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Sunday, June 23, 2013

Analysis: After the Fed shock, markets set for more turmoil

By Steven C. Johnson

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fasten your seatbelts. And expect lots of turbulence.

If that was the message Ben Bernanke was trying to deliver when he said the Federal Reserve could soon start scaling back its massive stimulus program for the U.S. economy, it's safe to say investors received it loud and clear.

In fact, the sell-off in stocks, bonds and commodities that rippled around the globe after Bernanke's remarks looks to some like the dawn of a new period of volatile, disorderly trade - a stark change from the calm that prevailed since the Fed began its most recent bond-buying program last autumn.

"When market regimes shift, they rarely do so in an orderly fashion - look at equity prices collapsing at the end of the dot-com bubble or the height of the financial crisis," said Stephen Sachs, head of capital markets at exchange-traded fund issuer ProShares in Bethesda, Maryland. "It usually gets violent. We're going to face that in interest rates now."

Indeed, the bond market is at the epicenter of the financial market earthquake that Bernanke unleashed. Benchmark yields, which Fed easing had driven to record lows, surged to near two-year highs and are expected to keep climbing as traders come to grips with the prospect of the Fed ending bond purchases by mid-2014.

The aftershocks have rattled markets from Tokyo to Sao Paulo, and assets that had been top performers plunged. U.S. credit markets were hammered, with the gap between junk bond yields and Treasuries hitting their widest so far this year, while global equity markets lost $1 trillion on Thursday alone.

The brute force of the decline caught some by surprise, since Bernanke warned in late May that the Fed could slow its bond buying later this year. Even so, watching long-term interest rates rise 0.4 percentage points for the week - the biggest move in more than 10 years - after trading for months near record lows was a wake-up call.

"People live in denial all the time," said Kim Forrest, senior equity research analyst at investment management firm Fort Pitt Capital in Pittsburgh. "The thinking part of people's brains understood that rates would have to go up sometime. But they weren't ready to be told that reality starts now."

That goes for companies who now face higher funding costs and investors who had borrowed money cheaply to trade.

Investors had been funding trades in riskier markets by borrowing in the stable, low-interest-rate U.S. debt market. But the cost to borrow rises with higher rates and with increased volatility - both of which appear to be here to stay, at least for now.

Dan Fuss, vice chairman of investment management firm Loomis Sayles & Co, which manages $191 billion in funds, said: "Leverage is coming out of the market. These market moves reflect that, but when you get sharp moves like this a lot of people get nervous. That can contribute to more selling."

Bond investors hoping to play "follow the Fed" forever face an even more frightening reality. As Zane Brown, a fixed income strategist at asset manager Lord Abbett & Co noted, a return to a more normal level of interest rates would result in a zero total return over the next five years for investors benchmarked to the popular Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index.

Investors pulled $15.1 billion out of taxable bond funds in the first three weeks of June, according to Lipper, a Thomson Reuters service. That is the biggest three-week outflow from the funds since October 2008, at the height of the financial crisis.

"HYPER-SENSITIVE"

All of this has left traders and investors scrambling to protect themselves in anticipation of a volatile summer.

Trading in interest-rate futures contracts spiked to a record in late May when Bernanke first broached the subject of winding down stimulus. It soared again this week, when some 12.8 million contracts changed hands on Thursday, according to CME Group, well above May's daily average of 7.9 million.

Volume in S&P 500 index options rose to 2.3 million contracts on Thursday, a new one-day record, while overall options volume of 33.3 million contracts made it the busiest day since August 9, 2011, four days after Standard & Poor's stripped the United States of its top credit rating.

Since Bernanke has insisted that winding down bond purchases depends on continued economic improvement, traders now have to assume nearly every economic data release will have the potential to whipsaw financial markets.

"Across the board, we have seen people paying up for insurance in the options market," said J.J. Kinahan, chief strategist at online brokerage firm TD Ameritrade. "The market is going to be hyper-sensitive to anything that the Fed says, and the three major reports on employment, retail sales and housing will continue to dominate the eyes of the market."

The CBOE Volatility Index, a gauge of anxiety on Wall Street, jumped 23 percent on Thursday to 20.49, the first time this year it has exceeded 20, an often-used dividing line between calm and stressed markets. It closed at 18.90 on Friday.

