Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
Vestas, the world's largest wind turbine maker, has reported a big jump in quarterly profits after increasing deliveries of turbines.Net profit for July to September came in at 165m euros ($246m; £150m), up 70% on the 97m euros recorded a year ago. Revenue rose to 1.81bn euros from 1.76bn euros a year ago. Vestas workers staged a sit-in protest at its site in the Isle of Wight this summer, after the firm shut the factory there with the loss of 425 jobs.
Vestas, the world's largest wind turbine maker, has reported a big jump in quarterly profits after increasing deliveries of turbines.
Net profit for July to September came in at 165m euros ($246m; £150m), up 70% on the 97m euros recorded a year ago.
Revenue rose to 1.81bn euros from 1.76bn euros a year ago.
Vestas workers staged a sit-in protest at its site in the Isle of Wight this summer, after the firm shut the factory there with the loss of 425 jobs.
Step right up and buy your 6MW variable diameter windmill right here, buy two and get a free energy tonic.
(Vestas does indeed have some innovative engineering in their latest models, so stay tuned as the actual turbine gradually emerges.)
But ya gotta love computer animation, or as J so accurately put it, an announcement about an announcement. "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
Your story reminds me of when IBM used to do this in the early 80's, as they were just getting into the personal computer business. Their pre-announcements about future announcements would hold back the industry for 6 or 8 months, and eventually for years. They never actually delivered anything on a date promised, and what they would deliver would be prototype one, waiting for field debugging. Some of this was linked to Microsoft's problems with delivering, contrary to the revisionist history of Wikipedia.
For example, I was selling a product that had multi-user networking working in '82/'83 (with your option of 5 or even 10MB hard disks!!!) It was based upon CP/M (Control Program for Microprocessors, of which Microsoft's, and therefor IBM's, operating system was a variant...again, contrary to Wiki-history.)
It wasn't for many years later that the monolith of IBM and Microsoft was able to get multi-user working well. We sold some against their vaporware, but it was tough. It was classic monopoly scenario - power in control of the press, therefore control of the meme.
But people are charmed by snake-oil, especially if it mixes with CW, like CH says. Never underestimate their intelligence, always underestimate their knowledge.
Frank Delaney ~ Ireland
It was a huge coalition effort, you can find the list of participants here: http://www.seiu.org/bigbanks/ In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
Household Debt Can Hasten Recovery, When It Goes Unpaid The gloomy forecasts, though, miss an important point: Debts have value only to the extent that they are being paid, and a rapidly rising number of U.S. households aren't doing so. Those defaults are leading to losses at banks, a wave of foreclosures, trouble for neighborhoods and strife for families. But they are also providing an immediate, albeit radical, form of debt relief. "It's not ideal, because it carries other costs," said Karen Dynan, a consumer-finance specialist at the liberal Brookings Institution think tank who recently served as a senior adviser to the Federal Reserve. But it is "going to help get household balance sheets back to the right place." If one accounts for defaults, U.S. households' debt burden is shrinking a lot faster than the official data suggest. First American CoreLogic, which tracks the performance of mortgage loans, estimates that some 9.3% of the nation's 52.4 million mortgage holders were 60 or more days behind on their payments as of July. That represents relief on about $1.2 trillion in loans. The official data miss most of that, because the Fed doesn't erase debts until banks have foreclosed, sold the homes and taken the loans off their books, a process that can drag out for more than a year. As a result, some economists are expecting a sharp improvement as widely watched indicators of consumers' finances catch up to reality. Joseph Carson, director of global economic research at AllianceBernstein, expects the share of households' after-tax income that goes to pay loans, rent and other financial obligations to fall to 16.3% by the middle of next year, well below the average for the 20-year period leading up to the housing boom. As of June, it stood at 18.1%. "It's part of the cleansing process of a downturn," he said. "And it's happening a lot faster than people realize."
