#Russia Gets Ready for Life Without #Visa and #MasterCard

Is Russia ready to cut up its plastic? After Visa and MasterCard stopped processing some Russian transactions in response to U.S. sanctions, Moscow says it could launch a homegrown payment system that could be ready in as little as six months, according to German Gref, chief of the country’s largest bank, Sberbank (SBER:RM).

Hard as it may be for Americans to imagine life without Visa (V) and MasterCard (MA), jettisoning them wouldn’t be all that difficult. Moscow has been preparing for the past few years to issue an electronic payment card that citizens could use for transactions with the government, such as tax and pension payments. Expanding that to include private purchases wouldn’t be hard, says Avivah Litan, an analyst at Gartner Research (IT): “If the banks are all on board, they can use the existing [card-reading] equipment in the retail stores. They’ve been thinking about it for so long, it’s just a matter of flipping the switch.”

http://www.businessweek.com/

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    When it comes to explaining Russia’s Ukrainian adventurism, the West has attempted to hide behind a wall of myths and hope its problems will just go away. There are all sorts of reasons to be stunned and perplexed today. Stunned by the reintroduction of the fears and phobias of the…
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  • 62
    The German government says Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted a proposal by Chancellor Angela Merkel for a fact-finding mission and a "contact group" on Ukraine that could be led by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Government spokesman Georg Streiter said the proposal came in a telephone conversation…
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  • 61
    The West is now living in Putin’s world. It is there not because Putin is right, or even because he is stronger, but because he is taking the initiative. Putin is “wild” while the West is “wary.” While European and American leaders recognize that the world order is undergoing a…
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Asset #Trading and Valuation with Uncertain Exposure

This paper considers an asset market where investors have private information not only about asset payoffs, but also about their own exposure to an aggregate risk factor. In equilibrium, rational investors disagree about asset payoffs: Those with higher exposure to the risk factor are (endogenously) more optimistic about claims on the risk factor. Thus, information asymmetry limits risk sharing and trading volumes. Moreover, uncertainty about exposure amplifies the effect of aggregate exposure on asset prices, and can thereby help explain the excess volatility of prices and the predictability of excess returns.

https://www.richmondfed.org/publications/research/working_papers/2014/pdf/wp14-05.pdf

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    The optimal portfolio of risky assets is exactly the same for everyone : 1. Investors should control the risk of their portfolio not by reallocating among risky assets, but through the split between risky and risk-free assets. 2. The portfolio of risky assets should contain a large number of assets…
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    Enhancing your trading approach requires strategic discipline and a commitment to certain principles that guard against common pitfalls. Here are six ways to level up your trading, ensuring that you maximize gains while minimizing losses: 1. No Big Losses (Cut Losses Quickly) Implement a strict stop-loss policy to protect your…
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  • 68
    The market does not run on chance or luck. Like the battlefield, it runs on probabilities and odds. David Dreman (1936-) In the realm of investing, the notion that success stems from luck or random chance is a myth that has been debunked by many of the world's most successful investors.…
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    Russia invades Ukraine: beware of a risk off weekly opening
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Loneliness of Kiev Bond Trader Shows Market Was Wiped Out

For 29-year-old Fyodor Bagnenko, a fixed-income trader at Dragon Capital in Ukraine, selling bonds has become a lonely business.

From his seven-story office in central Kiev, about 20 minutes from the barricades on Independence Square that were the epicenter of protests that triggered the worst crisis between Russia and the West since the Cold War, he would trade more than $20 million of bonds a day last year. Since the revolution, there have been days where he couldn’t close a single deal as trading in Ukrainian financial assets dried up.

“We’ve had days where the market’s dropped five points or more and not a buyer in sight,” he said as he headed to his morning meeting March 14. “People have gotten whiplash, with the market jumping from complete indecision to frantic action, with the whole world trying to buy, or sell, simultaneously.”

http://www.bloomberg.com

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    Follow up of my post on BIG COMPANIES NOW HAVE A HAND IN THE COLLABORATIVE ECONOMY Here is one picture.
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    http://www.teslamotors.com/sites/default/files/blog_attachments/gigafactory.pdf
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    Please visit the souce :: http://econbrowser.com/archives/2014/09/interpreting-the-yield-curve-some-pictures   Recently Jim highlighted the odd behavior of the various Treasury term premia. Here are some additional thoughts. First, from “Debt market goes off script” in the WSJ: Yields on short-term U.S. Treasury debt maturing in two to five years hit the highest level since…
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    The quick move higher in the yields of Europe's weakest sovereigns from historic lows may be just the beginning and on the edges it could start to affect other low-rated credits where investors have hunted for yield—such as U.S. junk bonds. Driven by speculation about the European Central Bank and…
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Where’s #Google going next? Ask #LarryPage

Onstage at TED2014, Charlie Rose interviews Google CEO Larry Page about his far-off vision for the company. It includes aerial bikeways and internet balloons … and then it gets even more interesting, as Page talks through the company’s recent acquisition of Deep Mind, an AI that is learning some surprising things.

