Buffett lost nearly $900 mil in one bad investment. He liquidated to cut
his losses. Is losing $900 mil a big sum or is it just peanuts to some?
Or would someone be saying, ‘What is $900 mil?’ For sure, Buffett did
not think it is a small sum and is very grouchy about it. He must have
felt bad that he had let his investors down. From his comments he came
out very apologetic and assuming the responsibility for making a wrong
bid. Well he wins some and loses some but overall he made a lot of good
calls.
In the same thread posted in TRE, a blogger posted this:
• Say NO to GAMBLING:
March 18, 2014 at 11:33 am (Quote)
How can we be sure that the “SURPLUS” on accounting is still there in reality?
To prevent further gambling losses, all CPF should be returned to citizens when they turn 55.
Now who is gambling and why such a comment? The very reason to keep the
money in the CPF and delaying withdrawals and all the minimum sum
schemes is to prevent the CPF savers from gambling or squandering away
their money. CPF is very safe. And I can quote Lim Swee Say for it. Why
would bloggers make such a comment as if the CPF money is at high risk
from gambling losses?
Can someone explain this to me? I still have some money caught in the
CPF that I cannot afford to lose. I need to know that my money is safe.
3/20/2014
MH370 – Calling the bluff
We are now on the 12th day of the MH370 disappearance and no one is
wiser. What is funny is that everyone seems to have seen the aircraft
either on radar screen or with their naked eyes. The latest ruse came
all the way from Maldives where some islanders were swearing that they
saw a low flying aircraft in the MAS colours of red and white. Of course
it is now confirmed that it was another imagination of the people eager
to locate the aircraft.
There are still many bluffs hanging in the air. If one is to look at the effective range of a long range surveillance radar, the radar at KLIA cannot see the aircraft from where it was reported missing unless they locate the radar on top of the mountain range in central peninsula. Neither can the Thai military or civilian radar see the aircraft at the same location. Both sightings can be ignored as spurious and red herrings.
The only possibility for Malaysian and Thai military radars to see MH370 is for their radars to be located near the east coast of the Thai Malaysian border. Did the Malaysians have any military radar there when they kept quoting KLIA? Did the Thais have any military radar in the Pattani region? If both answers are no, then, like a judge in a court would to say, please ignore all radar sightings of MH370 claimed by the Thais and the Malaysians in that area.
The sightings nearer to Butterworth and in the Straits of Malacca are within the range of Butterworth military radar. It is credible but the information given has to be reliable and not another cooked up story or imagination. The Thais are unlikely to see anything in the Straits of Malacca except those that came within the range of air traffic radar in Phuket. All must remember that the Malaysian govt has not confirmed anything but said the radar blips could be MH370. It could be anything else.
The claimed sightings in the Maldives are likely to be a case of putting 1 and 1 together to get 2. In the case of MH370 landing at the Maldives, it could fly like a normal civilian aircraft at normal height without anyone knowing there was something unusual as long as the air traffickers are under the command and control of the hijacking team. There was no need to fly low level except to make a landing in a remote airfield. Gan comes to mind as it is at a small island at the tip of an atoll and could easily be isolated and concealed or the aircraft kept out of sight of the islanders.
We have ruled out a crash or an explosion after the first few days of search. Now we can rule out the radar sightings in the north eastern cost of peninsula Malaysia. The last clue, if real, was the sighting around Pulau Perak heading northwest. If this is eventually proven to be false, we are back to square one and the last quarter that has been ruled out is east of the South China Sea.
Hope they could find something in the Maldives or Mauritius, or even central Asia. This jigsaw puzzle is still missing alot of pieces and no clear picture has taken shape.
What the authorities should be doing now is not to search for a crash site but a landing sight. The probability of the aircraft being hijacked is now very high. They should be thinking like the hijackers and looking at possible landing sites be it on land or in the sea where the aircraft could ditch safely. It is obvious that the hijackers are not going to kill themselves or the passengers. Where would they bring their aircraft to should be the starting point for this phase of search. The Australians searching near the Antartic is simply unthinking. They are still thinking of a reckless crashing of the aircraft.
