Warren Buffett is not joining the recent gold rush that has sent the commodity to all-time highs above $1500 an ounce.
He tells shareholders that he understands why rising prices can create excitement and draw in buyers, but it's not the way to create lasting wealth.Buffett says he'd rather bet on strong businesses instead of something "that doesn't do anything."
He points out that for all the gold in the world, he could buy all of the farmland in the U.S. and 10 Exxon Mobils, with $1 trillion left over. As far as he's concerned, the only thing you can do with gold is admire and "fondle" it.
Charlie Munger agrees: "There's something peculiar to buy an asset that will only really go up if the world goes to hell." He'd rather own Berkshire shares.
Buffett also says it's unlikely that Berkshire will "make another big currency bet." He still believes the U.S. dollar, and most other foreign currencies, will lose value over time. But he doesn't have a strong enough conviction on the rates of decline to justify putting a lot of money on the line.
He did reveal that Berkshire had what he called a "small" short position in two currencies last year, generating $100 million in profit. Buffett didn't name the currencies. In the past he has bet against the U.S. dollar.
President Barack Obama says oil companies are profiting from rising pump prices and he wants Congress to end $4 billion in annual tax breaks for the oil and gas industry.
Drivers in 22 states are paying more than the national average of $3.91 per gallon. In Alaska, California and Connecticut, it's $4.20 or more.
The price jump has slowed economic growth and hurt Obama's public approval ratings.
Exxon Mobil Corp this week reported nearly $11 billion in profits for the first quarter of this year. Competitors also had huge gains.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., says he plans to consider Obama's proposal as early as this coming week.
The president said money recouped from ending the oil and gas tax subsidies should go to new energy resources and research. He said he refuses to cut spending on clean energy initiatives.
"An investment in clean energy today is an investment in a better tomorrow," he said. "And I think that's an investment worth making."
Obama's critics say ending the subsidies would mean tax increases that would end up costing jobs.
"The president may think he's punishing CEOs of big companies, but his plan will hurt the everyday consumer of energy and imperil the jobs of millions of hardworking people in American-based companies," Rep. James Lankford, a first-term congressman from Oklahoma, said in the Republicans' weekly address.
In his address, Obama said the economy was growing again and took note of nearly 2 million new private sector jobs in the last 13 months. But the president did not mention that the pace of the recovery slowed significantly in the first three months of this year. The nation's economy grew at a 1.8 percent annual rate during that quarter, compared with 3.1 percent in the previous three months.
High gasoline prices, bad winter weather and steep government spending cuts were responsible for the slowdown.
Eager to show action on gas costs, Obama has pushed to stop the subsidies while also conceding that would not have an immediate effect on prices. He has also called for the Justice Department to investigate possible price fixing and said this week that he was also prodding oil-producing countries such as Saudi Arabia to increase production.
Lankford also said that Republicans would not vote to raise the nation's borrowing limit, now at $14.3 trillion, in the coming weeks unless the measure also includes steps to cut government spending.
Presidents have agreed to such deals in the past, and Obama told The Associated Press in a recent interview that some spending restrictions might be necessary to win an increase in the debt ceiling. Without raising that limit, the government would default on its debts.
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| Penny Stocks |
In this article, I would like to explain basics and fundamentals behind the penny stock trading.
In community, some of the investors believe to find hidden gems means go through penny stocks in hope of finding the next Apple or Google but this is not the best strategy to trade penny stocks. Successful companies are not born but they are made.
What Exactly Is a Penny/Micro-Cap Stock?
Technically micro-cap stocks as the name suggests are classified based on their market caps while penny stocks are categorized based on their prices.
In general a stock with a market capitalization of $50 and $300 million is classified as Micro-cap ( Less than $50 million is a nano-cap) and stock under $5 is a penny stock according to SEC ( Securities and Exchange Commission ), but some considers $3 or less than $ 1 as a cut off price for penny stock. Stocks those are trading on the Pink Sheets or OTCBB are considered to be a penny stock.
First and main thing about penny stock is they are much riskier than regular stocks. For example junk bonds (bonds with a rating lower than BBB ) vs investment grade bonds ( bonds with a rating higher than BBB ). In terms of stocks it will be called penny stocks vs blue chip stocks.
What's the Problem with These Stocks?
What makes penny stocks risky? Four major issues arise when you decide to buy these securities:
1) Lack of Information Available to the Public
Investors are always rely on enough tangible information regarding key developments of the companies, and follow the news releases for informed and secured investments. This has less probability that their investments are at risk and wipe out over night.
For micro-cap stocks, information is much more difficult to find. Companies listed on the pink sheets are not required to file with the SEC and are thus not as publicly scrutinized or regulated as the stocks represented on the NYSE and the Nasdaq exchanges; furthermore, much of the information available about micro-cap stocks is typically not from a credible source.
2) No Minimum Standards
Stocks on the OTCBB and Pink Sheets do not have to fulfill minimum standard requirements to remain on the exchange. Sometimes, this is why the stock is on one of these exchanges. Once a company can no longer maintain its position on one of the major exchanges, the company moves one of these smaller exchanges. While the OTCBB does require companies to file timely documents with the SEC, the Pink Sheets has no such requirement. Minimum standards act as a safety cushion for some investors and as a benchmark for some companies.
3) Lack of History
Many of the companies considered to be micro-cap stocks are either newly formed or approaching bankruptcy. These companies will generally have a poor track record or none at all. As you can imagine, the lack of histories of companies only magnifies the difficulty in picking the right stock.
