Friday, September 14, 2007

September Newsletter Emailed to Subscribers

Articles include - The current state of the Stockmarket and where the risk REALLYlies - Why a small amount of research is vital with Personal Finance products - Frequent Flyer - Use Iris scanning to save time - Useful websites and other bits and pieces.

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[Source: LearnMoney.co.uk]

How To Use Fixed Odds Betting To Make Money In the Markets

What is Fixed Odds Financial Betting and how can it make you money in the markets including stocks, indexes, FX and commodities? This article explains.

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[Source: LearnMoney.co.uk]

May Newsletter Now Published Online

Articles include - Are Google's shares worth $5k - $10k - Updates on both the UK stockmarket and Gold - A great anti fraud Credit Card trick - Watch the scam many Car Hire firms are pulling and websites and free software we like

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[Source: LearnMoney.co.uk]

June Newsletter Now Published Online

Articles include - 2 excellent articles on contrarian thinking and investing - The possibility that Sterling may go to $2.30 - More on Google's shares being worth $5k to $10k - and websites and free software we like.

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[Source: LearnMoney.co.uk]

Musicians - Great News - Interest Free Loans!

This article offers 5 key points that everyone should consider when looking to buy the best value Home Insurance. One of the main points is to concentrate on the small print.

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[Source: LearnMoney.co.uk]

Why Binary Betting Should Be Part of Every Trader's Toolbox

What is Binary Betting and what advantages does it have for traders over Spread Betting? This article explains.

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[Source: LearnMoney.co.uk]

An Interesting Approach To Constructing Investment Portfolios

This article argues that focussing on the global stockmarket trend is far more important than individual stock or sector selection.

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[Source: LearnMoney.co.uk]

Over 50s Bank Accounts - Better Deals Available Elsewhere

Attn Silver Savers - Be careful with savings accounts targeted specifically at the 50+ aged bracket. Most of these accounts are substandard when compared with the current best buys in the savings market.

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[Source: LearnMoney.co.uk]

Automated Stop Losses In Spread Betting and Their Dangers

Guaranteed Stop Losses are not always good risk management tools to use when spread betting. Find the reasons why in this article.

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[Source: LearnMoney.co.uk]

July Newsletter Now Published Online

Articles include - More on Google's shares being worth a possible $5k+ - The future of Video on the web and the profit potential via advertising - A low risk strategy to take advantage of Sterling strength - How to use Spread betting for long term trades - Websites and Software we like.

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[Source: LearnMoney.co.uk]

August Newsletter Now Published Online

Articles include - Is The Stockmarket Bull Market About To End - Gold, where's it heading - Investors, Consider Marchex (MCHX) It Offers Great Value - Let's Have Some Negative Google News, and websites and software we like.

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[Source: LearnMoney.co.uk]

SCAM ALERT - Scam ? Another Fake Regulator RAOIM and Some More Scam Brokerages

WATCH IT because RAOIM is a fake Regulator and Focus (AIM) Limited ad DC Hamiltons Limited are scam brokerage companies. Learn how to spot these scams for yourself in this article.

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[Source: LearnMoney.co.uk]

Introduction to Technical Analysis - Part 1

This is part 1 of a multi-part series on Technical Analysis (TA) and Charting and is written by the in-house journalists at StockSignlas.co.uk.

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[Source: LearnMoney.co.uk]

Thursday, September 6, 2007

So What Really is a Share

Hello Fellow BullhuntersHave you ever wondered what it really is toown a share. Is it just a piece of paper from your stock broker informing you that you purchased x amount of shares for x amount of dollars and that this piece of paper has your name (or trust name) at the top claiming you [...]

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[Source: The Bullhunters Guide | Bullhunters Guide to the US Stock Market]

The 50 Highest Paid American Athletes

Sports Illustrated is out with their yearly Fortunate 50 list which ranks the highest paid athletes for the year. Tiger woods took the top spot by earning a whooping $111,941,827. Oscar De La Hoya was second, earning $55,000,000 and Phil Mickelson took home the third spot with $51,256,505 in earnings. The estimated totals used to compose the list include salary, winnings, bonuses, endorsements and appearances. Here is how the top 10 shook out:

Tiger Woods, golf, $111,941,827
Oscar De La Hoya, boxing, $55,000,000
Phil Mickelson, golf, $51,256,505
Shaquille O’Neal, NBA, $35,000,000
Kobe Bryant, NBA, $33,718,750
LeBron James, NBA, $30,828,089
Kevin Garnett, NBA, $29,000,000
Derek Jeter, MLB, $29,000,000
Alex Rodriguez, MLB, $28,000,000
Dale Earnhardt Jr., auto racing, $27,111,735

To see the full list, click here.

One thing that stands out is LeBron James’ endorsements which netted him $25,000,000. So if that figure remains, and his salary catches up to that of Kobe’s or Shaq’s, LeBron will earn over $40,000,000 a year and become the highest paid team sports athlete.

Another thing to note is the arrival of Michelle Wie to the list. The 17 year old golfer became the highest earning female athlete by earning $20,235,224. Over 96% of that total came from endorsements.

While the numbers these athletes rack up in the paycheck category are impressive, they are still dwarfed by that of Wall Street’s top earning traders.

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[Source: Stock Market Blog.com]

US Stock Market

Bullhunters GuideWell Bullhunters… we have come a long way in the short time since the Bullhunters Guide blog started and I wanted to re-cap for you as there have been many new learnings in the understanding of how the US Stock Market works.Firstly there was the fictional account of Wal-Mart’s founding which showed us how [...]

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[Source: The Bullhunters Guide | Bullhunters Guide to the US Stock Market]

Treasury Bond Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)

With Treasury Bonds being in the news lately I thought I’d take a look at what ETF options are available for investors wanting to take advantage of moves in the bond market. After some quick research, I found only two exchange traded funds in this category which have decent daily trading volume.

iShares Lehman 20+ Year Treasury Bond - Ticker Symbol: TLT
iShares Lehman 1-3 Year Treasury Bond - Ticker Symbol: SHY

For more info on these you can visit the iShares website.

The 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) only invests in bonds that mature in 20 years or more and thus is the more volatile fund of the two. TLT has traded in a range of 82.20 to 91.80 in the past 52 weeks. On the other hand, The 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF (SHY) has traded in a narrow range of 79.26 to 80.60 in the same time period. Thus, the 20+ Year ETF is the best way to play the volatility in the bond market.

Keep in mind that both of these funds pay dividends each and every month so if you decide to short them you will need to pay the dividend out of your own pocket.

