It is through this realization that it seems that a revolution is taking place domestically within Brazil in order to keep its own costs down. Canadian-based company Pacific Potash [PP – TSX.V, PPOTF – OTCQX, P9P – Frankfurt] foresaw this expansion in Brazilian potash development, and seized an opportunity to acquire an interest in 90 mineral exploration licenses for an aggregate total of 795,824 hectares within Brazil’s Amazonas Basin, which geologically is the cousin of Canada’s Saskatchewan Potash Basin. Unlike Saskatchewan, however, the Amazonas is critically underexplored in comparison, with an enormous upside illustrated by historic resources accidentally discovered decades ago by oil and gas giant PetroBras.

Now more than 30 years since the Amazonas potash discoveries, potash demands worldwide are far higher than before. Development of potash mining infrastructure elsewhere has benefitted producing regions such as Canada, Russia and within the Middle East. However, a current slump in potash prices has put pressure on producers to find and innovate new ways to stay economic despite price pressures. Pacific Potash, as well as its privately-owned neighbours in the Amazonas believe that they can remain economical by providing closer-to-market supplies, and eliminating much of the high costs of importation for their buyers.

For each ton of potash that Brazil brings in, there is a shipping cost attached that effects the bottom line. For the supplies coming from Canada, Russia and the Middle East, it costs an additional $175-$225 per tonne(?) to ship in the product. Those costs are passed along to the Brazilian farmer, and to the Brazilian agricultural community in an almost exponential fashion. So, even while potash is currently in a price slump, ranging between $450-$500 per tonne right now, any sort of development for a project in Brazil, and specifically in the Amazon Basin has relatively large upside potential, and attractive economics.

THE AMAZONAS POTASH BASIN
Despite the fact that there hasn’t been any production out of the basin to-date, there are in place some historic resources of significance. This area has always been a prolific oil and gas basin, and it’s not unheard of to find potash near oil and gas deposits.

Brazilian oil and gas giant PetroBras has been drilling into this basin since the early 1960s, to the tune of thousands of oil and gas wells. Most of these wells have been confined to the margins of the basin, however there hasn’t been much drilling in the center. Much like in Saskatchewan, it’s nearer to the center of a basin that would be more appropriate for potash exploration, as this is where the KCl tends to accumulate.

When Petrobras began intercepting potash in the early 60s, it was because they were drilling in the margins of the basin. In 1980, the company stumbled across a couple of larger potash deposits, which combined have historic resources of about 1.1 billion tonnes .

Thus, today, there is in place a very large resource of fairly high-grade potash (between 25-30% KCl), which is quite comparable to the figures witnessed out of Saskatchewan.
Strangely enough, this discovery of high-grade potash didn’t gain much traction among the investment community for the next 30 years, until now. With a booming agro sector, the game is different, complete with new demands and economic drivers.

PACIFIC POTASH’S AMAZONAS BASIN PROPERTY
As the only publicly-traded company in the region, Pacific Potash’s property is nestled next to two private companies. These include Potash Brazil, which is gearing up to finance towards production in the relatively near future.

Infrastructure wise, what Pacific is sitting on is enviable for much of the Amazon region. The river itself is seen as a super highway for the shipment of goods. Most, if not all trade is conducted on the water. At the moment there is not much for road or rail, however, each city will have a port to handle its needs.
The closest major city to Pacific’s property is Manaus, which is home to a population of 2.2 million. Previously known as the rubber capital of the world, Manaus is a cultural epicenter of its region, and is a hub for a plethora of economic activity.

This image came about after the fall of the rubber industry, after the advent of synthetic rubber. At one time the city had a population of 3.5 million people, but dropped down to 300,000 after the advent of synthetic rubber. Brazil’s government reacted by making the Manaus Amazon State into a free trade state, which it remains to this day.
As a business environment, this may be Brazil’s best kept secret. With no taxes, nor tariffs to deal with, companies are free to spend money and work unabated. Pacific plans to capitalize on this distinction, by pumping money in to the development and exploration of the property, en route to hopefully making a discovery..

Near Pacific’s property is a 500kW power line that connects Manaus to the Brazilian power grid, running just to the north. Also to the north is a Petrobras Gas field to the north that’s been flaring off natural gas for many years, as well as 3 Handimax ports in close proximity, including the third largest agricultural shipping port in the nearby city of Itacoacheria, which is one of the main soybean export hubs on the continent.

Products are barged in from many of the farming states to this port, and loaded onto ocean going vessels to be shipped out to the export markets. Many of these barges are currently being returned empty, which could be used to ship fertilizer products to the local processing plants. Brazil already has plants capable of processing raw potash, phosphate and nitrogen to be made into a usable fertilizer blend.

