FedEx Corp , the No. 2 U.S. package-delivery company, said on Friday it will raise its average rates for ground shipments and home deliveries by 4.9 percent beginning in January.
The increase reflects a 5.9 percent raise in published rates at FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery, offset by a lower fuel surcharge.
The move comes two weeks after larger rival United Parcel Service Inc disclosed a 4.9 percent hike for its 2013 shipping charges.
Results of both companies in recent months have been pinched by an uncertain global economy, which has ?eaten into the overall volume of goods being shipped and caused customers to choose less expensive shipping methods.
FedEx next month is scheduled to report results for its third fiscal quarter, with analysts braced for a 10 percent drop in per share earnings, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.?
AAA??Nov. 29, 2012?5:05 PM ET Attorney expects Lohan will be cleared in NYC case By ANTHONY McCARTNEYBy ANTHONY McCARTNEY, AP Entertainment Writer??
Lindsay Lohan, second from right, is escorted from the 10th Precinct police station, with her face shielded, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012, in New York after being charged for allegedly striking a woman at a nightclub. Police say Lohan was arrested at 4 a.m. and charged with third-degree assault. They say she got into the argument with another woman at Club Avenue in Manhattan and struck the woman in face with her hand. (AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano)
Lindsay Lohan, second from right, is escorted from the 10th Precinct police station, with her face shielded, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012, in New York after being charged for allegedly striking a woman at a nightclub. Police say Lohan was arrested at 4 a.m. and charged with third-degree assault. They say she got into the argument with another woman at Club Avenue in Manhattan and struck the woman in face with her hand. (AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano)
Lindsay Lohan, center, is escorted from the 10th Precinct police station, with her face shielded, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012, in New York after being charged for allegedly striking a woman at a nightclub. Police say Lohan was arrested at 4 a.m. and charged with third-degree assault. They say she got into the argument with another woman at Club Avenue in Manhattan and struck the woman in face with her hand. (AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano)
FILE - In this Nov. 20, 2012 photo, actress Lindsay Lohan attends a dinner celebrating the premiere of "Liz & Dick" at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. Lohan is under arrest and charged with third-degree assault Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012 after police say she hit a woman during an argument at a New York City nightclub. (Photo by John Shearer/Invision/AP, File)
Lindsay Lohan, second from right, is escorted from the 10th Precinct police station, with her face shielded, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012, in New York after being charged for allegedly striking a woman at a nightclub. Police say Lohan was arrested at 4 a.m. and charged with third-degree assault. They say she got into the argument with another woman at Club Avenue in Manhattan and struck the woman in face with her hand. (AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano)
With a jacket covering her head, Lindsay Lohan is escorted from the 10th Precinct police station,Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012, in New York after being charged for allegedly striking a woman at a nightclub. Police say Lohan was arrested at 4 a.m. and charged with third-degree assault. They say she got into the argument with another woman at Club Avenue in Manhattan and struck the woman in face with her hand. (AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano)
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? An attorney for Lindsay Lohan says he expects the actress will be cleared of a charge that she hit a woman in a Manhattan nightclub.
Lawyer Mark Heller said Thursday that Lohan is being targeted because of her fame.
The "Mean Girls" star was arrested by New York police around 4 a.m. Thursday and charged with third-degree assault, a misdemeanor.
The woman in the club did not require medical attention, and Lohan was released hours later.
Prosecutors in Santa Monica also charged Lohan on Thursday with lying to police and reckless driving involving a June accident on Pacific Coast Highway.
The charge could trigger a probation violation and another jail sentence for the 26-year-old.
The US may be perched on the edge of the ?fiscal cliff,? with Republicans demanding spending cuts and Democrats clamoring for tax hikes to reduce the budget deficit.
But, one thing both parties are likely to agree on: spending billions and billions of dollars to help New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and other states recover from superstorm Sandy.
Within the last two days, the governors of New York and New Jersey have released estimates that they will need a combined $79 billion ($42 billion for New York and $37 billion for New Jersey) to pay for repairs, restoration, and mitigation against future storms. Connecticut expects to send its request in shortly.
IN PICTURES: Sandy: Chronicle of an unrelenting storm
On Wednesday, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg flew to Washington for meetings just about every thirty minutes with congressional leaders. On Monday, he said the city would like an additional $9.8 billion for storm damage on top of $5.4 billion that they have already submitted to FEMA.
He probably could have saved the airfare because budget experts think Congress is likely to open up the checkbook for this disaster.
?They will pretty much get what they ask for,? says Stan Collender, a budget authority and a partner at Qorvis Communications in Washington.
?Historically, Congress has been quite generous when there are disasters,? says Pete Davis of Davis Capital Investment Ideas in Washington, which advises Wall Street clients. ?It won?t be in the lame duck session, it will be next year.?
The money will likely come in the form of an emergency supplemental spending bill that will go through Congress once it resolves its current differences over spending and taxes. ?If it weren?t for the fiscal cliff this would get done really quickly,? says Mr. Davis.
But, won?t spending another $80 billion to $100 billion throw those calculations out of line?
?It will expand the deficit,? agrees Mr. Collender. But, that is not likely to matter, he and others say.
?Traditionally, supplemental spending bills are not paid for,? explains Davis. For example, the US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have been funded by supplemental spending bills.