Signs of concern about high-flying assets like emerging markets can be seen in the options market, where more than 1.35 million contracts in the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets exchange-traded fund traded on Thursday - 82 percent of which were put options, generally used to protect against losses.

The Merrill Lynch MOVE Index, a measure of expected volatility in the U.S. Treasury market, rose to 103.7 on Friday; that index sat at 50 in early May, a multi-year low.

The uncertainty the Fed has sowed by telling markets they are on their own means the days of almost uninterrupted gains that have prevailed since late last year are over. And that brings problems of its own for investors and the market.

For one thing, violent price swings make investors more vulnerable to big losses, prompting them to sell assets simply to reduce their value-at-risk (VaR) levels, a statistical method for quantifying portfolio risk over a given period of time.

Rack up enough of these forced liquidations and it is not hard to see how a sell-off in one market can spread quickly to other assets and other parts of the world.

Bob Lynch, head of G10 FX strategy at HSBC, said this was a factor driving the bond and equity sell-off in late May "and could be an important input driving financial assets lower in the current environment."

"It is too early to tell if the market reaction to the Fed is just noise or the beginning of a greater sell-off in U.S. equities," said Mike Tosaw, portfolio manager at RCM Wealth Advisors, an investment advisory firm in Chicago.

"Over the course of the last month, we have been taking money off the table in the stock market and keeping the cash for the time being. Early next week, we plan to evaluate if this is a buying opportunity in stocks or if we need to run for the hills."

(Additional reporting by Doris Frankel in Chicago and Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss, Jonathan Spicer and Herbert Lash in New York; Editing by Martin Howell and Tim Dobbyn)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-fed-shock-markets-set-more-turmoil-120416046.html

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Saturday, June 22, 2013

Blog: Is Mobile Gaming Really Gaming?

As mobile gaming as grown in popularity, there has been a growing rift between those who play games on mobile devices, and those who play "real" games. I first realized that people made this distinction when the creator of Angry Birds claimed that consoles were dying, and wanted people to stop using the term "casual" games.

This all boils down to the simple question of "what is a gamer?" Sadly, it's also incredibly subjective. My definition may be very different from your own - and how can we agree whether the guy playing Angry Birds for hours on end is a gamer if we can't agree on what we're arguing about?

So what could a gamer be? From my experience there are a handful of popular viewpoints on this.

Someone who has been playing video and computer games regularly, and seems likely that they will continue to do so. Usually it's someone whose primary entertainment medium is video games. They may watch movies or hang out with friends, but if they had their way the majority of their time would be spent gaming.
Someone entrenched in the gaming culture. They know the lingo, they bond with other gamers, they stay up-to-date on what's happening, etc. These aren't just people who sit down and play Call of Duty for a few hours; they're the ones with a Triforce tattoo, a framed ticket from Comic-Con, or a Super Mario Bros ringtone.
Anyone who appreciates video games. Maybe they don't have the time to sit down with a 20 hour adventure game, or their game time is so erratic that it's easier to play simpler games. While they may not play often, they enjoy when they do play.

I've obviously painted some pretty broad strokes, and even omitted some groups entirely. While there may be those who play Warmachine or Magic and not video games, I've found that video games are a gateway hobby that leads to more enjoyable types of gaming.

But as you can see, it's hard to hammer down an agreeable definition. I've seen criticisms of mobile gaming ranging from lack of story, not hard, shallow gameplay, bad graphics, not expensive enough (what?), no controller or mouse/keyboard, ?etc. But the problem with that is that you can apply that criteria to many popular games as well.?

Games like Call of Duty and Halo, while possessing a single player story, could sell games solely for the multiplayer. That's because the "hardcore" gamers play it for the competitive side, while some enjoy it for the story. When I'm shooting an enemy because he's standing on a flag in the streets of an African village, there's really no story there. There's an essence of story (local militia vs. foreign army), but nothing more elegant than birds getting revenge on thieving pigs.?

