22nd European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 23-26 June 2014, CCH Congress Center Hamburg

Public release date: 15-Oct-2013
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Contact: Chiara Benetti
pressoffice@etaflorence.it
39-055-500-2280
Eta Florence Renewable Energies

The leading international platform for dialogue between research, industry, policy and business of biomass

Business-to-Business, Business-to-Science, Science-to-Industry

The particular quality of the EU BC&E combines one of the largest biomass science and technology conference with a leading Biomass industry and technology exhibition, attracting the entire professional Biomass community from around the globe.

This event is held at different venues throughout Europe and is trend-setting for the Biomass technologies and applications. It provides a state-of-the-art Biomass Exhibition and Scientific Conference, as well as innovative Parallel Events and represents the entire Biomass value chain.

A taste of issues at stake

"In the last years the research community has accomplished significant progress in all fronts of biomass and bioenergy with key breakthroughs in several areas. In parallel the guiding principles on biomass sustainability raised ethical, trade, business-related, and policy issues associated to biomass availability, competition amongst the different uses of biomass as well as endless discussions on the complex issue of land use raising uncertainties in the mind of consumers, the civil society and the policy makers. The research community appears divided especially when modelling and predictive work is concerned ensuing in further confusion for the stakeholders. Simultaneously it is recognised by all that biomass and bioenergy is the main avenue that has to be driven upon if we are to attain the European and global climate change targets that have been set. Only the biomass & bioenergy industry can bridge the gap by undertaking reliable and well reasoned investments with social responsibility and political accountability" - Industry Committee Coordinator, Kyriakos Maniatis, European Commission, DG ENER.

Therefore, the key focus of the 22nd EU BC&E will be interaction between research, industry and policy makers. For this purpose the conference programme will be structured to satisfy the needs of both the wider audience and the scientific specialists by involving close interactions between the pure science, the industrial exploitation of the results of the research and the policy makers who provide the framework for research and industry. The programme will offer overviews of the latest scientific findings, industrial progress and political landscape and will extend from biomass itself to conversion processes for biofuels, bioenergy and biorefineries and to industrial applications and impacts on the environment.

"This will be a challenge for organisers and participants alike, but interaction and integration of the 3 main arms of the conference (research, industry and policy) are essential if biomass is to make a continued significant contribution to the developing low-carbon economy. Indeed, Europe has ambitious targets for 2020 and beyond for sustainable biomass, bioenergy, biofuels and biorefineries" - Technical Programme Chairman, David Baxter, European Commission, JRC.

The 2014 Conference marks the first edition where the call for abstracts is open not only for scientific presentations but also for industry-oriented presentations. To attract and engage industry, the Executive Committee has decided to set up an Industry Committee to deal with the continuously increasing number of industry-oriented abstracts and to promote the interests and needs of the Bioenergy Industry.

Why Hamburg?

Hamburg clearily represents an ideal location for the 22nd edition of the EU BC&E. Winner of the European Green Capital Award in 2011, it has, in fact, achieved high environmental standards and good performance levels in terms of cycling and public transport indicators and has defined targets and future plans with respect to climate change. It has set ambitious climate protection goals such as reducing its CO2 emissions by 40% by 2020 and by 80% by the year 2050.

###

Background of the European Biomass Conference and Exhibition

For over 30 years now, the European Biomass Conference and Exhibition - European BC&E - has combined a well-renowned international Scientific Conference with an Industry Exhibition. The European BC&E is held at different venues throughout Europe and ranks on top of the world's leading events in the biomass sector.

It provides a high-level scientific programme and parallel events which attract participants from a wide ranging background: Researchers, engineers, technologists, standards organisations, financing institutions and policy and decision makers.
Such a global exchange platform of current knowledge in turn attracts industrial exhibitors, making the conference events a significant tool for technology transfer and innovation.

This event is supported by European and international organizations such as the European Commission, UNESCO - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Natural Sciences Sector, WCRE - the World Council for Renewable Energy, EUBIA - the European Biomass Industry Association, UNICA - Sugarcane Industry Association, Brazil , BEC Biomass Energy Committee, China and other organisations.

The Technical Programme is coordinated by the European Commission, Joint Research Centre.

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 15-Oct-2013
[


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]

Contact: Chiara Benetti
pressoffice@etaflorence.it
39-055-500-2280
Eta Florence Renewable Energies

The leading international platform for dialogue between research, industry, policy and business of biomass

Business-to-Business, Business-to-Science, Science-to-Industry

The particular quality of the EU BC&E combines one of the largest biomass science and technology conference with a leading Biomass industry and technology exhibition, attracting the entire professional Biomass community from around the globe.

This event is held at different venues throughout Europe and is trend-setting for the Biomass technologies and applications. It provides a state-of-the-art Biomass Exhibition and Scientific Conference, as well as innovative Parallel Events and represents the entire Biomass value chain.

