Fisher Capital Management News: Hackers Broaden Their Attacks

http://fishercapitalmanagementnews.com/2011/05/fisher-capital-management-news-hackers-broaden-their-attacks/

By BEN WORTHEN, RUSSELL ADAMS, NATHAN HODGE and EVAN RAMSTAD

Hacking incidents at defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. and broadcaster PBS that surfaced over the past few days show how widespread corporate breaches have become and underline how any organization can become a victim.

Over the weekend, the website for the PBS show “NewsHour” was altered by hackers to include a fake article claiming that rapper Tupac Shakur, who was murdered 15 years ago, was alive in New Zealand. The hackers also posted login information that stations and other entities use to access PBS sites.

The incident followed a recent breach at Lockheed, which said Saturday evening that it had detected a “significant and tenacious attack” against its computer networks on May 21. The company said it stopped the attack before data could be stolen.

The attacks are the latest in a mushrooming of breaches world-wide. While hackers once generally had targeted companies that stored financial data or had classified government information, culprits today are expanding their sights to other corporate secrets or seeking information that can lead to valuable data down the line. Amateur hackers also are becoming increasingly brazen.

In recent months, hackers stole data from EMC Corp.’s RSA security unit, email marketer Epsilon Data Management LLC, two of South Korea’s largest banks and Sony Corp., where the breach temporarily hobbled its online PlayStation Network.

“Almost anyone is a target,” said Alex Stamos, chief technology officer at security firm iSEC Partners. Professional hackers now “have good tools and good technique and know how to string them together,” he said. Hackers also are getting better at identifying the soft spots in corporate defenses, he said.

So-called hactivists, who take revenge on companies for perceived slights, also have moved from simply knocking websites offline to stealing data. “There are enough people out there who aren’t worried about the consequences that they are willing to wage a sustained campaign against a global company,” Mr. Stamos said.

Corporate executives said they no longer can take a passive approach to cybersecurity. Ted Chung chief executive of Hyundai Card/Hyundai Capital Co., an auto finance provider in South Korea that was hacked in April, blamed himself for not paying enough attention to the importance of information-technology security.

“When it comes to big companies or big banks, no CEO is that stupid not to pay attention. But maybe they pay the same attention I did, which is giving encouragement and budget to IT but then saying ‘What do I know about programming?’ ” he said in an interview Monday. “That is the wrong support.”

The latest attacks demonstrate a diversity of motives. Those who attacked Hyundai Capital tried to extract ransom for a database they stole. With Epsilon, the hackers made off with email addresses that could be used to send “phishing” emails that trick recipients into disclosing personal information.

At RSA, the perpetrators stole data about security systems that the company sells to its clients. Alone, the data are worthless, security experts said, but they could be used to crack defenses used by other companies.

With PBS, a group identifying itself as LulzSec claimed credit for the fake article on Tupac Shakur, which the group said was retaliation for a documentary, “WikiSecrets,” about the publication of classified documents on the WikiLeaks website and the Army intelligence analyst who has been charged with leaking them. “By the way, #WikiSecrets s—,” a message to PBS said. While the attack was more akin to graffiti than burglary, it underscored the threats companies now face.

PBS on Monday said it had corrected the false information on its website and was “notifying stations and affected parties to advise them of the situation.”

The fake article first appeared late Sunday night on the PBS “NewsHour” news blog, “The Rundown.” The group then posted a string of Twitter messages in which it took credit for the breach, beginning with a post that read, “Oh s—, what happened to @PBS?” followed shortly after by the post, “What’s wrong with @PBS…? How come their database is seized? Why are passwords cracked?  .” The group then posted links to pages with the login information for the PBS sites.

Shortly after the story was published, PBS “NewsHour” posted several messages on Twitter stating that the article wasn’t produced by PBS and that the site had been hacked.

Separately, Lockheed said Saturday evening that the company’s information-security team detected its attack “almost immediately and took aggressive actions to protect all systems and data.”

“Our systems remain secure; no customer, program or employee personal data has been compromised,” the company said. Lockheed said it was conducting an investigation and that it “has continued to keep the appropriate U.S. government agencies informed of our actions.”

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters Sunday that President Barack Obama had been briefed on Lockheed attack and that the damage was understood as “fairly minimal.”

