Economic News Online

Children's Hospital in Khabarovsk was a gift from the insurance group URALSIB

2009-12-12T19:24:00.000+05:30

December 11, 2009 at Children's City Hospital № 9 Khabarovsk opens sensory room to work with young patients with motor disorders and particularly in development. Funds for equipment rooms with special equipment were allocated insurance group URALSIB as individual support.

A combination of different sensory stimuli room - the colors, smells, tactile sensations, music - has a soothing, toning and regenerating effect on the emotional state of the child, develops a general and fine motor skills, and corrects the higher cortical functions and musculo-skeletal system.

Acquisition of equipment, according to Olga Putilin, chief doctor of the hospital opens new possibilities to help children with peculiarities in development and allows experts to improve the Center's early intervention and rehabilitation activities. "Through studies in the sensory room, our little patients with severe impairments in the development will enrich the range of sensations, extending the boundaries in the perception of the world. This will help normalize the life of each particular child, will improve the quality of life" - she pointed out.

Pound / dollar. Bullish sentiment is gradually increasing, but be careful ...

2009-12-03T12:46:00.001+05:30

Drawing attention to the 4 hours chart, you will notice that at the auction on Wednesday, the exchange rate was able to penetrate the upper limit of downward short-term trading range, which led to increased growth and bullish sentiment in the region 67y pound figure.

GBP / USD

Now look at the indicators:

Current price level is above the moving averages with periods of 34, 55, 89 and 144, which are the closest strong support levels 1.6620/00 and 1.6560/40.

The MACD histogram is located in the positive zone, above its signal line, continues to rise and thus generates a signal to buy a pound.

Stochastic Oscillator entered the overbought zone and does not give a clear signal as the% K line merged with the line of% D.

Since trust in just one clear signal is clearly risky, then a confirmation that the forex market on the currency pair is likely to worsen again bullish sentiment, we need to wait for the breakdown of the resistance level 1.6700, which could open the path to levels of 1.6750, 1.6800/30 and 1.6870 (local maximum).

Resistance levels: 1.6700/10, 1.6750/60, 1.6800, 1.6820/30, 1.6860/70

Current Price: 1.6673

Support levels: 1.6660/40, 1.6620/00, 1.6560/40, 1.6510/00, 1.6470, 1.6450

In Moscow, unknown spoiled hundred cars

2009-12-03T12:39:00.001+05:30

Automobile owners suspect chaotic so they are forced to use paid parking
scratchKak broadcast West-Moscow, unidentified spoiled almost a hundred of expensive cars in the north of Moscow.
Policemen ATS "Running" can not say that one person committed this crime, or more. Too many want to see material from the cameras. This is not an isolated case of vandalism in the area, but that one night damaged a number of machines - detectives such they can not remember.
scratch2
Police looking for vandals, but car owners put forward an alternative version of what happened. They suspect that so they may be compelled to use the paid parking.
"Many area residents have expressed one single version. In the last month throughout the area were posted messages parking lots, and all associated this situation with this. Parking lots were empty, and the owners of these machines do not pose," - says one of the victims.
"The fact that we have in the area, unfortunately, no one paid parking, which might be interested in the fact that customers have come to them. While we do not exclude this version, but also as the main do not see it," -- considers the chief of police of public safety ATS Area Running Sergei Chernyshin.
And yet, their cars were able to save those who are in this ill-fated night and prefer to pay for parking under the protection of, say "Vesti".
In addition, as noted by car owners, vandals did not touch the products of the domestic automobile industry and old foreign car.

British bodybuilders are increasingly suffering from gynecomastia

2009-12-03T12:37:00.001+05:30

Surgeons from the British city of Swansea, the increase in the number of patients with non-malignant tumors bodybuilders breasts.
Usually, gynecomastia (benign breast enlargement in males) occurs in adolescents and men who take certain medications (spironolactone, digitalis, reserpine, etc.).
Gynecomastia in healthy men may signal the development of other ailments such as cancer of the bronchi or testis, liver cirrhosis, leprosy. At bodybuilders same growth of breast provoke nutritional supplements and anabolic steroids, they are taking to accelerate the growth of muscle tissues.
Earlier in the clinic with complaints of Swansea gynecomastia treated one patient per week, but now these patients are recorded every day. To remove benign tumors of the breast in men using the device mammoth - a device that is typically used for breast biopsy in women.
The procedure for removal of tumors takes about half an hour. For comparison: in the open surgery, a patient with gynecomastia have to spend in the hospital all day.

Insurers will not require the perpetrator accident insurance policy for payment CMTPL

2009-11-27T20:37:00.002+05:30

The order of payments CMTPL simplified
DTPwinterRossiysky Association of Motor will not require the original perpetrator of an accident insurance policy for compensation, reports Prime-Tass.
According to the Union, October 29, the Bureau RSA decided amending the rules for compensation Rossiyskim Union of Auto Insurers.
Under the new rules of procedure for payment and simplified now, to prove that liability insurance to the tortfeasor when pushed from the market OSAGO company is not referred to the union documents, the victim does not need to provide a SAR original or notarized copy of the policy is the culprit.
Currently, RSA makes payments on liability 38 insurance companies, retiring from the market OSAGO. As of November 23 of the Guarantee Fund SAR 3.8 billion USD disbursed. However, some companies had not complied with the rules of professional activity and not provided in the SAR necessary set of documents / magazines in the first treaties / enable to confirm that the civil liability of a tortfeasor was insured.
Since the number of citizens on such companies has grown tremendously, with the RSA this time in consultation with the Ministry of Finance introduces a simplified procedure for payment and now the victim to confirm a contract no need to provide a SAR original or notarized copy of the policy is the culprit.
In accordance with the amended fact of liability insurance tortfeasor is established taking into account the information contained in the documents of the accident issued by the authorized officers of the injured State Inspection of Road Safety and containing information about the tortfeasor, the insurance policy of compulsory insurance of a tortfeasor, the insurance organization that issued the policy of compulsory insurance.

Smoking and the probability of rejection of transplanted hearts

2009-11-27T20:34:00.000+05:30

Scientists have long suspected that smoking increases the risk of rejection of transplanted hearts, but the evidence did not exist until now
The experiment was conducted on rats, the staff of the Medical School of Maryland (USA), showed that exposure to cigarette smoke or to the donor or recipient, or both before heart transplantation increases the likelihood of stopping body. According to scientists, smoke accelerates the rejection of donor organ by the immune system, reducing the probability of survival of the patient at 33-57%.
Laboratory rodents were divided into two groups: one "envelop with smoke, and another - no. In each group, were both donors and recipients. The results showed that the transplanted heart, the holders of which do not breathe tobacco smoke, rejecting an average of eight days after the operation.
Hearts exposed to smoke, were destroyed in five days, and organs, transplanted rodent-smokers, tear away after just four days after the operation. If the smoke inhaled both (donor and recipient), transplanted the heart of "living" only three days.
Because the organism is very similar to a rat with a human, a similar effect is peculiar, and people. In other words, if the donor was a heavy smoker, and his heart goes Non-smoking patient, the body will not work. It does not take the body.

Bobbys Corner-Open Market-Nov.20.2009

2009-11-21T18:47:00.000+05:30

Comments by ECB President Trichet moved the Euro lower against the USD and JPY. He stated that “it’s too early to declare the crisis over”. The JPY was the main beneficiary of his comments as investors increased their demand for the JPY as a refuge.

World wide equity markets fell, and US futures are lower after Trichet’s comments, yesterday’s NY sell off, and Dell Inc. announced lower than expected earnings.

Oil:$76.38 Gold:$1134.20

No major data today.

HAVE A GREAT DAY-WEEKEND & GOOD LUCK

Stock Exchange: Europe halls with banks and insurance companies, auto weak

2009-10-27T22:06:00.000+05:30

Opening Session positive for all major European stock markets, with futures little changed on Wall Street and Asia countered that closed after the data on industrial growth in China and GDP in Japan.

London marks a rise of 0.5%, 0.6% in Paris and Frankfurt by 0.4%. Purchases are concentrated on the banking and insurance and raw materials, while suffering from the car and the food sector.

On the shields in Frankfurt Commerzbank (+7.89%), followed at a distance by Lloyds (+2.41%), Credit Suisse (+2.29%), Societe Generale (+1.34%) and RBS (+1 , 52%).

Purchases the insurance on Axa (+2.26%), facilitated by the recommendation to purchase Bank of America, which has raised the price target to 19 euros from 16.3. Allianz also did well (+1.5%), while the raw material rise Salzgitter (+2.14%), Antofagasta (+2.04%) and ArcelorMittal (+1.67%). Positive sign for Rio Tinto (+1.6%) and BHP Billiton (+1.32%).
Going against the car, already uncertain in supervision. BMW sells the 1, 02% and Daimler 0.9%, while earning Volkswagen (+0.33%), Fiat (+0.6%) and Renault (+0.56%).

Born Alliance Insurance & Technology SpA: shoot the hour of global security

2009-10-27T21:52:00.001+05:30

Born Alliance Insurance & Technology SpA, the brokerage firm, listed broker set up by ISVAP, serial 1559 / S, the result of over ten years experience in the insurance brokerage of a highly qualified staff, capable of engaging customers with solutions most suitable for the better protection of expensive and high value added such as those included in the overall automotive industry. Partner for this freshman but already promises to be at about among the first players in the sector, nationally and beyond, a well-known companies such as Sky Way Network SpA or Meta, as well as the likes of General Insurance Companies , HDI and Progress. The management of Alliance Insurance & Technology SpA, thanks to its excellent know-how in the brokerage, has not only been able to attract the attention from these entrepreneurs, but also to prestigious automobile manufacturers, who preferred and chosen Alliance Insurance & Technology SpA as a privileged partner to respond to the request for full guarantee of a demanding and refined clientele. Precisely because of the explicit provision Italian legislation establishing the figure of the broker (law 792/84), Alliance Insurance & Technology SpA can build the best product on the insurance needs of each customer without binding to a single company, thus offering customized solutions, and those most economically advantageous, identified in the vast landscape of insurance products on the market.

The C.d.A. adopted the interim financial statements at 30 June 2009

2009-10-27T20:55:00.000+05:30

Growth in turnover and net profit.

• Consolidated turnover to 170.3 million euros (+6.3% compared to 30 June 2008);
• Net profit of 8.2 million euros (+6.2% compared to 30 June 2008).

The Board of Directors of Reply S.p.A. - A company listed on the STAR [REY.MI] - today approved the consolidated results as at 30 June 2009.

The Group's consolidated turnover in the first six months of the year amounted to 170.3 million euros, up 6.3% over the same period of 2008.

Good sealing of marginality with a consolidated EBITDA amounted to 20.9 million euros, down 3.8% compared to 21.7 million euros in 2008, and an EBIT of EUR 18.0 million, a decrease of 9.1% compared to 19.8 million euros in 2008.

Net income was up 6.2% on 30 June 2008 and came in at 8.2 million euros.

With reference to the second quarter of 2009, the Group recorded a consolidated turnover of 86.0 million euros, an increase of 3.5% over the previous year (83.1 million), consolidated EBITDA of 10, 2 million euros and EBIT of 8.7 million euros.

The Group's net financial position at 30 June 2009 was negative 7.3 million euros, compared to the positive value of 1.8 million euros at 31 March 2009 and negative for 18.6 million euros at 31 December 2008.

In financial terms, in the second quarter of 2009, the Group has incurred non-recurring and extraordinary disbursements totaling more than 17 million euros, mainly due to the payment of allowances related to staff of the former Motorola Research Center unabsorbed by the Group (for 8.4 million euros), the purchase of minority stakes in companies operating subsidiaries (5.8 million euros) and payment of dividends (for 3.2 million euros).

Excluding these payments, the Group has shown in the second quarter, a significant cash generation resulting from the operation entirely current.

"Reply - said Mario Rizzante, president of Reply, at the end of the Board of Directors - has achieved in the first half of 2009 the positive results both in terms of revenues of marginality. This despite syskoplan has registered a turnover of less than 8% compared to 2008, with EBIT of 3.8% mainly due to provisions for about 800,000 euros due to non-recurring costs. "

"Reply is able to grow in recent months - continues Rizzante Mario - characterized by a widespread reduction in investments by companies, gaining new market shares thanks to the excellence of the solutions proposed and demonstrated the ability to support clients in projects simplification of processes and optimization of core activities.

"Also - said Mario Rizzante - we are witnessing a growing interest in innovative technologies such as SaaS and Cloud Computing, two specific areas where Reply today can capitalize on the investment made in 2008, positioning itself to offer expertise and thoroughness among industry leaders .

Owners of modified Porsches supports New independent warranty

2009-10-07T14:23:00.001+05:30

The security of a guarantee, fully supported by the Automobile Association (AA) and TechArt, the global tuner of Porsche, is now available for all Porsche owners with updated high quality. The new warranty is available through UK agent Tech9 TechArt and (subject to inspection at the Center Tech9 Motorsport) can cover the entire Porsche changed more than two years.

"The owners of modified cars are becoming more difficult to obtain extended warranties, leaving them exposed to the costs and disadvantages of mechanical ventilation," said Phil Hindley, managing director of Tech9. "Even very small changes have been known to lead to warranty claims to be rejected, or extended warranties are available. TechArt created some of the most beautiful in the world of customized vehicles, it is essential that we support our customers with friendly service and equally proud support for - or little - the car has been updated. "

TechArt offers coverage warranty with unlimited mileage and owners can make any number of credits up to a total retail value of the vehicle. It also provides a contribution to the costs of hotel and travel up to 60 days of distribution of insurance products throughout Europe. "Many people buying the guarantees independent not realize that there is a big difference in the level of protection provided," said Hindley. "Working with the AA, we have developed the TechArt guarantee to provide the level of coverage and service expected by buyers of cars among the most beautiful in the world."
Although the policy has been developed specifically for owners of vehicles tailored TechArt, Tech9 will also provide cover for other improvements in the quality Porsche. "We inspect the car to provide a report on the quality of conversion and the issuance of the guarantee if it complies with regulations," says Hindley.

The hedging costs £ 1295 per year for the 911 and Cayenne and 1095 pounds for the Boxster and Cayman, including the cost of inspection. "Excellent value compared to the official Porsche extended warranty, and not keep the car for 90 days before buying," says Hindley.

Tech9 Motorsport has an excellent track record in the Porsche Racing, winning the British GT Championship in 2003, 2004 and 2005 FIA GT3 Championship in 2006. The technical skills of the company led to their appointment as exclusive agent for the United Kingdom-renowned German specialist Porsche TechArt update, making a superb range of conversions if elegant, luxurious interiors and conversions of high performance engineering available to UK buyers.

Taiwan Economic News: Mac Tablet in February with cpu PA Semi

2009-10-07T13:58:00.001+05:30

Come new rumors about the Mac Tablet from the Taiwan Economic Daily News. According to the latest rumored indiscretions seems that this product will be released in February 2010 and will be equipped with a CPU produced by PA Semi and a screen from 9.6 inches. The rumors even speak of an order made Apple Dynapro for the production of 300 thousand batteries per month, while if it concerns the construction of LCD panels, Apple should be entrusted with Wintek (which already produces the display of the iPhone).

The Mac Tablet is also equipped with an HSDPA module, and we have no definite information about the module Wi-Fi. As the price of marketing is spoken by about 799 to 999 dollars (546 to 683 Euro).

Note: The information contained in this article are the result of rumors, we can not confirm nor deny these rumors, but we consider them sufficiently attractive to bring to your attention.

The most reliable car insurers believe Honda

2009-10-03T12:20:00.000+05:30

British insurance company was rating the reliability of cars has become a brand leader Honda.

Insurers analyzed statistics on 250 models of 30 marks the total number of 50 thousand vehicles aged 3-6 years. The parameters estimates were the average probability of breakage of the car during the year and the average amount of accounts, which the owners receive for each case of repair, wrote Japancar.

The probability of failure of Honda is 10,59%. At an average cost of repair only Honda in the 9 th place (295.42 pounds), and at 1-m - Skoda. For Honda Mazda be with a probability of breakdowns in 13,03%. With a maximum lag of three closes Toyota (13,08%), in fourth place Subaru (13,92%). Nissan, Mitsubishi and Lexus ranked 6 th to 8 th respectively.

Five Quick ways to bring the figure in order - Reducing Body Weight

2009-10-03T11:54:00.003+05:30

Bring yourself in shape for the month can be - talking about it and nutritionists, and fitness instructors. Of course, lose 20 kg were recruited for eating my grandmother's delicious pies, you do not succeed, but cause the muscles to tone and tighten the problem areas fully capable. How? Use the instructions that we were together with our expert - dietitian Alina Stephana.
1. In order to lose weight, to start you need to create a deficit between consumed and calories. You must begin to consume more calories than you get per day with food. This does not mean that we should eat enough to eat and be spent excessive physical loads: in fact, such tactics - a sure way to gain weight even more. He sat down on a rigid diet and increasing physical activity, you will create stress for the organism, and it is feared, will begin to store calories rather than part with them. Your task - a balanced diet and with a mind to come to physical stress. Remember: muscles that are toned, visually reduce the appearance of cellulite. And the skin looks more elegant, especially at the back of the thigh.

2. Visualize your goals! If you will create top list of goals that are persecuting, began studies, you will be easier to move towards the target image. Signed a contract with itself, and hang it on the fridge. For example, Monday - 1 hour jogging in a nearby park, Wednesday - group fitness classes at your favorite club, Friday - navigate. Make its motto the phrase "I come to the proper physical form here and now!". Do not forget to eat right. No - bun, yes - the young carrots. This also Become supermarket contract. Read it daily. Take all this as a game, but not painful.

3. Series of physical activity. Just jogging in the park of significant results in such a short time to reach does not allow. During the time that you overshot to practice constantly switch from walking to running, from running a fast pace, then back to walking again to the races. Monotonicity in the exercises - your enemy. Practice half-hour interval workout at least two or three times a week.

4. Do not concentrate on one problem area, for example, thighs.

Try to perform the following exercises

*
Lying on stomach, bend your elbows. Relying on them lifted. Feet shoulder-width apart, lifted the body so that it would become parallel to the floor. Being in this position, Keep the flexibly-extensive movement in the press. You like to create a triangle whose apex is - your buttocks, the base - the floor and your hands and feet - the edge of the triangle. Upon flexion, when the buttocks are in the top position, freeze for 1 minute. Then again, come back in the position of strips parallel to the floor. This is a very effective exercise, resulting in muscle tone of the press and hands.
*
Complicate exercise can be as follows: starting position the same, but, curving body, you're on an exhalation lift your right hand forward so that you have shoulder gets to the right ear. .
*
And the most difficult option: you can also raise the opposite arm and leg, holding a position for 5-10 seconds.
*
Remember: the transition from one exercise to another must take you a minimum of time, as if the muscles are constantly in tone, the effectiveness of training significantly increased.
*
Do not forget about the hips: Do two or three sets of 15-20 repetitions at least two or three times a week, and the muscles of the hips will come to the desired tone.
*
Elasticity of muscles of hands you can help support the dumbbell weighing 1 kg. Raised his hands with dumbbells in hand and dropped them. Lying on your back, raise your hands, as if hugging the ball, and gently descend.

As soon as they start to practice fitness workout, go to a special bikini diet.
Stick around this dietary pattern.
Lunch for the perfect figure: a sandwich with a fried grilled chicken, whole grain bread, green salad and sauce of vinegar, spices and olive oil - calorie 390 calories, of which 10 grams of fat.
You do not fit: Caesar salad, because it contains a toast, pickles, cheese, which retard water, and sauce, salad who run restaurants, can also be satisfying. Average salad includes 800 calories, of which 45 grams of fat.
Garnish for the perfect figure: a portion of fruit salad with strawberries, grapes, bananas and yogurt - 80 calories, 1 gram of fat.
You should not have: made a couple of broccoli and cauliflower - 90 calories, 0 g fat. While cabbage - very useful and valuable product, it promotes weight loss, but long-term program. Also do not forget to refuse cabbage directly to leave. If, however, until the exit to the beach in less than an hour, in any case do not eat cabbage. It contains many complex sugars, which react with bacteria in your intestines, leading to bloating: not the best prospect, is not it?
But fruit salad with yogurt provide useful substances the body and support immunity.
Soup for the ideal figure. Your choice - "Gazpacho": 55 calories, 1 g fat. But abstain from acute soups! Perez increase blood flow and sweating: it is unlikely you need, when you're going to the beach. Your choice - a cold soup.
However, if you have the recipes of rapid weight loss, boldly gone with them! Because so many women who dream to lose couple of extra pounds a week before the holiday!

Women are allowed to fly at any stage of pregnancy

2009-09-24T17:29:00.001+05:30

Pregnant women can safely travel by air at any stage of pregnancy, if it proceeds without complications. That is the conclusion reached expert committee member non-profit organization "The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists" (The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists). New recommendations of specialists will be published in the October issue of the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.
According to the therapist's Hospital Boston Massachusetts General William Barth (William H. Barth), a number of studies conducted since 2001 showed that air travel is safe for women with uncomplicated pregnancies.
Dr. Bart noted that issues relating to safety of air travel, are among the most popular among pregnant women.
Specialists of "American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists" remind future mothers that they should follow general precautionary measure, all passengers on flights. Including, for the prevention of blood clots pregnant should move his legs, to avoid narrow clothing, drink plenty of fluids, and get up and walk through the cabin of the aircraft.
In addition, pregnant women should wear seat-belts, while in the airplane seat, and avoid foods and beverages that cause gas formation in the intestine.
Pregnant women who may need emergency care, the experts recommended to refrain from flying for the duration of pregnancy.

The mystery of crop circles - History

2009-09-15T14:32:00.008+05:30

On 15 August 1972 in Warminster, southern England, Bryce Bond (American radio commentator) and Arthur Shuttlewood (ufologist British figure in the history of the phenomenon as a witness of many sightings of apparitions and circles) went on Stars Hill, Hill of Stars, after sunset, from there, while watching the sky, they saw two bright objects dancing in the sky.

Later, the U.S. reported that one of these objects, triangular and about seven meters long, came over and began to move over a nearby wheat field. Under the subject settled down in the ears with grace, spiral, stalks uniformly bent in a clockwise direction, and in less than a minute there was a large triangular-shaped design, having a diameter of 7 meters, Bond concludes the story by saying that then appeared a second circle of 10 meters in diameter and tapered ellipse. Finished his drawing the object darted off and disappeared.

What Warminster Crop Circle was the first in history to have witnesses, and from that day the circles appeared regularly, in 1990 appeared more complicated designs, no more separate circles, but "pictographs" or "agroglifici.

He is aware of the phenomenon of the Seventies (evidence of crop circles come to us from Australia in 1966 and the United States in the '30s and '40s, but without an accompanying photo, can not be taken into account), from when some pilots, their aircraft, they saw silhouetted circles of extraordinary beauty and symmetry on the fields of ripe wheat in southern England. At first only circles, perfectly geometric, these phenomena have become increasingly complex in their architecture, evolving from year to year to form beautiful shapes.

The most striking example is the formation of 13 August 2001, Milk Hill near Alton Barnes, Wiltshire, southern England: 300 yards in diameter, consisting of 409 circles perfectly measured (in photo).

The phenomenon is also developed in other countries and in 1991 appeared the first "pictograms" in Germany. But the place where there are more UFO sightings and apparitions of circles (mostly between April and August) is definitely the South 's England, near Warminster, one of the most beautiful and mysterious planet.

The surprising fact is that Warminster lies exactly in the middle of the famous triangle of Glastonbury (related to Biblical prophecy of the "New Jerusalem", that a new era would begin by "Engelland, the name eventually became England), Avebury (megalithic complex , an ancient sanctuary of prehistory)

What then are the crop circles? Investigators gave birth to several hypotheses on the origin of "Crop Circles" was Mother Earth who reacted that way to the destruction of the environment? These were the "wind turbine", "morphogenetic fields", "telekinetic powers" of researchers or "geomagnetic forces"? It was the landing of flying saucers to leave these marks or the second explanation more fun, the circles were impressed by the rich and porcupines at the time of copulation and in the presence of rivals in love, involuntary spectators of the scene, running in circles some distance from the couple, marking the outer edge of the circles?

According to ufologists are messages to extraterrestrial entities, to crack before they "arrive"; pictograms that by drawing from our own cultures, should mediate human thought and allowing us to understand these alien entity without being shaken by a culture shock that would undermine the foundations of our societies and religions.

According to Michael Hesemann (one of the foremost experts in this field) in solving the mystery of crop circles is connected precisely with the arrival of UFOs: "The wheels are just a new way in which the extraterrestrials want to announce their return and, Save a terrible shock to our culture, have chosen this medium so bland, refined and of great beauty, which prepares our minds for degrees, broaden your horizons. " The sudden discovery of extraterrestrial intelligence might have a devastating effect that would cause anxiety, panic, mass hysteria and governments in crisis.

According to the skeptics are great works of art created by man, through a technique still secret, but certainly not "alien".

Many associations have taken care to "create" signs in the grain to show that it was possible to achieve them. Among them, the English Team Satan, certainly the most experienced, has achieved a reasonable level goal-scoring, but still far from that of the circles considered "authentic."

The same applies to numerous anzianotti English ladies who have vaunted the creation of signs, claiming to have made a mockery of the entire world for years nobody has been able to build a work convincingly in front of the cameras.

The most common methods are a ladder or a pole position at the center of the circle, a rope tied to the pivot on which to play a round of 360 degrees while men armed with axes the following four or five stalks bending at a time carefully, without breaking . With this you get very good looking, almost perfect, but it is difficult to draw complex shapes.

* There are footprints in the grain or close to it, the ears also break and ruin under the feet of the first visitors of the site.
* There are circles formed on all the cereal species, common on grass, on snow, ice, sand and a host of other land.
*Within some circles are found anomalies in the electromagnetic spectrum and radiation that elicit nausea and headaches. Many argue that within the newly formed circles you can hear a low hum or, sometimes, a constant hiss and hypnotic. The ears bent genetic mutations, with the deformation of grains, swollen nodes, explosion of the pores of the cells, reproducible putting the ears in a common microwave for two minutes.
* The wheels are starting in areas where UFO sightings are more frequent than normal. Many witnesses, no evidence to confirm their statements confirm that he saw "light balls" flying low over the fields at high speed.

