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| <Oriental Daily on Electricity Tariff>
As I have written before, consumers might pay the full cost for any environment measures under the existing scheme of control. So if you want cleaner energy, the electricity companies will not pay for you. YOU HAVE TO PAY.
轉載自 東方日報 : 每年盈利超過八十至百億元的兩電仍要加電費,帶動各行業刮起加風苦害升斗市民!行政會議本周二討論兩電來年元旦調整電費, 據悉兩電在增加更環保的天然氣發 電令成本大幅上漲後,中電提出加電費百分之二至三,港燈加價壓力更大,學者擔心加電費帶動加風,最終只會轉嫁到市民生活開支,要求港府「叫停」兩電,以免 稍後推動慳電膽券計劃時,電費加完再加。 行政會議周二將審批電費調整,兩電亦會於當日向立法會經濟事務委員會 簡報電費調整安排。兩電提交立法會的文件顯示,去年燃煤價格上漲,至今年六月兩電累積燃料帳虧損分別為三億及八億元,因此極有機會向全港二百多萬用戶追回 虧損。港燈回應指明年需要將天然氣發電比例由百分之十五增至百分之三十。中電則表示現階段不評論事件,留待周二在立法會解釋。
So we have to pay high tariff in the future anyway. How to tackle that? Someone claims we can open up the electricity market.
From my point of view, the permitted rate of return, which is effectively the profit-guarantee-return, should be lowered to the fixed deposit rate in HKD or USD, plus a small premium. For example, a formula making reference to the 1 year HIBOR rate (the rate is currently at 0.54%).
Consider this : If someone guarantees you a fixed return on certain investment, the equilibrium rate of return will be just no more than the market risk-free interest rate. Simply because it is GUARANTEED. The return for HSBC's MPF guarantee fund is no more than 1%. Because it is risk-free, you don't have to take any risks and this is the maximum return you can get.
So what is the difference with HK's electricity companies' investment? Effectively, the return is guaranteed : in case you don't earn the "guaranteed return", the government will pay you back in later years (indeed this is what the hk government is doing implicitly). Simply, there is no RISK. So you should pay the return on assets at the risk-free rate.
It is true that investment in electricity assets are long-term and cannot be "sold" without involving huge transactions. How about paying you at a small premium over the long-term 10-year US Treasuries? This is how corporate bonds are priced as well. I saw little difference.
If we take it, the long-term Treasuries yield is about 5% (now at about 3.4%) and add a "long-term" premium at 2% (which i think is very lenient), we have only a 7% permitted rate of return. Compared with the current 9.99% permitted rate of return, this could mean billions of dollars.
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| <Suffocating>
I saw the following picture in a famous discussion forum in HK (aka 高登)
I pass by this basketball court everyday. It is located next to CC Wu Building, Wanchai. Very convenient, transportation-wise, so-to-speak.
This basketball court, though being a "court", is only 90% size of a standard outdoor court. Look at the 3-point line at the corner. Literally, no one can shoot a 3 there without standing on the baseline.
I always make joke that playing in this court is like prisoners playing volleyball in jail. Look at the cage-like design.
By the way, I have not elaborated what those people in the court are in the picture above. They are the players for the Japanese U20 Soccer Team.
Yes, soccer players are practicing on a basketball court.
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| <No wonder they have Sub-Prime etc. crises in US>
Last week, I read in a bloomberg article. As the article is very long, I extracted the most important parts, being the first few paragraphs :
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Woman Who Sank Galleon Was Beauty-Queen-Turned-Analyst Insider 2009-11-23 00:01:00.12 GMT
By Anthony Effinger, Katherine Burton and Ian King
Nov. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Danielle Chiesi spent a lot of time in hotel ballrooms and bars during the past decade.
As an analyst at New Castle Funds LLC, a New York hedge fund firm that manages about $1 billion, she was a regular at conferences on technology stocks, where she could get face time with executives and press them on how many microprocessors and how much software they were shipping that quarter.
Chiesi wore short skirts and low-cut tops, according to people who saw her over the years. One ploy was to go barhopping with a group, and then peel someone off to talk to on the dance floor, says a person who attended conferences with her.
A blond, blue-eyed former teenage beauty queen, Chiesi used her sexuality to build sources at male-dominated tech companies, says Deborah Stapleton, president of Stapleton Communications Inc., an investor relations company in Palo Alto, California.
“It amazes me that grown, wealthy, successful, hardworking men fell for that,” Stapleton says. Chiesi was proud of her network, too. “She bragged about her contacts in public,” Stapleton says. “She was like a teenager who wanted everyone to know she knew some rock star.”
