ShareJunction - Member Posts

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pOverty

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pharoah88 ( Date: 22-Sep-2010 14:23) Posted:

zerO sUm gAmE

pharoah88 ( Date: 22-Sep-2010 14:00) Posted:

rIch gOvernments = pOOr cItIzens ?

pOOr gOvernemtns = rIch cItIzens ?

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pharoah88 ( Date: 22-Sep-2010 14:23) Posted:

zerO sUm gAmE

pharoah88 ( Date: 22-Sep-2010 14:00) Posted:

rIch gOvernments = pOOr cItIzens ?

pOOr gOvernemtns = rIch cItIzens ?

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M’sia to spend $591b to transform economy

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Is it the degree he or she has attained?

NAMING AND SHAMING

Last month, the

It used data obtained from the local school district to rate the performance of roughly 6,000 teachers, spread across 470 elementary schools.

Pupils’ results in standard English and maths tests over several years were analysed to see whether they had made the progress expected of them at the school.

The result was incendiary: A “value added” figure for every teacher and every school, giving the total value they added to (or subtracted from) a child’s performance.

Parents rejoiced, and teaching unions exploded — because, for the first time, the skills of every teacher could be compared and contrasted.

It seemed like such a good idea that the question was instantly asked: Why hasn’t this been done before?

Well, in Britain at least, the answer is simple.

Given the amount of data that the Ofsted collects about Britain’s pupils — much to the frustration of those who have to deal with the paperwork — bringing in a similar system ought to be possible.

But our version of “value added” analysis is a far punier beast, involving adjusting a school’s position in the league tables according to its pupils’ backgrounds, and various other complicating factors.

The formula is so complex, and the results fluctuate so wildly from year to year, that the exercise is close to meaningless.
Los Angeles Times came up with a revolutionary way of doing just that.
THE DANCE OF THE LEMONS

Naming and shaming teachers, LA-style, would, in other words, delight parents — and help head teachers fight one of their most important battles.

For, as Mr Neil O’Brien, director of the think-tank Policy Exchange, says: “Heads already know who the good teachers are, and know who the duff ones are, without the need for statistical measurements.

The problem is that they can’t really reward the good ones, and have no power to fire the bad ones.”

So secure are bad teachers in their jobs that the General Teaching Council, the soon-to-be-abolished quango that was supposed to root them out, has had only 156 cases referred to it over the decade.

In 88 out of 154 local authorities in England, not a single inadequate teacher has been referred, even though everyone acknowledges that they probably run to tens of thousands.

Instead, we have what Americans refer to as the “dance of the lemons” — the recycling of poor teachers from school to school, sent on their way with impeccable references because their bosses are desperate to be rid of them.

Publishing data on teachers’ performance would help end this hollow sham and go some way towards creating a proper market in teaching — a world in which the inspirational teachers are paid what they are worth and the desk blockers are dumped as quickly as possible.

Of course, there are caveats:

The tables offer only a rough-and ready guide. A seemingly poor teacher might end up with the problem pupils or those for whom English is not a first language.

But anything is better than the current system, whereby inadequate teachers bumble along a career path of quiet mediocrity, slowly poisoning the future of the children in their charge.

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

The British government seems to think so. Education Secretary Michael Gove is drafting a White Paper on teaching that is expected to restrict the profession to people who have achieved a 2:2 (a Second Class Lower honours degree) or better.

Yet a study by Buckingham University believes this will lead to “big holes” in staffing many courses, including mathematics, science and languages.

However you look at it, there is a problem here. If the study is right, we are going to run short of teachers in critically important subjects. And if Mr Gove is right, we have got too many teachers of those subjects who are not up to the job.

Certainly, Mr Gove is correct when he argues that teaching should be for the best and brightest. As he said recently: “The quality of teachers has a greater influence on children’s achievement than any other aspect of their education.”

Mr Eric Hanushek, an economist at Stanford University in America, has shown that a great teacher can cover a year-and-a-half’s work of material in a single year, whereas a poor one will get only a third as far.

Last week, we saw the damage that bad teaching can do. The Ofsted (Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills) claims that 500,000 children have been wrongly diagnosed as having special needs, largely to cover up the inadequacy of their teachers.

Yet where Mr Gove gets it wrong is his idea that great teachers need a great degree. At any level up to GCSE, good teaching is not about how much you know but how well you communicate it.