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[Source: Stock Market Blog.com]

SCAM ALERT - Scam ? Another Fake Regulator RAOIM and Some More Scam Brokerages

Daily Review. 31st August, 2007

Russian equities locked in gains on Friday due to a favorable external news flow, with global stock markets heading north and oil and metal prices going strong. US stock indexes opened upwards after macroeconomic data were released, which also lent support to the Russian stock market. Consumer spending climbed 0.4% in July and earnings grew 0.5%, while both indicators were projected to rise 0.3%. Meanwhile, PCE Core grew a mere 0.1% in July vs. the 0.2% estimate, thus increasing the likelihood that the Fed will cut interest rates at its September meeting. A ruble liquidity crunch in the banking sector was one of few constraining factors. By the final bell, the RTS Index grew 2.10% to 1,919.89 and the MICEX Index climbed 2.19% to 1,677.02. Brent crude moved higher on fears of another storm shaping up in the Atlantic Ocean to close at $72.90 a barrel, which pushed up Russian oil and gas shares on MICEX. Rosneft grew 2.93%, Gazpromneft added 2.91%, Surgutneftegaz rose 2.52%, Tatneft gained 2.22%, Gazprom advanced 1.84% and Lukoil picked up 1.33%. Metals were among the top MICEX gainers on Friday. NorNickel added 2.56% on higher nickel prices which topped $30,000 per ton. On the second-tier front, Severstal surged 5.72%, NLMK jumped 5.92% and MMK climbed 4.21% on expectations about these companies upcoming H107 financials. MTS also climbed 3.74% on MICEX on expectations of strong H107 financials after the release of VimpelComs upbeat earnings figures. Other blue chips also landed in positive territory on MICEX. Sberbank surged 3.28%, VTB advanced 1.01%, UES edged up 0.03% and Rostelecom closed 0.22% higher. Market turnover picked up to $63.14 mln on benchmark RTS and amounted to $7,366.88 mln on MICEX.

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[Source: Russian Stock Market Blog]

Norilsk Nickel has wrapped up syndication of $3.5 bln loans to take over LionOre.

Russian metal giant Norilsk Nickel has completed the syndication of credit facilities for a total of $3.5 bln, the company said in a statement. The credits were issued as part of a $6 bln fund-raising procedure aimed at taking over Canadian nickel and gold producer LionOre Mining.

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[Source: Russian Stock Market Blog]

Rapper 50 Cent Nets $400 million from the sale of Glaceau

Hip Hop artist 50 cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, has reportedly received a $400 million paycheck after Coca-Cola purchased the company behind his energy drink Formula 50.

Glaceau, the company which produces Vitamin Water, was acquired in a $4.1 billion deal last Friday. 50 Cent became a shareholder in 2004 and had a 10% stake in the company when the deal was signed.

Another person profiting from the sale of Glaceau is New York Mets third basemen David Wright who had a 0.5% stake in the company (or $20 million based on the buyout price).

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[Source: Stock Market Blog.com]

In early market updates, blue chips kicked off to the upside.

On Wednesday, domestic issues opened higher on the back of a spike in US stock indexes. As of 12:00 noon Moscow time Tatneft (+4%) and AvtoVAZ (+2%) were the standout performers, while Mosenergo (-0.7%) and Sberbank (-0.2%) led the decliners. Rostelecom is hovering around 1,911 or 0.4% higher than Tuesdays close.

Sergey Belov, Asset Manager, Finam Investment Company

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[Source: Russian Stock Market Blog]

Snowed in with the Academy in Queenstown

Bullhunter in QueenstownI just got back from another fantastic, life-changing experience at Jamie McIntyres latest 4 day seminar in Queenstown, New Zealand. After 7 days of visiting this beautiful place, we might get snowed in and the airport was going to close. This news wasnt all that upsetting to me.I caught a helicopter ride with [...]

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[Source: The Bullhunters Guide | Bullhunters Guide to the US Stock Market]

In intraday market news, domestic equities have been on a rollercoaster ride for the second day in a row.

Russian stocks have been seeing a wide range of fluctuations for the second session in a row. While yesterday we witnessed a 2% pullback, today liquid names have posted 2% gains. The growing subprime market crisis in the US continues to impact other international markets and Russia is no exception. Todays star performers have so far been Surgutneftegaz (+1.9%) and Sberbank (+1.5%), whereas Tatneft (unchanged), Wednesdays top advancer, has been underperforming the market. The last month of the summer season is coming to a close and we are hopeful that the market will start looking up in autumn.

Sergey Dorogavtsev, Asset Manager, Finam Investment Company

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[Source: Russian Stock Market Blog]

Over 50s Bank Accounts - Better Deals Available Elsewhere

Watch Dan Rather Tonight on HDNet 8pm EST

I have to say I'm incredibly proud of the work we do at HDNet .

We have great people who work hard to make great shows. Tonight's Dan Rather Reports is another great example. You can catch a Sneak Preview of the show here You can read Frazier Moore's AP story on the show here

This is not your basic "look what we found" 12 minute segment. This is exactly what we set out to do with Dan Rather Reports. We wanted to find stories, uncover the news and report it in the best way possible. Dan's show is normally 1 hour long. Not only will this story take up the full hour, but Dan asked for and got another 15 minutes to make sure we covered the entire story.

Fans of foes of Dan's, or of any story related to politics will assume there was some political motivation behind the story. There isn't. I will show you exactly where the story started with the following . There was nothing new to say until the following happened:

"A CRITICAL LEGAL DOCUMENT IN THE BATTLE OVER FLORIDA'S TOUCHSCREENS WAS FILED FAR FROM SARASOTA, HERE AT THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT IN MINNEAPOLIS, IN A CASE THAT ALMOST ONE EVEN KNOWS ABOUT.

THE CASE, BERGQUIST VERSUS HARTFORD CASUALTY, BEGAN TWO YEARS AGO. IT SEEMS AT FIRST A SIMPLE DISPUTE BETWEEN A POLICYHOLDER AND INSURANCE COMPANY OVER COVERAGE AND LIABILITY. BERGQUIST, THE COMPANY THAT MANUFACTURED THE SCREENS USED IN THE ES&S IVOTRONIC WAS SEEKING REIMBURSEMENT FOR COSTS INCURRED IN RECALLING AND REPLACING THOUSANDS OF POTENTIALLY DEFECTIVE TOUCH SCREENS, MOST IN VOTING MACHINES IN FLORIDA.

AN AFFIDAVIT IN THE CASE, RECENTLY FILED, LOOKS LIKE JUST ONE MORE DOCUMENT IN A MOUNTAIN OF COURT PAPERS. BUT THE AFFIDAVIT OF DR. PATRICIA DUNN, A FORMER MATERIAL SCIENTIST FOR THE BERGQUIST COMPANY, WAS A BOMBSHELL.

PATRICIA DUNN'S EXPERIMENTS AT BERGQUIST SUGGESTED THAT MORE SCREENS WOULD GO OUT OF CALIBRATION OVER TIME, ESPECIALLY IN HUMID PLACES.... LIKE FLORIDA.

ACCORDING TO DUNN, IN 2002 SHE URGED A RECALL OF MANY BERGQUIST SCREENS FROM MANILA...BUT COURT EXHIBITS SUGGEST IT WAS REPORTS IN 2003 OF SCREEN PROBLEMS IN LEE COUNTY, FLORIDA THAT WAS THE TIPPING POINT FOR MANAGEMENT AT BERGQUIST, ES&S AND PIVOT.

Thats the start of it. From there Dan will take you to the factories in Manilla where voting machines were made to show you why and how there will problems. He interviews the people involved who raised the issues, to no avail. Then he follows the problems from Manilla to Minnesota and beyond.

And thats just the start of the story.

check it out tonight at 8pm or 11pm EST

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

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[Source: Blog Maverick]

Retired to the Stock Market

This is a testimonial by 2 dear friends in Perth. I’ve known them for about 12 months. Their journey to retiring from their dayjob needed little more than determination, passion and ofcourse the right strategies. You know where the strategies came from, don’t you?Here is their story:WE HAVE STOPPED WORKHi everyone firstly we’d like to [...]

