| The best investments of 2007
A weak dollar helped gold gain in value as well as concerns over geo-political strife between the US and Iran. Interestingly, it even benefitted from the retail tastes of shoppers in China and India. Graham Spooner from stockbrokers The Share Centre explains: 'Whenever the dollar weakens or if there are turbulent times in international politics, gold does well. Not only that, but a growing middle class in the powerhouses of China and India has led to a rise demand for gold jewellery, meaning supplies become more valuable.' .
A Different Perspective
Yogi Bear stood at the entrance to Jellystone National Park. He scouted unattended picnic baskets while awaiting Boo Boo Bears arrival home on the school bus. Yogi and Boo Boo were co-owners of a playoff fantasy team. As Yogi considered himself smarter than the average bear, he figured his team had a decided advantage, but he needed Boo Boos help in researching and deciphering the most recent data before submitting teams for the next round of games. So he waited anxiously and kept a look out for Ranger Smith. The school bus screeched to a halt at the entrance and Boo Boo climbed down the steps, dragging his back pack behind him. The bus roared off in a cloud of dust and rubble. Hey, Boo Boo! Were still in first place in our fantasy league. Lets go look at the stats and make our picks. I dont want to play anymore, Yogi.
Video screen gives Snellville Police faster warrants
The new technology will give Snellville an edge as the county makes advances in its criminal justice computer systems, said Gwinnett County Court's Chief Magistrate George F. Hutchinson III. "The county is moving in the direction of creating a criminal justice information system," Hutchinson said. "Having Snellville on the cutting edge of that places it in a good position." Snellville is the first city in Gwinnett to implement the system. The Gwinnett County police department subsequently installed the system, Whitehead said. The upgrade didn't cost the citizens of Snellville one dime. About $5,500 in confiscated funds from illegal drug sales covered the bill for the new software. "The good news for the people of Snellville is the drug dealers paid for it," Whitehead said.
The world's silver lining
A generation ago the biggest worry about poor countries was over-population. Books such as "The Population Bomb" (1968) and "The Limits to Growth" (1972) predicted Malthusian crises in countries where women were having five children or more. Since then the fertility rate (the average number of children a woman can expect during her lifetime) in low- and middle-income countries has crashed. In East Asia and the Pacific, the rate was 5.4 in 1970. Now it is 2.1. In South Asia, the fertility rate halved (from 6.0 to 3.1). In the world as a whole, fertility has fallen from 4.8 to 2.6 in a generation (25 years). The biggest decline is in those countries that are most involved with globalisation (especially in East Asia, though China is a special case because of its one-child policy).
Rs. 1,000 MSP for paddy recommended
NEW DELHI: The Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices has recommended that the minimum support price (MSP) for paddy be fixed at Rs. 1,000 a quintal for the common variety and at Rs. 1,050 a quintal for the A grade variety for the 2008-09 kharif marketing season. Several political parties have been demanding that the support price for paddy be raised to Rs. 1,000 a quintal to bring it on a par with wheat. The support price for wheat this rabi is Rs. 1,000 a quintal as against Rs. 850 a quintal last year. The MSP for paddy at present is Rs. 745 a quintal for the common variety and Rs. 775 a quintal for the A grade. This included a bonus of Rs. 100 a quintal announced by the Central government after several political parties exerted pressure to raise it. The Commission said the estimated costs of paddy production put out by State governments were "much higher" than those estimated under the Comprehensive Scheme of the Directorate of Economic and Statistics.
Bad news belts CME
CME Group Inc., owner of Chicago's two globally dominant futures exchanges, is back at war with its biggest customers. The resumption of hostilities pushed its stock price down Wednesday by more than $100 per share, or 18 percent, wiping out more than $5 billion in market value. The Justice Department triggered the decline with a letter to the Treasury Department suggesting futures exchanges should not be allowed to clear, or guarantee, the trading within their systems. In-house clearing, the department said, chokes off competition by making it harder for exchanges to cut in on another's established turf, where the clearing function enjoys a low-cost advantage. The letter aligns with the view of Wall Street investment banks that have long wanted to take out the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade and keep for themselves the fees they pay the exchanges.
Experts pick their top equity Isas
Woodford who altogether runs a massive £20m of Invesco's funds has been through a variety of economic cycles and has come through them all. He has his funds positioned quite defensively in such sectors as tobacco and utility stocks. Although his funds have fallen year to date, they have done by only about 4% compared to the FTSE 100 which has dropped by some 11%.' Gartmore Cautious Managed Tim Ames, of Cathedral Financial Planning rates the Gartmore Cautious Managed fund. It provides some exposure to the equity market but as it is a managed fund, the equity proportion is limited to 60% of the fund value and a degree of stability is achieved through investment in bonds. Ames says: 'I like this fund because it has the flexibility to conservatively adjust the balance between bonds and equities to reflect changing market conditions.' Over the past five years the portfolio has delivered a return of 56% to investors against an average of 54%.
GM plan lifts stock price
Stock in the 100-year-old automaker rose on the announcement by GM's top executives that the company plans to extend buyout and retirement offers to 46,000 workers who are eligible to retire in February. GM is expected to offer packages to its entire workforce at some point. Wagoner also acknowledged that a worse-than-expected U.S. automotive market could prompt further plant closings in North America. While some analysts expressed concern that GM continues to hold too rosy a view of the 2008 market, the reaction was much more positive than at the beginning of GM's current restructuring plan in 2005, when there was widespread concern that the automaker wouldn't last to see its centennial. Instead, even those analysts who say GM should be cutting faster, more or sooner say the automaker appears now to be in a sustainable position, thanks to continuing restructuring plans in North America and Europe and plans for growth in emerging markets.
Economy fears drag down US stocks
Economy fears drag down US stocks US markets dropped last week as fears mounted about an economic slowdown. In Europe, concern that the banking slump would continue weighed heavily on share prices. It is highly likely that downward movement can be expected in both the US and Europe this week. .
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