Diumenge de paraigües

Finalment, la pluja que anunciava els darrers dies ha arribat. Tot i que els models ballen molt darrerament, la ubicació d’una DANA en el bell mig de la Península, està originant un impuls d’aire humit del sud que està originant la formació de nuvolades convectives que donen lloc a precipitacions. Unes precipitacions que seran continuades i generoses, localment amb tempestes i d’una certa intensitat. Sembla ser, que a Tossa, aquesta vegada, seria un dels indrets on podria ploure més aquest diumenge de tot Catalunya.

Malgrat això, sembla que a partir del migdia la precipitació començaria a minvar i podria desaparèixer a la tarda. No obstant, es formaran tempestes arreu de Catalunya, més importants en punts de muntanya de la meitat nord. No es descarta, que alguna d’aquestes tempestes puguin arribar a Tossa cap al vespre, seria un fenomen molt puntual.

Per Dilluns i Dimarts, s’esperen que els ruixats i les tempestes es formin a l’interior de Catalunya, molt especialment en punts interiors del Nord-est. Aquestes, podrien arribar a Tossa a partir de la tarda-vespre en forma de ruixats. Ho anirem seguint.

Així doncs, un matí de diumenge de paraigües a Tossa, i de tempestes a la resta de Catalunya. Una molt bona manera de començar aquest mes de Juny.

Any source

Terminamos el mes de Mayo sumando precipitación

El frente que nos ha afectado en el día de hoy ha sido de nuevo muy poco generoso en Orihuela en cuanto a precipitación se refiere. Se ha formado de madrugada frente a las costas del sureste peninsular, alcanzando intensidades considerables de precipitación. Aparte de este frente, por la tarde se han desarrollado tormentas que han dejado precipitaciones localmente fuertes en diversos puntos del interior de la Región de Murcia. Aquí les dejo la imagen que captaba el Radar de Murcia del frente y de las cuantiosas tormentas que estaban en proceso de formación:

Veáse el Radar de Murcia al mediodía de hoy. Se puede apreciar también el jugoso frente de precipitación que evidentemente se ha debilitado en cuanto ha empezado a tocar Tierra.

Como suele pasar en estas situaciones meteorológicas que tienen como protagonista un frente, las zonas más beneficidas pluviométricamente hablando son las zonas de costa, mientras que el prelitoral y el interior apenas recogen unos litros. Hoy en mi Observatorio Meteorológico de Orihuela, se ha llegado a registrar un litro por metro cuadrado, que viene muy bien para terminar un mes muy favorable en la recogida de precipitación. Veamos las cantidades de precipitación que se han recogido hoy en diferentes puntos del sureste peninsular:
Jumilla (Murcia): 17,6 mm
Cartagena (Murcia): 16,0 mm
Yecla (Murcia): 14,9 mm
Pilar de la Horadada (Murcia): 14,4 mm
Torrevieja (Alicante): 13,2 mm
Albox (Almería): 12,6 mm
Avilés (Murcia): 11,4 mm
Aeropuerto El Altet (Alicante): 11,2 mm
Alicante (Alicante): 8,8 mm
Almoradí (Alicante): 7,2 mm
Elche (Alicante): 7,1 mm
Muchamiel (Alicante): 6,6 mm
Catral (Alicante): 5,2 mm
Monforte del Cid (Alicante): 2,4 mm
Elda (Alicante): 2,2 mm
Denia (Alicante): 2,2 mm
Novelda (Alicante): 1,2 mm
Orihuela (Alicante): 1,0 mm
Beneixama (Alicante): 0,6 mm
Villena (Alicante): 0,6 mm
Murcia (Murcia): 0,3 mm

mm = litros por metro cuadrado

En Orihuela hemos tenido muy mala suerte porque el frente iba en dirección Suroeste - Noreste, y por tanto la parte más activa ha pasado a escasos kilómetros al Este de Orihuela. Por cierto, en las cantidades de precipitación nombradas arriba casi todas provienen de registros pluviométricos a causa del frente, pero hay otras cantidades como la de Avilés, Yecla, Jumilla y Albox que son registros a causa de tormenta.Any source

Rethinking Less Favoured Areas

The Less Favoured Areas directive is one of the few examples of British influence on the design of the CAP. It was originally conceived as the Mountain Areas Directive with France pressing for a definition that would have excluded Britain's hills and uplands. But the British emphasis on latitude rather than altitude won the day in 1975. Other member states saw the Less Favoured Areas directive as a good route to justify more cash for their farmers and by 1995 56 per cent of the utilised area of the EU was designated as less favoured. In Scotland, 85 per cent of the farmed area has LFA status.

Not surprisingly, the Commission thinks that too many farmers get rewarded under the directive. As part of the 2005 reform of rural development policy, it tried to remove all socio-economic considerations from the delineation of the LFAs and to cut the rates of payment. But this was fiercely resisted by many member states and the issue was 'parked'.

Now the Commission has come up with fresh proposals for a new LFA system by the end of 2008. A consultation suggests only four options:

Option 1. Maintain the status quo linking LFAs to areas of natural handicap, but excluding socio-economic criteria. This option is effectively dimissed by the Commission as failing to meet Courts of Aufitors criticisms, but farming unions are saying it is the only one that is acceptable, but even then consideration must be given to socio-economc criteria.

Option 2. Set certain 'common criteria' for LFAs relating to natural handicaps, such as temperature, soil drainage and slope.

Option 3. As Option 2, but with each farm assessed for its environmental contribution.

Option 4. As Option 3, but with payments further limited to High Nature Value farmland.

COPA has expressed the hope that because the issue is so complex it will get bogged down in the decision-making process. However, the time has surely come to take a long, hard look at these arrangements and to see whether they deliver realistic objectives.Any source

Some basics about SENSEX

Q.1 What is SENSEX?
The SENSEX, short form of the BSE-Sensitive Index, is a "Market Capitalization-Weighted" index of 30 stocks representing a sample of large, well-established and financially sound companies. It is the oldest index in India and has acquired a unique place in the collective consciousness of investors. The index is widely used to measure the performance of the Indian stock markets. SENSEX is considered to be the pulse of the Indian stock markets as it represents the underlying universe of listed stocks at The Stock Exchange, Mumbai. Further, as the oldest index of the Indian Stock market, it provides time series data over a fairly long period of time (since 1978-79).


Q.2 What are the objectives of SENSEX?

The SENSEX is the benchmark index of the Indian Capital Markets with wide acceptance among individual investors, institutional investors, foreign investors and fund managers. The objectives of the index are:

To measure market movements
Given its long history and its wide acceptance, no other index matches the SENSEX in reflecting market movements and sentiments. SENSEX is widely used to describe the mood in the Indian Stock markets.

Benchmark for funds performance
The inclusion of blue chip companies and the wide and balanced industry representation in the SENSEX makes it the ideal benchmark for fund managers to compare the performance of their funds.

For index based derivative products
Institutional investors, money managers and small investors all refer to the SENSEX for their specific purposes The SENSEX is in effect the proxy for the Indian stock markets. The country's first derivative product i.e. Index-Futures was launched on SENSEX.


Q.3 What are the criteria for selection and review of scrips for the SENSEX?
A. Quantitative Criteria:

1. Market Capitalization:
The scrip should figure in the top 100 companies listed by market capitalization. Also market capitalization of each scrip should be more than 0.5 % of the total market capitalization of the Index i.e. the minimum weight should be 0.5 %. Since the SENSEX is a market capitalization weighted index, this is one of the primary criteria for scrip selection. (Market Capitalization would be averaged for last six months)

2. Liquidity:
(i) Trading Frequency: The scrip should have been traded on each and every trading day for the last one year. Exceptions can be made for extreme reasons like scrip suspension etc. (ii) Number of Trades: Number of Trades: The scrip should be among the top 150 companies listed by average number of trades per day for the last one year. (iii) Value of Shares Traded: Value of Shares Traded: The scrip should be among the top 150 companies listed by average value of shares traded per day for the last one year.

3. Continuity:
Whenever the composition of the index is changed, the continuity of historical series of index values is re-established by correlating the value of the revised index to the old index (index before revision). The back calculation over the last one-year period is carried out and correlation of the revised index to the old index should not be less than 0.98. This ensures that the historical continuity of the index is maintained.

4. Industry Representation:
Scrip selection would take into account a balanced representation of the listed companies in the universe of BSE. The index companies should be leaders in their industry group.

5. Listed History:
The scrip should have a listing history of at least one year on BSE.

B. Qualitative Criteria:

Track Record:
In the opinion of the Index Committee, the company should have an acceptable track record.


Q.4 What is the beta of SENSEX scrips?
Beta measures the sensitivity of a scrip movement relative to movement in the benchmark index i.e. SENSEX. A Beta of one means that for every change of 1% in index, the scrip moves by 1%. Statistically Beta is defined as: Covariance (SENSEX, Stock )/ Variance(SENSEX)
Note: Covariance and variance are calculated from the Daily Returns data of the SENSEX and SENSEX scrips.


Q.5 How is SENSEX calculated?

SENSEX is calculated using a "Market Capitalization-Weighted" methodology. As per this methodology, the level of index at any point of time reflects the total market value of 30 component stocks relative to a base period. (The market capitalization of a company is determined by multiplying the price of its stock by the number of shares issued by the company). An index of a set of a combined variables (such as price and number of shares) is commonly referred as a 'Composite Index' by statisticians. A single indexed number is used to represent the results of this calculation in order to make the value easier to work with and track over time. It is much easier to graph a chart based on indexed values than one based on actual values.

The base period of SENSEX is 1978-79. The actual total market value of the stocks in the Index during the base period has been set equal to an indexed value of 100. This is often indicated by the notation 1978-79=100. The formula used to calculate the Index is fairly straightforward. However, the calculation of the adjustments to the Index (commonly called Index maintenance) is more complex.

The calculation of SENSEX involves dividing the total market capitalization of 30 companies in the Index by a number called the Index Divisor. The Divisor is the only link to the original base period value of the SENSEX. It keeps the Index comparable over time and is the adjustment point for all Index maintenance adjustments. During market hours, prices of the index scrips, at which latest trades are executed, are used by the trading system to calculate SENSEX every 15 seconds and disseminated in real time.


Q.6 How is the closing Index calculated?

The closing SENSEX is computed taking the weighted average of all the trades on SENSEX constituents in the last 15 minutes of trading session. If a SENSEX constituent has not traded in the last 15 minutes, the last traded price is taken for computation of the Index closure. If a SENSEX constituent has not traded at all in a day, then its last day's closing price is taken for computation of Index closure. The use of Index Closure Algorithm prevents any intentional manipulation of the closing index value.


Q.7 How are adjustments for Bonus, Rights and newly issued Capital carried out in SENSEX?
The arithmetic calculation involved in calculating SENSEX is simple, but problem arises when one of the component stocks pays a bonus or issues rights shares. If no adjustments were made, a discontinuity would arise between the current value of the index and its previous value. The Index Cell of the Exchange periodically adjusts the base value to take care of such corporate announcements.
Adjustments for Rights Issues:
When a company, included in the compilation of the index, issues right shares, the market capitalisation of that company is increased by the number of additional shares issued based on the theoretical (ex-right) price. An offsetting or proportionate adjustment is then made to the Base Market Capitalisation (see ' Base Market Capitalisation Adjustment' below).
Adjustments for Bonus Issue:
When a company, included in the compilation of the index, issues bonus shares, the market capitalisation of that company does not undergo any change. Therefore, there is no change in the Base Market Capitalisation, only the 'number of shares' in the formula is updated.
Other Issues: Base Market Capitalisation Adjustment is required when new shares are issued by way of conversion of debentures, mergers, spin-offs etc. or when equity is reduced by way of buy-back of shares, corporate restructuring etc.
Base Market Capitalisation Adjustment: The formula for adjusting the Base Market Capitalisation is as follows:

New Base Market Capitalisation = Old Base Market Capitalisation X (New Market Capitalisation/Old Market Capitalisation)

To illustrate, suppose a company issues right shares which increases the market capitalisation of the shares of that company by say, Rs.100 crores. The existing Base Market Capitalisation (Old Base Market Capitalisation), say, is Rs.2450 crores and the aggregate market capitalisation of all the shares included in the index before the right issue is made is, say Rs.4781 crores. The "New Base Market Capitalisation " will then be: Rs.2501.24 crores = 2450 X (4781+100)/4781

This figure of 2501.24 will be used as the Base Market Capitalisation for calculating the index number from then onwards till the next base change becomes necessary.


