Rise of the stay-at-home students

Students are increasingly keeping accommodation costs down by going to local universities and living with their parents

 Hannah Elder and her mother Anne: after totting up the cost of halls of residence she decided to stay at home – and says it has brought the family closer 

If there were an index tracking sales of cheap kettle-and-toaster sets, it would surely be sloping downwards. The kitchen starter-kit was once a crucial purchase for every undergraduate in the country. But surging fees and the impact of the recession has seen the rise of the stay-at-home student. With accommodation in student halls now costing an average of more than £3,800 a year, thousands of undergraduates are opting to study for a degree while living with mum and dad to avoid building up a mountain of debt.
Last year, more than 310,000 students opted to study at local universities while living at home, according to the government's Higher Education Statistics Agency. That is 19% of all undergraduates – up from just 8% in 1984. The main reason, according to research from Liverpool University, is financial pressure. The research shows that nearly eight in 10 students living with their parents do so to save money. And with estimates suggesting students will pay an average of £48,409 in living costs and course charges when tuition fees triple next September, the trend for stay-at-home students is set to grow. A survey by HSBC last month found more than a quarter of parents plan to ask their children to live at home during the university years to help keep costs down.
For some, it is a perfect solution. Ricky Lawless, 21, has just finished his third and final year studying diagnostic radiography at St George's, University of London. He spent his time commuting on a 25-minute train ride from his home in Thornton Heath, south London, to campus. "I wasn't planning on staying at home, but I got my place at St George's through clearing, and when I realised how close it was, I thought I'd avoid spending loads on halls," he explains. "I'd planned to make friends and work out who I wanted to live with in my second year, but after buying a £600 train season ticket, I found it really easy to get from home to lectures, friends and nights out."
Lawless made the train journey about 15 times each week. "After my first year, I realised my course placements were nearer my home than the actual campus so I ended up staying with my parents."
Lawless's tuition fees were paid for by the NHS, and his family background made him eligible for a £3,000-a-year means-tested bursary.
That, plus living at home and working in part-time jobs, meant he avoided going into the red. "I earned about £3,000 a year working as a swimming pool lifeguard and hospital healthcare assistant," he says. "My parents said they wouldn't ask me for rent until I had a full-time job, and I don't drink alcohol, so that saved me loads. Apart from the train, my biggest expense was going out every Tuesday and Friday night, and rounds for all of my mates." Despite getting the drinks in, Lawless says he is set to graduate with savings of around £13,500.
But he admits it was tougher to be fully involved in campus life while living at home – indeed, the Liverpool research found only a fifth of stay-at-home students were involved in extra-curricular activities, compared with 70% of those living on campus.
For many, being a commuter-student is not a first choice. Susan Garfirth, 20, has just finished her first year of education studies and social care at Northampton University. "On my Ucas form I put down five different courses at Northampton, purely because it's a 15-minute drive from my home," she says. "I come from a single-parent family – my mum's a teaching assistant – so it would have been too expensive to move away to halls. I would have got myself into awful debt."
Garfirth receives a £2,000 maintenance grant and £1,000 university bursary, but pays for the family food shopping as well as vet bills for her two cats, so still has to take out a student loan to get by. "I'm desperately hoping to cope without it in my third year – I want to avoid the extra debt," she says. To that end, she has just started a part-time job at sandwich chain Subway. "But the bills for books, petrol and car costs all add up."
At freshers' week, Garfirth felt nervous that she'd struggle to make friends while living at home. "I felt like I couldn't go out to the union with everyone else, because I couldn't drink and drive. But then I met a good friend from my course, and now I stay on her floor after a night out. In fact, living at home has worked out pretty well, even though I hated the idea to start with. After a long day at uni I can come home and cook myself a nice meal, then go to bed without worrying about fire alarms going off at three in the morning."
It is Mum that does the cooking for Hannah Elder, 20, who is going into her second year studying TV production at Bournemouth University next month. That, she says, is one of the plus points of living at home. "Initially, I considered moving into a uni let because I was worried about struggling to meet new people and felt as if I needed to live with other students," she says. But after totting up the cost of halls, and realising commuting to uni meant she could keep her part-time job in a residential care home, she decided to stay put.
She has some regrets however. "If you live at home you have to make that extra bit of effort to go to parties and nights out. After my first year of uni, I've learnt that I need to make more of an effort to go out and socialise with friends from my course next term. Sometimes it's harder to get the energy to go out to town, because I don't live across the road from the clubs like other students. But if you never go, then you stop being invited."
Elder also admits she doesn't feel as independent as other students, and is hoping to move out in her third year. She does, however, feel closer to her family. "I thought living at home would mean I'd be fed up of still seeing my parents every day and that my relationship with them would worsen, but it really hasn't," she says. "They don't constantly check up on me, but do encourage me to socialise and have nights out – they want me to make the most of uni. I'm lucky to have supportive parents. They'll probably be the ones who will be sick of having me around if I don't move out within the next couple of years."
Source http://www.guardian.co.uk/

Don't hurt nursing home care in cuts

 Written byDes Moines Register
The federal government is fixing a mistake it made last year. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is reducing payments to nursing homes by 11.1 percent to correct for "an unintended spike in payments."
The news was met with complaints from the industry that quality of care will suffer. It was also met with complaints from Wall Street. Stock prices of large nursing home operators plummeted. In other words, nursing homes may not make stockholders as much money now.The places caring for elderly and disabled people - and relying heavily on government payments to do so - should not be viewed as profit centers in the first place.
A report from the Government Accountability Office last year found private investment firms have been buying nursing homes the past several years - resulting in a lack of transparency that make it impossible to know who is ultimately responsible for a home. Just as troubling was why they were buying homes: They are a "reliable investment streams," according to government investigators.
How can these places be such reliable money-makers when they pay the staff providing care so little? When there are too few employees, which contributes to complaints of neglect? When lobbyists repeatedly say they need higher payments from Medicare and Medicaid?
Cuts in government reimbursements do not have to automatically harm the care residents receive. Homes can reprioritize how they spend money. They can choose to hire more direct-care workers, buy medical equipment for residents' use and plant flowers for residents and their families to enjoy. Though this thinking should apply to the two-thirds of nursing homes in this country that are for-profits, it should also apply to nonprofit owners.
Government, the largest and most reliable payer for care, has been paying some of these places too much. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services says the recently announced reduction in rates will "better align Medicare payments with costs."
That refers to the cost of caring for vulnerable people.

Solar power reaping rewards for Peterborough homeowners

By NICK REINIS

ENERGY saving homeowners in Peterborough are increasingly using renewable sources to cut bills, make some extra cash and help save the planet.
Many residents across Peterborough are installing photovoltaic solar panels, used to convert sunlight into usable electricity, on the roofs of their homes and garages.
As well as the opportunity to cut a home’s carbon footprint and reduce electricity bills, solar panels are proving popular as people can make money by selling extra electricity back to the National Grid.
Under the Government’s feed-in-tariff (FiT) scheme, solar panel owners can make 43.3p from every kilowatt (kW) generated.
It was an incentive which attracted Andy Anderson (61) and his wide Sue (54), who paid £14,500 to have 16 solar panels put on the roof of their home in Dundee Court, in Orton Northgate, Peterborough.
They were installed in January and the couple are due to reap the benefits for the first time by the end of this month.
In a one-month period, Mr Anderson believes they can get back £150 from the FiT.
He said: “We saw it on the television and thought that it would be a benefit for us to have.
“We looked into the financial obligations of it and we found that we’d get an eight to nine per cent return on them, which is far better than we get from the bank.
“The positive effect is financial, an investment will pay for itself in three years. And it’s also environmentally friendly as well.”
Despite a complicated look to their installation, Mr Anderson said that the panels were put in place in just eight hours.
He added: “It’s had no effect on the way we live in any way. They don’t make a sound.
“I’d definitely encourage people to do it, if they have the money available to be able to.”
Mr and Mrs Anderson bought their panels from Newmarket-based providers Solar Europe, who say they regularly receive enquiries from people in Peterborough.
Andrea Jarman, customer liaison manager for the firm, said: “We get quite a lot of enquiries from people in Peterborough.
“Over a couple of years, people can generate more than £1,000 from them, depending on the size of the system that they buy.”
How a solar panel works
PHOTOVOLTAIC, or PV, panels are made of semi-conducting materials.
When sunlight strikes the surface of a panel, a direct electric current is produced.
To be used in the mains electricity, this DC current produced needs to be converted into AC electricity, which is done by an inverter.
The strength of a cell is measured in kilowatt peak (kWp). The stronger the sun, the more electricity produced.

