Art student’s car vanishing act

May 4th, 2009 No comments

A design student made a battered old Skoda “disappear” by painting it to merge with the surrounding car park.

Sara Watson, who is studying drawing at the University of Central Lancashire Uclan, took three weeks to transform the car’s appearance.

She created the illusion in the car park outside her studio at Uclan’s Hanover Building in Preston.

via BBC NEWS | England | Lancashire | Art student’s car vanishing act.

Categories: Fun Tags:

Mizuho $7 Billion Loss Turned on Toxic Aardvark Made in America – Bloomberg.com

May 1st, 2009 1 comment

Rekeda, who became head of structured credit in the Americas, and his team led Mizuho into a business it knew little about, securities backed by U.S. subprime mortgages, where it lost 672 billion yen ($7.1 billion), more than any bank in Asia. Most of the losses were related to defaults on collateralized debt obligations.

“Mizuho never made a penny out of subprime in the good times, they just got left holding the can in the bad,” says David Threadgold, an analyst at Fox-Pitt Kelton Asia Ltd. in Tokyo who has an “underperform” rating on the stock. “They made a very poor decision to launch into the packaging of subprime products at the end of 2006.”

via Mizuho $7 Billion Loss Turned on Toxic Aardvark Made in America – Bloomberg.com.

Categories: Banking, News Tags:

U.S. to Release Stress-Test Results on May 7

May 1st, 2009 No comments

The results were pushed back several days as federal regulators and the banks have continued to debate the results. Several banks, including Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc., have challenged the government’s findings.

The results are expected to show that several banks may need more capital, or a higher quality of capital, in order to continue lending if the economy worsens through 2010. Government officials have said that any requirement that a bank improve its capital standing does not mean the government thinks the bank is going to fail. In fact, the government has said it would not allow any of the 19 banks undergoing the test to fail.

via U.S. to Release Stress-Test Results on May 7 – WSJ.com.

Categories: Banking Tags:

FDA Warns Consumers to Stop Using Hydroxycut Products

May 1st, 2009 No comments

The FDA has received 23 reports of serious health problems ranging from jaundice and elevated liver enzymes, an indicator of potential liver injury, to liver damage requiring liver transplant. One death due to liver failure has been reported to the FDA. Other health problems reported include seizures; cardiovascular disorders; and rhabdomyolysis, a type of muscle damage that can lead to other serious health problems such as kidney failure.

via FDA Warns Consumers to Stop Using Hydroxycut Products.

Categories: News Tags:

If we had money…

May 1st, 2009 No comments

Categories: Fun Tags:

Idola Infotech Appoints Salvatore Cangialosi of The Josefa Group as Senior Strategic Advisor

April 30th, 2009 No comments

Idola Infotech, LLC. (http://www.idolainfotech.com), a leading provider of risk and compliance services to global financial institutions, announced today that Salvatore Cangialosi of The Josefa Group will serve as a consultant to Idola focused on strategy and business development initiatives. In this new role, Cangialosi is tasked with developing the vision and business strategy to further Idola’s industry leadership position and establish a framework for significant ongoing growth. He brings extensive experience in identifying and developing new markets through the application of leading-edge solutions to major business problems and opportunities.

“We enthusiastically welcome Salvatore Cangialosi to our team as Senior Strategic Advisor,” said Mahesh Viswanathan, founder and Managing Partner of Idola Infotech. “Sal has proven himself as a visionary in anticipating market needs, developing cutting-edge products and services that defined industry standards. We believe that in this new role he will be instrumental in helping Idola develop strategic relationships, identify new opportunities and further establish its position as a leader in providing products and services to the financial sector.”

via Idola Infotech Appoints Salvatore Cangialosi of The Josefa Group as Senior Strategic… | Reuters .

Categories: Banking and Compliance, Idola, News Tags:

Chrysler to File for Bankruptcy

April 30th, 2009 No comments

Chrysler, one of the three pillars of the American auto industry, filed for bankruptcy this afternoon after last-minute negotiations between the government and the automaker’s creditors broke down yesterday. U.S. officials had offered Chrysler’s secured lenders $2.25 billion in cash if they would agree to writedown the $6.9 billion in secured debt that the company owed. But a small group of hedge funds refused the 11th-hour deal.

via Chrysler to File for Bankruptcy – washingtonpost.com.

Categories: News Tags:

Web tool as important as Google

April 30th, 2009 No comments

Wolfram Alpha is the brainchild of British-born physicist Stephen Wolfram.

The free program aims to answer questions directly, rather than display web pages in response to a query like a search engine.

The “computational knowledge engine”, as the technology is known, will be available to the public from the middle of May this year.

“Our goal is to make expert knowledge accessible to anyone, anywhere, anytime,” said Dr Wolfram at the demonstration at Harvard Universitys Berkman Center for Internet and Society.

The tool computes many of the answers “on the fly” by grabbing raw data from public and licensed databases, along with live feeds such as share prices and weather information.

People can use the system to look up simple facts – such as the height of Mount Everest – or crunch several data sets together to produce new results, such as a countrys GDP.

via BBC NEWS | Technology | Web tool as important as Google.

Categories: News, Technology Tags:

Four killed in mystery train ‘hijack’ at Chennai station

April 29th, 2009 No comments

If you have read this hijack, check this new one:

A speeding electric suburban commuter train, suspected to have been “hijacked” by unidentified persons, rammed a goods train early this morning, killing four persons, including two of the suspected “hijackers”, and leaving 11 others injured, five in serious condition.

The crash, which took place at Vyasarpadi Jeeva station shortly before 5 am, sounded alarm bells across the railway and security establishments, fuelling rumours aplenty — the handiwork of LTTE sympathisers, a terror strike or simply an act of sabotage. Railway officials pointed out that had the incident taken place during rush hour, the casualty figures could have been very high.

via Four killed in mystery train ‘hijack’ at Chennai station.

Categories: News Tags:

OCC News: School-Based Bank Savings Programs: Bringing Financial Education to Students

April 29th, 2009 No comments

Comptroller of the Currency John C. Dugan stated, “As a parent, one area of financial literacy that is especially important to me is that our children learn how to make the right financial choices before they leave home.  These school-based bank programs are productive collaborations between banks and schools that share a mutual interest in providing financial education to students eager to learn.”

The OCC encourages bank participation in financial literacy initiatives such as school-based bank savings programs.  Students involved in these programs receive “hands-on” learning, while banks gain added visibility in the communities they serve.

This Insights report explains how the various school-based bank savings programs operate and describes the potential risks and benefits, including positive consideration under the Community Reinvestment Act, that banks participating in these programs may receive.

via OCC News: School-Based Bank Savings Programs: Bringing Financial Education to Students.

Categories: Banking, Banking and Compliance Tags: