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2013-06-29T18:11:00.001-07:00

rimble expands its presence in Africa with Ghana office

2012-06-12T10:05:00.001-07:00

Trimble Navigation Limited, a leading global provider of advanced location-based solutions that maximize productivity and enhance profitability, has announced its presence in West Africa with an opening of its new office in Ghana.
The Ghana office will focus on expanding and enhancing Trimble’s collaboration with regional stakeholders including local distribution partners. This will enable the company to provide better service, support and training for customers in the Region.
Speaking at the launch of Trimble Navigation Limited in Accra, the President and Chief Executive of Trimble Navigation Limited, Mr. Steven W. Berglund said the opening of the Ghana office is an important extension of their presence to serve the Western and Central Africa clients.
“We see this as an opportunity to better service and assist in Africa’s economic development and infrastructure efforts, especially in the areas of transportation, agriculture, water and natural resource management, land administration and energy” he said.
Ghana he said was chosen due to her stable and democratic governance, strong legal system and direct flight connections to the US and Europe. He said the company had equipment to handle water conservation, road and railway, marine, mining, petroleum and mobile resource management in the country.
He said over the last five years, Trimble has worked on contracts funded by the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the World Bank as well as African Federal and state agencies to provide GNSS receivers and reference stations, total stations, digital levels and a variety of other solutions for African development projects.
Trimble he said has been providing solutions to African customers through resellers for more than 20 years, until 2009 opened an office in Nairobi, Kenya and later Cape Town, South Africa
The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources Mr. Mike Hammah lauded Ghana for her great investment atmosphere which had endeared her to the hearts of investors. He said this will not only rake in foreign exchange for the country, but will help create employment for the citizenry.
He said the decision by investors to transact business in the country is a mark of confidence in the nation’s economy. He commended Trimble for its vibrancy as it has generated over $6.0 billion in revenue and being operational in 31 countries since its establishment in 1978.
The US Ambassador to Ghana, Mr. Donald Tettlebaum commended Ghana for her vibrant economy that had made it attractive to foreign investors and urged all to work to maintain it.
He said the development of Ghana’s economic stability is very important to US companies and cited access to credit facility, inadequate power and water supply as some of the major challenges facing business growth in Ghana. He said the opening of the Ghana office in Accra demonstrates Trimble’s long-term commitment to the African market, its distribution partners and customers.
Trimble Navigation Limited, founded in 1978 headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. It deals in the manufacture and distribution of equipment for building and road construction, agriculture, transport logistics surveying, land administration, water and natural resource management.

Samsung Ghana introduces Galaxy S III into the Ghanaian market

2012-06-12T10:03:00.002-07:00

Samsung Electronics Company Limited has launched the Galaxy S III exclusively into the Ghanaian market.

The sleek and innovative smartphone has been designed to recognize voices and intentions, and has an enhanced intelligence to make everyday life easier.

According to manufacturers, with Samsung Galaxy S III, one can view the contents like never before on the phone’s 4.8 inch HD Super AMOLED display.

Its 8MP camera and 1.9MP front camera offer varieties of intelligent camera features and face recognition related options that ensure that all moments are captured easily and instantly.

The phone is powered by Andriod™4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich with greatly enhanced usability and practicality to make life easier and also packed with intuitive technology; the Galaxy S III offers a uniquely personalised mobile experience.

With ‘Allshare Cast’, users can wirelessly connect the phone to their television set to immediately transfer smartfone content onto larger display. It can also be used to instantly share any form of files between Galaxy S III and tablets, PC and televisions regardless of the distance between the devices.

Samsung Galaxy S III introduces a ‘Pop up Play’, a feature which allow users to play everywhere on the screen while simultaneously running other tasks, eliminating the need to close and restart videos when checking new emails or surfing the web.

It has a ‘Burst shot’ function that instantly captures 20 continuous shots and a ‘Best photo’ that selects the best of eight photos for users.

Mr. Bravo Kim, Managing Director of Samsung Ghana, said the phone had maximized the consumer benefits by integrating superior hardware with enhanced smartphone usability.

“It is designed to be both effortlessly smart and intuitively simple, the Galaxy S III has been created with human needs and capabilities in mind”, he said.

He said the Galaxy S III enables one of the most seemless, natural and human-centric mobile experiences, opening up a new horizon that allows one to live extraordinary.**

Government denies plan to ban dollar accounts

2012-06-12T10:02:00.001-07:00

Government has denied reports the Bank of Ghana intends to outlaw the operation of bank accounts in foreign currencies.

It follows widespread reports regulators of the sector are contemplating the ban as one of the measures to arrest the sharp decline of the cedi. The domestic currency has lost about 20 percent of its value to the US dollar since the beginning of the year and there are fears one may soon need 2 cedis to purchase one dollar.

Deputy Finance Minister, Seth Tekper however says the Bank of Ghana is only taking steps to stop certain uses of foreign accounts that are in breach of the foreign exchange laws and thus leading to a dollarization of the economy.

“Opening a Foreign Currency Account is a legal requirement and until parliament passes a new law, that remains so. But there is a difference between using that account for one’s business purposes in and the person offloading his or her currency to another business or Forex Bureau which implies trading in the currency which would be outside the law. The Bank of Ghana is therefore only drawing attention to the fact that such uses of the account may be in breach of the act”

MEST graduates 17 ICT professionals into the global market

2012-06-12T10:01:00.000-07:00

Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) has graduated it fourth batch of 17 young Ghanaian Information Communication Technology (ICT) Scholars, after a two year programme in software entrepreneurship.

The students pursued the programme to acquire the needed ICT skills to become successful software entrepreneurs and to help create jobs and wealth locally.

