naturavox.fr, Samia Ferjani – Ecofaubourgs, le 13 novembre 2009

Verts de rage : les nouveaux militants écolos

Les années 2000 ont vu l’émergence d’un activisme acéphale, festif, non-violent et capable de séduire les médias. Si le droit au logement et la guerre aux affiches publicitaires sont les chevaux de bataille de ce nouveau militantisme, l’écologie mobilise aussi…

Quelle contestation possible dans une société qui se targue d’avoir vu la fin des idéologies ? Une contestation festive, répondent les nouveaux militants. Exit les manifestations et le syndicalisme à la papa, avec sa hiérarchie, ses rites et son formalisme. Pour les activistes nouvelle génération de Jeudi noir, Sauvons les riches ou la BAC (Brigade activiste des clowns), l’engagement doit être aussi léger que spectaculaire. Et pour cause : l’objectif est de frapper les esprits et d’interpeller l’opinion – ce qui revient à faire la une des médias. D’où des actions ponctuelles et à forte portée symbolique, où priment l’humour, la créativité ou l’émotion. L’occupation du Canal Saint-Martin par les tentes des enfants de Quichotte, les fêtes improvisées lors de visites d’appartements aux loyers abusifs et les manifs de droite en sont autant d’exemples.

Comme le droit au logement ou la résistance à la publicité, l’écologie est un thème de prédilection pour ce nouveau militantisme. Ainsi, nombre de collectifs ont fleuri ces dernières années autour de la protection de l’environnement. Revue des troupes.

La BAD, ou Brigade d’action contre la déforestation

Emanation informelle des Amis de la Terre (une association pionnière en matière d’écologie), la BAD s’est donné pour spécialité la lutte contre la déforestation. Son credo : mettre à jour les causalités à l’œuvre dans la destruction des forêts primaires. « Le problème est lié à la surconsommation, explique Sylvain Angerand, membre de l’association, dans Un nouvel art de militer. Il faudrait consommer moins de viande, moins de papier, s’approvisionner en bois local, prendre uniquement ce que la forêt nous donne. » D’où une série d’actions coup de poing : missions de sensibilisation des consommateurs dans les magasins de meubles de banlieue, plantations « sauvages » d’arbres sur la Butte Montmartre ou la Tour Eiffel, verbalisation d’une société importatrice de bois présumé illégal et apposition de scellés factices sur le stock saisi… L’enjeu est de sensibiliser l’opinion, mais sans la braquer.

Du Carré vert à la Vélorution

Ces dernières années ont vu naître nombre de collectifs affairés à reconquérir l’espace public hypothéqué par la bagnole. Leur modèle : Reclaim the streets. Créée en 1995, cette association anglaise s’est rendue célèbre par l’organisation de street parties, ou fêtes de rue spontanées destinées à paralyser totalement le trafic routier.

Parmi les rejetons du collectif anglais, le Carré vert. Son haut fait d’armes : avoir bloqué le périphérique parisien pour y dérouler un tapis vert de 200 m2 planté d’arbustes afin d’en appeler à un nouveau partage de la voirie. Voir la vidéo ci-dessous (on conseille vivement de couper le son) :

Carré Vert envoyé par DESOBEIR. -

La reconquête de l’espace public est la revendication phare d’un autre groupe de militants : Vélorution. « Nous ne bloquons pas la circulation, nous sommes la circulation, proclame ce collectif né en 2002. Pour s’en convaincre, il suffit d’aller à l’une de ses manifs : chaque année, pour promouvoir l’usage de la bicyclette comme alternative à la voiture, les « vélorutionnaires » circulent dans les rues de Paris… entièrement nus. Une façon de souligner la vulnérabilité des cyclistes en milieu urbain…

Le clan du néon

Autre cheval de bataille des nouveaux militants verts : la gabegie énergétique. D’où les actions menées par le Clan du néon.

Depuis 2007, ce collectif arpente de nuit les rues des grandes villes françaises pour y éteindre les enseignes lumineuses. L’enjeu est multiple, puisqu’il s’agit à la fois de lutter contre le gaspillage d’électricité et la pollution lumineuse, tout en dénonçant l’omniprésence de la réclame en milieu urbain… Exemple à Lyon :

Clan du néon sur lyoncapitale.fr envoyé par ClanDuNeon. -

Pour en savoir plus :

Les nouveaux militants, de Laurent Jeanneau et Sébastien Lernould. Editions Les Petits matins, Paris, 2008

Un Nouvel art de militer, Sébastien Porte et Cyril Cavalié, Editions Alternatives, Paris, 2009

KHL funkcionāri nekad nav slēpuši un pat ir uzsvēruši KHL ambīcijas “izplesties” Rietumu virzienā un pat tapt par panEiropas līgu. pirmais solis bija Rīgas Dinamo un arī Minskas Dinamo iesaiste līgā jau kopš pirmās sezonas. otrajā sezonā nevienu jaunu ”eiropieti” iesaistīt KHL tomēr neizdevās…

zviedru “otrā atnākšana”. šopavasar plašsaziņas līdzekļos jau ieskanējās ziņa, ka KHL varētu pievienoties zviedru klubi. ziņa “aizdzirksteļoja” no nesaskaņām zviedru elites līgas klubu starpā par TV translēšanas lietām. 5 klubi “piedraudēja”, ka nesaprašanās gadījumā pievienošoties KHL… saprašanās tika panākta, un attiecīgais izteikums par iestāšanos tika norakstīts par “diplomātisko argumentu” un atstāts aizmirstībai.

taču šoruden ir iestudēts nopietnāks solis zviedru kluba iesaistei KHL. 2009. gada 19. novembrī KHL un zviedru hokeja klubs AIK parakstīja nodomu protokolu, kas apliecina kluba plānus iestāties KHL un startēt šajā līgā sākot ar 2010./2011. g. (nākamo) sezonu. nodomu protokols, protams, negarantē to, ka tā arī notiks. taču nodomi, acīmredzot, ir nopietni.

hokeja klubs AIK dibināts 1921. gadā; kluba emblēmā fiksēts 1891. gads, kad dibināts sporta klubs AIK, kurā hokeja “sekcija” atvērās 30 gadus pēc dibināšanas. hokeja kluba AIK sportisko sasniegumu “grāmatā” zelta burtiem “stāv” rakstīti septiņi Zviedrijas čempionu tituli – 1934., 1935., 1938., 1946., 1947., 1982., 1984. gados. kā redzams, pēdējais augstais tituls izcīnīts pirms 25 gadiem. tagad AIK spēlē Zviedrijas otrajā spēcīgākajā līgā – HockeyAllsvenskan, kurā šobrīd (pēc 2009-11-20 spēlēm) 14 klubu konkurencē ieņem 4. vietu. starp citu, AIK klubam ir labi attīstīta fanu kustība.

