Results for “markets in everything” 1896 found
Investment markets in everything
While this business is in its infancy, Balance Point is part of a bigger trend – the growing industry that invests in other people’s lawsuits, arming plaintiffs with money to help them win more money from defendants. Banks, hedge funds and boutique firms like Balance Point now have a total of $1 billion invested in lawsuits at any given time, industry participants estimate.
Lawsuit lenders initially focused on personal injury cases, but over time they have sought new frontiers, including securities fraud cases brought by disgruntled investors, whistleblower claims against corporations and property development disputes.
Stacey Napp, a lawyer by training who has spent her career in finance, founded Balance Point last year with money from her own divorce. Since then, she has provided more than $2 million to 10 women seeking divorces. She says she is helping to ensure both sides can defend their interests.
The full story is here.
Markets in everything?
Brookline [Massachusetts] officials are proposing to charge a fee for the right to let dogs run off-leash in designated parks. Residents would have to pay $50 a year to let a dog loose in the parks; nonresidents would have to pay $100. And the fees for park usage by professional dog-walkers would be considerably steeper: $500 for those who live in Brookline, and $750 for those who do not.
The story is here and for the pointer I thank Jeff Miron.
Time inconsistent markets in everything
Diplomatic ties with El Salvador remain solid amid reports that the Central American nation was considering switching its recognition to Beijing, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA, Taiwan) said yesterday.
Salvadorean President Mauricio Funes was quoted by The Associated Press (AP) as saying that his government was “exploring” the possibility of establishing diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
Funes said the decision would depend on “what is best for the country,” business-wise, adding, “we’re exploring new markets,” AP reported.
Funes’ comments came as a trade fair opened in San Salvador that included representatives from more than 50 Chinese firms, AP said.
And this:
The loss of El Salvador would be extremely embarrassing to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英ä¹), who has said that the apparent truce between Taiwan and China concerning attempts to gain diplomatic allies at the other’s expense was a major accomplishment of his administration.
Foreign affairs analyst Alexander Huang (黃介æ£) of Tamkang University said in Taipei that it was very unlikely that China would risk undermining Ma’s position by poaching El Salvador, particularly ahead of the special municipality elections on Saturday.
More here, and here. The first and context-setting installment of the story was here.
Jordan markets in everything
At Sami Abu Hossein's cramped bookstore, the hundred or so book titles listed on a wall aren't bestsellers. They're banned.
And the cheery Abu Hossein can you get you any of them, sometimes in the few minutes it takes to sit down and drink a cup of thick-brewed Turkish coffee.
"There are three no-nos," the owner of Al Taliya Books explains with a big smile. "Sex, politics and religion. Unfortunately, that's all anyone ever wants to read about."
Hat tip goes to Steve Silberman.
Beware some markets in everything
Whenever you see an "investigator" charge patients to undergo an experimental protocol, be very very wary. Be very, very afraid. In general, with very few exceptions, reputable medical researchers do not charge patients to undergo experimental protocols; their studies are funded with grants from the government, private foundations, or pharmaceutical companies.
That is Orac on Luc Montagnier, Nobel Laureate; hat tip goes to Steve Silberman on Twitter. Steve also links to this article about a recent Randian educational scam.
Betting markets in everything
There is a royal wedding on its way and so Arrow-Hahn-Debreu have been put on notice:
Here is the fill list of what is currently on offer for the big wedding:
– Colour of the Queen’s hat (Ladbrokes offer a best price 4/1 on blue)
– Location of the wedding (Westminster Abbey is the hot favourite across all bookies, with Betfair offering the best price of 1/10)
– Month of the wedding (May is the current market leader, 2/1 with Ladbrokes)
– Bouquet specials (a lovely market this one, with just Victor Chandler offering 1/6 that it will be caught or 7/2 that it will be dropped at the key moment, Ricky Ponting style!)
– Best man (Harry the clear favourite, 1/20 with Betfred and Ladbrokes)
– Kate to say ‘Obey’ in her vows (5/6 yes and no with Stan James, so it could go either way)
The favored locale for the honeymoon is Kenya and for the "royal stag do," Scotland. There are more bets at the first link and for the pointer I thank Chris F. Masse.
Insurance markets in everything
This is why a growing number of companies are buying so-called "disgrace insurance" to cover themselves in case a brand ambassador turns into a persona non grata.
The full story is here and for the pointer I thank Jeremy Davis.
Markets in everything
A Harrods department store in Britain has unveiled a luxury advent calendar worth 1 million dollars.
Whoever receives the calendar will also be getting Christmas gifts which include a designer kitchen, a speedboat and a pair of sunglasses made of gold.
The calendar, which has been created by Porsche Design, is one of only five available worldwide – one for each continent.
The full story is here and for the pointer I thank Allison Kasic.
Markets in everything
Via Courtney Knapp, Furry Toys Tours:
You can send your stuffed animal on a romantic trip to Paris. Tours start at €100.00.
Your stuffed animal will visit La Tour Eiffel, Champs Elysées, L'Arc de Triomphe and more.
