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3D Systems' Earnings: The Good, the Bad, and the Crazy
Well, folks, you know you're dealing with a high-flying growth stock when the company reports 54% sales growth, beats earnings expectations, forecasts 24%-37% sales growth for next year and as much as 38% earnings growth ... and the share price tanks. That's exactly what happened to the decades-old leader in 3-D printing and newly minted media darling 3D Systems when it reported earnings last week. After a blowout fourth quarter and fiscal year, shares plunged as much as 15%. So what happened? And what should investors make of it all? Let's dig in.
The bear case
Fool contributor Alex Planes makes the case that investors reacted reasonably and negatively to a few numbers in the earnings report. He points out that the projected 2013 growth rates are significantly slower than 2012's growth rates. Alex also notes that despite growing 54% year-over-year and beating analyst estimates for full-year 2012 revenue, 3D Systems' fourth-quarter revenue came in 2.2% lower than analyst estimates, at $101.6 million rather than the expected $103.9 million.
Alex attributes slowing growth to 3D Systems' aggressive strategy of purchasing competitors. In 2012, 3D Systems enjoyed 54% growth but only 22% organic growth. With acquisitions acting as the company's growth engine, Alex rightfully concludes that there are only so many companies 3D Systems can buy, putting a ceiling on growth prospects.
The bull case
On the other hand, Fool contributor Steve Heller urges investors to be patient, arguing that the long-term thesis for 3-D printing remains intact despite temporarily slowing growth. Three-dimensional printing will be a $6.5 billion industry by 2019, from only $1.7 billion in 2011. That's a strong and growing market, and Steve argues that 3D Systems is among the best-positioned companies to capitalize on it.
So who's right? Maybe both. Wall Street would obviously like to see growth rates steady or increasing, rather than dropping, and that could account for a short-term sell off. However, over the week 3D Systems actually made up most of the ground it lost on Monday, closing Friday down only 3%. That indicates that not much about the long-term thesis has changed.
Get while the gettin's good
It's true that 3D Systems' rapid acquisitions policy has fueled growth, but I'm not sure this is a bad thing. One charge frequently lobbed at the big 3D printers, 3D Systems and Stratasys , is that even though the 3-D printing market is growing rapidly, the industry is pretty fragmented and there's no telling who the eventual winners will be. However, investors looking to capitalize on the broad trend have limited options in getting exposure to this market, so many of them have piled into 3D Systems and Stratasys, pushing their share prices to astronomical heights.
You can look at this as the start of a bubble, but 3D Systems and Stratasys are both using their lofty stock prices to aggressively consolidate the market. Stratasys' share price propped up an influential merger with major provider Objet, while in 2012 alone 3D Systems raised $107 million from common stock offerings to deploy for acquisitions. If management can continue to use their bubbly stock prices to firm up market share in an undeniably fast-growing market, I think investors today will be rewarded for bidding up shares.
Split decision
So what accounts for the past week's dramatic price swings?This isn't the most popular opinion, but I suspect that 3D Systems' oddly timed 3-for-2 stock split had something to do with the sell-off. 3D Systems didn't just increase the number of shares outstanding by 50% on the same day of its earnings release, it also released its earnings report to analysts only 20 minutes before hosting the earnings call. This is highly unusual, and it didn't give analysts a lot of time to examine the earnings numbers, something CEO Abraham Reichental got chastised for on the call. This might have led hurried investors to compare Wall Street earnings per share pre-split estimates with actual results and management guidance that reflected post-split numbers.
For example, before the split analysts estimated that 2013 earnings per share of $1.58. If the split had never happened, management's earnings guidance would come in at $1.50 to $1.73 per share, making the analyst estimate at the low end. Adjusting for the split, management guided $1.00 to $1.15, which looks like a huge miss. Of course, a stock split is all about appearances, and even if it looks like a miss at first, the earnings guidance was still a hit.
That might be why the stock has rapidly recovered over the week, as panicked sellers realized their mistake or created buying opportunities for others. It's an excellent case study in why one should never buy or sell just because everybody else seems to be. It also raises a question: Why in the world would 3D Systems bother splitting their stock at all? Management said the split would "increase the market liquidity and broaden our investor base," but it's not as if 3D Systems is Berkshire Hathaway, trading for $150,000 per share. Shares were trading around $60, and a 3:2 split puts them at $40. Who are these investors who want to buy shares of 3D Systems at $40, but were completely priced out of the market at $60?
Bottom line
As confusing and confused as the stock split may have been, nothing in Monday's earnings changes the long-term thesis for owning 3-D printing stocks. This remains a highly speculative industry fueled more by expectations and emotions than earnings, and it will remain so for years. As I wrote last week, investors in 3-D printers shouldn't just expect volatility; they should stop worrying and learn to love it. Whenever you see big price movements, just return to your original thesis and ask if anything has happened to change it. Don't try to follow momentum.
3D Systems is at the leading edge of a disruptive technological revolution, with the broadest portfolio of 3-D printers in the industry. However, despite years of earnings growth, 3D Systems' share price has risen even faster, and today the company sports a dizzying valuation. To help investors decide whether the future of additive manufacturing is bright enough to justify the lofty price tag on the company's shares, The Motley Fool has compiled a premium research report on whether 3D Systems is a buy right now. In our report, we take a close look at 3D Systems' opportunities, risks, and critical factors for growth. You'll also find reasons to buy or sell, and receive a full year of analyst updates with the report. To start reading, simply click here now for instant access.
The article 3D Systems' Earnings: The Good, the Bad, and the Crazy originally appeared on Fool.com.Fool contributor Daniel Ferry owns shares of 3D Systems and Stratasys and has the following options: short May 2013 $40 puts on 3D Systems, and short Mar 2013 $60 puts on Stratasys. For those unfamiliar with options, all of these strategies are optimistic, and the author profits if the stock price of either of these companies stays high. The Motley Fool recommends and owns shares of 3D Systems and Stratasys and has the following options: Short Jan 2014 $36 Calls on 3D Systems and Short Jan 2014 $20 Puts on 3D Systems. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Copyright © 1995 - 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.


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Disney shows off "Captain America" and "Thor" at expo
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- A few friends of "The Avengers" touched down at the D23 Expo.
Tom Hiddleston, Natalie Portman and Anthony Hopkins from "Thor: The Dark World" and Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie and Chris Evans from "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" appeared on stage Saturday at the celebration of all things Disney.
Hiddleston apologized for not donning his Loki costume, which he wore earlier this summer at Comic-Con.
"I'm not gonna get this crowd to kneel," he said. "We're at Disneyland."
Later, when the "Captain America" crew came on stage, Evans jokingly invited the crowd at the Anaheim Convention Center to join him at Disneyland across the street.
"Anyone wanna go?" the Captain America actor teased. "Let's go!"
Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige showed footage from both the sequels, including two never-before-seen clips, and teasers for "The Avengers: Age of Ultron" and "Guardians of the Galaxy."
"The Dark World" is set for release Nov. 8, while "The Winter Soldier" will hit April 4, 2014.
Patterned after San Diego's wildly popular Comic-Con, the biannual D23 Expo, which Disney launched in 2009, isn't just about movies. On the show floor, attendees can snap up exclusive merchandise, trade collectible pins and meet stars from Disney Channel shows

subset: commoncrawl


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Copyright © 2020 Musical Instruments for sale and hire Skysun Pty ltd


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Ukraine will raise a new national guard force among military veterans in response to Russian attempts to annex Crimea, the acting president told parliament on Tuesday.
Oleksander Turchinov said mismanagement of the armed forces under his ousted predecessor meant that the Ukrainian military had to be rebuilt "effectively from scratch". The acting defence minister said the country had only 6,000 combat-ready infantry compared to over 200,000 Russian troops on its eastern borders.
Turchinov, who warned against provoking further Russian action, said the National Security and Defence Council decided to establish a National Guard, using the existing Interior Ministry forces as a base. The goal would be "to defend citizens from criminals and from internal or external aggression".
A partial mobilisation of volunteers drawn from those with previous military experience would begin, he said.
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Male cartoon character presented in 96 poses and moods. That great amount of postures will come in handy for any situation.
We have designed a male cartoon character dressed with casual clothes. This time we have skillfully created more poses to get you covered in any project. Some of the new poses feature arrows, charts, targets and symbols as equipment. We strongly suggest you to grab the male character set as it will liven up your design projects.
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We've got you covered in all possible situations. With this great variety of poses you will have a suitable posture for any kind of project. Of course, we have poses with a million dollar smile. With that look and smile, this guy could sell you anything. Go ahead and choose a suitable package for your own needs!
The pack also includes the vector sources of the male cartoon character. We have properly organized the source files and separated all body parts into symbols. By using the symbol library you will save time and pains when creating new poses and moods. It is a real fun to produce more poses, try it yourself!
Some of the poses of the male cartoon character set include:
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The pack includes vector files which could be edited with Adobe Illustrator. Note that you will need some skills to edit the cartoon characters.


