Monday, December 19, 2011

NYC protesters scale fence at vacant lot

Occupy Wall Street protestors lift the fences surrounding a park near Duarte Square in an effort to occupy the space they were previously removed from weeks prior, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011, in New York. While officers made arrests, protesters chanted obscenities and screamed: "Make them catch you!" About a thousand people gathered across the street at a city-owned park. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Occupy Wall Street protestors lift the fences surrounding a park near Duarte Square in an effort to occupy the space they were previously removed from weeks prior, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011, in New York. While officers made arrests, protesters chanted obscenities and screamed: "Make them catch you!" About a thousand people gathered across the street at a city-owned park. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Occupy Wall Street protestors lift the fences surrounding a park near Duarte Square in an effort to occupy the space they were previously removed from weeks prior, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011, in New York. While officers made arrests, protesters chanted obscenities and screamed: "Make them catch you!" About a thousand people gathered across the street at a city-owned park. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

An Occupy Wall Street protestor heads up a ladder to scale the fences surrounding a park near Duarte Square in an effort to occupy the space they were previously removed from weeks prior, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011, in New York. While officers made arrests, protesters chanted obscenities and screamed: "Make them catch you!" About a thousand people gathered across the street at a city-owned park. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Occupy Wall Street protestors are shoved onto the street by police near Duarte Square after an effort to occupy the space they were previously removed from weeks prior, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011, in New York. While officers made arrests, protesters chanted obscenities and screamed: "Make them catch you!" About a thousand people gathered across the street at a city-owned park. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

(AP) ? Dozens of Occupy Wall Street protesters were arrested Saturday after they scaled a chain-link fence or crawled under it to get to a church-owned lot they want to use for a new camp site.

Protesters used a wooden ladder to scale the fence or lifted it from below while others cheered them on. A man wearing a Santa suit stood on the ladder among others, as they ignored red "Private Property" signs.

As officers made arrests, protesters shouted obscenities and hollered: "Make them catch you!" The group was inside the lot for a short time before being led out by police in single file through a space in the fence. About 50 people were arrested, police said.

"We're just trying to say that this country has gone in the wrong direction, and we need spaces that we can control and we can decide our future in, and that's what this is about," said David Suker, who was among those who scaled the fence.

Before the arrests, several hundred gathered in Duarte Square, a half-acre wedge of a park at the edge of Manhattan's Tribeca neighborhood and across the street from the vacant lot. They gathered partly to mark the three-month anniversary of the Occupy movement and partly to demand use of the lot, owned by Trinity Church.

After police cleared the protesters from the lot, about 200 people regrouped for a march on Seventh Avenue. Police began making arrests, tackling at least two people in the street and handcuffing them. When the protesters cleared the avenue, the crowd continued to march to Times Square under a heavy police presence.

The original Occupy Wall Street camp in Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan was shut down last month. Trinity is a Zuccotti Park neighbor that helped demonstrators assemble, and provided them shelter in the three months since the movement began. The day after authorities moved in and cleaned out Zuccotti Park, about a dozen protesters went to the vacant lot, clipped the fence at the church-owned property and were arrested, along with some journalists.

Since then, some Occupy protesters have launched a bid to gain the church's consent for them to use the space. Trinity's Rev. James H. Cooper said giving the protesters access to the lot would not be a safe or smart move.

"There are no facilities at the Canal Street lot. Demanding access and vandalizing the property by a determined few OWS protesters won't alter the fact that there are no basic elements to sustain an encampment," he wrote in a statement. "The health, safety and security problems posed by an encampment here, compounded by winter weather, would dwarf those experienced at Zuccotti Park."

On Friday, the top bishop of the Episcopal Church asked protesters not to trespass on the property. Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori warned it could result in "legal and police action."

In Raleigh, North Carolina, police said at least six protesters taking part in an anti-Wall Street march in in the state capital are facing charges after their arrest.

Police Capt. G.B. Dixon said Saturday the six protesters were part of a group of about 20 or 30 who blocked Raleigh's downtown Hillsborough Street and refused to move when police commanded.

___

Associated Press writer Cristian Salazar and broadcast newsperson Julie Walker contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-12-17-Occupy%20Wall%20Street/id-3870ae858ced49feabed6de7b6930541

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Sunday, December 18, 2011

Source: Jason Trawick and Britney Spears to Get Engaged ... Tonight!