Mr. Jorn Lyseggen, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Meltwater Group, tasked the graduates to take their destinies into their own hands and confront the world and in the process conquer failure.

He said it was critical for the graduates to make use of the experience derived from MEST to inspire young people to believe in themselves.

While urging the graduates not to forget what they had learnt during their training, Jorn Lyseggen said the curriculum was expected to have equipped them with more than technology to also help them develop perspectives, critical thinking, values and success principles.

Mr. Lyseggen challenged them to be assertive and not to be afraid of failing since failure represented a learning process, adding that “success takes one step to complacency”.

He said even though it is good to desire for success, it was more desirable to be patient because they cannot afford to be obsessed with changing the world today.

“Success may not come immediately, and while it may also be desirable to start off perhaps with a job opportunity or adventure with life to identify what exactly graduates may decide to settle with, they should never stay away from serving humanity, and more importantly, doing the things that make them happy”, he said.

He urged them to use their talents and the knowledge gained to develop their economic prospects in the global market.

The Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology, a non-profit arm of the meltwater Group, started operations in Ghana in February 2008, to provide students with skills in software entrepreneurship.

During the intensive two-year programme at MEST, Entrepreneurs in Training (EITs) work with experienced business executives, university graduates and current MBA members from top universities worldwide to develop software applications and prepare them for launch in the global marketplace.

University graduates accepted into the MEST programme receive a fully sponsored hands-on training in software development, basic business fundamentals and entrepreneurship in a fast-paced, challenging, start-up environment. Also, the Entrepreneurs in Training (EITs) work with world-class executives from around the world to create their own software prototypes and ultimately start their own companies.**

2012-06-12T09:59:00.003-07:00

This week in Focus

Shares					Bonds
	Date	Volume	GSE Composite Index(GSE-CI)	Market Capitalization GH¢ million	Value of Coporate Bonds Traded US$	Value of Government Bonds Traded GH¢ million
Monday	11-Jun-12	250041	1022.99	54894.68	0	0
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday

2012-06-12T09:59:00.001-07:00

GSE Indices (2012-06-11)

Composite Index: 1022.99 +4.15
Fin. Stocks Index: 879 +0.29

Forex Bureaux Rates (BOG)

USD ($): buy / sell; 1.666 / 1.711
EUR (€): buy / sell; 2.140 / 2.200
GBP (£): buy / sell; 2.549 / 2.60




Company Values

AADS: 0.5200 0.0000
ACI: 0.0800 0.0000
AGA: 34.0000 0.0000
ALW: 0.0600 0.0000
AYRTN: 0.1700 0.0000
BOPP: 1.6400 0.0000
CAL: 0.2200 -0.0100
CLYD: 0.0400 0.0000
CMLT: 0.1200 0.0000
CPC: 0.0200 0.0000
EBG: 3.0100 0.0000
EGL: 0.2800 0.0000
ETI: 0.1300 0.0000
FML: 1.9000 0.0000
GCB: 1.9200 0.0000
GGBL: 1.9700 0.0000
GOIL: 0.4800 -0.0100
GSR: 2.7500 0.0000
GWEB: 0.0400 0.0000
HFC: 0.4500 0.0000
MLC: 0.1000 0.0000
PBC: 0.2400 0.0000
PKL: 0.0600 0.0000
PZC: 0.2200 0.0000
SCB: 47.0000 0.0000
SCB PREF: 0.5200 0.0000
SG-SSB: 0.3600 0.0000
SIC: 0.3500 0.0000
SPL: 0.0400 0.0000
SWL: 0.0200 0.0000
TBL: 0.4000 0.0000
TLW: 38.5400 0.0300
TOTAL: 19.4700 -0.0100
TRANSOL: 0.0500 0.0000
UNIL: 8.3000 -0.0500
UTB: 0.3200 0.0000

Ghana earns $2.4b from non-traditional exports for 2011

2012-06-12T09:55:00.002-07:00

Ghana earned 2.4 billion dollars from the export of its non-traditional exports for last year.

This is the highest earnings grossed by the country in a long while.

Last year’s earnings represent a 50 percent increase over the 2010 figure of 1.6 billion dollars.

Earnings for last year came mainly from processed and semi processed goods, agriculture and handicrafts.

Non-traditional goods are all other export commodities apart from the popular exports such as the cocoa beans, timber and minerals, which the country is well-known for. Processed and semi processed goods contributed almost 90 percent of the earnings whilst agriculture and handicrafts made up for the rest. Of the about 400 different products that were exported, cocoa paste alone grossed 673 million dollars, the highest earner. Half of the exports went to European destinations, whiles ECOWAS took up 27 per cent. Chief Executive of the Ghana Export promotion Authority, Kwadzo Owusu Agyeman attributes the sterling performance to among others aggressive promotion by the authority and proper coordination of all the sectors under it.

Among the European countries Netherlands absorbed most of the products constituting about 403 million dollars.

The Ghana Export Promotion Authority is projecting to gross 5 billion dollars in the next three years from non-traditional ex-ports.

Ghana to boost cotton production with modern biotechnology

2012-06-12T09:53:00.000-07:00

Mrs Sherry Ayittey, Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, has expressed government’s willingness to adopt modern biotechnology in the cotton industry to boost production.

She said the adoption of modern biotechnology would help farmers cut down production costs associated with the use of pesticides and weed management.

Mrs Ayittey, who made this known at the opening ceremony of a two-day stakeholders’ workshop on BT Cotton on Monday in Accra, said the application of conventional pesticides and herbicides had negative effects on the health of farmers and hazardous to the environment.