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Light from distant quasars
BOSS, the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey, is mapping a huge volume of space to measure the role of dark energy in the evolution of the universe.
BOSS is the largest program of the third Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-III) and has just announced the first major result of a new mapping technique, based on the spectra of over 48,000 quasars with redshifts up to 3.5, meaning that light left these active galaxies up to 11.5 billion years in the past.
Light from distant quasars (red dots at left) is partially absorbed as it passes through clouds of hydrogen gas. A "forest" of hydrogen absorption lines in an individual quasar's spectrum (inset) pinpoints denser clumps of gas along the line of sight, and the spectra are collected by the telescope's spectrograph (square at right). The accessible redshift range corresponds on average to about 10 billion years ago. While the Sloan Digital Sky Survey had previously collected spectra from some quasars in this range, by measuring 10 times as many per square degree of sky BOSS can reconstruct a three-dimensional map of the otherwise invisible gas, revealing the large-scale structure of the early universe. (Illustration by Zosia Rostomian, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Nic Ross, BOSS Lyman-alpha team, Berkeley Lab; and Springel et al, Virgo Consortium and Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics) (Click on image for best resolution)
"No technique for dark energy research has been able to probe this ancient era before, a time when matter was still dense enough for gravity to slow the expansion of the universe, and the influence of dark energy hadn't yet been felt," says BOSS principal investigator David Schlegel, an astrophysicist in the Physics Division of the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). "In our own time, expansion is accelerating because the universe is dominated by dark energy. How dark energy effected the transition from deceleration to acceleration is one of the most challenging questions in cosmology."
Two ways to measure the expanding universe
As an international collaboration, many of whose leading scientists are present or former members of Berkeley Lab, BOSS studies dark energy by mapping baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) - the large-scale network of variations in the distribution of visible galaxies and hard-to-see clouds of intergalactic gas, which also reveal impossible-to-see dark matter. The regular spacing of peaks in matter density originated in primordial density variations, whose remnants are visible in the cosmic microwave background radiation. This spacing provides a cosmic ruler for calibrating the rate of expansion wherever BAO can be measured.
Using the Sloan Foundation Telescope at the Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico, BOSS has mounted a two-pronged spectroscopic investigation of BAO. The first priority is to survey normal bright galaxies with redshifts up to 0.8, some seven billion years in the past; first results of the galaxy survey, which included over 300,000 galaxies, were announced in March, 2012. But collecting enough galaxies at redshifts high enough to map BAO in the very early universe can't be done with a 2.5-meter telescope. Thus BOSS's second target: quasars.
"Quasars are the brightest objects in the sky, and therefore the only credible way to measure spectra out to redshift 2.0 and beyond," says Schlegel. "At these redshifts there are a hundred times more galaxies than quasars, but they're too faint to use for BAO."
Quasars are too sparse to measure BAO directly, but there's another way they reveal BAO at high redshifts. As the light of a quasar passes through clouds of intergalactic gas on its way to Earth, its spectrum develops a plethora of hydrogen absorption lines known as a Lyman-alpha forest. Ideally, each absorption line in the "forest" reveals where the quasar's light has passed through an intervening gas cloud. Like a single flashlight seen through the fog, the different prominences and redshifts of the individual absorption lines in a single quasar's spectrum reveal how the gas density varies with distance along the line of sight.
With enough quasars, close enough together and covering a wide expanse of sky, the distribution of intervening gas clouds can be mapped in three dimensions. The idea was first advanced in the early 2000s by Patrick McDonald, then at the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, and Martin White, both now at Berkeley Lab.
"When I presented this idea to a conference of cosmologists in 2003, they thought it was crazy," says White, who is also a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of California at Berkeley and the chair of the BOSS science survey teams. "Nine years later, BOSS has shown that it's an amazingly powerful technique. It has succeeded beyond our wildest dreams."
SDSS-III's far more sophisticated spectrograph, whose construction was directed by Berkeley Lab's Natalie Roe, allows much better coverage and resolution than earlier surveys, but searching for BAO in the Lyman-alpha forest was still a high-risk proposition for many reasons. Lyman-alpha absorption lines occur in the ultraviolet part of the spectrum, which is absorbed by Earth's atmosphere; from the ground, only those quasars whose spectra are redshifted the right amount are useful. The lines tag only neutral hydrogen; most hydrogen in the universe is ionized. Among other uncertainties, irregular heating of hydrogen clouds, or too many quasars too close together, could distort the clustering signal.
"Compared to a galaxy survey, looking for BAO in the Lyman-alpha forest is cool - high-risk, but high-reward," says Berkeley Lab's Nicholas Ross, who led the target selection team. To catch enough quasar spectra to map clustering - a minimum of 15 to 20 quasars per square degree of the sky - BOSS would have to devote 10 percent of the two million individual targets during its five-year run to possible quasars. The targets had to be chosen from photometric data (an object's brightness in different colors), but only after the spectra were taken would the team be sure which targets were real quasars and which were stars or some other quasar mimic. BOSS took the chance.
"We had one thing in our favor," Ross says. "It didn't matter what type of quasar it was, as long as it was high redshift. To identify them we could use ultraviolet data, near-infrared data - any method, any trick - because we were only going to use them as backlights to probe the intervening clouds of gas. Ultimately we found that all our selection algorithms worked well."
Searching for the signal
The initial Lyman-alpha result - the first map of BAO at this very early stage of the universe's evolution - is based on just a third of the volume of space that BOSS will ultimately map, and includes 60,369 quasars confirmed by visual inspection of their spectra. But to simplify the search for BAO, many of these were discarded.
"To get BAO out of the data, we have to remove artifacts that distort the signal we're looking for," says Berkeley Lab's Bill Carithers. One class of rejects is broad-absorption line quasars, whose spectra have been smeared out by extremely fast-moving gas from the quasar's active center. Another class are quasars whose spectra have "damped Lyman-alpha troughs," which happens, Carithers says, "when the light from the quasar runs into a very, very large clump of gas, so large it wipes out the forest."
With unhelpful spectra removed, BOSS was left with 48,129 quasars. In May of 2011, a team led by Ane Slosar of Brookhaven National Laboratory, formerly at Berkeley Lab, had demonstrated the practicality of measuring the varying density of intergalactic hydrogen gas at cosmological distances using just 14,000 BOSS quasars - enough, said Slosar, "to establish a proof of the concept."
"We don't use the specific information in a single line of sight, we look at the correlations among many," says Carithers. "BOSS is the first to do this because we have enough quasars - with too few, you can't see the pattern."
In addition to helping convert the raw data from the telescope into useful scientific information, Berkeley Lab's Stephen Bailey was in charge of generating simulated data sets - called "mocks" - to make sure the analysis was dependable.
"Mocks are important when you're trying to measure something that's never been measured before," says Bailey. "We know where the real quasars are and we know what the physics of the gas is, but we don't know where the gas is. Our simulations were based on the positions and redshifts of the real quasars, but with mock spectra that gave different gas distributions. If we could see the simulated distribution in one analysis, we should see it in all."
In the end, after data processing and generation of mock spectra on the Riemann Linux cluster of computers provided by Berkeley Lab's High-Performance Computing Services Group, the competing analyses of the Lyman-alpha forest of over 48,000 quasars all gave similar results.
The analytic techniques used in this report were developed by Andreu Font-Ribera and his collaborators among BOSS's French Participation Group. Applied to the real quasar spectra, they produced a picture of density distributions that, Bailey says, "gives us a first look at BAO in this previously hidden region."
Schlegel says, "There is no other credible way we could have measured BAO at redshifts of two or more. Five years ago it was chancy, but it was the only proposal on the table. We could have failed in any number of ways, but nature was good to us."
White says, "We are seeing back to the matter-dominated universe, when expansion was decelerating and dark energy was hard to see. The transition from decelerating expansion to accelerating expansion was a sharp one, and now we live in a universe dominated by dark energy. The biggest puzzle in cosmology is, why now?"
It's a question BOSS will go far to illuminate as it collects more than a million and a half galaxies and more than 160,000 quasars before SDSS-III is complete. Meanwhile, the Lyman-alpha forest has opened a new view of the ancient universe, one that may come to full fruition with future, more powerful surveys like the proposed BigBOSS.
"Baryon Acoustic Oscillations in the Ly forest of BOSS quasars," by N.G. Busca, Timothee Delubac, James Rich, Stephen Bailey, Andreu Font-Ribera, David Kirkby, J.-M. Le Goff, Ane Slosar, Eric Aubourg, Julian Bautista, Michael Blomqvist, Bill Carithers, Rupert A.C. Croft, Kyle S. Dawson, Daniel J. Eisenstein, Jean-Christophe Hamilton, Shirley Ho, Khee-Gan Lee, Daniel Margala, Jordi Miralda-Escude, Pasquier Noterdaeme, Nathalie Palanque-Delabrouille, Isabelle Paris, Patrick Petitjean, Matthew M. Pieri, Emmanuel Rollinde, Nicholas P. Ross, David J. Schlegel, David H. Weinberg, Martin White, and Christophe Yeche, has been submitted to Astronomy & Astrophysics and is available on the arXiv preprint server at http://arxiv.org/abs/1211.2616.
The present analysis of BOSS quasars was led by members of the SDSS-III French Participation Group. Additional analyses of the Lyman-alpha forest will be forthcoming from other members of the BOSS Lyman-alpha Cosmology Working Group, led by Ane Slosar of Brookhaven National Laboratory.
Berkeley Lab researchers who are members of BOSS and contributed to this paper include Stephen Bailey, Bill Carithers, Natalie Roe, Nicholas Ross, David Schlegel, and Martin White. For more information, visit the SDSS-III website at https://sdss3.org/press/lyabao.php.
More about first results from the BOSS spectroscopic survey of galaxies is at http://newscenter.lbl.gov/news-releases/2012/03/30/boss-first-results/.
More about the proposed NSF-DOE BigBOSS survey of 35 million galaxies and quasars, extending the measurement of BAO into redshifts not now accessible, is available at http://bigboss.lbl.gov/.
Funding for SDSS-III has been provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Participating Institutions, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science. The SDSS-III web site is http://www.sdss3.org/.
SDSS-III is managed by the Astrophysical Research Consortium for the Participating Institutions of the SDSS-III Collaboration including the University of Arizona, the Brazilian Participation Group, Brookhaven National Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Florida, the French Participation Group, the German Participation Group, Harvard University, the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, the Michigan State/Notre Dame/JINA Participation Group, Johns Hopkins University, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, New Mexico State University, New York University, Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University, University of Portsmouth, Princeton University, the Spanish Participation Group, University of Tokyo, University of Utah, Vanderbilt University, University of Virginia, University of Washington, and Yale University.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory addresses the world's most urgent scientific challenges by advancing sustainable energy, protecting human health, creating new materials, and revealing the origin and fate of the universe. Founded in 1931, Berkeley Lab's scientific expertise has been recognized with 13 Nobel prizes. The University of California manages Berkeley Lab for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. For more, visit http://www.lbl.gov.
DOE's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit the Office of Science website at science.energy.gov/.
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Mountain lion pet causes controversy
A mountain lion found in a neighborhood caused state officials to get involved.
The owners of the mountain lion and neighbors said the feline is harmless.
Cheryl and Mark Swarthout have been taking care of animals in their house in Elm Springs for years. The Swarthouts told 40/29 news they knew bringing the mountain lion home was against city ordinance.
"Yes we weren't supposed to have one without a permit she knew that when she brought it home but we didn't think it would be here very long," said Swarthout.
The Swarthouts said "Rocky" their mountain lion was living in their backyard for two months. The Swarthouts said the only reason they took Rocky in is because their friend in Mountainburg couldn't care for it anymore.
The Swarthouts said they would've never brought it home if they thought it was vicious.
"He couldn't hurt anybody even if he wanted to. He was de-clawed when he was young and that cripples him," said Swarthout.
Some neighbors said they felt so comfortable around the mountain lion they even allowed their kids to play with him behind the Swarthouts back yard.
"I didn't have a problem with my grandkids going to see it or pet it. The thing is pretty much harmless in my understanding it had been domesticated since it was cub," said Neighbor Steve Roberts.
The Swarthouts said they had every intention in eventually turning Rocky in. Arkansas Game and Fish gave them till tomorrow to do so. Rocky was given up Saturday morning to the Cedar Cove Feline Conservatory in Kansas.
It is illegal to have any carnivorous animal as a pet in Arkansas.