A taste of issues at stake

"In the last years the research community has accomplished significant progress in all fronts of biomass and bioenergy with key breakthroughs in several areas. In parallel the guiding principles on biomass sustainability raised ethical, trade, business-related, and policy issues associated to biomass availability, competition amongst the different uses of biomass as well as endless discussions on the complex issue of land use raising uncertainties in the mind of consumers, the civil society and the policy makers. The research community appears divided especially when modelling and predictive work is concerned ensuing in further confusion for the stakeholders. Simultaneously it is recognised by all that biomass and bioenergy is the main avenue that has to be driven upon if we are to attain the European and global climate change targets that have been set. Only the biomass & bioenergy industry can bridge the gap by undertaking reliable and well reasoned investments with social responsibility and political accountability" - Industry Committee Coordinator, Kyriakos Maniatis, European Commission, DG ENER.

Therefore, the key focus of the 22nd EU BC&E will be interaction between research, industry and policy makers. For this purpose the conference programme will be structured to satisfy the needs of both the wider audience and the scientific specialists by involving close interactions between the pure science, the industrial exploitation of the results of the research and the policy makers who provide the framework for research and industry. The programme will offer overviews of the latest scientific findings, industrial progress and political landscape and will extend from biomass itself to conversion processes for biofuels, bioenergy and biorefineries and to industrial applications and impacts on the environment.

"This will be a challenge for organisers and participants alike, but interaction and integration of the 3 main arms of the conference (research, industry and policy) are essential if biomass is to make a continued significant contribution to the developing low-carbon economy. Indeed, Europe has ambitious targets for 2020 and beyond for sustainable biomass, bioenergy, biofuels and biorefineries" - Technical Programme Chairman, David Baxter, European Commission, JRC.

The 2014 Conference marks the first edition where the call for abstracts is open not only for scientific presentations but also for industry-oriented presentations. To attract and engage industry, the Executive Committee has decided to set up an Industry Committee to deal with the continuously increasing number of industry-oriented abstracts and to promote the interests and needs of the Bioenergy Industry.

Why Hamburg?

Hamburg clearily represents an ideal location for the 22nd edition of the EU BC&E. Winner of the European Green Capital Award in 2011, it has, in fact, achieved high environmental standards and good performance levels in terms of cycling and public transport indicators and has defined targets and future plans with respect to climate change. It has set ambitious climate protection goals such as reducing its CO2 emissions by 40% by 2020 and by 80% by the year 2050.

###

Background of the European Biomass Conference and Exhibition

For over 30 years now, the European Biomass Conference and Exhibition - European BC&E - has combined a well-renowned international Scientific Conference with an Industry Exhibition. The European BC&E is held at different venues throughout Europe and ranks on top of the world's leading events in the biomass sector.

It provides a high-level scientific programme and parallel events which attract participants from a wide ranging background: Researchers, engineers, technologists, standards organisations, financing institutions and policy and decision makers.
Such a global exchange platform of current knowledge in turn attracts industrial exhibitors, making the conference events a significant tool for technology transfer and innovation.

This event is supported by European and international organizations such as the European Commission, UNESCO - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Natural Sciences Sector, WCRE - the World Council for Renewable Energy, EUBIA - the European Biomass Industry Association, UNICA - Sugarcane Industry Association, Brazil , BEC Biomass Energy Committee, China and other organisations.

The Technical Programme is coordinated by the European Commission, Joint Research Centre.

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-10/efre-2eb101513.php
Tags: chicago fire   Grand Theft Auto 5 cheats   aaron hernandez   Jesse Jackson Jr   whitney houston  

Stacy Keibler Had The Best Birthday Week

By Travis October 16, 2013 @ 9:00 AM

Stacy Keibler thought that she was going to be the woman who made George Clooney settle down, get married and have kids, and that’s probably why he eventually dumped her like all of the rest of the younger models that he’s dated. Naturally, she wants us all to know that life post-Clooney is even better than it was before, as she posted this picture of her and her new boyfriend, Jared Pobre, on the tail end of the weeklong James Bond-themed birthday party that he threw for her from Paris to Las Vegas.

More importantly, Stacy is 34-years old. These “birthday week” celebrations aren’t cute when binge-drinking girls have them in college as a way to get drunk for free, and they’re not cute when a mid-30s C-list toilet paper spokeswoman has them either. No one’s birthday is so important that it deserves an entire week, so cut this shit out, Stacy.

Photo Credit: Stacy Keibler’s Instagram

Source: http://www.wwtdd.com/2013/10/stacy-keibler-had-the-best-birthday-week/
Category: parenthood   iOS 7   CDOT   Mary Lambert   Michael Girgenti  

Supreme Court To Weigh EPA Permits For Power Plant Emissions

The Supreme Court is expected to take up the case on the greenhouse gas permits for large polluters early next year.

Susan Walsh/AP

The Supreme Court is expected to take up the case on the greenhouse gas permits for large polluters early next year.

Susan Walsh/AP

The Supreme Court has agreed to review an Obama administration policy that requires new power plants and other big polluting facilities to apply for permits to emit greenhouse gases.

To get these permits, which have been required since 2011, companies may have to use pollution controls or otherwise reduce greenhouse gases from their operations — although industries report that so far they haven't had to install special pollution control equipment to qualify for the permits.

The rule is part of a larger effort by the EPA to regulate greenhouse gases.

The EPA started with automobiles. It determined that once it did that, it was "compelled" by the Clean Air Act to also require greenhouse gas permits when companies want to construct big new facilities. The statute requires permits for all facilities that are major polluters of "any air pollutant." And the EPA has long interpreted this to mean any pollutant that is regulated under the Clean Air Act.

