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Stocks—It Is When You Sell That Matters

By Dennis Ng (guest contributor) In Singapore, there is no lack of investors who place their money in stocks. However, I observe that the majority of stock investors know very little about stock investing. To help clear the air on stock investing, let me share with you some common mistakes made by retail investors. Many investors make the mistake of buying stocks without knowing when to sell them. As important as it is to buy stocks that matter, knowing when to sell stocks is paramount in stock investing, as it can dictate whether one would reap profits or incur losses. When it comes to stock investing, some investors hold onto their stocks steadfastly. It is as though they have developed deep emotions with their stocks and are in ‘love’ with them. It sometimes appears to me that these investors hope to tide through the thick and thin with their stocks. In doing so, they fail to realize that they have just committed a cardinal sin in investing, which is getting emotional about investing. When we invest, it is imperative that we keep a clear mind and stay rational. When we invest, we have to avoid letting our emotions affect our decisions. That much said, it is a tall order to be completely void of emotions as we are emotional beings by nature. But as what billionaire investor Gorge Soros said, “It’s impossible for human beings to be emotionally detached when we invest, but the key is to learn how to control our emotions, to be as emotionally stable as possible, when making investment decisions.” Misconception 1—The decision to buy blue-chip stocks is a safe one Some investors erroneously believe that as long as they buy blue-chip stocks, they can be rest assured that their investments will be in good hands. But this belief is not entirely without flaws. So what are blue-chip stocks? Blue-chip stocks typically include the 30 component stocks that make up the Straits Times Industrial Index (STI), as well as some very large and established companies listed on the stock exchange. If you are to buy stocks when the stock market is near its peak—when stock prices are high—buying blue-chip stocks might end up giving you the ‘blues’ instead. For instance, imagine you had bought DBS shares in 2007, when they were trading at above S$20. If you had waited four years before selling your stock in September 2011, when the stock was priced at below S$12, or had fallen by 40%, you would still have suffered a painful loss of 40%. In your defense, you could justify your buy by saying that such blue-chip stocks pay you dividends. But even if the dividends handed out is at 5%, a 40% decline in share price means you technically need to collect eight years worth of dividends to recoup the loss incurred when you mistakenly bought stocks that were over-priced. Misconception 2—Stock prices always go up in the long run Investors who have made the mistake of buying overpriced stocks argue that even if stock prices fall in a bear market, its share price will eventually make a comeback as long as they have holding power. While this, in theory, is aligned to the teachings of investment textbooks that claim stock prices always go up in the long run, I beg to strongly differ. As much as I do not wish to dash your hopes, but investing based on hope is not quite a strategy. The reason is that the price you paid for your stock has no relevance to anyone except yourself. The stock market does not owe you an obligation to ensure you break even in your investments. If you have over-paid for the stock, the value of this said stock could still be much lower than your purchased price in the long run. For instance, back in 2000 when technology stocks were the rage, Creative Technology, which was trading at a high of S$55 at one point, was one of the STI component stocks and deemed one of the ‘market darlings’. But fast forward 11 years later, in September 2011, the same stock is valued below S$4, representing a staggering decline of 90%. Misconception 3—Paper losses are not real losses There are investors who simply refuse to face up to reality. They do not wish to admit that they might have made a wrong investment decision, or have made an incorrect analysis or wrongly judged a stock. Such is their extent of denial that they might claim to only have suffered some paper losses if you ask them how much loss have they incurred. So long as they do not sell their losing stocks, their losses are not deemed to be real, at least in their opinion. Now imagine a scenario where a Japanese investor bought some Japanese stocks in 1989, when the Nikkei stock index was as high as 38,915 points then. Today, even after a long 22 years, the Nikkei stock index is well below 9,000 points or about 76% lower. If the Japanese investor still insists that the loss is just paper loss and not real loss, it becomes very obvious that he or she is just in self denial. By now, you might be wondering why I am familiar with the common mistakes and misconceptions held by retail investors. Well, to be honest, I used to be guilty of committing such investment mistakes due to the misconceptions that I had. During the Asian Financial Crisis in 1998, when the STI index fell by 68% from a high of 2,500 points to 800 points, I told myself that everything would be alright. I told myself that so long as I have holding power, I would not lose my money. But that was of course, not the case. Through losing over 50% of my wealth in the stock market crash, I learned the truth about investing the hard way. It was then that I had a rude awakening as to how little I really knew about stock investing and that I had needed to learn how to make wise investments to have any hope of making money from stock investing again. That marked the turning point in my investing journey. There is a saying that “when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” After suffering a hard fall, I met and learned a lot about investing from several multi-millionaires in Singapore. I also read many investments books, attended many such seminars and eventually picked up some practical and useful tips on stock investing. I then learned that the crux of investing is in knowing when to sell your stocks. So are you ready to learn when to sell your stocks? 1. Sell when the overall stock market trend changes No matter what stocks you buy—be it blue-chips, red chips (China companies listed in Singapore) or ‘potato chips’ (i.e. stocks without fundamentals)—when the overall stock market changes from an uptrend to a downtrend (bear market), or when the overall market direction reverses, it is time to sell all your stocks to avoid losing more money in a potential market crash. If you are to look back at past trading trends, you would realize that in a bear market, stock markets typically fall by over 50%. In Singapore, the STI fell from 2,500 points in 1996 to just 800 points in 1998, representing a 68% fall. In 2000, STI fell from 2,500 points to 1,200 points in March 2003, representing a 52% drop. And in 2007, STI fell 62% from 3,900 points to its lowest of 1,456 points in March 2009. That much said, how do we know that the direction of the overall stock market has changed? To do so, you might want to keep a close watch on the 200-day moving average. By doing so, you would be better informed whether the trend remains up or has tipped over to a downtrend. 2. Sell when stocks are over-priced How do we know whether a stock is over-priced or not? In answer to this, price earning (PE) ratio serves as an indicator to whether the price of a stock is reasonable or not. In which case, price earnings ratio is basically derived by dividing the stock price by its earnings per share. If the PE ratio is 20 times, it means that the company will take 20 years to obtain enough earnings to pay off your capital. Put simply, the return on investment is 1 divided by 20, or 5%. Thus, any stock trading at a PE ratio of 20 times or higher may suggest that the stock is over-priced, unless the company can grow at a much higher rate. Having said that, we need to understand that every industry is different. Instead of making our investment decisions based on PE ratio alone, we need to compare a company with its peers when coming to a conclusion as to whether a stock is over-priced or not. 3. Sell when we made an investment mistake Sometimes, it might take us awhile for us to discover that our initial analysis of a stock is incorrect. In which case, we might have over-estimated the company’s prospects and profits, or the company did not quite manage to execute their expansion plans as successfully as we had thought. Regardless of the investment mistake made on our part, we must not hesitate to admit our mistakes and sell those stocks immediately. In doing so, we are cutting our loss so as to refrain losing even more money if the stock price falls further. 4. Sell when a better investment opportunity arises If you have already fully invested your money but discovered at some point that another stock has better prospects or value, you might want to sell some of your existing stocks in order to raise capital to invest in the latter stock. In summary, successful investing has more to do with when you sell your stocks than when you bought them. The four approaches to selling stocks have served me very well over the years and helped me avert the ill fate of incurring losses during the stock market crash in 2008. It is my hope that these approaches would similarly serve your investment decisions well. .

