The housing crisis is entering a new and frightening stage. On June 24, Standard & Poor's announced that the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Home Price Index had fallen more than 15% in April from a year earlier. Adjusted for inflation, the decline is the biggest since 1940-42, according to data collected by Yale University economist Robert Shiller.
The risk for the financial system and the economy is that the price drop, already horrifying, will start feeding on itself. When home values fall low enough, hard-pressed homeowners become less able or less willing to keep paying their mortgages. That forces lenders to repossess homes and then dump them back on the market at fire-sale prices, which depresses prices further and leads to even more foreclosures.
That process has already started in parts of Arizona, California, Florida, and Nevada. The drop in those markets "is being fueled with jet fuel," says James L. Smith, executive vice-president for portfolio services at Fiserv (FISY), a Brookfield (Wis.) company. His unit works with borrowers to restructure delinquent mortgage loans. Smith worries that instead of settling at a reasonable price level, "we're going to blow past [it] without even looking back."
Efforts by the private sector and government to stop the slide before it gets out of control haven't done the job. Poorly designed mortgage securities rife with conflicts of interest, as well as legal disputes over priority between creditors, are forcing many homes into foreclosure needlessly, accelerating the market decline.
Sure, Congress is expected soon to pass a huge legislative package aimed at preventing needless foreclosures and stimulating first-time home purchases. But many analysts and advocates are already warning that more dramatic measures will ultimately be required. "The depth of pain is not being registered in D.C.," says Mike Shea, executive director of nonprofit advocacy group ACORN Housing in Chicago.
That's not everyone's assessment, of course. Some economists and politicians say that policymakers need to focus on keeping inflation under control in the face of soaring food and fuel prices. They say that the effects of the housing bust will be modest and that low prices will attract new buyers. "We're seeing people go into the market that weren't there before," says Alfred A. DelliBovi, president of the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York. The Federal Reserve, which has already cut the federal funds rate to 2% without managing to save the housing market, hinted on June 25 that no further rate cuts are in store, warning that inflation risks have risen while the risk of slower growth has "diminished somewhat."
by Peter Coy and Mara Der Hovanesian
Full Story: http://www.businessweek.com/print/magazine/content/08_27/b4091032364818.htm
Business USA: The Housing Abyss
environmental Blog: enV
aP has launched a specially dedicated blog to lift today's environmental issues and answers to those problems. Problems from carbon density, pollution, arctic melt down, increase in gas prices, depleting resources and answers and solutions from energy efficiency, and consumption of resources and deeply discussed and analyzed over the specially dedicated blog space. Please be sure to check aP's enV blog and leave your voice our enV's arguments and solutions.
enV blog: http://apenvirom.blogspot.com/
Sapphire : FAARO Jewelry
FAARO sapphires
FAARO is a brand of jewelry which specializes in sapphire jewelry. Our sapphires come in a multitude of colors including white, pink, green, yellow, and blue. All our beautiful stones come from well-known gem producing countries such as Thailand and Cambodia as well as Sri Lanka, where most of our blue sapphires are formed.
The history of our main Sapphire producer, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka has been known by many different names throughout time because of its abundance of gems and the shape of the wonderful island is a gem. Marco Polo once stated in 1292, “I want you to understand that the island of Ceylon is, for its size, the finest island in the world and from its streams comes sapphires…”. “Serendib” is another name given by Persian traders, who came to this country to trade gems. “Ranthna deepa” meaning land of gems, is well known for producing the world’s richest and biggest sapphires for thousand years. The blue sapphires found in Sri Lanka are known as “Ceylon sapphires”. Not to forget the “Star of India”, a 563.35 carat sapphire mined in Sri Lanka, is the world’s largest star sapphire exhibited in New York National Museum at the moment.
Sapphires
Sapphires comes in different colors such as violet, dark gray, orange, yellow, pink, green and black which are also known as “fancy sapphires.” These “fancy sapphires” are less expensive than other sapphires but are equally as beautiful. Blue sapphires, found primarily in Sri Lanka and other gem producing countries, have a unique velvety luster which makes them very expensive. Most of the sapphires found in Sri Lanka are of a lighter shade of blue and are usually more than 100 carats. White sapphires, which are colorless stones, are also found primarily in Sri Lanka. These fine white sapphires are extremely rare as a result of their unique hues or shades of pink, purple or blue.
Rareness of sapphires
As a result of sapphires unique colors and shades, they tend to be very expensive and hard to find. Most of the time these stone’s prices increase several times by the time they arrive in North America and Europe. Diamonds today are used in almost all of the jewelry sold, especially in the United States. This production and usage of diamonds prove that diamonds are not rare. Diamonds are so expensive mainly because of inflated profit margins. Unlike diamonds, sapphires come in different shades and colors which make them extremely rare and unique.