Nashville General considers adding pediatric unit to make money

Nashville General Hospital at Meharry may add a pediatric unit as it moves toward becoming a more self-sustaining operation.
The county’s safety net hospital seeks to serve more children because they almost always have insurance — if not through a commercial policy, then through government-funded TennCare or CoverKids programs.
The proposal is one option for survival in the fast-changing health-care industry, but the chairman of the hospital board admits it’s no cure-all. Hospitals that governments once readily subsidized to provide charity care are now having to operate more like their corporate competitors.
“Every year is going to be a struggle for us until we are able to find what we can do within the health-care market here in Davidson County that sort of sustains us on an ongoing basis,” said Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr., the chairman of the hospital board. “I don’t think there’s any silver bullet to that occurring.”
The mandate to grow revenue came from Mayor Karl Dean in 2009 when he said the hospital had to become more efficient. Subsidies to the Metropolitan Hospital Authority, which also operates a nursing home and assisted-care programs for the elderly, have been reduced from almost $50 million when Dean first took office to $43.2 million.
The hospital will end its current fiscal year in the black because of a federal grant, but it expects revenues next year to drop by $2.9 million, which is a 2 percent cut. The great unknown is how much more it might lose when the congressional deficit reduction panel starts slashing federal spending.

Talks set for Aug. 31

The hospital board will discuss whether to add the pediatric unit on Aug. 31, when it also is expected to vote on a budget for its new fiscal year.
Besides bringing on a pediatric unit, another option is to attract more kidney failure patients, said Robert K. Stillwell, the hospital’s chief financial officer.
“We have good nephrologists here,” Stillwell said. “We have a dialysis program on the campus. Every one of those patients has some form of insurance. We need to grow that program. It’s needed.”
People with kidney failure qualify for TennCare.
Another way Nashville General can increase revenues is to have more babies born at the hospital, because pregnant mothers also qualify for TennCare. However, for the 10-month period ending April 30, the hospital had only 50 births when 61 had been anticipated in the budget.
The hospital has attracted more patients with commercial insurance by waiving copayments and deductibles for Metro employees. The initiative brought in $1 million in new revenue and continues to attract Metro employees.
“It started off in a very small way and it has really grown to be a substantial revenue source,” Crenshaw said.
However, Nashville General will still need subsidies. It treated so many people without insurance or with limited coverage last year that it received only 20.7 percent of what it charged. It had hoped to get back 22 percent.
Although the board has already floated the idea of a pediatric unit before the mayor, it is not a done deal. The board will look at a revenue projection report at its next meeting.
Said Crenshaw: “We are looking at it very positively, and we hope that it makes sense in the long run.”

Contact Tom Wilemon at 615-726-5961 or twilemon@tennessean.com
Source http://www.tennessean.com/

Spanish property market 'seeing surge in interest'

In the last seven months more and more Brits have been making money transfers and snapping up property in Spain, according to one expert.
James Dearsley, European sales director for Atlas International, described how the country has remained popular with investors in the UK despite the unstable economic climate.
He suggested that individuals have noted the stability in the property market and sought to take advantage of the profitable conditions.
"Atlas International has seen considerable interest from holiday home owners looking to capitalise on the low prices, but also a return of the property investor knowing there are good returns to be made both from capital and rental investment perspectives," Mr Dearsley stated.
It was claimed that since the end of 2010, the overseas housing market has undergone a "remarkable transformation", with confidence returning among property moguls.
For those keen to purchase a second home in the sunshine, Mr Dearsley commented that Spain is a prime location that offers cheap accommodation at a fraction of the cost of the UK.
He remarked that the country's property market is not only proving cheaper, but also boasts something that the British equivalent "can never offer", namely an investment "you can enjoy in 320 days of sunshine".
People were advised that interest in homes in Spain has been accelerating throughout 2011 and many individuals are investing while prices remain low.
Mr Dearsley explained that it is unlikely house values will plummet any further and so many of those with capital are buying now so that they have a holiday home that can later become a place of permanent residence in the future.
His comments follow recent research from the Worldwide Property Group that revealed 67 per cent of Brits believe it is a good time to make a foreign investment.
Posted by Thomas Smith
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Source http://www.hifx.co.uk/

How Long Does It Take to Make a Buck at Apple?

By Seth Jayson (TMF Bent), The Motley Fool
It takes money to make money. Most investors know that, but with business media so focused on the "how much," very few investors bother to ask, "How fast?"
When judging a company's prospects, how quickly it turns cash outflows into cash inflows can be just as important as how much profit it's booking in the accounting fantasy world we call "earnings." This is one of the first metrics I check when I'm hunting for the market's best stocks. Today, we'll see how it applies to Apple (NAS: AAPL) .
Let's break this downIn this series, we measure how swiftly a company turns cash into goods or services and back into cash. We'll use a quick, relatively foolproof tool known as the cash conversion cycle, or CCC for short.
Why does the CCC matter? The less time it takes a firm to convert outgoing cash into incoming cash, the more powerful and flexible its profit engine is. The less money tied up in inventory and accounts receivable, the more available to grow the company, pay investors, or both.
To calculate the cash conversion cycle, add days inventory outstanding to days sales outstanding, then subtract days payable outstanding. Like golf, the lower your score here, the better.
Here's the CCC for Apple, alongside the comparable figures from a few competitors and peers.

For younger, fast-growth companies, the CCC can give you valuable insight into the sustainability of that growth. A company that's taking longer to make cash may need to tap financing to keep its momentum. For older, mature companies, the CCC can tell you how well the company is managed. Firms that begin to lose control of the CCC may be losing their clout with their suppliers (who might be demanding stricter payment terms) and customers (who might be demanding more generous terms). This can sometimes be an important signal of future distress -- one most investors are likely to miss.
While I find peer comparisons useful, I'm most interested in comparing a company's CCC to its prior performance. Here's where I believe all investors need to become trend-watchers. Sure, there may be legitimate reasons for an increase in the CCC, but all things being equal, I want to see this number stay steady or move downward over time.
Because of the seasonality in some businesses, the CCC for the TTM period may not be strictly comparable to the fiscal-year periods shown in the chart. Even the steadiest-looking businesses on an annual basis will experience some quarterly fluctuations in the CCC. To get an understanding of the usual ebb and flow at Apple, consult the quarterly-period chart below.
Based only on the raw number, Apple has achieved the enviable feat of running a negative CCC cycle. That is, it typically collects what is owed it before it pays what it owes to others. On a 12-month basis, the trend at Apple looks less than great. At -48.8 days, it is 2.1 days worse than the five-year average of -50.9 days. That small change isn't likely to matter much given Apple's continued, quick CCC, but it does bear watching. The biggest contributor to that degradation was DPO, which worsened 8.1 days when compared to the five-year average.
Considering the numbers on a quarterly basis, the CCC trend at Apple looks good. At -55.5 days, it is 9.9 days better than the average of the past eight quarters. With quarterly CCC doing better than average and the latest 12-month CCC coming in worse, Apple gets a mixed review in this cash-conversion checkup.
Though the CCC can take a little work to calculate, it's definitely worth watching every quarter. You'll be better informed about potential problems, and you'll improve your odds of finding the underappreciated home run stocks that provide the market's best returns.
To stay on top of the CCC for your favorite companies, just use the handy links below to add companies to your free watchlist.

Fresh art; one night only

Talent gallery shows works created by local artists in the past month

By Hannah Guzik

 

 

The way Peter Van Fleet sees it, the urge to make art is a disease.

But if you're stricken, you might as well try to make money off it.

Van Fleet, who paints intricate wood panels, has set up a gallery in his historic Talent home that will show art freshly created by locals. Nationally recognized artists David Lorenz Winston, a fine art photographer, and Robert Beckmann, a muralist, are co-founders of The Bell House Gallery.

"We'll continue to hope this works, because if it doesn't work we'll probably still show anyway," Van Fleet said. "It's a disease, art is a disease."

The gallery at 104 S. Market St. is open only on the second Friday of each month, including today, from 5 to 8 p.m.

"Then, like Cinderella after the ball, it goes back to being my home," Van Fleet said. "Or, Cinderfella, I should say.

"It reinforces our idea of inspiring artists and locals by showing new work," he added. "When there's only one night, people can't put it off — they have to go see it."

He and other Talent art aficionados are trying to create a monthly art walk similar to Ashland's First Friday event. Talent's summer outdoor market also is held on Main Street from 5 to 8 p.m. on Fridays.

"We're trying to create a community," Winston said, "because artists are extremely solitary individuals."

The Bell House co-founders, who have been featured in prominent galleries locally and nationally, also are trying to sell more of their work to weather the tough economic times.

"The last few years, sales are way off," Winston said. "I get royalties from my prints, but that's dropped off 50 percent."

Since the gallery opened last September for the one-night-a-month viewings, several pieces have sold, said Van Fleet, whose work also is showing this month at Medford's Rogue Gallery & Art Center.

Some nights the Bell Gallery has drawn as many as 150 visitors.