The circles which we know have been made by man unequivocal evidence of their manufacture: holes in the center where the poles are placed to measure, marks the passage of feet, imperfections in the edges, small size, difficult to conceal the work during the night of creation, ears often broken, never folded.

And now a list of questions that have sparked the curiosity of skeptics in recent years and, hopefully, your pushing to deepen the subject:

* The circles to this day have appeared in: England, Germany, Sweden, Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy (August 1985 Zoppola, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Grosseto, Tuscany, 1990, unconfirmed, Sicily in 1990 spotted by a tourist stranger on a plane from tourism, town unspecified, not confirmed), Spain, Switzerland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Afghanistan, Turkey, Egypt, Puerto Rico, Canada, the U.S. (This list is from 1992) . Were related to places of archaeological interest, including prehistoric, only in England and Germany. The coincidence between Britain and Germany as it circles the Germans appeared many years after those in England, could be due to speculation by the authors of the circles in the European press. This advocated a link between the circles and prehistoric monuments for many years.
* The progressive increase of the complexity of the designs seem more interesting to evaluate the evidence in the case of a factory man. Refining a technique that every year becomes more articulate and far more plausible in the case of the evolution of an art rather than alien land. The thesis of UFO on a message communicated by degrees, in order not to upset, since in any case no one has interpreted the signs, appears weak and unfounded. Since they wish to speak through a mathematical formula applied to pictograms clearly inspired by the cultural - religious - Geometric land, why, if they know so well, our cultures, are unable to communicate anything beyond their skill execution?
* The wheat fields are crossed by dirt roads for the passage of tractors. There is a circle which does not overlap any of these paths, at least in the hundreds of existing photos. If the authors would use these paths to begin the work could at least justify the absence of footprints outside the circles. The fields of corn, however, does not have these paths.
* Because no one has thought to monitor the fields during the day? They are all located in flat areas, surrounded by low hills [the tallest (200 meters) is in southern England, while Silsbury Hill, megalithic construction pyramid of 150 feet, around which occur hundreds of signs is closed during night]. Any human activity in the fields during the day certainly pass unnoticed even when viewed from above. The authors would also put more than a night or day, just cover the areas you work with camouflage cloth, hard to notice even the (few) planes that flew over the area every day, always early in the morning in search of signs .
* During the summer, thousands of people travel in Wiltshire nightly vigils and organize armed with cameras. With them there are as numerous troupes of scientists and journalists. If the appearance of the signs coincide with the sighting of these luminous spheres, because there is only one compelling movie phenomenon?
* Nausea, headache and ringing can easily be caused by autosuggestion.

That said, the mysteries are still many, many, too many, leaving us to assure a necessary dose of healthy skepticism. Nobody, after all, have understood how and why this phenomenon occurs in parts of the world so far, through the same modus operandi. The interest shown by the British and the U.S. for the phenomenon is documented and rather suspect. As if that were not enough hoops have a nasty tendency to appear very close to military bases: the Wiltshire it is literally littered. This naturally gave rise to further speculation involving secret weapons and new technologies tested on the ground, but here we enter a territory where yielding is easy to fall into the ridiculous and the assumption of conspiracy.

There are many ancient structures to be viewed from the sky: the great "lines" of Nazca in South America to horses carved in the hills of Wiltshire.

2009-09-14T22:43:00.001+05:30

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Board of Directors of Pininfarina has set the final terms of the capital

2009-09-14T17:07:00.000+05:30

Following the release, dated July 2, 2009, authorization to publish the prospectus relating to the offering as an option and admission to listing of ordinary shares arising from the capital increase approved by the Board of Directors of Pininfarina SpA On 22 May 2009, in partial implementation of the delegation to increase the capital allocated to it by the Extraordinary Council of 29 April 2008, the Board of Directors of Pininfarina SpA met today to determine the final terms of the said capital increase.

In particular, following the resolution passed at its meeting of 22 May 2009, the Board of Directors of Pininfarina SpA resolved to increase the paid capital, as a severable, to the maximum amount of Euro 20,849,652, by issuing a maximum number of 20,849,652 ordinary shares of par value of one euro each, with dividends from 1 January 2009, with the same characteristics as those in circulation, to be offered as an option to shareholders in proportion to the number of shares held.

The Board of Directors has determined the price of subscription of new shares issued in Euro 3.35, of which Euro 2.35 a share premium and determined that the newly issued shares are being offered as an option in the ratio of n. [269] new ordinary shares for every n. 120 ordinary shares held.

Given the price of subscription and the maximum number of shares that may be issued, the maximum total value of the capital amounts to Euro 69,846,334.20.

The Council also decided that stock options must be exercised, subject to revocation during the period between 13 July 2009 and July 31, 2009 inclusive; stock options to be traded on the stock exchange time from 13 July 2009 to July 24, 2009 inclusive; stock options not exercised by July 31, 2009 will be offered on the stock exchange under Article. 2441, paragraph 3, cod. Civ. within the month following the expiration of such offer period in accordance with the procedures and terms that will then be communicated to the market.

Please note that the subscription price of newly issued shares was determined by the Board of Directors in the circumstances and the considerations below represent.

First, the Board of Directors has reviewed and assessed the financial market conditions and trend of the prices of the shares registered imminent operation, in accordance with the resolutions passed by the Extraordinary dated 29 April 2008. In this assessment, taking into account the instability that has marked the unprecedented financial markets as a result of the cd Credit crunch and the crisis in global markets and the real economy, on the one hand and the extreme volatility that has characterized the title Pininfarina second, also due to limited trading volumes of the same, the Council wished to consider , to the determination of the subscription price of the shares, a period limiting the distorting effects described above. The Council has therefore taken as a reference point for determining the subscription price of the shares of newly issued stock price performance since May 22, 2009 - the date when the Board of Directors decided (together inform the market) implement the authority granted by the Extraordinary Meeting of 29 April 2008 - and calculated the TERP based on the weighted average price for the volumes in that period.

Moreover, for purposes of determining the subscription price, the Board of Directors also took into account the nature of "extraordinary rendition" of the capital, which represents the implementation modalities of the second phase of the operation of ripatrimonializzazione and the rescheduling of debt in the medium Pininfarina's planned long-term framework agreement stipulated, among others, by Pininfarina SpA, Pinch Srl and funding bodies by Pininfarina S.p.A. (excluding Fortis Bank NV) on 31 December 2008 and subsequently amended on 19 June 2009. This modality, as is clear from the communiqué on 23 April 2009, was the one chosen by the parties to the Framework Agreement to ensure the capital adequacy of the Company from among the alternatives provided for therein.

The capitalization of the Company through a capital increase, which is a cornerstone of the attestation on the reasonableness of the plan for balancing the Pininfarina Group issued pursuant to Article 67, paragraph 3, letter d) RD March 16, 1942, n. 267, dated 31 December 2008 and supplemented on May 20, 2009, in particular, has been ensured by Pinca commitments to subscribe for shares and required of it in options and restricted stock equivalent to the option rights not exercised at the outcome ' for the floatation of Article 2441, paragraph 3 of the Civil Code, up to a maximum number of shares Pininfarina sufficient to allow a pinch to hold, with success of the capital, together with shares held by Segi Srl and Seglap ss, and to own shares held by the Company, a holding not exceeding 86% stake in Pininfarina, expressly provided for the framework agreement, as amended on 19 June 2009 and formalized June 25, 2009. In particular, this commitment is to enable society to benefit from the property and release the subscription of the shares covered by it - the number of which depends on the subscription price and the number of newly issued shares - just about had the possibility that there may be even unsold shares as a result of those financial market conditions and as such has been considered in the mentioned statement regarding the reasonableness of the plan to rebalance the group Pininfarina.

Finally, the Board of Directors, taking into account the maximum amount in principal and any premium, the capital increase approved May 22 last year, has seen fit to determine the number of newly issued shares, reducing even the protection of shareholders not consider it appropriate to participate in an operation to increase capital purposes avowedly restructuring, the dilutive effect arising from the possible failure to sign the newly issued shares of their fair share.

The subscription price represents a discount of 3.6% on TERP, calculated on the weighted average price for volumes in the period between May 22, 2009, when the Board of Directors decided (together inform the market) to implement the authority granted by the Extraordinary Meeting held on 29 April 2008 and the current date, a discount of 10.7% over the volume weighted average price over the same period and is higher by 4.7% over the closing price today of Title.

Please note that the release of shares to be issued in implementation of the capital increase will take place at the choice of underwriters, other than by payment in cash of the subscription price, even by means of payments into account the capital increase, which may be established including by waiver of claims against the Company.

In this regard, it further states that, as communicated to the market on June 19, 2009, Pinch made on the same date a deposit account in euro capital increase to 35,500,000 by Pininfarina waiver of debts which have been simultaneously transferred institutions to finance part of the framework, to be used for liberation of the actions required of it as an option. Moreover, if successful bid for remaining shares unsold in stock, Pinch will make a further payment in capital account increased to a maximum of Euro 34,500,000 Pininfarina - by an irrevocable and unconditional waiver of claims for the same amount that will be sold subject to the fact that residuino unsold shares - to be used for liberation of the shares which stated commitment underwriting.

It is expected that the prospectus relating to the offering as an option will be published on 11 July 2009 under the law and made available to the public at the registered office of Pininfarina SpA, the Italian Stock Exchange and the headquarters of the company's website

ASUS will soon be $ 100 eReader

2009-09-11T19:27:00.002+05:30

You can call it for now "Eee Reader" and the name already says it all: the philosophy of "Eee", the function of Reader. It comes out what the market is probably looking at this stage: a low cost reader for digital books, something that satisfies their curiosity for the industry without imposing onerous forced investment than they still feel the strong necessity.

Nothing official, at the time, but Asus could bring to market its device as early as one year. And it's a prototype because it is not without originality ricalcante the traditional model "Kindle" (a single plan on which to project the page of text), but based on a structure "a book divided into two sides. The promise, as in the previous concept "Eee", is that a good low cost device: no frills and no affectation, but a solid device that optimizes the quality / price in a market like today's, not inclined expenditure.

Recent investigations have spoken clearly: there are few people genuinely interested in spending more than $ 100 to buy an e-reader. Below this figure, however, the masses might think about buying and experiencing live reading in digital, free download of books out of copyright and the thrill of having a whole library in the palm of your hand. Given the price of the rest of the series "Eee" is not said that ASUS can respond adequately to the needs expressed by the user in terms of price, but everything has to be seen with regard to addressing the needs of readability and enjoyment that the reader has.

The reader should come in two versions ASUS: a "budget" to minimize costs and a "premium" to include some additional features including a microphone and even a little camera to enable calls via Skype. The rumor today (arising from the statements of CEO Jerry Shen) bring to mind a prototype dual panel presented at CeBIT 2009 in the course of months may have changed from a laptop to ebook to meet the current needs of the market.

I5 Intel Core, Intel Core i7, Intel Xeon 3400 series

2009-09-11T19:23:00.002+05:30

I5 Intel Core, Intel Core i7, Intel Xeon 3400 series: these are names that carry the Intel Nehalem micro architecture in desktop PCs and servers into entry-level, thus consigning to a new high leverage Intel's market in the months to come . "These new chips, known by the codename" Lynnfield, "are based on the innovative Intel Nehalem Micro architecture and designed for users who require high performance for digital media, productivity, gaming and other demanding applications. The processors, along with the new Intel P55 Express, are already commercially available.

Explains the official statement issued by the group: "The new chipset provides the most revolutionary architectural changes since the invention of the PCI bus in the early '90s, and prepares the ground for the new Intel platform in 2010. The Intel P55 Express will be the basic components of reference for motherboards in the world, offering new levels of performance and scalability for all users, whether they buy commercial solution, whether you have the technical expertise to assemble their own . The new processors were first announced in late 2008, when already the main features were listed and the new production let prelude to the new firepower that Intel was putting into the field (Hyper-Threading technology, new management of RAM and Intel Turbo Boost etc.).

The introduction of new households is gradually pushed out of the market the Intel Core 2. According to Tom's Hardware thorough analysis, new products are intended to put particular pressure on AMD, even in terms of energy consumption, "It is immediately apparent reduction in consumption with new solutions i5 Core and Core i7, even mode idle. Both products Lynnfield consumes 20 watts less than the Core 2 Quad Q9550S, which we used until now to replicate the performance of a Q9550 standard. The "S" has a TDP of 65 watts, so the result obtained by the Core i7 870 and Core i5 750 in idle acquires greater value. "

BMW Italy renewed organizational structure

2009-09-11T19:02:00.000+05:30

MILAN (Thomson Financial) - BMW Italy, the Italian branch of the House of Monaco, has completed in recent days the process of redefining roles and responsibilities of company management.

It is learned from a note to the effect that Andrea Castronovo, president and CEO BMW Spa of Italy, he and 'Rainer Schmidbauer joined as managing director and chief financial officer. Respond directly to the chief executives of BMW Bureau Rome, Gianfranco Tonoli, and BMW Milan, Alessandro Salimbeni, and the sales manager at Rolls-Royce, Marco Makaus, as well as Fabrizio Longo, director of sales for cars, Joerg Reimann, Mini brand manager, Alessandro de Angelini, director of marketing, BMW, Gianni Fortuna, Director of Communications and Pr, Andrea Buzzoni, director of BMW Motorrad and Ivan Pegoraro, After Sales Director.

The CEO will refer Marco Bergossi as internal audit manager, Mark Campiglia, director of human resources as' and Organization, Fabiana Bresciani, director of purchasing and facility management, Stefano Dambruoso, IT Director, and Paola Anzani that from 1 September 2009 has assumed the post of Director of Controlling and Management of BMW Italy Spa replacing Martin Hartl, who has held the role from May 2003 to April 2009 and now embarks on a new path within the Mother House as 'project manager international accounting'

Women pay less car insurance

2009-09-04T17:06:00.004+05:30

Women are statistically less frequently involved in accidents than men. Therefore, they pay less in car insurance.
On average, the difference in liability and CDW is, according to a market study of the online portal "Toptarif.de" at 3.5 percent. In each case the cost advantage for women, but may be as well as 20 percent. According to insurance statistics, the background is less risk of damage by women. For couples it is worthwhile, therefore, in circumstances that make the car insurance run over the woman.

Sickness benefit for the self-securing: right on time!

2009-09-04T16:56:00.000+05:30

Until 30 September, the deadline to have the self-employed have the opportunity to secure their entitlement to sick pay.

The legislature had removed to 01.01.2009 the statutory sick pay for the self. Self-employed who are covered by statutory health insurance, only had to pay even the reduced contribution rate and had two opportunities to save her sick. You could either enter into a collective choice in their hedge fund or a private health insurance allowance.

This scheme, however, was soon changed by the legislature. Since 01.08.2009 the self in the statutory health insurance again have the opportunity to secure for the normal contribution rate, currently 4.9 percent of their sickness. At the same time all election rates for sickness run automatically on 01 Augustus out.

But beware! Thus, the sickness is again covered by statutory health insurance with, the people concerned an informal election statement sent to its coffers. The change does not happen automatically. Until 30/09/2009 must be the election statement to the insurance company to ensure a seamless insurance. Otherwise, it remains at the reduced contribution rate without sickness insurance.

Even those who continue to want to insure an election rate, needs until the end of the period to contact their insurance company. Only then is the claim from the 01 August. Whoever did not complete any private health insurance allowance, should register in any case his health insurance if an uninterrupted sickness insurance coverage will exist.

Anyone who has taken out private health insurance allowance, in order to secure his sickness and now again wants to make the statutory health insurance company may well have a problem. A private health insurance has a notice period of three months, too long to go still within the time limit. However, it is possible that the insurance company can prevail in this case, fairness. Those concerned should check with their insurance as soon as the.

Besides, who had shot down an electoral price and still am 30.07. is in sickness benefit, will have a prolonged period. For every additional day, be continued in which the sick pay, shifts the end of the deadline by one day is also backwards.

Study: Market shares of the insurer in the broker channel

2009-09-04T16:31:00.000+05:30

The study, "Market share of insurance brokers in the sales channel," conducted on behalf of Charter Broker Network Insurance Exchange AG from YouGovPsychonomics AG, showed, among other things, that brokers actively search for their mediation partner. The Insurance Journal reported that Germany.

In the study, about 400 small and medium sized insurance brokers were surveyed (up to 50 employees) according to the new business units in different divisions and the expected development for the current year.

In the area of commercial property and automobile insurance, the R + V was able to prevail among the brokers as a leader and thereby solves the AXA (Study 2007) from. In the supplementary health insurance is no longer the Signal Iduna, but the Barmenia Leaders and comprehensive insurance for sickness, the DKV had to give its top position in the Continental. 2007, Insurance Berunfsun tracing ability was further queried with the term life insurance, this year - was interviewed separately - are here to enforce the Nuremberg. In the area of private provision of public welfare, the federal government alliance has succeeded. No changes since 2007, however, there is in the product areas of private car insurance (VHV), Insurance (Baden-Baden), legal (KS Auxilia) and term life insurance (dialogue).

It is striking that there is now one quarter of new business in the field of term life insurance goes to direct different - significantly more than in 2007. In addition, the study found that 58% of the broker with the brokerage of insurance of up to 100,000 euros of revenues for the year and another 21% have a turnover of up to 200,000 euros.

The dollar has risen in price by 27 cents, the euro - 15

2009-08-31T16:58:00.001+05:30

The weighted average U.S. dollar to Russia's ruble payments for a period of "tomorrow" on a single trading session trading on the MICEX as of 11:30 Moscow time, on the basis of which is the process of rate fixing the dollar the next day, increased to 27.10 cent and amounted to 31, 8397 rubles, transmits Finmarket.

The weighted average euro exchange rate with a term of payment "Today" on 11:30 to 11:30 at the average rate of the previous session, rose to 14.65 cent and amounted to 45.4253 rubles.

As a result of simultaneous increase of American and European currencies weakened ruble. The cost of currency basket has increased by 21 kopecks - up to 37.95 rubles, compared to 37.74 rubles on Friday.

On the international Forex market dollar is rising against the euro, against the backdrop of the fall in world stock markets. Euro at 11:25 Moscow time on Monday was worth 1.4284 dollars compared with 1.4303 dollars at the end of the previous trading day.

In crisis buy a Ferrari or Bugatti profitable than investing in gold, calculated the Financial Times

2009-08-31T16:56:00.001+05:30

Investing in classic cars - for example, Bugatti, Jaguar or Ferrari rare model and in perfect condition - in times of crisis may be safer and more profitable than investments in any other assets, including stocks, artwork and even gold, writes Financial Times.

As experts note, the car is a potential source of future income - the demand for old cars in recent years had grown so large that they had created a separate index - HAGI Top, monitor the price fluctuations in the market.

HAGI Top, tracking the 11 brands and 38 models of classic cars, rose by 39% since its launch in early 2008 on 31 July 2009.

However, the international index value of art Art Price Global for the period fell by 29% in terms of euro notes Finmarket. Index of Liv-ex 100 Fine Wine, recording the dynamics of the value of the 100 most rare and exquisite wines, lost since 2008 10%. Gold during this period fell 15%.

Continue to set records and auctions selling classic cars. So, in August, Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupe 1965 issue, on which the famous racer Bob Bondyurant won the FIA World Championship in Reims, went for 7.25 million dollars. This is the highest price you ever paid for American-made car at auction.

In the most recent Bonhams auction were sold from 80% to 98% of lots at the usual level of 60-80%. A particular demand are cars beginning of XX century, or copies, has an interesting history.

India's economy grew in the second quarter to 6,1%. For the first time since 2007, growth accelerated

2009-08-31T16:49:00.001+05:30

India's GDP in the second quarter of 2009 increased compared to the same period last year to 6,1%. For the first time since 2007 the country was recorded acceleration of GDP growth, reflecting the recovery of the third-largest Asian economy, reports Bloomberg.

Like China, India managed to avoid recession: in the first quarter GDP grew at annual rate 5,8%. Restoring economic growth observed in the second quarter and in other major economies of the region - Japan and Indonesia. According to analysts, not the last role here was played State support measures that are in the region reached 950 billion dollars.

Negatively on the increase in GDP may affect reduction of production in agriculture, which may be caused by a drought that has afflicted 44% of the territory, where three-fifths of the population.

In addition, rising prices for agricultural products and raw materials can be put before the central bank of issue of changing interest rates, said the representative of the Government of India Duvvuri Subbarao.

In July, before the onset of drought, the main financial regulator planned to India GDP growth of 6% in the current fiscal year ending in March 2010. Inflation, as predicted, should make 5% instead of the previously stated 4%.

Analysts Morgan Stanley and Nomura Securities believes that the impact of poor performance in agriculture in the economy will still be limited. Scope of services, including banking and software vendors, is 55% of the Indian economy, industry is still a quarter.

In June, industrial output in India rose by 7,8% compared with the same period last year, which is the largest increase in 16 months, according to the Government of India.

Experts: the depth of the current crisis has already surpassed the fall of 1998

2009-08-28T19:47:00.001+05:30

In 11-th anniversary in August of 1998, the Center for Development and the Higher School of Economics released a bulletin on the crisis. State. Business, which argue that the depth of the current economic crisis has already surpassed the 1998 crisis.

Then at the point of maximum reduction of production (in the IV quarter of 1998) fall in GDP was 9.1%, while in the second quarter of this year, an estimated "Federal State Statistics Service" - already 10.9%, cites data Time News. "

Experts believe that the current crisis will be more protracted. After the shock in 1998, the economy, taking advantage of the devaluation of national currency went into growth. Now, despite the government-controlled devaluation, a similar effect was observed.

"Despite the significant decrease in imports, domestic manufacturers that supply products to the domestic market, have not been reduced as a result of the devaluation of the specific competitive advantages, and therefore not in a hurry (but often can not, as in the production of automobiles and electronics) to capture new market segments. Instead, they, following the reduction of domestic demand, lower stocks, "- says the expert comments and Development Center, School of Economics.

Russians, comparing their situation now and in 1998, until the crisis is believed 11-year-old more difficult. Of the 2 thousand respondents interviewed by the "public opinion" a week ago, 32% said they suffered from the crisis of 1998, more than from the present, and only 20% said that more victims now.

Scientists at MIT have developed a new compact robot made in the form of fish that can swim with these fish in the seas and oceans and to study their

2009-08-28T19:31:00.001+05:30

Scientists at MIT have developed a new compact robot made in the form of fish that can swim with these fish in the seas and oceans and to study their habits and conduct deep research.

According to scientists, the development will greatly facilitate the study of ocean remote crevices, as well as help in exploring caves and faults, which can not get any regular divers or submersible. In addition, the researchers argue that robots can be used for environmental purposes, as they are able to continuously monitor the state of water, to monitor emissions.

At the moment, developers have several kinds of fish robots, some of whom are Robotuna (Robo-tuna), which consists of 6 independent motors and 2843 of other nodes, and the length of each robot for less than 30 centimeters. Robots themselves are different as their color, and purpose, as well as performance. Depending on the model of the robot and its size, they consume from 2.5 to 5 watts of electricity.

The end of this year, scientists intend to finalize the 17-centimeter fish, which will be able to quickly navigate and perform in the water much of the work completely autonomously. Externally, the fish will be similar to tuna.

Baby-asthmatics need to swim!

2009-08-25T17:52:00.002+05:30

According immunologists Taiwan Taipei Medical University, children with asthma can control and regulate all the signs of the disease with the help of navigation. How to assure doctors, proved the effectiveness of navigation in the fight against disorders of the respiratory system.

The study was conducted with two groups of children in the age group of 7 to 12 years. One group in a special program in the pool for 6 weeks, the other - was the control. In the first group of absolutely all kids, improvement was seen, as in feeling, and in clinical indicators.

Regular swimming has meant that the number of hospitalized children has decreased dramatically, and decreased the number of permits school. Pediatricians were recorded decrease in the severity of asthma, facilitated breathing, wheezing away, many children got rid of chest deformation, improved quality of life of children with asthma.

As medics say, swimming, unlike other sports, the safest sport for children suffering from asthma, and does not provoke attacks of breathlessness. Swimming in addition to improving respiratory processes (increase in lung volume, a different technique of breathing) also contributes to the normal mental and physical development of children. Within a year of lessons observed good results.

Scientists have calculated the worst day of the week

2009-08-25T17:47:00.001+05:30

In the newspaper The Daily Telegraph appeared description of an unusual research scientists - they figured the worst day in the week. In their work the researchers conducted a large-scale analysis of blog entries and evaluated emotive words used by network users, on a ten-point scale.

Words such as, for example, «happiness», «happiness», «free», we estimate higher than 8 points. «Betrayal», «cruelty», «hated» dialed 2 points or less. In total, the authors of the study was treated with about 2.4 million weblogs.

As a result, it was found that the most negatively colored words appear in the web environment. Second place for joy after the weekend was on Monday. Scientists explain this, at first glance, the strange fact that in the beginning of the week people have strong positive feelings for Saturday and Sunday.

Note that the results of this study contradict the data obtained in earlier studies. For example, British social scientists reported in April this year that, in their opinion, the most difficult time for office workers in the UK is 11:45 am Tuesday.

The study, according to the authors, can be called unique, because as a result of work were involved in an unprecedented number of people. Also, scientists believe that the collective happiness can be as measurable parameters such as temperature.

Aircraft biofuel will become a reality

2009-08-25T16:19:00.001+05:30

According to Alan Epstein, vice president of Pratt & Witney, which is engaged in standardization and certification of aircraft engines, the first certified commercial aircraft flying on biofuel, to appear in operation by 2011. The company has already signed a collective agreement with General Electric and Boeing.

In the next two years the world aviation industry will be able to come to the same standards for biofuels, and in time to certify it, says Epstein. Thus, the first official biosamolety should rise into the air as early as 2011.

According to Epstein, with the new standards are likely to agree to the company and Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene, which is one of the largest foreign suppliers of aviation fuel.