U.S. authorities say Chiesi, 44, crossed the line in her pursuit of secrets. They charged her and 19 others with securities fraud in the largest insider-trading case prosecuted since the 1980s, when stock market arbitrager Ivan Boesky paid a $100 million fine and spent three years in prison.
[rest of the article is skipped]
source : bloomberg
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So my curiosity prompts me to google the picture for Danielle Chiesi, which is shown below.
Note : Readers may find the picture disgusting

We are not talking about US$100, but probably ending with a million after that. So you depend on the senior management in high-tech companies, who are basically blind, to make investment decision for you.
God Bless America. God Bless Wall Street and Main Street.
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| <Observations on NBA>
Below are the current season statistics for one of my favourite teams - Phoenix Suns :
| Game Statistics | Rebounds | Miscellaneous | | NAME | GP | GS | MIN | PTS | OFF | DEF | TOT | AST | STL | BLK | TO | A/TO | PF | TECH | | Amare Stoudemire | 16 | 16 | 34.1 | 19.9 | 2.0 | 4.9 | 6.9 | 1.1 | 0.63 | 1.19 | 2.9 | 0.37 | 3.6 | 0.1 | | Jason Richardson | 14 | 14 | 31.4 | 17.4 | 0.9 | 3.8 | 4.7 | 1.7 | 0.86 | 0.29 | 0.7 | 2.40 | 2.3 | 0.1 | | Steve Nash | 16 | 16 | 32.3 | 16.2 | 0.5 | 2.1 | 2.6 | 11.8 | 0.31 | 0.19 | 3.8 | 3.15 | 1.2 | 0.0 | | Channing Frye | 16 | 16 | 29.2 | 12.7 | 0.6 | 5.0 | 5.6 | 1.4 | 0.94 | 1.00 | 0.9 | 1.53 | 3.4 | 0.1 | | Grant Hill | 16 | 16 | 29.5 | 12.3 | 1.6 | 5.4 | 6.9 | 2.1 | 0.50 | 0.31 | 1.4 | 1.43 | 1.6 | 0.0 | | Leandro Barbosa | 13 | 2 | 21.8 | 11.2 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 1.8 | 2.1 | 0.69 | 0.15 | 1.1 | 1.93 | 2.0 | 0.0 | | Jared Dudley | 16 | 0 | 22.7 | 9.3 | 1.5 | 2.2 | 3.7 | 1.4 | 1.13 | 0.25 | 0.9 | 1.57 | 1.9 | 0.0 | | Robin Lopez | 1 | 0 | 15.0 | 8.0 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 7.0 | 0.0 | 1.00 | 2.00 | 2.0 | 0.00 | 4.0 | 0.0 | | Goran Dragic | 16 | 0 | 15.6 | 6.8 | 0.6 | 1.9 | 2.5 | 2.9 | 0.44 | 0.13 | 1.6 | 1.77 | 1.6 | 0.0 | | Louis Amundson | 16 | 0 | 15.6 | 5.3 | 1.9 | 2.7 | 4.6 | 0.4 | 0.13 | 1.00 | 1.0 | 0.38 | 2.0 | 0.0 | | Earl Clark | 12 | 0 | 10.1 | 3.8 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 1.9 | 0.4 | 0.25 | 0.42 | 0.8 | 0.56 | 0.6 | 0.0 | | Alando Tucker | 6 | 0 | 5.2 | 3.0 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.2 | 3.00 | 0.0 | 0.0 | | Taylor Griffin | 1 | 0 | 8.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1.0 | 0.00 | 1.0 | 0.0 | | Jarron Collins | 10 | 0 | 7.6 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 1.6 | 2.1 | 0.1 | 0.00 | 0.30 | 0.3 | 0.33 | 1.1 | 0.0 | | Totals | 16 | --- | --- | 111.9 | 10.8 | 31.1 | 41.9 | 24.8 | 5.63 | 5.06 | 15.6 | 1.59 | 20.3 | 1.0 | | Opponents | 16 | --- | --- | 105.2 | 13.3 | 28.9 | 42.2 | 21.8 | 7.75 | 3.75 | 13.8 | 1.58 | 21.8 | 1.3 |
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I really love the hyper-offensive-oriented mode of Suns, under the lead of Steve Nash. When Mike Antonio (current Knicks Head Coach) was still in Suns, it was the better offensive team I ever saw in NBA.
Anyway, these statistics remind me there were no teams with 6 players scoring over 10 pts in one season for so many years.
