Precious Metals Decouple from Stock Market ? International ...

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Precious Metals Decouple from Stock Market
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We sought to understand the huge variance in performance between the two markets. Sometimes they trended higher together. Sometimes the gold stocks surged while conventional equities fell into a bear market. Both markets have endured bad bears at the ...

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Source: http://www.thefinancialherald.com/?p=393088

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Boehner on averting fiscal cliff: 'God only knows'

(AP) ?

House Speaker John Boehner says he's still open to talks with President Barack Obama on avoiding the double economic hit of automatic tax hikes and spending cuts but he needs Obama to compromise more.

Boehner spoke to reporters Friday morning, hours after his rank-and-file Republicans handed him a bitter defeat. Boehner was forced to pull his bill to raise taxes on millionaires because he didn't have the votes for passage.

He said he didn't know how the so-called "fiscal cliff" would be avoided. Said Boehner: "How we get there, God only knows."

Boehner expressed no concern about his standing as speaker.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-12-21-Fiscal%20Cliff-Boehner/id-686b10c24a3a4a688dcd764c2186f77d

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Urban Byzantine monks gave in to temptation

WHO ate all the pies? In 6th-century Jerusalem, the Byzantine monks were greedy gobblers - despite strict rules that they should eat mainly bread and water.

Most early Byzantine monasteries were located in remote deserts, but St Stephen's monastery thrived in Jerusalem. Wondering how urban living affected the monks, Lesley Gregoricka at the University of South Alabama in Mobile took bone samples from 55 skeletons buried under the monastery.

The ratios of various isotopes of carbon and nitrogen in the bones confirmed that the monks ate a lot of common cereals like wheat, as well as fruit and vegetables. But many bones were rich in the heavy isotope nitrogen-15, suggesting the monks ate lots of animal protein. That could mean meat, or dairy products such as cheese (Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, doi.org/jzt).

"The rules on issues such as poverty, chastity and obedience were certainly known and could not be easily ignored," says Peter Hatlie of the University of Dallas's Rome Program in Frattocchie, Italy. "Only fallen, weak, mad and demonic monks ate meat."

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After Newtown, a president unleashed

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Barack Obama came across like a president unleashed on Wednesday as he invoked the Connecticut shooting tragedy not only to address gun violence, but to tell Republicans to "peel off the partisan war paint," accept that he won the election and get on with the job of averting a fiscal calamity.

After Newtown, he suggested, the world looks different to him. Why not to everyone else?

"Goodness," he said, "if this past week has done anything, it should just give us some perspective."

Obama's news conference - on the day he was named Time Magazine's "Person of the Year," - was billed as an announcement of a new drive to tackle the problem of violence. But it ranged over the "fiscal cliff," the National Rifle Association, partisanship in America and the Republican Party's troubles with the conservative Tea Party movement.

While saying he was willing to compromise with Republicans on reaching a deal to avoid a year-end fiscal cliff of economy-shaking tax increases and spending cuts, he offered no concessions of his own even as he scolded them for intransigence.

With Americans' feelings still raw over last week's deadly shooting rampage at a Newtown elementary school, Obama signaled a willingness to take on the nation's powerful gun lobby in a way he had always avoided in his first term.

His stance was much tougher than the more conciliatory approach he took on November 14 at his first news conference after defeating Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

It also appeared to reflect the emerging confidence of a president who, without the need to ever again seek re-election, is now thinking more about his legacy.

Speaking of Republicans still spurning his offers to resolve the standoff over the cliff, he said: "They keep on finding ways to say 'no' as opposed to finding ways to say 'yes.' I don't know how much of that just has to do with (that) it is very hard for them to say 'yes' to me."

He understood, he said, that some Republicans are "more concerned about challenges from a Tea Party candidate or challenges from the right."

But, he added: "If they're not worried about who's winning and who's losing, did they score a point on the president, if they extract that last little concession, did they force him to do something he really doesn't want to do just for the heck of it, and they focus on actually what's good for the country, I actually think we can get this done."

"If you kind of peel off the partisan war paint, then we should be able to get something done," Obama said.

TAKING ON THE GUN LOBBY?

After previously speaking only vaguely on the need to address gun violence, Obama ordered a high-level Cabinet group headed by Vice President Joe Biden to give him concrete policy recommendations within a month and vowed to move swiftly to submit them to Congress.