Still, that attack is likely to ripple throughout the defense industry. Lockheed supplies some of the most sophisticated weaponry to the U.S. military and is a major provider of information technology to the federal government. The company, based in Bethesda, Md., also is a top international supplier of military and security hardware, employing around 126,000 people world-wide.

Speculation around the Lockheed attack centered on whether hackers may have breached the system by exploiting a vulnerability in SecurID electronic keys made by RSA. In a memo to employees on Sunday, Lockheed Chief Information Officer Sondra Barbour said the company “took swift and deliberate actions” to step up security, including shutting down a virtual private network, resetting user passwords and upgrading SecurID tokens, among other measures.

In South Korea, prosecutors believe North Korea was behind an attack on a large farm cooperative, which couldn’t provide ATM, credit-card and online services for nearly a week after a system at its Seoul headquarters was accessed remotely. How law enforcement tracked the attack to North Korea wasn’t disclosed. But authorities said a link was made to the same Internet servers North Korea used in a 2010 denial-of-service attack against South Korean government websites. North Korea called the South’s accusation in the latest case “absurd” and “unreasonable.”

At Hyundai Capital, a pair of hackers in South Korea gained access to the company’s databases and downloaded personal information on 1.7 million customers. After the company contacted police, it agreed to pay part of what hackers sought. Police arrested the hackers after one was recorded by an ATM video camera as the hacker tried to withdraw some of the ransom. The company has since revamped its IT operation and begun an overhaul of its cybersecurity.

—Ian Sherr
contributed to this article.

Fisher Capital Management News Directory:LinkedIn prices IPO at $45, value at $4B

http://fishercapitalmanagementnews.com/2011/05/fisher-capital-management-news-directorylinkedin-prices-ipo-at-45-value-at-4b/

Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal
Date: Wednesday, May 18, 2011, 2:28pm PDT – Last Modified: Thursday, May 19, 2011, 9:43am PDT

Read more: LinkedIn prices IPO at $45, value at $4B | Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal

LinkedIn Corp. on Wednesday priced its initial public offering at $45 per share, bringing the networking site’s valuation to more than $4 billion.
Mountain View-based LinkedIn, which is scheduled to begin trading Thursday under the ticker symbol LNKD on the New York Stock Exchange, on Tuesday raised its price range $10 per share, or $42 to $445.

In its regulatory filings LinkedIn said it expects revenue to slow and doesn’t expect profitability in 2011.
LinkedIn said it earned $3.4 million in 2010, compared to a $4 million loss the preceding year. Revenue more than doubled to $243 million.
The number of people using LinkedIn grew to more than 100 million members in 2010 from about 64 million in 2009.

Read more: LinkedIn prices IPO at $45, value at $4B | Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal

Richard Fisher: Robert Brown’s Boiler Installation

Richard Fisher on Boiler room management - with the current state of the economy, it is extremely important that you are fully aware of the ways in which you can make savings around your home, along with the steps you can take to ensure that you do not waste more money that you need to.

There are small steps that can be taken, such as turning off lights when leaving a room, or not leaving electrical devices on standby when they are not in use. Regarding heat loss, you can install draft excluders on your windows and doors, as well as making sure your house is properly insulated; insulation in cavity walls, as well as in ceilings can save many hundreds of pounds in heating costs over a long period of time.

Regarding heat loss, while it is important to guard against heat being lost through insulation, it is incredibly important to consider how the heat is produced in the first place; is your current method efficient both economically and environmentally.

Richard Fisher on Boiler room management - Boiler replacement. If you have an old, inefficient electric boiler, it may be a good idea to arrange boiler installation for a new gas boiler. Gas boiler installation could save you hundreds of pounds each year, reducing your bills significantly.

All boiler installation jobs are complicated and can involve a large amount of work. If however you make sure you use a trained professional, the job can be stress free and quickly finished, with minimum fuss. If you do decide to carry out the installation yourself, you must be sure to read up on the subject in great depth, taking all recommended precautions before commencing work. It is also advisable that you have an assistant, to help with removal and installation, so you can concentrate on the technical aspects of the work fully.

Richard Fisher on Boiler room management - Required certification. There are levels of certification and permits required to legally undertake such work, such as building codes and planning permission laws.

You can often check these aspects with your local council and planning authority, as well as with your local gas company and supplier.

