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Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Cats Are Weird
Warning: if you're squeamish about medical issues, especially having to do with the eyes, you might not want to read this post.
I used to think horses had the strangest physiology, with their propensity to get laminitis just by having the wrong diet, or to colic at the drop of a hat and to be at risk for twisting their intestines from just rolling around in their stalls. But I think cats have them beat when it comes to weird health issues. They get respiratory infections and won't eat if they can't smell their food. If they're stressed they can get all kinds of bizarre problems.
Take Chloe's eye problem. A couple of weeks ago we found that she had an ulcer on her cornea. How did she get it? No one knows for sure, but it may have been caused by an outbreak of a herpes virus. Something I didn't know before: about 80% of cats have this herpes virus, and sometimes it harbors itself in their brains. Then, when under stress, it manifests itself as a corneal ulcer.
I mean, it's bad enough to think of having an ulcer on your eye, but I think that if I had to deal with knowing I had a herpes virus simmering in my brain, I don't think I could handle that.
This corneal ulcer doesn't really look all that bad. She has what looks like a crater in her cornea and a lot of the times you can't even see it. I don't think I would have ever noticed it if my vet hadn't spotted it in one of her checkups.
Chloe's ulcer was so deep that she was at risk of having her eye rupture. Something else I was ignorant about. And a rupture woud be as gross as it sounds, where the eye loses massive amounts of fluid. We're talking Bugsy Siegel on the couch with his eye shot out, but with fluid instead of blood. My vet ordered me to go to a veterinary opthamologist immediately. Yes, there are veterinary opthamologists, something I was ignorant about as well. And guess what? This opthamologist is one of five offices. A chain - with five offices in Southern California.
My first visit with them was last week. They looked at Chloe's eye - she was such a good girl and only meowed a little - and said yep, it's bad. They said I could do Option A, which is surgery, where they would put a graft on the eye. I asked for an estimate of what the surgery would cost.
This was where it got really, really difficult and very overwhelming. I was thinking Ok, we're talking at least a thousand, a thousand and a half. The vet was talking about something having to do with how this all happens. I took a peek at the estimate the assistant brought in while the vet was still talking. At that point, the vet's voice became nothing but blah, blah, blah, blah, because the estimate for the surgery was $2,700.
How do people handle it when they can't afford to have their animals treated anymore? It's an extremely difficult and painful situation and I know a lot of people have had to undergo these types of situations over the past few years when the economy has tanked, and so many of these people are hurting financially already. I'm just lucky that I have good credit and a job, because those two things are the only thing that are getting me over this financial disaster right now. I also purchased health insurance for both pets, but I'm waiting to see how much of this they'll cover.
I asked the assistant about the other option the vet had mentioned - something to do with putting a temporary shield on her eye. He said Option B is where they put a collagen shield and a contact lens to protect the eye, and then I would have to put drops in her eyes - 5 different drops, 4 times a day. It was a much, much cheaper option, but there was still a 50-50 chance that the eye would rupture.
Now let me be clear here. I am not one to ever believe that money should never be an object when it comes to taking care of who or what we love. My pets are my children, and even though I've only had Chloe for a month, I've already fallen in love with her. This is a cat who is so affectionate that I've already learned that any time I sit on the couch, whether I have a laptop computer, or am eating, or reading, or trying to do needlework, it doesn't matter - Chloe runs over to take over my lap. At night, she'll come in the middle of the night and crawl onto me and lay down, with her face literally one inch from mine, or she'll drape herself over my neck. This is a cat that has no conception of respecting someone's space. She is a total slob - she doesn't care a whit that she tracks kitty litter all over the house. And I love all this about her. I especially love that she is totally patient with Annie's over exuberance.
But I have already spent - get ready - $2,500 on this cat since I adopted her five weeks ago, between her respiratory infection and her bladder surgery. I kid you not. And I'm about tapped out.
Reluctantly I chose Option B. I know myself: if I put my mind to anything I can be successful. Chloe and I would get through this. Besides, at that point, there really was no other option, other than doing absolutely nothing, which I think would be inhumane.
So for the past week, I've been administering 5 drops, 4 times a day. And it's not as easy as putting in the drops, one after the other, with the cat in your lap. You have to wait 5 minutes between each drop to make sure that they get into the system. And of course, you have to deal with a cat who may not really appreciate having 20 eye drops put in their eyes every single day.
But Chloe is getting used to it. We're in a groove now. And I took her back to the vet yesterday for a check up and guess what - she's getting better. It's still a risk, but it's stabilized and there are signs that it's healing.
So we're plugging along. And I have to stop now - I've got a series of eye drops to administer.
11 comments:
- Cap'n Bob said...
I think you should be nominated for sainthood.
- May 4, 2011 at 9:53 PM
- Charles Gramlich said...
I grew up on a farm and the only animals we had the vet see were the cattle, which were our livelihood. We couldn't afford anything else, so we treated it ourselves or let it heal on its own.
- May 4, 2011 at 9:58 PM
- Deka Black said...
You made me remember when my dog become blind. in a way was ironic. usually are dogs who help blind people. And here i was: A person helping a blind dog!
sainthood i don't know. But if there is something who rewards you for take care of thosewho could'nt for themselves... You must have it in humongous lots. - May 5, 2011 at 1:31 AM
- Laurie Powers said...
I'm not a saint and don't wanna be one. I'm just wondering what other people do in this day and age. I think Charles touched on it - before we have veterinarians on every corner and lots of disposable income, we treated things ourselves. And a lot of times those homemade treatments worked just fine.
- May 5, 2011 at 7:03 AM
- Chris said...
Our cat has the same Herpes virus. I definitely sympathize with the having to make tough decisions thing. Best of luck with the eye drop regimen!
- May 5, 2011 at 7:59 AM
We had a cat with this same problem. Over a period of years, the cat endured several "microsurgeries" on its eyeball. Fortunately, vet prices are a little lower here, and we had access to a university teaching hospital; but, still, the expense was considerable. Finally, the ulcer flared up again, and we failed to detect it quickly enough, and the eyeball had to be removed. The one-eyed cat lived happily for several more years. He was a great cat, and well worth the expense.
- May 5, 2011 at 8:41 AM
- Bill Crider said...
You might not be a saint, but you're patient, kind, and loving. That ain't bad.
- May 5, 2011 at 9:46 AM
- Laurie Powers said...
Thanks Bill!
Chris and Anon, thanks for posting. I'm glad (well not glad, but it's comforting that other people have had this problem and that sometimes what we think is the worst case scenario can be overcome.)
BTW, both my vets recommended I put Chloe on L-Lysine to suppress the herpes virus so hopefully prevent this from happening again. Something worth taking to your vets about. I started her on it a few days ago. - May 5, 2011 at 10:10 AM
- Ron Scheer said...
Have been there with pets suddenly requiring immediate and expensive surgery or some (cross-your-fingers) fallback. In the case of our dog, fortunately, the fallback worked and she recovered from almost complete paralysis. Yet the vet visits, the special diet, and the medication bills have added up.
Growing up on the farm sixty years ago, these options were only for the wealthy; you had to steel yourself to eventual loss; and you didn't let yourself get too fond of animals. It's way different now. - May 5, 2011 at 1:31 PM
- Barry Traylor said...
My wife and I have been where you are with Chloe and I know how difficult these things are. Two of our cats had problems one with lazy bowl and we had to have a bowl resection done on her. Then another of our cats got caught in a trap and we had to have his front leg amputated. Both of these crises occured within six months. I refused to give up on them and I have never regretted my decision.
- May 5, 2011 at 3:19 PM
- Richard R. said...
It's amazing to me that this poor cat is having such a hard time of it. I hope you can get everything taken care of.
Over the last 50 years I've probably had 15 or more cats, none had any of the problems yours have had. Most have been rescues though a very few have come from breeders when I really, really wanted a particular breed of cat (Chartreux, Abyssinian, Bengal). I have had two with chronic respiratory problems but it was taken care of with antibiotics, one with cancer but we got it cut out, the rest strong and active their whole lives until old age and failing kidney's spelled the end. So I think the problems you're having are unusual and not endemic to the species. It's just this one, not all of them. Keep up the fight. - May 9, 2011 at 11:26 AM


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The new color added to the affordable, colorful Sailor Procolor range is the Summer color – Uchimizu Translucent Blue. Other than this new lovely blue color, the Procolor 500 series features a resin body in a choice of turquoise, beige, red, and purple.
The Uchimizu Translucent Blue Procolor fountain pen features a silver colored titanium gold-plated steel nib and a nickel chrome-plated clip and cap band. The Procolor 500 is available with a fine nib and comes with a cartridge/converter filling system.
The Procolor Uchimizu Translucent Blue is available to order now and deliveries will begin in July 2013. The Procolor can be seen at Andy's Pens. The price of the fountain pen is £55.00 / $85.00USD.

subset: commoncrawl


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Penford To Release Third Quarter 2011 Results On July 7, 2011
Penford Corporation (Nasdaq: PENX), a global leader in ingredient systems for food and industrial applications, will provide results for its fiscal quarter ended May 31, 2011, on Thursday, July 7, 2011. Management will host a conference call to discuss the results the same day, July 7, at 9:00 a.m. Mountain Time (11:00 a.m. Eastern Time).
Earnings Call Information
President and Chief Executive Officer Thomas Malkoski and Chief Financial Officer Steven Cordier will host the call. Please phone 1-877-407-9205 at 8:50 a.m. Mountain Time on Thursday, July 7, 2011 to participate in the call. The conference call will begin at 9:00 a.m. Mountain Time (11:00 am Eastern Time).
