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Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Know what time it is in 16 regions with the Time Traveler Watch
If you travel often or deal with people in all corners of the world, knowing the local time can be a challenge… unless you have a Time Traveler watch from Watchismo. The watch uses 16 landmark buildings to mark the time in different countries. Big Ben for London, Eiffel Tower for Paris, Statue of Liberty [...]
How Marines Train for an Enemy Like North Korea
Tanks, F/A-18s, artillery, armored vehicles, and MV-22 tiltrotor Ospreys: Just another day of live-fire training at the Marine Corps' Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms, Calif. PM was there to observe?at close range?the climax of the second-ever Integrated Training Exercise (ITX), a training event meant to prepare 800 Marines for deployment.
Unlike earlier training exercises, the Marines' imaginary enemies at the ITX are not insurgent infantry with rocket propelled grenades and roadside bombs. Instead, late last year the training personnel here set up a scenario in which Marines oppose battle tanks, mechanized infantry, and antiaircraft missiles.
America's most probable military opponents?rogue states, unsteady regimes, and proxies for other world powers?have arsenals of 20th-century weapons that pose a real risk to U.S. troops. Because their equipment and training are real threats, but do not quite measure up to the United States' capability, defense professionals call them near-peer competitors. The list includes Iran, China, and North Korea. Out on the mock battlefield in California, we watched elements of Third Battalion, Third Marines (3/3) try to drive these kinds of enemies out of a desert valley called Gays Pass.
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Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Stocks edge higher as earnings start
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, April 4, 2013. Stocks are notching small gains in early trading after the U.S. government reported that the number of people applying for unemployment benefits rose to the highest level since late November. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, April 4, 2013. Stocks are notching small gains in early trading after the U.S. government reported that the number of people applying for unemployment benefits rose to the highest level since late November. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
NEW YORK (AP) ? Stocks rose modestly Tuesday as traders lacked a catalyst to push the market decisively higher following a strong start to year.
The stock market has mostly moved sideways for the past three weeks, alternating between small gains and losses, after beginning the year on a tear. Signs of slowing growth and concerns about the outlook for Europe have checked investors' confidence.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 53 points, 0.4 percent, to 14,667 as of 12:37 p.m. EDT. The index is up 11.8 percent since the start of the year.
Alcoa, traditionally the first company in the Dow to report results, was little changed at $8.40 after the company posted its earnings late Monday. The aluminum producer's earnings beat Wall Street's expectations but the company was still weighed down by depressed aluminum prices, which offset strong demand from auto and plane makers.
Online auto retailer CarMax, home goods retailer Bed Bath & Beyond and banks Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase are among companies that will report earnings later this week.
Investors will be looking to see whether companies are feeling an impact from government spending cuts that kicked in recently, said Jim Russell, investment director at U.S. Bank. They will also want to know what impact, if any, there will be from the ongoing debt crisis in Europe.
"The market is looking for companies to fill in those blanks," said Russell.
J.C. Penney Co. plunged $1.67, or 11 percent, to $14.20 following its ouster of CEO Ron Johnson after only 17 months on the job. J.C. Penney announced late Monday that it had rehired Johnson's predecessor, Mike Ullman, who was CEO of the department store operator for seven years until November 2011.
Analysts and investors are questioning whether Ullman has what it takes to turn around the retailer's fortunes after sales plummeted under Johnson's reign.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose three points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,566. The Nasdaq composite gained four points, or 0.1 percent, to 3,222.
Material companies and energy corporations led gains in the S&P 500 index, rising 1.1 percent and 0.8 percent respectively. The prices of metals like gold and copper rose, bouncing back from a recent slump. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold rose $1.46 to $33.88. Cliff's Natural Resources, an iron ore mining company, rose $1.69 to $20.49, paring its losses this year to 47 percent.
While stocks are struggling to extend their gains from the start of the year, bonds have rallied. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to its price, fell to 1.74 from 1.75 percent.
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Report points to worldwide rise in anti-Semitic incidents
A report by Tel Aviv University and the European Jewish Congress found a 30 percent jump in anti-Semetic violence and vandalism in 2012. Researchers saw a correlation between extreme right-wing parties and high levels of anti-Semitic incidents in certain countries.
Police officers gather at the site of a shooting where a gunman opened fire in front of a Jewish school in a city in Toulouse, southwestern France March 19, 2012. Israeli researchers and Jewish leaders on Sunday reported 30 percent jump in anti-Semitic violence and vandalism last year, topped by a deadly school shooting in France, and expressed alarm about the rise of neo-Nazi parties in Hungary, Greece and other countries.
Bruno Martin/AP/File
EnlargeIsraeli researchers and Jewish leaders on Sunday reported a 30 percent jump in anti-Semitic violence and vandalism last year, topped by a deadly school shooting in France, and expressed alarm about the rise of far-right parties in Hungary, Greece and other countries.