“These hazards are greatly reduced when transgenic cotton is cultivated”, she said.

The workshop on the theme, “Expanding the use of Biotechnology for Cotton Production in the three regions in the Northern Ghana”, was aimed creating awareness on suitable options to increase cotton productivity, including the benefits of crop biotechnology in suitable economic development with emphasis on insect tolerant and herbicides tolerant cotton.

It would also assist Government to make an informed decision on whether to adopt the technology.

According to her, statistics had shown that in West Africa, most growing cotton countries were currently experiencing irregular drops in cotton production. Togo’s cotton production has collapsed lately from having reached 180,000 tonnes in 2002 to a mere 40,000 tonnes by 2006.

Cote D’Ivoire, Mali and Benin are also showing very irregular production abnormal patterns with huge drops in production recently.

Burkina Faso and Nigeria appear to have an overall positive production tendency and are both producing half a million tonnes of cotton or more and seems to have positive development in terms of yield and are outperforming the others.

Mrs Ayittey noted that Ghana’s cotton production had dropped drastically after the 90s from 45,000 tonnes to 20,000 tonnes per year.

Comparing Ghana and its neighbors share of the world market, she said the country’s annual production was increasingly dwarfed, saying “China are producing over 20 million tonnes of cotton annually whiles India produces over 10 million,”.

She said Ghana’s under performance in this area with a yield of only 0.8 tonnes per hectare was due to environmental and agronomical factors militating against the industry, such as attack from insects.

“In Ghana, we believe that modern technology holds the key to solving this problem, because through this technology a number of effective interventions have emerged to boost the cotton industry”, she said.

Mrs Ayittey emphasized the importance of UNIDO Technical Assistance programme to ensure quality of cotton produced in line with international standards, and the conversion of cottonseed into by-products such as vegetable oil and animal feed to increase the income of farmers.

She noted that the programme was in line with government’s vision to increase rural households’ income in the three northern regions to reduce the high incidence of poverty among the people.

Mr. Frank Van Rompaey, UNIDO Country Representative, said the workshop was aimed at supporting the development of insect resistant cotton, suitable for the cotton belt in Ghana.

He said it would serve as a platform for stakeholders to understand the benefits of BT cotton and provide knowledge on the steps needed to be taken for the introduction of BT cotton in Ghana.

He said the introduction of BT cotton in South Africa had resulted in 25 per cent increase in cotton yields with 66 per cent reduction in cost of application of pesticides, adding that farmers could earn an increase of up to 135 dollars per ha from BT cotton.

A 2010 study report in Burkina Faso reported yield increases of between 12.5 and 23 per cent with resource poor farmers involved in bt cotton production earning 61.88 dollars per hectare more than what they earned with conventional cotton production and gained 39.00 per hectare in profit, after offsetting the production cost.

Mr. Rompaey pledged UNIDO’s commitment to help bring improvement to Ghana cotton industry.**

PBC pays shareholders GHS 8.159m as dividend

2012-06-12T09:50:00.000-07:00

Board Chairman of PBC handing over the cheque to officials of NTHC

The country’s largest buyer of cocoa beans, Produce Buying Company (PBC), has paid GHS 8.159 million to its shareholders as dividend for the 2010/11 financial year.

Out of the amount, government, the majority shareholder would receive GHS 3.706million, while Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) and other institutional shareholders would receive GHS 3.164million and GHS 1.289 respectively.

“This is in pursuance of our corporate objective of ensuring equitable return on investment to our shareholders,” said Dr. John Frank Abu, PBC’s Board Chairman during a ceremony to present the cheque amount to NTHC, the company’s registrars for disbursement to shareholders.

“We hope that this enviable feat chalked by the company will spur the board, management and staff to continue to put their best for the continuous growth of the company in the years ahead,” he said.

In March this year, the Board of Directors proposed a dividend of GhS 0.0173 per share during the company’s emergency Annual General Meeting (AGM) - constituting 96.6 per cent above the previous year.

PBC, which is number one on Ghana’s Club 100 list recorded an unprecedented high profit after tax of GH¢27.655million for 2010/11 financial year as against GH¢14.112million of the previous year.

Chamber of Mines worried over delays in implementing increased taxes

2012-06-12T09:44:00.000-07:00

The Ghana Chamber of Mines is worried over delays on how government is planning to implement increased taxes for the mining firms announced in the 2012 budget.

Government in the 2012 budget announced a 10 percent increase in corporate taxes for mining firms from 25 to 35 percent.

It is also proposing to impose a 10 percent tax on their windfall profits.

President of the Chamber, Dan Owiredu however tells Joy Business the delay is badly affecting the planning of mining firms.

2012-06-12T09:35:00.001-07:00

Exchange Rates

Currency	Buying (GH¢)	Selling (GH¢)
CAD	1.8056	1.8430
CFA	296.5700	302.1500
Eur	2.3232	2.3711
GBP	2.8783	2.9397
JPY	0.0233	0.0238
USD	1.8556	1.8948
AUD	1.8363	1.8770
CHF	1.9348	1.9747
DKK	0.3121	0.3187
NGN	112.9200	115.3100

2012-05-24T09:08:00.001-07:00

Global Equity Markets Sold Off Wednesday While U.S. Stocks Make Comeback Ending Flat- Victory Of Sorts

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

With already huge losses, stocks continue the deep dive on growing speculation that Greece will exit the Euro; that brings up all kinds of worries like what will happen to Spain- Italy- Euro Area- what will happens to the Euro currency- What will Greece do for a currency- how much will the Greek people lose and the big question, how will this all unfold.

Stocks looked very negative during the day with Europe and Asia markets ending well into negative territory; U.S. tries for a neutral end as it streams higher going into the close Wednesday.

