erin8u4l: March 2011

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

personal finance manager

Another day, another honking big funding for another online start-up (and yet another broken embargo too!).

It’s like Groundhog Day in Silicon Valley as usual.

Today, Cambridge, Mass.-based HubSpot wins tech’s version of the lottery, grabbing $32 million from Sequoia Capital, Google Ventures and also Salesforce.com.

It is unclear what the valuation for HubSpot is now, although it is likely high given it has raised $65 million now.

HubSpot makes marketing software for businesses, who use it to find prospects and generate leads, along with tools to analyze the process. It claims it has “4,000 customers, over 50 percent market share, five million leads managed, and 70 million page views tracked monthly.”

The Series D financing included HubSpot’s existing venture investors–General Catalyst Partners, Matrix Partners, and Scale Venture Partners–and part of it will be used to cash out existing shareholders. In previous rounds, the start-up has raised $33 million.

Here is the official press release:

Sequoia, Google Ventures, and Salesforce.com Invest $32 Million in HubSpot

Marketing Software Company Attracts New Strategic Investors

CAMBRIDGE, MA–(Marketwire – March 8, 2011)–Today, for the first time ever, Sequoia Capital, Google Ventures and Salesforce.com all invested together in one company, providing HubSpot with a Series D round of financing through a $32 million investment. HubSpot provides all-in-one marketing software used by over 4,000 businesses to get found by more prospects, convert them into leads and sales, and analyze the entire marketing process.

“The fundamental way that people shop, learn, and buy has changed radically in the last few years. HubSpot helps transform the way businesses market from outbound marketing (cold calls, email blasts, and direct mail) to inbound marketing (Google, blogs, social media, mobile, etc.),” said Brian Halligan, co-founder and CEO of HubSpot.

Sequoia Capital has a long history of partnering with founders to help them build long-term, multi-billion dollar companies, including Google, LinkedIn, AdMob, YouTube, Yahoo!, Apple, and Oracle. “We back companies that are transforming their industries,” said Jim Goetz, General Partner at Sequoia Capital. “HubSpot is the emerging category leader in the SaaS marketing sector. Their customer base exceeds that of all the other relevant marketing software companies combined, including Eloqua, Marketo, Genius, and Manticore.”

“Today, every company needs to succeed in search, social, sales, and marketing–I can’t think of a more powerful trifecta than Google, Salesforce.com, and HubSpot. With 4,000 customers, HubSpot is already a clear marketing leader–now, with this new infusion of capital and recognition by Google’s venture arm and Salesforce.com, HubSpot has a great opportunity to separate itself from the pack and become the leading marketing platform in the small and medium business space,” said Brent Leary, co-founder of CRM Essentials.

Google Ventures Partner, Rich Miner (formerly co-founder of Android) said, “We agree with HubSpot’s belief that search engines, social media, and mobile devices have fundamentally changed how businesses should market themselves. We’re thrilled to support their efforts to help thousands of small and medium businesses reach potential customers.”

Dharmesh Shah, co-founder and CTO of HubSpot commented, “We founded the company based on a simple premise: Businesses want an easy-to-use, complete and integrated marketing platform that helps them get more leads and customers. We plan to use this new capital to further invest in this ambitious vision and further our existing lead in the marketing software category.”

Another day, another honking big funding for another online start-up (and yet another broken embargo too!).

It’s like Groundhog Day in Silicon Valley as usual.

Today, Cambridge, Mass.-based HubSpot wins tech’s version of the lottery, grabbing $32 million from Sequoia Capital, Google Ventures and also Salesforce.com.

It is unclear what the valuation for HubSpot is now, although it is likely high given it has raised $65 million now.

Here is the official press release:

Sequoia, Google Ventures, and Salesforce.com Invest $32 Million in HubSpot

Marketing Software Company Attracts New Strategic Investors

CAMBRIDGE, MA–(Marketwire – March 8, 2011)–Today, for the first time ever, Sequoia Capital, Google Ventures and Salesforce.com all invested together in one company, providing HubSpot with a Series D round of financing through a $32 million investment. HubSpot provides all-in-one marketing software used by over 4,000 businesses to get found by more prospects, convert them into leads and sales, and analyze the entire marketing process.

“The fundamental way that people shop, learn, and buy has changed radically in the last few years. HubSpot helps transform the way businesses market from outbound marketing (cold calls, email blasts, and direct mail) to inbound marketing (Google, blogs, social media, mobile, etc.),” said Brian Halligan, co-founder and CEO of HubSpot.

Sequoia Capital has a long history of partnering with founders to help them build long-term, multi-billion dollar companies, including Google, LinkedIn, AdMob, YouTube, Yahoo!, Apple, and Oracle. “We back companies that are transforming their industries,” said Jim Goetz, General Partner at Sequoia Capital. “HubSpot is the emerging category leader in the SaaS marketing sector. Their customer base exceeds that of all the other relevant marketing software companies combined, including Eloqua, Marketo, Genius, and Manticore.”

“Today, every company needs to succeed in search, social, sales, and marketing–I can’t think of a more powerful trifecta than Google, Salesforce.com, and HubSpot. With 4,000 customers, HubSpot is already a clear marketing leader–now, with this new infusion of capital and recognition by Google’s venture arm and Salesforce.com, HubSpot has a great opportunity to separate itself from the pack and become the leading marketing platform in the small and medium business space,” said Brent Leary, co-founder of CRM Essentials.

Google Ventures Partner, Rich Miner (formerly co-founder of Android) said, “We agree with HubSpot’s belief that search engines, social media, and mobile devices have fundamentally changed how businesses should market themselves. We’re thrilled to support their efforts to help thousands of small and medium businesses reach potential customers.”

Dharmesh Shah, co-founder and CTO of HubSpot commented, “We founded the company based on a simple premise: Businesses want an easy-to-use, complete and integrated marketing platform that helps them get more leads and customers. We plan to use this new capital to further invest in this ambitious vision and further our existing lead in the marketing software category.”

Surface Encounters

Barry Bonds trial: Giambi brothers due to testify

Major leaguers Jason and Jeremy Giambi were expected to testify Tuesday as Barry Bonds' perjury trial resumed.

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URGENT: Plutonium detected in soil at Fukushima nuke plant: TEPCO ...

URGENT: Plutonium detected in soil at Fukushima nuke plant: TEPCO. TOKYO, March 28, Kyodo. Plutonium has been detected in soil at five locations at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Monday ...

Surface Encounters

PS3 Jailbreak: Hotz strikes back PlayStation 3 News - Page 1 ...

Read our PlayStation 3 news of PS3 Jailbreak: Hotz strikes back.

Surface Encounters

With the company’s future already clouded by Steve Jobs’ latest medical leave, the possibility of the iPad’s chief designer, Jonathan Ive, cashing out ups the uncertainty, Dan Lyons writes.

Is Apple losing its design guru?

When Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced in January that he would take a third medical leave, the biggest concern was the cloud of uncertainty that hovered over the company. Now that uncertainty has become an issue again, as rumors have started swirling that Apple might lose its chief designer, Jonathan Ive.

Apple's head designer Jonathan Ive poses for a portrait on January 27, 2010 in Cupertino, California. (Photo by Paul Harris / Newscom)

Reports in Ive’s native England suggest that the man who oversaw the design of the iPhone and iPad wants to spend more time in the U.K., putting him at odds with Apple’s board enough that he would consider leaving the company. Although Ive and Apple won’t comment, the scenario is plausible for two reasons: First, Ive is about to cash in options valued at $30 million that he was granted in 2008; and second, Ive has an especially close relationship with Jobs.