Or what about games that aren't there for their difficulty? Games like Fable and Skyrim have great stories, but their difficulty is either non-existent or incredibly arbitrary. They aren't designed for a challenge, but around what you can do in the game. You can die, and there may be some tough areas, but for the most part your goal isn't to survive but to explore the world and enjoy the story.

I don't want to nit-pick, but my point is that not all games have all aspects. A game can have a great story but low content, or offer a high learning curve and terrible graphics. Sometimes you can squeeze most of them in to a game, and sometimes you can't. Yet as long as they're playing these games on consoles or PC, we call them gamers.

Why isn't the same true of people who play on mobile devices? Games like Chaos Rings or Infinity Blade have stunning graphics but rather simple controls. The games are difficult and satisfying, so why does the screen size matter? Or what about games like The Walking Dead that were huge hits on consoles and were "basic" enough to be translated to mobile devices?

It seems to me that a new breed of gamers has been created, and we don't know how to treat them. Whether its a sense of elitism or just being protective of our hobby, we criticize those who want to identify themselves as gamers without owning a single console/PC game. Someone can have a high score in Angry Birds, or has beaten the entire Zenonia series, and yet we give them a derisive snort and turn back to playing Borderlands. Instead we should welcome what they bring to the table - an escape for those who want to game, but don't have the time or money to keep up with it.

My view? I say anyone who enjoys gaming is a gamer. I don't care where you do it, or what you do it on. If you're spending your free time collecting pointless things, getting invested in a fictional world, competing against humans or AI, or just saving pixelated princesses, you're okay in my book.

See you tomorrow!

Remember to follow me on Facebook. I'm doing a blog post every single day for 2013, and Facebook is a great way to stay up-to-date as well as take part in my monthly giveaways!

Source: http://rayofpaintstudios.blogspot.com/2013/06/is-mobile-gaming-really-gaming.html

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Miami Heat Championship Parade Will Be Monday June 21, 2013

Miami Heat Fans Watch Final Game Of NBA Finals

MIAMI, FL - JUNE 20: Fans celebrate in the streets after the Miami Heat won the NBA title against the San Antonio Spurs on June 20, 2013 in Miami, Florida. The Heat won back to back championships. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Miami Heat Fans Watch Final Game Of NBA Finals

MIAMI, FL - JUNE 20: Fans react after the Miami Heat won the NBA title against the San Antonio Spurs June 20, 2013 in Miami, Florida. The Heat won back to back championships. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Miami Heat Fans Watch Final Game Of NBA Finals

MIAMI, FL - JUNE 20: Fans celebrate in the streets after the Miami Heat won the NBA title against the San Antonio Spurs on June 20, 2013 in Miami, Florida. The Heat have won back to back championships. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Miami Heat Fans Watch Final Game Of NBA Finals

MIAMI, FL - JUNE 20: Brandon Opalka beats on a metal bowl as he and othe fans react after the Miami Heat won the NBA title against the San Antonio Spurs on June 20, 2013 in Miami, Florida. The Heat have won back to back championships. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Miami Heat Fans Watch Final Game Of NBA Finals

MIAMI, FL - JUNE 20: A fan wearing a Lebron James jersey celebrates after the Miami Heat won the NBA title against the San Antonio Spurs June 20, 2013 in Miami, Florida. The Heat won back to back championships. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Miami Heat Fans Watch Final Game Of NBA Finals

Miami Heat fans celebrate the Championship after the Heat's win against the San Antonio Spurs after the Game 7 of the NBA final basketball series in Miami on Friday, June 21, 2013. The Heat beat the San Antonio Spurs 88-95. (AP Photo/Javier Galeano)

Miami Heat fans climb the sign stanchion outside American Airline Stadium while celebrating in Miami on Thursday June 20, 2013 after the Heat won the 2013 NBA Championship against the San Antonio Spurs. The Heat beat the San Antonio Spurs 95-88 in Game 7 of the NBA finals to win their second straight title. (AP Photo/Javier Galeano)

Miami Heat Fans Watch Final Game Of NBA Finals

Miami Heat fans celebrate the Championship after the Heat's win against the San Antonio Spurs after the Game 7 of the NBA final basketball series in Miami on Friday, June 21, 2013.. The Heat beat the San Antonio Spurs 88-95. (AP Photo/Javier Galeano)