One of the reasons Congress is so generous is that every senator and representative is keenly aware that a disaster can take place in their district at any time. In the West, wildfires can destroy communities. In the Midwest a drought can hurt farmers. Along the Gulf Coast, there could be another big oil spill.
The governors seeking federal money can also point to how generous Congress was after Hurricane Katrina ripped through Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama in 2005.
?In the past decade Congress has authorized supplemental appropriations after hurricanes, floods, and tornadoes, including $120 billion worth of aid in several bills passed in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina,? wrote Bloomberg in his letter requesting Federal aid on Monday.
In fact, the Gulf Coast delegation and the Army Corps of Engineers kept coming back to Congress for more and more money, recalls D.J. Nordquist, who was working at the office of the federal coordinator for Gulf Coast rebuilding at the time.
The comparison is not lost on the Northeast governors. In his request for funding, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo compared the damage done by Sandy and Katrina. In the three categories he picked, housing, power outages, and businesses impacted, Sandy was more significant.
As Ms. Nordquist notes, politicians have been known to exaggerate before. She recalls that Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu asked for $250 billion to start with. ?Her strategy was to ask for something astronomical,? she recalls.
In the case of Sandy, the numbers are also ticking upward very quickly. On Friday, Nov. 23, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey asked for $29 billion. On Wednesday he revised the number to $37 billion to cover measures to protect the state from future disasters.
In Christie?s request for aid, he added that he might still need more money. ?The estimate will likely be refined further to consider and include the long-term impact on the next tourism season, shifts in population, impact on real estate values, and other factors,? he said in a letter to Congress.
Governor Cuomo also wants a large amount of money to prevent future damage. He?s asked for $9.1 billion for what he termed ?common sense? mitigation and prevention costs such as flood protection for the World Trade center site and the subway system.
Bloomberg?s strategy on Wednesday was to try to make support for shelling out the money a nonpartisan issue. He met with deficit hawks such as Rep. Eric Cantor (R) of Virginia and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R) of Kentucky and with Democratic leaders including Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California and Senate majority leader Harry Reid of Nevada.
?Now, we have to bring together both sides in Washington ? and both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue,? he said at a press conference late in the day Wednesday. ?Hurricane recovery is not a partisan issue.?
IN PICTURES: Sandy: Chronicle of an unrelenting storm
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A son of slain U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy was sued for assault on Tuesday by two nurses at a New York hospital who say they sustained injuries while trying to stop him from leaving the maternity ward with his newborn son.
The $200,000 civil suit also accuses Douglas Kennedy, 45, of negligence, battery and emotional distress and comes a week after a criminal court judge acquitted him of child endangerment and harassment charges related to the incident.
Two maternity ward nurses, Cari Luciano and Anna Lane, tried to physically block Kennedy from taking his boy outside for some fresh air on January 7 in Westchester County, just north of New York City. That led to a seven-minute confrontation in which Kennedy kicked Luciano into the air and twisted Lane's arm, according to the civil complaint.
Kennedy, a Fox News correspondent and the 10th child of Robert and Ethel Kennedy, categorically denies all allegations the nurses have made and expects to be completely exonerated, his attorney Michael Bono said.
The attorney representing Luciano and Lane did not immediately return calls requesting comment.
Kennedy's actions violated Northern Westchester Hospital's policy on transporting infants, Mount Kisco Town Justice John J. Donohue said in a ruling on the misdemeanor charges released on November 20, but did not rise to the level of criminality.
Kennedy's kicking of Luciano was a spontaneous response to her attempts to physically retake his baby, and Lane's allegations of arm-twisting were "not supported by any evidence except her own testimony," Donohue wrote in his ruling.
On the charges of child endangerment, there was no evidence to suggest "that the mere act of taking his child outside the building would likely be injurious to the child's physical welfare," Donohue wrote.
In a February appearance on NBC's ?Today' show, Luciano and Lane said Kennedy physically hurt them during the incident and that they were seeking a public apology from him.
There was "no basis at all for the nurses to lay claim to one penny from Douglas," said Robert Gottlieb, the attorney who represented Kennedy in the criminal suit.
It was an "utter disgrace that the nurses continue to abuse" the justice system, said Gottlieb, who is not representing Kennedy in the civil suit.
(Additional reporting by Chris Francescani; editing by Daniel Trotta and Todd Eastham)
New phones, special deals, news from carriers, great apps -- you name it and it happens just about every day in the wide world of Android. We know that you can't spend every minute glued to your screen to keep track of it all, so here are highlights of the day all wrapped up and easy to read.
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If you?re thinking of opening up an online business, one thing you need to focus on above all others is Website marketing. There is a tremendous need nowadays to have a good presence on the Internet. This means that it is now the time for you to get into it. These tips can help you start planning with your marketing endeavors.
Any business that plans to finalize transactions online must first be able to guarantee the security of purchasers? information. There are quite a few good services that are both impartial and trustworthy. Some examples include: McAffee and VeriSign are two ways to provide security for your customers and your business transactions and information. It can be costly to offer a secure system, but it is a must.
TIP! A good website relies on interesting graphics but a site that is too busy will detract from your content. When someone comes to your website you have about five seconds to capture their attention and make them want to stay.
