp in pain in between his raucous laughter.

You knew you would probably never been lucky enough to catch the attention of a smart (albeit sassy beyond belief), capable, and gorgeous man like Doyoung but you still didn’t want him thinking you were a woman spoken for, just in case he had a taste for mediocrity.

“Well, I think you’ve been fairly well-behaved lately, you’ve toned down the attempted murder quite a bit, so you deserve a fun night out.” Doyoung grinned mischievously before spinning back around in his chair again and resuming his frantic typing, waving one hand to dismiss you before you could respond. You gritted your teeth. There was no point in arguing with him, but you had a bad feeling about this.

The sky was clear, not a single cloud to obscure the heavens. You fidgeted a little in your heels, shaking the silver clutch in your hand nervously. You smoothed down the hem of your short, maybe too short, black dress and glanced around. You were surrounded by couples, their faces blurry in the dim light of street lamps.

Doyoung had insisted that you dress to the nines, taking it upon himself to special order a short black cocktail dress with silver accents and matching accessories. You had begrudgingly loosely curled your hair and done your makeup, feeling like you had little choice but to when you were being forced to dress up anyways, and you had to admit to yourself that you looked good. Doyoung, to your ego’s dismay, had made no comment.

You snapped your clutch open and fished a small pocket mirror out, examining your eyeshadow and sighing with relief that it was still intact. Doyoung had been insistent on blindfolding you once again for your excursion and hadn’t even so much as let you see him when he dropped you off, still blindfolded and a little annoyed at him practically shoving you out of the passenger seat in his haste to be on his way.

The sound of your name brought you back to reality and you whirled around, blushing a little as your dress fluttered flirtatiously around the tops of your thighs.

“Ah, Yuta! I was wondering if you would ever show up.” Your face lit up at the sight of an old colleague. It had been so long and frankly you’d forgotten how attractive he was. His hair was medium brown and a little longer than you remembered, lightly parted and teased back from his forehead. He was dressed simply in a large cream colored sweater and jeans but he still managed to look breathtaking.

“I feel so underdressed. You should have let me know you were going to show up looking like a supermodel.” He teased, his eyes raking your figure as he let out a low whistle, earning a wack on the shoulder with your clutch.

“You can stop flirting with your boyfriend whenever you’re ready, this is nauseating.”

You nearly jumped out of your skin when Doyoung’s voice whispered so closely to your ear, like he could have been standing right behind you.

“Everything alright…?” Yuta’s voice was laced with bemusement rather than concern as he eyed you curiously. He doesn’t miss a thing, too sharp for his own good.

You shook your head, smiling reassuringly.

“I’m fine. Maybe I’m the one underdressed though, it’s a little colder out than I expected.”

Doyoung’s voice scoffed in your ear.

You resisted the urge to look for him. You knew he was somewhere nearby, but he had refused to disclose where, choosing to watch the two of you from the shadows instead and transmitting all of his snarky comments through a pair of large stud earrings that he had created himself for the sole purpose of spying on you tonight. You had to admit that you were impressed with his creations, not only were they functional but they didn’t look half bad either (although you weren’t typically one for jewelry).

Yuta wrapped a strong arm around your waist, nearly blinding you with his smile as he pulled you flush against him.

“I didn’t bring an extra jacket, so this will have to suffice.” He said, smiling wider as you two started aimlessly strolling through the park.

Doyoung made a noise that sounded suspiciously like he’d thrown up in his mouth.

“So, Yuta, to what do I owe this pleasure?”

“Ah, always right to business as always. How can you even say the world pleasure with a straight face?”

“I manage. Explain yourself, please.” You fixed him with a tight smile, hoping to emphasize that you didn’t have time for unnecessary pleasantries.

Yuta sighed, his smile fading and leaving him looking like a completely different person.

“I know you were looking for Kim Doyoung. I also know that you found him and he captured you. What I’d like to know is how you managed to escape him for a date night with me and how much of this he can hear.” He said nonchalantly, as if he was merely inquiring after your family’s health.

“Tell him that I can hear enough to know that he’s stalling and I don’t like it.”

Yuta shook with earnest laughter when you repeated Doyoung’s message, his hand sliding south to cup your hip as he pressed himself into you, leaned into your ear and whispered, sending shivers down your spine.

“Tell him that it was foolish to let you out in public, especially looking so scandalous. We are being followed. Keep your eyes forward.” He smiled into your cheek, keeping you close against him and looking ever the affectionate couple.

