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Election expert, Karl Rove, says following the win in the New York primary Trump has 845 delegates according to Associated Press, yet there are 950 delegates on the opposite side, putting the gap at 105 with the others. Trump has won 47% of the delegates upto this point, and needs to win 58% to get to the needed 1237 delegates for a majority. Rove, says Trump's threat to run as an Independent is an empty threat because of the filing date for running as an Independent for 12 states is well before the convention on July 18, 2016. By that date 12 states with 166 electoral votes will have already seen deadlines passed for registering as an Independent. The states include Illinois, Indiana, Florida, Texas. Michigan's date is during the convention. Registering as an Independent before the convention and some of the primaries would alienate his own voter base, says Rove. Another factor is that Trump would have to raise a significant number of signatures under the rules which is doable, but would create the impression of being in a spoiler role than a serious candidate....

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The House healthcare bill that just passed by amargin of 220 to 215. The cost would be $1.055 trillion over 10 years, with cost of $894 billion factoring in penalties for individuals and businesses that don't buy insurance. Adding increased coverage for Medicare prescirption drug coverage for seniors its around $1.2 trillion. $460 billion is from new taxes on single people with income of over $500,000 or couples with inocme of $1 million. There are $400 billion in cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, and additional money coming from penalties for not buying insurance. First column here is Senate version, second for House version and third President's version. Other features individuals must have insurance or pay afee of 2.5% of income, hardhip waivers will be available. Employers must provide insurance to employees or pay a penalty of 8% of payroll. Small businesses with fewer than 10 workers get tax credits. The threshhold is $500,000 of payroll. To help families with lower incomes and the poor the bill provides: families earning $29,000 a year pay no more than 1.5% of income for premiums. Families with incomes of $88,000 ayear would pay no more than 12% of income for premiums. ...

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Chinese companies are executing plans to put them at the forefront of new technologies and innovation in many fields. Example of BYD which plans to make a hybrid by the end of 2008. It is already the second largest battery producer and started up less than 10 years before. And BYD has built a 16 million square feet assembly plant in Shenzen to make the hybrid on a large scale. And Hasee a computer maker is focussing on innovative computers and laptops that now sell for just $370 , and hopes to become the top computer maker in the next 10 years . It is already selling 100,000 laptops a month in China and is now the second biggest computer maker in China. It is Chinese government policy to support innovative technology companies to take leadership positions in worldwide industries and products. Speaking at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in June President Hu said : "we are ready for a fight to control the scientific high ground and earn a seat on the world's high technology board. We will make some serious efforts to strengthen our nation's competence."...

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The U.S. financial sector is facing a future in which there will be lower revenues and a smaller number of jobs. A low interest rate environment does not help the banks. According to analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, net revenue for the six largest U.S. banks will decline by 3.7% in the second quarter of 2011. As a result financial stocks in the U.S. have trailed the broader market in the last 9 of 11 months. The ratio of the price of the S&P 500 financials index to the S&P 500 stock index is less than 0.16. The only time it was less than 0.16 in the last two decades is during the January-April 2009 period when banks were facing a major financial crisis. Bank of America's stock was at a two year low on June 6. Tighter regulation, state and federal investigations, and higher capital requirements from the Fed, will affect revenues and jobs.

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Bill Gross of PIMCO on how he had 10 Credit Anaysts in PIMCO go out into the real estate market in 2006- two or three times a month as home buyers- to find out what was really happening in the real estate market. This went on till June 2008. In this way he found things about the lack of down payments, poor documentation, and practices in the real estate mania that helped PIMCO get a better sense of the market. Staying out of the real estate market meant underperforming relative to peers, and this wasn't easy for the 9-12 months before the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, says Gross. Gross points out that as an investor its hard to get the timing right, as hard as when he has that extra hour and half being up at 4.30 am instead of 6.00 because he isn't sure he can get it right waking up at 6.00.

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Facebook says in its IPO filing that it has 845 millon users worldwide. This is up 39% from the prior year. Revenue is up 88% from the prior year. Facebook's 2011 revenue is $4.27 billion, according to eMarketer. Facebook's 2011 profit was up 65% from the prior year. Analysts say costs and expenses are growing faster than revenues. R&D costs including employee hiring and equity compensation went up to $114 million in 2011 from $9 million in 2010. Facebook had 3,200 employees in Dec. 2011, compared to 2,172 in the prior year. Revenues come from online ads. Ads on the Facebook site increased by 42% in 2011 over the prior year, and average price per ad increased by 18% in this period. Ads are generated using the information provided by users on demographic factors, age, location, gender, education, work history and specific interests- so that subsets of users can be targeted by advertiserrs of products.