A replay will be available from July 7, 2011 at 11:00 a.m. Mountain Time until July 14, 2011 at 9:59 p.m. Mountain Time. To access the replay, please dial 1- 877-660-6853. Enter pass code 286 and conference ID code 370836.
This call is also available in "listen only" mode through our website at www.penx.com under the section titled Investor Relations. About Penford Corporation Penford Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets specialty natural-based ingredient systems for numerous applications. Penford has five locations in the United States.Check Out Our Best Services for Investors
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Limbo lower now: 3D-printed STAR bot flattens itself to crawl under doorways
Depending on the angle, the robot can move faster over different surfaces, climb over taller objects, or slip into narrow passageways, among other tasks
Students at UC Berkeley have developed the STAR, a 3D-printed robot that flattens its legs to slip under small spaces and raises them up again to climb over obstacles
At a sprawl angle of zero degrees, the robot lays flat on the ground and has a height of just 2.5 cm (1 in), with a length of only 12 cm (4.7 in) and a width of 11 cm (4.3 in)
Each of the legs has three spokes measuring 2.8 cm (1.1 in) with a 90-degree gap between them, which allow it to crawl over obstacles 4 cm (1.6 in) higher than if it just had wheels
At a 90-degree sprawl, the robot can fit through smaller vertical spaces and travel over rough terrain more easily
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Article Summary
Nature has been the source of inspiration for a variety of different forms of robotic locomotion. Yet another example is the STAR, a 3D-printed robot modeled after an insect's ability to squeeze into even the tiniest spaces. Developed by students at UC Berkeley's Biomimetic Millisystems Lab the STAR, which stands for Sprawl Tuned Autonomous Robot, is able to flatten its legs down to slip under a small gap and then raise them up again to climb over larger obstacles.
« Back to Limbo lower now: 3D-printed STAR bot flattens itself to crawl under doorways
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That's it for Markets Live today.
You can read a wrap-up of the action on the markets here.
Thanks for reading and your comments.
See you all again tomorrow morning from 9.
The Australian sharemarket ended a seven-day winning run, after earlier in the session rising to its highest since June 2008, in a mixed reaction to US stocks scaling record highs, some strong earnings reports and a fall in iron ore prices.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 ended trade 0.1 per cent, or 6.4 points lower, at 5433.8, weighed down by the miners. The broader All Ordinaries index closed down 0.1 per cent, or 6.1 points, to 5444.
"I think we are well and truly due for a pull-back," Morgans' director of equities Tony Dennis said.
"It looks to me like this rally is over-extended. As we see more of the big stocks go ex-dividend, I think there's a chance of a couple of hundred points pull-back come in the not too distant future."
The local market posted a strong start to the day, after the bull run on the US stock market continued. The S&P 500 hit an intra-day high, closing just under its record close of 1848.38, as insurance stocks jumped and amid merger interest. The Nasdaq also performed well, reaching a 14-year high.
A three-year parlour game on Wall Street to identify the Goldman Sachs employee behind a Twitter account that purports to reveal the uncensored comments overheard in the firm's elevators has ended, the New York Times reports:
The Twitter account, which has an audience of more than 600,000 followers, has been the subject of an internal inquiry at Goldman to find the rogue employee. The tweets, often laced with insider references to deals in the news, appeal to both Wall Street bankers and outsiders who mock the industry. Late last month, the writer sold a book about Wall Street culture based on the tweets for a six-figure sum.
There is a good reason Goldman Sachs has been unable to uncover its Twitter-happy employee: He doesn't work at the firm. And he never did.
The author is a 34-year-old former bond executive who lives in Texas. His name is John Lefevre.
Upon being contacted late last week after several weeks of reporting uncovered his identity, he confirmed his alter ego . "Frankly, I'm surprised it has taken this long," he said by phone. "I knew this day would come."
Mr Lefevre, who worked for Citigroup for seven years, said the Twitter account started as "a joke to entertain myself."
#1: The new standard of cool is hanging out with friends and not ever looking at a phone.
— GS Elevator Gossip (@GSElevator) February 16, 2014
#1: I always make sure I live in a neighborhood with the champagne socialists. No one is better at keeping the riffraff out.
— GS Elevator Gossip (@GSElevator) February 10, 2014
#1: I spent $2,000 on a suit I don't need, just to impress a sales chick I don't find attractive.
— GS Elevator Gossip (@GSElevator) August 7, 2013
On a bit of a down day, here's some upbeat analysis from AMP Capital's Shane Oliver on why US shares could be entering into a new long-term bull market:
- The US economy is yet again reinventing itself. This has been helped along by a determination to get the US economy moving again after the global financial crisis but the real drivers are an energy boom, a manufacturing renaissance and American innovation.
- Together these drivers could add as much as 0.5% to annual US economic growth in the decade ahead.
- For investors, while a return to the sustained double-digit share market returns seen through the 1980s and 1990s is unlikely, the turn for the better in the US is likely driving a new secular bull market in traditional global shares (see chart).
On the cusp of a bull market in US shares?
Atlas Iron will grow its iron ore production by close to 30 per cent over the next two years, but is fast running out of low-cost expansion options.
Confirmation that Atlas will double production at its Mt Webber mine came as the company reported an underlying profit of $61.1 million for the first half.
That result was dramatically better than the $10.3 million underlying loss posted in the first half of fiscal 2013, and it rose to a $73.6 million statutory profit after a refund from the tax office.
While the result was helped by higher iron ore prices, the lower Australian dollar and a lower cost base on production, administration and exploration, the biggest factor in Atlas' improved result was the 50 per cent rise in production volumes compared to the first half in fiscal 2013.
Atlas boss Ken Brinsden described the profit as an "absolutely cracking result" for the miner, which has endured a lean couple of years.
There was no interim dividend, but Mr Brinsden said a dividend would be considered at the full year results in August.
Expansion of the Mt Webber mine from 3 million tonnes to 6 million tonnes will continue the growth, and the new production should be available by December.
The stock closed 2.3 per cent down to $1.06.
Here are the best and worst stocks for the day.
Earnings reports were the driving force behind strong gains in Ramsay, Cabcharge, and QBE.
There was some profit taking in Transfield Services after the stock popped 25 per cent yesterday.
IOOF fell heavily on their earnings update, while Myer shareholders had a day to forget.
Best and worst performers in the ASX 200 today.
Well, after seven straight days of gains, share couldn't manage an eighth, after a solid start was wiped out by a steady decline from late morning.
The ASX 200 dropped 6 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 5433.8, with the All Ords easing by a similar amount to 5444.
Gains in the healthcare sector (up 0.9 per cent) and listed property (0.7 per cent higher), wasn't enough to offset some steep falls in the mining and energy sectors, which were down 0.7 per cent and 0.8 per cent, respectively, and in IT, which fell 0.7 per cent.
BHP fell 0.7 per cent, Rio dropped 1.3 per cent, and Fortescue finished 2.5 per cent down after iron ore prices fell, in what is starting to look like a trend for the bulk commodity.
The market's fall would have been worse but for some strong price performance from QBE, Ramsay Health Care, Westfield and Seek.
Fortescue is not alarmed by rising iron ore port stocks in its top customer China, a senior executive says, adding that the rush to restock has come after months of low port inventories last year.
"Port stocks were aggressively driven down to a low level in mid-2013 and this was not sustainable," Antony Priddy, senior manager of sales and marketing, said at an industry conference in Beijing.
Stocks of imported iron ore piled across China's major ports reached an all-time high of 100.9 million tonnes as of Friday, industry data showed, trumping a previous record set a week ago.
Stock levels of between 70-80 million tonnes are now considered normal given increased demand from mills, an official at the China Iron and Steel Association said at the conference.
Overnight, iron ore sagged to its lowest level since July, hammered by sliding steel prices in China where mills are either seeking deeper discounts on spot cargoes or staying away from the market in anticipation of further price declines.
Weaker steel prices, lending curbs, plentiful supply of iron ore in the spot market and huge stockpiles at home have combined to drag down prices, said an iron ore trader in China's eastern Shandong province who sees the price falling further to either $US115 or $US110.
It would be remiss for us not to follow up on Deutsche Bank's chief economist for Australia Adam Boyton's modelling of the outlook for the Australian dollar over the next two years - which suggested that the currency could plunge to the mid-US60¢.
Deutsche Bank's Australian head of strategy, Tim Baker, says that if the Australian dollar does fall to such a level, it would be "fantastic for the equity market", although it would be less beneficial for the wider economy, as importers would be hurt by the weaker exchange rate.
"It's a meaningful EPS (earnings per share) uplift for the equity market," Baker adds, noting that the resources companies would be one of the major beneficiaries.
Here's some quick takeaways from Deutsche Bank's analysts on the reporting season so far.
The analysts, who are bullish on the outlook for earnings growth in calendar year 2014, saying with the companies that have reported so far, that this has been the "best reporting season in years".
Deutsche Bank's Australian head of strategy, Tim Baker, notes that EBIT margins "have been impressive''.
He adds that payout ratios are no longer rising - a sign that companies are saying the growth environment isn't that bad and that firms could look to organic or M&A growth rather than return cash to investors.
Baker adds that he expects the sharemarket to rise to 6000 by the end of the year, and expects a 10 per cent return after 15 per cent last year.
Glenn Morgan, Deutsche Bank's head of research sales, said today that this reporting season has been a "really good one".
"Our clients have stopped asking us where is the risk and they've started asking where is the opportunity," Morgan says, adding that cyclical industrials are showing the "first early signs that things are getting better".
Both supermarket retailers have defended their petrol discount bundling offers this afternoon, with a spokesman for Coles saying it would argue for the legality of its offer in court, after the ACCC said it has taken action against the supermarket giants for allegedly breaking promises to cap fuel discounts.