Q.8 With what frequency is SENSEX calculation done?
During market hours, prices of the index scrips, at which trades are executed, are automatically used by the trading computer to calculate the SENSEX every 15 seconds and continuously updated on all trading workstations connected to the BSE trading computer in real time.

Regards
Praveen Kumar
www.laymansfinance.blogspot.com

Any source

Tormenta severa en el sureste peninsular

Como ya había avisado anteriormente, esta tarde iba a ser muy tormentosa en todo el levante peninsular, ya que se cumplian una serie de ingredientes de inestabilidad vitales para las formaciones de tormentas fuertes o severas. Sobre las 15:30 horas este era el aspecto que tenía el Radar de Murcia:

Veáse el Radar de Murcia a las 15:30 horas.

Una tormenta formada en los aledaños de la Sierra María, en la comarca de los Vélez (Almería), avanzaba de Oeste a Este, aunque a mitad de trayecto se inclinaba un poco hacía el norte tomando dirección WSW - ENE (Oeste Suroeste - Este Noreste). La tormenta ha alcanzado reflectividades bestiales, ha llegado hasta 60 Db. La zona más afectada ha sido el entorno de Sierra Espuña, lástima que no haya ninguna estación meteorológica por allí porque la intensidad y la cantidad de precipitación recogida en aquella zona ha tenido que ser de órdago. Velozmente la tormenta ha avanzado hacía el Este y evidentemente ha ido perdiendo fuelle debido a la larga distancia que llevaba recorrida. Este era el aspecto del Radar de Murcia una hora más tarde:

Veáse el Radar de Murcia a las 16:30 horas.

La tormenta estaba apunto de afectar a la ciudad, y ya se escuchaban truenos y se apreciaban rayos nube-tierra que pese a intentarlo no pude cazar. El núcleo tormentoso ha llegado a Orihuela bastante desgastado, nada comparado con lo que ha descargado varios kilómetros antes. Esta tormenta poseía las características de avance rápido, carácter localizado y fuertes descargas de agua en pocos minutos. Así pues, la tormentaha llegado a afectar incluso a la ciudad de Alicante, aunque ya evidentemente sin aparato eléctrico y de forma muy débil lo que ha hecho no registrar precipitación. La tormenta ha sido extraordinaria ya que ha recorrido una distancia muy larga dejando aguaceros torrenciales en varios puntos. Vamos a ver las cantidades de precipitación que se han registrado en diferentes zonas por donde ha pasado esta tormenta:

Murcia - Zarandona (Murcia): 15,9 mm
Avilés (Murcia): 12,9 mm
Murcia (Murcia): 11,7 mm
Santomera (Murcia): 8,1 mm
Murcia - Malecón (Murcia): 4,5 mm
Orihuela (Alicante): 3,6 mm
San Ginés (Murcia): 3,0 mm
Molina de Segura (Murcia): 0,7 mm
Crevillente (Alicante): 0,2 mm
Catral (Alicante): 0,2 mm

*Estoy segurísimo que en el entorno de Sierra Espuña y zonas de alrededor se han debido recoger cantidades de precipitación bestiales. Como he dicho antes, es una lástima que no hayan estaciones meteorológicas por allí.

Las tormentas severas como la de esta tarde suelen ser recordadas por la cantidad de precipitación recogida, pero hoy las condiciones meteorológicas marcaban el avance rápido de los núcleos tormentosos por lo que no se han estacionado durante horas en determinadas zonas como suele ocurrir.

Para la historia queda la intensidad máxima de precipitación que se ha alcanzado en Murcia, llegando hasta los 406,4 mm/hr.

Aquí les dejo con una fotografía que deja claro las consecuencias de la tormenta en la capital murciana:

Veáse el caos que se ha formado en Murcia después de haber sido afectada por la bestial tormenta.

La tormenta ha perdido fuelle justo cuando ha pasado la frontera murciana-alicantina, llegando a Orihuela bastante debilitada, hasta que definitivamente ha muerto en las puertas de Alicante. Sin duda, una tormenta severa para recordar.Any source

俠義物語繪卷－－江戶盜賊團‧五葉《漫畫》

漫畫名：江戶盜賊團‧五葉（さらい屋五葉）
漫畫家：小野夏芽（オノ・ナツメ）
譯　者：陳政堯
集　數：一集未完
※原文版2006年~‧小學館於2008年5月起授權東販中文化※


這真是－－妙不可言的作品啊XD！原以為小野夏芽的畫風偏屬歐美系，沒想到線條在轉而採取類似樸拙木刻版畫風格後，小野夏芽畫起江戶背景不但沒有感覺不對勁，反而出奇地平衡與協調！

《江戶盜賊團‧五葉》講述的中心思想，說來很有意思，若不出意外、而又依據小野夏芽先前的《時尚五號房》表現看來，或許小野夏芽要呈現的是「現實壓力與個人信念之間的落差究竟如何做出取捨」。看似是個再普通不過的平凡題材，小野夏芽的低調傳達與換個方式來探討、相當獨特，但對於想要歷史劇立刻看個分明、痛快的讀者們來說，這樣的做法並不討喜，而就我個人而言，雖然《江戶盜賊團‧五葉》特有的時代劇風情表現不夠出色，不過，劇情輪廓正在成形且可塑性極大與穩定，還是非常期待接下來的劇情發展。

劇情舖陳採取雙主角線，藉由彌一與秋津政之助彼此雙方來烘托出兩方的存在感，這兩人個性南轅北轍，一位是從容不迫、心中凡是早有定見的盜賊頭頭，另一位是個性軟弱、畏畏縮縮的落魄武士，而政之助明知兩人信念不合，自身卻因身處於「一文錢逼死一條好漢」的困境中、不得不接受彌一的接濟，卻因此逐漸陷入泥沼中而動彈不得。故事以兩人為重心，再逐漸推展至五葉盜賊團其他成員－－梅竹、阿造、隱居老人、松吉－－身上。

劇情尚在舖陳中，但其實故事真的挺有意思的，我想，多給小野夏芽一些空間，這部漫畫也是值得期待！HomeAny source

突破瓶頸、創新變革──決定未來的10種人《書刊》

書刊名：決定未來的10種人（The Ten Faces of Innovation）
作　者：湯姆凱利（Tom Kelley·IDEO設計諮詢公司總經理）
　　　　喬納森李特曼（Jonathan Littman·雜誌特約編輯）
譯　者：林茂昌
※原文版2005年·於2008年4月由大塊中文化※


工作上遇到瓶頸的朋友們啊，不妨找這本著作來讀它一讀，即便你的職業與工業設計毫無關聯、縱使《決定未來的10種人》很明顯的是本置入性行銷書刊，但湯姆凱利確實有帶出許多概念性忠告與高階管理思維，非常值得上班族學習。

其實這類書刊的訴求多半會有流於空談的疑慮，而確實這本書刊在創新的指導上有構築出烏托邦的境界，但除此之外，它在討論到員工普遍會有遇到必需對抗消極工作環境的困境，總是有方法可以化解，湯姆凱利依此帶出令人信服的數據案例，鼓舞員工洞察來自組織內部的問題，為組識設想並設法解決陳規陋習，即使我們改變不了組織的包袱文化，至少醞釀出自我創新的能量，培養讓對手望塵莫及的競爭優勢。

凱利這本最讚的在他不會打擊而是懇切說明每個人都需培養自信心，例如這句話：「決定未來的10種人，並不見得是最有能力的人。因為每一種角色，都有自己的槓桿、自己的工具、自己的技能，和自己的觀點。如果有人把能量、智慧，和適當的槓桿結合起來，他們就能發揮驚人的力量。」

就湯姆凱利的觀點，社會人要時時保持高度學習的態度並不難，更無須看輕自己的能力，在依據自我特質，由促成組織創新的10種人裡－－人類學家、實驗家、異花授粉者、跨欄運動員、共同合作人、導演、體驗建築師、舞台設計師、看護人、說故事的人－－，挑選適合自己的角色，並強化信心與經驗，當需要應付職場上的人為衝突、與有效組織工作團隊，這種必須擔負起中樞角色的重責任務時，你也不至於惶惶不安、唯恐把工作給搞砸了。

是本受益無窮、易讀也易吸引的好物書刊！好的好的，照例再來給它截錄覺得有意思的各章節內文！XD


【人類學家】

人類學家這角色絕不是毫無價值的空泛程序，而是IDEO最大的創新源頭。我們跟客戶的公司一樣，解決問題的高手多如過江之鯽。但你必須先知道問題是什麼，才能談解決。而扮演人類學家的人，他們是絕佳高手，以全新方式重新架構問題，如此，正確的解決方案才有意義，才能有所突破。【截錄自P.32】

對你的客戶做最細微的探討可以發現龐大的機會。最近，我在芝加哥對食品行銷協會作演講，結束之時，有四名波蘭彪形大漢圍住我，顯然，他們想跟我講幾句話。起初我有些害怕，直到其中一位露出笑容我才放下心來。結果，他們幾位都在華沙一家軟性飲料公司工作。他們找我，是想要告訴我他們在創新上的成功經驗。幾年前，他們看了ABC夜線節目的「深潛」專輯，介紹IDEO透過田野觀察以瞭解客戶的技術。他們看了這個節目之後，認為「也許我們自己也可以做」，因而決定試試看。他們從當地的火車站開始，觀察那些為了等火車而不得不在車站消費的客戶，看看有什麼方法可以賣出更多的飲料。 他們對人群作觀察之後，發現一個重複的模式：在火車到達之前的幾分鐘裡，旅客會站在月台邊偷偷地看著飲料販賣亭，再看一下手錶，然後再往月台盡頭望去，看看火車是不是來了。漫不經心的觀察人員也許就會把這個線索給忽略掉了。但這幾位人類學家新秀發現，這些旅客正在天人交戰，他們想要喝點東西，卻怕為了買飲籵而錯過火車。 他們怎麼做呢？他們所開發出來的軟性飲料陳列架原型，特別把時鐘大刺刺地凸顯出來，好讓旅客可以同時看著時鐘和架上的飲料。結果如何呢？華沙火車站飲料的業績大幅成長。時鐘可以讓客戶安心，讓他們知道有足夠的時間來買冷飲，這麼簡單就成功了。【截錄自P.45】


【實驗家】

實驗家是什麼樣的人呢？在IDEO，我們認為實驗家是能夠讓構想具體化的人⋯⋯在我們的世界中實驗所代表的標準意義就是原型開發。⋯⋯如果我們在原型開會上沒有一定程度的紀律，就無法把許多的新構想化成具體事物。⋯⋯在設計師的製作過程中，並不需要那麼講究。我們會做完整的原型開發循環，但第一個原型卻可能非常粗糙。⋯⋯讓大家接受，可以在粗糙的初期階段，就把構想提出來，並成為一種文化，那麼，你就會看到更多的構想源源不絕而來。【截錄自P.65、P.70】