4) Liquidity
When stocks don't have much liquidity, two problems arise:
First, there is the possibility that the stock you purchased cannot be sold. If there is a low level of liquidity, it may be hard to find a buyer for a particular stock, and you may be required to lower your price until it is considered attractive by another buyer.
Second, low liquidity levels provide opportunities for some traders to manipulate stock prices, which is done in many different ways - the easiest is to buy large amounts of stock, hype it up and then sell it after other investors find it attractive (also known as pump and dump).
The Problem for Investors
Penny stocks have been a thorn in the side of the SEC for some time because micro-cap stocks' lack of available information and poor liquidity make these groups of stocks an easy target for fraudsters. There are many different ways these people will try to part you from your money, but here are two of the most common:
Biased Recommendations – Some micro-cap companies pay individuals to recommend the company stock in different media, i.e. newsletters, financial television and radio shows. You may receive spam e-mail trying to persuade you to purchase particular stock. All e-mails, postings and recommendations of that kind should be taken with a grain of salt. Look to see if the issuers of the recommendations are being paid for their services as this is a giveaway of a bad investment and make sure that any press releases aren't given falsely by people looking to influence the price of a stock.
Off-Shore Brokers– Under regulation S, the SEC permits companies selling stock outside the U.S. to foreign investors to be exempt from registering stock. These companies will typically sell the stock at a discount to offshore brokers who, in turn, sell them back to U.S. investors for a substantial profit. By cold calling a list of potential investors (investors with enough money to buy a particular stock) and providing attractive information, these dishonest brokers will use high-pressure "boiler room" sales tactics to persuade investors to purchase stock.
Buying These Stocks
Two common fallacies pertaining to penny stocks are that many of today's stocks were once penny stocks and that there is a positive correlation between the number of stocks a person owns and his or her returns.
Investors who have fallen into the trap of the first fallacy believe Wal-Mart, Microsoft and many other large companies were once penny stocks that have appreciated to high dollar values. Many investors make this mistake because they are looking at the "adjusted stock price", which takes into account all stock splits. By taking a look at both Microsoft and Wal-Mart, you can see that the respective prices on their first days of trading were $28 and $25 even though the prices adjusted for splits is $0.09722 and $0.02444 (at time of writing). Rather than starting at a low market price, these companies actually started pretty high, continually rising until they needed to be split.
The second reason that many investors may be attracted to penny stocks is the conception that there is more room for appreciation and more opportunity to own more stock. If a stock is at $0.10 and rises by $0.05, you will have made a 50% return. This together with the with the fact that a $1,000 investment can buy 10,000 shares convinces investors that micro cap stock are a rapid surefire way to increase profits. For some reason, people think of the upside but forget about the downside. A $0.10 stock can just as easily go down $0.05 and lose half its value. Most often, these stocks do not succeed, and there is a high probability that you will lose your entire investment.
Conclusion
Sure, some companies on the OTCBB and Pink Sheets might be good quality, and many OTCBB companies are working extremely hard to make their way up to the more reputable Nasdaq and NYSE. However, the flip-side is that there many good opportunities in stocks that aren't trading for pennies. You need to understand that this is a high risk area that isn't suitable for all investors. If you can't resist the lure of micro-caps, make sure you do extensive research and understand what you are getting into.
( Source: Investopedia )
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| Sony Inc. |
Sony To Hold Sunday News Conference On PlayStation Hacking
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
TOKYO -(Dow Jones)- Japanese electronics and entertainment conglomerate Sony Corp. (SNE, 6758.TO) said Saturday it would hold a weekend press briefing to explain the breach at its online game network that compromised the personal information of millions of users and forced the company to shut down the service for the past 10 days.
Sony said it will hold the briefing at its Tokyo headquarters on Sunday, over a holiday weekend in Japan, to explain the breach at the PlayStation Network and Qriocity streaming video and music services. Kazuo Hirai, head of Sony's videogames and consumer-electronics business, will take part.
The briefing will come a few days after two U.S. Congress members asked Hirai, whom the company has identified as the front runner to eventually replace Chief Executive Howard Stringer, to explain when it first learned of the breach, why the company waited days to notify its customers and how it intends to prevent future incidents.
Sony has said that a hacker penetrated the security of its PlayStation Network earlier this month and gained access to the names, birth dates and possibly credit-card information for the 77 million registered accounts on the service. The company said it discovered the breach between April 17 and 19 and shut down the network on April 20.
It waited until April 26 to notify its users about the hacking. Sony has said there is no evidence that data from the encrypted credit-card database was stolen, but it couldn't rule it out. Sony said it is working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other law-enforcement groups to investigate the intrusion.
Smaller companies, with less than Rs 100 crore revenue, are likely to spend 32% of their IT budget on business opportunity and 25% on innovation in the current fiscal, says an industry study.
As per a survey carried out by by Ernst & Young India for the CIO Klub--an association of chief information officers --larger companies would be spending less on IT this year considering the maturity of their operations.
The third annual study titled, ''The enterprise IT investment trends survey 2011,'' was released here last evening and is based on a survey of over 170 CIOs of companies with annual revenues of Rs 100 crore-over Rs 1,000 crore.
"The survey reflects the confidence in the India growth story and many companies are taking steps to further increase IT spends with a focus on providing business with innovative IT solutions, being more customer-centric and investing in technologies that aid in giving their business a competitive edge," said E&Y partner and IT advisory practices leader Samiron Ghoshal while releasing the report.
This year, firms will spend 35% of their total IT budget for IT system maintenance, 28% on enabling business operations to capitalise on business opportunities; 23% on innovative technologies to compete better; and 14% towards compliance, says the survey.
As per survey, the five top objectives of higher IT spend this fiscal are business alignment, business continuity, information security, customer management and cost reduction.