HockeyAllsvenskan tabula (pēc 2009-11-22 spēlēm; vieta / klubs / punkti):

1. Växjö Lakers HC (43 punkti)
2. IF Malmö Redhawks (42)
3. Leksands IF (41)
4. A I K  IF (36)
5. Almtuna IS (36)
6. Bofors IK (35)
7. Borås HC (35)
8. Mora IK (31)
9. VIK Västerås HK (25)
10. Örebro HK (25)
11. IF Sundsvall Hockey (22)
12. IF Troja/Ljungby (20)
13. IF Björklöven (19)
14. IK Oskarshamn (16)

Lietuvas “versija”. otrs šoruden populārākais KHL attīstības virziens ir Lietuva, kur uzņēmīgi ļaudis ir nodibinājuši vai vismaz izsludinājuši par nodibinātu hokeja klubu, kura mērķis ir spēlēt KHL sastāvā. vēl vairāk – Lietuvas kluba dibinātāji arī izziņoja, ka gatavi Viļņā “piemitināt” kādu no finanšu grūtībās nonākušajiem KHL klubiem – Lada vai Vitjaz… vai Lietuvas kluba funkcionāru paziņojumi paliks tikai “draudu” līmenī, vai arī KHL klubs Viļņā būs, rādīs laiks. Lietuvas “versijas” pretinieki un skeptiķi kā galvenos argumentus, kāpēc lietuviešiem varētu neizdoties, min kluba bāzes trūkumu Lietuvā un nepieciešamību to veidot faktiski no nulles. jebkurā gadījumā, jānovēl Lietuvas kluba veidotājiem saglabāt entuziasmu, “iekrāt” finanses un nonākt KHL! ja ne nākamsezon, tad – kādā no tai sekojošām sezonām.

citi varianti? pērnsezon tika cilātas versijas ne tikai par kāda Zviedrijas kluba dalību KHL, bet arī iespējamo Somijas, Norvēģijas, Čehijas klubu iesaisti. šķiet, tieši čehu kluba Energie (Karlovi Vari; logo līdzās) ienākšana KHL “zonā” bija vistuvāk realizācijai. tomēr – šī gada sākumā tika paziņots, ka čehu klubs 2009./2010. g. sezonā nespēlēs KHL. līgas pārstāvji norādīja, ka nespēlēšanas iemesls ir nauda, ko Karlovi Vari klubs prasot par spēlēšanu KHL…

pašreiz Karlovi Vari klubs cīnās Čehijas spēcīgākās līgas – ekstralīgas (ofic. nos. – O₂ extraliga) ietvaros, 27 spēlēs gūstot 33 punktus un ieņemot 11. vietu (14 klubu konkurencē). detalizētāk skatīt: kluba web lapā hokejkv.cz.

ja jau KHL zem sava “vairoga” jau ir pulcējusi post-padomju hokeja telpu, līdzās Krievijas superklubiem “savācot” Baltkrievijas, Kazahstānas un Latvijas hokeja vienības, tad diezgan loģiska būtu arī Ukrainas hokeja flagmaņa – Kijevas Sokil spēlēšana KHL. taču rādās, ka pagaidām politika nenosaka vai vēl nenosaka šādu risinājumu…

Kijevas Sokil (savulaik brīžam saucās arī Dinamo un Sokil-Eskulap) 2008./2009. g. sezonu cīkstējās pa Krievijas Augstāko līgu (otro stiprāko), bet šosezon jau spēlē Baltkrievijas atklātā čempionāta (Baltkrievijas ekstralīgas) ietvaros. kā iemesls līgas maiņai tiek atkal minētas finanses…

starp citu BAČ ietvaros Sokil ir starp līderiem; šobrīd ar 63 punkti 28 spēlēs un 2. vieta 14 klubu konkurencē. vismaz pagaidām Ukrainas klubs atpaliek par 4 punktiem no Minskas Junost, bet ir priekšā Minskas Dinamo fārmklubam – Šahter (Soļigorska), kuram 58 punkti. piebilde: šajā līgā vismaz šobrīd Liepājas Metalurgs ierindojas 10. vietā, bet Rīgas Dinamo fārmklubs – Dinamo Juniors ir 14. vietā (skatīt aktuālo tabulu).

lasāmviela:

• AIK un KHL fiksē nodomu protokolu (2009. g. novembris) – khl.ru
• 5 zviedru klubi “draud” pievinoties KHL (2009. g. aprīlis) – sportacentrs.com
• AIK oficiālā web lapa – aik.se
• AIK īs-apraksts – wikipedia.org
• AIK fanu forumi – blackarmy.se, goldenfanatics.se, svenskafans.com, supporterklubben.com
• HockeyAllsvenskan līgas oficiālais web-s – hockeyallsvenskan.com
• Viļņa plāno pievienoties KHL klubu saimei: lasīt
• eksperta viedoklis “pret” Lietuvas iespējām KHL – parsportu.lv
• sportacentrs.com (tolaik – esports.lv) versijas par Karlovi Vari kluba nespēlēšanu KHL – 1. raksts; 2. raksts
• Karlovi Vari kluba Energie mājaslapa – hokejkv.cz
• angliski par Kijevas Sokil – wikipedia.org
• Kijevas Sokil oficiālā web lapa – hcsokol.kiev.ua
• Kijevas Sokil fanu lapa – sokol.kiev.ua
• Baltkrievijas ekstralīgas aktuālā (mainīgā) tabula – extraliga.stats.pointstreak.com
• KHL izpilddirektors V.Šalajevs par KHL attīstības plāniem (2008. g. septembris) – allhockey.ru

We recently discussed the changes that have taken place inside Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) as Warren Buffett has gone higher up the food chain.  In his more focused and more opaque approach, it also seems that after a $44 billion deal including debt to buy Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. (NYSE: BNI) that Berkshire Hathaway needs to further make some changes.  Buffett has been talking on and off about a whale of a deal, and that is what we got with the BNSF buyout.  Berkshire Hathaway Inc. lists 51 different subsidiary links inside the Berkshire Hathaway umbrella that are wholly owned or dominantly owned subsidiaries.  There are also more than 40 public US-listed stock holdings in there, and that is before you get into his preferred shares, convertible debt instruments, and debt for deal financing in big public companies.

We have taken a review of the Full Buffett Holdings and come up with a geared down version of his holdings here.  Some of these ‘encouraged’ sales are because of fundamental changes, and some are merely because they are too small to be a benefit even if they tripled in price.  Some are also a follow-on for action he has already taken or already hinted at.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is an obvious exit in the oil patch.  Buffett wants continued exposure to oil, and there are better ways to get exposure for Mr. Buffett.  He has investigated the Canadian oil sands projects, and he eventually buckled to pressure to sell Chinese oil stocks.  But Buffett targeted ConocoPhillips already all on his own for sale and said he would selectively sell as a tax offset even if it rises. It was also lowered in scope over the last quarter and the recent addition of Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) was the right call he should have made in the first place.  Conoco is now at a $78 billion market cap, yet Buffett cam much more easily hide Exxon with almost an unlimited amount of funds as it has a market cap north of $359 billion and is the #1 position in the 24/7 Wall St. Real-Time 500.  Buffett could get his hands on almost $3 billion for the share sale at current levels.

Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI) is one we cannot figure out why he still has in the portfolio other than being ‘long and wrong.’  He has panned newspapers, and the rest of media is challenged still.  At 3.447 million shares, this is also worth a whopping $35 million today.  The notion that this used to be worth 5-times and 8-times more is largely irrelevant now.  The Washington Post Co. (NYSE: WPO) might actually be hard for Buffett to exit because volume is so light.  He might just be stuck with it, and its education business may offset the newspaper business.  But his 1.72 million share stake could raise $700 million today if it could be unlocked.

Moody’s Corp. (NYSE: MCO) is one that was undergoing a game-changing trend for two years before Buffett decided to start lightening up.  The business is no longer in the same right nor with the same future as it once had.  Buffett wants companies with a “forever timeline” and that is just not in the cards any longer.  Ask this… How does the future of Moody’s compare now to how it was running 5 years ago?  No matter how you cut it, Moody’s has a much less dominant role and one under much more regulation and under more public scrutiny.  We interpreted his recent comments that he’s probably exiting this one anyway…. $900 million is here.

Then there is the train and rail competition.  Buffett has already indicated the sale of competing interests in the rail arena.  That takes the 1.933 million shares of Norfolk Southern Corp. (NYSE: NSC) and the 9.55 million shares of Union Pacific Corp. (NYSE: UNP) off the table.  That was roughly $640 million at the last look.  But there is an interesting take here that has not been discussed.  If Buffett really wants to communicate the value of the rail transportation business, he could also dump his 1.429 million shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE: UPS).  That stake is only worth $80 million today, and he could kill two birds with one stone: clean up a small sub-$100 million position and make the effort to further show that rail is the best transport sector to own.