"This is not some Washington commission. This is not something where folks are going to be studying the issue for six months and publishing a report that gets read and then pushed aside. This is a team that has a very specific task to pull together real reforms right now," Obama said.

Obama himself has done little to rein in America's gun culture in his four years in office. Gun control has been a low priority for most U.S. politicians due in large part to the clout of the National Rifle Association, the powerful gun industry lobby.

But the Democratic president appears to sense a possible tipping point in Americans' attitude toward guns after the horror of the Newtown killings, and made clear he will put the issue high on his second-term agenda.

Challenged by one reporter to explain "where have you been" on gun control until now, Obama sternly stared down his questioner, saying: "I've been president of the United States dealing with the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, an auto industry on the verge of collapse, two wars. I don't think I've been on vacation."

But he said the Connecticut shooting, just the latest of a string of such incidents on his watch, "should be a wake-up call for all of us."

Whatever steps the Biden group comes up with are likely to face some criticism because many Republicans see the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment right to bear arms as sweeping and sacrosanct.

Obama also did not mince words about the gun lobby, which has often succeeded in blocking gun legislation but this week said it also wanted to help prevent a repeat of Newtown.

"The NRA is an organization who has members who are mothers and fathers, and I would expect that they've been impacted by this, as well. And, hopefully, they'll do some self- reflection," he said.

Touting his approach to the fiscal cliff as the best way to prevent tax hikes on the middle class, Obama also bluntly warned Republicans that he would not negotiate with them over raising the national debt ceiling, which will need to happen in the first few months of next year, as leverage for a fiscal deal.

"The idea that we lurch from crisis to crisis, and every six months, or every nine months that we threaten not to pay our bills on stuff we've already bought, and default and ruin the full faith and credit of the United States of America, that's not how you run a great country," he said.

(Editing by Fred Barbash and Eric Beech)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-says-still-wants-fiscal-cliff-deal-christmas-172615741--business.html

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Hulu announces 2012 results: $695M revenue, 3 million Hulu Plus subscribers

Hulu announces 2012 results $695M revenue, 3 million Hulu Plus subscribers

It looks like Hulu has rounded out 2012 with some very solid figures. The company's CEO, Jason Kilar, has announced revenue of $695 million -- a 65-percent jump over 2011. Kilar also shared subscriber numbers, adding that 3 million users fork over fees for the Hulu Plus service, which is double last year's paying viewers total. Throughout the year, Hulu boosted content offerings by 40 percent, with 430 current content partners, 2,300 TV series with some 60,000 episodes, and a total of 50,000 hours of video -- since Hulu launched in 2007, it has generated more than $1 billion in revenue for content partners. Kilar ended on another high note, stating that the site's Japanese version has quadrupled content offerings this year, and is now accessible from 50+ million devices in Japan. You'll find full details at the source link below.

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Source: Hulu

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IBM Prediction: In 5 Years, Your Touch Screen Will Simulate Textures

Attempting to peer into the future is a dicey proposition for even the biggest of brains?weren?t we supposed to have flying cars by now??but that doesn?t stop IBM?s best and brightest from compiling a ?5 in 5? list year-in and year-out, consisting of five ?innovations that will change our lives in the next five years.?

Today, the company unveiled this year?s picks, which all sport a decidedly human element: each is tied to computers and technology exploring new frontiers with the five human senses.

Hit the link for each sense to see IBM?s long and detailed explanation for its predictions.

Touch ? What if you could feel that cashmere before you bought it online? That day might not be far off. IBM?s associate director of retail analytics, Robyn Schwartz, predicts that within five years, touchscreens will use a mixture of close-range vibrations and temperature variations to accurately convey the feel of objects you?re viewing. ?It?s already possible to recreate a sense of texture through vibration,? she writes. ?But those vibrations haven?t been translated into a lexicon, or dictionary of textures that match the physical experience.? Yet.

Sight ? Currently, computers ?see? pictures as a collection of pixels, not the image those pixels represent when taken as a whole?but IBM?s senior manager of intelligent information management, John Smith, says that vision is coming to PCs, with the aid of machine learning and thousands of repetitive examples. Once it does, the speed of computerized image recognition should increase dramatically.

