Monday, August 24, 2009

Guaranty Bank Seized, Sold to BBVA

http://www.banktech.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=219401165&cid=RSSfeed_TechWeb
WASHINGTON, Aug. 22 (UPI) -- Troubled Texas lender Guaranty Bank has been sold to a Spanish bank after the U.S. government agreed to absorb about $3 billion of its losses, officials say.

Under the deal, announced Friday by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., regulators took over the bank, based in Austin, Texas, then brokered its sale to the American subsidiary of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria in one of the largest-ever government-assisted deals with a foreign firm, The New York Times reported.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

You Have Used Me as a Fish Long Enough - part 2 - origins of Artificial Intelligence



You Have Used Me as a Fish Long Enough- In this episode, the history of brainwashing and mind control was examined. The angle pursued by Curtis was the way in which psychiatry pursued tabula rasa theories of the mind, initially in order to set people free from traumatic memories and then later as a potential instrument of social control. The work of Ewen Cameron was surveyed, with particular reference to Cold War theories of communist brainwashing and the search for hypnoprogammed assassins. The programme's thesis was that the search for control over the past via medical intervention had had to be abandoned and that in modern times control over the past is more effectively exercised by the manipulation of history. Some film from this episode, an interview with one of Cameron's victims, was later re-used by Curtis in his The Century of the Self. The title of this episode comes from a paranoid schizophrenic seen in archive film in the programme, who believed her neighbours were using her as a source of amusement by denying her any privacy, like a pet goldfish.«



Boeing takes a dive with ‘nightmareliner’

This is quite a turnaround for Boeing, which is America's largest exporter. Barely a year ago, the company was doing well. Or so it seemed. ... http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/manufacturing/2009-08-05-boeing-problems-dreamliner_N.htm

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2009381335_787flaw250.html
The structural flaw that has grounded Boeing's 787 Dreamliner will likely add months of delay to the new jet program, an executive with one of Boeing's key Japanese partners said Wednesday.

Kiyotaka Ichimaru, an executive at the aerospace division of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), which makes the 787's carbon-fiber composite plastic wings in Japan, also said the problem announced Tuesday stems from Boeing's engineering design, not MHI's — an assessment confirmed by Boeing.

Ichimaru said MHI engineers are drawing upon the experience of similar problems on the Mitsubishi F-2 jet-fighter program in working with Boeing to fix the problem: a need for reinforcement of the structure where the Dreamliner's wing is joined to the load-bearing box at the center of the fuselage.

Ichimaru doesn't believe the structural flaw represents a fundamental safety concern.

"We are not seeing this as a very, very serious issue," he said in an interview Wednesday.

It's the business consequences of the new delay that may be more damaging. Boeing shares fell another 5.8 percent Wednesday after losing 6.5 percent Tuesday, when the company unexpectedly said it would postpone the Dreamliner's scheduled first flight. The company's stock has lost $5.58 in two days, shrinking its total market value by $4 billion.

http://blogs.crikey.com.au/planetalking/2009/08/05/inside-and-outside-the-787-operating-theatre/
Inside and outside the 787 operating theatre

http://blogs.crikey.com.au/planetalking/2009/08/07/us-media-wakes-up-to-dreamliner-nightmare/
US media wakes up to Dreamliner nightmare

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2009/06/24/boeings-nightmare-liner.aspx
Boeing's Nightmare Liner Two years ago, when its maiden flight was supposed to usher in a new era of high-speed, low fuel-consumption aircraft for the world's airlines -- and a new era of profits for Boeing shareholders -- the "Boeing Dreamliner" name was apropos. But now you need to make it official: The 787 is now and forevermore to be designated the Boeing Nightmare Liner.

Yesterday, Boeing announced its latest delay in the maiden voyage of "ZA001," Boeing's code for the first prototype 787. The stock promptly crashed -- down 6.5% on the day -- and has continued to burn today -- down another 6% as of this writing. Which brings Boeing to a total of over 60% worth of market cap destroyed since the company first began announcing delays in the project.

