PRO 20-05-2012_Layout 1 5/20/2012 4:00 AM Page 1
Historic Facebook debut falls flat Page 02
profit.com.pk
Sunday, 20 May, 2012
DEMANDS LEFT, RIGHT AND CENTRE
Budget brawl boils over SAARC chambers demand balanced budget ISLAMABAD
V
ONLINE
ICE President SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry Iftikhar Ali Malik on Saturday said government should introduce a budget that can trigger economic activity in the country. There is a break in growth since few years while the economy continues to nosedive with which is a matter of great concern for the business community, he said. Speaking to business community at FPCCI Capital Office, Iftikhar Ali Malik said that foreign funds and investments have dried up which call for focused efforts to mobilise domestic resources. Secretary General SAARC CCI Iqbal Tabish, Chairman Media Malik Sohail and others were also present on the occasion. Malik proposed a powerful economic revival council comprising former finance ministers, governors of SBP, chairmen FBR, judges, business leaders, and technocrats which can guide government on economic matters. Politicians have failed to deliver therefore experts should be allowed to steer country away from the economic mess, he said adding that Indonesian model can be followed after slight changes. The veteran business leader said that high interest rates and inflation are the natural outcome of this heavy borrowing which must be
curtailed. Banks are ignoring productive sectors to finance government expenditure which continues to compromise developmental expenditure for
non-developmental spending, he observed. Iftikhar Ali Malik said that tendency of printing money is killing all efforts to stimulate growth while critical infrastructure continues to deteriorate. Inability of government to address energy crisis is playing havoc with all sectors, especially industries and exporters, he observed. He said that energy crisis is result of mismanagement as defaulters continue to enjoy electric supply. Priority should be given to education, health, and water supply, unproductive expenditure should be reduced and printing currency should be stopped to guarantee gradual improvement, he said. He said that business community is looking forward for a balanced budget which can turn around economic situation. At the occasion, Malik Sohail said that authorities should ensure that overall deficit does not exceed 5 per cent of the GDP. The PSDP should be two per cent of the GDP which should not be axed due to political considerations. Government should aim to redistribute the benefits towards poor and all general subsidies should be immediately replaced with targeted subsidies, said Sohail. Budget proposals should not be a useless ritual; they said adding that Pakistan cannot afford to waste more time. Malik Sohail said that influential sectors should be taxed in the budget while small traders should be spared.
ICCI wants focus on Direct Tax in forthcoming budget ISLAMABAD NNI
Government should maintain an appropriate balance between direct and indirect taxes as ever-increasing burden of indirect taxes have adversely affected common man and businesses as well. Yassar Sakhi Butt, President Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) has stated this in a statement. He said that the government must increase its dependence on direct taxes and move away from indirect taxes because any further increase in indirect taxes would not only be inequitable but it may also have negative consequences for the overall economy. He said that indirect taxes currently account for more than 60 percent of the total revenues while direct taxes to GDP ratio was merely 2 percent which has been badly affecting consumer spending that is a key driver of economic growth. Therefore, Government should not levy more indirect taxes in upcoming budget of 2012-13 on consumers and other sectors of the economy and ensure an equitable and transparent taxation system, he maintained. President ICCI underlined the need for revamping the taxation system of the country on the modern and progressive lines, which is essential for controlling inflation on a sustained basis. He said that Government should also abolish a number of indirect taxes which were being charged from the valueadded industries for enabling them to compete in the international market as levying of various indirect taxes on these industrial units were causing serious threat by increasing cost of production of export-oriented industries. Yassar Sakhi Butt stressed upon the Government to bring down the rate of turnover tax in the upcoming federal budget and take innovative steps to bring sectors of the economy into the tax-net which were currently not being taxed and rendering a permanent revenue shortfall in the National Exchanger. ICCI President said that proactive measures should be introduced to plug the leakages and loopholes in the prevailing tax system rather than adopting the policy of increasing the tax base through broadening the ratio of indirect taxes.