"We usually go through about 15 bottles of wine, which costs over $100, but if you look at that as an investment, we've done pretty well because we get sales," Van Fleet said.

The gallery is also designed to inspire artists to create new work each month so it can be shown. The co-founders each try to show at least one new piece a month, and they also display collections of art from other locals.

"This keeps us from working in a vacuum," Winston said.

Today, alongside art by the founders, the gallery will present nature-inspired paintings by Betty La Duke and Eileen Bowie.

Community members are invited to stop by the gallery to view the art and enjoy wine and snacks. Van Fleet encourages people to stay and talk about the art.

While it may not be classified as a medical disease, it appears art is in Van Fleet's blood. Paintings of chickens by his sister, Ellen Van Fleet, are on display at Southern Oregon University's Schneider Museum of Art through Aug. 26.

"We can't help but make art," Peter Van Fleet said. "It's insane in terms of the economic return, but it returns a lot of pleasure."

Reach reporter Hannah Guzik at 541-776-4459 or email hguzik@mailtribune.com.

Dear Treasury, Investors Can Fix the Housing Market

We now know that government programs aren't doing much. Why not just give the private sector a nudge to move faster?

Dear Treasury Secretary Geithner,
First, kudos on your decision to stay on for the rest of your boss's term. I know Goldman is aching to get you on board, but you'll have plenty of time to make money when you're in your 50s. Now that you've committed to another year, let's talk for a minute about one of the most important problems you face: how to fix the housing market.
I'm glad to see that the Treasury has recognized two key facts about the housing market. For starters, the economic recovery won't take off until housing has hit bottom and begun to rebound. And as far as what Washington has done to try to fix the market up to now, none of it's working.
What Isn't Helping
Let's learn from those lessons, shall we?
Lesson #1: Be Aggressive -- Little Carrots Don't Work
Your Home Affordable Modification Program ("HAMP") had so much promise. It sought to prevent between 7 and 9 million foreclosures! That was ambitious, and well, it won't even come close. You guys will struggle to break a million permanent modifications.
Honestly, I was a little surprised at just how poorly the program performed. When the details came out, I thought that servicers would jump at the opportunity to get free money from the government to modify mortgages that would just have ended in foreclosure anyway. But it turns out that the carrots you offered weren't big enough. So whatever action you take, it must be aggressive.
Lesson #2: Stop Trying to Prevent Foreclosures -- Mortgage Modifications Aren't Working
In fact, let's take this a step further: mortgage modifications are turning out to be a huge headache. Banks and servicers are barely cooperating. And once you manage to find a handful of borrowers who even qualify, one in four is re-defaulting.
I know what you're thinking: but what about principal reduction? That's the key to sustainable mortgage modifications, right? In theory, yes. But in practice banks and servicers hate them. They don't want to incur a big, immediate loss by writing down a mortgage. They also worry about the slippery slope effect, where Joe and Jane want a principal write-down because their neighbors Bob and Barbara got one.
If servicers are determined to foreclose, then it isn't easy to change their minds. But you can work with that.
Lesson #3: Ignore Consumers -- They Can't Fix This Problem
Remember that home buying credit? Yeah, it didn't work out so well. Home sales rose for about a year, then they plummeted and prices began to fall again. The problem is that consumers aren't in any position to fix the problem, so you just pulled forward a little bit of future demand. Most people who can qualify for and afford to own a home already have one at this point. To clear out housing inventory, you'll need to rely on people who have cash to spend. Most Americans don't.
Lesson #4: Stop Pretending You Control Fannie and Freddie -- You Don't
What about the idea that maybe Fannie and Freddie could take these foreclosures and rent them out? First of all, Fannie and Freddie's very job -- what they developed decades of "expertise" doing -- was to manage mortgage risk. We all know how that turned out. Do we really want them to take on something as foreign as the role of landlord?
And you've got another problem: you can't tell those guys what to do. I mean, you can try, since you kind of own them. But your coercive powers aren't working out so well. After all, they refuse to participate in your principal reduction program. If you had any real control over them, then you would have forced them do so. So even if they go along with this whole foreclosure rental idea, do you really trust them to look out for their new tenants without your oversight?
Help the Private Market to Work
But you were actually on the right track there with the whole foreclosure-rental idea. We know two things about the housing market. First, the distressed inventory is huge and growing. Second, we're going to see lots of rental demand as more Americans leave homeownership behind, which will push up prices and make renting less affordable. This is the solution to both of those problems.
You've got to get more investors into the game. They see these distressed properties and have a few reactions. Initially, they're probably disgusted by the condition of some of these homes and don't want to invest more money in their renovation. But even if a property is in good condition, investors worry about the market's downside risk. Until home prices hit a firm bottom, many will avoid buying.
So give these investors big, tangible reasons to take on that risk. Here are a few ways to encourage them to purchase short sales and foreclosed homes and convert them into rentals:
Idea #1: No Taxes on Rental Income for Five Years
Is there anything better than making money tax free? Make investors a deal: if you guys buy distressed properties from now through 2015, you do not have to pay income taxes on your rental profits in the five years that follow.
Sure, that might cost the Treasury some tax revenue. But many of these properties are going to remain unproductive over this period anyway. If they aren't purchased and converted into rentals, then you wouldn't have received any income taxes from their potential rental income.
Idea #2: Allow Crazy Flexibility with Rental Property Improvement Tax Deduction
Obviously, you want these investors to put money into renovating these properties to get them up to code and make them more livable for their tenants. And home improvement projects also have a delightful side benefit: they'll create some desperately needed construction jobs.
But here's the problem: if you follow Idea #1, then these investors already won't be paying income taxes on their property, so any upfront home improvement expense deductions won't have much of an impact. Instead, allow these investors to claim home improvement depreciation expenses in whatever way they like -- all at once or gradually -- over the next decade. That way they could lower their future taxes as well by a little. Again, this would apply to properties purchased between now and through 2015.
Idea #3: Exempt These Investors from Real Estate Taxes through 2015
Those first two ideas might be enough to encourage investors to buy, rehabilitate, and rent lots of distressed properties. But just in case they need an extra nudge, exempt them from real estate taxes.
Yes, it's true: real estate taxes are levied on a state-by-state basis. But here's where the Treasury comes in: you reimburse the investors for the real estate taxes paid on properties purchased and used as rentals through 2015. Yes, this one would cost some money, and I know Uncle Sam is broke. But I think there's some possibility that you can get Republicans to go along here. Most of them have never met a tax break they didn't like. And its cost would be limited.
These are just a few ideas I thought of as ways to encourage investors to buy up the millions of distressed properties and convert them into rental properties. I'd bet you can think of some more. The key here is that the government would keep its distance from the housing market by merely encouraging the market to do what it's fated to do anyway -- just a little more quickly. We know that we're in for a future where more investors rent out once-distressed properties. Why not get there faster so that the economy can begin to recover that much sooner?
Thank you for your time, and I'll see you at the next blogger roundtable.
Regards,
Dan Indiviglio
Source http://www.theatlantic.com/

Become a landlord. Make money. Might even be tax free.

By Sam Thewlis

 You know how it is. Once upon a little while ago buy-to-let was THE thing to do. Then everybody got wind of it, property prices went through the roof and there was no longer any money to be made out of it*
However, now that no-one who needs one can afford to get (or pay) a mortgage, rental returns are on the up. Add to that a whole raft of people who can’t actually sell their house at the moment and the rental market is buoyant once more, and even you may be thinking of making a shiny penny by becoming a landlord.
But before you take the plunge, make sure you know the tax implications of your actions. After all, you can’t make money for nothing, no matter what Dire Straits say.
Buy-to-let or renting out a home you don’t live in
Earning money from renting out your property is treated as if you were in the business of renting out property. As such, the rents you receive are the business income, and from that you can deduct relevant business expenses. Items like agents’ commission, council tax and mortgage interest (ie not the bit that reduces our capital balance) are all examples of deductible expenses.
A sticky area with rental properties though is the cost of repairs and maintenance. If you are letting your property out furnished, there is a specific deduction for ‘wear and tear’ of the items of furnish, calculated as 10% of the total rental income less council tax. For most people this works out as more generous than what they actually spend. Alternatively you could use the replacement method where you do not claim for wear and tear but you, say, deduct the whole cost of replacing a washing machine, for example.
But what if your property is not furnished? Well, repairs, in the strict sense of fixing or maintaining something that is already there are allowable, but anything that adds to the property is not allowed as an expense, but could instead be deducted from the sale price when you eventually sell the property. A classic example of this was replacing single glazed windows with double glazing. Strictly speaking this was not a repair, as you were not replacing like with like, and the full cost of double glazing would be disallowed. However, in recent times, HMRC have conceded that it is quite difficult to find single glazing anymore, so double glazing is now allowed as a repair.
After your expenses have been deducted, you will then be charged income tax on the profits. The rate will clearly depend on whether you are a basic rate (20%), higher rate (40%) or additional rate (50%) taxpayer. This income is untaxed income, which means it does not have tax deducted at source, so not only will you need to put aside the relevant amount of tax, you will need to inform HMRC of your additional revenue. It is YOUR responsibility to tell them.
But still, 80%/60%/50% of something is better than 100% of nothing, right?
Renting out (all or part of) your own home
Traditionally, the idea of renting out part of your home conjured up visions of bearded single men, with high waistlines and NHS glasses calling themselves the lodger. While this is still an option for the beardophiles among you, there are other ways of making a buck from your home.
New sites like airBnB allow people to short-term rent their home, or part of their home to holidaymakers or travellers looking for somewhere to rest their head. Depending on how much you can get for your pad, it might be worth crashing with a friend or the parents for a week or two in order to bank the bucks.
The good news is that, within limits, this income could be completely tax free. The rent-a-room scheme exempts up to £4,250 of income per annum from tax, provided you are renting out your actual home, not a second property. The £4,250 is gross receipts (ie before deducting any expenses), but if your receipts are over £4,250 you can elect to tax only the excess over £4,250, but not claim any expenses- which is likely to be attractive to those with income only just over the limit. Otherwise the standard method of calculation (detailed above) will apply.
So if you live somewhere fabulous and need us to test your property before offering it up for rental, we are happy to oblige. And none of us have beards. Except me.
*doesn’t stop BBC1 showing constant reruns of Homes under the Hammer though.