The utilities, manufacturers and chemical companies that petitioned the Supreme Court challenge EPA's decision. They argue that the EPA should have interpreted "any air pollutant" to mean only pollutants that have health-based ambient air quality standards, such as ground-level ozone, according to Jeffrey Holmstead, an industry lawyer who headed EPA's air pollution program under the Bush administration.

Furthermore, industry groups argue that getting these permits causes delays in big projects that could help revive the economy.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia decided in 2012 that the EPA got it right.

In its decision, the appeals court cited a 2007 Supreme Court decision, Massachusetts v. EPA, which affirmed the EPA's determination that greenhouse gases are a pollutant under the Clean Air Act.

That Supreme Court ruling also upheld the EPA's finding that greenhouse gases endanger public health and the Obama administration's authority to regulate greenhouse gases from automobiles.

The Supreme Court is expected to take up the case on the greenhouse gas permits for large polluters early next year.

These greenhouse gas permits are not the same as the greenhouse gas regulations that the Obama administration has been drafting over the past couple of years.

The EPA last month released a second proposal regarding how it wants to set limits on how much greenhouse gases new power plants can release. President Obama says he also intends to regulate greenhouse gases from existing power plants, but has yet to release a proposal.

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/10/15/234731532/supreme-court-to-weigh-epa-permits-for-power-plant-emissions?ft=1&f=1001
Category: christina milian   Tony Gonzalez   nfl   school shooting   Chucho Benitez  

How do consumers create markets? The case of the minimoto

Public release date: 15-Oct-2013
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Contact: Mary-Ann Twist
JCR@bus.wisc.edu
608-255-5582
University of Chicago Press Journals

Consumers have the power to do more than just respond to products that companies put on the market; they can actually change and develop new markets, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.

"Firm-centric models of market development view consumers as relatively passive, downstream actors, whose agency and ability to affect a market are limited to decision making in a realm of choices controlled by marketing institutions," write authors Diane M. Martin and John W. Schouten (both Aalto University). "Recently consumer culture scholars have explored the power of various kinds of consumer resistance to change markets or develop new ones."

The authors studied the emergence and growth of a new market within the motorcycle industry, the minimoto. The original minimoto is a child's minibike that has been modified significantly to be ridden and raced by adults. Minimoto aficionados are passionate about the bikes, and there is currently a thriving global market for parts to modify stock minibikes from major manufacturers such as Honda, Kawasaki, and Yamaha.

The mainstream motorcycle industry has always viewed minimotos as a niche product in a shrinking segment of dirt bikes. The authors explain the emergence of the minimoto market as a process in three stages: consumer innovation, where creative consumers mobilize available objects and other resources to overcome barriers; community formation, when creative consumers engage other people in the same activities, leading to the development of products, practices, and infrastructures; and a final stage of market emergence.

"Such organic market emergence distributes the risk and the investment of market building broadly among consumers rather than concentrating it at the level of the firm," the authors write. "And it offers insight into the kinds of actors that have the power to shift markets in fundamental ways."

###

Diane M. Martin and John W. Schouten. "Consumption-Driven Market Emergence." Journal of Consumer Research: February 2014. For more information, contact John Schouten or visit http://ejcr.org/.

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 15-Oct-2013
[


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| Share

]

Contact: Mary-Ann Twist
JCR@bus.wisc.edu
608-255-5582
University of Chicago Press Journals

Consumers have the power to do more than just respond to products that companies put on the market; they can actually change and develop new markets, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.

"Firm-centric models of market development view consumers as relatively passive, downstream actors, whose agency and ability to affect a market are limited to decision making in a realm of choices controlled by marketing institutions," write authors Diane M. Martin and John W. Schouten (both Aalto University). "Recently consumer culture scholars have explored the power of various kinds of consumer resistance to change markets or develop new ones."

The authors studied the emergence and growth of a new market within the motorcycle industry, the minimoto. The original minimoto is a child's minibike that has been modified significantly to be ridden and raced by adults. Minimoto aficionados are passionate about the bikes, and there is currently a thriving global market for parts to modify stock minibikes from major manufacturers such as Honda, Kawasaki, and Yamaha.

The mainstream motorcycle industry has always viewed minimotos as a niche product in a shrinking segment of dirt bikes. The authors explain the emergence of the minimoto market as a process in three stages: consumer innovation, where creative consumers mobilize available objects and other resources to overcome barriers; community formation, when creative consumers engage other people in the same activities, leading to the development of products, practices, and infrastructures; and a final stage of market emergence.

"Such organic market emergence distributes the risk and the investment of market building broadly among consumers rather than concentrating it at the level of the firm," the authors write. "And it offers insight into the kinds of actors that have the power to shift markets in fundamental ways."

###

Diane M. Martin and John W. Schouten. "Consumption-Driven Market Emergence." Journal of Consumer Research: February 2014. For more information, contact John Schouten or visit http://ejcr.org/.

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-10/uocp-hdc_1101513.php
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Schwab posts highest profit since 2008, shares jump

By Jed Horowitz

(Reuters) - Charles Schwab Corp, a U.S. discount broker, posted its highest quarterly profit since the financial crisis on Tuesday as the rising U.S. stock market fueled more customer trading.

