Archive | January, 2011

List Of 178 Newly Privatized Jobs

31 Jan

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HAVANA.With President of the Council of State ...

President of the Council of State and Council of Ministers of Cuba - Raul Castro. Image via Wikipedia

President Raul Castro now encourages Cubans to seek licenses for the 178 private-sector jobs that were announced under the economic reforms last year. The former government jobs include:
  • Door-to-door knife and scissors sharpener
  • Mule Driver
  • Wagon or Pushcart Operator (to help move things)
  • Wheelbarrow Operator
  • Public Bathroom Attendant
  • Spark Plug Cleaner and Tester
  • Automobile Battery Repair
  • Mattress Repair
  • Umbrella and Parasol Repair
  • Doll and Toy Repair
  • Fresh Fruit Peeler
View the rest of this impressive list here via the Associated Press. HT: Carpe Diem.

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Monday Earnings To Watch

31 Jan

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Lit Exxon sign logo

Lit Exxon logo via Wikipedia.

 

More Monday earnings here.

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In 1994, The Internet Was Science Fiction

30 Jan

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[via Gizmodo]

The World’s Cleanest Equity Bets

30 Jan

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This weekend the Toronto-based, Corporate Knights, released its seventh-annual ranking of the world’s most sustainable companies where the Norwegian petroleum enterprise, Statoil, tops the list. General Electric, last year’s top-ranked company, fell to No. 11. The name «Statoil» translates literally «State Oil» - fairly justified – the Norwegian Government still owns about 70 %; and the privatization in 2001 made the company the largest listing on the Oslo Stock Exchange (23.75 % – OBX / 18,68 % – OSEBX). Forbes wrote this:

«The list’s most sustainable company comes from the oil and gas industry, a counterintuitive pick. The Norwegian oil and gas producer Statoil ( STO - news - people) leads the list, thanks in part to improvements in its water productivity. It’s also a healthy contributor to Norway’s coffers and has a diverse board.»

Is Statoil the cleanest long-term equity bet on the oil industry? You decide: Corporate web here- Oslo Stock Exchange listinghere and NYSE stock available here.

Statoil will publish its results for Q4 and full years results 2010 and strategy update on 9 February 2011.

Other top listed companies in the study include; Johnson & Johnson, Novozymes, Nokia, Umicore, Intel, AstraZeneca, Credit Agricole, Storebrand, and Danske Bank.

Full ranking and coverage from Forbes here.

In Pictures: The World’s Most Sustainable Companies.

Performance as a publicly traded company: Statoil was privatised in 2001 and publicly listed both on the Oslo Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. The Norwegian state still owns 67 %.

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Oslo Stock Exchange – Week 5

29 Jan

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Date Company/issuer Event
28/01/2011 Indre Sogn Sparebank Results 4th quarter 2010
28/01/2011 Sparebanken Hedmark Results 4th quarter 2010
31/01/2011 AF Gruppen ASA Extraordinary general meeting 2011
02/02/2011 Hafslund ASA Results 4th quarter 2010
02/02/2011 SpareBank 1 SMN Results 4th quarter 2010
03/02/2011 Navamedic ASA Results 4th quarter 2010
03/02/2011 Inmeta ASA Results 4th quarter 2010
03/02/2011 Norske Skogindustrier ASA Results 4th quarter 2010
03/02/2011 Atea ASA Results 4th quarter 2010
03/02/2011 SpareBank 1 SR-Bank Results 4th quarter 2010
03/02/2011 SpareBank 1 Ringerike Hadeland Results 4th quarter 2010
03/02/2011 Sparebanken Møre Results 4th quarter 2010
03/02/2011 Oceanteam ASA Extraordinary general meeting 2011
04/02/2011 Komplett ASA Results 4th quarter 2010
04/02/2011 Hol Sparebank Results 4th quarter 2010

[via Oslo Stock Exchange]

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Why Financial Forecasting Is Hard

29 Jan

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Who predicted the volcano eruption in Iceland last year; the ongoing political instability in the Middle East (still difficult to see how that will effect the markets) – or this:

[via Mint & The Big Picture]

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How Meditation May Improve Skills

29 Jan

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Dreamer

By chiaralily via Flickr

A study from Britta Hölzel, a psychologist at Harvard Medical School, is the first study to document changes in the gray-matter through meditation over time. According to the NY Times, the findings will appear in the Jan. 30 issue of Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging.