The region provides a closed-circuit synergy that allows Pacific Potash to strive for a full country play, delivering to the growing agro markets on the rise. The plan is to develop a relationship with the nearby ports found across the river from the property, and potentially directly across from where the company plans to drill.
Since Manaus is set to be a satellite city for the World Cup of Football in 2014, the city has been generously given plenty of capital destined for infrastructure improvements. Along with a new stadium, there have also been plenty of roads built, one of which is actually quite close to Pacific Potash’s property. This has made accessibility for the project much better, with roads and airstrips in each of the five cities with 50,000-100,000 or more people that are within Pacific’s large land base.

FRIENDLY NEIGHBOURS
Most important through all this has been the rapid development of neighbouring company Potash Brazil. The well-funded private company in the basin is looking to come out with an early-stage resource report by the end of the month. Along with Potash Brazil, there is one other private company in the region, making for a total of three companies with stakes in the play. Pacific Potash presents a unique opportunity for investors, as it’s the only one in the Amazon Basin that’s publicly traded.

Apparently Potash Brazil is cashed up and ready to roll, it is a Forbes and Manhattan deal, rumoured to have raised in the neighborhood of $150 million. They are pursuing a listing on the BOVESPA exchange slated for Q1 2014, as they are looking to raise the billion dollars necessary to put their mine into production.

For Pacific Potash, any news pertaining to Potash Brazil, helps Pacific’s cause. With each new step forward, the possibilities of a favourable takeover can increase. As well, it’s rumoured that Potash Brazil is coming out with a resource report in the neighbourhood between 600 to 700 million tons, grading at 30% by the end of the month.

So, while Pacific Potash’s news flow is a little slower than their senior counterparts, they can ride the wave of Potash Brazil as it ramps up towards its economic assessment. Votes of confidence from high net worth individuals such as Carmel Daniel out of London (CD Capital) help the cause to bring more favourable attention to the region. Daniel recently was announced to have put in just over $25 million into the deal, while the company is currently raising another $100 million privately at $4 per share. That number so far is up to approximately $50 milion.

THE OPPORTUNITY GOING FORWARD
A moratorium has been placed on any more staking in the basin, thus there won’t be any more claims granted in the foreseeable future. That means that Pacific and its neighbours are what investors have to choose from. Since Pacific Potash is the only current publicly traded company, it represents the easiest opportunity to get involved in the Amazonas Basin’s coming-of-age.
It’s a textbook case of being in the right place at the right time. New infrastructure is coming to the region at the cost of the government. A well-funded private company that presents a possible takeover host in the coming years is doing new drilling and development of the basin nearby. Agriculture in Brazil continues to grow, as does the country’s insatiable demand for fertilizer. Pacific Potash will continue to drill and prove out its property, as it positions itself to be a part of Brazil’s potash revolution, in order to present a logistical answer to Canada’s Saskatchewan Basin.

ON THE face of it, the question seemed a simple one of corporate governance: should JPMorgan Chase, America’s biggest bank, split the roles of chief executive and chairman? But the stakes were much higher, which explains why, after weeks of noisy debate, two-thirds of shareholders rejected a motion to that effect at their annual meeting on May 21st.

It was not the first time the question had been posed. Last year a similar motion was considered—and received 40% of the vote. But this year’s poll was much more contentious. A multi-billion-dollar loss as a result of outsized trades by an employee known as the “London Whale” had made Jamie Dimon, holder of both titles (pictured), vulnerable to attack.

Lenders of the last resort

• JPMorgan Chase
• Jamie Dimon

Although advocates of the motion to split Mr Dimon’s roles insisted that they were not out to get him, he was clearly the main focus of the debate. A strong and decisive manager, Mr Dimon has shaped JPMorgan’s strategy and thus its remarkable success. But his willingness to criticise the chaotic regulatory structure imposed on banks after the financial crisis has exposed him to political retribution. And the sheer size of JPMorgan makes people cautious about risks within the institution and its leadership.

Mutual funds and shareholders with interests closely tied to returns overwhelmingly supported Mr Dimon, fearful that a vote in favour of the split would weaken his authority or, worse, precipitate his departure. Estimates of what such a move would do to the bank’s share price were a source of much discussion. Most thought the price would fall by more than 5%. When the results of the vote were announced, the bank’s shares jumped 2%.

The motion was sponsored mostly by entities with a more political bent: two municipal pension funds, New York City’s and Connecticut’s, and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, a union of public-services employees, as well as Hermes, a British fund manager. It also gained support from Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), a consultancy that advises many institutional investors. ISS’s recommendations are often accepted without a second thought.

That they were ignored this time is a reflection of what was in play. By supporting Mr Dimon, the shareholders in JPMorgan Chase most concerned about returns did not just dismiss a fashionable idea. They also drew a distinction between how they manage money and the approach of public-sector groups whose low returns are often augmented by taxpayers. In other words, they rejected one split but highlighted another.

Article source: http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21578392-banks-shareholders-prefer-keep-devil-they-know-unbreakable-dimon?fsrc=rss|fec

The power of all the computers networked together to maintain the digital currency’s system far exceeds the combined processing strength of the top 500 most powerful supercomputers.

Easily. The matchup isn’t even close.