Ex-Herald carrier got gold bug out of his system early

Former Calgary Herald paper boy Harry Sanders, then 13 years old, scraped $1,000 from his paper route and bar mitzvah gifts.
He was going to be a big shot.
He was going to invest in silver.
On Jan. 4, 1980, the Herald ran into the young man while he waited in line to purchase silver bars.
“Here I’m a kid with $1,000 and I thought it was going to be something valuable. I was in on something,” Sanders, now 44 and a prominent local historian, said from his southwest Calgary home.
He and his older brother had previously profited on a small gold purchase. But soon after they sold the ounce, the price shot up dramatically.
“I tore a strip off my brother. I said, ‘You told us to sell, and it made so much money.’ ”
Sanders wouldn’t make the same mistake again.
“I wanted to be like my big brother with a valuable investment and make money of my own.”
When Sanders got to the front of the line, the bankers denied him silver bars. They said he didn’t have enough money to invest. At the time, he was disappointed.
Now, he realizes just how lucky he was.
Only three months after he stood in line, the price of silver tanked. He would have lost his small stash of savings.
“I was lucky, lucky that it was just a quirk,” he said. “It was a good thing. It was such a small inventory that they didn’t waste their time on me.”
Instead, Sanders put his money into something less glamorous — a small interest-bearing savings account. Losing his bar mitzvah money would have been heartbreaking.
“It shows I didn’t really know what I was doing. I learned not to jump on a bandwagon like that,” he said. “If you’re going to invest money, you should know a little bit more and understand what it is you’re doing.”
He’s decided to skip out on the latest precious metals rush, too.
“That was my one taste of looking to invest and trying to make a killing. I got it out of my system quite early and I never came back in my life.”
jgerson@calgaryherald.com

Source http://www.calgaryherald.com/

Historic home could be demolished

New London, Conn. (WTNH) - A historic home owned by a church in New London could soon be demolished.
The Shiloh Baptist Church wants to tear down the home and use that land for a parking lot.

The cost to repair the Franklin Street home is too much for the Shiloh Baptist Church in New London. Bishop Benjamin Watts says the church bought the building with plans to expand, but the economy changed that.
With no improvements made, New London Landmarks got involved in 2008 with an effort to find a new owner. They even had an article written about the house in This Old House magazine.
Sandra Chalk of New London Landmarks said, "The bones are still there wide floor boards, beautiful moldings, beautiful windows."
The house has no plumbing, no heating, and the need for a full renovation the cost is extremely high.
Chalk said, "He was very nice in terms of saying yes if someone will buy it and take it away they can have it for free."
Bishop Watts says the city has now given him notice to tear down the 1866 house or it would. That is why the Bishop says he is seeking a demolition permit.
"If a nice little open park is made at that corner that could be nice. If it becomes a parking lot for the church it's gonna hurt the neighborhood," Chalk said.
Chalk is hoping other historic homes can be saved if the city gives a tax break to those who buy older homes and spend money to fix them up. She said, "I think for the city to allow people to make that kind of investment in our beautiful old homes in the long run the city will make money on it."
The Historic District Commission can either approve the demolition permit or delay a decision for 90 days.
Source http://www.wtnh.com/

Three Major Home Builders To Own Ahead of An Expected Housing Recovery Next Year

Housing is one of the darkest corners of the economy, and it continues to stagger under the industry’s mountain load of woes. The beleaguered industry has become a pariah on Wall Street and investors remain fearful of putting their money in anything akin to, or that has something to do with housing.
The industry continues to suffer from the “overly exuberant ways of the middle years of the last decade — a period of overspending on the part of builders, banks and speculative buyers that has left the industry in shambles,” says William G. Ferguson of investment research outfit Value Line in a report on the home building industry.
To be sure, housing stocks are at the bottom of the totem pole in investors’ set of priorities, particularly in this struggling economic rebound, which has driven the stock market to deep lows and extreme volatile swings. But that’s not to say that there aren’t any stock opportunities to snap up in anticipation of a recovery, finally, that some pros expect will happen by next year. They figure that at least three home builder companies will post profits by 2012, as start they ramping up sales starting in the fourth quarter of 2011.
True, home builders continue to be plagued by too many distressed properties that are now on the market at prices way below their original listed prices, thus blocking the sale of new homes. The number of unsold homes currently stands at 3.72 million units, equating to more than nine months supply, based on the current slow sales pace, according to Ferguson. That’s the reason why not many analysts favor the home builder stocks.
Still, there is a view, if a minority one, that some home builders are on a comeback track and are likely to post good revenue numbers and tidy profits by next year. Topping that list: NVR (NVR), whose stock is trading at $596 a share, way down from $84 in January 2011: Toll Brothers (TOL), whose shares are down to $16 a share from $22 earlier in the year; and D.H. Horton (DHI), whose stock is selling at $9.95 a share, down from $13 in January.
Standard & Poor’s on Aug. 5 upgraded NVR, one of the largest home building and mortgage banking companies in the U.S., to a buy rating from a hold. NVR builds single-family detached homes, townhouses, and condominium buildings. “NVR is well managed and doesn’t make big bets on large land acquisitions or building speculative homes without buyers,” says S&P analyst Kenneth Leon. He notes that according to Capital IQ, the consensus earnings estimate for NVR has edged up a tiny bit to $26.85 a share from $26.70, but the forecast for 2012 is much higher — $38.15 for 2012 — “in an expected housing recovery.”  Revenue, according to consensus projections are expected to decline 7% in 2011, but should turn and grow by 14% in 2012, notes Leon. NVR has “ample liquidity,” notes the analyst, with cash of $927 million and only $75 million in notes payable as of June 30, 2011.
Anticipating an improving housing market in the mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states, were most of NVR’s properties are located, Leon recommends buying NVR shares for “its strong competitive position.”
Toll Brothers, which builds luxury homes in the U.S., was also upgraded recently by S&P, to a strong buy from a buy, as it expects the company to break even in fiscal 2011 (ending Sept. 30) and then post a profit of 40 cents a share in fiscal 2012. Toll also has a strong cash position, with $1.2 billion and no debt maturing before 2013. Leon has a 12-month target for the stock now trading at $16 a share, of $24.
Source http://www.forbes.com/

New Telecom Services that Capitalize on Broadband Connectivity – Part 3

By Alan weissberger
Background and Recap
The theme of this three part series is to examine potentially new and different telecom services that enable telcos to particpate in the value chain created by broadband Internet access. Pressure is on telcos to build out their fiber based and/or mobile broadband networks for greater coverage and higher traffic carrying capacity. Yet it is other companies (and not the telcos) that are making money from the value added services and apps they’ve created which take advantage of the telcos broadband network. So are telcos nothing more than purveyors of a fat, dumb pipe? Or can they find new services that will generate revenues and profits? That is, can telcos transform a “dumb pipe” into a “smart pipe” which they can make money from?
Discussion
So far we’ve looked at different versions of the “connected home” as well as emerging devices pairing up with M2M Communications platforms to create new telco opportunities and business models. Of course, many telcos have entered the entertainment video market (via IPTV and/or RF video) and offer triple or quad play service bundles. There is also the often touted Location Based Services (LBS), which is to be coupled with mobile advertisements and directory services. Premium mobile video has also been tried (e.g. Qualcomm’s MediaFlow, Sprint TV), but hasn’t produced much revenue or profits.
Another potential telco opportunity is smart grid communications networks. Many alternatives are possible. It could be a private network for the electic utility, a shared public/private network or utility use of a public broadband wireless network. However, utilities seems to lack trust in telcos and prefer to operate their own communications network (sometimes outsourced to a 3rd party). For more on this topic, please see:

Integrated Critical Communications Infrastructure for Smart Grid at Connectivity Week

We think mobile broadband may finally give rise to wireless health care applications. Telemedicine is a great example of a wireless connected health solution, especially in developing countries, unserved or underserved rural areas. IEEE ComSocSCV will be featuring a very illuminating Telemedicine panel session at our Sept 14, 2011 meeting in Santa Clara, CA.
For quite some time, femtocells have been touted as a great way for telcos to get traffic off of their mobile data networks and onto a broadband wireline network. AT&T is offering free femtocells for iPhone subscribers that live in rural areas which lack 3G/4G coverage (my neighbor in Arnold, CA has one and it works very well- as long as you’re iPhone is within 10 meters of the femtocell). Andy Germano, Vice Chairman of the Femto Forum identified several possible femtocell services at the Connections 2011 conference, which include:

• Secure home access
• Virtual home phone
• Virtual fridge notes,
• Picture synchronization and
• remote control.

Recently, a raft of telco provided cloud computing based services have been proposed. These include: private/public cloud, personal cloud, virtual private cloud, etc. We don’t think any of these will succeed unless the telco has lots of experience with IT hosting, managing data centers, service and support of IT enterprises. Very few U.S. telcos have such experience- probably only AT&T and Century Link (with the Savvis acquisition). Hence, we don’t see Cloud Computing as ripe for telco exploitation, at least not at this time.
Perhaps, the only Cloud related attribute that telcos might capitalize on is subscription based billing. Ironically, such pay as you go billing has always been used for long distance circuit switched voice calls, but is not used for broadband (other than for various data plans based). The basic concept is to manage billing in terms of a customer’s data traffic activity and therefore manage revenue dynamically.
Chris Couch, COO of billing vendor Transverse, cited an example of subscription based billing, “If a major tennis tournament is in town then you might want to subscribe to results or clips etc, for the period of the tournament, but you normally would not subscribe to a tennis subscription. This level of sophistication increases the flexibility of the offering and the understanding of the customer. It gives the customer choice.”
When asked how the cloud fit into this billing model, Mr. Couch replied, “It is a virtuous circle. The flexibility and resources of providing this as a cloud service means a lower cost base and the ability for service providers to climb the maturity ladder quicker. It is also the most effective option, in terms of investment in normal circumstances this kind of infrastructure would have a $5-10 million price tag.”
Analyst Opinions
We checked in with Harry Wang – a very astute Telecom Analyst at Parks Associates – for his thoughts on this provocative topic. Harry thinks that telcos do have several opportunities to diversify into new markets. Here are a few he ticked off:
1. Telco App Stores
These would enable telcos to distribute content across mutliple end user platforms. Ericsson is currently providing a “white labelled” app store for Sprint (and managing their network, too). Telcos are partnering with Get Jar- a third party aggregator of mobile apps. Harry also mentions Wholesale Application Community (WAC) – a global mobile carriers’ initiative to offer app purchases no matter what device platform or mobile carrier that a consumer uses.
2. Home based Services (part of the “Connected Home” scenario)
Home entertainment (video, audio, game playing, etc), home security monitoring, energy controls, personal emergency response (e.g. elderly person falling down or getting hurt) were cited as some possibities. Verizon’s FlexView is a specific example of a home entertainment service for FiOS customers. It is a Video on Demand (VoD) type of service that lets the customer purchase or rent videos, which can then be played on a number of end user platforms, including:

• Personal Computers/Netbooks
• Compatible wireless handsets (see image for example of FiOS Mobile Remote User Interface)
• Compatible portable devices that support Microsoft® PlayReady® content access technology.

3. On line TV packages that complement telco broadcast video (IPTV or RF) and VoD
The telco would procure the content from a 3rd party and make it available over their triple play delivery network (e.g. FiOS, U-Verse, etc). The STB would play the OTT videos along with broadcast and VoD on TVs and other user devices/platforms. Note that this OTT video package can be offered outside of telco’s network-covered territory and serves to be a competitive response to OTT video service providers like HULU, Netflix or Amazon.
4. Becoming 4G- MVNOs
Telcos (and MSOs) that don’t have their own 4G network could buy pieces of it wholesale from a third party provider like Clearwire or LightSquared. This would help telcos like Century Link and XO Communications, that currently don’t have any wireless offerings for consumers or the mobile workforce.
5. Personal Cloud for consumers
Assuming the telcos can learn and understand what makes a good cloud experience for consumers, they could provide individual “personal clouds” that store the customers data, electronic documents, music collections, downloaded videos, photo albums, etc. User concerns include: security, privacy controls, reachability and cross platform access. Harry cited Newbay Software as an interesting company in the personal cloud space.
6. Commercial Services for SMBs

These would encompass service bundles that include both fixed and mobile offerings. One example is SIP Trunking, offered by XO Communications and others. Provided by an Internet Telephony Service Provider, a SIP trunk connects an IP-PBX to the traditional PSTN. Other voice, data and video conferencing services are possible. SMB customer needs will determine the precise ones which are deployed.
Here is a ViodiTV interview with Harry Wang
Parks Associates VP & Principal Analyst Kurt Scherf is very optimistic about premium technical support services to be offered by skilled telcos. Kurt wrote in an email,

“This is a broadband-provided service that I think will help to generate positive cashflow for the broadband service provider by:

1. Creating new revenue streams; and
2. Helping to reduce incoming customer support phone calls when people have something typically considered “out-of-scope” such as a virus infection on their home computer.

Revenues from premium technical support services are projected to grow from $1.5 billion in 2011 to $4.8 billion in 2011.”

Closing Comment
We’ve identified many new and interesting services that telcos might provide. Their success or failure will depend on skill, agility and committment of the telcos. Customer service and support will play a huge role here.
It’s imperative that telcos continue to upgrade their broadband wireless and wireline networks to keep up with the exponential increase in data traffic. We wonder whether they will have the resources and commitment to also pursue new services, such as the many we have described in this three part article.

Rising dividends point to opportunity

What do IGM Financial Inc., Russel Metals Inc., Saputo Inc., Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Inc. and Home Capital Group Inc. have in common?
All of these companies announced dividend increases during the first week of August. In the United States, Monsanto Co., Leggett & Platt Inc. and Dover Corp., among many others, also hiked their dividends.
This was the same week the U.S. government had its triple-A credit rating slashed, triggering a market bloodbath reminiscent of the 2008 financial crisis.
What are investors to make of these seemingly contradictory events? Two things: First, there are some serious problems in the global financial system that could put a dent in global growth and play havoc with stock prices. Second, the world is not coming to an end, a fact that was underlined by the market’s powerful rebound yesterday.
As the recent spate of dividend hikes demonstrates, corporations are still making money and sharing the wealth with investors, a trend that will continue – albeit at a slower pace if fears of a double-dip recession come true. If you’re a buy-and-hold dividend investor who can tolerate more market volatility, there’s no reason to change your strategy now.
If you have a strong stomach, you may even want to turn the market’s weakness to your advantage by picking up stocks that are suddenly a lot cheaper than they were just a week ago. After all, the only time stocks go on sale is when nobody wants them.
Let’s balance the grim headlines with some less depressing data.
South of the border, S&P 500 companies posted an estimated 12-per-cent profit increase in the second quarter and are sitting on more than $1-trillion (U.S.) in cash. Excluding Bank of America – which posted a huge loss after a settlement with mortgage bond investors – second-quarter S&P 500 profits jumped about 18 per cent from a year earlier, and Thomson Reuters predicts double-digit growth will continue into 2012.
Given the strong profit outlook and record cash reserves, companies are in a good position to keep paying – and, in some cases, raising – dividends.
True, if the economy slows dramatically or sinks into recession, earnings estimates will come down and stocks that look cheap today based on forward multiples may not turn out to be such a bargain.
But if the idea of sinking new money into this volatile market terrifies you, there’s no need to be a hero; you could simply choose to reinvest your dividends, which means you’ll be picking up shares at lower prices should the market keep falling. Reinvesting dividends also allows you to take advantage of compounding, which is one of the key elements of a successful investing plan.
Just remember to stick to a mix of stocks and fixed-income that’s appropriate for your age and risk tolerance. When markets are rising, as they did from March, 2009, through March, 2011, owning bonds and guaranteed investment certificates is as dull as watching Lawrence Welk reruns. But when stock markets tumble like they did recently, nobody can have enough of them.
As scary as Monday’s stock market slide was, however, there are reasons to believe we are not heading into the abyss, à la 2008. Lowell Miller, president of Miller/Howard Investments of Woodstock, N.Y., and author of The Single Best Investment: Creating Wealth with Dividend Growth, points out that corporations are in much better shape than they were heading into the last financial crisis, even as governments are struggling under unsustainable levels of debt.
“Business seems to exist in a parallel universe, where debt is under control, revenues are not robust but are adequate, and earnings are flowing as any business owner would want them to,” he said in a note to clients.
“If there is a recessionary flavour to things for a while, it will reflect simply a demand slowdown from cautionary sentiment, not the quavering fear that the last recession showed. Market conditions are ripe for a low very soon.”
Given strong corporate balance sheets and investors’ appetite for income, even if the economy slows markedly and companies start hoarding cash as they did in 2008, the result will likely be fewer dividend hikes rather than outright dividend cuts, he said.
Dividend stocks have several advantages, said Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst with Standard & Poor’s. Since 1926, dividends have accounted for about 42 per cent of investor returns, while being less volatile than the market.
“To some extent the dividend acts like an anchor, slowing the stock down,” he said. “The beauty of dividends is that you get paid, whether or not the market is up.”
In a market that can swing hundreds of points in a matter of minutes, knowing that a dividend cheque is in the mail is one of the few comforts an investor can have.
Source http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Feds' reimbursement change need not harm nursing home care

The federal government is fixing a mistake it made last year. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is reducing payments to nursing homes by 11.1 percent to correct for “an unintended spike in payments.”
The news was met with complaints from the industry that quality of care will suffer. It was also met with complaints from Wall Street. Stock prices of large nursing home operators plummeted. “It is difficult to quantify a level at which we would be buyers” of nursing home stock after “the worst possible scenario” in cuts, a Citigroup analyst told the Wall Street Journal.
In other words, nursing homes may not make stockholders as much money now.
The places caring for the elderly and disabled — and relying heavily on government payments to do so — should not be viewed as profit-centers in the first place. Unfortunately, they have been.
A report from the Government Accountability Office last year found private investment firms have been buying nursing homes the past several years — resulting in a lack of transparency that make it impossible to know who is ultimately responsible for a home. Just as troubling was why they were buying homes: They are a “reliable investment streams,” according to government investigators.
That defies the image most Americans have of nursing homes. How can these places be such reliable money-makers when they pay the staff providing care so little? When there are too few employees, which contributes to complaints of neglect? When lobbyists repeatedly say they need higher payments from Medicare and Medicaid?
While elderly Iowans deplete their life savings to spend their final days in these homes, the financial sector looks on them as gold mines. And we know what that means. Just like any for-profit, public company, it means immense pressure on homes to cut expenses (think fewer workers) and increase profits (think higher dividends).
Cuts in government reimbursements do not have to automatically harm the care residents receive. Homes can reprioritize how they spend money. They can choose to hire more direct-care workers, buy medical equipment for residents’ use and plant flowers for residents and their families to enjoy. Though this thinking should apply to the two-thirds of nursing homes in this country that are for-profits, it should also apply to nonprofit owners.
Instead of directing money to stockholders, some nonprofits simply spread large amounts around within their organizations. A few years ago the Register reported on Care Initiatives, a nonprofit that owns about 50 nursing homes in Iowa. The chief executive was being paid $2.1 million. Board members were collecting more than $400 an hour. The “nonprofit charity” owned a for-profit insurance company in the Turks and Caicos Islands, which provided the coverage solely for Care Initiatives and had more than $1 million in cash on hand.
Stories such as these abound. The New York Times reported on Philip and Joel Levy, brothers who were paid close to $1 million apiece to run a Medicaid-financed nonprofit with homes serving developmentally disabled people. They drove expensive cars and had the college bills of their children paid by the tax-exempt organization.
Government, the largest and most reliable payer for care, has obviously been paying some of these places too much. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services says the recently-announced reduction in rates will “better align Medicare payments with costs.”
That refers to the cost of caring for vulnerable people, not pleasing Wall Street investors, which should have been the priority of nursing homes all along.
Source http://www.desmoinesregister.com/

Teens: 'Rioting Vents Our Anger At Authorities'

Teenagers caught in the riots which have spread to towns and cities throughout England have been talking to Sky News about the reasons for the trouble.

They said there is widespread anger and frustration among young people over problems getting work and the rising cost of living.
They also cited the increase in student tuition fees and the attitude of police as major causes of the resentment felt by many.
One young looter in Manchester said it was a chance to get back at police for arresting young people for no reason.
"I've come for the money," he said.
"The police nick you for stupid things. This is our payback. They can't do nothing to us today."
Another told Sky's Mike McCarthy: "People are just taking out their anger (with the authorities).
"It is wrong but they're just trying to make money because they can't get to college and they just think 'Why not make quick money?'.
A third said: "All the Uni loans and all the finances have all gone up so everyone is frustrated.
"No one can see a future now because everything is expensive. Everything like the VAT has gone up and people are just showing their frustration."
When asked if that justified the looting, he replied: "No. To be honest I think everyone is just frustrated.
"Other people, though, are taking advantage to make a profit and just steal stuff.
"We're not here to steal. We're just trying to get home but we can't because the road is blocked."
They spoke as hundreds of youths went on the rampage in Manchester and Salford.
Firebombs were thrown at shops and windows were smashed as looters made off with designer clothes, electrical items, jewellery, mobile phones and alcohol.
Some of those involved in the looting appeared to be as young as nine or 10.
Greater Manchester Police said over 100 people had been arrested in connection with the disorder.
Source http://news.sky.com/

D-Day for Petrovic as Blackburn Rovers make plea to Home Office

By Andy Cryer 
SERBIAN international Radosav Petrovic faces his Blackburn Rovers D-Day today – as Steve Kean looks for the Home Office to give his Premier League preparations a major boost.
Partizan Belgrade’s 22-year-old midfielder has agreed personal terms with Rovers and passed a medical, after the club had a bid in the region of £3million accepted, but his fate is now in the Government’s hands as he waits for work permit clearance.
Boss Kean travelled to London this morning to speak for the energetic midfielder’s case, after he narrowly missed out on the criteria needed to trigger an automatic green light.
To automatically gain a work permit to play in England, players are required to have played in 75 per cent of their country’s matches over the past two years – provided they are ranked in FIFA’s top 70 in the world.
Serbia are comfortably in the top 70, ranked 27th, but Petrovic has not played in 75 per cent of his nation’s matches, despite having appeared 18 times for them since his debut in August 2009.
The 6ft 4ins midfielder was named in Serbia’s 2010 World Cup squad, appearing as a substitute in the win over Germany, and has been named in the squad for this week’s friendly in Moscow against Russia.
Petrovic is now understood to be considered as a key member of Serbia’s squad, which will boost the players chances of being granted a work permit.
Due to international commitments, Petrovic won’t be in attendance at the hearing but Rovers are confident their case is strong enough to be successful.
Kean said: “I will be down in London on Tuesday for that hearing. I think he has got a very good case.
“I have looked over all the notes and I think we have a very good case and hopefully the panel can be lenient that he has just missed out on the number of games needed to be an automatic trigger.”
Petrovic would become Kean’s third signing of the summer, having already added Myles Anderson from Aberdeen and David Goodwillie from Dundee United.
The Rovers boss is still hopeful of adding a new striker, midfielder and defender to the squad before the end of the transfer window as efforts to strengthen continue behind the scenes.
Rovers remain in talks with Greek outfit PAOK over the future of Portuguese winger Vieirinha, with sources close to Venky’s hopeful a deal can be done.

Paul Newman: Green experiment begins to bloom at Brighton's new home

Sometimes there is no justice.

On Saturday Brighton, playing their first competitive match in their new £100m home, fielded a team that included Craig Mackail-Smith, a £2.5m recruit from Peterborough who could eventually cost them £3.25m. Doncaster Rovers, who played much the better football for the first hour, also included their major summer signing, Tommy Spurr, a £200,000 purchase from Sheffield Wednesday.

No prizes for guessing which team left the Amex Community Stadium with their two leading scorers from last season on crutches, bringing to nine the number of first-team players on their injury list. Sean O'Driscoll, Doncaster's manager, was less concerned by his team's 2-1 defeat than by the ankle and knee injuries respectively which saw Billy Sharp and James Hayter leave the field on stretchers.

Money alone cannot bring you success – witness O'Driscoll's magnificent feat in taking Doncaster into the Championship three years ago and keeping them there since – but it sure helps. With his team trailing 1-0, Gus Poyet, the Brighton manager, summoned Will Buckley, another of his recent signings, from the bench. The £1m midfielder from Watford scored twice to end a perfect first day back in the Championship.