The gloomy forecasts, though, miss an important point: Debts have value only to the extent that they are being paid, and a rapidly rising number of U.S. households aren't doing so. Those defaults are leading to losses at banks, a wave of foreclosures, trouble for neighborhoods and strife for families. But they are also providing an immediate, albeit radical, form of debt relief.
"It's not ideal, because it carries other costs," said Karen Dynan, a consumer-finance specialist at the liberal Brookings Institution think tank who recently served as a senior adviser to the Federal Reserve. But it is "going to help get household balance sheets back to the right place."
If one accounts for defaults, U.S. households' debt burden is shrinking a lot faster than the official data suggest. First American CoreLogic, which tracks the performance of mortgage loans, estimates that some 9.3% of the nation's 52.4 million mortgage holders were 60 or more days behind on their payments as of July. That represents relief on about $1.2 trillion in loans. The official data miss most of that, because the Fed doesn't erase debts until banks have foreclosed, sold the homes and taken the loans off their books, a process that can drag out for more than a year.
As a result, some economists are expecting a sharp improvement as widely watched indicators of consumers' finances catch up to reality. Joseph Carson, director of global economic research at AllianceBernstein, expects the share of households' after-tax income that goes to pay loans, rent and other financial obligations to fall to 16.3% by the middle of next year, well below the average for the 20-year period leading up to the housing boom. As of June, it stood at 18.1%.
"It's part of the cleansing process of a downturn," he said. "And it's happening a lot faster than people realize."
Instead of recognizing and writing down bad debt in an orderly and customary manner the US Government has guaranteed it, colluded in hiding the extent of it, and swapped trash for cash with selected TBTF banks under repo agreements while driving interest rates to zero so as to facilitate a generous spread for the favored banks and green-lighting accelerated gouging of customers with fees and increased rates in the guise of financial reform.
But the debt must be dealt with in order for recovery to be possible. Given the stunning indifference of the Obama Administration to the effects of its actions on the average taxpayer, why should the average citizen continue to play the game by rules that are increasingly seen to be massively rigged in the favor of a few banks. It increasingly looks as though unsustainable debt will have to be eliminated by individual debtors. The sooner the better, IMO.
A debtors revolt, even should it crash the entire existing world economy, could at least force the bad debt to be recognized and written down. It seems to me that such an outcome offers hope for a better future than is offered by current US policies. But it need not come to that.
Policies that are directed to saving the economy rather than selected banks could do an even better job of resolving the current crisis. The US Government has extraordinary powers to deal with the economy in situations of crisis and danger. It needs to use them.
We are held hostage by TBTF banks that are too complex to regulate, too difficult for government regulators to resolve and too powerful for government officials to oppose. But were the government, in a crisis, to use its extraordinary powers to put liens and freezes on the assets of the executives and boards of directors of these institutions, allowing them access only to a few tens of thousands per month for living expenses, it would be possible to provide incentive to those who run these institutions to wind down and resolve the interlocking obligations at minimum cost so as to retain the maximum possible portion of their wealth.
Why should we allow "Hostage" to be a game played only BY the banksters? The point of this comment is to show that there ARE alternatives and that this is a crisis of power as much as of finance. When the banks have bought the organs of political power it is rather lame to assert that economics and politics are two separate realms. As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
And the EU seems to be far less owned by the banks than the former US government. There are signs here that the tiniest beginnings of attempts to corral and reform the banking system are already underway. Executive pay is merely a hot-button issue for the public, but oversight on derivatives and capital holdings, for example, are already underway.
Add to this that the European population, as well as the financial culture, has an entirely different view of personal debt as in amurka, and one sees that conditions here are different. Thus the beginnings of an attempt to reign in the financial industry.
For example, while many Europeans, particularly in Germany, have credit cards, the monthly balance is often taken directly from your bank account. The bank account itself may indeed have credit attached, but the standards are higher.
(Of course, one can get credit cards which allow accruing balances as well, but they're far harder for normal people than in the US. And credit cards are in far less use for daily activity, many stores and restaurants not even accepting them. Debit cards are far more widespread.)