Not even the 1995 Orlando Magic :
| Name | G | Min | Pts | PPG | FGM | FGA | FGP | FTM | FTA | FTP | 3PM | 3PA | 3PP | REB | RPG | AST | APG | STL | BLK | TO | | Shaquille O'neal | 54 | 1946 | 1434 | 26.6 | 592 | 1033 | .573 | 249 | 511 | .487 | 1 | 2 | .500 | 596 | 11.0 | 155 | 2.9 | 34 | 115 | 155 | | Anfernee Hardaway | 82 | 3015 | 1780 | 21.7 | 623 | 1215 | .513 | 445 | 580 | .767 | 89 | 283 | .314 | 354 | 4.3 | 582 | 7.1 | 166 | 41 | 229 | | Dennis Scott | 82 | 3041 | 1431 | 17.5 | 491 | 1117 | .440 | 182 | 222 | .820 | 267 | 628 | .425 | 309 | 3.8 | 243 | 3.0 | 90 | 29 | 122 | | Nick Anderson | 77 | 2717 | 1134 | 14.7 | 400 | 904 | .442 | 166 | 240 | .692 | 168 | 430 | .391 | 415 | 5.4 | 279 | 3.6 | 121 | 46 | 141 | | Horace Grant | 63 | 2286 | 847 | 13.4 | 347 | 677 | .513 | 152 | 207 | .734 | 1 | 6 | .167 | 580 | 9.2 | 170 | 2.7 | 62 | 74 | 64 | | Brian Shaw | 75 | 1679 | 496 | 6.6 | 182 | 486 | .374 | 91 | 114 | .798 | 41 | 144 | .285 | 224 | 3.0 | 336 | 4.5 | 58 | 11 | 173 | | Donald Royal | 64 | 963 | 337 | 5.3 | 106 | 216 | .491 | 125 | 164 | .762 | 0 | 2 | .000 | 153 | 2.4 | 42 | 0.7 | 29 | 15 | 52 |
But I think this year's Suns is not better than the 2004 Mavs (The first year after Nash left Mavs)
| Name | G | Min | Pts | PPG | FGM | FGA | FGP | FTM | FTA | FTP | 3PM | 3PA | 3PP | REB | RPG | AST | APG | STL | BLK | TO | | Dirk Nowitzki | 78 | 3020 | 2032 | 26.1 | 663 | 1445 | .459 | 615 | 708 | .869 | 91 | 228 | .399 | 757 | 9.7 | 240 | 3.1 | 97 | 119 | 176 | | Michael Finley | 64 | 2358 | 1003 | 15.7 | 387 | 907 | .427 | 113 | 136 | .831 | 116 | 285 | .407 | 262 | 4.1 | 169 | 2.6 | 48 | 18 | 60 | | Jerry Stackhouse | 56 | 1617 | 833 | 14.9 | 274 | 662 | .414 | 253 | 298 | .849 | 32 | 120 | .267 | 183 | 3.3 | 127 | 2.3 | 53 | 10 | 106 | | Josh Howard | 76 | 2446 | 958 | 12.6 | 377 | 793 | .475 | 170 | 232 | .733 | 34 | 115 | .296 | 484 | 6.4 | 109 | 1.4 | 116 | 49 | 122 | | Jason Terry | 80 | 2401 | 993 | 12.4 | 372 | 743 | .501 | 146 | 173 | .844 | 103 | 245 | .420 | 188 | 2.4 | 429 | 5.4 | 109 | 15 | 147 | | Keith Vanhorn | 29 | 684 | 354 | 12.2 | 129 | 279 | .462 | 72 | 92 | .783 | 24 | 64 | .375 | 129 | 4.4 | 34 | 1.2 | 15 | 10 | 34 | | Erick Dampier | 59 | 1609 | 542 | 9.2 | 202 | 367 | .550 | 138 | 228 | .605 | 0 | 3 | .000 | 501 | 8.5 | 51 | 0.9 | 15 | 80 | 102 |
And the 2004 Suns were much better as well
| Name | G | Min | Pts | PPG | FGM | FGA | FGP | FTM | FTA | FTP | 3PM | 3PA | 3PP | REB | RPG | AST | APG | STL | BLK | TO | | Amare Stoudemire | 80 | 2889 | 2080 | 26.0 | 747 | 1336 | .559 | 583 | 795 | .733 | 3 | 16 | .188 | 713 | 8.9 | 131 | 1.6 | 77 | 130 | 189 | | Shawn Marion | 81 | 3146 | 1569 | 19.4 | 613 | 1289 | .476 | 229 | 275 | .833 | 114 | 341 | .334 | 915 | 11.3 | 154 | 1.9 | 163 | 119 | 125 | | Joe Johnson | 82 | 3240 | 1400 | 17.1 | 544 | 1179 | .461 | 135 | 180 | .750 | 177 | 370 | .478 | 422 | 5.1 | 291 | 3.5 | 79 | 24 | 148 | | Steve Nash | 75 | 2573 | 1165 | 15.5 | 430 | 857 | .502 | 211 | 238 | .887 | 94 | 218 | .431 | 249 | 3.3 | 861 | 11.5 | 74 | 6 | 245 | | Quentin Richardson | 79 | 2839 | 1176 | 14.9 | 407 | 1045 | .389 | 136 | 184 | .739 | 226 | 631 | .358 | 479 | 6.1 | 158 | 2.0 | 96 | 27 | 102 | | Jim Jackson | 40 | 997 | 352 | 8.8 | 130 | 299 | .435 | 24 | 25 | .960 | 68 | 148 | .459 | 154 | 3.9 | 97 | 2.4 | 12 | 4 | 59 | | Leandrinho Barbosa | 63 | 1087 | 442 | 7.0 | 168 | 354 | .475 | 55 | 69 | .797 | 51 | 139 | .367 | 130 | 2.1 | 126 | 2.0 | 30 | 7 | 87 | | Casey Jacobsen | 40 | 768 | 212 | 5.3 | 65 | 157 | .414 | 48 | 62 | .774 | 34 | 89 | .382 | 67 | 1.7 | 37 | 0.9 | 11 | 1 | 27 | | Steven Hunter | 76 | 1046 | 348 | 4.6 | 135 | 220 | .614 | 78 | 163 | .479 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 227 | 3.0 | 13 | 0.2 | 4 | 102 | 44 |