"Coles vigorously defends our ability to offer our customer great value on both groceries and fuel. We welcome the opportunity to clarify conflicting interpretations of the voluntary undertaking on fuel discount dockets in court."
A spokeswoman for Woolworths said it was disappointed it has been curtailed from offering greater petrol discounts to its customers and is discussing with the ACCC ways of making its discounts independent of each other with these talks continuing.
''We believe our undertaking with the ACCC allows customers to combine offers of 4 cents from the supermarket and 4 cents from the petrol store to receive 8 cents a litre off their fuel.''
Latest industry data shows Woolworths and Coles-branded petrol stations control 25 per cent of all sites in Australia and account for 50 per cent of retail petrol volumes. The duo rake in around $13 billion a year in fuel sales from their 1300 branded service stations and convenience stores.
JPMorgan Chase is planning more job cuts in its mortgage business on top of the 13,000-15,000 positions already due to be slashed because of plunging demand for home loans, the FT is reporting:
Several thousand more cuts are planned, the FT quotes "people familiar with the matter", and could be announced at JPMorgan's annual investor day later today. They are part of a new efficiency drive at the largest US bank by assets that also encompasses staffing branches with fewer employees.
Chief executive Jamie Dimon and his management team are due to address shareholders for the first time since the bank agreed to a record $US13 billion settlement with the Department of Justice and regulators to resolve allegations of mortgage mis-selling.
Profitability at JPMorgan remains stronger than at competitors such as Bank of America and Citigroup but the bank is looking to find new savings, partly because of technology that allows greater automation of clerical functions in branches and partly because of a plunge in demand for mortgage refinancings, the FT writes.
The additional cuts at JPMorgan are expected to number more than 2000, evidence of the steep decline in demand even in the past 12 months. The bank, which employs more than 250,000 people, is also looking to cut thousands of jobs in branches over time, though it expects to do so by attrition.
Gold is holding near its strongest level in four months, underpinned by concerns about economic growth in China and nervousness over Ukraine after acting President Oleksander Turchinov warned that his country was close to default.
An increase in holdings on bullion-backed exchange-traded funds also could also reflect renewed interest from investors, although bullion will have to crack key technical resistance levels before it can move higher.
Gold has eased 0.3 per cent to $US1332.80 an ounce after rising as high as $US1338.60 on Monday, its strongest since late October. Gold has risen more than 10 per cent this year.
"I think we are now pushing up against some pretty key technical barriers around $US1340 and up then around $US1350 as well. I think it's going to be hard to break given Chinese exchange premiums are very low now," said Victor Thianpiriya, an analyst with ANZ in Singapore. "Having said that, if we get continued ructions out of Ukraine, I think that's one of the key things that can support gold and the market may continue to rally on safe-haven demand."
The trend for mining companies to manage their own mines instead of hiring external contractors has continued, with BHP Billiton today announcing that the last contractor working on its Pilbara iron ore mines will be relieved of its duties.
BHP said it would takeover control of an iron ore mine called "Orebody 18" by June, ending nearly seven years of work on the site by mining services company Macmahon.
BHP iron ore president Jimmy Wilson said it was the final step in making the mine 100 per cent owner-operated.
The past couple of years have seen many mining companies opt to take back control of their own mines rather than use contractors. Part of the incentive is to lower costs by removing the profit margin that contractors charge, but many miners also believe they are more in control of their safety reputations when they manage their own mines.
Why buy the Italian sharemarket? Nobel-prize winning economist and creator of the cyclically adjusted p/e ratio (CAPE) Robert Shiller tells us:
"Because their market is priced so low. Their CAPE as we calculate is among the lowest in Europe. Now, it's come up a little bit since I bought, but I think it has a ways to go…. They're going through a hard time right now, a definitely hard time. I just think they'll be back, and that's value investing, just looking at all the great things that have come from Italy, and here's a chance."
China's yuan has tumbled to its lowest since August on speculation the central bank wants an end to the currency's steady appreciation to ward off speculators before a possible widening of the trading band.
The yuan has fallen 0.24 per cent to 6.1131 per US dollar, sliding for a sixth day, according to China Foreign Exchange Trade System prices. The spot rate was 0.09 per cent stronger than the central bank's reference rate, which was raised 0.01 per cent to 6.1184 today. The onshore spot rate is allowed to diverge a maximum 1 per cent from the daily fixing.
We can't be sure that the weakness in the currency is the result of policy intervention, but we can be fairly sure, Capital Economics says in a note:
- The recent abrupt fall ... is best seen as a salvo in a battle between policymakers who believe that China's currency is close to its fair value and market participants who don't.
- Fundamentals support those who expect further appreciation over the medium term. But given the People's Bank's stance, there will be volatility along the way.
''The persistent slide in the CNY and CNH has so far been shrugged off by other EM currencies, even those in Asia,'' Barclays said in a note. ''However, we are a little more uneasy about the move, as it could signal a shift in official stance rather than just a technical/or stop loss-driven move.''
UBS said yesterday recent depreciation may suggest the PBOC is shifting away from allowing a steady pace of gains and this may lead to a reversal of "hot money" inflows.
China may double the yuan's trading band to 2 per cent in two to three months, JPMorgan Chase & Co. economist Zhu Haibin said in a note yesterday, adding that yuan declines will likely be moderate and temporary.
Sharp fall in yuan - combination of central bank guidance and weak market sentiment. Opens path to band widening. pic.twitter.com/sRg1ns7nnm
— Tom Orlik (@TomOrlik) February 25, 2014
The country's largest radiology provider I-MED Network has been sold by its hedge fund owners to Swedish private equity firm EQT Mid Market, in a deal believed to be worth more than $400 million.
I-MED runs 200 clinics across Australia and provides medical imaging services such as x-ray and ultrasound. It accounts for just under 25 per cent of the $3 billion diagnostic imaging market.
The company was bought by hedge funds including Anchorage Capital and Fortress in December 2011, following a disastrous period under the ownership of private equity company CVC Asia Pacific in which debt ballooned out to $900 million.
EQT has invested more than €12 billion in 110 companies. Its healthcare investments include Southeast Asian aged care provider Econ Healthcare, Finnish private hospital operator Terveystalo and dental chain Swiss Smile.
The private equity fund was founded by Sweden's Wallenberg family, who are behind multinational industrial brands such as Ericsson, Electrolux and AstraZeneca.
Time for a quick spin around the region's sharemarkets...
- Japan's Nikkei is up 1.2 per cent
- Hong Kong's Hang Seng is 0.2 per cent higher
- China's Shanghai Composite index is up 0.3 per cent
- Taiwan's TAIEX is 0.1 per cent up
- Singapore's Straits Times index has added 0.3 per cent
- The Jakarta Composite is up 0.1 per cent
- The Kiwi NZX 50 is flat
Rio Tinto chief executive Sam Walsh has indicated he would be happy to serve beyond his three-year term at the company.
Walsh has just completed his first of three years in the job, but told the Wall Street Journal in London that he would be happy to serve longer.
"I would be very happy to go on, extend my term," he said.
Such an outcome would be a significant surprise, given Walsh was 63 when he assumed the job 13 months ago, and was widely seen at the time as a stop-gap chief executive who would ''right the ship'' then hand over to one of Rio's younger talents.
Walsh also said he would be happy to hand over to a better candidate after three years if that was the board's preferred outcome.
Iron ore boss Andrew Harding, energy boss Harry Kenyon-Slaney and copper boss Jean Sebastien Jacques loom as some of the brightest future leadership prospects within Rio's global empire.
Happy to go on ... Rio Tinto CEO Sam Walsh.
Only three months after a truce was called by supermarket giants Woolworths and Coles with the competition regulator over their aggressive fuel shopper docket schemes, the ACCC has commenced proceedings in the Federal Court against the supermarket duo for allegedly breaching their promises over future fuel shopper dockets schemes.
The ACCC has alleged that Woolworths' current offer of a bundled discount of 8 cents per litre (4 + 4 cents) is a breach of its undertaking because the discount is only available to a customer who has made a qualifying supermarket purchase.
The ACCC alleges that Coles is offering and allowing a bundled discount of 14 cents per litre (10 + 4 cents). As the discount of 14 cents per litre is only available to a customer who has made a qualifying supermarket purchase and because it exceeds 4 cents per litre, the ACCC alleges that it is a breach of Coles' undertaking.
In December 2013, the ACCC accepted court enforceable undertakings from Coles and Woolworths to voluntarily limit fuel discounts that are linked to supermarket purchases to a maximum of 4 cents per litre. The undertakings took full effect on January 1, 2014.
Investors have shown their approval of Cabcharge's 8 per cent increase in interim net profits to $36 million, bidding up the stock 5 per cent.
The taxi payments system provider also cut its half-year dividend to 15 cents per share, from 18 cents a year ago.
Total revenue for the six months to December was $103.3 million, up 3.5 per cent on the previous corresponding period.
Net debt to equity fell to 34.7 per cent from 45.3 per cent at the most recent update at the company's full-year results.
"This result is a clear demonstration that the Cabcharge business is robust and sufficiently adaptable to take advantage of any positive changes in a difficult economic and trading environment," executive chairman Reg Kermode said in a statement.
Feeling very brave? Try some Ukrainian bonds, writes the AFR's Jonathan Shapiro:
Investing in sovereign bonds is a dangerous high-stakes game usually played by cashed up American money managers from the confines of their trading desks. But these assets managers and hedge funds have assumed importance on a geopolitical scale because of the sheer scale of debt they own in troubled sovereigns.
Perhaps the most influential individual is Michael Hasenstab, 41, who manages around $190 billion of bond investments for Franklin Templeton. Bond market gossip is that Hasenstab, who studied at the Australian National University, is personally greeted at the airport by eastern European heads of state because of his status as their largest creditor.