text: We will review the uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics, first formulated by Werner Heisenberg in 1927, and the role they played in the famous debate between Einstein and Bohr on the meaning of quantum theory. Along the way we will focus on questions like: what do we mean by "uncertainty", and how do we express that in the theory? What, in fact, is a physical property? Does a theory like quantum mechanics provide a description of physical reality? Interestingly, some of these questions do not have a unique answer.


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When we're testing headphones, sound quality and comfort are key, but we also look at things that others might miss, such as how durable they are, how long the battery lasts, and how good the noise cancelling is for noise cancelling headphones. For more advice on what to look for, read our guide on how to buy the best headphones.


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Shawangunk "Gunks" Climber's Log
jake_the_snake - Feb 4, 2020 7:41 am Date Climbed: Jan 15, 2020Not just great climbing - some decent ski trails too
Skiied several of the carriage roads, "summited" a couple of the overlooks.
Have obviously been many times to climb, this was my first ski foray
TheWolfIsLoose - Nov 2, 2015 3:18 pmIconic
The Gunks are, without question, one of the iconic climbing destinations in the United States. The climbing is unique, the history plentiful, and the area charming.
JRB - Aug 3, 2013 12:10 am Date Climbed: May 29, 2010first multipitch climb on Belly Roll
What a great area to climb.
Ice2Climb - Aug 1, 2012 10:03 pmGreat Cliffs!
This is my new backyard and I love it! My climbing skills have greatly increased thanks to the variety of climbs in the Gunks!
Just a friendly note record all of your climbs and the dates! I have spent about 20 hours trying to go back through pics and memories to fill out this resume on my climbing experience and it is a pain in the butt!
Patrick B - Mar 31, 2011 7:28 am Date Climbed: Aug 28, 2009Awesome!
Went there for my first outdoor rock climbing... couldn't have asked for a better experience. Lots of different styles of climbing packed into one massive rock face.
Vinny - Feb 27, 2011 12:14 amlove it
Love this place! several trips from Montreal and since then.
wish it were out west- but then the beautiful autumn colours would be missing.
Enjoy it!
alex - Jul 15, 2008 10:00 pmLearned to Climb Here
My girlfriend and I learned to lead in the Gunks over the past 2 years. We still don't own any active pro (except for tri-cams when placed as such), and hope this translates into solid leading skills as we move out of the area this month and begin exploring other crags.
rasgoat - Oct 22, 2007 7:37 pmBest crag around
The gunks is where I go to just climb, The routes are excellent and numerous and the crowd is great! it is a small community and a sweet crag! Most of the routes are stout and sustained!
Tom Fralich - Aug 15, 2007 3:19 pmThe Home Crag
I've pretty much lived the last 7 years of my life in the Gunks, separated by trips to other ranges and crags. I've led more than 200 routes, mostly onsight, and can be found there most weekends between April and November. Favorite routes are too numerous to list. See my personal website for a complete list of routes I've climbed in the Gunks.
Cookie Addict - Jan 12, 2007 1:01 pmAnual Climbing trip
Went to the Gunks and Rumney on an annual climbing trip with a group of 5 buddies. We had a blast and got on some REALLY classic routes. A guy got bit by a copperhead next to us as we were getting on High Exposure - poor b@stard...
DaveC - May 20, 2004 8:18 pmRoute Climbed: many Date Climbed: jan 93
Favorite spot in the gunks is Verkeerderkill Falls. Also Lost Lake (or is it lone lake)... Camped illegally once on the Smiley preserve, cz they got the best land.
Nelson - Apr 3, 2004 8:55 pmRoute Climbed: Various Date Climbed: 1976-1977
Learned climbing here in the mid '70's, many 5.4-5.7 routes, with Shockley's Ceiling probably the best known. I remember a great crowd and great rock, plenty of exposure, fun overhangs, scary traverses, comfortable belay ledges, and beer in New Paltz with Fritz Weissner sitting next to you.
petersbike - Jan 29, 2004 5:02 pmRoute Climbed: numerous routes toperope and lead. Date Climbed: August 2000
First time climbing without my buddies Wayne and Oke. Climbed with my friend Demian from Plattsburgh.
grandwazoo - Jan 17, 2004 9:26 pmRoute Climbed: A few - High E, Shockley's Ceilings and other easier climbs Date Climbed: The past 22 years
Had fun in this are back in the 80's, wasn't much of a rock climber at that time,.last time there was 2002. Had a hot and humid June/July that year.


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Fantastic Imaginings: A Journey through 3,500 Years of Imaginative Writing, Comprising Fantasy, Horror, and Science Fiction
Unabridged Algernon Blackwood, Ambrose Bierce, Anne McCaffrey, Arthur C. Clarke, Arthur Rimbaud, Barry Pain, Ben Bova, Bram Stoker, Christina Rossetti, Clark Ashton Smith, Dante Alighieri, E.M. Forster, Edgar Allan Poe, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Edward Bellamy, Elliot Engel, Euripides, Frank R. Stockton, Fritz Leiber, Gareth Owen, Guy de Maupassant, Harlan Ellison, Homer, Isaac Asimov, John Crowley, John Shirley, Jonathan Swift, Lewis Carroll, Lewis Shiner, Mary Shelley, Nicolai Gogol, Orson Scott Card, Oskar Kokoschka, Ovid, Queen Hatshepsut, R.A. Lafferty, Robert Louis Stevenson, Robert Silverberg, Robert W. Chambers, Sam M. Steward, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Sir Thomas More, Stefan Rudnicki, Stephen Crane, Ursula K. Le Guin, W.E.B. Du Bois, Walt Whitman, William B. Yeats, William Morris, William ShakespeareArte Johnson, Bahni Turpin, Cassandra Campbell, Christopher Cazenove, Danny Campbell, David Birney, Don Leslie, Enn Reitel, Gabrielle de Cuir, Harlan Ellison, John Lee, John Rubinstein, Judy Young, Michael York, Mirron Willis, Roz Landor, Scott Brick, Simon Vance, Stefan Rudnicki
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The Adobe Photoshop 6.0.1 update fixes several problems discovered after Photoshop 6.0 was released.
Significant fixes in the 6.0.1 release include the following:
- The painting tool brush picker has new usability improvements including:
* Enter brings up and dismisses the preset picker at the current mouse location.
* Double-clicking a brush in the picker selects the brush and dismisses the picker.
* The current brush is always highlighted in the preset picker.
* The current brush indicator always displays the brush size.
* The First Brush and Last Brush keyboard shortcuts (> and <) work regardless of whether the current brush exactly matches a preset brush.
- Image clipping paths in EPS and TIFF files saved from Photoshop 6.0.1 have been modified so that software, such as QuarkXPress, is able to read them.
- ImageReady is able to save and preview animations under constrained memory conditions.
- There is no slow-down of performance when files in the Open Recent list are unavailable.
- Batch file naming works correctly.
- Export Paths to Illustrator retains path scaling.
- The Contextual Menu system extension no longer needs to be installed in order to use the toolbar flyout menus.
- Photoshop 6.0.1 will remove old Photoshop temporary or scratch files if the operating system has failed to do so.
- Selecting a single color in Color Range now works correctly.
- New Japanese character map (CMap) files are included to resolve conflicts with ImageStyler 1.0 and PageMaker 6.5.2 Plus.
Showing and hiding edges for a selection no longer requires pressing Command+H twice.
|File Name
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Adobe Photoshop 6.0 for Mac OS (English language versions only)
After downloading a ".hqx" file on a Macintosh, use StuffIt Deluxe or StuffIt Expander to access the file's contents. StuffIt Expander is available as a freeware product.
NOTE: Please ensure you have the latest version of StuffIt by Allume Systems, Inc.
Need help with downloading? See our Downloading Help documents.
NOTE: This is the official release of the 6.0.1 update. If you have applied a previous, unofficial 6.0.1 updater you must uninstall and reinstall Photoshop 6.0, then apply this 6.0.1 updater in order to update to 6.0.1 successfully.
To install the Photoshop 6.0.1 update:
1. Ensure that you have at least 35 MB of free space on your startup drive.
2. Disable all virus protection software.
3. Double-click the "Adobe® Photoshop® 6.0.1 Update" application.
4. Follow the on-screen instructions.
Note: The updater will automatically locate your installed version of Photoshop 6.0 on any partition during the installation process.
This updater will only update the retail version of Adobe Photoshop 6.0/ImageReady 3.0 software. It will not update any pre-release (beta) versions. Running the updater installer on a pre-release version will fail and will give you the error: "Photoshop 6.0 and/or ImageReady 3.0 were not found on this machine, " indicating that the updater could not find a copy of the retail software.
To determine whether you have the retail version, first select the application file "Adobe® Photoshop® 6.0" in the Photoshop 6.0 install folder by clicking once. Then select "Get Info" from the File menu or press Cmd-I. The retail version will read "Created Mon, Sep 25, 2000". If a different date is shown, you do not have a retail version. Visit the Adobe Store at http://www.adobe.com/store/, or contact your local Adobe retailer to purchase a retail version.
If you have a retail version of Photoshop 6.0, and you still receive the error: "Photoshop 6.0 and/or ImageReady 3.0 were not found on this machine", you may have already run the 6.0.1 updater successfully. Contact Adobe Technical Support 206-675-6203 (U.S. and Canada) for more information.
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What's New for Windows Phone Development with Silverlight?
The Silverlight team focused on building a runtime environment and set of class libraries that was specifically tailored for Windows Phone. In the next version of Windows Phone, they have taken the lessons of the past year, and substantially improved the framework and runtime from top to bottom. In this session we'll give you the low down on what you'll see later this year, and how to prepare for it now.
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The Discussion
Some great details revealed here which have been pain points for devs. Thanks to the team for listening. Nice talk, thanks Shawn.
7.1 Socket class do server stuff, like listen, accept, howbout bind?
How to:
Set connect and recv timeouts for ConnectAsync and ReceiveAsync, resp.?
0900 turnout:
Your MIX effort will carry on in video.
@ROY BEAN: No, none of the server stuff is there (such as listen, accept, bind). Also there isn't a property for the the timeouts, you'll have to create a timer and check the Connected property yourself. Sounds like a space for some solid extension methods.
No server possible. SL being a client thing, any hope for this is pointless I come to realize. (Bury one project.) Anyway, waitfor() on timeouts, good to go.
Saw one mix presentation where the TCP port used was in the SL4 4530-something range. I can't imagine why this was used in the demo unless it was code the presenter was using in SL4 socket class and just copied as-was. I will find an open window if this port-range restriction from SL4 is carried to SL on phone. (A first-floor window.)
Hope the MSS (video) support really exists in 7.mango. And gets documented.
So I read mango is bumped to 7.5. I saw a screenshot of the profiler targetting 7.1. Maybe 7.5 is the bug-free .next. Funny how so many demos get unexpected GPF or whatever in normal presentation. Less so than last year's (esp. the xaml/designer view).
Impression is profiler only works on a phone device. XDEmulator won't do?
Looks good overall. B+. You might think it's gotta be an A but 7.0 is a Dee. My opinion. Good at what it has, yes, but it doesn't have enough (7.0).
Dear Shawn,
Can you please provide the code for your Windows Phone 7 demo.