很多人認為原型和創新是龐大而複雜的整合工作，但通常那些成效很好的原型，竟然是那麼的小巧，我為此感到非常神奇，也受到激勵，有時候，祕訣只在於如何針對一個問題找出解決辦法而已──例如，客戶的家裡很擁擠，你要如何為你的產品或服務爭取到空間呢？還記得當年第一批四十二吋平面電視問世的情形嗎？光靠降價本身還不足以吸引家庭消費者的興趣來買這第一批產品。零售商還碰到另一個問題：大型平面顯示器所要佔掉的牆壁空間太大了。 消費性電子行銷人員告訴我，平面電視和傳統電視在外型上的差異，改變了家庭在採構電視上的決策模式。他們說，傳統電視機屬於「科技」範疇，通常歸在先生的領域，而新的薄型平面顯示器則屬於內部裝潢的範疇，通常由女主人來決定。二者在外型上的差異實在太大了，所以很多人對於新電視該放在家裡的那個地方或是家裡不適合擺這台新電視，一直傷透腦筋。 瑪莉杜恩是好人電子零售商的行銷與廣告主管，她把她們做實驗以克服這項障礙的故事告訴我。在一次到紐約的行程中，她看到Ｚ卡公司所出版的精美摺疊式地圖，靈機一動，認為摺疊式的小冊子只要稍作修改，也許就可以幫她把門市裡的平面電視銷售出去。 這個構想後來發展成好人電子聰明的摺疊式廣告單，摺好之後夠小，可以夾在報紙或雜誌中，打開之後，則是四十二吋平面電視實物大小的海報──這個實物大的原型，當然是張「超薄」的平面。我看到這件廣告單時，我可以想見，成千個家庭把這張薄紙所做成的平面電視，貼在客廳的牆上，然後說：「你看，我們可以擺在這個位置。」事實上也是如此。隔月，好人電子平面電視的銷售業績就馬上有起色。【截錄自P.79】

【異花授粉者】

異花授粉者能夠把一些看似毫不相干的構想或觀念隨意地並列在一起，從而創造出更新、更好的事物。他們經常從某一個領域或產業中，找出聰明的解決辦法，並加以創新，進而成功地應用到另一個領域或產業上。【截錄自P.98】

我覺得很奇怪為什麼各地的發明家不能從草根企業家穆罕默德巴爾巴的成就上得到啟示，巴爾巴是貧窮的奈及利亞北部一位教師，具有商學學位。巴爾巴想要在非洲的炎熱氣侯下，幫大家解決食物快速腐敗的問題，但他知道，一般的冰箱對他的鄰居而言，是遙不可及的。巴爾巴從過去的經驗異花授粉，改善了未來生活。他出生於陶壼匠家庭，因此就想辦法用黏土燒製的壼罐來研究，結果找到了神奇的方法。他把一個陶罐放進另一個陶罐裡，用潮濕的砂子填滿中間空隙，砂子所含的水分會在內罐的外壁上蒸發，而使得裡面的蔬菜得到冷卻效果。他花了二年的時間不斷改進這個黏土「冰箱」，學到了用濕布蓋在罐子上。他的冷卻器不用能源，只要定期淋濕砂子以維持蒸發作用循環不息。 以前茄子幾天就壞了，現在可以保持四倍的時間。非洲菠菜不再是一天就壞掉，放了快一星期還可以食用。巴爾巴請了許多失業的陶匠來生產這種陶罐，結果一個冷卻器成本只要三十美元。今天，這個簡單而聰明的發明，改善了數以千計奈及利亞村民的生活。【截錄自P.110】


【跨欄運動員】

跨欄運動員以較少的資源做更多的事。⋯⋯跨欄運動員知道，面對挑戰時，如果你有辦法迴避，倒不一定要正面迎戰。例如，在一八三○年代初期，鐵路專家扮演了魔鬼代言人的角色，斬釘截鐵地宣稱火車頭不能載重爬坡，但當時具有想像力的鐵路企業家卻建造出之字形爬坡鐵道，證明專家的看法錯了。這正是跨欄運動員成功因素的最佳寫照：他們碰到前面的路太陡的時候，會再找一個新角度出發。【截錄自P.128】

在克服障礙時想出聰明的新點子並不是新設公司或是雜牌企業的專屬領域。以嘉吉來說，這是一家全世界最大的食品公司，全球員工超過十萬名。幾年前面對辛巴威金融危機時，嘉吉碰上了你永遠都碰不到的問題：當地經濟無法提供足夠的貨幣給該公司以購買棉農所生產的棉花。嘉吉用盡各種傳統方法尋找更多的貨幣之後，採用了創造自己貨幣的妙招。從技術上來看，印刷精美的嘉吉本票是一種沒有抬頭的固定面額支票。但是在通貨膨脹猖獗的經濟裡，這些本票事實上就成了法償貨幣。這種本票印出來之後沒幾天，就被大盤商和零售商所接受，用在各種現金交易上。雖然這種本票顯然不是正式官方貨幣，但嘉吉的名號就足夠讓這些本票和鈔票一樣好用。而且沒有抬頭的支票可以幫助農夫拿到農作物的合理報酬。【截錄自P.148】


【共同合作人】

共同合作人是什麼樣的人呢？其實我們都認識。他們會鼓動風潮，他們會集合眾人完成工作。他們是主動式跑步練習機，願意、也有能力跳越組織界來勸我們走出自己的小天地，集合各種專長進行合作。他們發想組成一個多元的專案小組，並使專案小組發揮功能。在小組中，他們通常位於中間階層來領導組織，運用他們的外交手腕化解組織所面臨的分裂或解散危機。【截錄自P.156】

有太多的公司放棄和別人合作的大好機會，因為乍看之下，對方所提供的條件似乎不夠優厚。就如同你必須在工作上創新，對於如何實現合作，你也必須抱持著開放的心胸。 幾年前，波士頓啤酒公司來找我們重新設計傳統的啤酒桶水龍頭把手時，我們覺得，協助一家小公司修改實際上已經要放棄不用的東西，我們的正常收費對他們來說可能是個問題。但是我們真的很想和他們合作，於是就想辦法用山姆亞當斯的波士頓啤酒訂了一份很特別的合約。一部份的費用他們以啤酒來給付。親切的山姆亞當斯團隊每一次到我們波士頓當地的辦事處，都會推著裝滿半打裝啤酒的手推車。【截錄自P.174】


【導演】

在創新的世界中，導演這個角色比其他角色都還要複雜而微妙。⋯⋯導演第一個，也是最重要的工作就是在目標的大方向之下，維持工作進度一直向前。⋯⋯你所要負責的不只是今天的運作而已，你還要確保明天沒有問題。你必須經常拿出魄力開發新案，⋯⋯導演工作最關鍵的部份就是起頭：爭取案子、培養創意文化和孕育構想。【截錄自P.197】

在二○○○年不景氣時，我們帕洛奧圖市辦公室的領導人畢田茂發現公司的案量變少了。在大多數的專業顧問公司，培養新客戶這個責任應該由資深合夥人來扛，但畢田茂把當時的困境告訴他的團隊，要大家多留意一下各種機會，幫公司的忙。帕斯卡薩布爾是畢田茂手下一名二十四歲的工程師，從未參與過公司裡任何業務開發工作，但他還是找到方法幫了公司一個大忙。帕斯卡是土生土長的德國人，那天中午吃飯時跑到載姆勒克萊斯勒位於北加州的技研中心──離我們帕洛奧圖辦公室只有幾公里而已。帕斯卡用德語和接待人員搭訕，聊一些他小時候在斯圖加特成長的事。他知道載姆勒有隔夜快遞把包裹送到德國。他的父親過去曾經任職於德國的載姆勒。不知道他們願不願意幫他把一個小包裹快遞給他父親？ 當了一次不速之客之後就有第二次，沒多久，帕斯卡就認識了幾個技研中心的人。「有一天帕斯卡回來，」畢田茂回憶說：「他說：『嘿，我已經和載姆勒賓士安排好一場會議了。』」我們去那裡向管理團隊做簡報，並且接到載姆勒二個小案子，後來還衍生出大案子。這全都是因為一位大學畢業沒多久的資淺工程師，有足夠的信心和機智，運用他的德國背景和戴姆勒搭上了關係。帕斯卡當然沒有事先報備。他的老闆第一次知道他利用中午吃飯時間去拜訪載姆勒的時間點，就是他說他已經安排好要和這家知名的億萬級大公司開會的那次。 很多公司都很幸運，至少會有幾位帕斯卡。但比較大的困擾是，你公司裡的導演是否真的能夠給他們機會去證明他們的膽識。你會獎勵主動嗎？你會如何鼓勵有生產力的冒險行為呢？【截錄自P.210】


【體驗建築師】

體驗建築師的基本角色就是成為一個主人，永遠不會忘記一件事：提供客戶特別的東西，⋯⋯體驗建築師把世界視為舞台。他們相信所有的事物都可以改變，也相信要把產品和服務帶到「貼近」客戶的地方。【截錄自P.266】

創新經常像一陣風一樣地出現，尤其是在一段很長的空窗期之後。當一家供應商推出了真正的改良品時，競爭廠商會猛然驚醒，被迫採取回應措施，通常是找一塊不同的體驗區域回應。這就是我喜歡班傑明莫爾公司在油漆上創新的地方。他們鑽研另一塊我們所熟悉的房屋油漆問題。把一小塊油漆樣本帶回家，你還是沒辦法確定顏色對不對。如果你和我一樣，想要比較好幾種不同的顏色變化，你必須買好幾罐夸脫裝的油漆──即昂貴又浪費。我們在修理房屋外牆時，才經歷過這個過程，我們一共用了七罐，我和太太才確定我們喜歡的是第一種顏色。但你不能把其他不要的六罐倒掉──那會造成環境污染，因此，你必須載去回收中心處理。 後來班傑明莫爾想出一種非常簡單卻很實用的新點子。他們讓挑選顏色原型更容易，也更便宜。他們稱之為「二盎司，真簡單。」他們把二盎司的顏色樣本放在透明塑膠罐裡。很適合用後即丟的小刷子。二盎司的油漆大約可以在牆上漆出一塊二英尺見方大小的區域，讓你在試顏色時更經濟、更容易。【截錄自P.237】


【舞台設計師】

一間有創意的辦公室就如同設計完善的舞台或是電影佈景，有助於整體的表現。而那些一直在修改我們辦公室設計和陳設的非正式舞台設計師知道，他們所支援的不只是我們的工作而已，還有企業文化。【截錄自P.260】

每家公司都必須在私密空間及合作空間二者之間做取捨，以取得適當的平衡。⋯⋯當然，有些企業文化比較需要私密空間。例如，我們知道有一家知名的公司在招募高級軟體工程師時，就以提供個人辦公室做為福利的一部份。起初，這家公司的想法是利用玻璃牆做辦公室隔間，讓團隊成員能夠有視覺接觸，卻不會受到聲音干擾，兼顧隱密性和合作性。新來的程式設計師喜歡這種隱私和光線的組合，然而，一旦他們把空間據為己有之後，馬上就在窗子貼上紙張，把半隱私的辦公室改變成，喔，一座紙糊的巢穴。開放空間進行合作的希望也就因此跟著破滅了。據傳該公司瞭解這些人的辦公室是團隊合作的障礙，但卻不敢下手把程式設計師引出他們的紙巢穴。 我喜歡這個故事，因為它告訴我們，如果舞台設計師忽略了人性脈動的力量會發生什麼問題。原本給這些軟體專家的辦公室就是要讓他們有隱私。那麼，他們自行改善空間，提升隱密性，又有什麼好大驚小怪的？請記住人是空間的Ｘ因子。絕對不要忘記人對空間的可能反應──不論是合作或是隱私。人才是最後的決定者。【截錄自P.277】


