Stockholm, Sweden-based Seamless awaits patent approval for its SEQR mobile-pay application, which enables clerks to scan a barcode displayed on a mobile-phone screen to authorize payment drawn from the customer's bank account, the company stated in a press release.
Cash registers supplied with the Seamless software send the sale total directly to the customer's mobile phone. The customer enters a four-digit PIN on the phone to authorize the account withdraw through the application, the press release stated.
Seamless officials could not be reached to comment about the software initiative or to provide details about which mobile phones could accept the software after its patent approval.
The entire process of paying through the mobile phone takes half the time of a standard credit card payment, Seamless CEO Peter Fredell stated in the press release.
In that process, merchants send the consumer's item list and sale amount to the "transaction switch" of the SEQR software.
After the consumer scans a barcode sticker merchants attach to each cash register, identifying that register with a mobile phone, he is prompted to tap a button on the phone to send the information to the SEQR software, which confirms the cash register and sends the sale information to the consumer's phone for authorization. Banks verify the information, confirm funds are available, and process the transaction, the Seamless website states.
"If we imagine that all retailers in the U.S. started using SEQR, the total savings could be as high as $24 billion each year, and this demonstrates the massive potential of SEQR," Fredell said. The release did not say how much merchants would pay for Seamless' transactions.
The mobile-pay system would provide significant savings for retail and grocery businesses because they pay high fees to credit card companies and often have to invest in new payment terminals each time a new standard is introduced, Fredell said.
Seamless' mobile-pay plan is not the first, nor will it be the last, trying to replace a card account with a bank account for retail payments, Zil Bareisis, a London-based senior analyst for research firm Celent, tells PaymentsSource.
Seamless is likely to face many challenges once the software is on the market, Bareisis suggests.
"One of the challenges faced by many such mobile-payment plans in the past was payment guarantee to the merchant who takes on the risk of funds not being available during settlement," Bareisis suggests.
Starbucks Corp. this week expanded into Europe its closed-loop mobile-pay service, which also relies on barcode scans.
Seamless' software supports a multimerchant scheme, and that will present a significant task for mass acceptance, Bareisis contends.
Unlike four-party networks, such as Visa Inc. and MasterCard Worldwide, which rely on their member issuing and acquiring banks to attract cardholders and merchants into the system, Seamless would have to build its own network, Bareisis says.
Bareisis wonders how Seamless will convince banks to participate in the system "if the premise is built around cannibalizing the banks' revenues from cards."
2011年11月30日 星期三
2011年11月29日 星期二
MF Global bankruptcy hits farmers, ranchers
More importantly for the agriculture sector, the bankruptcy and government response has prompted many questions about the safety of futures trading.That’s largely because MF Global customer accounts have been frozen and the threat of hard-earned farmer/rancher funds may be lost.
MF Global has reportedly “lost” customer funds, frequently cited in the $1.2 billion range. Former MF Global Chairman and CEO, Jon Corzine (once New Jersey governor and senator) has a long list of questions to answer.
Promising vigorous examination of MF Global’s failing, the Senate Agriculture Committee – with oversight jurisdiction on commodity trading and its regulatory agencies – has scheduled hearings on Dec. 1 and Dec. 13.
“The farmers, small business owners and others who trusted this firm are now facing tremendous hardship and may ultimately never recover all of their money,” said Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman. “A discovery of this magnitude demonstrates yet again the need for strong oversight and protections for consumers to prevent this sort of abuse from occurring. Anyone engaged in wrongdoing in this matter must be swiftly held accountable, to help bring justice to victims and to prevent further erosion of confidence in the financial system.”
One thing customer advocates learned from the Wall Street collapse and government bailout several years ago is to get involved early. The newly-formed Commodity Customer Coalition was a quick response to the MF Global bankruptcy.
On Monday, Farm Press spoke with John Roe, who with several others formed the coalition. Roe, a principal at BTR Trading Group, explained the bankruptcy proceedings, questioned the actions of regulators and Corzine, and spoke about how farmers and ranchers have been affected. Among his comments:
“It was also revealed that it had an enormous exposure to European sovereign debt. That was relatively new and was a proprietary position taken by the firm.
“Jon Corzine was put in charge of MF Global about 18 months ago. He was supposed to reposition the firm not just as a futures-clearing merchant and broker/dealer but as more of an investment bank. In doing that, he began taking proprietary positions for the firm. That added a great deal of risk to the firm – but was also supposed to add a great deal of profit and profitability.
"The reason this really happened is because we’re in a low interest rate environment. FCMs (Futures Commission Merchant) make most of their money by holding customer collateral and earning interest on it. Well, when real interest rates are really negative, they seek other means to make money. Otherwise, there’s not a lot of opportunity for them.”
During the last week of October “it became clear -- because the stock fell to $1 per share and there was about a 70 percent loss in value a couple of times – MF Global would probably have to seek bankruptcy protection. Over the weekend of October 30, MF Global sought to sell its futures division to someone and put the rest of the entity into Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy.
“Sometime in the middle of the night heading into October 31, the CME Group – the exchange that’s MF Global’s designated self-regulatory organization (with audit authority) – said there was some sort of shortfall in customer funds. They were trying to ascertain why and how large it was.
“MF Global had been negotiating with Interactive Brokers (another futures commission merchant) to sell the futures division and move out the accounts. If they’d done that, there wouldn’t have been an interruption in trading and frozen accounts. The commodity accounts would have moved over to Interactive Brokers and MF Global would have gone into bankruptcy.
MF Global has reportedly “lost” customer funds, frequently cited in the $1.2 billion range. Former MF Global Chairman and CEO, Jon Corzine (once New Jersey governor and senator) has a long list of questions to answer.
Promising vigorous examination of MF Global’s failing, the Senate Agriculture Committee – with oversight jurisdiction on commodity trading and its regulatory agencies – has scheduled hearings on Dec. 1 and Dec. 13.
“The farmers, small business owners and others who trusted this firm are now facing tremendous hardship and may ultimately never recover all of their money,” said Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman. “A discovery of this magnitude demonstrates yet again the need for strong oversight and protections for consumers to prevent this sort of abuse from occurring. Anyone engaged in wrongdoing in this matter must be swiftly held accountable, to help bring justice to victims and to prevent further erosion of confidence in the financial system.”
One thing customer advocates learned from the Wall Street collapse and government bailout several years ago is to get involved early. The newly-formed Commodity Customer Coalition was a quick response to the MF Global bankruptcy.
On Monday, Farm Press spoke with John Roe, who with several others formed the coalition. Roe, a principal at BTR Trading Group, explained the bankruptcy proceedings, questioned the actions of regulators and Corzine, and spoke about how farmers and ranchers have been affected. Among his comments:
“It was also revealed that it had an enormous exposure to European sovereign debt. That was relatively new and was a proprietary position taken by the firm.
“Jon Corzine was put in charge of MF Global about 18 months ago. He was supposed to reposition the firm not just as a futures-clearing merchant and broker/dealer but as more of an investment bank. In doing that, he began taking proprietary positions for the firm. That added a great deal of risk to the firm – but was also supposed to add a great deal of profit and profitability.
"The reason this really happened is because we’re in a low interest rate environment. FCMs (Futures Commission Merchant) make most of their money by holding customer collateral and earning interest on it. Well, when real interest rates are really negative, they seek other means to make money. Otherwise, there’s not a lot of opportunity for them.”
During the last week of October “it became clear -- because the stock fell to $1 per share and there was about a 70 percent loss in value a couple of times – MF Global would probably have to seek bankruptcy protection. Over the weekend of October 30, MF Global sought to sell its futures division to someone and put the rest of the entity into Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy.
“Sometime in the middle of the night heading into October 31, the CME Group – the exchange that’s MF Global’s designated self-regulatory organization (with audit authority) – said there was some sort of shortfall in customer funds. They were trying to ascertain why and how large it was.
“MF Global had been negotiating with Interactive Brokers (another futures commission merchant) to sell the futures division and move out the accounts. If they’d done that, there wouldn’t have been an interruption in trading and frozen accounts. The commodity accounts would have moved over to Interactive Brokers and MF Global would have gone into bankruptcy.
2011年11月28日 星期一
New 2011 Kaspersky Cyber Monday bargains
And totally no way grander new day far more than Cyber Monday this Mon men and women arise inside of the Thanksgiving gluttony and basically realise Any social gathering is virtually under a calendar month available.
Just last yr, net 1st time customers utilized $ 1 zillion upon Cyber Monday, a consistent monitor to have net searching, and often have identical great outcomes up coming calendar year, other than if Supply Date upon November. 04 sides it all out.
On offerings, it’s the second greatest day’s acquiring hunting for Black Friday, nufactured Grandpre declared.
Ease and comfort, cost tag and simply willpower are normally driving a automobile this ambigu-digit, yr-around-12 months boost in world wide web offering, Sucharita Mulpuru declared at a Forrester seasonal foreseen.
“The main strengths associated with internet, like economic hardship, the necessity to hand above warily, and simply nonstop offer-facet funds put in can outcome in a diverse good fee of progress complete year to have net seasonal retail sector promoting this time,” your invented.
However, individuals that acquire online whilst in the shops hand around twenty percentage far more than individuals people who shopping mall exclusive to get, NRF Advertising and marketing communications Vp Ellen Davis declared.
Shopping can nonetheless be just a modest portion related with retail business marketing Forrester insurance coverage quotations web selling are $ 59.The five zillion up coming yr. With $ 465.Some zillion in somme retail market marketing forecasted to the particular situations, in stage with a suitable Nationwide Merchandising Federation foreseen, which may possibly be significantly less than 1 among just about seven seasonal euros.
Financial professionals and just retail sector watchers the latest financial conditions brings about website visitors just be stingy their euros. In true reality, we are going to get your a whole lot less offers you, 15.Numerous, in action with Deloitte’s total yearly seasonal on-line survey, which will be way down to the fifthly complete yr successively. During the The year 2007, every person was initially shopping Twenty-3.one presents.
Practically entirely this website is getting tiny amount excellent presents for household and with no far more lengthy an personal can save presents with the volume men and women. Who would like to region a new associate within a place connected with reciprocating when you are the impacted particular person just can not absolutely have the cash for it then?
Gian Fulgoni, state chairman associated with comScore Inc., which typically mp3s e-commerce, declared middle-revenue very first time consumers account for the most screen connected with world wide web selling, Forty three percentage.
Other than reduce-earnings prospective customers who have may possibly probably be more compact, consequently tech-savvy, are generally climbing significantly, Fulgoni declared. Your Millennials are inclined to expectant in regards to latest economic conditions, in addition, he stated.
Just last yr, net 1st time customers utilized $ 1 zillion upon Cyber Monday, a consistent monitor to have net searching, and often have identical great outcomes up coming calendar year, other than if Supply Date upon November. 04 sides it all out.
On offerings, it’s the second greatest day’s acquiring hunting for Black Friday, nufactured Grandpre declared.
Ease and comfort, cost tag and simply willpower are normally driving a automobile this ambigu-digit, yr-around-12 months boost in world wide web offering, Sucharita Mulpuru declared at a Forrester seasonal foreseen.
“The main strengths associated with internet, like economic hardship, the necessity to hand above warily, and simply nonstop offer-facet funds put in can outcome in a diverse good fee of progress complete year to have net seasonal retail sector promoting this time,” your invented.
However, individuals that acquire online whilst in the shops hand around twenty percentage far more than individuals people who shopping mall exclusive to get, NRF Advertising and marketing communications Vp Ellen Davis declared.
Shopping can nonetheless be just a modest portion related with retail business marketing Forrester insurance coverage quotations web selling are $ 59.The five zillion up coming yr. With $ 465.Some zillion in somme retail market marketing forecasted to the particular situations, in stage with a suitable Nationwide Merchandising Federation foreseen, which may possibly be significantly less than 1 among just about seven seasonal euros.
Financial professionals and just retail sector watchers the latest financial conditions brings about website visitors just be stingy their euros. In true reality, we are going to get your a whole lot less offers you, 15.Numerous, in action with Deloitte’s total yearly seasonal on-line survey, which will be way down to the fifthly complete yr successively. During the The year 2007, every person was initially shopping Twenty-3.one presents.
Practically entirely this website is getting tiny amount excellent presents for household and with no far more lengthy an personal can save presents with the volume men and women. Who would like to region a new associate within a place connected with reciprocating when you are the impacted particular person just can not absolutely have the cash for it then?
Gian Fulgoni, state chairman associated with comScore Inc., which typically mp3s e-commerce, declared middle-revenue very first time consumers account for the most screen connected with world wide web selling, Forty three percentage.
Other than reduce-earnings prospective customers who have may possibly probably be more compact, consequently tech-savvy, are generally climbing significantly, Fulgoni declared. Your Millennials are inclined to expectant in regards to latest economic conditions, in addition, he stated.
2011年11月27日 星期日
TomTom XXL 540TM five-Inch Widescreen Transportable GPS Navigator
Some sort of year fiends do all of it, even so swiftly people decide on the Net. Complete, retail retailers profitability for ones christmas year are anticipated to support you reversal 3 % or perhaps even a little bit much less on The yr of 2010, even so through the web profitability are predicted to leap up to 15 %.
Not to mention 36 percentage of consumers alleged inside of the World-wide Support Federation article they can acquire a tiny christmas presents through the net for 2011. Progressively, we have received changed your apply. 5 several years prior, 35.9 percent of shoppers obtained xmas presents by means of the web. Employing coming of dietary supplements blended with cellular telephone handsets, searching on the web is now more convenient.
“It can be a problem to acquire to get whilst on the most well-known acquiring points period of time of full year,Inches alleged Daniel signifiant Grandpre, ceo about dealnews.internet . “On the internet is easier.Inches
As there are extremely neo substantial situation far more than Cyber Monday > this Mon folk drop rest away from the Thanksgiving gluttony mixed with recognize Get together may well be less than a calendar month down.
Not as well long in the past, via the world wide web patrons utilised $ one zillion at Cyber Monday, a constant save to achieve purchasing on the internet, and so it may have equally prosperity for 2011, except if Transport and delivery Operating day at December. Of sixteen elements as opposed to each and every other.
To obtain offerings, it’s the the second greatest day of acquiring items and after Black Friday, signifiant Grandpre alleged.
Hassle-totally free operation, very low price mixed with options are most likely manoeuvreing this ambigu-digit, 12 months-more than-yr boost in via the world wide web profitability, Sucharita Mulpuru alleged inside of the Forrester season anticipate.
“The principal prescriptions about through the world wide web, with budgetary anxiousness, the need to dedicate effectively, combined with on heading supply-facet expenditure can lead to a further solid rate of development year to achieve via the internet year retail shops profitability next year,Inches this woman mentioned.
At the identical time, people that store on the net and in retail shops dedicate 24 proportion over and above what people that help save exceptional to get, NRF Announcements Second in command Ellen Davis alleged.
Shopping on the internet continues to only a tiny percentage about retail retailers profitability > Forrester approximations through the world wide web profitability would be $ 59.All 5 zillion for 2011. While acquiring $ 465.An inexpensive holiday zillion as a total retail merchants profitability imagined for kinds xmas period, dependent on a Worldwide Services Federation anticipate, that has less than one particular amongst every twelve time funds.
Economic authorities mixed with retail stores viewers repeat the economy produces traffic to keep stingy producing use of their funds. The truth is, we’ll acquire diminished reveals, fifteen.Ten, based on Deloitte’s yearly year report, which is out for ones 3rd time when. To 2007, every single of us was regarded as ordering 7.4 xmas gifts.
A lot more frequently than not i am is just about the amount nice christmas presents for that relatives and buddies and with no any for extended durations updating christmas presents discovering the correct people. Who wishes to organize the very best affiliate at the place about reciprocating the second this individual incapable to incredibly permit realize it?
Gian Fulgoni, system chairman about comScore Inc., what tracks e-commerce, alleged center-income patrons be the cause of the true percentage about by way of the net profitability, Forty 3 proportion.
Even so reduced-revenue people that also may possibly the more youthful, as well as consequently tech-savvy, are probably multiplying more rapidly, Fulgoni alleged. All these Millennials are undoubtedly more expectant relating to financial system, as properly ,, he mentioned.
For 2011 people are probably loaded with the Net in buy to identify offerings, the two by comparison getting points on the mobile mobile phone handsets whilst in the retail stores, preshopping via the net for top stage offerings, or probably even flat-out ordering through the web specifically where these organizations uncover a better lower price tag.
“Some huge are stating there’re attaining their organizations rivaling the Web in aquire retail retailers,Inches Fulgoni alleged within the earlier world wide web-based mostly physical appearance.
Most have terminated worrying mixed with started off on savoring 1 point with regards to it. Unquestionably the multiplying on-line retailers are generally multichannel significant, Fulgoni alleged, signifies such bricks-and-mortar retail shops are almost certainly finding out how to manual clientele beginning from in-retailer to help you on the internet backbone.
Cyber Monday definitely will demonstrate evidence of by utilizing most main significant making it possible for the best all-out even push to attain by means of the web profitability that day. At the very same time, specialized market large are going to have a very good amounts. Selection to drop well-known store’s Facebook or myspace world wide web page or probably even caught to the simple retail outlet at Twits to get much more info.
“You invest in a quite a few organizations enrolled in Cyber Monday,Inches signifiant Grandpre alleged. “Black Wednesday may possibly be covered with massive-box big.Inches
Select a risk-free and secure Property primarily based healthy environment. If you are pc or laptop, tablet or probably even cellphone isn’t truly protected in opposition to personal computer viruses coupled with other adware and all your skills blended with account specifics would be robbed anytime you get issues (on the grounds that most likely will sides are handled you can retail outlet off your pc or probably even work via the internet).
Have anti-virus merged with anti-spyware request applied mixed with up-to-date. If your price defense software package system is high, up to play a single from your cost-free companies accessible in the market place. Scour ‘best crystal clear antivirus’ blended with ‘best crystal clear traveling antivirus’ to go to alternatives.
Secured your web web link. Be confident all your pc’s firewall software may be at. If you a radio networking ought to remain secured really any individual may well be hiding out of doorways not able to recover your data . Not at any time get a arrest Wi-Fi programs with regard to sort of business offer together with other type of important experience transfer.
