THE PIG LIKES TO PLAY WITH TECHNOLOGY AND FINDS IT A FASCINATING ADDITION TO DAILY LIFE. ITS NOT SO GOOD WHEN THE PIG TRIES TO DO TOO MUCH WITH TECHNOLOGY AND THINGS START TO COLLAPSE. ITS WITH THIS IN MIND THAT THE PIG SWEARS NEVER TO REFORMAT A HARD DRIVE WITHOUT THE PIGS TECH DEPARTMENT BEING PRESENT ! SHEER SUICIDE SAYS THE PIG.
GSH.V....NO STORY ON THIS ONE BUT A HEALTHY SCAN NONETHELESS TONIGHT AND INCIDENTALLY THE LAST 4 NIGHTS. ANOTHER PLAY BEING ACCUMULATED EITHER FOR PENDING NEWS OR SPRING DRILLING. A DOUBLE EASY ON IT BUT IN THE MEDIUM TERM. SOMEONE SURE LIKES....
NER.V...ANOTHER MULTI NIGHT SCANNER. ACCUMULATED REGULARLY, AND NOT MUCH FOR GOSSIP. THE PIGS GOT A VIBE ABOUT THIS ONE. HE WILL WATCH IT AND IF IT MOVES OR STARTS TO MOVE WILL JUMP IN FOR A FEW. SCANNER SAYS GO, CHART SAYS GO......PIG SAYS WHOA THEN GO.....
THE PIGS CLOSING MARKETS NEWS OF THE DAY.....
Trading Day: TSX drops 268 points as Europe’s debt problems spark global sell-off
The S&P/TSX Composite index tumbled 261.70 points, or 2.3 per cent, to 11,128.76, for its biggest one-day drop since October 2009. The S&P/TSX Venture composite sank 61.81 points, or 4.1 per cent, to 1,452.18, for its steepest percentage drop since November of 2008. The Canadian dollar slid nine-tenths of a cent to 93.22 cents US. U.S. markets also took a pounding, as traders sold equities and commodities,
bidding up the U.S. dollar to its highest levels in seven months.
The Dow Jones Industrials had their worst day since July 2009, dropping 268.37 points, or 2.6 per cent, to 10,002.18. The S&P 500 skidded 34.17, or 3.1 per cent, to 1,063.11, while the Nasdaq composite slumped 65.48, or thee per cent, to 2,125.43.
Gold prices dropped the most in more than a year, with the April contract sinking $49, or 4.4 per cent, to $1,063 US an ounce. Copper sank 9.45 cents, or 3.2 per cent, to $2.8790 US a pound, its lowest level since Oct. 16. None of this helped mining stocks Thursday: The S&P/TSX global gold index dropped nearly five per cent, while the base-metal group slumped six per cent. Barrick Gold, the biggest Canadian producer, dropped $1.60, or 4.2 per cent, to $36.45, down 28 per cent from its December high. Lake Shore Gold shed 37 cents, or 12 per cent, to $2.75, bringing its losses in 2009 to 33 per cent. New Gold fell 24 cents, or 5.3 per cent, to $4.33, trimming its gains for 2009 to 14 per cent. Shares of New Gold closed at $2.95 one year ago, and traded as high as $5.19 on Jan. 11.
Base-metal stocks were making gold miners look good on Thursday: Vancouver-based Ivanhoe Mines, with its controlling stake in Mongolia’s Oyu Tolgio, the biggest undeveloped copper deposit in the world, nose-dived $1.88, or 12 per cent, to $13.74, closing not far off its low for the day of $13.65. Teck Resources sank $2.97, or eight per cent, to $33.89. Quadra Mining sank $1.01, or seven per cent, to $13.19. Crude oil took its biggest one-day drop since July, plunging $3.84, or five per cent, to $73.14 US a barrel for the March contract. The March natural gas contract, reflecting actual supply and demand conditions more closely than the rest of the commodity space, actually added 1.8 cents to $5.437 US per million Btu. That didn’t prevent EnCana, the biggest Canadian gas producer, from dropping 45 cents, or four per cent, to $10.86.