Franklin Templeton's more recent sovereign adventure has been more perilous: the fund is understood to have accumulated $6.4 billion, 25 per cent, of Ukraine's outstanding debt.
The dramatic events in Kiev over the weekend that led to President Viktor Yanukovych being stripped of power and the release of imprisoned opposition figure Yulia Tymoshenko may follow the mandate of the people. But the outcome for investors who stood to benefit from the $15 billion of bail-out funds from Russia is less certain.
After years of corrupt rule, Ukraine is about as bad as a sovereign gets, with $US13 billion ($14.5 billion) in public debts, up to 40 per cent of non-performing bank loans and 55 per cent of its debt denominated in foreign currencies.
There are few rational reasons to invest in Ukraine's bonds, yet the perverse nature of bond indices results in the most indebted nations having large relative representations. Ukraine makes up 2.5 per cent of the Emerging Market Bond Index.
'Ukraine is about as bad as a sovereign gets.'
Consumer products supplier McPherson's is heading towards its second consecutive annual loss after writing off goodwill and brand values by almost $80 million in the December-half.
The company, which owns Manicare and Lady Jayne personal care products and Wiltshire and Stanley Rogers home wares, reported a bottom line loss of $70.5 million for the first half after booking non-cash impairment charges and write-downs of $79.5 million.
The company's shares are trading 7.1 per cent lower to 19.5 cents on the news.
Before the write-downs, underlying net profit slipped from $10.4 million to $10.2 million, in line with the company's January guidance and slightly ahead of market forecasts around $9.9 million. Underlying EBIT dipped 2.3 per cent to $17.5 million, in line with forecasts.
Managing director Paul Maguire said trading conditions were expected to remain challenging in the June half and full- year underlying EBIT and net profit were expected to be flat, while earnings per share were expected to fall 15 per cent due to recent share issues to fund acquisitions.
Mr Maguire expects the health & beauty and home appliance businesses to perform strongly and said the group was pursuing initiatives to boost profits in the house wares and household consumables businesses, which have been hit by cost increases and increasing competition.
The key economic release for Australia this week is the private sector's capital expenditure estimates, which could affect whether the next interest rate movement is up, down, or remains the same.
That's because the data will be the first gauge of how much companies - in both the mining and non-mining sectors of the economy - are planning to invest in the 2014-15 financial year.
The question on everyone's lips will be - will there be a lift in non-resources investment as mining spending falls off?
Bloomberg's consensus forecasts from analysts is for the first estimate of 2014-15 capital expenditure expectations to be about $139 billion. The fifth estimate for 2013-14's investment intentions is $166 billion. Business investment for the three months to December is expected to slip by 1.3 per cent.
"This first estimate for 2014/15 will help in determining exactly what resource investment correction lies ahead," TD Securities head of Asia-Pacific research Annette Beacher says.
"Thanks to the Access Investment Monitor we already know that the biggest adjustment is likely to take place next year, it will be down to exactly when.
"At this stage, mimicking the Access profile, we assume a sharp -25 per cent correction in engineering investment over 2015 (after -3 per cent decline in 2014) for overall business investment fall of –9 per cent."
Capex estimates released this Thursday will be a crucial indicator for the direction of the next rates move.
It's been a busy month for billionaire investor George Soros as far as trading calls go but there seems to be no stopping him with the one-time euro bear now betting on further gains in the euro.
"I believe in the euro," weekly Der Spiegel has quoted him as saying in an interview.
"Therefore my investment team is looking forward to make a lot of money soon in Europe by, for example, pumping money in banks which urgently need capital," he added, noting the euro zone needs this kind of private investment right now.
Mr Soros's comments come as European share markets rallied on Monday to six-year highs.
Soros told Der Spiegel his management team was also looking at investing in Greece.
"The economic conditions in the country have improved. The question now is whether one can earn money there on a sustainable basis. If that is possible we will invest," he said.
Soros renewed his criticism of Germany's policies to save the euro, saying the austerity measures that Chancellor Angela Merkel had forced upon Europe had aggravated the crisis.
Euro-zone financial markets have calmed down in the meantime, but a sustainable recovery still does not exist, he said.
"I fear that the euro zone could experience a long phase of economic stagnation similar to Japan's in the past 25 years," he said.
George Soros sees opportunities in the euro. Photo: Michel Euler
The uptick in the gold price over the past few weeks has given gold bulls renewed cheer after a torrid 18 months or so, but the bears may not be beaten yet, Morgan Stanley reckons:
- While the upward momentum could continue in the very near term, we do not see prices staying at current levels.
- With Fed policy unchanged, we think gold will struggle to perform in the face of rising real interest rates, bond yields and USD.
- Risks? Beyond the extreme scenarios of a China hard landing and or a DM shock, the biggest risk to our declining gold price profile over the next 1-2 years is the continuation of the combined trend of neutral ETF in/out flow and China/India demand remaining strong.
IOOF, one of the three parties involved in a heated bidding war for financial services group Trust Co last year, saw its funds under management jump $3.8 billion to $124 billion in 2013.
The company will pay a 22.5¢ per share final dividend to investors, up from the 19.5¢ offered at this time last year.
Investors were unimpressed, however, as the shares dove 5 per cent to $9.19.
IOOF managing director Chris Kelaher said all the indicators of the company's growth showed "continual improvement".
"We have seen a 12 per cent increase in revenue and our total net flows are positive for the second consecutive half," he said.
He noted that rising markets and historically low interest rates should see investors re-enter the share market with confidence.
For IOOF, fewer regulatory headwinds should allow the company to "pursue value adding activities for our clients and shareholders alike".
"The pursuit of organic, sales led growth, expansion via value accretive acquisitions and disciplined cost control has underpinned the growth of IOOF in recent times and will continue into the future," Mr Kelaher said.
Something to keep an eye on today is the yuan, or more specifically USDCNY.
The Chinese currency has posted an unusually large drop against the greenback over the past week, hitting a three-month low overnight. That's all the more remarkable as the yuan is generally expected to continue its slow appreciation against the US dollar, having hit a record high in January.
"Many investors may want to attribute the move to the slowdown in China - but there has been evidence of slowing growth for the past few months and yet the currency only started to weaken rapidly last week," BK Asset Management director of FX strategy Kathy Lien notes:
- The Chinese yuan would not be moving this aggressively without the endorsement of the central bank. In fact, the rapid turnaround in the currency pair suggests that the People's Bank of China is shifting away from a policy of yuan appreciation.
- Their motivation is simple - to provide support for the export sector and in turn the overall economy as it slows gradually. The PBoC pledged greater Yuan flexibility this year but with the currency moving lower, their actions don't seem to match their intentions.
- The reason why the recent depreciation in the Chinese Yuan is important for forex traders is because of the potential spillover to G10 currencies.
- We haven't seen the sell-off in Shanghai stocks hit other stock markets in the region but if they continue to slide, it may be difficult for global investors to ignore the move. If it lasts, the recent rally in USD/CNY is also negative for Asian currencies including the Japanese Yen, Australian Dollar, Korean Won and Malaysian Ringgit.
The yuan against the US dollar over the past 12 months.
Shares in troubled contract driller Boart Longyear have come under renewed pressure, falling 4.3 per cent to 34.5c.
This morning's sell-off follows yesterday's 15 per cent slump after the company shocked investors with a $US620 million December half loss.
The company also announced on Monday that it had hired Goldman Sachs as consultants to conduct a strategic review of the business.
Travel insurance provider Cover-More will not pay a dividend as indicated previously, despite being on track to deliver its full year financial targets outlined in the group's public offer prospectus.
Cover-More made its public debut just before Christmas when its shares plunged 11.5 per cent to $1.77 on its first day of trade. The company, which also provides medical assistance, posted a 24 per cent rise in gross written premium to $168.8 million for the half year to December, on a pro-forma basis.
The group reported EBITA of $18.8 million, up from $13.3 million netted in 2013. The group's net profit jumped 53.9 per cent to $12.1 million.
Peter Edwards, group executive of Cover-More, said the group expected to deliver on its pro-forma 2014 prospectus forecast.
"A highlight of the half-year was the performance of our e-commerce optimisation platform, 'Impulse', following its launch in India and New Zealand with Malaysia airlines, and integration of the platform into the Air New Zealand booking platform," Edwards said.
The company is eyeing growth through e-commerce, Asian expansion and medical and employee assistance capabilities, among other measures.
The stock is up 0.8 per cent.
The ASX200 has scaled its highest intra-day point since June 2008, breaking through the peaks from October last year.
The benchmark index climbed as high as 5461.7 and is currently trading at 5454.0, up 0.25 per cent for the day - posting its eight straight day of gains.
Here's an update on the most recent changes to broker's recommendations:
- Duet Group cut to neutral from outperform at Credit Suisse
- Monadelphous raised to accumulate from neutral at Hartleys
- New Hope cut to underperform from neutral at Credit Suisse
- Spark Infrastructure reduced to neutral from outperform at Credit Suisse
Shares in grains handler Graincorp have been dumped on its profit warning this morning, trading down 2.5 per cent at $7.62.
Before the open, it warned the 2014 net profit could more than half to $80 million from the $175 million earned in 2013.
It blamed the drought in parts of Queensland and northern NSW which has hit the summer crop, with carryover effects into the winter crop.
We've had a positive start to the day's trading with the ASX 200 up 14 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 5454 in early tradingand the All Ords 15 points higher to 5465.
Investors were well prepared for QBE's first annual loss in 12 years, and actually bid the company higher 1.1 per cent to $11.78.
Ramsay Health Care is the strongest impetus for the market gains, as the hospital operator added 5.3 per cent on strong earnings.