On the healthcare front, Buffett has already decided to lighten up on his health insurance operators. UnitedHealth Group, Inc. (NYSE: UNH) was listed as 3.4 million shares, down from 4.5 million in the prior quarter.  Wellpoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP) was listed as 3.394 million, down slightly from 3.5 million last quarter.  But that Wellpoint stake is also down from 4.7773 million shares in Q1.  Buffett might have been an Obama-backer, but he is lightening up in these health insurance stocks.  The only reason he might not be out entirely is either because of ‘hope’ or for goodwill in D.C.  He would raise about $280 million now by unloading these, and he’d surprisingly be able to do it at close to 52-week highs in these two.

GlaxoSmithKline plc (NYSE: GSK) and Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY) are technically not Buffett’s picks on his own.  It is unlikely that Buffett needs these as a source of funds.  And we do not anticipate a sale from Buffett here.  These could generate more than $200 million if they are exited.  Again, we do not expect these to be sold even though they do not fit in on the Buffett scale today.

Ingersoll-Rand Plc (NYSE: IR) is one that we think is one already on the way out and is probably already gone. He cut the stake way down, and this is worth about $23 million at today’s price.  This isn’t worth Buffett’s time, so we won’t make worth wasting our time nor your time with anything more.

SunTrust Banks, Inc. (NYSE: STI) is just over 3 million shares, so almost $70 million today.  This may be sentimental or for posterity’s sake, and in all fairness is not one we are picking on.  But with a similarly small Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) stake, the stake size could be more easily grown in BofA if he chooses.  Buffett’s recently increased stake in Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) being worth close to $8 billion and the other banks and lenders already held make this seem to be an easy stock to relinquish.

There are two positions in public insurance holdings that either need to be added to or need to be elminated.  Frankly, Buffett has more than enough insurance exposure all the way through the private portfolio.  The Torchmark Corp. (NYSE: TMK) is in individual life and supplemental health insurance products and the 2.8 million share stake is worth just under $120 million today.  The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TRV) was such a small stake that Buffett may have changed his mind or just got caught having his broker start buying in the last 15 minutes of the last day of the quarter.  This is literally a $1.3 million stake.  But it is now a DJIA component and I think Warren wants to show he wants to hold the better quality public stocks.  Our guess is that this will be a larger stake ahead.  If not, he just needs to sell it so that people covering Buffett can ignore it.

Will Buffett sell all these positions? No, of course not. He holds on to positions in many cases until long after they have stayed their welcome in the Buffett house.  But some he has started selling and many seem unlikely compared to the rest of his portfolio.  Many of these either do no longer fit in size nor in practice for his ‘forever’ model.  After tallying all these stakes up mentioned here, Buffett could also use $6 billion to use for funding that BNSF buyout or that he could use to buy what he has always wanted…. A utility.

You can join our open email distribution list to hear more news on key analyst calls, top day trader alerts, mergers and acquisitions, Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG
NOVEMBER 24, 2009

The Fed wants the taxpayer’s money back. It has asked nine large banks, including Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), to give it a timetable for when they will repay TARP funds. All of these banks were put through the government’s stress test of bank financial health earlier this year.

According to Bloomberg, “The Fed’s request may turn up the pressure for banks accustomed to more flexibility on the timing and process of TARP repayment.”

The plan is probably a bad idea.

Moody’s Investors Service says that about $10 trillion in bank debt is due between now at 2015. Over $7 trillion is due within the next three years.

Major banks are not out of the financial woods and their balance sheet problems will get worse in some cases. Although some of the toxic mortgage-backed asset bases have been sold or their values have improved, write-offs on LBO debt, commercial real estate, and consumer credit cards are soaring.

Banks could be caught short on capital within the next year or two if the credit markets do not recover further or if another recession damages the financial markets the way that they were crippled in late 2008.

The Fed and Treasury may want to consider keeping some of the TARP funds in reserve so that they do not have to go back to Congress for new funding later. Congressional concern about deficits would make a second TARP a hard sell. The banking crisis may look like it is over, but that is almost certainly not the case . The quality of many loans on bank balance sheets, big and small, is still bad and there is some reasonable chance that they will get worse.

Douglas A. McIntyre

cīniņi starp Rīgas Dinamo un Lokomotiv līdz šim ir bijuši ļoti ņipri un ar atdevi. sestdienas (2009-11-21) spēle nebija izņēmums. lai arī beidzās 2:3 pēcspēles metienos par labu Jaroslavļas klubam. tomēr šāds 1 punkts ir vajadzīgs, nopelnīts. dažkārt tāds 1 punkts ir uzvarētas spēles vērts. cīņasspara trūkumu dinamiešiem pārmest nevarēja! pret pagājušās sezonas Gagarina kusa finālistiem un šīs sezonas Rietumu konferences otro stiprāko vienību cieši cīnījāmies.

vienus vārtus pēc lieliskas Ankipāna piespēles guva Hosa, kārtējo reizi apliecinot savu Kontinentālās Hokeja Līgas labākā vārtu guvēja statusu. savus otros vārtus “lielajā” Dinamo guva Bukarts, kurš, cita starpā, ir atzīts par pagājušās nedēļas (16.-22.XI) KHL labāko debitantu!

Bukartam vārtu guvumā asistēja jaunieguvums Arnasons. par viņu pēdējās dienas daudz un dažādi baumots un spriedelēts… jācer, ka Arnasona sniegums laukumā būs skaļāks par “runām ap un par”. pret Lokomotiv viņš izskatījās jaulabāk nekā iepriekšējā spēlē pret Spartak. dinamiešu vārtus sargāja Masaļskis. par labāko spēlētāju dinamiešu rindās atzīts Dārziņš.

sastāvs. uzbrukumā: Ņiživijs – Iguldens – Cipulis; Hosa – Petrovickis – Ankipāns; Dārziņš – Karija – M.Rēdlihs; Bukarts – Arnasons – Sprukts. aizsardzībā: Ozoliņš – Sorokins; Svets – Sotnieks; Kr.Rēdlihs – Galviņš. kā 7. aizsargs bija pieteikts Jēkabs Rēdlihs. joprojām ierinda bez traumas ārstējošā Laviņa.

savukārt, Bērziņš, Cibuļskis, A.Džeriņš, Enkuzens un Meija ir palikuši fārmkluba Dinamo Juniors rīcībā. ne bez viņu palīdzības Dinamo Juniors svētdien (2009-11-22)  Baltkrievijas atklātā čempionāta spēlē revanšējās Liepājas Metalurgam ar 5:3 izbraukumā Liepājā. spēlē pret liepājniekiem punkti visiem uz fārmklubu “atkomandētajiem” ne-vārtsargiem: Bērziņam 0+2; A.Džeriņam 1+0; Meijam 0+1; Cibuļskim 0+1. junioru vārtus sargāja Enkuzens, kurš atvairījis 34 no 37 metieniem. pārējie Dinamo Juniors punktu guvēji spēlē pret Liepājas Metalurgu: Jekimovs (1+2); Straupe (1+1); Gipters (1+0); Zembergs (1+0); Hartmanis (0+1).