Once you are sure that you are ready to undertake the work, it is a good idea to prepare the area in which the boiler will be installed. In this area, there should be a gas supply, a water supply, and an electrical supply all within a close proximity of the boiler; the greater the distance between these supplies and the boiler, the greater the difficulty in installation. It is important to note that boiler installation should not take place near to any combustible substances; such is the danger of an explosion.

Once your boiler is delivered, you should make sure that all parts are present and correctly formed, prior to attempting an installation. Once you are sure everything is fine, you can begin your boiler installation along the guidelines that you have learned in your studies.

For More Information Visit : http://www.npower-online.co.uk Read more: http://business.ezinemark.com/boiler-installation-3183cd92936.html#ixzz18JwINJZW

HeatSponge SIDEKICK Warning, Finally Revealed: Boiler Room Equipment, Inc

Fisher Capital on Boiler Room Equipment, Inc, is very proud to finally unveil the SIDEKICK line of condensing boiler economizers for commercial and industrial hot water boilers. The Sidekick has been in development for nearly two years and represents an evolutionary development of high-efficiency installations in the boiler industry. The SIDEKICK is a warning game changer the likes of which have not been experienced since the introduction of the first condensing boilers. The SIDEKICK offers the ability to integrate condensing boiler efficiencies to conventional boilers on a new or retrofit basis. The SIDEKICK allows a customer with a conventional boiler system the ability to realize condensing efficiency gains that otherwise would require the existing boiler to be demolished and replaced with a new condensing boiler. Conventional, non-condensing boilers can now realize the efficiency benefits of outdoor air temperature reset controls and lower circulating hot water loop temperatures. Sidekicks also allow for duel fuel condensing applications utilizing conventional boilers. The SIDEKICK features all stainless internal construction, stainless tubes and fins, and an insulated outer casing. Inspection and clean out ports make periodic maintenance and cleaning easy.
The efficiency of the SIDEKICK goes far beyond simply energy recovery to the ultra-productive process in which it is selected and designed. Heat recovery for condensing applications introduces a significant number of variables that makes a catalog-approach to equipment selection nearly impossible. Boilerroom Equipment has developed a new method of quantifying heat recovery, the Recovery Rate, and integrated this into the design. The incorporation of the Recovery Rate variable allows a customer to custom tailor the level of heat recovery and cost directly to the requirements of each specific application. We define this new concept in heat recovery design as 3D Modularity, for modular construction in three dimensions. Based on a "Mass-Customization" approach to product development, Bruce will consider all of the application design constraints and will design a SIDEKICK optimized to meet the exact performance requirements at the most competitive price. Bruce has been given the ability to consider all aspects of the heat exchanger design relative to the price of the equipment and generate a fully priced proposal all in real-time; a software and engineering accomplishment that added over one thousand hours of coding and heat transfer modification to Bruce's core program. This means Bruce can handle all inquiries and generate proposals in real time by himself. The near elimination of sales and support overhead and significantly reduced project execution overhead requirements the Bruce software provides allows us to offer a product superior to any before it at pricing and responsiveness levels no conventional competitor could hope to match.
Bruce will go on-line live on Monday December 21st with full public access to the Sidekick software. BEI will display the SIDEKICK in public at the upcoming AHR Exposition in Orlando, booth 3126. We will also have other HeatSponge models on display and based on the popularity in Chicago last year will bring the HeatSponge NASCAR Late Model stock car back for another display appearance.

Triad Boiler Room Systems Launched New Commercial Boilers

Fisher Capital on Boiler Room Equipment, Inc: Triad Boiler Systems manufactures uniquely rugged small-footprint hot water boilers, steam boilers, and radiant heating systems. All our boilers use 12 gauge firetubes in compact vessels that fit through very small doorways! Inputs range up to 2,000,000 BTU's. Create a highly efficient system with millions of BTU's by sequencing a string of these modular vessels.
TRIAD's commercial boilers and industrial grade Hot Water Heating, Domestic Hot Water, and Steam boilers are used in a wide variety of applications. Our commercial boilers are used at schools, universities, apartments, hospitals, office buildings, retirement communities, and churches. Industrial uses have included bakeries, smelting operations, food processing, quenching systems, and various heating applications for manufacturing. Triads’ modular boilers and radiant heating systems can be natural gas fired, oil fired, or dual fuel fired. For simplicity of operation and maintenance, all controls on our boilers are well known, off-the-shelf products. There area no proprietary parts on these boilers! This simplicity of operation is part of our philosophy, and an important reason why our customers return to us again and again.