Take a hard look at the true value of your service or product. The world?s best marketing efforts can?t overcome the shortcomings of a flawed product. In order to see your sales grow, you should be sure that you are marketing a quality product, one that is superior to your competitors products.
It is important to find the correct niche when you are marketing an Internet business. You cannot sell a product or service if you have no heart in it. It just becomes easier to sell a product or service you are passionate about, as opposed to anything else. So make sure that you targeting the right audience with your marketing efforts.
Think of something to offer folks that no one else is doing. Try drawing cartoons that relate to your website or product, or providing an e-book full of useful information. You can create an excellent hook for your market site by offering propriety merchandise that is not available on any other website.
TIP! Include the word ?limited? in your ad. People turn to Internet shopping as an alternative to what traditional stores offer.
Instead of looking at marketing on the Internet as a career, look at it as a hobby. If it turns out that your website becomes popular and has good potential, then you can consider going into it as a full-time job.
Any banners that you place on your website should not look like banners. Give them the impression that they are links to more content. Many people find banners a real turn-off, so this practice may entice them to click where they otherwise would not have.
Use social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook as a part of your Internet marketing campaign. These social media sites keep you in direct contact with your customers and give you the quickest way to promote sales or promotions. However, beware of being overly promotional in your comments and tweets. You should give them good quality content that will have a marketing message here and there.
TIP! It is important to be listed within Google for proper internet marketing. You need to know what terms people are searching for on Google that relate to your business.
Advertise your company on popular websites online. While there will be some cost involved, it will get you noticed. Look for a site that gets lots of traffic, and this can help you get your name out there.
Advertising is necessary for an online business. Advertising can greatly increase the profits of your business. This will give you an important new outlet to customers.
Try asking for feedback from customers who don?t buy anything. Ask them what you can do to get their business. Perhaps they did not care for your copy, the guarantee or they may have had some other issue.
TIP! Incorporate an automatic electronic signature into your emails as it portrays a more professional image. Your signature is your online business card, so you should distribute it freely.
Internet marketing needs serious research in order to succeed. Pick a mentor that you trust and admire online. There are many out there that can give you a fresh perspective for either free or at a small cost. Once you have chosen a technique you want to try, stick with it until it proves profitable or shows that you need to move on to a new technique. Keep in mind that this might take time to start, but know that it is well worth your time.
If you want to build trust and to sell products, you need to offer a warranty or some type of guarantee. Your customers will feel more confident in the purchases and provide your company with some credibility. Assuming the risks and giving your costumers a level of security will build your trust level with them.
TIP! Blogging is great for attracting more traffic to your site. Fresh content is key to maintaining your readers? interest.
Your banner ads should stand out from the crowd as much as possible. If you can make your banner ads look different from the norm, you will find that more people will click on it.
High-quality graphics of your products can make or break an online sale. The ability to see products in detail is a feature that customers will appreciate, because it helps to assure them they are getting what they want. Having a section where customers can upload their own photos of products is another great idea. Another effective use of photography is to show how customers changed as a result of using your product.
Interested in advertising over email? Make sure your visitors are tempted to give you their email addresses to build your opt-in email list. This is called an opt-in feature, and it allows your visitors to sign up for free newsletters or offers in exchange for their email. It is much easier to get people?s email addresses if you offer them a chance at a tempting prize.
TIP! An important way to design subsequent online marketing campaigns is to monitor and measure feedback relating to promotional programs, or concepts you have launched in the past. Once you launch an online event, promotion or initiative, keep an eye out for how people respond on blogs, forums, etc.
Now you understand why your business needs this advantage. This can be approached in a number of ways. There is a plethora of information on jumping into it. Using the information and tips available will help you further your goals towards you own successful affiliate marketing campaign.
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a Republican star who has enjoying record-high popularity for his hands-on approach to Superstorm Sandy, on Monday filed papers announcing his intention to seek a second term next November.
Christie, a popular surrogate on Republican Mitt Romney's failed presidential campaign, delivered the keynote address at the Republican National Convention this summer and is considered a popular choice to run for president in 2016.
Despite his popularity on the national stage, Christie - known for his blunt, sometimes over-the-top style - has sometimes struggled to win over his constituents in liberal New Jersey, where Democrats control both houses of the legislature.
Since Sandy tore through the state on October 29, laying waste to large stretches of the Jersey Shore, Christie's approval rating has jumped 19 percentage points.
Christie appeared to set politics aside, touring the damage with Democratic President Barack Obama days before November 6 Election Day, and showing a personal touch with residents who lost their homes or loved ones in the storm.
Christie has a 67 percent favorability rating among registered voters, up from 48 percent in October, according to the Rutgers-Eagleton poll.
Since taking office three years ago, Christie's signature achievement has been a 2011 law that made sweeping changes to the state's pensions and health benefits for state workers.
(Reporting by Edith Honan; Editing by Jackie Frank)
CAIRO (Reuters) - Opponents of President Mohamed Mursi rallied in Cairo's Tahrir Square for a fifth day on Tuesday, stepping up calls to scrap a decree they say threatens Egypt with a new era of autocracy.
The protest called by leftist, liberal and socialist groups marks an escalation of the worst crisis since the Muslim Brotherhood politician was elected in June and exposes the deep divide between newly empowered Islamists and their opponents.