OIL OOPS
Burning the midnight oil… g
Crude down, hits biggest 3-wk loss since Aug ‘11 NEW YORK
O
REUTERS
Il futures fell on the drumbeat from global stock markets, which erased the year’s gains as investors pared holdings for safehaven assets such as gold, on growing concerns about the euro zone debt crisis. On Wall Street, equities dipped after a messy opening-day trade for social networking darling Facebook (FB.O) failed to lift the spirits of investors. .N U.S. gasoline futures bucked the day’s trend in energy markets, gaining slightly after six days of losses and climbing above its 200-day moving average after falling below that level on Thursday for the first time since February. Oil investors were cautious ahead of the G8 summit this weekend where U.S. President Barack Obama was reported by Japanese news agency Kyodo to be seeking support for tapping the release of emergency oil reserves ahead of the European Union’s July embargo of Iranian crude. Obama will host the G8 meeting at Camp David in Maryland.
Reversal of the Seaway pipeline was completed earlier this week and its first crude oil headed for Houston from Cushing, Oklahoma, is expected to flow by the weekend, according to owners Enterprise Products (EPD.N) and Enbridge Inc (ENB.TO). Anticipation of the landmark move, which was expected to help ease the glut in Midwest crude stockpiles, had reduced Brent’s spread against U.S. crude in recent days, but on Friday, the spread widened, amid caution from analysts that impact of the reversal could be slow to hit the U.S. oil markets. FUNDAMENTALS: On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude for June delivery, which expires on Tuesday, settled at $91.48 a barrel, falling $1.08, or 1.17 percent. For the week, it slid $4.65, or 4.84 percent, down for the a third in a row. In three weeks, front-month U.S. crude has slumped $13.45, or 12.82 percent, the biggest three-week loss since the week to August 14, 2011, when prices dropped 14.54 percent. In london, ICE July Brent crude settled at $107.14 a barrel, edging down 35 cents, or 0.33 percent, the lowest close for front-month Brent since the December
20, 2011 settlement at $106.73 and extending losses to a third straight week. In three weeks, front-month Brent has fallen $12.69, or 10.59 percent, its biggest three-week drop since the week to May 20, 2011, when prices ended 10.72 percent lower. July Brent’s premium against U.S. July crude widened to $15.34, from $14.55 on Thursday, as Brent fell far less than U.S. crude. NYMEX June heating oil fell 1.90 cents, or 0.67 percent, to settle at $2.83 a gallon, dropping for the third consecutive day. For the week, the contract fell 13.36 cents, or 4.51 percent, stretching weekly
losses a third week. In three weeks, front-month heating oil dropped 35.07 cents, or 11.03 percent, the biggest three-week loss since the week to May 8, 2011, when prices fell 11.94 percent. NYMEX June RBOB gasoline settled at $2.8895 a gallon, up 1.13 cents, or 0.39 percent, snapping a six-day losing streak. However, for the week, the contract fell 11.13 cents, or 3.71 percent, biggest since the loss of 7.19 percent in the week to May 4. The loss followed a small gain of 0.84 percent in the week to May 11. Hedge funds and big speculators cut
their bullish bets on U.S. crude oil and options by 12,789 contracts, to 140,936, in the week to May 15, hitting the lowest level since late 2010, according to a weekly report from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The number of oil drilling rigs in the United States rose 10 to 1,382 last week, the highest level in 25 years, according to a weekly report from oil services firm Baker Hughes. U.S. petroleum consumption fell 0.3 percent in April from a year ago, to 18.549 million barrels per day and gasoline usage climbed for the third month in a row, the American Petroleum Institute said. Iraq’s oil exports from is southern ports have slipped by 170,000 bpd so far this month, according to shipping data tracked by Reuters, although Iraq hopes remain it will sustain shipments at April’s record rate. MARKETS NEWS: Gold rose more than 1 percent, on track for its largest twoday gain since October as investors consolidated their positions ahead of the weekend and amid a stronger euro. U.S. stocks fell after a sloppy debut by Facebook Inc (FB.O) failed to brighten the mood on Wall Street. .N The euro rallied from a four-month low against the dollar as investors pared bets against the single currency after a more than 3 percent drop this month, but concerns about the euro zone were likely to keep it under pressure. Copper fell for a third straight week, having lost 4.5 percent of its value over the past five days, on fears Europe’s spiraling debt crisis and China’s slowdown will erode demand for metals.
