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So much for reversion to the mean.
Last year turned out to be a great one for U.S. stocks, with the Standard & Poor's 500 notching a total return of 32.4%, more than double its return a year earlier. The rally had impressive depth and breadth: Small-, mid- and large-company stocks all averaged gains in excess of 30%, though small stocks shined the brightest, with the Russell 2000 up 38.8%. Value stocks drove the biggest gains: The 50 stocks with the lowest price-to-forward earnings ratio in the S&P 500 returned 64%, according to Jeffrey Rubin of Birinyi Associates, a research firm in Westport, Conn. It was a far cry from 2011 and early 2012, when risk-averse investors piled into utility stocks and other dividend-payers. Top performers last year included Walt Disney DIS 0.6349482473688789% Walt Disney Co. U.S.: NYSE USD115.7 0.73 0.6349482473688789% /Date(1436216465599-0500)/ Volume (Delayed 15m) : 5804209 AFTER HOURS USD116.11 0.409999999999997 0.3543647363872083% Volume (Delayed 15m) : 76281 P/E Ratio 24.935344827586206 Market Cap 195076612669.386 Dividend Yield 1.1408815903197926% Rev. per Employee 281256 More quote details and news » (ticker: DIS), which returned 55%, and American International Group AIG -0.3704896907216495% American International Group Inc. U.S.: NYSE USD61.85 -0.23 -0.3704896907216495% /Date(1436216554620-0500)/ Volume (Delayed 15m) : 6981691 AFTER HOURS USD61.85 % Volume (Delayed 15m) : 83972 P/E Ratio 10.50637856936588 Market Cap 82777165254.0192 Dividend Yield 0.8084074373484236% Rev. per Employee 1027080 More quote details and news » (AIG), which returned 45%.
So it was a particularly good year for the stockpickers, which helped propel a new crop of fund firms to the top of the Barron's/Lipper Fund Family Ranking this year. The 2013 survey's winner is Boston-based Natixis Global Asset Management, an "affiliate" manager of 26 independently run fund companies, best known for the $106 billion Harris Associates, which advises the Oakmark Funds; and the venerable bond shop Loomis Sayles, which has $200 billion in assets.
Sixty-four fund companies qualified for this year's one-year Barron's/Lipper Fund Family Ranking. Because U.S. stocks are the largest category and given the highest weighting in the annual ranking, domestic equity fund performance was a big factor in determining who finished where. The one-year weightings: General (U.S.) Equity, 40%; World Equity, 17%; Mixed Asset, 18%; Taxable Bond, 22%, and Tax-Exempt Bond, 3%.
Natixis placed first in the U.S. stock category, its performance helped by managers such as Bill Nygren, who co-manages the $12 billion Oakmark fund (ticker: OAKMX). Natixis, which also has headquarters in Paris (and is owned by the French financial services company of the same name), did not appear in last year's ranking because it did not have the requisite funds to qualify.
Unlike last year's survey, when some of the winners climbed from exceptionally low rankings in 2012, there was less year-to-year volatility among the top finishers. Putnam Investment Management placed second, down one spot from the top spot last year. The Boston firm owes its strong second-place showing to the performance of its U.S. stock funds.
Finishing third is GE Asset Management, which climbed from 14th place in 2013. With a big institutional focus that includes the GE pension fund, the money manager oversees $119 billion, about $25 billion of which is in mutual funds, though these funds are not widely available to the general investing public. (For more on GE Asset Management, see Paul Colonna's profile.) It did especially well in the two equity categories and taxable bonds.
Coming in fourth was Lord Abbett, up from 13th place last year, helped by a good showing in every category except tax-exempt bonds. Placing fifth was Waddell & Reed WDR -0.6233877901977644% Waddell & Reed Financial Inc. U.S.: NYSE USD46.23 -0.29 -0.6233877901977644% /Date(1436216736792-0500)/ Volume (Delayed 15m) : 981859 AFTER HOURS USD46.23 % Volume (Delayed 15m) : 161753 P/E Ratio 12.70054945054945 Market Cap 3920566098.45444 Dividend Yield 3.7205277958035907% Rev. per Employee 967488 More quote details and news » Investment Management, a subsidiary of Waddell & Reed Financial (WDR), a publicly traded asset manager based in Overland Park, Kan. (It also owns Ivy Investment Management, which came in 11th.) Waddell's strongest result was in the mixed-asset group, which tracks funds that use a combination of stocks and bonds.
For the first time since 2010, all 10 of the S&P 500's industry groups finished in positive territory. But in this business everything is relative, and the top managers had more of a focus on the biggest winners: Consumer discretionary stocks rose 41%; health care, 39%; industrials, 38%; and financials, 33%. Last year's worst sectors were utilities, up 9%, and telecommunication services, which gained 6%.
John Hailer
Company: Natixis Global Asset Management
Title: President and CEO
Total AUM: $838 billion
2013 Ranking: 1
U.S. Retail Funds: 47
Oakmark and Loomis Sayles are two of the most respected fund companies. But mention their parent company, and many U.S. investors would draw a blank.
That's OK with John Hailer, who has played a key role in running Natixis Global Asset Management since 1999. Hailer works out of the firm's Boston headquarters; the French parent company is based in Paris. The firm manages $838 billion globally, about half of it in the U.S. among 26 affiliates—Oakmark and Loomis Sayles make up about 35% of its U.S. assets under management.
Natixis has a centralized, global, fund-distribution arm that sells all its funds and gets them on the right platforms. That allows the fund-management firms, including Harris Associates (Oakmark's parent), Loomis, and Gateway Investment Advisers, to run their portfolios autonomously. With distribution essentially outsourced, the affiliates "put their resources back into investment talent, technology, and their investment culture."
In a recent interview, Hailer was affable, friendly, and funny, at one point characterizing himself as "a young 53." But he is a focused and hard-driving executive intent on growing the firm's business. One of 10 children, Hailer grew up in a busy household. "You had to learn to communicate and grow up with diversity" under one roof, he says with a distinctive Boston accent.
And in that crowded, noisy household, Hailer learned some rules that still apply to how he runs Natixis. The most important thing to remember, he says, "is your own name, and to treat it with respect."
International stocks didn't do quite as well, though the MSCI EAFE index, which tracks foreign large- and mid-size stocks in the developed world, rose 23%. But one important laggard was emerging-market stock funds, which we included in our survey for the first time in our 2012 survey as part of the World Equity category. (For more on how the rankings are calculated, see "How We Rank the Fund Families".) The MSCI Emerging Markets Index was down 2.6%, as rising interest rates in the U.S. put pressure on emerging-market currencies and their equities, as investors found better opportunities with less risk elsewhere.
It wasn't about macro calls or stock-picking for one notable exception, though: No. 6 on our ranking is Dimensional Fund Advisors, which has had great success with its quantitative approach of applying academic research to value-oriented investing strategies. (For more on the company, see "A Different Dimension," Jan. 6.) The firm, based in Austin, Texas, was followed by T. Rowe Price, Hartford Funds, First Investors Management, and MFS Investment Management.
Putnam, T. Rowe Price, Hartford Funds, and MFS all finished in the top 10 of the one-year survey for the second year in a row.
A KEY DRIVER FOR THE MARKET in 2013 was investor sentiment, which finally began to shift away from bonds to equities for the first time since the financial crisis. Actively managed stock funds in the U.S. had net inflows of $161 billion last year, the first net inflow for those portfolios since 2007, according to the Investment Company Institute, a trade group representing mutual funds. Conversely, actively managed bond funds had net outflows of $83 billion, reversing a trend that had taken hold since the financial crisis as investors fled to safety.
Heading into 2012, investors were "still focused on wanting to be in fixed income and wanting to avoid equities," says Mike Avery, co-manager of the $3.7 billion Waddell & Reed Asset Strategy fund (UNASX). But "that changed fairly drastically going into '13, as the market did better," he says; "It was a huge change in sentiment."
In terms of performance, fixed-income funds had the roughest go, and one of the best-known bond shops -- you know who we're talking about -- suffered greatly. As the Federal Reserve announced, and then began, the tapering of its bond-buying program, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury nearly doubled from 1.6% in May to 3% by the end of 2013. The Barclays U.S. Aggregate, a proxy for investment-grade government and corporate bonds, fell 2.02%, its first negative calendar-year performance since 1999.
The pressure on bonds hurt industry giant Pimco, which finished 54th in our one-year ranking, just 10 spots from the bottom. Perhaps most telling, the Newport Beach, Calif., behemoth finished 60th in taxable bonds, fourth from last.
In previous years, Pimco was combined with its parent Allianz Global Investors, the German-based firm. This year, however, Lipper looked at the two fund complexes separately, in part because they have different management teams and fund boards. But Allianz did not qualify for the most recent survey because it did not have a municipal-debt fund that met the survey's requirements, according to Jeff Tjornehoj, head of Lipper Americas Research.
Bob Reynolds
Company: Putnam Investments
Title: President and CEO
Total AUM: $150 billion
2013 Ranking: 2
U.S. Retail Funds: 108
After years of mixed results, investment performance is shaping up at Putnam Investment Management, where Bob Reynolds took over as CEO in mid-2008. The firm finished second in this year's one-year ranking, its third top 15 finish in the last four years.
More importantly, Putnam's long-term performance is on the mend. The firm placed No. 2 out of 55 fund families in the five-year survey, which covers Reynolds' tenure at Putnam.
"What we've tried to do, from day one when someone is hired to manage a fund, is that they are held accountable and responsible for the results," says Reynolds, 61, whose accent still bears a trace of his native West Virginia.
The portfolio managers Reynolds has brought in include Nick Thakore, who runs Putnam Voyager and Bob Ewing, who oversees the Putnam Fund for Growth and Income, both of which are in the top 15% of their respective Lipper peer groups based on five-year returns. Thakore and Ewing both worked at Fidelity, where Reynolds served as a senior executive for many years.