6 Ways to Deal with a Lousy Boss

When you have a bad boss, you can't afford to be a bad employee. Double down and manage up to retain your pride and productivity. Also try these six winning strategies: 1. Stay positive and perform. If your boss tells you to make coffee, make the best coffee out there. Your boss can't complain if you're doing everything right with a positive attitude to boot. Plus, you'll feel better by taking pride in your work. You actually contribute to the negative work environment around you when you whine and moan. Show your value and work ethic instead. 2. Make it a learning opportunity. The most important opportunity at your job is not learning industry-specific skills, but learning people skills--that is, how to manage, interact, persuade, and mold those around you. Businesses are built on relationships, and people skills are what differentiate you from the rest of the pack. Difficult people will always exist, both at your job and in life. Take advantage of your situation now to understand how to navigate difficult situations later. 3. Discover what your boss cares about. Your boss could care about leaving at 5 p.m. to see her kids. Or she could care about pushing through her pet project on eco-friendly envelopes or making sure that she never has to write notes at meetings. Whatever the push-point is, find it and use it to make your boss look good. Use this strategy to get your boss on your side so you're able to contribute to the larger goals of the organization. 4. Seek out more responsibility. When you ask for additional responsibility, your boss might be at a loss. But if you take on the challenge of finding holes in your organization and producing meaningful work to fill them, your whole team will be grateful. Just make sure you're not letting your existing responsibilities fall by the wayside and that you're focusing on the right priorities. If no one cares about social media at your organization, starting a company blog isn't the way to impress. 5. Mimic their work habits. One manager may like to be pinged via instant messenger. Another may want detailed emails and still another might prefer you to stop by their office with a quick overview. When things get difficult, take the initiative to mimic how your boss works to create as smooth a process as possible. While you may feel that you deserve a supportive work environment, managing up is all about making work easier on those around you. 6. Remember your boss is a person. Not everyone is suited to be a meaningful leader. Realize how difficult it is to be a good manager. As employees, we're expected to climb the ladder whether it suits us or not. That means that when a leadership role opens up, not everyone is prepared. Sometimes the onus is on you as the employee to bring out the best in your boss. Your empathy and respect toward your supervisor will be reflected in how he or she treats you.