TRIAD has been manufacturing high-quality boilers since 1926, and developed the modular boiler concept with primary/secondary piping, receiving a patent for it in 1967. We put this experience, knowledge, and expertise into every boiler.

We believe in quality - it is the overriding characteristic driving our company. This is why we manufacture extremely rugged, well-designed hot water and steam boilers that can provide decades of dependable service. We welcome your inquiries.

Benefits of Modularity
TRIAD's elegantly simple design maintains consistent water volume where heat is required.

• Boilers are activated sequentially, drawing water from the main loop into the next hot water boiler until the heating need is meet.
• firing boilers remaining isolated, so no heated water circulates through cold boilers.
• During most of the year the unfired boilers provide additional backup.
• Outdoor temperatures and loop water temperatures are constantly monitored.

Fisher Capital on Boiler Room Equipment, Inc: The efficiency of this design is most apparent during warmer months, when a conventional hydronic heating or steam boiler could still be operating at full capacity.

Primary-Secondary Piping
TRIAD integrates modularity with a single pipe primary-secondary system. TRIAD was the first company to employ a Primary-Secondary concept. It operates with two loops, (i) the primary loop, or building main loop, and (ii) smaller secondary loops off of each hot water boiler, which supply heated water to the primary loop.

Upon a call for heat, the boiler pump begins pushing the return water into the boiler and out through the secondary loop, supplying this hot water up into the primary loop (the main header), where it mixes with the cooler return water from the main loop of the building.

• Supply and return water are blended, avoiding the need for expensive and unreliable mixing valves commonly used in two pipe systems.
• The secondary loop isolates each hot water boiler, resulting in a very efficient system that minimizes thermal shock.

Control Panel
TRIAD Boilers can be sequenced by the use of our control panel that provides many attractive features:

• Temperature set-back when less heat is required, such as nights and weekends.
• Adjustments for latent heat, to take advantage of hot boiler water that retains heat after the burner shuts down.
• Outdoor reset based on atmospheric temperatures.
• Monitoring of return water temperatures to maintain accurate heating output.

It is also very easy to sequence our boilers using the panel of any other major manufacturer.

Packaged Product
Fisher Capital on Boiler Room Equipment, Inc: All TRIAD hot water boilers and steam boilers are fully assembled, packaged products, which offer several advantages over boilers that must be assembled at the jobsite

• Onsite labor costs are minimized.
• Quality control is higher at the factory than at the jobsite
• The ease of installation of a packaged boiler allows for quicker start up.

Benefits of Steel Boilers

Easy to Clean
To maintain boiler efficiency, heating surfaces must be kept clean and free of combustion by-products. All TRIAD heating surfaces, especially the firetubes, are easy to access. It is impossible to clean all the heating surfaces of a cast iron boiler, and what can be reached is difficult to clean.

TRIAD also makes it easy to maintain clean water surfaces. The cleaning of the interior of a cast iron boiler is a major undertaking, and even then only the vertical surfaces can be cleaned. The inability to clean the horizontal surfaces can have a significant impact on operating efficiency.

Easy to Repair
Because of their steel construction, TRIAD hot water and steam boilers can be repaired in the field with minimal disruption. A leak can be permanently welded or the tubes re-rolled with little difficulty. It is impossible to permanently weld a cracked cast iron boiler section or a leaking copper fin-tube boiler. The firetubes are easily accessed through the top and through the firedoor.

Fast Water Circulation
Poor circulation of water within the typical cast iron boiler is very common due to their design limits, while TRIAD's steel hot water boilers provide for faster circulation.

BOILER ROOM LIVE MUSIC

http://www.thegrovehouse.com/ashevilleunderground/index.html

Asheville's Underground
Live Entertainment Venue

BOILER ROOM features a host of live music, and performance artists brought to you by Asheville locals and out-of town entertainers.