Kopi Level - Green
There are still many bluffs hanging in the air. If one is to look at the effective range of a long range surveillance radar, the radar at KLIA cannot see the aircraft from where it was reported missing unless they locate the radar on top of the mountain range in central peninsula. Neither can the Thai military or civilian radar see the aircraft at the same location. Both sightings can be ignored as spurious and red herrings.
The only possibility for Malaysian and Thai military radars to see MH370 is for their radars to be located near the east coast of the Thai Malaysian border. Did the Malaysians have any military radar there when they kept quoting KLIA? Did the Thais have any military radar in the Pattani region? If both answers are no, then, like a judge in a court would to say, please ignore all radar sightings of MH370 claimed by the Thais and the Malaysians in that area.
The sightings nearer to Butterworth and in the Straits of Malacca are within the range of Butterworth military radar. It is credible but the information given has to be reliable and not another cooked up story or imagination. The Thais are unlikely to see anything in the Straits of Malacca except those that came within the range of air traffic radar in Phuket. All must remember that the Malaysian govt has not confirmed anything but said the radar blips could be MH370. It could be anything else.
The claimed sightings in the Maldives are likely to be a case of putting 1 and 1 together to get 2. In the case of MH370 landing at the Maldives, it could fly like a normal civilian aircraft at normal height without anyone knowing there was something unusual as long as the air traffickers are under the command and control of the hijacking team. There was no need to fly low level except to make a landing in a remote airfield. Gan comes to mind as it is at a small island at the tip of an atoll and could easily be isolated and concealed or the aircraft kept out of sight of the islanders.
We have ruled out a crash or an explosion after the first few days of search. Now we can rule out the radar sightings in the north eastern cost of peninsula Malaysia. The last clue, if real, was the sighting around Pulau Perak heading northwest. If this is eventually proven to be false, we are back to square one and the last quarter that has been ruled out is east of the South China Sea.
Hope they could find something in the Maldives or Mauritius, or even central Asia. This jigsaw puzzle is still missing alot of pieces and no clear picture has taken shape.
What the authorities should be doing now is not to search for a crash site but a landing sight. The probability of the aircraft being hijacked is now very high. They should be thinking like the hijackers and looking at possible landing sites be it on land or in the sea where the aircraft could ditch safely. It is obvious that the hijackers are not going to kill themselves or the passengers. Where would they bring their aircraft to should be the starting point for this phase of search. The Australians searching near the Antartic is simply unthinking. They are still thinking of a reckless crashing of the aircraft.
Kopi Level - Green
3/19/2014
New York official seeks curbs on high-frequency traders
I hope PM, Dep PM and MAS read this.
New York official seeks curbs on high-frequency traders
Tue Mar 18 15:02:13 UTC 2014
By Karen Freifeld
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York's attorney general urged U.S. stock exchanges and other venues on Tuesday to limit services that he said provided unfair advantages to high-frequency traders and undermined confidence in the markets.
The stock exchanges allow traders to locate their computer servers within trading venues, armed with extra network bandwidth and high-speed switches that give them access to pricing, volume and order information ahead of others, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said.
"Rather than curbing the worst threats posed by high-frequency traders, our markets, as structured today, are increasingly too focused on catering to them," he said in prepared remarks at a symposium hosted by New York Law School.
Schneiderman has begun meetings with the exchanges and alternative trading venues to discuss reforms, according to a person familiar with the situation.
A spokeswoman for the New York Stock Exchange declined comment. A Nasdaq spokesman did not immediately return a call for comment.
Among the practices Schneiderman called into question were "co-location," which allows firms who pay a fee - typically thousands of dollars a month - to locate their computer servers within the exchanges' data centers.
Co-location reduces by milliseconds the time it takes to transmit, long enough for "predatory" high-speed traders to benefit and for the markets to suffer.
