The New Global Community

Sam Miller asked:


Today’s call center is not something about phone calls, it’s a separate business that can… no it MUST generate revenue. It must provide company with fresh ideas, must help company to get new customers and archive business goals, it must work 24 hours a day, live response must be accessible within few seconds. Finally, the operator’s response must solve customer problems immediately, must save customers that wished to cancel service and must generate revenue.

There are various viewpoints on call center – operator view point, customer view point and management viewpoint. Customer wishes the problem to be solved. Operators’ job is to solve the problem, actually operators’ job is to find correct information quickly and provide it with customer in an easy to follow way. What about management? These people always make things working properly. So what is the best thing that call center manager can do? How to manage call center efficiently? The Balanced Scorecard approach is the best answer to these questions.

Balanced Scorecard is nothing, but the concept. It’s not a software tool, it is not a database, it is not an ERP system. Think about Balanced Scorecard as a combination of metrics and the rules of metrics management.

The key rule for managing metrics is to put them in proper order. Metrics must represent actual business (calls, operators, expenses and revenues), metrics must be grouped. It’s bad idea to create too many metrics and there must be some golden number of metrics suitable for your business. Let’s think about call center in terms of Balanced Scorecard and in terms of metrics.

The Balanced Scorecard concept suggests to use four perspectives to describe any business. Let’s discuss the most important perspectives and metrics associated with these perspectives.

Financial perspective. The key idea here is “call center must generate revenue”. It’s a good idea to measure revenue per successful call and the cost of call. Financial perspective will give you an idea about conversion rate. Making more and more calls is not a good goal. Good goal is: “Make 20% more calls, keeping conversion rate about 4% and keeping our costs flat”.

Balanced Scorecard concept is about measuring. So when you have some metrics, describe the way you will measure them, specify the target values you wish to achieve.

The next perspective is Internal process perspective. How the phone call is handled inside the call center? Do you segment in some way your incoming customers? What is the average call-handling time? Is your call center service available 24 hours a day?

Learning and growth perspective. Coaching is what makes call center working efficiently. Team leader must spend time on coaching, manage must measure and control this time. Team leader must use different coaching methods, such as remote listening, sharing practices with agents, role-playing exercises. It’s good idea to measure these activities. Today call center management systems provides efficient technical background for a call center, coaching is what makes all this software systems work.

Finally, don’t forget about customer. From customer perspective consider measuring response time quality, customer loose rate and first-call resolution rate. It sounds simple, but these key indicators will help to re-think call center and make it performing better.

Call-center MUST generate sales, it must save customers and must return investments. The key concept is to measure and control call center performance with call center metrics and Balanced Scorecard concept. What tool to use to manage your metrics? Anything you like, in this case any spreadsheet software will work better than thousand-dollars business systems.



Cassandra

Chris DiCicco asked:


The Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida is home to some of the most significant NASCAR races there are. It is a 2.5-mile track and can seat 168,000 fans. Other racing associations share the track too so it is not exclusively a NASCAR facility. It is home to the race most Americans know because it has been around for so long: The Daytona 500. NASCAR sponsors this event as the Sprint Cup Daytona 500 The Great American Race.

In 2008, the 50th Annual NEXTEL Cup Daytona 500 race will be held. The NASCAR Daytona 500 is a 500-mile race that consists of 200 laps. This race will begin the NASCAR season on February 17th. The winner of the Daytona 500 gets awarded the Harley J. Earl Trophy. Harley J. Earl was an automobile designer who served as the second NASCAR commissioner. The Harley J. Earl Trophy will be plated in gold instead of silver for the 2008 race.

The NASCAR Daytona 500 has a unique qualifying procedure. The top 35 teams from the previous years competition are automatically qualified to compete in the current Daytona 500 race at the Daytona International Speedway. There are 150-mile qualifying races held one week before the big race and the two top drivers from the qualifications will be added to the 35. Other top qualifiers will fill the remaining spots to 43 and previous NASCAR champions without a spot will be given priority.

The Daytona International Speedway has seen its share of exciting victories throughout its history. For example, take the Daytona 500 victory in 1976 where David Pearson just barely beat out the King of Racing Richard Petty. The two actually wrecked on their dart for the finish and both cars went into spins. Richard Pettys car stalled out when it went into the infield. Pearson managed to get his car over the finish line at 30 mph. All this excitement happened just 20 yards from the finish line.

The Daytona 500 has had its share of tragedies. In 2001 Dale Earnhardt was killed in a crash on the last turn of the last lap of the race. Dale Earnhardt had won at this track 34 times.

It was suspected that some car modifications allowing drivers to break faster caused this and they were discontinued in the rules after this fatal race. The modifications made the cars more aerodynamic and allowed more cars to take the lead during a race. The idea was to inject more excitement into NASCAR racing at the Daytona International Speedway as well as other tracks.

