half moon

bought  € at 1.404 target 1.4276  on November the 2nd )

new moon

1011

Children begin by loving their parents. After a time they judge them. Rarely, if ever, do they forgive them. Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

David F. D’Alessandro, author of Executive Warfare suggests a smart way to find smart applicants:
“Humor is a sign of intelligence…I never, ever hired someone who was mirthless. I may have hired a few who were worthless, but never mirthless.”

Travel, in the younger sort, is a part of education; in the elder, a part of experience.
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

Millennium City

Millennium City, a cluster of newer office buildings developed by Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd. (16), has attracted the back offices of banks such as Standard Chartered Plc and Bank of East Asia Ltd. to East Kowloon. Manulife Financial Corp. last year moved its Hong Kong headquarters to the district, while PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP has also relocated part of its operations there.
“We can really have a Canary Wharf here if the government gets its act together,” said John Davies, a Hong Kong-based executive director at CB Richard Ellis.
After spending 10 years in public discussion and consultation, the government in 2007 came up with an outline for the site’s redevelopment. The current plan includes building more than 33,000 units of public and private housing, 20 million square feet of office, retail and hotel spaces, cruise terminals and a stadium.
The plan for the development of Kai Tak “had evolved several times to meet changing community aspirations” before it was approved, the government’s Civil Engineering and Development Department, which is in charge of the development of Kai Tak, said in an e-mail reply to Bloomberg questions.

Removing Stigma

Central’s surging costs have already prompted defections. In 2007, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse Group AG and Deutsche Bank AG moved their entire operations in the city across the harbor to the International Commerce Centre in West Kowloon, a reclaimed area that’s a five-minute train ride from Central.
Property prices on the Kowloon Peninsula, north of Victoria Harbour, have historically been below those of Hong Kong Island, home to the city’s financial district and its most expensive residential area. Before the completion of ICC, few banks would have considered setting up front offices in Kowloon, said Davies.
The move to West Kowloon “has removed the negative stigma of Kowloon,” he said. “To attract the same caliber of clients to East Kowloon, the infrastructure in that area needs to  be improved.”

"They can't without people, -

front sight is disturbing..."

0911

To be in the weakest camp is to be in the strongest school.
Gilbert Chesterton (1874-1936)

I can stand brute force, but brute reason is quite unbearable. There is something unfair about its use. It is hitting below the intellect. Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

If there were no bad people, there would be no good lawyers.
Charles Dickens (1812-1870)

A steady hand in governing of military affairs is more requisite than in times of peace, because an error committed in war may, perhaps, prove irremediable.
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)


"A new motto for the 21st century employee might well be: Be funny, make money. There is a direct correlation between having fun on the job and being more productive."
From Work Like Your Dog Fifty Ways to Work Less, Play More, and Earn More by Matt Weinstein and Luke Barber (Villard)

When a man bleeds inwardly, it is a dangerous thing for himself; but when he laughs inwardly, it bodes no good to other people.
Charles Dickens (1812-1870)

Owning a Canadian

On her radio show, Dr Laura Schlesinger said that, as an observant Orthodox
Jew, homosexuality is an abomination according to Leviticus 18:22,
and cannot be condoned under any circumstance.
The following response is an open letter to Dr. Laura, written by a U.S.
man, and posted on the Internet. It's funny, as well as informative:

Apple is preparing

 to open its first store in Hong Kong this quarter at the International Finance Center Mall amid a surge in China sales.

Sales in the China region, including Hong Kong and Taiwan, were “key” to Apple’s third-quarter results, surging sixfold to $3.8 billion in the period,
The IFC commmercial complex, developed and owned by Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd. (16) and Henderson Land Development Co., includes the 88-story IFC 2 office tower. It’s located in Hong Kong’s Central shopping and business district.
Apple, which didn’t open its first store in China until 2008, now has two stores each in Beijing and Shanghai. Those four stores generate, on average, the company’s highest traffic and highest revenue.

items in Hong Kong

 are less likely than in China to be counterfeit.