Thus there is pressure for reform of amurka coming from without. (I'm ignoring the UK here.) And we haven't even begun to discuss the effect of BRIC action.
Though i doubt anything could stop the amurkan Untergang. "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
Thus there is pressure for reform of amurka coming from without.
Big Financial Firms Would Bear Cost of Failed Rivals Under Proposal WASHINGTON -- Under a deal hashed out between the Treasury Department and a key House Democrat, financial firms with more than $10 billion of assets would have to pay for the rescue or unwinding of a collapsed competitor, people familiar with the matter said. The move reflects an effort by Democrats to shift the burden of future financial crises away from taxpayers and toward the financial industry as they draft a new mechanism for taking over and breaking up large, failing companies. The deal between the White House and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D., Mass.) is a major advance in the administration's effort to overhaul banking rules and is consistent with the administration's goal of preventing financial institutions from becoming too big.
WASHINGTON -- Under a deal hashed out between the Treasury Department and a key House Democrat, financial firms with more than $10 billion of assets would have to pay for the rescue or unwinding of a collapsed competitor, people familiar with the matter said.
The move reflects an effort by Democrats to shift the burden of future financial crises away from taxpayers and toward the financial industry as they draft a new mechanism for taking over and breaking up large, failing companies.
The deal between the White House and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D., Mass.) is a major advance in the administration's effort to overhaul banking rules and is consistent with the administration's goal of preventing financial institutions from becoming too big.
A tug of war has begun at the top of the government over the future of Northern Rock as senior figures argue that the Treasury's planned sell-off should be stopped so that the ailing bank can instead be turned into a building society owned by its customers.The move would mean forgoing a potential £11bn windfall for taxpayers but some cabinet ministers and No 10 officials believe this option is preferable to selling the bank to a rival or refloating on the stock market since it would leave the bank less prone to instability and financial risk.However, there are concerns within the Treasury, which needs to reduce public debt and claw back some of the £25bn of taxpayer money which was used to bail out the bank in 2008.The final decision will be taken by ministers but they want to win the support of UKFI, the company set up to run the nationalised banks after last year's crash. Senior government sources believe there is a convincing case that taxpayers would benefit in the long term if a remutualised Northern Rock were able to help less well-off customers get low-interest loans.The plans are meeting resistance from those who want the bank sold off by a Labour government to prove the rescue of Northern Rock was the right thing to do.However the policy is appealing to Labour strategists beginning to coalesce around the rolling out of mutuals, and cooperatives across other areas of the public services as a policy platform for Labour's future; and politically appealing, as they think it will test David Cameron's reforming credentials for banking .
A tug of war has begun at the top of the government over the future of Northern Rock as senior figures argue that the Treasury's planned sell-off should be stopped so that the ailing bank can instead be turned into a building society owned by its customers.
The move would mean forgoing a potential £11bn windfall for taxpayers but some cabinet ministers and No 10 officials believe this option is preferable to selling the bank to a rival or refloating on the stock market since it would leave the bank less prone to instability and financial risk.
However, there are concerns within the Treasury, which needs to reduce public debt and claw back some of the £25bn of taxpayer money which was used to bail out the bank in 2008.
The final decision will be taken by ministers but they want to win the support of UKFI, the company set up to run the nationalised banks after last year's crash. Senior government sources believe there is a convincing case that taxpayers would benefit in the long term if a remutualised Northern Rock were able to help less well-off customers get low-interest loans.
The plans are meeting resistance from those who want the bank sold off by a Labour government to prove the rescue of Northern Rock was the right thing to do.
However the policy is appealing to Labour strategists beginning to coalesce around the rolling out of mutuals, and cooperatives across other areas of the public services as a policy platform for Labour's future; and politically appealing, as they think it will test David Cameron's reforming credentials for banking .