How to Successfully Flip a House in Singapore

Back in ’07, house flipping was the express train to Moneyville. Stock brokers were flipping houses. Pensioners were flipping houses. My dog groomer, whose property knowledge doesn’t extend beyond 72 ways to de-stain a carpet, was flipping houses. Then came the government measures, which derailed the gravy train faster than a budget rail worker. But even with new regulations, is successful house flipping possible? I find out:   I am a very experienced house flipper.   What is House Flipping? Flipping is when someone buys a house, then attempts to quickly re-sell it for profit. While typical property investors wait years for property values to rise, a house flipper re-sells in weeks. A house flipper secures the option to purchase (OTP), then transfers the OTP to a buyer who is offering a higher price. For example: A house flipper offers to buy a house for $1,000,000. The house flipper secures the OTP at $1,000,000. This costs 1% of the price ($10,000) The house flipper finds a buyer who offers $1,020,000 for the house. The house flipper transfers the OTP to said buyer. The excess $20,000, minus any legal fees, is the house flipper’s profit. (And yes, the eventual buyer pays back the 1%). But wait, isn’t there a Seller’s Stamp Duty? Yes, and a house flipper can bypass this:   Satay? Ba Chang? District 9 OTP?   Seller’s Stamp Duty Since 2011, the government has attempted to discourage flipping. This is done through the seller’s stamp duty (SSD). When you sell a property within the first four years of the purchase, the SSD applies as follows: First Year – 16% (of price or value, whichever is higher) Second Year – 12% Third Year – 8% Fourth Year – 4% The SSD must be paid within 14 days once the OTP is exercised. As such, it is the eventual buyer who must exercise the OTP, not the house flipper. I can’t stress this enough: If you exercise the OTP, you’ve bought the house. You will incur the SSD upon trying to sell it.    16% when I stamp it? What happens if I stamp it a few more times? HA HA!   The OTP’s Shelf Life The cost of the OTP is 1% of the price. So the OTP of a $1,000,000 house is $10,000. This must be paid out of the house flipper’s pocket. In order to flip, the OTP must also contain the words “…and/or nominees” next to where the house flipper’s name appears. Once issued, the OTP lasts about 14 to 30 days. The more urgently the seller needs the money, the shorter the given time. Within this duration, the house flipper must find a buyer to transfer the OTP to. Otherwise, the house flipper must either exercise the option himself (buy the house) or forfeit the 1%. Sounds tough? It is. But there are still ways you can perform a successful house flip: Take Advantage of Fire Sales Flip During an Up Market Flip When You Have Deep Pockets Flip Properties With Scarcity Value * There is also another type of house flipping, which involves the transfer of the title instead of the purchase option. I will discuss this in a future article. Like us on Facebook to get updates!   1. Take Advantage of Fire Sales   Are you saying we can only fire sale stuff we own? I hope the neighbours have a sense of humour.   Fire sales refer to situations when a property is sold below market value. This is usually the result of forced foreclosure by a bank. Properties in a fire sale are sold below their actual market value. A house flipper could secure the OTP at the lower price, then transfer it to a buyer willing to pay market rates. Watch out for outsized risks: If a property is going for $995,000, and the market value is $1,000,000, the risk is steep. The 1% OTP is $9,950, which outweighs the potential $5000 profit.   2. Flip During an Up Market Kelvin Daud, who has flipped two properties, times his decisions according to the property market: “I watch for changes in the residential property price index. If the index rises by at least 2% – 3% between one quarter and the next, I might consider making a flip. …you cannot flip when the bubble has just burst; that’s the danger.” Kelvin stresses the dangers of attempting a “down market flip”. He mentions that, in a situation where buyers are waiting for the market to bottom out, it can be hard to find a good buyer in 14 days. In general, ensure that you attempt flips when the property market is resting, or on an uptrend. Never try to flip when prices are going down.   3. Flip When You Have Deep Pockets   If you have a bludgeoning object, I have cash reserves.   The biggest problem with flipping is the 1% paid for the OTP. The simplest way around this is to have cash reserves when you flip. Should you fail to secure your buyer in 14 to 30 days, you can just buy the property yourself. You can then treat your purchase as a regular property investment; drop by sites like SmartLoans.sg, and get the cheapest home loan to reduce your costs. Hey, if you got it in a fire sale or something, it’s still a good price isn’t it?  Alternatively, your bank account may be so substantial that the 1% is irrelevant to you. Property investor Charlie Sng didn’t think so: “I bought a property with the intent to flip. My buyer backed out at the last minute, because he unexpectedly got divorced and wanted to settle proceedings first. Rather than forfeit the 1%, which was around $12,000, I went ahead and bought the property for myself. Today its value has appreciated, so I have no regrets. But if I had very limited capital, I would have cried about that $12,000.”   4. Find Properties With Scarcity Value   You think $50,000 extra is steep, but this place is rare ok? The parking lot has a lot of shade!   There are opportunities to flip besides fire sales. One of these is when especially scarce property appears on the market. An example would be a unit in a desirable condo, which is otherwise sold out. How can you tell when a property is scarce? A lot of homework. It involves knowing the district inside out, and tracking the property market every day. And frankly, if you’re not doing this, you won’t be one who spots that scarce property when it goes up for sale. Charlie Sng says: “Make sure there are no properties nearby that are too similar. For example, in Punggol right now, there are several new developments that are close to the upcoming mall. More than one such development is within walking distance. This removes urgency in buying any specific unit just because it’s close to the mall. I think you would be hard pressed to flip a property under such conditions.”     Is It Worth Trying?   Risk assessment: Like an extreme sport for mathematicians.   If you have the money and the contacts, it’s worth trying to flip some properties. Hey, it’s fast money. But for those who can’t afford to forfeit the OTP, don’t even try. Likewise, flipping is not for people who lack contacts in the property market. 14 – 30 days is a very short time in which to sell a house. You should have five or six prospects lined up even before you get the OTP; if you don’t, just put it down and back off. .