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For years, CSEE has served as the hub for a diverse group of independent schools that strive to bring excellence to their pursuit of forming the "whole student." CSEE provides research-based publications, webinars, experts, and events on topics such as: advisory, empathy, leadership, academic integrity, diversity, and service learning. We provide on-campus services for schools seeking to go to the next level in their practice, and forums for peers around the country to connect.
Your partnership with CSEE gives your entire school's staff and parents complimentary, school-wide access to the latest professional development and scholarship, and a discount on events, consultations, and our books.
Join us today to begin taking advantage of your membership benefits! View membership pricing here
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Discover for free which first names would suit you or your baby !
Meaning of name Lisette
Etymology : Diminutive of ÉLISABETH
Saint :
Origin : French
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Gender : girl
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Who is she?
Lisette could appear more of a tough-cookie than she really is... But the truth is that she is incredibly sensitive and quite vulnerable, all things considered. She often tends to become withdrawn in the face of hostility, preferring to avoid confrontation. However, she is nevertheless a courageous woman who is proud and determined, loathes injustice, flattery and deceit, and is more than capable of leading others and assuming responsibility; she is capable of great selflessness for a cause that touches her heart. An innovative spirit who needs to be able to live her own experiences, she is quite a complex character who can be egocentric, authoritarian and demanding at times - particularly if she was born on a 1st, 10th, 19th, 28th, or if she has a life Path Number of 1; whilst at other times, she can also be very altruistic and idealistic, especially if she was born on a 9th, 18th, 27th, or if she has a life Path Number 9. As a child, Lisette is well-behaved, disciplined and reserved and autonomous, so she makes a wonderful big sister who is quite capable of standing in for her parents if the need arises. It is nonetheless important to be careful not to take advantage of her kind and helpful nature. She would benefit from participating in activities outside the family home as this will enable her to strike the right balance in her relationship with other people and her environment.
What does she like?
An ambitious lady, Lisette wants to win in life, to lead others and draw attention to herself. She craves recognition and adulation and sees the world as a stage on which she loves to perform... Both idealistic and materialistic at the same time, she enjoys a high standard of living and appreciates the comfort that money can provide. When it comes to relationships, she is demanding and intends to be the one who wears the trousers! She is a sensual woman, though uncompromising and jealous; and while she is faithful, loyal and frank, she expects the same in return. But underneath her abrupt, harsh manner she is in fact hiding an enormous, generous heart and very sentimental nature.
Get your free Personality test card now !!
What does she do?
Lisette is likely to be attracted to the social fields (medicine, justice, law), particularly if she was born on a 9th, 18th, 27th, or if she has a life Path Number of 9; otherwise she could be tempted by one of the liberal professions or a career in banking, management, finance, show business or broadcasting.
Discover others girls first names : Li Lía Líadáin
*To note: :
It sometimes happens that two different first names have the same meaning. This has nothing surprising: both first names have the same figures of numerology. It is as in astrology: two persons belonging to the same sign present the same characteristic...
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Test the compatibility of your names to know if your love relation is lucky to succeed. Friendship, love or passion?
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Your Name Horoscope !
Thanks to the numerology, we propose you daily a horoscope personalized for your first name. Love, money , Shape: discover what waits for you for today. In Bonus every day find your daily lucky figure .. Horoscope of the first names
Love :Couples: Harmony will once again reign between the two of you. Singles: Make the most of your own company, you are unlikely to meet "the one" today.
Money :Today is a perfect day to clarify your financial objectives.
Health:You're lacking in calcium and vitamin D Lisette . Get enough sunshine and eat plenty of brocolli to keep your bones healthy!
Your Lucky number : 49


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One of the highlights of this year CES was the announcement of an Octa-Core mobile SoC from Samsung – the Exynos 5 Octa. This absolute beast of an SoC makes use of ARM's big.LITTLE implementation and packs 4 Cortex-A15 based cores, and 4 lower-power Cortex-A7 based cores, manufactured on the 28nm HKMG process.
The use of ARM's big.LITTLE technology will allow this SoC to provide the best of both worlds – performance and battery life. On the GPU side, it was assumed that Samsung went with ARM's Mali GPU, which was found inside the Galaxy S II and the Galaxy S III.
However, it looks like Samsung may have had a change of heart and has instead used PowerVR's Imagination GPU on its latest SoC. AnandTech has confirmed from multiple sources that the Exynos 5 Octa SoC packs in three cores of PowerVR SGX543 GPU, with each core clocked at 533MHz.
This is the same GPU that Apple uses in its A5 and A5X SoC, with the latter being found inside the third generation iPad. Considering the PowerVR SGX543 inside the Exynos 5 Octa SoC is clocked so high, it should be able to beat the 3rd generation iPad in benchmarks. However, it won't be able to surpass the performance of the A6/X SoC found inside the iPhone 5 and the fourth-generation iPad.
There is a very strong possibility that Samsung will end up using the Exynos 5 Octa SoC on its upcoming Galaxy S IV smartphone.


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The list is virtually endless. Do you see the common denominator? People who enjoy expressing themselves aloud, people who understand the storytelling, emotion and salesmanship that is often at the core of personal conversation, people who enjoy exploring their own abilities and various ways of doing something, people who are comfortable with a specialized vocabulary ... these people may have an unusually high measure of ability that they might turn into becoming a professional voice talent.
On the other hand, if you hate to read... if you feel there is only one right way to do something... if you think details are unimportant... if you're not a self-starter who can learn to treat your vocal abilities as a business... if you're not interested in developing and focusing your skills and learning your trade... then maybe you shouldn't plan on contacting voice over talent agents or voice over talent agency anytime soon.
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text: I have ISPConfig 3 on Ubuntu 10.04. System has been working great for many months. Recently, I removed an email alias and need to setup that address as a mailbox. The new mailbox receives mail, but I cannot log into the account via Roundcube. I get login failed. If I watch the log, I can see that the alias is still there forwarding mail. When I go into MySQL I can see the account or alias being created then removed when I perform that action from within ISPConfig, so that part is working. I have added the alias and removed it several times but no success in resolving login failed issue. Is there somewhere else besides MySQL that the alias resides (for example in Postfix somewhere). I could not open/view aliases.db Thanks, Eric