PRO 20-05-2012_Layout 1 5/20/2012 4:00 AM Page 2
Sunday, 20 May, 2012
02 news Historic Facebook debut falls flat SAN FRANCISCO REUTERS
T
HE historic initial public offering of Facebook Inc did not go as planned on Friday, as the social networking company’s sky-high valuation combined with trading glitches left the stock languishing near its offering price at the market close. Facebook shares began trading late Friday morning and opened 11 percent above the $38 offering price, but after peaking at about $45 slid rapidly at the end of the day to close at $38.23. The IPO was the third-largest in U.S. history and valued eight-year-old Facebook at $104 billion. The surprisingly weak debut of a stock that analysts had predicted would climb between 10 and 50 percent is not likely to dent the business prospects of Facebook, which boasts 900 million users and is upending business practices and social relationships around the world. But the unexpected developments were a clear setback for Morgan Stanley, the lead underwriter on the deal, which sources said was forced to defend the $38 price level by buying shares on the open market. Many market participants said they expected the stock to remain under pressure next week. The offering also proved an embarrassment for the NASDAQ: the opening was delayed as the exchange struggled with a huge volume of orders, and for much of the day there were long delays in order confirmation. The SEC said late Friday that it was reviewing the situation. Social media companies and Internet companies that had hoped to benefit from a Facebook halo effect were instead dragged down Friday, with social gaming giant Zynga dropping almost 15 percent. Analysts said Facebook may simply have over-reached in raising the IPO price range, pricing at the top of the range and increasing the size of the offering earlier in the week. “The underwriters got greedy on behalf of selling shareholders and bumped the price high enough that they didn’t get much of a bump on the first day,” said Bill Smead, chief investment officer at Smead Capital Management, which did not buy Facebook shares in the IPO. “They increased the size of the deal and that really did a number on it.” Skeptics have argued all along that a valuation of more than $100 billion — about equivalent to Amazon.com Inc and exceeding that of Hewlett-Packard Co and Dell Inc combined — was far too high for a company that posted $1 billion in
profit and $3.7 billion in revenue in 2011. Concerns about Facebook’s earnings potential were highlighted by General Motors’ announcement this week that it would no longer buy paid advertising on Facebook. “You don’t need more than a small pencil and napkin to do a valuation on this, to say there are heroic assumptions in earnings growth to keep this at $100 billion, much less $115 billion or $120 billion,” said Dave Rolfe, fund manager at River Park Wedgewood Fund, which does not own shares in Facebook. “I know there’s a lot of excitement and exuberance, but it seemed today that the market is starting to do some hard valuation math early on.”