The crowd is expected to grow in the late afternoon but hundreds were already in the square after many camped overnight. Police fired tear gas and organizers urged demonstrators not to clash with Interior Ministry security forces.
One person - a Muslim Brotherhood activist - has been killed and hundreds more injured in violence set off by a move that has also triggered a rebellion by judges and battered confidence in an economy struggling to recover from two years of turmoil.
Mursi's opponents have accused him of behaving like a modern-day pharaoh. The United States, a big benefactor to Egypt's military, has voiced its concerns, worried by more turbulence in a country that has a peace treaty with Israel.
The protest will test the extent to which Egypt's non-Islamist opposition can rally support. The Islamists have consistently beaten more secular parties at the ballot box in elections held since Hosni Mubarak was toppled in February, 2011.
"We don't want a dictatorship again. The Mubarak regime was a dictatorship. We had a revolution to have justice and freedom," said Ahmed Husseini, 32, who was speaking early on Tuesday in Tahrir Square.
Activists have been camped out in Tahrir Square, scene of the historic uprising against Mubarak, since Friday, blocking it to traffic and clashing intermittently with riot police in nearby streets.
The decree issued by Mursi on Thursday expanded his powers and protected his decisions from judicial review until the election of a new parliament expected in the first half of 2013.
The New York-based Human Rights Watch said it gives Mursi more power than the military junta from which he assumed power.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted judges had challenged the decree in remarks to Austria's Die Presse, adding: "But I have also noted that Mursi wants to resolve the problem in a dialogue. I will encourage him to continue to do so."
AVOIDING CONFRONTATION
In a bid to ease tensions with judges outraged at the step, Mursi has assured the country's highest judicial authority that elements of the decree giving his decisions immunity would apply only to matters of "sovereign" importance. Though that should limit it to issues such as a declaration of war, experts said there was room for a broader interpretation.
In another step to avoid more confrontation, the Muslim Brotherhood cancelled a mass protest it had called in Cairo for Tuesday in support of a decree that has also won the backing of more hardline Islamist groups.
But there has been no retreat on other elements of the decree, including a stipulation that the Islamist-dominated body writing a new constitution be protected from legal challenge.
Its popular legitimacy undermined by the withdrawal of most of its non-Islamist members, the assembly faces a raft of court cases from plaintiffs who claim it was formed illegally.
The new system of government to be laid out in the constitution is one of the issues at the heart of the crisis.
"The president of the republic must put his delusions to one side and undertake the only step capable of defusing the crisis: cancelling the despotic declaration," liberal commentator and activist Amr Hamzawy wrote in his column in al-Watan newspaper.
"We asked for the cancellation of the decree and that did not happen," said Mona Amer, spokeswoman for the opposition movement Popular Current, part of a coalition of parties that are joining forces to challenge the Mursi decree.
Mursi issued the decree a day after his administration won international praise for brokering an end to eight days of violence between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
The decree was seen as targeting in part a legal establishment still largely unreformed from Mubarak's era, when the Brotherhood was outlawed.
MEETING HALF WAY
Rulings from an array of courts this year have dealt a series of blows to the Brotherhood, leading to the dissolution of the first constitutional assembly and the parliament elected a year ago. The Brotherhood had a major say in both.
The judiciary blocked an attempt by Mursi to reconvene the Brotherhood-led parliament after his election victory. It also stood in the way of his attempt to sack the prosecutor general, a Mubarak hold over, in October.
In his decree, Mursi gave himself the power to sack that prosecutor and appoint a new one. In open defiance of Mursi, some judges are refusing to acknowledge that step.
But in a sign that other judges were willing to meet Mursi half way, the Supreme Judicial Council, the nation's highest judicial body, proposed Mursi limit the scope of decisions that would be immune from judicial review to "sovereign matters", language the presidential spokesman said Mursi backed.
"The president said he had the utmost respect for the judicial authority and its members," spokesman Yasser Ali told reporters in announcing the agreement on Monday.
Mursi's administration has defended his decree as an effort to speed up reforms and complete a democratic transformation. Leftists, liberals, socialists and others say it has exposed the autocratic impulses of a man once jailed by Mubarak.
Before the president's announcement, leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahy said protests would continue until the decree was scrapped and said Tahrir would be a model of an "Egypt that will not accept a new dictator because it brought down the old one".
Mursi has repeatedly stated the decree will only stay in place until a new parliament is elected - something that can only happen once the constitution is written and passed in a popular referendum.
Though both Islamists and their opponents broadly agree that the judiciary needs reform, his rivals oppose Mursi's methods.
(Additional reporting by Seham Eloraby in Cairo and Michael Shields in Vienna; Editing by Anna Willard)
Throughout the times, there have been many games which have been created for the sole purpose of entertaining the individual or groups of individuals, ranging from board games, video games to computer games. This article will focus on many different genres of computer gaming. There are a lot of genres within the gaming category, so we will focus on just the most popular ones.
Action games are games which require the use of quick reflexes, timing and possibly accuracy to achieve certain goals. Most action games emphasise on fighting or combat, but there are sub-genres of the action category which are popular, like fighting games and first-person shooters. Fighting games are mostly one on one combat with another player or a player versus the computer.
There are many combo's, special attacks and chains of attacks and blocks which all depend on the buttons which the players press. First person shooters, however, are 'shoot-em-up' games which consist of the screen displaying whatever the character in the game perceives, which brings the player into the character's world, allowing the players to control them and determine actions accordingly.