Pop star Britney Spears is getting engaged to boyfriend Jason Trawick, tonight, according to well-placed sources. It's apparently gonna go down in Las Vegas!

Jason, her former agent, boyfriend of several years, and best thing to happen to her probably ever, is planning to get down on one knee and make it official.

Britney reportedly is aware of his plans, as they've talked about it for some time already, and he already bought her a ring, so it won't be a huge surprise.

Just an AWESOME moment.

Britney Spears, Jason Trawick at VMAs

Her conservators (dad Jamie and her attorney) have given their stamp of approval, and the matter will go before a judge, who will almost certainly sign off.

Jason Trawick did it the old fashioned way, asking Jamie Spears for permission to marry his daughter. A big fan of his from the start, Jamie happily obliged.

When the time comes to tie the knot, there will be a prenup involved and Jason is said to be perfectly fine with that. He just wants to marry his girl. Aww.

Here's hoping it's true. We'll report back when we know!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/12/jason-trawick-and-britney-spears-to-get-engaged-tonight/

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The Secret To Successful Dividend Investing In Today's Markets ...

Buy the business, not the market: That?s been my message since the first issue of Utility Forecaster in March 1989. It?s meant staying invested despite gut-wrenching volatility, such as the historic crash/recession/credit crunch of 2008-09.

And I?ve misjudged prospects of individual companies as well, such as American Superconductor (AMSC) earlier this year. At such times there?s nothing to do but take the loss and move onto something more promising. But following the strategy has consistently built wealth, cycle after cycle. Admittedly, sticking to a buy and hold strategy is as difficult now as it?s ever been.

A nearly unanimous consensus has emerged among economists, investors, politicians and media personalities that the world is headed for a recession at best, and very likely a market catastrophe even worse than 2008-09.

Many investors have decided they can?t afford to risk that by staying in the market. Such extreme sentiment is typical in times of exceptional volatility.

Unfortunately, unlike in years past, investors have literally no alternatives to dividend-paying stocks. Traditional savings investments pay a percentage point or less. Bonds are worse, with only the exceptionally risky dishing out anything close to a decent yield.

If you live off your investments, you literally can?t afford not to own stocks. The commitment has to be for more than a season, in order to capture needed income and avoid punitive taxation.

Know the Risks

Fortunately, following a few simple rules will limit your portfolio?s volatility and, most important, dividend risk. The first is to know your companies.

A high current yield can be a jumping off point for further study. But it should never be the only reason you buy a particular stock. Rather, look for companies that clearly can maintain and preferably grow dividends over time.

Some readers justify holding a riskier, high-yielding stock on the grounds they?ll still get a big return even if dividends are cut. Reality is weakness often begets more weakness in a slow-growth environment like this one. Unless a company is clearly turning the corner, odds are the first cut is a warning of worse to come. And dividend cuts always trigger selling. A 10 percent yield cut in half is still 5 percent. But if the stock falls just 5 percent in response, total return is zero.

In contrast, stock prices always follow a rising payout over time. Dominion Resources (D), for example, has raised its dividend by 52.7 percent over the last decade. That?s basically in line with the 70 percent increase in its share price, despite some jagged ups and downs along the way.

Even the strongest company can stumble. The real damage in any bear market comes from the handful of companies that truly implode as businesses.

Keeping up with the quarterly numbers, financing needs and regulatory developments is step one to avoiding a lot of pain. Step two is portfolio balance.

If a stock that?s 5 percent of your portfolio falls in half, you lose just 2.5 percent. But if you have half your portfolio in the same stock, you lose a quarter of your wealth.

Worse, overloading can create an emotional bond between investor and stock, making it impossible to exit if things don?t go your way. Some will commit the cardinal sin of averaging down, raising portfolio risk even more.

The antidote is to never average down and to pare back winners every three months, re-deploying funds to entirely new positions.

One unemotional way to buy good stocks very cheap is to enter ?buy limit? orders at prices well below current levels. You?ll only buy if the price set is reached. That may take a while, and you?ll need cash on hand. But if your price is hit, you?re guaranteed a screaming bargain. Just ask those with buy limit orders for 30 or lower on Mar. 15 for Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPD). They?re now up 50 percent-plus, thanks to an intra-day drop to $27.85. Check out my Seeking Alpha article, "What I Look For When Selecting MLPs," for more on EPD and MLP investing.