Natural Crystal Sapphires
These hexagonal crystal structured sapphires, scientifically called “corundum,” are designed by FAARO for elegance and beauty with a unique taste of nature. Our natural crystal sapphires come from Sri Lanka. These sapphires are in their original form, but cut and polished to a unique shape. Each crystal is unique for their shape and shades of colors, just like sapphires. These natural crystals carry a myth, that they possess various healing powers of the earth making them very popular among the natives of Sri Lanka.
International Business: Global Communication
In this IB series post I am planning to talk about importance and effectiveness of communication in global business and cross border business.
Communication in any organization take a huge role. It is the cogs that connect things together and get things moving. Without proper communication things will fall apart. There is nothing as enough communication, communication can never be enough. In a business setting you need to get as much information as you can to successfully complete tasks.
Going to global communication create new barriers that don't show up in local organizational level. Language difference is the first tackle. Most of the time someone that speaks that language effectively can be used to solve this issue easily.
In the previous posts I discussed important issues in global business. If it is difficult or costly for you to have someone physically present in the foreign business location it is hard to communicate. But with the internet and increasingly developing new ways of communication through internet make this easier task.
Instant messenger services are a great way to communicate with foreign location and keep them upto date. Programs like Skype make voice over internet extremely effective and low cost.
Keeping information synchronized with foreign location and local parent or the branch is another difficult problem that FAARO experienced. With the help of synchronizing data program like Microsoft Groove, things were easier to keep track of and up date and share information and data.
With the development of communication techniques over internet, global communication for a business have become much easier.
Unit Converter 1.3
Downloadable exe file | size: 1.56MB converter-ashPresentom.exe
Uploaded here is the final version of the Unit Converter, in Flash swf format. You can also download exe file and run it as a program for easy use. Exe file does not require you to have the flash player installed in your computer to run this program/movie.
I also plan to add volume into this program in its future versions. Your comments and thoughts will be greatly appreciated.
Presentom Unit Converter (Flash Program)
At the moment i am working on designing a flash movie program that can convert units easily. Main measurements include length, Weight, and temperature.
This flash movie program will be presented at Presentom as exe file to be downloaded and use it. Program hold Presentom Copyrights.
Dont forget to check back the Unit Converter
International Business: The Road to Global Readiness
How can Mexico compete globally? — Adolfo Navarro, Monterrey, Mexico
Your question says "Mexico," but put any developing nation, from Turkey to Brazil, in its place, and our answer is the same. First, we'd state what you may already know: that countries whose businesses are trying to gain a foothold abroad need an educated workforce, affordable sources of energy, and supportive trade policies. But right out of the gate, we'd add another factor that is, in our view, equally important. The businesses that will compete most effectively in a fierce global economy will be those that have benefited from intense competition at home.
Think of it this way: No speed skater or pole-vaulter heads to the Olympics before years of intense competition with the hotshots in his own backyard. The same goes for companies heading into the business "world games." First, they need to train and prove themselves against hometown rivals.
Make sense? Sure. But it still doesn't happen enough. Your own country is a good example. Its economy became "free" in 1994 when the government essentially stopped allowing (some would say anointing) companies to control entire industrial sectors. But 14 years later, conglomerates still dominate, meaning too few entrepreneurial ventures have been able to emerge and deliver the critical lessons about agility and innovation that only they can. Yes, there are exceptions: Cemex (CX), the cement producer, and Grupo Bimbo, the food manufacturer, among others, are companies that grew at home and now thrive in foreign markets. But Mexico remains a country with too little local competition, which puts those "unconditioned" companies back on their heels as they enter the global ring.
By contrast, both Japan and South Korea sent their companies into the world economy swinging. In the 1970s, Japan's government encouraged its zaibatsu to reform and compete locally before setting their sites on foreign foes. Then they landed resounding blows, most notably against U.S. electronics, automotive, and steel interests. A decade later, Korea unleashed its chaebol with similar results, as companies like Daewoo and Samsung entered the global markets with productivity levels that quickly made them formidable rivals. Although China still has a largely state-controlled economy, its entrepreneurs have long been irrepressible. When GE (GE) bought a light bulb factory in Shanghai in the '90s, for instance, Siemens (SI) and Philips (PHG) were the main concern. But within a year or two, scores of Chinese startups acquired bulb-making equipment from Eastern Europe, and a slugfest ensued. No wonder so many Chinese companies enter the global market loaded for bear. They've been practicing.
So what is Mexico to do? If we're right about local competition being a prerequisite for global success, the government obviously needs to encourage it, or at least allow it. That seems to be what's now going on in India. Its economy began liberalization efforts in the '90s, but since 2000 they seem to be accelerating. New technologies have helped. One young company with an exciting business model—Airtel—has been able to compete fiercely in the cellular phone market with mainstays Tata (TTM) and Reliance Communications. For all three companies, the innovations sparked by competition have driven growth and profitability, and provided the ability and confidence to expand overseas.