U.S. posted a mixed close making a comeback, rallying back from deep in negative territory; NASDAQ posted a 0.4 percent gain, S&P 500 posted a 0.2 percent gain while the Dow closed virtually unchanged after being down in triple digits.

Two cable network stations say that the NYSE is trying to get Facebook to move to the NYSE just after days of trading on the NASDAQ.

2012-05-24T09:06:00.000-07:00

Shareholders sue Facebook, NYSE comes calling

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The fallout from Facebook Inc's messy initial public offering widened on Wednesday as shareholders sued the social network and its bankers while a trading firm revealed a massive loss on the shares and threatened to seek "remedies."

The Nasdaq stock exchange also came under further pressure as a source close to the situation told Reuters that NYSE Euronext had opened discussions with Facebook about a potential stock listing there. Nasdaq also faces litigation from angry investors.
Facebook's listing, envisioned as a crowning moment for an eight-year-old company that has become a business and cultural phenomenon, has instead turned into a legal and public relations fiasco for the company and its lead underwriter, Morgan Stanley.
Serious trading glitches interfered with the stock's opening on Friday, and subsequent revelations by Reuters that analysts had quietly reduced their revenue forecasts prior to the IPO have led to accusations of selective disclosure of material information. The shares closed at $32 on Wednesday, 15 percent below the IPO price.
A lawsuit filed on Wednesday seeking class-action status alleged that defendants -- including Facebook, its Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group Inc and JPMorgan Chase & Co -- concealed "a severe and pronounced reduction" in revenue growth forecasts resulting from greater use of Facebook's app or website through mobile devices.
It also accused Facebook of telling its bank underwriters to "materially lower" their forecasts for the company. The lawsuit said the underwriters disclosed the lowered forecasts to "preferred" investors only.
"The main underwriters in the middle of the roadshow reduced their estimates and didn't tell everyone," said Samuel Rudman, a partner at Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd, which brought the lawsuit. The firm is among the leading securities class actions firms in the country.
"I don't think any investor in Facebook wouldn't have wanted to know that information."
Andrew Noyes, a Facebook spokesman, said: "We believe the lawsuit is without merit and will defend ourselves vigorously."
Morgan Stanley had no comment. It said on Tuesday that Facebook IPO procedures complied with all applicable regulations and were the same as in any initial offering.
Also on Wednesday, Knight Capital Group Inc said its second-quarter results will be hurt by losses related to numerous issues during the listing. The firm, which provides electronic trading services to brokers and retail clients, foresees a pre-tax loss of $30 million to $35 million related to the IPO.
The company has submitted claims for financial compensation from Nasdaq OMX and is considering all legal remedies available, Knight Capital said in a regulatory filing.
Knight Capital's announcement may be a sign of things to come as other traders and investors tally up losses from the trading problems.
Nasdaq OMX was also sued on Tuesday by an investor who claimed the exchange operator was negligent in handling orders for Facebook shares. Morgan Stanley said it is reviewing Facebook trades and would adjust prices for some retail customers who overpaid.
A source familiar with the situation told Reuters that NYSE Euronext had opened discussions with Facebook about a potential stock listing there, and that the social networking giant was considering its options.
The largest U.S. exchange later denied it was discussing a full listing transfer with the company, which became the first U.S. company to debut with a market value of over $100 billion.
IPO INVESTIGATIONS
Wednesday's lawsuit, one of several that have been filed around the country, was brought in New York on behalf of Dennis Palkon and Brian Roffe, who said they respectively bought 1,800 and 200 Facebook shares at the IPO price, and Jacob Salzmann, who said he paid more than $123,000 on May 18 for 2,961 shares at an average $41.77 each.
Research analysts at several underwriters lowered their forecasts for Facebook after the Menlo Park, California-based company in a May 9 prospectus cautioned investors about the possible impact of users shifting to mobile platforms. Facebook currently makes little revenue from mobile ads.
Citing people with direct knowledge of the matter, Reuters reported this week that, during its IPO road show, Facebook advised analysts for its underwriters to reduce their profit and revenue forecasts.
The lawsuit named underwriters Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Bank of America Corp as having cut their forecasts after the May 9 prospectus was filed, but that these cuts were not publicly revealed before the IPO. [ID:nL4E8GM8SK][ID:nL1E8GN0FT]
The plaintiff-shareholders called the disclosures of Facebook's business risks inadequate, saying that analysts knew more about these risks and cut their business outlooks accordingly -- for the benefit of only some investors, not all.
"If Facebook told analysts to materially lower their forecasts, it should have told the entire market," said Antony Page, a professor at the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law. "We need to know what exactly was said to the analysts, and determine how different Facebook's public story was from its private story."
Regulators including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin are now looking into how the IPO was handled. The U.S. Senate Banking Committee is also reviewing the matter.
"If Facebook faced a known and particularly salient risk, boilerplate language would be insufficient," said Elizabeth Nowicki, an associate professor at Tulane University Law School and a former SEC lawyer.
Bank of America and Barclays Plc are also defendants in the New York case, as are Facebook Chief Financial Officer David Ebersman and several Facebook directors.
Bank of America spokesman Bill Halldin, Barclays spokesman Mark Lane and Goldman spokesman Michael DuVally declined to comment. JPMorgan did not respond to requests for a comment.
The case is Brian Roffe Profit Sharing Plan et al v. Facebook Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 12-04081.
(Additional reporting by Alistair Barr in San Francisco, and Nadia Damouni and Olivia Oran in New York and Sarah N. Lynch in Washington, D.C.; Editing by Jonathan Weber, Edwin Chan, Martha Graybow and Steve Orlofsky)