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[Source: The Bullhunters Guide | Bullhunters Guide to the US Stock Market]

August Newsletter Now Published Online

13,433

Suttabhai will be travelling 2moro and posting will resume on a regular basis from Monday 13th August.The Kse-100 index has been fucked out shape again in the last two days, made a low today of 13,221 and recovered to close at 13,433. It will be a rough ride from now on until the elections and [...]

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[Source: KARACHI STOCK MARKET NEWS]

The Internet Is still Dead and Boring

I obviously hit a nerve with my last post. My index for quality of post has evolved to the number of "you suck", "broadcast.com sucks", "You got lucky", etc posts that are submitted but never confirmed. For this post it was off the charts. Good.

When people resort to personal comments. Its usually a good sign.

Among those I respect, there were a lot of great responses. Let me first say, my position on this has nothing to do with HDNet. I've not abandoned the net. In fact i have more than 100 RSS feeds and untold other sites Im involved with.

Ive been inundated with spam on Myspace. Used flicker. Used Digg for sourcing news and laughed at the unending ridiculousness of its posters. Used and posted to Youtube, Google Video, DailyMotion, Veoh, Flickr, Slideshare, used every bittorrent client, got bored with twitter after 7 minutes, signed up for other findme, find you, this is where I am, this is where you are, type app I could find, and the lists go on and on. I read techmeme, techcrunch, extremetech, and tons of other tech sites and I make a point to try every and any new site that seems the least bit plausible or interesting. I spend far far too much time on the net just to make sure I keep up and know whats going on.

Honestly, its just a bigger, more time consuming version on CompuServe Forums from back in the day (Find someone who participated in the OS/2 forums if you want to know about social networks). Only back then you didn't call People friends, they were just forum members.

I have a ton of Internet investments that you dont and wont know about.

i have loaded and used facebook apps and I have downloaded the API documentation and actually read it. I'm such an exciting guy, I downloaded Ruby on Rails and read the documentation as well. That's what Saturday Nights are for.

I have bought installed and integrated every imaginable wireless device in my house. I think its fun.

I have invested in and gotten involved with application development on Facebook. Had a serious discussion with Facebook about the revenue opportunities they could achieve if they would license their API for full scale commercial applications on other websites. For example, to me, it would be an interesting and potentially explosive business move for Yahoo to license the Facebook API for their Panama platform. I think the beauty of Facebook is that people for the first time have defined and opened up the "database of their lives". Which if integrated into an advertising platform like Panama would allow advertisers to truly personalize ads, rather than algorithmically present ads. To me it was an interesting conversation.

I think it could change the way advertising is handled on the net. Each user could have the option to publish certain fields/objects which could be replicated/peered to the licensees of the API and then integrated Into the ad serving application. When the user showed up on the licensee site, say Yahoo Finance, the ad server could present a contextual ad chosen based on the published objects within the context of the Yahoo content.

Its one of many good or bad ideas that are feasible because the net is the plain vanilla boring, never really changing platform that it is.

Guess what. When things go from exciting to stable and boring in the technology world, that's a good thing.

Call me a cynic. I feel the same way about Personal Computers. Faster processors dint do it for me. Installing Vista was a disaster till I read a copy of CPU magazine and used the OS mods they had in there to clean the junk up. Its sad but true that a 25 year old platform is more volatile than the Internet. It still takes so long to boot that for the first time since I had a Mac in 1990 I bought a Macbook and junked my Vista Laptop. My time is at a premium. The days of being concerned that if I bought a Mac there might be some apps that I could use but the wouldn't run on the Mac are long gone. Not because the Mac has an Intel processor, but because I cant really think of any new off the shelf software that I would get excited to buy.

Beyond Office and email, I spend a ton of time on the net. That boring platform that ain't gonna change and is dead in the excitement category.

What do I get excited about ?
I'm excited about Virtual Machines, as I have written before, and the changes and impact they could have on all of us. I get fired up about the continuing decline in flash and hard drive prices. Its amazing to me after all these years of watching drive prices fall that I can buy more than 500gigs of drive for under 100 bucks. That i can buy a 16gig flash drive for not much more. and it still pisses me off that i have to deal with file size limits that require me to manage my email files when I back them up.

And of course I'm excited about the HDTV space and whats happening there. Maybe some people dont think peoples media consumption patterns change when 70" HDTVs are installed in their homes, I do.

Which brings me to why I said that "The Net is Dead and Boring"

The best way to sum up how I feel about the excitement and opportunities on the net compared to the many other personal and corporate technology options out there is to use a Yogi Berra quote.

"Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded"

When everyone is looking for gold in the same river, the best opportunities are somewhere else.

But hey, that's just me.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

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[Source: Blog Maverick]

12,787

After opening up, and making a high of 12,820, the KSE-100 index sagged to a low of 12,623 and finally closed up at 12,787. Lucky Cement was the volume leader of the day with 13 million shares traded. Volumes have been low recently and the market could be hitting its bottom with some pullback due [...]

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[Source: KARACHI STOCK MARKET NEWS]

12,693

The KSE-100 index opened up at 12,804 , the high of the day and then dwindled downwards to finally close at 12,693. If the index consolidates at these levels , it could test 12,860 heading for 12,950. Dividends : Nishat Mills : 25% Cash . EPS : 10.48Upper Cap : Sui South Gas Market Low [...]

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[Source: KARACHI STOCK MARKET NEWS]

Federal budget surplus dropped to Rub 1,076 bln in January-June 2007.

In the first six months of 2007 the Russian federal budget ran a surplus of Rub 1,076 bln, the Federal Statistics Service reported Friday. Meanwhile, surplus totaled Rub 1,083 bln in H106. In January-June 2007, federal revenue amounted to Rub 3,245.7 bln against Rub 2,938.1 bln in H106. Federal spending (including financial support to the budgets at all levels) equaled Rub 2,169.7 bln compared to Rub 1,854.7 bln in January-June 2006. As regards the federal budget surplus in H107, VAT paid for goods sold in Russian territory totaled Rub 598.7 bln, VAT paid on exports equaled Rub 378.4 bln, earnings from foreign trade activities came to Rub 1,042.7 bln, taxes, duties and regular payments for the use of natural resources totaled Rub 503.4 bln, subsoil use payments amounted to Rub 27.3 bln, excise duties imposed on goods manufactured domestically amounted to Rub 49.9 bln, excise duties imposed on goods exported to Russia were equal to Rub 11.8 bln, corporate profit tax payments totaled Rub 263.2 bln, the unified social tax paid by enterprises came to Rub 184.9 bln and revenues from the lease of state and municipal assets aggregated Rub 41.9 bln. As for the structure of federal spending, in H107 national defense expenses (Rub 355.1 bln) prevailed, with Rub 280.5 bln spent on national security and law enforcement activities, Rub 287 bln on social and cultural events and Rub 249 bln on federal issues (including Rub 63 bln on the servicing of federal and municipal debts) and Rub 164.2 bln on the national economy. Inter-budget transfers totaled Rub 814.4 bln.

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[Source: Russian Stock Market Blog]

Recent Dividends - II

Adamjee Insurance : 15% Cash/ EPS : 11.56Bank of Punjab : 10% Bonus / EPS : 4.74Pakistan Refinery : 33.33% Cash / EPS : 8.36National Bank : EPS : 11.05Bank Alfalah : EPS : 1.89MCB : 25% Cash / EPS : 12.20ICI Pakistan : 25% Cash / EPS : 5.34OGDC : 35% Cash / EPS [...]

