Friday, September 28, 2007

Building a Webgame - Putting the Chrome on a Stock Simulator - Part 2

Last article we detailed the first list of functions we wanted the stock simulator to do...

  • Buy and sell stocks in TV shows, TV channels, Studios, and stars
  • Short sell and cover the same stocks (Short selling and covering is the opposite of a buy or sell, if you short a stock, you hope the price drops so you can gain money on the fall.)
  • Rate or vote for popular TV shows
  • offer easy to use registration that is seamless
  • design the market system for extreme modularity so we can add in new features as we develop them without interrupting the market itself.

That list has now significantly expanded - this is the current list of functions and capabilities for the Stocks Online application...

  • buy and sell stocks
  • Short and cover stocks
  • Rate or vote for a random list of 10 stocks
  • easy registration process
  • retain modular market system for additional modules without extensive recoding or rebuilding
  • Display stocks not yet released so players can see upcoming stock listings or IPO's
  • Allow players to pre-buy IPO stocks before they go live at the IPO price
  • Flash-based stock ticker pulling information off of a cron-built data file that is updated every 15 minutes
  • hot-links in the stock ticker so players can go to individual stocks as they stream across
  • Generate a top 10 list of stocks so players can see what stocks are moving
  • A function to make a stock featured
  • Put a hotlink on the main page that shows a random pick of an IPO stock released that day, a featured stock that is being promoted, and the top moving stock in regards to share volume
  • Different stock types so there can be easy separation between categories such as shows, people, and studios or channels
  • cross-link stocks so if one stock goes up or down in price, all associated stocks also feel the adjustment to a smaller degree.
  • An admin function for stock price adjustment that allows for all cross-linked stock to be effected by the price adjustment without the cron cycle
  • a stock hold function with cash out ability so we can put a stock on hold and cash it out if it delists or go's onto a hiatus
  • Allow a player to rate individual stocks for a reward
  • Allow a player to write a review of a stock for a reward

We are currently finishing up the last two items on the list, at which time the application will be completed and we will begin branching out the stock sim to different niche market applications.

As the entire application is php based, we can put functions into php includes and as such modularise the system to create custom pages for Reality TV or for specific studios or shows as events occur, such as the Emmy awards.

Once the base system was completed, the real work began , putting in all the data for current television shows, the actors involved, producers, directors, creators, the studios and the channels that air the shows. Everything had to be put into the system, cross-referenced, and checked to ensure it all worked seamlessly.

That data entry took most of two months to do - but by the end, the market system had been seeded with all of the current run prime-time shows and their related actors and production studios. The market was brought out of Beta status on September 2nd and went live later that day.

We then began tracking neilson ratings so we could revalue the market as we realised the arbitrary values we had put into the stocks were far too low. Tracking neilsons back to early august, I began to compile a spreadsheet showing the neilson trends and the growth in viewership as new shows premiered and then either faded or survived.

In the last week of September, we put a hold onto the primary channel stocks, freezing and cashing out ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, and The CW - and then neilson adjusted each one up to it's corrected levels based on the neilson ratings that had been accumulated. The reaction to the linked stocks was dramatic. CBS which linked to every CBS aired show gained ground rapidly. By the time the next Cron cycle had run after all neilsons had been put in, CBS stood at over $100 a share in game currency. It had started at about $2.

We examined the transaction history that had been generated as well as the link history and found that CBS's initial adjustment up to +56 had caused a cascade within it's linked stocks - they had all adjusted by about $10-$15. This backflowed and upped CBS even higher, up to around $70 a share. Then the neilson adjustments for each show went in and those also backflowed through the link bringing CBS even higher.

Since then, all stock ratios have stabilised at corrected levels and the market is stable. We don't see the need for future adjustments on the level of the first major price readjust, but if so, the market software seems more than able to cope with it. PHP is a remarkably stable application framework, and with the mysql backend, the Stocks Online application looks to be very solid and stable.

Tim Morrison is the designer of TV Stocks Online, the world's first fully developed television stock market simulator totally functional with live data from Nielson figures and user interactions. Join the growing fantasy market, share your opinions on current TV and see if you can pick the winners and losers out of the current Primetime television lineups.