Popular Science: Modular System Quickly Converts Container Ships to Drone-Powered Humanitarian Aid Stations

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The ParaFoil Air Deliver System Raytheon When disaster strikes and a humanitarian crisis unfolds, international aid generally arrives via naval ships-...

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Popular Science: Seeing Through Walls With a Wireless Router

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Wi-Spy Click here to see this amazing image even larger. Kevin Hand In the 1930s, U.S. Navy researchers stumbled upon the concept of radar when they n...

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New Gear: Canon EOS M Interchangeable-Lens Compact Camera System | Popular Photography

http://www.popphoto.com/gear/2012/07/new-gear-canon-eos-m-ilc-system

New Gear: Canon EOS M Interchangeable-Lens Compact Camera System

Canon's new mirrorless system features an APS-C sized 18MP sensor

• BY DAN BRACAGLIA ON JULY 20, 2012
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After years of speculation, Canon has made its entrance into the ILC party with the launch of their EOS M camera system. The M sports an APS-C sized 18 MP sensor, borrowed straight from the T4i, and a brand new lens mount. That said, most of M's specifications will look very familiar, as the majority of it guts are that of Rebel, squeezed into a smaller, mirrorless package of course. 

The M features Canon's speedy Digic 5 processor and the same ISO range as the T4i: 100-12800 for stills and 100-6400 in video mode. Its shutter speeds range from 30 secs to 1/4000 sec and it features the same 3-inch 1040K dot touch screen as the T4i. It doesn't articulate in this case, but the touch screen experience is still pretty top notch compared to the rest of the camera market. 

In video mode, the M offers 30, 25, and 24fps in 1080p and 60 or 50fps in 720p. It also features manual audio control with 64 selectable levels. Also Like the T4i, the M will offer fulltime autofocus during video capture thanks to a Hybrid AF system featuring both phase and contrast detection with 31 separate points. Because of it's mirrorless design, there's no dedicated phase detection AF sensor. The phase detection AF is handled by pixels built straight into the sensor, all of which can only be accessed when using one of Canon's new STM lenses. We haven't had a chance to try it with the EF adapter, (more on that in a bit) but we're curious to see how quickly they're able to focus.

The EOS M will come with a 22mm STM f/2 kit lens right out of the box. As of right now, the only other lens choice for the cameras is an 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 STM-M IS lens for $300. The 22mm on it's own will run you $250. The before-mentioned EF-M adapter will be available for $200, which isn't exactly cheap, but will likely offer a much better experience than Nikon's 1-series offering, which applies a 2.7x crop factor to F-mount lenses.

We had a little bit of time to play with an early mockup of the new system, and the menu was quite familiar to that of other EOS cameras. It also offers the same laundry list of modes, including Intelligent Auto mode, Handheld Nightshot mode, HDR Backlit mode and 7 different creative filters. It is, as would be expected, compatible with all SD, SDHC and SDCX cards.

The battery is an entirely new form-factor and according Canon, it's good for about 270 still shots and 1.5 hours of video capture on one charge. Due to its smaller size, its burst rate is 4.3 fps, compared to the T4i's 5 fps.

The M offers a hotshoe, compatible with all EOS flash units, but lacks an accessory port, meaning we will not see an EVF accessory for the M, at least not in this generation. There's also no built-in flash, which we find to be less-than-ideal for a small camera. A smaller body also means less room for tactile controls, something serious photographers won't be pleased with.

In terms of size, the M fits in somewhere between the G1X and the S100. That said, it is surprisingly small, solid and well-weighted. Unlike other manufacturers who have entered this market, Canon opted for a decidedly-un-retro-looking body. Our initial reaction was that it looks like an oversized SX230 HS with a detachable lens. That said, it is certainly not cheap feeling, in fact, it definitely feels like the build quality of other EOS cameras.

Canon is also putting out a non-articulating compact Speedlight 90 EX to accompany the M system for $150. Considering it can be used a commander unit, that's not a bad deal.