For your information, I believe there was a team with 7 players over 10 ppts per game. The team is led by someone call Magic Johnson in 1987 aka "the Showtime"
| Name | G | Min | Pts | PPG | FGM | FGA | FGP | FTM | FTA | FTP | 3PM | 3PA | 3PP | REB | RPG | AST | APG | STL | BLK | TO | | Magic Johnson | 80 | 2904 | 1909 | 23.9 | 683 | 1308 | .522 | 535 | 631 | .848 | 8 | 39 | .205 | 504 | 6.3 | 977 | 12.2 | 138 | 36 | 300 | | James Worthy | 82 | 2819 | 1594 | 19.4 | 651 | 1207 | .539 | 292 | 389 | .751 | 0 | 13 | .000 | 466 | 5.7 | 226 | 2.8 | 108 | 83 | 168 | | Kareem Abdul-jabbar | 78 | 2441 | 1366 | 17.5 | 560 | 993 | .564 | 245 | 343 | .714 | 1 | 3 | .333 | 523 | 6.7 | 203 | 2.6 | 49 | 97 | 186 | | Byron Scott | 82 | 2729 | 1397 | 17.0 | 554 | 1134 | .489 | 224 | 251 | .892 | 65 | 149 | .436 | 286 | 3.5 | 281 | 3.4 | 125 | 18 | 144 | | A.c. Green | 79 | 2240 | 852 | 10.8 | 316 | 587 | .538 | 220 | 282 | .780 | 0 | 5 | .000 | 615 | 7.8 | 84 | 1.1 | 70 | 80 | 102 | | Michael Cooper | 82 | 2253 | 859 | 10.5 | 322 | 736 | .438 | 126 | 148 | .851 | 89 | 231 | .385 | 254 | 3.1 | 373 | 4.5 | 78 | 43 | 102 | | Mychal Thompson | 33 | 680 | 333 | 10.1 | 129 | 269 | .480 | 75 | 101 | .743 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 136 | 4.1 | 28 | 0.8 | 14 | 30 | 57 |
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| <Tapping Water>
Dubai’s $80 Billion Debt Reasonable, HSBC’s Nasr Says 2009-10-08 08:48:41.908 GMT
Oct. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Dubai’s $80 billion of state-related debt is “reasonable,” given the economy’s size and growth rate, and HSBC Holdings Plc will lend to companies facing funding problems, the bank’s Middle East chairman said.
“If you believe the Middle East story, you have to believe the Dubai story,” HSBC Bank Middle East Ltd. Chairman Youssef Nasr said in an interview yesterday. “Temporary mismatches in supply and demand” in the property market need to be addressed, he said.
The global credit crisis has hurt Dubai’s key property, tourism and financial services industries and led to thousands of job losses. Property prices in the second-biggest of the United Arab Emirates’ seven states fell 49 percent from their peak a year ago, Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. said on Aug. 16.
Dubai’s government and state-owned companies must repay at least $4.52 billion of debt this quarter, Deutsche Bank AG said on Sept. 15. Last month, Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum said he isn’t worried about the emirate’s ability to repay debt this year.
Loan terms for “sound” real estate projects could be adjusted to reflect the affect of the credit crisis, said Nasr, 55, who moves to Hong Kong in February as the chairman of HSBC’s global private banking unit.
“Sometimes, things happen which delays the realization of a project,” he said. “It’s not saying that the dream has evaporated, it’s just that it is going to take a little longer
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