New York (AFP) - Chinese online retail giant Alibaba priced its stock at $68 on Thursday, setting in motion a record-breaking public offering of up to $25 billion, sources said.
The company, set to begin trading Friday on the New York Stock Exchange, priced at the top of the range of $66-$68 per share announced earlier this week, according to sources familiar with the mega deal.
James Franco has pretty much done it all. He's acted, directed, written, sang, taught, and the list continues.
But like many young, aspiring actors, Franco has done some crazy things to try to make his cinematic dreams come true. He once wanted to work with Jack Nicholson so badly, that he tried to make himself look like the 77-year-old actor so that he could play his son in a movie.
Wednesday night, Franco kicked off a new project he's been working on with AOL called "Making a Scene with James Franco." The original series, which mashes up famous movie scenes for hilariously ridiculous recreations, will be rolled out in three batches of short episodes, and Franco helped launch the first three episodes with a live Q&A session.
During the Q&A session, one Twitter fan asked Franco who he always wanted to work with, and Franco was quick to answer:
At one point Jack Nicholson was supposed to be in that Tim Burton movie Big Fish, and there was a character of his son, which I think was eventually played by Billy Crudup. And I can remember when I was a young actor, I wanted to work with Jack Nicholson so badly that I got a photo of young Jack Nicholson and then made myself look like him. I did the eyebrows and everything and sent those pictures into the casting director, but [Nicholson] didn’t do the movie and neither did I. Not that I think I look like him, but I just tried to make myself look like him.
SEE ALSO: JAMES FRANCO: Aspiring Actors Have It Much Easier Today Thanks To Technology
A man in Grand Prairie, Texas, is using the anonymous sharing app Whisper to document a standoff he's having with police, according to Whisper editor in chief Neetzan Zimmerman.
That man may be armed, according to NBC. Police have had a maroon SUV surrounded by armored police vehicles since around 1 p.m. CDT, and the man inside has been using the app Whisper to post things like "I have 50 cops around me" and "I'm going to die today."
You can see the scene on NBC:
The standoff reportedly started as a traffic stop that turned into a chase, though police have not said why officers tried to stop the man initially. Several streets are reportedly closed due to the standoff.
Zimmerman confirmed on Twitter that Whisper has been in contact with the individual, that the photos are original, and that Whisper would alert the authorities that the man was posting on Whisper.
He also said that Whisper would not be suspending his account.
@mikederismith he is replying to users who are urging him to surrender. keeping account open might help prevent tragedy.
— Neetzan Zimmerman (@neetzan) September 18, 2014Whisper's Josh Chavers shared some direct messages he had with the man in the standoff with Gawker. In the messages, the man tells Chavers that police first approached him because they thought that he wanted to kill himself.
Here are some of the man's Whisper posts:
Here are some more:
Tonight is Scottish referendum night, and we'll be covering it wall to wall with both our London- and New York-based teams.
If you want to play at home you should see this table below.
The first column is the election-night schedule, so you can see what each region will report their vote (note the time is local time). The second column gives a sense of how significant each region is, and the third column shows how likely each council is to vote yes.
Specifically, according to Credit Suisse:
As investors may be unfamiliar with the relative population size and political bias of East Dunbartonshire, for example, we provide estimates of relative electorate size and likely tendency towards a "Yes" vote, derived from support for the Scottish National Party in the 2012 local elections. We have excluded and show a range from 0 (the lowest local vote for SNP in 2012, excluding Orkney and Shetland where the vote was negligible) to 10 (highest local vote share for SNP).
So as numbers roll in tonight (or Friday morning, depending on where you are), you can use this table to see whether "yes" is performing strong in the places that matter.
The Harvard Crimson has a great in-depth dive into the culture surrounding CS50, the introductory computer science course that is currently the most popular class at Harvard with more than 800 students enrolled this semester.
According to The Crimson's Cordelia F. Mendez, CS50's prominent place in the Harvard course pantheon may allow it some leeway with college-wide rules. For example, while Harvard does not allow students to enroll in courses with conflicting schedules, the college has made an exception for students in CS50, who can watch professor David Malan's lectures online.
WATCH: YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki Explains How Harvard's Popular Computer Science Class Changed Her Life >>
However, as The Crimson points out, features such as taped lectures and elaborate stage presentations don't come cheap, and seem unique for a Harvard course, Mendez writes:
"With four producers, a manager, a handful of student photographers, and dozens of teaching fellows and course assistants, CS50 is no modest production. One would be hard pressed to think of another class in the College with its own staff of videographers and a full production team. No history class takes students to lunch at Fire + Ice weekly, as CS50 does each Friday. There's no live feed of one of N. Gregory Mankiw's rare Ec 10 lectures."
Often, this potential budgetary shortfall seems to be replaced with funding from outside tech companies, such as Facebook, Google, and Microsoft, among others:
"With dwindling resources in the humanities and a constant worry about the constraints of the [Faculty of Arts and Sciences] budget, it may seem troubling that CS50 comes across as a bit of a spendthrift. But while the School of Engineering and Applied Science, FAS, and [Division of Continuing Education] may foot the bill for many of the course's expenses, over a dozen tech corporations also kindly chip in ...
The class's website even include a note of "thanks to our sponsors," listing a dozen companies including Amazon Web Services, Dropbox, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft.
As The Crimson notes, companies such as Facebook will also sponsor specific events in the hopes of courting students:
"Another supplement to lectures are CS50's many events. Two weeks ago, with study cards yet to be printed and signed, recruiting was out in full force at Puzzle Day, a day of problem-solving, pizza, and prizes early in the semester designed to excite Harvard students about the class. Facebook frisbees and playing cards filled the tables and Mohammed Oosman, a New York-based university recruiter with the Zuckerberg empire, was present to open the ceremony, which Facebook has sponsored four years in a row."
A Harvard spokesperson told The Crimson that "Harvard will work alongside 'corporations, foundations, and the government' to provide funding for 'faculty...to pursue their own academic research interests and to advance the learning of our students,'" but did not provide a comment directly addressing CS50's funding.
When asked if this kind of financial involvement from outside sources is standard for Harvard courses, Professor Lewis wrote in an email to Business Insider that "I don't think it’s unusual in engineering programs for students to be working with donated equipment, etc. I'd say this is the least of the reasons why CS50 is unique!"
Whether this financial involvement is in keeping with Harvard's standards or not, it seems to be beneficial to the CS50 students. As The Crimson notes, "There is an implication in the branding of CS50 that the class is the first step toward future employability for students, a fact highlighted by the ease of applying to work for the course immediately after completing it. There is even a perceived pipeline to a career in Silicon Valley."