2012-05-24T09:02:00.001-07:00

North and South American Indexes

Index	Country	Change	% Change	Level	Last Update
Dow Jones Industrial Average	United States	-4.81	-0.04%	12,491.34	11:55am ET
S&P 500 Index	United States	-0.77	-0.06%	1,318.09	11:55am ET
Brazil Bovespa Stock Index	Brazil	-529.94	-0.97%	54,089.54	11:40am ET
Canada S&P/TSX 60	Canada	+1.99	+0.30%	660.93	11:40am ET
Santiago Index IPSA	Chile	+42.61	+1.01%	4,244.06	11:35am ET
IPC	Mexico	+197.99	+0.53%	37,620.37	11:35am ET

2012-05-24T08:59:00.002-07:00

Wall Street little changed on euro zone worries, data

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks were little changed on Thursday in volatile trading as ongoing concerns about Greece's possible exit from the euro zone and tepid data on the economy gave investors little reason to take risk.

Data showed demand for long-lasting manufactured goods rose less than expected in April while weekly jobless claims dipped modestly for the week ended May 19.
"Durables showed the hope in the recovery in manufacturing seems to be stalling, not a lot of excitement there. The only bright spot in the economy seems to be that housing is bottoming out and that's about it," said Subodh Kumar, chief investment strategist at Subodh Kumar & Associates in Toronto.
Trading was expected to be volatile throughout the day as regional data out of Europe showed some deterioration in economic activity and investors remained concerned about Greece's possible exit from the euro zone.
Surveys showed Europe's major economies suffered a contraction in their manufacturing activities and the German business climate deteriorated.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 4.31 points, or 0.03 percent, at 12,491.84. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 1.02 points, or 0.08 percent, at 1,319.88. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was down 5.20 points, or 0.18 percent, at 2,844.92.
HP shares rose 4.5 percent to $22.01 a day after the company announced plans to lay off about 8 percent of its workforce over the next couple of years.
After the close of stock market trade on Wednesday, electronic trader Knight Capital Group said it suffered a pre-tax loss of $30 million to $35 million on the botched Nasdaq trading debut of social media giant Facebook and is demanding the exchange compensate that amount.
The loss, which Knight said will be recorded in its second-quarter results, was due to numerous problems related to the Facebook initial public offering. Knight Capital Group shares were down 1.6 percent at $12.24 and Facebook shares were up 2 percent at $32.69.
(This story refiled to change was to were in lead paragraph)
(Reporting By Angela Moon, editing by Dave Zimmerman)

2012-05-24T08:53:00.003-07:00

TOP 5 FRANCHISE WORTH LOOKING AT
If you’re ready to run your own business the idea of being part of a franchise can be tempting – after all, you have the advantage of starting with a brand that’s already established. The question is, which franchises are worth taking an interest in?
AllBusiness.com does an annual “AllStar Franchises” list where they determine the most promising franchise to invest in based on growth, financial strength, and brand awareness among other things. Below is the a summary of which businesses made the top five, you can visit their website for the complete list.
1. Subway Shops
No newcomer to the list, Subway made it to number one for the fourth straight year in a row. Among the reasons for its top ranking, Subway includes top brand awareness, strong growth, and locations everywhere. In terms of operating costs, the cost of total investment ranges from $84,000 to $258,000, with a franchise fee of $15,000 and a royalty fee of 8%.
2. 7-Eleven Stores
Moving up from number 6 last year, 7-Eleven owes its higher ranking to the improvements in longevity, brand awareness, and growth. 7-Eleven is also franchisee-friendly, and has been known to buy the land, building and equipment in addition to building the store.
3. Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches
Based in Illinois, Jimmy John’s crept from number 5 to number 3 in large part because its franchise fee is $35,000, with a royalty fee of 6%, and a total investment of $306,000 to $461,000. The chain also ranks 7^th in web visibility and 16^th for growth.
4. Dunkin’ Donuts
Moving down from number 2 last year, Dunkin’ Donuts still has high ranking in brand awareness (5^th), and has been trying to expand the business outside its home region. Oftentimes pairing with Baskin-Robbins ice cream, the franchise fee for Dunkin’ Donuts is $40,000 to $80,000, with a royalty fee of 5.9% and a total investment of $358,000 to $2 million.
5. Kumon North America
A tutoring center for elementary school students, Kumon’s ranking has shot up from 21^st place last year to breaking into the top 5. The company has 25,000 centers with 4 million customers, and has low costs associated with its startup. A franchise fee is $1,000, a royalty fee is $32 to $36 (per student, per subject) each month. The cost of total investment is $68,000 to $145,000.
A franchise is a great possibility to begin a new career as your own boss, but it still requires the same dedication, time and effort as any business built from scratch. Learning the cost (financial as well as emotional) associated with any type of business is important to research, and looking at successful franchises helps in gaining that understanding. After all, any successful business owner will tell you that being prepared is your best chance for success.

2012-05-24T08:51:00.003-07:00

Warren Buffett Just Put $1.9 Billion in European Stocks… What Is He Buying?

Posted by Paul Mampilly, Daily Wealth

Warren Buffett is buying Europe…
On February 27, 2012, the most successful investor in history – and the world’s second-richest man – announced on CNBC that he had put $1.9 billion into eight European stocks.