“If it was so foolish then why did you invite me here?” You asked coyly, leaning your head on his shoulder, careful not to put your weight on your ear as you played along with him.

“Sweetheart, did you forget my line of work? I could have made a fortune sending someone else to meet you here in place of me. I haven’t forgotten all the favors you’ve done for me, or how cute you are, so consider this a token of my affection. Leave the country as soon as you can and let Hackerman fend for himself. Getting yourself involved is only going to invite disaster. I have a passport under a new name and plane tickets to Japan here for you if you’ll take them.”

You picked your head up, locking your eyes with his and searching them for any sign of insincerity. Yuta was always smiling and joking around, but when he was serious you knew that he meant it. Playful as he may be, he didn’t like to mince words when it came to business. Your heart sank. He really must have thought it was impossible to make a difference if that was what he wanted to meet you for.

“I can’t just walk away from this, Yuta. I can’t do nothing, not guilt-free. Instead of telling me to be a coward, please, help me.” You could hear the pleading in your voice. You wouldn’t normally take a weak stance like this, especially during a bargain with an associate, but you were truly desperate. You knew Yuta was well-connected and he could get exactly what you needed if he didn’t have it already, even if you weren’t sure what it was that you needed in the first place.

“Ah, abominable justice. How often it stands in the way of wisdom.” He said, almost to himself as he avoided your gaze, instead casting a forlorn look skyward.

You had finally stopped walking and had found yourself at the entrance of a large, ornately decorated hotel.

“We should talk about this inside.” He said, squeezing your hip and looking at you meaningfully.

In your peripheral you could see the shadowy figures that had been tailing you for the duration of your romantic evening stroll and your breath caught. This was dangerous. As much as you wanted to trust Yuta you knew it would be incredibly stupid, for lack of a fancier word, to enter an enclosed space with him. You were already in his territory, the only comfort at your disposal being whatever Doyoung knew that inspired him to insist that this entire ordeal had been a smart move.

Unfortunately staying outside with your uninvited guests wasn’t a very appealing option either.

Your fingers twitched reflexively towards your hip in annoyance, wishing that he had at least allowed you to equip yourself with a weapon, while still understanding why he didn’t. Your chances of being able to best Yuta in hand to hand combat were limited, from what little amount of information about his personal life you had managed to dig up you knew that he was, well, dangerous to put it simply.

He seemed to have some sort of gang affiliation but every lead was a dead end. It was like he didn’t even exist. A phantom. He had made it clear in all of your interactions that as long as you were an asset to him that he would mutually protect you, but you weren’t sure that would still ring true if the right price was offered.

As if in answer to some unspoken prayer, Doyoung’s voice breathed relief in your ear.

“It’s alright. Go with him. I’ve already infiltrated the hotel’s surveillance system, it looks clean. I have a .30 caliber rifle round with his name on it if he tries anything.”

You fought to keep your face neutral at the discovery that Doyoung was positioned somewhere with a sniper rifle. You guessed that was probably a very large part of why he kept you in the dark on the way here…literally.

You nodded once, allowing Yuta to steer you through the automatic doors and into the lobby. Neither of you spoke as he pressed the call elevator button. Your arms were crossed across your chest, your nails digging crescent moons into your triceps. Each floor the elevator fell towards the lobby where you were waiting seemed to raise your anxiety, making you hyper aware of your surroundings.

You knew this feeling too well. Everything was in slow motion but moving too fast at the same time. Colors felt too bright, noises were loud and yet muffled. Everything looked too sharp.

A chime sounded from somewhere that sounded too far away to be meant for you and the elevator doors slid open, inviting you inside.

You stepped into the elevator with Yuta and watched him press the button for the top floor followed by a series of other buttons. As the doors shut you could see Yuta watching you intently in the highly polished gold surface.

You turned to face him and there was something unfamiliar in his face. You stared at each other for a few moments before you looked away, somehow shy, turning to face forward again. You wanted to ask what was on his mind, but you felt like if you broke the silence it would make things stranger in some way or another, so you opted to stare at your distorted likeness in the door in silence as the lift slowly ascended to the top floor.

Another distant chime announced your arrival and you watched your and Yuta’s reflections retreat from one another as the elevator doors opened, revealing a very large and extravagant penthouse suite.

The ceilings were impossibly high and most of the suite seemed to be constructed with either glass or highly polished silver metal, the furnishings almost exclusively in black leather. It was very minimalistic, yet modern, and it reminded you of Doyoung’s apartment which lightened the weight in your stomach just a bit. There were ceiling to floor windows lining the wall opposite the door with a gorgeous and expansive view of the skyline. You sheepishly thought to yourself that the suite matched your outfit uncannily well, and couldn’t help wondering if Doyoung had intended it to.