Reynolds has also tried to strengthen the equity research team, making it more global and collaborative, with the analysts helping to manage money.
Investors have started to take notice of Putnam's performance. For the first year since 2000, Putnam had a collective net inflow for its retail mutual-fund business last year. "It comes down to having the right people and the right incentive structure and providing them the right resources to perform," says Reynolds.
One reason for the Pimco's underperformance: the firm's flagship Pimco Total Return fund (PTTAX), managed by Bill Gross, finished the year down 2.06%, near the bottom of its Lipper category. Because the ranking is asset-weighted -- that is, the performance of the funds with the most assets are counted more than those with the least assets -- the $237 billion Total Return dragged down Pimco's performance.
"Our focus always is long-term performance for our clients, to manage risk and to deliver returns for them over a complete market cycle," Pimco said in a prepared statement. Indeed, Pimco ranked first in the five-year ranking, surpassing 54 firms.
Loomis Sayles is a much smaller ($200 billion in assets, total) and quieter firm than Pimco, but vice chairman and veteran manager Dan Fuss, 80, is venerated in the industry. Fuss's management helped propel Natixis to its No. 1 spot overall and in the taxable-bond category. His $22 billion Loomis Sayles Bond fund (LSBRX) and $1.2 billion Loomis Sayles Fixed Income (LSFIX), both finished at the very top of their Lipper categories last year. The bond fund gained 5.8%, while the fixed-income fund was up nearly 7% -- excellent showings in a tough year for bonds. "Individual security selection certainly helped," Fuss says.
On that front, investment-grade corporate bonds such as those issued by Morgan Stanley, MS -0.38461538461538464% Morgan Stanley U.S.: NYSE USD38.85 -0.15 -0.38461538461538464% /Date(1436216681579-0500)/ Volume (Delayed 15m) : 7992375 AFTER HOURS USD39.01 0.159999999999997 0.4118404118404118% Volume (Delayed 15m) : 52111 P/E Ratio 19.001271642375038 Market Cap 76831052124.0234 Dividend Yield 1.5444015444015444% Rev. per Employee 741102 More quote details and news » Jefferies Group, and Ford Motor F -0.5379959650302623% Ford Motor Co. U.S.: NYSE USD14.79 -0.08 -0.5379959650302623% /Date(1436216495853-0500)/ Volume (Delayed 15m) : 22477447 AFTER HOURS USD14.79 % Volume (Delayed 15m) : 132355 P/E Ratio 19.207792207792206 Market Cap 59113543001.1141 Dividend Yield 4.056795131845842% Rev. per Employee 759898 More quote details and news » also did particularly well. At the end of last year, nearly 16% of Loomis Sayles Bond was in investment-grade corporates.
"There was a general narrowing of corporate [bond] spreads in the investment-grade area," says Fuss, who began his career at the firm in 1976, pushing up prices and helping performance.
High-yield bonds, which returned 7.4% on average, helped buoy Loomis along with other managers. Steven Rocco, a manager of the $2.8 billion Lord Abbett High Yield fund (LHYAX), says that bonds further down the capital structure of companies worked better last year, pointing in particular to bonds rated B and CCC, instead of BB. "You are getting paid for the risk," Rocco says. "Defaults are nonexistent now, and companies are hoarding cash."
Among the holdings that worked in the fund was a high-yield bond issued by First Data with a coupon of 12.625%. It returned 22.3% last year. The fund returned nearly 10% last year, good for a finish in the top 10% of its category.
High-yield holdings also helped the $1.8 billion Lord Abbett Income fund (LAGVX), which finished the year up a mere 0.5%, but outperformed 80% of its peers. The fund is more focused on corporate-bond issues, and "The way you win in investment-grade fixed income is to accumulate a lot of little wins and don't have many disasters," says Andrew O'Brien, a manager of that fund. Lord Abbett's little wins in fixed income led to a third-place finish in the taxable-income category, no doubt helping to secure its fourth-place ranking overall.
Paul Colonna
Company: GE Asset Management
Title: President and Chief Investment Officer
Total AUM: $119 billion
2013 Ranking: 3
U.S. Retail Funds: 7
GE Asset Management is not a typical mutual-fund family. For one thing, it has an institutional focus, which includes the $48 billion pension fund for
Paul Colonna says that he and his team expected 2013 to be less volatile than the preceding year, especially as the investors gained confidence. "And we got that," he says. The firm wisely steered away from utilities and telecommunications stocks; those sectors struggled as rates rose and the economy improved.
On the fixed-income side, the firm's portfolio managers found opportunities in sectors that rewarded taking on more credit risk, such as high-yield bonds. "There's decent demand for credit products, and not a lot of net new supply," Colonna says. Even so, he expects another challenging year for fixed income.
Colonna, 45, worked early in his career as a bond-fund manager at Freddie Mac in Washington, D.C., helping to run mortgage portfolios. He joined GE in 2000; nowadays he oversees GE's in-house teams of fixed-income and equity managers. "I want to make sure we continue to bring the groups together," he says. "And ensure we have the right platforms and infrastructure for analytics." Those analytics are telling him to expect a good year for stocks, albeit with more volatility, and not another 30%-plus return.
GE Asset Management is not a typical mutual-fund family. For one thing, it has an institutional focus, which includes the $48 billion pension fund for General Electric. GE -1.755041075429425% General Electric Co. U.S.: NYSE USD26.31 -0.47 -1.755041075429425% /Date(1436216454359-0500)/ Volume (Delayed 15m) : 27499061 AFTER HOURS USD26.35 0.0400000000000027 0.15203344735841884% Volume (Delayed 15m) : 359046 P/E Ratio 273.4927234927235 Market Cap 269833403949.842 Dividend Yield 3.4967692892436335% Rev. per Employee 482115 More quote details and news » What's more, its $25 billion of mutual-fund assets aren't widely available. The Elfun Funds are open only to GE employees and their families, for example. But retail investors can buy shares of the GE institutional funds directly through LPL or TD Ameritrade.
Paul Colonna says that he and his team expected 2013 to be less volatile than the preceding year, especially as the investors gained confidence. "And we got that," he says. The firm wisely steered away from utilities and telecommunications stocks; those sectors struggled as rates rose and the economy improved.
On the fixed-income side, the firm's portfolio managers found opportunities in sectors that rewarded taking on more credit risk, such as high-yield bonds. "There's decent demand for credit products, and not a lot of net new supply," Colonna says. Even so, he expects another challenging year for fixed income.
Colonna, 45, worked early in his career as a bond-fund manager at Freddie Mac in Washington, D.C., helping to run mortgage portfolios. He joined GE in 2000; nowadays he oversees GE's in-house teams of fixed-income and equity managers. "I want to make sure we continue to bring the groups together," he says. "And ensure we have the right platforms and infrastructure for analytics." Those analytics are telling him to expect a good year for stocks, albeit with more volatility, and not another 30%-plus return.
Daria Foster
Company: Lord Abbett
Title: Managing Partner
Total AUM: $137 billion
2013 Ranking: 4
U.S. Retail Funds: 44
When asked about Lord Abbett's strong showing in this year's ranking, Daria Foster says there was no secret sauce.
The key: "It's making sure your focus is on the long term, and that your philosophy is consistently applied," says Foster, who has been the top executive at the closely held money manager since 2007.
Lord Abbett emphasizes fundamental and quantitative research, and pays close attention to risk. "We apply those disciplines every single day," says Foster, 59.
The firm's investment approach has paid off over various time horizons. Lord Abbett finished a very respectable 14th out of 55 fund families in the five-year ranking, and 15th out of 48 firms in the 10-year ranking.
Based in Jersey City, N.J., Lord Abbett is a much different firm than the one Foster joined in 1990 as director of fixed-income marketing. She was then charged with building up the firm's $2 billion institutional business. It has since grown to $32 billion.
Named partner in 1996, Foster helped to expand the firm's fund lineup, eventually overseeing retail fund distribution in 2005. In those early days, she recalls, the asset manager was known more as a large-company value manager. It began adding international stock funds in 2003. Nowadays, about two-thirds of Lord Abbett's assets are in fixed-income funds. The firm recently added two emerging-market debt funds, but Foster is quick to add, "We are not trying to be all things to all people."
There may be no secret sauce, but Lord Abbett does appear to have a recipe for investment success.
Leveraged loans, up 5.3%, were another bright spot, as were certain mortgage securities that benefited from rising rates. "As rates moved higher, the probability of refinancing dropped sharply," explains Bill Kohli, co-head of fixed income at Putnam. That helped securities such as agency-backed collateralized mortgage obligations, including those structured to pay only interest to bond holders. "As refinancing risk goes down, those securities go up in value," Kohli says, who points to Putnam Diversified Income Trust (PDINX) as a winner for that strategy, among others. The $5.4 billion fund's total return last year was 8.1%, besting nearly 90% of its Lipper peers.
Of the top five firms for 2013, Waddell & Reed ranked the lowest (18th) in the U.S. equity category, but the highest (8th) in tax-exempt bond funds. Putnam came in 28th for the municipal-bond category, while Natixis, GE, and Lord Abbett all ranked around the 50th percentile. Waddell's high ranking in the municipal-bond category is truly a case of relative performance winning out. The $731 million Waddell & Reed Municipal High-Income fund (UMUHX), which makes up about half its assets in high-yield municipal debt, lost 3.8% last year, but still finished in the top 10% of its category.