Miners are down early after the iron ore price slipped further overnight and entered into official "correction" territory as it has now fallen by 10 per cent since the last high. All other have sectors advanced.
BHP, Rio and Fortescue are 0.7 per cent lower.
Origin Energy is down 1.3 per cent.
Talking Qantas: as we near the first-half earnings report, we're getting reports on a near-daily basis on the amount of job losses at the airline. 1000, 2000, 3000, 5000 - who's shouting more?
Today it was the Herald Sun's turn to suggest Qantas is preparing to axe 5000 jobs and sell its terminal at Melbourne Airport - to show Canberra it's willing to make tough changes to its business practices in exchange for federal funding.
Qantas once again refused to comment on the speculation, but Treasurer Joe Hockey has chimed in.
Hockey said this morning threats Qantas would cut up to 5000 jobs were ''serious'' but had to be dealt with by the airline alone.
''Qantas has to run its own company. It's not for the government to run Qantas,'' he said. ''This is obviously a challenge that the board of management have, and it's up to them to deal with that challenge.''
He denied the move was part of any negotiations with the government.
''Absolutely not, that's the first I heard about it reading the paper.''
Improving housing markets in New South Wales and south-east Queensland have helped residential developer AVJennings to a turnaround profit in the 2014 first half.
The Melbourne-based developer has reported an $8.4 million statutory profit. The result represents a 143.6 per cent improvement on the $19.1 million loss the company posted in the 2013 first half.
The company said consumer confidence in the key New South Wales and south-east Queensland markets was clearly improving. Last year the company posted a full-year loss, although its fortunes had begun improving in the second half as residential markets picked up.
Led by chief executive Peter Summers, the company now expects the improvement in its markets will continue into the second half of fiscal 2014, it said.
The federal government will move swiftly to amend the Qantas Sale Act in order to lift the foreign ownership restrictions on the airline and abolish requirements that it keeps the majority of its maintenance and other facilities in Australia.
With the airline to announce on Thursday a large six-month loss, plans to shed thousands of jobs and a restructure the airline's operations, all; to save $2 billion over three years, Transport Minister Warren Truss says it's time the airline competed on a level playing field.
"The government is philosophically attracted to levelling the playing field,'' he said. Confirming reports last week in the AFR that the government was drafting changes to the Qantas Sale Act, Truss said the government would remove all the anti-competitive provisions of the Act.
The Qantas Sale Act, a consequence of the privatisation of the airline in 1992, limits foreign ownership of Qantas to 49 per cent, foreign airlines from holding more than a 35 per cent stake and any single foreign shareholder to 25 per cent.
A small dampener for local sentiment: ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence has fallen for the second week, slipping 1.6 per cent to 110.2.
''Over the past two weeks consumer confidence has dipped 5 per cent, likely a reflection of job loss announcements from aviation & manufacturers,'' ANZ chief economist Warren Hogan noted on Twitter, adding:
Despite this, the lift in consumer confidence for much of the past 18 mths suggests consumer spending will improve in '14.
— Warren Hogan (@anz_warrenhogan) February 24, 2014
Iron ore has fallen below the level of $US120 a tonne for the first time since July last year, raising fears the bulk commodity could face further drops.
Overnight, the price of iron ore slipped 2 per cent to $US119.90 per tonne, taking this year's sell-off to more than 10 per cent, which is commonly considered a correction.
The iron ore price is reacting to downward pressure from policy changes in China, ANZ head of commodity research Mark Pervan.
"The spot market tracked losses in Chinese equities. In addition, 10 major provincial cities tightened policies on minimum down payments for second homes, further pressuring steel inputs," Mr Pervan said.
"In the city of Tangshan the local government has ordered steel companies to slash production by 30 per cent sighting worsening air quality. Hebei province wants to cut steel capacity by 66 million toones per year to 220 million tonnes per year by 2015."
Iron ore had defied analyst expectations in the second half of 2013. After falling to as low as $US110.40 a tonne, the bulk commodity rose just under 30 per cent.
However, the widely expected decline seems to have set in this year. Prices are forecast to continue falling, as large scale iron ore export operations begin to flood the market with supply.
The latest fall in the price is not yet considered a worry for the big Australian iron ore miners, which produce profitably at much lower price levels.
Offshore oil and gas services provider Mermaid Marine has announced a $S625 ($550 million) acquisition of the subsidiaries of Singapore-listed peer Jaya Holdings.
The purchase will be funded via a $317 million equity raising and $US227 million ($253 million) in US-dollar denominated debt, and $101 million in cash.
The Jaya subsidiaries are Osffshore Support Services and Offshore Engineering Services.
"Jaya is an established international offshore oil & gas marine services provider with a fleet of 27 vessels, two strategic ship yards in Singapore and Batam, Indonesia, and a new build pipeline of six high specification vessels, with three vessels scheduled to enter the fleet by early FY2015," reported the company in a statement.
"The fleet operates across South East Asia, the Middle East, West Africa and more recently, East Africa."
Gold rose 1 per cent overnight, reaching its highest level in nearly four months as its safe haven appeal remained intact.
Spot gold rose as high as $US1338.60 in New York, and extended gains slightly this morning, hitting $US1339 an ounce.
Some investors sought bullion as a safe haven after Ukraine appealed for urgent international aid after the fall of Russian-backed president Viktor Yanukovich cast doubt on a bailout deal with Moscow, saying it needed $US35 billion over the next two years.
Acting President Oleksander Turchinov warned that Ukraine was close to default and "heading into the abyss."
The precious metal is often seen as a safe haven in times of political and economic turmoil.
Traders said that crude oil's advance and disappointing Chinese economic data also lifted gold, but the metal appears vulnerable without the help of strong physical demand.
"The situation in Ukraine and crude oil's gains are helping gold's rally," said Frank McGhee, head precious metals dealer at Chicago commodities brokerage Alliance Financial.
"But I don't see massive amounts of buying other than some Asian demand last week," McGhee said. "I think the market is going to correct sooner or later."
Oil Search have entered a pre-open trading halt pending the announcement of a "material acquisition and completion of the company's financial reports for the year ended 31 December".
Newly listed credit check agency Veda Group reported a statutory loss after tax of $12.5 million due to the costs of its December 6 float and pre-IPO financing costs for the half year to December 31.
Excluding these expenses, the company reported an underlying net profit after tax of $33.8 million. The result compares to a $2.5 million statutory profit in the previous corresponding period before the listing.
Revenue rose 13.2 per cent to $146.8 million, with operating costs excluding the IPO costs up 5.3 per cent to $84.7 million for the company's first half year report.
CEO Nerida Caesar said the results were in line with its prospectus forecasts, with revenue growth driven by its commercial risk and information services, and consumer risk and identity business.
Charter Hall Group has announced plans to raise $140 million via an institutional placement as the company posted a 4.3 per cent fall in profit after tax for the six months ending December 31.
Revenue for the period rose to $59.8 million from $58 million a year ago, it said in a statement on Tuesday. Statutory profit after tax fell to $28.6 million.
Charter Hall's joint managing director David Southon said the group's performance had been strong.
"Our strong operational performance has driven property investment earnings growth," Mr Southon said in a statement.
Despite the fall in profit, Charter Hall has increased its earnings guidance and is projecting 7-9 per cent growth in operating earnings per security and a distribution payout ratio of between 85-95 per cent.
Charter Hall completed $1.9 billion in property transactions during the half year.
The company will pay an interim distribution of 11¢ a share on February 25, up from 9.8¢ a share a year ago.
No end to the bull run on Wall Street, as the S&P 500 hit a record intraday high, helped by gains in health insurers' shares on a smaller-than-forecast cut in Medicare rates and optimism about merger activity.
The Nasdaq reached a 14-year high, though all three indexes closed off their highs for the day, with the S&P 500 finishing less than a point away from its record closing high of 1848.38.
Weak recent economic data has largely been blamed on harsh winter weather, which has kept some investors hopeful that the pickup in the economy remains intact, while others are still hoping that the soft numbers could prompt the Fed to rethink its taper path.
The latest data showed the Chicago Fed National Activity index fell to -0.39 in January from 0.16 in December while financial data firm Markit's preliminary February reading on the services sector fell to 52.7 from 56.7.
''We're just seeing a shift in mentality,'' said Mark Freeman, chief investment officer at Westwood Holdings Group. ''The market is really willing to focus on the positives and dismiss the negatives. In that environment, the market tends to drift higher.''
The country's largest private hospital operator Ramsay Health Care has upgraded its earnings guidance for the 2014 financial year after reporting a 14 per cent rise in net profit to $157.8 million.
The company's underlying profit, which removes a non-cash portion of a rent expense for its hospitals in the United Kingdom, increased 15.8 per cent to $171.6 million in the six months ended December 31. This result was in line with consensus estimates of $172 million.
Ramsay's revenue increased 13.9 per cent to $2.4 billion in the half, which was also in line with expectations.
The company increased its guidance for core net profit growth over the 2014 financial year to 16 to 18 per cent, up from 12 to 14 per cent previously.
Ramsay managing director Chris Rex said the result was driven by demand for high quality hospitals and service, as well as effective management and well executed expansions existing hospitals.
"Newly completed projects are already contributing to earnings and we are continuing to receive upside from projects completed in prior years," Mr Rex said.
Worth keeping an eye on iron ore miners today, after the price of the bulk commodity fell below the level of $US120 a tonne for the first time since July, raising fears the floodgates may have opened for a sharper drop.
Overnight the price of iron ore slipped 2 per cent to $US119.90 per tonne, taking this year's sell-off to more than 10 per cent, which is commonly considered a correction.