Yuta sighed, bee-lining for the miniature bar and pouring himself a glass of amber liquid. He silently raised it to you in offering but you declined, shaking your head.

“Don’t know why I bothered, but I always hope that one day I’ll spend the evening with the beautiful woman I met years ago instead of the secret agent I always seem to see instead.” He laughed, almost bitterly, before draining the glass and setting it back on the counter with a distinct echo of glass striking marble. He made his way to the black leather sofa that was facing the skyline, motioning for you to join him.

You sat next to him and watched him expectantly, waiting impatiently for him to speak.

“Yuta…” You started, but he held up one hand to silence you, still staring resolutely at the night sky.

“You won’t go to Japan.”

It was more a statement than a question but you nodded in confirmation all the same.

“And you want me to help you do…whatever it is you hope to accomplish in some other way?”

You nodded again. He sighed again, finally turning to face you, expressionless.

“What do I hope to gain from risking my life for this? I’ve already put myself in danger just being here with you, but I did it with the expectation that you would be leaving with me and we could wash our hands of this.”

“And what, exactly, did you hope to gain from that?” You asked, raising an eyebrow.

Yuta smirked, turning to face you, resting his hand on your thigh, just below the hem of your dress.

“Only everything that I’ve ever wanted.”

You inhaled sharply, your shock written all over your face. His words weren’t much but his body language communicated everything as clear as day. Your leg where Yuta’s large hand was resting felt like it was on fire and you could feel heat radiating from your face.

Yuta was always flirtatious but you always took it with a grain of salt, assuming that was just his personality. You’d never even considered the possibility that he could actually be interested in you and you were too taken aback by this new information that you couldn’t even properly consider it.

Before you could collect yourself enough to respond the familiar chime of the elevator echoed through the room. Yuta threw himself on the floor, pulling you with him, and groped around under the sofa finally extracting two 9MM pistols that were concealed there, handing one to you as he cocked the other.

You nodded, cocking yours as well, crawling to the opposite side of the couch but keeping your eyes on Yuta, waiting for his signal.

He raised one finger and pointed towards the door, both of you springing into action simultaneously. You leaped forward, landing onto your stomach and rolling back onto your side, your pistol aimed at whoever was dumb enough to try and take the two of you on and walk through the front door. It was a tall man, dressed entirely in black with his face covered by a black scarf. Only his eyes were visible but it was too far off for them to tell you much about his identity.

Why the fuck hadn’t Doyoung warned you about this? Now that you thought about it he had been oddly silent for some time now, you hoped he was okay….

“Any weapons on the ground and hands where we can see them if you value your fucking life. If I have to fire a single shot know that your death will not come swiftly.” Yuta shouted, but the intruder remained undeterred.

The stranger raised his arms and placed them on his face instead of his head, tugging at the fabric that obscured his identity.

You gaped, dumb-founded, as the scarf fell away and revealed an absolutely furious Doyoung.

“If you don’t lower your gun now I will rip your entire shitty operation apart from the seams and collectively fuck you and each one of your affiliates in ways you’ve only dreamed of late at night when you’re alone.” Doyoung hissed, glaring directly at Yuta and ignoring both you and your stunned silence.

“Would now be a good time to mention that I’ve cracked all of your off-shore accounts wide open and started siphoning money out of them as soon as I saw your message? You’re losing an average of 20 Yen every second that you waste staring at me and trying to get the three brain cells you have left to do some actual work, in addition to the 2.8 million Yen you’ve already lost.”

Yuta looked like he was being strangled. He placed his pistol on the floor in front of him, sliding it across the smooth marble floor to Doyoung, placing his hands above his head and lowering his eyes in deference.

“Oh, and don’t bother waiting up for your lackeys, they’ve long since been disposed of.” Doyoung sneered, picking up Yuta’s discarded pistol and stalking towards him.

“I have to admit, I was sincerely impressed with your daring. Execution, not so much. Very sloppy. Hacking a government database and betting that we would see it? Banking on no one else knowing about your cute date night all that time ago or figuring out your riddle? Better lucky than good, I suppose.” Doyoung’s smile stretched wider with every cutting word that left his lips while Yuta’s scowl only deepened.

“Fuck you.” Yuta spat, his eyes reduced to slits, teeming with hatred as Doyoung loomed over him.