Overlooked in the selling frenzy was the U.S. Labor Department’s report showing a 6.2-per-cent annualized rise in labour productivity, the fastest improvement since 1966. Also lost in the stack of sell orders was December’s factory orders report from the U.S. commerce department, up 1.2 per cent for the fourth consecutive monthly increase.
Canada’s biggest software company, Open Text, added $3.95, or 9.2 per cent, to close at $46.98. Earnings jumped to $21.2 million US, or 37 cents a share, compared to one penny a year earlier, on sales that grew 19 per cent to $247.8 million. Shares of Burger King rose 51 cents, or 2.9 per cent, to $18.01 US, after the fast food chain’s $1 double-cheeseburger gamble paid off, driving earnings growth of 12 per cent in Q2, to $50.2 million US, or 37 cents a share, from $44.3 million US, or 33 cents a year earlier.
* * *
Google, U.S. National Security Agency team up to probe cyberattack: report
17:35 EST Thursday, Feb 04, 2010
Washington — Internet search firm Google Inc. is finalizing a deal that would let the U.S. National Security Agency help it investigate a corporate espionage attack that may have originated in China, the Washington Post reported Thursday.
The aim of the investigation is to better defend Google, the world's largest Internet search company, and its users from future attacks, the Post said, citing anonymous sources with knowledge of the arrangement.
The sources said Google's alliance with the NSA – the intelligence agency is the world's most powerful electronic surveillance organization – would be aimed at letting them share critical information without violating Google's policies or laws that protect the privacy of online communications.
“NSA is not able to comment on specific relationships we may or may not have with U.S. companies,” the agency said in a statement.
As a general matter, “NSA works with a broad range of commercial partners and research associates” on security solutions for the Defence Department and other customers and on “cutting-edge technologies that will secure the information systems of tomorrow,” the statement said.
Under the arrangement, the NSA would not be viewing user searches or e-mail accounts, the Post said. Google also would not be sharing proprietary data with the NSA, the newspaper's sources said.
Google took the unusual step on Jan. 12 of announcing that it had been hit by sophisticated cyberattacks in mid-December and that it was reviewing its business operations in China.
The company said the cyberattacks targeted Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists and an investigation found at least 20 other large companies had been targeted by cyberattacks.
China responded several days later with a defence of its state control of the Internet. A top official said online pornography, fraud and rumours were a menace and that Internet media must help “guide public opinion” in China.
U.S. Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair said on Tuesday the cyberattacks against Google were a wakeup call.
A partnership between the Internet search giant and the NSA touches on the sensitive issue of how to balance individual privacy and national security online.
Google approached the NSA in the aftermath of the attacks, but reaching an agreement has taken weeks because of the sensitive nature of information-sharing between the two sides, the Post quoted its sources as saying.
The focus of the co-operative venture would not be to determine who was behind the attacks, the newspaper added, citing its sources. That would be nearly impossible.
Instead the aim is to build a better defence of Google's networks, or what technicians call “information assurances,” the newspaper quoted the sources as saying.
As China goes, so too does Hong Kong these days, usually for the better but not without risks, as evidenced by the Hang Seng's recent pullback in response to the Chinese government's plans to tighten lending.
The aim of the investigation is to better defend Google, the world's largest Internet search company, and its users from future attacks, the Post said, citing anonymous sources with knowledge of the arrangement.
The sources said Google's alliance with the NSA – the intelligence agency is the world's most powerful electronic surveillance organization – would be aimed at letting them share critical information without violating Google's policies or laws that protect the privacy of online communications.
“NSA is not able to comment on specific relationships we may or may not have with U.S. companies,” the agency said in a statement.
As a general matter, “NSA works with a broad range of commercial partners and research associates” on security solutions for the Defence Department and other customers and on “cutting-edge technologies that will secure the information systems of tomorrow,” the statement said.
Under the arrangement, the NSA would not be viewing user searches or e-mail accounts, the Post said. Google also would not be sharing proprietary data with the NSA, the newspaper's sources said.
Google took the unusual step on Jan. 12 of announcing that it had been hit by sophisticated cyberattacks in mid-December and that it was reviewing its business operations in China.
The company said the cyberattacks targeted Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists and an investigation found at least 20 other large companies had been targeted by cyberattacks.