Whether Ive stays or goes, the brouhaha shows the challenges that Apple is increasingly likely to face given the questions about Jobs’ role in the coming months. One scenario being bandied about by Apple-watchers suggests Ive is making a power play to succeed Jobs; it seems just as likely, however, that he simply may not want to work at Apple if Jobs isn’t there.

Still others think the entire notion that Ive might leave is completely unfounded. But either way, the whole incident shows how the Jobs health situation is bringing more drama to a company that, until now, has been a model of tight-lipped discipline.

Apple’s products are famous for their sleek designs, and conventional wisdom holds that losing Ive would be a terrible blow to Apple—“Apple’s worst nightmare,” Britain’s Guardian called it. But the truth is, losing Ive may not be as big a deal as some Apple watchers think.

For one thing, Apple has loads of bench strength in every department, and because of its success it can attract just about anyone it wants.

“How much of this is Steve, how much is Jon, how much someone else? Steve always had an eye for design. The designer is only as good as the client,” says Jean-Louis Gassée.

For another, the real genius behind Apple’s designs might not be Ive—but rather Jobs.

That’s the educated guess of Jean-Louis Gassée, a former top executive at Apple and a longtime close watcher of the company who still has many connections there.

Gassée points out that Ive was already working at Apple when Jobs returned to the company in 1996. Ive joined the company in 1992, when Jobs was gone from the company, having been ousted by the board in 1985.

And before Jobs returned to Apple, Ive wasn’t exactly setting the world on fire. The first products that Ive designed under Jobs were the “Bondi Blue” iMac and the somewhat ugly iBook. Ive’s next products, the "desk lamp" Mac and the early metal laptops, were better looking, Gassée says.

Titles from major book publisher Random House will now appear in Apple’s iBooks store. The news was one of many talking points covered earlier today at Apple’s media event. Random House had previously been the only major publisher not represented in Apple’s popular iOS book store, as it was not willing to grant Apple the 30% cut taken on titles sold through iBooks. The addition of Random House is a major coup for Apple as it looks to compete with the likes of Amazon’s Kindle bookstore and other popular offerings. Hit the break for Apple’s full press release.

Random House, Inc. Makes Entire US Catalog of 17,000 ebooks Available on Apple’s iBookstore

iBookstore Now Features More than 2,500 Publishers, Including All Six Major Trade Publishers

SAN FRANCISCO—March 2, 2011—Apple® today announced that Random House, Inc., the largest trade book publisher in the US, has made its full catalog of 17,000 ebooks available on Apple’s iBookstore℠, including bestsellers by Stieg Larsson, John Grisham, Dan Brown, Danielle Steel, Laura Hillenbrand, Cormac McCarthy, Lee Child and many more of the world’s preeminent authors. Starting today, customers can pre-order upcoming releases from Random House including Lisa Gardner’s “Love You More,” Suze Orman’s “The Money Class” and Jean Auel’s “The Land of Painted Caves.” With the addition of Random House, the iBookstore now offers ebooks from all six major trade publishers and thousands of independent publishers.

“We are delighted that Apple’s iBookstore now will be carrying Random House’s US ebooks for the first time,” said Markus Dohle, Random House’s Chairman and CEO. “And we look forward to bringing our 17,000 ebooks to Apple customers.”

“We’re thrilled to offer Random House on the iBookstore,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of Internet Services. “iBookstore customers have already downloaded more than 100 million books in less than one year, and we think they’ll love being able to choose from Random House’s incredible selection of titles to enjoy on their iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.”

iBookstore customers can choose from a wide selection of illustrated and video-enhanced books that look incredible on iPad™, including Jay-Z’s memoir “Decoded” and Bing West’s “The Wrong War”; bestselling children’s series such as Magic Tree House and Junie B. Jones; and cookbooks by Martha Stewart, Rachael Ray, and the Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten. Random House, Inc. comprises more than 80 adult and children’s US publishing imprints including Alfred A. Knopf, Doubleday, Crown, Pantheon Books, Vintage, Ballantine and Bantam.

The iBookstore, included in Apple’s free iBooks® app, is the best way to browse, buy and read books on your iPad, iPhone® and iPod touch®. iBookstore offers ebooks from more than 2,500 publishers in more than 20 categories, including Mysteries & Thrillers, Biographies & Memoirs, Cookbooks, Children’s & Teen, Humor, Romance, Business and Travel.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork, and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple is reinventing the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced its magical iPad which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

Tags: announcement, Apple, books, e-books, e-reader, ebooks, eReader, Event, iBooks, Random House

Surface Encounters

Surface Encounters

The major legislative item on the agenda in the Senate this week will be The Small Business Reauthorization Act (S. 493). Republicans plan to use this bill as a platform to promote critical pieces of legislation through the process of non-germane amendments to the bill. Here are some vital amendments that will be debated and voted on throughout the week:

Senator Mitch McConnell is offering an amendment (S. AMDT 183) to prohibit the EPA from promulgating any regulations on greenhouse gas emissions. There is perhaps no force that is more destructive to our prosperity, consumer freedom of choice, and job creation than onerous cap and trade schemes. There are many red state Democrats who are up for reelection in 2012 and will be hard pressed to go on record as supporting policies that are an imprecation to the interests of their states. Make sure to call Senators Claire McCaskill, Joe Manchin, Ben Nelson, Bill Nelson, and Jon Tester in particular.

Senator David Vitter is offering an amendment (S.AMDT. 178) forcing the federal government to sell off unused and underused property. This is a serious issue. The federal government owns over half of the land in some western states and has been using it to stifle energy development. Selling unused federal lands would also serve as a prudent means of generating revenue without raising taxes.

Senator Rand Paul is using the SBA bill as a platform to offer his signature budget bill (S.AMDT 199) which would slash $200 billion in spending for fiscal 2011. Paul’s plan slashes funding by 50% to the Departments of Energy, Education, and HUD. This amendment represents real limited government and budget austerity and will separate the men among the boys in the ranks of the Republican Conference.

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison is forcing a vote (S. AMDT 197) to delay the implementation of ObamaCare until a final resolution is reached in pending lawsuits. Unlike other bills that are designed to merely ameliorate ObamaCare, this amendment would completely halt it during the ensuing legal battles.

Senator Tom Coburn has filed an amendment (S.AMDT.184) to force federal agencies to compile comprehensive lists of all of their programs

Make sure that all of your Republican senators are on record supporting these amendments, especially Rand Paul’s budget proposal. Also, let’s see which faux moderate Democrats will commit to supporting anyone of these commonsense initiatives. Needless to say, I didn’t waste time calling my senators; Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin!

Preview of Final Result

Resources

PT Sans Bold – FontSquirrel

Free App Icons for Developers – WebAppers

Step 1

Open Photoshop and create a new document that is 1200 x 1200 pixels, 72 dpi, and RGB Color. Fill the layer with white. (Ctrl+Backspace or Delete)

Step 2

Now create a rectangle for the header and fill it with a white-grey color, then use the colors on the image for the “Gradient Overlay”. Our search and logo will eventually be part of the header.

Step 3

Create a new rectangle above the previous one, with attributes as shown below. The following drop shadow effect creates a look of a 1 pixel stroke which does increase the look of that simple bar. Note: this step creates a horizontal line.

Step 4

Now add the “Gradient Overlay” layer style with the hex codes indicated.

Step 5

Add a white 1 pixel stroke. The following stroke of 1 pixel will divide the grey shadow effect. It’ll eventually work as a divider.