Texas Invests In Its Future - The Young See Hope For Retirement

No wonder so many of us run from discussions on financial matters, ignore our bills, and spend too much money, as if in rebellion. It's scary out there.

Last year, the Employee Benefits Research Institute released the results of a study concluding that the majority of Americans are unprepared for retirement, are not saving enough for it, and have unrealistic expectations about how much they will need to live comfortably in their golden years. Texas is no exception. With its high poverty rate, and even higher rate of those going without health insurance, it's lucky many can get through day-to-day life.

Being one of the millions in debt myself, I can understand this. The rising cost of housing, food -- even clean drinking water -- can drive anyone with a limited income to distraction. I decided to stop changing the television channel with every new disastrous financial report, and to start researching, when an investment counselor said to me with matter-of-fact conviction, "You know, young adults now just may need a million to retire." After the initial (and expected) incredulous gasp, I decided gulping air wasn't going to do me much good. As usual, knowledge and simple planning gave me hope. Here are a few tips on digging yourself out of the panic.

Checking and Savings Accounts:
The first step in building a sound financial future is practicing money management skills with both checking and savings accounts. Most of us have at least one of them; keeping track of their balances is an entirely different matter.

Free checking accounts are fairly easy to procure. At one point, it was common for financial institutions to charge monthly fees for the privilege of stashing money with them, but the banking industry rakes in so much profit from successfully luring their customers into other investments that it's just not necessary anymore. The theory is that if one has a free account with a particular financial institution, there's a good chance that person will return to that institution for other investments as his or her income grows -- investments that will make both the customer and the bank happy.

By all means, take advantage of this. Texas abounds with students -- students needing any freebies they can get -- so it shouldn't be difficult to find a bank offering free checking and savings accounts, especially in cities like Dallas, Houston, and Austin. Look for a checking account without a minimum balance requirement, and one that doesn't, of course, charge monthly fees.

Free checking accounts are not usually interest-bearing, so put only enough money in it every month to cover your monthly bills, plus a little padding. Keep track of your balance; the greatest risk with these accounts is the astronomical overdraft fees most of them charge. Once all of your bills are paid at the end of each month, stash extra income in an interest-bearing savings account. The average APY (Annual Percentage Yield) on low-balance savings accounts hovers somewhere just around 0.5%, but at least it's something

Short to Middle-Term Investments:
Once you feel you've established a healthy pattern of money management -- no overdrafts, a properly balanced ledger, and all bills paid in full -- start looking into other investments. Most of the time, you'll need at least $500.00 to invest in other types of accounts, and, at least initially, look for those with better APYs than your current savings account, but will not inflict penalties for withdrawing funds whenever you need them.

Money Market Accounts:
Money market accounts are great investments at any age, but they're particularly advantageous for beginning investors simply because there are no penalties for withdrawing any amount at any time, no waiting period to continue investing (you can, likewise, deposit money at any time), and the funding is usually only a check away. There are several types of money market accounts, so be sure to investigate the minimum investment required, interest rates, and restrictions on each before making any commitments.

Money markets work by pooling investments from thousands of contributors into an assortment of (usually short-term) funds from municipal bonds, to stocks. The result is a fluctuating interest rate that is almost always at least a few percentage points higher than that of a standard, low-balance savings account. According to USA Today, non-bank money market funds are currently at about 5% APY.

Certificate of Deposit:
Certificates of Deposit, or "CDs" have been around longer than the replacement for the tape cassette. Interest rates are fixed, rather than fluctuating, are usually comparable to money market accounts and can be purchased at a bank or other financial institution, including many sites online, for terms as short as three months. Of course, the longer the term you lock in, the higher the rate you will obtain under most market conditions In other words, whatever interest rate you lock in at the beginning will remain the same throughout the course of the investment. Once you've invested in a CD, however, you cannot continue adding to the same one during the life of that investment, until renewal -- which is one reason you may want to go with a shorter term.