Miami Heat Fans Watch Final Game Of NBA Finals

MIAMI, FL - JUNE 20: Fans react as they watch on television the Miami Heat win the NBA title against the San Antonio Spurs June 20, 2013 in Miami, Florida. The Heat won back to back championships. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Miami Heat Fans Watch Final Game Of NBA Finals

Fans cheer during the second half in Game 7 of the NBA basketball championship game between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs, Thursday, June 20, 2013, in Miami. The Miami Heat won 95-88. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)(AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Miami Heat fans react while watching the Game 7 in the NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday, June 20, 2013, in Miami. (AP Photo/Javier Galeano)

Miami Heat fans react while watching the Game 7 in the NBA Finals between the Heat and the San Antonio Spurs in Miami, on Thursday, June 20, 2013. (AP Photo/Javier Galeano)

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Aubrey Drake Graham, known as Drake watches play between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs during the first half in Game 7 of the NBA basketball championships, Thursday, June 20, 2013, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

2013 NBA Finals - Game Seven

MIAMI, FL - JUNE 20: Miami Heat fans pose for a photograph prior to the Miami Heat against the San Antonio Spurs in Game Seven of the 2013 NBA Finals on June 20, 2013 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2013 NBAE (Photo by Bruce Yeung/NBAE via Getty Images)

2013 NBA Finals - Game Seven

MIAMI, FL - JUNE 20: Miami Heat fans poses for a picture in the team store prior to the game against the San Antonio Spurs during Game Seven of the 2013 NBA Finals on June 20, 2013 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2013 NBAE (Photo by Bruce Yeung/NBAE via Getty Images)

2013 NBA Finals - Game Seven

MIAMI, FL - JUNE 20: A fan holds up a sign prior to the start of Game Seven of the 2013 NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs on June 20, 2013 at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2013 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)

2013 NBA Finals - Game Seven

A fan holds a sign before the first half in Game 7 of the NBA basketball championships between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs, Thursday, June 20, 2013, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Dylan Roston, 13, of Miami, watches teams swarm up before the first half in Game 7 of the NBA basketball championships between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs, Thursday, June 20, 2013, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

San Antonio Spurs v Miami Heat - Game 7

MIAMI, FL - JUNE 20: Miami Heat fans pose outside AmericanAirlines Arena before the Heat take on the San Antonio Spurs in Game Seven of the 2013 NBA Finals on June 20, 2013 in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

San Antonio Spurs v Miami Heat - Game 7

Brian Przystup of Miami watches the teams work out before the first half in Game 7 of the NBA basketball championships between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs, Thursday, June 20, 2013 in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Diego M., of Miami, holds signage before the first half in Game 7 of the NBA basketball championships between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs, Thursday, June 20, 2013 in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Nelson Gomez of Doral, Fla., raises a home-made trophy as the San Antonio Spurs arrive at the American Airlines Arena before the first half in Game 7 of the NBA basketball championships between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs, Thursday, June 20, 2013 in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Nelson Gomez, right, and his family friend Joshua Castaneda arrive for Game 7 of the NBA basketball championships between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs, Thursday, June 20, 2013 in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Fans cheer as the San Antonio Spurs team bus arrives for Game 7 of the NBA basketball championships against the Miami Heat, Thursday, June 20, 2013 in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/21/miami-heat-championship-parade-2013_n_3476469.html

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Guardian: Documents expose massive UK spying op

LONDON (AP) ? British spies are running an online eavesdropping operation so vast that internal documents say it even outstrips the United States' international Internet surveillance effort, the Guardian newspaper reported Friday.

The paper cited British intelligence memos leaked by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden to claim that U.K. spies were tapping into the world's network of fiber optic cables to deliver the "biggest internet access" of any member of the Five Eyes ? the name given to the espionage alliance composed of the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

That access could in theory expose a huge chunk of the world's everyday communications ? including the content of people's emails, calls, and more ? to scrutiny from British spies and their American allies. How much data the Brits are copying off the fiber optic network isn't clear, but it's likely to be enormous. The Guardian said the information flowing across more than 200 cables was being monitored by more than 500 analysts from the NSA and its U.K. counterpart, GCHQ.

