Qataris Raise Bet on London Real Estate
June 18th, 2010Via: Bloomberg:
Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund has been buying up some of the highest quality properties in London, as the Persian Gulf country takes advantage of lower prices and the pound’s weakness to invest its gas wealth.
Barwa Real Estate Co., controlled by the fund, yesterday agreed to buy Park House for 250 million pounds ($370 million). The office and retail project is the biggest development in about 40 years on London’s Oxford Street. The fund also bought London’s Harrods department store last month and in 2009 became the largest investor in Songbird Estates Plc, which owns most of the Canary Wharf office estate. Another unit of the fund acquired the U.S. embassy building in London last year.
“If you can get prestige assets at a bargain price, why not?” said Fadi Moussalli, regional director for Middle East and North Africa at Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. “Qataris are shrewd buyers and are opportunistically looking for deals.”
Qatar, the world’s largest producer of liquefied natural gas, is investing in property globally after increased production and higher prices boosted state wealth. Declines in real estate values and the pound have made U.K. assets more affordable for dollar-pegged investors such as the Qatar Investment Authority.
Gold: New Record High; Up and Out of Previous Range
June 18th, 2010Spot: $1257.76.
Cracks Show BP Battled Well Two Months Before Blast
June 18th, 2010Via: Bloomberg:
BP Plc was struggling to seal cracks in its Macondo well as far back as February, more than two months before an explosion killed 11 and spewed oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
It took 10 days to plug the first cracks, according to reports BP filed with the Minerals Management Service that were later delivered to congressional investigators. Cracks in the surrounding rock continued to complicate the drilling operation during the ensuing weeks. Left unsealed, they can allow explosive natural gas to rush up the shaft.
“Once they realized they had oil down there, all the decisions they made were designed to get that oil at the lowest cost,” said Peter Galvin of the Center for Biological Diversity, which has been working with congressional investigators probing the disaster. “It’s been a doomed voyage from the beginning.”
…
The company attempted a “cement squeeze,” which involves pumping cement to seal the fissures, according to a well activity report. Over the following week the company made repeated attempts to plug cracks that were draining expensive drilling fluid, known as “mud,” into the surrounding rocks.
BP used three different substances to plug the holes before succeeding, the documents show.
“Most of the time you do a squeeze and then let it dry and you’re done,” said John Wang, an assistant professor of petroleum and natural gas engineering at Penn State in University Park, Pennsylvania. “It dries within a few hours.”
Repeated squeeze attempts are unusual and may indicate rig workers are using the wrong kind of cement, Wang said.
…
On March 10, BP executive Scherie Douglas e-mailed Frank Patton, the mineral service’s drilling engineer for the New Orleans district, telling him: “We’re in the midst of a well control situation.”
The incident was a “showstopper,” said Robert Bea, an engineering professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who has consulted with the Interior Department on offshore drilling safety. “They damn near blew up the rig.”
Afghan Mineral Deposits Actually Worth $3 Trillion, Not $1 Trillion
June 18th, 2010Mmm hmm.
Via: Guardian:
Afghanistan’s untapped mineral wealth is worth at least $3tn – triple a US estimate made this week – according to the government’s top mining official.
Geologists have known for decades that Afghanistan has vast deposits of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and other prized minerals, but a US briefing this week put a startling$1tn price tag on the reserves. Minister of Mines Wahidullah Shahrani said today that he had seen geological assessments and industry estimates that the minerals were worth at least $3tn.Critics of the war questioned why the country’s mineral wealth was being promoted at a time when violence was on the rise and the international coalition was under pressure to prove its counterinsurgency strategy was working. US officials argued that if Afghanistan was seen to have a bright economic future, it could help convince people that securing the country was worth the fight. It could also give Afghans hope, they said.
More Than 90 Banks Miss TARP Payments
June 18th, 2010Via: Reuters:
More than 90 U.S. banks and thrifts missed making a May 17 payment to the U.S. government under its main bank bailout program, signaling a rising number of lenders are struggling to meet their obligations.
The statistics, compiled by SNL Financial LC from U.S. Treasury data, showed 91 banks and thrifts skipped the May dividend payment under the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. It was the first missed payment for 23 of the banks; for the others, it was at least their second miss.
The number of banks missing their TARP payments rose for the third straight quarter. In February, 74 banks deferred their payments; 55 deferred last November.
SNL Financial’s analysis found 20 banks have missed four or more payments since the program began in 2008, while eight banks have missed five payments.
Under the TARP program, the U.S. Treasury invested in preferred shares issued banks looking for funds. The banks were to make regular dividend payments to the Treasury, and have the right to repurchase the shares at some point in the future.
While many of the largest U.S. banks easily repaid billions in TARP aid, more than 600 smaller banks still hold $130 billion from the program, created at the height of the financial crisis.
