Archive for February, 2010

Five Oh One And All’s Well with the World

February 19th, 2010

How are things in your corner of the world?

For those of us who have jobs, things seem to be okay – the market is up again, the company is back to working a an 8 hour day 5 days a week, there is even an occasional new face at the water cooler and people are making bookings for holidays. So there is a sense of normality.

New clouds

But apparently not all is well. There is still massive unemployment, massive debt and too many closed stores in the malls. Now there is a faint rumbling of thunder from far away and new clouds are gathering. ‘Beware!’ shout some of the stock exchange advisory services, ‘it’s going to crash again and you’ll lose everything!’ Do they know something that we don’t or is this some new kind of reverse public relations ploy – if the market does crash they will advertise, “We at ABC knew; we told you; you didn’t listen and now your money is all gone! Next time listen to us. We know the market! Send in you special low introductory registration fee today!”

Acropolis Now

There’s a problem in Greece – massive debt. And the fear around the world is that it may be contagious and spread along the Mediterranean countries and infect them with debt as well. Meanwhile the entire world and especially the markets, are watching to see what happens with Greece, and this is apparently what’s holding the market back at the moment.

The China syndrome

With the help of massive government stimulus action, China is now leading the world economy out of recession, according to a new OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) report. Already the world’s second largest economy, China could well overtake the United States to become the leading producer of manufactured goods in the next five to seven years, it says. I find it difficult to think that the one day the US may no longer be the world’s leading economy. China is certainly putting the pressure on. Many forecasters are predicting that the only investment that will be positive in 2010 will be the ETF’s in China.

Exchange-Traded Funds

An ETF is a security that tracks an index, a commodity or a basket of assets like an index fund, but trades like a stock on an exchange. ETFs experience price changes throughout the day as they are bought and sold. By owning an ETF, you get the diversification of an index fund as well as the ability to sell short, buy on margin and purchase as little as one share. Another advantage is that the expense ratios for most ETFs are lower than those of the average mutual fund. When buying and selling ETFs, you have to pay the same commission to your broker that you’d pay on any regular order.

China ETF’s

For ETF investors, making the right choice of fund in China will be critical to success.

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Want to start a business and save the world?

February 18th, 2010

Tire-recycling – a great idea and a gift to mankind

This is a story of a new business and the dramatic results it is achieving. The tire recycling factory began operating in January and immediately qualified for ISO 14001 and ISO 9001 environmental certifications. The total amount invested was about $15 million. The new 150,000-square-foot factory will be able to process 35,000 tons, or 2 million tires a year.

Tire discard

The amount of tires discarded annually is astronomical, both in numbers and in tonnage of materials. In many countries, the bulk of discarded tires are either interred in landfills or just dumped in open areas or on the side of the road.

What comes out of recycling?

Tire-recycling factories reduce the tires to their component parts of rubber, fabric and steel. The rubber can be reused for a variety of purposes, including as an aggregate for adding to asphalt for the paving of roads, a protective surface in playgrounds and many other uses, including being set on fire at demonstrations. Some companies work on technologies that reduce the tires to oil and steel.

The CEO’s statement

The CEO, Amal Asad, said: “The new factory will multiply by seven the amount of tires recycled each year and finally enable the implementation of the Tire Recycling Law. Thirty-thousand tons of raw materials will leave our factory, Tyrec, each year and enable the creation of factories for recycled materials and will transform the tire into an environmental financial resource. According to a law passed in 2007, after 2013, all tires must be recycled.”

Recycling law

The law has two purposes: to recycle tires and to restrict the population of Asian Tiger mosquitoes, which often carry Dengue fever and which breed in stagnant rainwater trapped in discarded tires on the sides of roads. Some experts believe Dengue fever passes from country to country via the tires. Besides the mosquitoes, dumpred tires are a hazard and an eyesore.

Machinery

Tires are not meant to break down. They are designed to last. Machinery designed to break down tires into crumb and powder needs to be highly specialized precision machinery to do exactly that. It breaks the tire down to a usable and “in demand” product by using environmentally friendly, cost efficient, energy efficient machinery.

Progress

Land filling or burning tires for energy has limited prospects as environmental authorities are acknowledging the need for greener alternatives for this valuable waste product. More and more large volume uses are emerging for end products made from the rubber, steel and textile derived from recycling tires. Mass market end products like continuous rolls of cost effective recycled rubber used for noise insulation now complete the ‘big picture’ for investors to consider recycling tires commercially.

Investment opportunity

Significant opportunities exist worldwide to make a lot of money from recycling tires, however, if you are new in the industry, make sure you learn the ropes so that you will avoid the pitfalls.

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The money snatchers are out there waiting for you…

February 17th, 2010

You don’t even have to make a wrong move to get caught

Sometimes it seems that for every decent person slogging away to make an honest living, there is an equal number of lazy no-goodniks hiding behind a wall or tree, waiting for you to come along so they can steal your money and use that for their living. One has not only to be alert at all times but one has to think clearly to stay ahead of the bad guys. Look what’s going on and take steps to protect yourself.

Your GPS
A couple of weeks ago a friend told me that someone she knew had their car broken into while they were at a football game. Their car was parked in the parking ground adjacent to the football stadium for the use of football fans. Things stolen from the car included a garage door remote control, some money and a GPS which had been prominently mounted on the dashboard.

Thieves

When the victims got home, they found that their house had been ransacked and just about everything worth anything had been stolen. The thieves had used the GPS to guide them to the house. They then used the garage remote control to open the garage door and gain entry to the house. The thieves knew the owners were at the football
game, they knew what time the game was scheduled to finish and so they knew how much time they had to clean out the house. It would appear that they had brought a truck to empty the house of its contents.

Be discreet

If you have a GPS, don’t put your home address in it. Put a nearby address (like a store or gas station) so you can still find your way home.

Mobile Phones
This lady has now changed her habit of how she lists her names on her mobile phone after her handbag was stolen. The handbag, which contained her cell phone, credit card, wallet, etc., was stolen. 20 minutes later when she called her hubby from a pay phone to tell him what had happened, hubby says “I received your text asking
about our Pin number and I replied a little while ago.”

The bank

They rushed down to the bank, the bank staff told them all the money was already withdrawn. The thief had actually used the stolen cell phone to text ‘hubby’ in the contact list and got hold of the pin number of the ATM. Within 20 minutes he had withdrawn all the money from their bank account.

Lessons learned

Do not disclose the relationship between you and the people in your contact list. When sensitive info is asked for through texts, confirm by calling back. When you’re being texted by friends to meet them somewhere, call back to confirm that the message came from them. If you don’t reach them, be very careful about going places to meet ‘family and friends’ who text you.

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