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Rome wasn't built in a day and the Eurozone will not collapse in a day.  But, the Eurozone will collapse.  It's just a matter of time. Consider the stronger countries in the Eurozone -- Germany and France.  Both economies are now contracting.   Meanwhile their debt levels, acknowledged and unacknowledged, have exploded to new levels.   Both countries are now in the situation that faced Greece four years ago.  So, how is their future going to be any different that what is now taking place in Cyprus, Greece, Spain and Italy? The ECB ministers are a group of political hacks who know little or nothing about economics (something they share with the Obama advising team).   Their idea of improving the economic plight of the Eurozone is to increase the level of debt, continue to implicitly guarantee profligate spending and bureaucratic regulations, and plunge the Eurozone into the economic dark ages. GDP is falling, debt is rising, unemploy...

So how big is Cyprus?  800,000 people with a GDP of about 18 billion Euros -- less than 10 percent of the size and wealth of the State of Virginia.  So, how can Cyprus rock the Eurozone? Easy.  Let politics substitute for economics and anything can happen. The grand Euro scheme of bailing out country after country is rapidly running up against reality. The sacrifices that the bailers require are politically unacceptable to the bailees. Austerity traded for more debt -- this is the bailout scheme devised by politicians.  This scheme is an effort to change reality and it won't work. The reality is that Cyprus banking is history.  Who, in his right mind, would willingly leave their money in a Cypriot bank after the events of the past week?  It doesn't really matter what solution is imposed, the Cypriot financial community will not recover. Meanwhile, institutions with deposits in Italian and Spanish banks now face a new reality, hitherto not contempl...

Ina Drew - Senate Hearing (Source: CNNMoney) “The strategy was flawed, complex, poorly executed, and poorly monitored.” – Jamie Dimon on the scheme that cost the firm over $6.2 billion last year. Right before a series of hearings related to the failed hedging portfolio, the Senate released a 300-page report two days ago that revisited significant missteps in the risk-management process at JP Morgan that led to catastrophic losses in the first half of last year, as well as casting a dark shadow over former Chief Investment Officer Ina Drew. The heavy losses sustained by JP Morgan where from a complex derivatives portfolio that was build to hedge against credit risk in the Firm’s Chief Investment Office (CIO) and “in its capacity as a lender.” [1] The Senate report claims that JP Morgan failed miserably in heeding repeated warnings from its internal risk controls (more than 330 of them throughout the first four months of 2012), misled investors in a conference call in April 13 of ...

Are you bored of the recent elections hoo-haa ? It's all coming from either party from different side, some NGOs, and some political related persons. How about foreigners? What are they thinking about our Malaysia General Election? Here you go... In this note, Morgan Stanley outline the 5 things they think investors need to know regarding Malaysia elections: What's upcoming? Setting the context The 13th General Elections are due to be held very soon in Malayia. Parliament needs to be dissolved no later than April 2013, and elections need to be held no later than 60 days from date of its dissolution. Which are the key states to monitor? They are Kedah, Penang, Selangor, Perak, Johor, Sabah and Sarawak. Election scenarios and macro implications BN Parliamentary seat share of > 63% would be seen as a positive surprise for investors. BN Parliamentary seat share of < mid 50% would be seen as a negative risk event by investors and could have implications for leadership and gove...

T oday, Samsung unveiled its newest smartphone, the Galaxy S 4, right here in New York’s Radio City Music Hall. The Samsung S 4 is the latest smartphone to be previewed and has yet to come out into retail, with a release date set sometime in late April. The phone is the work of new technology, new logistics and a sleeker design. The S 4 has a 5 inch screen and is .31 inches thin. It   runs on a faster chip and has a 13-megapixel camera that allows rear and front cameras to take simultaneous photos and videos. The phone will connect to next-generation LTE networks and has capability to connect to higher speed Wi-Fi networks. New software features includes   a function that lets users control the smartphone screen with their eyes. Users can also wave their hands to scroll up and down a Web page or accept a call, or hover their fingers to preview the content of any media without having to open it. The phone also includes temperature and humidity sensors, as well as one designed ...