The primary disadvantage of CDs lies in the substantial penalties inflicted if the investor withdraws his or her money before the allotted time. The average APY for a six-month CD is currently 3.59%; for a one-year CD, 3.77%; for a five-year CD, 3.96%, although some banks may offer better deals. CDs are a good idea if their current APYs are higher than contemporary money market accounts, and you don't expect to -- or perhaps don't trust yourself to -- handle the money for a while.

Health Savings Account:
Health Savings Accounts, or HSAs were created by a 2003 Medicare bill, and are, without a doubt, worthy of consideration for many individuals and families. HSAs strive to address the growing problem of underinsured Americans (Texas knows this well, with over 25% of its population going without any insurance) by allowing investors to save for qualified medical expenses and future retirement health expenses, on a tax-free basis. These accounts are only made available to those with qualifying high-deductible health insurance policies, and are a great choice for many young, middle-class Americans. HSAs provide incentives for saving towards healthcare, and a bit of financial padding in case of disaster. The major disadvantage is that penalties are inflicted if the money is withdrawn for unqualified expenses prior to the age of 65.

Retirement Accounts:
The types of retirement accounts available to Americans are too numerous to mention, and are highly dependent on employers in most cases. Entire sections of libraries and many websites are dedicated to this subject. The first, and most important thing to do, is to check with your employer to see if, or what, retirement plans are offered. Some companies offer employee benefits, including flexible 401(k) plans and matching funds. Look seriously into these options.

However, rather than briefly attempting to delve into the plethora of accounts that may, possibly, be available to you, this article will focus on an account available to all, regardless of employer -- the Roth IRA account which has become increasingly popular since becoming law in 1997.

Now, IRAs have been around for some time, but traditional IRA accounts require funds going in, and coming out, to be taxed. This means that whatever dividends or proceeds an investor earns over the years will be taxed upon withdrawal. Considering that IRA interest rates are compounded, this could (and is intended to) add up to quite a bit over several decades.

Roth IRA accounts, on the other hand, do not tax funds upon withdrawal. Funds invested into the account are considered taxable income going in, but the compounded interest or proceeds can accumulate tax free, until the age of 59, at which point they can be withdrawn without penalty or taxes. A Traditional IRA, on the other hand, is not taxed going in, but is subject to tax coming out, at whatever rate of income will apply to you at that time -- the assumption being that you will withdraw most of this money during retirement, when you will not have other earned income driving up your tax rate,. This means that whatever your Roth IRA account balance statement is, is the amount you have for retirement, free and clear. No more taxes. If an investor begins an IRA account in his or her twenties, and contributes a modest amount every month (possibly matched by an employer), principle and compounded interest could conceivably yield a million or more dollars over four decades. The way to think of a Roth IRA, as opposed to a Traditional IRA, is that you are paying taxes on the seeds instead of on the crop.

Now, that's something to think about. Maybe retirement is possible...

See, that wasn't so hard. Respect yourself (and your anxiety levels) enough to seriously investigate financial opportunities. There's a good chance you're missing something you have the funding for -- right now, sitting in a no-, or low-, interest-bearing account. If you have any kind of steady income, financial security should be within your grasp. A comfortable retirement is in your future. Just take a deep breath, open your bills, and start acting like the adult you always dreaded you'd have to be someday.

Taking care of your financial responsibilities can have a positive effect on your anxiety levels, sense of security, and overall health. Being aware of your health, and what you can do to safeguard it, will certainly affect you as you age, and eventually your wallet as well. If youre a young individual who tries to keep informed and maintain a healthy condition and lifestyle, you should take a look at the revolutionary, comprehensive and highly-affordable individual health insurance solutions created by Precedent specifically for you. Visit our website, www.precedent.com, for more information. We offer a unique and innovative suite of individual health insurance solutions, including highly-competitive HSA-qualified plans, and an unparalleled "real time" application and acceptance experience.

Precedent puts a new spin on health insurance. Learn more at http://www.precedent.com

FOREX Trading - 95% of Novice Traders Lose - Could You Win?

There is one fact that you need to consider carefully before you engage in FOREX trading and if you do, you could save yourself a lot of money, so here it is:

If 95% of novice currency traders lose, why should you succeed at FOREX Trading?

Think about it carefully, the vast majority of traders get wiped and thats a proven fact.