Software loyal reputable companies. Merchant know the dimensions and retail outlet, do some browsing on the internet to attain suggestions utilizing users’ feedback practice expertise check out out with staring at internet internet sites which specialists declare examine e-shops .
Bypass shams. How you can refrain from shams isn’t challenging: Not ever decide on a internet site hyperlink in mailing or maybe even on-line categorized adverts irrespective reliable this meant for web site or perhaps even email sender might. Have obtained a research engines like google and see the offer or maybe even retail outlet personally.
Offer protection to sensitive info. A lot of e-commerce blended with touring advertising and marketing internet sites prompt one to earn a consumer story, together with do not conserve existing several times. Ought to you do, never ever allow the shops guarantee that your info on image.
If your credit rating card merchant would like significantly far more personal savings account, Web 2 . Stability, or perhaps even chaffauer licence revenue Do not ever will supply you some of these. Some type of reliable reliable firms asks much more issues regarding all your enthusiasm, on the other hand must be aesthetic normally a excellent be mindful.
Support money firmly obtaining a paypal or credit card or maybe even well-revered pay out again plans. Credit history cards secures restriction all your culpability nevertheless atm cards do not actually offer the insurance. Or maybe get a shell out back again programs like the PayPal which experts declare covering all your skills away from the webstore and can remain set up to carry income out from the financial savings account. Avoid the use of lender checks, cashier’s lender checks, insert moves or possibly even earnings does web site . haul tall perils to obtain sham.
Not to mention 36 percentage of consumers alleged inside of the World-wide Support Federation article they can acquire a tiny christmas presents through the net for 2011. Progressively, we have received changed your apply. 5 several years prior, 35.9 percent of shoppers obtained xmas presents by means of the web. Employing coming of dietary supplements blended with cellular telephone handsets, searching on the web is now more convenient.
“It can be a problem to acquire to get whilst on the most well-known acquiring points period of time of full year,Inches alleged Daniel signifiant Grandpre, ceo about dealnews.internet . “On the internet is easier.Inches
As there are extremely neo substantial situation far more than Cyber Monday > this Mon folk drop rest away from the Thanksgiving gluttony mixed with recognize Get together may well be less than a calendar month down.
Not as well long in the past, via the world wide web patrons utilised $ one zillion at Cyber Monday, a constant save to achieve purchasing on the internet, and so it may have equally prosperity for 2011, except if Transport and delivery Operating day at December. Of sixteen elements as opposed to each and every other.
To obtain offerings, it’s the the second greatest day of acquiring items and after Black Friday, signifiant Grandpre alleged.
Hassle-totally free operation, very low price mixed with options are most likely manoeuvreing this ambigu-digit, 12 months-more than-yr boost in via the world wide web profitability, Sucharita Mulpuru alleged inside of the Forrester season anticipate.
“The principal prescriptions about through the world wide web, with budgetary anxiousness, the need to dedicate effectively, combined with on heading supply-facet expenditure can lead to a further solid rate of development year to achieve via the internet year retail shops profitability next year,Inches this woman mentioned.
At the identical time, people that store on the net and in retail shops dedicate 24 proportion over and above what people that help save exceptional to get, NRF Announcements Second in command Ellen Davis alleged.
Shopping on the internet continues to only a tiny percentage about retail retailers profitability > Forrester approximations through the world wide web profitability would be $ 59.All 5 zillion for 2011. While acquiring $ 465.An inexpensive holiday zillion as a total retail merchants profitability imagined for kinds xmas period, dependent on a Worldwide Services Federation anticipate, that has less than one particular amongst every twelve time funds.
Economic authorities mixed with retail stores viewers repeat the economy produces traffic to keep stingy producing use of their funds. The truth is, we’ll acquire diminished reveals, fifteen.Ten, based on Deloitte’s yearly year report, which is out for ones 3rd time when. To 2007, every single of us was regarded as ordering 7.4 xmas gifts.
A lot more frequently than not i am is just about the amount nice christmas presents for that relatives and buddies and with no any for extended durations updating christmas presents discovering the correct people. Who wishes to organize the very best affiliate at the place about reciprocating the second this individual incapable to incredibly permit realize it?
Gian Fulgoni, system chairman about comScore Inc., what tracks e-commerce, alleged center-income patrons be the cause of the true percentage about by way of the net profitability, Forty 3 proportion.
Even so reduced-revenue people that also may possibly the more youthful, as well as consequently tech-savvy, are probably multiplying more rapidly, Fulgoni alleged. All these Millennials are undoubtedly more expectant relating to financial system, as properly ,, he mentioned.
For 2011 people are probably loaded with the Net in buy to identify offerings, the two by comparison getting points on the mobile mobile phone handsets whilst in the retail stores, preshopping via the net for top stage offerings, or probably even flat-out ordering through the web specifically where these organizations uncover a better lower price tag.
“Some huge are stating there’re attaining their organizations rivaling the Web in aquire retail retailers,Inches Fulgoni alleged within the earlier world wide web-based mostly physical appearance.
Most have terminated worrying mixed with started off on savoring 1 point with regards to it. Unquestionably the multiplying on-line retailers are generally multichannel significant, Fulgoni alleged, signifies such bricks-and-mortar retail shops are almost certainly finding out how to manual clientele beginning from in-retailer to help you on the internet backbone.
Cyber Monday definitely will demonstrate evidence of by utilizing most main significant making it possible for the best all-out even push to attain by means of the web profitability that day. At the very same time, specialized market large are going to have a very good amounts. Selection to drop well-known store’s Facebook or myspace world wide web page or probably even caught to the simple retail outlet at Twits to get much more info.
“You invest in a quite a few organizations enrolled in Cyber Monday,Inches signifiant Grandpre alleged. “Black Wednesday may possibly be covered with massive-box big.Inches
Select a risk-free and secure Property primarily based healthy environment. If you are pc or laptop, tablet or probably even cellphone isn’t truly protected in opposition to personal computer viruses coupled with other adware and all your skills blended with account specifics would be robbed anytime you get issues (on the grounds that most likely will sides are handled you can retail outlet off your pc or probably even work via the internet).
Have anti-virus merged with anti-spyware request applied mixed with up-to-date. If your price defense software package system is high, up to play a single from your cost-free companies accessible in the market place. Scour ‘best crystal clear antivirus’ blended with ‘best crystal clear traveling antivirus’ to go to alternatives.
Secured your web web link. Be confident all your pc’s firewall software may be at. If you a radio networking ought to remain secured really any individual may well be hiding out of doorways not able to recover your data . Not at any time get a arrest Wi-Fi programs with regard to sort of business offer together with other type of important experience transfer.
Software loyal reputable companies. Merchant know the dimensions and retail outlet, do some browsing on the internet to attain suggestions utilizing users’ feedback practice expertise check out out with staring at internet internet sites which specialists declare examine e-shops .
Bypass shams. How you can refrain from shams isn’t challenging: Not ever decide on a internet site hyperlink in mailing or maybe even on-line categorized adverts irrespective reliable this meant for web site or perhaps even email sender might. Have obtained a research engines like google and see the offer or maybe even retail outlet personally.
Offer protection to sensitive info. A lot of e-commerce blended with touring advertising and marketing internet sites prompt one to earn a consumer story, together with do not conserve existing several times. Ought to you do, never ever allow the shops guarantee that your info on image.
If your credit rating card merchant would like significantly far more personal savings account, Web 2 . Stability, or perhaps even chaffauer licence revenue Do not ever will supply you some of these. Some type of reliable reliable firms asks much more issues regarding all your enthusiasm, on the other hand must be aesthetic normally a excellent be mindful.
Support money firmly obtaining a paypal or credit card or maybe even well-revered pay out again plans. Credit history cards secures restriction all your culpability nevertheless atm cards do not actually offer the insurance. Or maybe get a shell out back again programs like the PayPal which experts declare covering all your skills away from the webstore and can remain set up to carry income out from the financial savings account. Avoid the use of lender checks, cashier’s lender checks, insert moves or possibly even earnings does web site . haul tall perils to obtain sham.
2011年11月24日 星期四
Back to Berlin
White Christmas is just too good a musical to be limited to holiday-time productions. Especially when you have Larry Blank's ultra-snazzy swing orchestrations vibrantly delivering a gold-plated assortment of Irving Berlin classics and Randy Skinner's dancers heating up the floor with some sensational tapping.
Based on the classic 1954 film, the stage version of White Christmas, originally directed by Walter Bobbie, has been making seasonal regional appearances since 2004, with stints on Broadway in '08 and '09. The new mounting at Paper Mill, directed by Bobbie's associate director, Marc Bruni, appears to be a slightly scaled down version of the Broadway production, retaining Skinner's choreography and the festive mid-50s designs by Anna Louizos (sets), Carrie Robbins (costumes) and Ken Billington (lights).
The book by David Ives and Paul Blake streamlines the plot and adds some extra Berlin gems ("Happy Holidays," "Let Yourself Go," "I Love A Piano," "How Deep Is The Ocean?") while keeping most of the film's score, including "Sisters," "Count Your Blessings," "Blue Skies," "Let Me Sing And I'm Happy" and "Love, You Didn't Do Right By Me."
Repeating their roles from the Broadway '09 cast, James Clow and Tony Yazbeck play Bob Wallace and Phil Davis, a pair of World War II vets who become big time Broadway song and dance stars, back in the days when being a Broadway star meant you were famous throughout the country. On the evening before they're to leave for Florida to begin rehearsing their next production, the boys catch Judy and Betty Haynes (Meredith Patterson, encoring her performance from Broadway '08, and Jill Paice), performing "Sisters" at a nightclub and, with both professional and romantic possibilities brewing, follow them to their next gig; a holiday engagement at a Vermont inn. But an unexpected heat wave has forced the financially struggling place to forego its entertainment plans after every reservation cancels, until it turns out the owner is Bob and Phil's beloved General Henry Waverly (Edward James Hyland) from their army days, so they offer to move their Broadway show to the general's barn. In the meantime a few wrenches and misunderstandings get in the way of true love, but that's all straightened out by the time the chorus is dancing through the eventual snowfall.
The four leads all deliver top-shelf musical comedy performances, with Clow's sweetly mellow baritone matched by Paice's earthier tones, including her knockout torching of "Love, You Didn't Do Right By Me." Yazbeck's street-wise charisma and Patterson's showgirl sass set off major sparks when romancing to "The Best Things Happen When Your Dancing" and rat-a-tatting atop a very baby grand in "I Love A Piano."
A major factor in getting to the heart of White Christmas is that you have to believe the old general is the kind of man who would inspire the boys to gladly do anything for him, and Hyland plays the role with a heartwarming combination of protective tough love, sincere patriotism and a healthy dose of human decency. Young Andie Mechanic has realistic kid charm as his supportive granddaughter, but the "ringer" in the company is Lorna Luft as the wise-cracking hotel manager. Ives and Blake re-imagined the role played in the film by Mary Wickes as a vehicle for a beloved old pro musical comedy performer, and Luft brings down the house strutting and belting a super-charged rendition of "Let Me Sing And I'm Happy." After her number, the character says that talent like hers can't be learned, "You're born with it." The opening night audience, no doubt in recognition of Luft's lineage, responded to the line with enthusiastic agreement.
Based on the classic 1954 film, the stage version of White Christmas, originally directed by Walter Bobbie, has been making seasonal regional appearances since 2004, with stints on Broadway in '08 and '09. The new mounting at Paper Mill, directed by Bobbie's associate director, Marc Bruni, appears to be a slightly scaled down version of the Broadway production, retaining Skinner's choreography and the festive mid-50s designs by Anna Louizos (sets), Carrie Robbins (costumes) and Ken Billington (lights).
The book by David Ives and Paul Blake streamlines the plot and adds some extra Berlin gems ("Happy Holidays," "Let Yourself Go," "I Love A Piano," "How Deep Is The Ocean?") while keeping most of the film's score, including "Sisters," "Count Your Blessings," "Blue Skies," "Let Me Sing And I'm Happy" and "Love, You Didn't Do Right By Me."
Repeating their roles from the Broadway '09 cast, James Clow and Tony Yazbeck play Bob Wallace and Phil Davis, a pair of World War II vets who become big time Broadway song and dance stars, back in the days when being a Broadway star meant you were famous throughout the country. On the evening before they're to leave for Florida to begin rehearsing their next production, the boys catch Judy and Betty Haynes (Meredith Patterson, encoring her performance from Broadway '08, and Jill Paice), performing "Sisters" at a nightclub and, with both professional and romantic possibilities brewing, follow them to their next gig; a holiday engagement at a Vermont inn. But an unexpected heat wave has forced the financially struggling place to forego its entertainment plans after every reservation cancels, until it turns out the owner is Bob and Phil's beloved General Henry Waverly (Edward James Hyland) from their army days, so they offer to move their Broadway show to the general's barn. In the meantime a few wrenches and misunderstandings get in the way of true love, but that's all straightened out by the time the chorus is dancing through the eventual snowfall.
The four leads all deliver top-shelf musical comedy performances, with Clow's sweetly mellow baritone matched by Paice's earthier tones, including her knockout torching of "Love, You Didn't Do Right By Me." Yazbeck's street-wise charisma and Patterson's showgirl sass set off major sparks when romancing to "The Best Things Happen When Your Dancing" and rat-a-tatting atop a very baby grand in "I Love A Piano."
A major factor in getting to the heart of White Christmas is that you have to believe the old general is the kind of man who would inspire the boys to gladly do anything for him, and Hyland plays the role with a heartwarming combination of protective tough love, sincere patriotism and a healthy dose of human decency. Young Andie Mechanic has realistic kid charm as his supportive granddaughter, but the "ringer" in the company is Lorna Luft as the wise-cracking hotel manager. Ives and Blake re-imagined the role played in the film by Mary Wickes as a vehicle for a beloved old pro musical comedy performer, and Luft brings down the house strutting and belting a super-charged rendition of "Let Me Sing And I'm Happy." After her number, the character says that talent like hers can't be learned, "You're born with it." The opening night audience, no doubt in recognition of Luft's lineage, responded to the line with enthusiastic agreement.
2011年11月23日 星期三
Daily Deals Evolve, New Competitors Emerge
Consider it the daily-deal gold rush. First, there was Groupon's much-anticipated IPO in early November, which valued the market leader at $12.7 billion. Now its top competitor, LivingSocial, is reportedly set to close another big round of funding that would put its valuation at around $6 billion. While such nods of approval from Wall Street may offer some validation to Groupon, LivingSocial and the hundreds of imitators their business models have spawned, on Main Street, small-business owners still have their doubts.
"These deal sites call up and claim their service is different from Groupon, but they're pretty much all the same," says Mike Scotese, an owner of Grey Lodge Pub in Philadelphia. Scotese started receiving regular pitches from daily-deal companies about two years ago. These days, they call at least once a week, offering to design and distribute a coupon for the pub's food in exchange for a cut of the sales it brings in. "'No thanks,' I tell them. We're guaranteed to lose money on sales to customers we'll probably never see again."
Many local merchants agree. And that's created an opening for savvy startups looking not to imitate the model, but to innovate.
With the Groupon model, to actually boost a business's bottom line, the thinking goes, daily deals need to attract at least one of two types of customers: Those who spend more than a coupon's face value and those who return after redeeming the deal. But recent research reveals that group-buying services often fail to serve up either kind of customer.
In June, a survey by a Rice University professor polled 324 business owners who ran a daily-deal promotion between August 2009 and March 2011. Fifty-five percent of them made money on the deals, while less than a third lost money. Yet more than half of the surveyed merchants did not express enthusiasm about running one again. And 65 percent of the restaurant and bar owners reported that they were done with daily deals entirely. The main reason: Only 35.9 percent of coupon-wielding customers spent more than a deal's value, and just 19.9 percent of customers returned for a full-price purchase.
Such stats raise "red flags" that indicate a "structural weakness in the daily deal business model," concluded the study's author, Utpal Dholakia, who has published several studies with similar results over the past two years.
"Beginning in 2009 and 2010, merchants were just hopping on the bandwagon and running daily deals without really thinking through what they were doing," Dholakia says. "Now, business owners are becoming smarter about how they run daily deals."
So, too, are the entrepreneurs operating daily-deal sites. A new crop of deal sites now link services to customers' credit and debit cards, allowing operators to track previously untraceable data that reveal which types of deals generate the most repeat behavior.
Some, like Seth Priebatsch, think they may have even cracked the code to the customer loyalty conundrum at the heart of business owners' beef with Groupon and its clones.
In March, Priebatsch, the founder and CEO of location-based startup SCVNGR, launched LevelUp, a daily-deals site that let merchants serve up three increasingly better deals at their location in the hopes of encouraging repeat business. "It worked -- but not well enough," Priebatsch admits, "so we evolved it into something better."
In July, Priebatsch launched a new version of LevelUp. The current iteration is a free rewards service that links to a customers' credit or debit card and works through their phone. Merchants use it to give customers a small discount on their first buy, then reward repeat customers with instant credit toward each future purchase, all through register scanning equipment that costs the merchant nothing to install, then $55/month after a three-month trial.
So far, Priebatsch says he's seen LevelUp customers return to participating businesses 45 percent of the time. He noted that Groupon-wielding buyers, in comparison, only return around 1 percent of the time. (Groupon, which is still in its post-IPO "quiet period," declined to comment on this story, but has since launched its own rewards program with undisclosed results.)
LevelUp users also spend on average 5.8 times the face value of the deals they receive, according to Priebatsch. That stat, plus another datapoint LevelUp collected, may calm some merchants' concerns over offering deals that don't expire: The average LevelUp merchant gives users 17 percent off their merchandise, compared to the much larger discount that Groupon often requires of the merchants it works with.
So far, LevelUp has launched in four different cities: New York, Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco. It has signed up around 600 merchants and roughly 100,000 users.
That pales in comparison to the 45,665 businesses that worked with Groupon in the first half of 2011, and its more than 140 million users worldwide, or LivingSocial's 46 million users. But such discrepancies may start to mean less, as the perception continues to spread among merchants that it's not how many users you reach, but the rate at which you can convert them into regular customers or get them to spend beyond a deal's value.