Astronomers have reduced the number of potentially habitable planets

2009-08-24T16:05:00.002+05:30

The Astrophysical Journal Letters, published an article in which the authors attribute to the additional conditions necessary for life, such as active eruption.

Astronomers have reduced the number of potentially habitable planets

Previously it was thought that the emergence of living organisms in the presence of extrasolar planets is enough liquid water. This planet should be located in the habitable zone, ie, in a narrow region of space around the star host. But the orbit of the planet should not pass too close to the lights, otherwise the water will evaporate. In the case when the planet turns away from the star, the water is in ice.

In the course of the research, scientists have proved that not all the planets orbiting in the habitable zone are suitable for life, but only those on which the proceeds or leaked active volcanic activity. Since during the eruption ejected onto the surface and are carried long distances water vapor and carbon dioxide, created conditions favorable for photosynthesis. Under the influence of radiation produced organic matter from CO2 and H2O.

However, the eruption should not be too strong, and not have to constantly pour lava entire surface of the planet, not to prevent the emergence of living beings.

On volcanic eruptions affect the tidal forces that arise when the impact on the planet of one or more massive bodies. Thus, to assess the habitability of the planet must take into account its position relative to the stars, and its outer environment.

His theory, astronomers have shown the example of exoplanet GJ 581 d, away from Earth at 20 light years. This extrasolar planet has a "right" characteristics of a habitable planet, but the gravitational influence of the neighbors in the GJ 581 d is not sufficient to volcanic activity.

Scientists of many countries carry out astronomical research to find life beyond Earth. They are looking for life on distant planets and celestial bodies that are in the solar system. Currently, the most promising target for searching is Saturn's moon Enceladus, as recently, astronomers have collected lots of data, which increases the chances of finding living creatures.

The EU will introduce in 2012 new rules on ecology for airlines

2009-08-24T15:56:00.001+05:30

About one hundred airlines in Russia including Aeroflot, including the European Union in the international list of air carriers, which in 2012 may be banned flights to airports within the EU on new environmental standards. Overall, consolidated list includes about 4 thousands of airlines from all continents, reports AP.

New EU legislation (entered into force on 1 January 2012) requires all, without exception, the airlines that fly to Europe to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, which share in the amount of greenhouse emissions in the whole EU is 3%.

According to the document published in the official newspaper of the EU, among others, the list includes such major international operators such as Deutsche Lufthansa, the Italian Alitalia, Spanish Quantas, French-Dutch KLM, Emirates of the UAE. Also in the list enter the U.S. Air Force planes and military aircraft Israel and Russia.

Against violators of the new law could be penalized up to a total ban on flights to Europe, said RIA Novosti.

Airlines ordered to proceed to the monitoring of harmful emissions from its aircraft since January 2010.

According to international experts in air transport accounts for 13% of the total carbon dioxide emissions produced globally by all transport modes, and 2% of global CO2 emissions from human activities.

Meanwhile, in mid-July, the EU updated the list of banned airlines. So, it got all airlines except Kazakhstan Air Astana, the activities of which, however, restricted.

Among the countries of the former USSR in the number of companies, aircraft have been banned flights over Europe, also includes four Ukrainian air carrier - Volare Aviation Enterprise, Ukrainian Mediterranean Airlines and Motor Sich.

At the same time, the EU excluded from the list of four airlines from Indonesia - Garuda Indonesia, Airfast Indonesia, Mandala Airlines and Premiair. As noted in the report of the European Commission, this decision is the result of the actions of their owners, which "ensure respect for international standards of safety."

In the "black list" are still all companies of Equatorial Guinea, Liberia, Swaziland, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The list also includes the airline's North Korea, Afghanistan, Sudan, Cambodia and Gabon. The total number of companies flying aircraft in the territory of which the EU is limited, is 194.

How and from whom covered the sky EU

The idea of a pan-European list of unreliable airlines emerged after the collapse in January 2004, aircraft of the Egyptian airline Flash Airlines, which killed 148 people. As it turned out, the activities of the airline was already banned in Switzerland, but the passengers, mostly French citizens, knew nothing about it.

After that incident, their black lists have appeared in many European countries. A new impetus to the development of the idea was in August 2005, when a major air crashes in Greece and Venezuela, respectively, 121 and killed 160 people, mostly French and Belgians.

In autumn 2005 the idea of creating a European black list of unreliable airlines approved the European Parliament, after which the EU member states gave the Commission information on airlines banned within their territory.

Based on these data the European Commission and was the first pan-European list of airlines that do not meet European safety standards. The first list of 92 carriers was published on March 22, 2006. It was attended by 51 airlines from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the second and third place is Sierra Leone and Equatorial Guinea (respectively 14 and 12 carriers). Also featured in the list of airlines from Swaziland, Liberia, Thailand, Korea, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Oil went up by a growth stock index

2009-08-22T18:43:00.003+05:30

The "plus" was completed on Tuesday, 18 August, the trading day on the oil market. The reason for the first three days of growth in prices has been positive for equity markets, grew up on a background of positive corporate reports.

As a result of trades on Tuesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange price of a futures contract for WTI crude oil brands with delivery in September rose by 2.44 dollars to 69.19 U.S. $ / bbl. At the InterContinental Exchange in London, the October contract for Brent Crude oil went up by 1.83 dollars and closed at around 72.37 U.S. $ / bbl.

At the trading session, oil market was the largest increase in this month and played part of the losses the previous two sessions. The direction of movement of oil futures quotes asked stock indexes jumped to a higher-than-expected performance of American firms Home Depot Inc. and Target Corp.

According to the report of the world's largest retailer of products for Home Improvement Home Depot, its net profit in the first half of 2009-2010 fiscal year, which ended August 2, 2009., Grew by 4.6% to 1.63 billion against U.S. $ 1.56 billion received for the same period a year earlier. The volume of sales of Home Depot in the first half of 2009-2010 fiscal year dropped by 9.4% and amounted to $ 35.2 billion against U.S. $ 38.9 billion a year earlier.

Very pleased the players and the financial report of the second-largest retail outlets in the United States Target Corp. Net profit of the company for the II quarter 2009-2010 financial year fell by 6.4% and amounted to $ 594 million to 634 million dollars from a year earlier. Analysts had expected a more modest results.

Against this background, the index of blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.90%, a high-tech NASDAQ - 1,30%, a broad market index Standard & Poor's 500 - 1.01%.

Rostom completed auctions and Indexes in Europe. Further support for market shares in the Old World had on the growth of German investor confidence to a maximum of more than three-year level. In August, ZEW economic expectations index reached 56.1 points to 39.5 points recorded in July.

Such a significant increase in the Center for Economic Research ZEW attributed the favorable macroeconomic data, in particular the increase in jobs in manufacturing and export growth. Positive developments have improved the economic outlook for Germany for the next few months, said the organization of comments. As a result, the British FTSE 100 rose 0.88%, French CAC-40 - at 0.91%, while the German DAX - on 0,94%.

Against the backdrop of optimism about the economy, podhvachennogo parties to the oil market, oil prices in New York, gaining nearly 4%. Contributed to the growth of quotations and a weakening dollar against the euro, the increased attractiveness of commodity markets as alternative investments.

Several positive trends have limited the United States statistics. According to a report by the U.S. Department of Commerce (US Department of Commerce), construction of new homes in July 2009. decreased by 1% to 581 thousand units in monthly terms. The experts predicted, however, the growth rate up to 605 thousand units. The number of building permits decreased by 1.8%, to 560 thousand units.

Overview of the foreign exchange market for the week

2009-08-22T18:36:00.001+05:30

At the end of last week showed a modest decline in the dollar against the euro (-1.1%) and yen (-1.2%). The positions of the U.S. currency against sterling virtually unchanged.
During the week of the dynamics of the trading in the foreign exchange market was determined by the following factors.
The week began with the growth of the dollar and yen against the euro in the revitalization of sales in equity markets due to fears that the recovery of the global economy may not be as rapid as anticipated. Later the situation changed in the opposite direction. It could have a material adverse effect on the mood of investors, even weak data on the housing market in the United States, which recorded decrease in the number of new buildings in July fell by 1.0% to 581k, while building permits fell by 1.8% up to 560k.
During the week of pressure on the currency of refuge has been the growth of major stock and commodity markets in the world. Oil prices finished the current week growth, reaching new highs in 2009 against the backdrop of post data, which showed the decline of stocks of crude oil in the world's largest economy to 8.4 million barrels for the week.

Support for the euro over the past week have left the data as follows: the index of business sentiment of investors and analysts in Germany (ZEW) in August reached 56.1 compared with 39.5 in July. Experts predicted the growth rate to 45. Later, also became aware of the sudden increase in activity in the service sector in Germany.

Sterling started falling a week against the dollar after a report released showed the most significant since December last year fall in housing prices. However, after the pound strengthened against major currencies. Support for sterling had left the data on inflation vVelikobritanii, which showed that prices in the country remained at the same level in July. Analysts had expected the index decline. This has resulted in spekulyatsiyotnositelno monetary policy the Bank of England. Later at a negative sterling appear publishing protocol last meeting of the Bank of England. Recall that a committee on monetary policy the Bank of England unanimously supported maintaining the current level of key interest rates at its meeting held on August 5-6, at the current record low 0.5%. In addition, management has decided to increase the buy-back program of the assets of 50 billion pounds to 175 billion, however this issue was not unanimous. This decision was given six votes. Chapter britanskogoTsB Mervyn King and two members were in favor of a more significant expansion of the program - 75 billion to 200 billion pounds. The report notes the need for further implementation of the program over the next three months.

Yen incurred losses against the dollar and euro in the revitalization of growth in world equity markets, in which diminished concerns about the slowing global economy and tempovvosstanovleniya investors increased the demand for high-yield assets. This tendency is stronger when it became known that in August, the index of activity FRB Philadelphia unexpectedly rose to 4.2 point to the value of -7.5 in July. At the end of the week positive data on U.S. real estate market, as well as comments the Fed chairman Ben Bernanke have led to reduction of yen against major currencies against the backdrop of growth in positive sentiment of market participants.
Published statistics showed that in July, sales of houses in the secondary market, the U.S. has risen to the level of 5.24 million units, while analysts were expecting growth to 5.10 million from the June rate of 4.89 million value in July rose to 7.2%, reaching such a obrazommaksimalnoy mark over the past two years.
Ben Bernanke, Fed chairman speaking at the opened on Friday in Jackson Hole annual two-day conference of the Fed, with the participation of heads of central banks in Europe, as well as leading experts, noted that the global economy starts to go out of recession. According to Bernanke, this contributed to the aggressive actions of central banks and governments around the world.

Ahead of the long years of strict regime of economy

2009-08-19T17:02:00.002+05:30

Attempts by the growth in Western nations have failed to fall

As the resumption of economic growth, the policy will certainly have a sense of collective relief. Now they can go to the beach with a bucket, shovel, suntan and sophisticated economic model, happy at the thought that their worst fears - a return of depression in the style of 1930h - not true. Returning to work after maternity leave, they may encounter unexpected problems. Will the increase in inflation. So far, inflation has remained relatively stable, aided the decline in world prices for commodities, particularly oil. But in recent months, the situation began to change. When the credit crisis, oil prices are understandably declined. It seems that this was so long ago that was almost a lie, but in mid-2008. barrel of crude oil sold for $ 150 and above. Then they dropped three times in descending below 40 dollars a barrel. Now the cost of oil is 70 dollars per barrel. Does it for healing and strengthening the world economy against the backdrop of easing concerns about the depression and deflation? Or is the new oil prices threaten sustained economic prosperity?

The answer depends largely on the location. In the United States, Europe and the UK are encouraging signs of economic stabilization, but at present levels of demand in these economies remain low. To understand the reasons for the strong growth in oil prices, it is necessary to examine the situation in other regions, particularly in Asia. China to bolster global economic activity through a package of incentives, implemented in the past few months. Strengthening the economy was the main reason for a return to high oil prices. Other Asian economies are also beginning to contribute. In fact, in Asia may resume economic recovery, which was the last time it was noted early in this decade. To understand why, to think about methods of monetary policy in these countries. Like many other developing countries, Asian countries sought to tie the currency, officially or otherwise, to the dollar. So when the Fed decides what the interest rate set in the United States, it also unwittingly sets interest rates for many other countries. Certainly, these countries may refuse to link to the U.S. dollar and to make its own decisions in the field of monetary policy, but many of them are not yet ready for such a step.

If you - an American congressman, the reluctance to disengage from the U.S. currency due to the blind following the trading principles established in China and other countries. If you are - Chinese, pegging to the dollar is an effective tool for external communications with monetary policy, given the lack of well-developed domestic financial system. In these circumstances, preference is often given to the target exchange rate, rather than the target level of domestic inflation. United States set the interest rates for many economic regions. If the U.S. breaks a serious credit crisis, and in others not, it's likely that interest rates for these countries will be seriously underestimated. As a result, economic growth begins, the sharp rise in lending and increasing activity in financial markets that, with the light hand of my colleague from Hong Kong by Fred Newman called puskaniem bubbles.

Higher prices for oil and other raw material adverse impact on countries importing raw materials. The so-called "overall" inflation, which includes such volatile components as the prices of food and energy are likely to once again begin to rise at the end of the year, apparently putting an end experiences about deflation. Strong demand in Asia will lead to an increase in American and European exports to this part of the world, but despite the huge power of the Asian region, its economy has yet to be successfully play the role of American consumers on the world stage: in Asia, many of those who kopit, but does not lend . In my opinion, the impact of rising prices for raw materials would nullify the effects of the Asian demand for exports from developed countries, creating new problems associated with economic recovery in the developed world. This picture implies increased demand in Asia and other parts of the developing world. Rising oil prices do not threaten the onset of inflation in the style of 1970s, when an intermittent rise in prices and wages. Instead, they put the inhabitants of developed countries in a difficult position.

Janet Henry, another colleague at HSBC, recently wrote an article "Researches in the depths" (Delving Beneath the Surface), which studied the dynamics of inflation in Europe in response to increases in commodity prices. Its conclusions are concerned. For example, in the UK inflation will exceed 2%. Nevertheless, thanks to a huge spare capacity, even with the continuous fall of the production capacity for long-term impact of the credit crisis, there is the possibility of increasing wages, at least, sporadic. The real purchasing power will be under tremendous pressure. In the good old days we would have overcome these difficulties by taking a loan. In the case of reduction of income, we could count on the credit markets that would allow for further growth in consumption and investment. However, the credit crisis on the cross. The only remainder of the borrower - the state, but a few States will be willing or able to continue to occupy the same amount as last year.

Credit crisis creates instability in the global economy. Attempts to further growth in the developed world, due to the existence of the debt, failed frighteningly fast. Lower interest rates - part of the solution, but they are used more to stimulate demand in Asia than in developed countries. Asia has grown significantly in economic terms compared with the past, when she was on stage, depending on resources, and now it contributes to the resumption of growth dynamics of rising energy prices. This increase, in turn, threatens to limit the pace of economic recovery in the west, impacting on real disposable incomes. Therefore, in the end, so it is important to discuss the issues of fiscal consolidation. Keynes was right. Financial assistance provided by the last 12 months, helped avoid a more serious economic downturn. However, increasing public debt, we have increased the tax burden on future generations. It's fine if we can count on a steady and continuous growth. But in a volatile world economy, such a chance for the developed world is declining. At some point we will have to accept that in a number of years, our motto will be "rigid economy".

Stephen King, managing director of economics at HSBC

2009-08-17T17:52:00.003+05:30

Explorer Insurance, the growing auto carrier and member company of ICW Group Insurance Companies, is launching expanded Florida coverage options, in many cases with lower premiums. The new changes give Florida's independent agents the ability to offer reduced rates and a wider range of coverage options, in order to meet the precise needs of their customers throughout the state.

As part of our commitment to empowering our exclusive distribution channel of independent insurance agents, we have made our highly competitive Universal product even better by opening our program to more insureds while lowering prices for more Florida motorists, said Kevin Prior, president and CEO of ICW Group and president of its Explorer Insurance Company subsidiary. Through the enhanced Explorer Universal Plan, we continue to deliver on our promise of profitable partnerships with agents and dynamic, high-quality auto insurance coverage for the consumer.

The Explorer Universal program allows agents to write policies with increased flexibility, including $10,000/$20,000 Bodily Injury limits and Property Damage coverage of $25,000. Explorer will also insure drivers with up to three accidents or major violations. In addition, Explorer can now write a policy for a driver who requires a Financial Responsibility filing, even if the policy has an excluded licensed driver.

Explorer Universal offers its most competitive rates in Florida's high-growth cities including Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville and Tallahassee with the greatest decreases available for drivers with one or two points, single drivers and drivers with international licenses. Part-time students are eligible for the good student discount and the reduced married rate can be applied for widows. Additional discounts include homeowners, multi-car and renewal.

We've always believed the best way for Florida motorists to find the right auto insurance coverage is through independent agents who understand the needs of their clients and the unique dynamics of local markets, said Explorer Managing Director Mary Boyd. Thats why we've expanded Explorer's product mix to offer independent agents an even wider range of coverages at competitive prices to serve a broader spectrum of the motoring public.

In addition to expanded coverage, Explorer provides motor vehicle reports and CLUE auto insurance loss histories to agents at no cost and offers agents writing its Universal product a special 50% commission incentive on sales of optional Nation Safe Driver Coverage (NSD) for roadside assistance, available with both full coverage and liability only coverage.

Despite todays challenging business environment, Explorer continues to expand its product offerings. It has experienced significant growth throughout the year, and is forecasting 2009 to be the strongest in company history.

About Explorer Insurance Company

Explorer Insurance Company offers private passenger auto insurance in California and Florida and commercial auto insurance in California exclusively through independent agents and brokers. Explorer is a member company of ICW Group, a group of multi-line property and casualty insurance carriers that provide workers' compensation, surety, earthquake and personal and business auto insurance. Explorer is headquartered in Santa Clarita, California. Explorer continues to transform itself into an insurance industry leader dedicated to meeting the needs of its agents and brokers and the people and companies they serve.

THE COURT SETS ASIDE THE DECISION OF OHIM ON THE REGISTRATION OF THE MARK "BUD" MARK AS A COMMUNITY IN PARTICULAR FOR BEER

2009-08-13T15:40:00.002+05:30

The court stressed the decisions of OHIM on the registration of the mark "BUD" as a Community trade mark, inter Alia, on beer
The Office has requested the dismissal of the contradictions of Budweiser Budvar against the declarations of Anheuser-Busch more mistakes. The court found that the OHIM, it is required by Budweiser Budvar has a "serious" use of "Bud" names prove to be for all areas in which the protection of these names is a legal mistake. The Office would have allowed only examine whether the signs in question in connection with a view to economic advantage of commercial activity and not in the private sector have been used, regardless of what this area was affected.
Moreover, the Czech company, according to the court proof of successful, that the question of trade names in use. Regarding the allegation of OHIM that the marks Budweiser Budvar BUD as a trade mark use, the court stated that nothing indicates that the word "Bud" when applied to the goods in question will be, more to the commercial origin of the product than on their geographical origin points.

Allstate Applies To Re-Enter Mass. Auto-Insurance Market

2009-08-12T18:45:00.001+05:30

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Allstate Corp. (ALL) has begun the process to resume selling auto insurance in Massachusetts, the only U.S. state the company doesn't operate in for auto insurance.
The personal lines insurance company said it targeted Nov. 2 as the date in which it would offer rates to consumers, if it was successful in setting ratings with the Massachusetts Division of Insurance.
In 1988, Allstate left Massachusetts because of the state's highly regulated environment. Massachusetts began a new competitive system in April 2008 in which the market would set rates after 30 years of the state doing so. Allstate spokeswoman Kate Hollcraft said the recent changes gave insurers "greater flexibility in how we serve customers and compete for business in the market."
Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s (BRKA) Geico applied to write auto insurance in Massachusetts in March.
Allstate said Monday customers in the commonwealth would have the opportunity to select from Allstate's Your Choice Auto suite of auto insurance products, which offers customers a variety of coverage and pricing plans.
Shares were up 2.2% to $24.84 in recent trading. The company's stock has lost nearly half of its value from September, but is up from its 52-week low of $13.77 in March.
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2009-08-04T20:39:00.002+05:30

ROME - "What should I do, I take a barrel Berlusconi?". The desire to Menara hands Di Pietro is metaphorical but rather makes you feel good as the opposition in front of the black hole of 35 billion of current expenditure. Alarm-breakdown. Button on the heel of the government hammers Eugenio Scalfari strongly, with an application to the center-dry, but you, you do? They are, therefore, the responses of the leaders, who feel as trapped in a spider's web woven by Berlusconi and Tremonti. Pier Luigi Bersani says: 'It is so, they derailed the government cut the investment so that no one screams and swollen like a balloon current spending to keep the good consensus, and we have complained many times. ... But. " Disheartened following observation of the candidate to the secretary of the Pd: "In one year we went ahead with 23 strokes of confidence at a rate almost an order of the day, Berlusconi and Tremonti have not submitted one time to discuss the economic crisis." What does this mean? It means that "there is no more space, the physical place for our battle," which means "the Honorable deformation has reached the alert level. Conclusion: "The real head of government is the Minister of Economy, who escapes with the decrees to the collective control of the Council of Ministers and then Parliament and the opposition." And go to understand, then, ends where the river of money that overflow from the public purse.

Reconstruction in this case no different from that of Dario Franceschini, the secretary, who runs for reappointment at the top of the Pd, and has denounced the black hole of 35 billion a few days ago in the classroom. "The situation is very worrying. The governor of the Bank of Italy Draghi, at the Dpef, explained that the increase in expenditure is only for one quarter due to redundancy." So three quarters of the mountain of money would not be justified, accuses Franceschini. "A crazy paradox: no action for the economic emergency and yet, incredibly, the current expenditure lievita in a year and inflates up to unimaginable levels. An alarming fact, which is working in our parliamentary group."

The causes of the hole? Bankruptcy weighing on Brunetta, minister of Public Administration? Franceschini expects radiography exact abyss. Antonio Di Pietro goes down hard. "A mysterious hole me I have done. First is the failure of Brunetta: its vaunted fighting idlers has resulted in a gigantic waste of public resources." All public money machine, accuses the leader dell'Idv that if they go on salaries, for the spoil system of government, the regional health spending. "But this river of money does not seem to benefit the great mass of employees, if there strikes and complaints, by state police, complaining about cuts." Bersani agrees, Brunetta absence makes the fight but failed to bring expenditure under control in public administration. "The net of increases in mandatory spending - said the former minister - stands out the anomaly of intermediate consumption for the purchases of goods and services. This is accompanied by a loss of revenue tax. And the investment, already low, do not spend a Because of the lengthy procedures. Meglio entrust to local authorities, as we have asked us. " A Paolo Ferrero, the secretary of the Communist Refoundation, given out by the Parliament of the offensive center on the hole in the accounts, however, appears weak. "We do not have the opportunity to see the data broken down, the battle would have it that the parties sit to the Chambers, but not doing." The key to reading the Price? The government is operating with "great political discretion" current expenditure. "We take the use of layoffs as an exception, which also allows companies that could not use this tool. Just look good but at the discretion, out of a regulatory framework, by a law that extends the layoffs to small businesses and all those who do not work. " So Berlusconi widens cords to minimize the social problems but it does so out of control. And the output increased to cover the tax revenues, "resumed the escape to the great." E Ferrero indictment: the tax shield is a real amnesty disguised. "Anonymity in the return of capital allows a trafficker in weapons or drugs to get away with it."

Wheat has been subject to deportation

2009-08-01T08:40:00.001+05:30

Egypt, which refused to import of Ukrainian grain to last season, continued the unfriendly actions of the current marketing year

Market participants offer the same answer in regard to Egyptian products.

In the past marketing year, Egypt has taken a pause in purchases of Ukrainian grain because of the claims against the parties to the local processors. However, not enough time to start the new season, as the Ukrainian products were applied once again blocking action. Egyptian Public Prosecutor's Office ordered to re-export 45 thousand tons of wheat, much of which was of Ukrainian origin. The analysis (of screening and fumigation) grains were found unfit for consumption by people. Shipment will be made of wheat from the port of Alexandria, which is already in the grain. According to unofficial data, the Egyptian importer of wheat, bought the fourth and fifth grade, while the import of such grain to the territory of Egypt, is prohibited in principle (Egypt imports high-quality grain for food purposes and do not buy animal feed).

The Egyptian side expressed the inconsistency of the parties stated in the contract parameters. To date, no official data on this incident is not brought. «So it was last time, the charges were unfounded. Moreover - even during the visit of the delegation of the Ministry of agropolitiki in Egypt they were unable to name any specific data on low-quality shipments of Ukrainian grain. In Egypt, there clanism officials and the level of corruption is very high - said a source in circles treyderskih .- As one of the following version of the incident is considered that the Egyptian side has filed papers for the purchase of low quality grain, hoping to get into the high-quality grain. But traders are not the first year and the ship clear that stated in the contract ». It also notes that re-exported shipment of Ukrainian wheat - are likely to crop last year. As previously noted director, Ukrainian Agrarian Confederation Sergey Stoyanov, all questions of Ukrainian grain to the Egyptian market «refer to prices rather than quality».

According to market participants, in this situation is an urgent need to get on gosurovne proof of the failure of the Ukrainian party to the contracts, and to take steps to remedy them. «If it turns out that this - the internal contradictions of importers, an attempt to purchase cheaper high-quality grain, and then inflation from this scandal, it should be an adequate response against Egyptian goods at the state level», - noted Maria Kolesnik, expert consulting company «AAA». As an example, market participants lead the Russian side, which also had problems with the grain market of Egypt, similar to Ukrainian. Recall that in May the Egyptian Government banned the unloading of the Russian Party of wheat at the port of Safaga. But a few days Rosselkhoznadzor has blocked the importation into the territory of Russia of Egyptian oranges. «Then there were talks of Agricultural Ministers of the two countries signed agreements, and Russian wheat purchased», - said Maria Kolesnik.