There are usually teams or an objective to achieve, such as assassinating a target or eliminating the other team. Players need skill, accuracy and quick reflexes to win the match or achieve the objective. This is one of the more popular genres.
Role Playing Games, (or RPG's) cast the player in the world of the character completely. They are usually 'adventurers' with a specific skill they are specially capable of, whether it is melee fighting, utilizing a bow and arrow, casting enchanted magic spells, healing and 'buffing' other players or being stealthy and agile.
Many of these games feature monsters which the adventurers need to overcome, and can be played single-handedly or in a group or 'party'. Sometimes these games have an online feature which you can invite other friends and players to play and assist you in a goal or achieve common goals within a group.
As of mid-afternoon, a cold front was working thru most of North Texas and winds were shifting out of the north. ?This north wind will drag some chillier temperatures into the area this evening and overnight.
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There is very little moisture or lift with this front to produce rain in North Texas. ?There?s still an outside chance for a pop up shower or storm in far East Texas this evening. ?But the window for rain has closed for all intensive purpose.
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Skies will become mostly cloudy overnight however as a disturbance to our southwest moves east. ?It will stay breezy overnight with freezing temperatures expected mainly north and west of the DFW area. ?But with the added wind, it will feel colder than 32? even if the actual temp stays just above that in the Metroplex. ? The clouds should be with us in the morning, but then sunny skies will be the rule by afternoon. ?After highs in the 70s Sunday and Monday, Tuesday will be rather cool.
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Tuesday night?s sky will be clear and the wind will be light ? perfect combination for what?s called ?radiational cooling?. ?The heat stored in the ground during the day has optimal chance to radiate back into the upper atmosphere and thus cool things down quickly here. ?We?re forecasting more freezing temperatures for Tuesday night therefore, but still think the immediate Metroplex will stay a couple of degrees of 32.
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After Tuesday night, south winds begin to take back over. ?The main storm track will be in the northern U.S., along with the colder temperatures for the next several days. ?Our long range forecasts continue to show Arctic air bottled up in Alaska and western Canada at least thru next week. ?Overall temperatures will be very mild after this cold shot tonight & Tuesday. ?There will be more clouds late this week, and maybe a brief, light shower Friday & Saturday, but nothing to boast about. ?We need rain?desperately, but doesn?t look like that?s a strong?likelihood?over the next week or so.
We have often repeated some basic principles of investing, including advising readers to recognize that every stock varies in price more as a result of emotion and other factors, than as a result of the company's real business activities. The most important factor in buying or selling a security, is the timing. If you buy when the price is cheap, you will make money. If you buy when the price is high, the next fall in price will hurt you.
If you buy when the stock is priced low, and sell when exuberance is at its height, you look like a very savvy investor. All it takes is patience.
There is now a new name for this phenomenon. It is now called "The Panic Investment Cycle". It details how the same security will vary in price dramatically due to emotions having little to do with the underlying value of the stock itself.
Doug Fabian, editor of the Successful Investing and High Monthly Income newsletters, describes this cycle as follows:
"The panic investment cycle is a migration in emotion from optimism to excitement, then thrill, and then virtual euphoria about how well things are going. Unfortunately, in the absence of the proper risk management tools, this emotion usually morphs into anxiety once an investment begins to break down. That anxiety then becomes denial, and it is at this point that the fear factor invades. Soon after the fear comes the panic selling, and it is at this capitulation point, when nearly everyone is despondent, that the real opportunity for income investors presents itself."
The Stock Market Cycle
We have always advised our readers to invest in this manner, as it is an easy way to make excellent returns on your investments, cycles, but we are happy to agree with this new name, for a very old adage. Something like The Black Swan event, which description became popular some years ago, and it also described a re-occurring event that has been a truism for as long as investing has been around.
Buy Low, Sell High
You often hear this truism, and yet people miss opportunity after opportunity to follow this basic and simple way to invest. People are always jealous of others who have either bought at an opportune moment, or sold at an opportune moment. Yet investors fail to follow this very simple and basic rule of investing.
Why don't people buy low and sell high - because people have a basic instinct to follow the crowd. When there is fear in the land, history is ignored and fear takes over.
Fear that the debt crisis in Europe will destroy the economy. Yet the restaurants, hotels, trains and planes in Europe are packed - in the prosperous north at any rate. Northern Europe is a modern, vibrant economy that ebbs and flows as does every prosperous economy.
Fear that the fiscal cliff in the USA will destroy the economy. Let me give you a simple truth. No stupid and self serving politician is able to destroy the US economic powerhouse in so simple a fashion. There could be a bump, and a serious bump, in the economy. But retail sales are booming. Black Friday is projected to provide record sales. House sales are at the highest level in 4 years. Auto sales are setting records, and much more. There is suffering, but the economy will continue.
Fear that China is slowing down. A friend just returned from China. There are people crowding the restaurants and shopping areas. A new middle class has been created and it wants goods and services. Car sales are booming. Demand for high end goods has never been higher. Will there be bumps in the economy - for sure there will, just as there are bumps in every economy. As Baron Rothschild said centuries ago - "Buy When There is Blood in the Streets".