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[Source: KARACHI STOCK MARKET NEWS]

EDTM to raise GDP growth forecast to 7.2-7.4% by end of September.

The Economic Development and Trade Ministry intends to prepare a revised and more positive forecast for the countrys economic growth in 2007 by the end of September, EDTM head German Gref said Monday at a meeting between the Russian President and Cabinet members. Most likely, growth will be 7.2-7.4% by the end of the year Gref said. The economy minister noted that the current GDP growth forecast is 6.5%. Gref pointed out that GDPs growth projections, in all likelihood, will be upgraded by 0.7-0.8%. The minister emphasized that he sees no serious global risks for the Russian economy.

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[Source: Russian Stock Market Blog]

Central Bank Ruble Exchange Rates

1 Australian Dollar 21.0596
1 British Pound Sterling 51.6650
1000 Belorussian Rouble 11.9143
10 Danish Krone 47.0292
1 US Dollar 25.6262
1 EURO 35.0233
100 Iceland Krona 40.4709
100 Kazakh Tenge 20.2803
1 Canadian Dollar 24.2191
10 China Yuan 33.9555
10 Norwegian Krone 44.0525
1 SDR 39.2258
1 Singapore Dollar 16.8361
1 New Turkey Lira 19.6144
10 Ukrainian Hryvnia 50.9528
10 Swedish Krona 37.2983
1 Swiss Franc 21.3072
100 Japanese Yen 22.0459

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[Source: Russian Stock Market Blog]

12,228 - minor pullback

There was some improvement in the KSE-100 index with a high of 12,264 and a close at 12,228. There seemed to be some buying across the board, esp. MCB which is up Rs.25 since yesterday. Lucky cement was the volume leader with 13 million shares traded. OGDC and BAFL are lagging in performance in comparison [...]

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[Source: KARACHI STOCK MARKET NEWS]

13,012

Opening up with a gap, after being bashed on Thursday by rumours of a state of emergency being declared, the KSE-100 index started falling again from selling pressure being a Friday and global markets getting fucked as well didn’t help. Closing just above 13,000 a pullback could be seen as RSI-14 levels are low and [...]

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[Source: KARACHI STOCK MARKET NEWS]

13,665 - pullback

Having seen the Karachi Stock market break 13k on Friday and recover to 13,351, today saw a further recovery with a close at 13,665. Perhaps the re-instating of the ‘’possibly bent ‘’ judge helped boost the index, along with being highly oversold. Keep the Vaseline jar handy as external factors could lead to a rocky [...]

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[Source: KARACHI STOCK MARKET NEWS]

Central Bank Ruble Exchange Rates

1 Australian Dollar 21.1697
1 British Pound Sterling 51.6674
1000 Belorussian Rouble 11.9020
10 Danish Krone 46.8034
1 US Dollar 25.5982
1 EURO 34.8571
100 Iceland Krona 39.8788
100 Kazakh Tenge 20.7147
1 Canadian Dollar 24.2936
10 China Yuan 33.9027
10 Norwegian Krone 43.9017
1 SDR 39.2326
1 Singapore Dollar 16.8033
1 New Turkey Lira 19.6441
10 Ukrainian Hryvnia 50.8911
10 Swedish Krona 37.1381
1 Swiss Franc 21.1818
100 Japanese Yen 22.0826

Read More...

[Source: Russian Stock Market Blog]

July Newsletter Now Published Online

Trading Options

Hello fellow BullhuntersWell I am getting my head around all of this and we are nearing the end of The Bullhunters Guide to the US Stock Market which I know you have all downloaded by now. This resource will help you in your endeavour to comprehend what the stock market is about. [...]

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[Source: The Bullhunters Guide | Bullhunters Guide to the US Stock Market]

Programming for HDTV

Why is it that everyone is excited about programming every other medium, but Im the only one excited about programming for HDTV ?

There are webisodes coming at us from every direction. Vuguru has done a great job with original programming for the web. Every cable and broadcast network it seems is doing companion programming on the web for their TV shows. Leverage the abilities of the PC and the net is an oft heard theme wtth content creators. And who can forget user generated content coming to us from every corner of the universe capable of everything and anything short of world peace !

There is original programming for phones and PDAs.coming from every direction. Discovery is doing 14 original series as are any number of content creators. The programming is being designed for the features of the device it will be played on . Phone viewers can respond in any number of ways. Content can take advantage of features of the device OS, whether it be Zune , IPod or IPhone , whatever. They may be as simple as integrating cover art rof CDs ot full interactivity and interaction.

Then of course there is programming for compatible TV. What is compatible TV ? Its programming that without alteration , looks the same on any and every TV you play it on. A color episode of Gunsmoke will play back from a VCR, DVD or TIVO pretty much the same way as an epsiode of Heroes on Grandmas old console as it will on a brand new 50" HDTV . You never have to ask the question, "Will this work"

No one in the last 50 plus years has ever programmed content differently for different types of TVs. They programmed content "For TV"

That made sense in an analog world. It makes no sense to me in a digital world. Which is a key reason why we started HDNet of course.

But if I really think about TV these days, it actually makes more sense that traditional programmers program for compatible tv. Content creators have no choice but to do any differentiated programming on non TV platforms. Its about the economics.

There are 111.4 mm TV Households as of 2007 . There are more than 2.4 TVs per household. Thats about 270mm TVs in this country. Every single one of those TVs is critically important to content creators. They need every viewer they can get in order to sell ads and subscriptions to their programming.

If they were to program to the unique features and capabilities of the 44pct of households that own 52.5mm HDTV owners and are capable of receiving an HDTV signal, they would be excluding the viewers of about 240 mm compatible TVs as revenue sources (remember, hdtv owners can own and get an HD signal on more than 1 set which is why the numbers dont seem to add up). In this era of fast forwarding through commercials and other attacks on traditional tv viewership, there is no company of any size that can afford to ignore 240mm TVs.

Except for HDNet.

Our business is bullt on on ONLY programming for those households that have HDTVs and receive HD signals. We create programming that takes full advantage of the widescreen, resolution, color palette, 5.1 or better sound, digital connectivity and more to make great original programming better. Which is why our viewers always tell us that our picture quality always looks much better than others

But this post isn't to brag about HDNet and HDNet Movies being the only 2 networks that program exclusively for HDTV. Its to get feedback on what type of programming works well on future HDTVs but not so well on compatible TV

HDTVs are much like PCs, they get bigger, better and cheaper year after year. This past year saw the biggest increase in the size of the average TV purchased, EVER . The size of the average HDTV is going to continue to grow.

So the real programming question is this.

What can you show on a 50, 60, 70" or larger screen that you cant show on a traditional, compatible TV ?

The first type of programming that came to our minds is music concerts. Music concerts have never worked really well on compatible TV. Even the biggest of names tend to disappoint in terms of number of viewers. Its easy to understand why. The fidelity of sound coming from your analog set, even if its stereo, is not going to be that great.

On the flipside, a music concert on a big screen ,with 5.1 sound, particularly if its connected through the digital output to a nice set of speakers (something hard to find from an analog set) can be a great home experience.