Well, I still think that there is another way of doing it - a Northern Rock Partnership
It's Not Northern Rocket Science as I said here as the Northern Wreck hit the rocks, and it would be a lot more straightforward to set up such a partnership now. "Any economic unit can emit money. The serious problem is to get it accepted" Hyman Minsky
There's £8bn more loans from the government to Northern Rock to let them lend it to all of you. On top of that there's another £4bn of liquidity arrangements. This takes the loan that had gone down to £15bn back up to £27bn, which will take "around a decade to pay off", says the Rock's chief executive. My initial read on this is that the government is providing the funding for the Rock that it would otherwise raise from the dreaded wholesale markets that brought its downfall. In fact Mr Hoffman told me that "in due course" the Rock would be returning to those same securitisation markets, "but in a simpler form". So not quite Adam Applegarth Redux. More concerned City voices will suggest that this massive loan is to deal with some horrible mortgage delinquencies amongst Northern Rock's high loan-to-value borrowers. We will find out the figures next week.
There's £8bn more loans from the government to Northern Rock to let them lend it to all of you. On top of that there's another £4bn of liquidity arrangements.
This takes the loan that had gone down to £15bn back up to £27bn, which will take "around a decade to pay off", says the Rock's chief executive.
My initial read on this is that the government is providing the funding for the Rock that it would otherwise raise from the dreaded wholesale markets that brought its downfall.
In fact Mr Hoffman told me that "in due course" the Rock would be returning to those same securitisation markets, "but in a simpler form". So not quite Adam Applegarth Redux.
More concerned City voices will suggest that this massive loan is to deal with some horrible mortgage delinquencies amongst Northern Rock's high loan-to-value borrowers. We will find out the figures next week.
An EU crackdown on banks too big to fail appears to have begun with ING having to sell its insurance and investment management business, as demanded by the European Commission. In the EU executive's boldest move yet, ING has been told to divest its insurance business, worth approximately 12-15bn euros. The bank has been asked to focus solely on banking in a break-up that will almost halve its balance sheet. The Commission's move against the bank is causing a stir in the banking sector. Its demands are being interpreted by observers, and further interventions are expected in the coming weeks. Among the predicted targets are Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), whose restructuring plans are currently under scrutiny at the Commission. A spokesperson for RBS in the UK said the bank is currently in talks with the British Treasury and the European Commission, but did not know when to expect a decision from the EU.
In the EU executive's boldest move yet, ING has been told to divest its insurance business, worth approximately 12-15bn euros. The bank has been asked to focus solely on banking in a break-up that will almost halve its balance sheet.
The Commission's move against the bank is causing a stir in the banking sector. Its demands are being interpreted by observers, and further interventions are expected in the coming weeks. Among the predicted targets are Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), whose restructuring plans are currently under scrutiny at the Commission.
A spokesperson for RBS in the UK said the bank is currently in talks with the British Treasury and the European Commission, but did not know when to expect a decision from the EU.
Bolero has signed an agreement with commodities firm Noble Group, which will enable the company to implement Bolero's multi-bank trade finance service on a global basis in support of both Letters of Credit and Guarantees. The global roll-out will start in Hong Kong and will then expand to Noble's other primary centres in Singapore, Lausanne, Stamford, USA and London. The Bolero multi-bank service enables the automation of the end-to-end lifecycle of the Letter of Credit and Guarantee instruments for both Importers and Exporters and their banks. The roll-out of this solution will allow Noble Group to better manage its Trade Finance operations and significantly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of communication with its partner banks on a global basis. By standardising on the use of Bolero with all core banks, Noble has the opportunity to provide regional and global consolidation and standardisation of its trade finance operations as well as removing time, cost and inefficiency from the processes. By using Bolero, Noble will ensure efficiency and standardisation benefits for its banks partners at the same time. "A significant number of our core partner banks are already live on the Bolero channel and we anticipate our decision will help to strengthen this commitment as well as to influence other banks to adopt this open platform," says says a spokesperson from Noble Group's Treasury Department. "Noble Group is a recognized leader with global presence that will add to the significant number of global corporates standardising on the Bolero channel. This, in turn will help to signal to banks globally the increased convergence on Bolero and the benefits to both communities in adoption of a common open multi-bank channel," says Claire Buchanan,, SVP, Global Field Operations at Bolero. "We are delighted to be partnering with Noble Group. Noble is particularly important to us at Bolero because of its global presence as well as its significant operations in Asia where we are seeing a rapidly increasing focus on multi-bank trade finance from both corporates and their banks," says Arthur Vonchek, CEO of Bolero. *
Nope, nothing to do with Ravel or Bo Derek.