Available late October, the Canon EOS M will ship with the 22mm f/2 lens will and retail for $800. We're looking forward to putting the M through its paces as soon as a retail unit becomes available. We'll be very interested to see how it stacks up against its competition, most notably Sony's NEX cameras, which already have quite a head start in the market.

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Gizmodo: The Miniature Kitchen That's Impossible Not to Love [Daily Desired]

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Gizmodo: Apple Wins Europe-Wide Ban of Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 [Samsung]

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The airship finally takes off - Hybrid Air Vehicles has first civil customer

By Vincent Rice

23:01 September 6, 2011

The Hybrid Air Vehicles heavy-lifter in Discovery Air livery

Image Gallery (10 images)

The famous and well documented Hindenburg disaster of 1937, when the hydrogen-filled airship burst into flames whilst attempting to tether to its moorings in New Jersey, killed off the 'lighter-than-air' aircraft industry, as well as 35 unfortunate souls. Since the 1970's however, a determined band of, mostly British, aviation engineers has been battling to design and build a commercially viable 'air vehicle'. Many false starts, experimental craft and research projects followed (funded mostly by the U.S. military) but viability remained elusive, until now.

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Hybrid Air Vehicles, a British Company founded in 2007 by the late Roger Munk and a direct descendant of those previously unsuccessful efforts, has recently achieved two massive commercial wins that seem to indicate that the airship has a very rosy future indeed. The clue is in the company name, however. These are not the cigar-shaped gas-filled 'balloons' of yesteryear but hi-tech semi-rigid lifting bodies that rely on vectored thrust from onboard engines and the aero-lift from the body shape for up to 40 percent of their lifting capacity with helium providing the rest. In addition, the use of pontoons on the underside of the hull that feature hovercraft-like skirts and driven fans means that that the aircraft can land on earth, concrete or water without ground crew.

This versatility plus an ability to stay airborne for 21 days and a potential lifting capacity of up to 200 tonnes finally enabled HAV to win a US$517million contract (€370million) in conjunction with Northrop Grumman to supply a Long-Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) to the U.S. Army for deployment in Afghanistan starting in 2012. Whilst the LEMV is a relatively small vehicle designed for surveillance, HAV has now announced a civil customer for their heavy-lift variant.

Discovery Air Innovations of Canada has agreed to purchase a number of vehicles capable of lifting 50 tonnes and making way at 100 knots (185 km/h/115 mph) with the intention of providing cargo services to remote regions of the 'frozen North' at greatly reduced cost. Construction of the first vehicles will start in 2012 with commercial service beginning in Canada in 2014. DAI may buy up to 50 of the vehicles over time depending on how operations progress.

Hybrid Air Vehicles see a large number potential uses for their craft in mapping and geographic monitoring, in humanitarian aid provision, offshore drilling support and, of course, luxury tourism. With these two major contracts in their pocket it looks as if the era of the airship has finally come, again.

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You work where? Awesome Workplaces Around the World - Yahoo! Singapore Finance

http://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/where-awesome-workplaces-around-world-034749074--finance.html

By Shi Tianyun


Some people just have all the luck – like the employees of these companies. Check out these cool offices that they have the privilege of working in. Bet there's no such thing as Monday Blues in these workplaces!




McLaren Technology Centre in Surrey, UK


The Formula One racing-car company is housed in a sleek, futuristic building that overlooks its own huge artificial lakes. Be transported to the future as you make your way along glass walkways amidst the sleek silver interior. All the trappings of an awesome office like a juice and coffee bar, and a swimming pool and fitness centre that look right out a posh country club, pale in comparison with the centre of attraction - the 145m long wind tunnel that the McLaren Team tests out F1 cars in. Plus, F1 drivers make frequent appearances in the centre too! Lewis Hamilton takes you on a tour


here.




Red Frog Events in Chicago, US


One step into the events company's office and you will know why they call it "Camp Red Frog". The office looks just like a holiday camp, complete with foosball tables, rock climbing wall, a zipline and hammocks! Meetings are conducted on comfy beanbags in tree houses and once it is over, just glide down the slide to get back to work. Plus, there's an unlimited candy supply everywhere, courtesy of strategically-placed dispensers. Check out this colourful campsite disguised as an office


here.




Google Headquarters in California, US


And we saved the best for last, the Googleplex. The 500,000 square foot premises houses everything from a beach volleyball court, sculptures of dinosaurs and Android mascots outdoors, 18 different cafes so you never have to step outside for lunch ever (did we mention that meals are free too?), sleeping pods (relaxation devices that are sound- and light-proof) and of course a twisty slide that goes down multiple floors – who wants to take the boring lift, right? Click here for a tour of the Googleplex!




Make your workplace more interesting


If you are seething with jealousy in your drab, tiny cubicle right now – short of joining McLaren, Red Frog or Google , you can make some tweaks so your workday will be more bearable. Always check with HR or your boss before you bring any of the below to the office!