【看護人】

看護人花很大的工夫來瞭解每一位客人。為什麼？因為最好的照顧要能滿足個人興趣和需求。就如同好醫院結合效率和溫暖，好的服務在完成手上工作的過程中，會待你如上賓。想想看那些讓你在收銀機前排隊等候時感到生氣的事。銷售人員把你尷尬地留在那裡，轉身先去服務別人，或是在你結帳到一半時，竟講起行動電話來。小小的差異，會產生天壤之別，讓你覺得「備受禮遇」或是，相反的，讓你覺得自己像個由乏味的服務機器所處理的「客戶單位」。【截錄自P.289】

優秀的看護人絕對不會讓客人在等候時孤立無援，但大多數企業就是這樣對待客戶。我稱之為「門鈴效應」，因為等候這段時間，就好像你按了門鈴，到打開的那段令人不舒服的時間。或是門根本就沒打開。在那段狼狽的等候時間裡，你沒有任何線索。畢竟，你是站在門外：看不到裡面，也幾乎聽不見裡面的聲音。你很難知道你按了門鈴之後，屋主會走出來，還是裡面根本就是空蕩蕩的。更糟的是，你甚至也沒辦法確定門鈴是否響了。⋯⋯ 你會再等一會兒嗎？或再按一次鈴？你願冒著冒犯屋主的風險，用力敲門，怕萬一門鈴壞了？還是放棄，優雅地離開？這個問題並非簡單的等候問題。這是狀況不明，如坐針氈的等待。 同樣的事也發生在許多服務業。他們讓客戶一顆心掛在那兒，不舒服也不知道狀況。這種「掛心時間」對行銷小組來說也許非常合理，但有時候你一個人站在走道上等，幾分鐘也是非常長的時間。而適時提供一點點資訊的效果則非常可觀。【截錄自P.311】

【說故事的人】

善於品牌策略的現代企業也知道要如何說一則好故事。他們用感人的情節說出創意、努力工作，以及，是的，創新的故事來抓住我們的幻想。⋯⋯故事說服人的方式，和事實、報告，及市場趨勢完全不同，因為故事會形成情感連結。說故事的人可以讓團隊更加團結。【截錄自P.320】

關於立即回饋的力量，沒有任何資訊式廣告做得比喬治福爾曼烤具公司還好。最初薩爾頓在推廣這項商品時並沒有名人背書，而這種新烤肉爐的業務員也是意興閫珊。即使後來找退休拳王喬治福爾曼來拍第一支廣告，效果也不是很好。後來，在一次非正式的偷拍下，福爾曼從烤爐抓了漢堡就大快朵頤起來，似乎沒有察覺攝影機正在拍他。當這個真實鏡頭在下一波的資訊式廣告中出現時，電話交換機像時代廣場一樣閃爍個不停。營業額一飛沖天，從此以後，每一檔資訊式廣告裡都有偷拍攝影機。 ⋯⋯實際的狀況是許多企業說故事的方式還是陷在企業錄影帶症候群裡──乏味、令人懷疑，只顧著說明公司的目標，偶而還會讓人覺得意識麻痺。【截錄自P.333】HomeAny source

¡¡ Atención a las tormentas en las próximas horas !!

Situación interesante, meteorológicamente hablando, la que se nos presenta durante las próximas horas en Orihuela. La mezcla de diferentes elementos de inestabilidad, dará lugar a la formación de importantes tormentas durante las próximas horas, que descargarán con fuerza en cualquier punto del sureste peninsular. Cuando el Sol comience a calentar la superficie, se producirá una rápida inestabilización de la atmósfera y comenzarán a formarse importantes células convectivas, que de forma irregular y moviéndose en una dirección Suroeste - Noreste, descargarán fuertes precipitaciones, que en ocasiones pueden venir acompañadas de granizo. Sobre las 16 horas se combinarán los máximos índices de inestabilidad, con el máximo calentamiento de la superficie terrestre por el Sol. De todas formas, estamos hablando de precipitaciones tormentosas, caracterizadas por su irregularidad en la distribución de las precipitaciones.

En estos casos, las principales muestras de inestabilidad las encontramos en los niveles medias y altos de la atmósfera. Al nivel de 500 hPa (5500 mts de altitud) tenemos una bolsa de aire frío (DANA / Depresión Aislada a Niveles Altos) al Oeste de Portugal. En su interior alcanza una temperatura mínima de hasta – 22ºC. Sobre la vertical de Orihuela, la temperatura a ese nivel rondará los – 17ºC.

Mapa a 500 hPa previsto para las 12Z del 30/05/08. Altura Geopotencial (líneas blancas), temperatura a 5500 metros (áreas coloreadas), viento a 500 hPa (flechas marrones).

Al nivel de 850 hPa (1500 mts de altitud) tendremos una temperatura cercana a los 12ºC. Por tanto se puede hablar de un cierto contraste térmico importante (29ºC a 4000 mts) imprescindible para la formación de importantes células convectivas.

Mapa a 850 hPa previsto para las 12Z del 30/05/08. Altura Geopotencial (líneas blancas), temperatura a 1500 metros (áreas coloreadas), viento a 850 hPa (flechas marrones).

En superficie, esta DANA no tiene reflejo y las isobaras se ordenan por la borrasca que se sitúa sobre centroeuropa. De todas formas, las brisas de Levante lograrán imponerse a partir de mediodía, alimentando a las posibles tormentas.

Mapa de superficie previsto para las 12Z del 30/05/08. Isobaras en superficie (líneas negras), cobertura nubosa en % (áreas grises), precipitación acumulada en 6 horas (áreas en tonos verdes y azules), viento en superficie (flechas naranjas).

A ver si hay suerte y nos afecta alguna tormenta para seguir sumando litros de precipitación que de cara al verano son muy importantes.

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Esperant la pluja

Avui divendres, tindrem un dia assolellat, amb alguns núvols alts cap al mar i, a la tarda, algun cúmul per fer bonic en zones de Cadiretres. Els ruixats que es formin en zones de muntanya de la meitat nord quedaran lluny de nosaltres. Les temperatures s’enfilaran entorn els 23ºC, i la marinada s’anirà reforçant al llarg del dia.

Per demà dissabte, tot i que ens aixecarem amb un dia assolellat, amb el pas de les hores, les nuvolades es començaran a fer més importants i més compactes ben entrada la tarda, en principi sense precipitació, tot i que no es descarta alguna precipitació a últimes hores del dia.
Diumenge, s’espera que les precipitacions si facin acte de presència a casa nostra. Serien precipitacions de febles a moderades,continuades, puntualment amb tempesta. Les quantitats acumulades anirien entorn els 10 litres. No obstant, s’haurà d’anar seguint quina evolució realitzi la petita bossa d’aire fred en alçada.

Per Dilluns i Dimarts, s’esperen ruixats tempestuosos, localment forts, que podrien arribar a Tossa de cara a últimes hores de la tarda i al vespre. Ja ho anirem seguint.

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Difference between Shares and Mutual Funds

Someone has asked, on a forum: What's the difference between shares and mutual funds?

And here's my elevator explanation:

Shares: When companies look for money for their business, they can get it in two ways - either they borrow from a bank and pay interest ("debt") or they ask people like you and me to invest and give us shares ("equity"). A share is a part of a business.

Then let's say a friend named Sarath wants to buy a share of this business but the company has got all the money it needs. So Sarath asks us to sell our shares to him, at a higher value than we bought it. So he will own our share of the company, but he's willing to pay more because he thinks the company will do well. Now we make a profit and then Sarath perhaps sells it to someone else at even higher values etc. The company doesn't really get affected because it isn't seeing the money, but the share price goes up as the company starts doing better, and as more people begin to want the shares.

Why does the share price go up? The answer is: Perceived value. I may think the company is worth 1 crore, but someone else might think it's worth 2 crores. When my shares reach my valuation I sell, but someone else will think it's a good deal and buy.

To organise such buying and selling, there are commercial "stock exchanges". BSE and NSE are some of them, though there are a number of other, smaller exchanges in India. An exchange provides a common place for people to buy or sell shares, with sales happening on an auction basis - buyers bid for shares at a price they are willing to pay, and sellers "ask" for a price from buyers. Exchanges match these prices and share exchanges happen along with payments. "Brokers" facilitate these exchanges, and you pay them a fee as brokerage, part of which goes to the stock exchange as well.

Mutual funds: When a lot of shares are available on stock exchanges, you and me don't know which companies to invest in. But let us say a guy named Sandip Subherwal knows, and keeps track of the market daily. So we give him our money and he buys and sells stocks for us. This is a mutual fund - it's our money (mutual), and Sandip is a Fund Manager. There is a structure to this in India, so a fund manager is part of an "asset management company (AMC)". To protect Sandip from running away with our money, SEBI has some rules in place, and there are "trustees" for every fund. With this structure the AMC issues "units" to us for the money we have invested, and tells us how much our units are worth daily (NAV). We can then choose to exit by selling our units back to the AMC ("redemption").

Mutual funds are not just restricted to shares. They are mutual investments, therefore they can be anywhere. The common ones are equity (stocks and shares) and Debt. Debt markets are where companies borrow money, but they want to borrow huge sums of money that you and I don't have. Therefore, we pool in our money (mutual fund) and give the big whole lot to the company at an interest. Even the government borrows, but again, only large sums of money. Mutual funds can invest there too. Debt is traditionally "safer" than equity since there is a fixed valuation and good rating mechanisms to curb risk; and in the same vein, the profits (and losses) are usually much lesser than equity.

Mutual funds can also invest in other investment avenues, like Gold, Real Estate, Commodities and even in Windmills! Of course, in India only a few of these are available.

Shares are a part of a business, mutual funds are cumulative investment. I hope this helps.

Regards
Praveen Kumar
www.laymansfinance.blogspot.com

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Robert Mathavious Speaking on the BVI Regulatory Environment During his Visit to the Middle East

On May 22, the Financial Services Commission has published on its site the speeches of BVI FSC managing director and CEO Robert Mathavious when he presented the Regulatory Environment in the British Virgin Islands during his visits to Dubai and Qatar, to the business communities of these countries. The presentations had the purpose to deepen their understanding of BVI's approach to the regulation, and of the benefits this approach brings for offshore jurisdiction's customers.

The presentation included information on the BVI Financial Services Commission in the role of independent regulator, on the FSC's approach to the regulation, and on the other related items. Robert Mathavious specially pointed out that the BVI FSC is not any kind of governmental institution, but an independent regulatory body, the duties of which cover insurance, banking, trustee business, company management and mutual funds sectors, as well as administration of companies registration, limited partnerships and intellectual property, and any kinds of non-banking financial intermediary services.

The head of the Commission named the three building blocks in the regulation approach – pragmatism, consultation and investment. The main objectives within the FSC and within the financial industry in the BVI mentioned by Robert Mathavious were the effective and appropriate training and development of staff and the recognition of the importance of professional qualifications. Programmes and procedures to counter money laundering and terrorism financing were also among the Commission's priorities.

Another item touched upon in the presentation is the good reputation of the British Virgin Islands, which is achieved by the jurisdiction's active engagement in all international initiatives, and by “active and balanced response to meeting international concerns”.