The iron ore price is reacting to downward pressure from policy changes in China, says ANZ head of commodity research Mark Pervan:
- The spot market tracked losses in Chinese equities. In addition, 10 major provincial cities tightened policies on minimum down payments for second homes, further pressuring steel inputs.
- In the city of Tangshan the local government has ordered steel companies to slash production by 30 per cent sighting worsening air quality. Hebei province wants to cut steel capacity by 66 million toones per year to 220 million tonnes per year by 2015.
Iron ore had defied analyst expectations in the second half of 2013. After falling to as low as $US110.40 a tonne, the bulk commodity rose just under 30 per cent.
However, the widely expected decline seems to have set in this year. Prices are forecast to continue falling, as large scale iron ore export operations begin to flood the market with supply.
In New York overnight, BHP (ADRs) traded 0.5 per cent higher, while Rio fell 1.4 per cent - Rio being more dependant on iron ore than BHP, which may have been buoyed by the rise in the oil price.
The price of iron ore over the past year.
Australia's biggest global insurer, QBE Insurance Group, has reported a loss of $US254 million ($281 million) for the year to December after its troubled US division hit earnings.
That compared to a net profit of $US761 million a year earlier.
QBE, which warned investors of the losses in a profit update before Christmas, reported a cash profit of $US761 million – down from the $US1.042 billion netted in 2012.
QBE's insurance profit fell 33 per cent for the year to $US841 million, and the group's overall result was in line with its December market update.
The company has failed to meet its full-year profit guidance since 2009. The latest losses were hurt by QBE's North American operations, which has suffered from prior year claims, write-off of goodwill and intangibles, and restructuring costs.
QBE will dish out a 12¢ per share final dividend for shareholders, compared with the 10¢ per share dividend of 2012.
QBE chief executive John Neal, who took over from long-standing CEO Frank O'Halloran in 2012, said the company had "introduced changes to key management and have taken significant steps to reposition and right-size underperforming businesses" in North America.
Here is a list of companies reporting today:
- Atlas Iron
- AV Jennings
- Cabcharge
- Charter Hall
- Flight Centre
- Hutchison Telco
- Independence Group
- Oil Search
- Ramsay Health
- Specialty Fashion Group
Local stocks are poised to open sharply higher after Wall St fell just short of reaching a record high close.
Here's what you need2know:
- SPI futures up 27 points at 5450 at 9am AEST
- AUD at 90.34 US cents at 9am AEST
- On Wall St, S&P 500 +0.62%, Dow +0.64%, Nasdaq +0.69%
- In Europe, Euro Stoxx 50 +0.82%, FTSE100 +0.41%, CAC +0.87%, DAX +0.54%
- Spot gold rises $US13.83 to $US1338.08 an ounce
- Brent oil advances 76 US cents to $US110.61 per barrel
- Iron ore fell more than 2 per cent to $US1119.90 per tonne.
Economic data releases today:
- Preliminary balance of payments, fourth quarter
Good morning and welcome to the Markets Live blog for Tuesday.
Your editors today are Jens Meyer and Patrick Commins.
This blog is not intended as investment advice.
BusinessDay with wires.


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Athletic News
More Giving Opportunities
Learn more about the teams
As a fellow Lewis Flyer, you understand what it means to be a student-athlete. Student-athletes dedicate countless hours to perfect our skills; they work as hard in the classroom as they do on the field, court, course, or in the pool. That's why we want to tell you about the Forever Flyers Challenge and to ask you to help your team win as much as $7,000!
For the second year, Les Kraft '55 has generously pledged $10,000 to the Lewis teams that can encourage the most alumni athletes to participate in the Forever Flyers fundraising challenge. Two top prizes of $3,500 will be awarded to the team that achieves the highest percentage of alumni participation and to the team that has the highest increase in alumni participation over last year. Two second prizes of $1,500 will also be awarded in each category.
Teams have been working hard and have had great seasons, and with your support they can reach even higher goals! Please consider supporting your team with a gift of any size, and you can help them win the Forever Flyer Challenge and make 2014-15 a season to remember! Your gift directly benefits the team of your choosing at Lewis University.
Former Lewis University student-athlete Lester (Les) Kraft '55 is once again sponsoring the Forever Flyers Challenge to benefit Lewis athletic teams for the second-straight year. The challenge will consist of a nine-week competition, lasting from March 3rd to May 1st, led by student-athletes to increase alumni giving participation and support.
"I participated on the football team from 1951 to 1955, and we had a very good team those years. I owe a great deal to those memories I have from Lewis," says Mr. Kraft. "Without the education provided to me, I wouldn't have been able to be an officer in the Marine Corps and wouldn't have qualified for the first jobs I held. I want to be able to give something back, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity because of how the money raised will not only help the university, but help the athletic program that I value so much."
A 1955 alumnus, Kraft holds a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration from Lewis University. He played football from 1951 to 1955 and in 1991, was inducted into the Lewis Athletics Hall of Fame. He is a former Vice President at Rockwell International.
The Intercollegiate Athletics program at Lewis University has been developed with the understanding that properly administered intercollegiate sports are beneficial activities which contribute to the physical, intellectual, spiritual and social experiences of the entire University community. Intercollegiate athletics complement the academic and service components of a Lewis University education.
In harmony with the Catholic and Lasallian Mission of the University, the goals of intercollegiate athletics are to enhance the physical and intellectual abilities of those participating in the program in an effort to promote the development of the whole person and the overall educational experience. Athletic programs support the University's educational program and promote in students the values of academic excellence, responsibility, commitment, integrity and sportsmanship.
© 2014 Lewis University | One University Parkway | Romeoville, IL 60446-2200
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BlackBerry Messenger comes to Twitter, Facebook
PUBLISHED: 12 Apr 2012 09:20:13 | UPDATED: 12 Apr 2012 09:37:26PRINT EDITION: 12 Apr 2012John DAVIDSON
Research In Motion, maker of the BlackBerry, has started rolling out updates to its social media apps that will link them back to its BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) service.
Overnight RIM released an update to its Twitter app, for the first time allowing BlackBerry users to automatically update their BBM status whenever they tweet. The company is planning release a similar update to its Facebook app in the coming days.
The upgrade may not have users flocking back to the BlackBerry, but it may help to shore up the current user base while it waits patiently for the long-promised, major overhaul to the BlackBerry operating system. BBM, an instant messaging service between BlackBerry users, is one of the BlackBerry's stickier apps. It's one of the few messaging apps that lets you know when your message has been received and, more importantly, actually read. And once you've built up your circle of BBM friends, you're loathe to leave it behind to move to the iPhone or an Android device.
That's the theory, at least, though the popularity of BBM seems to ebb and flow in crazes: one minute, American youth are madly into it, next minute, it's all iPhone this and Android that . One minute, BBM fight clubs are springing up in Northern Ireland, the next minute they're beating someone unconscious by the waterside. Keeping track of whether anyone is using BBM is like playing Whack-A-Mole, only without the hammer.
These are trying times for RIM. Its last quarterly results were down 25 per cent compared to the same quarter a year ago, and growth in subscriber numbers has slowed to a trickle. . Its new chief executive Thorsten Heins recently said he might consider selling the company if he could find the right buyer. Morale is said to be low at the company, which badly needs to get its next operating system, BlackBerry 10, out the door after a series of delays. That operating system will be based on QNX, the very swish OS it acquired a couple of years ago, that already forms the basis of its lovely, but terribly unsuccessful, PlayBook tablet.
We're hoping RIM will show off BlackBerry 10 at its BlackBerry World conference next month in Florida. It will be a long way to travel only to be told there have been more delays.
The Australian Financial Review
Read more
Topics | Technology /Corporate & Government IT , Technology /Telecommunications , Technology /Online Services , Consumer Goods & Services |


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Application Information
Scholarship Overview
This scholarship is for graduating high school seniors who attended Trinity Lutheran School in Crown Point, Indiana. To qualify for this scholarship, applicants must major in music.
How easy is it to apply?
Not too bad
This scholarship's application process may have items such as essays that could take a couple hours.
How much competition is there?
Relatively little!
This scholarship has a relatively low number of applicants.
Class Year: Is this you?
- High school senior
Home State: Is this you?
- Indiana
Location: Is this you?
- Crown Point
College Major: Is this you?
- Brass Instruments
- Conducting
- Jazz/Jazz Studies
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text:
A group is demanding changes at Central Arizona Shelter Services. What will it achieve?
KJZZ News
The US Senate is in its second week of debate on the
immigration reform bill, and there is a lot of discussion taking place behind the scenes. Arizona Senator Jeff
Flake, one of the eight who drew up the bill, has been meeting with Texas
Senator John Cornyn, who wants the border
security section of the measure strengthened, but Flake does not believe Cornyn is trying to
jeopardize passage.
June 18, 2013
Sheriff's deputies in Coconino
County are investigating the collision
of a school bus and an SUV, east of Flagstaff,
Monday. Spokesman Gerry Blair said there are a number of issues to resolve
before a decision is made about whether citations will be issued.
June 18, 2013
Workers in northern Arizona have begun paving a road on the
Navajo Nation that will provide a temporary
route around a section of US Highway 89, south of Page, which has been
closed due to a landslide.
June 18, 2013
Boeing's new 787 jets suffered a public relations nightmare earlier this year after the planes' batteries caught fire. A Phoenix company has developed a tool to help Boeing overcome its bad publicity.
June 17, 2013
Gay marriage
supporters launched a campaign Monday to change the state constitution's
definition of marriage. Equal Marriage Arizona is trying to collect more than 400,000
signatures to get a constitutional amendment on the ballot for next year.
June 17, 2013
Voting rights advocates
praised the Supreme Court's decision that struck down an Arizona law requiring proof of citizenship
when registering to vote. The high court ruled that the state cannot require
additional documents beyond what a federal form calls for.