dinamiešu rezultativitāte (pēc 26 spēlēm; cipari koriģēti atbilstoši dinamoriga.eu aktuālajam sarakstam; ir neatbilstības ar spēļu apskatiem un citām tabulām; t.sk. šajā blogā iepriekš publicētām):

uzbrucēji

1. Hosa 20+9
2. Iguldens 7+12
3. Ņiživijs 6+8
4. Sprukts 4+10
5. Dārziņš 6+7
6. M.Rēdlihs 6+6
7. Ankipāns 3+7
8. Cipulis 4+4
9. Petrovickis 2+6
10. Karija 1+4
11. Fosters 2+2
12. Bukarts 2+1
13. Meija 1+2
14. Bērziņš 1+2
15. Cinks 0+2 [no dinamoriga.eu rezultativitātes saraksta zudis...]
16. Arnasons 0+1 [augstākminētajā sarakstā nav vēl "ieviests"]
17. Hartmanis 0+0
18. A.Džeriņš 0+0

aizsargi

1. Ozoliņš 4+8
2. Galviņš 2+5
3. Kr.Rēdlihs 2+2
4. Laviņš 1+3
5. Sorokins 0+4
6. Svets 1+2
7. Cibuļskis 0+0
8. J.Rēdlihs 0+0
9. Sotnieks 0+0

info vēl:

• spēles apraksts – dinamoriga.eu, lokomotiv.yar.ru, khl.ru
• fotogalerijas – dinamoriga.eu, tribine.lv, parsportu.lv, diena.lv, sportacentrs.com
• spēles video – khl.ru un sportacentrs.com
• spēles online pieraksts - khl.ru un insport.lv
• Bukarts atzīts par nedēļas labāko KHL debitantu – khl.ru
• treneru pēcspēles komentāri (video) – delfi.lv
• Dinamo Juniors vs. Liepājas Metalurgs: 2009-11-22 spēles statistika – extraliga.stats.pointstreak.com
• īsi par Lokomotiv, tā spēlēm pret Dinamo (R) 2008./2009. g. sezonā, pārbaudes spēli 2009-08-29: lasīt
• video: Dinamo Juniors 2010./2011. g. sezonā varētu spēlēt Krievijā – tvnet.lv

The Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE:RBS) has had Cadbury as a corporate client for decades. The financial firm agreed to help fund Kraft’s (NYSE:KFT) potential buyout of Cadbury. RBS’s ownership is controlled by the UK government. A number politicians have raised the issue of why a bank which the British taxpayers own in large part is supporting a hostile takeover that may cost local workers their jobs.

According to the Guardian, “Trade union Unite, which represents Cadbury workers, has also expressed concern about the bank’s role in the possible takeover, particularly since Kraft has so far failed to give firm commitments on job losses or plant closures.”

So, what happens if the day comes when Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) or Citigroup (NYSE:C), where the US government has huge ownership stakes, gives financial support to a bid by a China or EU- or UK-based company to buy a firm in America in which the consolidation may cause job cuts? Members of Congress will object. How far that will get them is anyone’s guess.

Douglas A. McIntyre

We have seen some unusual options trading today.  As you would expect, some is around today’s 4:00 PM close  with today being options expiration date.  But some bets are way out into 2011 and we have some around merger rumors.  All have links with full details on the options trading analysis at VSInvestor:

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) are both seeing very active trading around expiration date today, and the closest strikes are acting as magnets.

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) has seen a very bullish bet in options out to 2011.

There is some elevated Dec-2009 Call options activity in both Leap Wireless International Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP) and MetroPCS Communications Inc. (NYSE: PCS) on today’s re-rumor of a potential deal coming back up.

DryShips, Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) is very active in the stock after an increased convertible note offering, yet the options activity seen today seems muted.

Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) has a big bet out in January 2011 options expiration.

You can join our open email distribution list to hear more news on key analyst calls, top day trader alerts, mergers and acquisitions, Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG
NOVEMBER 20, 2009

There is a rumor that has been around Hollywood for decades that some of the greatest silent film comedy scripts were created by screen writers who would bribe wardens at a local insane asylum to allow a patient to sit in on their story meetings. Allegedly, some of the most hilarious moments in the history of comedic cinema came out of ideas from the minds of people who spent all of their time on locked wards. Even the craziest person in the world can give birth to an idea which is both brilliant and intelligible.

Ronald Ernest Paul, MD, is the member of the House of Representatives from the 14th Congressional District of Texas. He has run for President twice, the first time in 1988 as the candidate for the Libertarian Party. Paul is a man of many talents and has, over the course of his career, published newsletters about investing and the “Ron Paul Survival Report.” Paul is also a coin dealer who believes in home schooling. He is, in other words, a picture perfect member of Congress.

Paul came up with the idea some time ago that the activities of the Federal Reserve are conducted in secret and that the public should have the right to know how, when, and to whom the nation’s central bank lends it money.  He has finally convinced enough of his peers about the validity of his concerns.  Now, the Financial Services Committee has approved an amendment to allow government auditors the right to look at the entire balance sheet of the Federal Reserve. Paul’s quest to bring down the Fed has finally gotten to the point at which the Board of Governors needs to be concerned.

Paul’s amendment is part of a larger bill that intends to deal with the consequences that any future failure of large banks might have on the global credit markets. His program for the Fed may set a precedent that will serve as a model for the entire financial services industry.

The Fed’s argument against Paul’s proposal is simple and defensible. The agency keeps important secrets including which large banks need substantial amounts of money during hard times. The public cannot know these details because it would cause a national panic. What if it was common knowledge that Citigroup (NYSE:C) had borrowed $100 billion in emergency funds from the agency? Citi’s stock could lose 90% of its value in a day. The Fed wants to keep secrets to prevent runs on major banks.  The Fed, its defenders would argue, is the home to impartial financial minds that have the best interests of the nation’s credit system at heart. The average person would not be able to stand the strain of watching the agency’s daily high wire act up close, certainly not during a crisis.

Paul’s logic, as it applies to the Fed, will probably end up being part of a banking system overhaul that will tempt Congress to have audits of private banks made public as well. The people who buy stock in Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) have no idea exactly what the firm carries on its balance sheet. The New York Times recently reported that regulators were aware of the toxic assets on the books of many banks. That is a good deal more than their depositors, shareholders, and customers knew. An open audit of all banks, at least the ones traded on the stock exchanges, would have to be filed with the SEC each quarter as part of a 10-Q if transparency becomes the order of the day. That is the logical end of Paul’s thinking, and it is perhaps the only way to prevent another financial system cataclysm from coming.

Public companies and government agencies have a history of defending secrets that goes back to well before the founding of the modern Federal Reserve and SEC. This secrecy is based almost exclusively on the premise that a typical shareholder is too stupid to understand the complexity of balance sheets, cash flow statements, and profit and loss reports. The information has to be put through a sieve before it can be released beyond the CFO’s office and the audit committee of the board of directors.

Paul’s reason for wanting the Federal Reserve to open its kimono is that the public and members of Congress can understand the details of how the agency works without the help of a math, economics, or physics professor. The public and Congress should be able to influence the Fed because it uses public money and may be putting that capital at unnecessary risk.

The flaw in the thinking about an “open Fed” is that most elected officials and average citizens are too stupid to understand the Fed. They don’t have an IQ problem, but they do suffer, in most case, from a lack of education about complex fiscal policy, macroeconomics, and game theories of John Forbes Nash who was himself schizophrenic. In other words, the Federal Reserve management and staff perform a function that most people cannot possibly understand in any detail. Citigroup may need $100 billion for a week. That does not mean it is going out of business, or, if it is, the Fed knows enough to call the Treasury Secretary immediately.

It is not entirely unfair to compare what goes on inside the Federal Reserve with what happens at the CIA, FBI, or some parts of the Defense Department. Secrets are not, in and of themselves wrong, if they protect something  in the national interest. Ron Paul seems to think that nothing is in the national interest except for dismantling the federal government. Whether that is a good idea or not, it simply cannot be done overnight. It may be good to tear some old institutions down, but it rarely helps if there is no plan to replace them with new institutions of substance. Paul wants to raise the nation’s financial mansion and leave a vacant lot. It could be especially dangerous for this to happen, especially in a time of fiscal crisis.