Will you lose? If You Believe the Following You Will!

If you want to see if you are going to lose consider the following questions and then we will give you some advice on how to win at online currency trading:

Firstly if you hold these views you will lose:

1.You can make money day trading

Try it and find out. You will lose and lose quickly more novice traders try day trading than any other method, but its doomed to failure as you can never get the odds on your side period.

2.You can buy success

Dont all those e-books look enticing on the net?

Scalp 15 20 pips a day, make $2,000 dollars a month guaranteed trade with 80% success etc

All for a few hundred dollars!

Of course, these people make their money selling courses NOT trading so they win and you lose.

There is a small minority of FOREX education that you can buy that is worth the money, but most of the so called wisdom is available free on the net and you dont have to buy it.

Always ask your self the question:

If their that good at trading why do they need to sell advice?

3.You can trade by listening to the news

Many people watch the news and there is plenty of it about.

Its well thought out, well presented, in many cases very convincing and dead wrong and will help you lose.

Why?

Because news is stories these people are giving you their view (fair enough) but their not traders.

An economist can always give you great arguments for why something has happened, but explaining what is going to happen, is a completely different ball game.

4.You dont like risk

Many novice traders try so hard to restrict risk they create it thats why many are attracted to FOREX day trading.

They tend to place stops to close and give themselves no chance of winning.

If you dont like risk do something else.

5.Whats your edge?

Ask yourself this question before you trade and think carefully about it.

Why should you win when 95% of traders lose whats your advantage?

As we have seen its none of the points discussed above!

If you cant answer the above question, you dont have one and odds are you will lose all your money.

Any positive advice?

Yes, the good news is anyone can make money trading FOREX as everything about it can be specifically learned.

What you need to do is accept you are going to do it on your own no one else can help you, only you can give yourself success.

Then learn the right knowledge.

FOREX trading is actually quite simple but requires a different mindset to other activities; you must acquire the right knowledge and the mindset to win.

FOREX Trading is all about working smart, not working hard and if you learn FOREX trading the right way, you can make a lot of money.

We dont have to time to go through the above in more detail here but we will cover the mindset to win and the education you need to win in part 2 of this article.

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Forex Trading - 2 Simple Tip to Increase Profits Dramatically

Here we are going to give you 2 simple tips that will instantly improve your overall forex trading results. There simple to learn, easy to apply and could help you achieve big profits consistently of 100% or more annualized.

Consider this point:

Forex trading is all about being right with your forex trading signals and making money You dont get rewarded for the effort you put in to forex trading strategy the only thing that matters is profit.

Here we are going to focus on working smart not hard to make more money from trading.

Before we discuss our forex tips in greater detail, lets look at two key points in regard to currency trading.

1 The Big Trades Only Happen a Few Times a Year

If you look at any currency chart the really big strong trends only occur a few times a year and these are the trends that offer the best risk reward. The rest of the time the markets are either trending sideways with no clear trend, or showing high volatility which is hard to trade.

2. Trading The Odds

If you want to make money you need to trade the odds and get them on your side. The best way of doing this is to focus on set ups that give you a clear trading edge which is easy to see on any forex chart.

You need to look for valid support or resistance which has been tested numerous times over several months you know if these levels are broken the likelihood of a new trend developing are high.

The two tips to make more from your forex trading system are:

1. Cut back the amount of trading you do

And only focus on high odds trades look for valid breakouts of support and resistance and trade them.

Keep in mind, most big trends develop from new market highs NOT market lows so you need to focus on the breaks and go with them.

Use a breakout methodology and ONLY trade these high odds trades. You wont trade often but each trade you go into will have the potential for triple digit gains.

If you like the excitement and buzz of trading this method is not for you, but if you want to make money from your forex trading strategy it is!

This now leads onto the second point:

2. Risk More Per trade and DONT Diversify

You will hear a lot about diversification and cutting risk but all it does is dilute profit potential.

You will also read a lot of investment wisdom that says risk only 2% per trade, well if you are a small forex trader with a $5,000 account, that's just thats $250.00!

Forex markets involves taking risks and with risk goes reward - the more you risk the more you make pure and simple. If you are trading a currency move that is a high odds one risk more 10 20% is a good figure to aim at.