Today, the Catholic Church made the decision to modernize and recognize the changing realities of the world. By electing Jorge Bergoglio, now Pope Francis I, as head of the church, the cardinals have shown that they understand the prevalence of the developing world and the need for changes in the papal order. In addition, the support for Pope Francis was magnified by the swiftness of the decision, coming after only 2 days in the fifth round of voting in what was thought to be one of the most wide open papal races in recent memory. The selection of Pope Francis is a crucial one for the church as it moves forward because it gives new hope to members worldwide by thinking outside the box and selecting not only the first Jesuit pope, but also the first from Latin America. Through his name selection alone, Pope Francis showed that changes would be coming to the Church. By taking the name of St. Francis of Assisi, a man who gave up his wealth and worldly lifestyle in service of the church, P...

One of the most desired by an investor, is to achieve diversification in his or her portfolio and what better way to do so then by investing in a balanced fund. A balance in an investment portfolio is also fundamental to appease an investor in times of uncertainties and volatility. Such a balance can appeal to the investor of any age regardless of his or her objectives. Thus, with market uncertainties continuing to prevail over the Eurozone debt crisis and its contagion effect on the global economy, investors remain cautious with their investment choice, seeking to invest in low to moderate risk investments such as a balanced fund. Hence, OSK-UOB offer you a Shariah-based fund with its balanced asset allocation strategy in equities and investments comprising sukuk, islamic money market instruments, deposits and collective investment schemes. The investment in equities will enjoy potential capital appreciation upswings while any downswings will be cushioned by its investm...

            The sale of automobiles has been one of the most consistently reassuring economic indicators during the past few years, as automobile sales in the United States has steadily increased from their 2009 bottom. Although car purchases rose by 3.7% in February, they did move at a slower pace relative to last year. This fact reflects the notion that the possibility of job cuts and tax hikes amid budget debates in Washington have somewhat slowed consumer confidence regarding their job security, and, in turn, their disposable income. However, Ford’s U.S. sales chief came out and stated that the strength of this industry, determined by low interest rates and pent-up demand, have the potential to weather any storm that may arise from the sequester recently implemented. Many buyers have, therefore, been gradually returning to the market in order to purchase new vehicles. Most American auto manufacturers saw sales surge, whereas man...

After the successful performance of AIIMAN series and the superb proven track record of Hwang Select Income fund, it's natural for Hwang to launch this new fund by riding on the story of these. What is the Hwang AIIMAN Select Income fund? This is a Shariah-compliant mixed asset (conservative) income unit trust fund that seeks to provide investors with regular income stream through Shariah-compliant investments. It also serves as an alternative investment for investors looking to diversify their portfolio into the fast growing Sukuk market and attractive Shariah-compliant equity market. What it offers you? Potentially Stable Returns and Regular Income by investing in prudently selected Sukuk and quality dividend yielding equities. Peace of Mind : Managed at Low Volatility rates. It aims to deliver positive returns at low volatility rates through various market cycles. A Diversified and Shariah-compliant Investment. Potential for enhanced return due to the opportunity to tap into ne...

Do you like to go on a holiday spree in Asia Pacific region? If yes, then this fund may suit your appetite. On top of that, you can expect some dividends from this new fund launched by AmMutual. Please read on. The fund aims to provide regular income and to a lesser extent capital appreciation over the medium to long term by investing in equities and equity-related securities of leisure industry across Asia Pacific region. To achieve its objective, the fund seeks will be investing 70%-98% in a diversified portfolio of equities related to leisure industry. Who were they? They may include issuers engaged in the design, production and distribution of products and services related to leisure industry. These companies operate in the following sectors within the leisure industry such as hotel, retail, publishing, advertising, beverages, audio/video, broadcasting radio/television, cable and satellite, motion picture, recreation services and entertainment, toy, gaming and tobacco. Where were...