Dan Rather reports on Boeing's use of composite materials in the construction of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and introduces the concerns of former Boeing engineer Vince Weldon to the flying public. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epDtuSJm0eM

Friday, August 21, 2009

Prison Consultant Larry Jay Levine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Jay_Levine

Larry Jay Levine (born July 1, 1961) is an American federal prison consultant. In 2006, Larry Levine founded American Prison Consultants, a legal services firm that provides information and support to offenders that are about to enter the federal prison system. American Prison Consultants also operates under the synonymous name of Wall Street Prison Consultants.

Levine was arrested by a Federal Organized Crime Task Force in 1998, and was convicted of narcotics trafficking, securities fraud, obstruction of justice, and possession of automatic weapons. He was sentenced to ten years in federal prison by former U.S. District Judge Carlos R. Moreno who is now a Justice on the Supreme Court of California. In 2005, Levine was incarcerated at the former Nellis Federal Prison Camp outside of Las Vegas, Nevada, and upon its closure was transferred along with several hundred other Nellis white-collar inmates to the gang infested higher security La Tuna Federal Prison on the El Paso, Texas-Mexican Border. While at La Tuna, Levine single-handedly, filed a Federal Class Action
Habeas Corpus
Lawsuit in U.S. District Court against the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Prisons claiming that the DOJ had violated its own policies by sending the Nellis inmates into higher custody. Due to Levine's actions, the DOJ was forced to act and subsequently shifted hundreds of its inmates around the country to conform to the lawsuit's claims.

While in custody, Levine served time in 11 different Federal Correctional Institutions in California, Arizona, Texas, Nevada, and Oklahoma, where he self educated himself in Federal Criminal law, and upon release in 2007, became a renowned International expert on the U.S. Federal Criminal Justice System. Levine's advise, views, and comments, frequently appear in wire service news reports, TV, broadcast radio, magazine, and newspaper articles worldwide. Since the Bernard Madoff scandal, he has become a popular interview subject on CNN, Fox News Channel, CBS News, ABC News, MSNBC, Bloomberg and others.

In July, 2009, Levine was issued a Cease and Desist Letter by the NYSE New York Stock Exchange for copyright and trademark infringements due to Levine's use of images of the New York Stock Exchange and references to the NYSE and crime on the Wall Street Prison Consultants website.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

EES Releases V Speed indicator for Spot FX Volatility

V (Volatility) Speed is an indicator that displays the current high-low (range) of each bar on the chart, and displays it in the data window below with a smoothed average of the past x(3) bars. 3 is the default, the longer the period the more long term the value, in other words if you want a short term volatility indication to signal an increase in volatility, a lower number should be used.

EES recommends using this indicator as a measure of volatility, and to signal an increase or decrease in volatility by watching the SMA. A cross up (when the SMA is below the V Speed line and crosses above it) of the SMA indicates a decrease in volatility and conversely, a cross down indicates an increase. The SMA values can be adjusted according to the specific pair and time frame used. V Speed can be referenced by strategies as an indication of volatility.

The name speed is derived from the method to determine how 'fast' volatility is moving, specific to your pair. Monitoring the VIX is not necessarily appropriate. V speed also is a handy tool to display each bars high-low which is the range.

Download this indicator at: http://www.eesfx.com

http://eesfx.com/eesfx/index.php/docs/doc_download/3-ees-v-speed-v11-code.html

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Microsoft spends $100 Million to advertise Bing, a lot of it with Google

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/05/28/ads-for-new-microsoft-bing-search-engineon-google-search/

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/bing/default.mspx

Classification and Identification for FX Systems and Indicators

EES is developing a system of Classification and Identification for trading systems, indicators, and related files. The system will be based on existing international standards, modified for appropriate trading applications.

During recent market analysis, some words and descriptive terms are lacking to describe certain market events. EES will use existing scientific standards as a template to name our own systems and develop a trading nomenclature.