For over 70% of CIOs from companies with under Rs 500 crore revenues, business alignment is the top priority for FY12, this is only 50% for the CIOs from companies with over Rs 1,000 crore revenues. The second top priority is business continuity with 54% identifying this.
Information security comes third with 47% of confirming this, while 69% of CIOs from companies with revenues over Rs 1,000 crore this is the key priority. This is very low at 26% among smaller firms.
As per a survey carried out by by Ernst & Young India for the CIO Klub--an association of chief information officers --larger companies would be spending less on IT this year considering the maturity of their operations.
The third annual study titled, ''The enterprise IT investment trends survey 2011,'' was released here last evening and is based on a survey of over 170 CIOs of companies with annual revenues of Rs 100 crore-over Rs 1,000 crore.
"The survey reflects the confidence in the India growth story and many companies are taking steps to further increase IT spends with a focus on providing business with innovative IT solutions, being more customer-centric and investing in technologies that aid in giving their business a competitive edge," said E&Y partner and IT advisory practices leader Samiron Ghoshal while releasing the report.
This year, firms will spend 35% of their total IT budget for IT system maintenance, 28% on enabling business operations to capitalise on business opportunities; 23% on innovative technologies to compete better; and 14% towards compliance, says the survey.
As per survey, the five top objectives of higher IT spend this fiscal are business alignment, business continuity, information security, customer management and cost reduction.
For over 70% of CIOs from companies with under Rs 500 crore revenues, business alignment is the top priority for FY12, this is only 50% for the CIOs from companies with over Rs 1,000 crore revenues. The second top priority is business continuity with 54% identifying this.
Information security comes third with 47% of confirming this, while 69% of CIOs from companies with revenues over Rs 1,000 crore this is the key priority. This is very low at 26% among smaller firms.
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| Infosys Office |
The other contender for the post was Kris Gopalakrishnan, the current CEO of Infosys, who is both a co-founder and the man responsible for making Infosys one of the top three IT firms in the country. Kris has been elevated as the executive co-chairman.
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| iPad 2 |
The new iPad 2 tablet features a dual-core processor called A5 and is slimmer and lighter than the earlier version. Apple's original iPad defined the tablet computer market and was swiftly followed by offerings from the tech industry's main players, from Samsung and Dell to BlackBerry maker RIM and Toshiba.
Here are 10 things to know about the new iPad.
Slimmer & Lighter
New Apple iPad 2 is mere 8.8mm thin. "The new iPad 2 is actually thinner than your iPhone 4," said CEO Jobs during its US launch. "It is dramatically thinner, not a little thinner, a third thinner."
It weighs 1.3 pounds (590 grams) down from 1.5 pounds. It is said to be 33 percent thinner and 15 percent lighter compared to its predecessor.
Same Display Size as of iPad 1
Apple iPad 2 retains iPad 1 screen size with 9.7-inch LED-backlit display. Also, iPad 2 has the same RAM as the iPad 256MB.
Front and Back Camera
iPad 2 features both front- and rear-facing video cameras to enable video chat. The back camera supports video recording, HD (720p) up to 30 frames per second with audio. While on front there is VGA-quality still camera.
Nine times faster
Apple has used in-house designed dual-core 1GHz A5 system-on-chip processor. It would enable multi-tasking, video recording, FaceTime video calls and load apps faster.
Apple claims that iPad 2 is dramatically faster due to its new A5 chip. According to the company, A5 doubles the speed, and graphic display by nine times.
Smartcover
iPad 2 comes with a SmartCover that has built-in magnets for a fit more than just protects. On closing Smart Cover, iPad automatically goes off to sleep. Open it, and iPad instantly wakes up (there is just no need to press any buttons).
Also, SmartCover folds into a perfect typing stand. Its magnetic hinge holds iPad in place so that users can type quickly and comfortably. Is can also be set up for hands-free video calling or watching.
Apple has also start selling its Smart Cover for iPad 2 in India. The cheapest version of the cover costs Rs 2,100.
Wireless Streaming
Apple iPad 2 is said to support wireless streaming of music, photos, and video to HDTV and speakers via AirPlay-enabled speakers or Apple TV (second generation) on a Wi-Fi network.
The facility of wireless printing of email, photos, web pages, and documents from iPad2 is also claimed possible.
HDMI Adapter
iPad 2 offers 3G network support along with Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n) and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR. There's also a new HDMI cable connector that promises 1080p HD video output when connected to the 30-pin dock connector port on the iPad 2. This means HDMI is not built into the iPad 2, users need to purchase a special HDMI Apple adapter to use it.
HDMI adapter will work with iPad 1, iPhone 4 and 4th generation iPod Touch.
RAM and Battery Life
While Apple has not given iPad 2's full specs, according to tablet's teardowns, it certainly has 512 MB of RAM.
The battery life remains same as in iPad 1, 10 hours when in use and a month long stand by time. iFixit teardown reveals iPad 2's Li-Ion polymer battery made up of three cells and is rated at 3.8 volts, 25 watt-hours. This is slightly more than the original iPad's rating of 3.75 volts, 24.8 watt-hour.
White iPad is available
While white iPhone may have come now, Apple is shipping white iPad from the day one. As Jobs also jokingly said during iPad 2’s US launch, "And we are going to be shipping white from Day One."
When Apple announced iPhone 4 last year, it showed off both black and white version of the smartphone. However, the company has only recently launched white iPhone 4.
Pricing
The iPad 2 with Wi-Fi will sell for a maximum retail price of Rs 29,500 (including VAT) for the 16GB model, Rs 34,500 for the 32GB model and Rs 39,500 for the 64GB model. iPad 2 with Wi-Fi + 3G will be available for a maximum retail price of Rs 36,900 for the 16GB model, Rs 41,900 for the 32GB model and Rs 46,900 for the 64GB model.