BUT ULTIMATELY, 2013 was driven by stock-pickers. "We went into [2013] thinking that stocks were a lot cheaper than bonds," says Bill Nygren, the well-regarded value manager with Chicago-based Harris Associates, a Natixis firm. Nygren's Oakmark fund returned 37.4% last year, placing it in the top 4% of its Lipper peer group. "We were helped by what we didn't own and what we owned more of," he says. The theme of safer, dividend-paying stocks such as utilities looked long in the tooth and too expensive, Nygren adds, and sectors such as technology, financials, and industrials "looked like they had a better opportunity." They did. Some of the fund's better performers last year were Principal Financial Group PFG -0.7575757575757576% Principal Financial Group Inc. U.S.: NYSE USD51.09 -0.39 -0.7575757575757576% /Date(1436216790588-0500)/ Volume (Delayed 15m) : 1068186 AFTER HOURS USD51.09 % Volume (Delayed 15m) : 50288 P/E Ratio 12.460975609756098 Market Cap 15170229577.0193 Dividend Yield 2.9751419064396165% Rev. per Employee 715142 More quote details and news » (PFG), with a total return of 77%; FedEx (FDX), FDX -1.3907555659440192% FedEx Corp. U.S.: NYSE USD168.75 -2.38 -1.3907555659440192% /Date(1436216487334-0500)/ Volume (Delayed 15m) : 1919114 AFTER HOURS USD169.19 0.439999999999998 0.2607407407407407% Volume (Delayed 15m) : 26228 P/E Ratio 19.357836052033864 Market Cap 48559334831.8823 Dividend Yield 0.5925925925925926% Rev. per Employee 292920 More quote details and news » which gained 58%; and MasterCard MA 0.29711375212224106% MasterCard Inc. Cl A U.S.: NYSE USD94.52 0.28 0.29711375212224106% /Date(1436216559604-0500)/ Volume (Delayed 15m) : 2981548 AFTER HOURS USD94.8 0.280000000000001 0.29623360135421073% Volume (Delayed 15m) : 60415 P/E Ratio 29.038402457757297 Market Cap 107455876098.98 Dividend Yield 0.6771053745239103% Rev. per Employee 924854 More quote details and news » (MA), with a total return of 71%.
David Herro runs the $28.8 billion Oakmark International fund (OAKIX). With a total return of 29.3%, the fund bested 97% of the funds in its Lipper group, no doubt helping propel Natixis to the No. 2 spot for the World Equity category.
The key to that fund's performance? "Getting exposure to Japan and being extremely overweight [there] at the beginning of the year, and having a moderate overweight in global financials," Herro says. The Nikkei finished 2013 up nearly 60% in local currency. "If you weren't exposed there, that hurt you," recalls Herro, who says his weighting in Japanese stocks peaked last year at about 25%, some seven percentage points more than the fund's benchmark, the MSCI World ex-U.S. Index. Stocks that helped the fund's performance included Daiwa Securities 8601.TO -0.26666666666666666% Daiwa Securities Group Inc. ADS U.S.: OTC USD7.48 -0.02 -0.26666666666666666% /Date(1436221200000-0500)/ Volume (Delayed 15m) : 10693 AFTER HOURS USD7.5 0.02 0.26737967914438504% Volume (Delayed 15m) : 24693 P/E Ratio 9.581145126168822 Market Cap 13300839138.142 Dividend Yield N/A Rev. per Employee 448316 More quote details and news » (8601.Japan), Toyota Motor 7203.to -0.015065913370998116% Toyota Motor Corp. ADS U.S.: NYSE USD132.73 -0.02 -0.015065913370998116% /Date(1436216708963-0500)/ Volume (Delayed 15m) : 131628 AFTER HOURS USD132.73 % Volume (Delayed 15m) : 400 P/E Ratio 10.604317466404614 Market Cap 227875797257.43 Dividend Yield N/A Rev. per Employee 718049 More quote details and news » (7203.Japan), and Credit Suisse CSGN.vx -2.103049421661409% Credit Suisse Group AG ADS U.S.: NYSE USD27.93 -0.6 -2.103049421661409% /Date(1436216600538-0500)/ Volume (Delayed 15m) : 1467994 AFTER HOURS USD27.92 -0.00999999999999801 -0.03580379520229144% Volume (Delayed 15m) : 27717 P/E Ratio 24.24689643198194 Market Cap 47074726477.4072 Dividend Yield N/A Rev. per Employee 834196 More quote details and news » (CSGN.Switzerland), all of which gained more than 25% last year.
THE TWO NATIXIS GEMS -- Oakmark and Loomis Sayles -- have always been consistent performers. But the comeback story is still No. 2-ranked Putnam. In the last two years, Putnam has made a big climb under Bob Reynolds, a longtime Fidelity executive who took over the then-struggling firm in July 2008. After finishing near the bottom of our ranking two years ago, Putnam shot up to No. 1 last year, propelled by very strong performances in U.S. and world equities, and both bond categories. This year's second-place ranking reflected another strong showing across all categories -- second in U.S. equity, ninth in World Equity, 15th in Mixed Equity, seventh in taxable bonds and 28th in municipal bonds.
A big lift to Putnam's U.S. equity ranking came from one of its flagship funds, Putnam Voyager, whose 2013 total return of 44.3% outperformed 97% of its Lipper peers. "There was no magic bullet; it was about broad-based stock-picking," says Nick Thakore, manager of the Putnam Voyager fund (PVOYX).
While getting into the right sectors was important, Thakore says, that wasn't what drove overall performance. "We didn't get most of our outperformance as a group by betting on those sectors." And it helped to underweight or avoid big-name disappointments such as International Business Machines IBM -0.21806287479556605% International Business Machines Corp. U.S.: NYSE USD164.73 -0.36 -0.21806287479556605% /Date(1436216434568-0500)/ Volume (Delayed 15m) : 2965993 AFTER HOURS USD164.82 0.0900000000000034 0.05463485703879075% Volume (Delayed 15m) : 113840 P/E Ratio 13.7275 Market Cap 162569733904.783 Dividend Yield 3.15668062890791% Rev. per Employee 238319 More quote details and news » (IBM), whose stock fell 2% last year. The fund's best performers included Facebook FB 0.3036031391418915% Facebook Inc. Cl A U.S.: Nasdaq USD87.55 0.265 0.3036031391418915% /Date(1436216400465-0500)/ Volume (Delayed 15m) : 24451769 AFTER HOURS USD87.89 0.340000000000003 0.3883495145631068% Volume (Delayed 15m) : 184146 P/E Ratio 85 Market Cap 245116950264.426 Dividend Yield N/A Rev. per Employee 1468310 More quote details and news » (FB), which more than doubled last year; Best Buy BBY -0.5074626865671642% Best Buy Co. Inc. U.S.: NYSE USD33.33 -0.17 -0.5074626865671642% /Date(1436216474012-0500)/ Volume (Delayed 15m) : 2139266 AFTER HOURS USD33.34 0.0100000000000051 0.030003000300030003% Volume (Delayed 15m) : 37801 P/E Ratio 14.8146501911281 Market Cap 11817828369.1406 Dividend Yield 2.7602760276027603% Rev. per Employee 328344 More quote details and news » (BBY), which appreciated more than 200%, and Delta Air Lines DAL 1.2% Delta Air Lines Inc. U.S.: NYSE USD40.48 0.48 1.2% /Date(1436216563582-0500)/ Volume (Delayed 15m) : 9651856 AFTER HOURS USD40.7 0.220000000000006 0.5434782608695652% Volume (Delayed 15m) : 62749 P/E Ratio 28.914285714285715 Market Cap 32651879882.8125 Dividend Yield 0.8893280632411067% Rev. per Employee 512046 More quote details and news » (DAL), which climbed more than 100%.
Putnam also acquitted itself well in the mixed-asset category, in which portfolio managers earn their stripes by making the right decisions based on their weightings of stocks, bonds, and cash.
"Our bread and butter is to utilize diversification," says Rob Schoen, co-head of the Global Asset Allocation Group at Putnam. "But last year was a dangerous year to be leaning heavily on diversification."
So last year, in portfolios like the $1.8 billion Putnam Dynamic Asset Allocation Growth fund (PAEAX) and the $1.4 billion Putnam Dynamic Asset Allocation Balanced fund (PABAX), Schoen and his colleagues were overweight equities and, concerned about rising interest rates, underweight U.S. Treasuries. They also saw better opportunities in sectors such as high yield, helping to boost performance in those funds, both of which finished in the top 15% of their respective peer groups, with the growth fund gaining 25% and the balanced fund up 19%.
Another special mention goes to MFS Investments. A consistent performer in our survey lately, MFS placed in the top 10 in each of the past three years -- a feat no other fund company has achieved in several years. Its No. 10 rank for 2013 was due in large part to finishing sixth in U.S. equities, thanks to the $30.3 billion MFS Value fund (MEIAX). Ranked in the top 10% of its peer group, the fund had a total return last year of 35.8%. One of the fund's managers, Steven Gorham, attributes its strong showing to seeds that were planted from 2010 through 2012, and even earlier in some cases.
One stock that helped the portfolio was Lockheed Martin LMT 0.36839295248264814% Lockheed Martin Corp. U.S.: NYSE USD187.99 0.69 0.36839295248264814% /Date(1436216597740-0500)/ Volume (Delayed 15m) : 898003 AFTER HOURS USD187.99 % Volume (Delayed 15m) : 4597 P/E Ratio 16.966606498194945 Market Cap 59239621988.7757 Dividend Yield 3.19165913080483% Rev. per Employee 402330 More quote details and news » (LMT), a large defense contractor whose total return was 68%. Other good calls included Viacom (VIAB), up 68%, and Honeywell HON -0.1268168959125939% Honeywell International Inc. U.S.: NYSE USD102.38 -0.13 -0.1268168959125939% /Date(1436216516560-0500)/ Volume (Delayed 15m) : 2254306 AFTER HOURS USD102.56 0.180000000000007 0.1758155889822231% Volume (Delayed 15m) : 8155 P/E Ratio 18.750915750915752 Market Cap 80132783186.6299 Dividend Yield 2.0218792732955655% Rev. per Employee 313669 More quote details and news » (HON), which gained 47%. The fund, says Gorham, tries to focus on "downside protection for our clients" while participating in up markets, though not necessarily beating them. Last year, it did both.