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The South Ferry station, terminus for the No1 trainopens January 2009 with artists work by Doug and Mike Starn commissioned by the rts for transit Program of the Metropolitan Transit Authority. It includes curved floor to ceilin glass walls with silhouettes of trees, a marble mosaic of a vintage topographic map of Manhattan, and other imagery drawn from nearby Battery Park. Says Mike about the artwork, the brothers have been working with the idea of the splitting and changing of the trees and branches of the subway system, something that happens in time as well as in space. Its also rooted in their preoccupation with time and natural bonds part of their continuing project on the "Structure of Thought." The Starns proposal was selected in 2004 because of its imagery and its melding of technology for materials and of organix and urban history, and is part of the rebuilding of lower Manhattan after the 9/11 attacks.

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GM shares dropped by 31% October 8, 2008 to a postwar low. And Jeff Schuster head of auto forecasting at JD Power says the global market in 2009 may experience an outright collapse. The slowdown will extend to Europe, China, india and Brazil. Previously JD Power estimated sales at 14 million for 2009 now it thinks it will be more like 13.2 million in 2009 and this may come up for revision as the economic downturn deepens with higher unemployment, loss in savings, and collapsing consumption. With access to financing drying up, and sales collapsing GM is rnning low on funds to run day to day operations and is expected to be acutely short by the end of 2009. Ford faces a similar situation. One forecast by Citigroup global markets in the link in Detroit News October 9 points to only abot $1 billion remaining by the end of 2009 and even with asset sales generating some $5 billion being thin ice for GM.

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White drives a Chrysler 300 sedan diesel powered and made for European use, fast enough to go past speed limit but still gives an average of 28 miles in city and highway driving. The EPA rating for this car is 22 miles per gallon in its US V-6 model, so the Chrysler CRD 300 made for Europe has a 27% fuel efficiency advantage over its American counterpart. White borrowed it from a friend who was showing European diesel technology in the U.S. Cleaner diesel technology is spotlighted in this test drive. Also attention is drawn to fuel availability. This fall oil companies will be required to supply Americans at the gas pump with low sulfur diesel fuels on which the diesel cars with the clean diesel technology run, for cars like the Chrysler CRD 300. Automakers from Japan, Europe and the US are looking to transfer this technology developed for Europe to the US, with some improvements to meet American environmental standards, especially in lare sedans, SUV's and pickups. The statistics for US diesel use on the road are as follows: 1. About 3-4% of light vehicles in the US run on diesel. White quotes industry executives as comfortable with a JD Power estimate of diesel use by 2010-2012, or about 6-8 year horizon of 10% of all passenger vehicles. 2. John Moulton, president of the powertrain division of Robert Bosch Gmbh, forecast diesel use by 15% of the passenger vehicles in the U.S. by 2015. Use in Europe is about 50% by comparison. 3. Usage of diesel will be highest in the bigger cars and vehicles . This is where the 20-30% savings in fuel cost would be substantial enough to cover the $2000-$6000 additional cost for the diesel powered vehicles using the latest clean diesel technology. DaimlerChrysler is already moving forward with coming up with versions of the diesel models used in Europe for the American market. VW currently is the leader in the American market. About 20% of VW's sold in April 2006 use diesel. This is going up every year 12% in 2004, 14% in 2005. In 2008 VW will have all its mainstream models available in all 50 states in diesel versions. ...

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Ukraine's economy is hit hard as GDP contracted by 14% in November and GDP is expected to fall by 10% in first quarter 2009. Ukraine's currency has shed half of its purchasing power since late summer. Ukraine is heavily dependent on commodities. Steel output fell by half and industrial production fell by 29% in November. The parties of the president and the prime minister have formed a coalition so that crisis handling measures can be passed.

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A way of gauging the extent of a bubble in the internet IPO's in 2013, says Hulbert, is the first day return on IPO's in the U.S. of 25% in mid-Aug to mid-Nov 2013 compared to 96% in the first quarter of 2000. He cites a study by finance professors Jerry Wurgler of New York University's Stern School of Business and Malcolm Baker of Harvard Business School, which stresses the need to use objective indicators in assessing the current equity markets and not relying on memories alone. Investor caution after two bubbles since 2000, active regulatory oversight of markets, and legal frameworks updated for changes in financial markets have provided additional safety and stability to markets. The study authors cite evidence for the changes in the way investor sentiment values speculative stocks compared to established stocks. The price/book ratio per share or net worth of established stocks is way higher compared to speculative stocks in 2013 compared to 2000. In 2013 established companies in the S&P 1500 index, according to FactSet, had a 49% higher price/book ratio on average than speculative stocks. Wurgler and Baker used dividend paying stocks as "established" stocks compared to non dividend paying stocks as "speculative." Another piece of evidence that companies are also adjusting to sentiment this time is that less money is coming from stock issuance in 2013 of 11% compared to 20% in 2000. Visible evidence of company behaviour is also telling- banks are changing bahaviour after tougher regulatory oversight and settlements in 2013. GE is planning to shrink GE Capital and put it on sale. Investors have sharply cut back allocations to stocks and are returning to modestly higher allocations from much lower levels and memories of 2000 and 2008 are still present....