In his speech, Robert Mathavious referred to the last months event that confirmed the status of the BVI as a leading and competitive global finance centre – the inclusion of the offshore jurisdiction in the Global Financial Centres Index published by the City of London. This index is based upon 19,000 assessments from business professionals worldwide, and the BVI was placed in the 27th place among 69 financial centres, just behind Gibraltar, the Cayman Islands and Dubai.

Brian Obvi,
Offshore Analyst

Article any source

New Intelligence Unit Launched in BVI

In the beginning of May, a joint intelligence unit was launched in the British Virgin Islands, by representatives of BVI law enforcement agencies BVI Police Commissioner Reynell Frazer, Chief Immigration Officer Dennis Jennings and Senior Customs Officer Leslie Lettsome.

The new joint intelligence unit will play an important role for the enforcement of its legislation, collating, evaluating and disseminating intelligence among the three agencies.

Brian Obvi,
Offshore Analyst

Article any source

AAA cercasi B2B PMM e Marketing Intern

Scritto da: Giorgia Longoni, Country Marketing Manager

Il team Marketing di Google Italia sta crescendo!

Cerchiamo due profili, in particolare: un Product Marketing Manager B2B e un Intern per l'estate.

Il primo lavorerà nel team B2B, dedicato alle attività a sostegno dei nostri prodotti e servizi per le aziende.
Idealmente, il candidato dovrebbe avere una solida esperienza di marketing e comunicazione. Lo cerchiamo flessibile, con ottime capacità analitiche, relazionali, una discreta vena creativa, inglese fluente e laurea (o MBA). Dev'essere un appassionato/a di analisi di prodotto/clienti e buon conoscitore di Google e delle dinamiche del mercato dell'online.

Questo perchè tra le principali responsabilità che ricoprirà all'interno del team dedicato alle attività Business to Business, ci saranno l'ideazione e la realizzazione di eventi e attività di marketing, sia online che offline, sponsorizzazioni, studi e campagne pubblicitarie mirate a raggiungere le PMI e promuovere attività di online marketing. Lavorando a stretto contatto con i nostri team commerciali e di Relazioni Pubbliche, si occuperà di educare gli inserzionisti sulle opportunità offerte dall'online e di incrementare l'adozione dei nuovi prodotti e servizi per le aziende.

Di inquadramento diverso, ma per questo non meno importante, cerchiamo un giovane che per sei mesi, a partire dal periodo estivo, voglia mettersi alla prova per portare avanti progetti di marketing che includono: supporto all'organizzazione di eventi, pianificazione di campagne pubblicitarie e marketing e supporto ad attività di lancio prodotti.

Lo stage è retribuito e finalizzato a creare vere e proprie occasioni di confronto e apprendimento per studenti che vorrebbero fare, del marketing, il loro futuro.

Se vi ritrovate in uno di questi profili non perdete tempo e mandateci il vostro CV all'indirizzo: jobs@google.com, indicando nell'oggetto la posizione per cui applicate: "PMM B2B Milan" oppure "intern-marketing-milan".

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All about "Z" group stocks

Stay away from Z group stocks

The key criteria for selecting stocks for investment should be the quality of management and its adherence to corporate governance. What is the point in investing in companies that do not even bother to send annual reports to their shareholders?

Stock exchanges use various provisions in the listing agreement to regulate companies’ corporate governance practices. Stocks that fail to comply with the various provisions of the listing agreement are clubbed under various categories. The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the largest stock exchange in terms of number of stocks listed, classifies such stocks into the Z group, and the trade-to-trade segment. It monitors these stocks on an ongoing basis.

Stocks that have not complied with or breached provisions of the listing agreement of the BSE are pushed into the Z group. Those stocks witnessing lot of volatility, suspicious trading pattern and high speculative interests are shifted to the trade-to-trade category.

The Z category was introduced by the BSE in July 1999. The governing board of the BSE came out with important amendments to the criteria for shifting stocks to the Z group in January 2002. The guidelines specify seven parameters for shifting stocks to the Z category. The exchange considers any three of the seven parameters of non-compliance for shifting a company to the Z group. The seven criteria are as follows:

Required notice of book closure and record dates (Listing Clause 15 & 16).

Yearly submission of annual reports (Listing Clause 31(1)(a)).

Quarterly submission of shareholding pattern (Listing Clause 35).

Payment of annual listing fees (Listing Clause 38).

Publication of audited / unaudited results on a quarterly basis (Listing Clause 41).

Redressal of investors’ complaints such as share transfers (Listing Clause 3, 12, 21).

Implementation of corporate governance, if applicable (Listing Clause 49).

Additionally, the exchange may shift certain companies to the Z group based on its discretion: companies that are fundamentally weak in terms of net worth, sales, market capitalization and profitability. Those companies that fail to make dematerialisation (demat) arrangement with both the depositories — Central Depository Services (CDSL) and National Security Depository (NSDL) — are also shifted to the Z group. However, as and when the company makes demat arrangements, the stock is shifted back to the original group after three months from compliance.

Companies in the Z group are reviewed on a quarterly basis by the governing board or the listing committee of the stock exchange. Besides, the surveillance department of the exchange has discretionary powers to add or remove companies from the Z group based on its own investigation or complaints filed by investors or any kind of suspicious trading pattern. The Investors’ Service Cell also has the powers to add or remove companies from the Z group. Not only this, the exchange can take into consideration any punitive actions taken by any regulatory authority against a company as basis for shifting the stock to the Z category.

How are investors affected when a stock is shifted to the Z or trade-to-trade category? First, such companies do not follow basic minimal corporate governance norms. Many of these companies do not even bother to submit annual report or shareholding pattern regularly. They may not even pay attention to investors’ complaints as regards to share transfer. Investing in such companies simply means buying a worthless piece of paper.

In the Z or trade-to-trade segment, selling or buying results in giving or taking delivery of shares at the ‘gross level’. Gross level means no intra-day netting off or squaring off is permitted. Thus, no investor can indulge in intra-day trading in such stocks. For instance, an investor buys 100 shares of stock ABC, shifted to either the Z or the trade-to-trade category, and further sells another 100 shares in the same trading session. End of the day, his purchase and sales would not be netted. The investor would need to give delivery of 100 shares against his sale transaction and would also need to pay for the purchase of 100 shares.

As a result, the price discovery mechanism of stocks shifted to the ‘Z’ group or trade-to-trade category is poor as volatility is high. The investor could find some of the stocks hitting upper circuit continuously for many days and, subsequently, may tumble down in a matter of a few trading sessions. No wonder the BSE specifies higher margin for trading in such stocks. Hence, institutional investors like mutual funds, insurance companies, and foreign institutional investors stay clear of such stocks. Thus, these stocks lack liquidity.

This is also reflected in trading activity. The average turnover of the Z group stocks is less than 1% compared with the overall turnover of the BSE. On 30 March 2007, the combined turnover of the Z and the trade-to-trade categories stood at a minuscule 0.52%. Though there are more than 7,500 listed companies, only around 2,600 stocks are actively traded, while the balance are in the Z group or illiquid or suspended from trading.

One of the obvious strategies for investors is to stay away from stocks belonging to the Z or trade-to-trade group. More importantly, investors should not fall prey to penny stocks. Penny stocks trade below their face or par value. Even the exchange’s trading terminal displays a pop-up caution message when an order for a stock in the Z or the trade-to-trade group is entered.

Regards
Praveen Kumar
www.laymansfinance.blogspot.com

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Chubasco a primeras horas

Una ex-tormenta que se ha formado en el interior de la Región de Murcia, ha llegado a Orihuela muy desgastada a las 6:45 horas aproximadamente dejando un chubasco de carácter débil que ha hecho registrar 0,3 litros por metro cuadrado en mi Observatorio Meteorológico de Orihuela. Poco a poco seguimos acumulando precipitación que verdaderamente es lo importante. Está siendo un mes de Mayo muy húmedo, cosa muy extraña por esta zona. Cuando finalize el mes veremos la media de precipitación mensual correspondiente a este mes de Mayo, os adelanto ya, que la hemos superado con creces.

Atención a esta tarde que se pueden volver a formar tormentas, pero el día que existirá más riesgo tormentoso será el próximo Viernes.

Aquí os dejo las cantidades de precipitación correspondientes a este mes de Mayo y a lo que llevamos desde que empezó el año 2008:
Mayo 2008: 55,18 mm
Año 2008: 97,06 mm

Posiblemente en los próximos días superemos los 100 mm anuales...

mm = litros por metro cuadradoAny source

Tornen els ruixats de primavera

Després dels fortíssims ruixats d’ahir nit a Tossa que van deixar un total d’11 litres, hem tingut una certa calma. No obstant, a partir d’aquest matí, s’espera que les nuvolades tornin a fer acte de presència i deixin algun ruixat tempestuós a partir de migdia.

A la resta de Catalunya, els ruixats i les tempestes seran la tònica de la jornada. Localment poden ser d’intensitat forta i amb calamarsa, més importants en zones de muntanya i poden aparèixer en qualsevol punt del principat.

El temporal de mar anirà a la baixa i les temperatures màximes seran un xic més elevades.

SEGUEIX-HO MINUT A MINUT

WEBCAM DE TOSSA DE MAR

RADARS DE CATALUNYA

RADAR PENINSULAR

IMATGES METEOSAT VISIBLE

IMATGES METEOSAT INFRAROIG

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Listen to the Pauls (Krugman and Samuelson); We don't live in a world of perfect, or near perfect, information and calculation

In response to RueTheDay's comment entered May 17^th at 8:14 am in Steve Waldman's Blog:

You write, "because once you acknowledge real balance effects, you have to either keep the hoarding part and explain why the price mechanism doesn't work (sticky wages/prices) or discard the hoarding".

But the whole point is that wages and prices are sticky. Information doesn't disseminate and become ubiquitous and acted upon instantly. This is the big strength of Keynesian or New Keynesian economics; the assumptions that it depends on are far more realistic than the assumptions that real balance arguments and rational expectations arguments, and the like depend on.

It's far more realistic to assume, as Keynesian type theories do, that everyone in the world does not have every bit of information everywhere in the economy and cannot analyze all of it perfectly, with perfect expertise, instantly, when it comes to price and wage setting, and many other things.

It's much more realistic to assume that people severely lack information, and they acquire it relatively slowly, and don't analyze it perfectly with Ph.D. techniques, and that it takes time (which is money), and effort to analyze information, and there are costs and risks to changing prices and wages, and therefore prices and wages adjust relatively slowly and imperfectly.

These are much more realistic assumption to make about the economy, and that's why the empirical evidence is immensely stronger for Keynesian type theories, and for the effectiveness of Keynesian type prescriptions.

Real balances arguments, rational expectations arguments, and the like, only really work and are the whole story if it's true, or close to true, that that everyone in the economy has perfect information about everything, perfect expertise and education about everything, perfect rationality, and the ability to analyze and update all information constantly and instantly in their brains (although some of these make an exception for one or a few things like job search time). Obviously, we don't fit this bill with a majority almost picking W. in 2000, and actually picking him in 2004!

Here is Princeton Economist and John Bates Clarke Medal Winner Paul Krugman on this (from his book "Peddling Prosperity", page 47):

When Keynes published his theory of the business cycle, some conservative economists argued that there was no need for government policy to combat recessions because recessions would be self correcting. Their argument went as follows: In the face of high unemployment, wages and prices will tend to fall. This fall in wages and prices will increase the real money supply – that is the given stock of money in circulation will have steadily rising purchasing power. And this expansion in the real supply of money will in turn lead to an economic expansion.