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Following a two-year decline in the figures, the annual report on worldwide anti-Semitic incidents recorded 686 attacks in 34 countries, ranging from physical violence to vandalism of synagogues and cemeteries, compared to 526 in 2011. The report was issued at Tel Aviv University, in cooperation with the European Jewish Congress, an umbrella group representing Jewish communities across Europe.
The report linked the March 2012 shooting at a Jewish school in Toulouse, where an extremist Muslim gunman killed four, to a series of copycat attacks, particularly in France, where physical assaults on Jews almost doubled.
Researchers who presented the report at the university on Sunday said they had also found a direct correlation between the strengthening of extreme right-wing parties in some European countries and high levels of anti-Semitic incidents, as well as attacks on other minorities and immigrants.
They said Europe's economic crisis was fueling the success of parties like Jobbik in Hungary, Golden Dawn in Greece and Svoboda in Ukraine.
Moshe Kantor, the president of the European Jewish Congress, called for strong action by the European Union, charging that governments ? particularly Hungary ?were not doing enough to curb these parties' activities and protect minorities.
"Neo-Nazis have been once again legalized in Europe, they are openly sitting in parliaments," said Moshe Kantor, the president of the European Jewish Congress.
Golden Dawn swept into Greece's parliament for the first time in June on an anti-immigrant platform. The party rejects the neo-Nazi label but is fond of Nazi literature and references. In Hungary, a Jobbik lawmaker has called for Jews to be screened as potential security risks. The leader of Ukraine's Svoboda denies his party is anti-Semitic but has repeatedly used derogatory terms to refer to Jews.
The report by the university's Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry found little correlation between the increase of anti-Semitic attacks and Israel's military operation in Gaza in November. While there was a spike in incidents at the time, it was much smaller in number and intensity than the one that followed the Toulouse attack, said Roni Stauber, the chief researcher on the project.
"This shows that the desire to harm Jews is deeply rooted among extremist Muslims and right-wingers, regardless of events in the Middle East," he said.
The release of the report was timed to coincide with Israel's Holocaust Remembrance Day, which was starting Sunday at sundown.
On the net:?http://www.kantorcenter.tau.ac.il/
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Loan info from GEFA contradicts City - Valdosta Daily Times
VALDOSTA ? Current loan history for the City of Valdosta from the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA) directly contradicts information recently presented to the public by the City, and shows an active GEFA loan of more than $11 million, which was not previously released.
According to Deputy City Manager of Administration Mark Barber, a loan coded 92003SW (SW indicating the loan is purposed for ?solid waste? projects) was split into two parts, $1 million paid off earlier and a $250,000 portion of it paid off in March.
The Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) for the 2012 fiscal year, which Barber developed and delivered to the City Council March 21 shows 92003SW maintaining a balance of $34,984 in June of 2012, and Barber removed the loan from the spreadsheet before giving it to the Times, which appeared in Monday?s edition as well as today, saying it had been paid off.
The CAFR also mentions on page 67 that the balance for a loan coded 2006-L53WJPHII was $2,823,855 in June 2012, and that ?additional draws are pending,? but does not go into detail about how much remains to be disbursed. A chart on the same page shows loan totals and payment periods over which the loans are due.
Information on these loans from GEFA is not consistent with the CAFR in these cases.
The City of Valdosta has applied to draw loan money from the organization for 26 years, starting with a water quality (WQ) loan in the amount of $1 million, with an execution date (the date the official paperwork was signed) of January 1987. The interest rate for that loan was 6 percent, and the money was used for ?sewer plant improvements,? according to GEFA.
A second loan was taken out in October 1991 in the amount of $2 million for a water supply (WS) issue, which was spent on a ?water plant and water lines,? according to GEFA. The interest rate on this loan was 6.7 percent.
As of March 31, 2013, these two loans are the only loans out of 10 that have been paid off completely. The City still owes an outstanding principal balance of $22,193.95 on the 92003SW loan, which was not split into two parts.
However, a loan coded 2006L53WJ (for ?water-joint,? indicating a joint water and wastewater project), shows an execution date of December 2007 for an award in the amount of $24,097,000. This loan was split into two parts, its counterpart named 2006L53WJB (as in ?loan B? under the same code).
A portion in the amount of $7,410,611.20 was broken from the original award to allow the City to begin the repayment period, leaving the remaining WJB portion of $16,686,388.80 available for spending, according to GEFA.
Repayment periods normally do not begin until construction for the intended project has ended or the loan completely spent, said GEFA Public Affairs Director Shane Hix, but during this period, the loan will accrue construction interest.
There remains $11,316,776.41 to be disbursed to the City from the WJB loan, according to GEFA. Both the WJ and WJB loans are intended to fund nine rehabilitation projects, including a two-million-gallon water storage tank, water mains, service lines, lift stations and fire protection.
In addition to these inconsistencies between City and GEFA records, four loan amounts listed in the FY2012 CAFR do not match the loan amounts in GEFA documents.