The above forex trading strategy focuses on making money nothing else and will cut the time you spend forex trading. Furthermore it's based on a breakout methodology which is simple to learn, easy to apply and is discussed in the next article in this series.

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Avian Flu Fright: Politically Timed for Global "Latrogenocide"

Dr. Len Horowitz's Avian Flu Fright Commentary

To: All grassroots activists, health and vaccination networkers.

Please forward this urgent e-mail, to help save lives, to everyone in your network.

Avian Flu Fright: Politically Timed for Global "Iatrogenocide"

A Public Health Warning and Political Essay by a Harvard-trained Author of Fifteen Books Including the American bestseller, Emerging Viruses: AIDS & Ebola-Nature, Accident or Intentional?

Leonard G. Horowitz, DMD, MA, MPH

Abstract

If avian flu becomes more than a threatened pandemic, it will have done so by political and economic design. This thesis is supported by current massive media misrepresentations, profiteering on risky and valueless vaccines, gross neglect of data evidencing earlier similar man-made plaques including SARS, West Nile Virus, AIDS and more; continuance of genetic studies breeding more mutant flu viruses likely to outbreak, inside trading scandals involving pandemic savvy White House and drug industry officials, curious immunity of these pharmaceutical entities over the past century to law enforcement and mainstream media scrutiny, and published official depopulation objectives. With the revelations and assertions advanced herein, the public is forewarned against this physician assisted mass murder best termed "iatrogenocide."* This genocidal imposition is expected to serve mainly economic and political depopulation objectives.

Background

In April, 2003, a social experiment called SARS, said to have arrived from Asia, heavily struck Toronto. I was there throughout most of this Asian flu-foreshadowing fright. This bizarre new pneumonia-like illness was named Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. It was said to be the latest threat in an ongoing series of attacks on humanity by mysteriously mutating "supergerms."

A careful study of the scientific and medical-sociological correlates and antecedents of this "outbreak" revealed something amiss far more insidious than SARS. I critically considered Toronto's media reaction as any Harvard-trained public health expert in media persuasion behavioral science might. The scourge had all the earmarks of a novel social experiment conducted by white-collar bioterrorist.

It seemed clear to me that this unprecedented population manipulation effectively indoctrinated the mass mind in support of a grossly ineffective, albeit legislated, public health response in advance of the arrival of "the Big One." Throughout the "SARS Scam,"(1) repeated references were made to biological agents that might facilitate decimation of approximately a third to half of the world's population. Having extensively reviewed political population control literature and contemporary objectives of leading global industrialists, I noted these predictions were in close keeping with current official population reduction objectives.(2)

Canada's response to SARS in 2003 was, for the first time in history, directed by the United Nations and World Health Organization (WHO). Having reviewed the intimate financial and administrative ties between these organizations, the Rockefeller family, Carnegie Foundation, and the world's leading drug makers, "the fox," in essence, reigned over Canada's "chickens."

The truth about plagues includes the fact that "no grand pandemic ever evolved divorced from major socio-political upheaval." SARS advanced a political agenda more than a public health emergency. If public health officials earnestly intended to prevent these new emerging diseases, or successfully treat them at their roots, I repeated, they would study their obvious origins from the merged military-medical-biotechnology arena. A basic course in medical sociology simply justifies this utilitarian counsel.

"Experts" had been predicting the arrival of a super-plague for decades. What was HIGHLY SUSPICIOUS about the mysterious and terrifying arrival of SARS, however, was its timing. It synchronously arrived with the global war on terrorism, and the Anglo-American war with Iraq. It seemed a convenient distraction from the fact that the earlier Bush administration had shipped Saddam Hussein most of his deadly biological weapons arsenal including anthrax and West Nile Virus. SARS was pathognomonic (i.e., symptomatic and characteristic) of what I had predicted and explained in the book, Death in the Air: Globalism, Terrorism and Toxic Warfare (Tetrahedron Publishing Group, 2001; http://www.healthyworlddistributing.com/), a prophetically-titled text that predated the 9-11 attacks on America by several months, and provided a contextual analysis of certain globalists' links to recent "outbreaks."