Fear that Japan will collapse under the weight of its enormous debt. Could be. Maybe they won't be able to continue their profligate borrowing. But this is a society that until this year was second only to the US in economic production. It may flounder somewhat, but it won't disappear. The millions of middle class consumers will still exist. The massive car production will still exist.
Fear that war will erupt in the Middle East. Let me remind the reader, that the Great Depression was ended by borrowing and using that borrowing to dramatically increase production facilities. Heaven forbid that we have a war, but if we do, it will be good for the economy.
How to Make Money in this Tidal Wave of Fear
Ignore the experts. Ignore the media. Remember the truism that has stood the test of time over hundreds of years. Buy Low, Sell High.
Stocks are depressed currently. They are at low points. Multiples of p/e are low. Companies are increasing cash reserves rather than investing. This is when stocks are low. Buy now. Sell when the frenzy of the next cycle hits its height.
The bargains that are available now, come around once in a decade. If you miss this opportunity, the next one wont come for many years.
Buy good value stocks, with good management, with no debt, and with valuable unrecognized assets. Then sit back and wait. Wait patiently.
The views expressed in this blog are opinions only and are not investment advice. Persons investing should seek the advice of a licensed professional to guide them and should not rely on the opinions expressed herein. This blog is not a solicitation for investment and we do not accept unsolicited investment funds.
Buy low sell high, Investing, Irrational Exuberance, Jeremy Grantham, Long Term Returns, Stock market cycles, Sustainability, The market is inefficient
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Lawrence J. Cyna, CA www.cymorfund.com
Larry Cyna, CA, is CEO and Portfolio Advisor to Cymorfund, a boutique hedge fund. He expresses his insights several times a week on his blog www.cymorfund.com and offers a free newsletter which can be subscribed to here.
Mr. Cyna is an accomplished investor in the Canadian public markets for over 20 years, and has managed significant portfolios. He is a financing specialist for private and public companies, and has expertise in real estate and debt obligations. He has assisted private companies accessing the public markets, has been a founding director of public companies and is a strategic consultant to selected clientele.
He is and has been a director, a senior officer and on the Advisory Board of a number of TSX and TSXV public companies in the mining, resource, technology and telecommunications sectors, and the Founding Director of two CPC's with qualifying transactions in mining and minerals. He was an honorary director of the Rotman School of Management MBA IMC program, has completed the Canadian Securities Institute Canadian Securities Course & Institute Conduct and Practices Handbook Course, was a former Manager under contract to an Investment Manager at BMO Nesbitt Burns, a roster mediator under the Ontario Mandatory Mediation Program, Toronto, a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors of Ontario, a member of the Upper Canada Dispute Resolution Group, and the Ontario Bar Association, Alternate Dispute Resolution section.
He obtained his designation as a Chartered Accountant in Ontario in 1971 and was the recipient of the Founder's Prize for academic achievement together with a cash reward. He became a CPA in the State of Illinois, USA in 1999 under IQEX with a grade of 92%. He is a Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario and the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants.
He holds certificates in Advanced ADR & in Civil Justice in Ontario, Faculty of Law, University of Windsor, certificate in Dispute Resolution from the Ontario Institute of Chartered Accountants. Previous accomplishments are Manager of Cymor Risk Consultants LP specializing in Risk Management Assessment; CEO of Cyna & Associates specializing in mediation and ADR; Founder & Senior Partner of Cyna & Co, Chartered Accountants, a fully licensed and accredited public accountancy firm with international affiliations; and was a partner in a large public accountancy firm.
Mr. Cyna is well known in the Canadian Investing community. He attends presentations given by public companies to the industry on a daily basis.. These presentations are intended by the various hosting companies to present their inside story for the purpose of attracting funding, or of making parties more interested in acquiring shares of those companies. Being in constant communication in this manner keeps Mr. Cyna deeply involved in the current market and leads to numerous investment opportunities.
Mr. Cyna is currently a Director of Argentum Silver Corporation and Telehop Communications Inc.
Copyright 2012 Lawrence J. Cyna
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In one of the most severe outages in Australia in recent memory, a fire at the Warrnambool telephone exchange in southwest of the state of Victoria, caught fire early on Thursday affected 60,000 people over a wide area.
All Telstra services outside of Warrnambool from the towns of Lismore right through to Hamilton, Edenhope and Portland were out of action including landlines, internet connection and mobile phones including fire fighting paging services.
While the resources of amateur radio through WICEN (Vic) were put on alert, only minimal use was made of its emergency communication services before the official stand down order was received.
With no phone or internet access, businesses closed, trains were cancelled, firefighters had been unable to communicate, and some residents unable to contact the emergency services.
Mobile phones are being progressively restored, but it could be weeks before all of landlines are operating again.
Specialised equipment is to replace damaged components at the parent node for smaller exchanges throughout the region and experts in the field have arrived to restore services.
Jim Linton VK3PC Chairman IARU Region 3 Disaster Communications Committee.
ROB CARSON | Staff writer ? Published November 25, 2012 Modified November 24, 2012
Before Election Day this year, making such a statement in public could have been considered unwise.
But when Jeff Gilmore says it now, there?s pride in his voice.
Next year, when the state starts handing out applications for marijuana-growing licenses, Gilmore hopes his extensive experience with grow lights, fertilizers and irrigation systems will give him a leg up on competitors.