Step 6

Make one more rectangle in the middle-right zone, and fill it with white and add a 1 px stroke as indicated – it will be our search box.

Step 7

One more rectangle should be created and filled with blue. Set the inner shadow as indicated below, this will be our search button. This blue works great in combination with grey, white and light-grey. Blue will be the major contrasting color we use as we work through this template.

Step 8

Add the Gradient Overlay details to the button with the details from image.

Step 9

Add a 1 px stroke to the button with the color indicated. Take a look at the first and the final result of the button so you can see the difference all these details made.

Step 10

Now add this drop shadow effect for the text placed in the search box, using PT Sans Bold. This will be the final step in creating your search button. You may want to try other fonts, but the PT Sans Bold is really good for this small button.

Step 11

Make another fill under the header section, this will be the navigation area. Here we will place the navigation links of our template.

Step 12

Write your navigation links using a dark-grey color, then add a white “drop shadow” effect. The effect used for the navigation links is the same used for the search button.

Step 13

With 1px vertical line, make divisions between each links. The lines should be black and will really increase the beauty of the navigation area.

Step 14

Over the home section, make a fill with the blue and then add a Gradient Overlay style as indicated.

Step 15

Copy the Home link, this time color it white and add a drop shadow effect.

Step 16

Create a big, grey zone under the navigation, it should be about 30% of the layout. This will be the background for the featured area.

Step 17

Now create a big, white rectangle and add some shadow with the details shown. A big stock image, a big headline and some text with another great button will be added.

Step 18

Add a any dummy image you want to that featured area. Be sure it covers more than 80% of the area. The one I chose is from a stock website.

Step 19

Add some text to it, use the PT SANS Bold font and make the font big.

Step 20

The remaining area should be filled with grey, in it we’ll place some text. This is really a secondary area which describes the image, the services, the company itself, or whatever you’d like.

Step 21

Place some blue-colored text which will be the title of the information below. Use the details in the image for Drop Shadow style.

Step 22

Add some dummy text. This could be some important information or whatever you’d like.

Step 23

Create another grey area under the featured zone, where we will add some text and icons later. Add the details as stated on the image. Mostly, the icons will promote the services offered by the company behind the website.

Step 24

Continue by adding a Gradient Overlay style for the last rectangle we have created in the anterior steps.

Step 25

Now we are adding titles and icons, as well as some divisions. The icons can be found in the resource list at the beginning of the tutorial. Be sure to choose your icons and text thoughtfully.

Step 26

At the border of both zones, create a small circle and fill it with dark brown color. Add some inner shadow as stated on the image.

Step 27

Continue by adding a drop shadow layer style. It is another small detail, but it really makes that button zone minimalistic, nice-looking and well designed.

Step 28

To finish, add a Gradient Overlay effect.

Step 29

By using the Custom Shape Tool (U), create an arrow in both circles. Now add the details shown on the screenshot.

Step 30

Continue by adding some Color Overlay for the arrow. It should also be a blue color because otherwise, it will not fit the contrast and the colors used on the whole template.

Step 31

Add a video screenshot in the free space and place a title for it. For this template, I have used a simple screenshot of a YouTube widget.

Step 32

Add the text “Product Highlights” and “Case Studies.” Let the text under the “Product Highlights” be links so you could showcase some friends’ websites or resources you admire/promote.

Step 33

Finish it by creating another form for e-mails, place all kind of other information, and whatever you’d like.

Step 34

Don’t forget to make a relevant/small footer for our template. If you have paid attention, you should know how to create the same effect as below.

All done! If you have questions or suggestions, feel free to drop a comment. I hope you enjoyed this whole tutorial!

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Small Business News: Social Media Brand

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The Funniest Fox News FAILS (PICTURES)

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Monday, March 28, 2011

Making Money With Options

"A few months before Barton's study appeared, I published an article showing that the correlation between eighth-grade math scores and distance of state capitals from the Canadian border was .522, a respectable showing. By contrast, the correlation with per pupil expenditure was a derisory .203. I offered the policy proposal that states wishing to improve their schools should move closer to Canada. This would be difficult, of course, but so would it be to change the parent-pupil ratio.

Indeed, the 1990 Census found that for the District of Columbia, apart from Ward 3 west of Rock Creek Park, the percentage of children living in single-parent families in the seven remaining wards ranged from a low of 63.6 percent to a high of 75.7. This being a One-time measurement, over time the proportions become asymptotic. And this in the nation's capital. No demand for change comes from that community - or as near to no demand as makes no matter. For there is good money to be made out of bad schools. This is a statement that will no doubt please many a hard heart, and displease many genuinely concerned to bring about change. To the latter, a group in which I would like to include myself, I would only say that we are obliged to ask why things do not change.

Now that silver continues hitting nominal high after high (except of course for the record price hit during the Hunt Bros period), and there is a very distinct possibility we may see an unprecedented melt up in the price of silver to over triple digits for a variety of previously discussed factors, here is a post we produced a year earlier, courtesy of a "deep insider" which dissects with exquisite detail the nuances of silver market manipulation, which in retrospect may have been just a little early. Considering that every single trope mentioned is now in play (even the unmasking of Buffett's unbelievable PM bashing hypocrisy when he himself was one of the people who utilized blatant silver market manipulation for his own purposes when it suited him back in 1997 to send silver soaring), we believe readers should re-read this post in its entirety as it presents a walk-thru for the mechanics, and strategy, of the ongoing unprecedented move higher in the shiny metal.

From A Deep Insider's Walkthru To Silver Market Manipulation, posted originally in April 2010, when silver was lower.... way lower.

As the topic of physical delivery has gained prominent attention
recently, it is crucial to complete the circle and show how this
weakest link in the PM market is (ab)used by the big boys: Phibro and
Warren Buffet. Pay particular attention to the analogues between the
methods employed in the 90's commodity market and how the PM (and
equity) market is being gamed currently. And to think that each new
generation of traders believes it has discovered something new... (All emphasis below is ours)

Background

As
a market maker in silver options from 1989 to 2000 I was present during
both the 1994 and 1997 silver events. They were seminal in my education
of gamesmanship in trading and how probabilities can come up short.
Prior
to going out on my own, I traded at a small market making firm. When a
trader finished training there, he had top-tier options knowledge but
was not educated in whom the players were, the fundamentals of the
markets, and how probabilities were useless when information was
asymmetric. That wasn’t their business, they taught option’s theory.
Since I had drunk the kool-aid, I thought fundamentals and gamesmanship
were useless in the face of the almighty Standard Deviation model. That
was a mistake.