( Source : The Times of India )
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| Apple Inc CEO Steve Jobs |
Apple's co-founder Steve Jobs has been the visionary force behind the company's success. Steve has achieved $320 billion market cap for Apple Inc in his last 13 years of job as a CEO. He introduce and innovate ideas like the iPod, Apple retail Stores, IPhone, IPad and Apple TV, help the company to be the top of the tech world.
Jobs relied on his group including Design Chief Jony Ive, Marketing Chief Phil Schiller and hardware chief Bob Mansfield for his vision implementation. But none is more important than Tim Cook.
At Apple, the CEO succession picture could hardly be more clear: Though it's unofficial, Cook, the company’s chief operating officer, is likely the guy.
He has already taken over for CEO Steve Jobs three times in the last seven years. And if Jobs were to hand over the reins at Apple, because of his known health problems or any other reason, Wall Street fully expects that Cook would be the board's choice.
Who is Tim Cook?
Not a Steve Jobs clone. Cook is known for his operations. Before he came to Apple in 1998, Cook spent most of his career at IBM, as an operations executive in the PC group. He brought that experience to Apple, which had trouble managing inventory when he arrived. Now? Apple's arguably the best in the business.
But that doesn't mean a Cook-led Apple would be drama-free. When Jobs announced his latest medical leave in January, traders panicked, shaving nearly $20 billion off Apple's market cap in a week, though the stock soon recovered.
The biggest unknown about Apple under Cook: How would he do at retaining his own inner circle of executives—particularly in design and marketing—two Jobs trademarks that aren't known to be Cook's strong suits?
As much confidence as investors have in Cook, you can be sure they're hoping it's a long time before we have to worry about that.
( Source : CNBC )
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| Mela Sciences |
Shares of Regeneron plunged 20% after analysts at RBC Capital cut their rating on the stock to sector perform from outperform. Read previous story .
If we see the company's performance and development pipeline, this dip might be utilized as a buying opportunity.
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| VERTEX PHARMACEUTICALS |
FDA Advisory Committee Unanimously Recommends Approval of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (MA) (VRTX)'s Telaprevir for People with Hepatitis C !
(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (Nasdaq:VRTX) today announced that the Antiviral Drugs Advisory Committee to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) voted unanimously to recommend FDA approval of telaprevir for people with genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C. The Committee recommended by a vote of 18-0 the approval of telaprevir for those who were not treated previously and those who were treated previously but not cured with currently available medicines. Telaprevir was studied in all major subgroups of people who were treated previously and not cured: relapsers, partial responders and null responders. The FDA is expected to make a decision on the approval of telaprevir by May 23, 2011, under the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA). The FDA is not bound by the Committee’s recommendation, but usually follows its advice.
In Phase 3 studies, telaprevir was given for 12 weeks in combination with pegylated-interferon and ribavirin (P/R) followed by P/R alone for a total of 24 weeks or 48 weeks of treatment. Data from these studies that were reviewed by the Committee showed that people who received telaprevir-based combination therapy achieved significantly higher rates of sustained viral response (SVR, or viral cure) compared to treatment with 48 weeks of P/R alone, regardless of their experience with prior treatment. Among people who were not treated previously, 79 percent achieved a viral cure with telaprevir-based combination therapy compared to 46 percent who achieved a viral cure with P/R alone.
Approximately two-thirds of people in Phase 3 studies who were not treated previously and who received telaprevir-based combination therapy were eligible to complete their treatment in six months – half the time needed with currently available medicines. Today, the FDA Committee discussed Vertex’s request for the approval of response-guided therapy to allow for a six-month treatment duration for people who were not treated previously as well as for those who relapsed after prior treatment with P/R alone (prior relapsers). Side effects observed with telaprevir-based combination therapy were consistent across the Phase 3 studies. Rash and anemia occurred more frequently among those treated with telaprevir-based combination therapy compared with those who received pegylated-interferon and ribavirin alone.
“Hepatitis C is a curable disease with potentially devastating consequences if left untreated, so we are pleased by the Committee’s unanimous recommendation to approve telaprevir for a broad group of people with hepatitis C,” said Peter Mueller, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer and Executive Vice President of Global Research and Development at Vertex. “We look forward to working with the FDA as it prepares to make its decision next month.”
( SOURCE: BUSINESS WIRE)
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| Mela Sciences Inc |
MELA Sciences, Inc. (MELA) to Ring The NASDAQ Stock Market Closing Bell
(GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --MELA Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELA) will visit the NASDAQ MarketSite in New York City's Times Square in recognition of Melanoma Monday and to kick-off skin cancer awareness and detection month, as well as raise awareness about early detection of melanoma. Every hour in the U.S., one American dies of melanoma and approximately thirteen are diagnosed with melanoma.
In honor of the occasion, Dr. Elizabeth Tanzi, an internationally-known dermatologist and melanoma survivor, will ring the Closing Bell with Dr. Joseph V. Gulfo, Chief Executive Officer of MELA Sciences, Inc. (MELA). Other melanoma survivors will also be onsite to share their stories and participate in the closing bell ceremony. MELA Sciences will be sponsoring free skin cancer screenings, which will be administered by reputable board certified dermatologists onsite for NASDAQ staff and members of the media.
Where:
NASDAQ MarketSite – 4 Times Square – 43rd & Broadway – Broadcast Studio
When:
Monday, May 2, 2011
Free Skin Screenings 12:45 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. ET
Green Room Lunch 1:00 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.