Southwest Airlines Employee Finds Human Heads on Their Way to Fort Worth
June 18th, 2010The company that shipped the heads had its business license revoked. Is this strange?
Via: NBC:
A Southwest Airlines employee called police after finding human heads in a package set to be transported to a Fort Worth medical research company, the airline said.
“It wasn’t labeled or packaged properly,” said Ashley Rogers, a Southwest spokeswoman. “They called the local authorities.”
The incident happened in Little Rock, Ark., last Wednesday, she said.
Little Rock police turned the package over to the county coroner, who questions where they came from and if they were properly obtained.
“We’ve come to the conclusion that there is a black market out there for human body parts for research or for whatever reason,” said Pulaski County coroner Garland Camper. “We just want to make sure these specimens here aren’t a part of that black market and underground trade.”
The heads were being transported to the Fort Worth office of Medtronic, a leading medical research and technology company based in Minnesota.
Medtronic spokesman Brian Henry said it is common to ship body parts for medical education and research, but he said it is rare for a shipment to be seized.
“We expect our suppliers to follow proper procedures,” he said.
Camper described the items as 40 to 60 human heads.
But Henry said they were “four full cranial specimens and 40 pairs of temporal bone ear blocks.”
He identified the supplier as JLS Consulting of Wynne, Ark.
JLS’s business license was revoked in December, according to the Arkansas Secretary of State’s online database.
Company founder Janice Hepler did not return phone calls Wednesday. Her voice mail indicated it was full and no longer accepting messages.
But in an earlier interview with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, she blamed the problem on the private courier she had hired to transport the body parts.
“Nothing is wrong,” the newspaper quoted her as saying. “We’re providing the documentation.”
But the coroner said the paperwork has “discrepancies.”
Federal law generally prohibits the sale of human body parts, although suppliers can be reimbursed for expenses in cases of legitimate medical education or research.
“It is a lucrative business. There is money to be made,” Camper said. “We’re hoping that this isn’t the case.”
$99 Fuel Cell for Small Electronic Devices
June 17th, 2010Via: Horizon Fuel Cell:
The miniPAK portable electronic device charger is designed to meet the needs of users who want more portable energy in one package, at a lower cost than existing rechargeable or disposable battery-based options.
The MiniPAK portable electronic device charger is a palm-size universal portable power charger and power extender for ANY electronic device requiring up to 3W of power. Devices compatible with the MiniPak include cellphones, but also smartphones, gaming devices, GPS handhelds, small lighting devices and MP3 players. The MiniPAK device integrates a passive air-breathing fuel cell and a “solid-state” hydrogen storage unit. The MiniPak DC power output is 2.5W (5V, 400mA), delivered through standard micro-USB port and a multi-choice cable. The device is supplied with 2 refillable and ready to use solid state hydrogen cartridge.While a cartridge replacement and filling infrastructure develops, Horizon took the extra step to develop a home refueling sytem called “HydroFILL” – sold as a separate accessory for added convenience. The MiniPAK is positioned to address gaps in providing energy “on the go” to power-hungry device users, as well as a low cost energy storage option for emergency and long duration off-grid power users.
More: At Last! An Affordable, Portable, Pocket-Sized Personal Fuel Cell
Around 300,000 People Displaced Inside Kyrgyzstan
June 17th, 2010Via: CNN:
About 300,000 people are now estimated to be internally displaced in Kyrgyzstan by ethnic violence, the U.N. refugee agency said Thursday, citing information from the Kyrgyz interim government and non-governmental organizations.
Families and host communities were sheltering many of them, but at least 40,000 people were in need of shelter, according to the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.
New Claims for Unemployment Benefits Rise Sharply
June 17th, 2010Via: AP:
The number of people filing new claims for jobless benefits jumped last week after three straight declines, another sign that the pace of layoffs has not slowed.
Initial claims for jobless benefits rose by 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 472,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. It was the highest level in a month and overshadowed a report that consumer prices remain essentially flat.
Bank of America Ordered Traders: No Oil Deals with BP Beyond June 2011
June 16th, 2010Via: Reuters:
Bank of America Merrill Lynch has ordered its traders not to enter into oil trades with BP Plc that extend beyond June 2011, a market source familiar with the directive told Reuters.
The order to the bank’s traders came from a high-level executive and was made on Monday, according to a source familiar with it. It told traders not to engage in trade with BP for contracts beyond one year from this month.
The directive didn’t state a reason for the limit on longer-duration trades with the oil company, which comes as the British oil giant scrambles to stop an oil spill in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico for which it could eventually face billions of dollars in economic liabilities.
Limiting the duration of trades with a counterparty is one way in which banks can seek to protect themselves against risk that a company will be unable to meet its long-term obligations.
A BofA spokesman declined comment.
BP spokesman Toby Odone said the company doesn’t comment on market rumors or speculation.