«Those who meditated for about 30 minutes a day for eight weeks had measurable changes in gray-matter density in parts of the brain associated with memory, sense of self, empathy and stress.

….the participants’ meditation regimen found increased gray matter in the hippocampus, an area important for learning and memory. The images also showed a reduction of gray matter in the amygdala, a region connected to anxiety and stress. A control group that did not practice meditation showed no such changes.»

Story here.

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Comparing Engineering Accomplishments

29 Jan

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The fruits of capitalism:

The Independence of the Seas (RCL) – one of the world’s largest passenger ships, if placed next to the Eiffel Tower and the Chrysler Building.

Comparing various undersea oil drilling platforms.

Fixed Platform, Compliant Tower, Floating Production Systems, Tension-Leg Platform, Subsea, Spar.

 

The other 10 infographics from Oobject via Gizmodo are here.

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How Are The Macro Forecasters Doing?

28 Jan

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Still pretty bad:

Average October 2010 forecast of the year-end 10-year note yield: 2.58%.

Acutal: 3.38%. 55 of 56 forecasters were wrong, low.

Form Newmak’s Door.

Happy Birthday, Carlos Slim!

28 Jan

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More about the world’s wealthiest persona and his business entourage on his Forbes profile here.

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Shanghai: The Rise Of Market Economy

28 Jan

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1990:

2010:

[Skyscrapercity.com via The Business Insider]

Friday’s Earnings Outlook

28 Jan

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Earnings that matter: Ford, Chevron, Honeywell, Arch Coal, American Electric Power, Advanced Semi and T. Rowe Price.

Tickers:

Jari-Matti Latvala, winner of the Neste Oil Ra...

Image via Wikipedia

Remember: Fourth quarter GDP!

[via CNBC]

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Why Stocks Could Gain Significantly Relative To Gold

28 Jan

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Read why Scott Grannis thinks stocks may be on the verge of a significant upswing against gold; after losing 87% of their value from the highs of 2000 through Mar. 2009.

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Corporate Financials Today

27 Jan

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Earnings: Procter and Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive, Lockheed Martin, Time Warner Cable, Raytheon, Under Armour, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Altria.

Closeup of a stone sign bearing the Microsoft ...

Microsoft via Wikipedia

After the closing bell: Amazon.com and Microsoft.

Tickers:

[via CNBC]

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Understanding The China Phenomenon

27 Jan

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Economist Martin Jacques speaks at TED Salon in London, where he asks: How do we in the West make sense of China and its phenomenal rise?

HT: Carpe Diem.

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In A Super-Cycle? World Economy Could Double by 2027

26 Jan

Add to FaceBookAdd to Google BookmarkAdd to StumbleUponAdd to TechnoratiAdd to TwitterMark J. Perry consider the intriguing ”The Super-Cycle Report” from The Standard Chartered Bank in London here.

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Prime Minister’s Question Time

26 Jan

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U.K Prime Minister David Cameron answers his weekly questions from MPs in the Commons – summary here.

Earnings Du Jour

26 Jan

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Earnings reports: Boeing, Conoco Phillips, United Technologies, Occidental Petroleum, United Continental, Valero Energy, U.S. Airways, General Dynamics, Rockwell Automation, Exelon, St. Jude Medical, WellPoint Health and Xerox.

Reports after the bell: Starbucks, Netflix, Symantec, Varian Medical, Logitech, Lam Research, Motorola Mobility, Citrix and ETrade.

Related Tickers:

Starbucks' Christmas Bokeh

Starbucks reports numbers later today. Image by pierofix via Flickr.