on Friday morning. Wearing his trademark black hoodie, Zuckerberg, whose shares are worth nearly $20 billion and who retains voting control over the company, hugged and high-fived Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer, who is credited with bringing crucial business discipline to a company founded in a Harvard dorm room. The area outside Facebook’s offices was packed with photographers, more than a dozen television trucks, and a TV news helicopter hovering overhead. Outside Nasdaq headquarters in New York, crowds also gathered, even as exchange officials struggled to sort out trading problems that left investors guessing whether their buy and sell orders had ac-
“That group also includes people who over-extended themselves in getting more shares than they can afford to hold — whether they got it from the syndicate or from the open market once it opened around noon.” Still, from Facebook’s perspective, the stock performance could be seen as reflecting smart pricing: Zuckerberg and early investors pocketed maximum gains and left little of the easy money on the table. “You want to price the offering correctly. Institutional buyers get a little bump and the company raises the right amount of money,” said Kevin Hartz, cofounder and CEO of Eventbrite, an online ticketing startup that is integrated with Facebook’s platform. “If the stock has a
Facebook’s opening day on Wall Street does not bode well for the stock’s performance in the days ahead, said Channing Smith, portfolio manager at Capital Advisors Growth, which does not own shares in Facebook. “If you’re an investment banker or if you’re long the stock, I would definitely be a bit worried as we walk away to the weekend,” he said. The weak IPO may also give pause to private investors in Silicon Valley who have been pouring money into next-generation Internet companies at very high valuations in the hope of eventually taking them public. MEDIA CIRCUS: At Facebook’s headquarters in Silicon Valley, the day began with company founder and Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, 28, symbolically ringing the opening bell for stock trading
tually been executed. The IPO minted thousands of new paper millionaires among Facebook’s 3,500 employees — and a handful of billionaires among its founders and early investors. More than half of the proceeds of the IPO will go to existing shareholders, including early backers such as Accel Partners and Russia’s DST Global. In the run-up to the IPO, demand from institutional investors was strong, and many analysts had expected an influx of retail investors keen on owning a slice of a cultural phenomenon regardless of price. But that did not materialize. “Flippers who waited all day for a pop that did not come decided to throw in the towel and get out,” said Mohannad Aama, managing director at Beam Capital Management llC in New York.
massive bump on day one, that means you misread market demand and the company could have raised more money with the same amount of dilution, or could have raised the same amount of money with less dilution.” BATTlE OF THE GIANTS: Facebook faces many challenges as it takes its place beside Google, Apple and Amazon as one of the giant public companies defining the next-generation Internet economy. Google in particular views Facebook as a mortal threat and is moving aggressively to integrate social networking features across its products. At the same time, scores of young companies are building new products and services, in some cases on top of the Facebook platform and in some cases in competition with it, and attracting huge
amounts of investment capital. A handful of such so-called Web 2.0 companies, including Zynga Inc, linkedIn Corp, Yelp Inc and Groupon Inc, have already gone public, and others have been acquired by the industry giants. All of those stocks fell on Friday in sympathy with Facebook’s weaker-thanexpected debut. In an indication of the land grab now under way in the Internet world, Facebook in April spent $1 billion to acquire Instagram, a tiny photo-sharing company with lots of users but no revenue. A Facebook rival, social scrap-booking site Pinterest, raised money earlier this week at a valuation of $1.5 billion in a sign that venture capitalists and other private investors still see enormous potential in Web 2.0 companies. Many of Facebook’s users spend hours a day on the site and share enormous amounts of personal information. That in turn enables Facebook to target its advertising to people’s specific interests, and many analysts believe the huge store of personal information gives Facebook an advantage that Google and other cannot match. “literally everything you see on the Internet, you could see inside Facebook — but done with much more of the social graph built into it,” said Siva Kumar, CEO of e-commerce company TheFind. “In a way, they operate the mall, and everybody in the mall will pay some way or the other to Facebook.” Analysts say the company has vast untapped opportunities in mobile computing, where it has been weak thus far, and potentially in other Internet services such as email and search. Zuckerberg, though unproven as a public company CEO, is widely admired as a product visionary who has done a masterful job in continually improving the Facebook experience. Skeptics, though, note that only a small percentage of Facebook users respond to advertising on the site. Google retains a big advantage in that regard, because advertising related to specific Internet searches is by nature far more relevant and thus more valuable. In Silicon Valley, though, the conventional wisdom is that Facebook and its social media brethren will be an increasingly important force in the business world for many years to come. And no matter how the industry dynamics unfold over the long term, the influx of wealth arising from Facebook’s extraordinary growth has already helped drive a mini-boom in San Francisco Bay Area real estate. Income tax revenues related to the IPO will cut the state of California’s budget deficit by an estimated $2 billion.