Get your own coffee machine


Tabletop machines that brew coffee from capsules are now affordable and fuss-free. Pool together your colleagues to get one if you can't function without caffeine. An endless supply of fresh piping hot brew that's within arm's reach beats getting your daily cuppa from the nearby café that might have turned cold when you finally reach for it, hands down any day. Or if you are a manager, this is one sure-fire way to win favour with your staff.




Add water features
Be it a small desktop fountain or fishbowl (make sure the fish is fuss-free like tetra or fighting fish), a water feature doesn't only add some life to the décor to your cubicle but the bonus: water has soothing, calming influence.




Spruce it up
Besides water, plants are another great way to inject some colour and oxygen at your work area. But if you don't have green fingers - dead plants are depressing anywhere - why not get a terrarium? These easy maintenance glass-enclosed gardens don't require much watering.




Workout at your desk
So your office doesn't have an in-house gym with personal trainers ala Googleplex but that's no excuse to put the pounds on. Exercise balls are fast gaining popularity with deskbound employees as a means to burn calories while seated. Sitting on the ball forces you to engage your core to keep stable and encourages some to do exercises on the spot.




Add a mirror
While the size of your desk or cubicle isn't going to expand anytime soon, placing a mirror or two strategically will help give the illusion of a bigger space. Plus, you can also look behind easily to spot your boss coming up!

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Apple heads into choppy waters as new iPhone awaited - Yahoo! Singapore Finance

http://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/apple-heads-choppy-waters-iphone-110650153.html

By Poornima Gupta

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc faces an unusual phenomenon when reporting earnings this time around: low expectations.

Few are expecting the world's most valuable technology company -- which surpasses Wall Street expectations with near regularity -- to deliver a bumper quarter once more on Tuesday.

The main reason: consumers holding out for the new iPhone.

Apple may still surprise market watchers, but many Wall Street analysts and investors remember how chatter over the launch of a new iPhone last year caused Apple to miss quarterly expectations in the fall, for the first time in years.

The iPhone 5 is only expected to hit store shelves around October -- just in time for the holidays -- with a thinner, larger screen and fine-tuned search features. Couple that pre-launch lull with slowdowns in Europe and China, Apple's biggest markets outside of North America, and sentiment on the Wall Street darling is more muted than many can remember in a while.

"No longer is Apple the company that beats every time," said Tim Lesko, portfolio manager at Granite Investment Advisors, which owns Apple stock. "I expect Apple to beat Apple's guidance, but I don't know whether they will beat Wall Street's guidance."

Tony Sacconaghi, analyst with Bernstein Research, sees a reasonable chance Apple will miss expectations on revenue, citing "macroeconomic weakness in China and Europe, a product cycle lull in the iPhone, a later than expected introduction of the new iPad into China, and the late quarter introduction of new Mac notebooks."

Any hiccup in demand for the best-selling smartphone can have a big impact on both revenue and profits as the five-year old device accounts for nearly 50 percent for Apple's revenues. And it comes at a time Samsung and other manufacturers that use rival Google Inc's Android software are chipping away at its market share.

Apple is expected to report fiscal third-quarter earnings of $10.35 a share on revenue of $37.2 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Top Wall Street analysts are betting the numbers will undershoot that. Apple may miss the average sales forecast by about 0.2 percent, according to Thomson Reuters Starmine's SmartEstimates, which places greater emphasis on timely forecasts by top-rated analysts.

IPAD'S LAUNCH IN CHINA

But some analysts also think the Street is underestimating the impact of a late iPad launch in China, a focal point of intense expansion for the company and a huge driver of growth.

Apple began selling the tablet there on Friday, but many had expected it to ship last quarter.

Sales in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan jumped threefold to $7.9 billion in the second quarter, accounting for about 20 percent of Apple's $39.2 billion in total revenue.

The company typically introduces a new iPhone every year, but has yet to reveal any details on the next model.

However, people familiar with the situation have told Reuters the new iPhone will have a bigger display and that Apple has begun to place orders for the new displays from suppliers in South Korea and Japan.

Meanwhile, Apple's iPhone 4S is just three quarters old, which is relatively new by any standard. But many fans of the phone now see it as a cyclical product with somewhat predictable launch timeframes, preferring to wait a few months to buy the new model, analysts said.

Wall Street estimates Apple sold about 29 million iPhones, down from 35.1 million sold in the March quarter. Sales of the new iPad, expected to be 14 million to 15 million, is likely to offset part of the anticipated sequential drop in iPhones sales.

Apart from concerns about iPhone purchases, Wall Street is worried about the rising prominence of Google and Amazon.com in the mobile market, particularly with the launch of Google's smaller and cheaper Nexus 7 tablet, which is gaining popularity.

Still, no one is bearish in the longer term on the world's largest technology company by market value and most Apple watchers believe the company will make up any lost iPhone volume during the holiday season.