To take advantage of this unique differentiation, we licensed every great concert that we could find and continue to do so. . Then we devoted an entire day of our programming, Sunday to concerts. We have shot, created or licensed more than 150 concerts and I dont know how many more music shows including our long running original True Music show and we play them all day, every Sunday.

That was the first step, what should be our next ?

What programming should be exclusive to HDTV viewers and not shown on regular TV ?

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[Source: Blog Maverick]

Politics

I'm not a Republican. I'm not a Democrat. Although I like to tell people I'm a Libertarian, I'm really not. I'm unaffiliated with any political party. In fact I can't think of anything good that comes from political parties because they do just one thing, politics.

When I vote in any local or state election, I vote for the candidate who I think will do the least. Not the least of anything specific, just the least amount of everything. The perfect candidate for me would be one that would walk around kissing babies. I think we have enough state and federals. We have 200+ years of making local and state laws. That's enough.

When I vote in Presidential elections, I tend to vote for 3rd party candidates simply because anything that might prompt strength in a 3rd party could weaken the two main parties. Otherwise, I vote for the candidate that I think will do the least.

Here is why.

Take a look at domestic car manufacturers. How difficult is it going to be for them to regain the lead in their industry ? It won't be easy. Nor will it be easy to do in a mere 4 years. Now if its very difficult to pick the right person to turn around a major corporation, how difficult is it to pick the right President ? The car companies get to interview anyone they want. Voters typically only have choices presented to us based not on their abilities to lead or improve the country, but on their ability to get elected . And that's not a very big list.

The 2 major parties seem to put having their party in power over having the best possible person in that position. I haven't become a big fan of that approach.

Its not that the nominated candidates can't or won't be great Presidents, it's just that we don't really get our choice of the best candidates. But that's not the biggest issue. That's not why I vote for the candidate that does the least.

The reason is that the United States has gotten so big, in terms of population, diverse groups and economy, I just dint think ANYONE can truly set a course of action that is anything more than a guess.

It doesn't matter if its a Democrat or a Republican. It doesn't matter if its a social or economic program. Every President has his projects that he promotes and promises to implement. We see and hear all about it as its being discussed and voted on. If it passes, we see and hear about its initial implementation, but then it just becomes one more program in an awful big book of programs. Did you ever wonder how many programs have been implemented every 4 years ?

The same applies to laws. Its part of a platform. It becomes law at some point after election, then put in the legal system as one more law. I personally think we have too many laws.

Too many programs and too many laws. There are so many passed, that when something good happens in the economy, and thanks to good old American innovation something good usually does happen to the economy during every administration, that the administration gives credit to one of their programs for whatever good is occurring at the time

President Clinton took all the credit when the Internet Boom boosted the economy and let all the blame fall on President Bush when it collapsed. President Bush took all the credit as the economy grew and grew as interest rates fell, until sub prime undercut that growth. If the economy doesn't rebound from this sub prime mess, I'm sure he will pass the blame on to the next President. In reality, neither President really had anything to do with things going right or wrong. Its the American People stupid.

This isn't a criticism of either President, or any President, it's a reflection of what I believe, which is that when it comes to economic and social policy the best any candidate or President can do is guess. They turn to the smartest people they trust, ask them for advice on what to do and hope it works. That's not as big a problem when it comes to turning around or building the results of a corporation, that's a huge problem to me when it comes to our nation.

Since most policies are just guesses, I would rather they just do nothing. There is no question their hearts are in the right place and they want to do the right thing, but the reality is that every single program that is supposed to have a major impact on our country is nothing more than a guess.

What I would love to see is a candidate who says he/she is going to start removing laws and programs. Give me a candidate who's primary platform is to spend 4 years removing federal programs and laws. If it was a law or program worth anything the states or local municipalities will find much more creative ways to make them work.

I know its far easier said than done, but could it be any harder to remove an existing law or program than it would be to define, develop and implement another on top of what we already have in place ? Our government is so big, getting it to move in any direction is an incredibly difficult thing to do.

So if you want my vote in 2008, don't tell me what you are going to add, tell me what you are going to remove. Tell me how you are going to simplify the government. That's how you get my vote.

And although its not exactly in context, but i didnt know where else i could put it, I decided to post it here. This is one of my favorite all time Presidential quotes, but I'm not going to tell you who said it.


"We are not afraid to entrust the American people with 
unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and 
competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let 
its people judge the truth and falsehood in an openmarket 
is a nation that is afraid of its people."

And 1 more thing, because of the inevitable crazy comments that will come from the comment bombers from left and right websites, I reserve the right to turn off comments, quickly

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[Source: Blog Maverick]

Vimpelcom reports 84% upsurge in Q207 net profit.

Vimpelcom has boosted its Q207 US GAAP net profit by a record 84.3% against the year-earlier period to $359.3 mln, outpacing analyst expectations. Analysts projected the wireless providers net profit to climb 67.9% to $327.4 mln in April-June 2007. According to the mobile companys quarterly financial statement, sales totaled $1,717 mln, up a hefty 53.1%, and OIBDA rocketed 59.7% to $896.8 mln. Average forecasts for revenue were $1,184.8 mln (a 50% increase) and $863.6 mln (a 53.7% spike) for OIBDA.

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[Source: Russian Stock Market Blog]

In intraday market updates, domestic plays kicked off the week with modest gains.

On Monday, Russian equities posted modest advances at the open, but no clear trend was visible during the first hour of trading. Monday is expected to be low-key, as US exchanges are closed for the Labor Day holiday. As of 12:00 noon Moscow time the list of gainers was headed up by Sberbank (+1.6%) and Surgutneftegaz (+0.9%), while the decliners were led by Tatneft (-0.6%) and AvtoVAZ (-1.2%). The RTS Index is hovering around 1,926 or 0.2% higher than Fridays close.

Sergey Belov, Asset Manager, Finam Investment Company

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[Source: Russian Stock Market Blog]

12,040

After yesterday’s close at 11,955, the lowest since April 13th, the market dipped down further to a low of 11,852 and then recovered to close up at 12,040. There seems to be undue panic in the market at the moment and hopefully there will be some pullback soon as it is quite oversold and has [...]

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[Source: KARACHI STOCK MARKET NEWS]

Tech Stocks

So today’s little excerpt is about the DJIA Tech Stocks. Remember when the big thing was to buy tech stocks. Well lets find out a little more about them here. If you are new to the Bullhunters Guide blog, I am dissecting the eBook so that we can understand the workings of the US stock [...]

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[Source: The Bullhunters Guide | Bullhunters Guide to the US Stock Market]

Me and Bill OReilly

I got this question from Mr OReilly's producers

From: "Watters, Jesse" <Jesse.Watters@FOXNEWS.COM>
To: <Mark.Cuban@dallasmavs.com>
Cc: <mark@hd.net>
Date: Tue, 4 Sep 2007 13:14:55 -0400
Subject: o'reilly factor request

> Mr. Cuban,
>
> The Factor will be doing a segment this evening on Redacted...which, as
> you know, depicts US atrocities in Iraq. The director says the the
> depicted rape is "the reality" of what is happening in that country.
> Of all of the schools that are being built, the medical care being
> supplied, and the security that our soldiers have been providing to
> Iraqi neighborhoods...do you agree that a few random and horrific
> crimes represent the norm of what is going on in that newly liberated
> country? and what exactly was it about the film that made you want to
> produce it?
>
> Thanks
>
> Jesse Watters
> The O'Reilly Factor
> Fox News
> 212-301-3404
>

From:	"Mark Cuban"
To:	"Watters, Jesse"
Cc:	mark@hd.net
Date:	09/04/2007 12:55 PM
Subject:	Re: o'reilly factor request

No, it doesnt represent the norm and the movie doesnt say it represents
the norm. Seperate the self promotion of Brian Depalma from the movie. The
movie is fully pro Troops. The hero of the movie is a soldier who stands
up for what is right in the face of adversity.