THE BOTTOM-RANKED fund families were a mixed bag of poor performance and poor relative performance. Finishing 60th, four places from the bottom, was State Street Bank & Trust, which was especially hurt by poor showings in U.S. Equity, World Equity, and the balanced-fund category. The bottom four finishers were BMO Asset Management, Wilmington Funds, State Farm Investment Management, and FolioMetrix.
Craig Rawlins, chief investment officer of BMO Global Asset Management, quibbled with Lipper's decision to put the BMO Large Cap Value (MLVIX) and the BMO Large Cap Growth (MLCIX) funds into multi-asset categories instead of value and growth, respectively. Though both funds are tiny, with little more than $200 million in assets for each, they're large relative to BMO's other funds, and their return of 34% (each) in 2013 could have nudged the firm a ever-so-slightly higher.
Hank Herrmann
Company: Waddell & Reed Financial
Title: CEO and Chairman
Total AUM: $28 billion
2013 Ranking: 5
U.S. Retail Funds: 20
Hank Herrmann, the CEO of Waddell & Reed Financial, wears many hats: chief executive of a publicly traded company, macro strategist, and chairman of the investment policy committee.
But his true colors emerge during the firm's daily morning meeting when the investment team gathers to hash out ideas. Skeptical, focused, and curious, Herrmann likes to probe and ask questions, just another analyst trying to come up with investment ideas. After all, that's how he started at Waddell: Herrmann, 71, grew up on Long Island and worked on Wall Street in the 1960s, before moving to the Midwest to work for Waddell & Reed in 1971 as a technology analyst.
Looking back on 2013, Herrmann says he expected stocks to return 7% or 8%, their historical average. Despite the big rise, "stock-picking was important," he says. "We have some 80 people focused on bottoms-up research, and that paid off."
Waddell & Reed Financial is parent to Waddell & Reed Investment Management, which finished fifth in our one-year table, thanks to a solid showing across all five categories. W&R funds are sold through the company's network of financial advisors. Waddell & Reed Financial is also parent to Ivy Investment Management, which is ranked separately, coming in at No. 11 this year. Ivy has $72 billion in 32 funds, many of which mimic those offered by Waddell.
In all, the fund complex oversees assets of $128 billion, much smaller than other publicly traded firms such as
What's more, the BMO Mid-Cap Growth fund (MRMSX) last year did not hold highflying stocks such as Netflix NFLX 0.5605261958651699% Netflix Inc. U.S.: Nasdaq USD662 3.69 0.5605261958651699% /Date(1436216400286-0500)/ Volume (Delayed 15m) : 1662986 AFTER HOURS USD663 1 0.1510574018126888% Volume (Delayed 15m) : 23926 P/E Ratio 172.39583333333334 Market Cap 39908727705.2356 Dividend Yield N/A Rev. per Employee 2370490 More quote details and news » (NFLX), Tesla Motors TSLA -0.10713520462824085% Tesla Motors Inc. U.S.: Nasdaq USD279.72 -0.3 -0.10713520462824085% /Date(1436216400130-0500)/ Volume (Delayed 15m) : 4096222 AFTER HOURS USD280.3 0.579999999999984 0.20735020735020734% Volume (Delayed 15m) : 25711 P/E Ratio N/A Market Cap 35395646503.2825 Dividend Yield N/A Rev. per Employee 346196 More quote details and news » (TSLA) or LinkedIn lnkd 0.813438582980362% LinkedIn Corp. Cl A U.S.: NYSE USD209.45 1.69 0.813438582980362% /Date(1436216469841-0500)/ Volume (Delayed 15m) : 1389836 AFTER HOURS USD209.6 0.150000000000006 0.07161613750298401% Volume (Delayed 15m) : 10131 P/E Ratio N/A Market Cap 26170429925.4138 Dividend Yield N/A Rev. per Employee 345550 More quote details and news » (LNKD) because those companies "either don't meet our criteria or have valuations that we think are high relative to what they offer," says Rawlins. As a result, the fund returned 29%, trailing 90% of its category.
Samuel Fraundorf, president of Wilmington Trust Advisors, notes that the Wilmington Large Cap Growth fund (VLCPX) has about 70% of its assets in large-company names, with the remainder in midsize stocks, which hurt relative performance, he says. And the Wilmington Multi-Manager International fund (MVIEX) was hampered by its 33% stake in emerging markets in the first half of last year.
Scott Hintz, assistant vice president of mutual funds at State Farm, says "while we participated in the market gain, we were not surprised at all" when told of that fund family's results. "It comes down to what worked in this market environment. And what didn't work was a high-quality, conservative risk profile [that we use in our funds]."
For example, the State Farm Growth fund (STFGX) returned 27% last year, but it trailed more than 80% of its peers in Lipper's large-cap core equity category. The fund was underweight technology, consumer cyclical, and financials, hurting its relative performance.
Whether a more-conservative approach to portfolio management works in 2014, after two straight years of outsize returns with other strategies, will be one of the key factors in deciding next year's Barron's/Lipper Fund Family Ranking.
How We Rank the Fund Families
To qualify for the Barron's/Lipper fund survey, a group must have at least three funds in Lipper's general U.S.-stock category, as well as one in world equity, which combines global and international funds. (Last year was the first time we included the performance of emerging-market funds in the world-equity category, though fund companies are not required to offer one.) We also require at least one mixed-asset (or balanced) fund, which holds stocks and bonds. Fund shops also must have at least two taxable-bond funds and one tax-exempt offering.
Each fund's returns are adjusted for 12b-1 fees, which are used for marketing and distribution expenses. Funds typically factor these fees into returns, which better reflects the returns investors would see after these annual fees have been deducted. But our aim is to measure the manager's skill, uncomplicated by expenses. Fund loads, or sales charges, aren't included in the calculation of returns, either.
Each fund's return is measured against those of all funds in its Lipper category (such as small-value). That leads to a percentile ranking, with 100 the highest and 1 the lowest, which is then weighted by asset size relative to the fund family's other assets in its general classification. If a family's biggest funds do well, that boosts its overall ranking; poor performance in the biggest funds can hurt a firm's ranking.
Finally, the score is multiplied by the weighting of its general classification, as determined by the entire Lipper universe of funds. The category weightings for the one-year results: general equity, 40%; world equity, 17%; mixed-asset, 18%; taxable bond, 22%; and tax-exempt bond, 3%. The category weightings for the five-year results: general equity, 42%; world equity, 16%; mixed-asset, 18%; taxable bonds, 21% and tax-exempt bonds, 3%. The category weightings for the 10-year results: general equity, 44%; world equity, 15%; mixed-asset, 17%; taxable bonds, 20%; and tax-exempt bonds, 4%.
The scoring: Say a company has a fund in the general U.S. equity category that has $500 million in assets and that it accounts for half of the company's assets in that category. Its ranking is the 75th percentile. The first calculation would be 75 times 0.50, which comes to 37.5. That score is then multiplied by 40%, general equity's overall weighting in Lipper's universe. So it would be 37.5 times 0.4, which equals 15. Similar calculations are done for each fund in our study. Then, all the numbers are added up for a total score. The fund shop with the highest score wins, both for every category and overall. The same process is repeated for the five- and 10-year rankings based on their weightings.
E-mail: email@example.com


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Guatemalan Open-Weave Cotton Scarf
Roll over image to zoom in
Made by artisans using traditional foot looms in villages surrounding the highland town of Totonicapan in Guatemala, the gauzy lightness of these exceptional cotton scarves must be seen to be believed! A delightful accessory no matter the time of year, adding color to your wardrobe while helping to support indigenous artisans keep alive a textile form that dates back countless generations.
- 100% cotton from Guatemala's oldest and most renowned cotton mill
- Artisan dyed using aniline (non-AZO) dyes
- Natural fraying will occur
- 62" L x 15" W (157.5 x 38 cm)
- Hand woven in and fairly traded from Guatemala
Created to help women worldwide gain economic security for themselves and their families by earning fair wages for their handiwork, Global Girlfriend sources women-made, fair-trade imported, eco-friendly products. By supporting long-term partnerships with the artisans, it fosters equal employment opportunities, healthy and safe working conditions, technical assistance, and development strategies to help reduce poverty, one community at a time. Become a "Global Girlfriend" and help build a brighter future for girlfriends around the globe!
For bulk pricing on these and other items, please contact our Customer Service department at firstname.lastname@example.com.
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Sports Archive
Final Regular Season Home Games
The #7 ranked SCSU Huskies will play their final regular season home games this weekend when the Michigan Tech Huskies come to town. SCSU currently sits in the top spot of the WCHA and needs just 7 more points to secure the conference title this season, a feat they have never accomplished. The Michigan Tech Huskies are currently tied for 10th place in the conference and are not ranked nationally.
This week two SCSU Huskies were again honored by the WCHA for their performance last weekend in Colorado Springs against the Tigers. Freshman, Jonny Brodzinski is the WCHA Rookie of the Week after a four point weekend featuring a trio of goals. Brodzinski has 17 goals and 10 assists this season and leads the team with a +25 on the plus/minus. The other St. Cloud State Husky getting attention this week is sophomore, Andrew Prochno. Prochno is the Defensive player of the week after charting five points in the Colorado College series. He scored a goal and notched an assist in Friday's loss then finished the weekend with three assists in Saturday's 5-2 victory.
Both games of the series can be heard on KVSC. Friday's coverage begins at 7 p.m. with the Jeff Giesen Show, an in-depth look at the post-season action for the SCSU women's hockey team. The puck drops at 7:37 for game one of the series. On Saturday coverage will begin at 6:45 p.m. with a 7:07 drop of the puck. Saturday is Senior Night, so tune in for a special senior salute that takes a look back at the careers of the three seniors on the team; Taylor Johnson, Ben Hanowski and Drew LeBlanc. Follow and participate in the action all weekend long on our Twitter feed.