The Egyptian market - though not the basic, but ample enough for Ukrainian grain. In particular, the volume of shipments of wheat from Ukraine, he is in fifth place in the top ten - on barley.

Oil prices are expected dashed

2009-08-01T08:25:00.004+05:30

World oil prices plunged producing countries in the present stock - falling of quotations was unpredented long $ 3,5-4 per barrel. What a long and painstaking grew a few weeks, it was destroyed yesterday's fall.

Official prices of oil futures next month of delivery were:

- In London on InterContinental Exchange Futures Europe - IPE Brent Crude - 66,53 (-3,35) $ / barrel.;
- In New York for the New York Mercantile Exchange - Light, Sweet Crude Oil - 63,35 (-3,88) $ / barrel.,

Study Catches Two Bird Populations As They Split Into Separate Species

2009-07-30T16:26:00.001+05:30

ScienceDaily (July 30, 2009) — A new study finds that a change in a single gene has sent two closely related bird populations on their way to becoming two distinct species. The study, published in the August issue of the American Naturalist, is one of only a few to investigate the specific genetic changes that drive two populations toward speciation.

Speciation, the process by which different populations of the same species split into separate species, is central to evolution. But it's notoriously hard to observe in action. This study, led by biologist J. Albert Uy of Syracuse University, captures two populations of monarch flycatcher birds just as they arrive at that evolutionary crossroads.

Monarch flycatchers are small, insect-eating birds common in the Solomon Islands, east of Papua New Guinea. Uy and his team looked at two flycatcher populations: one found mostly on the large island of Makira, the other on smaller surrounding islands. Besides where they live, the only discernable difference between the two populations is the color of their feathers. The birds on Makira have all black feathers. Birds on the smaller islands have the same black feathers, but with a chestnut-colored belly.

The question of whether these two populations are on the road to speciation comes down to sex. When two populations stop exchanging genes—that is, stop mating with each other—then they can be considered distinct species. Uy and his team wanted to see if these flycatchers were heading in that direction.

It would be all but impossible to try to catalog every occasion on which an all-black flycatcher mated with a chestnut-bellied. So Uy and his team used another test.

Flycatcher males defend their mating territories. If a potential rival male enters another's territory, fights often ensue. If all-black males react less violently to chestnut-bellied males and vice versa, that's an indication that the two don't recognize each other as reproductive rivals. If they don't see each other as rivals, then one can assume that mating between members of the two populations is rare.

So Uy and his team made all-black and chestnut-bellied taxidermy models. They used the models to invade mating territories in each population. As expected, when all-black birds were presented with all-black models, they attacked. But when all-black birds encountered chestnut-bellied models, they were much less likely to go on the offensive. The same scenario held for the chestnut-bellied birds.

That males from the two populations no longer view the other as a reproductive threat is a good indication that not much mating is taking place between the two groups. Their evolutionary paths are diverging, Uy and his team found—all because of a change in plumage.

The researchers then went a step further. They looked into the birds' genomes to see what genes may have played a role in the different plumage pattern. They found only one: the melanocortin-1 receptor gene (MC1R). The MC1R gene regulates the production of melanin, which gives skin and feathers their color. The all-black and chestnut-bellied birds had different versions of the MC1R gene, which gave rise to the plumage change.

That change appears to have been enough to create a reproductive barrier for flycatchers. Not every species is so picky, so a color change doesn't always drive speciation. Nonetheless, these results suggest that it can take as little as one gene, in the right spot in the genome, to cause a fork in the evolutionary road.

British House Price Data Influence Pound

2009-07-30T16:20:00.001+05:30

The Great Britain pound recovered from the two days of losses against the U.S. dollar and continued to gain against the euro today after the U.K. house prices data was released.

The Nationwide Building Society reported a third month of gain in the real estate prices in United Kingdom. The average cost of a home went up by 1.3 percent in June, while the average forecast for the growth in June was near 0.2 percent. This news helped the pound to reach the highest level against the single European currency since July 2.

The positive report on the housing sector benefited not only the pound but also other capital markets in the country as the government bond market opened lower in Britain. The analysts point out the increased attractiveness of the pound with the current fundamental background. Three months of positive return on real estate investment can inspire more capital inflow into United Kingdom and also increase the consumer spending.

GBP/USD rose from 1.6367 to 1.6490 or 0.75 percent as of 8:21 GMT today. EUR/GBP went down 0.8572 to 0.8524, while GBP/JPY advanced from 155.55 to 156.70.

If you want to comment on the Great Britain pound’s recent action or have any questions regarding this currency, please, feel free to reply below.

Bernanke's dilemma - Ignore politics

2009-07-29T20:28:00.002+05:30

(Fortune Magazine) -- After two years of pumping money into the financial system to keep the economy afloat, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will have to reverse the process or risk an opposite problem: inflation.

After much anticipation, he announced in July the Fed's "exit strategy" from its vast intervention, declaring it will happen "in a smooth and timely manner."

It's reassuring that Fed officials are aware of the inflation risk, but their program is unlikely to succeed. Much research shows that it takes about two years for anti-inflation policy to work. That means the Fed needs to start now and stick with it.

I do not doubt the Fed's ability to control inflation; however, history warns that we should be skeptical of the Fed's willingness to sustain the program when pressured to abandon it by so many powerful forces: Congress, the Obama administration, the business community, and labor unions.

Sustaining the program requires accepting a temporary medium-term increase in unemployment and interest rates and maintaining a degree of independence that this Fed has not shown.

I am skeptical too about the adequacy of the program that the chairman proposed. The Fed has to remove most of the remaining $700 billion increase in bank reserves that it supplied in the past year before the banks use them to increase money growth.

The Fed has two responses.

One is that many of the reserves will disappear as banks and others repay the special-purpose loans that followed the Lehman bankruptcy last September. While the Fed's balance sheet has started to shrink, much of that reflects reduced demand for credit because of the weak economy -- and it won't bring about the needed increase in long-term rates.

The second part of Bernanke's program depends on a power the Fed acquired recently. It can now pay interest on bank reserves, so it claims that banks will willingly hold more reserves to earn interest instead of lending. But how much more will banks hold? Surely less than the $500 billion or $600 billion of excess reserves.

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Fed Opposes Stripping Central Bank of Consumer-Loan Authority

2009-06-18T14:46:00.002+05:30

Federal Reserve officials will oppose the Obama administration’s proposal to strip the central bank of its powers to protect consumers from predatory lending.

Policy makers will resist President Barack Obama’s blueprint because its new Consumer Financial Protection Agency would supplant the Fed’s authority to write rules on lending and disclosure practices on mortgages and credit cards. A review of the role of the 12 regional Fed banks also risks compromising the independence of the Federal Reserve system, said former Fed governor Randall Kroszner.

“We’ve got to make sure that we have somebody who is focused and responsible for protecting consumers, whether it’s on subprime loans, for their mortgages, for their credit cards,” Obama said this week in an interview with Bloomberg Television.

The proposal is likely to alter shape as industry lobbyists, consumer advocates, lawmakers and the central bank itself weigh in on what’s likely to be a months-long wrangle over the biggest regulatory changes in decades. For the Fed, a second facet is the administration’s call for a “comprehensive review” of its organization and structure, which includes 12 district banks whose presidents are appointed by local boards and have authority to vote on interest rates.

The Fed may say that the regional banks become even more important as some supervisory powers broaden under the Treasury plan. Obama’s blueprint would have the central bank take on new authority to oversee all of the financial firms whose collapse would threaten the entire system.

Bernanke Opposition

Central bankers show no desire to tamper with the appointment process of the regional bank presidents, and Chairman Ben S. Bernanke told lawmakers earlier this month he opposes making them subject to Senate approval.

Because the presidents are outside the political appointment process, they reinforce independence, said Kroszner, who is now an economist at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. They also have a record of occasional dissenting votes against the Washington-based Board of Governors on monetary policy.

“The Congress structured the Fed with representatives in Washington and representatives from the broader economic community around the country,” Kroszner said. “That balance has served us well for nearly 100 years.”

Congressional leaders criticized the Fed for foot-dragging on consumer protection as originations of subprime mortgages to borrowers with blemished or limited credit histories more than doubled in three years to around $600 billion in 2006. The subprime lending bust ignited the global credit crisis in 2007.

Congressional Criticism

Bernanke has overseen a tightening of rules on high-cost mortgages and boosted disclosure requirements. Still, Congress viewed the Fed’s response as tardy, a view that was also voiced in the blueprint released yesterday by the Treasury.

“Recent Federal Reserve regulations have been strong, but quite late in coming,” the Treasury report said. “Moreover, they do not ensure that the federal banking agencies will remain committed to consumer protection.”

The Fed has powers to prevent predatory lending under the 1994 Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act. The Fed can also dictate disclosure rules under the Truth in Lending Act, and can hold banks accountable for lending patterns under the Community Reinvestment Act.

Lending Powers

The Fed may also lose independence on one of its broadest lending tools as congressional leaders and the administration seek to limit the Fed’s authority to make emergency loans to any corporation in “unusual and exigent circumstances.” The Fed used the Depression-era power to save Bear Stearns Cos. and American International Group Inc. from disorderly collapse.

Bernanke and Fed governors have also invoked the authority to support the commercial paper and asset-backed securities markets, and to loan to government bond dealers. Total credit extended under section 13.3 of the Federal Reserve Act amounted to $309.2 billion as of June 10.

“That type of lending is ultimately putting taxpayers at risk,” Lawrence Summers, director of Obama’s National Economic Council, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television June 17. “There should be some democratic accountability.”

In the area where the Fed gains authority, over financial companies judged too big to fail, it will have the power to set stronger capital and liquidity standards.

‘Stress Tests’

Bernanke has highlighted the need for better oversight of large, complex financial institutions and their linkages throughout the financial system. The Fed’s recent “stress tests” of the 19 largest banks showed how the central bank can deploy scores of accountants, lawyers, bank examiners, and economists to come up with a comprehensive view of risks in the financial system.

Still, any suggestion of giving the Fed more power has met with bipartisan opposition on the Senate Banking Committee. Senator Christopher Dodd, the Connecticut Democrat who chairs the panel, said in an interview that it should be “an open question” which agency assumes the role.

The central bank “utterly failed the American people as a regulator,” Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama, the committee’s ranking Republican, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “Now you want to pile more and more responsibility on them? We better not do this.’

Fed spokeswoman Michelle Smith said “the administration’s financial regulatory reform proposal represents an important contribution to a critical national debate,” and that “we look forward to working with the administration and the Congress in coming months.”

World Bank Raises China 2009 Growth Forecast to 7.2%

2009-06-18T14:43:00.002+05:30

The World Bank raised its growth forecast for China this year and advised policy makers to delay until 2010 any additional stimulus plan to boost the world’s third-largest economy.

China’s economy will expand 7.2 percent in 2009 from a year earlier, up from a 6.5 percent forecast in March, the Washington-based lender said in a quarterly report released today in Beijing. Stocks gained after the announcement.

The World Bank joins Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley and UBS AG. in raising growth forecasts this year after a 4 trillion yuan ($585 billion) stimulus package triggered record loans and surging investment. China, the biggest contributor to global growth in 2007, is relying on government spending as exports slump because of the world recession.

The bank said it’s “too early” to say there is a sustained recovery, citing the economy’s dependence on the stimulus and echoing a State Council caution yesterday against excessive optimism.

“Despite all the World Bank’s caution, it did feel compelled to raise its growth forecast,” said David Cohen, head of Asian forecasting at Action Economics in Singapore. “That’s indicative of increased confidence regarding the global outlook right now.”

Extra Stimulus

The bank said it’s “not necessary, and probably not appropriate” for China to add fiscal stimulus this year. Consumption is likely to slow, pushing down wages and employment, and the nation should retain room for stimulus in 2010, in case the global economy takes a turn for the worse, the bank said.

The Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.6 percent to an 11- month high. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the nation’s biggest listed lender, climbed 2.6 percent.

Gross domestic product grew 6.1 percent in the first quarter this year from a year earlier, the least since 1999, as exports slid because of the global recession.

The Chinese government forecasts an 8 percent expansion in 2009, which is the pace of growth it considers necessary to maintain employment and ensure stability. The economy is in a “critical” phase, the State Council said yesterday, warning that a recovery isn’t on solid foundations yet.

‘Improved Somewhat’

“Overall growth prospects have improved somewhat, compared to three months ago, but with little carry-over into 2010,” the World Bank said. “The massive monetary impulse of the first five months will support economic growth in the coming quarters.”

Goldman Sachs forecasts growth of 8.3 percent this year, Morgan Stanley estimates 7 percent and UBS predicts 7.5 percent.

“I don’t think China will see a V-shaped recovery back to high single-digit growth rates,” said Louis Kuijs, the World Bank’s senior economist for China in Beijing. “The impact of the policy stimulus next year can realistically not be as large as it has been this year.”

The World Bank, created after World War II to fight poverty, said “it may take time” before China’s currency, called the yuan or renminbi, becomes a major reserve currency.

“International experience suggests that several conditions need to be in place, including open capital markets; deep, liquid foreign exchange markets; well developed bond markets; and a more or less flexible exchange rate,” the report said. “It will take time before China has achieved these benchmarks.”

Export Slump

Exports slid for a seventh month in May, dropping by a record 26.4 percent from a year earlier. The bank’s report said trade overall is likely to subtract from growth this year.

“China is still, in a global context, not big enough that it’s going to be the locomotive for a global recovery,” said Ardo Hansson, the bank’s chief economist on China.

China contributed 19.5 percent of world growth in 2007, the most of any nation, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Other projections by the World Bank indicated a budget deficit of 4.9 percent of GDP this year, up from the 3 percent forecast by China.

The report also contains long-term advice, including the importance of educating the workforce.

“A transformation of economic growth strategy toward one that is more solidly based on efficiency and knowledge is widely recognized as essential to China’s long-term prosperity,” the World Bank said. “Although such a transformation calls for a greater capacity for innovation, Chinese enterprises are not fully ready for it.”

The lender noted that the education level of China’s labor force is similar to Taiwan’s in the 1970s.

Parliament rejects the new energy labeling TVs

2009-05-29T15:18:00.001+05:30

Europe - The European Parliament rejected the proposed new classification of energy for television, which was to subdivide the class A. According to MEPs, this labeling, however, adopted for the refrigeration, would be too confusing for consumers and could be misleading.

If two new categories of energy consumption have been accepted for all refrigeration appliances, a resolution against this labeling for televisions has been adopted by Parliament because of the possible confusion that could result.

Considering that the integration of television, particularly greedy in the labeling system is vital energy, MEPs call on the European Commission to submit new projects in September and to reserve the label "A" 10 to 20 % of the most successful.

Given that manufacturers make a lot of efforts in energy consumption, more and more devices are classified as "A". New categories have therefore been necessary. Now, a refrigeration will be labeled "A-20%" or "A-40%" if it consumes 20% or 40% less energy than models A.

The thickness of the brain, early indicator of Alzheimer's disease

2009-05-28T22:41:00.001+05:30

France - A team from the Inserm has developed a rapid and simple diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.

Identify early Alzheimer's disease is not easy and the differences between individuals have not so far generate detection rules. The team of Dr. Celsius was interested to test the thickness of the gray matter of the brain.

The gray matter contains the neurons that govern all motor functions, cognitive and sensory. Its thickness varies slightly between individuals. Knowing that the disease attacks not only specific parts of the cerebral cortex, the team sought those most affected: the measurement of their thickness makes it possible to detect this disease early.

Using U.S. data from subjects followed for 2 years for mild disorders of memory, the researchers were able to demonstrate that measuring the thickness of the brain can predict correctly three times in four changes of the patient the next two years. But predicting the possibilities of longer-term are possible.

Software has been developed to allow physicians to detect on the basis of an MRI a potential risk of Alzheimer's disease, this in less than twenty minutes. An evolution of this technique to the detection of other diseases of the brain is under study.

Global Warming: it heats between Europe and the United States

2009-05-28T22:38:00.000+05:30

France, Paris - After two days of discussions, the Forum of major economies and climate ended Tuesday evening against a backdrop of dissatisfaction. If Europe welcomes the arrival of the United States in the fight against climate change, EU member states believe that the U.S. government's efforts are still too timid.

After the closure of the preparatory meeting of the Copenhagen summit, held in Paris on Monday and Tuesday, Europe calls on U.S. to strengthen its commitment against global warming.

After an absence during the Bush presidency, the United States and Europe join in the fight against climate change by reducing their emissions of greenhouse gases. But the European side, the disappointment remains.

"We're happy with the return of the United States in the discussion and at the same time we want to tell them: 'Wait, yes you can, you can do much more", confided Jean-Louis Borloo on Europe 1, 6 months of the Copenhagen summit.

When Europe is committed to reduce by 20 to 30% emissions compared to 1990, and by 2020, the administration talks about Obama at the same level lower than in 1990.

A difference of goals that Todd Stern, special envoy of the United States for the climate, not considered a real problem. "The idea that Europe can have an" x "and that we can have a" y "can be arranged. The issue is not basically have the same figures. I do not think we have the same numbers and I do not think this is necessary, "he says.

At the end of the Forum of major economies and climate, one is significant to note that of the desire to create an international fund by the rich countries to assist developing countries in the fight against global warming climate

Windows Vista: Service Pack 2 available

2009-05-28T22:22:00.001+05:30

It was planned for mid-June, but finally the Service Pack 2 of Windows Vista is already available for download on the official website of Microsoft.

Available in version RTM (Release to manufacturing) for developers since late April, the Service Pack 2 for Vista is now available to all.

This update includes a new search engine, Windows Search 4.0, which allows a local search more relevant and timely. SP2 also offers Bluetooth 2.1, native support for burning Blu-Ray, a tool to simplify management of Wi-Fi connections (Windows Connect Now), and that all corrections SP1 already published.

Service Pack 2 is available for download on the official website of Microsoft.

Areva: cooperation agreement with Russian VNIIAES

2009-05-28T14:01:00.000+05:30

VNIIAES and Areva have signed a cooperation agreement on the control systems security command for four reactors of VVER type to be built as part of the development of Russian nuclear facilities.

These reactors of 1200 MWe each are located on existing sites of Novovoronezh and Leningrad, to the west and south-west of Russia. Under the agreement, both companies have signed a first contract for engineering and a letter of intent for contracts to come.

This new agreement is similar to the one made in 2008 by the two groups for the modernization of the Kola nuclear power plant, located in the far north of Russia. This plant will be equipped with the system control command TELEPERM XS.

Developed by Areva, TELEPERM XS system is a control-command safety that integrates hardware and software technology. Areva is present in this market segment in China, with two new VVER reactors in Tianwan, Finland, with the modernization of the Loviisa power plant, and Bulgaria, to the reactor at Belene.

Subsidiary of the Russian nuclear Rosatom VNIIAES is the systems integrator control command security for new nuclear power plants in Russia.

Nokia Ovi Store: Nokia apologized for the failures of online shopping applications

2009-05-28T13:02:00.000+05:30

Launched yesterday, the Nokia Ovi Store, a world leader in mobile telephony, has encountered many technical problems that led the Finnish group to apologize today.

Faced with numerous complaints from users stating the site slow or unable to install the various tones, games and other applications offered by Ovi Store, a spokesman for Nokia said today at the Agence France Presse: "We have apologized to users and encourage people to send their problems to improve service. We have increased the capacity of our servers to improve speed of service."

So a disappointing start for a Store Ovi which must compete with the Apple AppStore, which is already proving to be a success.

Facebook Gets $200 Million Backing From Digital Sky

2009-05-27T00:06:00.000+05:30

Facebook Inc., the world’s largest social-networking service, received $200 million from Russia’s Digital Sky Technologies, an investment that values the company at $10 billion, more than Starbucks Inc. or Safeway Inc.

Digital Sky, which has offices in Moscow and London, will get a 1.96 percent stake in the company in preferred stock, Palo Alto, California-based Facebook said today in a statement.

Facebook, which makes money from online advertising, is counting on its surging popularity to help it overcome the worst ad market for Internet companies since the dot-com bust. The increased traffic on Facebook requires more capacity in data centers, the rooms of servers that manage the Web site.

“Facebook has been growing in leaps and bounds in terms of users, and you can expect that to be impacting their hosting costs,” said Jeremiah Owyang, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc. “It’s been some time since they had a large injection of cash.”

The investment from Digital Sky also will allow Facebook employees to sell their shares in the company. Digital Sky plans to buy at least $100 million of Facebook’s common stock.

That lets workers make money from their options without having to wait for an initial public offering. Investors have shown little appetite for IPOs this year, with only five U.S. technology companies going public. No venture-backed companies held IPOs between September and March, the worst drought in at least 38 years, according to the National Venture Capital Association.

Eastern Europe

Digital Sky has previously funded Internet businesses in Russia and Eastern Europe, including Mail.ru, Forticom and VKontakte. The companies it backs have 350 million social- networking users and are market leaders in more than 13 countries, Digital Sky said.

“A number of firms approached us, but DST stood out because of the global perspective they bring,” Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said today in the statement.

Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said last month that Facebook has enough money to ride out the economic slump, though it hadn’t ruled out accepting more funding to fuel its expansion.

Facebook has received more than $400 million in equity investments from Microsoft Corp., Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, and venture capital firms Accel Partners and Greylock Partners.

Facebook had valued itself at $3.7 billion during negotiations over a legal settlement, according to a transcript of a court hearing obtained in February.

Not Comparable

The company appraised its stock at about $8.88 a share, according to the transcript, which was part of a court case over Facebook’s settlement with ConnectU Inc.

That figure contrasted with the $15 billion valuation assigned to Facebook when Microsoft purchased a 1.6 percent stake for $240 million in October 2007. Facebook’s lawyers argued at a hearing last June that the prices weren’t comparable because Microsoft received a different class of shares.

Microsoft bought the stake as part of an agreement to sell ads on Facebook.

Digital Sky decided to back Facebook because of the value created by its previous social-networking investments, said CEO Yuri Milner.

“By every important metric -- user growth and engagement, technological innovation and financial performance -- Facebook is on a similar trajectory, though on a much more global scale,” Milner said in the statement.

AIG CEO Should Report Financial Ties, Cummings Says

2009-05-27T00:05:00.000+05:30

American International Group Inc., the insurer bailed out by the U.S., should require candidates for its top job to release the same personal financial data the government demands from senior officials, a congressman said.

Anyone under consideration to replace Chief Executive Officer Edward Liddy should disclose their stock holdings, employment history and other information needed for those seeking “a senior appointed position with a federal government agency,” said Representative Elijah Cummings in a letter to AIG’s incoming board of directors today.

Cummings was among members of Congress who said Liddy’s ownership of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. shares while running New York-based AIG created the appearance of a conflict of interest. Goldman Sachs received $12.9 billion from AIG after the insurer was rescued, including payments that settled credit-default swap contracts with the firm. AIG initially resisted calls from Congress to list banks that got the payments.

Liddy, who announced last week he would step down once a successor is appointed, said in an interview that the job of running the company and repaying a $182.5 billion bailout was complicated by “an awful lot of cooks in the kitchen.” Christina Pretto, a spokeswoman for the insurer, declined to comment today.

‘Misstatements, Deception’

Cummings, 58, a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, was among the first lawmakers last year to question AIG’s plans to pay $1 billion in retention bonuses. A firestorm of criticism about the payments prompted President Barack Obama to demand that some bonuses be blocked or recovered.

“Months of misstatements and deception have eroded the trust of Congress in AIG’s leadership to the point that the most basic constructs of corporate responsibility must be restated,” wrote Cummings, a Maryland Democrat. The next CEO should be “committed to maintaining an open and honest dialogue with the U.S. Congress,” he said.

Liddy,63, was appointed by the U.S. in September to the AIG post. He previously was CEO of Allstate Corp., the largest publicly traded U.S. home and auto insurer and had served on the board of Goldman Sachs. He agreed to a salary of $1.

The insurer should use Obama’s $400,000 salary as a model in setting compensation, Cummings said last week. Such a salary may limit the pool of qualified candidates, said pay consultants including Alan Johnson, managing director of Johnson Associates Inc.

Internal Candidates

The company has capable internal candidates and will also look outside, Liddy said in an interview last week. He proposed that the chairman and CEO jobs be split after he steps down.

The Ethics in Government Act requires appointees to senior federal jobs to disclose information including income, honoraria and capital gains; the value of securities and property; and job history and any agreements on future employment.

Cummings sent the letter to candidates who will stand for election to AIG’s board in June. The government’s majority stake will be voted by three trustees who helped pick the slate.

JPMorgan’s WaMu Windfall Turns Bad Loans Into Income

2009-05-27T00:04:00.000+05:30

JPMorgan Chase & Co. stands to reap a $29 billion windfall thanks to an accounting rule that lets the second-biggest U.S. bank transform bad loans it purchased from Washington Mutual Inc. into income.

Wells Fargo & Co., Bank of America Corp. and PNC Financial Services Group Inc. are also poised to benefit from taking over home lenders Wachovia Corp., Countrywide Financial Corp. and National City Corp., regulatory filings show. The deals provide a combined $56 billion in so-called accretable yield, the difference between the value of the loans on the banks’ balance sheets and the cash flow they’re expected to produce.

Faced with the highest U.S. unemployment in 25 years and a surging foreclosure rate, the lenders are seizing on a four- year-old rule aimed at standardizing how they book acquired loans that have deteriorated in credit quality. By applying the measure to mortgages and commercial loans that lost value during the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, the banks will wring revenue from the wreckage, said Robert Willens, a former Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. executive who runs a tax and accounting consulting firm in New York.

“It will benefit these guys dramatically,” Willens said. “There’s a great chance they’ll be able to record very substantial gains going forward.”

JPMorgan rose $1.28, or 3.7 percent, to $35.69 at 10:19 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Wells Fargo gained 2.9 percent to $25 and PNC Financial climbed 2 percent to $42.06. Bank of America was little changed at $11.06.

Purchase Accounting

When JPMorgan bought WaMu out of receivership last September for $1.9 billion, the New York-based bank used purchase accounting, which allows it to record impaired loans at fair value, marking down $118.2 billion of assets by 25 percent. Now, as borrowers pay their debts, the bank says it may gain $29.1 billion over the life of the loans in pretax income before taxes and expenses.