Located in the GROVE HOUSE Entertainment Complex
11 Grove Street, Downtown Asheville, NC
(828) 505-1612 www.thegrovehouse.com

fisher capital management>> Boiler Room- Funny Girl in Concert

http://digg.com/news/entertainment/fisher_capital_management_boiler_room_funny_girl_in_concert

boilerroomtheatre.com — Funny Girl in Concert April 29, 30, May 1 The Keeping Scores Concert Series will present its inaugural production, Funny Girl in Concert, at the Boiler Room Theatre in Franklin, Tennessee, April 29-May 1. Scott Logsdon will direct, with choreography by Laurie Gregoire and musical direction by Jamey Green. The musical, about the life of Fanny Brice, features lyrics by Bob Merrill and music by Jule Styne and a book by Isobel Leonart. Among the show's best-known hits are "People," "Don't Rain On My Parade" and "I'm The Greatest Star." Multiple actresses will portray the role of Brice: Nancy Allen, Erica Haines Cantrell, Joann Coleman, Lindsay Terrizzi Hess, Catherine Mai Holder, Bonnie Keen, Cori Laemmel, Alex Maddox, Corrie Miller, Sondra Morton, Laura Thomas-Sonn and Heather Trabucco. The show will also feature Bakari King (Nicky Arnstein), Annette de la Torre (Mrs. Brice), Bryan Wlas (Eddie Ryan), Corey Caldwell (Florenz Ziegfeld), Vicki White (Mrs. Strakosh), Jama Bowen (Mrs. Meeker/Mimsy) , Layne Sasser (Mrs. O'Malley), Brandy A. Rogers (Emma), Todd Rowan (Mr. Keeney/Mr. Renaldi), Lucas Phillips (John/Stage Director), and Will Sevier (the Ziegfeld Tenor). The ensemble will include Jefferson Carson, Devin Clevenger, Thomas Harton, Sarah Margaret Huff, Olivia Lee, Emma Jordan , Darci Wantiez and Chad Webb comprise the ensemble. The children's chorus will include Tyler Bond, Joshua Cleveland, Hayden Gill, Addison McFarlin and Kayte Miller. Funny Girl will be the first in a series of musicals in concert presented by Keeping Scores that will focus on shows with outstanding music that are not likely to by fully mounted locally because of size or for having titles that might not be well enough known to warrant a lengthy run. Performance Schedule: Friday, April 29 at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 30 at 8 p.m. Sunday, May 1 at 2 p.m. Seating: House opens 30 minutes prior to show time. Seating is open, in other words, the early bird gets the better worm. We do not, howeve Apr 27, 2011

Boiler Room

BY ROGER EBERT / February 18, 2000

cast & credits Seth: Giovanni Ribisi Chris: Vin Diesel Abby: Nia Long Greg: Nicky Katt New Line Presents A Film Written And Directed By Ben Younger. Running Time: 119 Minutes. Rated R (For Strong Language And Some Drug Content). Printer-friendly » E-mail this to a friend »

"Boiler Room" tells the story of a 19-year-old named Seth who makes a nice income running an illegal casino in his apartment. His dad, a judge, finds out about it and raises holy hell. So the kid gets a daytime job as a broker with a Long Island, N.Y., bucket shop that sells worthless or dubious stock with high-pressure telephone tactics. When he was running his casino, Seth muses, at least he was providing a product that his customers wanted.

The movie is the writing and directing debut of Ben Younger, a 29-year-old who says he interviewed a lot of brokers while writing the screenplay. I believe him. The movie hums with authenticity, and knows a lot about the cultlike power of a company that promises to turn its trainees into millionaires, and certainly turns them into efficient phone salesmen.

No experience is necessary at J.T. Marlin: "We don't hire brokers here--we train new ones," snarls Jim (Ben Affleck), already a millionaire, who gives new recruits a hard-edged introductory lecture crammed with obscenities and challenges to their manhood. "Did you see `Glengarry Glen Ross'?" he asks them. He certainly has. Mamet's portrait of high-pressure real estate salesmen is like a bible in this culture, and a guy like Jim doesn't see the message, only the style. (Younger himself observes that Jim, giving his savage pep talks, not only learned his style from Alec Baldwin's scenes in "Glengarry" but wants to be Baldwin.) The film's narrator is Seth Davis (Giovanni Ribisi), an unprepossessing young man with a bad suit who learns in a short time to separate suckers from their money with telephone fantasies about hot stocks and IPOs. Everybody wants to be a millionaire right now, he observes. Ironically, the dream of wealth he's selling with his cold calls is the same one J.T. Marlin is selling him.