The broker's shares rose as much as 8.1 percent.

Schwab's third-quarter revenue of $1.37 billion was its best since the height of the Internet bubble more than a decade ago. The company offered a rosy outlook, helped by higher revenue and tamped-down expenses.

The rising U.S. stock market also helped the company. With the Federal Reserve unlikely to scale back its bond-buying stimulus program, the stock market has been jumping.

Schwab said it benefited from the economic recovery, but also from winning more assets from clients. In the traditionally slow summer quarter, it gained $43 billion in net new assets, 97 percent higher than a year earlier.

Schwab is selling more services to clients this year. It historically focused on serving individual investors making their own investment choices, but is now also offering advice for a fee. The company said $1 trillion of its $2.15 trillion of client assets were enrolled in some form of advice program.

About 74,000 of Schwab's 8.7 million brokerage account clients this year received financial plans, which advise customers on how to manage their money. Last quarter, 26,000 clients received a plan, a 63 percent increase over last year's third quarter.

The broker's strategy of selling a range of retirement, savings and investments products has also been adopted by big rivals such as UBS Wealth Americas , Wells Fargo & Co's Wells Fargo Advisors and Bank of America Corp's Merrill Lynch wealth management arm.

Charles Schwab said third-quarter profit rose 17 percent from a year earlier to $290 million. Earnings per share of 22 cents beat analysts' average estimate of 20 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Shares of Schwab, which have gained 55 percent this year including reinvested dividends, soared 8.1 percent to $23.79 in morning trading and were up 6 percent at midday. The broader market and most financial services stocks were trading down.

Schwab's third-quarter revenue was the highest in more than a decade, even though historically low interest rates have weighed on its money market funds. The broker waived a record $180 million in fees on the funds, because in a low-yielding environment they would have otherwise had negative returns.

MORE COMING

The company said it expects revenue to rise 3 percent to 5 percent faster than expenses in 2014, a sign that the retail brokerage giant is taming costs and continues to collect assets from clients at a strong pace.

Schwab reiterated that if the economy continues to recover and interest rates remain at current levels, it will become more profitable.

For all of 2013, Schwab expects revenue to outpace expenses by 1 percent to 2 percent, pretax profit margin to stay at a minimum of 30 percent, and earnings per share in the mid-70-cent range. Pretax profit margin in the third quarter was 33.8 percent, its highest level this year, partly reflecting cuts Schwab has made in its marketing, hiring and project budgets.

Like many of its competitors, Schwab also said it was still collecting new assets at a blistering pace. In the traditionally slow summer quarter, its net new assets of $43 billion were 97 percent higher than a year earlier.

Schwab also indicated that clients appeared to be regaining confidence in the market. It added about 16,000 net new retail brokerage accounts, 14 percent more than a year earlier.

Customer trading volume, Schwab's traditional measure of client confidence and risk-taking, rose 6 percent in September from a year earlier to an average of 469,200 trades a day, but was flat with August's volume.

Randy Frederick, who oversees Schwab's business for active traders, said last week that trading volume among all retail investors had not been keeping pace with the broad rise in stock markets, a sign that investors were letting their profits ride and waiting for dips to buy.

However, Schwab clients were pulling money out of large-cap stock mutual funds in August and September, while buying international and small-to-mid-cap stock funds, another sign of rising risk appetite.

(Reporting by Jed Horowitz; Editing by Kenneth Barry, Lisa Von Ahn and Jim Marshall)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/schwab-posts-highest-profit-since-2008-shares-jump-182020202--sector.html
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New House GOP plan as debt-limit deadline nears

Speaker of the House Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, walks away from the microphone during a news conference after a House GOP meeting on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013 in Washington. The federal government remains partially shut down and faces a first-ever default between Oct. 17 and the end of the month. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

Speaker of the House Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, walks away from the microphone during a news conference after a House GOP meeting on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013 in Washington. The federal government remains partially shut down and faces a first-ever default between Oct. 17 and the end of the month. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., speaks with reporters before going to the White House to meet with President Barack Obama, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013, as Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and Assistant Minority Leader James Clyburn, D-S.C., right, listen. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Specialist Frank Masiello watches a television monitor on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange showing a Washington news conference by House Speaker John Boehner, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013. Leaders in the House of Representatives and Senate were negotiating separate but similar plans Tuesday to reopen the U.S. government and prevent a default on American debt that economists say could tip the global economy back into recession. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Speaker of the House Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, arrives for a news conference after a House GOP meeting on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013 in Washington. House GOP leaders Tuesday floated a plan to fellow Republicans to counter an emerging Senate deal to reopen the government and forestall an economy-rattling default on U.S. obligations. But the plan got mixed reviews from the rank and file and it was not clear whether it could pass the chamber. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Time growing desperately short, House Republicans pushed for passage of legislation late Tuesday to prevent a threatened Treasury default, end a 15-day partial government shutdown and extricate divided government from its latest brush with a full political meltdown.

There was no immediate reaction from the White House to the measure, which was revised from a version unveiled only hours earlier that had been stocked with conservative priorities and had drawn swift condemnation from Democrats.