Since this Daytona 500 race at the NASCAR Datyona International Speedway is so popular, there is an entire website dedicated to it: daytona500. It has streaming video on it from prior races.

The Daytona 500 made news with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. getting the number 88 for his car in the upcoming 50th race. The number 88 is significant in NASCAR because it was the same number used in earlier years by his grandfather Ralph Earnhardt. But that is not the only link that makes the number 88 significant. The number 88 has a long list of drivers who have displayed the number to include Bobbie Allison, Donnie Allison, Fireball Roberts, and Darrell Waltrip to name a few. The number 88 has been recorded in 65 wins and is ranked as number 9 in the all-time most winning numbers.



Merle

uchannel asked:

International News Coverage in a New Media World: The Decline of the Foreign Correspondent Experts examine the dramatic shift of traditional media away from foreign reporting and the growth of Web-based citizen journalists and…

Blake

Danny Clay asked:


Far removed from prominent view, exists an age old substance in nature, known as “Calcium Montmorillonite Clay.” There are only a limited number of “Calcium Montmorillonite Clay” deposits around the world. The first site was discovered in Montmorillon, France in the 1800’s, hence the name, Montmorillonite. For centuries Native American healers used it internally and externally in the treatment of a variety of illnesses. In years past sailing vessels departing from France were known to store clay on board for the treatment of dysentery as well as other ailments. Animals, domestic and wild alike, instinctually drawn to clay deposits have been observed licking the clay as part of their everyday diet, and rolling in it to obtain relief from injuries.

A recognized detoxifying agent, nutrient and bactericidal “Calcium Montmorillonite Clay” is in the smectite group of clays. Only those clays within the smectite group have the ability to absorb. Its power as a detoxifying substance comes from its inherent ability to adsorb and absorb. Its unique ability to grow and change (adsorb) is the reason for its classification and recognition as a “Living Clay”. While there is more than one Montmorillonite, the red “Calcium Montmorillonite Clay” of the smectite group remains a favorite for human use. Clay, which has been hydro-thermally altered and seasoned in the arid desert is rich in content. The color of clay is determined by the mixture and ratio of elements contained within it. Hydro-thermal exposures over long periods of time affect the clay in two important aspects; it becomes negatively charged and crystallized. As a result of the crystallization process the clay is reduced into small particles that make it easy for the body to assimilate. The negative charges on the clay give it the ability to adsorb or attract positively charged toxic matter, which is then absorbed into the clay and dispelled from the body as waste. In addition to the role it plays as a potent detoxifier, “Calcium Montmorillonite Clay” has also been used extensively in the treatment of pain, open wounds, colitis, diarrhea, hemorrhoids, stomach ulcers, intestinal problems, acne, anemia, and a variety of other health issues.

“Calcium Montmorillonite Clay” is reported to contain no less than 67 minerals. This impressive assortment of minerals includes calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, manganese, and silica as well as trace elements, those appearing in very tiny amounts. The mineral content being extremely high sets the stage for replenishing dietary deficiencies. Today more than ever before, diets are lacking essential trace minerals and micronutrients. Without the basic minerals, life cannot exist; without trace minerals, major deficiencies may develop. Lack of either will make it impossible for the body to maintain good health and function properly. In clay the minerals occur in natural proportion to one another encouraging their absorption in the intestinal tract. Natural “Calcium Montmorillonite” restores minerals in the tissues where they are needed. Furthermore, minerals are the carriers of the electrical potential in the cells which enable the hormones, vitamins, and enzymes to function properly.

As mentioned above “Living Clay” is known to have been used historically as an effective antibacterial in the treatment of dysentery, and as a means of decontaminating water. Presently it is being used internationally to clarify and balance small and large bodies of water. This is so because “Living Clay” particles are smaller than many bacteria; when bacteria encounter an environment abundant in clay it becomes surrounded by the clay, and imbedded in it. The immediate result is that the bacteria are unable to receive nourishment and cannot survive. The dominant approach in health care today is from the viewpoint that considers the notion of parts. The diagnosis of illness is often arrived at by looking for a specific disease by relying on symptoms surfacing in an apparently localized part or parts of the body. Once identified a specific medication for a specific problem is applied. Only recently has medical science begun once again, to explore the idea that health problems surface as a result of disease in the whole system, not just one or more of the parts. The immune system intimately affects each organ on a fundamental level, which spans the boundaries of all the body’s vital functions. This is critical to understanding the cause of chronic and degenerative disease. The body’s vital systems are dependent on each other. The presence of disease in any system impacts all systems. A lifestyle without substantial nutrition, sufficient rest, a proper balance of stress, and numerous other factors can weaken the immune system. Malfunction of the immune system leads to infectious disease. It is unrealistic to treat parts, and expect a whole result.

