offshore-finances.com

Here’s what Coast Guard Rear Adm. James A. Watson wrote to BP’s chief operating officer on Friday:
“Recognizing the complexity of this challenge, every effort must be expended to speed up the process.” BP’s plans don’t “go far enough to mobilize redundant resources” in the event of an equipment failure or another problem. “BP must identify in the next 48 hours additional leak containment capacity that could be operationalized and expedited to avoid the continued discharge of … [visit site to read more]

 As global economies start to signs of life and growth, ETF provider, Claymore Securities recently announced the re-launch of the Claymore Shipping ETF (SEA), giving investors an opportunity to play a potential increase in global trade and a growing maritime shipping industry.
SEA seeks to replicate the performance of the Delta Global Shipping Index which includes companies that derive at least 80% of their revenues from operating or leasing ships or from the transportation of … [visit site to read more]

From PC World: “The sex industry is behind many innovations that today’s Netizens can’t live without, as well as some nasty bits we wish had never existed, including:

1. Online Payment Systems.  The next time you buy something at Amazon or another online retailer, marveling at the ease and security of e-commerce, don’t just thank Jeff Bezos, thank Richard Gordon. In the mid-1990s Gordon founded Electronic Card Systems, which pioneered credit card transactions for a wide range of … [visit site to read more]

Following the European Central Bank’s (ECB) press conference following its monthly meeting, President Trichet’s main task was to boost credibility. As Trichet makes abundantly clear, the ECB is “inflexibly attached to price stability.” To achieve its goal, however, he could have added the ECB needs to be inflexibly flexible. When quizzed on the ECB bond purchase program, a program that may take the ECB down a slippery road of money printing should it not be properly neutralized, … [visit site to read more]

Greg Mankiw links to this article in the Journal of Policital Economy “Does Professor Quality Matter? Evidence from Random Assignment of Students to Professors” (available here), following are some excerpts:

“In primary and secondary education, measures of teacher quality are often based on contemporaneous student performance on standardized achievement tests. In the postsecondary environment, scores on student evaluations of professors are typically used to measure teaching quality. … [visit site to read more]

The snapback in global markets has been universal as China’s dealt with overheating issues, the EU’s debt woes have grown larger and the strength of the U.S. recovery is questioned. But while many markets have posted double-digits drops, one market has managed a double-digit gain-Indonesia.

This chart shows the year-to-date performance of the major developed (G7) and emerging (E7) markets we track as of last Friday, June 4.

So far this year, China’s been the worst performer, down more … [visit site to read more]

Did you know that the College Board’s SAT test is a sexist, pro-boy, anti-girl test that is intentionally rigged to favor girls because:

1. It’s got “masculine-themed” questions that increase boys’ scores relative to girls.

2.  The absolute worst test format for females (resulting in low scores) is the multiple choice format. Thus, the College Board has rigged the SAT in favor of boys by formatting almost all the questions in the format that they know will lower … [visit site to read more]

Cool website: At Kayak, you can enter your airport and approximate travel dates, and specify the maximum amount you want to spend, and you’ll see a map of destinations within your budget. You can also specify your desired activities (golf, beach, gambling, etc.), spoken languages, and average temperature.  Here are the results for travelling from Washington DC in Fall 2010 on a budget of $400 -you can get as far away as Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Puerto … [visit site to read more]

While it looked like they were headed towards the $90 a barrel level, oil prices hit a wall in the spring. Rattled investors who worried about the direction of the global economy shunned black gold in favor of real gold as a means of preserving capital.

But don’t be fooled. The spring retreat simply set the stage for a second-half rally.

After starting the year at about $81 a barrel, prices climbed as high as $86 a barrel before plunging to $64 on May 25.

At work in that period … [visit site to read more]

Recently, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:REGN) announced mixed results from two late-stage studies of its gout candidate Arcalyst (rilonacept). The company is evaluating Arcalyst for preventing or treating gout flares in patients, who have undergone therapies for lowering their uric acid levels.
 
One of the studies, known as PRE-SURGE 1 (PREventative Study against URate-lowering drug-induced Gout Exacerbations) met the primary goal of preventing gout attacks. However, another … [visit site to read more]