"This is a massive amount of data!" the Guardian quoted a leaked slide as boasting. The paper said other leaked slides, including one labeled "Collect-it-all," gave hints as to the program's ambition.

"Why can't we collect all the signals all the time?" NSA chief Lt. Gen. Keith Alexander was quoted as saying in another slide. "Sounds like a good summer project for Menwith" ? a reference to GCHQ's Menwith Hill eavesdropping site in northern England.

The NSA declined to comment on Friday's report. GCHQ also declined to comment on the report, although in an emailed statement it repeated past assurances about the legality of its actions.

"Our work is carried out in accordance with a strict legal and policy framework which ensures that our activities are authorized, necessary, and proportionate," the statement said.

The Guardian, whose revelations about America and Britain's globe-spanning surveillance programs have reignited an international debate over the ethics of espionage, said GCHQ was using probes to capture and copy data as it crisscrossed the Atlantic between Western Europe and North America.

It said that, by last year, GCHQ was in some way handling 600 million telecommunications every day ? although it did not go into any further detail and it was not clear whether that meant that GCHQ could systematically record or even track all the electronic movement at once.

Fiber optic cables ? thin strands of glass bundled together and strung out underground or across the oceans ? play a critical role in keeping the world connected. A 2010 estimate suggested that such cables are responsible for 95 percent of the world's international voice and data traffic, and the Guardian said Britain's geographic position on Europe's western fringe gave it natural access to many of the trans-Atlantic cables as they emerged from the sea.

The Guardian said GCHQ's probes did more than just monitor the data live; British eavesdroppers can store content for three days and metadata ? information about who was talking to whom, for how long, from where, and through what medium ? for 30 days.

The paper quoted Snowden, the leaker, as saying that the surveillance was "not just a US problem. The U.K. has a huge dog in this fight ... They (GCHQ) are worse than the U.S."

Snowden, whose whereabouts are unknown, faces the prospect of prosecution in the United States over his disclosures, and some there have called on him to be tried for treason. Snowden has expressed interest in seeking asylum in Iceland, where a local businessman said he was prepared to fly the leaker should he request it.

Attempts by The Associated Press to reach Snowden have so far been unsuccessful.

___

Kimberly Dozier in Washington contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/guardian-documents-expose-massive-uk-spying-op-184321219.html

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Sunday, June 9, 2013

Stocks jump after US jobs report beats forecasts

Trader VIncent Quinones, center, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange at the close of trading, Thursday, May 23, 2013. Stocks are ended the day slightly lower after recouping a big loss early on. U.S. markets fell immediately after the opening bell following a global slump prompted in part by an unexpectedly weak report on manufacturing in China.(AP Photo/Richard Drew)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Steady growth in hiring last month sent the stock market sharply higher Friday.

The 175,000 jobs added by U.S. employers last month was just what investors wanted. The number suggested that the economy is growing, but not so strongly that the Federal Reserve will pull back from its economic stimulus soon.

"This was, in our view, very much a 'Goldilocks' number," said Phil Orlando, chief equity strategist at Federated Investors. "There is zero chance that the Federal Reserve is going to start tapering monetary policy," at its next two-day policy meeting starting June 18

The central bank is buying $85 billion of bonds every month to keep interest rates low and encourage borrowing, spending and investing in riskier assets like stocks.

Stocks rose strongly Friday morning, then eased slightly in the early afternoon. The gains accelerated in the final hour of trading.

The Dow Jones Industrial average had its best day in five months. It rose 207 points, or 1.4 percent, to close at 15,248.12. That gain was surpassed this year only by its 2.4 percent rise Jan. 2.

Boeing led the index higher with a gain of $2.73, or 2.7 percent, to $102.49. Industrial conglomerate 3M gained $2.44, or 2.2 percent, to $111.11. Twenty-six of the 30 stocks in the Dow rose.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 20.82 points, or 1.3 percent, to 1,643.38. The Nasdaq composite rose 45.16 points, or 1.3 percent, to 3,469.22.

Nine of the 10 industry groups in the S&P 500 index rose, led by consumer discretionary stocks, which stand to benefit more than other sectors if the economy picks up. Industrial companies and banks also posted strong gains.