Read more about CS50 at The Harvard Crimson >>
SEE ALSO: The 50 Best Colleges In America
SEE ALSO: Here's Why More Than 800 Harvard Students Signed Up For A Notoriously Hard Computer Science Class
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Air Force boneyards appeal to the child in us. The rows of rusted out planes look like old, forgotten toys, which a child could reach out and grab and lift into the air again.
The feeling is even stronger for airmen.
In an excellent article in Airman Magazine, Air Force Tech. Sgt. Matthew Bates describes retired Col. Bill Hosmer admiring a derelict F-86 Sabre:
To retired Col. Bill Hosmer, it’s still beautiful. He walks around the old fighter and stares in admiration. He slides a hand over the warped metal fuselage and a flood of memories rush over him.
“I haven’t been this close to one of these in years,” he says. “Of course, that one was in a lot better shape.”
So was Hosmer. Time has weathered and aged them both, the plane’s faded paint and creased body match Hosmer’s own worn and wrinkled skin. Even the plane’s discarded wings stand as a metaphor for Hosmer’s own life now – a fighter pilot who can’t fly, standing next to a fighter jet with no wings.
The CIA recently declassified scores of articles from Studies in Intelligence, The Agency's internal journal on "historical, operational, doctrinal, and theoretical aspects of intelligence."
One undated article settles one of the most controversial incidents of the Cold War's often-panicked final decade: the 1983 "war scare" in which rhetoric of nearly unprecedented belligerence from Moscow may have been backed with a secret KGB protocol to remain on a state of alert nearly tantamount to a war-footing.
In an article with over a page of redactions in its declassified form, Ben B. Fischer, then of the CIA's Center for the Study of Intelligence, concluded that a long-rumored Soviet project codenamed RYAN, in which Soviet intelligence agencies were "placed on a permanent intelligence watch to monitor indications and warnings of US war-planning and preparations," was "for real."
Although RYAN was neither "panicky nor unprecedented" the Soviets still undertook "a crash effort [to] build a strategic warning system" at a time when the Kremlin was feeling increasing anxiety over the direction of the Cold War.
As Fischer writes, the US's 1980s military buildup — the largest peacetime expansion in American history — convinced top Soviet brass that whatever "window of opportunity" they had for winning the Cold War was rapidly closing. Developments like the US's Strategic Defense Initiative, or "Star Wars," were viewed in Moscow with a combination of wariness and fear. If actually deployed as a missile shield, Star Wars would erase the Soviets' first-strike nuclear potential and tip the Cold War irrevocably in America's favor. And if it were a cover for a new type of weapons system, Moscow would be at an equally severe disadvantage.
As Fischer recounts, Star Wars and the 1980s military buildup came along with another, far more covert shift in US Cold War policy: the beginning of US military operations meant to subtly undermine the increasingly fragile psychology of Kremlin leadership.
The early '80s psychological operation, or PSYOP campaign, was "practically invisible," Fischer writes, even to the CIA itself. The deeply secretive military effort involved covert US naval and air penetration of sensitive areas along the Soviet periphery backed with "sophisticated and carefully rehearsed deception and denial techniques"— overflights and ship movements meant to subtly project American power and assertiveness to the Soviet leadership at a time when the '70s detente between the powers was falling apart.
One of the era's major public crises in US-Soviet relations added another layer of paranoia and general alarm to an already toxic environment in Moscow. On Sept. 1, 1983, the Soviets shot down a Korean passenger plane in international airspace. Moscow publicly and somewhat implausibly claimed that they had identified the plane as an American intelligence aircraft believed to follow a similar flight path that was "unquestionably on a US or joint US-Japanese intelligence mission."
"Remarkably," writes Fischer, "a classified memorandum coordinated by the ministry of defense and the KGB shows that privately the Soviet leadership takes pretty much the same view."
The powers weren't necessarily staring into the abyss of imminent nuclear war. But the enhanced Soviet state of alert, the RYAN protocols, the PSYOPs program, and other wild-cards, like the Able Archer scare of November 1983, amounted to "the last paroxysm of the Cold War."
The paper leaves little doubt that the Soviets' anxieties in 1983 weren't just a propoganda ploy, and weren't artificially packaged for internal consumption. The country's leaders actually saw an air of immediate menace around even the smallest US actions — and around things the US hadn't done at all.
The paper is a reminder that nuclear weapons don't always have a balancing effect on global security. Without nukes, the borderline paranoia of a collapsing and distant regime would have been locally irksome, but irrelevant to the overall survival of the human race. With nukes, 1983 looks like an especially grim example of how the possession of the world's most powerful weapons doesn't always correlate with a government's propensity for rational analysis or action.
SEE ALSO: Here are the traits of Americans that the CIA worried could make the country vulnerable
Up to this point, many weight loss options outside of normal diet and exercise plans tend to be quite intrusive and require major surgery. This one is changing the game.
Earlier this month, Twitpic announced that it was shutting down on Sept. 25, citing a trademark dispute with Twitter.
But in a tweet today, the company announced that it has been acquired and will no longer be shutting its doors.
Twitpic has been around since 2008. It allowed you to share photos on Twitter long before you were natively allowed to do so from within Twitter.
The tweet didn't provide any further information, such as who the mystery buyer is or what happened to the trademark dispute.
We're happy to announce we've been acquired and Twitpic will live on! We will post more details as we can disclose them
— TwitPic (@TwitPic) September 18, 2014SEE ALSO: Photo-Sharing Service Twitpic Is Shutting Down And Blaming Twitter
German software giant SAP just acquired Concur Technologies, a travel and expense software provider, at a deal worth roughly $8.3 billion. SAP agreed to pay $129 per share, a 20% premium over Wednesday’s closing price.
Concur’s software helps the enterprise simplify its travel expense management. It has over 23,000 clients and 25 million active users across 150 countries, and is generally considered one of the largest companies in a sector called travel and expense (T&E) management software. In 2013, Concur had $545.8 million in sales for a net loss of $24.3 million.
“The combination of Concur and SAP will bring together the leading cloud-based Travel and Expense platform with the market-leading enterprise application software company, and we expect this union to drive significant value for our customers,” Concur CEO and Chairman Steve Singh wrote on the company blog.
Following today’s deal, SAP said it will have more than 50 million users in the cloud, which is more than any other enterprise cloud company. By measure of revenue, it will become the second-largest cloud company, it said.
Concur shares went up nearly 20% after hours, trading at $128.90 per share. SAP shares went up by $0.83, or just a little over 1%.