Phibro Early Exercise

In
April 1994, the Thursday before Easter, the trading day ended with a
rather unusual run up of 15 cents near the close to finish at 435ish
around noon. Options expired that day at 4pm but we weren’t anywhere
near the closest strikes (425 and 450) so most of us left. It was a 4
day weekend in the U.S. but silver traded globally, albeit il-liquidly
in Asia. Comex wouldn’t open until next Tuesday. My education in
gamesmanship started that afternoon at JFK airport as I was waiting for a
flight, my first vacation in 5 years.
My backer paged me at the
airport to inform me that someone was exercising the K 450 calls. I
scoffed thinking it was a retail sap that was talked into exercising
some 5 lot piece by an overzealous broker. “Great I said, let them, the
options are out of the money.” And I hung up
10 minutes later
he had me paged again. “You don’t understand, it’s Phibro exercising.”
Again I naively said, “So what, they are energy guys.” But I was
curious, “How many? “ I asked. “All of them, five thousand, he replied.
Now I was really curious, but still woefully ignorant that it was I who
was the sap at the table. “Why would they do that?” and he explained it
to me. I nearly shit myself and bent over in the cab vomiting on the
ride back.
Cancelling my trip, I headed back to the office to
assess the reality of what would happen, probabilities were no longer
important. Survival was important. I had no money and was trading on a
$25k note lent to me by my backer.
We covered by buying futures
on my entire short open Interest equivalent of EXPIRED OUT OF THE MONEY
OPTIONS in Singapore with a dealing firm. We did this prior to even
actually knowing if I was exercised, probabilities be damned. How did I
know they exercised? The price covered at was $462; that is how. The
450s were already in the money by 12 cents.
Phibro exercised all
5k lots. I had a fraction of that but big enough to be carried out on a
stretcher had the rest of my position not bailed me out/ performed on
Tuesday next week.
The weird part was, the market stabilized
that Tuesday and did not run to “infinity” as it could easily have. We
found out later it was because Phibro’s exercise was a no-no and Warren
Buffet ordered them to shut the trade down as it was too big of a
potential scandal. Especially in light of his coming to Solly’s rescue
and lending his good name to fix their most recent Treasury scandal. A
couple head’s rolled there if I remember correctly.
My guess was
that the client was a Buffet or Soros type. Someone that would only go
to Phibro, as these guys were the best at preventing information
leakage, and always aligned themselves with client interests, where as
if IB had an order and acted in dual capacity as a dealer, he would
potentially front-run the order or stop it out poorly on an exit. Phibro
didn’t take other side of their client’s orders. They ran with them,
and took care of the clients first.
Phibro got a big order for a
client to buy silver, one that had to be handled expertly, and filled
over time, no information leakage would be tolerated. These guys were a
prop desk that took orders as brokers once in a while.
They accumulated options for their own account (K 450C) to piggyback but not front-run the client.
They must have bought futures for themselves as well as the client with his permission.
They beat the VWAP by gunning the market on light volumes 1 hour before a 4 day US holiday. [TD: compare and contrast with the daily patterns seen every single day in the endless move up in the S&P]
They
exercised the 450 Calls that day and then lifted the offers of the 1 or
2 OTC metals dealers left open during Singapore hours, running them
over during illiquid markets.

Never Again!

I became infatuated with Phibro gamesmanship and made it a point to understand that particular type of player.
Libertarian
Darwinist that I was I did not blame them. At the time It was a
buyer-beware market for big businesses and they did nothing wrong. They
took risk and they aren’t bigger than the market. I wanted to play with
the big boys, and that was the price.
For me it was about
learning how to read the signs and not be on the wrong side of one of
those events again, even if I was not privy to their meetings.

Here is some of what I learned:

In
metals (and energy and anything else with an OTC market) the IB firms
have dealing desks along GS, MS, Republic, JPMorgan, Scotia Mocatta, all
were essentially broker dealers in precious metals. All had clients:
miners who hedged production and hedge funds who speculated OTC. They
provided liquidity by taking the other side of their client’s trade and
“back-to-backing” them in the futures markets or held onto them in their
prop books as counterparty because of something else they saw.
Their
client left resting orders with them in the IB’s Central Limit Order
Book (CLOB) which served as good information to trade around for the IB.
Sometimes they front-ran the client, other times they go for stops to force the client to puke. Sometimes they’d just make markets, depending on many things. It was poker to them.
Phibro
was different. These were smart guys but they weren’t a dealing bank.
They exploited imbalances in markets and took positions. They had
ideas. They also took orders for heavyweights who needed absolute
discretion. They did not make it their business to fleece their own
clients and instead aligned their interests. And they made the banks
look like pikers when a client came to them with an order.
For
the next 4 Years I paid attention to how those dealing banks and phibro
played the markets. It was all about gamesmanship, Bayesian probability,
and knowing your counterparty’s motivation with these guys. Information
and misinformation.

Some methods:

How
I.B firms would use a thinly traded floor to print the price that would
trigger a massive stop loss in the OTC markets and bury their own
clients. Or how they would buy for their own accounts in front of
resting limit orders for clients and simply use their clients to stop
themselves out if the market printed thru their buy levels. Or how they
would use dual representation to show loudly they were buyers on one
side of the ring, while they were selling quietly upstairs to other OTC
dealers. Trading with themselves in multiple entities, etc.
An
IB with a Commodity Index was in heaven. Prop trading, captive client
flow from IB deals and OTC dealing and Brokerage. The good ones knew how
to integrate and hedge macro risks, whether to front run their own
index clients or get out off their way. “Chinese walls” did not exist
in Commods.
Commods were mostly self regulated and that lead to predatory yet mostly legal behaviour.
Some
of these were necessary to protect their interests with such a small
number of players. Some were possibly unethical, but most were legal.
Their clients were all big boys who left resting orders with the IBs at
their own risk. Clients themselves had to resort to some of the same
tricks to keep the IB desks honest, like Coming in backwards,
“spoofing”, leaving buy stops to get sell orders filled. The alternative
for these clients was to put massive orders in the floor where
liquidity was subjective, non continuous and information leakage was
massive.

1997- Warren Buffet.

I got my chance to not get run over in 1997, when Warren Buffet gave an order to Phibro to buy silver.
Short version. Here is what went down.
Buffet gives Phibro the order- fact
Phibro
begins filling it as a broker using various OTC dealers as
counterparties, and letting the I.B dealers sweat getting out of the
risk. - fact
Phibro buys options for their own account (no exercise game this time tho)- fact
Phibro buys futures for their own account. – not confirmed.
One
by one the IB dealers start to catch on that this is no ordinary order
Phibro is handling. They back away and liquidity gets harder to find.-
fact
Other bigger hedge funds in the small circle of professionals, and other smart firms start getting long.- fact
Silver
starts getting delivered from the Comex vaults. Some of it actually
removed. Some of it just “covered with a sheet” for removal. But ounces
begin to be removed from the warehouse. Phibro was rumored to be taking
delivery and beginning to telegraph fear in the markets to start
spoofing the VWAP. Rumor was they had a warehouse in Red Hook where they
stored it. Never confirmed.
Point here is, the saps for the
last part of this play were the producers and refiners who were
complacently net short and dependent on above ground silver to satisfy
delivery requests.
Producers had been over-hedging for years in
this market, as silver was cheap and they had business cash flow issues.
It was their habit to sell forward production not yet available to
them. And if forced to, they would lease already above ground silver and
make delivery, collateralizing it with silver yet to be mined. Their
positions were habitually synthetically long the contango as they rolled
their deliverable production further and further out the curve in an
attempt to squeeze much needed cash (cost of carry)for their businesses.
The net effect was that sometimes they had to borrow silver for prompt
delivery while they rolled their production hedge back further. – my
interpretation of what I learned. May not be accurate to the “T”, am not
a physical guy.
Example: in 1995 a miner has silver due above
ground in 1997. He hedges it in Z-1997 contract. Z 1997 comes and if he
doesn’t have that silver available for some other reason; he covers the
short and rolls it back. How much he needs to do this is a function of
his obligations, cash flows, and his greed for carry. If leases are
cheap, he will seek to capture all the contango and lease it until he
gets the silver available.
If lease rates go up, it is not
unlike a miner strike. Silver is needed for delivery now, and term risk
becomes the issue. Contango collapses and market goes backwardated. He
will be forced to sell the contango to get that prompt silver short back
if he cannot make delivery. He has to defer delivery.
These guys were dependent on the specs NOT taking delivery for years. Specs didn’t have balance sheets to take and store physical metal. Specs usually were the weak hands at futures expiry.
But then…..Entities
that stored silver in bank vaults (like the Republic vault) begin to
remove silver from the available pool for leasing. This made the “easy
money” portion of production financing no longer easy. Think: smart
money getting the word that a squeeze was on and playing along with it.
Phibro
(and others) start selling the contango in the futures market to
prepare to take delivery of even more contracts. Or at least put
pressure on the producers who had front month shorts they would have to
make a decision on delivering. Phibro KNEW that the producers had to
sell the spreads to get their shorts back. But they couldn’t lift their
shorts altogether as part of their financing deals with their bankers.
Their own positions were now breaking down in every way except flat
price. The market really didn’t move much. This let them stay in denial.
Buffet announces he is long and intends to take delivery of silver. Contango collapses. Market spikes to 7.40.
Rumor
is gov’t intercedes and asks Buffet to not do this, it would break the
industry. (Kind of like how the exchange begged the gov’t to help it
shut down the Hunt Bros.) He says ok, and agrees to lend then their
silver back to them. Essentially charging them 40% interest to delay
delivery for a year.