There have been lots of stories about Bitcoin in the past few months thanks to its rapid price rise — from $5 a year ago for 1 bitcoin to a record high of $266 in April, before falling back to around $122 today.

Bitcoin’s price moves attract the most interest, but the system’s infrastructure is its most fascinating aspect. The crypto currency dreamed up in 2009 by a still-anonymous hacker is now one of the world’s most expansive large-scale computing pioneers.

At any given moment, Bitcoin’s peer-to-peer network contains thousands of computers linked together to generate more than 1,000 petaflops of raw computing power. To put that in perspective, the world’s fastest supercomputer, Titan, runs at less than 18 petaflops. The Bitcoin network is sucking down nearly $200,000 a day in electricity costs, according to one tracking site’s estimate.

That’s stunning for an “economy” that sprang into being just four years ago, when an inventor using the pseudonym “Satoshi Nakamoto” released the system’s source code on a cryptography mailing list.

Related story: You can spend bitcoins at your local mall

Nakamoto built in an ingenious lure to draw in computing power. Bitcoins are “created” in batches every 10 minutes by an algorithm designed to eventually release a finite total of 21 million bitcoins. So far, 11 million have been released. The final coin won’t be minted until 2140.

Computers compete to get hold of those new bitcoins by solving mathematical problems of increasing complexity. Whoever does it first gets the coins.

Those same computers maintain Bitcoin’s “blockchain,” the public ledger that stores and verifies all of Bitcoin’s transaction records. As the network grows more powerful, so do the safeguards that prevent Bitcoin’s economy from being manipulated — or erased.

Related story: Strategist predicts end of Bitcoin

In the early days, a standard PC could successfully “mine” for coins and occasionally snag a handful. Today, mining is dominated by pros running custom-built computers with stunning amounts of power. It’s essentially an arms race, and the weapons have escalated fast.

So have the stakes they’re playing for. At $122 per coin, the 3,600 coins “minted” each day are collectively worth more than $430,000. The entire Bitcoin “economy” has a market cap of nearly $1.4 billion.

That kind of cash has drawn new players into the fold.

Two venture capital firms announced dedicated Bitcoin funds last week, and several others unveiled multimillion-dollar investments in buzzed-about startups like BitPay ($2 million from Founders Fund) and BitInstant ($1.5 million, led by the Winklevoss twins of Facebook (FB) fame).

“This isn’t a bubble or tulip mania,” said Tyler Winklevoss in a keynote talk at last weekend’s Bitcoin 2013, a conference that brought together more than 1,000 Bitcoin developers, speculators, entrepreneurs and enthusiasts. “This is rapid adoption. This is a rush.”

Keeping up with the rush will be the big challenge this year. Bitcoin’s growth is stress-testing the system in unprecedented ways. A key concern? The volume of bitcoin transactions — currently hovering around 60,000 per day — is doubling roughly every four months. If it doubles a few more times, the system will run up against a built-in technical limit that requires significant changes to overcome.

Related story: Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox lands in feds’ crosshairs

Gavin Andersen, the Bitcoin system’s lead developer, estimates that point is only a year or so away.

He’s also confident that the Bitcoin ecosystem is resilient enough to handle it. The Bitcoin project has been full of “chaos and drama” ever since he’s been involved, but it hasn’t yet derailed the experiment, Andersen said in a “state of the union” talk at the Bitcoin conference.

He said he’s excited to see what Bitcoin will become with the fresh infusion of entrepreneurs and developers that the currency’s rising visibility has drawn into the community.

“We’ve been on a roller coaster ride,” Andersen said. “I expect, at least for the next few years, we’re going to remain on a roller coaster ride.”

Article source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/money_topstories/~3/N7fkqKO-s78/index.html

However, there is one eye-opening concern that does not support Chairman Bernanke’s position about a housing recovery and unfortunately points to less demand in the immediate future. While many investors do not track lumber prices, the chart below demonstrates the sheer bear market that has befallen lumber futures prices.

As can be seen above, random length lumber futures have gotten crushed to the downside over the past two months. In early March, lumber futures were trading up around the 410 price point. At the close on Wednesday, random length lumber futures closed at 305.20, a more than 25% drop in price in roughly 2 months.

How is housing rebounding with lumber prices falling? While Home Depot sells many products, most major remodeling projects and even smaller upgrades require the purchase of lumber. Have logging companies discovered an untapped lumber resource?

I will let readers decide whether to believe the price of lumber and mortgage application data or a Federal Reserve Chairman that declared on January 10, 2008 that “The Federal Reserve is not currently forecasting a recession.”

For those paying attention, the macroeconomic data is crumbling in the United States and Europe. The printing press and monstrous liquidity can only fuel markets for so long. Can Chairman Bernanke and the Federal Reserve print Cap-EX spending increases and rising profitability? I think we all know the answer. In the end, when the Federal Reserve is printing $85 billion dollars per month to buy U.S. government debt perhaps fundamentals are largely irrelevant.