The power of local competition is not, incidentally, just relevant to developing nations. If only! In the U.S., established semiconductor and biotechnology companies are constantly pushed to new heights by feisty upstarts. This happens in mature businesses, too. Case in point is business news channel CNBC (GE). It had no real rival for years, until Rupert Murdoch, a tough competitor, announced that he would launch the Fox Business Network (NWS). Almost overnight, CNBC looked like a new place, with reenergized anchors, bolder programming, and a revamped Web site. Fox won't stop coming at CNBC, of course, but both organizations will be better for the fight.
Look, no normal person seeks competition. It makes everything harder. But it also creates excellence and verve—in a word, edge. And you don't want to leave home without that.
Article by: Jack and Suzy Welch
International Business: Global organization
An organization that will have its branches located in different parts of the world and challenges faces in implementation is what I am going to discuss in this post. To further explain the matter, I will be referring to my global Venture - FAARO Jewelry.
Global expansion of an organization is a tough task. Expanding into a foreign territory without trustable support is another challenge. Strategy formulation and implementation for new global venture is another topic that will need lot more time to go deep into, rather an interesting topic. But today I will focus only basic implementation of business in foreign territory.
When you are planning to expand into global business you need to keep in mind the amount of capital requirements, which can be rather tedious and unexpectedly expensive than predicted. I am not talking about acquiring a foreign business but starting a new branch in a different country. So Capital requirement is key issue here.
Having a trustable party that to continue operations over in the foreign country is an invaluable advantage. If you could pay several visits per month to check on the status and operations of the new business, lack of a trustable party could be not extremely important. But if you can not physically be present at the foreign location it is very important to have a trustable and honest party. For example, at FAARO when we start our jewelry manufacturing facility in SriLanka to extract the low cost Gems and jewelry making talent in SriLanka, my mom taking control over the operations of the facility helped greatly as I could not be physically be there. In my next post I will talk about communication barriers in international business.
Another important thing to plan ahead is government's rules and regulations of the foreign country. Starting a business while abide by to their government regulations is important to maintain the business long time and to avoid unnecessary problems.
Culture and traditions of the new foreign location is another area which most organizations fail to focus on before they implement. When Volkswagen started their Shanghai Branch they were having numerous problems with German and Chinese cultural differences.
Expanding an organization to spread out globally require great deal of planning and due diligence on issues like, requirement of capital, trustable party's presence, Governmental regulations, and culture of the foreign location.
My Photoshop work - After edit
Here is one of my Photo I edited using Adobe Photoshop. Here I used several color and level balancing and used several Brush effects in overlay setting. Be sure to leave some comments on what you think.
Jewelry of the Week: 3
Its time for Presentom's Jewelry of the week. Like I mentioned before I will be posting these pieces from time to time. These will be my favorite and highly demanded items for that period of time. So here is the Jewelry for this week..
About this piece of Jewelry: Its a Sterling Silver pendant, coded with lasting Rhodium layer. The connected hearts hold a Genuine White Sapphire stone. Its a good gift! This piece was included in FAARO 2008 Valentine collection.
For more information: Click Here
What to look for when you buy jewelry
Most of the times when people buy jewelry, they are not concerned about some of the important fact. Thus several months later, they may not be able to wear that jewelry again or for some other reason it will become useless. In this article you will learn several key points and components of jewelry to keep in mind when you deciding what jewelry to buy for, either through an online web sites or from a store down town.
What occasions are you going to wear this jewelry for? Selecting the right jewelry for right occasions is very important. It could be for a date or a party or simply to wear everyday to work or at home. The event is a significant fact to keep in mind. A beautiful jewelry set would look much better on an expensive dress than cheap jewelry. This connect to the next point, do you plan to wear it during day time or in the evening? Glittering jewelry such as Pink heart pendant by FAARO jewelry ( ) is an ideal piece to wear at night, either with a colorful dress or a black dress which would enhanced the beauty of the jewelry. The sterling silver in this pendant along with the colorful gemstones would make you look beautiful with them at night.
Another important point to keep in mind is the length of the necklace. How long do you want your necklace to be? “Choker” is a 14 inch chain which “Matinee” is 23 inch long chain that hangs down further. More detailed information about chain selection can be found in FAAROzine informative newsletter series. (To receive these newsletter go to www.faaro.com)
Another points is how frequent will you wear this? Frequency of the use is important based on several featured of the jewelry you are planning to buy. Thickness of the chain is important if you are going to wear it daily. That means the chain should not be fragile as to bare the pressure and other forces that might apply on it.
Clasp is also another important component of the jewelry to look for before you buy. A clasp that is easy to put on and take off will make your life easy when having to wear jewelry.
Important components like these can help you better understand the jewelry that you will wear and to select the jewelry that will best fit your daily needs and to make you look beautiful. To receive more important information like these through FAAROzine please visit faaro.com.
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