In the phone war room with Seth are several other brokers, including the successful Chris (Vin Diesel) and Greg (Nicky Katt), who exchange anti-Jewish and Italian slurs almost as if it's expected of them. At night the guys go out, get drunk and sometimes get in fights with brokers from other houses. The kids gambling in Seth's apartment were better behaved. We observe that both gamblers and stockbrokers bet their money on a future outcome, but as a gambler you pay the house nut, while as a broker you collect the house nut. Professional gamblers claim they do not depend on luck but on an understanding of the odds and prudent money management. Investors believe much the same thing. Of course, nobody ever claims luck has nothing to do with it unless luck has something to do with it.

The movie has the high-octane feel of real life, closely observed. It's made more interesting because Seth isn't a slickster like Michael Douglas or Charlie Sheen in "Wall Street" (a movie these guys know by heart), but an uncertain, untested young man who stands in the shadow of his father the judge (Ron Rifkin) who, he thinks, is always judging him.

The tension between Seth and the judge is one of the best things in the film--especially in Rifkin's quiet, clear power in scenes where he lays down the law. When Seth refers to their relationship, his dad says: "Relationship? What relationship? I'm not your girlfriend. Relationships are your mother's shtick. I'm your father." A relationship does grow in the film, however, between Seth and Abby (Nia Long), the receptionist, and although it eventually has a lot to do with the plot, what I admired was the way Younger writes their scenes so that they actually share hopes, dreams, backgrounds and insecurities instead of falling into automatic movie passion. When she touches his hand, it is at the end of a scene during which she empathizes with him.

Because of the routine racism at the firm, Seth observes it must not be a comfortable place for a black woman to work. Abby points out she makes $80,000 a year and is supporting a sick mother. Case closed, with no long anguished dramaturgy over interracial dating; they like each other and have evolved beyond racial walls. Younger's handling of their scenes shames movies where the woman exists only to be the other person in the sex scene.

The acting is good all around. A few days ago I saw Vin Diesel as a vicious prisoner in the space opera "Pitch Black," and now here he is, still tough, still with the shaved head, but now the only guy at the brokerage that Seth really likes, and trusts enough to appeal to. Diesel is interesting. Something will come of him.

"Boiler Room" isn't perfect. The film's ending is a little too busy; it's too contrived the way Abby doesn't tell Seth something he needs to know; there's a scene where a man calls her by name and Seth leaps to a conclusion when in fact that man would have every reason to know her name; and I am still not sure exactly what kind of a deal Seth was trying to talk his father into in their crucial evening meeting. But those are all thoughts I had afterward. During the movie I was wound up with tension and involvement, all the more so because the characters are all complex and guilty, the good as well as the bad, and we can understand why everyone in the movie does what they do. Would we? Depends.

Fisher Capital Management South Korea, Brazil’s Economy: 1st Quarter

Fisher Capital Management Seoul Korea, Brazil’s Economy - The brief recession of 2009 has given way to a robust increase in consumer demand and recovery in investment in Brazil in 2010. The economy is likely to grow 5.5% this year. GDP grew 2% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2009 and fell 0.2% for the whole of 2009 compared with 2008.

Fisher Capital Management South Korea Investing: - The central bank did not raise its target overnight interest rate, the so-called Selic rate, unchanged leaving it at 8.75% a year. This was expected as the presidential election is nearing. The rate fell from 13.75% to 8.75% between December 2008 and July 2009. By the year-end, the rate is expected to rise by 250 basis points to curb inflation.

Even though the US and Brazil are not as open an economy as one would believe. Trade accounts for approximately 14% for both the countries. US cotton subsidies had been a bone of contention for the two countries. The US was accused of excessive cotton subsidies by Brazil. After eight years of litigation at the World Trade Organization Brazil has won the case and Brazil’s move to raise tariffs on a wide range of American goods has a potential of starting a new front in the trade war with the US over cotton subsidies. Overall, the issue is still not blown out of proportion as the two countries are engaged on other fronts.

Fisher Capital Management Korea, Brazil’s Economy: 1st Quarter Investment - Brazil’s government announced a R$958.9bn programme of investments in infrastructure for 2011 to 2014. The program is known as the PAC 2 … the Portuguese acronym for accelerated growth programme, part two … to increase Brazil’s investment rate and its potential for economic growth during the period of the next government, which begins on January 1 2011.