I wasn’t surprised. In fact, I’d been expecting this for months. And I already have a hunch which stocks he bought… Buffett loves to buy big companies. Big companies are most likely going to survive 10, 20, even 50 years. Besides, with as much money as Buffett has, he has to buy big companies.
Buffett also loves to buy cheap. He defines cheap relative to future growth over a very long period of time. Buffett’s most famous investment is Coca-Cola. He bought up 7% of the company for around $1 billion in 1988. His shares in Coca-Cola are worth about $14 billion today. Buffett still loves the company. He hasn’t sold a share since he bought it.
Big branded companies like Coke don’t often sell at big valuation discounts. But on the rare occasion they do, you can usually count on Buffett to buy big.
And right now, dozens of potential Coca-Colas – big, well-known consumer-focused companies – are operating in the European market. The European debt crisis has caused stock prices to fall by nearly 40%. Many of these high-quality European stocks have fallen to compelling price levels.
That’s how I knew Buffett was looking at Europe. It’s a rare, irresistible opportunity for him to pick up excellent companies at good prices. And we should follow his lead…
It turns out, just doing what Buffett does beats the market. Between 1976 and 2006, if you simply mimicked Buffett’s buys, after he publicly disclosed his stock picks, you’d have blown away the S&P 500 by 11% per year. And during those years, following Buffett’s stock picks beat the S&P 500 index 27 out of 31 years. So you weren’t taking any more risk to get these results.
Now… Buffett didn’t disclose which European stocks he bought. Here’s what he said:
I just thought these eight companies were terrific companies that were cheap. These companies will do fine regardless of what happens in Europe – and there will probably be plenty that happens in Europe. And they obviously were affected by the European crisis. And in the end, those eight companies I bought are going to be there 5, 10, 20, 50 years from now.
So we can’t know for sure where Buffett put his money. But I have two likely names for you…
Nestle, a giant Swiss consumer-products company, fits Buffett’s profile perfectly. It makes baby food, chocolates, coffee, ice cream, and more. Its 10-year growth rate is 10%. And it gets 40% of its growth from developing countries.
Last year, the $200 billion company generated $9.5 billion in profits. It’s trading at about 16 times 2012 earnings. And it pays a dividend yield of 3.5%.
Another investment I’m sure Buffett likes is Danone. Based in Paris, Danone produces and distributes food products worldwide. It owns brands like Evian water and Stonyfield Farm. Danone’s 2011 growth rate was 6.5%.
Last year, the $33 billion company generated $1.874 billion in free cash flow. It’s trading for 15 times 2012 earnings. And it has a dividend yield of 2.75%.
You can buy both companies in the U.S. The ticker for Nestle is NSRGY. The ticker for Danone is DANOY. Many online brokers can also buy the stocks directly on European exchanges, though higher fees usually apply.
When Buffett files his first-quarter results with the SEC in May, we’ll get our first chance to see what Buffett bought in Europe. (If he’s still not done buying, he could delay disclosing his picks until August.)
I can’t guarantee Nestle and Danone are where Buffett’s put his money. But I know from studying his portfolio that these are exactly the types of companies he likes to buy. Both these companies have strong brands, they’re growing, and they’re going to survive 20, 30, or 50 years. And they both pay a steadily growing dividend.
If you’re looking to beat the market by double digits – like Buffett – you should consider putting Nestle and Danone into your portfolio.
Good investing,
– Paul MampillySource: Daily Wealth

Buffett Just Bought 9.3 Million Shares of This "Forever" Stock
This stock has plowed through eight bear markets and has returned 170,000% since 1972. Every $725 you put in back then, would be worth over $1 million right now. Today, the company is raising its dividend, spending billions to buy back its own shares, making smart acquisitions, and is the dominant leader in a $30 billion market. We'll tell you about this "Forever" stock -- and NINE others -- in our latest presentation: "The 10 Best Stocks to Hold Forever."

2012-05-24T08:50:00.000-07:00

Euro Can’t Maintain Gains in Forex Trading

Earlier, the euro showed signs of fight as it headed higher against the US dollar. Now, though, the euro can’t maintain gains in Forex trading and is headed lower. Worries about the eurozone, and what’s next for the currency region, are causing doubt, and uncertainty means that Forex traders are looking for safety — and safety can’t be found in the euro right now.
After seeing some earlier gains and breaking back up through the 1.2600 level against the US dollar, euro is once again lower. The 17-nation currency has been unable to hold onto gains briefly enjoyed in the wake of positive economic data out of the United States. Now that optimism is gone, and traders are left with concerns about what’s next for the eurozone.
Investors are so seeking safety that they just bought 4.6 billion euros’ worth of German bonds — at 0 per cent. The fact that investors are so uncertain about the eurozone that they are willing to simply preserve capital, rather than seek returns, is rather telling. It doesn’t bode well for the eurozone. Germany remains opposed to the idea of eurobonds, and, even though EU leaders are trying to keep Greece in the currency union, there are doubts about the feasibility of that outcome.
At 14:17 GMT EUR/USD is down to 1.2581 from the open at 1.2582. EUR/GBP is down to 0.8014 from the open at 0.8019. EUR/JPY is down to 99.9215 from the open at 100.0245.
If you have any questions, comments or opinions regarding the Euro, feel free to post them using the commentary form below.

2012-05-24T08:48:00.001-07:00

5 Ways To Get Venture Capital Funding

Thanks to the Internet and the advent of social networking communities, raising capital to start or grow a business has never been easier. These days, there is really no limit on how small or big an idea is, and there is a high likelihood that some outside party will be willing to fund at least a part of its development. There are opportunities to raise money from individuals, as well as sophisticated shops that specialize in funding venture capital endeavors. Below are five tips to help find that capital.

SEE: How Venture Capitalists Make Investment Choices

Create Your Business Plan
At the risk of sounding obvious, success in obtaining funding stems directly from how strong the business idea is. The best way to investigate this is to get a detailed business plan together. The basic points of a plan include a summary of the company or opportunity, industry overview and details of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) facing the venture, as well as a financial overview, including past performance (if available), and projections for at least the next five years.

