The Economist argues that Treasuries yielding 4% when the headline inflation is at 5% is strange. Although the treasury yield is the world wide standard for risk free rate …
“Even now, however, the breakeven inflation rate (the difference between yields on conventional and inflation-linked bonds) on five-year Treasury issues is just 2.4%, within the range [...]
Archive for May, 2008
Treasury Yields headed higher?
Posted in Business on May 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Stock Exchanges Landscape
Posted in Business on May 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The Economist has a fascinating article on the problems facing the Stock Exchanges
The past few years have been very good for the world’s bourses but this year their stock prices (LSE, NASDAQ, NYSE Euronext) have fallen sharply. Reason is competition from:
Electronic markets that aspire to become full exchanges. In America BATS and DirectEdge are the trail-blazers, [...]
Speculators not behind Oil’s rise
Posted in Business on May 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The Economist debunks the notion that speculators are to blame for the recent rise in oil prices
Some $260 billion is invested in commodity funds, 20 times the level of 2003. Surely all that hot money has supercharged the demand for oil? But that is plain wrong. Such speculators do not own real oil. Every barrel [...]
Learning from the Wealthy
Posted in Business, Muse on May 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Nice article in Marketwatch on the ways of the rich …. the first five points are so good, I am posting them verbatim (source: Marketwatch, credit: Thomas Kostigen)
1) Psychology: The rich are no different than you and me. Despite what F. Scott Fitzgerald famously believed, wealth doesn’t a man or a woman make. There are [...]
When do companies care for the environment
Posted in Business, Muse on May 22, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The Economist argues that it makes sense for companies to side with the environment activists …
For bosses planning long-term capital investments, uncertainty is more damaging than regulation. This puts bosses in the same boat as activists: both want regulators to hurry up and set the rules.
However ….
environmental externalities are an unavoidable feature of capitalism, and [...]
The irony in Alternative Investments becoming mainstream
Posted in Business on May 22, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The Economist opines that such funds are not alternative anymore ….
“The average fund manager cannot earn more than the market. After costs, he must earn less. An individual pension fund or endowment might succeed in its search for higher returns. But because hedge funds and private-equity fees are higher than normal—often a 2% annual fee and a [...]
Computing and Environment
Posted in Business, Tech on May 22, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The Economist has an interesting article on the affect of growth in computing on the environment …
In America alone, there are more than 7,000 data centres, and the number of servers is expected to grow to 15.8m by 2010—three times as many as a decade earlier.
The biggest data center facilities are the size of half [...]
Best Beaches in America
Posted in Muse on May 22, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Dr Beach (Stephen P. Leatherman) comes out with his 2008 list of best beaches in America
1. Caladesi Island State Park, Dunedin/Clearwater, Florida
2. Hanalei Beach, Kauai, Hawaii
3. Siesta Beach, Sarasota, Florida
4. Coopers Beach, Southampton, New York
5. Coronado Beach, San Diego, California
6. Main Beach, East Hampton, New York
7. Hamoa Beach, Maui, Hawaii
8. Cape Hatteras, Outer Banks, North [...]
Data Sharing Tools – Websites
Posted in Tech on May 22, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Some of the good data sharing websites around
Skydrive (Microsoft Live): Capacity 5 GB
Adrive: Capacity 50 GB
Humyo: Capacity 30 GB
Xdrive (AOL): Capacity 5 GB
Remote Access to home computer from any Computer or PDA (Log Me In)
Less Knowledge, Better Decision?
Posted in Muse on May 21, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Intersting article at “More Intelligent Life” arguing that ‘The less you know, the more wisely you seem to choose.’
Ideally, when it comes to making a decision, you should know the most relevant facts–and only those. But that’s not much help if you have to make a decision when you are an expert. Then you must [...]