China responded several days later with a defence of its state control of the Internet. A top official said online pornography, fraud and rumours were a menace and that Internet media must help “guide public opinion” in China.
U.S. Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair said on Tuesday the cyberattacks against Google were a wakeup call.
A partnership between the Internet search giant and the NSA touches on the sensitive issue of how to balance individual privacy and national security online.
Google approached the NSA in the aftermath of the attacks, but reaching an agreement has taken weeks because of the sensitive nature of information-sharing between the two sides, the Post quoted its sources as saying.
The focus of the co-operative venture would not be to determine who was behind the attacks, the newspaper added, citing its sources. That would be nearly impossible.
Instead the aim is to build a better defence of Google's networks, or what technicians call “information assurances,” the newspaper quoted the sources as saying.
Hong Kong's richest...............
Russell Flannery
15:49 EST Thursday, Feb 04, 2010
As China goes, so too does Hong Kong these days, usually for the better but not without risks, as evidenced by the Hang Seng's recent pullback in response to the Chinese government's plans to tighten lending.
This is particularly true for the city's richest business people, who have largely been upping their bets on the mainland, investing billions in buildings, shops and hotels. Peter Woo's Wheelock is finishing construction on one of Shanghai's tallest towers. Gordon Wu's Hopewell Holdings is building highways there. Hang Lung Group, run by Ronnie Chan, gets 40 per cent of its rental income from Shanghai. Tang Yiu's Belle International is the mainland's largest retailer of women's shoes. Over a dozen of Hong Kong's 40 richest have substantial real estate investments there.
The mainland has also bolstered fortunes in Hong Kong and Macau as affluent Chinese tourists spend their money in the city's stores, hotels and casinos. All of this has helped push up the total net worth of Hong Kong's 40 richest to $135-billion, up from $82-billion a year ago but still below its 2008 high of $179-billion.
- In pictures: Hong Kong's richest
- The 50 richest people in the world
- The world's most powerful billionaires
- Where the world's richest live
- The richest people at Davos
- Asia's most expensive places to live
There are exceptions to the China rule though. The Fung brothers, who run global outsourcing firm Li & Fung, are adding to their wealth by bolstering their business all over the world, particularly in the U.S. In the past year, it became the sole outsourcing agent for Talbots and bought U.S.-based Wear Me Apparel's clothing and accessories operations, whose products are sold at retailers like Macy's. Then last week the firm, which already makes clothing, toys and other items for retailers like Kohl's and Target, announced a partnership with Wal-Mart Stores, in which it will act as a buying agent for the world's largest retailer.
Li Ka-shing is again the city's richest, gaining $5-billion, though still worth a lot less than his 2008 estimate of $32-billion. Not one list member is poorer. Twenty-four of the returning tycoons added at least 50 per cent to their net worths. Even manufacturers laid low by last year's global recession are doing much better, including the year's biggest percentage gainer, Lee & Man Paper's Patrick Lee.
There are eight newcomers. Some of the notable ones include Allan Wong, cofounder of VTech, maker of cordless phones and electronic education toys; Tang Hsiang Chien, father of Hong Kong's chief secretary for administration, Henry Tang; brothers Alfred Chan and Edward Tan, who are Canadian nationals but Hong Kong residents who operate luxury department stores in China; and Noble Group's vice-chairman, Harindarpal Banga, a foreign national who has long lived and worked in Hong Kong.
This year's list includes the cousins of Hysan Development's Peter Lee, who died in October (they shared Lee's fortune). Missing are seven from last year's ranks, including media tycoon Jimmy Lai, restaurateur Michael Chan and logistics vet Jim Thompson, all of whom added to their fortunes but couldn't keep pace.
Unlike our billionaires rankings, our Hong Kong list includes numerous family fortunes. In acknowledgment of that, we once again combined the fortunes of cousins Michael and Patrick Wu.
The list was compiled using shareholding and financial information obtained from the families and individuals themselves, stock exchanges and analysts. Stock prices and exchange rates were locked in on Jan. 22. Private companies were valued based on comparison with prevailing earnings or other financial ratios.
No comments:
Post a Comment