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/resourceinvestornews/~3/gBhaebYSg8w/the-headline-data-that-financial-media-ignored-on

Not only does he have to fill “the glittering shoes of rock-star-status Governor” Mark Carney, he also faces a raft of challenges right off the bat, says BMO Capital Markets chief economist Douglas Porter.

“As if that economic and financial backdrop was not daunting enough, he will also have some administrative issues and even questions about central bank independence to deal with in his first few weeks,” Porter wrote in his report entitled “The perils of Poloz.”

Here are new central banker’s top 10 challenges:

1) Slow economic growth: Porter says next week’s GDP data will likely show the economy picked up a bit in the first quarter, but he doesn’t expect growth for the full year to get above a “mediocre” 1.6%. That would be the slowest growth rate in the past 20 years, apart from the recession, and “barely strong enough to keep the unemployment rate in check.”

2) Low inflation: Core CPI at 1.1% year over year is near the bottom of Bank’s comfort range, and the slowing economy is not likely to drive it higher any time soon. Porter points out. “While low inflation isn’t normally seen as a big deal, the reality is that the BoC takes defending both ends of its target seriously.”

3) An overvalued currency: BMO economists believe the loonie is 5% to 10% overvalued, even with its recent pullback.

4) A cooling housing market: “The only debate when it comes to Canadian housing appears to be whether the landing will be hard, or just bumpy,” Porter writes. Though the market has defied the “legion of uber-bears” so far, few deny it will be a drag on growth in future — especially since construction jobs represent a record-high 7% of the nation’s total employment.

5) Record household debt: Along with the housing market, household credit growth is cooling in Canada. At 4.4% year over year it is down a percentage point from last’s year pace and is less than half that of seen before the recession. Still household debt is still rising faster than incomes.

“Consumers simply cannot lead growth for years to come, given the limited room for debt to grow much further,” he wrote.

6) Regional imbalances: In the past year, the gap between jobless rates in Ontario and Alberta have averaged a record 3.4 percentage points.

7) Potential excesses: This long spell of super-low interest rates creates risks beyond the build-up of debt, says Porter. As well, the reliance on domestic-led growth and the strong loonie has pushed Canada’s current account deeply into the red. “Over the past year, the gap has been almost 4% of GDP, close to a level seen by some as unsustainable.”

8) Sagging commodity prices: The bull market in commodities that ran from early 2002 to 2011 is “the primary reason” Canada’s economy outperformed its peers, the Canadian dollar shot to parity and the TSX beat almost all comers for nearly a decade, says Porter. Now with commodity prices down 12% over the past two years, the three trends have started to reverse.

9) Dealing with the bias: Porter says that as the economy softens it is time for the Bank of Canada to step back from the “mild tightening bias” it has held for more than a year — especially as Canadians appear to have got the message to ease off household debt. “With that mission apparently almost accomplished, it seems the time is right for a fresh start and to drop the tightening bias.”

10) Perceptions and other matters: Porter says when Mr. Poloz was tapped for the governor’s job, over bank insider Deputy Governor Tiff Macklem, there was “a lot of loose talk” that he would be more beholden to Ottawa and would favour a weak dollar, because of his time at Export Development Canada.

“I think the most area of interest from the market perspective, at least over the short term, will be any kind of comments he has on the currency. I think that’s the one area where the market is going to have its antenna up, big time,” Porter said.

Not only does he have to battle these perceptions, but he also will have to work with “a BoC staff that was, yet again, passed over for an outside candidate for the position, as well as having to fill the glittering shoes of a rock-star-status Governor (Mark Carney).” As well, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has not been shy about expressing his views on interest rates.

“Poloz may thus feel the need to assert his independence early on as well as partly reshape the institution. In a nutshell, it’s a big task, and we wish him well.”

Article source: http://business.financialpost.com/2013/05/23/top-10-headaches-the-bank-of-canadas-new-chief-faces-right-off-the-bat/

Whether used games will work with the Xbox One remains up in the air.

(Credit:
James Martin/CNET)

In case you missed it, Microsoft unveiled a new game console the other day, the Xbox One. We now know a lot about it, but as with most game console launches, we were left with a few unanswered questions that my colleague Dan Ackerman summed up nicely in his “Unanswered questions about the Xbox One” piece.

It’s the last one seems to be generating the most controversy: “Will used games work on the
Xbox One?”

Simple question, complicated answer
You’d think the answer would be a simple yes or no, but alas, it’s murkier than that. It all started when Microsoft VP Phil Harrison described to Wired how you’d use a game disc to install the game on the Xbox One’s hard drive. Once installed, the disc, Harrison said, was no longer necessary. You owned that game and could download it from your account at any time.

That sounds quite convenient on the surface — and a good feature — but it also implied that Microsoft had developed some kind of digital signature that locked a specific game to a specific user account, which in turn would make it impossible to install a used game locked to another person’s account. And that had folks calling foul. Was Microsoft taking an anti-consumer stance?