What to look for:

Find the overleveraged/ extended party- and you will find the weak hand at the table. (Producers in 1997)
Tail
wags dog: if the pricing venue trades smaller volume than the OTC, then
manipulate price with small volumes to execute trades with big volumes
favorably. (OTC vs Comex floor)
Divide and conquer- if
counterparties are undercapitalized and/ or fragmented, then it will be
easier to get them to move like a herd. (happens in options ALL THE
TIME at expiration)
Manipulate data- take delivery of metal, take risk off books, manipulate MTM data.
Create
an exit strategy- a good catalyst like Easter weekend, an announcement
by an investor etc. or develop a market and grow your own bigger fool.
ie – retail.

Comments - So many points to make here:

How
derivative markets can create a problem thru too much liquidity that
cannot easily be reconciled by bringing physical production on line fast
enough.
How this works both ways, and that dealing banks have
been playing the gold/silver carry game for easy funding of other trades
for years.
How, even though I personally think that what the
OTC does is their own business, but the increasing securitization of
commodities leaves regulatory arbitrage and OTC games to affect a new
generation of ETF buyers, either thru incremental banking or thru
contango cancer. That Wall Street salesmen and players with
access to both markets retail and professional can exploit the captive
audience created with ETFs and other fund type instruments to shear and
in some cases skin the sheep.
That much of this happens
because the gov’t is too stupid to see the inherent conflict of
interest in what a broker-dealer does. Regulation will not stop gaming
the law. Ethics do, and not everybody has ethics. So best you
can do is prevent situations of conflict of interest, like the existence
of Broker-dealer type entities. Either you trade for yourself, or you
trade for others. Period.
Fact is, if there were retail
public in this game back then, the IB firms would have somehow sold
them on the idea to BUY contango, or short silver. But the
financialization of commodities wasn’t there yet. And the “bigger fool”
game stopped at the producers. If it happened again, with ETFs, cross
regulatory semi fungible products, asymmetric access to venues and other
factors in a global market, the public would be killed, short squeeze
or long puke (like in UNG now) take your pick.
You can never
know intentions, and no one is bigger than the market, but the
consequences of a lack of transparency and the free reign in which banks
can tell half-truths to investors is a big factor in enabling strong
hands to fleece weak hands with little market risk. It’s all a con game.
And when the IBs figured out how to change the rules, then they
were free to use their killer techniques to exploit a million little
fish instead of the 10 big fish they usually competed with.
Phibro
was a ballsy cowboy trading firm. The banks at the employee level are
as well, but corporately, they first seek to make money and secondly
provide a service. When they should be providing a service that makes
money.
Everything that was done I’ve seen done the other
way, keeping prices low, shaking out weaker players. Rarely does it
happen in such a dramatic way. It is usually a series of “short cons” as
opposed to Phibro’s home run. It’s all Darwinism. But when civilians
are involved as they are now, then it is no longer caveat emptor.
Instead of taking a million dollars from a hedge fund, these guys take a dollar from a million people now.

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Seven Uyghurs Sentenced to Death

2011-03-23

Critics of the sentences say China has politicized the robberies as acts of terrorism.

AFP

A Uyghur man walks past armed Chinese security forces in Urumqi, July 17, 2009.

Chinese authorities in the northwestern region of Xinjiang have ordered the executions of seven ethnic minority Uyghur men convicted of "violent" crimes, official media said on Wednesday.

The death sentences were handed down by the Supreme People's Court in recent days, according to state media in the regional capital, Urumqi.

The men were accused in connection with three separate attacks late last year in the Silk Road city of Kashgar, according to the news website Urumqi Online.

According to another website, the Xinjiang-based Tianshan news site, Aimaiti Tuheti, Yiming Dawuti, and unnamed "others" killed a security guard at a pedestrian mall as part of a failed Aug. 7 robbery attempt.

In a separate incident on Oct. 12, it said, Nuermaimaiti Aobulikasimu and 11 others broke into a house, bound and killed the couple living in it, and took their possessions.

It said the group also broke into the homes of two brothers, robbed them, and killed six people in a Nov. 11 attack in Kashgar.

The report gave no information about the victims or the schedule for the executions.

Three of the men were sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve, a sentence that is normally commuted to life imprisonment in China's judicial system.

They were convicted of deliberate homicide and armed robbery by the Kashgar Intermediate People's Court in the first instance.

'Strike hard' campaign

A Han Chinese resident of Urumqi surnamed Yang said a reference to "terrorism" in official news reports on the case showed that it was being politicized by the authorities, who have launched a series of "strike hard" campaigns in Xinjiang following deadly ethnic violence in July 2009.

"There is an implied political meaning; that they were somehow engaged in separatist activities or ethnic divisions," said Yang.

Exile Uyghur groups said the trials had been conducted behind closed doors, with scant opportunity for public scrutiny.

"The entire process against these men, from the trial through to the judgment, was opaque," said Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the Munich-based World Uyghur Congress.

"There was also very little reasonable evidence to convict them on a legal basis, because all the evidence came from one side of the case," he said.

"We strongly condemn the Chinese government for continuing to pursue their policies of ethnic division," said Raxit.

"We are also strongly opposed to the death penalty in this case."

Earlier cases

Last month, the Supreme Court sentenced four Uyghurs to death for alleged involvement in an Aug. 19 bomb attack in Xinjiang’s western Aksu city.

The World Uyghur Congress pointed to concerns over lack of transparency in those cases too.

The Aksu blast left eight people dead, including two of the bombers, and 15 wounded after a man riding a three-wheeled vehicle threw explosives at a group of uniformed patrolmen. Four Uyghurs were arrested shortly after the attack.

State media characterized the cases as acts of terrorism and unrelated to longstanding ethnic tensions between Uyghurs and Han Chinese in the region.

Exiled Uyghur dissident Rebiya Kadeer has warned that attacks like those in Aksu will continue to occur until Beijing addresses the underlying source of tension in the region.

Millions of Uyghurs—a distinct, Turkic minority who are predominantly Muslim—populate Central Asia and Xinjiang.

Uyghurs say they have long suffered ethnic discrimination, oppressive religious controls, and continued poverty and joblessness despite China's ambitious plans to develop its vast northwestern frontier.

Those frustrations erupted in July 2009 in deadly riots that left nearly 200 people dead, by the Chinese government's tally.

At least 26 people, mostly Uyghurs, were sentenced to death in the aftermath of the riots, many of whom have been executed, according to state media.

China is believed to execute more people each year than the rest of the world’s countries combined, although the government does not publish official figures.

Rights groups say Beijing may execute as many as several thousand prisoners annually.