For example, we are developing an indicator that will determine market "velocity" which is the 'speed' of the pair divided by the time.

Another example, how does a trader measure the amount a pair may fluctuate in a range? It would calculate the amount of times the price crosses a line, or multiple lines, inside a trading range.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centimetre_gram_second_system_of_units

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_protocol

To participate in this development, see the thread in eesfx.com:

http://eesfx.com/eesfx/index.php/forum/14-fx-systems/11-classification-and-identification.html

Monday, August 17, 2009

Commodity Traders’ $1 Million Bonus as Oil Doubles

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aafaX5C3qFmA
Aug. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Wall Street firms are again recruiting commodities traders with promises of $1 million bonuses as prices of raw materials from oil to copper double.

Less than a year after oil tumbled a record 54 percent and the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index was suffering its biggest drop ever, Bank of America Corp. plans to boost commodity headcount by 25 percent. London-based Barclays Plc will increase staff about 6 percent. Morgan Stanley is recruiting traders in shipping. The banks declined to comment on compensation.

Stocks slide, dollar gains

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aNHdNnf9dDHY
Aug. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Stocks tumbled around the world, led by China, while the yen, dollar and Treasuries rose as investors speculated that a rally in riskier assets has outpaced prospects for economic growth. Energy and commodity prices also slid.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aFCS3BWplJOY
Aug. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Former Credit Suisse Group AG broker Eric Butler was convicted of fraudulently selling millions of dollars in subprime securities to corporate clients.

Interaction between MеtaTrader 4 and MATLAB Engine

http://articles.mql4.com/833
MetaTrader 4 and the MATLAB mathematical package have gained high popularity among users due to their positive characteristics, including "flexibility" in creation of complex calculation systems. There are three main ways of MATLAB connection with external applications, but only one of them is recommended - use of the virtual desktop MATLAB Engine. This method guarantees the full compatibility with the whole MATLAB package. Many programmers avoid this method for below reasons:

  • Many users find it slow. This is true, if compared with the direct function call from DLL libraries of MATLAB. The main delay takes place at the beginning of operation, when the virtual machine is called because of the call of numerous libraries that are uploaded into the virtual space of the calling process (in our case MetaTrader 4).
  • Transferability of the project. True, when transferring a project to another computer all MATLAB DLL libraries must also be transferred, though as well as when direct call is used, to know the "relations" of the latter ones, i.e. start queue!
  • Obligatory knowledge of C++ or Fortran. Well, if you know MQL4, you can easily learn C++ and vice versa.

Why I recommend this method:

  1. This is the most reliable and independent from the MATLAB version method of connection with external programs. You can change MATLAB version and your indicators or Expert Advisors won't notice it. This is the most important advantage.
  2. It has a relatively quick development method. It doesn't require debuggers, and it will make no difficulties to write the DLL wrapper.
  3. "Common desktop" for several indicators and/or Expert Advisors. I consider this method useful when we need to make a decision based on data of several indicators or in the implementation of a pyramid trade.

This article describes the way of connecting MetaTrader 4 and MATLAB ver. 7.4.0 (R2007a) via a "DLL-wrapper" written in Borland C++ Builder 6. Programmers who prefer Microsoft products will have to adapt examples to their compiler (good luck to you in this complicated matter!).

China offers Silver Investments






Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Canadian Intervention Not Likely

http://marcchandler.blogspot.com/2009/08/canadian-intervention-highly-doubtful.html
There is much talk today, circulating NY dealing rooms, that the Bank of Canada is getting ready to intervene in the foreign exchange market. We are dubious are that the BOC would intervene unilaterally on the CAD/USD exchange rate. In fact, we cannot recall a single episode of BOC intervening on CAD/USD in recent years, if ever.Last week, when US dollar had a CAD1.07 handle and Euro-Cad was near 1.5350 that the Canadian dollar looked vulnerable.