Here's the full press release:
WALLDORF, Germany and BELLEVUE, Washington – SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) and Concur Technologies, Inc. (NSDQ: CNQR) today announced that SAP’s subsidiary, SAP America, Inc., has entered into an agreement to acquire Concur. With more than 23,000 customers, 4,200 employees and 25 million active users in over 150 countries, Concur is the leader in the multi-billion market for travel and expense (T&E) management software. With Concur, SAP’s business network – the world’s largest – will transact more than US$600 billion annually, deliver frictionless commerce across more than 25 different industries and address annual corporate travel spend of US$1.2 trillion worldwide.
The Concur board of directors has unanimously approved the transaction, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter 2014 or the first quarter 2015, subject to Concur stockholder approval, clearances by the relevant regulatory authorities and other customary closing conditions. The per-share purchase price of US$129 represents a 20% premium over the September 17 closing price, a 21% premium over the one month volume weighted average price per share and an enterprise value of approximately US$8.3 billion. The transaction will be funded from a credit facility agreement of up to €7 billion to cover the purchase price, target debt refinancing and acquisition-related costs. The company has undergone an external credit rating process with two agencies. The results of this process will be published shortly.
“The acquisition of Concur is consistent with our relentless focus on the business network,” said Bill McDermott, CEO of SAP. “We are making a bold move to innovate the future of business within and between companies. With Ariba, Fieldglass and Concur, SAP is the undisputed business network company. We are redefining how businesses conduct commerce across goods and services, contingent workforces, travel and entertainment. With the SAP HANA platform, the possibilities to innovate new business models around Concur and the network are limitless.”
“Concur shares SAP’s vision to help our customers ‘Run simple’,” added McDermott. “Concur cloud solutions are network-based and enable context-aware applications for travelers to use on any mobile device. With Concur, people are given the professional courtesy and ultimate flexibility to make the choices that are right for them. No longer does cost control for companies have to come at the expense of people.”
“We have always been focused on making solutions for real customer problems, and with SAP we have a great opportunity to advance that mission,” said Steve Singh, CEO of Concur. “We are constantly seeking innovative ways to deliver the best customer experience and we’re excited about leveraging SAP technology, including HANA as we scale globally.”
Scaling the Business Network
Achieving Significant Business Synergies
Investing for Business Growth
According to a report published by NBC 4 New York on Thursday, federal prosecutors investigating the so-called "Bridgegate" scandal have found no link between the administration of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's (R) and the controversial closure of lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge last September.
The lane closures led to days of gridlock and delayed emergency responses in Fort Lee, New Jersey, which is at the base of the bridge. Some Democrats have alleged the closures were ordered to retaliate against Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich for declining to endorse Christie's re-election bid.
Documents subpoenaed by a state legislative committee investigating the closures found aides in the governor's office were involved in discussions about the shutdown. However, according to the report, "federal officials" said the probe has, thus far, " uncovered no information" Christie "either knew in advance or directed the closure of traffic lanes on the George Washington Bridge."
"Federal officials caution that the investigation begun nine months ago is ongoing and that no final determination has been made, but say that after nine months authorities have uncovered no information Christie either knew in advance or ordered the closure of traffic lanes," the report continued.
NBC New York said the office of New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman declined to comment on the story. Christie's office similarly declined to comment to Business Insider.
Lawyers hired by the governor's office conducted an internal investigation into the closures that was concluded in March. That probe concluded two officials "knowingly participated" in a scheme to "target" Sokolich by ordering the lane closures. However, the internal review also found"Christie did not know of the lane realignment beforehand and had no involvement in the decision to realign the lanes." That report was subsequently dismissed by many of Christie's critics.
Christie, who is widely seen as a potential Republican 2016 presidential candidate, saw his poll numbers drop due to the scandal. His numbers have since stabilized, but Marist pollster Lee Miringoff, who described the NBC New York report as "good news" for the governor, speculated he could still be hurt by Bridgegate.
"The bad news remains that politically as chief executive it looks like he was not in control of his administration at the time when this occurred. So that remains the downside for him," Miringoff told NBC. "That doesn’t go away but this panel provides greater credibility barring any further revelations coming out."
Update (7:10 p.m.):In a radio interview Thursday evening, Christie said the report validated his claim all along that he had no role in the scandal. "Obviously we'll wait to hear whatever the authorities have to say but this is a report that comes as no shock to me," he said. "I don't want to overreact to it, because I'm not surprised by it."
Last week, members of the drag community were outraged over Facebook's policy that forced them to use their legal names. Facebook deleted accounts, saying that only legal names were acceptable.
And this week, after meeting with Facebook reps, it looks like the fight isn't over.
Several Bay Area drag performers, along with Supervisor David Campos, met at Facebook's headquarters in Menlo Park on Wednesday to discuss the policy with Facebook reps.
The performers were going to protest this week in San Francisco. The protest was postponed because Facebook agreed to meet with performers and discuss the policy.
But Facebook declined to change the policy. Performers' accounts will be reinstated for two weeks, during which time they can decide if they want to provide their legal names or set up fan pages for themselves.
One person affected by the policy was Sister Roma, one of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, an LGBT organization focused on community service and drag performances, that's been around since the 1970s. Roma says she was suspended from the site until she changed her name to her legal name, which is Michael Williams.
From Roma's Facebook page:
Campos and the drag performers say that they will plan another meeting with Facebook execs, according to the AP.
Facebook says that the policy is meant to "keep our community safe." In a statement to Business Insider last week, a Facebook spokesperson said, "As part of our overall standards, we ask that people who use Facebook provide their real name on their profile."
SEE ALSO: Facebook is forcing drag queens and other performers to use their legal names
The U.S Senate passed a bill Thursday evening that will give President Barack Obama the authority to arm moderate Syrian rebels, which is a key part of his plan to fight the jihadist group Islamic State (also known as ISIS and ISIL).
Shortly after the Senate passed the bill, which was passed by the House on Wednesday, Obama spoke from the White House.
"I'm pleased that Congress, a majority of Democrats and a majority of Republicans in both the House and Senate, have now voted to support a key element of our strategy," Obama said.
Obama, who reiterated the fact America is taking on ISIS with a "coalition" that includes Arab nations, said the bill will enable the US to support more moderate groups who have been battling the group and the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
"We'll provide training and equipment to help them grow stronger," said Obama.
The president also stressed the American efforts to fight ISIS will not include combat troops on the ground.
Obama also thanked congressional leadership for what he described as the "speed and seriousness" with which they approached the legislation. He described their actions as "bipartisanship" that reflected American politics "at its best."
The bill passed with a 73-22 roll call, which did not cut across party lines. It was packaged along with a continuing resolution that will keep the government funded through December 11 and avert another shutdown.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and other Republicans attempted to block the bill, which they described as an effort to use the urgent situation with ISIS to secure funding for Obama's proposed executive action on immigration reform. Others have questioned the decision to arm the rebels.
Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA), who voted for the bill, subsequently issued a statement describing it as "imperfect."
"I supported this imperfect funding measure today primarily because we must go on the offense against this terrorist, so-called caliphate, that has beheaded Americans and is a serious threat both to our allies’ and our own national security interests," said Toomey. "While I have deep concerns about the details of the plan to fund certain Syrian rebels, it is the only plan we have under this Commander-in-Chief to fight back against ISIS and the authorization lasts only to December 11th of this year. At that time, we will be able to evaluate the effectiveness of this plan and determine then whether to continue it."
Toomey blamed Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for preventing the funding and the measure to arm the rebels from being debated separately.
"I would have preferred to have separate votes on funding the Syrian rebels and funding the operations of government. Unfortunately, Leader Reid would not allow that," he said.
This post was updated at 7:12 p.m.
THE MAIN DEVELOPMENTS:
THE TIMES PREDICTS VICTORY FOR "NO":Here is its front page. It's a highly qualified prediction, but nonetheless its early edition has gone with the assumption that Scotland has NOT voted for independence. Again - caution! — not a single area has declared a result yet.
LABOUR MPS ARE ALREADY CALLING IT FOR "NO": The BBC reports that two Labour MPs have already concluded the result is "No" to independence. Diane Abbott and Jim Murphy have both said they think the vote is leaning against independence. Let's all be cautious about this: The votes haven't even been counted yet.
PEOPLE ARE GETTING DRUNK IN EDINBURGH: Business Insider reporter Tomas Hirst tells me folks on the street are already fairly inebriated. But it has not yet become widely apparent that it looks like "No" will lose. He has heard some ugly anti-English language. The pubs are staying open all night to let drinkers watch the results. The fear is that if the pro-independence people lose, they will get really angry and ... bad things will happen.
BBC REPORTS YOUGOV POLL STACKED WITH POSTAL VOTES: John Curtice reports:"Election aficionados caution that postal voters comprise a rather high 30% of this sample." Postal balloting is thought to lean "No" because voters who travel etc. are better resourced, and thus lean to the UK.
THE BBC HAS A GREAT RESOURCE FOR THE COUNT: Literally blow-by-blow stuff. Ballot boxes are arriving quickly from all over. The count is expected to take a long time because turnout was so high — they are literally more votes to count than normal.
FIRST CONSTITUENCY EXPECTED TO DECLARE AROUND 2AM: So we've got about three hours to go. The result is likely to come from Eilean Siar, which is the islands of the Outer Hebrides. Polling boxes were delivered by fishing boat, Twitter says.
THIS IS THE EXPECTED TIMETABLE FOR VOTING RESULTS:
THE BBC HAS A VIRTUAL SUBMARINE ON ITS SET: The Beeb is pulling out all the stops. It has a massive, multi-storey set with a gigantic CGI operation allowing it to project graphics in 3D for viewers on all the issues. That includes this virtual submarine, for when people want to talk about Trident, the nuclear sub program based in Scotland.
HERE IS THE YOUGOV PREDICTION:
YouGov #IndyRef prediction: YES 46%, NO 54% - http://t.co/huG6uJFiJG
— YouGov (@YouGov) September 18, 2014THERE WILL BE NO EXIT POLLS: The Guardian reminds is that no media outlet commissioned one. A lot of editors remember the way the media was embarrassed in the US when they miscalled the 2000 presidential election in fav ore of Gore instead of Bush.
BING PREDICTS 'NO': The Microsoft prediction engine reckons 48.7% to 51.3% in favor of "No."
THE GUARDIAN'S EARLY EDITION DOES NOT FEATURE THE RESULT: Here's the front page of the paper's early edition:
NOBODY KNOWS WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT: Let the counting begin! There was a 97% voter registration rate, BBC News says. Turnout, as we've noted repeatedly, is going to break records.
PHOTOS OF THE 'BETTER TOGETHER' HQ: Looking like a "sad laundrette."
THE QUEEN IS BEING KEPT UPDATED: Sky News says Her Majesty is "being kept abreast of matters by officials in Edinburgh and London." She is at her Scottish estate in Balmoral tonight.
POLLS HAVE CLOSED: It will be several hours before we get the first results. People who got in line before 10 pm will still be allowed to vote. Turnout has been very high — maybe above 90% across the entire country. Scots are telling the BBC it has been the most important day of their lives.
POLLS WILL CLOSE IN A FEW MINUTES: Scotland is nearing the end of voting on whether to end its 307-year union with the United Kingdom and go it alone as an independent country.
WE HEAR AN EERIE CALM HAS FALLEN OVER SCOTLAND: Just a few more minutes of official voting to go. And nothing is going on. A nation is holding its breath. It's all over, nearly.
THE BBC IS COVERING ITS OWN INABILITY TO COVER THE POLLS: A dismal explanation for why the Beeb is handcuffed when it comes to the biggest story in the country right now: "Coverage is limited to uncontroversial factual accounts of things like the logistics of voting, how the count will be done, or just the weather, so the BBC's output can't be seen as influencing the ballot while the polls are open.
INDEPENDENCE WOULD REQUIRE THE RE-ORG OF 225 NUCLEAR WARHEADS.Business Insider's Armin Rosen has the details: "Relocating the nukes wouldn't just be costly but politically problematic as well. There's talk of moving some of the nukes to the U.S. or to NATO bases elsewhere in Europe, but at that point it becomes even harder to justify keeping them under Britain's charge."
'MY GIRLFRIEND HELPED ME': Teenagers as young as 16 were allowed to vote in the Scottish referendum. (Madness, right?) The Guardian's vox pop with various young people shows they put the proper amount of thought into it. The best quote comes from Brandyn Murphy, 16, from Dundee: "When I went into the polling place I didn’t really know what to do because it was my first time voting. My girlfriend helped me." LOLS.
HOW A SHOCK 'YES' VOTE COULD EMERGE AT THE LAST MINUTE: People are quickly waking up to the fact that this vote, unlike any other, has a close to 100% turnout — and thus opinion pollsters are unlikely to be using sample sets that accurately reflect the kind of voter who otherwise doesn't vote. Business Insider's Joe Weisenthal has the money quote: "I have no idea how the average 17 yr old is going to vote, but I know the average Celtic supporting Gorbels [sic] resident is going to vote Yes."
TWO ARRESTS FOR ALLEGED VIOLENCE AT POLLING STATIONS IN SCOTLAND: Now we've got a bit more detail on the 44-year-old pro-Yes man arrested at a polling station in Clydebank. (And by "bit," we mean, really, a bit.) In addition — the SNP will love this — a pro-No activist was also arrested at a polling station in Glasgow. The Liverpool Echo has the story:
Marie Rimmer, who has been on St Helens council for more than three decades, was held after, the ECHO understands, a woman was kicked at a community centre in the Shettleston area of Glasgow around lunchtime as Scots turned out to cast their vote in the landmark referendum.
Rimmer, 67, will likely be a candidate for the St Helens South and Whiston parliamentary seat. Knowing St Helens as I do, the allegation that she put the boot in will probably help her campaign to be an MP.
THE POUND SURGES AGAINST THE EURO AND THE DOLLAR:Currency traders appear to have already decided that Scotland will vote No to independence. A Yes vote would denote economic chaos and uncertainty regarding the currency, leading to a selloff and a decline in the pound. The opposite — people buying the pound because they think it's going to get stronger — suggests investors believe the No vote will win tonight.
TURNOUT IS MASSIVE, AND IT MAY WORK IN FAVOR OF THE YES VOTE: The polls say the No vote has it. But the Yes campaign has believed all along that if it can get a huge turnout — including the very poor who rarely vote, and thousands of new 16-18-year-old voters — then it will receive an unexpected bump at the ballot box that the opinion polls haven't picked up. The Guardian goes into this here. And guess what? Turnout is indeed as close to 100% as an election is ever going to see. It's 92% in Shetland, for instance. So if the "Yes voter opinion poll conspiracy theory" is to come true, then it will come true today ...
DAVID CAMERON WILL ADDRESS THE NATION ON FRIDAY MORNING: No matter what the result, the prime minister will say something that attempts to sew Britain back together, The Guardian says. And it's not just our broken hearts he'll have to mend, it's support on his own backbenches. MP Nick Herbert says his Scotland strategy was all wrong. Cameron yesterday insisted he won't resign if Scotland votes Yes.
WHAT ABOUT NORTH LANARKSHIRE? Business Insider's Joe Weisenthal argues that the area to the right of Glasgow on the map is the bellwether— and its result will come really early in the night, about 2 am.
AN INDEPENDENT SCOTLAND COULD USE BITCOIN: Well, it could, in theory, possibly, hypothetically, suggests Quartz: "That idea may seem far-fetched, but it has been posited in at least one high-profile financial forum by the assistant governor of Australia’s central bank and in a publication by a British think tank."
FIFE IS KEY: It's the only large constituency where the Guardian cannot predict an outcome, and its result is expected at about 4 am, a long time before the final call. The Belfast Telegraph has a longer take, arguing that even if North and South Lanarkshire go for "Yes," that won't be enough if Fife leans for "No":
Fife has a hefty 7% of the total Scottish electorate. Indications are it’s hard to call between Yes and No. If it’s close by this stage, No would probably need to win here. Highland is also a large declaration at this time and should go for No, and North Ayrshire should follow soon after. Similar to Fife and No needing to win there if its close, Yes would want/need to win North Ayrshire if it’s close at this stage.
*At this stage ie around 4am Yes would need to be ahead if it is to win.
It will be all about Fife tonight! (There's more Fife news further down.)
VOTER TURNOUT IS GOING TO BE ABSOLUTELY MASSIVE: Channel 4 News chief correspondent Alex Thomson says 90% of absentee ballots have already been returned in Edinburgh. Here is some more detail from The Scotsman. This poll worker from Kelty says that with six hours of voting still left to go, she has already seen a 40% turnout. Some people are saying turnout could be as high as a staggering 97%. We'll see.
THE UGLY SIDE OF THE REFERENDUM: The Huffington Post UK has a great summary of all the nasty tactics and venom we've seen in the runup to the vote. Nationalists think this is all anti-"Yes" media bias, of course. But it's weird that reporters from so many different media organizations can only seem to find examples of SNP intimidation. It's either a vast media conspiracy ... or it's true.
WHY THE BBC IS IGNORING THE SCOTTISH VOTE: Don't bother watching the TV today, says Business Insider's Mike Bird. The BBC and Sky News won't be covering the referendum. (They're talking about sports and the weather instead.) That's because UK broadcasters are hemmed in by arcane laws to prevent them from affecting the outcome of the vote.
PHOTOS OF 'YES' CAMPAIGNERS BREACHING POLLING STATION REGULATIONS: Not a huge deal, but not exactly helping to dispel the myth that the "Yes" people aren't too bothered if the "No" folks feel intimidated when they vote. Business Insider's Tomas Hirst has the full story.
WILL THE 'INDEPENDENT KINGDOM OF FIFE' BE THE KEY? We noted earlier (below) that key areas to watch for as voting results are announced tonight will be North Lancashire, South Lanarkshire, and Fife, which hold 6.3%, 6.1%, and 7.1% of voters, respectively. Although it doesn't have any of Scotland's major cities, Fife is Scotland's third-largest voting district and will declare around 4 am. So there's a huge chance that once you know the vote in Fife, you'll know the whole thing. Glasgow and Edinburgh are the biggest areas but they won't declare until very late in the night — it might be too late if the Fife result confirms a winner. Here is the Guardian's take:
Fife: Expected declaration time: 4am; 7.1% of the electorate
Known to its proudly independent residents as the Kingdom of Fife, this large semi-rural county north of Edinburgh has Scotland’s third-largest electorate of 302,108 voters. Once a Labour bastion – before its coal mines, naval dockyard and heavy industry faded – it is home to former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown and former UK Lib Dem leader Sir Menzies Campbell. But many Fifers vote SNP, particularly in the new town of Glenrothes and Fife’s commuter belt, which feeds Edinburgh, and its Labour vote cannot be taken for granted.
DO NOT MESS WITH THIS BAGPIPE FLAME-THROWER: Reuters found Ryan Randall playing these fire-spewing bagpipes outside a polling station in Edinburgh.
THERE MIGHT BE MORE OIL IN SCOTLAND THAN YOU THOUGHT: The Wall Street Journal says oil analysts are expecting a brief increase in oil supply from the North Sea fields. But it's still downhill after 2018: "Respected oil industry analysts Wood Mackenzie have weighed in with some forecasts. The likely tale, they say, is one of a near-term uptick in output, followed by years of decline. North Sea production is likely to rise to 1.3 million barrels a day in 2018 from 1.17 million barrels a day expected this year. But after 2018 it will be a downward path, with production in 2023 likely to be 1 million b/d, a quarter of the level in 1999."