In essence, I provided insight into the broad application of a new form of institutionalized "bioterrorism" consistent with state sponsored biological warfare. Saddam Hussein was said to have exposed populations in his and adjacent lands with biological and chemical weapons of mass destruction. SARS and the current avian flu fright is sanctioned by military-medical-pharmaceutical-petrochemical industrialists likewise operating above the law in many documented instances. Having testified before the U.S. Congress, I personally experienced how premiere pharmaceutical industrialists direct our political-economic representatives in government. Emerging diseases complement the political "War on Terrorism," and our bioterror-influenced culture. This agenda serves two primary objectives: profitability and population-reduction.

Political Reality Versus Mass-Mediated Myths

The ever increasing madness around us is eerily consistent with globalist think tank recommendations for the current "conflicts short of war." Beginning in the late 1960s, "economic substitutes for standard militarization" were sought and found by leading global industrialists. New biological threats, the "war on terrorism," and increasing numbers of "natural disasters" including space-based threats and superstorms were considered economically and politically expedient compared with the first and second world wars. These "conflicts short of war" were decidedly more manageable and economically viable. For this reason, especially their profitability, they were leading options among Anglo-American policy makers.

Nelson Rockefeller's protg, Henry Kissinger, for instance, as National Security Advisor (NSA) under Richard Nixon, oversaw foreign policy while considering Third World population reduction "necessities" for the U.S., Britain, Germany, and other allies. This Bush nominee to direct the 9-11 conspiracy investigation, a reputed war criminal, then selected the option to have the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) develop biological weapons, according to the U.S. Congressional Record of 1975. Among these new man-made biological weapons were germs far deadlier than the avian flu.

For example, by 1968, when Kissinger requested and received updated intelligence on useful "synthetic biological agents" for germ warfare and population control, mutant recombinant flu viruses had just been engineered by Special Virus Cancer Program researchers O'Conner, Stewart, Kinard, Rauscher and others.(3) During this program, influenza and parainfluenza viruses were recombined with quick acting leukemia viruses (acute lymphocytic leukemia) to deliver weapons that potentially spread cancer, like the flu, by sneezing. These researchers also amassed avian cancer (sarcoma) viruses and inoculated them into humans and monkeys to determine their carcinogenicity. In related efforts, Raucher et al. used radiation to enhance avian virus's cancer-causing potential. These incredible scientific realities have been officially censored and generally neglected by the media's mainstream.

Similarly, the Institute of Science in Society (IoSS) in London raised the genetic engineering question in the origin of SARS. "Could genetic engineering have contributed inadvertently to creating the SARS virus?" they asked. "This point was not even considered by the expert coronavirologists called in to help handle the crisis, now being feted and woed by pharmaceutical companies eager to develop vaccines." Those living in glass houses should not throw stones. The above emphasis is added to show IoSS they had "not even considered" intentional SARS deployment in their scientific, allegedly unbiased, purview.(4)

Conflicts short of war, like the "War on AIDS," "War on Drugs," "War on Terrorism," "War on Cancer," and now "War on the Avian Flu" require sophisticated propaganda programs employing fear campaigns for social acceptance and popular support of legislated policies. These psychological operations (officially termed PSYOPS) for "command and control warfare" (technically called C2W), experts advise, best support the emerging "Revolution in Military Affairs" (RMA). The RMA's capabilities include "a form of human slavery" in which the world's captive populations would not know they are enslaved.(2)

The RMA undoubtedly incorporates the use of debilitating biologicals and chemical agents most generously on behalf of drug and vaccine makers. A classic example is the toxic carcinogenic organophosphate pesticides deployed against human populations, said to target "mosquitoes," in the "War Against the West Nile Virus." Such "non-lethal warfare" agents, as these are militarily termed, are indeed deadly, but mortality results slowly from toxic exposures allowing more profits to be made by allied pharmaceutical and medical industrialists. Victims of the "non-lethal" exposures die slowly from chronic debilitating diseases. Expensive hospitals and long-term care facilities are virtual concentration camps. The ailments generated for "iatrogenocide" include the plethora of autoimmune diseases and newer cancers virtually non-existent 50 years ago. This fact, alone, strongly suggests a genocidal socio-economic and political agenda.