As the American writer Malcolm Gladwell has convincingly demonstrated, great teachers are born, not made — blessed as they are with an instinctive ability to relate to and inspire their students.

The question, then, is how we identify and reward such people, while making sure that the failures are exposed.

What makes a good teacher?

pharoah88 ( Date: 22-Sep-2010 14:31) Posted:

A way to root out bad teachers?

Naming and shaming those who fail our children is now a viable option

Robert Colvile

Instead, we have what Americans refer to as the ‘dance of the lemons’ — the recycling of poor teachers from school to school, sent on their way with impeccable references because their bosses are desperate to be rid of them.

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A way to root out bad teachers?

Naming and shaming those who fail our children is now a viable option

Robert Colvile

Instead, we have what Americans refer to as the ‘dance of the lemons’ — the recycling of poor teachers from school to school, sent on their way with impeccable references because their bosses are desperate to be rid of them.

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zerO sUm gAmE

pharoah88 ( Date: 22-Sep-2010 14:00) Posted:

rIch gOvernments = pOOr cItIzens ?

pOOr gOvernemtns = rIch cItIzens ?

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BUY⁸⁸⁸

Eddyson ( Date: 22-Sep-2010 13:17) Posted:

Revenue double does not equal to profit double,profit depends on how low is the cost of operation.

After restructuring, Genting HK have been able to reduce the cost of operation & on top of it 50% of NCL & RWM is providing more profit.

Next agenda is (1)the Philipine's goverment selling alway Pacgor..who will get it? ....4 bidder - Genting HK, one Japanese company, Wynn Resort & Macau.(2)the new casino in Taiwan's insland...will it materialise?(Genting HK cruise ship is connected to Taiwan)

All these will have an impact on Genting HK's price.As we asked the President of Genting HK Mr. David Chua on whether will there be a rights issue, answer is.....too cheap now for a right issue....maybe at 60cts.

So what do you think....buy or sell????

pharoah88 ( Date: 22-Sep-2010 12:43) Posted:

revenUe dOUbles ? ?

prOfIt trIples ? ? ?

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Asia is richer but still leads world in poverty

Region home to two-thirds of world’s poor

UNITED NATIONS

The report on Asia’s progress in the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) was issued at a three-day summit, which started on Monday. It was attended by more than 140 heads of state or government at the UN headquarters in New York. There are five years left before the MDG deadline of 2015.

“One of the region’s greatest MDG successes has been a reduction in the number of people living on less than US$1.25 ($1.67) a day from 1.5 billion to 947 million between 1990 and 2005,” the report said.

“However, the region remains home to two-thirds of the world’s poor and hungry, with one in six malnourished, and it has been slow to reduce child mortality and to improve maternal health,” the report added.

Mr Ajay Chhibber, UN development chief for the Asia-Pacific, also named the lack of opportunities for women as a major cause of widespread poverty.

UN members resolved a decade ago to reduce extreme poverty by half, to ensure that every child finishes primary school and to halt the HIV/Aids pandemic.

They also vowed to reduce the number of women dying during pregnancy and childbirth by three-quarters, the number of children who die before their fifth birthday by two-thirds, and to halve the number of people without access to clean water and basic sanitation — all by 2015. They also set goals to promote equality for women, protect the environment, increase development aid and open the global trading and financial system.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon said the effort to reach the key development goals by 2015 could still be met if world leaders provide the necessary money and political will.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Spain’s Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero also stepped up to push for a new global financial tax, adding pressure on the world’s wealthy countries to contribute more in the drive to eradicate poverty and improve child and maternal health.

In response to the mounting calls for money to fight poverty, European leaders offered one billion euros ($1.75 billion) yesterday. The huge sum was offered by EU commission president Jose Manuel Barroso.

“The final MDG story is yet to be told. All countries still have five years to choose the most promising paths — and tilt the balance decisively on the side of success,” the report concluded. — Asia has slashed the number of people living in extreme poverty but leads the world in malnourishment and is struggling to meet ambitious development goals set at the United Nations (UN), a UN report said.AGENCIES

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rIch gOvernments = pOOr cItIzens ?

pOOr gOvernemtns = rIch cItIzens ?

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? eXcess sUpplIes Of bOnds ?