Aug. 8 and Oct. 4 were also great days to get buy limit orders executed. And as long as macro risks dominate the headlines, we?re bound to see more like them. Of course, a big drop in a stock can be due to real business weakness. If that?s the case, those with executed buy limit orders will have to be ready to exit. But you can limit risk by not putting orders on stocks you already own.

If you?re keeping up with the health of your targets, you can pull your buy limit order long before trouble hits. I also strongly advise investors not to use stop-losses to protect positions. It?s likely Enterprise Products fell so far on Mar. 15 because a mountain of stops was hit. Those investors took huge losses and were hit with commissions and probably taxes, even as buy limit orders scored big.

Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.

Source: http://seekingalpha.com/article/314349-the-secret-to-successful-dividend-investing-in-today-s-markets

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Saturday, December 17, 2011

Video: Top holiday gifts to buy for groups

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29054368/vp/45684248#45684248

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Cost Of U.S. Consumer Electronics Returns Estimated To Reach $16.7 Billion In 2011

accenture2While consumer electronics (CE) merchandise returns are often an overlooked scenario for consumers they are undoubtedly top of mind for manufacturers and retailers because of their billion dollar price tag. ?Put another way, manufacturers spend about 5 percent to 6 percent of revenues to manage all aspects of a customer return. For retailers, returns represent approximately 2 percent to 3 percent of sales,? according to a new study put out by Accenture. What?s more shocking is that, typically, only 5% of those returns are due to defective products. The other 95% of returns are either because of product frustration or buyer?s remorse. In the end, the items make their way back to stores in good shape but at a cost to retailers and manufacturers, the study continues.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/lQgGpOerG64/

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Friday, December 16, 2011

Luxury cruise ship rescues Atlantic rowers

By Dan Askin, Cruise Critic

How's this for an upgrade: Two men competing in a trans-Atlantic rowing challenge were rescued this morning by Crystal Serenity after a huge swell sunk their boat 480 miles southwest of the Canaries.

The Guardian identified the pair as Tom Sauer, 23, Dutch-Russian, and Tom Fancett, also 23, British. The U.K.'s Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), which coordinated the rescue with the 1,072-passenger luxury ship, said the two were racing the 7.3-meter PS Vita from the Canary Islands to Barbados as part of the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge (TWAC).

In a message posted on the TWAC Web site, Sauer explained how he and TeamTom co-member Fancett were changing places in the boat when suddenly they were "rocked by an enormous wave, the size of which [they had] never seen before."

"Our boat was thrown over and capsized. The cabin flooded." The Toms managed to get into their life raft as they watched the PS Vita sink.

According to the MCA, Falmouth Coastguard received an alert from an emergency locator beacon some 480 miles southwest of the Canaries, after which the Coastguard sent an alert to all vessels in the area. Crystal Serenity, which was also on a trans-Atlantic voyage (from Europe to the Caribbean), was the closest, at about 120 miles out. The ship changed course and steamed through the night to reach the stranded rowers, who posted on the TWAC Web site that they floated for some 10 hours.

Several Cruise Critic readers were on the ship at the time and have posted eyewitness accounts of the rescue.

"Unreal evening!" posted Cruise Critic member either-oar on the message boards. "[Early] this morning, the ship was way off course with spotlights on the water. Eventually we located an inflatable raft with two souls aboard (screaming their heads off). We hung over the rail and watched the entire rescue. I can't imagine what their fate could have been."

"The Captain and crew did a remarkable job rescuing these two men, who are now in the shops getting clothes," added marienbad, who also witnessed the event.

TeamTom and Crystal Serenity are now en route to St. Maarten, where the ship is expected to arrive Sunday as originally scheduled.

Crystal has not yet provided comment to Cruise Critic.

More from Cruise Critic

Source: http://overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/14/9444332-luxury-cruise-ship-rescues-atlantic-rowers

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Verizon Galaxy Nexus retail price: $649

Verizon Galaxy Nexus retail price

If you're looking to buy the Verizon Galaxy Nexus off-contract, get ready to fork over some bills. It's $299 on contract (and you can find it some places for less), it'll run you $649 if you pay full retail. That's actually a tad less than the quad-band GSM version that's still available for importing.

More: Verizon Galaxy Nexus forums



Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/9oKWDYzh__s/story01.htm

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