Only the most curmudgeonly – as well as some Crystal Palace supporters – would begrudge Brighton fans their current happiness. After leaving the Goldstone Ground in 1997, the Seagulls spent two years commuting 75 miles to ground-share with Gillingham before returning to Brighton to rent the Withdean Stadium, an athletics arena with as much atmosphere as the moon.

The Amex Stadium is a total contrast to what had been home for the last 12 years. Many modern grounds are so characterless they can make your local B&Q store feel like Harrods in comparison, but Brighton's new home, four miles from the city centre, is a fine addition to the football circuit. The 22,500-capacity stadium – they hope to install another 8,000 seats by the start of next season – feels bright and airy thanks to its blue, translucent, curved roofs, but still generates a resounding atmosphere. When Buckley scored the winning goal in the eighth minute of injury time, Poyet said he could never recall Brighton fans making as much noise.

Fittingly for a city with the country's only Green MP, Brighton encourage fans to arrive at the ground in environmentally friendly style. There is secure bicycle parking for those wishing to use new cycle paths from Brighton and Lewes, as well as subsidised bus and rail travel. Falmer train station is just yards from the stadium. No public car parking is available, although supporters can takes buses to the ground from three park-and-ride sites.

The new stadium was made possible by the generosity of the Brighton chairman, Tony Bloom, whose fortune derives from the sale of a betting website he set up as well as his property and finance interests, not to mention his winnings as a poker player. In his last major tournament, the Aussie Millions in Melbourne in January, Bloom won A$975,000 (about £620,000) as runner-up.

It is hard to believe that Bloom the gambler (in poker he is nicknamed The Lizard as he never shows any sign of pressure) would have put so many chips on the table in backing his team, but Brighton are in his blood. His grandfather was a vice-chairman of the club and his uncle has been involved for more than 20 years. Saturday's mascots were Jessie Bloom (aged nine), Katie Bloom (seven) and Sammy Bloom (five).

As for Doncaster, their manager might find some consolation in the weekend's events. Sharp's injury could just divert the interest of the many clubs willing to pay big money for O'Driscoll's most valuable asset.

Best Of The Weekend

Colchester United's 4-2 win at Preston North End Phil Brown's Preston, among the favourites for promotion from League One, were outplayed by a Colchester team bristling with confidence from good pre-season form.

Source  http://www.independent.co.uk/

Making the grade in financial literacy

By Michelle Rupe Eubanks
For the TimesDaily
Trent Cronin, a senior at the University of North Alabama, has made some of the mistakes a lot of college students make when it comes to money.

“When I started college, I had to learn the hard way how to budget my money, and, sometimes, I made mistakes with the amount I had in my account,” he said. “I'm still not an upper-level budget king, but I'm getting there.”
At 21, Cronin uses the lessons he's learned as an employee at The Hill, a branch of Listerhill Credit Union in the Guillot University Center on the UNA campus. Last fall, The Hill opened as a place where students can open accounts, check their finances or ask questions about money management.
Financial literacy is not a new concept, but many banks and financial institutions are hoping to make the idea attractive to 18- to 24-year-olds before they have a chance to make long-term mistakes that could affect their ability to get a mortgage, buy a car or get a job.
“Financial literacy for students is critical,” said Mackey McNeill, a certified public accountant, financial planner and member of the American Institute of CPAs.
If students are not prepared to handle the responsibility that comes with having money, they can fall prey to a number of pitfalls, she said, including debilitating credit card and student loan debt.
One way to avoid that is to begin the process of teaching children about money long before they leave for college, McNeill said.
“Our patterns about money are set before college, so if your kids are savers or spenders, you'll know before then; however, that doesn't mean you can't become better aware of the behavior and make difference choices,” she said. “Early on, get kids acclimated and give them practice.”
It's a lesson Alana Parker, the education and training director at First Metro Bank, puts to use in local schools through the Teach Children to Save program. It's designed for children as young as fourth grade to inspire them save money, a concept Parker admits is not popular among young people.
“Savings isn't where it should be, but it goes with the age group and being more worried about the right now and not their financial future,” she said. “What we want them to understand is that the first 10 years out of high school are the most important because it's when you're looking at buying a home, a new car, starting a new family, merging assets, and, if you've made a mistake in your first year of college because you didn't know about your credit, it's a big deal.”
Gradually, it seems, this age group is becoming more financially astute, McNeill said, helped along by some new federal regulations as well as the Great Recession.
“There have been changes in terms of credit cards and students loans that have been positive for students,” she said. “But the other thing is this Great Recession. Like those in the Great Depression, it left an imprint and changed the way they thought about money their whole lives. This recession has done the same things for these kids. They're permanently impacted by what happened, and I don't think that's a bad thing.”
It's certainly affected the way UNA junior Ian Love feels about money.
A steady income from a local fast food restaurant helps him keep track of his finances and spending, he said.
“It's not a lot, but it keeps me from blowing it all,” he said. “I think (I'm prepared) as far as money coming in and going out and knowing how to make (money) last. As far as adult things like investments and savings for retirement, I don't know much about that.”
Getting that grown-up education often takes a concerted effort on the part of parents and students, said Kristen Van Rensselaer, an economics and finance professor at UNA.
“We offer a personal finance course open to any level of student, and many take it as freshmen,” she said.
At the junior and senior levels of college, Van Rensselaer said students get the nuts and bolts of the financial world, such as how to calculate a car payment with interest, the definition of amortization and how to save for retirement.
Other students come to campus having taken those classes in high school, and that's where the information can be more meaningful, she said.
“Ideally, this would start in the home, and, if not there, in high school,” Van Rensselaer said. “Not all parents will have good financial habits to teach their kids.”
Macke Mauldin, president of Bank Independent, sees the children of his customers grow into bank customers themselves, and, to that end, he said parents, especially those with good financial habits, make the best teachers.
“The minor pitfalls I see come from not keeping up with their transactions, charging things at local stores and not understanding the future ramifications of today's actions,” Mauldin said.
Electronic programs, such as Quicken, as well as those operated through local banks, meet students where they are with their finances, he said.
“Technology like this really helps,” Mauldin said. “You have to go through it to see how it's going to work for you, but many students take full advantage of what's out there on their smartphones.”
Thanks to a personal finance class he took in high school, UNA freshman Mike McGee felt prepared for the financial challenges he'd face in college.
The lessons he learned in banking, credit unions, stocks and mutual funds helped him realize the importance of saving after graduation, he said.
“I'll buy just what I need and save the rest of it,” McGee said. “If there's something I want to buy, I'll save for it instead of getting a loan or a credit card.”
Without that basic financial literacy, Cronin said students miss the point of a college education.
“If you're financially illiterate, you're in for a world of hurt,” he said. “You've gone to school and gotten a degree, but, if you're financially illiterate, it nullifies that degree because you're not equipped to take care of yourself or your family.”
Writer Lucy Berry

Balochistan School Students harvest Poppy to make Money

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Afghanistan, as of March 2010, is the largest illicit opium producer of the world, ahead of Burma, and Pakistan has a clinical role to play in this statistic.

In 2007, Afghanistan produced an extraordinary 8,200 tonnes of opium (34% more than in 2006), becoming practically the exclusive supplier of the world’s deadliest drug (93% of the global opiates market), according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Afghanistan Opium Survey 2007.

Being one of the world’s largest opium and heroin producer, the labour demand needed to cater to this extensive poppy harvesting and cultivation is met in an invariably peculiar way.

Hundreds of school students from Chaman and adjoining tribal regions of Balochistan are engaged by Afghan farmers for poppy cultivation in Afghanistan’s two major heroin-producing provinces of Helmand and Kandahar for the past three months.

These Pakistani school students rush to the Afghan provinces with strongholds of the Taliban, on lucrative money-making projects as soon as their madrassas are closed in the first week of June for the three-month summer holidays.

“It is a source of easy money for school students,” says Saifur Rehman, a local social worker of Ziarat who is well acquainted with many in the poppy harvesting workforce.

“Each student makes around $15 to $20 a day,” Rehman reveals.

“They are being paid in the local Afghani currency which has gained strength against the Pakistani rupee in recent months.

“Most students returned home with $1,500 to $2,000 after the harvesting season last year.” Muslim scholars in Afghanistan remain divided regarding the issue of poppy cultivation and its harvesting in Afghanistan. A majority of these scholars declare poppy production against the Islamic injunctions but a few of them disagree and argue that it was permitted in Islam for medical purposes.

However, all of them remain unanimous that heroin production is forbidden in Islam.

Despite the debates, no serious effort is being undertaken by these scholars to prevent the students from engaging in poppy harvesting in Helmand and Kandahar.

“A few of the workers even fell unconscious during harvesting since they were not properly trained for the job,” Rehman says.

Poppy harvesting became the main source of livelihood for many Afghan and Pakistani families since the fall of the Taliban regime after the US and Nato attacks in September 11, 2001.