Paul may have some special standing in Washington or in the mind of the public because he has run for President twice, but so did Ross Perot. The Fed has a number of flaws and most of them were revealed during the credit crisis. That is not solved by letting every person in the republic endorse each check that the Fed sends out.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Blood Alcohol Content is level of alcohol in a person’s bloodstream. When you submit to a breath test, you agree to allow the administrator of that test to measure your BAC. No two people are the same, and thus when two people consume the same amount of alcohol over the same time-frame, they may have very different results. This can be due to weight, height, sex, body fat and whether or not they have eaten recently. A breath test is not a infallible method of determining BAC. A BAC calculator will give you a close reading of what your BAC might have been in a particular situation.

“treniņš” pret Liepājas Metalurgu. uz fārmklubu pirms spēles ar liepājniekiem 17. novembrī uzreiz pēc atgriešanās no izbraukuma bija nosūtīti daži “lielie” dinamieši – aizsargi Sotnieks un Cibuļskis, uzbrucēji Bukarts, Meija un A.Džeriņš, kā arī vārtsargs Enkuzens.

nosauktie vīri bija labs papildinājums Dinamo Juniors ierindai cīņā BAČ ietvaros pret Liepājas klubu, kuram gan juniori 17. novembrī piekāpās ar 5:6 bullīšos. spēle bija interesanta – ar drāmas un rakstura izrādes elementiem – 2:0 uz 2:4 uz 3:5 un 5:5 pamatlaikā, junioriem izlīdzinājumu gūstot pēdējā minūtē pie noņemta vārtsarga…

junioru cīņā lielu artavu deva “lielā” Dinamo atsūtītais papildinājums. hat-trick – 3 vārtu guvumi Roberta Bukarta rēķinā. 1+1 Andrim Džeriņam, bet pārējie “lielie” – Meija un Sotnieks nopelnīja pa rezultatīvai piespēlei (0+1). pie punktiem netika Cibuļskis. savukārt Nauris Enkuzens iestājās junioru vārtos 2. perioda otrā pusē, kad Nikoja Žurkova sargātajā ”cietoksnī” liepājnieki bija sametuši 4 golus.

savukārt, no “īstenajiem” junioriem izceļams Roberts Jekimovs, kurš darbojās aktīvi, cīnījās un dalīja piespēles. vārtus gan neguva šoreiz, bet 0+2 nopelnīja. lai arī virknei “no malas vērotāju” var nepatikt kādas Jekimova īpašības, taču Roberts laukumā nereti izskatījās apmēram pus-līmeni spēcīgāks par saviem cīņubiedriem… Dinamo Juniors ierindā 2 punktus (1+1) izcīnīja arī Miks Indrašis. pa vienai piespēlei “sastrādāja” – Straupe, Vilkoits, Apelis, Zembergs.

sastāva aplēses pret Spartak. šodien varēsim “ievērtēt”, kurus uz fārmklubu aizkomandētos treneri laidīs cīņā pret Spratak. jādomā, ka viņi varētu būt nepieciešami arī tāpēc, ka Dinamo “traumēto soliņš” nestāv tukšs… rādās, ka Laviņš vēl nebūs atkopies un pret Spartak necīnīsies. savukārt, Ņiživija spēlēšana šajā mačā vēl ir “uz jautājuma zīmes”… toties, šodienas (2009-11-19) cīņā pret Spartak gaidām Arnasona debiju rīdzinieku rindās.

par Spartak. hokeja kluba Spartak lielākie panākumi attiecināmi uz padomju laikiem – četrreiz PSRS zelts (pēdējoreiz – 1976. gadā), kā arī “čupām” sudraba un bronzas medaļu. pēdējos gados šādi panākumi ir izpalikuši; tomēr Spartak tiek ierindots pie Krievijas favorītkomandām. pirmajā KHL regulārajā sezonā (2008./2009.) Spartak ar 93 punktiem 56 spēlēs ieņēma 9. vietu. izslēgšanas spēļu 1. kārtā spartakieši sērijā ar 3-0 uzveica Sanktpēterburgas SKA vienību. savukārt, play off 2. kārtā Spartak sērijā ar 0-3 atzina nākamo Gagarina kausa finālistu Lokomotiv pārākumu.

2009./2010. g. sezonu Spartak uzsāka ļoti cerīgi – pirmajās 3 spēlēs uzvaras pamatlaikā un tobrīd 1. vieta Rietumu konferencē. toreiz 4. spēlē Spartak “uzvaras gājienu” pārtrauca rīdzinieki, pieveicot spartakiešus viņu mājās ar 5:1 (19. septembrī 2009.). pēc 2009-11-18 spēlēm Spartak ar 37 punktiem 24 spēlēs ieņem 6. vietu Rietumu konferencē.

palasīt vēl:

• pirmsspēles versijas – dinamoriga.eu, parsportu.lv, sportacentrs.com
• Laviņš nespēlēs, Ņiživijs? – insport.lv
• Dinamo fanu aicinājums “izūjināt” Karijas traumētāju Obšutu – kasjauns.lv
• 6 dinamieši nosūtīti uz fārmklubu – dinamoriga.eu
• Dinamo Juniors vs. Liepājas Metalurgs 2009-11-17 spēles fotoreportāža – dinamoriga.eu, diena.lv
• 2009-11-17 spēles statistika – extraliga.stats.pointstreak.com
• par Dinamo (R) un Spartak 19. septembra (2009.) spēli: lasīt
• par Dinamo (R) un Spartak 2008./2009. g. sezonas spēlēm: lasīt

[attēlā: Roberts Bukarts 17. novembra spēlē "presē" gan liepājniekus, gan tiesnešus... foto no dinamoriga.eu.]

zyakaira notes: To date the Jobs report at recovery.gov is showing jobs being created in non existent (congressional) districts, Arizona RE is still down 75-90% over 2007..it all happened here and they are borrowing more from a private bank, why doesn’t the Obama Administration print for them? We know ist is irreproachably above the law and all that but the stimulus has a lot of these funds still available!! Jobs are not really happening, mortgages are not being denominated in the numbers provided for.. and the Healthcare bill not fall short unless we find where the real money would be needed in the pipeline..best of luck to recovery.gov

On the other hand, it’s good that the bank can get together for Arizona right now, may be it will just get paid from one of Geithner subscribed kitties down the line..

You think you owe your bank and credit card company a lot of money?

The state of Arizona is primed to take out a $700 million line of credit (essentially a loan) with Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) to help deal with its budget deficits and financial woes.

The Arizona State Loan Commission will hold a meeting on the BofA credit line/loan on Thursday, State Treasurer Dean Martin said Wednesday.

The agenda of the meeting includes notations that in order to discuss the loans, the Loan Commission may go into closed-door sessions that will not be open to the public.

The state faces large budget deficits that could total as much as $4.5 billion for the rest of this fiscal year and the next budget year.

The Loan Commission comprises Martin, Gov. Jan Brewer and Arizona Department of Administration director David Raber.

State plans to take out $700M line of credit – Phoenix Business Journal:.

Updated throughout the day.

Updated 1.48 PM EST:  News Corp’s (NYSE:NWS) MySpace is in talks to buy free music streaming site imeem. (AP)

Update 1.42 PM EST:  Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) will launch its own Android phone  (TechCrunch)

Carl Icahn is aggressively buying shares in MGM  (HollyWood Daily)

Apollo Management may try to list on the NYSE. (FT)

Paulson & Co. believe that Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) will double by the end of 2011.

