First round of French elections results show Emmanuel Macron, and Marine Le Pen heading to runoff

Yesterday, the first round of the French presidential elections happened. There will be a runoff election, as Emmanuel Macron received 24% of the popular vote. He was in first place. Marine Le Pen got 2nd place, with 21% of the vote. Emmanuel is 39 years old, and he is a former investment banker. The runoff election will be on May 7, and it will pit Le Pen vs. Macron. Furthermore, let's discuss Marine's political agenda. Le Pen's message is anti-immigration, anti-European Union. Her message is France with borders. She is 48 years old. She stepped down as the main leader of the National Front party, in order to get more votes for the runoff election. Le Pen wants to have a temporary ban on legal immigration to France. She wants France to leave the EU (European Union), like the UK did in June 2016. UK had 'Brexit'; and France could have 'Frexit' in 2018. In contrast, Emmanuel Macron's political party is called 'En Marche.' It means moving forward in French literally. The party was created in September 2016. Macron did better in the recent nationally televised debates. Macron is an inexperienced politician, as he has not served in any political office or position. He was a former economy minister under prime minister Manuel Valls, and a former member of the Socialist party. In closing, Francois Hollande is the incumbent French president. He decided not to run for a second term, as his popularity rating was under 20%. May the best candidate win the French presidential election runoff, which happens in almost two weeks. Enjoy the picture above of both candidates, Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron. Au Revoir toutes les personnes!

2017 first quarter profit prediction for Samsung, plus Galaxy S8 preview

Last year, Samsung had to deal with its Galaxy Note 7 device being prone to producing fires at inopportune times. In 2017, the global memory chip leader will announce its best quarterly profit in more than three years. What a difference that nine to twelve months makes for the South Korean company to recover? First quarter operating profit will be $8.8 billion, and the semiconductor business sales is the main product/component for the great profits. Sales of the company's mid to low tier smartphones also helped the mobile division stay profitable. Eleven days ago, the Samsung Galaxy S8 smartphone was launched in NYC. The new smartphone will hit the market globally on April 21. Without a doubt, there will be a huge wait for this new premium device. Next, researchers are foreseeing that the S8 will set a new first year sales record. The Galaxy S8 will have the largest screen (5.8 in.) for its high end smartphones ever. Android version 7 will be the OS for this new smartphone. Let's discuss more facts about Samsung, and the Galaxy S8 product. Samsung is South Korea's biggest family run conglomerate. The multifaceted company makes TVs; smartphones; refrigerators, laptop computers; among other products. On the back of a memory chip super-cycle, the company and its main rivals should produce very high profits for the first quarter. In addition, Samsung is releasing the Galaxy S8+ in China and South Korea. This new smartphone will battle the Apple Iphone 7 plus product in the second quarter of 2017. The Galaxy S8 smartphone should be available to most Samsung mobile phone customers by June, or July 2017 in the US. The phone will supposedly cost $750-$850 in the US, if you buy it new. The mobile smartphone wars between Apple, and Samsung are heating up in the second quarter and beyond. Enjoy the picture of the new Samsung Galaxy S8 smartphone. It looks pretty slick to me.