Doyoung laughed, if you could call it that. It was a harsh sound, like a bark.

“That’s not what you really want, we both know that now.” He said, crouching down and ruffling Yuta’s hair, antagonizing him further. You finally found your voice.

“Doyoung, what the hell is going on?” Your voice sounded foreign, hollow, like it belonged to someone else. Doyoung finally turned to face you, his face impassive.

“Be quiet for now, please. I’m handling this. I’ll explain later.”

Fury coursed through your veins as you raised the pistol Yuta had given you, pointing it directly between Doyoung’s eyes.

“Explanations happen right now. From both of you.”

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jaivendra · 4 years

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We all know Apple is an American company and enjoys making an outsized chunk of their revenue domestically. But Apple sells its products in many international markets and even has retail stores in 24 foreign countries. Some of those markets, like Japan, have access to Apple products at a price like the US. For example, an iPhone XS costs 112,800 yen in Japan, which is about 1,058 USD. And when you consider the country’s 8% sales tax is included in that price, it actually makes the iPhone XS about $20 cheaper than in the US. Although this fluctuates depending on the conversion rate. But not every country is lucky enough to pay comparable prices for Apple products. To buy the bottom model iPhone XS, you’d need to pay $1,235 in Mexico, $1,285 in India, $1,454 in Sweden, and $1,800 in Brazil. And these high prices have prompted customers to fly to the US just to buy a new iPhone. So why exactly are Apple products so expensive in these countries? Well, that’s exactly what we’re getting to determine today.

So one of the most important reasons why Apple products are so expensive overseas is due to taxes. And the perfect example of this is often the worth Added Tax or VAT, which exists in over 140 countries around the world. But despite its prevalence, it isn’t something that exists in the US. So let me explain how it works. In places just like the European Union, a VAT may be a consumption tax added to the worth of products and services. Products exported abroad aren’t typically subject to the worth Added Tax, but imported goods, like Apple products, are. And counting on the country, prices of those goods can increase up to 25%. And unlike the US, consumption taxes in most countries abroad are included during a product’s retail price. So when you notice the iPhone XS selling for $1,454 in Sweden compared to $1,000 in the US, that isn’t really a fair comparison, since US prices don’t include local sales tax. Now if you’re doing the math, you’ll find that iPhone prices in countries like Sweden still don’t add up. Because if their Value Added Tax is 25% on a $1,000 phone, they should be paying $1,250. But instead, the iPhone XS is priced about $200 higher. And that’s because taxes are simply a part of the complex equation companies like Apple use when calculating retail prices. Another factor to think about are any associated costs with importation. Things like import duties, shipping, insurance costs, and tariffs all contribute to cost inflation when selling products overseas. India is a great example of this. They've enacted something called the Foreign Direct Investment policy which punishes foreign companies who don’t source at least 30% of the components of their products from Indian suppliers. And since Apple doesn’t meet that standard, they’re restricted from opening retail stores within the country additionally to being hit with a 20% tariff. There’s also an 11.4% customs duty on imported products in addition to the Value Added Tax that we discussed earlier. And when you add all that up, it isn’t surprising that customers in India pay a 28% premium for products like the iPhone. Now Apple is taking steps to not only price their products more competitively in India but also to open their first mercantile establishment within the country. I’ll talk about that in more detail near the end of the video. Now you'll imagine import costs only being an element in foreign markets, but they will also affect customers within the US. Recently President Trump planned to implement a 10% tax on Chinese imports by September 1 which would affect tech companies like Apple. Now that deadline was pushed back to December 15th, but Tim Cook would really like to ascertain the tax eliminated altogether.

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In fact, he met with Trump in the week and apparently made a convincing argument since Trump told reporters, “Tim was lecture me about tariffs and ... he made an honest case ... that Samsung is their favorite competitor and Samsung isn't paying tariffs. I assumed he made a really compelling argument so I'm brooding about it." Now if the choice isn’t reversed and Apple has got to pay the ten tax, they’d need to make a decision: Increase prices within the US by 10%, or keep prices an equivalent and permit their profit margin to require a serious hit. Both of which are dangerous for the corporate. If Apple raises prices it might exacerbate the difficulty of slowing hardware sales, but if they permit their margins to fall 10%, it might severely damage their profit potential.