Closing Bell 3:50 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. ET
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| Lithium Corporation |
News behind the move was company has found lithium -enriched brines near surface on its Fish Lake Valley, Concentration was up to 140 mg/L. Also the brine was enriched in boron with a value up to 200mg/L and potassium with a value up to 7200mg/L. The highest values appear to be confined to an area approximately one-half mile square that is within a larger zone of moderate to highly anomalous lithium and boron, which is 1 ½ miles long by 1 mile wide.
Lithium Corporation’s president Tom Lewis recently remarked, “I am tremendously pleased by these results, and I am eagerly looking forward to drilling in this area when access conditions improve later this year.”
Lithium Corporation is currently conducting another round of geochemical surveys on its playa properties in Nevada, and has tentatively scheduled drill mobilization for June 01st to test its Cortez Lithium property in Lander County Nevada. In addition to drilling Fish Lake Valley and Cortez, Lithco also intends to drill its Salt Well’s property this year.
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| Muammar Gaddafi |
The US envoy to the United Nations told the Security Council that Libyan troop under the leadership of Muammar Gaddafi were increasingly engaged in sexual violence and some had been issued Viagra, ( Sildenafil from Pfizer Inc ) drug used to treat impotency. The US Ambassador Susan Rice discussed Viagra issue in a meeting of Security Council on Libya, but no one responded.
If it were true that Gaddafi's troops were being issued Viagra, it could indicate they were being encouraged by their commanders to engage in rape to terrorize the population in areas that have supported the rebels.
That would constitute a war crime.
Several diplomats said Rice provided no evidence for the Viagra allegation, which they said was made in an attempt to persuade doubters the conflict in Libya was not just a standard civil war but a much nastier fight in which Gaddafi is not afraid to order his troops to commit heinous acts.
Rape as a Weapon?
Rice's statement, diplomats said, was aimed principally at countries like India, Russia and China, which have grown increasingly skeptical of the effectiveness of the NATO-led air strikes, which they fear have turned the conflict into a protracted civil war that will cause many civilian deaths.
Most council members, diplomats said, had expected Gaddafi's government to collapse quickly. They said the frustration felt by India, Russia and China would likely grow if the war dragged on.
The use of rape as a weapon during wartime has received increasing attention at the United Nations. Last year, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed a special envoy on sexual violence during armed conflict, Margot Wallstrom.
Earlier this month, Wallstrom chided the Security Council for failing to mention sexual violence in two recent resolutions on Libya, despite having made the subject a priority.
Wallstrom said at the time that reports of rape in Libya remained unconfirmed but she cited the highly publicized case of Eman al-Obaidi, the woman who burst into a journalists' hotel in Tripoli last month saying she had been raped by pro-government militiamen.
The International Criminal Court is already investigating whether Gaddafi's government committed war crimes in its violent crackdown against demonstrators who demanded greater freedoms.
The crackdown sparked a rebellion that has turned into a civil war. The US mission to the United Nations declined to comment.
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| US Dollars |
US government continue its easy monetary policy to stimulate weak US economy, It has maintained an interest rate at historically low. This means investors borrow dollars without paying any interest on them and keep buying higher yielding assets,currencies, metals, oil and other high yielding investment assets. The situation make the dollar more weak as investors demand higher yielding currencies and precious metals to exchange US dollars as there is no good returns in US investments.
For Example popular yen carry trade, which involves borrowing yen at Japan's near-zero interest rates to purchase other higher-yielding securities such as Treasuries. In a similar manner dollar is being used to fund higher yielding investments.
The Barclays' G10 carry excess return index shows that borrowing in low-yielding currencies such as the greenback and buying those with high interest rates like the Australian dollar has generated returns of about 37 percent so far since the end of the financial crisis in early 2009.
If we see the numbers dollar index has dropped 10 % since its peak in january and crude oil futures up 23 % so far in the year 2011. The Thomson Reuters-Jefferies CRB index, a global index of commodities, is up 10 percent.
It is a preferable choice for investors to borrow dollar and invest them in other currencies.
The risk involved with the current monetary policy of US is easy money driven asset bubbles formation and eventually confidence lost in economy. For Example developing countries like China and India are struggling with very high inflations and tightened up their monetary easing policy to control inflation and food prices and easy money from United states kept pouring in these economies to inflate them. When this easy money policy ends, liquidity sucked out of developing countries and bubble busts.
Feasible Alternative
For some investors, using the dollar in carry trades remains the only feasible alternative to other low-yielding currencies such as the yen and Swiss franc.While the yen yields an interest rate of zero, like the dollar, the Japanese currency could strengthen if the economy goes into recession. Since Japan has huge overseas investments, a recession would prompt a repatriation of domestic investors' funds to bolster savings, boosting the yen.
The Swiss economy is in much better shape than the United States and a rise in inflation there could well prompt the Swiss National Bank to raise interest rates, much like the European Central Bank did early this month.
Although dollar is a big short among hedge funds, fund managers become more cautious and reduced their short positions in dollar due to the risk of crowded trade.
In a crowded trade, there is a risk of huge losses. For example, if global stocks drops or risk factor rises investors close out their short positions of carry trades and start buying the shorted currency for example dollar here. So investors and fund managers have to be cautious and minimize risk positions as such condition swirl up.
This happened in 2008 during the global financial crisis see below links and could well happen again.
BlackBerry maker Research In Motion cut its earnings guidance for its fiscal first quarter, blaming slower-than expected smartphone shipments. Shares fell 10% to $50.77 in recent after-hours trading.