Chinese authorities blame Uyghur separatists for a series of deadly attacks in recent years and accuse one group in particular of maintaining ties to the al-Qaeda terrorist network.

New training scheme

China on Wednesday also announced a training scheme which places ethnic minority graduates from Xinjiang in work elsewhere in China.

Governments of the destination cities will spend 450 million yuan (U.S.$ 69 million) for the program, while Xinjiang will spend 400 million yuan (U.S.$ 61 million), the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The program targets some 60,000 jobless college graduates in Xinjiang, around 80 percent of whom are from ethnic minorities, and 60 percent of whom are women.

However, some commentators see the move as an attempt to assimilate non-Han Chinese into mainstream Chinese culture.

"From the point of view of ethnic minorities, the graduate work scheme is really taking the cream of youth from the minorities and using them to 'further cultural development,'" wrote one ethnic minority user on a popular microblogging service.

"In fact, the culture that is being advanced is Han culture, and this group of young people will have been totally brainwashed," the microblog update said.

An Urumqi resident surnamed Li agreed.

"They have run senior high school schemes like this before during the past few years," he said.

"Whether it's high-schoolers or graduate training programs, these are measures that are aimed at thought control and brainwashing, and the 'Partification' of their education," he said.

Reported by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.

Wikileaks and the Uyghurs

by holly upon Dec 20, This year
Henryk Szadziewski, Supervisor, Uyghur Human Rights Project

If it had been actually in doubt, info obtained by the whistleblower website, Wikileaks, has verified Chinese federal government fears over it's ongoing charge of the region it calls Xinjiang, also is known as East Turkestan. The leaked out wires through Ough.Utes. diplomats show the actual extent to which Chinese language government bodies attempt to persuade government authorities worldwide to consider its position on issues impacting Uyghurs. The wires also display the actual U . s . States' issues as well as views regarding the ongoing repressive measures in the area.

Most illuminating of Chinese language federal government pressure would be the cables pointing in order to Chinese frustration, or even the specter of Chinese language ire, within the release of Uyghur detainees within Guantánamo to third nations. A December Twenty nine, 2008 cable television relates how Chinese language Assistant International Reverend Liu Jieyi fulfilled using the Ough.Utes. Ambassador in order to China to voice Beijing's strong opposition of launch in order to any kind of country apart from The far east, which when the Ough.Utes. did indeed accede to this ask for it would "avoid injury to bilateral relations and to cooperation ‘in essential areas'". Furthermore, a Feb 2009 cable television explains how the Chinese language Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, Zhang Yannian, regarded the feasible discharge of Uyghur Guantánamo detainees as "an unfriendly act toward us" and a "slap in the face". That the U.S. government stood company within not really liberating the actual detainees to China illustrates the degree of the politicized character of the Chinese language judicial system. Genuine issues over terrorism tend to be understandable, however in the actual Ough.Utes. government's observe the detainees would most likely face do-it-yourself torture and execution if they returned to The far east

Chinese federal government stress in regard to the actual Uyghur Guantánamo detainees wasn't only applied to the Ough.S. government, but also to Brand new Zealand and a number of European government authorities which were considering resettlement. Albania, Indonesia and Finland, in addition to European Union member says all have the symptoms of paid for the impact associated with Chinese government unhappiness. In the case of Indonesia, that was at first prepared to consider 2 Uyghurs on solely relief reasons, Uyghur Guantánamo cases had been less preferable to other detainees because of the unwanted effects accepting Uyghurs might have upon relationships with China. The Might Eight, 2009 cable television relates how "German Ambassador Michael Schaefer reported which Indonesia had knowledgeable China of the Ough.Utes. ask for to accept a few Uighur detainees kept from Guantánamo coupled with already been subsequently warned through China associated with ‘a large load upon bilateral relations' in the event that Germany were to simply accept any kind of detainees".

The diplomatic wires also discuss the unrest in Urumchi, the actual local capital, within July 2009. A This summer 13, 2009 cable talking about bulk occurrences in China says:

"Ethnic riots such as those in Xinjiang This summer 5-7 and in Tibet in March associated with 08 vary markedly in origin and character from bulk occurrences, XXXXXXXXXXXX emphasized to PolOff [Political Officer] upon XXXXXXXXXXXX. Both existing severe problems for the actual Party, XXXXXXXXXXXX stated, but the Celebration leadership wouldn't wait to spread out fire upon Uighurs or even Tibetans when they considered this essential to restore order. Bulk incidents pose another type of threat, he said, as the management is ‘afraid' to fireplace on Han rioters for anxiety about causing huge public outrage that would turn from the Celebration."

This can be a chilling opinion, particularly when one considers the evidence offered in two reviews launched this year through the Uyghur Individual Privileges Project (UHRP) and Amnesty International which detail eyewitness accounts from the use of lethal live fireplace towards Uyghur protestors in July 2009. In addition, the declaration which fire wouldn't be deployed against Han Chinese protestors offers resonances for that different approach taken by Chinese language protection forces within Urumchi to Han Chinese language protests within September '09. During those direct orders, after that Celebration Assistant, Wang Lequan, tackled demonstrators, who had required he inform them regarding government reactions in order to protection issues. A similar ask for to satisfy using the Celebration Secretary by Uyghur demonstrators in July was not met.

The broader consequences of the unrest also saw a short dialogue about the impact it would possess upon Iran-China relations, and on relationships along with Australia after World Uyghur Congress Leader, Ms. Rebiya Kadeer, spoke at the National Press Club in Canberra within July '09. In the second option situation, the Chinese federal government "privately warn[ed] a major Australian financial institution that vendors the National Press Club to use it's impact to bar the Kadeer speech there".

The U . s . States' concerns about the situation within the Uyghur area are available via within the cables. Inside a dialogue on policy direction within Tibet, U.S. authorities clarify that it'll be impossible for Chinese language frontrunners to consider the softer collection "if they look like they are doing so under worldwide pressure". The actual cable dated 04 16, 08, one month after the episode of unrest within Tibetan regions, also relayed the declaration "that domestic balance continues to be leadership's main concern above all else, which means there'll ‘almost surely' be absolutely no relaxation of the current difficult line on Tibet or perhaps in places like Xinjiang." The info contained in the cable television additionally sheds light on the extreme sensitivity that the Chinese federal government sights territorial integrity, and the feasible spill over associated with unrest from Tibet.

The prospect associated with solutions to stress within Tibet as well as Xinjiang arising from municipal society are discussed inside a Feb Twenty-four, 08 cable. Whilst recommending that China's economic achievement increases its potential to deal with democratic change, the cable television additionally discusses how Chinese language frontrunners see the usefulness of "a limited expansion associated with civil society, including enhancements within the guideline associated with law along with a stronger part for approved beliefs, NGOs, non profit organizations and other stars in areas that contribute to social balance and don't challenge Communist Party rule." This is a notable change in considering, that has observed Ough.Utes. officials promote the notion that Chinese language financial development, as well as financial relationships along with China brings about a progressively democratic culture; nevertheless, much more belief appears to be placed in the grassroots movement compared to one that begins in the top levels of the Chinese government. Nevertheless, the actual cable proves which "[i]n areas for example Tibet and Xinjiang, driving a car of separatism leads to tight restrictions on the development of municipal culture." This method can be regarded as counter-productive by the recognized, who suggests that the Ough.S. government "should still express...serious concerns over Beijing's individual privileges record as well as attract China's growing consciousness which higher regard with regard to individual privileges, spiritual independence and also the guideline of regulation assists to promote the improvement and sociable stability that China seeks in addition to to improve China's worldwide picture." This type of technique would consider substantial diplomatic skills considering "China's weird concern the United States secretly encourages routine alter and ‘separatists' in Taiwan, Tibet as well as Xinjiang".