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Hope College will present "An Evening of Japanese Music" on Wednesday, Oct. 13, at 7:30 p.m. in Wichers Auditorium of Nykerk Hall of Music.
The public is invited. Admission is free.
The concert will feature guest artists Michael Chikuzen Gould, Kuniyasu Iwazaki and Chieko Iwazaki. The ensemble will be performing traditional songs including "Honshirabe," "Sanya," Song in C, "Kaze no Uta" ("Song of the Wind") by Sawai Tadao and "Shika no Tohne" ("The Distant Cry of the Deer").
Each song tells of an aspect of Japanese history and culture. For example, Song in C, consisting of three solo parts for koto, depicts children throughout Japan playing various games at different times of the year. Traditionally, different games are associated with different seasons.
The artists use a variety of instruments including a shamisen, a three-stringed, banjo-like instrument that is plucked with an ivory plectrum. Another instrument is the shakuhachi, a five-holed, end-blown flute made of bamboo introduced into Japan from China in the eighth century. They will also use the koto, which came from China in the seventh century with the influx of Buddhism and was part of the Imperial Court ensemble. The koto is a 13-stringed, zither-like instrument made from a thick piece of paulownia wood, which incorporates the use of bridges to tune the strings to specific pitches.
Chieko Iwazaki began her studies of the koto at the age of 10 in Kochi. She moved to Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan at the age of 18. She soon began studying the Ikuta Scool of Koto under Hayashi Kimiko and Kurabe Hanako, both renowned master teachers in Kyoto. In 1973 she started to attend the Soumei school in Kyoto and study under Mamoru Ono, one of the most important contemporary players and composers of Japanese koto music. In 1977, Iwazaki earned her teaching qualifications for both koto and shamisen.
Kuniyasu Iwazaki began the study of shakuhachi in 1978 under Fujiwara Odo in the city of Kyoto, Japan. "Kodi" earned the rank of "Shihan", Master of Shakuahchi, Kinko Guild, in 1997 and began his professional career. He has performed concerts all over Japan, as well as in New York City, San Francisco, and throughout the midwestern United States. Although he specializes in the ensemble performance called Sankyoku, he also performs and teaches traditional solo Buddhist Honkyoku.
Michael Chikuzen Gould lived in Japan from 1980 to 1997 and studied shakuhachi under renowned masters Taniguchi Yoshinobu and Yokoyama Katsuya. Gould earned recognition as a "Shihan" (master of shakuhachi) in 1987 and was given the name "Chikuzen." In 1994, he became one of only a handful of non-Japanese to hold the title of "Dai Shihan" (grand master of shakuhachi). He is the sole recipient in the U.S. of the line of transmission of the Zen music of Watazumido Roshi.
The event is co-sponsored by multiple programs at Hope, including Hope's Asian Perspective Association (HAPA) student group, the Japan Club, the Department of Music and the Cultural Affairs Committee.
Nykerk Hall of Music is located in the central Hope campus, at the former 127 E. 12th St. between College and Columbia avenues.