Because of its inherent healing properties, clay has long been recognized as a subject worthy of study. It is included as such, in many educational institutions today, which teach pharmacology, herbology, and nutrition. “Calcium Montmorillonite Clay” is currently being utilized in hospitals outside of the United States where it has already proven its effectiveness. In recent years clay has become a topic of discussion in numerous publications. Recently more information has become available outlining the important role “Calcium Montmorillonite Clay” can play in the recovery and maintenance of health. It has also been receiving significant recognition by the health care community, as a proven and much overlooked natural alternative remedy in the prevention and cure of disease.

Recent exposure has spurred the interest of people around the world, prompting them to seek out reliable high quality resources for clay. This well deserved notoriety is serving to educate the public about this natural healing agent, as a true “Miracle of Life”.

While “Calcium Montmorillonite Clay” is a powerful nutrient and detoxifier it is important to recognize that it is a part of a total health care system. Healing benefits may result from internal and/or external clay applications. The clay may be ingested, applied as a poultice, and/or used in a bath. An appropriate lifestyle and the proper guidance of a health care practitioner are essential to one’s well being. Determining the most beneficial and appropriate application of “Calcium Montmorillonite Clay” is best discussed with someone familiar with its properties.

Natural medicines serve as catalysts triggering our bodies built in healing mechanisms as they work to restore health. I was prompted to write this article because of my personal experience with the far reaching healing powers of natural “Calcium Montmorillonite Clay”. My hope is that the information provided here will encourage others to consult with their respective health practitioners, in considering its use as a part of their daily health regime. I wish you one and all a lifetime of good health.

To order REDOXX or for more information: 502-867-1895 office

or email Danny@MyBizIsGood.com



Harley

International Agency asked:


There is no better way to change his life as completely change their environment. Each person there are moments in life when all you want to quit and flee, where neither be away from the problems surrounding us, where there is only love and tenderness and understanding the complete life. These thoughts come after feelings about the setbacks and separation from loved ones and probably people not only in these moments, to list all the possible causes of dissatisfaction in life is practically impossible to have every person they and their individual enough.

This article does not try to analyse all possible options suppressed his feelings and the factors shaping likely mention here about this as a signal that it was time to take their destiny into their own hands and try to change it. You can start with the exterior, changing hairstyle, and bought a new dress, but what to do if these new emotions are not long enough?

The next step is to change the social circle, extending his best, make new friends and new interests, possibly met a new love or passion experiencing lighter new man. But where to find new friends, if the world with some then declined to home and work and the ways between them. All people have long to become familiar and do not cause any emotion.

The answer is surprisingly simple to use the online dating service, is the offspring of the twenty-first century, this incredible opportunity to learn, not leaving the house, to communicate without vestiges of the past and the limitations of existing in society (well of course to a reasonable limit). Here you can present themselves prince and princess to come first, you can say about everything and always find someone who you listen, and can share their life experiences do. In the Internet more and more people find friends with similar interests merge in friendly company, and learn something new about life, or that they are interested at this time. Online communication is one of medicine, treating and distracting from the loneliness of life issues. Try to start communicating and I am sure you will like it.

Obviously, one can not do virtual dating if you are looking for life partner, but Internet dating can be used as a prelude to cronyism in real life, in a lengthy communication can understand that for people to communicate with you and whether or not to continue communicating with him . Find a new hobby or a new interlocutor can be as fast as runs flow of electrons, make your request through a worldwide network. But you started to talk and you become easier, you learn something new and interesting about life on other people acquainted with new people and now sit in anticipation of an electronic news from them about their country or place where they live. And if new friends live in another country and speak other languages, it is not a problem now, during the communication you do not notice, many dating sites offer translation services, and free.

So dating has become quite different color, already friends around the world, and if the girlfriend said that heard that somewhere something once, enough to turn to a friend at the other end of the world and find out all the details. Now we are friends with the world, and can be proud of the first-hand information. And distant alien impressed with his kindness and responsiveness.

There are sites marriage agencies, which not only allow to meet and find a bride in Russia or Ukraine, but also help you meet and confirm their feelings arose during the lengthy virtual acquaintances. Dating with Russian women would not only have positive emotions to communicate, learn a lot about other countries, but also allow you to completely change your life, succeeding ordinariness of everyday life at the new experience.

Well, now you are the father of the family, and life became more mainstream, the countdown clock are fortunate, and not before time, a new problem.

Internet communication is indeed a great opportunity to combat loneliness and anguish. Try it and I am sure you like!



Tonia

Edward Victor asked:


Edward Victor and Sarah Smith interview award-winning CNN, BBC and Al Jazeera journalist, Afshin Rattansi, about newsgathering and his novel, “The Dream of the Decade – The London Novels” published by Booksurge and available on Amazon.com.

Edward Victor: Afshin Rattansi, your new book looks at -among other things- the way news is made in newsrooms. Given that you have worked at three top networks, the BBC, CNN and Al Jazeera, do you think there has been any change since you wrote your book?