The actual wires provide understanding of the daily company associated with diplomacy that is rarely afforded to the general public, and it is fascinating to note the amount of work done behind closed doors on Uyghur problems. The significance of the part of the us as a monitor of Uyghur human privileges problems in private discussions is made obvious, and contrasts using its sensible open public position. Employees of the Uyghur Individual Privileges Project is well aware of pressure the Chinese federal government puts on Uyghur activists; nevertheless, the facts of Chinese government stress upon it's counterparts is illustrative of the diploma that Chinese authorities attempt to control contrary narratives. With more facts in the future from Wikileaks, concerns more than Uyghurs may not get the headlines, but the cables possess shed brand new light about the documentation of human privileges conditions in the Uyghur region.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Wikileaks and also the Uyghur People

through holly on December 20, This year
Henryk Szadziewski, Supervisor, Uyghur Human Rights Project

If it had been actually in doubt, information obtained through the whistleblower website, Wikileaks, has verified Chinese federal government worries more than its ongoing control of the region this calls Xinjiang, also is referred to as East Turkestan. The leaked out wires through U.Utes. diplomats show the degree to which Chinese language authorities make an effort to persuade governments worldwide to consider it's stance on problems impacting Uyghurs. The cables also display the U . s . States' issues and sights regarding the ongoing repressive steps in the region.

The majority of illuminating associated with Chinese language government stress are the wires pointing in order to Chinese language anger, or even the specter of Chinese language ire, over the release of Uyghur detainees in Guantánamo to third nations. A Dec Twenty nine, 08 cable relates exactly how Chinese Assistant Foreign Reverend Liu Jieyi fulfilled using the Ough.Utes. Ambassador to The far east in order to tone of voice Beijing's strong opposition associated with release to any kind of country other than China, and that when the U.S. did indeed accede for this ask for it might "avoid injury to bilateral relations and to co-operation ‘in important areas'". Furthermore, the February 2009 cable describes the way the Chinese language Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, Zhang Yannian, regarded the possible release of Uyghur Guantánamo detainees as "an unfavorable behave toward us" and a "slap in the face". The U.S. federal government stood company within not liberating the actual detainees in order to China illustrates the actual extent of the politicized nature from the Chinese judicial system. Legitimate issues more than terrorism are easy to understand, however in the U.S. government's observe the detainees might probably encounter do-it-yourself torture as well as delivery when they returned in order to The far east

Chinese federal government stress regarding the Uyghur Guantánamo detainees wasn't only put on the actual U.Utes. federal government, but also to Brand new Zealand along with a handful of Western government authorities that were considering resettlement. Albania, Indonesia as well as Finland, as well as European Union fellow member states all have the symptoms of borne the actual brunt associated with Chinese language government disappointment. Regarding Indonesia, that was at first prepared to think about two Uyghurs on solely humanitarian grounds, Uyghur Guantánamo cases were much less better than other detainees because of the unwanted effects taking Uyghurs might have on relationships with China. The Might Eight, '09 cable television relates how "German Ambassador Erina Schaefer documented that Indonesia experienced informed The far east of the U.Utes. request to simply accept a few Uighur detainees kept from Guantánamo and had already been subsequently cautioned by China associated with ‘a large burden on bilateral relations' if Indonesia had been to accept any kind of detainees".

The diplomatic cables additionally discuss the unrest in Urumchi, the actual regional capital, in This summer 2009. The July Thirteen, '09 cable television talking about bulk occurrences within The far east says:

"Ethnic riots like those in Xinjiang July 5-7 as well as in Tibet within March of 2008 differ substantially in origin and nature through mass occurrences, XXXXXXXXXXXX stressed to PolOff [Political Officer] on XXXXXXXXXXXX. Both existing serious problems for the Celebration, XXXXXXXXXXXX stated, however the Celebration management wouldn't hesitate to open fireplace on Uighurs or even Tibetans when they deemed this essential to restore purchase. Mass occurrences pose a different kind of risk, he explained, since the leadership is ‘afraid' to fireplace on Han rioters for anxiety about causing massive public outrage that would change from the Party."

This is a relaxing opinion, particularly when one considers evidence presented in two reviews launched this year through the Uyghur Individual Privileges Task (UHRP) and Amnesty International that detail eyewitness company accounts of the use of lethal live fire against Uyghur protestors within July '09. Additionally, the observation that fireplace would not be used against Han Chinese protestors offers resonances for the different strategy used by Chinese language protection forces in Urumchi in order to Han Chinese protests in September 2009. Throughout those protests, after that Celebration Assistant, Wang Lequan, addressed demonstrators, who experienced required that he let them know about federal government responses to protection concerns. A similar ask for to meet with the Party Secretary through Uyghur demonstrators within This summer was not fulfilled.

The actual broader repercussions of the unrest additionally saw a brief dialogue about the effect it would possess upon Iran-China relationships, and on relationships with Sydney after Globe Uyghur Congress President, Microsoft. Rebiya Kadeer, talked at the Nationwide Push Membership within Canberra in July 2009. Within the latter case, the Chinese government "privately warn[ed] a major Australian financial institution which vendors the National Push Club to use it's impact to block the Kadeer talk there".

The actual United States' issues concerning the situation within the Uyghur region are available via within the cables. Inside a discussion upon policy direction within Tibet, U.S. officials explain that it'll end up being impossible for Chinese language leaders to adopt a softer line "if they look like they are doing so below worldwide pressure". The actual cable dated 04 Sixteen, 2008, 30 days following the outbreak of unrest in Tibetan regions, also relayed the declaration "that household balance remains the leadership's main concern most of all, meaning there will ‘almost surely' be no relaxation of the present hard line upon Tibet or perhaps in locations such as Xinjiang." The information contained in the cable television additionally sheds light about the severe sensitivity with which china federal government sights territorial integrity, and also the possible spill over of unrest from Tibet.

The prospect of solutions to stress in Tibet and Xinjiang as a result of municipal society are debated in a February 24, 2008 cable television. Whilst suggesting which China's economic success will increase it's resistance to democratic reform, the cable television also discusses how Chinese leaders see the effectiveness of "a restricted growth of civil culture, including enhancements in the rule associated with regulation and a more powerful part with regard to approved beliefs, NGOs, non profit organizations and other stars within areas which bring about sociable stability and don't problem Communist Party guideline." This is a significant change in thinking, which has seen U.S. authorities promote the idea that Chinese language financial development, and economic relationships with China will bring about a steadily democratic culture; however, more faith seems to be put into the grassroots movement compared to one that starts in the best levels of the Chinese government. Nonetheless, the actual cable television proves which "[i]n areas for example Tibet and Xinjiang, the fear of separatism results in tight restrictions about the development of civil culture." This approach can be regarded as counter-productive by the official, that shows that the actual Ough.Utes. government "should still express...serious concerns over Beijing's individual privileges report and attract China's developing awareness that higher regard for human privileges, religious freedom and also the guideline of regulation assists to promote the development as well as sociable balance that China looks for in addition to to improve China's worldwide picture." Such a strategy might take considerable diplomatic skills thinking about "China's weird concern the Usa privately encourages routine alter as well as ‘separatists' in Taiwan, Tibet as well as Xinjiang".