There is even an upgrade:
Loan markets in everything
Women in remote Korawan, 70 km from Allahabad, have come up with a novel bank which exclusively deals with goats – accepting the animal as savings and lending it out as loans.
"Prema and her friends hailing from Afrozi village have establish a bank which deals exclusively in goats," development block coordinator Subedar Singh told PTI.
In tough terrains of Mirzapur district, most of the people are engaged in crushing stone to earn a living.
"Wives of these people help them in crushing stones and breed two-three goats for additional income," Singh said.
"Though the area is best suited for goat breeding, no effort was made to establish it as a full fledged business activity," he said.
"We provide goats to women having interest in taking up breeding as a full-time activity as loan. When a goat gives birth to kids, generally two to three in numbers, one of them is deposited with the bank again," Prema explained.
Goats in the bank are medically examined every week.
"In case a goat dies, then it is either replaced from the market or from the bank depending upon the availability," Prema said.
The link is here, the point is from Paul Hsieh and Jeffrey Williams should be happy. The locale is in India.
Markets in everything very good subtitles on the article
I liked this one:
Market forces govern a baby’s value among vervet monkeys and sooty mangabeys
The full article is here. I was not surprised to learn that a sooty mangabey is, indeed, sooty in color.
For the pointer I thank Kathleen Fasanella and Chris Valickas.
Yuck markets in everything
There is a market in baby foreskins:
Because of this, they’re not tossed out with the rest of the medical waste after a birth. Instead, hospitals sell them to companies and institutions for a wide variety of uses. Companies will pay thousands of dollars for a single foreskin.
Some of the strangest purposes they’re put to:
- Cosmetics: Foreskins are used to make high-end skin creams. The skin products contain fibroblasts grown on the foreskin and harvested from it. One foreskin can be used for decades to produce fancy face cream like the SkinMedica products hawked on Oprah.
- Skin grafts: In addition to making products for skin, a baby’s foreskin can be turned into a skin graft for a burn victim. Because the cells are extremely flexible, they’re less likely to be rejected. Currently, this technology can be lifesaving in providing a real skin “band aid” to cover an open wound while a burn victim heals. Researchers at Harvard and Tufts are working on advanced skin replacements that use human foreskins.
- Cosmetic testing: All those cruelty-free cosmetics you buy? Some of them are tested on foreskins. This yields better results, since they’re human skin. And it saves the lives of the rodents your shampoo would otherwise be tested on.
Does this make the hospital ever-so-slightly more interested in continuing the practice? For the pointer I thank Andromeda.
Barter markets in everything, bring your own restaurant
On a recent evening, an abandoned gas station with a curb blocked by cement barriers is the meeting point for a group of people who appear to be pulling chairs and tables from the trunks of their cars. It's almost dark. Some boxes are set on the sidewalk; linens and dishes and food are pulled out and what moments ago was an eyesore has been transformed into a popular place to eat. It's called BYOR. That stands for "bring your own restaurant." It's not quite an established venue, but the food is very good.
It's free to those who share. And the ambiance is unexpected as the outdoor location keeps changing. People learn where BYOR is going to be via Facebook. In the mild weather it's "open" every other weekend. No reservations required: just an appetite and some extra chairs if you have them.
What should you infer about Holyoke, the locale of this practice? The full story is here and I thank Anastasia for the pointer.
And from China, here is a vending machine for live crabs.
Markets in everything, unexpected loopholes edition
"Crafted from 40,000-year old Woolly Mammoth Ivory, they capture the exquisite design and proportions of the original Staunton pattern Chess set, registered by Nathaniel Cook and produced by Jacques of London in 1849"
For more than 2,000 years, Mammoth Ivory has been traded and it remains a highly prized commodity across the world. While that demand for the Mammoth Ivory has always been higher than its supply, it skyrocketed in 1963 when the CITES agreement was enacted. This agreement banned all sales of new Elephant or Walrus Ivory, in an effort to protect the animals from extinction. As a result, Mammoth Ivory became the only type of animal-based ivory that is exempt from the international trade restrictions because it is considered to be a fossil.
The price is $9.995.00. If that's not offbeat enough for you, try "Endangered Parrots of the World Chess Set," for $4,790.00, although I suspect they would come down if you bought them in quantity.
Icelandic markets in everything
A new line of perfume is about to explode onto the Icelandic market, made of melt water from a glacier sitting on top of the Eyjafjoell volcano that erupted in April, spreading ash and flight chaos across Europe.
"When Eyjafjoell started erupting I suddenly got the idea to bring the power of Icelandic nature into people's homes," Icelandic designer Sigrun Lilja Gudjonsdottir, head of company Gydja Collection, explained Tuesday.
Furthermore:
The citrus-smelling perfume, which will be produced in Grasse in southern France and will be sold in square bottles with a lava rock attached, has been named EFJ Eyjafjallajoekull.
The letters EFJ are there "so that non-Icelanders can pronounce the name of their perfume," Gudjonsdottir explained, adding however that the full name of the glacier on top of Eyjafjoell also needed to be on the bottle since "I wanted the perfume to represent the strength of Icelandic nature."
The article is here and I thank Daniel Lippman for the pointer.