The only S&P 500 industry group that fell was telecommunications, a so-called defensive sector that investors favor when they are seeking safety and high dividends.

Financial markets have turned volatile over the past two weeks as traders parse comments from Fed officials for hints about when the central bank will cut back on its support. When it happens, the wind-down will help nudge interest rates higher.

For investors who expect the Fed to stay the course, "these types of slow economic growth reports speak to that," said Kevin Mahn, chief investment officer at Hennion & Walsh Asset Management. "It keeps interest rates at record lows and it keeps the equity markets humming."

The S&P 500 index is down 1.6 percent since reaching a record high on May 21. The next day, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the Fed could ease up on its economic stimulus program in one of its next few meetings.

In government bond trading, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.18 percent from 2.08 percent late Thursday as investors moved out of safer assets.

The Labor Department's monthly survey of employment is one of the most important gauges of the U.S. economy and receives close scrutiny from investors. It can frequently cause big moves in financial markets, especially if the report shows that employment is stronger or weaker than economists were expecting.

On May 3, the government reported not only a strong pickup in hiring in April but it also revised sharply upward its estimates for job growth in February and March. That sent the Dow Jones industrial average past 15,000 for the first time, while the S&P 500 index broke through 1,600.

In the weeks following that report, bond yields rose from 1.63 percent as high as 2.20 percent May 31. That meant investors thought the economy was strengthening, dampening the appeal of low-risk assets like bonds. It also meant investors believed the Fed would act sooner than previously thought to curtail its bond-buying program.

Investors are still keeping an eye on interest rates because of the impact that they have on the economy. For example, higher borrowing costs will push up mortgage rates and curb demand for housing. The recovery in the housing market has also boosted stock prices this year.

"Interest rates have really gone up in quite dramatically from a month ago," said Paul Hogan, the manager of the FAM Equity-Income Fund. "If they continue to rise, the market will be a little more bit choppy."

The improving economy has also helped support the dollar this year. The U.S. currency rose against the euro and the yen Friday.

The price of gold fell $32.80, or 2.3 percent, to $1,383 an ounce. Gold has fallen sharply this year as a rising stock market and a strengthening dollar have diminished its appeal as an alternative investment.

In other commodities trading, the price of oil rose $1.27, or 1.3 percent, to $96.03 a barrel.

Among other stocks making big moves:

? Gap rose $1.11, or 2.7 percent, to $42.09. The San Francisco-based clothing store chain reported late Thursday that its sales jumped 7 percent in May, more than expected, helped by strong results at its namesake Gap and Old Navy stores.

? TiVo plunged $2.61, or 19 percent, to $11.10 after the company settled patent disputes with several technology companies including Cisco and Motorola Mobility but received far less than what most investors inspected. TiVo has posted annual losses in nearly all of the past 10 years.

? Thor Industries rose $4.92, or 11.9 percent, to $46.16 after the company reported a 6 percent increase in income. The results beat market expectations on stronger sales of RVs and a lower tax rate.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-06-07-Wall%20Street/id-0ff62b0604c64b809f2c3b4afb5dbe32

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Saturday, June 8, 2013

Tianhe-2 may easily crush supercomputer speed record at 30.7 petaflops

Many suspect that China's Tianhe-2 could win the supercomputer speed wars, but there haven't been real numbers to back up that hunch. We now have some of those figures courtesy of Top 500's Jack Dongarra, and Tianhe-2 could well be the new leader -- by a gigantic margin. The cluster of Ivy Bridge and Xeon Phi chips has benchmarked at 30.65 petaflops when using 90 percent of its nodes, giving it a 74 percent edge (!) over the 17.6-petaflop Titan. There's no guarantee that Tianhe-2 will hold the crown when the official Top 500 rankings appear on June 17th, but we don't see any upstart rivals on the horizon. It could be lonely at the top... for a while.

Filed under: Science, Intel

Comments

Via: Ars Technica

Source: Netlib.org (PDF)

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/dyhncbo-tsw/

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DIY Home Improvement in Magazines - The Frugal Girls

By Heidi on June 6, 2013

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Source: http://thefrugalgirls.com/2013/06/diy-home-improvement.html

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