"Groupon's model is all about marketing," says Jon Carder, the founder of MOGL, another rewards service that launched this April and targets only restaurants and bars. "They're out to just deliver you a ton of new customers, typically at a loss. Our primary goal is to take a restaurant's existing customer base and get them to come back more frequently and spend more money when they do."
To do that, MOGL offers three separate incentives to customers -- cash back in the amount of 10 percent of each purchase, deposited into a customer's bank account at the end of each month; a food donation to a local charity each time a customer spends at least $20; and a monthly jackpot, typically ranging from $25 to $500, which goes to the MOGL user who spends the most at a location in any given month.
To simultaneously reap the three rewards, customers just link any credit or debit card to MOGL and then use that card to pay for a meal at a participating restaurant in one of the three West Coast cities where the service is currently available. MOGL takes a 15 percent cut of users' spending from restaurants, with 10 percent going back to each customer in the form of cash back, 4 percent going to MOGL, and 1 percent going toward the monthly jackpot.
"We've designed something that's working exceptionally well," says Carder, citing a study that the company conducted on 89 participating restaurants and 2,000 users in the network. "We compared those MOGL customers to the restaurants' typical customers, and our users spent about 71 percent more."
Some experts say the variations on rewards programs are a definite improvement over the original daily deals that existed last year, in part because they're better for the merchant.
"But a key issue still remains," claims Rice University's Dholakia. "At the heart of these marketing activities are discount and specifically price promotions. You're basically giving the customer some financial incentive to buy from you, whether it's on the first occasion or the third occasion. Everything about good marketing practice says that is not a good thing to do all the time. You don’t want to give people money basically to keep them coming back to you. They should come back to you because they inherently value or have some kind of emotional attachment to your product."
"These deal sites call up and claim their service is different from Groupon, but they're pretty much all the same," says Mike Scotese, an owner of Grey Lodge Pub in Philadelphia. Scotese started receiving regular pitches from daily-deal companies about two years ago. These days, they call at least once a week, offering to design and distribute a coupon for the pub's food in exchange for a cut of the sales it brings in. "'No thanks,' I tell them. We're guaranteed to lose money on sales to customers we'll probably never see again."
Many local merchants agree. And that's created an opening for savvy startups looking not to imitate the model, but to innovate.
With the Groupon model, to actually boost a business's bottom line, the thinking goes, daily deals need to attract at least one of two types of customers: Those who spend more than a coupon's face value and those who return after redeeming the deal. But recent research reveals that group-buying services often fail to serve up either kind of customer.
In June, a survey by a Rice University professor polled 324 business owners who ran a daily-deal promotion between August 2009 and March 2011. Fifty-five percent of them made money on the deals, while less than a third lost money. Yet more than half of the surveyed merchants did not express enthusiasm about running one again. And 65 percent of the restaurant and bar owners reported that they were done with daily deals entirely. The main reason: Only 35.9 percent of coupon-wielding customers spent more than a deal's value, and just 19.9 percent of customers returned for a full-price purchase.
Such stats raise "red flags" that indicate a "structural weakness in the daily deal business model," concluded the study's author, Utpal Dholakia, who has published several studies with similar results over the past two years.
"Beginning in 2009 and 2010, merchants were just hopping on the bandwagon and running daily deals without really thinking through what they were doing," Dholakia says. "Now, business owners are becoming smarter about how they run daily deals."
So, too, are the entrepreneurs operating daily-deal sites. A new crop of deal sites now link services to customers' credit and debit cards, allowing operators to track previously untraceable data that reveal which types of deals generate the most repeat behavior.
Some, like Seth Priebatsch, think they may have even cracked the code to the customer loyalty conundrum at the heart of business owners' beef with Groupon and its clones.
In March, Priebatsch, the founder and CEO of location-based startup SCVNGR, launched LevelUp, a daily-deals site that let merchants serve up three increasingly better deals at their location in the hopes of encouraging repeat business. "It worked -- but not well enough," Priebatsch admits, "so we evolved it into something better."
In July, Priebatsch launched a new version of LevelUp. The current iteration is a free rewards service that links to a customers' credit or debit card and works through their phone. Merchants use it to give customers a small discount on their first buy, then reward repeat customers with instant credit toward each future purchase, all through register scanning equipment that costs the merchant nothing to install, then $55/month after a three-month trial.
So far, Priebatsch says he's seen LevelUp customers return to participating businesses 45 percent of the time. He noted that Groupon-wielding buyers, in comparison, only return around 1 percent of the time. (Groupon, which is still in its post-IPO "quiet period," declined to comment on this story, but has since launched its own rewards program with undisclosed results.)
LevelUp users also spend on average 5.8 times the face value of the deals they receive, according to Priebatsch. That stat, plus another datapoint LevelUp collected, may calm some merchants' concerns over offering deals that don't expire: The average LevelUp merchant gives users 17 percent off their merchandise, compared to the much larger discount that Groupon often requires of the merchants it works with.
So far, LevelUp has launched in four different cities: New York, Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco. It has signed up around 600 merchants and roughly 100,000 users.
That pales in comparison to the 45,665 businesses that worked with Groupon in the first half of 2011, and its more than 140 million users worldwide, or LivingSocial's 46 million users. But such discrepancies may start to mean less, as the perception continues to spread among merchants that it's not how many users you reach, but the rate at which you can convert them into regular customers or get them to spend beyond a deal's value.
"Groupon's model is all about marketing," says Jon Carder, the founder of MOGL, another rewards service that launched this April and targets only restaurants and bars. "They're out to just deliver you a ton of new customers, typically at a loss. Our primary goal is to take a restaurant's existing customer base and get them to come back more frequently and spend more money when they do."
To do that, MOGL offers three separate incentives to customers -- cash back in the amount of 10 percent of each purchase, deposited into a customer's bank account at the end of each month; a food donation to a local charity each time a customer spends at least $20; and a monthly jackpot, typically ranging from $25 to $500, which goes to the MOGL user who spends the most at a location in any given month.
To simultaneously reap the three rewards, customers just link any credit or debit card to MOGL and then use that card to pay for a meal at a participating restaurant in one of the three West Coast cities where the service is currently available. MOGL takes a 15 percent cut of users' spending from restaurants, with 10 percent going back to each customer in the form of cash back, 4 percent going to MOGL, and 1 percent going toward the monthly jackpot.
"We've designed something that's working exceptionally well," says Carder, citing a study that the company conducted on 89 participating restaurants and 2,000 users in the network. "We compared those MOGL customers to the restaurants' typical customers, and our users spent about 71 percent more."
Some experts say the variations on rewards programs are a definite improvement over the original daily deals that existed last year, in part because they're better for the merchant.
"But a key issue still remains," claims Rice University's Dholakia. "At the heart of these marketing activities are discount and specifically price promotions. You're basically giving the customer some financial incentive to buy from you, whether it's on the first occasion or the third occasion. Everything about good marketing practice says that is not a good thing to do all the time. You don’t want to give people money basically to keep them coming back to you. They should come back to you because they inherently value or have some kind of emotional attachment to your product."
2011年11月22日 星期二
Low-Tech Fraud Continues To Daunt Card Issuers
Credit-card issuers have spent billions of dollars to stop data thieves cold in their tracks by strengthening their information-technology systems and developing programs that can flag bogus transactions as they occur.
Despite the investments, lenders remain daunted by one of the oldest tricks in fraudsters' playbooks: card skimming.
Skimming involves stripping account information from a credit card using man-made devices that thieves can attach to gas-pump terminals, automated teller machines and retailers' check-out systems. Fraudsters use this information to make purchases online and produce counterfeit cards for spending at brick-and-mortar merchants.
"There's no sophistication about card skimmers," said George Peabody, director of the emerging technologies advisory service at Mercator Advisory Group. "It's an inexpensive item and anybody can do it."
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. on Friday said 28 people were indicted in connection with a fraud operation that involved waiters at several high-end restaurants using hand-held skimmers to steal customers' account information. The crimes ensnared at least 50 customers of American Express Co. and occurred from April 2010 through this month.
Such incidents reinforce the need for banks to do more to involve their customers in fraud-fighting efforts, analysts said.
Officials investigating the New York fraud ring said the alleged thieves were able to pull of the heist because the victims were well-to-do clients with high credit lines. The perpetrators used stolen cardholder information to buy watches, handbags and other luxury goods — items the victims presumably could have purchased themselves — that they resold.
With banks, "there's been a belief that ... we don't want to talk to the consumer about security because we don't want to scare the consumer," said Phil Blank, managing director of security, risk and fraud at Javelin Strategy and Research. However, research Javelin has done suggests that consumers want to be actively involved in managing their accounts through alerts that notify a customer when transactions occur.
While more banks have invested in this technology, few have aggressively promoted the services, Blank said. Such services could help customers and their banks more quickly stop fraud like that which occurred in the New York incident by making customers aware when transactions and other activities occur.
The financial value of identity fraud, which includes credit-card fraud, fell 34% in 2010, to $37 billion, according to Javelin. However, the mean costs to an individual consumer affected by identify fraud actually rose more than 60%, to $631, reflecting that fact that certain types of fraud have taken longer to detect, requiring more time to resolve, Blank said.
An American Express spokeswoman declined to discuss specifics of the New York case but wrote in an email that the company has "sophisticated monitoring systems and controls in place to detect fraudulent activity."
Federal law limits customer liability from credit-card fraud to $50, though many banks have zero-liability policies in place to cover consumers.
American Express cardholders are not liable for fraudulent charges on their cards, the spokeswoman wrote.
Despite the investments, lenders remain daunted by one of the oldest tricks in fraudsters' playbooks: card skimming.
Skimming involves stripping account information from a credit card using man-made devices that thieves can attach to gas-pump terminals, automated teller machines and retailers' check-out systems. Fraudsters use this information to make purchases online and produce counterfeit cards for spending at brick-and-mortar merchants.
"There's no sophistication about card skimmers," said George Peabody, director of the emerging technologies advisory service at Mercator Advisory Group. "It's an inexpensive item and anybody can do it."
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. on Friday said 28 people were indicted in connection with a fraud operation that involved waiters at several high-end restaurants using hand-held skimmers to steal customers' account information. The crimes ensnared at least 50 customers of American Express Co. and occurred from April 2010 through this month.
Such incidents reinforce the need for banks to do more to involve their customers in fraud-fighting efforts, analysts said.
Officials investigating the New York fraud ring said the alleged thieves were able to pull of the heist because the victims were well-to-do clients with high credit lines. The perpetrators used stolen cardholder information to buy watches, handbags and other luxury goods — items the victims presumably could have purchased themselves — that they resold.
With banks, "there's been a belief that ... we don't want to talk to the consumer about security because we don't want to scare the consumer," said Phil Blank, managing director of security, risk and fraud at Javelin Strategy and Research. However, research Javelin has done suggests that consumers want to be actively involved in managing their accounts through alerts that notify a customer when transactions occur.
While more banks have invested in this technology, few have aggressively promoted the services, Blank said. Such services could help customers and their banks more quickly stop fraud like that which occurred in the New York incident by making customers aware when transactions and other activities occur.
The financial value of identity fraud, which includes credit-card fraud, fell 34% in 2010, to $37 billion, according to Javelin. However, the mean costs to an individual consumer affected by identify fraud actually rose more than 60%, to $631, reflecting that fact that certain types of fraud have taken longer to detect, requiring more time to resolve, Blank said.
An American Express spokeswoman declined to discuss specifics of the New York case but wrote in an email that the company has "sophisticated monitoring systems and controls in place to detect fraudulent activity."
Federal law limits customer liability from credit-card fraud to $50, though many banks have zero-liability policies in place to cover consumers.
American Express cardholders are not liable for fraudulent charges on their cards, the spokeswoman wrote.
2011年11月21日 星期一
Wenger Out? Then What?
I'm not remotely interested in the debate about who is or isn’t an Arsenal Supporter or who loves Arsenal more (those labelled as AKBs for being sensible or those filled with blind, illogical hate that want Wenger out). Some of us simply wanted to see Arsenal come out of the awful start to the season and climb up the table and we were happy to offer unflinching support to the club we love, in order to see Arsenal recover.
We endured weeks of idiots coming on this website and telling us how Wenger has done nothing for Arsenal, how he won a few trophies using players he didn’t bring in, how it didn’t make sense to build the new stadium and how Wenger hasn’t really done anything for Arsenal and he's a useless manager. Perhaps five years ago, with people at the club who could attract good managers and with an organisation in the backroom (and boardroom) who understand modern day football, one could think about replacing a manager like Wenger (while clever clubs like Man Utd, Everton, try to keep their manager for as long as they can, as they understand the simple logic that while it's easy to fire one manager, getting a reliable replacement is a totally different prospect).
With Saturday's victory away to Norwich (which I pointed out as a milestone in my last article) and with Newcastle facing Man Utd next week, we have a juicy home game against Fulham and should hopefully be back up in the top 4 challenging against Chelsea and Spurs for a Champions League spot. And before some idiots start talking about that not being enough; I’m sure it wasn’t enough when we were languishing in 17th a few weeks ago.
There are four credible competitions this season, same as most seasons, and Arsenal should target a trophy (any trophy) to get us back in a winning mentality and then build from there. I don’t care much for conversations about whether or not top 4 is good enough, let's focus on winning every game remaining this season or dropping as few points as possible and hang in there to see where we end up. If it's top 4, so be it; 6 weeks ago we were praying fervently not to end up on the second page of the Premiership table
Back to the topic of this article; yes, let's continue to indulge the fools who clamour for Wenger's exit, so we don’t risk being called 'blind' AKBs? Seriously, is that how fickle we've all become? Why don’t we simply apply some common sense eh? There are quite a few pretty-boy managers out there (e.g. Villas-Boas) whose experience in football was developed from watching on telly and the chances of them staying at the same club for more than three seasons is quite low (add Mourinho to that list) as they simply lack that staying power. They will either do well and then be off to the next club (Real, Barca, Inter etc) or struggle like AVB after spending millions; but one things is sure, you won’t have them for 15 years.
With guys like Gazidis in charge of Arsenal, you must be insane to even consider sacking Wenger, not because Wenger is great or irreplaceable, but CAN YOU IMAGINE WHO GAZIDIS WOULD BRING IN TO REPLACE HIM? Can you imagine the chaos that would ensue at the club? I'm sure those of us who have been supporting Arsenal for long enough can answer that question. We've been here before Wenger, we will be here after Wenger, but for goodness sake, let's get a strong board in and a solid vice chairman or chief executive before we start a deluge by chasing off the only sane person at the helm of the club (love him or hate him). I'm sure 95% of football clubs in Europe are praying Arsenal lose Wenger so they can have him.
We endured weeks of idiots coming on this website and telling us how Wenger has done nothing for Arsenal, how he won a few trophies using players he didn’t bring in, how it didn’t make sense to build the new stadium and how Wenger hasn’t really done anything for Arsenal and he's a useless manager. Perhaps five years ago, with people at the club who could attract good managers and with an organisation in the backroom (and boardroom) who understand modern day football, one could think about replacing a manager like Wenger (while clever clubs like Man Utd, Everton, try to keep their manager for as long as they can, as they understand the simple logic that while it's easy to fire one manager, getting a reliable replacement is a totally different prospect).
With Saturday's victory away to Norwich (which I pointed out as a milestone in my last article) and with Newcastle facing Man Utd next week, we have a juicy home game against Fulham and should hopefully be back up in the top 4 challenging against Chelsea and Spurs for a Champions League spot. And before some idiots start talking about that not being enough; I’m sure it wasn’t enough when we were languishing in 17th a few weeks ago.
There are four credible competitions this season, same as most seasons, and Arsenal should target a trophy (any trophy) to get us back in a winning mentality and then build from there. I don’t care much for conversations about whether or not top 4 is good enough, let's focus on winning every game remaining this season or dropping as few points as possible and hang in there to see where we end up. If it's top 4, so be it; 6 weeks ago we were praying fervently not to end up on the second page of the Premiership table
Back to the topic of this article; yes, let's continue to indulge the fools who clamour for Wenger's exit, so we don’t risk being called 'blind' AKBs? Seriously, is that how fickle we've all become? Why don’t we simply apply some common sense eh? There are quite a few pretty-boy managers out there (e.g. Villas-Boas) whose experience in football was developed from watching on telly and the chances of them staying at the same club for more than three seasons is quite low (add Mourinho to that list) as they simply lack that staying power. They will either do well and then be off to the next club (Real, Barca, Inter etc) or struggle like AVB after spending millions; but one things is sure, you won’t have them for 15 years.
With guys like Gazidis in charge of Arsenal, you must be insane to even consider sacking Wenger, not because Wenger is great or irreplaceable, but CAN YOU IMAGINE WHO GAZIDIS WOULD BRING IN TO REPLACE HIM? Can you imagine the chaos that would ensue at the club? I'm sure those of us who have been supporting Arsenal for long enough can answer that question. We've been here before Wenger, we will be here after Wenger, but for goodness sake, let's get a strong board in and a solid vice chairman or chief executive before we start a deluge by chasing off the only sane person at the helm of the club (love him or hate him). I'm sure 95% of football clubs in Europe are praying Arsenal lose Wenger so they can have him.
2011年11月20日 星期日
Anger mounts as MF Global clients see $3 billion still stuck
While authorities have touted the fact that they are returning 60 percent of the collateral and cash that had been frozen in the wake of the broker's October 31 bankruptcy, a closer look shows that in fact only about 40 percent of customers' total funds have been authorized for release so far.
The remainder, more than $3 billion, ostensibly remains on hand to cover a shortfall originally estimated by MF Global to regulators at just $600 million.
Because the bankruptcy trustee, regulators and exchanges have made no comment on the missing funds in weeks -- and have given no information as to how much cash they are retaining -- customers are left guessing exactly how much might end up in the creditors' process of the bankruptcy.
After weeks of intense lobbying by customers and exchanges, trustee James Giddens last week won court approval to release another $520 million in funds from MF Global accounts that contained only cash as of October 31.
But that has still left thousands of customers in an uproar. Clients who had a mix of cash and trading positions have yet to see a dime of their excess funds, they say. The trustee is planning a third cash transfer to cover these clients, but no timing for that tranche has been announced.
"The whole process is a mess," said Jason Skole, a private investor who had invested $200,000 at the start of this year in a small hedge fund who traded through MF Global.
"Those who had just cash positions will get some of their money. All I've got is 60 percent of the small amount of collateral I had backing trades," he said. He says around $185,000 of his money is still frozen at the bankrupt firm.
Giddens said late last week that they were working on a third bulk transfer to "true up" the value of distributions so that all former customers get the total 60 percent of their net equity, but they weren't yet confident enough in MF Global's bookkeeping and cash on hand to go beyond that.
"We've seen enough (money) to make the 60 percent distributions but we can't distribute money we don't have," Giddens' spokesman Kent Jarrell told Reuters on Sunday.
"As soon as we identify assets under our control, we are trying to distribute them. And we can't get ahead of that because then we can run out of assets.... We have to find the assets and we have to make sure we have to control those assets. It's a time consuming, complex task and we have hundreds of people working on it on our end now."
CME Group referred all questions to the trustee.
The tale of the customer's funds goes like this. On October 31, exchange operator CME Group estimated in a court filing that there was a "requirement" of some $5.5 billion in segregated customer funds -- including, presumably, the missing funds that could not be immediately located.
Over the following weeks, while authorities poured over sloppy and haphazard records, the trustee identified two pools of money that could be partly returned to customers.
The first was $2.5 billion in collateral that was being used as margin to cover existing trades. Those trading positions were transferred to new brokers along with 60 percent of the value of the collateral, or about $1.55 billion.
The second was $869 million that was left in MF Global accounts that contained nothing but cash -- either because customers had liquidated all their trades before October 31, or because they simply had no positions open as it failed. The bankruptcy court ruled last week that those account holders would also get back 60 percent, or about $520 million.
Those two pools of funds only account for about $3.4 billion of the original total $5.5 billion. The customers whose accounts hold that remaining $2-plus billion have never been explicitly identified, or told when they will get their funds.
"We have the $520 million to do distribution of cash accounts. And we knew we had the assets to distribute on the first one around. Now we also feel confident we have enough to true up. What we don't know is what we'll have beyond that," said Jarrell.
It's clear that some cash is being held back in order to cover the missing money that regulators say MF Global may have taken from customer accounts, an unprecedented violation of one of the fundamental tenets of commodity brokers.
The remainder, more than $3 billion, ostensibly remains on hand to cover a shortfall originally estimated by MF Global to regulators at just $600 million.
Because the bankruptcy trustee, regulators and exchanges have made no comment on the missing funds in weeks -- and have given no information as to how much cash they are retaining -- customers are left guessing exactly how much might end up in the creditors' process of the bankruptcy.
After weeks of intense lobbying by customers and exchanges, trustee James Giddens last week won court approval to release another $520 million in funds from MF Global accounts that contained only cash as of October 31.
But that has still left thousands of customers in an uproar. Clients who had a mix of cash and trading positions have yet to see a dime of their excess funds, they say. The trustee is planning a third cash transfer to cover these clients, but no timing for that tranche has been announced.
"The whole process is a mess," said Jason Skole, a private investor who had invested $200,000 at the start of this year in a small hedge fund who traded through MF Global.
"Those who had just cash positions will get some of their money. All I've got is 60 percent of the small amount of collateral I had backing trades," he said. He says around $185,000 of his money is still frozen at the bankrupt firm.
Giddens said late last week that they were working on a third bulk transfer to "true up" the value of distributions so that all former customers get the total 60 percent of their net equity, but they weren't yet confident enough in MF Global's bookkeeping and cash on hand to go beyond that.
"We've seen enough (money) to make the 60 percent distributions but we can't distribute money we don't have," Giddens' spokesman Kent Jarrell told Reuters on Sunday.
"As soon as we identify assets under our control, we are trying to distribute them. And we can't get ahead of that because then we can run out of assets.... We have to find the assets and we have to make sure we have to control those assets. It's a time consuming, complex task and we have hundreds of people working on it on our end now."
CME Group referred all questions to the trustee.
The tale of the customer's funds goes like this. On October 31, exchange operator CME Group estimated in a court filing that there was a "requirement" of some $5.5 billion in segregated customer funds -- including, presumably, the missing funds that could not be immediately located.
Over the following weeks, while authorities poured over sloppy and haphazard records, the trustee identified two pools of money that could be partly returned to customers.
The first was $2.5 billion in collateral that was being used as margin to cover existing trades. Those trading positions were transferred to new brokers along with 60 percent of the value of the collateral, or about $1.55 billion.
The second was $869 million that was left in MF Global accounts that contained nothing but cash -- either because customers had liquidated all their trades before October 31, or because they simply had no positions open as it failed. The bankruptcy court ruled last week that those account holders would also get back 60 percent, or about $520 million.
Those two pools of funds only account for about $3.4 billion of the original total $5.5 billion. The customers whose accounts hold that remaining $2-plus billion have never been explicitly identified, or told when they will get their funds.
"We have the $520 million to do distribution of cash accounts. And we knew we had the assets to distribute on the first one around. Now we also feel confident we have enough to true up. What we don't know is what we'll have beyond that," said Jarrell.
It's clear that some cash is being held back in order to cover the missing money that regulators say MF Global may have taken from customer accounts, an unprecedented violation of one of the fundamental tenets of commodity brokers.
2011年11月17日 星期四
Rand Falls to 4-Week Low on Risk EU Debt Crisis to Slow Growth
The rand tumbled to a four-week low against the dollar on concern the global economy will slow as European leaders struggle to stem the region’s debt crisis, damping demand for South Africa’s commodity exports.
South Africa’s currency weakened as much as 1.4 percent to 8.2661 per dollar, the weakest level since Oct. 20, and traded 1 percent down at 8.2306 as of 3:12 p.m. in Johannesburg. Against the euro, the rand retreated 0.7 percent to 11.0955.
Commodity prices declined for the first time in three days, according to the Standard & Poor’s GSCI Index. The uncertain global economic outlook created by the European debt crisis is putting pressure on the prices of commodities including iron, Marius Kloppers, chief executive of BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest mining company, said today.
“The risk posed to the global economy by the sovereign debt crisis in Europe is high and increasing,” John Cairns, a currency strategist at Rand Merchant Bank in Johannesburg, said in a research note. “The risk of a major fallout and negative consequences for the rand is high.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel today rejected French calls to deploy the European Central Bank as a crisis backstop, defying global leaders and investors calling for more urgent action to halt the turmoil. The euro-area economy is heading toward a “mild recession” by the end of the year, ECB President Mario Draghi said on Nov. 3.
Recession Risk
The lack of action and decisiveness in the E.U. to address the debt crisis in that region risks a global recession, South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said today.
“Every single day, the lack of action, the lack of decisiveness, the inability of the European authorities to put together a substantial enough package of solutions is creating more doubt, more uncertainty and the potential for a recession to return at least to some parts of the world, if not the globe as a whole,” Gordhan said in an address at the University of Stellenbosch, near Cape Town.
South Africa’s benchmark stock index declined 0.6 percent today, led by commodity exporters including BHP Billiton and Anglo American Plc. Raw material exports account for about 45 percent of South Africa’s foreign currency earnings, according to South African Revenue Service data.
South Africa is “export-oriented which makes it exposed to slowdown risks,” Benoit Anne, the London-based head of emerging-market strategy at Societe Generale SA, said by e-mail. SocGen recommends selling the rand against the Turkish lira.
South Africa’s 6.75 percent bonds due 2021 declined, pushing the yield up three basis points, or 0.03 percentage point, to 8.08 percent.
South Africa’s currency weakened as much as 1.4 percent to 8.2661 per dollar, the weakest level since Oct. 20, and traded 1 percent down at 8.2306 as of 3:12 p.m. in Johannesburg. Against the euro, the rand retreated 0.7 percent to 11.0955.
Commodity prices declined for the first time in three days, according to the Standard & Poor’s GSCI Index. The uncertain global economic outlook created by the European debt crisis is putting pressure on the prices of commodities including iron, Marius Kloppers, chief executive of BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest mining company, said today.
“The risk posed to the global economy by the sovereign debt crisis in Europe is high and increasing,” John Cairns, a currency strategist at Rand Merchant Bank in Johannesburg, said in a research note. “The risk of a major fallout and negative consequences for the rand is high.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel today rejected French calls to deploy the European Central Bank as a crisis backstop, defying global leaders and investors calling for more urgent action to halt the turmoil. The euro-area economy is heading toward a “mild recession” by the end of the year, ECB President Mario Draghi said on Nov. 3.
Recession Risk
The lack of action and decisiveness in the E.U. to address the debt crisis in that region risks a global recession, South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said today.
“Every single day, the lack of action, the lack of decisiveness, the inability of the European authorities to put together a substantial enough package of solutions is creating more doubt, more uncertainty and the potential for a recession to return at least to some parts of the world, if not the globe as a whole,” Gordhan said in an address at the University of Stellenbosch, near Cape Town.
South Africa’s benchmark stock index declined 0.6 percent today, led by commodity exporters including BHP Billiton and Anglo American Plc. Raw material exports account for about 45 percent of South Africa’s foreign currency earnings, according to South African Revenue Service data.
South Africa is “export-oriented which makes it exposed to slowdown risks,” Benoit Anne, the London-based head of emerging-market strategy at Societe Generale SA, said by e-mail. SocGen recommends selling the rand against the Turkish lira.
South Africa’s 6.75 percent bonds due 2021 declined, pushing the yield up three basis points, or 0.03 percentage point, to 8.08 percent.
2011年11月16日 星期三
Google Checkout scrapped – Users moved to Wallet
Google have taken the decision to scrap the Google Checkout program in favour of Google Wallet.
Consumers will be directed to merge their Checkout account with their Google Wallet account. They can automatically transition their Checkout account to Google Wallet the next time they sign in or make a purchase online and their Checkout history will then be available in their Wallet account.
Thankfully Google recognise that merchants won’t take too kindly to having to change their websites a month before Christmas, so shoppers using Google Wallet will be able to make purchases seamlessly on merchant sites that accept Google Checkout. Buyers will simply be able to log in and pay with their Wallet account… assuming that they’re aware that their Google Wallet will work on sites with the Google Checkout branding.
Once Christmas is out of the way in the new year Google will begin transitioning merchants Checkout logos to Wallet logos, and doubtless there’ll be some back end tinkering to do on your website if you currently accept Checkout.
Realistically this is an admission that Checkout hasn’t caught on, otherwise Google could have built offline payments into Checkout rather than launching them as a rebranded Google Wallet. How well Wallet will catch on has yet to be seen. The big question is will you change the Google Checkout logos on your websites to Google Wallet, or will you just press the delete button and allow buyers to use other payment methods?
Consumers will be directed to merge their Checkout account with their Google Wallet account. They can automatically transition their Checkout account to Google Wallet the next time they sign in or make a purchase online and their Checkout history will then be available in their Wallet account.
Thankfully Google recognise that merchants won’t take too kindly to having to change their websites a month before Christmas, so shoppers using Google Wallet will be able to make purchases seamlessly on merchant sites that accept Google Checkout. Buyers will simply be able to log in and pay with their Wallet account… assuming that they’re aware that their Google Wallet will work on sites with the Google Checkout branding.
Once Christmas is out of the way in the new year Google will begin transitioning merchants Checkout logos to Wallet logos, and doubtless there’ll be some back end tinkering to do on your website if you currently accept Checkout.
Realistically this is an admission that Checkout hasn’t caught on, otherwise Google could have built offline payments into Checkout rather than launching them as a rebranded Google Wallet. How well Wallet will catch on has yet to be seen. The big question is will you change the Google Checkout logos on your websites to Google Wallet, or will you just press the delete button and allow buyers to use other payment methods?
2011年11月15日 星期二
Majestic raises glass to big profits increase
Wine merchant Majestic posted strong half year results yesterday, although analysts warned that its sales could be affected by weakening consumer confidence.
Unveiling a 20 per cent rise in half-year profits for the second year in a row, Majestic said revenues rose by 8.7 per cent to 127.8m in the six months to September 26 – 2.7 per cent higher on a like-for-like basis.
But in the period since then, like-for-like sales were down 1.1 per cent after two weeks of disappointing sales amid the economic turbulence in mid-October.
Majestic, which has 176 UK stores, insisted it was still well placed for the Christmas season and pointed out that sales of still wine priced at 20 per bottle or more increased by a fifth during the half year.
The average spend per transaction at its stores also rose by 3 to 125, with the average bottle price of still wine now 7.13 from 6.67 last year.
Majestic has been one of the success stories of the high street in recent years, leading to yesterday’s half-year profits of 8.8m.
It opened new stores in Evesham, Weston-super-Mare, Fleet, Livingston, Hale, Dundee, Worthing and Bury St Edmunds in the half year.
It has also opened stores in Clitheroe, Ripon and Braintree since then.
Further shops are planned for Chesterfield and West Kirby on the Wirral.
The company said it believes it has the potential to expand to at least 330 UK locations. David Jeary, of Investec Securities, said the product and service proposition continued to resonate with customers.
He added: “As one of the few organic growth stories in the UK retail sector, Majestic should continue to remain in favour with investors.”
Analysts at Liberum Capital described the half year results as “solid” but key trading risks remained.
In a note issued yesterday, Liberum said: “Majestic is reliant on the November and December trading period – it accounts for around 30 per cent of revenues and 50 per cent of profits – which provides a risk if consumer sentiment weakens further.
“The company is testing the potential of TV and national press advertising for the first time starting today.
“The excellent long-term structural growth story remains intact but there will be a better entry point over the next six months. We reiterate our hold recommendation.”
The statement added: “Management remain bullish on the long-term potential of the rollout story.
“Majestic’s UK wine market share has increase from 3.7 per cent in August to 3.9 per cent today.
“However, we do not expect a repeat of the strong Christmas sales last year and management state that the economic environment continues to be challenging.”
Liberum Capital praised the company’s consistent earnings track record and said it remained positive on the “long-term structural growth story”.
Unveiling a 20 per cent rise in half-year profits for the second year in a row, Majestic said revenues rose by 8.7 per cent to 127.8m in the six months to September 26 – 2.7 per cent higher on a like-for-like basis.
But in the period since then, like-for-like sales were down 1.1 per cent after two weeks of disappointing sales amid the economic turbulence in mid-October.
Majestic, which has 176 UK stores, insisted it was still well placed for the Christmas season and pointed out that sales of still wine priced at 20 per bottle or more increased by a fifth during the half year.
The average spend per transaction at its stores also rose by 3 to 125, with the average bottle price of still wine now 7.13 from 6.67 last year.
Majestic has been one of the success stories of the high street in recent years, leading to yesterday’s half-year profits of 8.8m.
It opened new stores in Evesham, Weston-super-Mare, Fleet, Livingston, Hale, Dundee, Worthing and Bury St Edmunds in the half year.
It has also opened stores in Clitheroe, Ripon and Braintree since then.
Further shops are planned for Chesterfield and West Kirby on the Wirral.
The company said it believes it has the potential to expand to at least 330 UK locations. David Jeary, of Investec Securities, said the product and service proposition continued to resonate with customers.
He added: “As one of the few organic growth stories in the UK retail sector, Majestic should continue to remain in favour with investors.”
Analysts at Liberum Capital described the half year results as “solid” but key trading risks remained.
In a note issued yesterday, Liberum said: “Majestic is reliant on the November and December trading period – it accounts for around 30 per cent of revenues and 50 per cent of profits – which provides a risk if consumer sentiment weakens further.
“The company is testing the potential of TV and national press advertising for the first time starting today.
“The excellent long-term structural growth story remains intact but there will be a better entry point over the next six months. We reiterate our hold recommendation.”
The statement added: “Management remain bullish on the long-term potential of the rollout story.
“Majestic’s UK wine market share has increase from 3.7 per cent in August to 3.9 per cent today.
“However, we do not expect a repeat of the strong Christmas sales last year and management state that the economic environment continues to be challenging.”
Liberum Capital praised the company’s consistent earnings track record and said it remained positive on the “long-term structural growth story”.
2011年11月14日 星期一
Mobile commerce: three trends to watch
These are heady days for futurists trying to predict the future of cash.
The meteoric rise of smartphones and growing confidence in e-commerce have led to a Klondike rush to devise new ways of extracting money from willing consumers’ wallets.
By most accounts, widespread adoption of the most high-tech of these visions – a world in which smartphones are waved at terminals instead of wallets – is a few years off.
Here’s a buzzword you’ll be hearing a lot more of in the years to come.
Before mobile payments, there are going to be all kinds of other mobile shopping activities. If e-commerce is the act of using digital technology to make a purchase, then pre-commerce is the catch-all term for all the digital shopping that happens before the customer gets to the register.
“Shopping is about to change substantially,” says Darrell MacMullin, managing director of Paypal Canada. “People are walking in off the road with a barcode scanner for price comparison.”
Some forms of pre-commerce are here already: UPC and QR-code scanning apps are a reality, and scannable codes are turning up everywhere from grocery stores to bookstores.
Consumers are already well-accustomed to using the Internet to compare products, something that’s only going to get conducted on the fly more frequently as mobile websites, apps, and hardware improve.
Geo-aware marketing – a long-promised idea – might soon arrive, sending offers to customers’ mobile devices as they walk past a storefront, or through a store’s front door. (Customers would probably have to download an app first; uptake of such a system would depend on their tolerance for digital flyers arriving on their doorstep.)
Similarly, customers might soon find themselves in control of detailed information about real-world inventory at retail outlets, without having to go in and ask. eBay Inc. acquired a hot startup named Milo that interfaces between companies’ inventory systems and the public-facing Internet, saving customers the hassle of phoning around for a product. (This would make a perfect app for an iPhone 4S, if you could figure out where to find one in stock.)
Not all the pieces of the new world of mobile payments at the cash register have landed yet. The industry is still shaking out, and technical standards haven’t been completely settled upon.