So counting on how this story plays out, US customers made soon be feeling the consequences of tariffs that foreign countries are handling for years. Something else which will contribute to high prices is legally binding consumer guarantees that exist in places just like the EU. for instance, once you buy an Apple product within the US, you receive a typical one-year limited warranty that covers faulty parts, product defects, or other conditions that the manufacturer is liable for. But the matter is companies are liberal to define their warranty terms as they see fit. That’s why only certain components could also be covered, otherwise, you may need to pay a fee to ship the merchandise back to the manufacturer. And that’s exactly why the EU established a consumer guarantee that gives customers far more protection than a typical warranty. Customers within the EU are entitled to a minimum two-year warranty in addition to the quality manufacturer’s warranty. And this adds quite a little bit of liability for companies like Apple who typically offset the danger by increasing the worth of their products. But when it involves foreign markets, a serious concern is that the volatility of every country’s currency. Just take the united kingdom for instance. When Brexit happened, there was a 19% drop in the worth of their currency compared to the dollar, which caught tons of companies off guard and caused them to quickly adjust their prices to stay pace with the UK’s currency fluctuation Apple understands which foreign markets are most vulnerable to this volatility and preemptively raises their prices. you'll see this clearly with South Africa. Notice how the worth of its currency has fluctuated over the past five years compared to the EU, Australia, and Mexico. which volatility may be a major reason why Apple inflates their product’s prices in South Africa beyond what’s typically seen in other foreign markets. But so as to really understand Apple’s pricing overseas, we've to think about the American market. Because consumer behavior within the US is often quite different than those in other regions, mainly because American society is extremely consumption-based. we have the foremost credit cards issued per capita within the world, with everyone charging a mean of $4,000 annually. Compare this to other countries just like the UK or France, which opt instead for Debit Cards and thus charge but $300 on their credit cards per annum. you'll see companies like Apple capitalizing on America’s “buy now, pay later” mindset by offering monthly payment plans for his or her products. and every one of these amounts to US customers buying a better volume of products more frequently, allowing Apple to charge but other countries which don’t have a comparable level of consumerism.

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Now up to the present point, we’ve discussed pretty concrete reasons why Apple prices their products higher in some foreign countries. But there’s one last fibrinogen want to debate that’s less easy to prove with hard facts, which is the brand image. Apple is taken into account as a premium brand in countries like India where the typical smartphone asking price is $200. So when it involves the iPhone XS price of $1,285, it is sensible that only the rich class in India could afford them. And if Apple knows their product will only be accessible to the upper crust, why not charge the maximum amount as you can? It’s an approach taken by many luxury clothing brands, whose customers haven't any problem overspending on items that ultimately function as a standing symbol. And you'll find evidence of this when comparing the iPhone’s price to other flagship smartphones. for instance, the Galaxy S10 retails for $900 within the US and $935 in India. a rise of just $35. The LG V40 retails for $900 within the US and $700 in India. That’s a reduction of $200. And once you compare those prices to the iPhone’s $285 premium in India, it supports the thought that Apple is just extracting the maximum amount of revenue from customers in India as possible, since they know people with money with pay any price for his or her premium phones anyway. it might also add up then that iPhones have only captured about one-hundredth of India’s smartphone market, which may be a shame considering India’s sizable population. But Tim Cook has made it clear that Apple has an aggressive decision to grow their presence within the region and make India one of their biggest sources of revenue. It all started earlier this year when Foxconn began trial runs of iPhone production in India, setting the inspiration for Apple to at least one day manufacture their smartphones within the region and satisfy the 30% local sourcing rule. this is able to allow Apple to avoid India’s 20% tariff additionally to opening their own retail stores within the country for the very first time.

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In fact, Apple has already finalized an inventory of several locations within the country where they could build their store. But they're going a step further by saying they’d overhaul the company's relationship with independent retailers, and improve apps and services aimed more closely at Indians. So while Apple is understood for being a dear brand within the US, their products are typically even costlier abroad. Perhaps they will take measures like those in India to scale back their tax burden and drop prices, but it’s more likely that customers in foreign markets will need to continue biting the bullet and distribute the additional money for his or her favorite products.

#Article #Education #Tech Questions #Technology

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matinjapan · 4 years

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Forex for a dummy

A bit over three years ago I decided to short the Aussie dollar. I went into it thinking that it’d be a decent money spinner. And eventually, it was. But I failed to capitalise. With zero money to show, all I can say is that I’m at least a little more learned for my troubles.

The ‘investment’ was a punt to profit from an economy that had (and still has) plenty of downside risk. Non-existent wage growth (for over a decade now), world beating private debt burden, a rapidly unwinding commodity boom, and an economy far too reliant on the populous buying and selling homes from and to each other, seemed to all add up to a negative outlook.