Maybe Bill can attempt to be fair and balanced and actually see the movie
before he thinks he knows what he is talking about.

And this is one of many movies we produce. I actually have seen it and
think it is an amazing movie. But to answer your question, I didnt read
the script or know all that much about it before we greenlit it. As we do
with several big name directors, we give them carte blanche in producing
their movies.

And to pre empt some of the stupidity coming from bloggers, I am fully Pro
Troops, Pro America. I think that the concept that the enemy will see
these films and use it as motivation is total nonsense. We have no plans
of translating these movies to arabic or other middle eastern languages.
Nor will we provide batteries or electricity for them to watch bootleg
DVDs as some zealots have suggested online.

And no , I am not involved in Loose Change. No I didnt finance it. No I
didnt plan to have it translated to multiple languages as Mr Oreilly
claimed on air. His command of the facts is truly abysmal.

What other lies has Bill spread that I can dispel ?

Oh, as far as other movies we have distributed, we released Voices of
Iraq, a movie whose PR campaign was financed by Republicans right before
the 2004 election. You may have caught my comments about this very much
pro Iraq movie that "this is a movie everyone should see before the election"

And maybe Bill can do something that is truly fair and balanced and put in
a plug for WWW.fallenpatriotfund.org . A fund I started right after the
war started. We provide funding for soldiers in need. To date we have
given 2.5mm dollars in grants. 100pct of the money goes to the troops, not
a single penny is spent on overhead or expenses. I cover those myself.

Oh, and I dont know how bill feels about No End in Sight, but we
distributed that movie as well.

Thats my feedback for Mr Bill

m

I didnt forward what is below to them, but i couldnt resist adding it below, it is the commentary criticizing me for Voices of Iraq. Just to show im equally hated by zealots on both sides. And to answer the question of why we distribute or get involved with politically charged movies ? Because I am a zealot that truly believes what JFK said and that I quoted in my last blog post. To paraphase, "A country afraid of the marketplace of ideas is a country afraid of its people". Its really easy to hate, its really hard to think issues through on their own merits. Anything that makes people think about issues is a good thing. I don't take sides, Diversity of information makes for more informed perspective and decisions.

Which leads to my position on the Iraqi War. I hate that thousands of our troops have died. It sickens me to think of how their families must feel and every single day I wake up I say thank you to them, as I thank all those who have come before them for their sacrifices to make this country so great and to give me the opportunity to live the life I have and enjoy my family. I have never, nor will I ever take for granted the liberties we have in this country

That said, I don't agree or disagree with the war because I don't know enough. There isn't enough information available to me to take a position beyond hoping that it runs its course very very quickly and our troops return home safely as soon as it is viable.

And to anyone who has ever questioned my patriotism or love for this country, fuck you.

A Dubious Doc

By Eartha Melzer

Tags military war in iraq

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Just before the election, a film about Iraq hit art house theaters around the country. Voices of Iraq claimed to be a groundbreaking film in which "150 DV cameras [are] distributed across Iraq for the Iraqi people to show the world who they are and what Iraq will be."

The results? People seem happy that Saddam is gone and optimistic that, if the United States stays in Iraq, democracy will prevail. They seem unafraid of bombs going off nearby. People say Saddam funded al Qaeda. Former Iraqi political prisoners are shown laughing off the stories of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib-what Arab man wouldn't want a female American soldier to play with his penis?

The film begins with shaky handheld footage but the production values increase dramatically as talk turns to the horrors perpetrated by Saddam Hussein-extended sequences of beatings and dismemberment obviously shot using a tripod not supplied by the producers of this film.

So how was this film made?

Voices of Iraq was promoted as a project in which "thousands of ordinary Iraqis become filmmakers" as the cameras are passed hand to hand and-amazingly-all returned to the filmmakers. But Archie Drury, the Gulf War vet and actor who went to Iraq with the cameras, told me that he actually shot some of the footage himself.

Drury also said that the Iraq Foundation was "extremely helpful" to him as he tried to figure out how to get around and who to give the cameras to. The foundation also supplied the torture footage.

The Iraq Foundation, based in Washington, is funded by the State Department and the National Endowment for Democracy.

Not surprisingly, Drury got uncommon access to Iraqis and Iraqi leaders favored by the U.S. government. Among the notables interviewed, but not identified, is Sharif Ali, the cousin of Iraq's last king. Drury also interviewed a Sheik Aku Bezei, a man he says was the most powerful tribal leader in Fallujah. On November 6, a Sheik Bezei was killed for collaborating with American forces.

Drury says that his commanding general from Desert Storm put him in touch with General Mattis, fighting in the Sunni Triangle, and General Amos of the Air Wing, and that he exchanged e-mails with these generals as he planned his trip.

In an interview in Movie Maker magazine, another of the film's producers, Martin Kunnert, said: "Getting a theatrical release for a documentary film is still rare. We lucked out in that our distributor, Magnolia Pictures, [which also put out Control Room and Capturing the Friedmans] was eager to get the film in theaters before the presidential election."

A call to Magnolia Pictures in New York was answered by a man who, lowering his voice when asked about Voices of Iraq, whispered, "Nobody here wanted to release this and we didn't do any of the promotion on it. [Mark] Cuban steamrolled us on this." (Cuban owns Magnolia Pictures, the Dallas Mavericks and much more.)

Jeff Riechert, the Magnolia Pictures contact for Voices of Iraq, said that while his company is technically distributing the film, Manning, Selvage & Lee (MS&L) is coordinating the publicity. MS&L has the public affairs contract for the U.S. Army. The firm's revamp of the Army's image with the reality TV-style "Army of One" ad campaign is credited with enabling the Army to meet its recruiting goals after a long slump. According to MS&L Managing Director Joe Gleason, he and his colleagues also deliver key targeted messages about the war in Iraq to specific constituencies.

Was the left-leaning art house crowd one of those constituencies? Is the government hiring documentary filmmakers to propagandize the U.S. population?

Nobody involved with the film is willing to say who initially put up the money for the film or how they ended up represented by the Army's PR firm.

On November 13, as Marines stormed Fallujah, the Marines' Birthday Ball in San Francisco honored Drury for his work on Voices of Iraq, for "going back and living up to the standard of a Marine."

Eartha Melzer

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[Source: Blog Maverick]

Components of the DJIA

Hello Fellow BullhuntersToday I will take another excerpt from the eBook The Bullhunters Guide to the US Stock Marketand discuss with you one of the averages that makes up part of the DJIA. In general the Dow 30stocks can be broken down into the five groups: Industrials, financials, cyclicals, consumer non-cyclicals and technology. The Industrials [...]

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[Source: The Bullhunters Guide | Bullhunters Guide to the US Stock Market]

Solution for the Real Estate Market ? Take Your House Public ?