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St. Cloud Folks Run Across Minnesota To Raise Awareness Of Karen People
St. Cloud Police Officer Places Second In Finland Powerlifting Competition
Poydras, Cegers, and Krych No Longer On Men's Basketball Roster
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As of Thursday, November 15, 2012
© Copyright 2015 Albany Herald
My wife and I are passing through Albany and enjoying it. However, Cal Thomas' column in this morning's (Tuesday) Herald has a section that is completely uncalled for.
On the day after Veterans Day, for Thomas to state — while dissing the young — "I doubt many people under 40 have ever served in the military or know anyone who has" shows that he, like The Donald, is irrelevant. Who does he think has been fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan? People like him with comb-overs?
I'm retired and I understand who's over there. He obviously needs to retire from expressing his view.
Lafayette, Ind.
FryarTuk 2 years, 7 months ago
Hallelujah! Amen! Second the motion! He's a gnarled mold with hair and pus exuding. The AH needs to get better conservative columnists. David Brooks, George Will, William Kristol or Peggy Noonan. Even Andrew Sullivan would be better (maybe).
Roger879 2 years, 7 months ago
But remember, he is entitled to his opinion and we all know opinions are like a**holes....everyone has one......
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Ryan Reynolds suits up like a god, Samuel L. Jackson gives no fucks, and John Mayer dresses like a witch kingread more
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At the NYC premiere of Turbo last night Ryan Reynolds turned up in a vibrant blue Burberry suit that proves why you, too, need one now. The bolder color amps up average navy without... read more
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Swagger-Jacking the Week in Style: Ryan Reynolds Edition
Among the dad jeans, double-breasted suits and deep v-necks from the past week in celebrity style, one guy stood out for wearing some of the most basic items in any guy's wardrobe - but... read more
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Ryan Reynolds' Laid-Back Chic Wins Best of the Night at MTV Movie Awards
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Hard to determine what we love most: The girl, the song, the way they work together. But in honor of October cover-boy, Ryan Reynolds, we've cued up his wife, Scarlett Johansson (the anti-Lohan) in an... read more
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Funny. Charming. Ripped. (Even his abs have abs.) As likable as a guy that handsome can be. But while everyone was taking him for granted as a bright spot in mediocre comedies or puzzling over his stealth marriage to the world's most desirable woman, Ryan Reynolds was busy making himself a movie star, which is one way to explain his latest role, as a man who's been buried alive. Chris Heath pays his respects read more
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Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Virginia Gov. bob McDonnell have signaled an openness to lifting bans that make schools gun-free zones.
"The big question will be who do they hire," says bob Papper, a professor of journalism at Hofstra University.
W knows what went on in his regime better than bob Woodward, or anyone else.
"move with a short, jerking motion," late 14c., probably connected to Middle English bobben "to strike, beat" (late 13c.), perhaps of echoic origin. Another early sense was "to make a fool of, cheat" (early 14c.). Related: Bobbed; bobbing. The sense in bobbing for apples (or cherries) recorded by 1799.
"act of bobbing," 1540s, from bob (v.1). As a slang word for "shilling" it is attested from 1789, but the signification is unknown.
"short hair," 1680s, attested 1570s in sense of "a horse's tail cut short," from earlier bobbe "cluster" (as of leaves), mid-14c., a northern word, perhaps of Celtic origin (cf. Irish baban "tassel, cluster," Gaelic babag). Used over the years in various senses connected by the notion of "round, hanging mass," e.g. "weight at the end of a line" (1650s). The hair sense was revived with a shift in women's styles early 20c. (verb 1918, noun 1920). Related words include bobby pin, bobby sox, bobsled, bobcat.
early 14c. (late 13c. in place names), "ditch, trench," mid-15c., from Old French fosse "ditch, grave, dungeon" (12c.), from Latin fossa "ditch," in full fossa terra, literally "dug earth," from fem. past participle of fodere "to dig" (see fossil).
The Fosse-way (early 12c.), one of the four great Roman roads of Britain, probably was so called from the ditch on either side of it.
: Bob car/ Bob clothes
A Bedouin or Iraqi (1990s+ Gulf War Army)


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FX's quirky down-under import Wilfred is fleshing out its guest cast in preparation for a June debut. Among the players: Lost's Nestor Carbonell, Parks and Recreations regular Rashida Jones, and many others.
If you haven't heard by now, Wilfred is a half-hour comedy about a man who sees his neighbor's dog in a different light. Ryan (Elijah Wood) perceives Wilfred (original co-creator Jason Gann) as an uninhibited guy in a dog suit, while everyone else sees, well, a dog.
Rashida Jones is on the rise after a role in the Facebook docu-drama The Social Network. She's been playing Ann Perkins on NBC's Parks and Recreation and has an ongoing recurring role on fellow Thursday comedy The Office. She's also appeared in comedy films like I Love You Man and Cop Out.
Other guest stars include Malcolm in the Middle mom Jane Kaczmarek, The Hangover star Ed Helms, and Curb Your Enthusiasm's Mary Steenburgen, who'll be playing the mother of Elijah Wood's character.
FX has been pushing Wilfred hard, featuring multiple short and long previews during its high-profile finales of Archer and Justified. Early reviews are positive, and Wilfred's Aussie progenitor did well too, so it's not hard to see why the network is filling up the first season's episodes with notable guest stars.
Wilfred will join FX regulars Louie and Rescue Me for their summer premieres. If it does well (and considering the marketing muscle behind it, the pilot should at least pick up a few viewers) expect a quick renewal.
Wilfred premieres June 23rd on FX.
Follow Michael on Twitter: @MichaelCrider
Source: Entertainment Weekly


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|Price (USD)
|.net code to import Excel data with formatting intact
|... I'm in need of .net code (vb.net or c#) that can open and read rows from an Excel spreadsheet, 1 at...at a time, and import them in to a sql server database. The data in some of the cells of each row will...will be formatted text with some words in bold, italicized, subscript, etc and that formatting needs to
|Visual Basic, .NET, C# Programming
|Apr 27, 2013
|Apr 27, 2013Ended
|Import Text File into Excel
|I want to import a log text file into an Excel spreadsheet. I have attached the files for reference....the data in hexadecimal format. A complete row of excel data is generated when a pair of 20 byte and 12
|Data Entry, Excel
|Dec 9, 2013
|Dec 9, 2013Ended
|Excel and Word text import
|...solve it and bid for ti Both problems relate to the import of csv files into MS Office products, XL and Word...Range properties set so that it does not prompt for import. This makes it seamless whenever I fire up the
|PHP, Engineering, Excel, Powerpoint, Software Architecture, Microsoft Access, Mac OS, Software Testing, Word, Microsoft Exchange, MySQL
|May 5, 2005
|May 5, 2005Ended
|.NET C# Excel import form
|Hi All, I have a web site written in .Net C#. I need to replace my current method of adding data (via...with one page that imports the information from an Excel sheet. ? The database is a MSSQL 2005 server
|PHP, ASP, .NET, Project Management, Engineering, SQL, C# Programming, Software Architecture, Software Testing, Website Testing, MySQL, Website Management, Web Hosting
|Dec 9, 2008
|Dec 9, 2008Ended
|from text files to excel
|...number and import it to an excel file day by day. For each day to a different cell of the excel. ie on the...after net sales to be copied under columbia of the excel file at the appropriate date.(see excel attachment)...to go under volos in the excel under the appropriate date and so on. The excel file changed every month
|Visual Basic, .NET
|Jun 19, 2013
|Jun 19, 2013Ended
|Import Text File into Excel - repost
|I want to import a log text file into an Excel spreadsheet. I have attached the files for reference....the data in hexadecimal format. A complete row of excel data is generated when a pair of 20 byte and 12
|Data Processing, Data Entry, Excel, Data Mining
|Dec 9, 2013
|Dec 9, 2013Ended
|Excel to SQL Server VB .NET
|I need a small VB .NET application with the following functionality: (1) Using a Windows Form, allow...user to search for and then select a Microsoft Excel file that resides locally or on a remote (networked)...Provide a label or disabled text box to display selected file. (2) Once the Excel file is selected, provide
|PHP, Visual Basic, .NET, Engineering, Excel, SQL, Powerpoint, Software Architecture, Microsoft Access, Software Testing, Word, Microsoft Exchange, MySQL
|Feb 22, 2005
|Feb 22, 2005Ended
|Simple ASP .NET form and text import
|I have a CSV file wich contains following fields name, address, bar code, 3 more fields. Need to upload once, only one time, the CSV to a database (you need to create database) Need a form where user will introduce the barcode, if match, user will store a field that will be stored in database. Need to validate a barcode is only used one time. Need to send a confirmation email.