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On the competition in the Chinese car market. Its especially fierce in the small car market where prices and margins are falling. Microcars with engines smaller than 1 litre sales increased by only 7% through August.Subcompacts sales went up by only 4% according to JD Powers. With 80 brands in the market margins are falling from15% in 2006 to about 9% in first half 2007 according to JD Powers. The situation is better in the larger cars. Compacts sales are up 46% and midsize sedans up by 35% (JD Powers). VW saw sales in China up by 30% in first 9 months of 2007, and market share increased from 15% to 18% widening the lead over GM which is No.2 at 9.8%. Toyota's Camry ($26000 to $36000)and the Crown luxury( $43000) sales went up by 40%. Cherry, Honda and Toyota are all at about 8% market share for No. 3 position. Prices of compact and mid sized sedans have dropped so they are a better value now and are attracting many buyers in the better offpart of the middle class.

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Good practices for planning retirement in today's environment. Delaying retirement and working longer is important to increase the amount of money available for retirement, especially in today's low return environment. Avoiding increasing the ratio of stocks to bonds and cash beyond the 40% that has become an established practice is important say experts. The 4% rule for withdrawals after retirement should be modified to 3% because of uncertain returns in today's environment. Delaying Social Security adds 8% each year to monthly benefits, says one expert, making this an important and necessary practice in planning for retirement for all Americans.

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Yields on Greece's 10 year bonds rise to nearly 9% in October 2014, as growth slows to near zero in the eurozone, including Germany, in the second half of 2014.

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Oil prices of over $100 per barrel give Saudi national oil company Aramco profits of $161 billion in 2022. One change is the amount of oil going to Europe which almost doubled from 5.1% to 9.1% of European oil imports by the third quarter of 2022, after the EU ban on oil imports from Russia.

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The C-295 aircraft manufacturing in Vadodara, Gujarat is part of a broader development of the Indian aircraft industry. Boeing, Lockheed and Airbus all have manufacturing operations in India. Other sites for the aircraft industry are in Bengaluru and Hyderabad. In the next 10 years India will need over 2000 new passenger and cargo aircraft.

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A $12 million euro loan taken out in 2014 by Marie Le Pen's party from a Russian bank that was transferred to a Russian military aircraft parts maker is the subject of much debate in the French presidential election. It was brought up by Mr. Macron in the recent televised debate with Le Pen.

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The BBC looks at Germany's scramble for energy in 2022. Germany is now doing everything for a winter without Russian gas- that means coal, LNG, new supplies from Qatar and the US. EU wants 15% cut in consumption, more efficient use and less use of energy. And boosting investments in renewable energy.

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Indian prime minister Modi calls for saturation level coverage of schemes including GatiShakti, Har Ghar Jal, Svamitva, Direct Benefit Transfer, and others. Also given emphasis in his statement to 18 chief ministers was the importance of sports and sports facilities  for young people, and continually improving the environment for business in the states.

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India is providing additional financing to Serum Institute of India and vaccine manufacturers to increase vaccine supplies. It is also importing Sputnik vaccine from Russia and approving production within India of Sputnik vaccine. These steps are being taken to accelerate vaccinations. By early May vaccination will be open to anyone over 18 years.

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A quick look at how countries are doing on October 29 as the second wave begins with 14 day trend, daily cases of coronavirus, and the cases per 100,000 population. The trend is worsening in Europe and in the U.S., Latin America, stable or better in India and in other parts of Asia.

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This is one of 18 "bouquinistes" in Paris who sell second hand books in iconic green bookshops in the streets of Paris, in a tradition that dates back centuries. Residents of Mumbai see second hand and new booksellers on the streets as an iconic part of Mumbai going back to the last century.

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Housing and migration are major issues in the Dutch election. Omtzight is an intellectual who heads the New Social Contract Party that has economic policies to help working families and also wants to see curbs on migration. It ends a period of 14 years in which Mark Rutte a moderate was prime minister, 

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Most of the US wind energy comes from Texas, Iowa, Kansas in the central region of the country. Wind makes up about 10% of energy in the US and 7% in the world. Solar adds another 5%. There is a long way to go. Nordic countries such as Denmark have made significant advances.

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US president Biden calls presidential immunity ruling of the US Supreme Court "extreme and dangerous." He calls for a 18 year term limit for Supreme Court Justices and a code of conduct. Biden proposes a constitutional amendment to put this into effect and Kamala Harris backs Biden's Supreme Court reform.