The wires offer insight into the every day business associated with diplomacy that's rarely afforded to everyone, which is fascinating to note the amount of function carried out nowadays on Uyghur issues. The importance of the part of the United States as a monitor associated with Uyghur individual privileges problems in personal discussions is made clear, as well as contrasts with its tactful open public stance. Employees from the Uyghur Individual Rights Project is actually well aware of the pressure the Chinese government puts on Uyghur activists; still, the facts associated with Chinese language federal government pressure on it's alternatives is actually illustrative of the diploma that Chinese language officials attempt to control contradictory stories. With increased revelations in the future from Wikileaks, concerns more than Uyghurs might not grab the actual head lines, however the wires have shed brand new gentle about the documentation of individual rights conditions in the Uyghur area.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Search Engine Marketing And Article promotion Will Place You On Page 1

Search engine optimization and article marketing are two of the strongest strategies that you can use to promote your website and get the revenue and success that you need for your web business. Both of these everything has been around for a really while already but they still still be really effective. In reality, these have helped lots of people free themselves in the traditional methods for money-generating options of society.

In the following paragraphs, I will be showing the ways how you can properly execute search engine optimization and article marketing for the betterment of one's small business website. Furthermore, I will even be discussing the various points that you have to consider if you are using these two website marketing strategies to promote your website and obtain customers. Despite the fact that marketing with articles and Search engine marketing have been in existence for a long time already, you need to know that the trends and choices concerning how they are done are continually changing, which is why you need to keep yourself up to date with these things through the help of Search engine marketing forum sites so that you can quickly adjust and discover ways to make your strategies far better.

In the past marketing with articles to various web-sites was once so simple the effects they produce for web-sites was powerful. However, things have changed a great deal today. Currently submitting exactly the same article to various websites is not a good suggestion because engines like google have now changed to a huge extent in the manner they rank pages. They no longer rank contents which are identical like they accustomed to in the past. This really is one of the best examples of changes that exist in web marketing trends. This change has given birth to wide plethora of methods that web marketers are using today. Nearly all of online marketers now produce articles and publish them in really popular article submission sites and watch for targeted visitors to come to their pages. Perhaps that most reliable Seo strategy that can be used. Aside from being effective, this also provides positive benefits frequently. The only problem using this strategy is that the caliber of traffic you will get out of this won't be so good if you don't do proper keyphrase research beforehand and rehearse in-links. You need for carrying on these two things before you submit your posts so that you won't end up losing large amounts of targeted visitors. Which means that you have to practice good levels of diligence if you want your advertising initiatives to be effective.

Other than articles, you can even use operating a blog, which is another really powerful kind of online marketing strategy today because it's highly well-liked by search engines. On this technique, you can choose to produce a single weblog that specifically targets your best market or you can give rise to other weblogs that are labeled as experts inside your niche.

Learn effective Vancouver search engine marketing techniques on the Vancouver SEO website.

Roofing Contractors Vancouver BC

There are numerous things to think about when looking for any roofing contractor. Value, experience, and referrals are a few of the things you will probably be concerned about. Keep reading for even more ideas.

Finding a Roofers

Before buying roofing contractor, be sure to have a general idea of the work that you need to do. By no means must you be a professional. If you have a Roof Certificate, read it carefully to find the information regarding your present roof. Unless you have a Roof Certificate, talk about documents closed during concluding to locate your homes Inspection bed sheet. These documents should supply you with everything you need to be familiar with your roof. Prior to contacting any roofing contractor, you should have a list of needs and specs to help you decide exactly who is acceptable for your roofer project. Be sure to write down every single potential roof covering contractor's answers and also check these people against one another. If there are any discrepancies, be sure to take note this and also take this into consideration when creating a final decision. There are no straightforward ways to pick a roofing contractor, but when you take take to the info provided, your chances of a successful roof covering project are usually greatly enhanced.

One of the best strategies to finding a roofers is by word of mouth marketing. Try requesting a friend or relative who has had covering work done, and ended up being satisfied with the project. Get the name of the business and their particular contact info. If you have no word of mouth referrals, attempt first searching in the mobile phone book and internet-based. A large advertisement or expensive website is not necessarily an illustration of the high quality of work, but can be a good tool pertaining to measuring just how long and devotion they have put in their respected profession. Also, try finding current worksites and look at the roofing work that may be done or perhaps the process of staying finished. If you're visually amazed, ask the exact property manager to the name in the roofing contractor and also their speak to information.

Background Research

When looking for a roofing contractors, it is imperative to first do your own background research. While looking in the phone directory or on the Internet is a suitable destination to find a builder, finding pertinent information on most of these businesses will be found in a number of other areas. 1st, check with locations like the Better Business Bureau, city, condition, and region public records, along with local accreditation agencies. Request your roofer if they are a member of any roofer associations. These precautions may mitigate your risks. In addition ask them what kinds of roofing they will specialize in. In addition ask your roofing contractor concerning any guarantees they offer on the installed roofing. Find out what safeguards they take to avoid harm done to the rest of the home through workers. Products such as gutters, siding, and chimneys are near the coast proximity and so susceptible to unintentional damages.

Make sure all of this details are included in your composed contract. Determine if you need a roofing permit and/or agreement from your homeowners association before hand. These entities will let you know who is responsible for obtaining these permits and permissions. If it is the responsibility of the roofer, also have the idea included in your contract. Whether it is your accountability, get explained permits and also permissions collated with all the estimated roof covering project and also have it clearly posted or readily available.

Licensing and References

Roofing Companies are not required to be certified in all says. Contact community licensing companies that control general building contractors for any list of demands. Once you have received the requirements, develop a list of in depth questions to ask the potential roofing contractor. This simple record should instantly help you to weed out the certified from the not qualified roofing installers. Qualified contractors should be able to easily answer questions or even tell you that they should do further research ahead of giving a definitive response.

Even if the roofing contractor offers all essential licensing, you ought to ask to find out pictures of completed covering jobs along with speak to fulfilled clients. Use a list of inquiries handy to inquire about recent clientele, such as the dynamics of the work, timeliness, and overall satisfaction. Be sure these are current clients and cross research if possible. In the matter of commercial covering, make sure that the roofing contractor is bonded. Looking at these references is another added measure of safety to restrict the list associated with potential roof covering contractors.

Search engine optimization Through Articles

Articles can be a very powerful way of Seo to your company web-site. Quality written articles be capable of improve your websites SERP and add quality for your company website. Writing informative keyword rich articles is crucial in gaining new backlinks for a business website. Articles can and may be written on topics which might be unique in your business or industry. The articles can discuss a multitude of issues and ideas within your industry. Articles that offer your reader using a resource are always the most popular and quite a few likely kinds of articles that can bring about backlinks aimed at your web.

Focus your articles on your potential readers or customers. Search engine optimization articles should address real questions which can be asked by current or previous customers. Each article you're writing to suit your needs company should include detailed analysis and Search engine optimization keywords which can help associate your website using the content contained in your website. Focus your posts on around 3 keywords , nor stray from their website. Consistency is essential when writing Search engine optimization articles. If you are authoring Vancouver Seo make sure your always talk about information strongly related the keyword.

Give each of your Search engine optimization Articles an engaging Title which will encourage people to learn and bookmark your articles. Ideally, the articles you are writing can be as links using their company websites that are comparable to yours. This one thing might help boost the power of every link all of which will assist your SERP. Be sure to end each article using a keyword anchored link (see Easy Small company Search engine optimization). This link will assist you to increase your rankings in Google and other major search engines like yahoo for your keyword connected to the link. Submit the articles to your free article directory and Voila! In no time, your site might be around the first page of Google.

Thanks for reading. Can't wait to talk to your Search engine optimization articles!