While the House readied for a possible Tuesday night vote, the immediate result was to impose a daylong freeze on Senate negotiations on a bipartisan compromise that had appeared ready to bear fruit.

As a day of secret meetings and frenzied maneuvering unfolded in all corners of the Capitol, Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., stood on the Senate floor at midafternoon and declared, "We are 33 hours away from becoming a deadbeat nation, not paying its bills to its own people and other creditors."

Officials said that under the revised bill prepared by House Republicans, the Treasury would be permitted to borrow normally until Feb. 7 and the government reopened with sufficient funds to carry it to Dec. 15.

Additionally, members of Congress, the president, vice president and thousands of aides would no longer be eligible to receive employer health care contributions from the government that employs them.

"The House will vote tonight to reopen the government and avoid default," Michael Steel, a spokesman for Speaker John Boehner said in a statement.

He said the legislation would "end Obamacare subsidies for elected officials and staff in Washington, D.C., and pressure Senate Democrats to accept more sensible" time frames for reopening the government and renewing Treasury's borrowing authority.

Gone from the measure was a pair of provisions that had drawn objections, one a plan to delay a medical device tax created under the new health care law known as Obamacare. The other would have imposed tougher income verification standards on individuals and families seeking subsidies for care under the law.

Democrats had viewed both as concessions to Republicans, and deemed their inclusion as a violation of Obama's vow not to pay a "ransom" to the GOP for passing essential funding and borrowing measures.

Even with the changes, it was unclear whether Boehner and the GOP leadership had the votes to pass their measure.

The day's events prompted an outbreak of partisan rhetoric, mixed with urgent warnings that both the U.S. and global economies could suffer severe damage quickly unless Congress acted by Thursday.

Even something of an appeal for heavenly aid was thrown in, as Rep. Steve Southerland of Florida led House Republicans in a rendition of "Amazing Grace" at the beginning of a rank-and-file meeting called to discuss a way out of the impasse.

Speaking with reporters, Boehner said, "I have made clear for months and months that the idea of default is wrong and we shouldn't get anywhere close to it."

But the first measure the leadership produced evidently came up short on votes, and the White House trashed it as an attempt to "appease a small group of tea party Republicans who forced the government shutdown in the first place. "

Democrats jumped on Boehner and the plan he produced.

In unusually personal remarks, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the Ohio Republican had "once again tried to preserve his role at the expense of the country."

That was a reference to a rebellious rank and file in the House, who routinely seek to push Boehner and the rest of the leadership to the right. A group met Monday night with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who last summer played a public role in a campaign to demand defunding of Obamacare as the price for preventing a partial government shutdown.

The Democratic attacks were too much for some Republicans who have been among those most vocal in calling for a bipartisan solution to the impasse.

"It's piling on and it's not right," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said of the response from the Democrats. "To categorically reject what the House and the speaker are doing — and I think he's pretty courageous in what he's doing — in my view is not serving the American people."

The House had been effectively sidelined in recent days as Reid and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell engaged in intense negotiations to reopen the government and raise the debt limit.

That changed emphatically when details began circulating of some of the elements of the terms under discussion.

In addition to ending the shutdown and raising the debt limit, the two Senate leaders were considering a plan to delay a $63-per-person fee that the health care overhaul would impose on anyone who receives health care coverage under an employer-provided plan.

Some Republicans balked, complaining that was a concession to labor unions who are among the Democrats' most loyal political supporters.

Many unions have announced their opposition to the fee, but so, too, have businesses.

Reid and McConnell also have been discussing provisions to give federal agencies flexibility in adjusting to across-the-board spending cuts imposed under legislation that Obama signed in 2011.

Another element of their negotiations would call for House-Senate negotiations on a possible deficit reduction measure to take the place of the across-the-board cuts.

The twin crises began more than three weeks ago, when some lawmakers in the House insisted on seeking the defunding of Obamacare as the price for preventing a partial shutdown of the government.

The White House refused, and the Democratic-controlled Senate rejected legislation to achieve the GOP goal, as well as subsequent legislation that contained scaled-back concessions on the health care overhaul.

The partial shutdown, which began on Oct. 1, swiftly merged with the approaching debt crisis.

According to Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, unless Congress acts by Oct. 17, the government will lose its ability to borrow, and would be required to meet its obligations relying only on cash on hand and incoming tax receipts.

While it was unclear how long that would suffice, the date stood as a deadline. The closer it approached, the more urgent became the pleas of businesses and bankers in this country as well as officials overseas for the United States to put its finances into order.

Whatever the outcome, the all-out assault on Obamacare that became a tea party rallying cry last summer was long gone, repulsed by the president and his Democratic allies in Congress.

Instead, Republican disapproval ratings have plummeted in public opinion polls in the past two weeks, vindicating warnings from Boehner, McConnell and other party elders that the original strategy of threatening to shut down the government in hopes of wiping out the overhaul was badly flawed.

"We got ourselves in a ditch," McCain said. "And we got to stop digging."

___

Associated Press writers Donna Cassata, Andrew Taylor, Henry C. Jackson, Julie Pace and Alan Fram contributed to this report.