Gilmore, 59, a longtime Thurston County resident, said he?s been growing and selling pot since shortly after he graduated from the University of Washington back in the Vietnam War era.
?I?m an independent farmer, and I believe in small business,? Gilmore said recently. ?I want to create 10,000 jobs in Washington in the cannabis industry.?
Gilmore is one of an army of black-market pot purveyors who, with the passage of Initiative 502 legalizing up to an ounce of pot for all adults, hope to make lateral transfers into the legitimate market.
The potential rewards are enormous.
If the federal government allows Washington to proceed with its social experiment, retail marijuana sales in the state could top $1 billion a year, according to the state?s Office of Financial Management, which studied impacts of I-502 before the Nov. 6 election.
Annual consumption, not including sales to out-of-state consumers who come here to take advantage of legal weed, could reach 94 tons, according to the agency.
Because the state will limit the number of growers, processors and retailers, some are regarding the licenses as permission to print money.
POT PIONEERS
?Think of the novelty of this,? said Tacoma attorney Jay Berneburg. ?You will be one of the first people in the entire world to legally sell marijuana. You will probably make a million dollars your first five days in business. People will be buying it just because they can.?
Over the past few years, Berneburg has become the go-to-guy for marijuana-related legal representation in the South Sound.
His clients include owners of 65 medical marijuana outlets, he said, and nearly all of them have expressed an interest in moving into the legitimate trade once the state Liquor Control Board completes its rule-making process.
?Most of my clients have expressed a desire to apply for licensing under I-502,? Berneburg said. ?We?re looking ahead to as to what they might do.?
Interest is so high, Berneburg said, he?s scheduled a workshop on Saturday for his clients who want to apply for a license.
The Liquor Control Board is at least a year away from handing down the rules that will define the new industry, and that?s if the federal government doesn?t stop the whole enterprise in its tracks before then ? a huge if, according to some.
The board has a new I-502 implementation page on its website, but it offers few hints about what the new rules might look like, other than to say the marijuana system will be similar to the one used to control alcohol. It also said it expects to take every bit of the time allowed ? until Dec. 1, 2013 ? to complete the rules.
Still, cannabis candidates are getting their papers in order.
Berneburg knows the exercise is speculative at this point. Even so, he said, it makes sense to be prepared.
?We?re putting together pre-licensing dossiers for people interested in going forward with this,? Berneburg said.
Nobody knows at this point what the Liquor Control Board might require of its applicants, but Berneburg is using the state?s old liquor license requirements as a likely template.
?That way,? he said, ?as soon as it does come down, they can immediately apply and be first in line.?
CHEECH AND CHONG?
For some, the idea that Washington?s grand experiment with marijuana could be staffed with a cast of characters from the Cheech and Chong days is less than reassuring.
The most idealistic of I-502?s supporters see the change as a precedent for the rest of the country and even the world. If the plan proceeds without the courts stopping it, attention will be riveted on how well it turns out.
The bill?s backers want to make sure it works.
Alison Holcomb, the attorney who ran the successful I-502 campaign, is back at her regular job as ACLU of Washington?s drug policy adviser, and she and the rest of the ACLU organization will maintain their attention, said Doug Honig, ACLU of Washington?s director of communications.
?We?ll be watching it closely to ensue that the law is fully and fairly implemented,? Honig said. ?We?ll provide input as appropriate.?
Rob Carson: 253-597-8693 rob.carson@ thenewstribune.com
We all know that cats and dogs are different and that they have individual psychological games they play. But sometimes you need those things personified in order to have them really sink in. That's where the gentlemen of Fat Awesome have stepped in to drive the point home.
Bottom line: cats are jerks and dogs are just weird.
As usual, Apple thought Friday night on a holiday weekend was the perfect time to push some more paper through in its ongoing patent lawsuit against Samsung. According to Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents, after Samsung asked to add the latest iPads, iPhones and iPod touches to its list of claims and the court approved the addition of the iPhone 5, Galaxy S III, Galaxy Note and Galaxy Note 10.1, Apple is trying to put six more devices on the list. Listed in the motion are the Galaxy S III running Android Jelly Bean (but not Jelly Bean itself), Galaxy Note II, Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi, Galaxy Tab 2 10.1, Rugby Pro and Galaxy S III mini. As usual, the case will proceed, we'll wait to hear if these requests are approved by the court and in the meantime, iThings and Galaxys alike will continue to fly off the shelves. Given the season, for now it's time to be thankful we're not one of the lawyers spending their day working on this. That leaves us plenty of time for more interesting activities, like hand-to-hand combat against fellow shoppers for the right to purchase slightly discounted items.
Some of the very same Republicans who have spent the last two weeks bashing Mitt Romney were, indeed, sucking up to him at a massive rally the Friday before the election ? even angling for jobs in the Romney administration ? a Romney adviser complains. At a rally with 100 Romney surrogates in West Chester, Ohio, Romney aide Dan Senor revealed on?MSNBC Wednesday, the Romney bashers were Romney fawners. "I?m backstage with some of them, I won?t mention their names, but they?re talking about Romney like he?s Reagan," Senor said. ...
ROME (Reuters) - Italian coastguards said they had intercepted and picked up 358 African migrants attempting to reach Italy in two overcrowded vessels on Saturday.