http://www.ted.com

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  • 48
    Google CEO Larry Page recently participated in a fireside chat with Khosla Ventures, where among other things he offered his view on the state of the economy and labor. People are endlessly musing on the future of the labor market these days, given the idea that robots can perform more and…
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    Social networks that allow you to send only the message "Yo" to your contacts. Food-delivery services valued at $400 million. Startups that deliver rolls of quarters to your home (just $27 for $20 in change!). It isn't hard, looking at a lineup like this, to conclude that Silicon Valley has…
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50+ productivity blogs

50+ productivity blogs

(Updated October 2013)

Over 50  great productivity blogs:

Changed or Added September 2013:

Added in October

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    A totally unscientific analysis of the latest buzz-worthy startups joining the billion-dollar valuation club, ranked from least to most justified. http://www.buzzfeed.com/mattlynley/how-well-11-startups-justify-their-worth#85rzx9 “How much will my stocks be worth in 5 years?” was the question the senior corporate executive asked the CEO of a startup. “I don’t think my stocks are…
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    Business is full of dry, boring material that needs your attention. Here, Inc. columnists share ways to get through the drudgery. There is no shortage of material that needs to be read in business, including marketing copy, business plans, contracts, legal documents, and, of course, business books. I love to read,…
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Business Books to be read – List –

http://julliengordon.com/the-10-best-business-books-for-side-hustlers

http://petracoach.com/book/

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    Data from guest interviews on The Twenty Minute VC Podcast by Harry Stebbings   Check it here : https://public.tableau.com/shared/2K4GRTGZT?:showVizHome=no
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#Alibaba Sinks $215 Million Into Messaging App #Tango, Valuing It At More Than $1 Billion

Alibaba Sinks $215 Million Into Messaging App Tango, Valuing It At More Than $1 Billion

 

China’s Alibaba is the latest Internet giant to make a bet on the messaging space, and it’s a big one. The company is spending $215 million for a minority stake in the messaging and free-calling app Tango, the startup revealed today.

The investment is part of a $280 million funding round that Alibaba is leading, which also will see other current investors in Tango stump up more capital.

The round values Tango at $1.1 billion, based on a regulatory filing sourced by research firm VC Experts, who estimate that Alibaba’s stake lies somewhere between 20 and 25%. Two people close to the deal confirmed the estimate.

Tango, based in Mountain View, Calif., would not comment on its valuation or the size of Alibaba’s stake.

http://www.forbes.com/

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A history of #Bitcoin hacks, #ponzi ?

The alternative currency has been plagued by hacks, ponzi schemes and increasingly professional thefts since 2011, explains Alex Hern

Sometimes it seems like not a week goes by without news of some bitcoin service getting hacked and losing everything.

Thankfully, such attacks are rarer than that. But given the size of the bitcoin economy, they are still far, far more common than they have any right to be. A look at the history of bitcoin hacks is a look at the history of bitcoin itself, from its beginnings all the way to the genesis of the professionalised second generation of firms we’re seeing now.

In the interests of fairness, we haven’t covered the black market. While the disappearance of sites like Sheep and Silk Road took a lot of bitcoins with them, that says more about what happens if you dabble in drug dealing than cryptocurrencies overall.

http://www.theguardian.com/

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#Yellen Suggests Roughly 6 Month Gap Before #Rate Increases After Bond-Buying Program Ends

Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen on Wednesday said interest-rate increases could begin in the first half of 2015, around six months after it winds down its bond-buying program.

The Fed, in its policy statement, said the benchmark federal-funds rate will remain near zero for a “considerable time” after its signature bond-buying program ends. For the first time, Ms. Yellen attempted to define that term, saying it is “hard to define” but “probably means something on the order of around six months.”

The Fed has been reducing its bond-buying program in $10 billion increments and is on track to wind it down this year.

Write to Ben Leubsdorf at ben.leubsdorf@wsj.com

Read more: http://www.nasdaq.com/article/yellen-suggests-roughly-6-month-gap-before-rate-increases-after-bondbuying-program-ends-20140319-00933#ixzz2wRaHjIYv

Read more: http://www.nasdaq.com/article/yellen-suggests-roughly-6-month-gap-before-rate-increases-after-bondbuying-program-ends-20140319-00933#ixzz2wRa5uQ9b

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Goldman Sachs: What Happens If Elon #Musk Is the Next Steve #Jobs

If Tesla Motors Inc.TSLA  CEO Elon Musk turns into the next Steve Jobs or Henry Ford, Goldman SachsGS sees considerable upside for the electric car maker’s stock price.

But that’s not a likely scenario.

In a 47-page report to clients, Goldman laid out various scenarios for the car maker’s future before ultimately raising its six-month Tesla price target to $200 from $170, some 20% below Tuesday’s closing level of $240.04.

http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/03/18/goldman-sachs-what-happens-if-elon-musk-is-the-next-steve-jobs/

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