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The shareholder-owned electric utility industry added to its eight-year-long trend of widespread dividend increases in Q2. Nine of the 52 publicly traded companies tracked by EEI raised their dividend, bringing to 29 the total number of companies that either raised or reinstated their dividend during the first six months of the year. This is the highest total for the period in recent years, rising above the 23 to 26 seen from 2005 through 2011.
For full-year 2011, the 32 companies (58% of the industry) that raised or reinstated their dividend was similar to the 34 in 2010 and 31 in 2009, and below the 37 and 43 in 2008 and 2007, but well above the 27 companies (42% of the industry) that did so in 2003. The 15% dividend tax rate has supported the high number of increases in recent years.
As of June 30, 2012, all 52 publicly traded companies in the EEI Index were paying a common stock dividend. Chart I shows the industry's dividend paying patterns over the past 11-plus years. Each company is limited to one action per year. For example, if a company raised its dividend twice during a year, this counts as one in the Raised column. Companies generally use the same quarter each year for dividend changes, typically the first quarter for electric utilities.
2012 Dividend Increases
The industry's average dividend increase during the first six months of 2012 was 7.6%, with a range of 0.8% to 30.8% and a median increase of 3.7%. NV Energy (30.8% in Q2), Sempra Energy (25.0% in Q1) and Northeast Utilities (aggregate 24.7% in Q1 and Q2) had the largest percentage increases.
NV Energy, based in Las Vegas, Nevada, increased its quarterly dividend from $0.13 to $0.17. The company expects the increase to result in a dividend payout ratio of approximately 50% in 2012, and said it will target a range of 55 to 65 percent in the future. With the latest increase, NV Energy has more than doubled its dividend since reinstating it in July 2007 at $0.08 per share. San Diego's Sempra Energy raised its quarterly dividend from $0.48 to $0.60, the second consecutive large increase by the parent company of San Diego Gas & Electric. This follows a 23.1% increase last year, the industry's third largest jump in 2011.
Northeast Utilities, headquartered in Hartford, Conn., announced back-to-back dividend increases during the first two quarters of 2011, for a total increase of 24.7%. The company's dividend increased from $0.275 to $0.2938 per share during the first quarter, followed by another increase, to $0.343, in the second quarter. The latter was implemented as part of the merger agreement with NSTAR, which closed on April 10, 2012.
Empire District Electric, based in Joplin, Missouri, reinstated its quarterly dividend at $0.25 per share in Q1 2012. The company temporarily suspended its dividend following the devastating tornado that hit its service territory in May of 2011. Prior to the suspension, Empire District's dividend was $0.32 per share.
The industry's dividend payout ratio was 62.1% for the 12 months ending March 31, 2012, surpassing all other U.S. business sectors. (The industry's payout ratio was 68.4% when measured as an un-weighted average of individual company ratios; 62.1% represents an aggregated figure).
While the industry's net income has fluctuated from year-to-year, its payout ratio has remained relatively consistent after eliminating non-recurring and extraordinary items from earnings. From 2000 through 2011, the annual payout ratio ranged from 62.0% to 69.6%, peaking in 2009 due to the weak economy and the weather's negative impact on earnings.
We use the following approach when calculating the industry's dividend payout ratio:
1. Non-recurring and extraordinary items are eliminated from earnings.
2. Companies with negative adjusted earnings are eliminated.
3. Companies with a payout ratio in excess of 200% are eliminated.
The industry's average dividend yield was 4.1% on June 30, 2012, leading all other U.S. business sectors. The yield stood at 4.2% on March 31, 2012 and 4.1% at the end of 2011, down from 4.5% at year-end 2010 and 2009 and 4.9% at year-end 2008. We calculate the industry's aggregate dividend yield using an un-weighted average of the 52 publicly traded EEI Index companies' yields.
Category Comparisons
The Regulated and Mostly Regulated groups had dividend yields of 4.1% on June 30, 2012, while the Diversified group yielded 3.7%. The yields for all three groups are relatively unchanged so far in 2012 and slightly below their year-ago levels. At June 30, 2011, the Regulated group yielded 4.2%, the Mostly Regulated group yielded 4.4% and the Diversified group 3.5%. The EEI Index gained 15.8% for the year ended June 30, 2012, resulting in the lower yields.
The Mostly Regulated group's dividend payout ratio was 75.2% for the 12 months ended March 31, 2012, compared to 64.9% for the Regulated group and 71.4% for the Diversified group (see chart IV). The Regulated group typically produces the highest annual payout ratio, having done so in 2010 and 2011 and each year from 2003-2008 (it was exceeded by the Mostly Regulated group in 2009).
Fifteen of the industry's publicly traded companies repurchased an aggregate $1.8 billion of common shares during 2011 as an alternate way of returning value to shareholders. This compares to 13 companies and $2.7 billion in 2010, 11 companies and $908 million in 2009, and a total of $2.4 billion in 2008 — all levels that were far below the $11.9 billion of 2007. The industry's common share repurchases exceeded $6.0 billion in 2004, 2005 and 2006, after rising from only $120 million in 2003.
Free Cash Flows
The industry's aggregate free cash flow remained in a deficit during the first quarter of 2012, at negative $7.9 billion compared to negative $2.2 billion in Q1 2011. Calendar year free cash flow was negative $14.2 billion in 2011, nearly unchanged from negative $14.4 billion in 2010, marking the seventh consecutive year of negative results. During 2011, a $6.7 billion increase in net cash provided by operating activities was offset by a $5.0 billion rise in capital expenditures.
EEI's latest projections (as of August 2012) for industry capital expenditures are $94.7 billion in 2012, $83.6 billion in 2013 and $80.0 billion in 2014. These figures are based on a review of the latest capex projections for our entire universe of companies. Although there is a visible spike in 2012, the average projected spending for 2012-2014 is in line with industry averages over the past several years. The increase in 2012 is due to accelerations of various projects, a higher volume of near-term renewable projects (primarily solar and wind), and an expanded range of projects related to environmental compliance.
While many analysts define free cash flow as the difference between cash flow from operations and capital expenditures, we also deduct common dividends due to the utility industry's strong tradition of dividend payments. Aggregate pre-dividend free cash flow remained in positive territory during 2011, at $5.1 billion, following a positive $3.5 billion in 2010. This metric was a negative $21.5 billion in 2008 and a negative $13.0 billion in 2007 (the industry's first deficit year since 2001).
Total aggregate industry-wide cash dividends paid to common shareholders rose by $189 million, or 4.0%, in Q1 2012 when compared to the year-ago period. On a calendar year basis, dividends rose by $1.4 billion, or 7.7%, to $19.3 billion in 2011 from $18.0 billion in 2010. From 2003 through 2011, total industry-wide annual cash dividends rose 57%, to $19.3 billion from $12.3 billion, supported by the lower dividend tax rates.
Stock Performance
The market's bullish spirits faded to a worried caution in Q2, deflated by the recognition — as has often followed the bouts of optimism since the crisis of 2008/2009 — that central banks can supply economies with easy money but cannot make them grow. The EEI Index returned 6.6% in the second quarter, considerably outperforming the -2% to -3% losses produced by the Dow and S&P 500 and the Nasdaq's -5.1% decline.