Who is responsible for the Greek tragedy? MOhAMED A EL-ERIAN
G
REECE is following the road taken by several other crisis-ridden emerging economies over the past 30 years. Indeed, , there are stunning similarities between this once-proud eurozone member and Argentina prior to its default in 2001. With an equally traumatic implosion – economic, financial, political, and social – now taking place, we should expect heated debate about who is to blame for the deepening misery that millions of Greeks now face. There are four suspects – all of them involved in the spectacular boom that preceded what will unfortunately prove to be an even more remarkable bust. Many will be quick to blame successive Greek governments led by what used to be the two dominant political parties, New Democracy on the right and PASOK on the left. Eager to borrow their country to prosperity, they racked up enormous debts while presiding over a dramatic loss of competitiveness and, thus, growth potential. Some even sought to be highly economical with the truth, failing to disclose the true extent of their budgetary
slippages and indebtedness. Having borrowed far too much after joining the eurozone in 2001, New Democracy and PASOK let their citizens down when adjustments and reforms were needed after the 2008 global financial crisis. An initial phase of denial was followed by commitments that could not be met (indeed, that some argued should not be met, owing to faulty program design). The resulting erosion in Greece’s international standing amplified the hardship that citizens were starting to feel. Hold on, I hear you say. For every debt incurred there is a credit extended. You are right. Greece’s private creditors were more than happy to pour money into the country, only to shirk their burden-sharing responsibilities when the artificial boom could no longer be sustained. The overlending was so widespread that at one point it drove down the yield differential between Greek and German bonds to just six basis points – a ridiculously low level for two countries that differ so fundamentally in terms of economic management and financial conditions. Overeager creditors willingly underwrote this absurd risk premium. Yet,
when it became abundantly clear that Greece’s debt burden had been taken to insolvency levels, creditors delayed the moment of truth. They dragged their feet when it came to the critical agreement on orderly burden-sharing (that is, acceptance of a “haircut” on private-sector claims on Greece). And the longer they did that, the more money left Greece without any intention of returning. But neither the Greek government nor its private creditors acted in a vacuum. Both took comfort from the political cover provided by the European unification effort – an historic initiative aimed at securing the continent’s well-being through closer economic and political integration on the basis of credible rules and effective institutions. On both counts – rules and institutions – the eurozone fell short of what was required. Remember, the large core economies (France and Germany) were among the first members to breach the budgetary rules that were established when the euro was launched. And European institutions proved toothless when it came to enforcing compliance. All of this served to sustain the fantasy world that both Greece and its creditors happily inhabited for far too long.
Europe also failed to react properly when it became obvious that Greece was starting to teeter. European government counterparts failed to converge on a common assessment of the country’s problems, let alone cooperate on a proper response. While they grudgingly loosened their purse strings to support Greece, the underlying motives were too shortsighted, and the resulting approach was strategically flawed and abysmally coordinated. Finally, there was the International Monetary Fund, the institution charged with safeguarding global financial stability and being a trusted adviser to individual countries. It appears that the IMF succumbed too easily to political pressures during both the boom and the bust. Political expediency seems to have trumped analytical robustness, undermining both the Fund’s direct beneficial role and its function as a policy and financial catalyst. On the surface, each of the four suspects has an individual case for arguing that the finger of blame should be pointed elsewhere. They could even argue that, at worst, they were uninformed accomplices. But that is not really right. None of the four can avoid the reality
that Greece’s collapse would not have occurred had they not been complacent during the boom and, subsequently, fulfilled their responsibilities during the bust so poorly. They sucked each other into a sense of false prosperity, only to trip each other up during the inevitable downturn. Now, one hopes, all four will be held properly accountable by their stakeholders and undertake serious selfevaluation. Most likely, they will end up getting off too easy, especially compared to the real victims of this historic tragedy – the most vulnerable segments of the Greek population, who will become much worse off, today and for many years to come, as jobs disappear, savings evaporate, and livelihoods are destroyed. And they may not be alone. Millions of others may experience collateral damage, as financial contagion risks spreading to other European countries and to the global economy as a whole. In a fairer world, these vulnerable citizens would be entitled to claw back the salaries, official privileges, and bonuses that the four parties to blame enjoyed for too long. In the world as it is, they are a compelling lesson for the future. Courtesy: Project Syndicate