As the questions mounted in the hours after the launch event, Microsoft issued the following statement (via the site of Xbox Live head honcho Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb):

We know there is some confusion around used games on Xbox One and wanted to provide a bit of clarification on exactly what we’ve confirmed today. While there have been many potential scenarios discussed, today we have only confirmed that we designed Xbox One to enable our customers to trade in and resell games at retail. Beyond that, we have not confirmed any specific scenarios. Another piece of clarification around playing games at a friend’s house — should you choose to play your game at your friend’s house, there is no fee to play that game while you are signed in to your profile.

Nothing like mixing a little specificity with vagueness to stir the pot. And take note of the wording. Nowhere does Microsoft say that the Xbox One will play used games. Rather, the company says, “We designed Xbox One to enable our customers to trade in and resell games at retail.” I’m not sure exactly what that means, but my snap translation is, “We’re going to allow some sort of economy for used games to continue, but it may not work the same way it does now.”

Would you get a credit for a game you traded in and then have it removed from your account? Could you only trade in a game toward the purchase of a specific other game or games (from the same publisher)? How would games be valued? And would buyers of used games have to pay any additional fees?

Who knows. But as my colleague Dan said, “It’s no secret that every major video game company would like used games to go away, largely because they don’t get a cut of any of those resale dollars. The Xbox One gives Microsoft a chance to reboot the idea of how game sales work.”

Oh, and by the way, Sony faced similar questions when it teased the PlayStation 4 in February. While Sony, too, claimed it would allow for used games, it remains unclear what caveats might be attached to the use of those games. Since Sony’s event was much more of a teaser, the company wasn’t grilled as aggressively as Microsoft has been. I suspect Sony will encounter tougher questions at the
PS4‘s true unveiling at E3 in a couple of weeks, especially if it doesn’t fully explain what the company has in store for used games.

While it’s hard to say exactly what “potential scenarios” Microsoft is weighing, the bigger question is what happens if the used-game economy is altered, perhaps radically, to the point where it’s essentially gutted? Will it hurt the game industry or help it?

The $60 question
Sure, there are people out there who don’t mind paying $60 for a game, especially a premium title that they plan on playing for months. However, for a lot of folks $60 is a lot to spend on a game, especially with very few truly special titles being released these days (by special I mean something exciting and fresh, not polished retreads), and more and more consumers are turning to mobile games on their smartphones and
tablets that cost less than $5 — and sometimes don’t cost anything.

Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the effort that goes into making these games; some of the work being done is incredible and many premium titles cost tens of millions of dollars to make. But a lot of games end up disappointing simply because there’s a been-there-done-that feel to them. Plus, because you can find good mobile games for so cheap, people inevitably expect more from a $60 game.

That said, one of the open secrets of the gaming industry is that many people don’t really pay $60 for a game. They use trade-in credit at Gamestop to buy games or simply sell games after they play them on Amazon or eBay for a good fraction of what they bought them for. If you play through a AAA title quickly enough, you can usually sell it on Amazon for $45 or $50, meaning you only spent about $15 to $20 to play it, including tax.

A small selection of coupons from Gamestop’s PowerUp rewards program.

(Credit:
Screenshot by David Carnoy/CNET)

To give an example, I bought a used copy of Bioshock Infinite (Xbox 360) for right around $30 at Gamestop shortly after it was released. With my PowerUp reward points I downloaded a coupon good for $20 off a used game, and got an additional 10 percent discount off the used game for being a “Pro” member. The total, with tax, was a far cry from the $65 or so I would have had to pay for a new copy.

If I’d played it through quickly, I could have actually traded it in at Gamestop for right around what I paid for it. And if I had sold it on Amazon or eBay (disclaimer: I don’t sell games on Amazon or eBay), I could have probably got $45 to $50. (The price for the standard version of the game has recently dropped to $39.99).

Of course, the bad part of all this is that the game publishers get no money from my transactions. Having seen used copies of books I’ve written up on Amazon selling for a fraction of the “real” price, I’m well aware of being on the creator end of things where the author doesn’t get a dime on a used copy sale. It sucks, but then again, someone might not have taken the chance of buying the hardcover in the first place if it weren’t possible to resell it after reading it.

In the gaming world, the current system obviously isn’t ideal for game publishers and clearly benefits retailers like Gamestop and Amazon that have built nice businesses around the used-game market. After all, Gamestop wouldn’t constantly be encouraging its customers to trade in games if it weren’t a lucrative market. Sounds good to me to have a customer trade in Bioshock Infinite for $30 and then sell it back to customers for $50. (Note that Gamestop’s stock is up 88 percent over the past year.)

But if you pull the rug out from under the current system, it could do real damage to the gaming industry. In the personal example I gave, I bought a used copy of Bioshock Infinite. It happened to be the last one in the store. In many cases, because the difference in price between the used copy of a AAA title and a new copy is pretty small, a lot of people end up buying the new copy (particularly when no used copies are available), choosing to put their existing trade-in balance toward the new game. So trade-ins definitely fuel sales of new copies of the game and people bank on the fact that they can pull a few older titles out of their collection and get some money for them to put toward a new game.