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-10-15-Budget%20Battle/id-25b72ff0e3f6487f80d2443070c9746c
Category: 9/11 Memorial   mila kunis  

Intel 3Q profit unchanged, but beats predictions

NEW YORK (AP) — Intel said Tuesday that its third-quarter net income was unchanged, stymied by a continued slump in global PC demand.

The chipmaker earned $2.95 billion, or 58 cents per share, compared with $2.97 billion, or 58 cents per share, in the same quarter of 2012.

Revenue also was unchanged at about $13.5 billion.

The drop in PC-related sales came amid another decline in PC shipments. Intel supplies chips for about four out of every five PCs. The rest come from Advanced Micro Devices Inc., which reports financial results on Thursday.

IDC said last week that worldwide PC shipments fell nearly 8 percent during the third quarter, to 81.6 million, while fellow market research firm Gartner Inc. put the decline at almost 9 percent, to 80.3 million. The two firms define PCs slightly differently. The drop marked the sixth-straight quarter of decline for the industry, as computer makers, and the companies that supply them, try to reshape themselves amid the continued shift toward tablets and smartphones.

Intel's results for the quarter, which ended Sept. 28, beat Wall Street predictions. Analysts polled by FactSet expected a profit of 53 cents per share on revenue of $13.4 billion.

Revenue at the company's personal-computer business fell 3.5 percent to $8.4 billion because of a drop in the number of chips sold, while data center revenue increased 12 percent to $2.9 billion, helped by both higher prices and higher volumes.

For the fourth-quarter, Intel projected revenue of $13.2 billion to $14.2 billion. Analysts were looking for $14.0 billion.

Shares of Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel Corp. fell 9 cents to $23.30 in extended trading after the release of results.

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-10-15-Earns-Intel/id-fae3f1280c55411f8374a8dd7dc3800c
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Moelis taps Morgan Stanley healthcare banker

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Moelis & Co, an independent investment bank, has tapped a former Morgan Stanley healthcare banker to advise medical technology companies, Moelis said on Tuesday.

Jon Hammack, who was responsible for the medical technology group at Morgan Stanley , will join Moelis November 11. Previously, Hammack worked in the healthcare banking groups at Credit Suisse and Bank of America .

At Moelis, Hammack joins a four-person team that covers services, life sciences, diagnostics, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology.

"We expect to see significant activity in the medical technology space as companies better position themselves for growth and adapt to the evolving healthcare landscape," said Rick Leaman, managing partner at Moelis.

(Reporting by Jessica Toonkel)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/moelis-taps-morgan-stanley-healthcare-banker-162325367--sector.html
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JPM Hammered By Massive $9.2 Billion In Legal Expenses, Posts ...

So much for the JPM "fortress balance sheet." Moments ago the bank which 18 months ago stunned the world with the biggest prop trading loss in history, just reported its first quarterly loss under Jamie Dimon, missing expected revenue of $24 billion with a print of $23.88 billion, but it was net income where the stunner was in the form of a $0.4 billion net income. The reason: the fact that from the government's best friend, Jamie Dimon has become the punching bag du jour, and having to pay $9.15 billion in pretax legal expenses, the biggest in company history.

Quote Jamie Dimon:

While we had strong underlying performance across the businesses, unfortunately, the quarter was marred by large legal expense. We continuously evaluate our legal reserves, but in this highly charged and unpredictable environment, with escalating demands and penalties from multiple government agencies, we thought it was prudent to significantly strengthen them. While we expect our litigation costs should abate and normalize over time, they may continue to be volatile over the next several quarters.

Speaking of "strong underlying performance", considering that the other key component of Q3 net income was a whopping $1.6 billion in loan loss reserve releases, one wonders just how truly strong Q3 earnings really were. But of course, this being Wall Street, all negative news is "one-time" and to be added back. Which is why JPM promptly took benefit for all charges, which means adding back the $7.2 billion legal expense and $992 MM reserve release after tax benefit. In short: of the firm's $1.42 in pro forma EPS, a whopping $1.59 was purely from the addback of these two items.

Total loan loss reserves declined by $1.8 billion to $17.6 billion, well above the release taken a year ago which was "only" $1 billion. The problem for JPM is that its pool of eligible loan losses is starting to rapidly dry up, and at the current pace of ~$1.5 billion per quarter, the firm has about three years of EPS-goosing release padding left.

Nonetheless, and certainly for the near term, JPM is quite clear: expect reserve releases to continue padding our bottom line:

Additionally when looking for the "strong" performance, one fails to find it in the Fixed Income Markets line item, where much of the pain was expected to be today, which indeed dropped by $0.3 billion or 8% compared to 2012, down to $3.4 billion, however offset by a modest $0.2 billion increase in Equity Markets to $1.2 billion. Also notable was the drop in the average VaR from $122 in Q3 2012 to just $45 this quarter. More Excel copy/paste errors?

Going back to the firm's unprecedented legal troubles, below is a chart showing the firm's record $28 billion in net litigation reserve additions since January 2010. Expect this number to continue rising. Of note: this may not be enough since as the firm notes there is an additional $12.5 billion in possible losses in excess of reserves for just Q2 and Q3 alone. In other words, expect many more billions in legal losses in the quarters ahead.