But I don’t think I really considered just how well Australia could tread water. In hindsight, a pretty naïve viewpoint given the entire political/business/economic infrastructure is geared towards keeping this bubble inflated for as long as possible.

The initial position I opened was when the AUD to USD exchange rate was about 76 cents. I sold the equivalent of AUD 200,000 and simultaneously bought USD 152,000.

200,000 might sound like a lot. And it is! But in forex, the contract size is kind of immaterial. With margin, you only need a fraction of the entire contract size, and so for my trade, $2,000 (i.e. 1% of the position) was sufficient.

With that amount of leverage, changes in the value of your account can happen quick. For example, if the AUDUSD exchange rate moved to 76.5 cents (the AUD appreciates), the USD 152,000 is still the same, but it’s now only worth about AUD 198,700. The 0.5 cent appreciation in the exchange rate means losing AUD $1,300. For this reason, you want a bit of a safety buffer. E.g. instead of only having $2,000 in your account, $10,000 means the exchange rate can move quite a bit against you before you get margin called. Still means you lose a lot of money though.

I had always intended to hold the position for the long-term or until facts/things change. When I first entered the trade, the exchange rate proceeded to drop to 75 cents. Pretty great to be up early.

But in short shrift, the Aussie reversed and moved beyond 77 cents. Damn.

With the higher exchange rate, I actually wasn’t too worried and saw it as an additional selling opportunity. I increased my position size by another AUD 50,000 at about 77.5 cents.

The AUD then kept moving against me. Kind of annoying, but I just rationalised that it was a great spot to keep increasing my position.

It kept going up.

For all my calculations on how much I’d be willing to lose, I don’t think I had adequately accounted for just how much of a psychological weight it would be to be to be down such a significant amount of coin.

At about the 81 cent level, I decided to eat part of the (significant) losses and downsize my position. It was definitely a miscalculation in terms of how much I was willing to lose. Not so much financially, but psychologically; I just wasn’t prepared to keep seeing my account size dwindle as the AUD kept appreciating to who-knows-what??

…But as is often the case with these types of things, almost as soon as I downsized my position the AUD rally was effectively over.

Since that high point of about 81 in late 2017, the AUD has remained stubbornly strong. But it (very) gradually fell to the mid-70s and eventually into the high-60s by the time I arrived in Japan in November, 2019.

Having downsized my position to just under AUD 200k, the breakeven point of my trade was no longer 76 cents. It was about 74.5 cents (owing to the fact that my position size was larger on the way up, and smaller on the way down).

But 74.5 cents isn’t really the breakeven. For every day I held the position, I had to pay the differential in interest rates of the US FED and Australian RBA plus a small commission. Those small costs add up over time, and are equivalent to be about 1.5 cents of exchange rate movement per annum. So, after year 1 breakeven moved from 74.5 to 73, and then down to 71.5 after year 2, etc.

Anyway, at the beginning of 2020, I was up. Not a stupendous amount, but not bad. But I had definitely paid less and less attention to it. The position was just sitting there, ticking away. I had thought to increase the size at a few points, but neglected to. Plus, being in Japan, I was adding to my AUD short position via saving yen.

But then everything kind of went crazy. COVID.

Risk off was definitely an understatement. Money was flowing from all corners of the world back to the relative safe haven of the US. In an incredibly short span of time, the AUD moved from the high- to mid-60s, to the low-60s, crashed through into the 50s and looked like it would basically fall forever.

It went all the way down to 55 cents (briefly), and I was up big. But, I didn’t exit. Why exit if it’s going to keep falling, right?

On the subsequent rally, there was always an excellent chance that COVID could kick off again, and that the AUD would start tumbling down again, way past that 55 cent recent low. But, no.

I had first thought to exit around the mid-60s on its way back up, but still thought that there was an excellent chance the AUD could turn south. Not to be, though. The virus is still wreaking havoc, but the amount of central bank and government stimulus has meant that markets have almost all miraculously recovered (at least for the short-term).

I was still pondering whether to exit the trade. And I finally did when the Reserve Bank released a statement saying that they, unlike all other central banks, would not do anything akin to quantitative easing. The scarcity of the AUD (relative to other money printing crazed central banks) combined with a large amount of China stimulus to buy Aussie Iron ore, meant that the AUD was primed to take-off.