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| LodgeNet Inc. |
LodgeNet Interactive Corp ( NASDAQ:LNET ) spiked 16 % in after hours trading and close to $3.81with 3110 shares changed hands as company announced a new agreement for interactive patient television services with Amerinet Inc, a leading national healthcare group purchasing organization.
Effective April 1, 2011, through March 31, 2014, the contract offers significant savings to Amerinet members on eSUITETM, a patient engagement solution that follows patients throughout the entire continuum of care. eSUITE provides entertainment along with engaging educational content that empowers patients to become active participants in managing their health. The solution’s robust clinical integrations and bi-directional communications improve patient satisfaction while complying with Meaningful Use and health reform provisions.
Traders might use the news to position tomorrow's trade, this is an exclusive news just announced on company website and we are publishing first over the web. Stay tuned to Stock Investips
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| Netgear Inc. |
Revenue jumped 32% to $278.8 million. In February, the company predicted $250 million to $260 million. Profit of the company $ 21.2 million, or 57 cents a share, from $13.7 million, or 38 cents a share. Excluding items like stock-based compensation, earnings rose to 65 cents a share from 48 cents. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters were expecting 52 cents a share. Gross margin fell to 31.5% from 34.4%.
For current quarter, guidance from the company was $ 270 million to $ 280 million, while analysts' average estimate was $241 million.
Thursday, Chairman and Chief Executive Patrick Lo said new products continue to exceed the company's expectations and enable it to gain market share. In the previous period, Netgear's revenue climbed on higher-than-expected sales of new products, although its earnings were short of the consensus estimate.
Overall, the tech sector sector experienced a recovery last year as demand rebounded from marked weakness in the recession. In recent quarters, the improvement appears to be cooling, based on such signs as easing consumer demand.
Overall, the tech sector sector experienced a recovery last year as demand rebounded from marked weakness in the recession. In recent quarters, the improvement appears to be cooling, based on such signs as easing consumer demand.
(Source: Dow Jones NewsWire )
SunPower Corporation' Class A shares jumped 38 % to $ 22.26 and Class B shares jumped 40 % to $ 22 in after hours trading as company announced that it is entering into Broad Strategic Relationship with TOTAL S.A to shape the future of solar industry.
According to the detail of the story, TOTAL S.A. will offer $23.25 per share for 60 % of outstanding common stock of each class ( A & B ). The offer is at premium of 46 % from a closing price as on April 27th. 2011 for class A stock and 49% premium for class B stock. Total will provide SunPower with up to $1 billion of credit support over the next five years. Following closing of the transaction, which has been approved by the boards of both companies, SunPower will continue to operate with its current management team.
As stock of the company close to the offer price, there is a little chance to trade both the stocks !
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| Smokefree Innotec Inc |
Smokefree Innotec Inc ( PINK:SFIO), an established international distributor of e-ciggerates, announced that "The Food and Drug Administration said Monday it plans to regulate smokeless electronic cigarettes as tobacco products and won't try to regulate them under stricter rules for drug-delivery devices. The federal agency said in a letter to stakeholders Monday that it intends to propose rule changes to treat e-cigarettes the same as traditional cigarettes and other tobacco products. The news is considered a victory for makers and distributors of the devices, which continue to gain popularity worldwide."
Smokefree has refrained to market ots REAL e-cigarette in the United States pending such a pronouncement by FDA, and now feels vindicated in its approach to be among only a few companies that have maintained full compliance with FDA regulations and directives, as it does around the world where its products are marketed.
George Roth, CFO, added, "With this ruling we feel Smokefree, along with many other e-cigarette companies, are victorious in the pursuit of our claims that such products are not drug delivery devices and not subject to FDA regulations as such. With SFIO's unique patents we are prepared to comply with any regulation under tobacco laws in this country and abroad, and are ready now to aggressively attack the U.S. market with REAL, our novel vapor-less e-cigarette scheduled for introduction mid-May or earlier. We intend to be the leader in setting the standards for such smoke free e-cigarette products throughout the world."
( Source:MarketWire)
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| OfficeMax Inc |
OfficeMax Inc. said Thursday its first-quarter earnings fell to $13.2 million, or 13 cents a share, from $26.3 million, or 29 cents a share, in the year-ago period.Shares of OfficeMax were indicated lower in premarket trading and down as much as 10 % with abnormally high volumes.
Sales fell to $1.86 billion from $1.92 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research were looking for earnings of 27 cents a share, on average, with sales of $1.86 billion. The retailer said recent results were hurt by increased promotional activity, an unfavorable product sales mix and a "deleveraging of fixed expenses." OfficeMax said second-quarter sales would be about flat from a year ago.
Source : Marketwatch
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| Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc |
(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - News) announced that NASDAQ today halted trading of the company's common stock. The United States Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Antiviral Drugs Advisory Committee meets today in Silver Spring, MD to review the New Drug Application (NDA) for telaprevir.
The NDA for telaprevir was granted Priority Review by the FDA, and the FDA is expected to make a decision on the approval of telaprevir by May 23, 2011 under the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA). The NDA includes data from three registration studies, ADVANCE, ILLUMINATE and REALIZE, which evaluated telaprevir in combination with pegylated-interferon and ribavirin in people who were not treated previously and in the three major subgroups of people who were treated previously but who were not cured with currently available medicines – relapsers, partial responders and null responders.
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| Merck & Co Inc |
Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Wins Unanimous FDA Panel Support for Blockbuster Boceprevir
Dow Jones --A Food and Drug Administration panel backed the use of Merck & Co.'s (MRK) hepatitis C drug boceprevir, calling the product a game-changing advance in the treatment of the disease.