Avian Flu for Profit

In response to SARS, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington, Michael Fumento, published an economic thesis in Toronto related to the one I advance here. The "Super-bug or Super Scare," he wrote was published in Canada's National Post. Canadians were warned to "quarantine themselves," wear masks, and in some cases stay home. The Ontario Health Minister declared a "health emergency," as the media dubbed the "mysterious killer" a "super-pneumonia." Recoiling from the hype, Fumento asked and answered a few "real questions . . . How lethal, how transmissible, and how treatable is this strain?" The answers, he concluded, "leave no grounds for excitement, much less panic." The same may be said for this new curse of avian flu.(1)

Lethal?

At this writing, the avian flu is said to have killed "about 65 people" in Southeast Asia during the past two years! Little to no data is available on these individuals who most commonly had immune-compromising medical conditions. Further, all deaths were in Asian countries with questionable health services.

Conversely, other forms of flu kill more than 40,000 North Americans annually, generally the immune-compromised elderly.

Transmissibile?

According to USA Today (October 9, 2005), "European health officials are working to contain the [avian flu] virus, which so far has not infected anyone in the region." Although, allegedly "more than 140 million birds have died or been destroyed, . . . and financial losses to the poultry sector have topped $10 billion." This propaganda actually admits, "the current virus, known as H5N1, has not yet mutated to the point at which it can easily spread from person to person." In fact, it is likely to have never spread from person to person other than during laboratory handling!(5)

Treatability?

"The U.S. Senate has already approved a $3.9 billion package to buy vaccines and antiviral medications, and the Administration is also preparing a request for an additional $6 billion to $10 billion," according to a current BusinessWeek report.( 6)

"Beam me up Scottie, there is no intelligent life on this planet." This largely explains why the public puts up with this deadly deception. Even USA Today bemoans, "there is no human vaccine yet." So how come the U.S. Senate is rushing to spend all these billions for an avian flu vaccine?

I suppose we should overlook the fact that the current frightening strain of H5N1 avian flu virus has never readily jumped from human to human, and not commonly from birds to humans either. Thus, an effective vaccine can only be prepared by mutating this virus, thus creating what the world fears most. Let me explain. . . .

To make the human vaccine specific for the H5N1 mutant virus, you must start with the human virus which does not yet exist, except in perhaps military-biomedical-pharmaceutical laboratories. In fact, this is precisely what is being prepared based on news reports. To produce the human pathogen, the avian virus must be cultured for lengthy periods of time in human cell cultures, then injected into monkey and ultimately humans to see if these experimental subjects get the same feared flu. Thus, the flu virus the world currently fears most is either: 1) now being prepared in labs paid by industrialists with massive wealth-building incentives to "accidentally" release the virus; or 2) has already been prepared in such labs to take advantage of this current fright and future sales following the virus's release.

Remember, to be effective against a virus, a vaccine is said to require specificity. If authorities were to now have the main H5N1 avian flu strain feared to spread at some future date there's no assurance by the time they developed the vaccine the strain would remain sufficiently the same for the vaccine to be effective anyway due to expected viral mutations. Viral mutations over time is a function of the agent's newness. New man-made viruses, laboratory creations, like the ones currently being prepared for vaccine trials, are less stable not having evolved over the millennia. Thus, the entire vaccine effort is largely, if not entirely, a sham with ulterior motives.

Remember too, that a vaccine's reliability requires years, or at least months, of testing in the targeted population. Vaccine injury data must, or should, be meticulously collected over this period to assure the vaccine is not killing and maiming more persons than it is helping or saving. Can you seriously believe this assurance will be provided by government or pharmaceutical industry officials in this pandemic's wake? FEMA's failed Katrina response pails by comparison to this public health liability and vaccine-injury certainty.

I say "vaccine-injury certainty" because of the extensive list of newly developed vaccinations, highly touted when brought to market, that caused horrific results. This list includes the first swine flu vaccine, polio vaccines, smallpox vaccine, anthrax vaccine, hepatitis B vaccine, and most recently Lyme disease vaccine that crippled approximately 750,000 people within months of its release and prior to its recall by the FDA.