Afshin Rattansi: A character in the third novel of the quartet reappears to work at a large media organization around the time of the war on Yugoslavia. That war was covered in an extraordinary way and was widely criticised afterwards. After all, reporting on hundreds of thousands of people dying in the heart of Europe is what journalism textbooks after World War II were written for and yet, anyone using TV news to find out what happened in Sarajevo would have been confused at best. It was only after the war that some excellent programmes were made.

“The Dream of the Decade” deals with unwitting bias or unwitting lack of balance. Every story was nuanced by the life experiences of the kind of people that get the jobs in newsrooms. Though the book deals with coverage of stories on the environment, healthcare and many other issues, the in-built bias of journalists reaches its apotheosis with regard to war reporting. Whether it be the wars on Latin American states in the 1980s or the war on Yugoslavia in the 1990s, it’s remarkable how hard it is for a viewer to hear a spectrum of views on any war.

Edward Victor: You also started the developing world’s first English language 24 hour satellite TV news and current affairs network, based in the Middle East. As the man in charge, did you use your experience to produce news differently?

Afshin Rattansi: I hope so. Though I was the editor of the channel, there were the constraints any manager would have on the way we broadcast news. Most recently, at the BBC, one realised the constraints on a very well established network when reporting the run-up to the war on Iraq. At the Dubai Channel, we came from a developing world perspective and concentrated on the financial background. “Follow the money” was the watchword when we covered, say the Ethiopia-Eritrea war or the privatisation of natural resource management demanded by the IMF. I always thought it was interesting that Business Week outsold The Economist and that Business Week magazine was often the best source for really getting a balanced view of a story. Everything from the most local – for example, food resources or crime prevention – to the most global – say, Kyoto, the drug trade or nuclear arms – usually has private profit at the heart of it.

Whether it be Hollywood or the matter of Palestine, following the money is a pretty good way for journalists to cover a story…and being very wary of Microsoft’s “copy and paste” functions when allied to Reuters and AP wire stories. Reuters, after all, is mainly a financial services company and though it has excellent journalists, their “daily wraps” of the main stories of the day will not be those that most concern ordinary people, certainly not the greatest proportion of humanity or the greatest audience.

Sarah Smith: Al Jazeera is launching an English language station. The expert on Al Jazeera, Hugh Miles, wrote about (in Al Jazeera : How Arab TV News Challenges America) how the Arabic language station hired you -as an award-winning journalist- once the channel became more successful and wanted to raise its profile. Will you be working for the English language station?

Afshin Rattansi: I certainly haven’t been approached. And whilst I think it has the potential to be something great – even building on the work that developing world international stations have been making since the Dubai Channel – I’m as yet unsure of the direction the channel is taking. They’ve taken on some excellent personnel. I think what will be critical – not only for sound editorial reasons – will be whether they can carve a niche that separates them from industry leaders such as CNN, the BBC and Fox. There are a lot of free-to-air international TV stations, now. But Al Jazeera Arabic was different because its perspective was shared by a swathe of people from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean that just wasn’t compatible with the big corporate names in news.

Sarah Smith: But why have you not wanted to be part of such an exciting project – given your published work on managing start-up TV stations, getting cable access, writing remits and so forth? You were, after all, the first ever English-language recruit to Al Jazeera.

Afshin Rattansi: So far, I’ve already been told that there is no place for me on the network so, obviously, they’ve missed something very important in the start-up of the new channel! But, more seriously, it has to be said that within the industry, there are some great journalists who, I would have thought, would have been ideal recruits. International TV station start-ups are always complex and perhaps management of the new station has a long range plan that involves more commercial BBC-style news at the beginning to gain market access. My first boss at the BBC, Paul Gibbs, is one of the directors of the new channel so I know that they have some heavyweights when it comes to knowing the industry. He will be commissioning programmes and at the BBC Business Unit was known for innovative strands of programming.

Sarah Smith: The channel has hired some journalists very much from the neoliberal right. David Frost who is a friend of Israel even checked with the U.S. and UK governments before he would take on a job at the station. Their head of news, Steve Clark, produced extremely right wing programmes that were pro-Israeli. Do you have any fears about the channel?

Afshin Rattansi: As I said, start-ups are always quite fraught. And one must remember that there are a lot of people who are willing the failure of Al Jazeera International. I know Steve and he seemed relatively sane! I certainly don’t think it can be said – as some are alleging – that the English language station has been hijacked by the CIA or something, as some are having it.

As to the more disturbing bits of news we get about the start-up of the English language Al Jazeera channel, I think we should wait and see. Frost is a big name and TV stations do need stars. With all the money being thrown at the new channel, let’s hope that they are getting the really top notch producers and reporters and not those who are merely the dregs of big, corporate news broadcasting, looking for a tax-free salary and a bit of sun!