With my trading ego shattered, I closed the trade about 6 weeks ago when the exchange rate was at about 71 cents. Since then, it has rallied to over 74 cents (vindication), but has since fallen back to the 70s. It was actually a relief more than anything to exit the trade. For my 3 years of trouble, my account was up about 100 bucks. Ha, slightly better than a mattress. Needless to say though, my account was a lot larger when the exchange rate was in the 50s!

I’m open to opening the position again. Nothing has really changed about the Australian economy, and so I still think the AUDUSD is headed down over the long-term. But for the minute, the COVID shock will be the most influential factor, and it’s hard to know how things will play out. So, I’m staying out. At least out of forex anyway.

In Japan times, work was actually pretty busy up until a few weeks ago. But I then took a bit over a week off and cycled round Lake Biwa near Kyoto. The weather was actually pretty rubbish, but decent enough for clear riding on a couple of days. I pulled the plug on going the whole way though, once the rain started to plummet.

Unfortunately, no camera. I was trying to travel as light as possible, and with most things I was carrying in a back pack, it wasn’t super waterproof. Really need to get some sort of rack/bag solution, because my shoulders were destroyed after multiple days in the saddle. Despite less than ideal conditions and set-up, it was actually super cool. Some amazing country side that I’m keen to go back and see more of.

The bike has definitely been great to explore Tokyo with, but it’s really only now that the weather is conducive. August and most of September were ridiculous in terms of heat. Couldn’t go anywhere without quickly being drenched in sweat. Right now though, perfect. Will make the most of it before the snow starts to fall. And then make the most of that, too!

Sayonara

#lambofwallstreet #itsover9000 #easy money

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coincidentallyfahrhaus · 7 years

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The Battle of Block Chain: Barbarians at Bitcoin’s Gates?

A Chat with an Armchair Economist and a Coffee Shop Strategist

We all know that Crypto-Currencies become have become increasingly popular and increasingly publicized in recent years. And whether due to its Block Chain technology – a decentralized ledger that maintains a public record of all transactions – or due to luck, first mover advantage, and good timing, Bitcoin has emerged as the market leader in virtual coin. It’s built the House of Crypto, with tall hedges surrounding its 50-perch plot in the virtual landscape.

All is fair, however, in the world of Web real estate: a new currency, Ether, emerged earlier this year to threaten Bitcoin’s position as the world’s number-one Crypto Currency.

Resident economist Ruzaiq Badurdeen and technology strategist Gitendra E. Chitty help us understand what’s going on in a rare interview. Let’s hear what they have to say about this Ether(eal) world of eMoney…

GEC: So what’s it all about, Ruzaiq? Coins used to be metal, and dollars were paper. Virtual Currency is just a different name for online bank transfers, right? Even the name Block Chain is idiotic – sounds like a string of bricks tied together, not fancy technology. Honestly, I think people are running out of URLs and just pasting random words together these days. Like I don’t get why we’re even discussing this.

RB: Well, naming conventions aside, you have to admit that today, money isn’t just physical nickels and dimes. With eCommerce and virtual money transfers, and things like ezCash letting people send dollars or rupees across the country and around the world, currency equivalents cropped up with the promise of minimizing the impact of currency fluctuation. Bitcoin was the first virtual currency, enabling the citizens of the Web to trade, buy, transact, and communicate in a predictable and stable fashion without being tethered to a central bank, and still being convertible into traditional fiat currencies like US Dollars or Japanese Yen.

GEC: That’s my point - it’s just a check, replicated in bits and bytes rather than bills and little metal circles that jingle in your pocket. Online players of Massive Multiplayer Online Games needed a way to “buy” castles and swords and fantastic beasts without having to use credit cards and worry about data theft.

RB: To some extent, yes, but there’s more to it than that. Block Chain is theoretically not just for money. It’s a concept where messages and data flow are broken up into discrete “blocks” that can be securely transmitted across the open Web. The sender of the data and the recipient both have unique passkeys that let them put all those blocks into the correct order, convert it to something that tells a story, and effectively relay that story to someone else on the other side of the globe. That story can be “I’ve now paid you X dollars”.

GEC: Right - basically currencies that can be easily tracked. If Block Chains are also able to maintain a record of all transactions they’ve been part of, well that effectively makes it nearly impossible to use them for black market transactions – it would make forgery pretty difficult unless you’re some master hacker. Donald Trump and his ilk wouldn’t be very happy about it, would they?

Anyway, jokes aside, I get that these e-coins have advantages over traditional currency, but what’s the big deal with Ether - why is everyone saying that it’s knocking on Bitcoin’s door? It’s basically the same thing with a different name.