The panel of non-FDA medical experts voted 18-0 in favor of a question that asked whether the available data support approval of the product in combination with other hepatitis C drugs, pegylated interferon and ribavirin. The vote amounts to a recommendation that the agency approve boceprevir, which Merck has proposed selling under the brand name Victrelis.
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| Silver |
Gold and Silver has continued an uptrend and hit a record high on Thursday's trading session. Silver has touched a record high of $49.35 rising about 4 % breaking earlier record in the year of 1980. while gold has touched all time high of $ 1536 and retreated to $1532. while dollar continued weakening and touched record low after fed has continued low interest rate low and monetary easing policy to help struggling economy and job markets.
Atlantis Internet Group ( PINK:ATIG), company engaged in online gambling, retreated 44% with unusual volumes without any specific news.
Earlier we have discussed about the bill to legalize online gambling, for which federal votes due in late april. Some of these small cap online gambling stocks have started an uptrend with unusual high volumes. Stock of Atlantis Internet Group has logged more than 1000% gain in last 5 trading sessions, today it has loose some of its gain and down 40%. This move of the stock is just profit booking with out any news flow as of now. It has started recovering and recovered fully now. New positions are not advisable before any news announcements. For detail of the story read here
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| Axcelis Technologies Inc |
Axcelis technologies, Inc's stock plunged 25 % to $1.88 with no sign of recovery, below is the news flash.
Axcelis Technologies, Inc.(NASDAQ: ACLS) announced that for the second quarter of 2011, it expects revenue to be in the range of $85-$92 million and earnings to be about $0.02 per share (EPS). According to Reuters Estimates, analysts were expecting the Company to report EPS of $0.04 on revenues of $95 million for the second quarter of 2011.
Craig Hallum analysts downgraded shares of Axcelis Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: ACLS) from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating
| Intellipharmaceutics inc |
SHANDONG, China, /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (Nasdaq: GFRE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today announced that the Company provided additional disclosure disputing certain allegations related to the reliability of its filings with the SEC created by Glaucus Research Group and distributed on Seeking Alpha on April 26, 2011.
The Company disputes or clarifies the following allegations raised in the report:
1. According to the report, a privately held Chinese company, Shandong Haoyuan Group, owned by the founder and chairman of the board of Gulf Resources, claims to own and operate all of the Company's assets and business.
Shouguang City Haoyuan Chemical Company Limited ("SCHC") and Shouguang Yuxin Chemical Industry Co., Limited ("SYCI"), Gulf Resources' two wholly-owned operating subsidiaries, were previously owned by Shandong Haoyuan Industry Group Ltd. ("Haoyuan Group"), of which Mr. Ming Yang, the Chairman of Gulf Resources, is the majority owner. In December 2006, Gulf Resources acquired SCHC in a reverse merger transaction. On February 5, 2007, SCHC acquired SYCI from the stockholders of SYCI. Haoyuan Group holds a significant equity interest in Gulf Resources (approximately 11.9%), but has no direct ownership of SCHC and SYCI. The corporate structure charts displayed on Haoyuan Group's website (http://www.haoyuangroup.cn) are outdated and Haoyuan Group intends to update the website to remove any misleading references. Ming Yang and his affiliates are the largest shareholders of Gulf Resources and have never pledged or sold any shares.
Ownership verification for each of SCHC and SYCI are included as Exhibits A and B respectively, in the Form 8-K filing. These confirm that SCHC is 100% owned by Hong Kong Jiaxing Industrial Limited, the Company's Hong Kong subsidiary and that SYCI is 100% owned by SCHC.
2. According to the report, Gulf Resources engaged in inappropriate self-dealing by overpaying for a business owned by its chairman and his family. The report also claims that according to the SAIC filings, SYCI was significantly less valuable at the time of the acquisition, compared to what the Company states in its SEC filings.
On February 5, 2007, SCHC acquired SYCI. Under the terms of the merger agreement, in exchange for transferring all of the equity interest of SYCI to SCHC, the stockholders of SYCI received consideration of 8,094,059 (restated for the 2-for-1 stock split in 2007 and the 1-for-4 stock split in 2009) shares of voting common stock of Gulf Resources, Inc. and $2.55 million in cash. The management is currently retrieving relevant documentation regarding SYCI's valuation at the time to demonstrate that the Company paid a fair price for the acquisition.
3. According to the report, Gulf Resources has failed to disclose that its largest customer is a related party.
The management confirms that Shouguang City Rongyuan Chemical Co. Ltd. ("Rongyuan") is not a related party to Gulf Resources and has provided a copy of Rongyuan's shareholder list as Exhibits B and C, in the Form 8-K filing, which confirms the names of management and shareholder of Rongyuan. Gulf Resources has excellent relationships with its major customers, including Rongyuan. From time to time, Rongyuan utilizes Gulf Resources' name in its marketing materials to demonstrate the supplier-customer relationship. Rongyuan's office is located in the same business park as Gulf Resources together with several other businesses. However, the two companies do not share the same office.
4. According to the report, Gulf Resources' bromine factories appear smaller than indicated in its SEC filings. According to the report, a representative from the Land & Resources Bureau confirmed that Gulf Resources' production is substantially smaller than it claims in its public filings.
The Company discloses both mining and production area for each factory in its SEC filings, while the report only seems to consider an estimate of the production area. The Company confirms that the locations of each factory is correctly described and identified on the maps provided in its filings with the SEC. Gulf Resources is currently retrieving documentation as evidence to confirm the size of the Company's factories.
5. According to the report, Gulf Resources financials as reported to the SEC are significantly smaller compared to what its two operating subsidiaries are reporting to the SAIC.