Another trend evident in the EEI Index's performance during the year's first half is the relative similarity of returns among the constituent groups. The market now perceives most utilities — whether they are fully or only mostly regulated — as essentially stable businesses with strong dividends, offering a safe harbor in turbulent times from exposure to the riskier, more competitively exposed and more economically leveraged earnings streams found in other economic industries.
Low Interest Rates
The 10-year Treasury yield (an adequate, albeit imperfect, proxy for market interest rates) has declined from the 5% to 6% range during 2006-2007 to under 2% in the second quarter of 2012. During the second quarter of 2012, the 10-year Treasury yield fell from a high of about 2.4% in late March to below 1.5% by mid-June, firming at quarter end up to 1.7%.
Historically low interest rates have unquestionably offered an important source of support for utility shares in recent years by reducing the significant interest expense component of utilities' cost structure and elevating the value of the dividend stream for investors.
Tax Rates
The 15% tax rate on dividends for individuals is set to expire at the end of 2012 unless Congress takes action. The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 (Tax Relief Act of 2010), passed in December of 2010, extended the 15% individual tax rate on dividends and capital gains through 2012. The Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 reduced individual tax rates on dividends to 15% for most tax brackets.
The 15% dividend tax rate remains important to the industry's ability to attract capital for investment in emissions reduction, new transmission lines, distribution upgrades and new generation in many power markets in the years ahead. A key argument for preserving the rate has been the need for parity between dividend and capital gains tax rates, so as not to disadvantage dividend-paying companies in their capital raising efforts. EEI and the industry continue to work to extend the 15% dividend tax rate beyond 2012.
Stable Fundamentals
General business conditions in the industry at mid-year 2012 remain reasonably strong, with the big picture narrative little changed from that of recent years. Utilities are undertaking sizeable and wide-ranging capital investment programs that include distribution network upgrades, Smart Grid investments, a significant boost in the pace of transmission investment, rising emissions-related capex driven by the need to comply with EPA regulations, and generation investments in select power markets. All told, the construction cycle has supported mid-single digit earnings growth for much of the industry over the past six or seven years.
Despite the prospects for only tepid electricity demand growth going forward (due in part to energy efficiency technologies and wider use of demand side management programs), estimated at 0% to 1% annual gains nationwide, analysts expect the industry's ongoing capital spending to drive mid single-digit earnings growth for many utilities over the next several years. Much of this investment is going into rate base, with a state regulatory backdrop that most analysts say is constructive and supportive of the need for such investment.
The value to investors of such a predictable, if not placid, business environment is that an investment in the EEI Index made at the end of 2007 and indexed to 100 would have outperformed both the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average if held through June 30, 2012. This period includes the severe decline and wild volatility of the 2008/9 financial crisis, the strong subsequent market recovery and recent sideways progression of the markets since early 2011 — offering a diverse macroeconomic and market backdrop in which to evaluate the industry's emphasis on core regulated and competitive electricity businesses.
Despite trailing the broad market averages during the first half of 2012, the EEI Index outperformed all major market sectors over the 12-month period ending June 30. This was due less to any change in the industry's prospects than to the industry's status as a safe-harbor during macroeconomic turbulence. The broad market fell more than 10% during Q3 2011 as the spectacle of the U.S. fiscal debt limit debate (and Standard & Poor's August 5, 2011 downgrade of U.S. debt from AAA to AA+) along with European leaders' equally contentious response to a flare-up of market stress over their continents' sovereign debt woes rattled investors.
By late June 2012, most analysts observed that utility price/earnings ratios were near historical highs relative to the broad market, suggesting that the group's strength may be nearing an end. Conversely, given today's extraordinarily low interest rates, utility shares receive powerful support from the industry's roughly 4% dividend yield, double that of the S&P 500's dividend yield. When viewed as a bond substitute (offering bond-like yields with dividend growth potential), analysts observed that utility stocks could have room to rise given the very low yields available most everywhere else.
To the extent that utility dividends remain perceived as stable and safe, and if interest rates remain very low, utility shares will likely receive an ongoing strong bid from investors. However if rates were to rise or if industry fundamentals were to worsen — such as the perception of difficulty executing capital investment programs or renewed fuel cost increases pressuring end-user rates, fostering a more contentious environment in rate cases — the group's stock market fortunes may take a turn for the worse.
Recent years have delivered many tailwinds for the industry, independent of the hard work by companies to reform themselves around the traditional utility business model while implementing the strong public good aspect of their mission — that of ensuring safe, reliable and increasingly environmentally clean electricity within regulated service territories.
It's likely that the values of utility shares in the immediate future will continue to be driven more by global macroeconomic issues outside of the industry's control than by changes in business strategies or fundamentals that managements can control. That is not to say that the month-to-month and year-to-year challenges that come with the management of shareholder-owned utilities are not significant, it's just that they are largely under control for now.


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Salmonella outbreak linked to NC church barbecue
Health officials are looking into a salmonella outbreak they say stemmed from a church barbeque dinner more than a week ago.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services says the fundraising dinner was held on Sept. 7 at the Sandy Plains Baptist Church in Shelby.
As of Tuesday, nine cases had been confirmed and five people have been hospitalized.
The Cleveland County and Rutherford County Health Departments have joined the state health agency in an investigation into the outbreak.
Officials say those people who attended the dinner and became ill with intestinal symptoms such as diarrhea or vomiting should consult their health care provider and inform them about being exposure at this event. In addition, people who bought food at the dinner and brought it home should throw it out.


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Voucher leader expects thousands of applications
The leader of a Wisconsin school voucher group said he expects thousands of families to apply to be a part of the program by Friday's deadline.
Forty-eight private and religious schools or school systems want to accept voucher students starting in the fall, but enrollment is capped at 500 students. If more than 500 apply, only the 25 with the most applicants will be allowed into the program.
School Choice Wisconsin president Jim Bender said Thursday he has heard from 20 schools that know of about 1,600 people who applied. Bender said given that, he expects the final total to be much higher.
State Department of Public Instruction spokesman Patrick Gasper said details about how many people applied won't be announced until sometime next week.