? lack Of Interests frOm bIg cOrpOratIOns ?

? defaUlt rIsk exIsts ?

? banks shOrt Of REAL CASH ?

? tOO many bIg cOrpOratIOns bOnded ?

pharoah88 ( Date: 22-Sep-2010 13:46) Posted:

Smaller bond notes now available

Industry players hail move as SIA launches $300m worth of bonds

Millet Enriquez

emelita@mediacorp.com.sg

SINGAPORE

Industry players also hailed the move as they believe that this is a key step towards developing the retail bond market which can further enhance Singapore’s financial sector.

Singapore Airlines yesterday gave the market a kick-start as it launched $300 million worth of five-year retail bonds at 2.15 per cent return — a first for a Singapore corporation.

The SIA bonds will be traded in lots of $1,000 and this is much lower compared to the typical corporate bond which are usually quoted in lots of $10,000 or higher.

The SIA bonds, which will be offered via public and private placement, is only the first in the series of corporate bond launches that will be made available to retail investors, the Singapore Exchange (SGX) said.

Some $50 million of the SIA bonds will be offered to the public and another $250 million will be offered to institutional investors through private placement. The public can purchase the bonds via ATMs operated by DBS, OCBC and UOB. The SIA bonds are expected to be listed on the Singapore Exchange on Oct 1.

OCBC Bank, which is one of the coordinating bookrunners for the SIA bond, says the bonds will provide retail investors an alternative instrument that offers higher yield and a steady stream of income.

“Typically, a bond pays a higher coupon than a savings account.

[## But there are transcation cOsts ##]

In addition, in a low interest rate environment where bond prices can potentially keep rising, an investor can also look towards potential capital gains,” said Mr Nicholas Tan, head of Global Wealth Management, OCBC Bank.

But investors must also be wary of risks such as changes in bond prices in line with interest rates, he said. “Buying a bond at issue and holding it until maturity means investors must be prepared to commit their funds for that length of time.”

SGX said it is beefing up its initiatives to educate investors through a series of seminars and workshops to help them understand fixed income investments so that they can make informed decisions.

“Our initiative to develop the bond market for retail investors augments SGX’s value proposition as an innovative and leading trading hub in Asia,” said Ms Tng Kwee Lian, senior vice-president and head of Fixed Income, SGX.

However, Mr Wong Sui Jau, general manager at

Still, he believes the bonds market here has a lot more room to grow and the move is in the right direction, adding that a Singapore corporate bond like SIA’s will be attractive to investors since it’s a well-known blue chip and the default risks are low.

Over 70 investment grade corporate bonds have been issued in Singapore since the start of the year, according to data from

Among the biggest bond issuers this year are Temasek Holdings, DBS Bank and PSA Corp.— Investing in corporate bonds has become easier for retail investors. These small-time investors can now buy bonds that are quoted in smaller denominations and for the first time they can even be purchased from automated teller machines (ATMs).Fundsupermart. com, said it remains to be seen whether the issuance of retail bonds will result in higher bond trading volume for SGX anytime soon. “More investors buy for the yield and less will be looking at it from the trading perspective,” he said.Thomson Reuters.

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Smaller bond notes now available

Industry players hail move as SIA launches $300m worth of bonds

Millet Enriquez

emelita@mediacorp.com.sg

SINGAPORE

Industry players also hailed the move as they believe that this is a key step towards developing the retail bond market which can further enhance Singapore’s financial sector.

Singapore Airlines yesterday gave the market a kick-start as it launched $300 million worth of five-year retail bonds at 2.15 per cent return — a first for a Singapore corporation.

The SIA bonds will be traded in lots of $1,000 and this is much lower compared to the typical corporate bond which are usually quoted in lots of $10,000 or higher.

The SIA bonds, which will be offered via public and private placement, is only the first in the series of corporate bond launches that will be made available to retail investors, the Singapore Exchange (SGX) said.

Some $50 million of the SIA bonds will be offered to the public and another $250 million will be offered to institutional investors through private placement. The public can purchase the bonds via ATMs operated by DBS, OCBC and UOB. The SIA bonds are expected to be listed on the Singapore Exchange on Oct 1.

OCBC Bank, which is one of the coordinating bookrunners for the SIA bond, says the bonds will provide retail investors an alternative instrument that offers higher yield and a steady stream of income.