Edward Victor: The book that concerns TV news in “The Dream of the Decade” has been compared to Evelyn Waugh’s “Scoop”. Should it be read as a satire or did any of the things in the book actually happen.

Afshin Rattansi: Of all the books in the quartet, perhaps that one, “Good Morning, Britain” is the most autobiographical. Alas, some of the crazier things regarding the naivety of reporters are basically true. I certainly remember a very posh reporter who was unaware of public healthcare and when he went to cover a story about hospitals went to the only hospital he knew – a very expensive private one – so that the whole report became an advert for how wonderful medical care was in the UK. I’ve also met my fair share of war correspondents who delight in the perceived Hemmingway persona, obscuring the issues of geopolitical power in any theatre of war.

Sarah Smith: What broadcast news services do you think are good and how can journalism in general get better?

Afshin Rattansi: I think there are some gold standards at the moment. One of them is BBC World Service radio which whilst showing little in the way of innovation and often obscuring power-lines, still manages to feel truly global. Obviously, CNN when my little brother is anchoring is also excellent! I have to admit that Fox News, which is doing well in the ratings, at least puts its heart on its sleeve – tacitly admitting it has an angle. It is much more frightening to watch news which suggests that it is unbiased when it is.

Ultimately, it will be up to the kind of people employed in journalism. At the BBC Today programme – shortly before the editor was fired – there were the beginnings of a recruitment process that was genuinely based on grouping people from different backgrounds to be in the newsroom. In Dubai, there were journalists from every country East and South of Algiers. But it’s not just ethnic diversity, it’s class diversity. You wouldn’t find many frontline journalists at the BBC from London’s Peckham area, nor at CNN from Dixie Hills. Ironically, the ratings on programmes which employed them would do well as so little on TV reflects the aspirations and concerns of the majority. However, I don’t think advertisers are that interested in those with low disposable incomes. And, in the UK, which has weathered the dumbing down of international TV better than most places, executives at government-funded stations feel the need – for complex reasons – to compete with commercial content.



Jamaal

Lee Smith asked:


Internal communication specialist headhunters Watson Helsby, published an report entitled  ‘Internal Communications – More to Deliver’ , the sequel to a similar research exercise undertaken way back in 2002, which was widely acclaimed at the time.

Based on qualitative research with 75 senior in-house ‘movers and shakers’, the research was designed to assess the state of internal communication practice, to identify some broad themes and issues and, specifically, to provide some pointers on the best way forward for the profession and its practitioners. It was written by two seasoned IC commentators, Nick Helsby of Watson Helsby and Michael Croton of Comma Consulting.

To summaries, the big messages from the report are:

We’ve come a long way since 2002 – companies have invested heavily and are demanding more and better IC. However, the results IC has delivered have not always matched expectations. There is now broad consensus on the scope and remit of IC with most respondents saying they were accountable for developing and communicating the corporate story, developing channels, leadership comms, campaigns and programmes, internal news management, supporting engagement and employer branding efforts, crisis comms and measurement & evaluation. We’ve still got a long way to go to become a genuinely mature profession – there are many challenges ahead and numerous areas where we could and should be doing better to demonstrate our value to organisations. The best is yet to come – the future for IC is rosy, if we continue to professionalize the function, raise standards, build understanding and appreciation in the board room and get the talent right.

One of the most useful sections of the report is the discussion on obstacles to progress, where several themes emerge:

Lack of coherence – an increasing focus on IC has resulted in an increase in noise and clutter. As business unit heads, functional leaders and others battle  to give their messages prominence this is creating a situation where there are simply too many badly coordinated messages bombarding employees. The result is a cacophony. Poor governance – unlike PR/external comms there are few checks, balances, controls and protocols in place to guide internal comms. It is often informal and decentralized and, as a result, leaders cannot be confident that (a) communication is flowing through the organization effectively (b) they have the ability to communicate quickly and consistently in a crisis situation. Employees’ ranking in the audience hierarchy –external stakeholders (shareholders, media, etc) are often viewed as more important than employees and, as a result, these audiences often receive more focus, attention and senior executive time. Put simply, IC still often plays second fiddle to external comms. Senior level support – to thrive inside an organization IC needs to have a senior sponsor who really ‘gets it’ – someone who understands what good IC looks like and can deliver in its broadest sense (i.e. beyond simply pumping out messages). Likewise, it’s vital that there is someone at a senior level – someone with ‘clout’ – who is proactively championing the work of the IC team and helping push through organization-wide initiatives. Shortage of talent – IC is still not attracting, nurturing and growing sufficient talent.  As a result there is little in the way of a succession pipeline inside organisations, meaning that candidates have to be lured from elsewhere. Even then, there is a relatively small pool of good practitioners to fish from.

The report also identifies a number of key areas where IC can add – and be seen to add – more value. This provides a useful checklist for any communicator who wants to develop themselves and/or their team.