I'm far far from being a financial genius. i try to get partners who run the numbers and deal with details. My business strength is in understanding where technology is going (in the areas I pay attention to), what the business applications of that technology are and most importantly, how to sell them.

Thats a polite way of saying that I'm not a details guy.

I mention this because as they say, "The Devil is in the Details", and I have no idea how to make happen what I'm about to propose. Nor do I know if there are specific laws or common sense "rules of the marketplace" that make this idea just plain stupid. Who knows. What I do know is that I'm curious about whether this would work and there is no better way to open an idea to criticism or support than by posting it on my blog. So here goes.

In the residential real estate world, the concept of buying a house is simple. You pick the house, negotiate a price, then agree to a payment arrangement.

The payment arrangement options are pretty straightforward.

You can pay for it with cash.
You can borrow money to pay for whatever amount that you cant or choose not to pay on the house. The payment terms are then set between you and the lender

This has worked well for a long time. A successful purchase of the house can be quickly defined as being able to make the payments you have committed to make, under the terms you have agreed to, until the house is paid off, all while gaining the utility of living in the house.

The problem with this approach is that when things go wrong and you can't make the payments the "solutions" are very binary.
1. You find a way to make your lender happy.
2. Your house is sold in an effort to satisfy your debt to the lender.

The binary nature of residential real estate financing also lends itself to being an attractive market for "sharks". We dont call the houses we live in "assets", we call them homes. They are very personal and important to us. Which in turn clouds our judgement. People who are at risk of losing their homes get desperate and take measures that aren't necessarily in their best interests just to save their homes and their families from grief.

There has to be a better way to protect homebuyers on the downside.

Lets contrast the financing process of individual homebuyers with funding in the business world. Businesses have any number of ways of raising capital for corporate purposes but they basically can be boiled down to two:

They can raise money via debt.

They can raise money via equity sale.

Debt resolution in the business world is just as binary as it is in residential real estate. If you can't pay the debt, you get foreclosed on and everyone probably goes home unhappy.

Which is exactly why , rather than borrowing money, most startups and growing businesses turn to the equity sale of some percentage of their company to raise capital. Need confirmation of this ? Look at the number of bonds available on national exchanges vs the number of stocks for sale on exchanges . The number of stocks is far greater than bonds and thats on the listed exchanges. Throw in the OTC and Pink Sheet markets and the numbers dwarf debt offerings even more dramatically.

Which leads to the question of...

Why can't home owners sell some percentage of equity in their homes on a listed exchange ? Why can't I
"Take My House Public ?"

Why not create a market or exchange where homeowners can sell equity in their homes ?

The rules could be very eimple
1. The house is appraised by a company approved by the exchange that lists the houses.
2. "Shares" are set with a Par Value of 10pct of the appraised value. For a 100k dollar house, there are 10 shares potentially available. However at no point in time can more than 40pct of the "shares" in a home be sold. We dont want the opportunity for "hostile takeovers"
3. The price of the shares will of course be set by the market. In a hot market it will be set above par, in a tough market like today, it will sell below Par.
4. All Proceeds from the sale of shares MUST be used to pay down any debt on the home.

This is the key element of this approach. By selling equity in a home, the buyer gets an asset based security that will move up and down with the market. If this market is big enough, there should be enough liquidity to move in and out of positions.

The seller receives cash that can be used to pay down the debt and thereby reduce his/her monthly payments. The seller loses a part of the upside if the market for the home improves and prices go up, but thats a small price to pay for not going into foreclosure.

Beyond creating liquidity options for individuals in the housing market, which i think is a good thing, I think this will also reduce the volatility in the market. Despite the best efforts of the residential Real Estate industry, no one ever really knows what their house is worth until you try to sell it. This exchange listing approach will certainly make for better information available for the market, which in turn will also reduce the volatility.

It will also increase the options of homeowners who have paid off their homes to acquire capital for personal uses. If a homeowner has completely paid off his/her home and wants to raise money for whatever purpose, a vacation, a car, education, whatever, rather than taking on debt , they could get their home appraised, have the
option of selling equity in my home that I would not be obligated to pay back. An option that would create a significant flow of capital back into the hands of consumers

How can this actually come together ?

It wouldn't be easy. It would probably take the country's biggest banks working together to create an exchange that develops the public market for home equity one city or region at a time. They would have to identify a means to safely set values so that Post IPO price the share pricing was stable. There would have to be provisions set for what happened when a home was sold. Shareholders would have to be paid their share of the salesprice upon closing.

There are thousands of things that i haven't thought of that would make or break this idea, but I think at its most basic, the concept is sound. However one thing I am sure of, this approach would reduce the Boom Bust cycles of residential real estate and the dramatic impact they have on our economy

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[Source: Blog Maverick]

Daily Review. 5th September, 2007

On Wednesday, domestic plays opened flat, shrugging off upside on the U.S. stock market Tuesday. Throughout the session Russian equities headed south along with global indexes on growing fears that banks could report softer profits. By Wednesdays final bell, the RTS Index edged up 0.03% to 1,905.30 and the MICEX Index slid 0.55% to 1,654. O&G names looked mixed against the backdrop of marginal fluctuations in crude futures: Tatneft retreated 0.38%, Surgutneftegaz added 0.19%, Rosneft was up 0.12%, Lukoil eased 0.16%, Gazprom Neft dropped 0.78% and Gazprom ended 0.38% lower. Sberbank emerged as the top decliner on MICEX, with commons and prefs down 2.26% and 2.16%, respectively. The lenders stocks dropped on investors fears about softer profits in the banking sector due to the liquidity crisis that hiked interest rates for financial resources attracted by many banks: Wednesday the Japanese finance minister said that the countrys banks have been suffering losses because of the liquidity crunch. In our opinion, investors fears about Sberbank are exaggerated, as the lending institution raises the bulk of its resources on the domestic market and their value was only marginally impacted by the liquidity crisis. VTB stocks tumbled only 0.59%. At present, they trade 13% below the placement price and there are quite a few investors willing to divest their holdings. The common/pref spread of UES stocks widened as the energy holdings commons lost 0.73% and prefs retreated 1.33%. According to our forecasts, the spread should narrow, as underscored by the earlier determined stock buyback prices for investors opposed to the utility concerns reorganization. Other liquid names performed on MICEX as follows: Norilsk Nickel edged up 2%, MTS pulled back 2.02% and Rostelecom gained 0.55%. On the upside, we would like to highlight Transneft among less liquid stocks, up 5.66% on MICEX thanks to speculations on rumors about the resignation of its CEO Semen Vainshtok. Market turnover jumped to $69 mln on the classical market of benchmark RTS and fell marginally on MICEX to $7,343.83 mln.

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[Source: Russian Stock Market Blog]

Bullhunter Discussion

Hello fellow BullhuntersThis post will be the final excerpt from The Bullhunters Guide to the US Stock Market so I would like to hear your thoughts and what you have learned from this experience. I know for myself that it has been very helpful in understanding the stock market in a bit more [...]

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[Source: The Bullhunters Guide | Bullhunters Guide to the US Stock Market]

14,202

Posting will be sporadic and brief this week due to unavoidable circumstances The ‘’Friday Show'’ led the the KSE-100 index to an intra-day all time high of 14,290 and closed up on a new high of 14,202. After some time OGDC was the flavour of the day with 54 million shares traded and closed up at [...]

