InvestorsBuzz » Various

Where do you Get the Most Vacation Days?

admin — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 19:30:25 +0000

From my own experience, I recognized that the number of vacation days can vary quite a bit depending on which country you work in. Mercer Consulting has researched the number of days off work among different countries, with Canada and the U.S. having a relatively low number of days off annually compared to other countries like Brazil and Lithuania, having up to twice as much off. See a list of selected country below:

Brazil: 30 days plus 11 days of public holidays. Total: 41

Lithuania: annual minimum of 28 off and 13 public holidays. Total: 41

France: minimum of 30 days off and 10 days of public holidays. Total: 40

Russia: statutory minimum of 28 days plus 12 days for public holidays. Total: 40

Finland: 30 days for vacation plus 10 days of public holidays. Total: 40

UK: 28 days vacation is statutory minimum, but only 8 public holidays. Total: 36

Poland: minimum of 26 vacation days and 10 days for public holidays Total: 36

Denmark: 25 days for vacation and 9 days of public holidays. Total: 34

South Korea: minimum of 19 working days and 15 days of public holidays. Total: 34

New Zealand: 20 days of vacation and 11 days of public holidays. Total: 31

Austria: 25 days for vacation and 13 days off for public holidays. Total: 28

Switzerland: 20 days of vacation plus 8 public holidays. Total: 28

Taiwan: 15 days as statutory minimum but 13 days of public holidays. Total: 28

India: only 12 days vacation, but highest number of public holidays, namely 16 days. Total: 28

Hong Kong: 14 days of mandatory vacation and 12 days off as public holidays. Total 26

Greece: minimum of 25 days vacation.

US: no mandatory requirement, but typically 15 days and 10 public holidays. Total: 25

Singapore: 14 days off for vacation and 11 public holidays. Total: 25

China: 10 vacation days and 11 days of holidays. Total: 21

Canada: 10 days of vacation and 9 public holidays (least overall together with China). Total: 19

But before you quit your job and move to another country in the hope of more vacation, you should know that these are just minimum requirements, and companies often have some discretion on how much vacation they offer their employees. Therefore it might be worth checking out some companies in your home country first

Obama wins 2009 Nobel Peace Prize

admin — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 11:19:14 +0000

Looks like barely one year after taking office Obama has been awarded the peace nobel prize, because of “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples” according to the Nobel Committee. There were 205 nominations, with Zimbabwe’s prime Minister and a Chinese dissident being among the favourites. When the Nobel Committee was asked why Obama was awarded the prize after less than one year in office, the committee head answered: “It was because we would like to support what he is trying to achieve”.

Donkey’s Fur Dyed with Stripes to Look Like Zebra

admin — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 19:58:16 +0000

You think counterfeiting only happens with watches and other brand consumer goods? Well, then check out this: In a Zoo in Gaza two donkeys’ fur was dyed with black and white stripes to look like Zebras. Don’t believe everything you see I would say!

The 10 Richest People

admin — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 10:54:53 +0000

Bill Gates tops the Forbes list of the richest Americans with a estimated Wealth of 50bn USD. He is also the wealthiest worldwide. The US investor Warren Buffet remains the traditional number 2, despite suffering losses in the financial crisis. His wealth dropped from 50-40bn USD. Because of the Crisis the total wealth of the 400 richest Americans dropped by 300bn to 1.27 trillion Dollars. A clear winner is the founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg, he increased his wealth by 500Mio USD to 2bn. He is the youngest among the rich and moves up in ranking from 321 to 158.

Here the top ten:

1. Bill Gates (Microsoft): 50bn

2. Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway): 40bn

3. Larry Ellison (Oracle): 27 bn

4. Christy Walton (Wal-Mart): 21.5 bn

5. Jim C. Walton (Wal-Mart): 19.6 bn

6. Alice Walton (Wal-Mart): 19.3 bn

7. S. Robson Walton (Wal-Mart): 19 bn

8. Michael Bloomberg (Bloomberg LP): 17.5 bn

9. Charles Koch (Koch Industries): 16 bn

9. David Koch (Koch Industries): 16bn

World’s Top Countries for the Wealthy

admin — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 10:48:32 +0000

Do you want to know where the rich chose to live? The Scorpio Partnership, leading business strategy advisor to the wealth management industry, has come up with a list of cities according to their “Mobile Wealthy Residency Index”. The Index is the result of qualitative research by Scorpio Partnership with senior advisors to the world’s mobile wealthy to find out what the most attractive locations are to live and work. Here the findings:

10. Dubai . Strengths are Housing (1st), Security (3rd), Employment & business opportunities (7th), Tax and immigration (7th), Convenience (7th)

9. Monaco. Strengths: Tax and immigration (1st), Security (2nd), Cultural/Infrastructure Sophistication (2nd), Convenience (3rd), Education for children (6th)

8. Isle of Man. Strengths. Quality of housing (2nd), Convenience (4th), Economic & political stability (6th), Employment & business opportunities (6th), Tax and immigration (6th),

7. Cayman Islands. Strengths: Economic & political stability (2nd), Tax and immigration (3rd) Security (4th), Financial services sector (6th), Cultural/Infrastructure Sophistication (8th)

6. Isle of Jersey. Strengths, Convenience (2nd),education for children (4th), economic & political stability (5th), Legal considerations (5th), Financial services sector (7th)

5. Hong Kong. Strengths: Employment & business opportunities: (3rd), Tax and immigration: (4th), Financial services sector: (4th), Security: (5th), Cultural/Infrastructure Sophistication (5th)

4. New York. Strengths: Financial services sector: (1st), Education for children: (3rd), Cultural/Infrastructure Sophistication: (3rd), Employment & business opportunities: (5th), Quality of housing: (5th)

3. Singapore. Strengths: Employment & business opportunities: (1st), Security: (1st), Tax and immigration: (2nd), Legal considerations: (2nd), Economic & political stability: (3rd)

2. London. Strengths: Education for children: 2nd, Financial services sector: 2nd, Legal considerations: (3rd), Quality of housing: (3rd), Employment & business opportunities: (4th)

1. Switzerland. Strengths: Education for children: (1st), Economic & political stability: (1st), Legal considerations: (1st), Convenience: (1st), Cultural/Infrastructure Sophistication: (1st)

At first I was a little surprised to live in the country that now tops the list, but on second thought I am not so surprised anymore, considering how celebrities like Michael Schuhmacher, Tina Turner, and Shania Twain reside here. Scorpio Partnership cites that the wealthy appreciate its “well-rounded offer”.

London’s attractiveness on the other hand has been suffering due to UK Government’s aggressiveness fiscal policy which “punishes” the wealthy, by increasing taxes for the wealthy for example. Singapore was favoured because of its attractive policies. See more here.

Unactivated Credit Cards Misconceptions

admin — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 09:18:33 +0000

You thought you don’t have to worry about new unactivated credit cards you just ordered? Think again. Just read an article giving the answer to that. While many credit cards cannot be used unless they are activated via activation phone call for example, many banks send credit cards that can be used for purchases even if not activated yet, with customers claiming they were able to make purchases up to in the hundreds of dollars. Many banks seem to allow these purchases out of courtesy. I wonder how much of a courtesy customers feel when there card has been taken out of the mail box and they get a bill later in the month for purchases someone else did. And if the thief then actually has collected some more information about you through other mails he grabbed out of your mailbox, and actually calls in, imitating your phone number over VOIP, the bill could easily end up being quite big. One way to limit this risk is to have a locked box, or a post office box, and call the credit card provider if you have not received your card latest after a couple weeks following your order to check whether they really sent it and whether it has been used by someone else.

The Best Banks

admin — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:37:40 +0000

You interested to know which are the best banks? Global Finance Magazine has compiled an interesting list, according to which the following are the worlds best banks in each segment.

1. Best Privat Bank: Credit Suisse – Zurich, Switzerland

2. Corporate Bank: JP Morgan Chase – New York, USA

3. Best Trade Finance Bank: BNP Paribas – Paris France

4. Best Consumer Bank: HSBC – London, UK

5. Best Asset Management Bank: State Street Global Advisors – Boston, USA

6. Best Foreign Exchange Bank: Deutsche Bank – Frankfurt, Germany

7. Best Cash Management Bank – Citi – New York, USA

8. Best Investment Bank: J.P. Morgan – New York, USA

9. Custody Bank: The Bank of NY Mellon – New York, USA

10. Best Sub-Custody Bank HSBC – London, UK

11. Best Emerging Markets Bank: Standard Chartered Bank – London, UK

Now you know where to go if you are looking for the best in the area you need a service. For more rankings, such as the best internet banks or the world safest banks check out http://www.gfmag.com/

Are Accountants to Blame for Financial Crisis?

admin — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:06:24 +0000

Some have blamed the accountants for the financial crisis. They claim that having been forced to measure the toxic assets at fair value and recognize large losses after adjusting the prices to fair value made it harder for companies to do business and raise capital.