Fisher Capital Management South Korea, Investment News: Henrique Meirelles who provided monetary stability to Brazil is all set to stand for election either as a Vice President or a senator. President Lula may choose him to run for the Vice President office to send a message that macroeconomic stability will be maintained under Ms Rousseff, presidential nominee of Mr. Lula’s party in the October election.

Fisher Capital is a leading global financial institution holding extensive relationships with financial institutions, institutional investors and corporations across the world.

As a full service company Fisher Capital provides a full range of investment banking services including advanced risk management, corporate strategy and structure, plus raising capital through debt and equity markets. With this as our backbone we continue to provide a client service second to none.

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Major Equity Markets 2010: Fisher Capital Management Part 1

Sentiment in the equity markets has been steady over the past month. Markets in Europe have been unable to resist downward pressure. The Japanese market is also lower; but there has been resistance amongst the emerging markets in South East Asia that are supported by more favourable economic conditions.

The Chinese authorities are obviously determined to prevent their economy from overheating. The global recovery will therefore only proceed at a very slow pace, and there may well be setbacks along the way, although a move into a “double-dip” recession still seems unlikely. There is also an increased danger of a sovereign debt default by Greece, and possibly even by Ireland. But the swing in sentiment should not go too far. So long as monetary policy remains supportive, the global economic recovery is likely to continue, and this will eventually produce a sustainable improvement in equity prices. Patience will therefore be the most important requirement amongst investors until some of the uncertainties have been resolved.

The Fed is in a very difficult position. The statement after its latest OMC meeting was cautious about economic prospects, conceding that “the pace of recovery in output and in employment has slowed in recent months” and was likely to be “more modest” than anticipated in the near-term. But monetary policy was left basically unchanged at the meeting, perhaps because of the “unusual uncertainty” about prospects, and this caused some disappointment. However there is little doubt that further monetary easing will be introduced if the position continues to deteriorate, because the bank’s main priority is to try to maintain some momentum in the economy. And fiscal policy is also likely to remain supportive, despite the massive size of the existing deficit. Congress has been reluctant to authorise additional spending programmes; but there is intense political pressure ahead of the elections in November, and further programmes seem likely.

The critical question for investors therefore is whether the continued monetary and fiscal support will be enough. They have been prepared to adopt a bullish attitude to the situation, and this mood has been helped by an encouraging flow of corporate earnings results that have often exceeded expectations, and confirmed that the corporate sector has been coping well so far with a difficult situation.

The gloom should not be overdone. So long as monetary policy remains supportive, we believe that the odds favour the continuation of the slow recovery, and that this will eventually produce better market conditions.

Mainland European markets have fallen back sharply over the past month, after the strong rally. There has been evidence of a further improvement in the economic background in the euro-zone, and second quarter corporate results have generally been encouraging; but the signs of weakness in the US economy and the slowdown in China has raised doubts about whether the German export performance that has been providing most of the momentum for the recovery can be maintained; and there have also been renewed concerns about the possibility of debt defaults amongst the weaker member countries of the zone. The markets have therefore been unable to resist downward pressure.

The euro-zone economy improved much faster than expected in the second quarter of the year. Growth is estimated to have been around the 1% level, the fastest quarterly level for three years; and this has eased the fears about a move into a “double-dip” recession, at least for the moment. But it is a two-speed recovery, with the German economy estimated to have grown by 2.2% during the quarter, the Netherlands economy by 0.9%, and the French economy by 0.6%, but with Spain and Portugal basically unchanged and the Greek economy falling further into recession. With domestic demand weak, it is therefore essential that overseas demand remains buoyant if German exports are going to continue to drive the overall economy forward; but this is now very uncertain, and so growth projections for the rest of this year and for 2011 are still fairly cautious.

However the European Central Bank is maintaining its optimistic view of prospects. Speaking before the latest figures were announced, the chairman, Jean Claude Trichet, argued that the second quarter outturn would be better than expected, that there would also be an encouraging result in the third quarter, and that there was no prospect of a move into a “double-dip” recession.

Fisher Capital Management Korea is a leading global financial institution holding extensive relationships with financial institutions, institutional investors and corporations across the world. As a full service company Fisher Capital Management Korea provides a full range of investment banking services including advanced risk management, corporate strategy and structure, plus raising capital through debt and equity markets. With this as our backbone we continue to provide a client service second to none.