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[Source: KARACHI STOCK MARKET NEWS]

Musicians - Great News - Interest Free Loans!

Central Bank Ruble Exchange Rates

1 Australian Dollar 21.1342
1 British Pound Sterling 51.8462
1000 Belorussian Rouble 11.9284
10 Danish Krone 47.0164
1 US Dollar 25.6639
1 EURO 35.0210
100 Iceland Krona 39.7336
100 Kazakh Tenge 20.8684
1 Canadian Dollar 24.3745
10 China Yuan 34.0199
10 Norwegian Krone 44.3506
1 SDR 39.2617
1 Singapore Dollar 16.7924
1 New Turkey Lira 19.6282
10 Ukrainian Hryvnia 51.0217
10 Swedish Krona 37.3223
1 Swiss Franc 21.2872
100 Japanese Yen 22.2391

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[Source: Russian Stock Market Blog]

12,708

Given the fact that world markets continue to tumble perhaps we should consider ourselves lucky that the KSE-100 index closed down by only 77 points. While the Dow Jones index staged a recovery towards its close today, the FTSE-100 got buggered senseless closing down by 4.10%, its biggest fall since March 2003 . While the [...]

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[Source: KARACHI STOCK MARKET NEWS]

Why Binary Betting Should Be Part of Every Trader's Toolbox

What is Binary Betting and what advantages does it have for traders over Spread Betting? This article explains.

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[Source: LearnMoney.co.uk]

Daily Review. 5th September, 2007

Drugstore chain 36.6 reports H107 IAS net loss of $16.9 mln.

In the first six months of 2007 pharmacy chain 36.6 posted a $16.9 mln loss under IAS compared to net profit of $49.50 mln in the year-earlier period, the drug retailer said in a press release. The companys first-half consolidated sales shot up 78.6% to $390.5 mln and sales in the drug segment climbed by a record 92% to $302.9 mln. The retail chain attributes higher sales in the drug segment primarily to the large number of drugstores acquired in 2006. As news agencies wired earlier, in January-June 2006 the company generated net profit from net earnings derived from the sale of a stake in Veropharm during the IPO.

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[Source: Russian Stock Market Blog]

Central Bank Ruble Exchange Rates

1 Australian Dollar 21.0660
1 British Pound Sterling 51.5330
1000 Belorussian Rouble 11.9457
10 Danish Krone 46.8315
1 US Dollar 25.6997
1 EURO 34.8951
100 Iceland Krona 39.7091
100 Kazakh Tenge 20.8494
1 Canadian Dollar 24.3969
10 China Yuan 34.0290
10 Norwegian Krone 44.0811
1 SDR 39.3216
1 Singapore Dollar 16.8203
1 New Turkey Lira 19.7250
10 Ukrainian Hryvnia 51.1050
10 Swedish Krona 37.1227
1 Swiss Franc 21.1834
100 Japanese Yen 22.1836

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[Source: Russian Stock Market Blog]

12,666 - heading for 12,950 ?

The Karachi Stock market opened up with a gap and finally the KSE-100 index broke 12,500, made a high of 12,710 and closed up at 12,666. Volumes increased with 265 million shares traded. OGDC was the volume leader trading 31.3 million shares and moved up to close at 110. It seems that the positive news [...]

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[Source: KARACHI STOCK MARKET NEWS]

In early market updates, blue chips kicked off to the upside.

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Daily Review. 4th September, 2007

On Tuesday, most blue ships headed south on weakness in Asian trading and mixed performances in European indices. US exchanges also kicked off trading with a gap to the downside after the long weekend, which predetermined the bearish close on domestic bourses. The RTS Index retreated 1.13% to settle at 1,904.76. After Russian trading closed the ISM Manufacturing Index was released in the United States, which dropped to 52.9 in August down from 53.8 in July, while it was forecast to decline to 53. While the index remains above 50, this points to vibrant business activity in the US industrial sector and this factor in turn holds out hopes that Russian equities will start off Wednesday with gains. Throughout the session crude futures hovered around $73.30 for Brent contracts in anticipation of more clarity over Hurricane Felix that could affect oil platforms in the Gulf. Negative performances in most O&G names on MICEX Gazprom dropped 0.72%, Rosneft slipped 0.38%, Lukoil eased 0.57%, Gazprom Neft inched down 0.41% and Surgutneftegaz gave up 1.18% - were largely driven by news about a hike in Russian crude oil export duties to a record $250.30/t effective October 1, 2007. Tatneft gained 0.27% on news that the company expects to receive MET benefits when developing bituminous oilfields. Based on the results of a first trading session after the spin-off of WGC-5 and TGC-5, UES commons pulled back 3.17% and prefs plunged 3.64%. This downturn was forecast and attributable to a 6.3% decline (i.e. the proportion of the spun-off assets in the holdings market capitalization) the market value of UES securities after the above utility concerns turned into standalone businesses. This means that a UES shareholder will obtain a portion in WGC-5 and TGC-5 stocks based on their stake held in UES before the spin-off. MTS released its strong Q207 US GAAP financial statement, according to which the mobile operators net profit skyrocketed 72.4% y-o-y to $507.9 mln and sales soared 31.9% to $1,968.6 mln. Meanwhile, MTS lost 1.32% on MICEX, as market players likely decided to take profits. In the second-tier names, VTB North West (-5%) was among the days top decliners due to VTBs decision to roll back the banks takeover for an indefinite period of time. Other blue-chip stories finished the day on MICEX as follows: Norilsk Nickel tumbled 1.05%, Sberbank fell 0.82%, VTB inched down 0.08% and Rostelecom added on 0.64%. Market turnover totaled $7,375.90 mln on MICEX and $52.80 mln on benchmark RTS.

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[Source: Russian Stock Market Blog]

12,393 - heading for 12,500 ?

The KSE-100 index stayed positive all day and made a high of 12,433 and closed at 12,393. This is the highest close since the market nose-dived in the last few weeks. BAFL was the volume leader of the day with 26.2 million shares traded and has finally moved up slightly since its recent dormancy. Its [...]

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[Source: KARACHI STOCK MARKET NEWS]

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Me and Bill OReilly

From:	"Mark Cuban"
To:	"Watters, Jesse"
Cc:	mark@hd.net
Date:	09/04/2007 12:55 PM
Subject:	Re: o'reilly factor request

A Dubious Doc

By Eartha Melzer

Tags military war in iraq

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So how was this film made?

Drury also said that the Iraq Foundation was "extremely helpful" to him as he tried to figure out how to get around and who to give the cameras to. The foundation also supplied the torture footage.

The Iraq Foundation, based in Washington, is funded by the State Department and the National Endowment for Democracy.

Was the left-leaning art house crowd one of those constituencies? Is the government hiring documentary filmmakers to propagandize the U.S. population?

Nobody involved with the film is willing to say who initially put up the money for the film or how they ended up represented by the Army's PR firm.

On November 13, as Marines stormed Fallujah, the Marines' Birthday Ball in San Francisco honored Drury for his work on Voices of Iraq, for "going back and living up to the standard of a Marine."

Eartha Melzer

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[Source: Blog Maverick]

Friday, September 14, 2007

Thursday, September 6, 2007

A Dubious Doc

By Eartha Melzer

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

A Dubious Doc

By Eartha Melzer

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