“Typically, a bond pays a higher coupon than a savings account.

[## But there are transcation cOsts ##]

In addition, in a low interest rate environment where bond prices can potentially keep rising, an investor can also look towards potential capital gains,” said Mr Nicholas Tan, head of Global Wealth Management, OCBC Bank.

But investors must also be wary of risks such as changes in bond prices in line with interest rates, he said. “Buying a bond at issue and holding it until maturity means investors must be prepared to commit their funds for that length of time.”

SGX said it is beefing up its initiatives to educate investors through a series of seminars and workshops to help them understand fixed income investments so that they can make informed decisions.

“Our initiative to develop the bond market for retail investors augments SGX’s value proposition as an innovative and leading trading hub in Asia,” said Ms Tng Kwee Lian, senior vice-president and head of Fixed Income, SGX.

However, Mr Wong Sui Jau, general manager at

Still, he believes the bonds market here has a lot more room to grow and the move is in the right direction, adding that a Singapore corporate bond like SIA’s will be attractive to investors since it’s a well-known blue chip and the default risks are low.

Over 70 investment grade corporate bonds have been issued in Singapore since the start of the year, according to data from

Among the biggest bond issuers this year are Temasek Holdings, DBS Bank and PSA Corp.— Investing in corporate bonds has become easier for retail investors. These small-time investors can now buy bonds that are quoted in smaller denominations and for the first time they can even be purchased from automated teller machines (ATMs).Fundsupermart. com, said it remains to be seen whether the issuance of retail bonds will result in higher bond trading volume for SGX anytime soon. “More investors buy for the yield and less will be looking at it from the trading perspective,” he said.Thomson Reuters.

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#### nO bOnds # # # #

#### nOt tOday # # # #

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Factors that affect warrant pricing

Global markets continue to show volatility in the third quarter, with regional indices rebounding from earlier lows in general. Such movements present short-term opportunities for investors with a view on the market to engage in their respective positions through index warrants.

When choosing warrants, investors should be aware of the five variables that affect warrant pricing.

Underlying share price

This is the key driver of warrant price.

To choose warrants that offer better sensitivity, investors should avoid choosing far out-of-the-money warrants as its relatively low delta would result in lack of sensitivity of the warrant to underlying movements.

Volatility

The higher the volatility, the greater the risk on the underlying shares and therefore the more expensive the warrant will become. A change in volatility is likely to impact warrant pricing. Choosing warrants with medium to long tenor and closer at-the-money helps ensure that the influence of changes in implied volatility is lessened.

Time to expiry

The greater a warrant’s tenor, the higher its value, this is because the warrant has more time to trade. Time decay is a factor investors need to consider as it would lead to a decrease in the warrant price on a daily basis.

Dividends

Warrants investors do not receive the dividends paid on the underlying shares. However, in valuing warrants, the issuer will estimate the expected dividend stream. This means that warrants do not dramatically fall in price when the underlying share trades after the dividend of the underlying shares have been distributed.

In the case where there is a rights issue or special cash, the terms of warrants (strike and divisor) are adjusted to accommodate the changes that may arise from these issues so that the warrant investor is not prejudiced.

Interest Rates

For each call warrant issued, the issuer allocates funds to purchase underlying shares. If the cost of borrowing (the interest rate) increases, this will be reflected as a corresponding increase in the warrant price.

Similarly, a put warrant will decrease in value when interest rates rise.

For detailed information on warrants, visit www.dbwarrants.com.sg.

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revenUe dOUbles ? ?

prOfIt trIples ? ? ?

Eddyson ( Date: 21-Sep-2010 19:43) Posted:

Ha...ha...ha....$2.16 for Genting SP...I remember I bought it at 33 cts & average it down until my last purchased price of 29.5 cts.I believed in what I see as I did my home work....Ha...ha..ha....

Now of cause Genting HK is the next Gem, though discover a bit late but better then never.

Next quater is the turnaround for Genting HK, as it came out from the President's mouth....revenue will double.

pharoah88 ( Date: 21-Sep-2010 14:47) Posted:

lUnch tIme

receIved a cAll

lOng tIme nO heAr frIend

whO refUsed tO bUy at S$0.830

bUt thIs mOrnIng bOUght at S$2.160

becaUse belIeved there Is stIll gOOd fUtUre