Keynes did not deny the logic of this so-called classical argument; he was willing to concede that in the long run economic slumps would be self-correcting. But he regarded this self-correcting process as very slow, and as he pointed out in a widely quoted but rarely understood remark, "In the long run we are all dead." What he meant was: Recessions may eventually cure themselves. But that's no more a reason to ignore policies that can end them quickly than the fact of eventual mortality is a reason to give up on living.

On page 214, Krugman more specifically discusses what happens once you realistically take into account that it's far from the truth that all people are instantly calculating machines with perfect and constantly updated knowledge about every single bit of information in the economy:

Suppose now that in this imperfect world we once again play the Keynesian experiment of posting an increase in the desire of people to hold cash. Recall that in Chapter 1 we saw how an attempt by everyone at once to increase cash holdings leads to a general fall in employment and incomes. The same will be true here.

At this point, the monetarist says that wages and prices will fall, increasing the real value of the cash in circulation and curing the recession. But will wages and prices really adjust?

What if firms are reluctant to cut their prices, either because there are measurable costs to putting on new price tags (menu costs in the jargon of the new Keynesians) or because they just don't want to be bothered with rethinking their pricing schemes? (The difference between real costs of changing stickers and subjective costs of thinking is actually quite blurry – that's why near rationality may in a way be regarded as a higher form of true rationality.) If markets were perfect, a firm that charges too high a price would lose all its business. In a world of highly imperfect markets, a firm that charges a price a little too high gains almost as much from that higher price as it loses in sales; a firm that fails to cut wages has a gain in higher leverage over its workers that almost compensates for its higher cost; and so on. In other words, the costs to an individual firm of being a little less than totally rational and not cutting wages and prices may be quite small, small enough that reasonable people just don't do it.

And yet the individually reasonable decision not to cut prices in the face of a recession can have collectively disastrous results. If prices don't fall when people decide to hold more cash, then the slump in output and employment is not self-correcting. In an imperfect world, senseless things can happen to groups of people who behave sensibly as individuals.

The case for active monetary policy is now obvious. Suppose that we have slid into a recession, just as described. There is an easy way out: put more money into circulation, and spending, incomes, and employment will rise...

In addition to menu costs, information gathering and analysis costs and time, efficiency wages, and other non-behavioral (non-psychological) imperfections, there are also strong behavioral causes of sticky or relatively slow price adjustment. For example, many businesses are reluctant to cut prices until they can really be sure that they will be able to keep the price at that lower level for a while, because (especially for certain products) customers don't like price increases or jumpy prices. That kind of thing can hurt customer goodwill and loyalty. It is also well documented that managers facing substantial competition often put off raising prices because they don't want to be the first to do so.

One very interesting, important, and widespread behavioral phenomenon is that workers are much less resistant to taking a real paycut if it doesn't involve a nominal paycut. In other words, the empirical evidence shows overwhelmingly that most workers are far more resistant to a 3% paycut when inflation is 0, than they are to a pay freeze when inflation is 3%, even though they are basically the same thing.

Krugman notes this in his 1996 Economist article, "Fast Growth and Stable Prices: Just Say No":

Messrs Akerlof [Nobel Prize winner], Dickens, and Perry have produced compelling evidence that workers are indeed very reluctant to accept nominal wage cuts: the distribution of nominal wage changes shows very few declines but a large concentration at zero a clear indication that there are many workers whose real wages 'should' be falling more rapidly than the inflation rate but cannot because to do so would require unacceptable nominal wage cuts.

This nominal wage rigidity means that trying to get the inflation rate very low impairs real wage flexibility and therefore increases the unemployment rate even in the long run. Consider the case of Canada a nation whose central bank is intensely committed to the goal of price stability (the current inflation rate is less than 1%). In the 1960s Canada used to have about the same unemployment rate as the United States. When it started to run persistently higher rates in the 1970s and 1980s many economists attributed the differential to a more generous unemployment insurance system. But even as that system has become less generous the unemployment gap has continued to widen: Canada's current rate is 10%. Why? A Canadian economist Pierre Fortin points out that from 1992 to 1994 a startling 47% of his country's collective-bargaining agreements involved wage freezes. Most economists would agree that high-unemployment economies like Canada suffer from wage inflexibility; Mr. Fortin's evidence suggests however that the cause of that inflexibility lies not only in structural microeconomic problems but also in the Bank of Canada's anti-inflationary zeal.

It can also take a while for a person looking for work to understand and/or admit that the equilibrium wage in his field has dropped, and he has to accept less. It's not just bad luck that he's getting lower offers than were common last year, and instead the market has, in fact, changed. It can take a while for an individual to discover this, with all of the complication and random factors in the labor market. This is known as the Misperceptions theory.

What is the empirical evidence that there is a substantial amount of stickiness in prices, and especially wages? It's pretty obvious if you're willing to look at it objectively. Have you ever heard of anyone signing a contract for their job for a year or more? Have you ever noticed that unions only negotiate new contracts every few years? Have you ever thought about how difficult it would be to attract workers if instead of offering them a wage that's relatively steady and guaranteed, you started jumping it up and down constantly in perfect tune to aggregate demand in the economy (even assuming that all managers had the expertise to do that and the cost of the huge amount of time they would spend doing this was zero). The empirical evidence for nominal (and real) wage rigidity is vast. A good start is Fehr and Goette's 2005 paper in the Journal of Monetary Economics (volume 52, pages 779-804), "Robustness and Real Consequences of Nominal Wage Rigidity".

To sum it up from Krugman's text "Macroeconomics", with Robin Wells (2006), "Wages do not fall quickly in the face of labor surpluses or rise quickly in the face of shortages. Almost all macroeconomists agree that wages adjust slowly to surpluses or shortages of labor." (page 381). And from the other Paul, Samuelson, you know the legendary Nobel prize winner, "Keynesian economists point to much evidence suggesting that prices and particularly wages move slowly in response to shocks, and few economists believe that labor markets are in constant supply-demand equilibrium. When the assumption of perfectly flexible wages and prices is abandoned, policy will regain its power to affect the real economy in the short run." (From Samuelson's text, "Macroeconomics", 18^th edition, 2005, with William Nordhaus of Yale, page 364.)

The bottom line is that you can't take simple Austrian or classical models literally; that is you can't assume the actual economy is identical to the simple model. These models, and similarly simple ones, are just useful as a first step. An actual economic situation may have 10 major factors and many smaller, but still important, noisy ones. It's usually harder to understand such a situation if you just look at it as a whole. It can be useful instead to first look at a few of the factors in isolation, to understand better how those few factors work. But that's only the first step. You don't say from there, "Oh, that's how the economy with the many more factors works too". No, instead you next look at what happens when you add a few more factors. How much, and how, does this change things? Next you add more factors, and keep re-evaluating until you have considered all of the significant factors. You may find that some factors don't make a qualitative difference when you add them, or you may find that they do, or are likely to.

The next step, to help screen out mistakes you may have made in your analysis, is to look at the real world data, with lots of empirical studies, to see how well it fits your analysis.

A process like this is a lot more complicated than just acting like simple models are identical to reality, but this kind of in-depth and logical thinking has lead to great advances in our quality and quantity of life.

With regards to Keynes's views on wage decreases: Keynes' writings can be hard to interpret. The style of English is old, formal, artsy, and complicated, but there's no dispute among experts on Keynes that he thought in the long run prices and wages would adjust to an equilibrium (until the next disequilibriating shocks) where normal unemployment was restored, but as Keynes said, "In the long run, we're all dead" (so why wait, suffer, and lose wealth unnecessarily for a long time).

In the short run (without smart action by a central bank) funny things could happen like "The Widows Curse" or "The Paradox of Thrift", but these are not long run equilibriums, and some of them are very unlikely even in the short run. Most of all, they can all easily be stopped by smart action by a central bank (and/or fiscal action). For more on this, I recommend reading Krugman's 1997 Slate article, "Vulgar Keynesians".

Any source

Una tormenta deja a su paso por Orihuela 8,1 litros por metro cuadrado y fuertes rachas de viento

La tormenta que ha afectado a Orihuela esta tarde ha sido en general de intensidad moderada, llegando en algunos momentos a llover de forma fuerte sobre la ciudad. La tormenta se ha creado en la cordillera sur murciana, por la zona de la Sierra de Carrascoy y ha cogido dirección Noreste llegando a la ciudad aproximadamente a las 17 horas. La tormenta ha originado fuertes rachas de viento, registrándose una racha máxima de 49,68 km/h, que han llegado a originar algunos destrozos en el material urbano. La cortina de precipitación que se acercaba poco a poco a la ciudad era tremenda, aquí les dejo con una muestra, en el momento de realización de la fotografía empezaba a llover moderadamente.

Veáse la escasa visibilidad hacía el Suroeste de Orihuela a causa de las densas cortinas de precipitación que iba dejando la tormenta a su paso.

La tormenta ha avanzado hacía el Este, afectando de esta manera a las localidades alicantinas de Albatera, Crevillente, Catral, Elche... entre otras muchas. A continuación voy a citar algunas de las cantidades de precipitación recogidas en las ciudades afectadas por esta tormenta:
Orihuela (Alicante): 8,1 mm
Catral (Alicante): 3,6 mm
Santomera (Murcia): 3,2 mm
Crevillente (Alicante): 1,8 mm
San Ginés (Murcia): 1,5 mm
Murcia (Murcia): 1,3 mm
Elche (Alicante): 1,0 mm
Daya Nueva (Alicante): 0,6 mm
Molina de Segura (Murcia): 0,3 mm
Alicante (Alicante): 0,2 mm

Como claramente se puede apreciar, la ciudad de Orihuela ha sido la más beneficiada en los registros pluviométricos, y además con una diferencia considerable. Aquí les dejo con la imagen correspondiente al Radar de Murcia cuando la tormenta afectaba de lleno a la ciudad:

Veáse el Radar meteorológico de Murcia a las 17:30 horas.

Para terminar, les informo que la tormenta ha venido acompañada de notable aparato eléctrico con sus correspondientes truenos fuertes que a más de uno le habrán despertado de la siesta.
Any source

Sigue subiendo levemente la Reserva Hídrica

El Embalse de la Pedrera ha sufrido de nuevo una pequeña subida de 2hm3, pero considerable, debido a que ha sido en una semana. Con esta, son dos semanas consecutivas subiendo 2hm3 la Reserva Hídrica. Actualmente el agua embalsada es de 80hm3 con un porcentaje de 32,52%.
Any source

Kim Kardashian and Reggie Bush Mobbed By 13 Year Olds From A Bar Mitzvah

(From a source that does not want to be attributed)

Socialite Kim Kardashian was saved from stampede of 13 year olds before Hamptons club appearance.

Socialite Kim Kardashian leaving the 5 star Garden City Hotel on Long Island, NY to head to her appearance at Whitehouse nightclub in the Hamptons was in the lobby of the hotel and was spotted by a hundreds of 13 year olds from a Bar Mitzvah party that just ended.

The young fans started to chase after her and boyfriend, the former USC Running Back and now New Orleans Saints NFL Star Reggie Bush.

NYC Nightclub owner John Englebert aka JE of Suzie Wong saki lounge and Prime nightclub saw the stampede and reacted quickly by escorting her through a side door. John Englebert met Kim at a Playboy mansion party about a year ago in Los Angeles. Although Kim wanted to stay she would have missed her appearance.

TJ Scott a representative for the club that booked Kim was staying at the hotel and said not even Kim’s man NFL Star Reggie Bush could have saved her. However Kim did miss her early morning AM flight due to a night of partying in the Hamptons.

