BP and the financial crisis: troubling similarities
In recent weeks, I can not help feeling that exists between the behavior of BP in the Gulf crisis and banks in the financial crisis disturbing similarities.Closer Look.
- Risk taking BP and the petroleum industry have knowingly played our energy security at Russian roulette. Lobbyant giving hundreds of millions, they could start deep drilling in ensuring the complacency of the Bush administration and supervisory authorities. It must be said that the industry is that Texas and George W. Bush, like his father, were the representatives inofficieux the oil industry and the great friends of the oil producing countries.
- The incident that set fire to the powder: the face of these risks, the decision on the ground taken by the head of the platform further heightens the risk (as did Jerome Kerviel in exceeding the authorized positions). We can blame him: the fact is that the company gave him the means to take decisions without referring high risk.
- The pressure on profitability: the pressure at which the operators of these platforms are subjected has led them to go too far for reasons of gain whose magnitude is ridiculous compared to the risk. However, we must understand that if BP ended up having to compensate for a $ 10 billion, it will never be that profits last quarter.
- Managing the crisis: an attempt dishonest and not credible to blame other elements in the presence of Congress. You sound like those responsible for rating agencies, hedge funds blaming “the market”. Only now that Tony Hayward admitted that he launched in the Deep Sea Drilling “without the necessary tools.”This admission at least the merit of returning the industry to account.
- Lack of leadership: the boss of BP has not been visible during the first month of the crisis or in Louisiana or in the media: it has left its leaders (former BP Amoco acquired under his predecessor, Lord Browne) the impossible task of defending the indefensible. The waffle sapping it of credibility each day their interventions. This lack of leadership has permanently alienated the American public. After all, the boss of Toyota had made the trip to address the U.S. Congress in a case much less dramatic.
- The political interference has been low: Obama is the President who has long been outside of what will be a catastrophe of global ramifications. It’s good to accuse, to charge BP, but a bit short. It will have at least stopped the drilling of deep (37 in the Gulf of Mexico only) United States pending ensuring that intercountry security measures are strengthened.
- The inability of the American system to coordinate the actions of different authorities makes the show pathetic. The way the Governor of the State points his finger on the federal authorities but prevents them from working effectively relying on the authority of the State. It is believed to review the battles between the SEC and the Federal Reserve.
Behind it all reappears the same question that continues to haunt us: how the leaders of the oil industry have they dared to claim that the drilling depth was safe for the environment when it is clear now that no of them had the tools to cope with accidents?They had convinced the President Obama two weeks before the disaster to conduct such drilling in Alaska. How have they informed their Board of Directors (chaired by the President of Goldman Sachs International …) these risks? It seems that they are the same ills that prevail in the two industries … and probably some others.
Why You Should Consider Getting A Small Business Checking Account
Small business checking accounts are a great solution that will help to manage your business better. A small business owner should keep business funds separate from personal funds and it is a good idea to open a bank account for the company.
Business accounts are essential for small businessmen, shop-owners or dealers and banks usually provide a variety of accounts such as saving accounts, fixed deposits, checking accounts, etc. A business owner can select a checking account based on his requirements. For those who are involved in businesses of a lesser scale, having a reliable small business checking account is necessary.
Usually, the business owner opens an account in the early stages of business expansion. The account can offer some conveniences and advantages without forcing the business owner to maintain a minimum balance amount or pay a substantial monthly service fee. Banks have many different kinds of accounts to choose from, for example, some offer free initial check order and no service charges.
Small business owners can also get free checking accounts that don’t impose monthly service charge or minimum balance requirement. With the account, small business owners can allow customers to use credit cards for paying products and services. Taking credit cards for payment will help small businesses to improve profits through higher sales.
With the Internet technology, small business checking account is a convenient solution for small businesses that need quick access to balance information and funds. The Internet offers the customer immediate access whenever necessary. A business owner can monitor all transactions, check the balance, use online bill and track all deposits.
Additionally, a customer can make the best of accounting software packages that is integrated with the banking system to easily download bank information directly into business software. However, downloading updates on transactions aren’t considered as a free service by some banks. In addition, the software used by the customers or small businesses may not be compatible with the one used by the bank.
With online services, banks offer valuable resources and tools to business owners that may help in improving the overall efficiency of their companies. Resources that come with a small business checking account, usually include information on accounting, sales, marketing, human resources, and advices on optimizing business processes. Tools that come with the accounts may help a business owner to simplify the online and credit cards transactions. Some banks may also provide assistances on how to establish trade credit and how to use personal credit for business, government loans, grants and commercial bank loans.
Overdraft protection is another benefit of a small business checking account. When the ledger balances become overdrawn, the overdraft protection will continue to pay drafts or checks. However, even with an overdraft protection, the bank may charge insufficient fund charges, so although the checks are paid, there could be fees accrued and you still need to pay the bank.
How To Protect Yourself Against Check Fraud
Checking account fraud can take several forms. People may try to alter a check that you have actually written, for example. They may also attempt to steal your money through a completely fake check that they have created in order to fool your bank.
You can protect yourself against check fraud in several simple ways.
First, make sure you check your bank statements. If there are any withdrawals that you did not authorize or which are for the wrong amounts, get in touch with your bank. They may be able to get you your money back.
Second, take care when you write your checks. Use a gel pen, if possible, as it is more difficult for gel pen ink to be washed off a check than to remove the ink from a ballpoint or marker pen. Make sure that your writing is easy to read. Name the recipient on the check to prevent anybody else from cashing it. Write down the amount in both figures and words. Start writing the figure as close to the left edge of the box as you can, make sure that the decimal point is clear, and fill up any left over space with a line so that no extra figures can be added. When you write the amount in words, write the cents as a fraction of 100 to prevent anyone from making alterations, and again, fill up any leftover space with a line. After you have filled in these details, make sure there are no mistakes before you sign the check. If you have made a mistake, damage or tear the check, or decide not to use it, write VOID across the check in large letters. Never write any sensitive information, such as your credit card number, on the check.