BOLERO is about electronic transfers of title in respect of goods in transit, and the arcane legal documents known as 'Bills of Lading', Letters of Credit and so on. This is the sort of global legal plumbing that you don't notice until it clogs up and the shit overflows, as it briefly did a year or so ago.
I was in there in the beginning maybe about 15 years ago, because at the IPE I dealt with transfers of title relating to barge deliveries of gas oil in the Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp area and down the Rhine.
The BOLERO Rule Book is a document (which they even patented I think....) which comprises a globally valid contractual framework for transfers of title.
Not a million miles away from the sort of stuff I'm doing today, actually. "Any economic unit can emit money. The serious problem is to get it accepted" Hyman Minsky
Noble is a market leader in managing the global supply chain of agricultural, industrial and energy products. Our "hands on" approach to business has seen us grow to become a world leader in supply chain management in just 20 years.
Noble are a Hong Kong-based commodity trader who clearly 'get' that the future does not lie in risking your capital as a middleman, but rather in service provision.
Don't dig the gold: sell the shovels.
Their relationship with BOLERO takes them further down the service provision road. "Any economic unit can emit money. The serious problem is to get it accepted" Hyman Minsky
If anyone wants to know why CNBC anchors are so pale and nervous these days, look no further. As Comcast CEO Brian Roberts considers what to keep and what to, well, cut, post his digestion of NBC Universal (assuming deal rumors are true naturally) his eyes likely cast casual nervous glances at Nielsen reports of CNBC viewership. Yet his nervousness is quite minor compared to what actual employees must be feeling after Nielsen reported a 50% plunge in CNBC vierwership in October year over year. Specially, CNBC has experienced a massive 52% decline in overall viewers during business day hours (5 am - 7 pm), and a not much better 49% drop in its demo (25-54) in the month of October as compared to last year. Specific shows that are likely to follow the fate of Dennis Kneale's recently cancelled 8pm gobbledygook are likely the Kudlow Report and Mad Money, which are down 59% and 56%, respectively. While one can speculate about the causes of the drop (call it readers who can read between the propganda teleprompter lines), one thing the drop does explain is why CNBC has had to recently resort to advertising products for incontinence among other bodily malfunctions.
While one can speculate about the causes of the drop (call it readers who can read between the propganda teleprompter lines), one thing the drop does explain is why CNBC has had to recently resort to advertising products for incontinence among other bodily malfunctions.
Jon Stewart: Destroyer of Worlds? Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin
This just goes to show how much good planning in the form of strong lobbying efforts, massive campaign contributions, and big tips to the staff can give you a better position at the table. It makes all the difference in the US free-wheeling market for taxpayer funds. There will be more players rolling over, and the poorly connected, broken banks will come staggering back from the land of green shoots with leaking balance sheets and bleeding income statements. The big Banks will keep taking chips and tips from Ben and Tim, a little peek at the hole cards, a friendly dealer on the flop, until the time comes to turn over that last river card, and move on to a differet town and a new game. Where's GMAC at this table? Are you kidding me? They are outside parking cars.
There will be more players rolling over, and the poorly connected, broken banks will come staggering back from the land of green shoots with leaking balance sheets and bleeding income statements. The big Banks will keep taking chips and tips from Ben and Tim, a little peek at the hole cards, a friendly dealer on the flop, until the time comes to turn over that last river card, and move on to a differet town and a new game.
Where's GMAC at this table? Are you kidding me? They are outside parking cars.