The purchase-accounting rule, known as Statement of Position 03-3, provides banks with an incentive to mark down loans they acquire as aggressively as possible, said Gerard Cassidy, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets in Portland, Maine.

“One of the beauties of purchase accounting is after you mark down your assets, you accrete them back in,” Cassidy said. “Those transactions should be favorable over the long run.”

JPMorgan bought WaMu’s deposits and loans after regulators seized the Seattle-based thrift in the biggest bank failure in U.S. history. JPMorgan took a $29.4 billion writedown on WaMu’s holdings, mostly for option adjustable-rate mortgages and home- equity loans.

‘Price Judgment’

“We marked the portfolio based on a number of factors, including housing-price judgment at the time,” said JPMorgan spokesman Thomas Kelly. “The accretion is driven by prevailing interest rates.”

JPMorgan said first-quarter gains from the WaMu loans resulted in $1.26 billion in interest income and left the bank with an accretable-yield balance that could result in additional income of $29.1 billion.

The difference in accretable yield from bank to bank is due to the amount of impaired loans, the credit quality of the acquired assets and the state of the economy when the deals were completed. Rising and falling interest rates also affect accretable yield for portfolios with adjustable-rate loans.

It’s difficult to gauge how much the yield will add to total revenue because banks don’t disclose the expenses that chisel away at the figure. The income is also booked over the life of the loans, rather than in a lump sum, and banks don’t spell out how long that is, Willens said.

Wachovia ARMs

Wells Fargo arranged the $12.7 billion purchase of Wachovia in October, as the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank was sinking from $122 billion in option ARMs. As of March 31, San Francisco-based Wells Fargo had marked down $93 billion of impaired Wachovia loans by 37 percent. The expected cash flow was $70.3 billion.

The Wachovia loans added $561 million to the bank’s first- quarter interest income, leaving Wells Fargo with a remaining accretable yield of almost $10 billion.

Government efforts to reduce mortgage rates and stabilize the housing market may make it easier for borrowers to repay loans and for banks to realize the accretable yield on their books. With mortgage rates below 5 percent, originations surged 71 percent in the first quarter from the fourth, a pace that may accelerate during 2009, said Guy Cecala, publisher of Inside Mortgage Finance in Bethesda, Maryland.

Recapturing Writedowns

Wells Fargo, the biggest U.S. mortgage originator, doubled home loans in the first quarter from the previous three months, in part through refinancing Wachovia loans.

“To the extent that the customers’ experience is better or we can modify the loans, and the loans become more current, that could help recapture some of the writedown,” Wells Fargo Chief Financial Officer Howard Atkins said in an April 22 interview.

Banks still face the risk that defaults may exceed expectations and lead to further writedowns on their purchased loans. Foreclosure filings in the U.S. rose to a record for the second straight month in April, climbing 32 percent from a year earlier to more than 342,000, data compiled by Irvine, California-based RealtyTrac Inc. show.

The companies bought by Wells Fargo, JPMorgan, PNC and Bank of America were among the biggest lenders in states with the highest foreclosure rates, including California, Florida and Ohio. Housing prices tumbled the most on record in the first quarter, leaving an increasing number of borrowers owing more in mortgage payments than their homes are worth, according to Zillow.com, an online property data company.

Accretable Yield

“We’ve still got a lot of downside to work through this year and probably through at least part of next,” said William Schwartz, a credit analyst at DBRS Inc. in New York. “If I were them, I wouldn’t be claiming any victory yet.”

PNC closed its $3.9 billion acquisition of National City on Dec. 31, after the Cleveland-based bank racked up more than $4 billion in losses tied to subprime loans. PNC, based in Pittsburgh, marked down $19.3 billion of impaired loans by 38 percent, or $7.4 billion, and said it expected to recoup half of the writedown. After gaining $213 million in interest income in the first quarter and making some adjustments, the company has an accretable-yield balance of $2.9 billion.

“We’re just being prudent,” PNC Chief Financial Officer Richard Johnson said in a May 19 interview.

‘Huge Cushion’

Johnson said he expects the entire accretable yield to result in earnings. The company has taken into “consideration everything that can go wrong with the economy,” he said.

Bank of America, the biggest U.S. bank by assets, has potential purchase-accounting income of $14.1 billion, including $627 million of gains from Merrill Lynch & Co. and the rest from Countrywide. Bank of America bought subprime lender Countrywide in July, two months before the financial crisis forced Lehman Brothers into bankruptcy and WaMu into receivership.

As market losses deepened, Bank of America had to reduce the returns it expected the impaired loans to produce from an original estimate of $19.6 billion.

“The Countrywide marks in hindsight weren’t nearly as aggressive,” said Jason Goldberg, an analyst at Barclays Capital in New York, who has “equal weight” investment ratings on Bank of America and PNC and “overweight” recommendations for Wells Fargo and JPMorgan.

Bank of America spokesman Jerry Dubrowski declined to comment.

The discounted assets purchased by JPMorgan and Wells Fargo make the stocks more attractive because they will spur an acceleration in profit growth, said Chris Armbruster, an analyst at Al Frank Asset Management Inc. in Laguna Beach, California.

“There’s definitely going to be some marks that were taken that were too extreme,” said Armbruster, whose firm oversees about $375 million. “It gives them a huge cushion or buffer to smooth out earnings.”

U.S. Economy: Consumer Confidence Jumps by Most in Six Years

2009-05-27T00:03:00.000+05:30

Confidence among U.S. consumers jumped in May by the most in six years, fueling speculation the economy will recover later this year.

The Conference Board’s sentiment index surged to 54.9, higher than forecast, according to figures from the New York- based research group today. A report from S&P/Case-Shiller showed home prices continued to plunge.

Stocks climbed for the first time in five days on speculation a lifting of the gloom surrounding the worst recession in half a century may spur consumers, who account for 70 percent of the economy, to spend. Still, rising unemployment and falling real estate values underscore that it will take time to establish a sustained rebound.

“Pent-up demand is increasing each passing day as reflected in these confidence numbers,” said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts. “But there is a funny dynamic going on as people are waiting. The turn will come when there is a sense that we have passed the bottom,” which Behravesh said may happen as early as August.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index increased 2.1 percent, to 905.88 at 12:28 p.m. in New York. Treasury securities fell, pushing the yield on the 10-year note up to 3.48 percent from 3.45 percent late on May 22.

The 28-point jump in confidence over April and May is the biggest two-month rally since records began in 1967. The measure reached its lowest point ever in February, with a reading of 25.3.

Exceeds Forecast

Consumer confidence was projected to rise to 42.6, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 70 economists. Forecasts ranged from 38.5 to 47.

The Conference Board revised the April reading to 40.8, from an originally reported 39.2.

Americans’ spirits are lifting as stock prices rebound, mortgage rates fall and perceptions grow that the job market may not get much worse. Discounts by companies such as Chrysler LLC and Macy’s Inc. to attract customers are also benefiting consumers.

“We’re certainly moving in the right direction,” said James O’Sullivan, a senior economist at UBS Securities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut. “We expect to have positive economic growth in the third quarter. The job declines will fade.”

The confidence report showed the share of Americans planning to buy a car in the next six months rose to the highest level since April 2008, and those looking to purchase a large appliance rose to an eight-month high. The outlook for home purchases fell.

Real-Estate Slump

Concern over falling property values may be contributing to that restraint. A report from S&P/Case-Shiller today showed home prices in 20 U.S. metropolitan areas fell a more-than-forecast 18.7 percent in March from the same month last year, as foreclosures surged.

All 20 cities in the index showed a year-over-year price decrease in March, led by Phoenix, Las Vegas and San Francisco.

Compared with the prior month, prices fell in 17 cities, led by a 6.1 percent drop in Minneapolis that was the largest one-month decrease ever recorded by any city. The 4.9 percent month-over-month fall in Detroit and the 2.5 percent decrease in New York also set records for those cities.

“We see no evidence that a recovery in home prices has begun,” David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P, said in a statement.

Record Drop

The report also showed prices nationally fell 19.1 percent in the first quarter from the same period last year, the largest drop in the figure’s 21-year history, and were down 7.5 percent from the last three months of 2008.

“The housing market still has somewhat of a ways to go before it completely bottoms,” Celia Chen, an economist at Moody’s Economy.com in West Chester, Pennsylvania, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “Prices I think still will fall a little bit further.”

The confidence report showed optimism over the next six months led the jump. The Conference Board’s expectations measure rose to 72.3, the highest level since December 2007. The gauge of present conditions increased to 28.9 from 25.5.

The share of consumers who said more jobs will be available in the next six months climbed to 20 percent, the most in more than five years. The proportion of people who said they expect their incomes to rise over the next six months rose to 10.2 percent from 8.3 percent.

“As far as consumers are concerned, the worst is now behind us,” Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board’s consumer research center, said in a statement.

Macy’s, the second-biggest U.S. department store, and Chrysler are trying to revive sales. Chrysler, trying to restructure under bankruptcy, is offering incentives of as much as $6,000.

GM Cuts Stock Due UAW by 55%, Boosting Equity Reserve

2009-05-27T00:02:00.000+05:30

General Motors Corp. won a union agreement to cut the payment of stock to a United Auto Workers health-care trust by 55 percent, giving the biggest U.S. automaker more equity to spread among creditors.

The UAW trust will receive 17.5 percent of the shares in a reorganized company, along with $6.5 billion in preferred stock that pays a 9 percent dividend and a $2.5 billion note to be repaid in installments until 2017, according to a UAW document obtained by Bloomberg.

UAW approval of the plan shrinks GM’s proposed contribution of 39 percent of the stock to a so-called Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association that will cover retirees’ medical bills. GM wants to issue 60 billion new shares to pay the UAW, the government and bondholders in exchange for reducing debt.

Revising the VEBA accord may help GM speed its exit from a probable bankruptcy by letting the Detroit-based automaker settle labor issues before a June 1 deadline to complete a restructuring outside of court.

GM previously proposed giving at least 50 percent of the new stock to the U.S. government, with as much as 39 percent to the VEBA and 10 percent to bondholders. Common shareholders would get 1 percent.

Ratification Vote

Union leaders signed off on the trust-fund agreement and now will seek ratification by their members, along with a separate labor agreement reached on May 21. Should GM’s share price reach $75, the VEBA would get 2.5 percent of the company’s stock, according to the union document.

Benefits under the health-care trust will be reduced, including dental and vision programs and medications to treat ulcers and erectile dysfunction, according to the document.

GM agreed to a new set of incentives to entice workers to leave the company. Workers who aren’t eligible to retire will get as much as $115,000 in cash and a $25,000 voucher to buy a car, said a person briefed on the details who asked not to be identified because the terms aren’t public.

Retirement-eligible production workers will be offered $20,000 and skilled tradesmen eligible to retire will be offered $45,000, the person said.

UAW leaders briefed local union chiefs today at a meeting in Detroit.

Candidate for the EDF nuclear Emirates

2009-05-27T00:00:00.000+05:30

EDF would have applied to the realization of the nuclear program of the United Arab Emirates, in a french consortium.

The United Arab Emirates include construction of 12 to 16 plants, with a budget of around 40 billion euros.

French candidate groups are working together in consortia, which are present GDF Suez, Areva, Total, and now EDF.

French companies originally proposed the construction of two plants. Their offer could be more important, reveals a source close to Nicolas Sarkozy quoted by Reuters.

They compete with GE, Westinghouse and Poower Korea Electric Corporation (Japan). The designation of the manufacturer will be a negotiation of "State by State".

Nicolas Sarkozy is to visit Abu Dhabi since Monday evening. The program of his visit: The sale of the Rafale, the Louvre Abu Dhabi and the inauguration of a permanent military base in the Gulf.

South Korea is investing in a plan for green

2009-05-26T23:57:00.000+05:30

South Korea - 2.8 billion euros will be invested between 2009 and 2012 in a plan to boost green, South Korea. The project places the country the largest investor "green" since plans to spend 70% of its budget of recovery.

"Our growth policy" green "will be beneficial to the environment and contribute to the fight against climate change, but it's not just a climate: it is an economic development plan," said Kim Choong -soo, ambassador to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Many measures have already been announced, such as renewable energy development, investment in infrastructure with low CO2 emissions, the creation of an emissions market, revitalization of polluted rivers or financial incentives for enterprises and individuals willing to engage in sustainable development.

This plan aims to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants, but also to create 1 million jobs. "Korea is in the current crisis a chance to become an advanced nation of first rank," says Lee Myung-bak, President of the Presidential Council on national competitiveness.

With 2.8 billion euros, South Korea became the largest investor "green" because nearly 70% of its spending to boost the fight against global warming.

Orange has sold over a million iPhone

2009-05-26T23:43:00.001+05:30

France - France Telecom announced it had sold over a million iPhone in France since the launch of Apple's smartphone famous in November 2007.

Orange is all the more pleased because on average, iPhone owners spend 86 euros per month tax free, twice the national average French. By breaking the exclusivity of the iPhone to Orange in November, the Competition Council intends to strengthen price competition. But France Telecom does not appear to suffer unduly from the presence since April of SFR and Bouygues Telecom in the market for the iPhone, which offer similar rates.

Biodiversity: The 10 action plans of the government

2009-05-26T23:42:00.002+05:30

France - Friday 22 May, on the occasion of World Day of Biodiversity, Jean-Louis Borloo and Chantal Jouanno presented the 10 action plans of government to "halt biodiversity loss by 2010".

"The National Biodiversity Strategy now includes the Grenelle of Environment. It brings together the actions to help stem the erosion of biodiversity by 2010, a goal shared with other European Union countries. All actors must now be mobilized to integrate biodiversity into all public policies and business "said Jean-Louis Borloo and Chantal Jouanno.

While nearly two-thirds of ecosystems are being exploited beyond their capacity and that the rate of extinction is estimated from 100 to 1000 times the normal rate of extinction, the 10 action plans take into account climate change and provide a better guarantee of the preservation of ecological continuity.

Integration of green and blue frame in infrastructure, transport and town planning and definition of ecological criteria in tourism facilities as in the common agricultural policy: these actions should help to "halt biodiversity loss by 2010".

The REC adjusts to lower production of wafers

2009-05-26T22:09:00.002+05:30

The Norwegian manufacturer of solar energy equipment Renewable Energy Corporation (REC) has decided to temporarily cut 35% of its production of wafers due to the uncertainty of the market where the visibility of demand remains low.

This measure will result in the lay-offs of 180 employees.

"The market looks more and more difficult this year hence the need to take steps to optimize our production capacity and ensure flexibility in delivery of products. While we take the decision to temporarily reduce Part of our production, we follow very closely the market developments and we will make sure you are ready to increase production as quickly as possible, "says Ingelise Arntsen, one of the leaders of REC.

With the slowdown in economic activity, the solar industry is struggling to find investors to continue to finance ambitious projects.

"Palm Pre" available on June 6

2009-05-26T07:02:00.004+05:30

United States - After the rumor it is now official announced. Palm Pre smartphone will be available in the U.S. market on 6 June.

As a first step, the local operator Sprint will have exclusive use of the Pre. The smartphone will be available online and also in major retailers. For new technologies it employs, including a section on WebOS, the Pre can operate in multi-tasking.

The launch date of Pre was not chosen at random. The Apple developers conference starts, two days later, on June 8 at which leaders from Cupertino unveil the iPhone OS version 3. A speech that Palm intends to use to make noise. The other issue concerns the Pre manufacturer is that it has continued to accumulate losses in recent months.

Pre Palm should be available for $ 200.

Geneva wants to increase its renewable energy production by 30 times

2009-05-25T16:02:00.002+05:30

The Industrial Services of Geneva presented a plan for development of renewable energy and energy efficiency.

350 million Swiss francs, or 230 million euros will be allocated to this program over 6 years. By 2013, production capacity of renewable energy from 5.6 GWh per year to 150 GWh. Is a multiplication by 30.

The plan also provides for 50 million francs (€ 33 million) for the goals of reducing energy consumption, which is growing by 5% on average each year. 32 million are spent on financial incentives. Objective: To reduce the consumption of 150 GWh per year by 2013.

300 million francs will be invested in production capacity for renewable energy. In the longer term, in 2030, this would be 350 to 400 GWh could be produced by renewable energy sources, including through the dam Conflan which will enter service in 2022. GIS also rely on solar, which will equip their own priority buildings: this fall, their buildings lignon produce 700 MWh per year.

Wind projects are planned in the Jura mountains in France, a water project on the Rhone, and refurbishment of drilling geothermal Thonnex.

G8 Energy: attention to the crisis

2009-05-25T15:59:00.001+05:30

The Energy Ministers of the G8 were meeting in Rome this weekend. They have called for continued investment to anticipate the release of economic crisis.

Opening the conference, the Italian Minister of Economic Development Claudio Scajola said the "uncertainty in financial markets and the reduction in demand" energy that hamper investment and technological advances.

The minister expressed his fears that the offer be enough out of the crisis. Concerns shared by Nobuo Tanaka, who represented the International Atomic Energy on the basis of a report by the Agency, it was estimated that 3.5% reduction in electricity demand in the world in 2009 and that 21% of the exploration and production of oil and gas compared to 2008. The President of the IEA has also raised the risk of failing to supply the medium term, causing a rise in energy prices.

Investment in renewable energy has fallen by 38%. The IEA said that investment to renewable energy are not sufficient to meet the climate objectives: they should be 6 times higher for the production of green energy, and 4 times more on energy efficiency.

French side, Jean-Louis Borloo was first delighted to see the climate issue is at the center of energy issues.

The Minister of State has invited participants to "self-organize into renewable energy in Africa," he also said, recalling that less than a quarter of Africans had access to energy.

One of the objectives of this meeting was to pave the way for an action plan for rural electrification in Africa, taking into account renewable energy. A quantified plan between 300 and 400 billion dollars over 20 years.

The first site worldwide production of eco-fuel of algae, inaugurated in Vienna

2009-05-25T12:34:00.001+05:30

France - The Séché Environment inaugurated on 18 May, Vigeant, in the department of Vienne, "the first site worldwide production of eco-fuel made from seaweed." The algae were grown by gas from the fermentation of household waste.

"The algae collected in rivers, bodies of water are placed in water tanks and fed for five days with carbon dioxide from the fermentation of household waste. The liquid is processed through additive in eco-fuel, "says Patrice Sarrazin, the project coordinator.

Ségolène Royal was clearly present for the inauguration of the site Vigeant. The region of Poitou-Charentes, where she is president, has supported this project with 50 000 euros, or a quarter of its total cost. "It is a fine example of circular economy. We waste in order to create value-added" it was welcomed.

If for the moment, 100 kg of algae can produce 15 liters of eco-fuel, Patrice Sarrazin is very optimistic, "We expect to do better. We are at the beginning of our work," he said. Also, the site that currently extends over 200 m² should quickly move to an area of one hectare.

The testing phase should be completed late in 2009 to make room for that of industrialization.

Microsoft Kumo is preparing to unveil its new search engine - Kumo

2009-05-24T15:54:00.002+05:30

Microsoft will introduce its new search engine, Kumo next week at the conference on the digital "D: All Things Digital". This engine will replace LiveSearch.

While Microsoft struggles to find a place alongside the two search engines most commonly used, Google and Yahoo, the situation might change with Kumo.

After several attempts to buy back Yahoo, Microsoft set out to create a new engine. To this end, he acquired the semantic search engine Powerset.

While little information has been disclosed so far about this new engine, Microsoft is preparing to lift the secrecy on the occasion of the annual conference "D: All Things Digital", to be held in California 26 28 May.

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO would have planned to make a public demonstration of his new project. The engine, which is currently being tested internally, would replace Live Search, which, with a market share of only 8.2% in the United States, is in 3rd position in the ranking of search engines.

But Microsoft is not alone in betting on the semantic search: Wolfram first engine capable of interpreting the meaning of words and to answer real questions, has been online since a week now.

The European solar market resists competition

2009-05-23T13:12:00.000+05:30

Despite increased competition from China and the United States, the European market for solar energy still appears promising as new markets emerge, the analysis firm Frost & Sullivan.

The price of polysilicon and solar modules makes possible the confirmation of China's role as a hub for solar production, said the firm Frost & Sullivan in an analysis of the global market. In parallel, the U.S. benefits from the implementation of renewable energy standards.

Meanwhile, Europe and Japan as a pioneer of the solar industry, holding the highest positions: Europe, especially Germany, is by far the greatest actor and production center of global solar market. But his position has recently begun to decline, other countries taking the speed in this area.

The European market is now facing two major competitors. On the one hand the Chinese industry, which puts pressure to reduce manufacturing costs, she is able to manufacture solar modules at the lowest price. On the other the United States, which have made commitments to energy independence, strengthen their political support for renewable energy, and their boostent solar industry.

"When it comes to manufacturing cells and solar modules, the Asian producers follow a development curve aggressive as they nibble away market share of Japanese and European manufacturers. Their low costs and their acumen in technology will help them expand their presence in solar markets worldwide, "Alina Bakhareva analysis, research director in the Department of Energy Green Frost & Sullivan.

"The United States, having only used a fraction of their incalculable potential solar, all the elements necessary to create a solar market strong and well diversified. "

Despite the arrival of these new competitors on the world market, it is expected that Europe retains a significant portion of that market share. In the World Solar landscape, this region stands out as one of the few to have successfully developed three main components required for the implementation of a comprehensive local solar industry: research, a strong manufacturing base, and a government support.

"Given the macro-economic situation globally, credit markets congested, and a reduction of government support compared with 2008, markets residential and commercial solar could be the greatest difficulty, owing to a fall in demand due to low consumer confidence and their reluctance to spend, "says Alina Bakhareva.

"The large-scale projects with solid finances are likely to advance, while the new may find it difficult to attract investment at a reasonable cost in the short term. During this turbulent economic period, an improvement of the market will make the industry stronger, retaining only those that can offer the best products at the best price, "says she.

"The harsh reality for many small manufacturers is that they are likely to be victims of the globalization of the solar industry, where firms with stronger balance sheet will begin to redeem their less fortunate counterparts. Despite the great challenges on the horizon, feeling the long-term commitment to renewable energy, and the solar industry in particular, remains optimistic. "

In Europe, Germany remains one of the strongest European market. The segment is currently individuals in difficult circumstances, while projects on an industrial scale are well. Many major manufacturers have announced an increase in capacity or building new factories, one of the largest solar photovoltaic German, with 63 MW of installed capacity, has already begun.

Traditionally, France supports the technology in building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV), with a maximum rate of 0.55 € / kWh. "Although this country has shown growth rates quite reasonable over the past five years," said Alina Bakhareva, "the general feeling is that the solar market will be further developed if its policy was similar to other types installation. "

Since it introduced a new pricing incentive in the spring of 2007, Spain became a key source of demand for the solar market worldwide. The promoters were quick to install as many systems as possible before September 2008 to enjoy a generous incentive fee of € 0.42 / kWh, which led the government to be inundated with applications, causing delays .

After the approval of 392 projects, the government has limited facilities and reduced rates, which will probably be a new capacity installed in 2009 lower than 2008.

Italy and Greece have the potential to become prosperous emerging markets thanks to their attractive pricing, but the administrative barriers are the giants who sleep.

Another emerging market, the Czech Republic, started its solar industry in 2007 by installing 4.5 MW of solar power. It could become one of the strongest players in 2009 in terms of growth rate.

Nuclear Agreement USA / UAE

2009-05-23T12:54:00.001+05:30

The United Arab Emirates could produce nuclear energy by 2017. An agreement has been approved as such by the U.S. President Barack Obama.

The agreement in question was signed by George Bush shortly before his departure from the White House. It provides for a civil cooperation between the United States and the UAE, and opens the way for the sale of TECHOLOGIES and nuclear materials. Several billion dollars worth of contracts have already been envisaged, provided that Congress does not oppose its adoption.

The UAE plans to build three reactors by the year 2017. France is in line to take part in a nuclear program Emirati in January 2008, Nicolas Sarkozy had also signed a cooperation agreement with the Emirates.

The U.S. law on clean energy is first adopted by a Committee

2009-05-23T12:07:00.000+05:30

United States - The U.S. bill to fight against global warming has reached a new stage. It was adopted Thursday by the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives.

With 33 votes for and 25 votes against the bill to fight against global warming, was first adopted by a committee.

"This bill, when it will be enacted this year will break our dependence on oil overseas, and will make our country a leader in technology and green jobs and help to reduce global warming", s is congratulated Henry Waxman, the committee chairman.

94 amendments have been tabled by the opposition Republican who believes that the economic consequences of this proposal could be dramatic. Republicans also lament that nuclear power is not considered a clean energy and is very little mentioned in the bill.

Strongly supported by Barack Obama, the U.S. law on clean energy and security of 2009 "aims to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases while creating green jobs. It plans to establish a market for emissions "cap and trade" by which the rights would be sold or given to industries.

Democrats predict a 17% reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases compared to 2005, and by 2020. But the law is still far from being definitively adopted, it will still slip through the hands of several committees before being considered by the Senate.

Microsoft fined $ 200 million

2009-05-22T23:34:00.000+05:30

United States - A federal jury in Texas has ordered Microsoft to pay a fine of $ 200 million for patent infringement. This sum will be paid in compensation to i4i, a Canadian company producing software.

In March, the company i4i complaint against Microsoft, accusing it of illegally using one of its patents. This patent covered the technology integrated into the XML 2003 and 2007 versions of Word word processor.

Email showing clearly that Microsoft has used the famous patent was filed in court as evidence of guilt of the multinational. The jury then found that Microsoft had "willfully" committed an infringement at the expense of i4i.

For its part, Microsoft has expressed its intention to appeal against the verdict that he was "disappointed". "We believe that the evidence clearly showed that we had violated any patent and the patent is invalid i4i" said a spokesperson.

The Canadian company now hopes i4i obtain an injunction prohibiting Microsoft from continuing to use its patent.