MAN ARRESTED AT POLLING STATION: Scottish police have arrested a man at a polling station according to a tweet from The Mail's John Stevens (below). The Telegraph confirms a 44-year-old was arrested.
Police Scotland confirms first arrest of man for alleged assault at a polling station #indyref
— John Stevens (@johnestevens) September 18, 2014
BORIS JOHNSON WOULD LOVE IT IF SCOTLAND GOES INDEPENDENT: German paper Bild (translated via The Telegraph) notes that if the "Yes" campaign wins, it will hurt prime minister David Cameron, and London Mayor Boris Johnson is waiting in the wings to succeed him as leader of the Conservative Party. That scenario would deliver an almost permanent Conservative majority within England, Wales and N. Ireland — because Labour would lose all its Scottish seats — making Johnson a potential future prime minister. Just a thought!
HERE IS THE WORDING OF THE ACTUAL QUESTION ON THE BALLOT:"Should Scotland be an independent country?" It's a masterpiece of simplicity, the BBC notes. Just six words will decide the fate of the nation. Voters must draw a cross next to the answers "Yes" or "No."
CATALAN INDEPENDENCE PROTESTERS ARE IN EDINBURGH URGING A 'YES' VOTE: Business Insider reporter Tomas Hirst spotted them outside Holyrood, playing the Catalan national anthem to anyone who would listen. They're annoyed because Spain won't let Catalonia vote on its own independence. Catalans are hoping a Yes vote in Scotland will trigger independence for them, somehow.
LATEST POLL SHOWS 'NO' LEAD GETTING BIGGER: Ipsos MORI says voters are now split 53-47 in favor of the pro-UK "No" camp, the Evening Standard reports. Four percent are undecided. This new poll fits in with the narrative of the past few days, which has seen the "No" camp solidify its slight lead over those favoring independence. Of course, polls aren't votes ...
THEY'RE ALREADY ARGUING OVER WHO WILL GET SCOTLAND'S GOLD: The Wall Street Journal reports that if the country goes independent, it may lay a claim to its share of the gold in the Bank of England: "Most of the UK’s official gold sits over two floors in clay-tiled vaults of the Bank of England. It’s the second-largest gold stash in the world after the New York Federal Reserve. The Bank of England’s Old Lady of Threadneedle Street app says the vaults contain an estimated 400,000 13kg bars of gold, each worth approximately £350,000 ($560,000). Part of these belong to the UK Treasury, representing the nation’s reserves."
CRAZY PHOTOS FROM EDINBURGH: Business Insider reporter Tomas Hirst is up there with his camera, and it looks as if the country is enjoying one massive party right now.
BRITAIN'S FRONT PAGES: Check out all the rather magnificent front pages of the UK's major newspapers. Everyone one of them is trying to sway the hearts of the Scots.
TEENAGE BAGPIPERS ATTACKED:The Times found this delicious nugget: "Pro-Union teenage bagpipers outside the rally at Festival Theatre in Edinburgh were told to “f*** off” by Yes voters with megaphones, but continued to play as water bombs were thrown from windows opposite."
'YES' ACTIVISTS HAVE VANDALIZED A POLLING STATION: This image comes from Jackie Baillie, the member of the Scottish parliament for Dumbarton. The polling station is Jamestown Parish Church Lennox Hall, according to The Telegraph:
Shocking behaviour from yes campaigners. Should not be trying to threaten and intimidate #voteno#indyrefpic.twitter.com/L7zhP5rDFc
— Jackie Baillie (@jackiebmsp) September 18, 2014
BLIND 'NO' ACTIVIST ALLEGEDLY PUNCHED IN FACE BY 'YES' SUPPORTER: Let's take this with a pinch of salt because it comes from The Mail: The paper is reporting that a blind man with a white cane handing out pro-UK leaflets in Scotland was sucker-punched by a nationalist on Wednesday. "Scottish nationalists mounted a last-minute bullying campaign to intimidate people into voting for independence," The Mail says. Hmm. (The Mail has been virulently anti-Scottish National Party all along.)
The Mail also says that the BBC has hired private security guards to protect its reporters and editors, who have complained about the hostile atmosphere they're working in. The nationalists generally believe the BBC is biased against them.
SALMOND THE 'MAOIST'? To give you the tenor of the Mail's fair-'n'-balanced coverage, its online front page is hilariously accusing Scottish first minister and SNP leader Alex Salmond of being a former Maoist.
3 KEY DISTRICTS TO WATCH: Everyone is focused on the big cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, which hold 8.7% and 11.5% of all voters, respectively. But as the count goes on, you'll want to watch North Lancashire, South Lanarkshire and Fife, which hold 6.3%, 6.1%, and 7.1% of voters, respectively. They are also polling districts that are expected to call their results early — by about 3 or 4 a.m. If they go strongly one way or another, it will become very exciting indeed.
DAVID CAMERON IS NERVOUS: The one person who will arguably be most affected by the vote is UK prime minister David Cameron, The Independent says. The loss of Scotland during his administration would be a devastating blow. He's also committed to holding a UK-wide referendum on Britain's membership of the EU, assuming his Conservative Party can win the next general election in May 2015. But if he can't hold on to Scotland, there will be an internal effort in the Tory party to get rid of him before the next election.
THERE WILL BE DRUNK PEOPLE: The Telegraph notes something that could be increasingly interesting as the day/night goes on: "Many pubs plan to open all night."
Tennis champ Andy Murray has revealed that he favors voting "Yes," hours before the poll.
TV IS BEING CENSORED RIGHT NOW: Britain's quirky TV broadcasting rules have gone into effect, preventing the major TV channels from commenting on the vote while the voting takes place, lest they influence the result. Here's the BBC's confession that until 10 p.m. Thursday it is basically going to be useless:
Strict rules mean the BBC — in common with other broadcasters — is not allowed to report details of campaigning until after the polls close.
So all the news is coming from the web and print outlets. Here's the relevant news blackout rule from Ofcom:
Discussion and analysis of election and referendum issues must finish when the poll opens. (This refers to the opening of actual polling stations. This rule does not apply to any poll conducted entirely by post.)
Business Insider will, of course, be providing its regular ongoing coverage of the vote.
THE BACK STORY:Opinion polls show the country is evenly split with a narrow lead for the pro-UK "No" vote over the pro-independence "Yes" vote. But the difference is within the margin of error, so it is too close to call.
