Invest in a Forex simulator

1/31/2011

Flight simulators are commonplace and something that every commercial pilot is very familiar with, indeed it is all part of their training as well a requirement for them to maintain their commercial pilot licence. But, how many people are aware that there are Forex simulators as well?
Forex simulators operate very much like many PC games and allow you to practice trading without the risk of losing money, common sense surely. They are also capable of analysing what you may have done wrong and iron out these problems. Importantly they allow you to practice and we all know that practice makes perfect. Many traders have no problem understanding the workings of a single currency but find it difficult to get used to working with a currency pair. A simulator however teaches and reinforces the relationship on one currency to another and the impact that one currency can have on another. Check out where you can find a simulator and improve your Forex trading abilities.

Swiss franc under pressure

Always regarded as a solid currency and with very good reason, the Swiss franc has been a favourite currency that Forex traders like to pair with. However, the Swiss franc is coming under pressure and continued to fall against the Euro. All of this is believed to have been caused through the country’s economy minister, who voiced concern over the franc’s current strength.
The Swiss minister of economy, said at a press briefing in Bern that the country is in a very good shape compared with the Eurozone but that the overvalued currency still remains a concern as a potential threat.  As a result the Swiss franc fell against the euro and the Japanese yen today the 19th January 2011. EUR/CHF rose from 1.2895 to 1.2945 and the CHF/JPY fell from 85.71 to 85.54.

Here’s How John Paulson Made $5 Billion Last Year

The secret to the spectacular returns  Paulson  and his employees  reported for 2010 is due to their keeping  much of their  personal money- $14.9 billion or 42% of the total assets under management($35 billion)– in the funds. That’s called putting your money to work alongside your clients. That $14.9 billion commitment is revealed in Paulson’s yearend letter to investors.
Some of Paulson’s personal share  in his funds must come from reinvesting the $4 billion he made going short against the subprime mortgage bubble in 2007.
The Paulson funds  made gross gains in 2010 of $8.4 billion before fees.  So, 42% (their share)  of  the $8.4 billion meant $3.5 billion in gains for Paulson and his employees.
Add to that a 2% fee on $20 billion of capital from investors– $400 million– and then the 20% fee on the total profits made adds another $1.7 billion to the pot shared by Paulson and his team.
By my figuring then, the total take comes to roughly $6 billion before  taxes.
Overall, the fund’s strategy made a transition during the year from a short equity bias  with a focus on being long distressed securities to a long equity event focus, according to Paulson’s yearend letter.
This growing  bullishness on the stock market  is due to  Paulson’s careful  tracking of  the equity risk premium measured by J.P. Morgan; the difference between the yield on equities and the yield on bonds. At present, the yield on stocks,  the obverse of the price-earnings multiple, is 7-8%– while the yield on 10 year treasuries is only 3.34%.  In this comparison the potential return on stocks is double the return on bonds.
Paulson  is a buyer of stocks because he sees the equity risk premium in the market as “the highest it has been in over 50 years., indicating to us that equities are due to rise as the current economic environment is by no means the most challenging it has been in 50 years,” he wrote in his yearend letter which was posted Friday on the internet.
Last year, for example, Paulson made a 43% return  or over $1 billion on Citigroup– buying shares at $3.20 a share and selling them for $4.60 a share later in the year.
The Paulson Gold Fund was up over 35% on the year, as positions in Anglo Gold, Osisko and GLD, the giant gold ETF all paid off bigtime. Paulson is optimistic that gold will outperform for the next 5 years and is “the ideal vehicle to hedge against the risk of the U.S. dollar.”
The funds held $20 billion in 40 different distressed situations where most of the companies have “repaired their capital structures.”
He also sold off positions in major banks like Bank of America, and went long Anadarko, the oil and natural gas producer.
Paulson’s hedge fund has piled up gains of 26 billion since inception in 1994– 3rd biggest killing of all hedge funds. Quantum Endowment Fund, begun by George Soros in 1973,  has racked up $32 billion in net gains. Renaissance Medallion Fund, founded in 1982 by James Simons, has delivered net gains of $28 billion.
He  expects all his funds “to outperform in 2011.”

Per capita income of 117 crore Indians in FY10 is Rs 46,492

NEW DELHI: Per capita income of Indians grew by 14.5 per cent to Rs 46,492 in 2009-10 from Rs 40,605 in the year-ago period, as per the revised data released by the government today.

The new per capita income figure estimates on current market prices is over Rs 2,000 more than the previous estimate of Rs 44,345 calculated by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO).

Per capita income means earnings of each Indian if the national income is evenly divided among the country's population at 117 crore.

However, the increase in per capita income was only about 6 per cent in 2009-10 if it is calculated on the prices of 2004-05 prices, which is a better way of comparison and broadly factors inflation.

Per capita income (at 2004-05 prices) stood at Rs 33,731 in FY10 against Rs 31,801 in the previous year, the latest data on national income said.

The size of the economy at current prices rose to Rs 61,33,230 crore in the last fiscal, up 16.1 per cent over Rs 52,82,086 crore in FY'09.