Next, for all those predicting a surge in bank Net Interest Margins as a result of the spike in Q3 yields, we challenge anyone to show it to us on the following chart showing that for all intents and purposes, JPM's NIM just dropped to an all time low.

But while the NIM may have dropped, mortgage origination did not increase. In fact, the firm's mortgage production group posted a measly $90MM profit, down $1 billion from the year ago. Luckily for JPM, mortgage production and servicing losses were offset by a $1.25 billion change in allowance which pushed the Mortgage Banking Net income to a positive $705MM - another made up number. More importantly, announces that 11,000 employees in the mortgage group will be laid off.

Finally all those curious what JPM's most recent European exposure is, the chart below should answer the question.

Full earnings release:

Average:

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Source: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-10-11/jpm-hammered-massive-92-billion-legal-expenses-posts-first-loss-under-dimon-takes-16
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Superman to Asterix: Comics tell immigrant story

PARIS (AP) — Superman and Asterix have more in common than meets the eye, according to a new exhibit at Paris' Immigration History Museum.

Comic sketches and magazines from 1913 to the present show how comic books the world over were shaped by the immigrant story, from French Asterix's "foreign" Polish and Italian authors, to American Superman's Eastern European co-creators.

Drawing on 500 sketches and documents from some 117 artists, the exhibit opening Wednesday explains how immigrants on the fringes of society were attracted to the subculture of comic books.

"The whole history of comic books is the history of immigration," said curator Helene Bouillon.

Comic characters themselves are also often masked allegories for being foreign, from Asterix, the yellow-haired Gaul who fights Romans and travels around the world, to the alien Kal-El, who tries to live on earth among humans despite his super powers, the exhibit argues.

"Superman is the super immigrant. who comes from planet Krypton with super powers but who is faced with the feeling of being in exile" Bouillon said.

The exhibit also shows how the medium became more serious in the second half of the 20th century, using the medium to express uncomfortable truths about society's tolerance.

It includes original illustrations from Iran-born cartoonist Marjane Satrapi's autobiographical novel "Persepolis," which tells the bleak story of a young girl fleeing to Europe against the backdrop of the Iranian Revolution. A film based on the novel won the Jury Prize at the Cannes film festival in 2007.

"This idea of pictures being maybe simpler or being caricatures allows some authors to say things that would maybe be too awful to put in a novel or in photography," Bouillon said. "You have to make people laugh to accept the very difficult stories."

___

Thomas Adamson can be reached at Twitter.com/ThomasAdamsonAP

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/superman-asterix-comics-tell-immigrant-story-081955917.html
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China's creaking export model: James Saft

By James Saft

(Reuters) - That creaking sound you hear just might be the Chinese export-driven economy model about to break.

While most of the world's attention is focused on the interminable and badly sung opera in Washington, China just released a set of data that indicate a serious slowing in demand for its products, particularly from its emerging market trading partners.

Chinese exports in September fell 0.3 percent from a year ago, customs officials said. While demand for Chinese products flagged in the European Union, the main culprit seems to have been emerging markets, which have been hit hard by slowing capital flows. Exports to Southeast Asia fell to a 17-month low, while those to South Africa were also hit hard.

Emerging markets had a hard summer, as expectations, now reversed, that the Federal Reserve would slow its purchases of bonds made borrowing money internationally more difficult.

And yet, despite the fall in exports, the rest of China's economy, which is still predicated on demand from abroad, is carrying on as if nothing has changed. Imports were sharply higher in the month, especially of the sorts of raw materials needed for export industries and to invest in infrastructure to support more exports. Credit creation also rose, with doubtless much of it going to support imports and property investment.

Imports of crude oil and iron ore set a fresh record in September, while copper shipments jumped 18 percent to set an 18-month high.

For decades, China's economic model has been relatively simple: use a lower wage base to drive exports and re-invest most of the profits into the infrastructure and factories needed to create yet more exports. Though this approach worked brilliantly for years, there were two big longer-term weaknesses with this plan. Both of them may be coming into play just about now, which would both explain decreasing demand for Chinese goods and make it more difficult for China to cope.

Wage growth in China has far outpaced inflation, making it less competitive. Wages in Chinese manufacturing have more than tripled in 8 years, while the supply of rural workers streaming to cities has slowed. Boston Consulting Group sees more so-called onshoring of jobs back to the United States, driven by wages, automation and energy and transportation costs.

The paired weakness is in China's consumer economy, which has been small and has suffered as the economy remains focused on investment, often in houses, for which there is little natural demand.

CHINA'S PLAYBOOK

It is unclear if slowing exports are being driven by cyclical trends, like weakness in emerging markets, or secular ones, like the migration of manufacturing. September's figures may also look worse than they were due to a crackdown this year on phantom imports, which have been a popular way for companies wanting to bring money into the country to skirt Chinese capital controls.

If there is a sustained fall in demand for China's products, its options may be somewhat limited. Given the centrality of investment and exports to China's economy, the government has a track record of reacting forcefully to slow-downs. The tactics include easing monetary conditions, which stimulate loans and investment even in the absence of strong demand for the end product.

But such easing may be a bit difficult right now.

China's annual consumer inflation rate rose to a seven-month high of 3.1 percent in September, driven by food inflation, in particular vegetables. While this was driven by weather, and thus may subside, it will serve to limit the central bank's ability to loosen conditions.