The source did not comment that if the kids didn't get her, the booze from the partying did.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell Q & A At NFL Spring Meeting

COMMISSIONER ROGER GOODELL AT SPRING MEETING
Atlanta, GA – May 20, 2008

News / Release - Source: NFLMedia.com

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell Q & A At NFL Spring Meeting

ROGER GOODELL: We had a four-hour meeting this morning and covered a lot of subjects, including labor. We talked a lot about other related issues with respect to our stadiums, what we’re doing to improve the experience for our fans in the stadium. We spent a great deal of time on financial matters and the labor matter. I know you want to speak about the labor matter so I’d be happy to take your questions. I will be back later this afternoon and I can take questions on other matters. But we’ve got sort of a short timetable before we start this afternoon. The Super Bowl voting is this afternoon at 1:00 PM.

What signal does opting out send in terms of league’s position?
RG: It’s a very clear signal that the ownership does not believe that this deal is working. And it’s important for us all to sit down at the table and to try to address the matters that aren’t working for the ownership. There’s a very strong opinion in the ownership and the vote reflects that.

What has changed in the past two years to make this deal not work when it was agreed upon in 2006?
RG: Anytime you make a deal you don’t know how it’s going to work until you experience it. We’ve had two years now of operating under the new deal. Clearly, the economics are not working for the owners. Clearly, we have been investing more in stadiums and the costs of generating that revenue is become more significant. And it’s no secret what we’re going through from an economic standpoint that creates more risk in the marketplace.

Does making this decision now as opposed to the November deadline buy more time to negotiate with the players?
RG: It’s a fair point. There’s no question. We don’t need further time to analyze whether this is working or not working. It’s not working. It was the ownership’s view. It’s not a failure of negotiations. It’s a failure of the deal. So let’s get to the negotiations. It is a fair comment to say that this does give us an opportunity to sit with the players and understand the issues and get them to understand the issues and try to come up with some greater solutions.

Do you think the issues between high revenue franchises and low revenue franchises still exist and that’s the reason they are opting out?
RG: I don’t. As you know we share more revenue than any other sports league. This is about the issue of labor costs not about revenue sharing.

It’s been suggested that if the league proves that it is in dire financial straights, the union will listen and will look differently at the situation. Is that a realistic solution?
RG: We are not in dire financial straights. We’ve never indicated that. We’ve never stated that. What we’re looking for is a fair deal for both sides -- the players and the management. We had a meeting with the union roughly a week ago. We offered to show them more financial data and they attached a number of conditions to that that we found were unreasonable. So we didn’t get to that point. We are willing to make our case of why the deal isn’t working for us but it has to be done properly.

The union says that it was the league that attached conditions to the disclosure of the financial situation. What were they?
RG: I don’t remember right now. We’ll get it for you.

Can you attach a metric of financial distress in terms of higher cost? We know how much the salary cap is, but can you state the average player salary, player payroll, or how much the teams’ profit margins are down?
RG: Clearly more money is going to the players, both in salary and in benefits. That adds additional stress with respect to the economics of running a league and it leaves you less margins to operate within. When you have bumps in the road, which none of us can forecast, that has a significant impact on what we hope will be the economics of running an NFL team.

What is the message to fans who don’t pay attention to all the financial details and who just want to know about their football?
RG: We have guaranteed three more years of NFL football. It is our responsibility to work out these matters and that is our job and that’s what we’re going to get focused on immediately. We recognize how important it is to have NFL football. We’ve had labor peace for several years and we hope to continue that.

When are the next scheduled meetings with the union?
RG: We don’t have anything scheduled at this point in time. I’m sure I will speak with Gene in the near future and we’ll decide how to proceed on that level.

Will this come down to the deadline? What are the hopes it will get done prior to the deadline?
RG: It’s like most issues. Deadlines always are helpful. I think anytime you have a deadline it forces people to understand the consequences of not reaching an agreement. That’s what we all have to understand and hopefully cooler heads will prevail here.

Has there been any talk that having a 17th regular-season game in place of the fourth preseason game will create a bigger revenue pot?
RG: We actually are looking at that as one alternative. We are going to report to ownership today on our preseason and what we can do to improve the quality of our preseason. We think that may impact on some of the things that we want to talk to players about.

What would a 17th game do in terms of creating more room to get a settlement with the players?
RG: It will create new revenue. The thought process was that we might reduce the preseason by a game in return for that. The players will still play the same number of games, but it may give us an opportunity to put higher quality football out there. We are not satisfied with the quality of the preseason right now. We’d like to improve on that and that’s what we’re looking at.

In the league’s statement you mention the issue of recouping signing bonuses. How has that escalated as an issue?
RG: It’s probably highlighted in a large part by the Michael Vick issue. There are other cases such as Ashley Lelie and others. In the Michael Vick case, he’s not able to play football and as such he got a significant signing bonus and we are not able to recover that. That’s money that could be going to players who are playing the game right now. So we think that there are some adjustments there that need to be made that are beneficial to the veteran players, frankly.

If there is a lockout in 2011, have you talked to the three owners bidding on the 2012 Super Bowl and how it might impact that Super Bowl?
RG: There’s been some initial discussion on that. But we’re not that far down the road. Our thought process is: how do we get an agreement that works? We recognize how it could impact people, groups or communities who want to host Super Bowls. But, I don’t think we’re at a point now to really be focused on that.

What happens to the rookie class coming in at the 2010 Draft?
RG: The Draft is negotiated through, I think, 2011. We would have the Draft through 2011.

But the 2010 rookie class would be uncapped as well?
RG: Yes.

What is it about the preseason that is lacking?
RG: That’s one of the things we’re analyzing. It used to be that we had six preseason games. In today’s NFL, it’s become more of a year-round business. Athletes come in and they probably are better prepared for the season, both physically and mentally. Is it necessary to have four preseason games to get the players prepared to play in the regular season? There’s an evaluation of talent. Who should make the team? Who shouldn’t make the team? Of course, the big significant issue for us is the quality of it and what our fans are seeing. Is it the best way to promote the upcoming season?

If there is an odd number of regular-season games, is there a way to balance out home games?
RG: You play it by conference and you flip-flop it each year. So, the AFC would play nine home games in your scenario and next year the NFC would play nine.

During the fourth preseason game, often starters don’t even play. Would you expand rosters to compensate for more competitive games?
RG: We would look at that. That’s a reasonable point to look at. It’s a long season for the players. We want to make sure that the quality of the product is unmatched. So we would look at that.

Is there any indication that coaches wouldn’t just do the same thing in the third preseason game that they now do in the fourth and not play their starters?
RG: Maybe we’ll look at two [games].

The union argues that a lot of money comes out of the players’ share to help fund stadiums. How valid is that as an argument?
RG: It’s valid that they’ve given us a cap credit. But all of the risk falls on the NFL owners. They have to take the risk that if the project comes in they can finance it and sell against it. The players are just agreeing that they will give a credit on the basis of a certain amount of revenue going forward. It’s helpful. I don’t think it addresses sufficiently enough the concerns that we have as you’re building $2 billion stadiums.

What’s your biggest concern as you get to 2010?
RG: Getting an agreement. From our standpoint, we are just looking for an agreement. We will reach an agreement at some point. We would like to reach an agreement with the least amount of pain and turmoil. We hope we can do it at the negotiating table and in an appropriate fashion within the right timetable. We are not concerned about an uncapped year. With the kind of dollars we’re paying right now that doesn’t necessarily concern us. What we would like to do is keep a system that works for us and both parties.

If you get to an uncapped year, how difficult will it be to reestablish a system with a cap?
RG: In 1993 we did not have a cap system and we got one. I’m sure there will be a lot of rhetoric about no cap system if there isn’t one at that point in time. But we were able to make that transition before and I’m sure we can do it again if necessary.

Is it fair to say the agreement that started in 2006 was not a wise agreement?
RG: I don’t really look back at it that way. We all were making an effort to try to keep labor peace. We reached an agreement that we knew was going to be pushing the envelope. After two years of living within that system, we recognized it does not work long-term for us. That’s the way it goes.

With today’s vote to opt out, how will that affect any LA initiative with this degree of uncertainty?
RG: Uncertainty is never a great thing. So you have that and it could affect the potential for us to get a team in Los Angeles. It could affect the potential for additional revenue streams through television. It can have that impact. I hope it won’t. I hope that we’ll be able to reach that agreement. But there is that potential.

With the credits given by the union, what are some of the ways they would bear risk?
RG: They don’t bear the risk.

What would be some of the ways?
RG: I’m not going to negotiate with them publicly. The cost of generating revenue is becoming more and more expensive. They share in revenue. They don’t share in cost.

Will the discussion of having a 17th regular-season game be included in the labor discussions or is it possible that it can be moved faster through separate discussions?
RG: I guess it’s possible but I don’t know. We haven’t had extensive discussions with the union. Most of our analysis has been internal. Does it work? Is it something we want to pursue? Before we propose something we would want to think through all the issues that some of the people have raised here. How would you work 17 weeks by conference? We need to do more analysis. We would talk to the union at the appropriate time and see what their reaction is.

What is the status on the Marvin Harrison situation?
RG: We are just keeping very close to all of the investigators and making sure we understand the facts as soon as they become available to us. That’s all we can do until we have more facts.

Are you concerned?
RG: I’m always concerned when our players are involved with things. It’s premature for us to say anything because we really do not know enough of the facts.

Did you consider making a proposal to the union before opting out?
RG: We had a meeting with them. We felt that this deal was not working. That was the most clear message to send them. It’s really to get to the table and to start negotiating. Whether we make a proposal or they make a proposal first, the reality is we just have to get to an agreement. We didn’t feel the deal was working. We needed to make that clear so that we could start the negotiation.

How much has the increased costs of stadium financing exacerbated the issue of rising player costs?
RG: When you’re building $2 billion facilities, you can understand the stress that brings on a system. Generating the kind of revenue to pay down that $2 billion is significant. And you have the obligations to pay the players as part of that. So, that’s been a big issue. That’s one of the things that none of us could have foreseen. But, when you see what’s happened in the marketplace with respect to financing particularly the auction rate securities. That’s a big impact that the owners have to bear, not the players. That’s what I mean by about risk in the marketplace.


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News / Release

Commissioner Goodell -- Spring Meeting In Atlanta (Part 2 of 2)
05/21/2008
COMMISSIONER GOODELL PRESS CONFERENCE
NFL SPRING MEETING
Atlanta, GA – May 20, 2008, 5:00 PM

Commissioner Goodell: Regarding the Competition Committee agenda, we picked up many of the matters that we had tabled from the March meetings.

One of them was the coach-to-defense implementation of the communication system.

The second was the integrity of the game. The rules and the policy that we adopted in March, we went through the details of how that will work – specifically the certification, the duty to report, the spot checks and some of the technology we’ll be using.

Third point, the Competition Committee discussed what has been called ‘the hair rule.’ We have tabled that on the basis – it was my view – that there was further work to be done. As you know, in March I tabled it because I felt it was out of respect to the players – Alex (Marvez) is over here shaking his head, the Alex rule (laughter) – I thought it was important for us to hear directly from the players. We had a Player Advisory Committee meeting in April. There are some additional items that need to be followed up on, so I felt out of respect for the players that we should continue to work with them and address this to see if there is a reasonable compromise, which of course doesn’t include cutting their hair. That has been tabled.

One other issue is that we have expanded our international practice squad to 16 teams for the season.

Preseason. We had a pretty lengthy presentation at the end of today on how we would approach the preseason. It was innovative. It was discussing more of how we look at our offseason and the start of our offseason from Senior Bowl to Combine to The Draft to training camps and minicamps. How a player goes through the process of making a team is a very compelling story, and we call it “the journey”. It is something we’re going to do more work on as it relates to how we can create greater content for the NFL and present our players and the game at a time when there is more desire for NFL content.