Sound ? IBM master inventor Dimitri Kanevsky predicts that within five years, a flood of computerized sensors will help humans identify imminent environmental disasters before they happen by picking up on subtle sonic cues, such as the slight groaning of a stressed tree or bridge?or the inaudible (to humans) scraping of tectonic plates underfoot. Computers could be taught to learn what the variations in sound means, he claims, eventually leading to a baby monitor that could accurately identify whether a baby is crying because he?s hungry, teething or, well, pooped.

Taste ? ?But mom, I know I won?t like the taste of broccoli! I don?t have to try it!? The familiar whine sends shivers down the spines of parents around the globe. But if IBM research scientist Dr. Lav Varshney is correct, the old excuse will be scientific truth within five years. Varshney thinks PCs will increasingly?again, with the help of machine learning?be able to ?taste? food (or, more specifically, the chemical elements that comprises all food) to identify and create recipes designed for optimal taste and nutrition.

Smell ? IBM?s Dr. Hendrik F. Hamann predicts that five years from now, smartphones (and other technologies) will be able to analyze the thousands of molecules you expel with each and every breath to identify if you?re getting sick, before you?re sick. The cold is an obvious example, but Hamann says the technology could work for ?liver and kidney disorders, diabetes and tuberculosis, among others.? If olfactory tech wants to really be useful, hopefully it?ll also be able to let you know when to pop an Altoid before knocking on your hot date?s door.

Source: http://blog.laptopmag.com/ibm-prediction-in-5-years-your-touch-screen-will-simulate-textures

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Massachusetts fines Morgan Stanley over Facebook IPO

BOSTON (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley , the lead underwriter for Facebook Inc's initial public offering, will pay a $5 million fine to Massachusetts for violating securities laws governing how investment research can be distributed.

Massachusetts' top securities regulator, William Galvin, on Monday charged that a top Morgan Stanley banker had improperly coached Facebook on how to disclose sensitive financial information selectively, perpetuating what he calls "an unlevel playing field" between Wall Street and Main Street.

Morgan Stanley has faced criticism since Facebook went public in May for revealing revised earnings and revenue forecasts to select clients before the media company's $16 billion initial public offering.

This is the first time a case stemming from Morgan Stanley's handling of the Facebook offering has been decided.

Facebook had privately told Wall Street research analysts about softer forecasts because of less robust mobile revenues. A top Morgan Stanley banker coached Facebook executives on how to get the message out, Galvin said.

A Morgan Stanley spokeswoman said on Monday the company is "pleased to have reached a settlement" and that it is "committed to robust compliance with both the letter and the spirit of all applicable regulations and laws." The company neither admitted nor denied any wrongdoing.

Galvin, who has been aggressive in policing how research is distributed on Wall Street ever since investment banks reached a global settlement in 2003, said the bank violated that settlement. He fined Citigroup $2 million over similar charges in late October.

"The conduct at Morgan Stanley was more egregious," he said in an interview explaining the amount of the fine. "With it we will get their attention and begin to take steps in restoring some confidence for retail investors to invest."

Galvin also said that his months-long investigation into the Facebook IPO is far from over and that he continues to review the other banks involved. Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan also acted as underwriters. The underwriting fee for all underwriters was reported to be $176 million at the time, or 1.1 percent of the proceeds.

Massachusetts did not name the Morgan Stanley banker in its documents but personal information detailed in the matter suggest it is Michael Grimes, a top technology banker.

The state said the banker helped a Facebook executive release new information and then guided the executive on how to speak with Wall Street analysts about it. The banker, Galvin said, rehearsed with Facebook's Treasurer and wrote the bulk of the script Facebook's Treasurer used when calling the research analysts.

A number of Wall Street analysts cut their growth estimates for Facebook in the days before the IPO after the company filed an amended prospectus.

Facebook's treasurer then quickly called a number for Wall Street analysts providing even more information.

The banker "was not allowed to call research analysts himself, so he did everything he could to ensure research analysts received new revenue numbers which they then provided to institutional investors," Galvin said.

Galvin's consent order also says that the banker spoke with company lawyers and then to Facebook's chief financial officer about how to prove an update "without creating the appearance of not providing the underlying trend information to all investors."

The banker and all others involved with the matter at Morgan Stanley are still employed by the company, a person familiar with the matter said.

Retail investors were not given any similar information, Galvin said, saying this case illustrates how institutional investors often have an edge over retail investors.