Potential trade-in scenarios: A lot of ins, outs, and what-have-yous.

(Credit:
James Martin/CNET)

Gamestop CEO Tony Bartel told Forbes recently that it puts $1 billion in trade into the market and 70 percent of that money goes back into new game sales. “It’s a recognized way to make these games more affordable,” Bartel told Forbes. “All three new platforms understand that.”

Addressing concerns that neither the Xbox One nor the PS4 would play used games, which could be very detrimental to his company’s business, Bartel said, “Both Sony and Microsoft have said games can be resold and that’s exactly what we anticipated.”

Unfortunately, Bartel left out one small detail: while he said you’d be able to resell games, he didn’t say anything about being able to buy used ones. I’m not sure if he did that intentionally, but that’s the way I’m reading his quote.

Steam the dream?
For the publishers anyway, the Steam model seems much closer to their ideal. Despite its talk of discs, it seems clear that Microsoft would prefer to move to digital downloads, with it being the retailer. That’s the future, although some of these games are huge and many consumers are stuck with slow Internet connections, bandwidth caps, or both.

One of the appealing things about Steam is the digital locker aspect to it — your games are stored in your account and you can download them again when you get a new computer by simply logging in to your account (Gamestop and EA, among others, also offer digital lockers). Another attractive aspect is all the deals Steam offers. Many of the bargains are on older titles, but there’s certainly plenty of quality stuff for reasonable prices, and some interesting indie stuff.

The problem the publishers face is that games are simply too expensive at $60, particularly for a digital download. Often, you get no discount for downloading the digital version, so there’s no incentive to buy it when you can pick up the hard copy instead and later trade it in, sell it, or simply swap with a friend for another game. You’d think that if publishers wanted to tamp down the used copy sales, they’d push people toward digital downloads with pricing incentives. But that would also upset the relationship they have with retailers, so you’re left with a backward-looking market.

The long and short of it is that if publishers, Microsoft, and presumably others want to do away with the used-games market as we know it, the pricing for games is going to have to change. At this time, we don’t know exactly how much new games for the next-gen systems will cost — prices could very well go up for AAA next-gen titles — but they ultimately need to go down, not up.

Somehow I doubt that will happen. But if it doesn’t, fewer people will buy games when they’re first released. Some will wait till the price drops (as the price for Bioshock Infinite did).

But many more will gravitate toward spending their time –and money — playing cheap mobile games. Or maybe not getting a new console to begin with.

Article source: http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-18438_7-57585778-82/game-over-for-used-games-how-xbox-one-and-ps4-could-gut-gamers-wallets/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Oil prices have fallen $2-3 a barrel this week on weaker demand, increased US production, rising product stockpiles, and a stronger dollar. At the close on Wednesday, NY oil settled at $94.28 and London at $102.60 with the WTI-Brent spread climbing to $8.32. The weekly stocks report showed stocks at Cushing, Okla. increasing to by 450,000 barrels to 50.2 million last week. The report also showed US gasoline consumptionover the last four weeks at 8.5 million b/d, the lowest level in ten years.

Natural gas prices continued the rise that began two weeks ago on forecasts of warmer weather ahead. The long-term outlook for the summer months is for warmer than normal weather, but not as warm as experienced in the last two years.

The EU’s oil price fixing investigation continues to roll along with regulators asking trading houses for assistance in the inquiry. Fears are increasing that more firms will be caught up in the probe which involves a substantial fraction of the world oil trade. The British government is considering joining the EU’s investigation.

In the Middle East, Syrian forces, with the help of Hezbollah troops and possibly some Iranians, are pressing an attack to regain the key town of Qusair which controls the road from Damascus to Assad’s strongholds on the coast. The struggle for Qusiar is resulting in some of the heaviest fighting of the war.

The US and Russia are still trying to organize a peace conference amid more atrocities; renewed suspicions that chemical weapons are being used; the participation of what could be thousands of Hezbollah troops; more Iranian arms shipments; and the promise that Damascus will receive advanced air defense systems. All this is clearly bucking up the self confidence of the Assad government and seems destined to prolong the war.

During the week the Syrians and Israelis exchanged fire on the Golan Heights prompting threats from Tel Aviv of the heavy consequences for Syria if it continued attacking.

If nothing comes of the peace talk initiative, the US is threatening to begin arming the rebel forces.

Across the border in Iraq, the violence increased this week with bombings and killings on the rise. The Sunnis are now calling for the dissolution of the Iraqi state and its replacement by a federation that would give more autonomy to the various sectarian and tribal groups. Warnings that a civil war is imminent are occurring daily.

In Iran the Guardian Council has disqualified “moderate” candidates, including former President Rafsanjani and President Ahmadinejad’s preferred successor, Esfandiar Mashaei, leaving only hard core supporters of Ayatollah Khamenei to run for President. When this happens all major state institutions will be under the control of the clerics and revolutionary guard commanders for the first time since the revolution.