"Big picture, it doesn't matter," said Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu. "They are still the share gainer in the larger scheme of things. This is clearly a timing issue."

BIG HOLIDAY SEASON EYED

Wall Street expects that the outlook for this year's holiday season will be enormous for Apple as it may include the launch of a new iPhone as well as a potential new "mini iPad."

Apple has been working on a smaller tablet, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.

It is unclear when Apple will launch such a tablet, but some clues are emerging on the timing of the new iPhone.

When Verizon -- one of the wireless carriers that work with Apple -- was asked on Thursday why customers have been holding back on handset upgrades, CFO Fran Shammo said: "There is always that rumor mill out there with a new phone coming out in the fourth quarter and so people may be waiting."

Investors will pick apart executives' comments for clues to new product introductions. While Apple has a policy of never giving advance details or timings on new products, Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer has often hinted of "product transition" in earnings conference calls preceding a launch.

Wall Street estimates Apple sold about 4 million Macintosh computers as the PC market saw growth sputter in the quarter.

The lackluster expectations do not appear to have affected Apple's stock, which is up nearly 50 percent so far in 2012. The stock has been choppy since a high of $644 in April. It closed Friday at $604.30 on the Nasdaq.

"Of all the quarters, this is the one that seems to have widest range of opinion," said Granite's Lesko.

(Reporting by Poornima Gupta, Editing by Gary Crosse)

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How Extremely Successful People Sell Their Ideas Internally (Forbes)

Paul B. Brown, Contributor



Unless you are CEO, or a member of the C-Suite at the very least, you generally can’t convince your organization to create a new structure, but you can persuade it to perhaps attack a given problem from an unusual angle. (“Hey, boss, can we think about this one differently?”) That you can do, especially if what you follow up with is a way to save the organization money, or operate more efficiently.

You can complain “I don’t have any leverage; I can’t change the cubicles, I can’t rewrite the reward system. And the answer is “No you can’t; don’t even try.”But simply through your own thinking, and getting other people to think differently as well, you can have enormous impact without changing any of that stuff even if you are not a member of the board.

The simple fact is “smart is smart,” and we’re talking about you offering up an additional way of viewing problems. You’ll never get in real trouble for doing that, especially if you do it gently by saying “can we think about this in another way?”

With that throat clearing complete, here are seven proven steps you can take in introducing new ideas in your, or any, organization:


1. Link what you want to do to a business imperative. This is just about always fatal if it is overlooked—and it generally is. That’s a shame since it is so easily addressed. Yes, of course, the idea of the rocket backpack that will allow us to fly to work is exciting, but if you work for a company that makes ball bearings it is hard to see the fit. You want to begin the conversation by being able to say something like, “you know, the organization has thebusiness goals of A, B, and C. (You can talk about organizational goals—such as improving team work—as well, but odds are you will find a more receptive audience if you start with business goals.) I’ve got an idea that I think will fit perfectly.”

2. Produce obvious, “local” business results.Don’t focus on organizational or cultural change. Prove the efficacy of your idea in the vocabulary and currency of your organization. Sure, it would be nice if you could change your organization into “the next Google” overnight, a firm that is willing to go wherever the market takes it. 

 But if your boss’ goal is to have the highest performing region in the company, that (a la point number 1) is the place to focus your attention.

3. Make sure there is sufficient autonomy. The unit(s) or individuals working on the new idea must have enough freedom to be different and protected from the “restorative forces” the organization will impose (even in spite of itself.) What this means for you and your project is this. Don’t worry about getting everyone committed. You don’t need to! There are four postures people can adopt: keep it from happening, let it happen, help it happen and make it happen. 

Obviously, you don’t want anyone in the “keep it from happening mode” if you can avoid it. But most people simply have to “let it happen.” You and (and maybe a few others) have to “make it happen.” Your boss (and maybe a few others) have to “help it happen” and create a buffer around you. So, rather than asking “how do I get everybody committed to my idea” keep asking yourself: “What is the least amount of commitment I need to move forward.”

4. Volunteers only, please. Only people who want to can play. This is another important and often over-looked point. It’s not a good idea to compel anyone to work on an initiative. If you do, at the first sign of push back, they are likely to start looking for excuses to go back to doing “their real jobs” (in the way they have always done them.) Changing anything is hard enough without working with people who aren’t committed.

5. No big “kick off” announcements. Focus education, and the like, initially only on the people who need it, i.e. the people who are going to help you implement your idea. Their boss and their boss’ boss? Not so much.

6. Manage expectations. In early phases, keep it low key. Keep it relatively quiet and offer only enough public announcements to allow your sufficient autonomy. Don’t mislead people into thinking that things will change quickly or that their lives will be different (except for the people actually involved in the project.) At all times your mantra should be “under-promise and over-deliver.”