June 17, 2013
Governor Jan Brewer said she is glad the political fight over Medicaid expansion is finally over. The governor signed legislation Monday that adds 300,000 low-income people to state Medicaid under the federal Affordable Health Care Act.
June 17, 2013
The United States Supreme Court ruled today on a case from Arizona that could impact elections around the country. The court found Arizona cannot impose its own requirements on federal voter registration forms.
June 17, 2013
One of the authors of a bipartisan Senate
immigration proposal South Carolina's
Lindsey Graham says he believes
the measure will be approved.
"I think we're
going to have a political break through, that congress is going to pass
immigration reform," Graham said.
June 17, 2013
Four more Arizona
forests, the Coconino, Kaibab, Prescott,
and Tonto, are taking fire restrictions up a notch this week. National Forest Service spokeswoman
Jacqueline Banks says 'open flame'
fires will be banned in those forests beginning Wednesday morning,
"It's really important that people realize just how
dry it is across Arizona,"
Banks said.
June 17, 2013
A new poll shows there is strong support from across the political spectrum in Arizona, for the
so-called 'Gang of Eight' immigration reform plan, in the US Senate. The poll
from the conservative-leaning Harper Polling, shows 65 percent of state
residents of all political parties, favor the measure, which includes a path to
citizenship for undocumented immigrants already in the US.
June 17, 2013
Governor Jan Brewer will sign her Medicaid expansion plan
into law Monday, during a ceremony at the capitol. A handful of Republican
lawmakers joined Democrats last week to approve the plan, as part of the state
June 17, 2013
Arizona's rural counties are pleased they will be getting a larger share of lottery revenues in the new state budget. Lawmakers stopped sharing the money with counties during the height of the recession.
June 17, 2013
We are pleased to share the voices and conversations of our community from StoryCorps Phoenix. StoryCorps Phoenix is the project that
records the stories of everyday people and archives them at the Library of Congress.
June 17, 2013
Not all Valley cities are created equal for new-home sales. The latest real estate report from Arizona State University shows Gilbert and Goodyear leading the way in that sector of the housing recovery, but builders in other cities are still idle.
June 17, 2013
County elections officials are applauding a sweeping change to Arizona election laws. The measure approved by state lawmakers allows county recorders to remove people who do not regularly show up at the polls from permanent early voting lists.
June 16, 2013
By now, doesn't everyone know about roller derby? It's famous, maybe as much for its fast skating as its free spirit, but it's not so well-known for its men. This contact sport is dominated by women.
June 16, 2013
On the last day of the legislative session, Gov. Jan
Brewer finally got one of her top priorities – expanding Arizona's Medicaid
program under the Affordable Care Act. But, to get it, the governor had to call
a special session and take part in some public disputes with members of her
June 15, 2013
A voter rights group said it will file a lawsuit challenging a campaign finance reform measure lawmakers approved in the final hours of the session.Under the new law, local candidates will see their contribution limit from private donors go up from $500 to $5,000, and statewide candidates would also get up to $5,000 compared to their current limit of $1,000.
June 15, 2013
The vicious drought gripping the Southwest appears to have a bullseye on
New Mexico. Wildfires are burning across the state and water is
increasingly scarce. So scare, that early this month one town's well
stopped delivering water completely.
June 14, 2013


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Of their Very first struggle about 4 in years past, Pacquiao floored Marquez throughout spherical 1 3 times. Moreover, My partner and i viewed which battle, and that i considered Marquez was a performed deal. But right after circular A single, it appears as if Marquez recoverable, in addition to were built with a draw. What is questionable is the fact that may among the many all judges have scored that 10-7 within the initial circular, if it must have been a 10-6.
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text:
A multiple update, folks.
In case you are wondering, I am not being sent down to the Gulf Coast to help out with the recovery effort, but am rather staying in my current office picking up the slack being left by the others who are being sent down to the Gulf.
That means that I am able to continue with this little AAR, hopefully to the enjoyment of all who read.
With that being said, kick yer feet up, I've got a big 'un coming right quick!


text:
Lucky Alan
By JONATHAN LETHEMIn his twentieth book in twenty years, a renowned writer "drills down into the strangeness of contemporary life."
In his twentieth book in twenty years, a renowned writer "drills down into the strangeness of contemporary life."
A critic's month that was: D'Angelo, Dylan, Saul Goodman, and L.A.'s storied soundtrack.
The novelist behind "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" and "How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia" takes on globalization in his first nonfiction foray.
When a psychoanalyst opens up his case files, optimistic insights on mortality and love spring forth.
How a writer's true-life tussle with Stalin's police became a rich novel of exile and resistance.
"I fear that it — along with these gluten-free bacon-glazed doughnuts — is eating me alive."
The life of an unusual child is also the story of secret forces at work, in Reif Larsen's Pynchonesque fable.
An Irish priest confronts a colleague's crimes — and his own responsibilities.
New story collections from two modern masters suggest that we're living in a Golden Age of short "fantastika".
How the items found in books have lives of their own, and stoke literature's enduring flame.
A novel-in-stories of a young Long Island misanthrope hits like a punch, with biting wit at an antic pace. Review by Justin Taylor.
This week in history: the Postal Act is passed, and American history starts coming with a stamp.
An anthropologist's obsessive report brings him to the brink of a conspiracy – or is it just his paranoid mind at work?


text:
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Houston, Texas
5433 Westheimer Road, Suite 404
Houston, Texas 77056
Houston, Texas 77056
Telephone: 713-747-4100
By appointment only


text:
From TheCItyFix.com
I'm happy to see such a high level of sophistication in recent public services...
Join our network of non-profits, companies and individuals who believe social change can happen through design.
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World Resources Institute
"I live on Earth at present, and I don't know what I am. I know that I am not a category. I am not a thing — a noun. I seem to be a verb, an evolutionary process – an integral function of the universe." - Buckminster Fuller
Contact Rhys Thom


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Draft Guidelines for
Standards & Ecolabels
EPA has responded to public comments on its proposed Draft Guidelines for Product Environmental Performance Standards and Ecolabels for Voluntary Use in Federal Procurement and has laid out plans for a pilot in 2015.
Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) helps the federal government "buy green," and in doing so, uses the federal government's enormous buying power to stimulate market demand for green products and services. Geared first to help federal purchasers, this site can help green vendors, businesses large and small -- and consumers. Use the easy index to:
- Find and evaluate information about green products and services;
- Identify federal green buying requirements;
- Calculate the costs and benefits of purchasing choices;
- Manage green purchasing processes.
Sections of the site most useful to consumers include: finding and evaluating green products and services; tools and related links.


text:
How ironic was it that in a race that depended on tyre wear and strategy, it should all come right for Mercedes and Nico Rosberg as the young German scored his maiden Grand Prix victory by 20.6s as a fantastic war raged a long way behind him?
Rosberg was in charge all the way, proving convincingly that Mercedes have solved their tyre degradation issues. It was their first works victory since Juan Manuel Fangio won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza back in 1955, prior to their withdrawal from the sport.
To begin with Rosberg was chased off the grid by team mate Michael Schumacher, but the silver arrows would end up bookending the race as a snafu in Michaels first pit stop saw his right-front wheel incorrectly fitted. He thus became the races sole retirement and the team were subsequently fined 5,000 for his unsafe release.
Saubers hopes disappeared quickly after Kamui Kobayashi made a poor start from third and was swallowed up as McLarens Jenson Button and Lotuss Kimi Raikkonen forced through to third and fourth places and McLarens Lewis Hamilton quickly slotted into fifth ahead of Sergio Perez in the other Sauber.
But this was a race of tyre strategy, and Red Bulls Mark Webber was the first to ditch Pirellis soft tyres and to switch to the mediums on which the real bulk of the afternoons work would be done. Immediately he started setting fastest laps, from down in 20th place.
With Schumacher out on the 12th lap, Rosberg had no-one to ride shotgun for him, but even then it was clear he wasnt going to need any support. With an improved set-up giving his tyres a much easier time, this was always his race to lose. But second place was in doubt right up until the moment that Button slipped ahead of Sebastian Vettel on the 52nd lap, as the world champions super-long run on the medium Pirellis had finally overtaxed them. Hamilton was also hungry for the podium, and squeezed by the Red Bull two laps later. To make the indignity worse for Vettel, whod driven a great race after his disaster in qualifying, Webber also overtook him on Lap 54.
At one stage no fewer than nine cars were running nose to tail in the fight for the runner-up slot behind Rosberg. But so much depended on individual pit-stop strategy. Rosberg, Vettel, Lotuss Romain Grosjean, Williams team mates Bruno Senna and Pastor Maldonado, Perez and Raikkonen all stopped twice; Button, Hamilton, Webber, Alonso and Kobayashi three. So at different stages some drivers had a brief tyre freshness advantage, or others were trying to nurse their rubber to the finish after benefiting at times from its longevity.
On the 42nd lap Raikkonen held second for Lotus after a super drive, hounded by Vettel, Button, Grosjean, Webber, Hamilton, Senna, Maldonado and Alonso. And the Saubers werent far off, either.
Cars were running nose-to-tail, side-by-side, and wheel-to-wheel all round the track, in a race more reminiscent of the old slipstreamers at pre-chicane Monza. And it was all clean, nobody was being silly.
For many laps it was stalemate behind the black and gold car, but Raikkonens tyres were nearly finished and there was a sudden and wholesale reshuffle. From second on Lap 47 he plummeted within two laps to 12th as the battle now became the one between Vettel and Button, with Hamilton just fending off Webber. Then Buttons pass of Vettel set up the final denouement.