Two hundred and thirty-five of the migrants from sub-Saharan Africa were travelling in a rickety wooden boat and the other 123 were spotted on a rubber dinghy, said the coastguards.
A coastguard spokesman, who was unable to give any information on where the vessels departed from, said the migrants were all in decent health and were being transported to reception centres.
Italy has borne the brunt of clandestine seaborne migration to southern Europe that has ebbed and flowed for several years. Migrants say they are attracted by the prospect of a better life in Europe.
Most migrants risk the voyage across the Mediterranean Sea in small and overcrowded fishing boats. Thousands have died as a result of shipwreck, harsh conditions at sea or a lack of food and water.
(Reporting By Catherine Hornby; Editing by Ralph Gowling)
I like Civic Square at Elements, Kowloon. The space is attractive, the feel and ambience reminiscent of places you?d find in Europe. It?s a shame I don?t get much of a chance to go, (this is mostly due to laziness on mine and my friends? part? it?s just a little too far from our usual haunts!), but it has a couple of promising eateries.
One of them is Papi, a traditional Italian Cicchetti (small-plate restaurant) that serves up small bites as well as pasta and pizzas. Papi is a cute amalgamation of Pasta and?Pizza, deriving its concept from the small snacks or side dishes that are typically served in Venice. The idea of sharing plates has been a popular one in Hong Kong of late (hello dozens of new tapas restaurants!), and it certainly gives everyone a chance to be even more sociable over a meal and indulge in multiple dishes without the quantity.
Papi is small but uncluttered, the light wooden flooring and bright lights giving it an open yet comfortable feel, which combines nicely with the al fresco dining area. It?s casual and completely without airs and graces. Side blackboards display a few drink specials, one of which was a refreshing ginger lemon and honey tea, a tall cool drink that quenched my thirst and left me feeling invigorated, ready for the feast ahead!
We began with a selection of small plates. First up was the lovely sliced raw swordfish with cherry tomatoes and asparagus. The swordfish was amazingly fresh and so finely sliced that it melted in the mouth. The homemade pork meatballs with fennel seeds and tomato sauce were delicious; the sauce outshone the meat itself with its delicate salty tang emerging through the boisterous tomato flavour.
The deep-fried mixed mushrooms and the fresh burrata cheese with cherry tomatoes were hands down the best of the small bites. Frankly, I was surprised by my enthusiasm for the mushrooms, as it?s a) not meat b) not a dish I would usually pay attention to, but the light batter encasing the perfectly seasoned mushrooms was a winning formula. Rach and I were addicted to the burrata cheese, which was wonderfully fresh, creamy and soft. I smiled with immense satisfaction as I then proceeded to smother my deep fried mushrooms with burrata cheese ? double win!
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Our two mains were also scrumptious. We had the Papi?s Pici, a hand-made Tuscan pasta with spicy tomato sauce and garlic chips. The sauce was stupendous and drenched the fat spaghetti which had a fantastic bite to it. I love garlic chips when they are fried nice and crisply and these did not disappoint, nor did they become soggy atop the pasta.
Something that I?ll definitely be going back for is the Pizza Lardo di Colonnata. This absolutely moreish thin crust pizza covered with Colonnata fatty ham, asparagus and Taleggio cheese was sinfully fatty. The perfect salty greasiness of the ham was gently offset by the asparagus which lightened the pizza and the cheese was gorgeously gooey. Never has lard been enjoyed so much on a pizza!
To end, we completely overindulged with three desserts ? Papi?s tiramisu, the panna cotta with fresh wild berries and the Nonna chocolate cake with gelato. The tiramisu was lovely and light and the panna cotta was silky smooth thick and creamy, delighting our tastebuds with the accompanying fruit.
But our favourite was the chocolate cake with its rice crispy base, scattering of chocolate coated popping candy and amazing vanilla ice-cream. The mousse-like cake was especially enjoyable as it did not lose any of the chocolatey sumptuousness despite being so light and airy.
Papi, after a year of opening, seems to have settled into a comfortable rhythm of laidback dining with some quality offerings; expect to pay around $350 per person (depending on how greedy you are!). It?s a great venue to hang out with friends at any time of the day, whether it?s for a relaxing drink with friends over a few bites to eat, or a hearty dinner tucking into a pizza or pasta. Elements really isn?t that far away!
The government of Pakistan and mobile phone carriers in the country have cut cellular service in major cities like Quetta and Karachi in the wake of a string of?terrorist?bombings that have shaken the country. It? the second time this month the government has attempted to disrupt communications between terrorists by taking the rather drastic step of eliminating cell phone coverage to wide swathes of the nation?s urban centers.
This weekend marks an important celebration on the Shi?ite holy calendar that is commemorated by processions of the faithful marching through the streets. More than 12 people have already died in bombings up processions so far this week, and the government ?is hoping that cutting communications between militants responsible for the bombings can help to stem the violence.
It?s uncertain how effective the tactic will prove this weekend, as this marks the second time Pakistan has eliminated all cell phone coverage in an area to try and impair the ability of terrorists to communicate with one another or set of explosive devices using triggers employing cellular signals. The first attempt met with limited success, but it?s not the only tactic the government is employing by any means ? as many as 5,000 troops will be patrolling the streets as well, looking to keep the peace.
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