7. Build on successes and manage pace and momentum. Learn what works and what doesn’t. Make sure you’ve got a small bonfire going before you spread the coals. Pick up a couple of small wins before trying to go any further.

Every organization is different, so we will leave it up to you to determine the best way to tweak this approach for yours. But, if you follow this strategy, you will be able to introduce new ideas faster and more effectively, and that is always a good thing.








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Why Doesn't Apple Want You To Know About Apps And Data Privacy?

This is a really rather strange decision by Apple, to pull the app "Clueful" from the Apps Store. It's rather difficult to think of any benign reason for it.

Bitdefender, the Romanian anti-virus company, created an app called Clueful, which looks at what your various apps themselves look at. Do they access your address book for example, your GPS location information and so on? This was approved by Apple and went into the Apps Store. Now it has been withdrawn again.

An app that told iPhone users whether their other apps were breaching data privacy has been removed from Apple's store in mysterious circumstances.

Clueful would say if your other programmes were accessing your address book, tracking your GPS co-ordinates or farming information from social networking accounts.

Neither Apple nor the app's developers, Romanian-based Bitdefender, have revealed why, after just two months, the program has been pulled.large:

Now why would they do that? We'd all be rather interested in who has access to such information, wouldn't we? As Adrian Kingsley-Hughes points out, the number of apps that do access information we probably don't know they're accessing is large:

Bitdefender took a look at over 65,000 apps and discovered that tens of thousands of apps were specifically programmed to raid address books and upload the data. Of the apps that access address book data, over 40 percent of them don't encrypt any data collected, which means that personal information is sent over WiFi and cellular data connections in plain text format that anyone could intercept and read.


It's not just address books that apps are raiding. 41 percent of apps tested use the location services feature to track user's whereabouts, although users can use the settings in iOS to control this.

There are obvious advantages to Apple's walled garden approach to apps. It significantly reduces the possibility of malicious code being inserted for example. But it also seems to have its downside as well: apps that reveal things that Apple would prefer unrevealed seem not to be allowed.

It's an interesting practical question. How much such control are we happy with Apple having? What's the correct balance between their power protecting us and their power protecting them?












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Now, transparent solar cells that allow windows to generate electricity: Now, transparent solar cells that allow windows to generate electricity

Now, transparent solar cells that allow windows to generate electricity

Washington: UCLA researchers have created a new transparent solar cell – a breakthrough towards giving windows in homes and other buildings the abilit...

Source: http://goo.gl/mag/oGfW1

Washington: UCLA researchers have created a new transparent solar cell – a breakthrough towards giving windows in homes and other buildings the ability to generate electricity while still allowing people to see outside.

The team described a new kind of polymer solar cell (PSC) that produces energy by absorbing mainly infrared light, not visible light, making the cells nearly 70 percent transparent to the human eye. They made the device from a photoactive plastic that converts infrared light into an electrical current.

"These results open the potential for visibly transparent polymer solar cells as add-on components of portable electronics, smart windows and building-integrated photovoltaics and in other applications," said study leader Yang Yang, a UCLA professor of materials science and engineering, who also is director of the Nano Renewable Energy Center at California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI).

Yang added that there has been intense world-wide interest in so-called polymer solar cells.

"Our new PSCs are made from plastic-like materials and are lightweight and flexible. More importantly, they can be produced in high volume at low cost," he said.

Polymer solar cells have attracted great attention due to their advantages over competing solar cell technologies. Scientists have also been intensely investigating PSCs for their potential in making unique advances for broader applications. Several such applications would be enabled by high-performance visibly transparent photovoltaic (PV) devices, including building-integrated photovoltaics and integrated PV chargers for portable electronics.

Previously, many attempts have been made toward demonstrating visibly transparent or semitransparent PSCs. However, these demonstrations often result in low visible light transparency and/or low device efficiency because suitable polymeric PV materials and efficient transparent conductors were not well deployed in device design and fabrication.

A team of UCLA researchers from the California NanoSystems Institute, the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science and UCLA's Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry have demonstrated high-performance, solution-processed, visibly transparent polymer solar cells through the incorporation of near-infrared light-sensitive polymer and using silver nanowire composite films as the top transparent electrode.

The near-infrared photoactive polymer absorbs more near-infrared light but is less sensitive to visible light, balancing solar cell performance and transparency in the visible wavelength region.

Another breakthrough is the transparent conductor made of a mixture of silver nanowire and titanium dioxide nanoparticles, which was able to replace the opaque metal electrode used in the past. This composite electrode also allows the solar cells to be fabricated economically by solution processing. With this combination, 4 percent power-conversion efficiency for solution-processed and visibly transparent polymer solar cells has been achieved.

"We are excited by this new invention on transparent solar cells, which applied our recent advances in transparent conducting windows (also published in ACS Nano) to fabricate these devices," said Paul S.Weiss, CNSI director and Fred Kavli Chair in NanoSystems Sciences.

Their study has been published in the journal ACS Nano.