(Reporting By Svea Herbst-Bayliss with additional reporting by Suzanne Barlyn and Lauren Tara LaCapra in New York; Editing by Theodore d'Afflisio and Andrew Hay)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/morgan-stanley-fined-over-facebook-research-185242957--sector.html

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Iran says it, world powers must end nuclear stalemate

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's foreign minister said on Monday a way must be found to end the deadlock with major powers over its nuclear program, an Iranian news agency reported, but he offered no new initiative on how to achieve this.

Ali Akbar Salehi's comments came ahead of an expected resumption of diplomacy, perhaps next month, aimed at preventing the decade-old nuclear dispute from degenerating into a Middle East war that could damage an already fragile world economy.

Israel, widely believed to be the Middle East's only nuclear-armed power, has threatened military action to prevent its arch-enemy from acquiring nuclear weapons. Iran denies any such goal and says it would hit back hard if attacked.

"The two sides (Iran and world powers) have reached a conclusion that they must exit the current stalemate," Salehi was quoted as saying by the Iranian Students' News Agency.

The West suspects Iran is trying to develop the means to build atomic bombs under the cover of a declared civilian nuclear energy program. The Islamic Republic says it is enriching uranium as fuel for civilian energy, not bombs.

Iran and the six powers - the United States, Russia, France, China, Britain and Germany - have expressed readiness to revive efforts to find a negotiated solution. But Salehi said he did not know when the next meeting would be held.

The powers, known as P5+1, said last week they hoped soon to agree with Iran on when and where to meet. There have been suggestions it could happen already this month, though January now seems more likely, Western officials say.

Analysts and diplomats believe there is a window of opportunity for a new diplomatic initiative with Iran after last month's re-election of U.S. President Barack Obama.

The powers want Iran to scale back its uranium enrichment program and cooperate fully with U.N. nuclear inspectors.

The priority for Iran, a major oil producer, is for the West to lift punitive sanctions increasingly hurting its economy.

Three rounds of negotiations earlier this year - the last one in Moscow in June - failed to achieve a breakthrough.

The big powers have prepared an updated version of package that was rejected by Tehran in the previous talks, Western diplomats say, without giving details.

Their immediate priority is for Iran to halt higher-grade enrichment that could relatively quickly be further processed to bomb-grade material, close the Fordow underground plant where this work is carried out and ship out the stockpile.

SHUTTING FORDOW "NOT ENOUGH"

Iran has hinted at flexibility regarding its enrichment to a fissile concentration of 20 percent, but it wants substantial sanctions easing in return, something the powers say would be premature before Tehran makes significant concessions.

Iran also wants recognition of what it says is its "right" to refine uranium, which can have both civilian and military purposes. "Iran demands its inalienable, legal and legitimate right and wants nothing more," Salehi said.

One Western official said it was too early to say whether the new diplomatic attempt may yield results: "We see that sanctions do have an economic impact on Iran and it is a matter for Iran to really take this offer seriously."

Iran's economic minister was quoted on Sunday saying the country's oil revenues had been cut in half as a result of sanctions.

Another Western diplomat said the powers were increasingly concerned about Iran's expanded enrichment capacity at Fordow, and wanted to address this issue in the new proposal. This could mean, he said, asking Iran to partially dismantle the facility.

"Shutting Fordow is not enough," the diplomat said, adding it would take longer to restart the facility if the enrichment installations had been taken apart.

The world powers hope to gain momentum in dealings with Iran by introducing "confidence-building measures" before approaching a final agreement at a later date, diplomats say.

They say the powers are likely to offer Iran some form of sanctions relief in return but any measures may be limited.

Salehi spoke a few days after the International Atomic Energy Agency and Iran both said progress was made in talks last Thursday on resuming a long-stalled IAEA investigation into suspected atomic bomb research in the country.

A senior Iranian legislator said on Monday that Iran would expect some sanctions relief in return for granting IAEA inspectors access to the disputed Parchin military complex.

The IAEA believes Iran has conducted explosives tests with possible nuclear applications at Parchin, a facility southeast of the Iranian capital, and has repeatedly asked for access.

"They must certainly give some incentive in return, and in my opinion a reasonable and equal incentive would be lifting the sanctions," said Alaeddin Boroujerdi, who chairs the national security and foreign policy committee in the Iranian parliament.

(This story has been refiled to add dropped word "to" in lede paragraph)

(Additional reporting by Fredrik Dahl in Vienna and Justyna Pawlak in Brussels)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iran-says-world-powers-must-end-nuclear-stalemate-104915293.html

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