The report concludes that, in order to realize its full potential, Internal Communication needs to focus on getting the right people in the right roles, developing that talent, winning support from senior leaders, beefing up the role, becoming more proactive when it comes to identifying and grabbing opportunities to demonstrate their value, and getting the operating model right.



Opal

Silvester Thompson asked:


With so many potential investments outside the United States, investing internationally becomes a great way to diversify an equity portfolio. Some people contend that there is an increasing correlation in performance between the United States and international markets. But while world markets often tend to react similarly to news or developments occurring around the globe, over time, international and domestic markets tend to behave differently, helping to smooth out the ride in a diversified portfolio.

Consider the performance of the Morgan Stanley Capital International Europe, Australia and Far East Index, which charts the progress of stocks in developed markets located in Europe, Australia and the Far East, versus the S&P 500, considered representative of the broader U.S. stock market. When one is going strong, the other tends to lag behind, and that has been the case going back as far as 1970. In addition, when the MSCI EAFE outperforms the S&P 500, it has done so by a greater margin than when performances are reversed.

In fact, during the past 10 years, the U.S. stock market has never been the leader in the global investment arena. Top performance has been the exclusive domain of international indices during that time, and the returns of the S&P 500 sometimes have lagged those of overseas peers by wide margins.

Global funds invest about half in the United States and half in the rest of the world, making them a smart way for someone with little or no experience in international investing to test the waters. A good example is American Century Global Growth, whose managers scour the globe for the best growth investment opportunities for the fund’s shareholders.

You should consider the fund’s investment objectives, risks, and charges and expenses carefully before you invest. The fund’s prospectus, which can be obtained by calling or visiting American Century’s Web site, contains this and other information about the fund and should be read carefully before investing.



Estela

Stig Kristoffersen asked:


What currency will have the strongest potential in the short and long terms?

There are several trends in the currency market, which signals that the Norwegian Kroner (NOK) has a potential to be the stronger currency in the short to medium term (18-24 months time).

As the economic downturn ripples globally, the economic development during 2009 becomes a hot debate in the U.S and EU. It will become clearer which currency of USD and EUR will become the global currency leader, or if both will be replaced by other currencies in the mid to long term perspective. IMF;s Special Drawing Rights (SDR) has become a topic of discussions whether it will play a stronger role as global reserve unit, and replace USD.

At the moment there seems to be some appetite to purchase USD debt which can be realized in 24 + months time span, and give strength to other currencies, like Chinese and Japanese currencies. We have to look closer into who is purchasing this debt and what is the potential for these to realize some profit from these assets in medium to long term perspective.

G20 leaders have made clear that for now the dollar’s status as the dominant reserve unit remains, but the idea of creating a new reserve currency system based on SDRs has not entirely been discarded. The SDR (Special Drawing Rights) of International Monetary Fund (IMF) has a set of currencies in its basket, which makes it another measure for currency. There has been discussions lately to include more currencies into the SDR basket, however at the moment IMF has not been willing to make any adjustments to the SDR composition. It has also been discussed to use Gold more actively into the SDR. Again IMF together with G20 has not yet adopted any statement on this issue either.

More effective use of gold and gold and forex reserves in this system, could dilute the SDR, which IMF is afraid of at the moment.

The trends of various currencies versus the Norwegian Kroner (NOK) have had a distinct development through 2008 up till March 2009. These trends have been offset in time during 2008, however it seems like the trends have become more synchronized as time has passed, and today it looks like these trends are identical.

The overall picture is that the NOK has strengthened itself towards two major currencies like USD and EUR in the period of August 2008 up till today. This strengthening has seem to found a semi-stable level at the moment, which has increased the value of the NOK vs EUR and USD substantially.

Whether this picture is sustainable or not, is a matter we have to look into at other places than the immediate trends between these currencies. The Norwegian D has kept up better than most nations during these past 6 months time, and was the only one with an expansion during last quarter of 2008. In addition Norway has a net export balance in their national budgets, which is further assisted by their strong currency. However whether the strong currency will counteract the export volumes remain to be seen. Norway’s major export article is oil and gas, together with fish. Oil and gas prices has found a semi-stable level at the moment, which will stabilize the Norwegian budget income level, as for fisheries, this could be another matter as EU is the main market for the fish, and purchase power has been drastically cut the last 6 months and seem to stay that way for at least 24 months time.

Overall, it seems like the NOK will keep its level versus other major currencies for at least 18-24 months time, since U.S actively try to keep USD low due to need for increase in their export to reduce the deficit of their budgets both in short and long term.

EU has kept another profile in their rescue attempt of the EU zone economy, and has not used as an extensive bail out package as U.S has. This has also lead Central Bank of Europe not to cut the interest rate as dramatic as the U.S. has done either.

This can somewhat be reflected in the currency exchange rate between these two.

