2MERRILL

President Barack Obama of the USA - Inaugural speech

President Barack Obama's inaugural speech in video and text from the BBC website, London, UK.

UN Pension Fund Concerns

Is the UN Pension Fund in safe hands? No doubt things are happening much faster in the Arctic! 

PORTFOLIO THEORY - LESSONS LEARNED

 

The market has dropped and many seem to have the answers now, in retrospect of course, and we may turn to them and say - So you are a big shot now?  But basically what has happened is that they have ignored the advice of the Three Wise Men of Finance. While portfolio theory can get a bit complex, its basic message that in order to reduce risk a portfolio should contain investments that are not correlated to each other.  For instance, if you own Dell and HP or Exxon Mobil and Shell, you can clearly see that these stocks will be correlated to what happens in the industry.  To dispel more complexity, it is clear that stocks and bonds are not correlated, at least in most market conditions.  So a properly diversified portfolio should reduce the exposure to risk.

PERSONAL DATA SECURITY

The Internet has been a great scientific innovation that has been useful for industry and commerce and society at large.  However, it has many downsides, of which one of them is personal security.

THE LONGEVITY ISSUE

The longevity revolution is about getting older and the efforts that should be made to reform health care and social security to care for the elderly and the other demographic problems of an aging workforce.  But who likes to live longer just for getting older?