Third, keep all of your bank details, checks and cards safe. If anything is lost or stolen, or you believe someone has learned your PIN number, then get in touch with your bank immediately to prevent your account from being accessed. Keep all of the material relating to your account safe and shred any bank statements or similar documents before throwing them away. Treat your checks as if they were cash. Do not leave them anywhere they could easily be stolen from or allow another person to take them.
Fourth, if you believe that there is a problem with one of your checks, or if it has been lost or stolen, you can contact your bank in order to cancel it. This will stop the payment of the check.
There is always a risk that your checking account will be targeted by a criminal, but by taking care when using checks and ensuring that you keep track of all payments that are being made from your account, you can significantly reduce the chances that you will be affected by check fraud, and limit the damage you have.
Dollar vs Pound – Inside Forex trading !
Earning money online on internet is not that difficult , it just need a sharp and active mind to convert cents into dollars . There are lots of methods by which you can make money on internet like you can invest your money in forex trading or you can do freelancing on internet , both works perfectly these days , lots of people have made this their career and believe me its really very effective .
There has been some change in the weight of currencies during the past few weeks , in this regards Pound has seen its bad position as compared to US Dollar which is still the same . In the past few weeks Dollar has been seen trading on top of the forex markets because of its increased weight . Forex Trading now become one of the big industry for investors , many of us invest some part of our money in Forex Trading but do we know how positive we are about the results ? . Many of us just check the graph of currency, if its going up we buy some of them otherwise we don’t investigate properly which is not good in the long run . For me , I think it could work most of the time as I am not a big investor in this industry so if Dollar go down by .15 cents I won’t have a big loss but just imagine If I have a stock of around 1 billion Dollar ? , In such case I could have a loss in lacks .
So, the basic thing is your involvement and the amount of money have have invested in , if its a big figure then you must need to check some other things rather than just checking the daily ups and down’s in the currency weights , things like new political policies which could influence the forex market or some other big news which can bring some new change the the stock/forex trading business .
For this you must need to engage yourself with the news as with the age of time you will some facts and realities which will help you doing business in the long run . Polices are same as it was before but its been presented in different ways so you have to analyse and predict your future in such dynamic policies . I am also anticipating to get some engagement in this business , as its a good business to do side by side with the job . Everything is online , so anyone can do this business from anywhere online .
The Euro is doomed? The question 3,000,000,000,000
To read comments from authorities of all kinds, you’d think the Euro is sentenced to death more or less slow. Some media is already writing his obituary and economists, mainly Anglo-Saxon already explained why the Euro will not survive this crisis. Rarely has so much nonsense has been written or said about the Euro. Note that some of the statements of European political leaders do not help, as they maintain a confusion of genres.
If we focus on the financial markets, two considerations are important. Firstly, the size of currency movements on the forex market every day reaches 3,000,000,000,000 Euros per day. A speculator or a group of speculators who would influence prices would therefore need at least 30 billion euros to represent 1% of these volumes.
The second is that the bulk of these movements comes from international trade or investment in assets of another currency area: it is buying and selling of currencies by firms or institutions that have set invoices on a daily basis in foreign currencies: just look at the oil market, which generates massive flows between dollars and euros every day to prove it. These actors anticipate exchange rate movements. They therefore operate cash and futures. Concerns will inevitably create movements that are called “leads and lags” that affect the course of the currency.
On the role of hedge funds, it is ridiculous in these markets. With $ 2,000 billion of capital invested and 80% of their assets in stocks and bonds without currency risk. The “speculative” currency should not exceed 10% of these assets. Although they exchanged all of these alternative asset every day, they would not reach 1% of movements.
Why Has the Euro reaches $ 1.56 at the top last year? Because the U.S. dollar was collapsing and confidence in the U.S. economy and finance was the lowest. Nobody said or claimed that the course was the reference. Viewed from the perspective of our exporters, the high euro was a problem: they sell in dollar properties with a significant portion of costs is in euros, their margins weakened, even disappeared. The exchange rates were due to factors other than foreign trade.
While it is clear that the crisis management of the euro by the European authorities is far from exemplary, it should return to some key considerations. Those who, today, rush by short selling or otherwise of euros for dollars at current prices will gnaw their fingers in the coming months.
It is time to step back. The Euro will not disappear, it is the motto of more than 200 million Europeans and return to the old currency requires both a consensus can not countries in the Eurozone, a change of treaties that nobody (except, as an be Angela Merkel, who seems more and more lost in the European context. The mechanics would at least five years to implement.
The Euro is not a first speculative instrument. It’s the motto of 16 economies that have significant power and at least 80% of trade is internal or al’Eurozone to Europe. All European countries seem to have finally found the political strength of austerity measures are needed to stop living beyond our means. Even the United States and Japan come through. In my contacts in Asia this week, I reassured my interlocutors by saying that Europe finally make the right decision after trying all other solutions.
The search for a preventive mechanism of these crises is by its very nature, complex. But this crisis has demonstrated full-scale budget that complacency leads to disaster. It is more a European leader who may be unaware that the Eurozone needs to have the structure and mechanisms necessary preventive and curative. More importantly, the countries of the Eurozone have become aware of a sense of common purpose that, even if it is difficult to live, is inevitable. The slightest threat weakest overall.
Not just the euro is not condemned, but there is a currency of investment of a tremendous value.
I jealously guard my euros.