Most people fail to realize all vaccines carry a list of ingredients that typically increase human disease and death (i.e., morbidity and mortality). These include toxic elements and chemicals such as mercury, aluminum, formaldehyde and formalin (used to preserve corpses), MSG, foreign genetic material, and risky proteins from various species of bacteria, viruses, and animals that have been scientifically associated with triggering autoimmune disorders and certain cancers. A growing body of scientific evidence strongly suggests vaccines are largely responsible for increasing cases of autism and other learning disabilities, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, Lupus, MS, ALS, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, hay fever, allergies, chronic draining ear infections, type 1 autoimmune diabetes, and many, many more pandemics. These chronic ailments are said to require long-term medical care for the patients' management causing toxic side effects resulting in America's leading killer--iatrogenic disease. That is, vaccines and other pharmaceutical industry inventions are literally killing or disabling millions with little effort on the part of government officials and their drug industry cohorts to arrest this scourge.

For all we know, governments are ordering an avian flu vaccine that will precisely deliver this pandemic to the world to affect population control. Absurd thesis? Read on.

[Continued in Part 2 ~ including references]

Last Updated ( Thursday, 24 November 2005 )

Russ Miles is author of the novel, For Sale By Owners:FSBO. A Seasoned Real Estate NAR Broker, disabled by Multiple Sclerosis, Russ writes books & articles on varied subjects. FOR SALE BY OWNERS:FSBO ISBN 0-595-28703-4,in trade paperback, is available by phone or Internet:1-800-Authors to order direct! Adobe e-book & hard cover editions also available at Amazon.com at Barnes and Noble and other fine booksellers. Comments: MilesRuss@Gmail.com. Please visit Russ Miles's website MilesBooks.com for other informative features, health cocerns, and information of interest.

Pip in Forex Trading The Final Hit

In general terminology the abbreviation pip may refer to many things like Protective Industrial Products, Picture-in-Picture, Personal Identity Provider, Partners in Protection, Preferred Internet Provider, Performance Index Paper etc.

In currency trading pip stands for percentage in point. This is the smallest increment of change in forex trade. It is the smallest number in quotation of a currency.

In foreign exchange market, rates are quoted to the fourth decimal point. For example, if the price of a burger in the market is $1.22, in forex market the same burger will be quoted as 1.2200. Under this example, the 4th decimal point will constitute one pip and normally equals 1/100th of 1%.

The above is the general rule. Exception to this is the quotation in USD/JPY which is only up to 2 decimal points. This is because Japanese Yen has not been revalued since Second World War. Thus in case of Yen, the quotation is only up to 1/100th of yen as against 1/1000th with other major currencies.

All other currencies in relation to Yen will be quoted up to 2 decimal points. The usual pairs will be AUDJPY, CADJPY, CHFJPY, EURJPY, GBPJPY etc.

Other factors that go in the understanding of a pip are trading size, extent of leverage and rate of a currency pair. In case of USD, with a leverage of 1:100 and trading volume of one lot, one pip will have a value of $10.

The above will be the minimum incremental value by which USD will fluctuate. Thus, if there is a one pip change, that means one has gained or lost $10.

One pip value for one lot in USD will be equivalent to $10 in case of all currency pairs not involving JPY. Where JPY is the other currency in a pair, one point value will be equivalent to $1000 / USDJPY rate.

Closely associated with pips is the spread. This is the difference between bid price at which a forex broker is willing to buy the first currency of a pair and the offer or sell price at which he is willing to sell the first currency of a pair. The difference between bid and ask prices is the spread.

If EUR/USD is quoted as 1.4205/1.4207, the spread will be equivalent to EUR 0.0002 or 2 pips. The size of a spread depends upon the popularity of a currency pair. The more popular a pair, smaller the spread and vice versa.

Pip spread may be better for major players which trade in large quantities as compared to retail or individual traders. Spot prices on EUR/USD are usually no more than 3 pips wide (0.0003). With increased competition, pip spreads have shrunk on major pairs to as little as 1 to 2 pips.

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