Are the accountants now to blame for the excessive risk taking of financial institutions? I don’t think so! The question is, what would have been the alternative to fair value accounting? Historical cost accounting? I believe most accountants and investors would agree that historical cost becomes less and less relevant over time for financial instrument, as transactions are conducted based on historical cost, but rather market values. That is one of the reasons (besides goodwill) you see companies being acquired significantly below or above book value, because the historical costs of certain assets do not reflect the real economic value, and good analysts and investors will realize that and adjust for that. And the option of amortised costs for debt makes sense as long as the entity plans to hold the investment until maturity and there has been no credit losses, which is often not the case.

Agreed, while some say don’t shoot the messenger, the messenger should make sure the message is comunicated in a way that is not be misleading, and maybe letting all the fair value changes flow through the so sensitive and highly focused on Profit & Loss for assets where there was no market was a bit misleading. Fair value determined through transaction prices or broker quotes is not really a good indication of the value of an asset if the transactions are disorderly or distressed, as is commonly the case in dislocated markets where there is no market activity, and I think there has been room for improvement, as the recently issued accounting guidances have shown after the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 decided that the SEC is to conduct a study on mark-to-market accounting standards. For example has FASB issued accounting guidance, SFAS 115-2 allowing entities to separate losses due to impairement of financial assets in credit losses and losses due to other factors, such as interest rate movements or inactive markets, and only recognizing credit losses in the P&L while recognizing the remaining impairment losses in OCI. Also, SFAS 157-4 under certain circumstances allows significant adjustments to transactions or quoted prices can be made to the fair value as a result of recently issued guidance using other unobservable inputs from models for example to more accurately reflect fair value.

The only reason accountants got into the line of fire with their fair value accounting is because of the bad state of the markets. Would the markets have been booming, nobody would have gotten the idea to demonize fair value accounting, it would rather have been seen as the most relevant measure of financial assets. Accounting might come close, but will never fully reflect the economic power of a company adequately at all times.

In the end, it has to be acknowledged that accounting will problably never be able to please all stakeholders, buyers and sellers, regulators, managements, at the same time, as all have different interests and perspectives. Accounting might come close, but will never fully reflect the economic power of a company adequately.

David Walker Talks About the True Cost of the Health Care Reform

admin — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 21:16:57 +0000

The debate on health care is heating up. Views on Obama’s proposed health care overhaul vary. Some are excited and hopeful of the outlook of security and stability through coverage for the millions of uninsured Americans while others worry about increased influence of the government and increased costs that ultimately will be born by them.

In the midst of this plan David Walker recently came up on television and talked about the findings of a study released a study on Wednesday by the Peterson Foundation on the long-term costs of the reform. David Walker was the U.S. Comptroller General and the Head of the GAO from 1998 to 2008 and prior to that he was appointed comptroller general by president Clinton in 1998. The findings show a mixed picture:

Here some of the positive findings:

Through the proposed health insurance exchanges and the public plan, the number of uninsured goes down from about 50mio to about 20mio. Currently more than 30Mio Americans can’t get health coverage.
The Act almost comes close to paying for itself, it is “only” $39bn short for next 10yrs.

The rather bad news:

It adds 1 trillion to deficit in second 10yrs, total health care costs go up rather than down (cost curve bent up rather than down)

The Obama Administration says that half trillion savings will come from savings in medicare and medicaid as determined by a commission, but Walker has doubts about the commission being able to follow through on it based the history of congress.

Some more findings are:

without the reform act, the number of uninsured by 2011 would be 49.2M
under the reform act, the public plan will enroll 20.7M People
number of people with private insurance would fall by book under reform
total cost of benefits provided under the act would be 1.12 Trillion
the reform will increase the federal deficit by 1.05Trillion from 2010 to 2029

For the full Press Release click here

http://www.pgpf.org/resources/PGPF-Health-Care-Study-Release.pdf

For the full Report

http://www.pgpf.org/resources/PGPF-Health-Care-Report.pdf

Best Paid Bachelor’s Degrees

admin — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 20:17:06 +0000

I just checked out a slideshow on cnbc.com about the highest paid bachelors degrees in 2009, and I must say I am a little surprised about the pole position:

15. Civil Engineering $52,048

14. Information Sciences & Systems $52,089

13. Construction Science/Management: $53,199

12. Aerospace/Aeronautical/ Astronautical Engineering: $56,311

11. Engineering Technology: $56,447

10. Systems Engineering: $57,438

9. Industrial/Manufacturing Engineering: $58,358

8. Mechanical Engineering: $58,766

7. Electrical/Electronics & Communications Engineering: $60,125

6. Computer Science: $61,407

5. Computer Engineering: $61,738

4. Mining & Mineral Engineering (incl. Geological): $64,404

3. Chemical Engineering: $64,902

2. Petroleum Engineering: $83,121

1. Pharmacy: $111,782

Pharmacists earn almost twice the amount computer geeks earn when they get out of college? Definitely didn’t expect that, and I am still wondering whether they included illegal drug dealers’ income in the data… And where are alle the business people?

The average salary paid right out of college by the way was a little less than $49,307 , which was a decrease from 2008s $49,693.

FAS 115-2 and FAS 124-2, Recognition and Presentation of Other-Than-Temporary Impairments

admin — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:30:20 +0000

FSP FAS 115-2 and FAS 124-2

On April 9, 2009, FASB issued additional guidance on recognition and measurement of impairment losses which allowed a more uniform assessment of impairment compared to the previous guidance and improving disclosure and presentation of other-than-temporary-impairments (OTTI). The market conditions in the financial crisis led to situtiations for some securities where the market value didn’t reflect the amount of cash to be collected. Also, the requirements for recognition and measurement of impairment losses for loans were not the same as those for debt securities.

FSP FAS 115-2 and FAS 124-2 highlights factors to be considered for determining whether a debt security is OTTI:

A. Does it have the intent to sell the security or

B. Is it more likely than not be required to sell a security before it recovers the amortized cost basis

If the fair value of the security is below amortized cost and the answer to A or B is yes, the security is impaired. However, if the answer is no to both questions, the entity can still determine whether a credit loss exists, which is the case if the following question is answered with yes

C. Does the entity not expect to recover the entire amortized cost basis of the security (credit loss)

This credit loss is recorded in earnings, while any remaining mark-to-market loss is recorded in equity.

To determine whether the entire cost basis can be recovered, the present value needs to be estimated by summing up the expected discounted cash flows to get to the present value and comparing this present value with the amortized cost basis.

The FSP outlines some examples that should be considered for estimating the amount and the period over which the recovery is expected to happen

a. The length of time and the extent to which the fair value has been less than the

amortized cost basis

b. Adverse conditions specifically related to the security, an industry, or a geographic

area (for example, changes in the financial condition of the issuer of the security, or

in the case of an asset-backed debt security, in the financial condition of the

underlying loan obligors, including changes in technology or the discontinuance of a

segment of the business that may affect the future earnings potential of the issuer or

underlying loan obligors of the security or changes in the quality of the credit

enhancement)

c. The historical and implied volatility of the fair value of the security

d. The payment structure of the debt security (for example, nontraditional loan terms as

described in FSP SOP 94-6-1, Terms of Loan Products That May Give Rise to a

Concentration of Credit Risk) and the likelihood of the issuer being able to make

payments that increase in the future

e. Failure of the issuer of the security to make scheduled interest or principal payments

f. Any changes to the rating of the security by a rating agency

g. Recoveries or additional declines in fair value subsequent to the balance sheet date.

If it is determined that there is an OTTI, the amount of the total impairment related to credit losses is recognized in earnings, while the total amount related to all other factors is recognized in other other comprehensive income.

The FSP leads to new disclosures related to the OTTI, as well as more detailed disaggregation for major security categories. The frequency for certain existing disclosures is extended to include interim periods as opposed to just annual periods. The entity must also adjust the opening balance of retained earnings to recognize the cumulative effect of first time adoption of this FSP.

Early adoption was allowed for periods ending after March 15, 2009, with numerous companies deciding to early adopt. The effective date of FSP FAS 115-2 and FAS 124-2 was put to interim and annual reporting periods ending after June 15, 2009.

Demi-Ashton Ratio as a Global Indicator?

admin — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 18:06:48 +0000

Just saw this guy Ajay Kapur, global strategists from Mirae Asset Securities on CNBC talking about this ratio of middle aged (40s) divided by young people in their 20s, named after the celebrities Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore, whose ages are about 15 years apart. People in their 40’s have a lot of cash relatively speaking, and they take on more risk and hold a higher part in equities for their retirement savings. Ajay supposedly found that countries where this ratio is rising, equity markets are rising, as Japan did in the 80s for example, and then fell in the 90s as the ratio fell again, while in the US it rose in the 90s , peaked in 2000, and will continue to fall until 2015. In the emerging markets the ratio is rising right now.