Friday, the Scots will wake up to a brand new, uncertain future. If the country votes for independence, it will have to face the fact that it has no currency, no central bank, and a chorus of economists who believe the nation will exist on the brink of "failed state" status (that last moniker comes from Glaswegian historian Niall Ferguson). The nationalists, of course, believe the opposite: That government from London has milked the country of its rightful oil revenues and can't be trusted to maintain proper levels of spending on health, education, and infrastructure.
Or, if Scotland remains part of Great Britain, it will wake up with a giant hangover headache — they're already partying North of the border— and the sound of the entire world saying "never mind!" And everything will go back to normal.
About 4.3 million, or 97% of the electorate, have registered to vote. The vote has been extended to 16-year-olds, and thousands of teenagers will also be voting as a result. Long lines are expected at polling stations, the Financial Times says:
Scotland has set up 5,579 polling stations, which means typically there will be no more than 800 voters allocated to each polling station, in a bid to avoid any large queues. The polls opened at 7am and will close at 10pm.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR TONIGHT: The real fun comes when the polls close Thursday evening at 10 p.m. The final result won't be known for hours afterward, with individual council areas reporting totals on a rolling basis. Here's a rough schedule of how that's likely to happen (below). Note that the crucial halfway point looks as if it's going to come at about 3 a.m.
SEE ALSO: Less Than 24 Hours Before Scotland's Historic Vote, People Are Afraid, Frustrated, And Impatient
Edinburgh is devolving into a huge party now the vote is over.
A lot of people are drinking, a lot.
The pro-independence Yes activists have been most visible — this is their issue, their big day.
But the result isn't in yet. Early polling looks like the country may have gone for the pro-UK Yes position.
Business Insider reporter Tomas Hirst is on the scene. He took these pictures:
He says, "The party atmosphere continues among the Yes supporters in front of parliament but it's becoming tinged with a little too much lubrication and a few nerves about the prospects of victory."
Business Insider previously told you: PEOPLE ARE GETTING DRUNK IN EDINBURGH: ... folks on the street are already fairly inebriated.
But it has not yet become widely apparent that it looks like "No" will lose. Hirst has heard some ugly anti-English language. The pubs are staying open all night to let drinkers watch the results. The fear is that if the pro-independence people lose, they will get really angry and ... bad things will happen.
SEE: Our live coverage of the Scottish independence vote count
Alibaba opened for trade at $92.70 per share, up 36% from where its IPO priced.
On Friday, Alibaba shares closed at $93.89, up 38% from its IPO pricing.
On Thursday night, Alibaba priced its IPO at $68 per share. At that price, the company raised $21.8 billion at a valuation of about $168 billion.
At its open price of $92.70, Alibaba's market cap is over $228 billion, and the company raised $29.7 billion.
This capital raise marks the largest IPO ever for the US stock market, topping Visa's previous record of $17.9 billion.
Shortly after opening for trade, Alibaba shares surged to $99 per share, or up more than 45% from its IPO price.
Near 12:05 p.m. ET, shares of Alibaba were off their best levels of the day and trading near the IPO price of $92.70.
As of 12:30 p.m. ET, Alibaba shares had fallen below their initial trade of $92.70 and were trading below $91 per share, about a 32% increase from its $68 IPO price.
Near 1:30 p.m. ET, Alibaba shares were trading near $91 after briefly trading hands below $90.
Headlines from Reuters at 10 a.m. ET said broker TD Ameritrade had customer orders for Alibaba exceeding customer orders for Twitter's IPO by 2 1/2 times. TD Ameritrade also said that as of 6:45 a.m. Friday, half of the company's order book was for Alibaba shares.
On CNBC, Scott Cutler of the NYSE said they were seeing "hundreds of thousands of orders" for Alibaba shares.
CNBC reported that the first indication for Alibaba shares was at $80 to $83 per share.
On Twitter, the FT's Eric Platt reported at about 10:20 a.m. ET that the range was updated to $82 to $85.
On CNBC, the NYSE's Scott Cutler said the IPOs underwriters would use the "greenshoe" provision, which allows them to increase the share offering by 15%, which would bring Alibaba's capital raise to $25 billion.
At about 10:30 a.m. ET, CNBC's Carl Quintanilla said the new indication was that shares would open between $84 and $87.
At 10:45 a.m. ET, CNBC's Bob Pisani reported that the indication was upped to $86 to $88.
At 10:52 a.m. ET, Pisani reported that the indication was upped to $87 to $89.
At about 11 a.m. ET, CNBC reported that the range was increased to $88 to $90. On CNBC, the NYSE's Scott Cutler said that there were still 10 million shares that needed to be matched with buyers.
At 11:05 a.m. ET, the range was upped to $89 to $91. At the midpoint of this range, or $90 per share, the company would raise $28.9 billion and be worth just less than $222 billion.
At 11:15 a.m. ET, the range was tightened to $90 to $91.
At 11:22 a.m. ET, data from Reuters showed that the indication had been upped again to $91 to $92.
At 11:27 a.m. ET, Reuters data showed the range was increased again to $92 to $93.
CNBC reported that Alibaba would not start trading for two to three hours, and on Bloomberg TV on Thursday night, George Pearkes of Bespoke Investment Group explained why it would take some time for market in Alibaba shares to get put together and the stock begin trading on Friday.
Freetown (AFP) - Western militaries readied aid missions Friday to help Africa's Ebola-hit nations battle an epidemic which has sparked killings in panicked southern Guinea and forced a nationwide shutdown in Sierra Leone.
The United States said a 3,000-strong contingent of troops due to deploy to Liberia would help train health workers, while Germany and France unveiled plans to send military transport planes to help contain the spread.
The announcements came after Sierra Leone launched a nationwide three-day shutdown to contain the deadly spread of an Ebola epidemic described by the UN Security Council as a threat to world peace.
The outbreak has killed more than 2,600 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone this year, cutting a swathe through entire villages at the epicentre and prompting warnings over possible economic catastrophe from the World Bank.
Most of Sierra Leone's six million people were confined to their homes from midnight (0000 GMT) on Friday, with only essential workers such as health professionals and security forces exempt.
"These are extraordinary times and extraordinary times require extraordinary measures," said Sierra Leone President Ernest Koroma, launching the campaign with a televised address to the nation.
Almost 30,000 volunteers began door-to-door rounds to educate locals and hand out soap, in an exercise expected to lead to scores more patients and bodies being discovered in homes.
United States Rear Admiral John Kirby told reporters the first US military cargo plane arrived in neighbouring Liberia on Thursday as part of the effort to help fight the epidemic.
"Right now, the effort does not include US military personnel treating Ebola patients," Kirby said. "We're going to be in support of other health care workers that are experts at doing this."
Kirby said a C-17 aircraft with equipment and seven service members landed on Thursday, with two more cargo planes expected this weekend carrying 45 personnel.