PRO 20-05-2012_Layout 1 5/20/2012 4:00 AM Page 3
Sunday, 20 May, 2012
news
03
Gold jumps, heads for biggest Euro zone 2-day gain since October policy action becoming critical GLOBAL MARKETS WEEKAHEAD
NEW YORK/LONDON
G
REUTERS
OlD rose more than 1 percent on Friday, on track for its largest two-day gain since October, boosted by investors’ consolidation of positions ahead of the weekend and a stronger euro. The second day of gains helped bolster confidence, which had been shaken by gold’s fall earlier this week to a four-month low at $1,527 an ounce, near critical long-term support levels. But traders remained cautious given how the escalating crisis in Europe has driven the single currency lower this month. “There is still no conviction in the market. If gold was a safe haven, it should be higher. Physical demand is mediocre and the Europeans want the dollar, which is why it is so strong,” a physical U.S. gold trader said. The psychologically important $1,600-perounce mark remained elusive. It got close, hitting an intraday high of $1,597.4 an ounce in late morning, before meeting technical resistance and easing back to around $1,590. Spot gold was up 1 percent at $1,588.96 an ounce at 2:06 p.m. EDT, while U.S. gold futures for June delivery settled 1.08 percent higher at $1,591.9. That takes gold up 0.6 percent on the week,
snapping two weeks of losses, and brings it back to positive territory year-to-date, with a 1.5-percent rise. While it was a far cry from the 14-percent gain in February when prices came close to $1,800 an ounce, bullion outpaced the U.S. equity market after Facebook’s much-anticipated debut stumbled after a delayed opening. Trading on Friday returned to familiar trends, tracking the euro,
which recovered from four-month lows against the dollar, though concerns over a Greek euro exit and instability in the Spanish banking system weakened confidence. MOMENTUM KEY: “To see a return of gold reacting positively to macro stresses is indeed refreshing, but it is still far too early to make any firm conclusions from here that gold has indeed turned the corner,” UBS said in a note. “Momentum will be key, and follow-
through buying will have to kick in to encourage investors to jump in.” Holdings of gold-backed exchange-traded funds tracked by Reuters, which issue securities backed by physical metal, edged up 76,000 ounces on Thursday, but remained under the 70-million-ounce level they slipped below a week ago. Among other precious metals, silver gained 2.18 percent at $28.64 an ounce. The gold/silver ratio, which measures the number of silver ounces needed to buy an ounce of gold, touched 56.6 this week, its highest since late December, easing back on Friday to around 56 as silver outperformed gold in a rising market. Spot platinum was up 0.53 percent at $1,452.75 an ounce, while spot palladium put on 0.54 percent at $601.22 an ounce. Both metals underperformed surging gold prices, with the gold:platinum ratio rising to a 3-1/2-month high at 1.09. As chiefly industrial metals used in autocatalysts, platinum and palladium are more exposed than gold to the economic cycle, and have suffered from a lack of car demand in recent years. Industry players gathered in london for Platinum Week this week were pessimistic that prices would recover soon. In a rare positive story for the metal, a senior official of Hong Kong-based jeweler luk Fook said China’s platinum jeweler market, the world’s largest, has great potential for growth as rising wealth fuels luxury product demand.
CORPORATE CORNER Mina Hasan’s Spring/Summer Collection Rania now in stores!
KARACHI: Mina Hasan’s spring/summer 2012 collection “Rania” is now available at the flagship stores in Karachi and lahore.The name Raniastems from various origins and is translated for ‘Queen’ in Indian mythology and being satisfied and contentedin the Arabic language. Indeed the collection exudes sedate glamour combining a variety of colours, embroidery and embellishments to make you stand. The collection resonates withradiant colours of the spring season with each outfit aiming to give a royal feel. As it plays on neutral, earthy shades the collection beautifully incorporates sharp colours in the form embroidery, embellishments and piping. The cuts in the outfit add an endless flow to fabrics whereas the nets and laces used create movement and translucency. Variations in fabric and the use of gemstones add a touch of royal elegance to each outfit.The line also plays on navy blue and peach with the heavier outfits as it integrates a lot of bling with neat embellishments. The aim has been to create a goddess like effect where each outfit is such that it shines through and stands out in a crowd.