The energy crisis in Pakistan is already the worst in history and government is warning that power shortages may worsen in the summer months. Pakistanis already face 12-18 hours of load shedding a day in most parts of the country. The Ministry of Power is way behind in paying for the fuel it has used and the Petroleum Ministry says that without more funds it will be unable to import oil this summer. Some of the problem seems to stem from higher than normal rates of power production during the run-up to the recent election as ordered by the Prime Minister.

A recently released test showed that nearly half the rice being sold in the southern Chinese City of Guangzhou was contaminated with unacceptable levels of cadmium. Last year, Beijing conducted a major survey of soil contamination in the country. At first the results were deemed a state secret, but recently there have been suggestions that the study will be released.

Article source: http://www.resilience.org/stories/2013-05-23/peak-oil-notes-may-23

By Diana Olick

Strong demand and still limited supply mean homes are now selling nearly three times as fast as they normally would. The average number of days a listing stayed on the market in April was 46, down from 62 in March and down from the normal pace of 90-120 days, according to the National Association of Realtors.

“I have a seller, his house came on, he got a full-price offer, and he refused to take it because he wanted multiples. Really?” asked Jane Fairweather, a real estate agent in Montgomery County Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C. Fairweather said homes in her market are selling in an average of 23 days because inventories are way down and demand is strong. The number of listings in Montgomery County were down 41 percent in April from 2011. In April of 2011, one third of the listings went under contract. In April of this year, 67 percent went under contract.

“I don’t think it’s a boom we have to worry about because this is all about low interest rates and low inventory,” noted Fairweather. “This is not about easy money. The standards for borrowing are still very tight.”

The sales pace is back to what it was during the housing boom in 2005 and 2006, but the circumstances are of course very different. Back then it was all about easy money, and now it’s about stiff competition for limited supply. “We need to see home builders increase production,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the NAR, in a press conference. “We need a 50 percent increase in starts.”

Home builders are actually slowing production, trying to take advantage of home price gains that are nearing double digits. High-end home builder Toll Brothers, based in Horsham, Pa., reported that it raised prices by $26,000 on average, or about 5 percent, during the second quarter. The average price of a contract signed in the quarter was up sixteen percent from a year ago.

While homes are certainly selling faster, double-digit price gains are not considered healthy, especially when wage growth is nowhere near that. At some point buyers will hit the wall, unable to afford the homes they want. First-time homebuyers are already dropping out of the market, representing just 29 percent of homebuyers in April, according to the NAR. That’s the lowest in two years. Rising mortgage rates, now at their highest in two months, are playing a part, but there are also fewer low-end homes to buy. The number of homes in the foreclosure process is now down nearly 25 percent from a year ago, according to a new report from Lender Processing Services.

Just 18 percent of home sales in April were of distressed properties, the lowest since the Realtors began tracking this number in 2008. Compare that to 35 percent about a year and a half ago. Sales of homes priced below $100,000 were down 10 percent in April compared to a year ago, while every other price range saw sales gains. Those who can get credit are now competing for what little there is to buy, and pushing prices well beyond expectations. “I don’t see it lasting,” added Fairweather. “I think the minute they increase interest rates, you’ll see people pull back.”

See more on CNBC:
CNBC Explains: Housing Starts
What’s an Underwater Mortgage?
CNBC Explains: Jumbo Mortgages

More on AOL Real Estate:
Find out how to calculate mortgage payments.
Find homes for sale in your area.
Find foreclosures in your area.
See celebrity real estate.

Follow us on Twitter at @AOLRealEstate or connect with AOL Real Estate on Facebook.

Article source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/05/23/homes-selling-fast/

By Kevin Dolak

A newly married, mentally disabled couple’s dream of living together — up until now beset by legal troubles and care facilities that refused their wishes — is about to come true. New York state is providing them with a home of their own. Paul Forziano, 30, and Hava Samuels, 36, (both pictured above) who both have mild to moderate mental disabilities, met seven years ago at a day program run by the Maryhaven Center of Hope, which is part of Catholic Health Services of Long Island. After they met, each immediately began telling their parents about their new friend. It wasn’t long before they were calling each other “boyfriend” and “girlfriend.”

On April 7, 2012, they married on Long Island’s North Shore. The wedding initially was pushed back because the couple wanted to be able to live together once they were married. So before their big day, their parents began trying to figure a way for the two, who lived in separate group homes three miles apart, to establish a home together.

“They started dating and gradually got more and more serious about each other,” Paul’s mother, Roseann Forziano, told ABCNews.com. “Four years ago, they started talking about getting married. At the time, I didn’t know if people with developmental disabilities could be married. So I started doing research.”

Forziano said that she “naively” approached the Independent Group Home Living Program, which has housed her son since 2009, and asked if this could be facilitated. She told ABCNews.com that the state-sanctioned nonprofit that ran the home told her that the couple would not be allowed to share a living space within the IGHL program. Eventually, the families would file a lawsuit in January 2013, claiming that the IGHL, the Maryhaven Center for Hope, where Hava lived, and the state were violating the couple’s rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Fair Housing Act and the 14th Amendment.