- Exponential spread -
The small team will then set up a headquarters for Major General Darryl Williams, who will oversee the US mission to train local health workers and set up additional medical facilities, he added.
The Pentagon has requested up to one billion dollars from Congress for efforts to combat the outbreak, Kirby said.
Obama unveiled the troop deployment to west Africa earlier this week, appealing for urgent global action to prevent the virus from spreading "exponentially".
German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that Berlin would supply military air transport and a mobile clinic, and could train medical personnel.
Government ministries were still discussing the details of the mission, she said, adding that "it's currently not a question of money, but of capacity and logistics".
A Bundeswehr spokesman told AFP that Germany, in cooperation with France, plans to send up to 100 troops and four Transall C-160 planes to a base in Dakar, or alternatively Bamako, Mali.
"Germany and France have agreed to establish a joint airlift," he said, following a Paris meeting of defence ministers Ursula von der Leyen of Germany and France's Jean-Yves Le Drian.
"The objective is to build a logistics chain from Germany," he said, explaining that the airlift could move about 100 tonnes of medical and aid supplies per week.
Merkel expressed concern at the "dramatic course" Ebola has taken and said bilateral aid was needed because the multilateral organisations cannot contain the rapid spread of the disease on their own.
In Sierra Leone, streets across the capital Freetown, normally a chaotic city of 1.2 million people, emptied from midnight as a 72-hour shutdown began.
"Everyone seems to be complying and this is very good. This is an important way to fight Ebola. We expect everyone to stay at home," Freetown police chief Francis Munu told AFP.
- Rife paranoia -
Shops and offices were shut across the city, and only emergency vehicles plied normally jammed streets.
"Ose to Ose Ebola Tok" -- "House-to-House Ebola Talk" in the widely-spoken Krio language -- will see more than 7,000 volunteer teams of four visiting the country's 1.5 million homes over the coming days.
Paranoia is so rife that in Guinea eight people sent to educate villagers in the south were found dead on Tuesday after coming under attack from locals who apparently feared the delegation meant them harm.
The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution late Thursday declaring that the "unprecedented extent of the Ebola outbreak in Africa constitutes a threat to international peace and security".
Ebola fever can fell its victims within days, causing severe muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhoea and -- in some cases -- unstoppable internal and external bleeding.
More than 550 people have died from the disease in Sierra Leone alone, one of the three hardest-hit nations alongside Guinea and Liberia.
People lined up in droves on Friday to purchase the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Some camped out overnight, while others camped out for consecutive nights, and even weeks. And compared to other years, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster believes the iPhone 6 sparked the longest lines ever for a new Apple product.
Piper Jaffray has counted the number of people in line for each new iPhone launch since the iPhone 3G in 2008. And based on the number of people waiting in line at the 5th Avenue flagship store in New York City, Munster believes the line at the New York location was roughly 33% longer than it was a year ago for the iPhone 5S and 5C. In this Business Insider Intelligence chart based on Piper Jaffray's data, you can see how the estimated number of people waiting in line this year dwarfs all other years. Apple already broke its iPhone preorder record last week, so expect the company to shatter its opening weekend sales records when it announces official figures next week.
SEE ALSO: Check Out All The Gorgeous New Wallpapers In iOS 8
David Rosenberg, Chief Economist & Strategist at Gluskin Sheff, surprised everyone when he adopted a more bullish view in 2013.
On Friday he released a research note that included a brief and pretty optimistic summary of the US economy.
Here's what it said:
United States
In the US, the economy is starting to fire on all cylinders for the first time this cycle.
The strong US dollar is a source of margin support for importers which is great news for many consumer cyclicals. Tack on stepped consumer credit growth, job and wage gains, gasoline price relief, and we have the makings of a solid backdrop to this consumer space heading into the most important shopping season of the year.
Capex growth is picking up and spending plans on the rise, and so Industrials and Tech should be price focal areas — earnings revision ratios are now rising the fastest in the Industrials space, followed by Health Care and then Financials.
The Fed may have sounded dovish but their forecasts point to rising rates ahead and so the rate-sensitives should largely be avoided.
The rising likelihood of stronger-than-expected growth in the next several months means the high-priced defensive areas of the stock market will face the prospect of an outward rotation into the more cyclical segment, though the parts that are more domestic focused than foreign (given soft global growth and firm dollar) make the most sense.
That's right. He said "rising likelihood of stronger-than-expected growth."
If you want to do get to the top of your class or climb the ladder at work, you give yourself a gigantic advantage over everybody else if you can recall more information at a faster speed.
Developmental psychologists and cognitive scientists have found range of factors that help do just that — and some of them are pretty weird.
Here are a few.
We usually think of reading as a totally visual exercise; after all, it's just your eyes scanning the page, right?
Not quite. Turns out that we remember things better when we read them in a more physical form, like say, for instance, a book. It's because the experience of reading is also tactile. When you're reading a book, you're also holding it, feeling the heft of it in your hands. As you read through the text, the pages move from your right hand to your left, redistributing the weight of the book. Research suggests that your brain uses this movement of weight as an anchor of memory.
In news that will delight monogamists everywhere, research shows that people in long-term relationships have several memory benefits stemming from their couplehood — like recalling people's names or what happened at events.
When two people are in an intimate, long-term relationship, they distribute the responsibilities of thinking in the same way that they split up household chores.
One psych writer observed that a couple isn't just two individuals spending lots of time together, but a "socially distributed cognitive system." Put in plain English, two heads really are better than one.
For 30 years, psychologists have been studying "expressive writing"— writing about difficult experiences for at least 15 minutes. Experiments show the introspective exercise is much more than just navel gazing. People who regularly write expressively have lower blood pressure, higher productivity, and a greater sense of personal well-being.
North Carolina State University psychologist Kitty Klein has shown that expressive writing increases memory, too. Her explanation: Expressive writing lets people disclose thoughts they otherwise spend mental energy trying to avoid, allowing more energy to be allocated toward memory.
University of Michigan psychologists asked two groups of experiment participants to go for walks. One group walked around an urban environment, and the others wandered around a forest. Then they were given a recall test. The folks who sauntered among the trees performed 20% better on the memory test.
Washington University cognitive scientists
"The more you can explain about the way your new learning relates to prior knowledge,"the authors write, "the stronger your grasp of the new learning will be, and the more connections you create that will help you remember it later."
Say, for example, you're learning about heat transference. Instead of memorizing the definition — heat moves from a hot object to a cooler object — you could use an example the way that the heat from a hot cup of cocoa warms up your hand on a chilly winter's day.