Recently, I bought a new tennis racket O3 Tour by Prince which has a large sweet spot and a faster frame. I agree with its claim that O3 provides such a large sweet spot that it should be termed sweet zone. Moreover, the thinner beam design (18mm cross section) provides a better control than its earlier versions (O3 Silver, Blue and Red). Strong Buy for those looking for control and large sweet spot. 
In a rainly day it flied into our home and stayed overnight. So, we fed it with some honey.
After seeing historic lows for pass rates last year at Levels I and II, the numbers improved in 2005. The Level I pass rate was 36%; Level II was 56%; and Level III was 55%. Aggregated, the weighted average pass rate is 48%, up from 40% a year ago. May be it reflects greater study and preparation effort by candidates. Yet, the low pass rate in Level I suggests that the candidates under-estimates the requirement of the exam.
Canon announces the 12.8 Megapixel EOS 5D, creating a new D-SLR category combining a full frame CMOS sensor with a lightweight, compact magnesium alloy body. Weighing 810 grams, it features a second generation 35.8 x 23.9 mm CMOS sensor, 3 frame per second, 60 Large JPEG frame burst and 0.2 second start up time operation.
Compared to the existing similar D-SLR, it is “cheaply” priced at US$3,299 and will be available by October 2005. Here is an interesting comment by Joey Terrill, a magazine photographer based in Los Angeles:
“The Canon EOS 5D looks to be everything Ive been waiting for in a DSLR camera. If the image quality is everything that I anticipate from Canon, then I will most likely acquire two as soon as theyre available. The pixel count, buffer size, feature list and weight are all very appealing and the price makes acquiring one seem more like a buying a camera and less like buying a car.”
Where are my 5D and my car?
I love reading biography after my first one on Lee Iacocca. Steve Jobs gave a short version of his story here. This is indeed worth sharing, especially with younger generation and your kids.
This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005.
The HSBC Korean Power Capital Guarantee Fund I will invest 91.24% of its assets in fixed income and 3.31% in options linked to stock baskets. In order to meet the 2.5% guaranteed income distribution, I suppose the Fund will invest the remaining 5.45% in stocks with high dividend yield. Four out of the top twenty Korean stocks have a projected dividend yield of over 4% with an average of 5.38%, according to Bloomberg. With this rate and assuming a 4% fixed income yield, any investor can generate the capital guarantee and 10% total income guarantee over the 4.75 years without paying the 1% p.a. mangement fee and safe the 3.31% intended to be invested in options.
On a second thought and calculation, if one compounds the 91.24% with T-bill rate of 4% for
4.75 years (the Fund’s lock-in period), then the compounded return will be 109.92%. The Fund’s total income guarantee of 10% is just too low compared to the prevailing T-bill rates.Investors in emerging markets may wish the local SEC be as powerful and hard working as the US SEC. Obviously, this is a wishful thinking, isn’t it?
My recent flight experience with Air Canada is both psychologically and physiologically challenging. On our way from Hong Kong to Vancouver, the toilets on the right hand side of the jam-packed aircraft broke down one by one. After passing Tokyo, the pilot announced that 3 out of the 7 toilets on the plane had been down. He decided to continue the journey but warned that the plane might need to land anytime if the “storage capacity” of the remaining toilets was full. He also requested passengers to limit our usage of the toilets.
Air Canada is infamous for its poor customer service. As I know that there won’t be a personal TV screen for the cattle class in Air Canada, I did seriously consider to buy a portable DVD player with extra battery to keep my kids behave during the 12-hour flight. Well, I should have hand-carried a mobile-toilet as well.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce agreed to pay US$2.4 billion to resolve claims it involved in Enron inflating revenue by hiding debt. This amount is a large number in both absolute and relative sense. It is 133% of the bank’s earnings, 22% of total shareholders equity in October 2004 and 11% of its current market capitalization. CIBC’s payment will be the biggest yet to stem from a $30 billion class-action suit by Enron shareholders. The amount is larger than the settlements by Citigroup of US$2 billion and JP Morgan Chase of US$2.2 billion. Unfortunately, CIBC set aside only C$300 million for the Enron case, i.e. 10% of the actual payment.
The lesson is loud and clear: managing risk carefully or pay the price…