We spent a quite a bit of time today on fan conduct. We look at the issue of our in-stadium experience as something that is critically important. We think that the experience can be improved. We are going to be working with our clubs to improve that. We want everyone to be able to come to our stadiums and behave properly. So we’ll be focusing on that, including the implementation of an NFL fan conduct policy which we will have out prior to the season. It was generally agreed among all of our clubs that we should be able to do better here and make sure all fans can come in and enjoy the experience.

Personal conduct was raised and discussed again at length. This is an ongoing issue as I told you one year ago. We are adding some additional aspects to our policy. The most specific one and the one of greatest interest will be implementing club fines. Clubs that have incidents, players, coaches, anybody involved with an incident, there will be a league fine attached to that, and it will escalate with the more incidents that you might have.

We spent a little bit of time also talking about our public service promotional platform. The discussion there was what the NFL should stand for and where we can make the greatest difference. I think our focus is on youth health and fitness and it’s something that we are going to be more focused on as we go into this season and clearly beyond that.

Then we spent a little bit of time on two significant anniversaries. This year, as you know, is the 50th anniversary of the ’58 Championship Game. We will be doing something special around that. Details are yet to be announced, but we went through some ideas with our clubs today. Next year will be the 50th anniversary of the AFL, and we started to advise our clubs of some plans we’re going to have to celebrate that significant time.

You know about the labor issue, of course.

Q: Personal conduct policy and if there is a set schedule for fining teams?
No, it’s part of our personal conduct policy. There will be a fine against the club if a player is suspended under the personal conduct policy. That will be paid to the league to help cover the costs of some of the resources and some of the things we’re doing to help support our players. It will escalate with the number of incidents that you have at any particular club, so if you have more incidents the percentage will go up, and it will be based off of the player’s salary.

Q: Is that for suspensions or arrests?
Suspensions. Any discipline under the personal conduct policy. In this case, specifically, the example I was giving you of personal conduct was suspensions.

Q: This is not until you’ve adjudicated it?
Yes, that’s correct.

Q: Whether the policy will include other penalties besides money, such as draft picks?
It could. I think, to start with, we didn’t outline that but there’s potential that it could grow into that at some point.

Q: The amount of the fine is not tied into the severity of the infraction but rather the player’s salary?
The way we’ve outlined it to date, and we’ve just outlined a draft, but that is something we’re considering. That’s a reasonable issue – depending on the severity of the issue – we might consider that.

Q: Any discussion of expanding rosters or playoff re-seeding?
We did not discuss that.

Q: Proposal by Competition Committee regarding anti-tampering rule?
We did discuss that. The Competition Committee has met on that a couple of times. We’ll continue to discuss that. As you know, that’s really not an issue in the next several months. We’ll raise it again by October. We need to do some additional work on that.

Q: Fan conduct?
First of all, it’s very possible, and likely, that people can come to a game and enjoy alcoholic beverages or beer and do it very responsibly. What we don’t want is there to be abusive behavior. That includes foul language; that includes disrupting other people who are there to enjoy the game. We’re just saying, come and enjoy yourself, but don’t ruin it for others.

Q: Can you police that without having security everywhere?
We think we can, and we think some clubs are doing some very creative things here to get help to specific areas and to let our fans know that we expect when you come here you act civilized and allow everyone to enjoy the game. Have fun, scream as much as you want, but do it in a way that’s appropriate. I think I’ve told you in the past that I went to a game last year as a fan. I went through the gates and went through the whole experience, and it was a terrific experience. But that varies from stadium to stadium and probably game to game, and probably time to time. There’s no question that we probably have a more difficult time in the evening games. In some cases that’s because the normal season ticket-holder isn’t at that game and they give it to somebody else. That’s not a license to be unruly. In our opinion, you have a responsibility to whoever you give those tickets to, and you’re responsible for their behavior. It’ll be discipline, enforcement, and making sure that we communicate our message effectively.

Q: Any indication that there’s been an increase in bad behavior?
What’s precipitated it is hearing from fans. I hear a lot from fans and our teams hear from their fans, people who have had a bad experience. I think it’s something that we believe should be addressed effectively by the NFL, and so we’re going to take the positive step to do it and do it in a responsible fashion. I think it’ll be good for all of us to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to make sure this experience is a good one.

Q: Which teams are doing a good job?
I’m not going to go there. I think we can all improve. I think all of us are going to learn from one another about what’s working in some stadiums. The situation is going to vary, and there are some new factors coming in. The secondary ticket market is a new factor and we have to figure out how to handle that. There’s not a one size fits all solution.

Q: Teams will get fined for personal conduct rather than drug policy violations?
That’s correct.

Q: Termination of contracts and the new rules that go into place today?
We’ll be happy to get them all for you. There is an acceleration of some of the rules and we’ll get them for you.

Q: Having the NFL Draft in Los Angeles – criteria?
I also got a letter from the mayor that indicated interest, saying that they think this would be a great spot for the draft. We are looking at that – that’s one of the cities that’s indicated an interest in doing that. We have an interest also. I think it goes in with all of the changes that we’re thinking about with the draft – whether we move it to prime time, which rounds go on which day, and including rotating the site. That’s one of the things that we’ll continue to look at.

Q: Time frame?
It could be as early as 2009.

Q: When will the decision be made?
I would guess sometime in the fall just because of the plans necessary.

Q: If a player gets fined but not suspended for a personal conduct policy violation, will the team get fined?
That’s something we’re still working out. We haven’t made a final determination on that. We have not implemented the policy; we discussed how we were going to proceed on this. We gave them some broad outlines, but that’s one of the issues we’re still addressing.

Q: Fan behavior issue and not having enough security manpower?
Certainly if that’s required, and they need more manpower to address their issues, then yes, we would seek to make sure that they have those resources available to them. Somebody made a comment earlier when we were discussing this issue about statistics. One of the things we want to do is get standardized information so we understand exactly what we are dealing with and, more importantly, understand what’s effective. So as we implement changes and we have various programs to address this issue, we know what’s working and what’s not working so we can focus on what’s working.

Q: Are there legal issues surrounding that?
I have yet to find something where there wasn’t a legal aspect.

Q: The game he attended as a fan and his opinion on the perfect model of an ideal game for fans?
I went with my 13-year-old niece and I sat in two locations. I sat all the way at the top on about the 40 and I sat in the end zone, and they were two different experiences, to be honest with you. I was actually quite surprised at how different they were. I think the model is, from the time somebody goes to a stadium, and that includes getting into the stadium, going through the parking experience, going through the gates, sitting there, concessions, restrooms, the whole experience – making sure that they feel safe, that they’re comfortable and that they can enjoy the game without being interfered with. I think people have a right to do that, so I think that’s the experience. We want them to go home safely, and when they arrive home, feel good about what they just did that day.

Q: 26 players being arrested or cited since the Super Bowl this year vs. 27 players at the same time last year, and how much he feels the personal conduct policy is working when the numbers show that it’s not?
I don’t agree with that. If you look at any particular window, it might not look like there’s been significant progress, but I think there’s a greater recognition of the issue. We’ve showed that there was a significant reduction in numbers. I recognize there have been incidents in the recent few weeks which concern me, and that’s one of the reasons we’ve raised it again. We will continue to address this issue; it is still a priority for us. As I said last year, this is not going to get resolved simply by issuing a new personal conduct policy. It’s going to be continuing reinforcement of the message: you’re expected to act a particular way if you’re going to be involved with the NFL, period.

Q: Pacman Jones and a possible partial reinstatement so he can work out with the team?
I really wanted to get through today’s meeting, but I will meet with Adam. I will see what his progress is. Depending on his progress, I will make a determination on whether it’s appropriate to have him work out at the team facility or work out with the team. As you know, I gave him that right at the end of last season to use the facilities, and then he lost it. So, I’ll have to make a judgment about whether I think he understands his responsibilities as an NFL player and we’ll go from there.

Q: Has Adam made any attempt to meet with you to get this issue resolved while you are here in Atlanta?
I have not heard from him here.

Q: It sounds like that meeting could take place very soon?
Yes, it could.

Q: With regard to the CBA, could you say something to the fans about whether or not they should be worried at this point? What is your level of confidence about reaching a new agreement with the players before the deadline?
I think our fans should focus on enjoying NFL football. They have got that for the next three seasons at a minimum. It is our job to be able to address these issues off-the-field with the players, not through the media, but directly with the players and do it responsibly so that we reach an agreement that is good for the players, good for the NFL, and, most importantly, good for our fans.

Q: Any level of confidence?
I don’t go around making projections. It’s our job to reach something that is fair and appropriate. I’m sure I will be held accountable to that.

Q: Can you talk about the plan to have rookies tour the Hall of Fame and talk about the importance of this connection between rookies and players in the Hall?
It’s actually an idea that Michael Irvin gave me at the Hall of Fame last year and as you know he made what I thought was one of the most emotional and powerful speeches when he was inducted. We talked about the power of the Hall of the Fame. We talked about the power of the players who played the game and the coaches that coached the game. The players coming into the league should have an understanding of that history, that tradition, and the people that came before them. We actually looked at the possibility of moving the entire Rookie Symposium to Canton. That could not be done, at least in the short term, because of facilities. So, this was an alternative that we thought was appropriate, bringing the rookies to the Hall of Fame and letting them go through. Many of the clubs will be sending their own Hall of Fame players with them to give them an experience. I hope they’ll understand that they’re walking in some pretty big shoes and that they have a responsibility to the NFL and that they will someday hope to be in that Hall themselves as inductees.

Q: What evidence did you look at as far as the preseason?
We didn’t get specific. This was really more of a broader concept. We really talked about the journey that starts with the college players by going through the process of being selected in the NFL, making the NFL, and how compelling that story really is. We should really look at the preseason not as the beginning of the season, but actually as the end of the process where they learn how to become an NFL player. They either make it or they don’t, and that’s really very compelling content to us. We compared that to some of the other entertainment that is going on and how we thought that there is a place for this.

Q: Is this content for the NFL Network?
I think it would go beyond the NFL Network, but clearly it is why we believe a 24 hour, 7 days a week, 365 days a year channel talking about the NFL is a very compelling proposition because there are great stories. Other networks have other programming and they have other interests. We think talking football 365 days a year is good because there a lot people who want to talk about it and that’s good for us and it’s good for our fans.

Q: With the hair rule being tabled again, will players be able to wear their hair the way they have been for at least this season?
Yes, I think that is safe to say. We’re going to be meeting with the players again. We’re going to be discussing alternatives. We will be at least looking at some of those alternatives and maybe even trying some of those alternatives out if players are willing to do so in hopes we would have some sort of solution for this in the future. I would assume that it wouldn’t come in on a broad level for the 2008 season.

Q: Are there any updates on the Patriots scalping Super Bowl tickets or them allowing a player to practice while on injured reserve?
No.

Q: Was anything decided on the helmet communications system for the defense?
We passed it in March. Now it is just a question of implementing the actual communications system and making sure that it is in place and effective. We have done it within the policy we have passed in March.

Q: Have any teams experimented with it yet?
Not that I am aware of.

Q: Could there be fines levied against teams if there are too many rowdy fan incidents in their stadiums?
I never mentioned fines in that context. At some point that may be something that we entertain, but at this stage right now all the clubs believe that this is something we can do better at and we are going to be focused on how we can improve the experience. It is not a defining matter at this stage.

Q: Have you had any contact with Senator Specter since he called for an independent investigation last week?
No, I have not.

Q: Do you have any plans for that?
Nope.

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