The management has provided copies of SAIC filings for both SCHC and SYCI for 2009 as Exhibit E and F, respectively, in the Form 8-K filing, which show the Company's SAIC filing is not significantly smaller as stated in the report. The Company has not yet made its filings for 2010 with SAIC.
6. According to the report, the Company's inventory turnover ratio is high compared to its competitors and its shipping costs are low.
Bromine is an extremely volatile and corrosive chemical, and therefore the Company does not accumulate inventory but instead produces most of its bromine on demand. Most of its competitors produce bromine derivatives, and the inventory turnover ratios are therefore not comparable. The Company also produces most of its chemical products on demand.
Gulf Resources' shipping costs are low because the vast majority of its bromine and crude salt is picked up directly by customers directly from the Company's production facilities.
7. According to the report, in the Company's SEC filings there are errors in the biography of Gulf Resources' CEO and the filings omitted the fact that Mr. Liu was formerly the CFO of China Finance Inc. The report also states that Mr. Liu was appointed CEO of the Company only seven days after Gulf Resources issued shares equal to 15% of its outstanding equity to China Finance Inc.
During 2004, the Company's CEO, Xiaobin Liu, acted as a contact in China for China Finance Inc., which was a public company based in the U.S. In this role Mr. Liu was available to speak with persons in China who had an interest in China Finance's business. During this period Mr. Liu was employed by Saige International Trust and Investment Corporation ("Saige").
Mr. Liu is identified as the CFO of China Finance in certain SEC filings made by China Finance in 2004. However, Mr. Liu has confirmed that he never held the position of CFO of China Finance and never personally signed any of China Finance's SEC filings. The Company believes that Mr. Liu's previous relationship with China Finance did not impact his dedication and loyalty to Gulf Resources.
On January 24, 2009, the Company issued a total of 21 million shares (before the Company's 1-for-4 reverse stock split) to three parties. Top King Group Limited, Billion Gold Group Limited and Topgood International Limited (collectively the "Holders") in lieu of paying off a loan in the amount of $21,287,493 from Shenzhen Hua Yin Guaranty and Investment Limited Liability Company ("Shenzhen Hua Yin"). On that date the closing price of the Company's common stock was $0.34 per share. The price of the shares received by the Holders was $1.01 per share. The Company also entered into a Lock-up Agreement with the Holders in May of 2009. In March of 2010, the Holders shares were subsequently pledged to War Chest Capital Multi-Strategy Fund LLC ("War Chest") as part of a loan transaction. At that time War Chest's legal counsel provided a letter confirming that War Chest agreed to abide by the terms of the Lock-up Agreement with respect to the Holders shares. The Company refers to its Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 16, 2011 for details related to pending litigation between the Company, War Chest and HAP Trading LLC.
The Company confirms that Mr. Liu served as Vice-President of a subsidiary of Shenzhen SEG Dasheng Co., Ltd. from 2005 to 2006 and that Mr. Liu served as Manager of the Securities Department of Saige, which was a State Owned Enterprise. Saige declared bankruptcy the year after Mr. Liu left the company. However, Mr. Liu did not have an ownership or senior executive position with Saige. With respect to Hainan Wanquanhe Development Corporation, where Mr. Liu worked from 1995 to 2000, the correct name of the company should be Qionghai City Wanquanhe Hot Spring Tourism Development Co., Ltd.
8. According to the report, Gulf Resources commissioned two contractors to perform two capital expenditure projects: a sewage treatment project in 2009 and a production line for wastewater treatment chemicals, which was completed in June 2010 and started trial production later that year. The report claims that neither of the contractors involved in the projects, Xuzhou Bishui Environmental Science Technology Co., Ltd. ("XBE Tech") and Shouguang City Shengkun Construction Co., Ltd. ("SCS Construction"), are a working business. The report further claims that management may have used these capital expenditure projects as a vehicle to transfer money out of the Company.
Gulf Resources' management will provide related documentation that verifies the operation of XBE Tech and SCS Construction and contracts with these two contractors in a separate filing. XBE Tech and SCS Construction are unrelated to Gulf Resources.
9. The report claims that Richard Khaleel resigned because of the findings of the internal controls assessment by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu ("Deloitte").
According to the resignation letter provided to the Company's Chairman by Mr. Khaleel, Mr. Khaleel resigned as a director of the Company because he took a new job which required him to resign as a director of any public company. Deloitte's internal control assessment did not find major issues in the Company's corporate governance and internal control system.
About Gulf Resources, Inc.
Gulf Resources, Inc. operates through two wholly-owned subsidiaries, Shouguang City Haoyuan Chemical Company Limited ("SCHC") and Shouguang Yuxin Chemical Industry Co., Limited ("SYCI"). The Company believes that it is one of the largest producers of bromine in China. Elemental Bromine is used to manufacture a wide variety of compounds utilized in industry and agriculture. Through SYCI, the Company manufactures chemical products utilized in a variety of applications, including oil & gas field explorations and as papermaking chemical agents. For more information about the Company, please visitwww.gulfresourcesinc.cn.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this news release contain forward-looking information about Gulf Resources and its subsidiaries business and products within the meaning of Rule 175 under the Securities Act of 1933 and Rule 3b-6 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and are subject to the safe harbor created by those rules. The actual results may differ materially depending on a number of risk factors including, but not limited to, the general economic and business conditions in the PRC, future product development and production capabilities, shipments to end customers, market acceptance of new and existing products, additional competition from existing and new competitors for bromine and other oilfield and power production chemicals, changes in technology, the ability to make future bromine asset purchases, and various other factors beyond its control. All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this Cautionary Statement and the risks factors detailed in the Company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Gulf Resources undertakes no duty to revise or update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release.
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