|PHP, Software Architecture
|Jun 19, 2014
|Jun 19, 2014Ended
|SQL Text Import Utility
|...from a formatted text string into a table in a SQL Server 2000 database using ADO .NET. ## Deliverables
|PHP, Windows Desktop, Engineering, SQL, C# Programming, Software Architecture, Software Testing, Microsoft, MySQL
|Mar 31, 2004
|Mar 31, 2004Ended
|Import tranlated text into Virtuemart
|...to import the french textes into JoomFish? - please note: Translations are available in Excel or
|PHP, Joomla, Software Architecture, Virtuemart, Database Administration
|Jan 21, 2012
|Jan 21, 2012Ended
|VB .NET Import Form and Process
|I am looking for somebody to write a form to import products into a Products database for a bespoke ecommerce...ecommerce website. Data will be coming from Excel, with fixed column layouts. I need somebody to write...form where you can upload the Excel data (as .CSV probably) and it will import the data. Updating and Inserting
|Visual Basic, .NET, SQL
|Feb 20, 2014
|Feb 20, 2014Ended
|Import text files from zip to excel
|...iterate through input files and copy data into excel. ? This work should be a vba macro inside file graphbuilder...macro inside file graphbuilder.xls. Target system Excel 2003/2007 Attached files graphbuilder.xls - contains...rename to .txt import to excel process imported file calculate date (should be in vba code) excel formula =DATEVALUE(MID(A5
|Windows Desktop, Excel, Powerpoint, Microsoft Access, Word, Microsoft Exchange, Visual Basic for Apps
|Apr 28, 2011
|Apr 28, 2011Ended
|Excel add-in to import csv as text fields
|I want to create an Excel add-in that does the following: If the file being opened (Workbook_Open...column values are in quotes, then import columns as text field type. Excel annoyingly tries to reinterpret....csv file fields as text type unless the values are not wrapped in quotes (text qualifier). The add-in
|Oct 25, 2010
|Oct 25, 2010Ended
|VBA-for Excel 97 and later - text import
|...XP-professional. Excel 97 and subsequent versions. Task is to inload into Excel a text file called c:TBALL2...delimited. The first 59 columns need to be inloaded as text - the rest should be inloaded as general format...tball2.txt file, inload it into a new workbook in excel (which is the default), save the new workbook as
|PHP, Engineering, Excel, Powerpoint, Software Architecture, Microsoft Access, Software Testing, Word, Microsoft Exchange, MySQL
|May 14, 2004
|May 14, 2004Ended
|Import/Export Text files into Excel Worksheet
|...same) and I need to import into an excel sheet where column A has the name of the text file and column b...corresponding text (altogether in a cell) 2. I need to do the opposite of point 1. I have an excel worksheet...need to create a text file for each row where: the name of the .txt file is the text in column A and the
|Data Entry, Excel
|May 14, 2012
|May 14, 2012Ended
|Code to import Excel text into VB form at Runtime
|...a bunch of text boxes, comboboxes, etc. with text, and I've gotten it to create an excel docs and "export"..."export" that text to certain cells in the excel form. What I can't figure out is how to call the same...same information from the excel doc back into my program at runtime for further edits. I'm writing in VB20...
|PHP, Visual Basic, .NET, Windows Desktop, Linux, Engineering, Excel, SQL, Powerpoint, Software Architecture, Microsoft Access, Mac OS, Software Testing, Word, Microsoft Exchange, Chrome OS, MySQL, UNIX, Database Administration, Visual Basic for Apps
|Feb 8, 2006
|Feb 8, 2006Ended
|conver text files to excel
|i need a program to import txt files to excel in a specific order.i have 17 different txt files that...that had to be import in excel file
|Visual Basic, .NET
|Oct 9, 2013
|Oct 9, 2013Ended
|Excel to SQL Server Import
|Data import utiltity program to import data from an Excel spreadsheet with a strictly defined layout... Windows XP Professional Sql Server 2000 .NET Framework 1.1
|PHP, Visual Basic, .NET, Engineering, Excel, SQL, Powerpoint, Software Architecture, Microsoft Access, Software Testing, Word, Microsoft Exchange, MySQL
|Feb 17, 2004
|Feb 17, 2004Ended
|Import to wordpress from excel
|...need help to import 2500 posts to one of mine wordpress blogs. I have them listed in excel and need help...help with an automatic import. (I have WP Ultimate CSV importer, installed if that will help you). The...The file has 5 columnes in excel and the "post text" is in html format. The fields that are to be imported
|Data Processing, Excel, Wordpress, Article Submission
|Sep 12, 2014
|Sep 12, 2014Ended
|.NET Website to import text files to MS SQL Express 2008
|The project is to be done with VB .NET and SQL express 2008.? It will be running on a Windows Web Server...Deliverables The project is to be done with VB .NET and SQL express 2008.? It will be running on a Windows... ? ? ? ? ? Client Name (Text 200) o? ? ? ? ? ? Client Contact Name (Text 200) o? ? ? ? ? ? Client
|PHP, Visual Basic, .NET, Project Management, Engineering, SQL, Software Architecture, Software Testing, Website Testing, MySQL, Website Management, Web Hosting
|Nov 7, 2009
|Nov 7, 2009Ended


text:
Instrumental Hip-hop
Instrumental hip hop is hip hop music without vocals. Hip hop as a general rule consists of two elements: an instrumental track (the "beat") and a vocal track (the "rap"). The artist who crafts the beat is the producer, and the one who crafts the rap is the MC. In this format, the rap is almost always the primary focus of the song, providing most of the complexity and variation over a more or less repetitive beat.
Czarny HIFI
Tagged: Hip-hop Rap Czarny Hifi Hifi Banda Hip Hop
Tagged: Trip-hop Ambient Instrumental Hip-hop Instrumental French
Tagged: Electronic Trip-hop Norwegian Downtempo Electronica
Tagged: Instrumental Hip-hop Hip-hop Russian Underground Hip-hop Funk
Tagged: Instrumental Hip-hop Trip-hop Instrumental Hip-hop Jazz-hop
Tagged: Hip-hop Instrumental Hip-hop Beats Instrumental Neo Soul
Tagged: Beats Hip-hop Instrumental Hip-hop Electronic Hiphop
40 Winks
Tagged: Instrumental Hip-hop Downtempo Hip-hop Instrumental Belgian
и дельфины...
Tagged: Ambient Instrumental Hip-hop Piano Dream Hop Downtempo
Smoke Moth
Tagged: Abstract Hip-hop Instrumental Hip-hop Trip-hop Downtempo Chillout


text:
Blog Archives
January 20th, 2012 at 5:07 pm
NBC Bumps 'Parks & Recreation' For A Full Hour Of '30 Rock' On February 9
More Rock, Less Rec.[Read-More]
January 20th, 2012 at 5:01 pm
Soap Opera Ratings: 'One Life To Live' Rises In Final Week
The week's soap opera ratings.[Read-More]
January 20th, 2012 at 2:45 pm
'Mythbusters' Jamie Hyneman & Adam Savage To Exec. Produce New Discovery Channel Series, 'Unchained Reaction'
New Series Pits Teams With Diverse Backgrounds Against Each Other to Create Incredible Chain Reaction Contraptions[Read-More]
January 20th, 2012 at 2:11 pm
Thursday Final Ratings: 'Big Bang Theory' Tops 'American Idol' 1st Half Hour; 'Office,' 'Mentalist,' 'Grey's' Adj. Up; 'Person,' 'Rob,' 'Parks' Adj. Down
Thursday's final ratings.[Read-More]
January 20th, 2012 at 2:04 pm
SC GOP Debate Boosts CNN; Cable News Ratings for Thursday, January 19, 2012
The day's cable news TV ratings.[Read-More]
January 20th, 2012 at 1:59 pm
Thursday Cable Ratings: 'Jersey Shore' Drops, Still > 10pm Broadcast + 'Archer,' 'Beyond Scared Straight,' 'Unsupervised' & More
Thursday night's cable ratings.[Read-More]
January 20th, 2012 at 1:18 pm
'House of Lies' Webisodes Available Online
"Fridays at Galweather" Written By Series Star Ben Schwartz & Co-Producer Wes Nickerson And Directed by Series Star Glynn Turman[Read-More]
January 20th, 2012 at 12:26 pm
NBC's NHL Game of the Week is Sunday with Washington v. Pittsburgh at 12:30 p.m. ET
NBC Sports Network starts week with St. Louis at Detroit on Jan. 23 at 7:30 p.m. ET[Read-More]


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Safety on the "Bridge to Nowhere" Grant Parsons wrote an articulate column in opposition to the proposed Traverse City pier at the mouth of the Boardman River. He cites issues such as limited access, lack of parking, increased congestion, environmental degradation, and pork barrel spending of tax dollars. I would add another to this list: public safety...
Vote Carefully A recent poll showed 84% of Michiganders support increasing Michigan's renewable energy standard to at least 20% from the current 10%. Yet Representative Ray Franz has sponsored legislation to eliminate the standard. This out of touch position is reminiscent of Franz's opposition to the Pure Michigan campaign and support for increased taxes on retirees....
Credit Where Credit Is Due I think you should do another article about the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund giving proper credit to all involved, not just Tom Washington. Many others were just as involved...
I've Changed My Mind The Supreme Court has determined that states cannot keep same-sex couples from marrying and must recognize their unions. This has happened with breathtaking suddenness. It took 246 years for Americans to decide that slavery was wrong and abolish it, but it's been only a couple of decades since any successful attempt was made to legalize same-sex marriage, and four years since a majority of the American public supported legalization...
Fresh & Unbiased I have always enjoyed reading the Northern Express to discover all the cool things happening in our region. However, as the time went by, the level of left wing bias became more evident.
Racism Continues Even before the United States was an official nation, we were a country that practiced slavery. We are a country of slavery for more years than we have been not.
Rich Get Richer The other morning NPR said that GM had so much money the board of directors bought back $5 billion in stock.
Change Slow In Michigan Our great state of Michigan abolished the death penalty way back in 1846, but it took until 1917 until we gave our female citizens of Michigan the right to vote.
Action Now On Climate 74 percent of Americans, including half of Republicans, now support government action to address climate change, according to a recent poll conducted by Stanford University, a nonpartisan research group, and The New York Times.
Views Of Middle East After events such as the Netanyahu address to Congress, I appreciate the follow-up by professional columnists and local letter writers. So here is a little more "grist for the mill."
What If I've got to agree with [Express columnist] Grant Parsons on the Jared Ottenwess situation. Could it have been salvaged?
A Courageous Stance Thank you
Stephen Tuttle for your courageous and excellent editorial about the
LGBT community. I appreciated, too, your willingness to delve into the
biblical roots of this prejudice... and expose it for a sham, as it
truly is.
Laughter The Best Weapon The "Saturday Night Live" skit featured Dakota Johnson playing a high school graduate apparently heading off to her first year of college and saying goodbye to her dad.
An Educational Monster I would like to respond to Mr. Tuttle's column in this week's Express regarding Common Core. I'm not sure where he is getting his information, but most of it is incorrect.
What's Just? Apparently as proven by the acceptance of Jered Ottenwess's resignation, one can allegedly perform domestic abuse during a drunken binge and receive three months of pay and benefits from the City of Traverse City.
American Exceptualism Rudy Giuliani was espousing his opinion to Fox News that Barack Obama did not love America and didn't brag enough about "American Exceptionalism."