Question Generate pseudo random numbers from the normal distribution with NAG libraries Given the long winded approach from this post we are now going to use numerical libraries instead. See the following post (University of Manchester only) for how to set up a visual studio project with NAG libraries: NAG with Visual Studio Once you get up to the stage of adding a new cpp file create a file and add the following code with headers #include <iostream> #include <nag.h> #include <nag_stdlib.h> #include <nagg05.h> using namespace std; int main() { return 0 ; } The extra headers at the top are used to reference specific NAG types ( nag.h ), NAG's version of stdlib ( nag_stdlib.h ), and the g05 chapter of NAG's libraries which is the one that contains random number generators ( nagg05.h ). The first 2 libraries must always be included where as the last one depends on what functions we are calling. The particular function we are interested in is the f...

Question Generate pseudo random numbers from the normal distribution. In this example we use the standard in-built random number generator to generate normally distributed numbers. We shall use the Box-Muller method to transform numbers from a uniform distribution into numbers from the normal distribution. In order to get numbers from the uniform distribution, we will have to convert the set of random integers generated by the standard number generator into real numbers on the interval between 0 and 1. There are many better random number generators than the standard one not least the Mersenne Twister algorithm ( download here ), but for simplicity we stick with the standard one. Start with your empty program with the appropriate libraries, in this case we also need cstdlib for random numbers, and later ctime to initialise the sequence. We also write 2 empty functions for the random number generators, which we will fill in as we go along. #include <cstdlib> #include <cma...

Finance Malaysia believes that after a series of publicity and roadshow by various parties, especially PPA and PRS providers, you should know what is Private Retirement Scheme (PRS) is all about. Since then, we received many inquiries on whom should potential contributor consult with and why? It brings us to this topic, and hopefully by understanding the different types of PRS distributors, investors could make their decision confidently. There is no right or wrong. It's down to your own preferences and of course, the trust level you have on a PRS consultant. So, who are they? PRS consultant This is the most common practice in town, whereby a PRS consultant representing one PRS provider. So, in this case, he/she can only distribute PRS from one company. Institutional PRS adviser Basically, they are bankers whom also licensed to distribute PRS schemes made available by respective banks. Bankers may distribute schemes from more than one PRS providers. Corporate PRS adviser Currently,...

Today's NYTimes features an interesting article by Nelson D. Schwartz headlined "Recovery in US is Lifting Profits, But Not Adding Jobs."  Surprise, Surprise! The main tool for solving unemployment by the White House is to figure ways to make employees more expensive.  Businesses aren't dumb.  If you make a factor of production much more expensive, businesses will use less of it.  Machines aren't more expensive; outsourcing is not more expensive, but hiring American workers is much, much more expensive thanks to Obamacare and numerous "worker protection" rules, laws and regulations. So, what to do?  Obama now suggests raising the minimum wage from $ 7.25 to $ 9.00 -- almost a 25 percent hike in the minimum wage.  That is in keeping with the philosophy of making employees more expensive. The war on workers and the war on the middle class by this White House continues unabated.  Schwartz is puzzled by the "golden age for corporate profits" unacco...

On Sunday, 68% voted in favor of giving binding control over executive pay to Swiss shareholders. This would allow shareholders to vote on the compensation given to board members and corporate executives for any company listed in Switzerland. The initiative would also pose limitations to signing bonuses, severance packages, side contracts, and rewards for buying or selling companies.                    Discontent over exorbitant executive salaries has been growing. Last month, public outcry prevented pharmaceutical company Novartis from giving its chairman $76 million for an exit package. Outrage over UBS’ hefty losses in 2008 along with its large bonuses also contributed to the plan, which was spearheaded by Thomas Minder, the head of a Swiss company Schaffhausen. Minder’s stated that his goal was not to reduce salaries, but wanted shareholders to take responsibility for remuneration. It is ...