EXPO 2012 Yeosu - The epicenter of Ocean renaissance YEOSU: The International Exposition Yeosu Korea 2012 will open for three months on May 12 in the New Port area, Yeosu, Jeollanam-do (South Jeolla Province). The International Exposition is intended to enhance the mutual understanding of humanity, improve welfare, and present a future vision for humanity. It is not an ordinary trade exhibition like others: It is an entirely global affair that represents coun-
tries, not corporations, and it promotes the name branding of every participating country. For this reason, the Expo is often referred to as “the economic and cultural Olympics,” and even called, “one of the three major international festivals,” along with the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup. More than 100 countries will participate in Expo 2012 Yeosu to present their latest ocean technologies and join the discussion to improve the ocean environment. The International Exposition is authorized by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE). Expo Yeosu 2012 has special meaning to the Republic of Korea as hosting the event proves that it has gained a significant presence in the international community, which enables it to present to the world critical issues facing humanity and seek common solutions to them with other countries. The theme of EXPO 2012 Yeosu is “The living Ocean and Coast.” Issues concerning the ocean environment, such as the worsening ocean pollution, destruction of ocean ecosystems, and the rise in sea level, affect the entire world. EXPO 2012 Yeosu seeks to find a solution for such common challenges and present a new vision for the ocean environment and a new ocean culture.
15-year-old creates non-invasive pancreatic cancer detection tool ISLAMABAD: Jack Andraka, 15, of Crownsville, USA. was awarded first place for his new method to detect pancreatic cancer at this year’s Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, a program of Society for Science & the Public. Based on diabetic test paper, Jack created a simple dip-stick sensor to test blood or urine to determine whether or not a patient has early-stage pancreatic cancer. His study resulted in over 90 percent accuracy and showed his patent-pending sensor to be 28 times faster, 28 times less expensive and over 100 times more sensitive than current tests. Jack received the Gordon E. Moore Award, named in honor of Intel co-founder and retired chairman and CEO of $75,000. From Pakistan, Shiza Gulab, Mahnoor Hassan and Bushra Shahed from Institute of Computer and Management Sciences were winners of a fourth place grand award in the animal sciences category and awarded $500.00 for their project entitled ‘energy square for cattle’. Two students, Nicholas Schiefer, 17, of Pickering, Ontario, Canada and Ari Dyckovsky,
18, of leesburg, Va, USA., each received the Intel Foundation Young Scientist Award of $50,000. Nicholas studied what he calls “microsearch,” or the ability to search the fastestgrowing information medium: small amounts of content, such as tweets and Facebook status updates. Through his research, Nicholas hopes to improve search engines’ capabilities, which will in turn improve access to information. Ari investigated the science of quantum teleportation. He found that once atoms are linked through a process called “entanglement,” information from one atom will just appear in another atom when the quantum state of the first atom is destroyed. Using this method, organizations requiring high levels of data security, such as the National Security Administration, could send an encrypted message without running the risk of interception because the information would not travel to its new location; it would simply appear there.
Bahria Town puts Pakistan on the Global Real Estate map LAHORE: Bahria Town wins Five Prestigious Awards in Kuala lumpur Malaysia at the “Asia Pacific International Property Awards 201213” Bahria Town, Asia’s largest private real estate developer, has won five highly prestigious awards under various categories in Kuala lumpur, Malaysia at the recently held official award ceremony for Asia Pacific International Property Awards 2012-13, the world’s most prestigious competition recognized as the highest standard of excellence throughout the global industry. Bahria Town was the only property developer from Pakistan to win the prestigious property awards. Out of the five accolades two received were in the “Five Star” category whilst the other three were ranked as “Highly Commended”, another great achievement and proud moment Bahria Town earns for Pakistan. The awards are a sure proof that Bahria Town standards are at par with the global standards. Speaking on the achievement, Malik Riaz Hussain, Chairman Bahria Town, said “This is an extremely proud moment for not only Bahria Town but the entire nation. We are honored to be a part of a historical moment in real estate sector of Pakistan. The accolades are a testament of the exceptional standards maintained in all our developments. We will Inshallah continue to deliver world class projects exceeding everyone’s expectations.”