Advertisement - Article continues below. Including this information will help in clearly presenting the plan to outside funding entities, but can also be instrumental in helping an entrepreneur further define the opportunity and make important tweaks as he or she moves along the path of growing the company.

Take Advantage of Online Networking
The Internet is proving instrumental in helping small and start-up businesses gain access to capital. The advent of social media platforms, including LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, provide opportunities for entrepreneurs and business professionals to learn about each other. For instance, LinkedIn has a number of networks for firms seeking venture capital funding and want to learn about companies that may provide it. Other sites, such as Second Market, provide platforms to trade ownership stakes in private firms, though many of these firms are already established by then and are seeking secondary rounds of capital.

Consider Crowdfunding
An important subset of the online community is the recent advent of crowdfunding. There are dozens of websites that seek to connect individuals with entrepreneurs looking for capital. Kickstarter.com has turned out to be one of the more popular sites and is very appealing for start-up firms, as individuals effectively donate funds in exchange for company merchandise and bragging rights if they help fund a firm that ends up becoming quite successful. Other sites might place individuals seeking an ownership stake, but this is to be expected for any start-up looking for sources of outside funding.

Today's Top Stock Picks

Raise Less Than $1 Million
Investing in private and start-up companies usually requires that investors be wealthy. This is meant to help ensure that they can risk losing their money, because the failure rate for venture capital is very high. The recently enacted JOBS act has loosened these requirements and has made it possible for companies looking for less than $1 million in total capital to raise funds from investors that don't qualify as accredited, or wealthy, investors. These requirements vary by state, making it important to verify local regulations.

SEE: Valuing Startup Ventures

Go Directly to the VC Community
Of course, entrepreneurs who have developed a solid business plan and believe that their idea requires millions in capital from savvy venture capital investors, may want to solicit their advice directly. This can stem from sending them a business plan, or getting in front of local VC organizations where the idea can be presented to a group of professional investors. The hit rates are quite low by taking this approach, but gaining the interest of any of these shops could easily make the difference between success and failure. By again taking advantage of the Internet, local and national VC firms can be easily located.

SEE: Seek An Adventure In Venture Capital

The Bottom Line
These days, and thanks in good part to the Internet and social media sites, a company can raise thousands of dollars to many millions to get a company off the ground or obtain capital to help it grow. Any outside investor is going to require regular updates and the larger, more sophisticated shops may even require a direct say in making company decisions, but the potential upside could far outweigh the additional responsibilities that come with taking in outside investors.

2012-05-24T08:46:00.003-07:00

Forex trading crowds continue to sell aggressively into US Dollar strength (ticker: USDOLLAR) as it hits fresh multi-year highs, and one-sided sentiment favors continued USD strength versus the Euro, Canadian Dollar, Swiss Franc, and British Pound.

Our forex sentiment-based trading strategies continue buying into US Dollar and Japanese Yen uptrend across the board, and we see little reason to call for any significant short-term reversals. In fact the Dow Jones FXCM Dollar Index seems poised to register fresh peaks as long as it remains above resistance-turned-support at previous 2012 peaks near 10,100.

As with any strong currency trend there are always risks of near-term corrections. That said, we see little reason to call for any larger turnarounds as retail FX trading crowd sentiment hits the most extremely bearish US Dollar against the Euro and other currencies since the USD rallied to important peaks in late 2011.

View an FXCM Expo presentation on the Speculative Sentiment Index for better understanding on how we use it in our trading.

How do we interpret the SSI? Watch an FXCM Expo Presentation that explains the SSI.

--- Written by David Rodriguez, Quantitative Strategist for DailyFX.com

To receive the SSI via e-mail and other reports from author David Rodríguez, e-mail subject line “Distribution List” to drodriguez@dailyfx.com

DailyFX provides forex news and technical analysis on the trends that influence the global currency markets.
Learn forex trading with a free practice account and trading charts from FXCM.

Invest In These Four Socially Responsible Stocks

2012-05-24T08:39:00.001-07:00

It should come as no surprise then that investors have carved out a niche strategy within the market known as "socially responsible investing", in order to align their political and ethical goals with their economic aspirations.

Investopedia Broker Guides: Enhance your trading with the tools from today's top online brokers.

What Is A Socially Responsible Investment?Socially responsible investments will differ for each investor according to his or her convictions. One investor may feel there is nothing wrong with a particular company's line of work or business practices, while another may consider the company entirely unethical. While there is no universal set of characteristics that define a socially responsible stock, there are certain themes that tend to be commonly associated with socially responsible investing.

First off, socially responsible investors typically prefer to avoid making investments in companies that engage in the production or sale of alcoholic beverages, tobacco products, gambling or sports betting activities, adult entertainment, and tools of warfare or violence (guns, bullets, bombs, etc.).

2012-05-24T08:37:00.000-07:00

How To Trade Forex On News Releases

One of the great advantages of trading currencies is that the forex market is open 24 hours a day (from 5pm EST on Sunday until 4pm EST Friday). Economic data tends to be one of the most important catalysts for short-term movements in any market, but this is particularly true in the currency market, which responds not only to U.S. economic news, but also to news from around the world. With at least eight major currencies available for trading at most currency brokers and more than 17 derivatives of them, there is always some piece of economic data slated for release that traders can use to inform the positions they take. Generally, no less than seven pieces of data are released daily from the eight major currencies or countries that are most closely followed. So for those who choose to trade news, there are plenty of opportunities. Here we look at which economic news releases are released when, which are most relevant to forex (FX) traders, and how traders can act on this market-moving data.