Dexia gets 150 million loan from the EIB

2009-05-22T08:32:00.000+05:30

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted Dexia Bank a loan of 150 million euros to finance investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency in Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

The agreement, signed May 18 in Brussels to support the development of renewable energy and energy efficiency. This is the first EIB financing of this kind in Belgium.

The program thus created, 'Dexia Bank Renewable Energy', will address both business and government actors and non-profit sector, we learn Dexia. The projects to be funded in this respect will be small or medium-scale and involve solar, wind, biomass (excluding biofuels), cogeneration, as well as measures to improve the energy efficiency, including public buildings.

The selected projects will be funded to the tune of more than 50% through the credit line of EUR 150 million granted by the EIB, the balance being paid by Dexia Bank.

"The EIB has already concluded such operations in ten other European Union countries, can put its financial capabilities and experience to developers of projects and investments in the territories in Belgium and the Grand Ducal , "said Philippe Maystadt, President of the EIB. He added: "EIB, is significantly across the EU in support of plans to boost savings, and we believe that recovery and growth in our state go through the development of R & D, investment support and implementation of innovative and sustainable projects, and in several strategic sectors, including energy and the fight against climate change.

EnR: Accelerate investment in Wallonia

2009-05-22T08:26:00.000+05:30

Producers of renewable energy Walloon, meeting within the federation Edora, have sent their recommendations to legislators. In their memorandum, they called for accelerated development of renewable energies in the Walloon region, reflecting a lag on national objectives.

The memorandum is devoted to the Brussels Region and the Walloon Region. According to the federation, future governments will have to act very quickly to keep their European commitments to increase to 13% from renewables by 2020. Regions responsible for achieving this objective, will present their Action Plan to the European Commission in June 2010.

For Edora, this plan will set targets by sector based on an assessment of profitability and potential. The federation calls for concerted action in the sector.

The biomass sector takes the spotlight in the range of renewable technologies on the potential and contribution to 2020, said Edora. It is directly followed by wind and solar thermal, but does not exclude a necessary use of hydroelectric, solar photovoltaics and heat pumps.

Among the priorities, renewable energy producers recall the urgency to review the quotas of green certificates. This mechanism, which ensures the profitability of the production of electricity from renewable sources, is now in deep imbalance, they point, arguing that quotas are better adapted to the realities of the sector and planned through 2020 would ensure the projects in Wallonia and Brussels.

The industry also stresses the need for a plan to adapt and modernize the electricity grid: increased capacity, establishment of a "smart grid" - intelligent network best suited for decentralized generation, even of a system of pumped storage to store electricity.

Renewables currently contribute to 11% of the final heat in the Walloon Region. Their potential remains largely under-exploited in Wallonia and Brussels. A support mechanism for this specific type of production and the development of heat networks would develop this potential on a larger scale.

Along with support mechanisms and development of infrastructure, consistency of laws must be pursued and reinforced calls for the federation, as well as the development of a legal, regulatory or technical supports and clear. The framework for third party investors and the modalities for public-private partnerships for example, should be clarified in order to encourage and facilitate projects in close collaboration with municipalities and communities, she adds.

Edora of recommendations were made in a context of regional electoral campaigns, to be held on 7 June.

Intel invests $ 12 million in a new research center on Visual Computing in Saarbrücken

2009-05-21T12:48:00.002+05:30

Intel has opened, an Intel Visual Computing Institute in Saarbrücken in collaboration with the University of Saarland, . Intel will invest $ 12 million in new research entity. Located on the campus, it will work on the future development of graphics technologies and Visual Computing. The investment will take place over a period of five years from now, in cooperation with the largest university in Europe.

With its innovations, the research center will help to analyze, process, transmit and represent visual information or other on science and research but also in the entertainment industry. "In the Saarland, we actively support technology transfer between universities, research institutions outside academia and industry," explains Peter Müller, Minister-President of the Saarland. "Intel's investment in Saarland shows that the university, the research of the Max Planck Society and the German Center for Research on Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) provide a research senior".

Visual Computing is the analysis, processing and presentation of visual information in order to model real-time user interaction with computers and other terminals and intuitive as real as possible. The applications range from games to medical imaging through the 3-D interactive data models. They are used, for example, in scientific research or in the automotive sector.

Russian-Japanese in the nuclear

2009-05-20T17:06:00.000+05:30

Russia and Japan signed an agreement on cooperation in civil nuclear. It opens the way contracts for several billion dollars in the fuel cycle and build nuclear power plants.

The intergovernmental agreement was initialed by the director of Rosatom, the Russian nuclear group public, and the Japanese Ministry of Economy Toshihiro Nikai, following negotiations between Vladimir Putin and his Japanese counterpart Taro Aso. Contracts for several billion dollars should follow, said the Russian nuclear agency.

Under the agreement, Japan will make technology transfers to Russia, which will sell the nuclear fuel. Moscow intends to take a 15 to 25% on the fuel market in Japan.

Russia will also allow Japan to exploit uranium mines on its territory and in other countries such as Mongolia.

Other agreements include a memorandum for the construction of a factory to produce methanol, ammonia and urea in Tatarstan, and a cooperation agreement between the Irkutsk oil company and the Japanese National Oil , gas and metals. Another memorandum provides for the construction of a hydroelectric power station in Siberia, the fruit of cooperation between Rusgidro for Russia and the Japanese holding company Mitsui.

A final memorandum energy is devoted to energy efficiency and renewables.

IBM is working on a smart energy-saving 28nm

2009-05-19T21:25:00.001+05:30

Walking in the footsteps of Intel, IBM, in partnership with other manufacturers of semiconductors such as ST-Microelectronics, Infineon and Samsung Electronics intends to develop a common chip high-k metal gate (HKMG ), low power consumption, with a fine engraving of 28 nanometers.

The preliminary results provided by the consortium show that the 28 nanometer technology enables improved performance by about 40% and reduced energy consumption by over 20%, all in a chip whose size is half that of the previous generation in 45nm fine engraving.

According to IBM, these improvements should enable the design of chips smaller low-energy, with increased performance, helping to accelerate the coup processing speed and enhance the autonomy of the batteries for the next generation of computer portable.

This announcement reflects the depth that Intel should market this year the first chips of 32 nanometers.

The OLED will become more efficient and quality

2009-05-19T21:23:00.002+05:30

Promising, the technology of electro-luminescent diodes organiques (OLED or OLEDs) has reached a new milestone, offering a good quality of white light while earning efficiency.

These devices for ultra-wide light-emitting can be flexible, transparent, harmonized with the color desired and suitable for almost any size or shape, opening up entirely new avenues for lighting designers.

In terms of energy efficiency, fluorescent lamps are the most efficient, with a yield of about 50-70 lumens per watt (taking into account the losses caused by the reflectors). Diodes OLED developed by the Institute of Applied photophysics of Dresden (IAAP) now permits us to consider even higher performance. Professor Reineke, head of the project is managed to achieve 90 lumens per Watt. And the goal of 124 lumens per watt is at hand, he has set out in the journal Nature this week.

Sebastian Reineke explains: "In our approach, we combine an original design of emissive layer of an energy efficiency with improved concepts of surcouplage light source, which brings us to this breakthrough. The energy efficiency of devices to record 90 lm / W, even using only techniques surcouplage linear or progressive. With special surcouplage 3D, it was even possible to reach 124 lm / W ".

Two types of polymers are used to develop OLED: fluorescent and phosphorescent. These offer the length of the longest life, but have limited effectiveness. More effective but low-life, the phosphorescent polymers have been used here. The main obstacle is to avoid the degradation of polymers producing blue light, very unstable. In this respect, the initial results are promising. "I am personally convinced that it will take some years, but chemists will solve this problem and find material sufficiently stable," said the BBC Prof. Karl Leo, director of the IAAP.

"The potential of these devices is evident when one considers that even at levels of high brightness 000 cd/m2 of 5, we get an efficiency of 74 lm / W. The high-intensity lights to be very energy high are also possible. "

In the long term, the challenge remains to produce this low-cost technology.

Antenna relay controversy disrupts the development of network coverage

2009-05-19T20:21:00.000+05:30

France - On 25 May, the Grenelle waves should make its decision on the policy settings of relay antennas. Meanwhile, controversy continues to swell and mobile operators have problems in the network coverage of the territory.

Orange, SFR and Bouygues Telecom are involved in all three waves Grenelle held since the beginning of the month. But mobile operators are beginning to feel and complain of the effects of the controversy regarding the possible danger of waves emitted by the antenna relay.

Many schools want or have already closed their doors, local residents were strongly opposed to the establishment of new branches in their communities, and the installation of an antenna requires more permissions. Result, telecom operators are struggling to meet their goals of network coverage.

As shown in Le Monde, Orange and SFR had planned to cover about 99% of the population before the end of the year, stagnating at the moment to 75%, rural areas are obviously the worst off. But traders also fear a saturation of their networks if they are unable to install more antennas relay.

Other options are considered but they seem unsatisfactory. "The operators hope to obtain an extension of the radio spectrum on which they emit. They study the shedding of part of mobile traffic on their fixed networks. At worst, they could also leave the service to deteriorate during peak communication. C ' is less serious for the data for voice: the communication is not cut, but that train, "explains Pierre Carbonne, Institut de l'audiovisuel et des télécommunications en Europe (IDATE).

Central Banks May Need More Oversight Authority, BIS Says

2009-05-19T00:23:00.001+05:30

Central banks may need more supervisory authority over financial companies that pose a danger to the financial system, the Bank for International Settlements said.

“If central banks are to play a key role in dealing with systemic risk when applying a more macro-prudential approach, they may also need to have closer oversight of systemically significant institutions,” the Basel-based BIS said in a report to be published tomorrow.

Policy makers are examining ways to regulate financial markets after the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. last year threatened to bring down the global banking system. As the credit crunch sparked by the U.S. mortgage crisis erased about $1.5 trillion from balance sheets worldwide, central banks and governments from London to Washington have stepped in to rescue financial institutions.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on May 9 that a single supervisor needs the authority over the biggest financial firms. Still, questions remain as to which regulatory bodies are best suited to oversee companies whose health poses system-wide risks. In a 2008 survey by the BIS, 90 percent of central banks considered that they had “full or shared” responsibility for financial oversight.

‘Conflict’

“Apart from the lender of last resort function and various regulatory powers, there are no central bank policy instruments that are uniquely suited to ensuring systemic financial stability,” the BIS report said.

At the same time, there may be an unintended “conflict” between policies aimed at ensuring financial stability and monetary stability, according to the BIS.

“The potential for such conflict may reappear when the time comes to exit from aggressively stimulative policy settings,” it said. “Early removal of stimulus could delay the resumption of normal market functioning; late removal could risk the takeoff of inflation.”

In the U.S., lawmakers and some regulators have shifted away from the view that the Federal Reserve should take the job. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair and Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro this month recommended that a council of regulators assume the role.

The report was prepared by a group of central bank governors under the guidance of Guillermo Ortiz, the head of Mexico’s central bank and chairman of the board of directors for the BIS. Other members of the group include Bank of England Governor Mervyn King, European Central Bank Governing Council member Lucas Papademos, Fed board member Donald Kohn and China’s central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan.

Lloyds’ Blank to Retire, Pressure on Daniels Builds

2009-05-19T00:22:00.000+05:30

Lloyds Banking Group Plc Chairman Victor Blank plans to step down, increasing pressure on Chief Executive Officer Eric Daniels to leave after the government- brokered purchase of HBOS Plc pushed Lloyds into state control.

Blank, 66, will retire by the annual meeting in June 2010, the U.K.’s biggest bank by customers said in a statement yesterday. Alexander Leitch, 61, was named deputy chairman of London-based Lloyds with immediate effect.

“I can’t see Eric Daniels surviving much longer,” said Julian Chillingworth, chief investment officer at London-based Rathbone Brothers Plc, which manages $21 billion, including Lloyds shares. “Blank is the guy who has fallen on his sword, but all the management are culpable to a degree.”

Lloyds agreed to buy HBOS for about 7.7 billion pounds ($11.7 billion) in September as the government sought to prevent the collapse of Britain’s biggest mortgage lender after credit markets froze. The U.K. has since invested 17 billion pounds in the bank, taking a 43 percent stake, as HBOS’s writedowns and bad loans left the bank short of capital.

The bank has forecast a loss this year as bad debts, primarily from HBOS’s loans, rise. Lloyds would have liked more time to examine HBOS’s accounts before the deal and wouldn’t have needed government money if it hadn’t taken over the bank, Daniels told a parliamentary committee in February.

Lloyds has plunged 79 percent since the beginning of 2008, giving it a market value of 16.5 billion pounds. The bank rose 9.9 percent to 98 pence today in London trading.

‘Right Time’

“I believe it is the right time for the group to appoint a new chairman,” Blank said in the statement. “I will continue working until my successor is appointed to ensure the successful integration of the two banks.”

A Lloyds spokesman declined to comment on Daniels’ future.

Blank helped seal the HBOS takeover during a meeting with Prime Minister Gordon Brown at a Citigroup Inc. party in London, agreeing to maintain mortgage lending levels in return for assurances competition rules wouldn’t derail the deal, the chairman said at a Sept. 18 news conference.

The chairman’s departure is “definitely a good thing,” said Roger Lawson, a spokesman for the U.K. Shareholders’ Association. “The decision to buy HBOS was clearly a mistake and has resulted in a good quality bank, which paid a high dividend, being intermingled with the poor assets of HBOS.”

Blank was a director of Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc from 1985 to 1993 and has also served as chairman of Trinity Mirror Plc, publisher of the U.K. tabloid Daily Mirror, GUS Plc and Charterhouse Plc. He became Lloyds’ chairman in 2006, succeeding Maarten Van den Bergh.

‘Unanimous’ Support

His 2009 salary is 640,000 pounds, unchanged from last year, according to the bank’s annual report.

“The question is whether the Chief Executive Eric Daniels will survive, and I am not sure he will,” said Leigh Goodwin, an analyst at Fox-Pitt, Kelton Ltd. in London, who has an “in- line” rating on the stock. “It is not about blame, but about credibility going forward.”

The board of Lloyds was “unanimous” in wanting Blank to seek re-election for another three years, said Leitch, a former chairman of the Association of British Insurers, which represents some of the bank’s biggest investors.

“We are very sad about Sir Victor’s personal decision to retire, although we respect and understand his reasons for it,” Leitch in the statement.

Rights Offering

Lloyds has gained 139 percent since March 7, when the bank agreed to put 260 billion pounds of risky loans into the government’s asset protection program.

As a result, shareholders are likely to exercise their right to buy stock in a 4 billion-pound share sale this week, preventing the state from increasing its stake to 65 percent. Investors will be offered the stock in a May 20 offering underwritten by the government as the U.K. converts preference shares acquired when it bailed out Lloyds into common equity, the bank said in a statement today.

The offering price, set in March, is 38.43 pence a share, 61 percent less than the shares traded for today.

“Victor has played a very important role as our chairman during a period of significant change for our company and at a time when there has been unprecedented volatility in the markets,” Daniels said in the statement.

Wall Street Expects to Escape Obama’s Banker Pay Caps

2009-05-19T00:21:00.002+05:30

Wall Street expects the U.S. to loosen compensation caps for banks that received taxpayer aid, three months after Merrill Lynch & Co.’s $3.6 billion in bonuses drove Congress to impose them, according to executives at four of the country’s biggest financial firms.

Lenders such as Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. that obtained money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program have been waiting since February for Treasury Department guidance on capping bonuses for their 25 highest-paid employees. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the four executives said they expect the Obama administration may substitute guidelines or otherwise ease the mandatory limits.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner signaled today he’ll oppose setting ceilings on pay.

“I don’t think our government should set caps on compensation,” Geithner said at the National Press Club in Washington. “What I think we need to do is make sure we put in place some broad constraints on the incentives compensation systems create.”

As some companies prepare to repay TARP funds and free themselves of limits on compensation, those that can’t argue they shouldn’t have to comply with limits on pay that will leave them unable to hire and retain their best employees.

Freeing Traders

“It is clear that the government’s going to have to come out with some guidelines on what will compensation be at the big institutions that have TARP,” Gary Parr, who advises financial companies in his role as deputy chairman of Lazard Ltd. in New York, said at a May 4 panel discussion on the future of Wall Street sponsored by Bloomberg News.

“There’s going to need to be something done so that there isn’t a picking off of certain institutions where they’re at a severe disadvantage to others,” Parr said.

Lazard, an investment bank based in Bermuda, hasn’t taken any bailout money.

The bank executives differ on how far they predict the administration and lawmakers are willing to go in reducing the limits on bonuses. All four said the administration may apply the caps only to managers, freeing top traders or investment bankers from any restrictions. One said he didn’t think the mandatory limits would survive the year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are among banks that regulators determined have enough capital to withstand an economic deterioration. Both said they are hoping to repay their combined $35 billion in TARP purchases of preferred shares.

Congress Skeptical

Bank of America was found to need $33.9 billion as a cushion against further losses. Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lewis told shareholders last month that the pay restrictions are causing his bank to lose “strong revenue generators.”

Overall, movement between jobs in financial services is down from a peak in 2006, according to Richard Jacovitz at Liberum Research in New York. The annualized rate of employee changes and losses in 2009 is 34 percent lower than it was in 2008 and 49 percent less than three years before, the firm’s data show.

Given such figures, Congress may not buy the argument that lawmakers have to loosen bonus caps for banks that can’t repay TARP quickly, said Steve Adamske, a spokesman for Barney Frank, the Massachusetts Democrat who serves as chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

Voters Support Caps

“There would have to be more than a compelling case,” Adamske said. “To speculate on any loosening of restrictions while the taxpayers are on the hook is I don’t think very wise.”

Eighty-one percent of U.S. voters supported government limits on how much companies receiving TARP money can pay their executives, according to an April 1 poll by Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut.

The worst financial crisis since the Great Depression has so far led to more than $1.45 trillion in writedowns and credit losses and 312,500 job cuts across the worldwide financial industry. Senior management at Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley lost their bonuses last year.

Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman Sachs’s chairman and chief executive officer, was awarded a $67.9 million bonus in 2007, setting a pay record for a Wall Street CEO. He earned a $600,000 salary last year, unchanged from the prior year, according to regulatory filings.

Wall Street executives and their lawyers and consultants said they’re more comfortable with principles guiding executive pay than dollar limits dictated to them. And some are already starting to manage their businesses accordingly.

Goldman Principles

Blankfein on May 8 read aloud to Goldman Sachs’s annual shareholder meeting a set of principles that he said had been adopted by the firm and that included avoiding multiyear bonus guarantees and emphasizing stock awards over cash payments. The principles aim to align the long-term interests of employees and shareholders.

The standards wouldn’t necessarily reduce pay. In the first quarter of this year, Goldman Sachs’s compensation expense climbed 18 percent from a year ago even though the number of employees dropped 12 percent, according to the company.

“When you don’t have the rule of law and you have voluntary guidelines it allows people to talk a lot about what they’re doing, but when it comes down to it probably the compensation is not going to change radically,” said John Harrington, president of the investment advisory firm Harrington Investments Inc. in Napa, California, which invests in socially responsible companies.

A group that tracks company-pay policies questions the effectiveness of federal mandates.

‘Unintended Consequences’

“The government stepping in on compensation questions is inviting problems,” said Howard Sherman, chief executive officer of GovernanceMetrics International, a corporate ethics ratings firm in New York.

“We would much prefer the private sector to deal with such a difficult issue,” Sherman said. “History has shown whenever the government tries to fix compensation it ends up triggering unintended consequences.”

Taxpayers have put about $200 billion into banks through capital injections since October. The banks that have received the largest amounts are Bank of America and Citigroup, the largest- and third-largest U.S. banks by assets, followed by JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.

Dodd Amendment

Merrill Lynch, which was the third-biggest U.S. securities firm, reported six consecutive quarters of losses, had to be rescued in an emergency sale to Bank of America in September and received $10 billion in government aid. The firm’s decision to pay $3.6 billion in bonuses to employees, including a combined $121 million to the four highest- paid people, sparked outrage at what voters saw to be a Wall Street culture of excess and entitlement.

In mid-February Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat who is chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, added a provision to the government’s economic stimulus bill that prohibits the 25 highest-paid employees at banks that received $500 million or more in bailout money from receiving cash bonuses. The employees can receive bonuses in long-term restricted stock, as long as the value is no more than one-third of total compensation.

The Dodd amendment, which also prohibits so-called golden parachute payments to departing executives and permits firms to recoup bonuses if they’re later found to be related to “materially inaccurate” earnings or revenue, went further than previous government moves to limit bank compensation.

Still Waiting

Dodd’s legislation also provided an exception for any bonus required by an employment contract written before Feb. 11, a clause that was later criticized for allowing American International Group Inc. to reward them to employees.

Geithner has “an awful lot of leeway” in interpreting how the restrictions would be implemented, Dodd said on Feb. 20.

Banks are still waiting for those interpretations, including answers to questions such as which employees get counted in the top 25. In a May 15 statement, Dodd urged Treasury “to act soon” to clarify the rules.

Because the Dodd provision limits only bonuses, some banks have considered whether to raise salaries for key employees to help mitigate the impact, according to compensation consultants. UBS AG, the European bank with the biggest losses from the financial crisis, plans to boost salaries for senior bankers by an average of 50 percent to stem defections, three people with knowledge of the matter said last week. Zurich-based UBS was responding to Swiss government pressure to slash variable pay and doesn’t have any money from the U.S. government.

Geithner Testimony

Geithner and President Barack Obama have shown less appetite for bonus caps than in industrywide compensation guidelines that would ensure employees aren’t rewarded for taking short-term risks that later backfire.

“Regulators must issue standards for executive compensation practices across all financial firms,” Geithner said in March 26 testimony to Congress. On April 21, he said his department was completing a draft rule to implement the Dodd amendment.

Sheila Bair, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., said in a Bloomberg TV interview on May 15 that she favors principles that would discourage rewarding risky behavior with short-term profits.

“If we’re not talking about the situations where the government has put a lot of money into an institution, but just banks generally,” she said, “I don’t think prescriptive rules or dollar limits are appropriate.”

Bank of America Gains as Citigroup Says It May Have Sold Shares

2009-05-19T00:21:00.001+05:30

Bank of America Corp. rose 9.2 percent in New York trading after Citigroup Inc. said the lender may have raised as much as $4 billion issuing common shares and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. upgraded the company.

Regulators told Bank of America to raise $33.9 billion after conducting stress tests to assess its ability to weather a prolonged recession. The bank expects to boost its common equity capital by $17 billion through the sale of stock and by converting preferred shares mostly held by institutional investors, Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lewis said May 7.

Bank of America probably issued 250 million to 300 million shares since May 8, valued at $3 billion to $4 billion, Keith Horowitz, a Citigroup banking analyst, said in a report dated yesterday. Horowitz reached his estimate based on trading volume and the company’s share prices last week.

Bank of America increased 98 cents to $11.65 at 9:38 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America had no comment on Horowitz’s report, spokesman Jerry Dubrowski said.

Goldman Sachs raised Bank of America to “buy” from “neutral” today, saying the lender may earn 25 cents a share during the second quarter. The average estimate of 21 analysts compiled by Bloomberg is for 2.5 cents.

Fitch Ratings downgraded several Bank of America preferred stock issues in a report today, calling the $33.9 billion capital raising “a daunting task in any environment.” Building its capital base depends on the bank’s ability to sell shares, divest assets at sufficient prices and report profit above projections made in the stress test, Fitch said in the report.

Bank of America may post a $4 billion post-tax gain on the sale last week of 13.5 billion China Construction Bank Corp. shares, Horowitz said. The lender is also considering selling its Columbia Funds asset management group and First Republic Bank, a private bank acquired through its purchase of Merrill Lynch & Co.

WestLB CEO Resigns After Lack of Support From Owners

2009-05-19T00:19:00.000+05:30

WestLB AG Chief Executive Officer Heinz Hilgert said he will step down immediately because of a lack of support from the lender’s main shareholders.

“The decision is irreversible,” Hilgert said at a press conference in Dusseldorf today. The 55-year-old was appointed CEO last May to replace interim head Alexander Stuhlmann and lead the lender’s reorganization.

Hilgert sought 5 billion euros in guarantees from WestLB’s owner’s to help split off about 80 billion euros ($108 billion) of assets. The main investors are two regional savings bank associations, which each own just over 25 percent, and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Wolfgang Hornung, a spokesman for the Westphalia-Lippe savings-bank association, said the majority of its members aren’t ready to provide more guarantees.

“The bank has lost its leader in difficult times,” said Konrad Becker, a Munich-based analyst at Merck Finck & Co. “This will make things even more difficult. They now need to find a quick replacement.”

WestLB’s owners had agreed last year to cover potential losses of about 5 billion euros related to 23 billion euros of securities that the Dusseldorf-based bank shifted to a new company.

First-Quarter Profit

The guarantees were granted after the bank posted a 2007 loss of about 1.6 billion euros amid the collapse of the U.S. subprime mortgage market. WestLB has been planning to sell itself in an auction by the end of 2011 as part of an accord between Germany and the European Union.

Spinning off non-strategic assets is “essential for the survival of the bank,” Hilgert said.

Hilgert said his deputies will take over his duties for the time being. Dietrich Voigtlaender and Hubert Beckmann are deputy CEOs of the bank, according to the company’s Web site.Hilgert joined from DZ Bank Group, which he left in October 2007 after being passed over for the Frankfurt-based lender’s CEO post.

WestLB said separately today it posted net income of 212 million euros in the first quarter, compared with 1.05 billion euros in the year-earlier period.

Five German state-owned banks, known as Landesbanken, including WestLB had their ratings cut at least one notch by Standard & Poor’s on May 6 because of a negative earnings outlook. WestLB’s rating was lowered to BBB+ from A-. WestLB disagreed with the ratings action, and responded by saying it had the best first-quarter pretax profit since 2002.

Units to Sell

Hilgert had launched a plan to cut at least 1,350 jobs, close offices outside of Germany and exit businesses such as proprietary trading to prepare for the company’s sale. WestLB was to focus on areas such as corporate clients, transaction banking and capital markets.