Oil prices at $80 could damage the economy.  (Fortune)

The low volume of the rally is raising concern about why investors are not convinced the market is going higher  (CNBC)

Subway may open 1,000 stores in Russia by 2015, a challenge to McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD)  (Reuters)

Douglas A. McIntyre

The most charitable thing that can be said about Vikram Pandit, the CEO of Citigroup (NYSE:C) since December 11. 2007, is that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The bank’s stock is down 90% since his first day as chief executive. The shares of other large international banks were battered by the credit crisis, but JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM) and Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) have gained most of their value back during the two-year period. Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), the most hapless of all the large financial firms, has even performed better than Citi in the market.

The time bombs of mortgage-backed securities were already sitting on the Citi balance sheet when Pandit was given his job. He can claim to be blameless for the cause of most of the firm’s severe problems and in that he would be right. What history will remember Pandit for, as much as his bad luck for being at Citi as the markets fell apart is how little he did to improve the bank’s fortunes. Most of Citi’s restructuring was forced on the company by the government. The firm has done some modest joint venture work in its private client and wealth management business by selling some of these parts of Citi to Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS). Citi plans a public offering of it Primerica division.

But, the firm remains a nearly unmanageable monolith with 350,000 employees and 200 million customers. Many of its businesses bear no relationship to one another. Citi is no better off than it was the day Sandy Weill created it. The economy is just worse now.

Pandit did have a chance to completely alter Citi and perhaps in the process do something extraordinary for the company’s shareholders. Citi’s Institutional Clients Group is an investment bank tucked inside its parent. It should be valued more on the basis that Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) or Morgan Stanley are. That will not happen until it is an independent business.

Citi owns Banamex, the largest bank in Mexico. It is nearly impossible to make a case that a large financial firm in a developing country which has only modest economic prospects is valuable long-term investment.

Citi’s credit card business would probably be worth more to investors as a separate business. Capital One (NYSE:COF), which is in the same sector of the financial industry, has done much better in the market than Citi has during the two years since Pandit took over.
It is not always true, but in general more nimble companies can navigate a disaster better than firms which are highly complex collections of assets. That may be the lesson of GE’s (NYSE:GE) performance during the recession. The same may hold true for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) which has at least five major businesses, some of them with almost no relationship to the company’s massive operating system and business software operations.

The Personnel and Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors of Citigroup Inc. had a meeting last week. They determined that Vikram Pandit will be paid a base salary of $1 next year and will get no “stock salary” for the period. He may have suggested the compensation as a gesture to Citi’s battered shareholders. It is not much of a token. Those shareholders would rather have Pandit take home $50 million and see Citi’s stock back where it was on December 11, 2007

Douglas A. McIntyre

Reuters:   Thain regrets nothing he did at Merrill Lynch and during its merger with Bank of America (NYSE:BAC).

Reuters:   Trump put his support to the bondholders of his casino business.

FT:   A Chinese court ruled against Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) in an intellectual property case.

Reuters:   Almost 15,000 Americans admitted to offshore tax cheating.

Reuters:   Hershey (NYSE:HSY) and Ferrero are in talks about buying Cadbury.

Reuters:   House Democrats are advancing their “too big to fail” legislation.

Reuters:   Fed officials differ on the recovery’s pace.

Reuters:   Citigroup (NYSE:C) upped the base salaries of some executives.

Reuters:   RIM (NASDAQ:RIMM), maker of the Blackberry, will stick to its current strategy.

Reuters:   The CEO of Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) apologized for the firm’s role in the credit crisis.

Reuters:   US consumers expect deep holiday discounts.

Reuters:   Microsoft announced it new cloud computing plans.

WSJ:   Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) and Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM) are being hurt by commercial loan defaults affecting transactions for apartment buildings.

WSJ:   Goldman Sachs and Buffett have put together a program to help small businesses.

WSJ:   Federal regulators are putting together plans to get cheap broadband to all Americans.

WSJ:   The head of the IMF said a stronger yuan would help global economics.

WSJ:   Delta (NYSE:DAL) and its alliance of airlines will offer JAL over $1 billion in funding.

WSJ:   Mitsubishi UFJ (NYSE:MTU) will $11 billion in stock.

WSJ:   Vivendi and GE (NYSE:GE) are setting terms for the buyout of the European company’s piece of NBCU.

WSJ:   GM’s plan of Opel is still not set.

WSJ:   Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) will buy Semitool.

WSJ:   The FBI thinks terrorist are planning cyber attacks.

WSJ:   There are still too many houses in the US to support a market recovery.

WSJ:   A government report says Goldman Sachs would have suffered massive losses if AIG (NYSE:AIG) had not honored financial commitments backed by the government.

WSJ:   Pimco will set up a business to help assess bond risk.

WSJ:   New ETFs offer investors the chance to put money into the market like hedge funds do.

WSJ:   S.C. Johnson may bid against P&G (NYSE:PG) for Sara Lee’s (NYSE:SLE) air freshener business.

WSJ:   CEOs say access to credit is key to job growth.

WSJ:   US power companies are teaming with Chinese operations to get access to new technology.

WSJ:   Barnes & Noble (NYSE:BKS) put a poison pill into effect.

NYT:   The NY State comptroller said Wall St. is on track for record profits.

NYT:   Congress is pushing medical schools on the ghost writing of research.

NYT:   A-Power Energy of China and the U.S. Renewable Energy Group are changing a wind farm deal because of political pressure.

FT:   Apollo is preparing an NYSE listing.

FT:   Sony (NYSE:SNE) is reworking its $5 billion ad budget.

FT:   Banks face ratings downgrades on their bonds.

FT:   A US task force will be set up to fight fraud.

Bloomberg:  Private equity funding is dropping sharply.

Bloomberg:   There are new warnings that China faces asset bubbles.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Als Kind wollten Sie sein wie…? Der Erfinder des Senkrechtstarters, Etienne Oehmichen hieß der!

Was liegt zu Hause neben Ihrem Bett? Eine Stange HB-Zigaretten, was denn sonst.

Welche Dinge würden Sie AUF KEINEN FALL auf eine einsame Insel mitnehmen? Hustenbonbons, Springerstiefel, Peter Stuyvesant Zigaretten.

Welche Dinge würden Sie AUF JEDEN FALL auf eine einsame Insel mitnehmen? Fallschirme, Schutzhelme, Kopfschmerztabletten und Pflaster, sehr viel Kleingeld für den HB-Zigarettenautomaten und für den Notfall noch einen Hustenanfallauswurf-Eimer.

Was ist Ihr Lebensmotto? „Wer wird denn gleich in die Luft gehen, mal lieber schön ruhig bleiben.“

Welches Buch lesen Sie gerade? Ich lese immer nur die Warnhinweise auf den Zigarettenpackungen. Das sind einfach toll: “Ihr Arzt oder Apotheker kann Ihnen helfen, auf Ihre Kosten das Rauchen aufzugeben” und “Rauchen kann zu Durchblutungsstörungen führen und verursacht Inkontinenz” und “Rauchen lässt Ihre Alte häuten” und “Rauchen kann Ihre persönlichen Spermatozonten schädigen und schränkt die Fruchtbarkeit der libyschen Wüste ein” und “Rauchen macht sehr schnell abhängig: Fangen Sie gar nicht erst an! Kaufen Sie sich lieber eine Flasche Wodka!”

Verraten Sie uns Ihre Lieblings-Internetadresse? http://www.lungenkrebs.de

Ihr liebstes Hobby? Hochsprung trainieren. Ich will endlich die 3,50m im Senkrechtstart schaffen. Aus dem Stand! Das wäre ein neuer Weltrekord in meiner Altersklasse.

Was sollte Ihnen später einmal nachgesagt werden? Er hat immer brav seine Tabaksteuer gezahlt.