Fur Is Not Chic When my 25-pound
dog stepped in a toothed steel leg hold trap a few ft off the trail, I
learned how "unchic" fur is. I had to carry her out two miles to get to a
Which Is More Dangerous? Just
a couple of thoughts I had in response to the letters by Gordon Lee
Dean and Jarin Weber in the Feb. 23 issue. Mr. Dean claims that there
have been zero deaths from the measles in the past ten years.
Real Action on Climate In "Climate Madness" in the Feb. 9 issue, the writer points out that scientists are all but unanimous and that large numbers of people agree: global warming poses a threat to future generations.
Real Science Wolfgang Pauli, the Nobel Prize winning Austrian-born theoretical physicist, was known not only for his work in postulating the existence of the neutrino but feared for his razor-edged humor.
Vaccines And Israel Apparently Stephen Tuttle thinks that whatever he writes is accepted as fact according to his February 9th article titled "Outrageous."
Turn Your Lights On I've mentioned this before in this column, but here we go again.
Measles Facts, Not Fear I am responding to Mr. Steven Tuttle, who stated in a recent column that politicians who support parents' rights to make vaccine choices for their children are promoting fear mongering rather than science.
Media Or President? Fox's Heather Childers took exception to President Obama's use of the term "YOLO" (you only live once) in a healthcare.gov promotional video by responding with "Well, you know who's not alive? Kayla Mueller."
Silence Cheapens Us All Brian Williams, the deposed NBC news anchor, was recently crucified upside down on the cross of conservative obscenities.
The TPP And My 401k In response
to Beverly Christensen's letter in the February 9 edition, I have to say
that YES I am alarmed about the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade
deal that is now being negotiated.
Fine Tune The Cherry Fest As a kid who grew up on Michigan's west shore, I love cherries. During WWII, kids in junior high were enlisted to pick cherries because of the labor shortage, and I've had a warm spot for cherries ever since.
The Stupid Party? In a January 2013 address to the Republican National Committee, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal issued the following warning to his fellow Republicans: "We've got to stop being the stupid party."
Respect The Cherry Fest Regarding Jack Lane's column critiquing the National Cherry Festival, clearly Mr. Lane's business is not affected by tourism.
Anti-Vacc Not Conservative Steve, reading your opinion piece in Feb. 9th Northern Express, I could not have been more shocked to see you pin the anti-vaccine speech to conservative thinking.
Applause For "Next" Issue The February 2 edition of Northern Express is/was the best issue I've read in some time.
Climate Madness Recent polls show that not only do large portions of our population agree that global warming is a real result of our use of carbon energy, but also scientists are almost unanimous in their agreement that global warming is real, will lead to the catastrophe of our current world and will prevent our grandchildren from leading a life anywhere near normal.
No To Multinational Deal Are you alarmed about the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)?
History Lesson "The days of cheap oil and easy acquisition are over. " -- President Obama, June 2010
A Study In Mudslinging In the January 12 issue of Northern Express, Grant Parsons wrote a piece that touched on behind-the-scenes campaign financing. Mr. Parsons referenced attack ads he received in the mail prior to the November elections.
Sad Story I read with sadness in the Detroit Free Press of 24-year-old Angela Marie Alexie, who abandoned her just born baby boy in an unheated Eastpoint, Michigan garage to die alone in the cold, and who had also previously lost 3 children to foster care, the youngest of which, a girl, suffered withdrawal symptoms because of Alexie's drug use during pregnancy.
Balance On The Page Having looked through the Northern Express for years, I have finally found something worth reading besides News of the Weird and the Advice Goddess!
An Eye On Congress The U.S. Senate on January 21 voted 98 for and 1 against to adopt a non-binding resolution stating, "It is the sense of the Senate that climate change is real and not a hoax."
Food Isn't What It Was In regards to your article on nutrition being a key weapon for battling cancer, the problem is that much of our food has little nutritional value.
The Real Muslim Issues At least [Express columnist] Tom Kachadurian is being honest when he confesses a long-held family resentment towards Muslims
Applauding Opinions Kudos to the Northern Express for inviting guest editors to write columns. I have enjoyed the timely columns of Scott Hardy particularly
Party For The People One political party opposes minimum wage increases, pushes "right to work" legislation state-to-state, and finds it their mission to eliminate labor unions and the benefits they bring to everyday workers
Big Money Politics Wins Again I'm in agreement with Grant Parsons' opinion column published in the 1/12 edition of the Express.
My Favorite Opinions Betsy Coffia tackles vital but challenging local issues and does her research; her clear thinking and writing about Michigan's stuggles with gas and oil agendas, both hidden and manipulative tactics, takes brave digging below the surface!
You Own Your Health January 29th, 2007 was the day I made the decision to lose weight and get healthy. The rules on how to do this were always in front of me but I didn't want to listen to them. Gradually, at the rate of two pounds per month, I lost 45 pounds and have kept it off. My energy soared and a "new me" emerged from the ashes.
Dirty Money Redux Grant Parsons' opinion piece highlights the serious issues with the recent Inman campaign. While Ms. Coffia took the high road with her campaign of "She Can't Be Bought" — not accepting money from PAC's, Lobbyists or Special Interest Groups, Mr. Inman decided to take the low road using substantial outside funding in the final weeks of the campaign. When I received the first negative post card against Ms. Coffia I called Mr. Inman's campaign HQ to ask where the money was coming from - and the person answering said, "I don't know."
Defending Our Law Enforcement I address this note to the "cartoonist" responsible for fostering lies about law enforcement. To your readers, please look at the facts before making ignorant presumptions.
Now Who's Ridiculing Drilling? Remember when conservatives advocated for "Drill, baby, drill?" And how the left ridiculed the idea? Hmm, the silence is deafening...
Thoughts on Aging Sometimes I
write about topics that a lot of us think about, but nobody writes
about. Today, the topic is aging, and how we feel about it.
Jesus Was Real My interest was piqued upon reading your Crossed column in the November 10 issue entitled, "Jesus: God Man or Good Man?" featuring Pastor Nick Twomey and Gary Singer
Charity as Marketing Tactic In Thomas Kachadurian's recent guest opinion, "Real Charity," he explained how big businesses use charity contributions and community programs as marketing and public relations tools
A Community Thanks In this day and time when just about everyone seems to think about just looking out for themselves, I wanted write a sincere testimonial to three businesses here in Traverse City.
Addiction Hard to Escape Regarding your Dann's House story (12/15/14), thank you! Who amongst us does not know someone, or have a close friend or relative, with an addiction problem that spills onto those around, including the wider community? How many of us could be on the edge?
Democracy to the Highest Bidder Welcome
to the new reality…democracy is now available to the highest bidder.
Maybe someone could explain the difference between our Washington
politicians and the mafia.
Praise for Stephen Tuttle To date, I have only communicated once concerning a Stephen Tuttle column, and that was to convey my strong disagreement with his position about the then-new Michigan right to work law.
Kudos to Wet House Good article on the 'Wet House' and recognition to Traverse City Police Captain Jeff O'Brien. It is encouraging to hear of the police being helpers rather than bullies.
Affordable Housing Alternatives In Scott Hardy's opinion piece in the December 15 edition, he offered six concrete ideas to address the ongoing community discussion about increasing affordable in-town housing in Traverse City.
Powerful Homeless Event Homelessness
is far more complex than we thought. "Everyone Has a Story—Sit and Share
Our Bench" was a wondrous performance Sunday, December 7, that opened
my eyes to a wide range of experiences with homelessness, bridging the
gap between "us and them."
Long-Lasting Effects of Measles I understand several cases of measles have occurred in Traverse City. I also became aware that in Michigan, persons are three times less likely to be immunized.
Changing The Electoral College Republicans are thinking about changing how Michigan allocates Electoral College votes. Michigan, like all but two states, gives all of its electoral votes to the statewide winner of the popular vote.
Come Together There is a time-honored war strategy known as "divide and conquer," and never has it been more effective than now. The enemy is using it against us through television, internet and other social media. I opened a Facebook account a couple of years back to gain more entries in local contests. Since then I had fallen under its spell; I rushed into judgment on several social issues based on information found on those pages
Quiet The Phones! This weekend we attended two beautiful Christmas musical events and the enjoyment of both were significantly diminished by self-absorbed boors holding their stupid iPhones high overhead to capture extremely crucial and highly needed photos. We too own iPhones, but during a public concert we possess the decency and manners to leave them turned off and/or at home. Today's performance, the annual Messiah Sing at Traverse City's Central Methodist Church, was a new low: we watched as Mr. Self-Absorbed not only took several photos but then afterwards immediately posted them to his Facebook page. We were dumbfounded.
A Torturous Defense In defense of the C.I.A.'s use of torture in a mostly fruitless search for vital information, some suggest that the dire situation facing us after 9-11, justified the use of torture even at the expense of the potential loss of much of our nation's moral authority.
Thanks For Thanksgiving Nice "Thank You" letter by Stephen Tuttle [in the November 24 edition]. Good idea.
Don't Give A Dog or Cat! The holidays are "the most wonderful time of the year," but they aren't a wonderful time to add a new dog, cat, or other animal companion to the family. That's why it's important to resist the temptation to give a living, breathing animal as a "gift."


text:
TV host-actress Isabelle Daza will play the protective elder sister of Miles Ocampo's role in the upcoming family drama episode of "Maalaala Mo Kaya" (MMK) this Saturday (March 7).
Isabelle's first ever "MMK" will share the inspiring story of two sisters, Myra (Isabelle) and Thelma (Miles) whose relationship will be put to test as they grow up getting jealous over their parents' attention. But everything changes when Myra is diagnosed with kidney failure.
Will Myra's serious illness signal the end for her or will it mark a new chapter in her relationship with Thelma? How will they realize that they truly care for each other? How far can Thelma's love go just to prolong the life of her beloved sister, Myra?