But that hasn’t stopped some firms from charging ahead. Starbucks Corp. is implementing a mobile system that does an end run around the digital wallet technology of the future. Starbucks uses an iPhone app to turn the mobile device into a virtual Starbucks card. Customers create an account and load it up with store credit; at the till, the app will display a barcode on the phone’s screen, which the cashier can scan with a barcode reader, debiting the customer’s account.
More elaborate technologies coming down the pipe will allow consumers to pay by tapping the phone to a reader device – but proprietary solutions like that of Starbucks could beat them to the punch
Companies like PayPal and Visa are taking a technology-agnostic approach to the future of mobile payments, working to build up platforms for e-commerce that can be used with whatever devices consumers end up toting five years down the line.
So while tap-to-pay solutions hog the limelight, they’re not the only ones in the offing.
For instance, PayPal is working on a system that will allow customers to show up at the till with no physical payment card at all – and simply offer a phone number and a personal access PIN, which the merchant can use to debit a PayPal account online using computer equipment they already have.
“Merchants love the idea, because they don’t have to do anything from a technology standpoint,” Mr. MacMullin says.
The widespread adoption of digital wallets might also lead to the spread of the kind of retail experience customers are already having at the Apple Store, in which purchases happen on the store floor and receipts are e-mailed instead of printed.
Digital wallets run by major entities like Visa, PayPal or Google would mean that it would become practical to centralize that experience through the payment provider to apply to all purchases, and not just those at a single, tech-savvy merchant.
But there is life beyond smartphones. The wallet-less future might be overstated, for the simple reason that smartphones go dead, and nobody wants to be out a wallet when their iPhone dies.
Lower-tech alternatives will persist, whether plastic or paper, or metal. Coinage has been around for at least two millennia. Smartphones won’t dispatch it quite yet.
The meteoric rise of smartphones and growing confidence in e-commerce have led to a Klondike rush to devise new ways of extracting money from willing consumers’ wallets.
By most accounts, widespread adoption of the most high-tech of these visions – a world in which smartphones are waved at terminals instead of wallets – is a few years off.
Here’s a buzzword you’ll be hearing a lot more of in the years to come.
Before mobile payments, there are going to be all kinds of other mobile shopping activities. If e-commerce is the act of using digital technology to make a purchase, then pre-commerce is the catch-all term for all the digital shopping that happens before the customer gets to the register.
“Shopping is about to change substantially,” says Darrell MacMullin, managing director of Paypal Canada. “People are walking in off the road with a barcode scanner for price comparison.”
Some forms of pre-commerce are here already: UPC and QR-code scanning apps are a reality, and scannable codes are turning up everywhere from grocery stores to bookstores.
Consumers are already well-accustomed to using the Internet to compare products, something that’s only going to get conducted on the fly more frequently as mobile websites, apps, and hardware improve.
Geo-aware marketing – a long-promised idea – might soon arrive, sending offers to customers’ mobile devices as they walk past a storefront, or through a store’s front door. (Customers would probably have to download an app first; uptake of such a system would depend on their tolerance for digital flyers arriving on their doorstep.)
Similarly, customers might soon find themselves in control of detailed information about real-world inventory at retail outlets, without having to go in and ask. eBay Inc. acquired a hot startup named Milo that interfaces between companies’ inventory systems and the public-facing Internet, saving customers the hassle of phoning around for a product. (This would make a perfect app for an iPhone 4S, if you could figure out where to find one in stock.)
Not all the pieces of the new world of mobile payments at the cash register have landed yet. The industry is still shaking out, and technical standards haven’t been completely settled upon.
But that hasn’t stopped some firms from charging ahead. Starbucks Corp. is implementing a mobile system that does an end run around the digital wallet technology of the future. Starbucks uses an iPhone app to turn the mobile device into a virtual Starbucks card. Customers create an account and load it up with store credit; at the till, the app will display a barcode on the phone’s screen, which the cashier can scan with a barcode reader, debiting the customer’s account.
More elaborate technologies coming down the pipe will allow consumers to pay by tapping the phone to a reader device – but proprietary solutions like that of Starbucks could beat them to the punch
Companies like PayPal and Visa are taking a technology-agnostic approach to the future of mobile payments, working to build up platforms for e-commerce that can be used with whatever devices consumers end up toting five years down the line.
So while tap-to-pay solutions hog the limelight, they’re not the only ones in the offing.
For instance, PayPal is working on a system that will allow customers to show up at the till with no physical payment card at all – and simply offer a phone number and a personal access PIN, which the merchant can use to debit a PayPal account online using computer equipment they already have.
“Merchants love the idea, because they don’t have to do anything from a technology standpoint,” Mr. MacMullin says.
The widespread adoption of digital wallets might also lead to the spread of the kind of retail experience customers are already having at the Apple Store, in which purchases happen on the store floor and receipts are e-mailed instead of printed.
Digital wallets run by major entities like Visa, PayPal or Google would mean that it would become practical to centralize that experience through the payment provider to apply to all purchases, and not just those at a single, tech-savvy merchant.
But there is life beyond smartphones. The wallet-less future might be overstated, for the simple reason that smartphones go dead, and nobody wants to be out a wallet when their iPhone dies.
Lower-tech alternatives will persist, whether plastic or paper, or metal. Coinage has been around for at least two millennia. Smartphones won’t dispatch it quite yet.
2011年11月13日 星期日
MF Global's collapse bolsters Dodd-Frank aims, efforts
Jon Corzine’s disastrous tenure at MF Global will boost something that Jon Corzine, the liberal senator from New Jersey, undoubtedly would have supported: the Dodd-Frank Act.
The financial reform law passed last year by Congress was aimed at a preventing a relapse of the crisis that nearly brought the U.S. economy to its knees in 2008. But efforts to implement the law have been stymied in part by congressional Republicans and industry lobbies that view the 848-page law as having gone too far. The law requires various federal regulators to write and pass about 400 rules, according to an analysis by law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell. Of those, only 74 rules have been finalized.
That may now change. While the failure of MF Global, which Corzine oversaw as its chairman and CEO, did not have the same seismic impact as the collapse of Lehman Brothers, experts say the shuttered futures firm speaks directly to the need for certain aspects of the regulatory framework envisioned by Dodd-Frank. It also gives ammunition to those who want to push through the mountain of rulemaking that remains to be done.
"It adds fire under our feet to get these regulations done as soon as possible," said Bart Chilton, a member of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, in an interview. A staunch advocate for strong regulation, Chilton called MF Global the "new poster child" for the need to beef up market oversight. The CFTC is tasked to write 64 rules, of which it has completed 22, according to Davis Polk.
MF Global was brought down the last week of October after the publicly traded firm reported a record quarterly loss; saw its credit rating slashed to junk; and spooked its trading partners and shareholders with its vast and highly leveraged exposure to European sovereign debt. A last-ditch attempt to sell the firm to a competitor crumbled after a gaping hole was detected in customers’ segregated futures accounts. Roughly $600 million remains unaccounted for, and a federal investigation is underway into both the whereabouts of the money and possible violations by the firm over its disappearance.
The CFTC took the unusual step Thursday of announcing an investigation into whether federal laws were broken with respect to the shortfall of customer funds. Neither MF Global nor any of its current or previous employees has been charged with wrongdoing. Meanwhile, the court-appointed trustee overseeing MF Global’s liquidation on Friday fired more than 1,000 of the firm’s broker-dealer employees to preserve funds for the claims process.
About 50,000 futures customers had their trading accounts frozen and partially transferred to other firms when MF Global entered bankruptcy. But otherwise the market disruptions have been minimal, attorneys and experts noted. Part of this due to MF Global’s size: at about $41 billion in assets and $39.7 billion in debt, it was far from too-big-to-fail.
But another reason is the fact that MF Global belonged to an organization that is a central tenet of Dodd-Frank, said Kevin McPartland, senior analyst with the TABB Group.
As a futures commission merchant, MF Global was a member of a clearinghouse operated by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. In this capacity, CME acts as a buffer against counterparty risk, guaranteeing transactions between buyers and sellers in the event that one should fail. It does so by requiring trading partners to post margin, monitoring members’ credit risk and establishing a member-funded guarantee that can be tapped in case one member firm defaults and cannot cover its obligations.
The authors of Dodd-Frank sought to apply this structure to the $601 trillion, and largely unregulated, market for over-the-counter derivatives such as credit default swaps, which are insurance-like products that pay buyers in the event of a bond default or bankruptcy. These instruments were blamed for exacerbating the financial crisis because they were traded in the dark between two counterparties, with no safety net in the event that the seller failed to meet its obligations. The near-obliteration of the American International Group was in large part due to its swaps exposure.
"It drives home the importance of clearing," McPartland said of MF Global’s failing. "Had MF Global been a major swap player rather than a major futures player, it would have been much, much worse."
MF Global’s collapse, however, will test the clearinghouse model in other ways.
A debate in the run-up to setting rules for swap clearinghouses was whether its membership should be open only to the largest broker-dealers that currently dominate the swaps market, or if smaller firms such as MF Global should be allowed to participate as well. Firms like MF Global argued that limiting membership would be anticompetitive, but others warned that smaller firms may not be able to absorb the impact of another member’s default and could introduce more risky trades for clearing.
In the end, MF Global won its lobbying effort. On Oct 18, just weeks before the firm collapsed, the CFTC agreed to open up clearing membership to firms with $50 million in net capital, far below the current industry standards. Kristin Johnson, an associate law professor at Seton Hall University, said the failure will force CFTC and others to keep close eye on how the new clearinghouses set themselves up.
"MF Global will encourage regulators to shine a much brighter spotlight on questions of clearinghouse governance," she said.
Others are using MF Global’s failure as a clarion call for imposing Dodd-Frank’s ban on federally insured banks using their own capital for speculative investments, otherwise known as proprietary trading.
Two senators who wrote the provision, known as the Volcker Rule after former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Paul Volcker, said Wednesday the firm’s collapse highlights why the eventual rule, which currently is being hammered out by various regulators, need to be as strong as possible.
Another area of Dodd-Frank where MF Global’s collapse may be felt is how futures firms can use customer funds for certain investments, a common practice that’s been criticized for its lack of transparency. The CFTC had proposed barring the activity but Corzine and others over the summer lobbied the agency to back away from the plan. The commission subsequently tabled a vote on the rule.
It’s unknown if this practice led to the customer fund shortfalls that have been detected at MF Global. But Chilton, the CFTC commissioner, said questions about the missing money should push the agency to pass the restrictions soon.
"It’s high time that we get on it," he said, adding that he’s hopeful the commission will finalize 10 or 11 other outstanding proposals before year-end.
The financial reform law passed last year by Congress was aimed at a preventing a relapse of the crisis that nearly brought the U.S. economy to its knees in 2008. But efforts to implement the law have been stymied in part by congressional Republicans and industry lobbies that view the 848-page law as having gone too far. The law requires various federal regulators to write and pass about 400 rules, according to an analysis by law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell. Of those, only 74 rules have been finalized.
That may now change. While the failure of MF Global, which Corzine oversaw as its chairman and CEO, did not have the same seismic impact as the collapse of Lehman Brothers, experts say the shuttered futures firm speaks directly to the need for certain aspects of the regulatory framework envisioned by Dodd-Frank. It also gives ammunition to those who want to push through the mountain of rulemaking that remains to be done.
"It adds fire under our feet to get these regulations done as soon as possible," said Bart Chilton, a member of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, in an interview. A staunch advocate for strong regulation, Chilton called MF Global the "new poster child" for the need to beef up market oversight. The CFTC is tasked to write 64 rules, of which it has completed 22, according to Davis Polk.
MF Global was brought down the last week of October after the publicly traded firm reported a record quarterly loss; saw its credit rating slashed to junk; and spooked its trading partners and shareholders with its vast and highly leveraged exposure to European sovereign debt. A last-ditch attempt to sell the firm to a competitor crumbled after a gaping hole was detected in customers’ segregated futures accounts. Roughly $600 million remains unaccounted for, and a federal investigation is underway into both the whereabouts of the money and possible violations by the firm over its disappearance.
The CFTC took the unusual step Thursday of announcing an investigation into whether federal laws were broken with respect to the shortfall of customer funds. Neither MF Global nor any of its current or previous employees has been charged with wrongdoing. Meanwhile, the court-appointed trustee overseeing MF Global’s liquidation on Friday fired more than 1,000 of the firm’s broker-dealer employees to preserve funds for the claims process.
About 50,000 futures customers had their trading accounts frozen and partially transferred to other firms when MF Global entered bankruptcy. But otherwise the market disruptions have been minimal, attorneys and experts noted. Part of this due to MF Global’s size: at about $41 billion in assets and $39.7 billion in debt, it was far from too-big-to-fail.
But another reason is the fact that MF Global belonged to an organization that is a central tenet of Dodd-Frank, said Kevin McPartland, senior analyst with the TABB Group.
As a futures commission merchant, MF Global was a member of a clearinghouse operated by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. In this capacity, CME acts as a buffer against counterparty risk, guaranteeing transactions between buyers and sellers in the event that one should fail. It does so by requiring trading partners to post margin, monitoring members’ credit risk and establishing a member-funded guarantee that can be tapped in case one member firm defaults and cannot cover its obligations.
The authors of Dodd-Frank sought to apply this structure to the $601 trillion, and largely unregulated, market for over-the-counter derivatives such as credit default swaps, which are insurance-like products that pay buyers in the event of a bond default or bankruptcy. These instruments were blamed for exacerbating the financial crisis because they were traded in the dark between two counterparties, with no safety net in the event that the seller failed to meet its obligations. The near-obliteration of the American International Group was in large part due to its swaps exposure.
"It drives home the importance of clearing," McPartland said of MF Global’s failing. "Had MF Global been a major swap player rather than a major futures player, it would have been much, much worse."
MF Global’s collapse, however, will test the clearinghouse model in other ways.
A debate in the run-up to setting rules for swap clearinghouses was whether its membership should be open only to the largest broker-dealers that currently dominate the swaps market, or if smaller firms such as MF Global should be allowed to participate as well. Firms like MF Global argued that limiting membership would be anticompetitive, but others warned that smaller firms may not be able to absorb the impact of another member’s default and could introduce more risky trades for clearing.
In the end, MF Global won its lobbying effort. On Oct 18, just weeks before the firm collapsed, the CFTC agreed to open up clearing membership to firms with $50 million in net capital, far below the current industry standards. Kristin Johnson, an associate law professor at Seton Hall University, said the failure will force CFTC and others to keep close eye on how the new clearinghouses set themselves up.
"MF Global will encourage regulators to shine a much brighter spotlight on questions of clearinghouse governance," she said.
Others are using MF Global’s failure as a clarion call for imposing Dodd-Frank’s ban on federally insured banks using their own capital for speculative investments, otherwise known as proprietary trading.
Two senators who wrote the provision, known as the Volcker Rule after former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Paul Volcker, said Wednesday the firm’s collapse highlights why the eventual rule, which currently is being hammered out by various regulators, need to be as strong as possible.
Another area of Dodd-Frank where MF Global’s collapse may be felt is how futures firms can use customer funds for certain investments, a common practice that’s been criticized for its lack of transparency. The CFTC had proposed barring the activity but Corzine and others over the summer lobbied the agency to back away from the plan. The commission subsequently tabled a vote on the rule.
It’s unknown if this practice led to the customer fund shortfalls that have been detected at MF Global. But Chilton, the CFTC commissioner, said questions about the missing money should push the agency to pass the restrictions soon.
"It’s high time that we get on it," he said, adding that he’s hopeful the commission will finalize 10 or 11 other outstanding proposals before year-end.
2011年11月10日 星期四
EasyPay fights back after fraud
EasyPay will also carry the full liability of any fraudulent transactions, said Serge Belamant, the chief executive of Net1, the holding company of EasyPay. He said he has confidence in the site's newly built security features.
EasyPay has one of South Africa's largest third-party payment systems. It allows consumers to use their credit cards to pay their bills, including Telkom, the municipality and traffic fines, either through its website or at pay points in shops such as Pick n Pay.
It also allows consumers to buy airtime and prepaid electricity online and it was these purchases that were targeted in September by a crime syndicate. The criminals obtained a list of credit card numbers, which it used to buy airtime, electricity and prepaid gift cards.
The reaction from Absa, which found that one in three transactions were fraudulent, was to prevent its card-holders from transacting on the site temporarily until EasyPay removed the high-risk products. Some banks continue to limit the number of EasyPay transactions they allow.
Walter Volker, chief executive of the Payment Association of South Africa, said EasyPay had nothing to do with the release of the credit card details. An investigation is under way to determine how the syndicate obtained the credit card details, which resulted in losses of millions of rands. It must still be determined which banks will carry the liability.
Belamant said the company had been unfairly targeted by the banks because it was not responsible for the breach. He said the high volume of traffic on the site -- it does four to five million transactions a month -- made it attractive to fraudsters.
EasyPay processes payments worth R120-million a month, according to Belamant, and the new site is growing at a rate of 10% a month.
He claimed Easypay is a target for competitors: by preventing customers from using their credit cards on the site, banks can effectively destroy EasyPay.
EasyPay has one of South Africa's largest third-party payment systems. It allows consumers to use their credit cards to pay their bills, including Telkom, the municipality and traffic fines, either through its website or at pay points in shops such as Pick n Pay.
It also allows consumers to buy airtime and prepaid electricity online and it was these purchases that were targeted in September by a crime syndicate. The criminals obtained a list of credit card numbers, which it used to buy airtime, electricity and prepaid gift cards.
The reaction from Absa, which found that one in three transactions were fraudulent, was to prevent its card-holders from transacting on the site temporarily until EasyPay removed the high-risk products. Some banks continue to limit the number of EasyPay transactions they allow.
Walter Volker, chief executive of the Payment Association of South Africa, said EasyPay had nothing to do with the release of the credit card details. An investigation is under way to determine how the syndicate obtained the credit card details, which resulted in losses of millions of rands. It must still be determined which banks will carry the liability.
Belamant said the company had been unfairly targeted by the banks because it was not responsible for the breach. He said the high volume of traffic on the site -- it does four to five million transactions a month -- made it attractive to fraudsters.
EasyPay processes payments worth R120-million a month, according to Belamant, and the new site is growing at a rate of 10% a month.