For instance, he said, the traders look for arbitrage opportunities between and among venues to capture momentary differences in stock prices.
The firms also artificially inflate prices, he said, by detecting a big trade from an institutional investor and positioning themselves on the other side.
Institutional investors have been forced to develop strategies to hide their orders from these traders, such as by routing the orders into alternative venues known as "dark pools," which are less regulated, Schneiderman said.
He suggested reforms for stock exchanges, such as a proposal by University of Chicago economists that they process orders in batches rather than continuously, to ensure that price trumps technology in deciding who obtains a trade.
Schneiderman has been conducting a sweeping investigation of early access to data. Last month, Berkshire Hathaway's Business Wire said it would no longer sell potentially market-moving press releases directly to high frequency-trading companies after months of discussion with his office....
New York official seeks curbs on high-frequency traders
Tue Mar 18 15:02:13 UTC 2014
By Karen Freifeld
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York's attorney general urged U.S. stock exchanges and other venues on Tuesday to limit services that he said provided unfair advantages to high-frequency traders and undermined confidence in the markets.
The stock exchanges allow traders to locate their computer servers within trading venues, armed with extra network bandwidth and high-speed switches that give them access to pricing, volume and order information ahead of others, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said.
"Rather than curbing the worst threats posed by high-frequency traders, our markets, as structured today, are increasingly too focused on catering to them," he said in prepared remarks at a symposium hosted by New York Law School.
Schneiderman has begun meetings with the exchanges and alternative trading venues to discuss reforms, according to a person familiar with the situation.
A spokeswoman for the New York Stock Exchange declined comment. A Nasdaq spokesman did not immediately return a call for comment.
Among the practices Schneiderman called into question were "co-location," which allows firms who pay a fee - typically thousands of dollars a month - to locate their computer servers within the exchanges' data centers.
Co-location reduces by milliseconds the time it takes to transmit, long enough for "predatory" high-speed traders to benefit and for the markets to suffer.
For instance, he said, the traders look for arbitrage opportunities between and among venues to capture momentary differences in stock prices.
The firms also artificially inflate prices, he said, by detecting a big trade from an institutional investor and positioning themselves on the other side.
Institutional investors have been forced to develop strategies to hide their orders from these traders, such as by routing the orders into alternative venues known as "dark pools," which are less regulated, Schneiderman said.
He suggested reforms for stock exchanges, such as a proposal by University of Chicago economists that they process orders in batches rather than continuously, to ensure that price trumps technology in deciding who obtains a trade.
Schneiderman has been conducting a sweeping investigation of early access to data. Last month, Berkshire Hathaway's Business Wire said it would no longer sell potentially market-moving press releases directly to high frequency-trading companies after months of discussion with his office....
MH 370 – All the false theories
An article in the internet reported on several of theories that have
been circulating in the media. I have listed them down and discredit
most of them as spurious and not sensible.
1. SOURCE: Chris Goodfellow, who describes himself as an experienced pilot.
THE THEORY: Goodfellow has posted on Google Plus that he believed the pilot on MH370 may have been heading to the Malaysian resort island of Langkawi to land after the transponders were knocked out by a fire on board.
"The left turn is the key here. This was a very experienced senior Captain with 18,000 hours,'' Goodfellow wrote.
My comment: There is no urgency to make an emergency landing just because the transponder is not working unless there is a big fire. If that is the case, the pilot would have all the time in the world to make his emergency calls, switch on the emergency squawks, and the passengers too would be able to make some calls out. This is obviously false.
2. SOURCE: Desmond Ross, an Australian commercial pilot and aviation security expert.
THE THEORY: Captain Ross offers a similar theory to Goodfellow's. He said the aircraft might have depressurised for some reason, possibly due to an explosion causing a hole in the fuselage.
"The pilots quickly recognise the need to descend,'' said Captain Ross, who conducted a security review of Kuala Lumpur's international airport in 2005.
My comment: False. Same as above.