The units WestLB plans to sell within the next two years include mortgage lender Westdeutsche ImmobilienBank AG, consumer lender Readybank AG and WestLB International SA in Luxembourg. It agreed on May 14 to sell wealth manager Weberbank AG to savings bank Mittelbrandenburgische Sparkasse.

Notker Becker, a spokesman for the Rhineland savings bank association, a WestLB shareholder, didn’t immediately return calls seeking comment.

Influenza A central theme of the 62nd World Health Assembly

2009-05-18T22:10:00.001+05:30

Geneva, Switzerland - Today began the 62nd World Health Assembly of WHO. Influenza A is more than ever the focus of public health issues discussed at this global meeting.

The World Health Assembly is the supreme decision making body of WHO, World Health Organization. It meets annually in Geneva in May. During the 62nd session, the delegations of the 193 member states will discuss the main themes of public health listed in the agenda.

Influenza A is sure to be the central topic of this meeting. The issues of how to prepare for pandemic influenza, exchange of influenza viruses and access to vaccines will be raised.

Other topics will include the implementation of the International Health Regulations, the problem of primary health care and strengthening health systems or monitoring of the objectives of the Millennium Development Goals on health.

Sector optional "surgical" initiate real bargaining with legitimate players of the surgery.

2009-05-18T13:48:00.001+05:30

The pricing of surgery, anesthesia and obstetric suffering from decades of a delay worsening steadily. The challenge is to catch up financial health insurance on the one hand, and participation of insurance on the other. The aim is to ensure today and tomorrow even more safety and quality of acts of anesthesia and surgery for all patients.

Without legitimate representation of the professionals concerned, the negotiation will lead to a trade union apparatus, always the same. But it will never be a matter for practitioners in the field.

However, the conventional current proposals are not up to the challenge (News Release 03/11/08). The specific "surgical" is not recognized let alone the need to correct the tariff sector delays surgery. The creation of a new optional conventional sector has a stacking rate of greater transparency for patients who have no guarantee of support by all complementary.

The legitimate players in the sector surgery, surgeons, anesthesiologists, obstetricians, offer a "surgical exercise which aims to promote support of all these practitioners. It is likely to re-team all surgeons, obstetricians, anesthesiologists, Sector I and 2, former head of clinical or ESC, with a guarantee of quality due to additional fees paid by the complementary. Since the profession has been understood in its specificity, it will undertake to organize its rates to be read by patients.

It is incomprehensible that the proposals of representatives of the surgical area, in conformity with the speech of the President of the Republic of September 18 (News Release 22/09/08), are not reflected in the current discussions with the UNCAM and 'UNOCAM. Agreements between the State and the surgical area should be discussed with representatives of recognized and legitimate actors surgery. Only an agreement with such legitimacy and a new pilot with the government changes the rates of clinical and technical solution to a lasting professional crises and ensure universal access to quality care.

BioPharm America ™ 2009 collects a wide support from professional venture capital

2009-05-18T13:43:00.001+05:30

22 of venture capital's most prominent event will attend the Partnership, will participate in the Advisory Committee and present their portfolio companies to negotiators in the industry.

CARLSBAD, Calif. and SAN FRANCISCO - EBD Group today announced that many venture capital companies (SCR) among the world's largest specialist life sciences participate in the Partnership of America North BioPharm America ™ 2009 to be held at the Marriott San Francisco, from 16 to 18 September.

Held in the highest concentration of SCR and biotechnology companies in the world, BioPharm America 2009 already has the support of SCR 22 of the most prominent in biotech. Their assistance includes participation in the Investment Advisory Committee of BioPharm America, which helps move the entire program of the conference. This exceptional level of participation of SCR also ensures that BioPharm America 2009 will host a high concentration of quality companies (at the launching stage or intermediate stage) among the portfolios for the SCR in the health care sector.

"With the current slump seen in IPOs and in the investment climate in both Europe and the United States, the objectives of the most important business for our portfolio companies are often in areas of partnership and licensing. Often, future expansion plans of companies are at the highest point of successes in this area, "said Dr. Jonathan MacQuitty, Abingworth associate.

For his part, Dr. Rodney A. Ferguson, Managing Director of Panorama Capital, following the observation by Jonathan MacQuitty, said that "the partnership of businesses is the lifeblood of biotechnology companies and [that] it is crucial for their survival and their success. "

James N. Topper, general partner of Frazier Healthcare Ventures, offers the following commentary: "The partnership and strategic transactions licensing became for biopharmaceutical companies funded by private investors an essential part of their business model. Accordingly, it is essential that companies begin to establish a sound network of contacts as soon as possible during their development. "

Morrie Ruffin, CEO of Adjuvant Global Advisors, added that: "We are very encouraged by the fact that venture capital firms most prominent subscribe to the idea of organizing a major demonstration of partnership and business in the life sciences in California. Their involvement signals the importance of this type of initiative for all companies financed by venture capital and also to pharmaceutical companies, large groups and those of average size, the United States, Europe and Asia who are looking for partnership opportunities in convincing licensing (in-licensing).

"We welcome the broad support by professional venture capital to make the event BioPharm America partnership the most productive and rich in opportunities in North America, said in turn Carola Schropp, President of EBD Group . "Recently, during our two most important meetings in Europe, BIO-Europe and BIO-Europe Spring ®, we have seen a dramatic surge in the intensity of the partnership, which generated between the two events, total number of 17 500 individual meetings. We are confident that this intensity in the partnerships will continue to BioPharm America. "

To date, the venture capital following have committed to participate in BioPharm America 2009: Abingworth, Aisling Capital, Alta Partners, Burrill & Company, Clarus Ventures, Delphi Ventures, Essex Woodlands Health Ventures, Frazier Healthcare Ventures, InterWest Partners , Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Lumira Capital, Mohr Davidow Ventures, MPM Capital, New Leaf Venture Partners, Panorama Capital, ProQuest Investments, Prospect Venture Partners, Skyline Ventures, Sofinnova Ventures, TPG Biotech, U.S. Venture Partners, Versant Ventures.

Temasek Sells Bank of America Stake, Looks to China

2009-05-16T23:34:00.000+05:30

Temasek Holdings Pte sold its 3.8 percent stake in Bank of America Corp. at a loss that may total $4.6 billion, as the Singapore state-owned fund shifts bets from Wall Street to emerging markets.

The sale may have raised about $1.27 billion, based on the average price of Bank of America stock in the first quarter. The divestment was completed by March 31, according to a U.S. filing. Temasek declined to comment on the price.

Temasek, whose investments shrank 31 percent in the eight months through Nov. 30, raised its stake in China Construction Bank Corp. this week, and Chief Executive Officer Ho Ching said yesterday the fund would reduce exposure to developed economies. Temasek had spent about $5.9 billion since 2007 buying shares in Merrill Lynch & Co., acquired by Bank of America on Jan. 1 after the stock slid 78 percent last year.

“The belief now is that the world is not so American- centric anymore,” said Melvyn Teo, associate professor of finance at the Singapore Management University. “It’s going to be driven more and more by the Chinese economy and consumer so might as well load up more on Chinese banks than American banks.”

The value of Temasek’s assets fell to S$127 billion ($87 billion) in the eight months to Nov. 30 as the credit crisis drove down the value of stakes in Merrill Lynch, Barclays Plc and Standard Chartered Plc. The drop in the portfolio tracked a 38 percent retreat in the MSCI World Index.

Bank of America Stake

Ho, wife of Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, drove an expansion outside Singapore and increased financial assets to 40 percent of the company’s portfolio. Charles ‘Chip’ Goodyear, the 51-year-old former head of BHP Billiton Ltd. who oversaw a fourfold increase in the company’s stock during his almost five- year tenure as CEO, will replace Ho in October.

A Form 13F filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday from Temasek indicates that the fund no longer held shares in Bank of America or Merrill Lynch as of March 31. An earlier filing showed that the Singapore firm owned 219.7 million Merrill Lynch shares at the end of 2008.

At the average price of $6.73 for the first quarter, the stake would have been valued at $1.27 billion. The sale would have been worth $2.14 billion at yesterday’s closing price.

Since the end of March, when Temasek completed the sale, Bank of America has risen 66 percent. The stock dropped 52 percent in the first quarter.

Temasek confirmed it sold its Bank of America shares in an e-mailed response to Bloomberg News queries today. The company declined to say how much it sold the stake for or when the sale was conducted. Mark Tsang, a Hong Kong spokesman at Bank of America, declined to comment.

Raising Capital

“They probably want to turn the page on this one and move on,” said David Cohen, an economist with Action Economics in Singapore. “I suspect they’re telling themselves they should have focused on Asian investments, particularly China. You can’t fault them now. The financial crisis blind-sided a lot of investors.”

Merrill Lynch investors received 0.8595 Bank of America stock for each share held in the U.S. brokerage in the acquisition. The deal meant Temasek received about 188.8 million Bank of America shares, the equivalent of a 3.8 percent stake in the company, according to calculations by Bloomberg.

Bank of America Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lewis has said he was pressured in December by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to complete the Merrill Lynch acquisition amid mounting losses at the brokerage firm.

The Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank has to raise $33.9 billion to boost capital after U.S. regulator stress tests. Its shares have tumbled 69 percent in the past year, outpacing the 37 percent decline in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

Wealth Funds

Bank of America sold part of its Construction Bank stake to a group of investors including Hopu Investment Management Co., a private-equity fund run by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s China partner Fang Fenglei, and Temasek, two people with knowledge of the matter said on May 12.

Morgan Stanley acted as an agent for Bank of America in the sale, not Merrill Lynch, the Wall Street Journal reported today, citing people familiar with the transaction.

Bank of America rose 2.7 percent to $11.31 in New York yesterday. It traded between $14.81 and $2.53 apiece in the first quarter.

Sovereign funds, mostly from Asia, have made “substantial losses” on more than $60 billion invested in U.S., Swiss and U.K. banks since the start of the subprime crisis, according to International Financial Services London, an industry lobby group.

Standard Chartered, Barclays

Along with its stake in Merrill Lynch, Temasek also raised holdings in Standard Chartered, the London-based bank that gets almost all its profit from emerging markets, and bought shares in Barclays, the U.K.’s third-biggest bank. The company had earlier said it wants the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries to account for about a third of its investment portfolio.

Temasek will cut its holdings in the so-called OECD countries to 20 percent as it expands in Asia and emerging markets from Latin America to Africa, Ho said in a speech posted on the company’s Web site yesterday.

The MSCI World Index that tracks almost 1,700 stocks in developed markets has risen 0.5 percent this year, compared with a 45 percent gain in China’s benchmark Shanghai Composite Index.

Other Investments

“We have also been re-assessing our long term portfolio balance over the last two years,” Ho, 56, said in the May 12 speech. “As Asia continues to develop, it continues to de-risk. We are increasingly more confident of Asia’s future.”

Temasek was founded in 1974 to foster development of the island’s banks, airlines and ports, and remains the biggest shareholder of six of the 10 biggest Singapore companies by market value. It owns shares of the island’s biggest bank and its largest telephone company.

Temasek’s investments in Asia include Bank of China Ltd. and ICICI Bank Ltd., India’s No. 2 lender.

“We’ve been very heavily overweight in Asia for some years now and leery of the Western financial institutions because Asia is where the growth is at,” said Hugh Young, managing director at Aberdeen Asset Management Plc, which has about $30 billion of Asian assets.

Barclays’ Diamond May Receive About $15.7 Million on BGI Sale

2009-05-16T23:33:00.000+05:30

Barclays Plc President Robert Diamond may receive as much as $15.7 million from the sale of Barclays Global Investors, depending on taxes and transaction costs.

Diamond holds shares and options in BGI, according to the bank’s annual report. Barclays is in talks to sell the asset management unit to potential buyers, including Bank of New York Mellon Corp. and BlackRock Inc., according to people with knowledge of the matter. The unit is worth about $10 billion, according to Simon Willis, an analyst at NCB Group in London.

The 57-year-old Diamond would receive a cash dividend of $6.9 million were the bank to conclude a deal to sell BGI’s iShares business for $4.4 billion, London-based Barclays said in an April 9 statement. Based on that valuation, his holdings would be worth about $15.7 million in a $10 billion deal. Taxes and transaction costs would eat into any payout.

Diamond, who heads BGI and Barclays Capital, waived his bonus last year in the face of public anger over bankers’ pay. He received 250,000 pounds ($380,000) in salary, compared with 21.2 million pounds of total compensation in 2007.

Alistair Smith, a spokesman for Barclays, declined to comment on any payment Diamond would receive from the sale of BGI. Diamond didn’t respond to a request for an interview made through Barclays Capital’s public information department.

Overall, Barclays employees own about 4.5 percent of BGI, with options to increase their holdings to 10.3 percent, according to the bank’s annual report.

‘Unsolicited Interest’

Barclays, which has avoided government control, is seeking to boost capital to cushion against rising credit losses and writedowns. While the bank has passed a regulatory stress test, its capital adequacy ratios trail those of government-controlled Lloyds Banking Group Plc and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc.

Barclays said yesterday it had received “unsolicited interest” in BGI, as well as inquiries about iShares, since the original deal was announced. There is “no certainty” the discussions will result in a deal, the company said in a statement, without naming the potential bidders.

New York-based BlackRock and BNY Mellon declined to comment on any talks.

GM in Bankruptcy May Speed Dealer Cuts to Match Chrysler’s Pace

2009-05-16T23:32:00.000+05:30

General Motors Corp.’s plan to slash its dealer network by the end of 2010 may accelerate, matching the pace set by Chrysler LLC, in a bankruptcy the biggest U.S. automaker says is probable.

GM began telling 1,100 U.S. dealers yesterday their franchise agreements wouldn’t be renewed, meaning they would stop selling cars in about a year. A day earlier, Chrysler informed 789 U.S. dealers they’d stop selling cars by June 9.

A Chapter 11 filing would help GM shed franchise accords that would otherwise be binding. Using the courts to hasten dealer consolidation would help meet the goal of a “speedy” bankruptcy as outlined by Chief Executive Officer Fritz Henderson in a May 14 Bloomberg Television interview.

“If GM files bankruptcy, the landscape will change to reflect what Chrysler is doing with its dealer body,” said Billy Donley, a franchise and distribution attorney for Baker & Hostetler LLP in Houston.

The shutdowns are GM’s first step to pare domestic dealers to a range of 3,600 to 4,000 from 5,969 by the end of 2010. Having fewer retailers may allow the survivors to sell more cars at higher prices, boosting profit.

“It’s a cruel day, but it’s one of the casualties of the situation,” said Mike Robinet, a CSM Worldwide Inc. analyst in Northville, Michigan. “Dealer consolidation is a fairly substantial reason that Chrysler had to go into bankruptcy and a very good reason why GM will need to go in as well.”

GM’s Letter

GM told dealers in a letter the locations targeted for closing were measured by benchmarks including sales volume, customer feedback, capitalization, profitability and pairings with competing brands.

The notices went to “1,100 underperforming and very small sales-volume U.S. dealers,” GM said in a statement.

“It’s not something we do without a lot of consideration,” Mark LaNeve, GM’s North American sales chief, said on a conference call. “The dealers receiving these letters, unless they haven’t been paying attention at all, it should be no surprise at all to them.”

LaNeve said GM would follow the same reduction plan whether the automaker restructures in or out of court. An “orderly” wind-down would help preserve the value of dealers’ inventory, he said.

Chrysler, racing to complete an alliance with Fiat SpA and form a new company that would exit bankruptcy in as little as two months, gave its dealers less than four weeks to wrap up operations and sell off their cars and spare parts.

Susan Garontakos, a GM spokeswoman, said in an interview that she couldn’t speculate on how a bankruptcy proceeding might alter the company’s timetable.

‘On the Table’

“What’s currently on the table would change if they go into bankruptcy,” said Donley, the Baker & Hostetler attorney. “They may not let dealer agreements expire, they may just leave them in court.”

The dealers losing their franchise accords included R.L. Reising Sales Inc. in the Chicago suburb of Beecher, Illinois, which learned by letter that it will have to stop selling Chevrolets.

“It’s like someone rips your guts out,” said Joseph Reising, 49, the dealership’s vice president. Founded by his grandfather, the retailer has sold GM vehicles since 1929 and employs 15 full-time workers. “It leaves a big hole.”

GM Brands

Yesterday’s moves are in addition to about 470 dealers being shed as GM disposes of its Hummer, Saturn and Saab brands and drops Pontiac. GM has said it expects some dealers to leave voluntarily. GM plans to focus on its remaining Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC brand dealerships in the future.

GM fell 6 cents, or 5.2 percent, to $1.09 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have tumbled 95 percent in the past year.

In contrast to Chrysler, which waited until it filed bankruptcy to cancel dealerships, GM is moving to reduce its retail network now, saying it still hopes to avoid restructuring in court.

Still, Henderson in the May 14 interview said that bankruptcy is “probable” as GM works to shave operating costs and shrink debt and union-retiree obligations by $44 billion.

LaNeve said GM’s dealer consolidation won’t affect whether the automaker files for court protection, adding that the company needs to reduce its retail outlets in or out of bankruptcy.

GM didn’t make a list of dealers public, so the names surfaced more slowly than those on Chrysler’s roster, which were disclosed in a U.S. Bankruptcy Court filing.

‘No Big Deal’

Kenneth Keeton, owner of Keeton Motor Co. in Fordyce, Arkansas, said he received a letter from GM yesterday informing him GM would let his Buick-Pontiac-GM franchise agreement lapse in 2010.

“It ain’t no big deal to me,” said Keeton, whose 42-year- old store is among four dealerships, including another GM outlet, in a town of about 5,000 people. “The last 10 years, it’s cost me more to do business with them than it’s worth.”

Keeton, who said his dealership employs about 10 people, said he plans to stay in business selling used cars and offering service and towing.

JPMorgan, Citigroup Paid in Junk Bonds by Harrah’s

2009-05-13T23:32:00.000+05:30

JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. were paid $59.4 million to help Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. lower its debt. Most of their fees came in the form of junk bonds that trade at about 50 cents on the dollar.

The banks helped Harrah’s persuade bondholders last month to swap $5.5 billion in debt for $3.4 billion in newly issued notes. Harrah’s, based in Las Vegas, paid JPMorgan and Citigroup $2.7 million in cash and $56.7 million of the new notes, according to an April 30 regulatory filing.

U.S. companies struggling with the recession and seeking to lower borrowing costs exchanged $30.3 billion of distressed debt last year, almost twice the combined $15.9 billion swapped from 1984 through 2007, according to Edward Altman, a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business. While that’s welcome news for investment bankers coping with a 39 percent drop in mergers and acquisitions last year, the Harrah’s deal shows the lengths some will go to get the business.

“This is the one area where you are seeing any sort of activity,” said Steven Khadavi, co-chairman of the capital markets group at the Minneapolis-based law firm Dorsey & Whitney LLP. “You have these bonds that are maturing and you can’t refinance them in the market, so debt exchanges are one of the only alternatives to avoid bankruptcy,” said Khadavi, who works in the firm’s New York office.

JPMorgan and Citigroup accepted fees equal to about 1.1 percent of the Harrah’s bonds exchanged. That compares with the 0.5 percent General Motors Corp. agreed to pay eight banks handling the Detroit automaker’s $27.2 billion equity-for-debt swap, according to a document filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on April 27.

The Trade-Off

The caveat is JPMorgan and Citigroup took notes, due to mature in 2018, that are trading at about 50 percent of face value. If the banks sell them before maturity or before the price recovers, the cash value of their fees declines.

Khadavi said there is no set fee for managing exchange offers, with investment bankers negotiating terms for each deal.

Danielle Romero-Apsilos, a spokeswoman for Citigroup, said the New York-based bank doesn’t comment on fees. Brian Marchiony, a spokesman for JPMorgan, also in New York, didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Companies use exchange offers to cut debt and to gain more favorable terms such as lower interest rates and later repayment dates. They typically offer bondholders stock in exchange for their securities or bonds with a lower face value that reflects the debt’s current trading price.

‘Helpful’ Payment Method

“It certainly is helpful to pay these guys their fees in kind as opposed to cash,” said Jonathan Halkyard, chief financial officer and treasurer for Harrah’s, the world’s largest casino company. Harrah’s, which was taken private last year, reported a fourth-quarter operating loss of $5.35 billion on asset writedowns and lower spending at its casinos.

James Schneider, a managing director at New York-based investment bank Morgan Joseph & Co., said paying investment banking fees in securities isn’t unheard of.

“It is not uncommon, but it’s not regular,” said Schneider, who ran the exchange offer group at Michael Milken’s Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. until the brokerage collapsed in 1990. “It’s a way for the investment banker to participate directly in the success of his program.”

High-risk, high-yield, or junk, debt is rated below Baa3 by Moody’s Investors Service and BBB- at Standard & Poor’s. Distressed securities are mostly loans and junk bonds of companies that are having trouble meeting interest and principal payments.

GM Fees

The banks managing GM’s exchange offer could earn as much as $136 million, according to the carmaker’s April 27 filing. Morgan Stanley, Banc of America Securities LLC, Citigroup and JPMorgan will each get 20 percent of the total, the filing shows. Julie Gibson, a spokeswoman for GM, declined to comment.

JPMorgan and Citigroup helped raise the financing for Leon Black’s Apollo Management LP and Fort Worth, Texas-based TPG, formerly Texas Pacific Group, when they acquired Harrah’s through a $30.7 billion leveraged buyout in January 2008.

The stock-market collapse and economic decline have slashed spending at casinos and hotels, leaving companies such as Harrah’s and Las Vegas-based Station Casinos Inc. hard-pressed to meet their debt obligations. Las Vegas Strip casino gambling revenue fell 11 percent to $6.12 billion last year, the steepest decline since recordkeeping began in the mid-1980s.

Harrah’s initially reduced its debt and pushed back the maturities of certain bonds through an exchange offer for $3.2 billion of securities in December.

Obama’s Incentive

After President Barack Obama created a tax break for such offers earlier this year, Harrah’s embarked on the second exchange, cutting its debt by an additional $2.1 billion. Harrah’s also issued $300 million of the new notes in exchange for $442 million of bank bridge loans.

Distressed companies almost always use investment banks to manage exchange offers, often tapping the same securities firms that underwrote their original bond sales. Besides helping companies structure the offer, bankers often have relationships with bondholders that can help get them to accept the new terms.

“I’ve often said I could get this done if I had their Rolodex,” said Hugh Ray, founder of the bankruptcy practice at the Houston-based law firm Andrews Kurth LLP. “But I don’t have their Rolodex.”

* STORY * PHOTO * Citigroup’s Primerica Is Said to Seek Bids for Unit

2009-05-13T23:14:00.000+05:30

Executives at Citigroup Inc.’s Primerica Financial Services unit have approached private-equity firms, including J.C. Flowers & Co., Blackstone Group LP and TPG Inc., to gauge their interest in buying the division’s 100,000- person sales arm, said four people with knowledge of the matter.

Executives started the discussions after Citigroup failed to find a buyer for the entire life insurance company during the past year, said the people, declining to be identified as the talks aren’t public. Citigroup, the recipient of a $52 billion government bailout, hasn’t endorsed the plan, the people said.

Citigroup canceled Primerica’s annual sales convention and a trip to the Bahamas for top agents after the government rescue last year. Primerica is part of Citi Holdings, created by Citigroup Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit to house “non- core” units that he wants to eventually sell or wind down as he undoes the legacy of former CEO Sanford “Sandy” Weill.

Primerica’s co-CEOs, John Addison and Rick Williams, declined to comment through spokesman Mark Supic. Citigroup spokesman Stephen Cohen declined to comment, as did officials at Blackstone and TPG. J. Christopher Flowers, founder of the firm that bears his name, didn’t return a call seeking comment.

Addison told employees in January that he planned to remove any reference to the parent company on Duluth, Georgia-based Primerica’s business cards, brochures, and marketing materials.

New Insurer

Citigroup gained 9 cents to $3.75 in German trading today. The stock has plummeted 84 percent during the past year in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

In one plan under discussion, Primerica’s marketing arm would split from New York-based Citigroup and start selling policies backed by a new insurer, while Citigroup would retain assets and liabilities from Primerica policies that have already been sold, two of the people said. A transaction wouldn’t yield Citigroup much cash because there are few tangible assets associated with the marketing arm, they said.

Founded in 1977 by Arthur L. Williams, Primerica sells life insurance and investment products such as mutual funds through a mostly part-time sales force of independent agents. Weill’s Commercial Credit Corp. took control of the firm in 1988, using it as a platform to assemble the financial-services titan eventually known as Citigroup.

The division had $2.2 billion of sales last year and net income of $355 million, according to a fact sheet provided by the company.

Talks With Protective

Citigroup sought buyers for the unit last year and held discussions about a three-way deal to sell it to Flowers and Protective Life Corp., people with knowledge of those talks said. The negotiations ended as the global credit crisis eroded the value of life insurers’ invested assets. Protective’s stock- market value fell 65 percent last year. Eva Robertson, a Protective spokeswoman, didn’t return a call seeking comment.

Citigroup put off plans to buy a $50 million corporate jet in January after criticism from the government. The company also canceled some Primerica events, which are used to motivate the sales force.

The annual Primerica convention attracted 55,000 people in 2007. This year’s event had been scheduled to take place in June at the Georgia World Congress and Georgia Dome, home to the Atlanta Falcons football team. Trips for top agents to the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island in the Bahamas and the Eden Roc resort in Miami were also shelved.

Citigroup must raise $5.5 billion in additional equity to withstand a prolonged recession, the Federal Reserve said last week in announcing results of nationwide stress tests of the biggest financial companies. The bank plans to exchange more preferred securities into common stock to comply with the demand.

Bank of America Corp., under pressure from U.S. regulators to raise $33.9 billion, has sold part of a stake in China Construction Bank Corp. for about $7.3 billion, two people with knowledge of the matter said yesterday.

Bank of America Said to Sell $7.3 Billion Bank Stake

2009-05-12T23:11:00.000+05:30

Bank of America Corp., under pressure from U.S. regulators to raise $33.9 billion, sold part of a stake in China Construction Bank Corp. for about $7.3 billion, said two people with knowledge of the matter.