In some ways, the biggest issue isn't limitations on government stimulus if China needs it. One of the advantages of a single-party state with strong control over banking is that the government can always foment credit growth.

The problem instead is what happens if exports don't come back, if change is long-term and mostly in one direction. That will put a lot of pressure on China, not least because a lot of the investment there since the great financial crisis has been of very low quality.

It is not simply empty cities filled with "investment" apartments. It is everything from the cost and wastefulness of infrastructure investment to low-yielding research and development.

An IMF study from 2012 estimated that China's over-investment is equivalent to between 10-20 percent of annual output every year. (http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2012/wp12277.pdf) Not only does that imply very, very low returns on investment, it almost certainly points to lower growth over time if, or rather when, China is forced to move away from its export model.

That story, when it happens, may make U.S. political dysfunction look like small potatoes in comparison.

(James Saft is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)

(At the time of publication, Reuters columnist James Saft did not own any direct investments in securities mentioned in this article. He may be an owner indirectly as an investor in a fund. For previous columns by James Saft, click on)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chinas-creaking-export-model-james-saft-041646521--sector.html
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4 Insane Things You Had No Clue Were Legal | Cracked.com

The law is full of oppressive rules against everyday things that should really be legal in this day and age but somehow aren't -- say, driving without pants or time travel. At the same time, there are certain dubious acts that you're totally allowed to do this very moment, for one gobsmacking reason or another.

#4. Pot Is Illegal in Most States, but Deadly Synthetic Marijuana Is A-OK in Colorado

In Colorado, all the kids are trying this new hot craze called dying in a hospital after smoking shitty synthetic marijuana -- or Spice for short. This bootleg pot (which is made in China) has been linked to three deaths, 150 hospital visits, and a presumed legion of embarrassing calls to poison control centers. Oh, and due to a loophole, it's totally legal.

Schorle
Seriously, three months is too long of a wait, assholes?

The apparent problem is that this strange drug has no constant chemicals in it -- when the original chemicals were banned, they just started tossing in whatever shit could make you high, apparently. Because of that, teenagers can literally walk into stores and buy the stuff under the guise of it being "incense" or "potpourri."

KDVR
"Hey guys, I had a brilliant idea- what if we made pot that could kill you?"

#3. School Bus Drivers Can Text and Drive in California

Did you see that recent video of a school bus driver blatantly texting away while entrusted with the innocent souls of children? At one point she even drifts out of her lane and picks up the wheel at the last second -- scandalous, right? Well, if you live in California, you can shove the indignation, because according to your state, she did nothing illegal ... as long as her texts were tangentially work related.

Venus Cotto-Silva/WFTS/ABC News
"Where's the 'bus bursting into flames' emoji?"

Texting laws are more or less fucked all over: In Florida, you can't be pulled over solely for texting, and New York is fine with texting at red lights, but California wins the dummy race -- all their texting laws don't apply to bus drivers so long as their texts can be argued as related to the job. In other words, your metro driver could theoretically drift across that rail crossing while thumbing the entire plot of his favorite Keanu Reeves film to a friend, so long as that film is Speed.

#2. "Revenge Porn" Is Totally Legal as Long as You Didn't Take the Picture

In a proud moment for the Golden State, residents can no longer post spiteful nudie pics of their exes online lest they be fined up the ass or thrown in jail, which also tends to be unfavorable for that part of the anatomy. Good riddance, right? "Revenge porn" is scumbag behavior and should be treated as such.

Unless, that is, you didn't actually take the compromising pictures you're dickishly uploading for the entire Internet to see. Then it's cool.

Jupiterimages/Stockbyte/Getty Images
"I sent those in confidence!"

Yep, it turns out this law only applies to people who took the picture themselves. That means that selfies, otherwise known as 80 percent of revenge porn pictures posted online, are totally fine to put on WhackItToMyGirlfriend.com or wherever (some of those sites then extort the person to get the picture taken down, incidentally). And the worst part is that the women who are usually the victims of this type of thing can't even retaliate with the same tactic, since ExtremeMicropeckers.com gets consistently less traffic.

#1. You Can Have Your Own Machine Gun Now -- Just Don't Call It That

Machine guns are illegal for most people in the U.S., and we're gonna go ahead and say that's a good thing -- otherwise, every time you read about gun violence, you might have to add a zero next to the number of victims. But the new Slide Fire SFS BFR totally isn't a machine gun: It's just a rifle that can fire a shitload of bullets without recharging, which is a completely different thing as far as the law is concerned.

money.cnn.com
It's a mere $6000, so you can have this thing strapped to the hood of an old Civic for under ten grand.

See, the ATF defines a machine gun as a weapon with a frame or receiver that can shoot "more than one shot without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger." However, the Slide Fire doesn't modify the receiver (front shooty area), plus it works by using the gun's natural kick to bump the trigger into your finger with each shot -- meaning that you're still technically shooting one round per trigger function.

Hopefully they're not currently working on a huge armored vehicle with a mounted cannon that "technically" isn't a tank.

Source: http://www.cracked.com/quick-fixes/4-insane-things-you-had-no-clue-were-legal/
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