It is observed that USD vs EUR trend is not stable, despite the fact that the currency level has risen from 0.64 to 0.75 from August 2008 up till end of March 2009.

The cyclic trend rate between these currencies seem to indicate a somewhat unstable element, and macro economic factors need to be understood before any further trend can be predicted.

Let us look at some of the currency exchange trends between the NOK and major currencies like USD and EUR, as well as looking at the relationship between the USD and EUR.

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BHD vs NOK

Development as of August 2008. In the first 3 quarters of 2008 you had a level of 13.5 BD pr NOK, and it steadily increased up till Mid October 2008 when it stabilized at a level around 18.5 BD pr NOK.

The exchange rate has been hovering around 18-19 BD pr NOK up till beginning of March when it dropped to around 17 BHD pr NOK. However it seems like the NOK has strength enough to keep a level around 18-19 BHD in near future.

This is a around 3.48% strengthening of the NOK versus BHD currency.



USD vs NOK

Since BHD and USD is pegged to each other, the same picture as for BHD can be seen in the USD development versus NOK. A base level of around 5.1-.5.5 USD pr NOK existed till late August 2008, when it steadily increased to around 7.0 USD pr NOK in Mid October 2008, and has been at this level till beginning of March 2009, when it made a small drop to around 6.5 USD pr NOK and seem to strengthen a bit.

NOK has strengthened with around 34.6% from 2008 and today.



EUR vs NOK

The development has same trend as in USD vs NOK, however it is delayed as a stable level of around 8 EUR vs NOK existed up till beginning of September 2008, and steadily increased to a peak level in end of December 2008 at around 10 EUR pr NOK. It has since then declined to a level around 8.7 to 9 EUR pr NOK since then, which seems to be a stable level for the NOK.

The Norwegian Kroner (NOK) has increased its value versus EUR with around 10% from the 2008 up till today.



USD vs EUR

Development has the same macro trend as EUR vs NOK and USD vs NOK, however it shows a pre-cursor trend versus the others, as the increase from 0.64 EUR pr USD to a level of 0.79 started already in end July, start of August. This is around 2 weeks before the other movements started.

The peak level of around 0.78-0.79 EUR pr USD held itself to beginning of December as it fell to a local low of 0.70 EUR pr USD in Mid December 2008, and began to steadily increase with a new local peak level of 0.79 EUR pr USD in beginning of March for then again to drop off to a level of 0.75 where it is in end of March. Overall the EURO has strengthened versus the USD with around 17% since 2008 stable level.

The USD vs EUR was a pre-cursor trend for other currencies vs NOK in 2008, however the trends have harmonized and are synchronized as we see it today. Therefore we can not use this trend any longer to predict the exchange rate between USD and NOK, neither EUR vs NOK.



Uncertainty in the global economic picture as the global financial and economic turmoil ripples through the world, makes it impossible to make certain logical predictions when it comes to currency trends in the near to mid term future.

However, if any safe haven is seen from the available economic data, it seems like Norwegian Kroner (NOK) could be a valid candidate to purchase in the short to mid term.

However, it is highly unlikely that this small national economy can play a major global role in the longer term.

The availability to resources needed for primary consumption will in the future play a more and more important role from a currency standpoint of view.

As seen up till now, that oil and gas resource dependencies as well as the control of this, decide lots on how a currency is valued.

In the future, water and certain agricultural resources could play a more important role to how a currency is valued and trusted.

Therefore it is a valid viewpoint to look into whether USD is a currency the world should use in the future, as U.S economic leading role has been questioned in the last 12 months.

There are discussions whether IMF’s SDR should be used more to stabilize the global reserve funds on the longer term.

Adding to the mix is the political dependencies of a nation or region to others, which complicates the currency valuation. At the moment there is hectic movments in controlling currencies, which almost is on the brink of a global currency exchange war. Protectionist trends to protect its own export industries can come more into play as well in this respect.

To give some background and understanding of the SDR, I have included a short summary of the SDR in this article.

The SDR is defined in terms of a basket of major currencies used in international trade and finance. At present, the currencies in the basket are, by weight, the United States dollar, the euro, the Japanese yen, and the pound sterling. The amounts of each currency making up one SDR are chosen in accordance with the relative importance of the currency in international trade and finance. The determination of the currencies in the SDR basket and their amounts is made by the IMF Executive Board every five years.

At the moment the composition valid for the period from 2006 to 2010 is as follows;

USD – 44%

EUR – 34%

Yen – 11%

GBP – 11%

These relationships have been more or less stable since the introduction of SDR in 1981.

There are both pros and cons of using SDR as a global currency reserve, but we will not discuss these here.





SDR versus EURO, NOK and USD

As we can see, the major currencies EURO and USD makes SDR stable versus these two currencies. However as seen versus the NOK, the same trend as for both USD and EURO separately, the same repeats itself for SDR with an increase of NOK value versus SDR in late August, beginning of September 2008. The SDR flattens out versus NOK at around 9 in March 2009.