Based on 2004-05 prices, the Indian economy expanded by 8 per cent during the fiscal ended March 2010. This is higher than 6.8 per cent growth in fiscal 2008-09.

The country's population increased to 117 crore at the end of March 2010, from 115.4 crore in fiscal 2008-09.

Ryanair upbeat as fares, passenger traffic climb

DUBLIN: Europe's biggest low-cost airline Ryanair sees its full-year profit at the upper end of expectations as rising passenger numbers and average fares help offset disruption from strikes and bad weather.

The Irish airline said it was on track to make net profit in the year to March towards the top of a 380 million euro ($517 million) to 400 million euro target range.

Ryanair, which operates more than 1,500 flights a day, said it made a net loss of 10 million euros in the third quarter to the end of December. This compared with an 11 million euro loss a year earlier and a forecast for a net loss of 13.4 million euros by in-house broker Davy.

"This small Q3 loss is disappointing, as we were on track to break even, but earnings were hit by a series of air traffic controllers (ATC) strikes compounded by a spate of bad weather airport closures in December," said CEO Michael O'Leary.

Ryanair did not quantify the cost of the disruption. Rivals easyJet and Air Berlin said last week they would take hits of 31 million pounds and 30 million euros respectively from strikes and winter weather across Europe.

Shares in Ryanair, which had lost around 10 percent of their value over the last three weeks on fears over the impact from the disruption, were up 1.6 percent to 3.68 euros at 0930 GMT.

NCB analyst Murray McCarter said Ryanair's update was reassuring following easyJet's recent profit warning.

"In particular the strong increase in fares and ancillary revenues is impressive despite the challenging conditions through the winter," he said.

Ryanair cancelled over 3,000 flights in the third quarter compared with over 1,400 cancellations in the previous year.

Airlines traditionally lose money in the third quarter which is the quietest period of the year for the industry.

BETTER MIX The company said last month it would take legal action against Spanish unions over an ATC strike which forced it to cancel 500 flights.

O'Leary said he expected passenger numbers and average fares to continue to benefit in the fourth quarter from a better mix of new routes. The airline has offset weakness in the domestic economy by growing in lower cost markets like Spain and Italy.

O'Leary also said Ryanair had been protected from significant rises in oil prices in recent months by its fuel hedging strategy. The airline is 90 percent hedged for the fourth quarter at a price of $750 per tonne compared with the current spot price of $890 per tonne, it said.

Ryanair said it was benefiting from flag carriers being weakened by raising their prices through putting fuel surcharges on many short haul flights.

In an interview with Reuters, finance director Howard Millar said he expected that trend to continue in 2011.

"I think you'll see fuel prices move upwards for the industry. As part of that we expect flag carriers to put up fuel surcharges. That widens the gap between their fares and our fares," he said.

Davy analyst Stephen Furlong said Ryanair would be a beneficiary of current fuel prices.

"We still believe that Ryanair will be one of the key winners in this higher fuel environment, the key being that demand for its business model remains strong," he said.

Millar said Ryanair was picking up market share and anticipated continuing to do so in the coming year.

"Ourselves and easyJet are the only two carriers of any size and shape growing this year and next year. The flag carriers have stopped growing and are continuing to retreat," he said.

Millar said Ryanair would be interested in buying Ireland's 25 percent stake in rival Aer Lingus should it be put up for sale by a new government looking to raise money through the sale of state assets after the forthcoming election.

"Everything's up for grabs now. We're going to have a new government soon. At some stage they'll have to think about it."

Ryanair said it grew total revenue by 22 percent to 746 million euros during the quarter benefiting from a 6 percent increase in passenger numbers to 17 million and a 15 percent rise in average fares.

Egypt debt rating downgraded by Moody's

Ratings agency Moody's has cut its debt rating for Egypt, and changed its outlook from stable to negative.

Moody's said the cut was "prompted by the recent significant rise in political event risk and concern that the policy response could undermine Egypt's already weak public finances".
It has downgraded the country's debt rating one notch from Ba1 to Ba2.
Thousands of Egyptian protesters have taken to the streets, calling for President Hosni Mubarak to step down.
On Friday, Fitch also downgraded its outlook on Egypt from stable to negative, citing the political unrest.
"Finally the rating agencies wake up. Egypt rated flat with Turkey was always a joke," said RBS analyst Timothy Ash.
Rising concerns The anti-government protests have been largely driven by public anger at rising prices, unemployment, and accusations of corruption and lack of democracy.
The Moody's downgrade reflects growing unease among ratings agencies at the impact of political tensions across parts of North Africa and the Middle East.
The unrest in Egypt follows the uprising in Tunisia, which ousted President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.
Last week, Standard & Poor's also named Algeria and Jordan as being vulnerable to unrest similar to that seen in Tunisia, saying the political uncertainty weighed on their sovereign ratings.
Concerns that the unrest in Egypt could spread also knocked European stock markets, with shares in airlines and travel operators taking a hit.
The Cairo Stock Exchange itself was closed for the third straight day.