The WS loan for $2 million is listed in the CAFR as $2,228,600; the WJ loan of more than $7.4 million is listed as $7,553,410; a loan coded DW97036P (DW for ?drinking water? issues) in the amount of $4.8 million is listed as $4,288,164; and a fourth loan coded CW08003ARRA (CW short for ?Clean Water State Revolving Fund?) in the amount of $6 million is listed as $6,142,659.
The CW loan (also coded ARRA for ?American Recovery and Reinvestment Act?) was originally taken out in the amount of $10 million, but $4 million of that original amount was forgiven, according to GEFA.
The remaining five loan accounts printed in the City?s CAFR perfectly match repayment amounts and dates of maturity listed in GEFA records. However, the loan amount listed in the CAFR for the DW loan does not match the spreadsheet given to the Times, which lists the loan at $2,351.80 less.
Loan SW was drawn to construct a recovery facility and equipment for recyclable materials; the four CW loans, including CW08003ARRA, were intended to increase the capacity of the Mud Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant from 3.2 million gallons per day (MGD) to 5.7 MGD and to improve the sewer system; and the DW loan was intended for the replacement of 30 miles of undersized galvanized steel water mains with a minimum of six-inch diameter PVC lines.
Loans from GEFA are set up for automatic withdrawal during their repayment periods, Hix said. It is not possible for communities with GEFA debt not to reach complete payment.
Hix mentioned ?nothing out of the ordinary? has happened in the City?s relationship with GEFA, that the City?s ?financial audits are in good shape,? and that Valdosta is ?one of our better customers.?
He could not answer as to why the City?s accounting of the loans and information provided to the public is inconsistent with the official records kept by GEFA.
Source: http://valdostadailytimes.com/local/x2015920175/Loan-info-from-GEFA-contradicts-City
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Monday, April 8, 2013
Stocks rise ahead of earnings season
Trader Luigi Muccitelli, right, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, April 4, 2013. Stocks are notching small gains in early trading after the U.S. government reported that the number of people applying for unemployment benefits rose to the highest level since late November. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Trader Luigi Muccitelli, right, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, April 4, 2013. Stocks are notching small gains in early trading after the U.S. government reported that the number of people applying for unemployment benefits rose to the highest level since late November. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
NEW YORK (AP) ? Stocks ended modestly higher Monday, shrugging off an early decline, as investors waited to see whether big U.S. companies would deliver on expectations of strong earnings in 2013.
Alcoa became the first major U.S. company to report earnings late Monday, and the results were mostly good. Aluminum maker's income was higher than analysts were expecting, but its revenue fell slightly short of expectations. Later this week the pace picks up with reports from Bed Bath & Beyond, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase.
A big factor driving the Standard & Poor's 500 up 9.6 percent this year has been optimism that it will be a good year for company profits. While the expectations for the first quarter are relatively modest, many investors are expecting to see more of a pickup in earnings later in the year.
"We need to see some earnings growth here to justify the big gains we've seen in the first quarter," said Ryan Detrick, a senior technical analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.
Earnings for companies in the S&P 500 index are expected to rise by 0.7 percent from the first quarter of last year, but that growth is expected to accelerate sharply to 13 percent in the final three-month period of the year, according to data from S&P Capital IQ.
On Monday the Dow Jones industrial average rose 48.23 points, or 0.3 percent, to close at 14,613.48. The index started the day lower and fell as much as 67 points during morning trading. Alcoa's gain of 1.8 percent was one of the biggest in the Dow. It rose 15 cents to $8.39. The stock was off seven cents in after-hours trading.
The S&P 500 index closed up 9.79 points, or 0.6 percent, at 1,563.07.
The Dow and S&P have struggled for direction over the past three weeks. The S&P 500 has alternated between gains and losses every day as investors take advantage of any weakness to add to their holdings.
Telecommunications stocks fell 0.5 percent and health care stocks inched up just 0.2 percent, lagging the rest of the market. The two industry groups have performed well this year as investors sought out less risky stocks that pay good dividends. Health care companies are up almost 16 percent, making them the best performers in the S&P 500.
Lufkin Industries, an oilfield equipment maker, surged $24.03, or 38 percent, to $87.96 after General Electric Co. agreed to buy the company for $3 billion. GE wants to bolster its oil and gas operations. Its stock rose 19 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $23.12.
Johnson & Johnson logged the biggest percentage decline on the 30-member Dow Jones industrial average, dropping 93 cents to $81.11. Analysts at JPMorgan cut their rating on the stock to "neutral," saying it has risen too far, too fast. Johnson & Johnson is up 16 percent this year.
Stocks fell Friday after the government reported a slowdown in hiring that was far worse than economists had expected. The report capped a bad week: The S&P 500 logged its biggest weekly decline of the year as signs emerged that U.S. growth is starting to cool.
In other trading, the Nasdaq composite index rose 18.39 points, or 0.6 percent, to 3,222.25.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.75 percent from 1.71 percent late Friday. It went as 1.69 percent Friday, its lowest level of the year. The benchmark rate has fallen from a recent high of 2.06 percent reached March 11 as demand for low-risk assets increases.
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