Wie entspannen Sie am besten? Wenn ich die Werbesendungen von früher gucke. “Mein Bac, dein Bac, Bac ist für uns alle da!” ist einfach Weltklasse. Ich glaube, da hat sogar Ilja Richter mal mitgespielt. — Und die alte Afri-Cola-Werbung, das entspannt mich auch. Ganz cooles Kino. Da gibt es noch mehr von diesen guten Werbespots.

Ihr peinlichstes Erlebnis war …? Bei all meinen Mißgeschicken kann ich mich an ein wirklich peinliches Erlebnis nicht erinnern. Oder doch. Als ich 1974 eine Peter Stuyvesant Zigarette geraucht hatte, wurde mir schlecht und das war mir sehr peinlich.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A)(BRK-B) has shown its Q3-2009 holdings as of September 30, 2009.  We had already seen how his securities holdings were up on the books in the holdings with earnings.  There are also some portfolio changes that have taken place since the September 30 cut-off date.  These have been broken down into 3 groups of ‘A to F’ and ‘G to O’ and ‘P to Z’ so it is more concise and clear.  Here are Warren Buffett’s holdings and accompanying notes for the group ‘A ot F.’

• American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) over 151.6 million shares, same as last quarter.
• Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) 5 million shares; same as last quarter.
• Becton Dickinson & Co. (NYSE: BDX) 1.2 million shares, same as last quarter.
• Burlington Northern Santa Fe (NYSE: BNI) was reported as 76.77 million shares but frankly it does not really matter as BNSF is becoming part of Berkshire.
• Carmax Inc. (NYSE: KMX) 9 million shares is same as last quarter.
• Coca Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) right at 200 million shares, still same as before.
• Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) 12 million shares, same as before.
• Comdisco Holdings (NASDAQ: CDCO) roughly 1.5 million shares, same as before.
• ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) 57.43 million shares, DOWN FROM 62.485 million at the end of June.
• Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST) 5.254 million shares, same as before.
• Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) is a NEW HOLDING of 1.276 million shares.

Eaton Corp. (NYSE: ETN) was NOT LISTED ANY LONGER, so sold from holdings.

BUFFETT HOLDINGS G to O

BUFFETT HOLDINGS P to Z

You can join our open email distribution list to hear more news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, key analyst calls, and more.

JON C. OGG

What is a “pronoun”, a pronoun simply refers to a noun that is very pro in what he is doing. Geddit, geddit =D ^{yes, i am lame}

Ok, back to business.

Previously, i made several entries regarding my college’s graduation convocation and in the final entry, i stated this

“I think that the best way to protest is to have the whole class boycotting the convocation night and only when we get what we want….” Integrity¹

… and today, i was told that someone actually planned to carry this whole “boycotting” at a large scale inviting people to join in the fray and she did in fact got a few to agree with her. Of course, that didn’t pleased the college’s administrative department and certainly not me. Because of what i posted in my blog and subsequently the act of this student publicly announced that she is going to boycott the convocation ceremony is really making  me look bad because it would seem that i was the troll who asked her or at least inciting a coup d’etat against the college. Not true, i am not a troll and also i didn’t incite anyone.

Just to clarify the whole thing, one line of words will be sufficient, i have absolutely NO idea who this student is and i have made no contact whatsoever with her be it during or not during classes. Therefore, whatever that is doing or going to do, she is doing at her own free will. Well, she could be influenced by others by definitely not me but whatever it is, this is getting violent and out of hand. I mean, ripping somebody’s head off… c`mon, you got to be kidding me.

Moving on…

I believed that i have wronged the college for publishing misleading contents regarding the convocation that is coming up this 8th December 2009. Honestly, i haven’t been fair to the college.

“…Foto Prime’s Graduation Package is RM388.00, for one robe and one photo with NO frame. If you want to have the photo taken that night to be framed, another RM120.00 is to be paid.” Integrity¹
There is no dispute as to the price of the photography package, RM388.00 but there are few things that i need to add. RM388.00 doesn’t only gives you ONE graduation robe and ONE photo without frame as how i was told by one of the Foto Prime staffs when they came over to collect deposits. Clearly, i was misinformed. RM388.00 actually consists of :-

• Robe Rental
• 3 Photos of the Convocation Ceremony(4R, 5R, 8R – waxed)
• 1 Group Photo (12″ – waxed)
• 4 Individual Portraits (1 – 8R; 3 – 4R)
• 4 Copies of the Individual Portrait (passport size)
• 1 CD (contains soft copies of the photos)
• 1 DVD recording of the entire function

Having the items listed down, RM388.00 doesn’t only include ONE robe and ONE photo without frame. I know some of you actually included the RM200.00 as costs giving a total of RM588.00 which is stupid, the RM200.00 is a deposit for the robe rental which will be returned as soon as you returned the robe. I find it reasonable to do so because if people would abscond with your pet cat, why not a robe.

With that being said and done, i have came across too comparisons are being made to BAC in relation to the graduation packages and it turns out that BAC is indeed way cheaper than ATC but not without its costs. BAC is charging only RM150.00 per pax BUT the only thing they have in the package is this :-

• Robe Rental
• 1 Individual Photo On Stage (8R)
• 1 Group Photo (12″)
• High-Tea

You must be wandering now “WOW, RM150.00 for photos and the price is inclusive of food” but of course a distinction has to be made, BAC is offering high tea whereas ATC is organizing a dinner. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that the costs for dinner is relatively higher than of a high tea. Furthermore, the locality has to be taken into account. One is at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre and the other, Sime Darby Convention Centre, Bukit Kiara. Really now, tell me the parking rates in Suria KLCC is cheaper than the ones in Solaris, Mont Kiara.

Talking about “Let The Facts Speak For Itself” as what was the album named. Seriously, what facts? What is in tune except for the fact that both are convocation ceremonies.

So, i don’t really think it’s fair to force ATC to subscribe to a price that is quoted for something lower and demand to receive something of a much higher value. Ask yourself people, will your drive a Perodua into a BMW service centre and asked them why is that your car handles differently from a standard E90 320i?

You know, if you don’t complain paying RM120.00 per pax for Jogoya’s buffet dinner, why should RM180.00 this be a problem to you. You get food and on top of that, entertainment. Best of all, this is tax free so no government or service charges -.-

I know i stressed that i won’t be attending the convocation ceremony because on how it was excessively priced but now knowing that the price although is priced above average, it is not without its reasons and to be honest, if i am free on that day itself, i would actually go now but sadly i have agreed to follow my dad to Frankfurt on the 8th and will only be returning on the 11th.

Now go forth, be fruitful and multiply!

]]> http://valuehuntr.com/2009/11/15/paulson-buys-banks-that-lost-value-in-credit-crisis/ Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:51:27 +0000 ValueHuntr http://valuehuntr.com/2009/11/15/paulson-buys-banks-that-lost-value-in-credit-crisis/

By Saijel Kishan and Cristina Alesci

Aug. 13 (Bloomberg) — John Paulson, the hedge-fund manager whose wagers against the U.S. housing market helped him earn an estimated $2.5 billion last year, bought Bank of America Corp. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. stock in the second quarter, while adding to stakes in gold companies.

His firm, Paulson & Co., bought 168 million shares of Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America valued at $2.2 billion as of June 30, according to a filing yesterday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. It was the biggest new purchase in the second quarter for Paulson, 53, and made him the bank’s fourth-largest owner.

“It’s ironic because he was the one that made the right call shorting subprime,” said Jerome Dodson, who oversees $2.5 billion at Parnassus Investments in San Francisco. “His timing is good but he probably won’t be as successful with this purchase as he was with betting the housing market would collapse.”

Paulson, who manages about $29 billion, last year started a hedge fund, called Paulson Recovery fund, to invest in financial firms hurt by mortgage writedowns. He boosted investments in gold companies this year to help mitigate potential inflation as governments worldwide increase spending to help their economies recover from recession. Gold has gained 7.7 percent this year.