He claimed Easypay is a target for competitors: by preventing customers from using their credit cards on the site, banks can effectively destroy EasyPay.
2011年11月9日 星期三
Newspaper Briefing, including 'ECB stymied on debt crisis without fiscal union'
U.K. government bonds were in demand among nervous investors as Italys embattled Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi won a crucial budget vote but did nothing to quieten calls for his resignation. December gilt futures settled 24 ticks higher at 130.24, while in the cash market yields on ten-year gilts dipped one basis point to 2.26%.
Bet of the day: The yield on a countrys bonds is a sign of the confidence in its finances. Italys have pushed into danger territory, above the 6.5%, deepening concerns that it would be forced to seek a European bailout.
Deal of the day: Triple Plate Junction, which is prospecting in Papua New Guinea, rose 2.4% to 51/4p, after one of its partners there, Americas Newmont Mining, spent enough to earn a 70% stake in their Morobe joint venture. Newmont committed a further $5 million (3.1 million) to exploration there over the next six months.
Lloyds suffers as families stop paying the mortgage: Britains biggest mortgage lender reported a surprise fourfold increase in losses from families defaulting on their home loans. Lloyds Banking Group, which provides mortgages to one in five British homebuyers, revealed mortgage loan impairments of 416 million for the first nine months, compared with 108 million in the same period of last year.
Asda finally fights back with Netto stores added firepower: Asda is growing more quickly than its rivals for the first time in nearly two years, figures revealed. Britains second-largest supermarket chain has lagged in recent years, but buying Netto stores has helped to make up lost ground, according to Kantar World panel. Its market share grew by 5.1% in the 12 weeks to 30 October, leaving it at 17.2%. That compared with growth of 4.6% in the overall market.
Spain standing by to run trains in Britain: The Spanish national rail company has unveiled ambitious plans to crack the British train market by launching bids for several franchises. Renfe also admitted that it had looked at buying its way into Britain by potentially offering to acquire one of the incumbent operators an admission that indicates it has taken a look at Go-Ahead Group.
Socit Gnrale scraps dividend to meet requirements: Socit Gnrale has scrapped its annual dividend and cut bankers bonuses as it scrambles to raise capital in line with new regulatory requirements. Frances second biggest bank by market capitalisation will also continue to sell assets and slash bonuses in the race to reach a 9% capital ratio by the middle of next year. The announcement came as Socit Gnrale reported a 31% fall in third quarter profits to 622 million (533 million).
Segro sees its future in Europes big cities: Segro is to sell some of its property interests to refocus on areas of higher profit growth. The industrial developer, which specialises in light industrial, logistics and office space, said that it planned to sell more than 1.6 billion of assets in Britain and continental Europe, including the 100 million Farnborough Business Park, within the next three to four years.
Yell debt worries grow as digital division takes off: Yell Groups debt has again caused unease after revenue declined by 12% in the first half of the year. The directories publisher hopes to offset the fall in sales by growing its digital assets but analysts said the company may need to renegotiate the terms of its 2.6 billion debt if its main business continues to decline.
Dublins loss is Londons listing gain: Irelands largest quoted company has quit its main listing in Dublin for London. CRH, which is among Americas biggest building products groups, accounts for about a fifth of the Irish stock exchange and, with a market capitalisation of about 7.7 billion, should go straight into the FTSE 100 at next months reshuffle.
Greek unity government fights over sharing power: Greeces new power-sharing government stalled before it had started as the two main parties struggled to agree to written guarantees demanded by the EU in return for loans needed to avoid bankruptcy.
Vodafone denies deals with taxman: Vodafone launched a robust defence denying claims the taxman let it off a multibillion pound tax bill, saying that it was a good corporate citizen. Andy Halford said: There has not now and never has been a tax bill for 6 billion or 8 billion. There was no sweetheart deal. The deal struck with HM Revenue and Customs was for a bill of about 1.2 billion.
Confidence slumps as economic woes spook businesses: The confidence of businesses has collapsed, according to a new survey of accountants. The U.K. Business Confidence Monitor (BCM) index has fallen from plus 8.1 in the third quarter of this year to minus 9.7 in recent weeks.
DTZ hopes for Aussie buyer: The real estate services firm DTZ said it has selected giant Australian outsourcing group UGL as its preferred buyer, in a move that would create one of the biggest real estate firms in the world.
Nord Stream opens gas tap: After 13 years of planning and two years of construction, the gas started flowing along the Nord Stream pipeline that will deliver Russian gas to an estimated 26 million EU homes.
Hugo Boss raises earnings outlook: Hugo Boss, the German fashion house best known for its mens suits, sharply raised its earnings outlook as it expands its store network and eyes strong growth in China.
Bet of the day: The yield on a countrys bonds is a sign of the confidence in its finances. Italys have pushed into danger territory, above the 6.5%, deepening concerns that it would be forced to seek a European bailout.
Deal of the day: Triple Plate Junction, which is prospecting in Papua New Guinea, rose 2.4% to 51/4p, after one of its partners there, Americas Newmont Mining, spent enough to earn a 70% stake in their Morobe joint venture. Newmont committed a further $5 million (3.1 million) to exploration there over the next six months.
Lloyds suffers as families stop paying the mortgage: Britains biggest mortgage lender reported a surprise fourfold increase in losses from families defaulting on their home loans. Lloyds Banking Group, which provides mortgages to one in five British homebuyers, revealed mortgage loan impairments of 416 million for the first nine months, compared with 108 million in the same period of last year.
Asda finally fights back with Netto stores added firepower: Asda is growing more quickly than its rivals for the first time in nearly two years, figures revealed. Britains second-largest supermarket chain has lagged in recent years, but buying Netto stores has helped to make up lost ground, according to Kantar World panel. Its market share grew by 5.1% in the 12 weeks to 30 October, leaving it at 17.2%. That compared with growth of 4.6% in the overall market.
Spain standing by to run trains in Britain: The Spanish national rail company has unveiled ambitious plans to crack the British train market by launching bids for several franchises. Renfe also admitted that it had looked at buying its way into Britain by potentially offering to acquire one of the incumbent operators an admission that indicates it has taken a look at Go-Ahead Group.
Socit Gnrale scraps dividend to meet requirements: Socit Gnrale has scrapped its annual dividend and cut bankers bonuses as it scrambles to raise capital in line with new regulatory requirements. Frances second biggest bank by market capitalisation will also continue to sell assets and slash bonuses in the race to reach a 9% capital ratio by the middle of next year. The announcement came as Socit Gnrale reported a 31% fall in third quarter profits to 622 million (533 million).
Segro sees its future in Europes big cities: Segro is to sell some of its property interests to refocus on areas of higher profit growth. The industrial developer, which specialises in light industrial, logistics and office space, said that it planned to sell more than 1.6 billion of assets in Britain and continental Europe, including the 100 million Farnborough Business Park, within the next three to four years.
Yell debt worries grow as digital division takes off: Yell Groups debt has again caused unease after revenue declined by 12% in the first half of the year. The directories publisher hopes to offset the fall in sales by growing its digital assets but analysts said the company may need to renegotiate the terms of its 2.6 billion debt if its main business continues to decline.
Dublins loss is Londons listing gain: Irelands largest quoted company has quit its main listing in Dublin for London. CRH, which is among Americas biggest building products groups, accounts for about a fifth of the Irish stock exchange and, with a market capitalisation of about 7.7 billion, should go straight into the FTSE 100 at next months reshuffle.
Greek unity government fights over sharing power: Greeces new power-sharing government stalled before it had started as the two main parties struggled to agree to written guarantees demanded by the EU in return for loans needed to avoid bankruptcy.
Vodafone denies deals with taxman: Vodafone launched a robust defence denying claims the taxman let it off a multibillion pound tax bill, saying that it was a good corporate citizen. Andy Halford said: There has not now and never has been a tax bill for 6 billion or 8 billion. There was no sweetheart deal. The deal struck with HM Revenue and Customs was for a bill of about 1.2 billion.
Confidence slumps as economic woes spook businesses: The confidence of businesses has collapsed, according to a new survey of accountants. The U.K. Business Confidence Monitor (BCM) index has fallen from plus 8.1 in the third quarter of this year to minus 9.7 in recent weeks.
DTZ hopes for Aussie buyer: The real estate services firm DTZ said it has selected giant Australian outsourcing group UGL as its preferred buyer, in a move that would create one of the biggest real estate firms in the world.
Nord Stream opens gas tap: After 13 years of planning and two years of construction, the gas started flowing along the Nord Stream pipeline that will deliver Russian gas to an estimated 26 million EU homes.
Hugo Boss raises earnings outlook: Hugo Boss, the German fashion house best known for its mens suits, sharply raised its earnings outlook as it expands its store network and eyes strong growth in China.
2011年11月8日 星期二
Requiem for a Heavyweight: Smokin' Joe Frazier
Even though my father was a huge fan of boxing, I was too young to remember or appreciate in real-time the first heavyweight championship fight between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, the one that took place on March 8, 1971 at Madison Square Garden, the one that life-long boxing fans still describe as the greatest match of all time. By the time I was old enough to pay attention, the two boxers were sweating it out in the Phillippines in 1975, in the brutal final of their three bouts, pushing each other to what Ali would later call "the closest to death I ever came."
Deprived of experiencing the "Fight of the Century" as it unfolded, either live via satellite or later on the Wide World of Sports, I've had to settle for watching the occasional grainy replay of the 1971 bout and to otherwise sniff around for impactful first-hand narratives of the fight. Those accounts, along with ESPN Classic and a handful of Ali movies and documentaries, have kept alive for two subsequent generations the spirit and the glory of first Ali-Frazier fight. And now, as a tribute to the fallen Frazier, I'll bet you Manny Pacquiao's next paycheck that we'll be seeing the replay again this week on television in the comfort of our own homes.
Here are some of the highlights. Makes contemporary boxing seem like beanbag, doesn' it?
You never know where you are going to find Ali-Frazier. You never who has been bitten by the bug. For example, in the newsroom at CBS Radio News, in the studio where the World News Roundup is broadcast every morning and every evening (as it has been for three quarters of a century) there hangs on the wall, posted years ago, the text of of the famous account of the first Ali-Frazier fight. It is written by Larry Merchant, yes, the Larry Merchant of HBO Boxing fame, the timeless chronicler of the sport. For The New York Post, dateline March 9, 1971, Merchant wrote this unforgettable lede:
Muhammad Ali fought a truth machine last night, and the truth that emerged was painfully clear. The arrogance and hubris that made Ali a great champion made him a former champion.
You can't con Joe Frazier for 15 rounds. Joe Frazier comes at you too honestly, too openly. He lets you find out what you have inside you. It is going to take an honest man made of stern stuff to beat him. Ali was not honest enough last night.
Ali went to the Garden last night to paint a masterpiece, to put on a great show, and he put on a great show; a fight of primitive fury and insolence, punctuated by ghetto gamesmanship. But Joe Frazier was not in Ali's plans for the show. And, ultimately, that is where he went wrong.
As it is with many famous people who live a public life of triumph and tragedy, of such visible extremes between the high and the low, Joe Frazier's death Monday evening will mean many different things to many different people. We know what Ali himself will say about the passing of his most famous foe. When word spread over the weekend that Frazier was in hospice care, Ali put out a statement saying that he and his family were praying for Joe, whom Ali called his "friend," a "fighter and a champion." Frazier's death is another death of a sort to Ali as well; another part of him that is sadly gone from us, too.
What will George Foreman say? What about Merchant and Bert Sugar and Dave Anderson and Pete Hamill and the hundreds of other people who know what they are talking about when they talk about Joe Frazier? Does Frazier's (relatively sudden) death somehow change the trajectory of the story any more than the Ali-Fraizer "reconciliation" did a few years ago? I put "reconciliation" in quotes since it's difficult to tell whether and to what extent the two actually did reconcile, or at least stay reconciled for any length of time.
Whatever the consensus, I hope Frazier's tribunes buttress his legacy in the coming days and weeks. He deserves in death the stability of reputation he so often was deprived of in life. Poor Frazier might have been a round or two shy of outboxing Ali in the ring but Smokin' Joe never stood a chance against Ali's wit outside of it. "One moved forward, the other back," the writer Charles Leerhsen wrote on Facebook Monday night after Frazier's death was confirmed. "What they had in common was the willingness and the ability to take a punch, and we all saw the result."
More than one person had suggested to me over the past few days that Frazier desperately wanted to outlive Ali, to best him in the simple act of living. But in death Frazier again beat Ali to the punch. It is the latter who has to hear the accolades and the posthumous praise for Frazier from smart men like Max Kellerman and Jeremy Schaap and David Remnick. It is Ali who is left alone in the ring. And today at least the spotlight shines on his fallen rival.
Merchant inadvertently may have written Frazier's obituary 40 years before the fighter succumbed to liver cancer--"Joe Frazier comes at you too honestly, too openly"--but the boxer's life was truly an astonishing one, full of parallels and contrasts, of glorious opportunities and numbing disappointments. I've always been struck by this one: Ali openly mocked Frazier as a "gorilla" and an "Uncle Tom" before their fight. He derided him mercilessly--after Frazier had loaned Ali money when the latter couldn't box because of his well-documented legal troubles. No wonder Frazier was so angry at the Garden that night.
Some of it we now know was for show. But some of it was deadly serious. That fight at the Garden in 1971 was the "Fight of the Century" not just because the two men were such great fighters. They were symbols, too, between black and white America, and between the Establishment and the Uprising, elements in our society which are still battling each other, out in the streets of America. Frazier is gone, now. Ali will follow him soon enough. But Ali-Frazier is timeless. And so are the undercurrents of the first Ali-Frazier fight. As a nation, we are still bloodied, and bloodying, and we are still unbowed.
In the Garden, in 1971, it was Frazier, the Establishment guy, who beat the living crap out of Ali, the people's poet. Who could have imagined that it would be mostly downhill from there for Joe Frazier and that, 40 years later, Muhammad Ali would be one of the most beloved sports figures in world history? Certainly not Larry Merchant; the Ali of March 1971 is very different indeed from the Muhammad Ali of today. And you could have said the same thing about Joe Frazier.
Like every other heavyweight boxer of that era, Frazier needed Ali. He was the hub of the wheel. But unlike every other fighter, Ali needed Frazier, too, for Ali's greatness in many ways is measured by his three fights with Frazier. They made each other, or at least they made each other more than any of the rest of their contemporaries did. And now one is gone and the other is terribly sick. The sport may be a sweet science. But as always it takes a terrible toll.
Deprived of experiencing the "Fight of the Century" as it unfolded, either live via satellite or later on the Wide World of Sports, I've had to settle for watching the occasional grainy replay of the 1971 bout and to otherwise sniff around for impactful first-hand narratives of the fight. Those accounts, along with ESPN Classic and a handful of Ali movies and documentaries, have kept alive for two subsequent generations the spirit and the glory of first Ali-Frazier fight. And now, as a tribute to the fallen Frazier, I'll bet you Manny Pacquiao's next paycheck that we'll be seeing the replay again this week on television in the comfort of our own homes.
Here are some of the highlights. Makes contemporary boxing seem like beanbag, doesn' it?
You never know where you are going to find Ali-Frazier. You never who has been bitten by the bug. For example, in the newsroom at CBS Radio News, in the studio where the World News Roundup is broadcast every morning and every evening (as it has been for three quarters of a century) there hangs on the wall, posted years ago, the text of of the famous account of the first Ali-Frazier fight. It is written by Larry Merchant, yes, the Larry Merchant of HBO Boxing fame, the timeless chronicler of the sport. For The New York Post, dateline March 9, 1971, Merchant wrote this unforgettable lede:
Muhammad Ali fought a truth machine last night, and the truth that emerged was painfully clear. The arrogance and hubris that made Ali a great champion made him a former champion.
You can't con Joe Frazier for 15 rounds. Joe Frazier comes at you too honestly, too openly. He lets you find out what you have inside you. It is going to take an honest man made of stern stuff to beat him. Ali was not honest enough last night.
Ali went to the Garden last night to paint a masterpiece, to put on a great show, and he put on a great show; a fight of primitive fury and insolence, punctuated by ghetto gamesmanship. But Joe Frazier was not in Ali's plans for the show. And, ultimately, that is where he went wrong.
As it is with many famous people who live a public life of triumph and tragedy, of such visible extremes between the high and the low, Joe Frazier's death Monday evening will mean many different things to many different people. We know what Ali himself will say about the passing of his most famous foe. When word spread over the weekend that Frazier was in hospice care, Ali put out a statement saying that he and his family were praying for Joe, whom Ali called his "friend," a "fighter and a champion." Frazier's death is another death of a sort to Ali as well; another part of him that is sadly gone from us, too.
What will George Foreman say? What about Merchant and Bert Sugar and Dave Anderson and Pete Hamill and the hundreds of other people who know what they are talking about when they talk about Joe Frazier? Does Frazier's (relatively sudden) death somehow change the trajectory of the story any more than the Ali-Fraizer "reconciliation" did a few years ago? I put "reconciliation" in quotes since it's difficult to tell whether and to what extent the two actually did reconcile, or at least stay reconciled for any length of time.
Whatever the consensus, I hope Frazier's tribunes buttress his legacy in the coming days and weeks. He deserves in death the stability of reputation he so often was deprived of in life. Poor Frazier might have been a round or two shy of outboxing Ali in the ring but Smokin' Joe never stood a chance against Ali's wit outside of it. "One moved forward, the other back," the writer Charles Leerhsen wrote on Facebook Monday night after Frazier's death was confirmed. "What they had in common was the willingness and the ability to take a punch, and we all saw the result."
More than one person had suggested to me over the past few days that Frazier desperately wanted to outlive Ali, to best him in the simple act of living. But in death Frazier again beat Ali to the punch. It is the latter who has to hear the accolades and the posthumous praise for Frazier from smart men like Max Kellerman and Jeremy Schaap and David Remnick. It is Ali who is left alone in the ring. And today at least the spotlight shines on his fallen rival.