A stream of customers in Tsim Sha Tsui’s Canton Road yesterday carrying bags of Vivienne Westwood, Gucci and Burberry brand products and speaking in Mandarin, showed that a $350 billion decline in the value of stocks in China since mid-April has failed to kill off the tourist trade. Their spending may help to limit what Morgan Stanley and Daiwa Capital Markets say is set to be a second straight quarterly contraction in Hong Kong’s economy.
In July, sales jumped 29 percent to HK$35.2 billion ($4.5 billion), also a record gain excluding January and February figures that are distorted by a Lunar New Year holiday. Sales of jewelry, watches and clocks soared 52 percent from a year earlier. For electronics, the increase was 65 percent.

will FXCM survive?

August 12, Chicago - National Futures Association (NFA) has issued a Decision imposing a $2,000,000 monetary sanction against Forex Capital Markets LLC (FXCM) in settlement of a Complaint issued by NFA's Business Conduct Committee on August 12, 2011.

0811

There must be a limit to the mistakes one person can make, and when I get to the end of them, then I'll be through with them. That's a very comforting thought.
Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942)

Where there is sorrow there is holy ground.
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900

Make the workmanship surpass the materials.
Ovid

The world is full of willing people: some willing to work, the others willing to let them.
Poet Robert Frost

can we trust these data?

Upd.: Seems, I got it )

- Food, you know I just couldn't stop thinking about it.
- Yeah?
- Yeah. So, I went to the fridge and I opened up the meat drawer. You know where the meat drawer is, right?
- Yes. What was in there?
- I'll tell you what was in there! You know that bacon that's like maple? That's got maple taste
- The maple kind- yeah!
- Yeah. So I took that out and I thought..
- Yeah?
- I know who would like that!
- ?
- Me! And so I ate it!
- O-o-h! No! You're kidding me!
- Nope! Not kidding... You know I also noticed there was also some beef in there! Yeah, you know. Steak! You know, juicy! well, I ate that too!
- O-o-o-h!
- But I went back to the fridge. Just a few minutes ago. And I put something together very special. You're gonna love this one. I took some chicken
- Yeah?
- I put some cheese on it.
- Yeah!
- Then I covered it with...
- Cover it with what?
- Covered it with cat treats!
- yeah!
- Then guess what?
- What?
- I gave it to the cat!
- Aaaaaah!

come back from hong kong

Life under the  bridge ... is not seeing  from 55th floor.

fallout of a 2005 court case

 The News of the World's (NoW) then royal editor Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire were jailed for hacking into the mobile phones of royal aides.
Since then, a series of police inquiries and legal cases have explored just how widespread the practice was, with implications for the police, celebrities, politicians and even victims of crime and their families.
On 6 July, the prime minister pledged a full inquiry into hacking and the Metropolitan Police chief vowed that officers who took payments from NoW publisher News International would be disciplined.

0711

 The most practical and important thing about a man is still his view of the universe...We think that for a general about to fight an enemy, it is important to know the enemy's numbers, but still more important to know the enemy's philosophy. Gilbert Chesterton (1874-1936)

In this world there are only two tragedies. One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

A God that can be understood is no God. Who can explain the Infinite in words?
W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965)

mail from forex.com to (all [US] or some?) it's clients ...
We wanted to make you aware of some upcoming changes to FOREX.com’s product offering. As a result of the Dodd-Frank Act enacted by US Congress, a new regulation prohibiting US residents from trading over the counter precious metals, including gold and silver, will go into effect on Friday, July 15, 2011.
In conjunction with this new regulation, FOREX.com must discontinue metals trading for US residents on Friday, July 15, 2011 at the close of trading at 5pm ET. As a result, all open metals positions must be closed by July 15, 2011 at 5pm ET.
We encourage you to wind down your trading activity in these products over the next month in anticipation of the new rule, as any open XAU or XAG positions that remain open prior to July 15, 2011 at approximately 5:00 pm ET will be automatically liquidated.
We sincerely regret any inconvenience complying with the new U.S. regulation may cause you. Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact our customer service team.

0611

 "Judge others not lest ye be judged"
Jesus
Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence in society.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)

Nature has left this tincture in the blood,
That all men would be tyrants if they could.
Daniel Defoe (1660-1731)

People join companies - but they leave managers and supervisors.