RB: Simply put, yes, they both have the same conceptual origin and similar security features. But there are some important distinctions. While both currencies rely on that block-chain technology, Ether [through its proprietary technology Ethereum] offers users inbuilt “smart contracts” that allow the currency to automatically execute the terms of a contract once its terms have been met, effectively cutting out middlemen and lowering transaction costs. Bitcoin, by contrast, relies on manual execution and manual conversion from the sender to the recipient. The latter works for individual users who want to send some cash equivalent, but has no model for corporate use.

GEC: So it’s a payment mechanism competition, and the auto-execution is Ether’s point of differentiation.

RB: Pretty much. Let’s take an example. Imagine you want to buy a car…

GEC: Actually, I just tried to do that. Found an electric car dealership in Colombo 8 that had a BMW i3 on order that was exactly what I wanted and couldn’t find anywhere in Sri Lanka at a reasonable price.

RB: Well, here’s where it gets interesting. Imagine you’re buying a car you saw on eBay instead from a dodgy place called Sparky Electric Cars in Borella.

GEC: OK, I’m with you so far... Believe me, I’d much prefer to have bought a car on eBay, given that I got defrauded for over a million rupees by these idiots who never delivered the car I paid for!

RB: If you’d used Ether, you’d probably have saved yourself a lot of headache and a whole bunch of cash because you’d have seen the car in person before your bank account got debited.

GEC: What??? Explain. How on earth would that have happened?

RB: Remember how we said that Ether automates transactions in virtual currency? If you’d paid for the car with Ether, the guy and his wife at the so-called dealership couldn’t have stolen your money. The transaction would only have taken place if certain defined conditions took place.

GEC: I think I’ve got it. If I “paid” the deposit with Ether, on the condition that I was going to get the car in a certain number of days, then I’ve effectively proven my intent to purchase by pre-paying. Except if Sparky didn’t deliver the car, the money wouldn’t have been transferred, and I’d still have that million five in my bank account. Rather than in the pockets of a thief who’s claiming bankruptcy while driving a red Tesla around Colombo.

RB: Basically, yes. You could have set the condition on the payment to say something to the effect of “once car is (1) cleared by customs and (2) delivered to buyer with the appropriate registration book and title, then (3) execute transaction to pay seller”.

GEC: And then I wouldn’t have ended up with a hole in my bank account, a WhatsApp picture of a phony Customs Declaration, and dozens of written and verbal promises to pay back my deposit while my garage sits empty and some smug huckster takes vacations to the Grand Hotel while his crook of a wife claims she can’t feed her children because of their debts.

RB: All makes sense now, doesn’t it? This way, your money and your fictitious car wouldn’t be hanging out somewhere in the ether and the owners of Sparky wouldn’t be running up tabs at the Cinnamon Grand. Puns, naturally, intended.

GEC: Sigh. Where were you when I got fleeced?

RB: Probably surfing the web in my living room, learning about Block Chains.

While Bitcoin continues to thrive in the grassroots economy that it built, it has doubled in value against the US dollar since the start of this year – not too shabby a return, for sure. Ether, by contrast, has already been adopted by several large organizations including J.P.Morgan, Reuters, Microsoft, and Samsung – giving it critical validation as a stable payment mechanism and a scalable, secure method for companies that need to execute financial transactions, and thereby solidifying its value as a true-but-virtual currency. These companies have formed the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (https://entethalliance.org/), an organization that aims to collectivity promote the use of Ether in corporate transactions, particularly in derivatives trading and other financial investing.

Ether’s resultant success has thus been well-documented and effectively proven. Its real-world value is evidence enough: while the price of bitcoin has doubled over the last year [increasing to a market cap of almost USD 40bn], the price of Ether has risen by 2000%, and its market cap to USD 27bn in the same time period. That’s a faster growth rate than Facebook usage since its 2006 launch. Ether, the new kid on the Block [Chain] has quickly become a force that the Bitcoin community can no longer ignore.

Barbarians at the gate, indeed.

Ruzaiq’s background includes a stint as a Moody’s analyst and a MA in Political Economics from Kings College, London. Gitendra has two decades of corporate strategy experience in the Fortune 100 and a number of startups, and holds an MBA from Yale University. Together, they lead KPMG’s Strategic Advisory Services.

#bitcoin #strategy #strategicadvisory #fahrhaus #gitendra #ruzaiq #yalemba #srilanka #colombo #fraud #ethereum #blockchain

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