Hopu Investment Management Co., the private-equity fund run by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s China partner Fang Fenglei, led investors including Singapore’s state-owned Temasek Holdings Pte in buying 13.5 billion shares from Bank of America, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Bank of America spokesman Robert Stickler declined to comment.

Bank of America’s second sale of Construction Bank stock in 2009 brings Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lewis closer to the sum regulators say he needs after stress tests of U.S. banks. The Charlotte, North Carolina-based lender had about 17 percent of the Chinese bank’s common shares as of April 20, and Lewis said yesterday he intends to maintain a stake in the company.

“This is the equivalent of an aristocratic family that is forced to sell the family silver to pay the property taxes,” said Jeff Davis, director of research at Howe Barnes Hoefer & Arnett, in an interview. “They’re doing this out of necessity and it’s definitely not occurring from a position of strength.”

China Life Insurance Asset Management Co. bought $1.5 billion worth of Construction Bank shares on behalf of its state-owned parent and other affiliates, the people said.

Bank of America sold the shares for HK$4.20 apiece, 14 percent below yesterday’s closing price, one of the people said. Bank of America sold $2.8 billion of Construction Bank shares in January for HK$3.92 each. The latest sale is for a 5.8 percent stake in Construction Bank, they said.

‘Overhang’ Removed

Construction Bank, the nation’s second-biggest lender, rose 1.6 percent to HK$4.98 today in Hong Kong. Bank of America dropped 6 cents to $12.88 at 9:42 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Bank of America has plunged about 66 percent in the past 12 months, compared with the 27 percent slide at Construction Bank.

The deal marks the biggest divestment of shares in a Chinese lender by an overseas investor. Financial firms outside the country have this year sold $15.2 billion of shares in Chinese lenders that they bought in the past four years, after the credit crisis forced them to repair balance sheets.

Speculation about a Construction Bank sale heated up over the past week as a lockup on Bank of America’s stake expired May 7. The U.S. bank owns another 25.6 billion shares it can’t sell until Aug. 29, 2011.

‘Strategic Partner’

Bank of America considers Construction Bank a “strategic partner” and plans to “always” have a stake, Lewis told investors yesterday in a conference call, declining to say how large a stake he intends to keep.

“We think it’s the best-run bank in China and feel very good about our investment,” he said.

Construction Bank’s Beijing-based spokesman Yu Baoyue said he wasn’t aware of the sale. A Temasek spokeswoman, who declined to be identified, said she had no comment.

“I’m surprised such a big chunk of shares could be absorbed by a small group of investors, and the share price is still holding up well,” said Danny Yan, a portfolio manager at Taifook Asset Management Ltd. in Hong Kong, which oversees about $600 million. “It’s certainly positive news because it removes an overhang on the stock.”

Bank of China Stake

Hopu, based in Beijing, and Temasek bought about 60 percent of the Construction Bank stake, one of the people said.

It was the third investment for Hopu, founded by Fang in 2007. The fund raised $2.5 billion from overseas investors including Goldman and Temasek last year. CEO Richard Ong, former co-head of Asia investment banking at Goldman, led talks with Bank of America about the stake purchase, one of the people said.

Hopu bought about 30 percent of a $2.3 billion Bank of China Ltd. stake sold by Royal Bank of Scotland in January, two people familiar with the deal said at the time. RBS sold the shares at HK$1.71 apiece. Bank of China closed at HK$2.88 yesterday.

Temasek, Singapore’s state-owned investment firm, owned 5.65 percent of Construction Bank before the deal and is one of the largest shareholders in Standard Chartered Plc and DBS Group Holdings Ltd. It also owns stakes in India’s ICICI Bank Ltd. and lenders in Indonesia, South Korea and Pakistan.

The Singaporean company earlier turned down an offer to buy Construction Bank stock from Bank of America, though changed its mind after the price was lowered, one of the people said.

Stress Tests

Temasek invested about $5.9 billion in Merrill Lynch & Co., before it was acquired by Bank of America. The fund holds about 189 million shares in Bank of America after converting its Merrill stock. Along with China Development Bank Corp., Temasek paid 3.6 billion euros in 2007 for a 5.2 percent stake in Barclays Plc and added another 4.5 billion pounds in June.

The U.S. government’s stress test found that 10 lenders needed to raise a total of $74.6 billion in capital and that a deeper recession could lead to potential losses of $599.2 billion in 2009 and 2010 for the 19 lenders examined. Bank of America was judged to have the biggest funding shortfall, followed by Wells Fargo & Co. at $13.7 billion.

U.S. banks are raising $37 billion to fill capital shortfalls or repay the Treasury’s bailout fund after getting the results of the stress tests. The KBW Bank Index, which includes 24 of the biggest U.S. lenders, has jumped 20 percent in the past month as concern subsided that banks will have to be nationalized.

‘Selling the Goose’

Davis said the sale is a “gain that drops into the book value, it goes to the common equity” and is a step toward gathering the $33.9 billion required by regulators.

“What the United States was to the 20th century, China will be to the 21st,” he said. Bank of America is “selling the goose that’s going to lay golden eggs.”

Capital One Financial Corp., U.S. Bancorp and BB&T Corp. have said they’ll sell shares to repay government bailout funds after the tests showed the companies can weather a worsening recession without additional aid.

Influenza A: when the risk of pandemic is changing the rules of etiquette

2009-05-12T23:01:00.001+05:30

Switzerland - AFP reports the latest recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO) concerning the codes of society, some having to be modified to reduce the risk of a pandemic.

Sneeze in his shirt or in the hollow of his arm, wash hands frequently, avoid getting the kiss or shake hands. The risk of pandemic influenza A has upset the basic rules of society. These small changes in habits, however, are strongly recommended by WHO to prevent the spread of influenza A (H1N1).

WHO calls for rules relating to common sense that people take the same precautions as those to be adopted to protect themselves from influenza. Even the Director General of WHO, Dr Margaret Chan, says not to make the traditional three kisses to his colleagues on behalf of preventive health. It also encourages all staff of the organization to follow his example and not shake hands or be kissing. The only exception to the rule: the diplomatic meetings, where the handshake is a great value.

Dr Fukuda, Deputy Director General of WHO, sets out the rules of good "respiratory hygiene": cough not face another person, covering his mouth with a tissue or sleeve of the shirt, wash hands frequently with soap to reduce the risk of contamination and transmission.

Respiratory masks should be used only by the sick, coughing or sneezing frequently, and those who care for them. WHO also encourages people who are ill or experiencing symptoms of the disease (fever, cough, sore throat, headache, joint pain, muscle aches) to stay home, not to travel and to prevent their relatives and their doctors.

GE Shipping posted 24% fall in standalone income

2009-05-11T13:48:00.000+05:30

GE Shipping posted 24% fall in standalone income from operation to Rs 560.75 crore for the quarter ended March'09 on the back of dip in the revenue days by 18% to 3465. With high Repairs & maintenance cost and direct operating expenses, Operating profit margins declined by 550 bps to 47.3%. Company has revised forex losses which were booked in the first quarter of FY'09 as forex gain of Rs 138.57 crore in the quarter under review. Resultantly, PBT before EO stood at Rs 321.91 crore, an increase of 5% over corresponding pervious period. As company incur EO expenses of Rs 70 crore on the account of impairment in one dry bulk carrier assets, the net profit declined by 16% to Rs 250.05 crore.

Consolidated Yearly Performance

For the Year ended March'09, the topline increased by 22% to Rs 3791.56 crore. The shipping business increased by 10% to Rs 4036.93 crore (contributed 93% of sales) and offshore business spurted by 186% to Rs 302.24 crore (contributed 7% of sales). Operating profit margins contracted by 180 bps to 41.0% as a result operating profit increase by 14% to Rs 1555.25 crore.

Other income increased by 42% to Rs 296.85 crore, interest cost went up by 14% to Rs 184.68 crore and depreciation increased by 383.95 crore. At PBIT level, shipping business declined by 4% to Rs 1549.84 crore and offshore went up by 38% to Rs 75.00 crore. Gain on sales of ship for the year stood at Rs 254.47 crore and PBT before forex gain stood at Rs 1537.94 crore, an increase of 14% over corresponding pervious period.

Nil forex gain as against of Rs 156.34 crore in the corresponding period led PBT before EO to grow marginally by 2% to Rs 1537.94 crore. The net compensation paid on cancellation of vessel construction/ sale contracts was Rs 14.85 crore and impairment of one asset of Rs 70.00 crore in the year paved PBT to decline by 3% to Rs 1407.70 crore. With taxation of Rs 45.39 (compared to Rs 47.36 crore) and prior period adjustment of Rs 10.13 crore, the net sales declined by 2% to Rs 1417.83 crore.

Standalone Quarterly Performance

Income from operations declined for the quarter ended March 09 by 24% to Rs 560.75 crore due to dip in the revenue days by 18% to 3465 days. Lower revenues days is due to selling of nine vessels in the last 12 months which led the tonnage of the company decline to 2.85 million DWT compared to 3.07 million DWT in the corresponding previous period. Owned tonnage revenue days for the quarter declined by 16% to 3401 days and in chartered tonnage decreased by 63% to 64 days. The average TCY (time charter yields) for crude carriers is at USD 34450 per day, dip of 2% over corresponding pervious period, Product carriers (including Gas) was higher by 9% to USD 21495 per day and Dry bulk carrier crashed by 53% to USD 23264 per day.

With increase in the dry docking expenses, the repairs & maintenances expenses up by 600 bps to 11.6% as percentage to income from operation. Direct operating expenses increased by 610 bps to 23.5% of sales on the back of increase bunker cost. Other expenses increased by 190 bps to 7.3% of sales as depreciation of rupee. Thus operating profit margins crashed by 550 bps to 47.3% resulting operating profit to decline by 32% to Rs 265.00 crore. However, fall in the hire and charter expenses by 1010 bps to 0.6% has restricted fall in margins.

Other income spurted by 117% to Rs 88.16 crore due to sales of long time investment restricted degrowth at PBIDT by 18% to Rs 353.16 crore. Interest cost declined by 23% to Rs 34.87 crore and depreciation up by 31% to Rs 108.45 crore. The company has incurred loss of Rs 26.50 crore on sales of ship as against gain of Rs 45.68 crore in the corresponding pervious period. The company has followed the option given by ministry of corporate to defer the implementation of AS 11 standards; and has reversed the Forex losses booked in the Q1FY'09. Thus there was a Forex gain of Rs 138.57 crore as against forex losses of Rs 40.96 crore in the corresponding pervious period. Resultantly, PBT before EO has increased by 5% to Rs 321.91 crore.

One time loss of Rs 70 crore on the account of impairment of one dry bulk carrier in accordance with Accounting Standard 28 consequent to a sharp fall in the recoverable value of the asset as against nil in the corresponding pervious period led PBT decline by 18% to Rs 251.91 crore. After accounting, taxation of Rs 4.00 crore (declined by 46%) and prior period adjustments of Rs 2.14 crore and the net profit declined by 16% to Rs 250.05 crore.

Standalone Yearly Performance

The income from operation increased by 10% to Rs 2829.00 crore for the year ended March'09. Operating profit margins posted healthy expansion of 280 bps to 52.0% and operating profit increased by 16% to Rs 1470.92 crore. Hire and charter ships expenses decline by 970 bps to 2.3% as percentage to sales. Direct operating expenses increased by 680 bps to 23.7% on the back of increase in the bunker cost.

Other income spurted by 50% to Rs 281.28 crore. The interest outgo marginally up by 3% and depreciation increased by 2% leading PBT before sale of ship by increased by 29% to Rs 1250.07 crore. Absence of Forex gain in the year against of Rs 145.53 crore in the corresponding period led PBT before EO up by 7% to Rs 1504.54 crore. The net compensation paid on cancellation of vessel construction/ sale contracts was Rs 14.85 crore and impairment of one asset of Rs 70.00 crore in the year paved PBT to grow by only 1% to Rs 1419.69 crore. Fall in the effective tax rate by 10 bps to 3.2% paved net profit to increase by 2% to Rs 1384.82 crore.

Outlook

Tanker Market:

Crude tankers: The demand outlook for oil in 2009 is forecast to be weaker than 2008.

Contraction in world output is likely to depress energy consumption more so in the energy intensive OECD countries. To add to this, high fleet growth will continue to cast its dark shadows. Both these factors, put together are likely to keep a pressure on the rates and utilization levels for this segment.

Product tankers: Low refining margins and depressed demand for products is keeping the lid on product tanker rates. Fleet supply overhang continues to remain a concern. Increase in global refinery capacity in late 2009 & 2010 is expected to give some support to the seaborne movement. A large part of the new refining capacity is coming from locations that are export oriented and this is likely to aid in stimulating ton mile demand. However, the key factor still remains a pickup in demand for Products in the US and China.

Dry Bulk Market:

World steel demand is estimated to face a drop of around 15%. This will result in lower movement of coking coal, iron ore and steel. Excessive fleet addition is the highest in the dry bulk segment which has the largest order book of 72% of existing world fleet. However, the positive fact of it is that construction on more than two thirds of it has not yet begun. There has been an increase in the level of scrapping of older tonnage. There is also an increased focus on infrastructure spending and low commodity prices is encouraging countries to import instead of resorting to domestic production. These factors combined are likely to prevent a further fall in rates from current levels.

Other information

The Company has recognised an impairment of Rs 70 crore in respect of one dry bulk carrier in accordance with Accounting Standard (AS) 28 consequent to a sharp fall in the recoverable value of the said asset. In the opinion of the management, the book value of this asset, after correcting for the impairment recognised, is aligned closer to the current market price and also broadly reflects the earnings expectations from it.

The Company has opted for accounting the exchange differences arising on reporting of long term foreign currency monetary items in line with the Companies (Accounting Standards) Amendment Rules 2009, on Accounting Standard AS 11, notified by Government of India on March 31 2009. Accordingly, losses arising from the effect of changes in foreign exchange rates on foreign currency loans relating to acquisition of depreciable capital assets, amounting to Rs. 540.23 crore for the year ended March 31, 2009, are added to the cost of such assets.

Consequent to the change, the depreciation for the year is higher by Rs. 22.53 crore and the profit for the year and reserves are higher by Rs. 517.70 crore. The corresponding foreign exchange gains of Rs. 122.60 crore (net of depreciation of Rs. 10.05 crore) for the year ended March 31, 2008, have been reversed from the General Reserve and deducted from the cost of such assets. The Company has with effect from April 1, 2008, adopted the principles of hedge accounting enunciated in Accounting Standard (AS) 30 – Financial instruments: Recognition and Measurement in respect of derivative transactions entered into to hedge currency, interest rate and bunker price risk. Consequently, the mark-to-market losses of Rs. 365.14 crore on such designated hedging instruments that qualify as effective hedges have been recorded in the hedging reserve account until the maturity of the underlying hedged item, when the actual crystallised gains or losses will be recognized in the Profit and Loss Account or adjusted to the cost of the hedged asset. The reserves as at March 31, 2009 are lower to that extent.

The Board of Directors has declared and paid two interim dividends aggregating Rs 5.00 per equity share. The outgo on this account was Rs. 89.08 crore including Tax on Dividend. The Board of Directors has declared a 3rd interim dividend of Rs. 3.00 per equity share. The outgo on this account is Rs. 53.45 crore including Tax on Dividend. The Board of Directors has decided that there will be no further dividend for the Financial Year ended March 31, 2009.

The Company had on August 09, 2007 allotted 50,05,000 convertible warrants to certain Promoters and non-executive directors, of which the option has not been exercised for 49,95,000 warrants. Accordingly the said warrants stand cancelled and the amount of Rs. 1598 lakh received upfront from the warrant holders has been forfeited and credited to the Capital Reserve.

During the quarter, the Company undertook following transaction:

(i) Sold and delivered -

- Gas Carrier named "Jag Vayu" (Year Built : 1978) of DWT 28400 MT.

- Handymax Drybulk Carrier named "Jag Riddhi" (Year Built : 1997) of DWT 47240 MT.

Subsequent to the end of the year, the Company undertook following transactions:

(i) Took delivery of a newly built Long Range One (LR1) Product Tanker named "Jag Amisha" of DWT 74500 MT.

(ii) Contracted to sell a Handymax Drybulk Carrier named "Jag Reena" (Year Built : 2000) of DWT 45659 MT for delivery in first quarter of Financial Year 2009-10.

(iii) Delivered a Double Hull Medium Range Product Tanker named "Jag Payal" of DWT 37159 MT.

During the quarter, the Company has subscribed 6,60,00,000 7.50% Cumulative convertible Redeemable Preference Shares of Rs. 10/- each at a premium of Rs. 20/- per share aggregating to Rs. 198 crore in its wholly owned subsidiary "Greatship (India)." The total investment in "Greatship (India)." till date aggregates to Rs. 1116 crore.

The scrip was closed at Rs 238.65 on BSE

Strong gains at Wall Street

2009-05-11T13:47:00.000+05:30

The financial sector led US stocks for a strong end to the week that ended on Friday, 08 May, 2009. Economic and earning reports continued to check in during the course of the week. The other main event that dictated market momentum during the week was the bank stress results. But it was mainly positive economic reports that helped market register very good gains for the week. The financial and energy sectors led the pack of winners. With this week's gains, it is only the Dow that is still in the red on a year to date basis.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 362.24 points (4.4%) for the week to end at 8,574.65. Tech - heavy Nasdaq gained 19.8 (1.2%) to end at 1,739.20. S&P 500 gained 51.7 (5.9%) to end at 929.23.

Stocks kicked off the week on Monday, 04 May, on a strong mode. It was pending home sales data that came in at a better-than-expected at 3.2% in March (consensus 0.0%), while Construction Spending came in at a better-than-expected 0.3% in March. On Wednesday, 06 May, the ADP Employment change for the month of April was a better-than-expected -491,000 (consensus -645,000).

During the middle of the week, the bank stress results were declared. The stress results showed 10 of the 19 banks tested need to raise capital in the amount of $74.6 billion. The big banks came in as expected. Wells Fargo announced an $8.6 billion stock offering, Morgan Stanley announced an $8 billion stock and debt offering and Citigroup expanded its previously announced public exchange offer by $5.5 billion, which equals its capital needs.

Finally, on Friday, 08 May, 2009, stocks started and ended the day in the green. Nasdaq had slipped in the red for a brief period of time but recovered soon. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended higher by 165 points at 8,574. The Nasdaq Composite Index, ended higher by 23 points at 1,739. S&P 500 ended higher by 21.9 points at 929.8. The financial and energy sectors led the gains on Friday.

Among major economic reports for the day, the April employment report was released at 8:30 ET on Friday. The April decline in payrolls of 539,000 was better than the expected decline of 600,000, but still represented bad economic news. Part of the smaller decline is explained by a 72,000 jump in government payrolls, compared to the sharp drop in the private sector, including a 149,000 decline in manufacturing and 110,000 in construction. Also on the negative side, several prior months were revised lower, and the unemployment rate jumped to 8.9% from 8.5%, as expected.

Among other reports for the day, wholesale inventories dropped 1.6% in March, after falling 1.7% in February. The decline was worse than the consensus estimate that called for a 1.0% decline. The major indices gave up some gains after the release but still Dow and S&P 500 near closed near the best level of the session.

Among other major corporate news, McDonald's rose reported that April same-store sales rose 6.9%, the 72nd consecutive monthly increase.

Crude oil ended higher little higher for third consecutive day on Friday, 08 May, 2009. Prices rose today as job losses in April, 2009 were reported much less than expected. The report increased the chances of faster economic recovery. Prices also rose due to the weak dollar.

On Friday, crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for June delivery closed at $58.63/barrel (higher by $1.92 or 3.4%) on the New York Mercantile Exchange. For the week, crude ended higher by 10.2%.

For the year 2009, Dow is down by 2.3%. Nasdaq and S&P 500 are up by 10.3% and 2.9% respectively.

Pope calls on Christians in Jordan to preserve their faith

2009-05-10T22:49:00.002+05:30

Pope Benedict XVI called on Sunday at an outdoor Mass in Amman, the small Christian community of Jordan to maintain its faith and traditions in the context of the troubled Middle East.

"Christians should show love and altruism to confront the ideologies that justify the death of innocents," he said in a stage before some 25,000 faithful, Jordanian, but for most Iraqis or Lebanese.

"The Catholic community is deeply affected by the difficulties and uncertainties that affect all peoples of the Middle East," he told the crowd.

Christian communities in the region have fallen sharply in recent decades, wars, political instability and poverty led many Christians into exile.

The Christian minority in Jordan has about 250,000 people out of a total population, mostly Muslim, 5.6 million.

Orthodox for two thirds, one third Catholic, it is more than a fifth of what it once was, although it enjoys legal rights and support of the authorities.

"Loyalty to your Christian roots, fidelity to the mission of the Church in the Holy Land, require each of you a special form of courage," said Benedict XVI.

Archbishop Fouad Twal, the new Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, he said that nearly 40,000 Christians had taken refuge in Jordan since the invasion of Iraq by the United States in 2003.

WORDS OF RECONCILIATION

Benedict XVI was to visit the day at Bethany beyond the Jordan, east of Amman, where tradition says Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist at the age of 30 years.

Archaeologists have unearthed the site on a number of churches, caves and pools of baptism back to Roman and Byzantine eras.

Several Christian denominations have built new churches in the vicinity to accommodate the pilgrims and the Pope lay the first stone buildings of two Catholics.

Monday, Benedict XVI will begin the most delicate phase of its one-week trip to the Middle East with a visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Since his arrival Friday in Jordan, the head of the Catholic Church has focused on relations between Christians and Muslims, endangered by his speech in Regensburg in 2006.

Saturday, a visit to the mosque of King Hussein was an opportunity for him to deliver a major address on Islam. He gave words of reconciliation and invited the faithful to beware of political manipulation of religion, according to him likely to lead to violence.

"I firmly believe that Christians and Muslims can find themselves, including their respective contributions to education and knowledge to serve all," said Benedict XVI.

Obama plays correspondents dinner of the White House

2009-05-10T22:49:00.001+05:30

Barack Obama has enjoyed a mockery of his team and his own person, Saturday night dinner of the Association of Correspondents of the White House which he participated for the first time.

"I must confess that I did not want to be there tonight," began the American president at the ceremony in smoking mixing journalists, political and Hollywood stars. "But I knew he had to go. It's still a problem I inherited from George Bush."

For the next 100 days of his term, Obama has promised to lose his cool, learn to stand out from a prompter, an allusion to a muddle of the beginning of its mandate, and forcing its Vice-President Joe Biden, known blunderer inveterate "to stick to the prompter."

He also promised to teach cleanliness to Bo, the little Portuguese water dog seven months offered to his daughters. "The last thing Tim Geithner needs," he explained, "is to be taken for a lamp."

Geithner, Treasury Secretary, had to pay 34,000 dollars in tax arrears before being confirmed in office by the Senate and its management of the financial crisis was criticized.

"I think my next 100 days will be so successful that I can complete it in 72 days. The 73rd day, I rest," said the American president.

The dinner was attended by 2700 guests around a dinner billed $ 200 per person. The money raised is donated to charities and funds scholarships for journalism students.

Bordeaux took its past slave port

2009-05-10T22:46:00.001+05:30

Host city of the national day of commemoration of the abolition of slavery, Bordeaux for the first time Sunday formally assumed his past as a slave port by opening the Museum of Aquitaine a permanent space dedicated to slavery.

On the occasion of National Day in memory of victims of slavery introduced in 2006, three members of government, including Minister of the Interior, came to attend these ceremonies unprecedented.

Michèle Alliot-Marie suggested that the process went beyond a mere recognition of mistakes and wanted to Bordeaux the "symbol of hope and reconciliation".

Notoriously hostile to the approach to recognize a dark history, whatever it is, what he criticizes as "repentance", President Nicolas Sarkozy did not attend the ceremonies, or Bordeaux, or elsewhere.

Speaking of "political error", the Representative Council of Black Associations (CRAN) asked in a statement on the significance of this and "the refusal opposed by the State to its request for a major popular cultural in memory of slavery ".

"The president can not be everywhere," said his special adviser Henri Guaino on France 5, holding this debate "pointless".

For the port that was prosperous Bordeaux from the seventeenth and nineteenth century, trade "triangular" represented a significant contribution to the richness of these families, some of which gave their name to the arteries of the city.

It was for the dealers to go first in Africa to take on African slaves, is to win America for sale, before returning to Europe with ships loaded with foodstuffs negotiable.

Since his arrival at the town hall in 1995, the UMP Alain Juppé has committed what he had called "the politics of memory just" and taken various initiatives, inaugurating a bust of Toussaint Louverture, the first Black became head of State of a country to have released from slavery in Haiti under Napoleon 1st.

"JUST MEMORY"

The inauguration of the museum's permanent exhibition of Aquitaine on the "triangular trade" and slavery, with Michèle Alliot-Marie, Christine Albanel, Minister of Culture, and Yves Jego, Secretary of State in charge of 'Outre-mer, was designed as an outcome.

"History has placed the capital of Aquitaine, like other ports on the Atlantic coast, in the heart of the triangular trade. Today, Bordeaux is a synonym and a symbol of hope and reconciliation," said Michèle Alliot-Marie.

"The memory of past injustices can not be reduced to the recognition of faults to regret later. Memory is nothing if not at the same time awareness. We grew up watching his past in front , assuming its shares shade, rejecting the temptation of forgetting, "she added.

Museum of Aquitaine has 750 m2 and four rooms on a first approved by DiversCité result, an association of Bordeaux. Its president, Karfi Diallo, however, continues to advocate for the creation of a genuine "Memorial of the slave trade.

Historians estimate that at least 4220 the number of shipments négrières organized by France over the historical period. The first slave port was not Bordeaux, Nantes, but with 1744 shipments, over 41% of the total.

Bordeaux took second place with 419 ships carrying between 130,000 and 150,000 Africans to the West, La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime) and Le Havre (Seine-Maritime) supplementing "the quartet of major trafficking," according to historian Eric Sauger .

Eighteen other ports in the Channel, the Mediterranean and Atlantic, took part in this trade.