Merchant inadvertently may have written Frazier's obituary 40 years before the fighter succumbed to liver cancer--"Joe Frazier comes at you too honestly, too openly"--but the boxer's life was truly an astonishing one, full of parallels and contrasts, of glorious opportunities and numbing disappointments. I've always been struck by this one: Ali openly mocked Frazier as a "gorilla" and an "Uncle Tom" before their fight. He derided him mercilessly--after Frazier had loaned Ali money when the latter couldn't box because of his well-documented legal troubles. No wonder Frazier was so angry at the Garden that night.
Some of it we now know was for show. But some of it was deadly serious. That fight at the Garden in 1971 was the "Fight of the Century" not just because the two men were such great fighters. They were symbols, too, between black and white America, and between the Establishment and the Uprising, elements in our society which are still battling each other, out in the streets of America. Frazier is gone, now. Ali will follow him soon enough. But Ali-Frazier is timeless. And so are the undercurrents of the first Ali-Frazier fight. As a nation, we are still bloodied, and bloodying, and we are still unbowed.
In the Garden, in 1971, it was Frazier, the Establishment guy, who beat the living crap out of Ali, the people's poet. Who could have imagined that it would be mostly downhill from there for Joe Frazier and that, 40 years later, Muhammad Ali would be one of the most beloved sports figures in world history? Certainly not Larry Merchant; the Ali of March 1971 is very different indeed from the Muhammad Ali of today. And you could have said the same thing about Joe Frazier.
Like every other heavyweight boxer of that era, Frazier needed Ali. He was the hub of the wheel. But unlike every other fighter, Ali needed Frazier, too, for Ali's greatness in many ways is measured by his three fights with Frazier. They made each other, or at least they made each other more than any of the rest of their contemporaries did. And now one is gone and the other is terribly sick. The sport may be a sweet science. But as always it takes a terrible toll.
2011年11月7日 星期一
Continuing the fight against alleged travel agency scammer Daryl Turner
Being made whole, one customer at a time.
We’re talking about those who did business with Daryl Turner, the alleged scammer who would open a travel club, solicit membership fees costing thousands of dollars, and shut the company’s doors before customers received promised discounted travel packages, authorities said. He’d then do it again under a different company name.
Turner signed a more than $3 million settlement with the state’s Division of Consumer Affairs related to 11 such companies. Although he was banned from the travel business in the state for five years, authorities later alleged he continued the same practices under new company names.
The government has not yet collected a dime on the settlement, but Turner was arrested in July on a charge of fraud by deception, and some of his assets, including luxury cars and a bank account, were seized.
There’s nothing new to report on the criminal charge, but Consumer Affairs director Thomas Calcagni said he’s met with a number of banks about returning customer money through chargebacks.
"They have refused to budge from their position that those charges are appropriate and they’re not willing to allow any chargebacks," Calgagni said. "But we haven’t given up."
Some customers have appealed to their credit card companies directly, armed with court filings and copies of Bamboozled columns about Turner.
That’s what Jay Schlesinger did in an attempt to recoup a $4,893 charge on his Chase credit card in June 2009 by Dream Vacations International, one of Turner’s companies.
Schlesinger said his requested travel dates were never available so he canceled his membership. Then he disputed the charge with Chase.
The dispute was denied without explanation in June 2011. Baffling, because that same week, Chase refunded money to Robert and Marlene Miller, Chase customers who disputed their membership charge with Modern Destinations Unlimited -- another Turner company.
It’s possible that Jay Schlesinger’s fight with Chase isn’t over yet.
Reader Patricia Dreibelbis of Wallingford, Penn., who charged more than $4,000 for Travel Deals -- another Turner company -- on her Chase card, wanted to share her chargeback experience with other customers.
Her initial dispute was denied. Dreibelbis said the Chase rep explained the dispute was coded as a "Code 30 - non-receipt of services." The merchant had 45 days to respond, during which time Dreibelbis’ account was provisionally credited. Once the merchant responded, citing the contract Dreibelbis signed, the money was returned to the merchant, she said.
"We refuted the validity of the contract, and we also provided documentation of the arrest of Turner, etc.," she said in an e-mail. "At that point, the Chase rep changed the reason to ‘Code 53 - quality of services.’"
According to Dreibelbis, Chase explained it was now up to the merchant’s bank -- Wells Fargo -- to decide the case.
Wells decided in her favor, and $4,264 was credited to her account.
Very interesting, indeed. Consumer Affairs’ Calcagni said the lenders told him that when a merchant receives a substantial amount of chargeback requests, the liability lies with the merchant bank that holds the account, and that’s exactly what happened here.
Bamboozled told Jay Schlesinger of the success, and we encouraged him to try again, recommending he find out how his dispute was coded.
He said he called Chase, but the rep couldn’t tell him the coding of his dispute because it was from 2009. She promised to call back, he said.
An hour later, another rep called, saying there was nothing more the bank could do because of the contract, Schlesinger said.
"I tried to explain to her that it doesn’t matter what I signed, a fraud is a fraud," Schlesinger said. "There are no words to describe how angry I am."
We asked Chase if a change in dispute coding could help.
Within a few days, without explanation or answers about dispute coding, Schlesinger got a call from someone in Chase’s executive offices.
"She said, ‘I have good news. I’ve been spending the last couple of days reading the documents and stories about this, and you’re been a customer of ours for more than 15 years. We’re making an exception and we’re going to credit that money to your account,’" Schlesinger said he was told.
Awesome. Chase said it was also working on one other case was made aware of by Bamboozled, but there was no comment about the Schlesinger refund.
One customer at a time. We’ll stay on it.
Mark Conca’s modification and foreclosure ordeal with Bank of America isn’t over yet.
Conca applied for a modification on the mortgage for his three-bedroom Caldwell home.
While he waited for approval, he kept making his mortgage payments, in full and on time.
When he heard from the bank, it wasn’t with a modification offer. It was to say he was two months late on this mortgage. Bank of America reported it to the credit bureaus, Conca said, and one of his cards lowered his available credit because of it.
But he had never missed a mortgage payment.
Despite assurances and reassurances from the bank that the errors were fixed, nothing was corrected. Then Conca started to receive foreclosure notices.
After we asked Bank of America to review, we learned that Conca was approved for a trial modification program -- which Conca said he was never told about -- and the bank credited his payments to the wrong account.
Bank of America corrected the errors and ceased foreclosure proceedings.
Conca still wanted the modification, and the bank said it would look into it.
It did.
Conca’s modification request -- which had previously been approved in a July 19 letter from Bank of America -- was denied in October.
Bank of America did say it made corrections with the credit bureaus, but it could take 90 days for changes to appear. While he waits, the black mark is making it impossible for him to refinance the loan with another lender, he said.
Conca’s credit card issuer also has a copy of the letter, but no changes have been made to his credit limit, he said.
"That doesn’t bother me as much as the fact that we wasted almost two years working on this and they made me believe they were going to work this out for me," Conca said.
When Conca’s credit is repaired, he plans to continue searching for a better loan.
On Sept. 10, Rajeev Borborah purchased a Sonata from Brad Benson Hyundai in South Brunswick. The car was supposed to have a factory-installed navigation system. It didn’t.
The dealership promised it would install one within five days. It didn’t.
Why? The GPS installation would cause the car’s Blue Link system -- a system that implements features such as emergency alerts and maintenance reminders -- to fail, the dealership said. The two systems wouldn’t work together.
When Bamboozled called, the dealership said it was getting Borborah a different GPS, but it never explained why one system would work and the other would cause trouble.
Despite that, Borborah brought his car for the installation on Oct. 20.
Borborah gave us a post-install report via e-mail: "Lost the Voice Command System driven by a button on the steering wheel. Not the ideal case but since I do not use it I just let it be," he wrote.
He wondered if the dealership told him ahead of time that some functionality may be lost upon installation.
No, they did not tell me beforehand," he said. "In fact, when I dropped car off in the morning I asked them if all existing things in the car will work and the service lady said that yes, everything would work."
I am telling you, it is not the customer who is important for these guys, but the bottom line," Borborah said.
Being made whole, one customer at a time.
We’re talking about those who did business with Daryl Turner, the alleged scammer who would open a travel club, solicit membership fees costing thousands of dollars, and shut the company’s doors before customers received promised discounted travel packages, authorities said. He’d then do it again under a different company name.
Turner signed a more than $3 million settlement with the state’s Division of Consumer Affairs related to 11 such companies. Although he was banned from the travel business in the state for five years, authorities later alleged he continued the same practices under new company names.
The government has not yet collected a dime on the settlement, but Turner was arrested in July on a charge of fraud by deception, and some of his assets, including luxury cars and a bank account, were seized.
There’s nothing new to report on the criminal charge, but Consumer Affairs director Thomas Calcagni said he’s met with a number of banks about returning customer money through chargebacks.
"They have refused to budge from their position that those charges are appropriate and they’re not willing to allow any chargebacks," Calgagni said. "But we haven’t given up."
Some customers have appealed to their credit card companies directly, armed with court filings and copies of Bamboozled columns about Turner.
That’s what Jay Schlesinger did in an attempt to recoup a $4,893 charge on his Chase credit card in June 2009 by Dream Vacations International, one of Turner’s companies.
Schlesinger said his requested travel dates were never available so he canceled his membership. Then he disputed the charge with Chase.
The dispute was denied without explanation in June 2011. Baffling, because that same week, Chase refunded money to Robert and Marlene Miller, Chase customers who disputed their membership charge with Modern Destinations Unlimited -- another Turner company.
It’s possible that Jay Schlesinger’s fight with Chase isn’t over yet.
Reader Patricia Dreibelbis of Wallingford, Penn., who charged more than $4,000 for Travel Deals -- another Turner company -- on her Chase card, wanted to share her chargeback experience with other customers.
Her initial dispute was denied. Dreibelbis said the Chase rep explained the dispute was coded as a "Code 30 - non-receipt of services." The merchant had 45 days to respond, during which time Dreibelbis’ account was provisionally credited. Once the merchant responded, citing the contract Dreibelbis signed, the money was returned to the merchant, she said.
"We refuted the validity of the contract, and we also provided documentation of the arrest of Turner, etc.," she said in an e-mail. "At that point, the Chase rep changed the reason to ‘Code 53 - quality of services.’"
According to Dreibelbis, Chase explained it was now up to the merchant’s bank -- Wells Fargo -- to decide the case.
Wells decided in her favor, and $4,264 was credited to her account.
Very interesting, indeed. Consumer Affairs’ Calcagni said the lenders told him that when a merchant receives a substantial amount of chargeback requests, the liability lies with the merchant bank that holds the account, and that’s exactly what happened here.
Bamboozled told Jay Schlesinger of the success, and we encouraged him to try again, recommending he find out how his dispute was coded.
He said he called Chase, but the rep couldn’t tell him the coding of his dispute because it was from 2009. She promised to call back, he said.
An hour later, another rep called, saying there was nothing more the bank could do because of the contract, Schlesinger said.
"I tried to explain to her that it doesn’t matter what I signed, a fraud is a fraud," Schlesinger said. "There are no words to describe how angry I am."
We asked Chase if a change in dispute coding could help.
Within a few days, without explanation or answers about dispute coding, Schlesinger got a call from someone in Chase’s executive offices.
"She said, ‘I have good news. I’ve been spending the last couple of days reading the documents and stories about this, and you’re been a customer of ours for more than 15 years. We’re making an exception and we’re going to credit that money to your account,’" Schlesinger said he was told.
Awesome. Chase said it was also working on one other case was made aware of by Bamboozled, but there was no comment about the Schlesinger refund.
One customer at a time. We’ll stay on it.
Mark Conca’s modification and foreclosure ordeal with Bank of America isn’t over yet.
Conca applied for a modification on the mortgage for his three-bedroom Caldwell home.
While he waited for approval, he kept making his mortgage payments, in full and on time.
When he heard from the bank, it wasn’t with a modification offer. It was to say he was two months late on this mortgage. Bank of America reported it to the credit bureaus, Conca said, and one of his cards lowered his available credit because of it.
But he had never missed a mortgage payment.
Despite assurances and reassurances from the bank that the errors were fixed, nothing was corrected. Then Conca started to receive foreclosure notices.
After we asked Bank of America to review, we learned that Conca was approved for a trial modification program -- which Conca said he was never told about -- and the bank credited his payments to the wrong account.
Bank of America corrected the errors and ceased foreclosure proceedings.
Conca still wanted the modification, and the bank said it would look into it.
It did.
Conca’s modification request -- which had previously been approved in a July 19 letter from Bank of America -- was denied in October.
Bank of America did say it made corrections with the credit bureaus, but it could take 90 days for changes to appear. While he waits, the black mark is making it impossible for him to refinance the loan with another lender, he said.
Conca’s credit card issuer also has a copy of the letter, but no changes have been made to his credit limit, he said.
"That doesn’t bother me as much as the fact that we wasted almost two years working on this and they made me believe they were going to work this out for me," Conca said.
When Conca’s credit is repaired, he plans to continue searching for a better loan.
On Sept. 10, Rajeev Borborah purchased a Sonata from Brad Benson Hyundai in South Brunswick. The car was supposed to have a factory-installed navigation system. It didn’t.
The dealership promised it would install one within five days. It didn’t.
Why? The GPS installation would cause the car’s Blue Link system -- a system that implements features such as emergency alerts and maintenance reminders -- to fail, the dealership said. The two systems wouldn’t work together.
When Bamboozled called, the dealership said it was getting Borborah a different GPS, but it never explained why one system would work and the other would cause trouble.
Despite that, Borborah brought his car for the installation on Oct. 20.
Borborah gave us a post-install report via e-mail: "Lost the Voice Command System driven by a button on the steering wheel. Not the ideal case but since I do not use it I just let it be," he wrote.
He wondered if the dealership told him ahead of time that some functionality may be lost upon installation.
No, they did not tell me beforehand," he said. "In fact, when I dropped car off in the morning I asked them if all existing things in the car will work and the service lady said that yes, everything would work."
I am telling you, it is not the customer who is important for these guys, but the bottom line," Borborah said.
2011年11月6日 星期日
America's Illegal Immigration Debate Misses The Mark
No Republican campaign speech ever goes on for long without mention of illegal immigration and the desire to quell it. Though the debate itself invo kes a clear and present problem, the persistent use of it as a political jumping point without consideration or offering of reasoned solutions, continues to cloud the reality of its underreported dark side. From drugs to human trafficking, the lax state of our border security reflected in our inability to control illegal immigration, has taken a great toll on this nation. Secure borders are more than just keeping desperate, freedom seeking people out of the country but one would be hard pressed to hear the reality of the problem on the stage of the ongoing political circus featuring so many aspiring performers.
As the debate of illegal immigration rages on, many States have enacted anti-immigration policy mandates focusing on preventing people from living in this nation without documentation. Some of these mandates suggest that all those who are here illegally, despite their former domestic situations they suffered for in their countries of origin or their current productivity levels in this one, should be deported; bar none. From Arizona to the Carolinas, many citizens are voicing concern for the by product of routing out those here illegally: Racial and cultural profiling. Even though some here illegally are in fact, blights on their communities, many are positive additions to this great nation much like their "legal" counterparts on both accounts.
This argument which seems to contradict The New Colossus poem etched upon our Nation's iconographic Statue of Liberty, stems from claims that illegal immigrants take up too much space on the rosters of social assistance and when considered in combination with the crime incurred by them, has resulted in both our economic and judicial systems becoming overburdened and unsustainable. Supporting this claim, many incarceration statistics point to a larger level of crime and gang membership among this immigrant class which has done nothing to discredit but rather, justify the argument against illegal immigration into this nation. What these debates should produce though, instead of merely helping to demonize an entire people, is making clear that when jobs are few, children are hungry and pay rates are as low as they are for most of these immigrants; crime is a natural affectation.
Many have used the preceding statistics to justify immigration reform but like Andy Warhol's question of "Does art imitate life or does life imitate art?"; do these individuals actually commit more crime per capita or does racial profiling and harsher judgment of them induce more arrests and convictions? When the police hawk and harass these people, as in the always patrolled ghettos across this nation, arrests will innately become more numerous especially considering the ever growing laws in this nation making even common actions "illegal". If the "forces that be" want to harass and arrest these people along their determined course to demonize them, they certainly have the judiciary on their side.
It may come as a shock to some to learn that our border gaps present a greater threat to this nation than people entering our nation illegally. When looking at the bigger picture of border security or lack thereof, illegal immigration represents the least of our worries. Off the political talking point filled stage, the all but ignored subject of illegal drugs entering this nation over (or under) the border, through our seaports and airports adds precipitously to our nation's troubles. Drug use and the associated obsession by addicts to get a fix or acting outside of their natural selves while on them, has created an entire subculture of "criminals". Maybe if this country secured its borders and ports and stopped illegal drugs from entering, there would be fewer crimes within the spectrum of our racial and culturally diverse social palette thereby alleviating 60% of all crimes committed by residents; illegal or not .
As the debate of illegal immigration rages on, many States have enacted anti-immigration policy mandates focusing on preventing people from living in this nation without documentation. Some of these mandates suggest that all those who are here illegally, despite their former domestic situations they suffered for in their countries of origin or their current productivity levels in this one, should be deported; bar none. From Arizona to the Carolinas, many citizens are voicing concern for the by product of routing out those here illegally: Racial and cultural profiling. Even though some here illegally are in fact, blights on their communities, many are positive additions to this great nation much like their "legal" counterparts on both accounts.
This argument which seems to contradict The New Colossus poem etched upon our Nation's iconographic Statue of Liberty, stems from claims that illegal immigrants take up too much space on the rosters of social assistance and when considered in combination with the crime incurred by them, has resulted in both our economic and judicial systems becoming overburdened and unsustainable. Supporting this claim, many incarceration statistics point to a larger level of crime and gang membership among this immigrant class which has done nothing to discredit but rather, justify the argument against illegal immigration into this nation. What these debates should produce though, instead of merely helping to demonize an entire people, is making clear that when jobs are few, children are hungry and pay rates are as low as they are for most of these immigrants; crime is a natural affectation.