3. SOURCE: Keith Ledgerwood, who described himself as a hobby pilot and aviation enthusiast from the US.
THE THEORY: This theory was based on the premise that someone hijacked the plane.
Ledgerwood said MH370 could have switched off its radar, then "shadowed" another plane - Singapore Airlines flight number 68 en route from Singapore to Barcelona - before landing north of India or Afghanistan.
"It is my belief that MH370 likely flew in the shadow of SIA68 through India and Afghanistan airspace," wrote Ledgerwood on Tumblr.
My comment: Sound logical and possible. But the part when the pilot, supposedly trying so hard to avoid detection but flew into radar zones to be seen by everyone makes this theory a suspect. On the one hand the pilot wanted to hide but then exposed himself naked for all to see.
4. SOURCE: Described in The Independent newspaper.
THE THEORY: The plane may have been hijacked and flown to a Taliban base.
The Independent has reported that full diplomatic permissions were being sought in order to rule out the theory that the plane could have flown under the radar to areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan that were not under government control.
My comment: No aircraft can fly through India and Pakistan without being picked up on radars.
5. SOURCE: Investigators
THE THEORY: Authorities were investigating whether pilot or passenger suicide could explain the plane's disappearance.
There was a historical precedent for this.
6. SOURCE: An email to journalists claiming to be from the Chinese Martyrs' Brigade.
THE THEORY: A shadowy group called the Chinese Martyrs' Brigade claimed responsibility for the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in an email to journalists in China.
The encrypted email read: ''You kill one of our clan, we will kill 100 of you as pay back.''
My comment: Too little to work on. Probably a hoax. If it is real, there would be followup comments and claims of victory or success.
7. SOURCE: Malaysian police were said to be investigating this theory.
THE THEORY: An explosive may have been hidden in the plane's huge cargo of exotic fruit.
Malaysian officials have said that the only cargo on MH370 was a load of mangosteens, a fruit popular in south-east Asia.
Malaysia Airlines CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said that "three to four tonnes" of mangosteens were on the aircraft
My comment: Possible to have explosives smuggled into the cargo haul. But where is the explosion? No signs of any so far. No wreckages, no debris, no black box signals.
8. My Theory. Aircraft was hijacked by a professional team of experts and flown to some uninhabited or sparsely inhabited islands like those in the southern Philppines. Gan Island is also a possibility as it has an airstrip and not heavily populated. A gag order could be imposed on the islanders not to tell the world. In the case of the Philippines, the pilot would have to ditch the aircraft in the coastal seas. So far the black boxes have been silent. And so were the passengers.
On the other hand, the whole thing could be a very simple and baffling incident like the aircraft landed somewhere in a Malaysian state. But of course everyone on board is either dead or over powered and cannot make contact with the world.
1. SOURCE: Chris Goodfellow, who describes himself as an experienced pilot.
THE THEORY: Goodfellow has posted on Google Plus that he believed the pilot on MH370 may have been heading to the Malaysian resort island of Langkawi to land after the transponders were knocked out by a fire on board.
"The left turn is the key here. This was a very experienced senior Captain with 18,000 hours,'' Goodfellow wrote.
My comment: There is no urgency to make an emergency landing just because the transponder is not working unless there is a big fire. If that is the case, the pilot would have all the time in the world to make his emergency calls, switch on the emergency squawks, and the passengers too would be able to make some calls out. This is obviously false.
2. SOURCE: Desmond Ross, an Australian commercial pilot and aviation security expert.
THE THEORY: Captain Ross offers a similar theory to Goodfellow's. He said the aircraft might have depressurised for some reason, possibly due to an explosion causing a hole in the fuselage.
"The pilots quickly recognise the need to descend,'' said Captain Ross, who conducted a security review of Kuala Lumpur's international airport in 2005.
My comment: False. Same as above.
3. SOURCE: Keith Ledgerwood, who described himself as a hobby pilot and aviation enthusiast from the US.
THE THEORY: This theory was based on the premise that someone hijacked the plane.