Commissioners place moratorium on roadside solicitors

 

Recent concerns about roadside solicitors through the county were raised by commissioner Ernest Rogers during the special called meeting of the Banks County BOC Thursday morning.

The matter of soliciting in the county was placed on the agenda as an add-on prior to the approval of the agenda, which had only listed possible discussion of personnel and land acquisition.

Rogers stated that in his opinion, one of the groups which has been seen recently claiming to be representing a charity from Kentucky “might not be legal.” Rogers proposed the county place a six-month moratorium on all soliciting along all roads in the county and at the shopping centers.

Commissioner Danny Maxwell questioned if the moratorium would also affect annual charities seen in the county, such as the Relay for Life. The moratorium would affect all soliciting done roadside and at shopping centers.

Rogers responded that if the BOC reached a decision within a month or two on how to handle solicitors the moratorium could be lifted.

The moratorium passed unanimously.

The BOC closed the public portion of the meeting to discuss personnel and land acquisition. After meeting for 35 minutes, the Development Authority was called into the closed meeting. The members of the Development Authority met with the BOC for an hour before exiting. The BOC remained in closed session for another 35 minutes before reopening the meeting to the public.

After reopening the meeting to the public, the BOC chairman Milton Dalton stated that there was nothing to report or disclose from the meeting and accepted a motion to adjourn.

BOC approves job description for economic position

1/30/2011

A job description for the new county position to oversee economic development was approved by the Banks County Board of Commissioners Thursday.
The job has been named “community developer” and it will include economic duties, as well as planning work.

The vote to approve the job description was unanimous but commissioner Danny Maxwell spoke on his concerns about including the planning job duties.

“I think we are spreading it a little too thin,” Maxwell said. “We’re giving them so many objectives. Are they really going to be able to focus on what we want them to do as an economic developer.”

The approved job description includes the following: “This position will help develop and coordinate strategies, policies and initiatives for economic growth in Banks County. This position will also perform administrative and supervisory work responsible for directing the daily operations of the planning department to administer and maintain the county’s zoning, subdivision and other development related ordinances.”

Irish finance bill passes final hurdle

A crucial finance bill has been passed by the Republic of Ireland's upper house, the senate.

The finance bill is a condition of Ireland's 85bn euro (£72bn) bailout package.
The approval leaves the way clear for a general election to be called.
Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen had earlier said he would move to dissolve parliament on Tuesday and announce the date of a general election once the senate had passed the bill.
It cleared the lower house, the Dail, on Thursday.
The bill will now go to the Irish president to be signed into law.
Last weekend, Mr Cowen stepped down as Fianna Fail leader, but said he would continue running the government.
On Wednesday, former foreign minister Micheal Martin was elected as the new leader of the party.
Fianna Fail has has slumped massively in the polls amid Ireland's financial crisis.
The finance bill is Ireland's final legislative commitment under the 85bn euro EU/IMF rescue.
Earlier this month Mr Cowen announced an election date of 11 March, however, it is now likely to take place in February.

UK consumer confidence in 'astonishing' fall

The confidence of UK consumers in the economy and their finances has suffered its biggest monthly drop in 16 years, a survey has suggested.

Rising VAT was a key factor behind the "astonishing" confidence fall, the GfK NOP Social Research report said.
The UK faced a "very painful period", it added.
More government austerity measures and the surprise contraction in the economy meant talk of a double dip recession was "unavoidable", the study said.
Expectations According to the GfK NOP Social Research report the eight-point fall in a key measure of consumer confidence between December and January, to minus 29, was the biggest monthly drop since the end of 1994.
Meanwhile, the index representing people's expectations of their financial situation over the next year slid to minus 12, down from plus 4 a year ago.
And the score for expectations for the economy over the next year was minus 30, compared with minus two a year ago.
Earlier this week official figures showed that UK GDP shrank by 0.5% in the final three months of 2010 - as the freezing December weather caused major disruption across the economy.
And last week, the Office for National Statistics said that the rate of CPI inflation had risen by more than expected to 3.7%.
Meanwhile at the beginning of this month - the standard rate of VAT increased from 17.5% to 20%.
"The VAT increase is the first of the government's austerity measures that has had a widespread impact on consumers, and it seems to have hit people's economic confidence hard, especially as the biggest drop was in consumers' appetite for major purchases," said GfK's managing director Nick Moon.
"With inflation on the up and the full force of the cuts yet to hit, these figures could be the beginning of a very painful period.
"There is a chance that these figures represent a post-Christmas blip but even if there is a rally in February it is extremely unlikely that it will reverse this massive drop."
Spending 'squeeze' On Friday, analysts said that the rise in VAT appeared to be a key factor in declining weekly sales at department store John Lewis, which fell 2.2% on the same week a year earlier.
"The slowdown in John Lewis sales is particularly notable as the company has been clearly out-performing the retail sector as a whole," said IHS Global Insight economist Howard Archer.
"The John Lewis figures suggest that consumers are becoming increasingly less prepared, or less able, to spend as higher inflation and muted earnings growth squeezes their purchasing power."
However, John Lewis said it was difficult to make comparisons with last year, as snowfall in January 2010 had created fluctuations in trade.