Grosjean held on for an excellent sixth and his first world championship points for Lotus, while Senna backed up his great run in Malaysia with another mature run to seventh ahead of Maldonado, who got his own back on Alonso for Melbourne by keeping the Spaniard at bay to the flag. After a hairy move on his own team mate, Kobayashi salvaged something on a disappointing day for Sauber by taking the final point with 10th.
Perez was thus 11th from Paul di Resta, who had a strong race in a Force India that lacked the speed to mix it with the train. Felipe Massa had a much better race for Ferrari, but ultimately it yielded only 13th ahead of the faded Raikkonen, with Nico Hulkenberg 15th from the duelling Toro Rossos of Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniel Ricciardo. The Frenchman set some fastest laps mid-race after a tyre stop, but the STR7s, like the Force Indias, lacked sheer pace when it mattered most.
Vitaly Petrov drove strongly once again for Caterham to take 18th, while a great drive from Charles Pic saw the rookie finish 20th in his Marussia, 0.3s behind team mate Timo Glock. Pedro de la Rosa was HRTs better placed runner in 21st ahead of team mate Narain Karthikeyan, with Heikki Kovalainen 23rd and last after his Caterham had a very long pit stop near the end.
Thus, after the race of the season, Hamilton leads the world championship with 45 points to Buttons 43, with Fernando Alonso third on 37 after a tough afternoon. In the constructors stakes, McLaren still lead with 88 points to Red Bulls 64, Ferraris 37, Saubers 31, Mercedes 26 and Lotuss 24.
For tickets and travel to 2012 Formula One races, click here.
For Formula One and F1 team merchandise, click here.


text:
Check out my new entryway over on Hayneedle! I'll be posting more pictures next week of the makeover as well as a nifty new detail that has changed our entryway from ordinary to high tech.
Go here for full reveal.
gorgeous entry! even though it has lots going on it feels peaceful and inviting.


text:
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Deep Space Nine What We Left Behind, we will always have here. |
Thread Tools |
November 22 2009, 12:02 AM | #1 |
Location: the European "canon" is here
DS9 on Blu Ray
Does anyone know if or when DS9 will be remastered and released on Blu Ray? Is such a task technically or economically feasible? I certainly would buy DS9 in high def.
November 22 2009, 01:23 AM | #2 | |
Location: East Tennessee
Re: DS9 on Blu Ray
I would love to have DS9 on BlueRay. Just not sure it would come out in the full screen of a tv. |
November 22 2009, 03:43 AM | #3 |
Location: Aboard the Executor...
Re: DS9 on Blu Ray
Not Dead Yet. |
November 22 2009, 03:54 AM | #4 | |
Location: The 1980's
Re: DS9 on Blu Ray
The trouble here is how the effects were done. If they were composited on video tape like TNG was, they'll have to redo them. It's hard to believe that later DS9 and especially Voyager would stick with the archaic video tape composition method, especially with CGI coming into play. Either way, the fanbase for these shows is off the charts. Star Trek is an enormous cash cow for CBS, they just need to realize it.
Klaitu, King of the Nerds, Lord of Abandonware, Swashbuckling Space-Hero. |
November 22 2009, 05:57 AM | #5 |
Location: the European "canon" is here
Re: DS9 on Blu Ray
November 22 2009, 06:23 PM | #6 |
Vice Admiral
Re: DS9 on Blu Ray
I'd like to see the DS9 kept up-to-date with the current media format, but I'm not in a huge hurry. I still haven't bought the entire series on DVD and I still haven't bought a Blu Ray player. |
November 23 2009, 05:41 PM | #7 |
Re: DS9 on Blu Ray
November 24 2009, 02:25 AM | #8 | ||
Fleet Captain
Location: Twin Cities, Minnesota, USA
Re: DS9 on Blu Ray
That post that was linked to was an interesting read. B5 would be awesome to have in HD as well but the costs of redoing all of those effects would probably not make it worth it. |
November 24 2009, 06:42 PM | #9 |
Fleet Captain
Location: Milwaukee, WI Da Brew City
Re: DS9 on Blu Ray
DS9 might have an easier go in later seasons as that's when they started using more CGI- models for their space battles and the like, so maybe it won't take too terribly much. As long as they do a high rez scan of the old film, it shouldn't take that long really, and if they need to redo effects, I'm sure Digital Domain or whoever their CGI effects house at the time was still has copies of the models and such. I wouldn't mind seeing some of the early Season 1-4 space battles redone in CGI, even though YES the models still look great, but even if they could do a little "magic" and make the battles more exciting. Although speaking of BluRay... wasn't it Enterprise that was actually shot with HD in mind? Pity that DS9 and Voyager weren't ahead of the curve at that point.
"Here you are in the club with your bottle full of Bud, you got grillz you got bling, but playa you don't know a thing..." Alice Cooper - Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever |
December 1 2009, 01:03 AM | #10 |
Location: Los Angeles
Re: DS9 on Blu Ray
December 1 2009, 01:06 AM | #11 |
Fleet Admiral
Re: DS9 on Blu Ray
(re: Phillies fans) "Some of these people would boo the crack in the Liberty Bell." - Pete Rose |
December 1 2009, 10:22 AM | #12 |
Re: DS9 on Blu Ray
"This begs explanation." - de Forest Research on Star Trek My blog: Star Trek Fact Check. |
December 2 2009, 02:17 AM | #13 | |||
Location: The planet Terminus, site of the Encyclopedia Foundation on the periphery of the galaxy
Re: DS9 on Blu Ray
TOS was simple to remaster. The episodes existed on film, fully edited. They just did an HD transfer and cleaned up the picture. Simple. In order to see TNG and DS9 in HD, they have to go back to the original film, find the right takes of every scene (assuming every bit of film still exists), try to edit them exactly as they were edited in the first place (since the already completed audio, music, and sound FX tracks leave little room for error), add new FX (probably the easiest part of the whole project) and basically put the entire series back in postproduction again. A far, far greater and more expensive challenge than remastering TOS.
"Beep... beep!" --Captain Pike |
December 2 2009, 04:04 AM | #14 |
Re: DS9 on Blu Ray
TOS might end up being the more difficult project, simply due to the age of the negative. TNG, and especially DS9, will be in much better shape and won't require as much work before they're transfered to HD.
"This begs explanation." - de Forest Research on Star Trek My blog: Star Trek Fact Check. |
December 2 2009, 04:06 AM | #15 |
Fleet Admiral
Re: DS9 on Blu Ray
Perhaps, but rerendering effects isn't the same as recreating them from scratch, is it? As I understand it, rerendering a bit of special effects is a bit like recompiling a program. You don't have to write it all over again.
(re: Phillies fans) "Some of these people would boo the crack in the Liberty Bell." - Pete Rose |
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Feature Articles
SILENCE! by Gabriel Rosenstock
A meditation on the 1950s poem silencio by Eugen Gomringer
( Poetry Ireland News, January / February 2013)
silence silence silence
silence silence silence
silence silence
silence silence silence
silence silence silence
It's rather like an abstract painting, a Mondrian, except that it is a word, a word that we know. Silence! A word we can feel. And we can feel the space left in the middle of the poem, a space which conveys the poem's message, its essence. We can feel the silence. There's space on both sides of the poem as well, space above and space below, that space which haiku both seeks and creates. The concrete poem asks the same thing of the reader as does the haiku – to complete it. Fill in the silence. With our own silence.
Concrete poetry was all the rage in the fifties, in Switzerland, Brazil, Japan and elsewhere. Strange that it didn't make an impact on poetry in Irish (or English) in Ireland, given our love of words. Some of the most famous concrete poems are no more than a word. Concrete words, so to speak. I've been promising myself for nearly forty years to have a crack at the genre and maybe I will.
As far back as 1953, Gomringer sensed that words were changing, the world was changing, languages were changing and prolixity had had its day. Did he see the coming of tabloids – not to mention twitter? Such changes would not pose a danger to poetry, he believed. There was nothing wrong with headlines, mantras, slogans, abbreviations. Concrete poetry would be an international language, beyond the notion of the national, and as graspable as a road sign or a popular scientific formula. You could say he saw the rise of the USA and the IRA, the ESB and – OMG – the EU. He probably saw texting as inevitable.
He was a Bolivian, living in Switzerland, and was familiar with many languages, Spanish and German among them. He saw the coming of globalisation and the death of languages which this would bring (as it has). He was quite serious about his work, playful though it may seem to some of us. He insisted on our engagement with the word (as opposed to grammar, style, voice, idiom and all the rest of it).
Among the many writers influenced by Gomringer and the Concrete Poetry Movement was the curious Dane, Vagn Steen. He had this idea of publishing books with perforated pages so that you could easily tear out the poems you didn't like. Irish publishers (in both languages) could take a leaf from his book. Write it Yourself was one of his classics. It consisted of blank pages and was an overnight success. Back to Gomringer's classic again, this time in German:
schweigen schweigen schweigen
schweigen schweigen schweigen
schweigen schweigen
schweigen schweigen schweigen
schweigen schweigen schweigen
It works on many levels, including the spiritual. Does it bring us back to our tender years when so much had to be learned by rote, repetition of the ABC and numbers and syllables that may not have meant all that much to us at the time, Church Latin, riddles, rhymes and prayers? CIÚNAS! SILENCE! How often did we hear that at home or at school?
Our deepest selves are in that white space in the middle of the poem, our core and our mystery – not so much a part of us (as words are part of us, say) but the totality. Gomringer believed that a concrete poem was a poem in itself not a poem about something. Agreed.
Gabriel Rosenstock's recent titles include Irish-language versions of the selected poems of Ko Un, K. Satchidanandan, Hemant Divate and Dileep Jhaveri and a comic detective novel in English, My Head is Missing.