Zane

Rodney Anderson asked:


“CALM CONTINUETH NOT LONG WITHOUT A STORM”…And these wise words dating back to 1576 sure still hold true today. Bond prices and home loan rates have been absolutely flat for the past seven trading days. Traders have not had much in the way of economic news to chew on lately, and seasonably lower volume has added to the sluggish market activity. But this quiet period could just be the calm before the storm, as an action packed economic calendar is due to get some movement stirring over the next week.

Last week did bring some news from the housing sector, in the form of New and Existing Home Sales numbers for July…and it looks like the housing market is behaving just like Fed Chairman Bernanke predicted, with an “orderly slowdown”. The number of both New and Existing homes sold came in slightly lower than expectations, and the number of month’s inventory or supply available of each rose as well. But across the board, home prices are still up over the past year…that’s good news. And here’s an interesting point – the median home price in the US is now $230,000. How does that compare to your own market?

AND SPEAKING OF STORMS, IF YOU’VE EVER BEEN THROUGH A DIVORCE OR KNOW SOMEONE WHO HAS…YOU KNOW THAT IT’S RARELY SMOOTH SAILIING DURING THE PROCESS OF MAKING TOUGH FINANCIAL DECISIONS. BUT THERE IS A VERY COMMON DECISION MADE THAT CAN UNKNOWINGLY COST A BUNDLE…DON’T MISS THIS WEEK’S MORTGAGE MARKET VIEW.

Forecast for the Week

So what’s the forecast for the week ahead that could cause some stormy seas for home loan rates? A big blast of economic news is on the horizon, including the “Meeting Minutes” or commentary from the last Fed Meeting, Consumer Confidence, 2nd Quarter GDP, the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), the Institute of Supply Management (ISM), Consumer Sentiment and the “big boy”…the monthly Jobs Report. And whirling around in the mix is the seasons first potential hurricane headed towards the Gulf of Mexico…”Ernesto” is on the way. If the hurricane does develop, it could disrupt supply to an already jittery oil market. This would lead to higher oil prices, and more inflationary pressures…not good for Bond prices or home loan rates.

But technical factors will now give up the helm, and take a back seat to the important upcoming news events. Because Bond prices and home loan rates tend to benefit from weak economic news, and vice versa, worsen on positive economic news…this gives us some hints as to which way the wind might blow when the news starts hitting. But because Bonds would still need to power through the tough technical ceiling overhead to bring some improvement to home loan rates – it will take some dismal news indeed to see significant change for the better in rates.

The Mortgage Market View…

LOVE AND MARRIAGE, LOVE AND MARRIAGE, GO TOGETHER LIKE…Well, you know the song. But more than 50% of marriages end in divorce, and the lyrics quickly change from “love and marriage” to “alimony and child support.” Most people know their alimony payments are tax deductible and most also know alimony received is taxable income. But some innocent and seemingly harmless changes in the way alimony is paid can wipe out the deduction and make receipt of it tax free. And in an already emotional environment, more misunderstandings and legal battles are less than welcome.

According to the IRS, alimony can be claimed as a deduction in the year paid if the payment is made in cash. That’s the key point – it has to be paid in cash or by check. If it is used as part of a buyout or trade for personal items, furnishings or home equity, the deduction is disallowed. This can be a major issue, especially where home equity buyouts are concerned.

Picture a divorce situation where, after a legal battle, it is determined one spouse is obligated to pay the other alimony. And because the legal settlement took some time to reach, there is back alimony owed by Spouse A to Spouse B of $20,000. Additionally, Spouse A is leaving the marital home but has the right to half the equity in the home, which comes to $20,000 for their share of the home equity.

So…in the interest of keeping things simple and not having to take out loans or sell the marital home, the parties agree to trade the $20,000 owed to Spouse A in home equity for the $20,000 owed to Spouse B for back alimony. While this may appear to be a fair and reasonable way to settle the issue, it does not meet the IRS requirement for alimony to be paid in cash in order for it to be tax deductible. This issue is surprisingly common, and just recently the IRS Tax Court disallowed an ex-husband’s deduction for alimony (2006-122 Rocke Richard LaBozetta, Petitioner v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, Respondent) because it was a trade of equity for back alimony and not paid in cash. Had the ex-husband known this prior to the settlement, he may have structured the settlement agreement differently to take advantage of the tax deduction.

Again, this could be a very common mistake for many individuals and could be a very costly mistake when counting on an extra tax deduction. It is important to take the time to meet with divorce and tax professionals that can help you make the correct financial decisions. If you need or know of someone who needs a referral for a tax or divorce professional, please contact me and I will be happy to recommend either to you.

The Week’s Economic Indicator Calendar

Remember, as a general rule, weaker than expected economic data is good for rates, while positive data causes rates to rise.



Deann