Many have used the preceding statistics to justify immigration reform but like Andy Warhol's question of "Does art imitate life or does life imitate art?"; do these individuals actually commit more crime per capita or does racial profiling and harsher judgment of them induce more arrests and convictions? When the police hawk and harass these people, as in the always patrolled ghettos across this nation, arrests will innately become more numerous especially considering the ever growing laws in this nation making even common actions "illegal". If the "forces that be" want to harass and arrest these people along their determined course to demonize them, they certainly have the judiciary on their side.
It may come as a shock to some to learn that our border gaps present a greater threat to this nation than people entering our nation illegally. When looking at the bigger picture of border security or lack thereof, illegal immigration represents the least of our worries. Off the political talking point filled stage, the all but ignored subject of illegal drugs entering this nation over (or under) the border, through our seaports and airports adds precipitously to our nation's troubles. Drug use and the associated obsession by addicts to get a fix or acting outside of their natural selves while on them, has created an entire subculture of "criminals". Maybe if this country secured its borders and ports and stopped illegal drugs from entering, there would be fewer crimes within the spectrum of our racial and culturally diverse social palette thereby alleviating 60% of all crimes committed by residents; illegal or not .
2011年11月3日 星期四
MF Global stops liquidation, customer transfers - sources
Brokers at MF Global early on Wednesday stopped processing liquidation orders from customers and transferring accounts to other brokerages, possibly to clear the way for a bulk transfer of positions, sources at the bankrupt brokerage told Reuters.
After being allowed on Tuesday to resume limited trading solely in order to liquidate positions on behalf of their customers, two sources at MF Global told Reuters they had been told to stop that activity earlier in the day.
Separately, another broker said that MF Global customers were now also unable to transfer their accounts to another clearing party.
The stop-start effort to untangle MF Global's customer accounts after the company failed to find a buyer and filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday has frustrated clients and constricted trading in come markets.
It may be that regulators and exchanges are attempting to move customer accounts in bulk in order to free up positions more quickly, some traders said. That scenario appeared even more likely after MF Global's trustee filed in bankruptcy court for approval to transfer segregated accounts to other brokers.
A Chicago broker at MF Global, cut down by high-risk bets on European debt as it aggressively tried to transform into a mini-Goldman Sachs, said he was told by the orders clearing desk that he had to stop all liquidation of positions.
"I was told we can't do anything anymore," he said, adding that he was not certain of the reason but suspected that it was tied to the bankruptcy process underway.
On Tuesday, after a temporary freeze on all trading, MF Global was allowed to resume liquidating customers' grains and livestock positions on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and all ICE Futures USA positions.
The abrupt failure of MF Global -- which billed itself as the number one broker on the New York Mercantile Exchange and COMEX, and the second largest on the CME -- brought activity on Monday to a crawl, with most major exchanges severely limiting activity or suspending its membership.
But trading activity picked up when liquidation of positions by MF Global customers had not been as severe as some had feared, and a willingness to take risk brought customers back.
A broker at Chicago brokerage said MF Global clients were told on Wednesday morning that they would not be able to transfer their accounts to another futures commission merchant.
"It took them a couple days to figure out that they were losing money on position transfers," he added.
After being allowed on Tuesday to resume limited trading solely in order to liquidate positions on behalf of their customers, two sources at MF Global told Reuters they had been told to stop that activity earlier in the day.
Separately, another broker said that MF Global customers were now also unable to transfer their accounts to another clearing party.
The stop-start effort to untangle MF Global's customer accounts after the company failed to find a buyer and filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday has frustrated clients and constricted trading in come markets.
It may be that regulators and exchanges are attempting to move customer accounts in bulk in order to free up positions more quickly, some traders said. That scenario appeared even more likely after MF Global's trustee filed in bankruptcy court for approval to transfer segregated accounts to other brokers.
A Chicago broker at MF Global, cut down by high-risk bets on European debt as it aggressively tried to transform into a mini-Goldman Sachs, said he was told by the orders clearing desk that he had to stop all liquidation of positions.
"I was told we can't do anything anymore," he said, adding that he was not certain of the reason but suspected that it was tied to the bankruptcy process underway.
On Tuesday, after a temporary freeze on all trading, MF Global was allowed to resume liquidating customers' grains and livestock positions on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and all ICE Futures USA positions.
The abrupt failure of MF Global -- which billed itself as the number one broker on the New York Mercantile Exchange and COMEX, and the second largest on the CME -- brought activity on Monday to a crawl, with most major exchanges severely limiting activity or suspending its membership.
But trading activity picked up when liquidation of positions by MF Global customers had not been as severe as some had feared, and a willingness to take risk brought customers back.
A broker at Chicago brokerage said MF Global clients were told on Wednesday morning that they would not be able to transfer their accounts to another futures commission merchant.
"It took them a couple days to figure out that they were losing money on position transfers," he added.
2011年11月2日 星期三
MF Global stops liquidation, customer transfers - sources
Brokers at MF Global early on Wednesday stopped processing liquidation orders from customers and transferring accounts to other brokerages, possibly to clear the way for a bulk transfer of positions, sources at the bankrupt brokerage told Reuters. After being allowed on Tuesday to resume limited trading solely in order to liquidate positions on behalf of their customers, two sources at MF Global told Reuters they had been told to stop that activity earlier in the day.
Separately, another broker said that MF Global customers were now also unable to transfer their accounts to another clearing party. The stop-start effort to untangle MF Global's customer accounts after the company failed to find a buyer and filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday has frustrated clients and constricted trading in come markets. It may be that regulators and exchanges are attempting to move customer accounts in bulk in order to free up positions more quickly, some traders said. That scenario appeared even more likely after MF Global's trustee filed in bankruptcy court for approval to transfer segregated accounts to other brokers.
A Chicago broker at MF Global, cut down by high-risk bets on European debt as it aggressively tried to transform into a mini-Goldman Sachs, said he was told by the orders clearing desk that he had to stop all liquidation of positions. "I was told we can't do anything anymore," he said, adding that he was not certain of the reason but suspected that it was tied to the bankruptcy process underway.
On Tuesday, after a temporary freeze on all trading, MF Global was allowed to resume liquidating customers' grains and livestock positions on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and all ICE Futures USA positions. The abrupt failure of MF Global -- which billed itself as the number one broker on the New York Mercantile Exchange and COMEX, and the second largest on the CME -- brought activity on Monday to a crawl, with most major exchanges severely limiting activity or suspending its membership. But trading activity picked up when liquidation of positions by MF Global customers had not been as severe as some had feared, and a willingness to take risk brought customers back. A broker at Chicago brokerage said MF Global clients were told on Wednesday morning that they would not be able to transfer their accounts to another futures commission merchant. "It took them a couple days to figure out that they were losing money on position transfers," he added.
Separately, another broker said that MF Global customers were now also unable to transfer their accounts to another clearing party. The stop-start effort to untangle MF Global's customer accounts after the company failed to find a buyer and filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday has frustrated clients and constricted trading in come markets. It may be that regulators and exchanges are attempting to move customer accounts in bulk in order to free up positions more quickly, some traders said. That scenario appeared even more likely after MF Global's trustee filed in bankruptcy court for approval to transfer segregated accounts to other brokers.
A Chicago broker at MF Global, cut down by high-risk bets on European debt as it aggressively tried to transform into a mini-Goldman Sachs, said he was told by the orders clearing desk that he had to stop all liquidation of positions. "I was told we can't do anything anymore," he said, adding that he was not certain of the reason but suspected that it was tied to the bankruptcy process underway.
On Tuesday, after a temporary freeze on all trading, MF Global was allowed to resume liquidating customers' grains and livestock positions on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and all ICE Futures USA positions. The abrupt failure of MF Global -- which billed itself as the number one broker on the New York Mercantile Exchange and COMEX, and the second largest on the CME -- brought activity on Monday to a crawl, with most major exchanges severely limiting activity or suspending its membership. But trading activity picked up when liquidation of positions by MF Global customers had not been as severe as some had feared, and a willingness to take risk brought customers back. A broker at Chicago brokerage said MF Global clients were told on Wednesday morning that they would not be able to transfer their accounts to another futures commission merchant. "It took them a couple days to figure out that they were losing money on position transfers," he added.
2011年11月1日 星期二
'Looking beyond risk management as a cost'
With risk management in prime global focus after the fall of Lehman Brothers, there is a concerted effort to ensure banks are ring fenced to ward off risks associated with their operations, more so to ensure they provide the much needed stability to the economies.
Mr Alok Tiwari, Chief Executive Officer, Aptivaa Consulting Solutions, a global risk management firm, outlines what the proposed Basel III norms aims to achieve and the safeguards that it intends to put in to ensure compliance.
Almost all public sector banks in India are looking for recapitalization. This is so, despite them paying huge dividends to the government on a regular basis. Would not retention of earnings serve the purpose?
This issue will be well addressed in the proposed Basel III norms. In Basel III they have introduced two concepts — one is the counter cyclical buffer and the other, capital conservation buffer. Based on ratio of capital, central banks will specify a policy of dividend payout. At the moment there is a direct conflict of the roles as the Government is both the owner and the manager of the banks (as management is chosen and appointed by the government). The roles are conflicting, as, finally, the management has to act independently.
What is the opportunity cost of the two buffers? Will there be a resistance to the setting for these buffers?
That may not be the right view. The right way is to look at it as a bank's stability to generate ROE (return on equity). What kind of return can the bank generate on capital? This is the big question in the Western markets as post Basel III the ROE is expected to be down 3-4 per cent. One is on account of higher capital requirement and another is that Western markets are ring fencing the banks under the Dodd Frank Act in US and Vickers rule in UK. They say that banks cannot do certain types of activities. They are trying to ring fence the casino and utility banks.
If I am a utility bank, my returns are limited, as I am restricted to deposit and pure lending. If you see the last 6-8 years in global banking, returns have come from investment banking.
In India, there is no plan to ring fence the banks as our markets are not so evolved as the Western markets. So, in their trading books, at the maximum they do government securities, some merchant trading and inter-bank forex. But, the higher capitalization requirements would definitely lead to one to two per cent decline in ROE.
What is your take on the concept of central counter party for OTC (over the counter) products?
In principle, it is very good. As of now , in OTC you have no way of assessing counter-party risks. That is what people discovered post-Lehman.
Also, in general, at the systemic level, I have no view of the way credit risk is distributed within the system as also the counter party risk. The question is, how this will be implemented as OTC products would continue to evolve. Settlement is a concern, as unlike an exchange-traded product where you have settlement prices and liquidity available, here there will be huge issue in terms of valuation and then settlement prices.
Are any checks factored in for off-balance sheet transactions?
Off-balance sheet transactions are being addressed in two ways. One, they are increasing the capital on the structure of the instrument — the arbitrage between on and off-balance sheet. Second is the ring fencing, whether the activity is permitted under regulation. In Basel III they are going to include off and on balance sheet transactions in leverage ratio.
Certain Indian banks have very low NPAs (non-performing assets). What do you think they have done better than their peers?
NPA has three components. One is origination. If I have a strong and prudent origination, half the problem is solved. If I am choosy about what I underwrite, which I believe is supported by the origination. Second is the credit risk management — the frequency of reviews to monitor transitioning credit rating of debtors. The last is transparency of provisioning. There are ways of ever-greening. Sometimes, I have an account which is heading for NPA. I create another advance which can pay off the first. That also goes on. Some creativity is involved. Globally, it is a big issue. Even in the sovereign debt crisis, there is no agreement on how to recognise and deal with it.
At the strategic level, every bank makes its own growth choices. There are a set of banks which prefer growth in assets over asset quality. They only work on the percentage of delinquency. The assumption is that I am going to be in an economic growth cycle. If you are in a prolonged period of economic growth, this holds good as my balance sheet grows ten times and I am containing my delinquency below two per cent. In percentage terms it is fine.
The second type of banks, focus on asset quality. There is a trade off between growth and asset quality. The third would be extremely conservative banks, which focus only on quality.
When you do data analysis on Indian banks, you can slot them in these segments. The problem is, if you are highly quality conscious, the ability to generate returns is limited. If today, if one wants to lend to AAA, every one wants to lend to them. Banks should start looking at risk adjusted return, as on a risk adjusted basis one can generate superior returns, by lower credit risk. I am not saying go to the extreme.
The best example is Wells Fargo Bank of US which is extremely focused on the mid-market. Even during the crisis, it was one bank that stood rock solid and continued to generate returns. That is why you see large global banks focusing on mid market now as it is more diversified. If one picks good mid-market accounts it will offer better returns at relatively less risk.
Indian banks adopt various quantitative models to manage risk. How robust are the models or should each bank develop its own risk model?
There are two major issues. One is data. Indian Banks' Association initiated an important credit risk data consortium in 2008, which is on hold. If you are moving to advanced approaches in credit risk, you need quality industry level data.
Second, the model risk in India is going to be extremely high.
This is based on my experience with banks here as most are not going through proper model validation.
They simply buy third party software and then for the compliance perspective get it validated. Most banks procure an inbuilt software model, built overseas, implement it and sign off. Then someone does a quick validation on it. He does not structurally go into the assumptions or whether the model is back tested. Many times there is no previous data to test it. They are not going through a development lifecycle.
Risk is still seen as a cost or a checklist. The outlook is to meet minimum regulatory requirements. Even globally the perception is the same. There is nothing wrong in profit taking precedence, but at what cost.
Mr Alok Tiwari, Chief Executive Officer, Aptivaa Consulting Solutions, a global risk management firm, outlines what the proposed Basel III norms aims to achieve and the safeguards that it intends to put in to ensure compliance.
Almost all public sector banks in India are looking for recapitalization. This is so, despite them paying huge dividends to the government on a regular basis. Would not retention of earnings serve the purpose?
This issue will be well addressed in the proposed Basel III norms. In Basel III they have introduced two concepts — one is the counter cyclical buffer and the other, capital conservation buffer. Based on ratio of capital, central banks will specify a policy of dividend payout. At the moment there is a direct conflict of the roles as the Government is both the owner and the manager of the banks (as management is chosen and appointed by the government). The roles are conflicting, as, finally, the management has to act independently.
What is the opportunity cost of the two buffers? Will there be a resistance to the setting for these buffers?
That may not be the right view. The right way is to look at it as a bank's stability to generate ROE (return on equity). What kind of return can the bank generate on capital? This is the big question in the Western markets as post Basel III the ROE is expected to be down 3-4 per cent. One is on account of higher capital requirement and another is that Western markets are ring fencing the banks under the Dodd Frank Act in US and Vickers rule in UK. They say that banks cannot do certain types of activities. They are trying to ring fence the casino and utility banks.
If I am a utility bank, my returns are limited, as I am restricted to deposit and pure lending. If you see the last 6-8 years in global banking, returns have come from investment banking.
In India, there is no plan to ring fence the banks as our markets are not so evolved as the Western markets. So, in their trading books, at the maximum they do government securities, some merchant trading and inter-bank forex. But, the higher capitalization requirements would definitely lead to one to two per cent decline in ROE.
What is your take on the concept of central counter party for OTC (over the counter) products?
In principle, it is very good. As of now , in OTC you have no way of assessing counter-party risks. That is what people discovered post-Lehman.
Also, in general, at the systemic level, I have no view of the way credit risk is distributed within the system as also the counter party risk. The question is, how this will be implemented as OTC products would continue to evolve. Settlement is a concern, as unlike an exchange-traded product where you have settlement prices and liquidity available, here there will be huge issue in terms of valuation and then settlement prices.
Are any checks factored in for off-balance sheet transactions?
Off-balance sheet transactions are being addressed in two ways. One, they are increasing the capital on the structure of the instrument — the arbitrage between on and off-balance sheet. Second is the ring fencing, whether the activity is permitted under regulation. In Basel III they are going to include off and on balance sheet transactions in leverage ratio.
Certain Indian banks have very low NPAs (non-performing assets). What do you think they have done better than their peers?
NPA has three components. One is origination. If I have a strong and prudent origination, half the problem is solved. If I am choosy about what I underwrite, which I believe is supported by the origination. Second is the credit risk management — the frequency of reviews to monitor transitioning credit rating of debtors. The last is transparency of provisioning. There are ways of ever-greening. Sometimes, I have an account which is heading for NPA. I create another advance which can pay off the first. That also goes on. Some creativity is involved. Globally, it is a big issue. Even in the sovereign debt crisis, there is no agreement on how to recognise and deal with it.
At the strategic level, every bank makes its own growth choices. There are a set of banks which prefer growth in assets over asset quality. They only work on the percentage of delinquency. The assumption is that I am going to be in an economic growth cycle. If you are in a prolonged period of economic growth, this holds good as my balance sheet grows ten times and I am containing my delinquency below two per cent. In percentage terms it is fine.
The second type of banks, focus on asset quality. There is a trade off between growth and asset quality. The third would be extremely conservative banks, which focus only on quality.
When you do data analysis on Indian banks, you can slot them in these segments. The problem is, if you are highly quality conscious, the ability to generate returns is limited. If today, if one wants to lend to AAA, every one wants to lend to them. Banks should start looking at risk adjusted return, as on a risk adjusted basis one can generate superior returns, by lower credit risk. I am not saying go to the extreme.
The best example is Wells Fargo Bank of US which is extremely focused on the mid-market. Even during the crisis, it was one bank that stood rock solid and continued to generate returns. That is why you see large global banks focusing on mid market now as it is more diversified. If one picks good mid-market accounts it will offer better returns at relatively less risk.
Indian banks adopt various quantitative models to manage risk. How robust are the models or should each bank develop its own risk model?
There are two major issues. One is data. Indian Banks' Association initiated an important credit risk data consortium in 2008, which is on hold. If you are moving to advanced approaches in credit risk, you need quality industry level data.
Second, the model risk in India is going to be extremely high.
This is based on my experience with banks here as most are not going through proper model validation.
They simply buy third party software and then for the compliance perspective get it validated. Most banks procure an inbuilt software model, built overseas, implement it and sign off. Then someone does a quick validation on it. He does not structurally go into the assumptions or whether the model is back tested. Many times there is no previous data to test it. They are not going through a development lifecycle.
Risk is still seen as a cost or a checklist. The outlook is to meet minimum regulatory requirements. Even globally the perception is the same. There is nothing wrong in profit taking precedence, but at what cost.
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