According to that suit, IGHL’s clinical director had concluded that Paul and Hava were not capable of cohabitation. The director stated that if a person “cannot wash, cook, iron, and take care of money for themselves, then that person cannot take care of another person,” according to the complaint. Undeterred by this conclusion, Forziano and her husband decided to research the rights of their son and his wife-to-be. “We went to the law library and looked up regulations,” she said. “They said that agencies cannot deny people’s civil rights. The state has to regulate the agencies, and ensure that they uphold [Paul and Hava's] civil rights.”

Forziano said that she and her future in-laws then had her son and his bride-to-be assessed by psychologists at the YAI Agency in Manhattan to determine whether they were emotionally and mentally mature enough for a sexual relationship. The couple attended relationship counseling, and based on this, a psychologist from the Cody Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities at Stony Brook University concluded that the couple’s desire to marry was appropriate.

Still, the families continued to hit roadblocks in trying to secure housing for the couple, with representatives from IGHL unresponsive to the couple’s desires, according to the suit. Ultimately, Forziano and her husband, along with Hava’s parents, decided that IGHL, Maryhaven and the state had failed to provide adequate assistance in finding Paul and Hava a home. That’s when they decided to sue.

Norman Samuels, Hava’s father, told ABCNews.com that he and his wife, Bonnie, were repeatedly told by Maryhaven that they didn’t feel Hava was clinically capable of being in a marriage.

Read the rest of this story on ABC News.

See more on ABC News:
Oklahoma Tornado: Before and After Images
Ellen and Portia Buy Home for $26.5 Million
5 Biggest Food and Exercise Mistakes

More on AOL Real Estate:
Find out how to calculate mortgage payments.
Find homes for sale in your area.
Find foreclosures in your area.
See celebrity real estate.

Follow us on Twitter at @AOLRealEstate or connect with AOL Real Estate on Facebook.

Article source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/05/23/lawsuit-forces-ny-state-to-give-mentally-disabled-couple-a-home/

Landlord-tenant disputes happen with some regularity, but they can usually be tamed quickly and amicably. A little communication goes a long way, just like in any kind of relationship. The last thing you want to do is let a disagreement spin out of control. If you don’t try to diffuse the situation early on, things can get ugly.

That’s what happened between one landlord and his tenant on Thursday in Hialeah, Fla. The landlord fatally shot his tenant in the chest during a heated argument, WSVN-TV in Fort Lauderdale quoted authorities as saying. The tenant, a man in his 20s, reportedly was wielding a baseball bat when he confronted the landlord at a home the tenant had been renting. Police have not disclosed the cause of the argument, but NBC Miami reported that the tenant had been evicted from the home the day before. The landlord, who has not been identified, is not being charged with a crime, and the incident is being considered self-defense, police said.

Now this is an extreme example, but landlord-tenant disputes never have to go this far. With some simple precautions, there are ways in which landlords and tenants can avoid disputes. But in the case a dispute still arises, there are ways to stop it from escalating.

Avoid Disputes Altogether by Knowing Where You Stand

According to the Rentalutions blog, the primary cause of disputes between landlords and tenants is a misunderstanding regarding the lease agreement. To avoid this, before entering into a contract, landlords and tenants should thoroughly read through the entire rental agreement together and ask questions to ensure that each party has an understanding of their relationship and responsibilities. According to Rentalutions, if there is mutual understanding before the lease is signed, then the chance of a dispute arising later is significantly diminished.

If There Are Problems, Take Pictures and Keep Documentation

The less ambiguity, the better. According to legal site Nolo.com, landlords and tenants should keep copies of any correspondence and make notes of conversations about any problems. In the case of repairs, for example, tenants should write a letter requesting repairs and keep copies of that letter. The landlord should also keep a copy of the request letter, and keep documentation, receipts and pictures of when the issue was repaired.

The more hard “evidence” there is between parties when it comes to real estate matters, the less chance there is for blaming and “he-said, she-said” arguments. Anything less than hard-copied communication, according to Inman News, opens up a chance for miscommunication.

If an Altercation Arises, Communicate — or Get Help

Keeping the communication lines open is key, but if talking it out just won’t work, then get the issue resolved by using a local landlord-tenant dispute resolution service. Many cities offer landlord and tenant dispute services in order to prevent the situation heading to court, eviction — or worse.

See more on landlord-tenant disputes:
Tenants of Complex Irate Over Mid-Lease Rent Hikes
When You Can Force Your Landlord To Listen To You
Tenants’ Rights in Eviction: When Do Landlords Go Too Far?

More on AOL Real Estate:
Find homes for rent.
Find out how to calculate mortgage payments.
Find homes for sale in your area.
Find foreclosures in your area.

Follow us on Twitter at @AOLRealEstate or connect with AOL Real Estate on Facebook.

Article source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/how-to-avoid-landlord-tenant-disputes/