Also part of the "MMK" episode are Belle Mariano, Althea Guanzon, Snooky Serna, Allan Paule, Ryan Ramos, John Servilla, Raquel Montesa, Nathan Lopez and Bea Basa. It is directed by Jerry Lopez-Sineneng and written by Ruel Montañez. "MMK" is led by business unit head Malou Santos and creative manager Mel Mendoza-del Rosario.
Capturing the hearts of Filipino viewers all over the world for the past 23 years, "Maalaala Mo Kaya" has legions of fans from different generations who cried, laughed, fell in love, and got inspired through the real-life narratives of the show's letter-senders.
Don't miss the longest-running drama anthology in Asia, "MMK," every Saturday, 7:15PM, after "Home Sweetie Home" on ABS-CBN.


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You can now invite anyone to meet at your favorite Starbucks.
Limited-time feature
36 year old man | Greenville, PA, USA | Seeking women 28-39 within 30 miles
Active within 24 hours
I am pretty sure this doesn't work.....
Divorced father of two. I am currently working two jobs and when I am not at work I have my kids. Needless to say this does not leave much time to go out and look for potential mates. I am a professional firefighter and I truly enjoy my job. I consider myself to be a pretty laid back person with a shy streak when you first meet me. My children are my priority in life and I do whatever I can do for them. I am a military veteran, I own my home, I have a job...those are god things, right? As far as what I am looking for.....Someone who understands that family comes first. My kids are my world and it is a package deal. Not only do you have to win me over, you have to win over my kiddos too. (give them a little love and attention and that part wont be difficult). Other than that I am looking for someone the girl next door type. Someone who has some amount of values, able to balance work/life/fun/responsibility. I may not be the symbol of health and fitness, but do workout regularly and try to stay healthy. I would prefer my potential date to do the same. Having a career, an education and being able to cook are also bonuses ;) Any questions, feel free to ask...
Camping , Coffee and conversation , Cooking , Fishing/Hunting , Movies/Videos , Music and concerts , Performing arts , Religion/Spiritual
Cycling, Golf, Running, Skiing, Walking / Hiking, Weights / Machines
I exercise 3-4 times per week.
I like Dogs
Like dogs, especially big lazy ones, but due to my work schedule cant really have one. Cats are a big no, since my oldest is allergic to them.
Middle of the Road
anyplace with my kids, whether it be my living room, or out and about. Not much on the bar scene anymore.
Other than spending time with my kids I enjoy fishing, camping, bike riding, running, working out, or just relaxing with friends.
I usually dont read much for pleasure. when I do read, its usually work related.
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|What he is looking for
|5'11" (180cms)
|5'0" (152cms) to 5'9" (175cms)
|Body type:
|Athletic and toned
|Slender, About average, Athletic and toned
|Black, Blue, Brown, Grey, Green, Hazel
|Dark brown
|Auburn / Red, Black, Light brown, Dark brown, Blonde, Salt and pepper, Dark blonde
|No Way
|No Way
|Social Drinker
|Social Drinker
|Political / Govt / Civil Service / Military
|No preference
|$50,001 to $75,000
|Less Than $25,000, $25,001 to $35,000, $35,001 to $50,000, $50,001 to $75,000, $75,001 to $100,000, $100,001 to $150,000, $150,001+
|Never Married, Widow / Widower, Currently Separated, Divorced
|Have kids:
|Yes, and they sometimes live at home (2)
|Yes, and they sometimes live at home, No, Yes, and they live at home
|Wants kids:
|Someday, Not sure, No, but it's OK if my partner has kids
|White / Caucasian
|White / Caucasian
|Christian / Protestant
|Christian / Catholic, Christian / Protestant, Christian / Other
|Associates degree
|Some college, Associates degree, Bachelors degree, Graduate degree, PhD / Post Doctoral
Currently trying to finish my bachelor's degree in fire science. contemplating a master's degree in something related to my job at some point in life.


text:
Page 6A
General says security permanent in Iraq's south
By Alan Gomez
BAGHDAD � The U.S. commander who oversees most of southern Iraq said Thursday that he believes recent security gains there are permanent � and that some of his troops are openly wondering why they're still there, even though he believes their presence remains crucial.
As the Obama administration considers how quickly to pull troops out of Iraq and shift some of them to Afghanistan, Maj. Gen. Michael Oates told reporters in Baghdad that his region of Iraq is seeing about two attacks on U.S. servicemembers each day � a 90% reduction compared with the worst periods of the nearly 6-year-old war.
Oates was asked whether the security gains made in the eight provinces he oversees are fragile and could quickly reverse course. He said no and cited the diminishing strength of Shiite extremist groups and al-Qaeda, as well as the Jan. 31 elections that were held with no major attacks.
"In southern Iraq, it's my considered opinion that (the progress) is not reversible," Oates said. The situation is less peaceful in parts of northern Iraq, particularly the city of Mosul, which commanders have called al-Qaeda in Iraq's last urban stronghold. A suicide car bomber there killed four U.S. servicemembers on Monday in the single deadliest attack on U.S. forces since May.
Violence has declined sharply in Baghdad, although car bombs there killed at least 12 people on Wednesday.
President Obama has said he plans to withdraw all combat troops from Iraq within 16 months of taking office, but he has left open the possibility of leaving some troops behind in an advisory capacity to train their Iraqi counterparts � a role Oates called instrumental.
The two-star general also said that Iran could still be a destabilizing influence in Iraq.
Although his troops still find artillery and roadside bombs known as explosively formed penetrators that are "fairly attributable" to Iran, Oates said those discoveries have decreased significantly. "The people in Iraq who used to receive these materials, I think, are fewer in number. Those who were inspired to commit violence are fewer in number," Oates said. "You connect all those pieces together, the evidence is fairly compelling that something has changed in southern Iraq with regards to malign Iranian influence."
Oates said that his troops' focus has shifted to training Iraqis and providing security for teams of diplomats and engineers.
Previously, Oates said "training" of Iraqi troops consisted of U.S. troops organizing an operation and, at the last minute, "they'd grab a couple of Iraqis and say, 'Come on.' " Now, Iraqis are leading all operations in the region with support from the Americans, he said.
That shift has led to some grumbling in the rank and file, Oates said.
"If you go out and talk to individual soldiers," he said, "you'll get some anecdotal reports back about, 'Wow, I'm not doing what I thought I was going to be doing,' or, 'This isn't what I signed up to do.' "
However, Oates said the new missions were aimed at addressing what he views as the largest remaining threat to security in the area � the failure of local governments to provide their citizens with basic services such as electricity and water.
So while he understands that a U.S. servicemember who has been trained in combat may become bored helping Iraqis get their economy or government in order, he said such actions are now the most critical way of stabilizing the country.
"We're not going to let an infantry guy sit on a (base) if he can go out there and help with a veterinarian inoculating goats," Oates said.
"Now it's not what he signed up to do. I got it. (But) if inoculating somebody's goat is going to cause (an Iraqi) to connect with their government and not pick up an AK-47, that is security."
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Mikki's Reviews > The Map of Love
The Map of Love
by Ahdaf Soueif, أهداف سويف
by Ahdaf Soueif, أهداف سويف
Mikki's review
Jul 29, 08
Recommended for: Anyone whom has time
Read in August, 2007
I visited Cairo and also the UK , so I thought Id love this book. I never got to finish it even thought the storyline is good I couldn't get into it, maybe one day I'll finish it, but for now Im letting it rest..
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Personally, I thought this book was overrated and boring. I was surprised that it was a Booker finalist. I found the story contrived and difficult to get into, and I also felt that the author's agenda detracted from her writing. Life's short -- I think there are a lot of other books which are actually worth the effort of getting into. But if you do revisit it and find that you like it, I'd love to hear why!


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Special Order items generally ship within 4 weeks directly from the manufacturer and are not eligible for next day delivery shipping. Made to order, this item is non-refundable.
A lost art form, vintage travel posters depicted both faraway places and the best stateside spots, such as Lake Tahoe illustrated here.


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The slothful joys of Costa Rica's coast
The Caribbean coast of Costa Rica is known for reggae music, Jamaican food and an edgy vibe that occasionally spills over into violence.
To us, it sounded like an adventure to spice things up after a week on the more popular Pacific coast of this Central American country.
In small towns a couple hours south of Puerto Limon, where Columbus docked for 17 days in 1502, my husband, David, and I found reggae music blasting out of bars and the best food we had tasted anywhere in the country. But edginess? Not at all. --Melissa Allison. Mcclatchy-Tribune
16 great grilling recipes 29 cool cocktails to try this summer LI's dog parks: Where Fido can roam freely Hangin' in the Hamptons: July 2015 49 LI dogs you can adopt right now Peek into Long Island's most lavish homes Your pet photos: Adorable dogs, cats and more Fourth of July sales going on this weekend 6 Fire Island getaways How to grill the perfect burger Travel gear and gadgets Good buys for foodies


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2001 Pontiac Montana Q&A
2001 Pontiac Montana Question: No A.C.
A.C. worked fine last year but nothing now. I tried putting in refrigerant but it never cooled off after 48 oz. I turn it on now you hear what sounds like a vac. sound coming from in the dash after I put in the refrigerant. Compresser is turning on. - Redrocker
Answer 1
Sounds like you have a leaking evaporator core. Check the RepairPrice Estimator for a free repair estimate: http://repairpal.com/estimator - Bret Bodas
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Original recipe yields 4 servings
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Well ... this was pretty ho-hum so I added another half t basil & ... well, still not too impressed. It was edible, but won't be a repeat. I made the mistake of not taking out the bay leaf in ...


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Hello Anto & Pier, thanks for your kind comment and ♥.
Kind regards, Reiner
great scenery - L I K E - Greetings from Rome - Gianni -
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Hi Giannino Lux, thanks for the kind comment and the ♥!
Best regards, Reiner
Photo taken in Gruga Park, Virchowstraße 167, 45147 Essen, Germany
Gruga Park