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ANCHORAGE, Alaska — "Ook na how tuk," Verna Dommek cheerily said in Inupiaq, the language of the Inupiat people, who live north of the Arctic Circle, scattered across Alaska's barren permafrost.
Dommek, an Inupiat, then explained in English that she had just said "Good morning" to an old friend, a whaling captain from the isolated village of Point Hope.
"He's a great man," she said of the Native whaler, who to this day hunts his prey on the frigid seas for subsistence. "He feeds our people."
Though Dommek grew up in Kotzebue, a remote coastal community of 3,000 people, mostly Inupiats, the friendly exchange took place 550 air miles to the south, at the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage. She has lived in Alaska's largest city for 17 years. It's a place where, unlike in Barrow and Kotzebue, people no longer forage for food.
That said, Dommek is never far from friends and family. According to the census, more than 23,000 of Anchorage's residents, 8 percent of the population, are Alaska Natives.
"Anchorage is considered the largest Native village in Alaska," said David Farve of the Alaska Native Heritage Center. "There are more Inupiat here than in Barrow. There are more Yupik here than in Bethel."
For whatever reason the villagers moved to the city — employment, education or family — their presence makes it possible for visitors to savor the cultures of the state's Native peoples and take home some beautiful works of art without leaving modern creature comforts.
The Heritage Center (907-330-8000, alaskanative.net) is a great place to start. During the summer, as visitors wander a path around Lake Tiulana, they stop at various "villages." In these, the history and culture of Alaska's five distinct Native peoples — from the Haida in the southeast to the Inupiat in the far north — are shared.
Native transplants to Anchorage often are dressed in local garb as they invite discussions about everything from subsistence lifestyles to sports such as the blanket toss.
Want to guarantee that the not-so-inexpensive Alaskan keepsake you're buying didn't really come from somewhere near Beijing? This is your place. Artists and crafters invite visitors to watch them work, also offering their goods for sale.
Among them is Dommek, who makes clothing, from hats to coats, out of leather and fur. She began years ago, stitching together gloves for her daughter and other girls to wear during ceremonial dances that were meant to ward off evil spirits.
"I work with polar bear, wolverine, beaver, wolf and seal skin. They're the traditional furs from my area," she said.
That might make some of people uneasy, but in Alaska there is no shortage of fur. For the Native peoples, this isn't about glamour or sartorial whim. The Alaska Native way of life and hunting can be likened to that of the Plains Indians, who hunted bison in a carefully managed and sustainable way, using every piece of the animal, unlike hunters who came later to slaughter and exploit.
And anticipating concerns of animal rights activists, Dommek said, "PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) can go to my village when it's 65 below with their (synthetic clothing) and see if that keeps them warm. God clothed us in animal skins, just like Adam and Eve."
Rare examples of outerwear made from various animal parts can be seen — and, yes, admired for their ingenuity and style — at the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center, housed in a new wing of the Anchorage Museum (907-929-9200, anchoragemuseum.org). In a light- and climate-controlled environment, priceless relics from 19th-century scientific expeditions are displayed.
"All of this was sitting in (Smithsonian) archives in Washington, D.C. Most of it has never been publicly displayed before," the museum's Sarah Henning said as she stood among the large glass cases of artifacts.
Most of the 600-plus items are one-of-a-kind pieces in pristine condition. Visitors marvel at watertight clothing made from animal intestines a century before Gore-Tex was invented. They are awed by a beautiful coat created from entire crested auklets (a type of bird) and trimmed with dog fur.
Even though she sees the displays on a regular basis, Henning continues to be impressed.
"When you think of how much work, how many hours goes into a piece, it's a lot different than buying something at Target," she said.
On the museum's ground floor is a well-stocked gift shop, where visitors can select from a variety of pieces of Native art.
The museum's wares, however, pale when contrasted with what's offered by a little-known place considered one of Anchorage's hidden gems: the small but well-stocked craft shop tucked inside the Alaska Native Medical Center (907-729-1122, anmc.org/auxiliary/anmc-craft-shop).
Here, visitors can buy everything from sealskin thimbles priced at $2 to ivory and whalebone carvings priced in the thousands. Since the 1960s, artists from remote villages have been dropping off their work — for sale on consignment — while in Anchorage to visit sick relatives.
"We are all volunteers, and we're here as a service to the Native people," explained Agnes Coyle, who manages the shop. "We're here to market their things … and to get money in the hands of the Native people."
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Locals say the prices at the hospital generally are lower than at commercial outlets. Coyle said the shop takes a 20 percent commission to cover administrative costs and to help fund the medical center and scholarships.
"This (shop) is word-of-mouth and has a reputation for having exclusively Native crafts," she noted. "I believe we have sustained people who otherwise would have given up on their basket weaving or their sewing."
So even in the state's largest city, the Native ways still live.


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The new Shoes CD, Ignition, is their first effort in 18 years. Here's a look back at the band's previous release, Propeller. This review ran in the Illinois Entertainer in 1994.
Propeller, Shoes' first album since 1990's Stolen Wishes, strongly suggests group members Gary Klebe, Jeff Murphy, and John Murphy, may never run out of variations on the power pop love song. The new release offers 12 examples of their ability to draw inspiration from the 1960s while crafting precise vocal harmonies and indelible melodies.
"Treading Water," a catchy tribute to surviving hard times, evokes Revolver era Beatles, complete with some backward vocals on the chorus. The cello playing on the more sedate "In My Mind" helps convey the heartache of a man unable to cope with a broken relationship, while "If All I Had Was You" is set to a more playful arrangement. A pair of ballads, "The Last Of You" and "Slipping Through Your Fingers," work well but seem a little mainstream for Shoes.
The harder-edged material works best, particularly "Tore A Hole" and "Never Ending." The sensual "Animal Attraction" kicks off the CD with an energetic look at love at first sight. Propeller also benefits from the solid support of guest drummers Ric Menck of Velvet Crush and Mike Zelenko of Material Issue.


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Women undergoing in-vitro fertilization (IVF) are often told that a daily aspirin will help boost the odds of success. But a new research review found no evidence the tactic works.
Combining the results of 13 international studies, researchers found that a low daily dose of aspirin had no clear effect on IVF pregnancy or birth rates.
Three of the studies looked at birth rates. Of 525 women who used aspirin during their IVF treatment cycle, 108 gave birth.
But the odds of success were similar among women not given aspirin: of those 528 women, 119 gave birth.
"Couples undergoing IVF often feel so desperate that they are prepared to try anything that may improve their chances of conceiving," said lead researcher Dr. Charalambos Siristatidis, of the University of Athens in Greece, in a written statement.
"But given the current evidence," he said, "there is still no basis to recommend that women take aspirin to help them become pregnant."
The researchers reported their findings in the Cochrane Library, which is published by the Cochrane Collaboration, an international research organization that evaluates medical evidence.
In theory, aspirin could improve IVF success by boosting blood flow to the ovaries and uterus. It might also help by preventing blood clots in the vessels of the placenta, which helps nourish the baby before it's born. But studies have come to mixed conclusions.
There is a small minority of women who have repeat miscarriages because of problems with blood clotting, said Dr. Roger Lobo, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Columbia University in New York who was not involved in the review.
If a woman undergoing IVF has blood-clotting issues, then aspirin or other blood-thinners may help, said Lobo, who is also president of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine.
But for most women having IVF, he told Reuters Health, "it's really the embryo quality that's the major factor. So I'm not surprised that aspirin shows no benefit overall."
The studies in the review included a total of 2,653 women undergoing IVF. The trials were randomized, meaning roughly half the women were randomly assigned to take 80 to 100 milligrams of aspirin per day, and the other half were assigned to a no-aspirin "control" group. Randomized controlled trials are considered the most reliable type of study.
In most studies, women started taking aspirin at the beginning of the IVF process. The duration of the treatment varied from study to study.
One of the larger studies that looked only at pregnancy rates did suggest a benefit, the researchers note. Of 300 women, the pregnancy rate among aspirin users was 45 percent, versus 28 percent of women not on aspirin.
But when the researchers combined the results of different studies, they found no overall effect on women's pregnancy or birth rates, or on their risk of miscarriage.
Like Siristatidis, Lobo too noted that many couples undergoing infertility treatment are desperate to try anything that could raise their chances of having a baby, even in theory. But he stressed that even low-dose aspirin can have risks, including gastrointestinal bleeding.
"Based on the evidence, there really appears to be no benefit from using aspirin," Lobo said. "And if you add to that the fact that there are risks, it probably shouldn't be done."
ReutersLast Mod: 17 Ağustos 2011, 11:41