[via CNBC]

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Everyone Is Good At Something

26 Jan

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click for a closer look

[via Kids Prefer Cheese]

Secular Market Swings

25 Jan

In the analysis below, Ron Griess of The Chart Store looks at all the longer secular markets; back to 1927 (love these charts!). The graph includes the cyclical markets found within those broader cycles. The Big Picture has more here.

For those interested in the long-term economic cycles;  follow the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, where authorities will discuss the scope and depth of this claim:

«For only the third time since the Industrial Revolution, the world may be entering a long-term growth cycle that will lift all economies simultaneously, driving bond yields and commodity prices higher.»

Story from Blomberg here.

click for a closer view

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Companies Reporting Today

25 Jan

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DuPont, Johnson and Johnson, 3M, Verizon, Travelers, Siemens, Coach, Corning, Baker Hughes, Kimberly-Clark and Peabody Energy.
After-the-bell reports: Yahoo, Norfolk Southern, Juniper Networks, Stryker and Gilead Sciences.

Related Tickers:

Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson. Image by Stewf via Flickr.

[via CNBC]

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    How The U.S. Consumer Spends Their Paycheck

    25 Jan

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    Click for a more glorious view

    Story from VisualEconomics here.

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    Financial Calendar – Week 4

    24 Jan

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    Modern-day meeting of the Federal Open Market ...

    The two day Federal Open Market Committee meeting ends on Wednesday.During a meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee at the Eccles Building, Washington, D.C. Image via Wikipedia

    Key economic reports the coming week:

    Tuesday: Case-Shiller house prices.

    Wednesday: New Home sales.

    The two day Federal Open Market Committee meeting ends.

    Friday: Q4 advance GDP report to be released.

     

    Economic Events:

     

    Monday, Jan 24th

    Morning: Moody’s/REAL Commercial Property Price Index (CPPI) for November.

    Tuesday, Jan 25th

    9:00 AM: S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index for November.

    10:00 AM Regional and State Employment and Unemployment (Monthly) for December 2010

    10:00 AM: Richmond Fed Survey of Manufacturing Activity for January. .

    10:00 AM: 10:00 FHFA House Price Index for November.

    10:00 AM: Conference Board’s consumer confidence index for January.

    9:00 PM: 2011 State of the Union Address

    Wednesday, Jan 26th


    7:00 AM: The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) will release the mortgage purchase applications index.

    10:00 AM: New Home Sales for December from the Census Bureau.

    2:15 PM: FOMC Meeting Announcement. No changes are expected to either interest rates or QE2.

    Thursday, Jan 27th

    8:30 AM: The initial weekly unemployment claims report will be released.

    8:30 AM ET: Chicago Fed National Activity Index (December). This is a composite index of other data.

    8:30 AM: Durable Goods Orders for December from the Census Bureau. The consensus is for a 1.5% decrease in durable goods orders after decreasing 1.3% in November.

    10:00 AM: Pending Home Sales Index for December.

    11:00 AM: Kansas City Fed regional Manufacturing Survey for January. The index was at 21 in December.

    Friday, Jan 28th

    8:30 AM: Q4 GDP (advance release). This is the advance release from the BEA, and the consensus is that real GDP increased 3.5% annualized in Q4.

    9:55 AM: Reuter’s/University of Michigan’s Consumer sentiment index (final for January).

    [via Calculated Risk]

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    Federal Debt Outlook

    23 Jan

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    The Heritage Foundation looks in the crystal ball:

    [HT: Free Market Mojo]

    Top 10 Classical Composers

    23 Jan

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    Young Johann Sebastian Bach. 1715. Teri Noel T...

    Johann Sebastian Bach via Wikipedia

    Anthony Thommasini completes his project to select the top 10 classical music composers in history in his NY Times column:

    1. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750).

    2. Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827).

    3. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 — 91).

    4. Franz Peter Schubert (1797-1828).

    5. Claude Achille Debussy (1862 — 1918)

    6. Igor Stravinsky (1882 — 1971).

    7. Johannes Brahms (1833 — 97).

    8. Giuseppe Verdi (1813 — 1901).

    9. Richard Wagner (1813 — 83).

    10. Bela Bartok (1881 — 1945).

    Read more.

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