Ledgerwood said MH370 could have switched off its radar, then "shadowed" another plane - Singapore Airlines flight number 68 en route from Singapore to Barcelona - before landing north of India or Afghanistan.
"It is my belief that MH370 likely flew in the shadow of SIA68 through India and Afghanistan airspace," wrote Ledgerwood on Tumblr.
My comment: Sound logical and possible. But the part when the pilot, supposedly trying so hard to avoid detection but flew into radar zones to be seen by everyone makes this theory a suspect. On the one hand the pilot wanted to hide but then exposed himself naked for all to see.
4. SOURCE: Described in The Independent newspaper.
THE THEORY: The plane may have been hijacked and flown to a Taliban base.
The Independent has reported that full diplomatic permissions were being sought in order to rule out the theory that the plane could have flown under the radar to areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan that were not under government control.
My comment: No aircraft can fly through India and Pakistan without being picked up on radars.
5. SOURCE: Investigators
THE THEORY: Authorities were investigating whether pilot or passenger suicide could explain the plane's disappearance.
There was a historical precedent for this.
6. SOURCE: An email to journalists claiming to be from the Chinese Martyrs' Brigade.
THE THEORY: A shadowy group called the Chinese Martyrs' Brigade claimed responsibility for the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in an email to journalists in China.
The encrypted email read: ''You kill one of our clan, we will kill 100 of you as pay back.''
My comment: Too little to work on. Probably a hoax. If it is real, there would be followup comments and claims of victory or success.
7. SOURCE: Malaysian police were said to be investigating this theory.
THE THEORY: An explosive may have been hidden in the plane's huge cargo of exotic fruit.
Malaysian officials have said that the only cargo on MH370 was a load of mangosteens, a fruit popular in south-east Asia.
Malaysia Airlines CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said that "three to four tonnes" of mangosteens were on the aircraft
My comment: Possible to have explosives smuggled into the cargo haul. But where is the explosion? No signs of any so far. No wreckages, no debris, no black box signals.
8. My Theory. Aircraft was hijacked by a professional team of experts and flown to some uninhabited or sparsely inhabited islands like those in the southern Philppines. Gan Island is also a possibility as it has an airstrip and not heavily populated. A gag order could be imposed on the islanders not to tell the world. In the case of the Philippines, the pilot would have to ditch the aircraft in the coastal seas. So far the black boxes have been silent. And so were the passengers.
On the other hand, the whole thing could be a very simple and baffling incident like the aircraft landed somewhere in a Malaysian state. But of course everyone on board is either dead or over powered and cannot make contact with the world.
MH370 – Another ridiculous search into nowhere
Australia is claiming to be searching the ocean to the southwest of
Perth. Now where on earth is that place? It may be trying to cover all
corners on earth but let’s be reasonable, is there any reason why the
pilot would want to fly MH370 to that corner of the Indian Ocean?
Heading towards the Maldives or Mauritius has a logical explanation. There are islands and landing strips to put the aircraft down. Why fly to nowhere to ditch? If the intention of the pilot is to ditch the aircraft, it can ditch anywhere in the South China Sea or nearby in the Indian Ocean. Why ditching in a corner of the earth as good as God knows where?
Maybe the pilot wanted to bury himself and everyone in a watery grave that cannot be found. Logical?
Common Australia, do something logical and fruitful. This is worse than a wild goose chase. It is idiotic and a waste of time and resources. Are they thinking and knowing what they are doing?
Heading towards the Maldives or Mauritius has a logical explanation. There are islands and landing strips to put the aircraft down. Why fly to nowhere to ditch? If the intention of the pilot is to ditch the aircraft, it can ditch anywhere in the South China Sea or nearby in the Indian Ocean. Why ditching in a corner of the earth as good as God knows where?
Maybe the pilot wanted to bury himself and everyone in a watery grave that cannot be found. Logical?
Common Australia, do something logical and fruitful. This is worse than a wild goose chase. It is idiotic and a waste of time and resources. Are they thinking and knowing what they are doing?
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