2012-05-24T08:33:00.003-07:00

May

+ MARKET HIGHLIGHTS

This week in Focus

Shares					Bonds
	Date	Volume	GSE Composite Index(GSE-CI)	Market Capitalization GH¢ million	Value of Coporate Bonds Traded US$	Value of Government Bonds Traded GH¢ million
Monday	21-May-12	2,789,070	1,037.92	54,474.58	0	0
Tuesday	22-May-12	296,784	1,039.28	54,481.75	0	0
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday

Note: The base date for the GSE-CI is December 31, 2010 and the base index value is 1000

2012-05-24T08:33:00.001-07:00

Trading Results - GH Cedi

Regular Market Data

Date: Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012

Session	ISIN	Share Code	Year High (GHS)	Year Low (GHS)	Previous Closing Price VWAP (GHS)	Opening Price (GHS)	Closing Price VWAP (GHS)	Price Change (GHS)	Closing Bid Price (GHS)	Closing Offer Price (GHS)	Total Shares Traded	Last Transaction Price (GHS)
3751	GH0000000615	AADS	0.51	0.50	0.52	0.52	0.52	0.00	0.50		0	0.52
3751	GH0000000193	ACI	0.08	0.08	0.08	0.08	0.08	0.00		0.08	0	0.08
3751	GH0000000607	AGA	34.00	34.00	34.00	34.00	34.00	0.00			0	34.00
3751	GH0000000037	ALW	0.13	0.05	0.07	0.07	0.07	0.00	0.06	0.07	2,200	0.07
3751	GH000000000672	AYRTN	0.18	0.17	0.17	0.17	0.17	0.00	0.17		0	0.17
3751	GH000000000581	BOPP	1.78	1.10	1.65	1.65	1.64	-0.01	1.64	1.65	200	1.64
3751	GH000000000649	CAL	0.28	0.24	0.24	0.24	0.24	0.00		0.24	0	0.24
3751	GH0000000573	CLYD	0.04	0.04	0.04	0.04	0.04	0.00		0.04	0	0.04
3751	GH0000000227	CMLT	0.12	0.11	0.12	0.12	0.12	0.00	0.12		0	0.12
3751	GH0000000540	CPC	0.02	0.01	0.02	0.02	0.02	0.00	0.01	0.02	0	0.02
3751	GH0000000680	EBG	3.25	3.00	3.00	3.00	3.00	0.00		3.00	0	3.00
3751	GH0000000060	EGL	0.38	0.34	0.30	0.30	0.30	0.00	0.29	0.30	2,500	0.30
3751	GH0000000698	ETI	0.15	0.10	0.13	0.13	0.13	0.00	0.12	0.14	33,100	0.13
3751	GH0000000078	FML	2.36	2.18	2.20	2.20	2.20	0.00		2.15	0	2.20
3751	GH0000000094	GCB	1.95	1.85	1.91	1.91	1.92	0.01	1.92		72,100	1.92
3751	GH0000000102	GGBL	1.79	1.53	1.77	1.77	1.79	0.02	1.79		2,100	1.79
3751	GH0000000722	GOIL	0.45	0.32	0.43	0.43	0.45	0.02	0.43	0.45	72,600	0.45
3751	GH0000000748	GSR	2.75	2.75	2.75	2.75	2.75	0.00		2.75	0	2.75
3751	GH0000000631	GWEB	0.04	0.04	0.04	0.04	0.04	0.00			0	0.04
3751	GH0000000110	HFC	0.45	0.43	0.45	0.45	0.45	0.00		0.45	72,800	0.45
3751	GH0000000136	MLC	0.11	0.10	0.10	0.10	0.10	0.00	0.07	0.10	20,000	0.10
3751	GH0000000169	PBC	0.25	0.24	0.24	0.24	0.24	0.00		0.24	0	0.24
3751	GH0000000151	PKL	0.06	0.06	0.06	0.06	0.06	0.00			0	0.06
3751	GH0000000177	PZC	0.24	0.24	0.22	0.22	0.22	0.00		0.22	0	0.22
3751	GH0000000185	SCB	51.30	45.48	50.00	50.00	49.99	-0.01		49.90	10,020	49.90
3751	GH0000000664	SCB PREF	0.52	0.52	0.52	0.52	0.52	0.00	0.52		0	0.52
3751	GH0000000201	SG-SSB	0.49	0.40	0.39	0.39	0.39	0.00		0.39	100	0.39
3751	GH0000000730	SIC	0.40	0.35	0.37	0.37	0.37	0.00	0.35	0.37	5,000	0.37
3751	GH0000000623	SPL	0.04	0.03	0.04	0.04	0.04	0.00		0.04	0	0.04
3751	GH0000000516	SWL	0.02	0.02	0.02	0.02	0.02	0.00			0	0.02
3751	GH0000000532	TBL	0.40	0.40	0.40	0.40	0.40	0.00		0.40	0	0.40
3751	GH0000001050	TLW	38.00	30.00	38.00	38.00	38.00	0.00	38.00	40.00	0	38.00
3751	GH0000000144	TOTAL	27.00	19.83	22.45	22.45	22.12	-0.33		22.45	110	22.00
3751	GH0000000706	TRANSOL	0.05	0.05	0.05	0.05	0.05	0.00		0.05	0	0.05
3751	GH0000000219	UNIL	8.32	6.63	8.30	8.30	8.32	0.02	8.32	8.35	3,000	8.32
3751	GH0000000755	UTB	0.33	0.30	0.33	0.33	0.33	0.00		0.33	0	0.33