A 2007 UN report revealed that leaving aside 19th century China, which had a population at that time 15 times larger than today’s Afghanistan, no other country in the world had ever produced narcotics on such a deadly scale.
Source http://abna.ir/

U.S. economic woes hit home in York County

By LAUREN BOYER
Daily Record/Sunday NewsYork, PA - Sergio Rengifo doesn't follow the stock market.
The 22-year-old York man doesn't care about gross domestic product or the Dow Jones industrial average, which plunged 513 points Thursday, the worst drop since 2008.
He just needs a job.
His girlfriend works two -- at York Hospital and Colonial Manor Nursing Home -- to provide for their 2-year-old son. Three months ago, Rengifo left his job in the kitchen at Olive Garden, hoping to find something better.
Instead, he files seven to 10 job applications daily, working sparse shifts for a local landscaper.
"It's just hard," he said from the parking lot of PA CareerLink York County Friday. "You just have to keep trying."
While the country added 117,000 new jobs in July, a sudden economic downturn this week has some economists fearing the worst -- a double-dip recession, which occurs when the economy turns sour after a quarter or two of positive growth.
Such a phenomena isn't in the cards yet, but it's "doggone close," said Fred Bergdoll, first vice president at the Manchester Township branch of financial firm Janney Montgomery Scott.
"All that news does make everybody nervous," he said. "We have to remember that we've gone through some very difficult times. If you look back over history, we've seen some very very horrific things economically and politically, and we have survived and eventually prospered."
Slumping stocks this week present lucrative buying opportunities for longer-term investors, "anybody that has money that is willing to keep it committed for the next three or more years," he said.
"I think it'll probably be wishy washy this quarter and hopefully we'll end the year stronger," he said.
History, he said, shows the third year of a presidential term as the most positive economy-wise.
But this week's sell-off negated the Dow's remaining gains for 2011, sending U.S. markets spiraling 10 percentage points from highs this spring.
The news comes on the heels of the U.S. government's deal last weekend to raise the nation's borrowing limit, avoiding a default on some $14.294 trillion in federal debt. It wasn't a magic bullet.
"The United States was a debt addict. The first step toward conquering your addiction is to admit to the problem," he said. "I think that's what we did here. But like any recovering addict, the first step doesn't mean a full recovery right away."
Businesses feel the pain
Meanwhile, gold prices hit a record high of $1,681.74 per ounce Thursday as investors sought safe havens for their money.
York-based jeweler The Watchmaker's Daughter notes more customers electing sterling silver for rings, bracelets and necklaces.
"You've just got to change your product," said owner Karen Staub. "We carry a lot more silver things, and handmade, unique pieces that will hopefully get people to come in, because they won't find it anywhere else. You have to find a niche that sets you apart."
Staub said she doesn't raise her prices to keep up with gold rates, which results in a hit to her profit.
A volatile economy leaves small businesses like Staub's hesitating to seek loans for projects, said Michael Kochenour, president and CEO of York Traditions Bank, which has a lending portfolio of $200 million.
Banks pay interest to customers on deposits into their savings accounts. In turn, they make money from those deposits by lending the money and collecting interest on re-payments.
"If, on an extended basis, businesses feel constrained and don't borrow, there's not an opportunity for us to redeploy those deposits that we're gathering," Kochenour said.
Perhaps as volatile as the stock market were gas prices, which dropped 19 cents per gallon Thursday, said Scott Hartman, president and CEO of Rutter's Farm Stores. Friday, those prices went up between 7 and 8 cents per gallon, he said.
"Every day the markets are moving significantly on some piece of news. It makes it very hard to manage a business based on commodities," Hartman said. "Consumers don't like the volatility. The guy who fills up on a Wednesday and sees the price lower on a Thursday is mad. It adds to the business complexity."
A slump, or worse?
In data released Friday, the country's unemployment rate dropped from 9.2 percent in June to 9.1 percent in July.
Unemployment rates, however, are lagging indicators. By the time they are recorded and compiled, the data is about a month out-of-date.
The country must wait until next month to see if current conditions boost unemployment numbers, said William Sholly, industry and business analyst for the state Department of Labor and Industry.
If the economy is headed for double-dip recession, history could repeat itself. A mini-recession from 1980-81 and a deeper one from 1982-83 could compare to what's taking shape today, he said.
During that event, January 1983 boasted a 13.3 percent unemployment rate, the highest on record for the York-Hanover area, he said.
This July, the area's rates increased from 7.3 percent in June to 7.7 percent. But there's no need to panic, yet, Sholly said.
The relationship between Wall Street woes and unemployment numbers aren't as directly correlated as one might think, he said.
"A bad jobs report can affect Wall Street," he said, "but it isn't vice versa."
Stock plunges can occur instantaneously. Businesses don't react as abruptly, relying instead on long-term outlooks. They don't necessarily lay off the masses after one negative week, he said.
Time alone, Bergdoll said, will tell whether this week's slump is just that -- a slump -- or something much worse.
"It certainly has become something to consider," he said. "Our economists do not see a second recession, although it certainly has become much more of a concern."

Turning Transportation Infrastructure into a Publicly Traded Asset

By Alex Marshall
There is really no denying that transportation makes money. Just consider the huge shopping malls perched around interstate off-ramps, the office parks positioned close to airports, the skyscrapers next to subway stations.
But transportation itself is usually a money loser. We pour billions of public dollars into highways, airports and transit systems, while others, the home builders, the department store mavens, make the money that comes slows from those public investments.
Hong Kong's metro system, MTR, has changed this equation, and that is why it's worth looking at.
If you are ever lucky enough to visit Hong Kong, which is Manhattan-like with its narrow streets lined with high rises, you will see that the MTR's services are excellent. You may ride the gleaming new high-speed rail line from the new airport that takes you into the new central rail station. Or one of the nine rail and subway lines, including the special train that goes to Disneyland Hong Kong.
What's amazing about the agency that runs these lines, MTR, is that it actually makes money. So much money that it's listed on the stock exchange, although the government still owns a majority share.
The Hong Kong's metro system has been in the news in the New York city region because the chief of New York City's transit agency, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, shocked the region by announcing his departure to lead Hong Kong's system for a million-dollar plus annual salary. He left at a particularly bad time, breaking a seven year contract just as the MTA was facing yet another round of funding gaps and necessary cuts.
Given the perennial money-losing nature of most transportation departments, from highways to rail, it bears asking: how does Hong Kong do it?
The answer is that Hong Kong's MTR doesn't let private developers be the only ones that perch next to its stations. It builds its homes, offices and stores. In short, MTR acts as a real estate developer and business company, as well as a train operator. It owns, among other things, 12 shopping malls built around its stations. These properties and businesses produce substantial cash, which keep the transit agency as a whole in the black.
Hong Kong's MTR is unusual in also actually making money from its fares as well. How it can do this relates in part the uniqueness of running trains on an intense few strips of land filled with development. But for our purposes it's worth looking at its actions as a developer, and that as a model for transportation agencies and departments in this country.
By many standards, MTR is an unusual company.
The MTR only began service in 1979. But once cash was flowing (through development around stations), the government "graduated" MTR to become a private company, still majority owned by government, so that it could raise funding through capital markets and more nimbly enter into joint ventures with private investors.
In 2000, the Hong Kong government converted the public MTRC into the private MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL), although the government maintains a majority stake. Shares are traded on the Hong Kong stock exchange. WIkipedia reports that MTR also invests in railways in different parts in the world, and has obtained contracts to operate rapid-transit systems in London, Stockholm, Beijing, Shenzhen, and Melbourne.
Could transit and highway departments in the United States ever do something equally innovative? Why shouldn't a highway department make money on the shopping malls built around its exits? Shouldn't it at least get a cut?
While it may seem extraordinary to have a transit company operating like a profit-making company, it's not novel. A century ago private streetcar lines made money more on the homes and shops built around their tracks, on company-owned land, than the nickel fares they received.
While retaining public control of vital infrastructure systems - a crucial point - governments can facilitate new versions of these old arrangements.
Let me be clear here. I don't want the transit agencies or highway departments to be only concerned with making a profit for their shareholders, which is how private businesses act. I want them to make a profit for the public, so that roads can be maintained well, taxes and fares kept down.
It's a long way from anywhere in the United States to Hong Kong, but there's no reason we can't learn from it.
Alex Marshall is a regular columnist on transportation for Governing Magazine. He is a Senior Fellow at Regional Plan Association, the seminal urban planning group in New York City, where he edits a bi-weekly email newsletter, Spotlight on the Region. He teaches classes on infrastructure at the Architecture School of the New Jersey Institute of Technology. His e-mail address is alexmarshall@alexmarshall.org. His article is reprinted with permission from citiwire.net.