LONDON REUTERS
The now familiar European cycle of crisis followed by political action, temporary respite, then another crisis enters that crucial second stage next week when leaders of the 27-member European Union seek solutions in Brussels. Investors will also be concerned with how hard the crisis is hitting the euro economy, with flash estimates of business activity due from the latest purchasing managers’ surveys, and with the view from Bank of Japan policymakers meeting in Tokyo. The potential for a Greek euro exit and the deteriorating health of the Spanish banking system have fueled a growing sense among investors that the crisis in the 17-member currency bloc is nearing new heights. “This whole European situation has been managed via crisis,” said Didier SaintGeorges, a member of the investment committee of Carmignac Gestion, which has about 50 billion euros ($64 billion) under management. “You only make progress each time after getting pretty close to the cliff.” “The key thing is whether a crisis will be big enough that it derails the global picture. That is the question and the one that matters the most,” he said. Fears that the euro zone disruption will upset global growth were behind a worldwide shift out of riskier assets in the past week that drove global stocks, as measured by the MSCI index, .MIWD00000PUS to their lows for the year and the dollar to four-month highs. .DXY The selloff spread to areas of the world where growth prospects still inspire hope, with emerging market equities .MSCIEF at their lowest since December 2011 as they post their longest loss-making stretch since 2008. like many global asset allocators, Carmignac Gestion has adopted a defensive investment strategy in the current environment, hedging euro risks with the dollar and Japanese yen, and selecting stocks that are not exposed to the current macroeconomic risks to drive performance. “We do anticipate when we have these short term crises that they will have an impact on the market, but if they don’t have an impact on the real economy then over time we can still do pretty well in China or the U.S.,” Saint-Georges said. MUDDlED RESPONSE Muddling through is potentially the most likely outcome from the informal EU leaders’ dinner, but markets will be looking for some reassurance that a credible policy response is going to emerge at the formal EU Council summit in late June. “The leaders will speak
about growth measures, but major concrete measures are unlikely at this stage,” said Thomas Costerg an economist at Standard Charted Bank. Europe’s leaders are still at odds over the role of the new permanent euro zone bail-out fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), while France’s new president, Francois Hollande, is leading a dispute with Germany over the bloc’s ‘fiscal compact’ to enforce government budget discipline. While the politicians discuss a response to the crisis, investors have sought comfort in the idea that the European Central Bank will act to prevent any major financial accident. But after it pumped over a trillion euros ($1.27 trillion) into the region’s banks so far this year, the threshold for further action from the central bank could be quite high. “The more they look at what they’ve done thus far, the more they’re finding they’ve just shoveled money into a never ending hole,” Jeff Sica, president and chief investment officer of SICA Wealth Management, an independent wealth manager said. “The ECB has to look at the French election (outcome) and what’s going on and say ‘nobody is willing to do anything except stand there and wait for us to give them more money’,” he said. CONTAGION FEARS: The Bank of Japan may shed some light on how policymakers are gauging the repercussions of the euro zone crisis. The central bank is not expected to make any change in its current asset purchase plan after the program was extended at the last meeting but it could hint at a future response if it judges the global outlook is worsening. Japan’s Nikkei index .N225 shed 3 percent on Friday to log a seventh straight week of losses, its longest such run since the third quarter of 2001. Flash estimates of the latest Purchasing Manager’s indexes (PMIs) for Germany, France and the euro zone on May 24 are expected to show troubled economies in the euro south still shrinking sharply but that Germany, the region’s dominant economy, remains on track for growth. The influential German Ifo survey of business sentiment for May, also due on May 24, will provide further clarity on whether Germany is at risk of losing momentum because of the crisis. Economists polled by Reuters in the past week said they expect the euro area’s total GDP to contract modestly in the second quarter after it stagnated in the first three months of the year.