Stefan Prelog, a spokesman for New York-based Paulson, declined to comment on the filing.

Bank Stocks

Bank of America gained 94 percent in the second quarter as concern the government would take an ownership stake eased amid signs of an improving economy. Paulson also bought 2 million shares of Goldman Sachs, the New York-based investment bank, in the period.

He ended the quarter with 7 percent of the UltraShort Financials ProShares exchange-traded fund, which is used by investors who expect bank shares to decline. The fund declined 57 percent in the quarter as the Dow Jones U.S. Financials Index rose 29 percent. Paulson’s 2 million shares were valued at $84 million on June 30.

Bank of America is the second-largest home lender, trailing Wells Fargo & Co., after acquiring Countrywide Financial Corp. last year. Countrywide lost $703.5 million in 2007 and almost collapsed under the weight of defaulting subprime mortgages.

Paulson’s filing came a day after Timothy Barakett, founder of the $5.5 billion Atticus Capital LP, said he was closing his $3.5 billion Atticus Global Fund to spend more time with his family and concentrate on philanthropic interests. Atticus bought Bank of America shares valued at $355 million in the second quarter, according to a regulatory filing on Aug. 10.

Betting on Gold

Paulson’s stake in the bank is the fund’s second-biggest holding after SPDR Gold Trust. He left unchanged his 9 percent stake in the investment fund that buys gold bullion, according to the filing.

His firm became the largest holder of Johannesburg-based gold producer AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. after buying 40 million shares to end the quarter with a 12 percent stake. Paulson also increased his stake in Johannesburg-based Gold Fields Ltd., becoming the third-largest owner of its U.S.-listed shares.

The fund reduced its stake in Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF, a fund that mirrors moves in the Amex Gold Miners Index, after selling 11 million shares. He owned a 5.3 percent stake in the fund in the second quarter valued at $227 million, down from 15 percent in the first three months of the year.

The hedge fund manager left unchanged a 4.4 percent stake in mining firm Kinross Gold Corp., according to the filing.

Paulson’s Pay

Paulson earned an estimated $2.5 billion last year, according to Institutional Investor’s Alpha Magazine. His Credit Opportunities Fund soared almost sixfold in 2007 on bets that subprime mortgages would plummet.

Last year, his largest fund, the Advantage Plus Fund, returned 37 percent, compared with a loss of 19 percent for hedge funds on average. The fund has gained 16 percent this year. The industry has returned 12 percent, according to Hedge Fund Research Inc.

Money managers who oversee more than $100 million in equities must file a Form 13F within 45 days of each quarter’s end to list their U.S.-traded stocks, options and convertible bonds. The filings don’t show non-U.S. securities or how much cash the firms hold.

Paulson reported holdings valued at $17.1 billion at the end of June compared with $9.3 billion at the end of the first quarter. He placed bets during the quarter on companies including Sun Microsystems Inc. and Wyeth that are takeover targets.

Tech, Drug Stocks

Paulson bought 74 million shares of Santa Clara, California-based Sun Microsystems, which is being taken over by Oracle Corp. for $7.4 billion. The new purchase was his second- largest in the second quarter, according to the filing.

The hedge fund increased its stake in Madison, New Jersey- based Wyeth, which is set to be acquired by Pfizer Inc., by buying 18 million shares of the drugmaker, according to the filing.

Paulson also increased his stake in Schering-Plough Corp. after buying 44 million shares in the Kenilworth, New Jersey- based firm. Schering-Plough agreed in March to be taken over by Merck & Co.

As you see below, Paulson’s fund has added BAC, Citi, Indymac, GS and even State Street using the enhanced corpus from shorting the world’s top banks against the MBS boom in 2007 when we had tipped over in volumes and quality of MBS/Sub-Prime

Interestingly, Dimon’s JP Morgan does not figure in this list.  In an earlier article we had also brought out media reports of his play on the Kraft Cadbury deal!  It wouldn’t be surprising if he gets a couple of ME And Asian investors in his hedge funds in a couple of months. He is sitting on a pretty pile and it will be much bigger in a couple of months when the banks start making some real gains after the accounting bounce back in the last 2 quarters in their fixed income portfolio

Paulson, one of the world's largest hedge-fund firms, held 300 million shares of Citigroup Inc. (C 4.15, +0.10, +2.47%) at the end of September, according to a regulatory filing late Friday. Three months earlier, the firm had no stake in the financial-services giant.

The stake in Citi was valued at $1.45 billion on Sept. 30, according to the filing. It’s not clear whether Paulson still owns the stake, but the firm doesn't specialize in rapid trading.

Citi stock climbed 2.5% to $4.15 during after-hours action Friday.

The Citigroup investment follows a big move by Paulson into Bank of America Corp. (BAC 16.00, +0.02, +0.13%) shares earlier this year. See story on Paulson's Bank of America stake.

Paulson, run by John Paulson, is best known for generating huge returns betting against mortgage-related securities in 2007 and financial institutions in 2008. However, the firm late last year launched the Paulson Recovery Fund, which invests in financial-services firms that are looking to shore up weakened capital positions.

As 2009 began, Paulson was among a group of private-equity investors who acquired failed bank IndyMac from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., injecting $1.3 billion into the lender.

In the second quarter, Paulson’s hedge funds bought bank stocks including Bank of America, Goldman Sachs Group (GS 176.68, -0.08, -0.05%) and State Street Corp. (STT 40.40, -0.05, -0.12%) , according to securities filings.

via Paulson held big stake in Citi on Sept. 30 – MarketWatch.

John Paulson is rather notorious, and wealthy, for how much he picked up by shorting financial stocks on the way down.  But the financial world found out in August that Paulson & Co. had bought up many key financial and banking stocks.  Paulson & Co. Inc. is out with a 13-F filing after the close showing he is still in many key financial stocks.

The famed hedge fund manager took a massive stake in Citigroup and sold his entire interest in Goldman Sachs

• Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) was listed as 159,794,229 shares, down from 167,990,464 shares.
• Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF) was static as a stake of 17,000,000 shares of common stock.
• Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) is listed as 300,000,000 (three-hundred million) of common stock.
• Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) was static as a 5,000,000 share stake.
• First Horizon National Corp. (NYSE: FHN) was 7.11 million, up from a stake of 3,000,000 shares in August.
• JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) was down to 2,000,000 shares, down from an August stake of 7,000,000 shares of common stock.
• Marshall & Ilsley Corp. (NYSE: MI) was static at 12,000,000 shares of common stock.
• People’s United Financial Inc. (NASDAQ: PBCT) was static at 2,750,000 shares of common stock.
• Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF) was static at 35,000,000 shares of common stock.
• SunTrust Bank Inc. (NYSE: STI) was static at 1,500,000 shares of common stock.

We had also noted back in October how Conseco, Inc. (NYSE: CNO) had scored a Paulson investment.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) was NOT in the new filing compared to the August filing where he listed 2,000,000 shares of common stock in the August filing.  State Street Corp. (NYSE: STT) was NOT in the filing versus a stake of 700,000 shares of common stock in August.

JON C. OGG

Updated throughout the day.

Updated 10.30 AM EST: PALM (NASDAQ:PALM) shares are up on speculation that Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) or Nokia (NYSE:NOK) will buy the faltering handset firm (VSInvestor)

Former Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) CEO and New Jersey governor Jon Corzine said he has not talked to Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) about running the firm. (The Deal)

Some former bank CEOs are considering bidding for failed banks at FDIC auctions.  (WSJ)

Now that it has settled a legal dispute against AMD (NYSE:AMD), Intel’s (NASDAQ:INTC) biggest challenge is competition from ARM Holdings  (BusinessWeek)

Douglas A. McIntyre