Countries with the worst Demi-Ashton Ratio are:

Switzerland
Chile
US (which is in a secular bear market, but cyclical bull market according to Ajay)
Netherlands
Australia

Countries with the best Demi-Ashton Ratio are:

Japan (surprisingly has a high Demi-Ashton Ratio, with a high number in their 40’s, and low number in their 20’s, as not many kids were born in the though times between 1989-1999)
Russia
Hungary
Greece
Poland
Spain
Turque

Ok. Any other ratios I need to consider for my next investment?

Have The Rich Stopped Getting Richer?

admin — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 19:31:54 +0000

Another example of how quickly wealth can disappear. John McAfee, yes the entrepreneur who founded the McAfee Antivirus software company is now worth only 4Mio, after reaching a peak of 100Mio. Read the original story here. While the financial crisis has hit many rich people and reduced their wealth, and there has probably been some redistribution of wealth, I doubt that the rich have stopped getting richer in the long run. As soon as the economy returns to growth those who still have wealth will be able increase their wealth again.

Iron Rice

admin — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 18:24:07 +0000

Recently, scientist at ETH in Zurich have engineered rice with a six-fold increased iron content (source). This was achieved by transferring two plant genes into the original rice variety. The genes include the information to produce the enzyme nicotianamin synthase, which mobilizes iron, and the protein ferritin, which stores iron.

Considering that according to the WHO about 2bn people worldwide suffer from iron deficiency, this scientific advancement could prove to improve the health of a large part of the population, especially in developing countries in Asia and Africa. Their research findings have been published in the online edition of the “Plant Biotechnology Journal”.

Madoff to Die in Prison

admin — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 20:18:22 +0000

It is both impressing and repulsive at the same time to see how widespread this ponzi scheme reaches, a ponzi scheme constructed by a seemingly tactful and considerate character. A man, who started out as a bookkeeper before he became the non-executive chairman of Nasdaq. Now 71 year old Bernard Madoff took the money from anybody, and yet so selectively, ranging from private investors who invested all their savings, celebrities like Kevin Bacon, all the way to Jewish philantropic organizations and multinational banks. Also in Switzerland it is said that around 8.8bn invested by firms were lost, in the country managing a quarter of the world’s private wealth many were invested either directly or indirectly through funds of funds with Madoff. Madoff didn’t even make halt from taking from its employees by stealing from employee benefit plans.

Since Madoff admitted to his sons on Dec 11 , 2008, that everything was a lie, Mrs Madoff and the two sons were not charged with any wrongdoing. Madoff’s wife can still keep 2.5mio US dollars, after giving up gave up more than 80mio, which she claimed was here own. Also, the properties had to be given up, as well as the Manhatten penthouse valued at $7mio and 8 other properties, among them the 3mio beach front estate in New York, as well as the $7mio dollar home in Palm Beach Florida. It looks like it is no more $1200 a month gym membership for Ruth Madoff according to cncb’s “Scam of the Century”.

There are probably more victims out there than currently known, since many victims prefer to be quiet as they might not have reported all their money to the tax authorities, or they fear that the clawback laws will lead them to lose even more money. Generally, the clawback rule says that if an investor or a fund took out profits in the last six years they have to be returned. How this will be practically implemented remains to be seen. For the other investors there is still some hope coming from the security Securities Investor Protection Corporation, which may refund up to 500k to the victim eventually.

The maximum sentencing of 150 years for the sociopath who defrauded billions from investors has probably brought some peace of mind to the victims as the judge rejected Madoff’s plea for leniency . He has been brought to the federal prison in North Carolina, a medium-security facility, together with gang members and drug dealers. It wouldn’t be a surprise to hear of aggressions against Madoff from inmates who were struggling in their life financially being at the lower end of the social ladder and may feel envy towards Madoff”s former lifestyle. Some might even try to extort money from him as they believe he has still money hidden somewhere.

Madoff”s accountant David Friehling has been charged in this case because of not doing simple auditing checks which would have uncovered the fraud, ongoing investigations will unravel who is next to end up in prison as a result of the biggest ponzi scheme ever.