Crude Oil’s Implied Volatility Falls to Lowest Since 1996

Implied volatility in crude oil, a measure of expectations for future price swings, eased to its lowest level in 17 years as growing confidence in the global economy was balanced by surging output in North America.

The implied volatility for U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange was at 21.7 percent on Jan. 18, based on data for the rolling second-month options contract. That’s the lowest since a level of 21.2 percent was reached on Jan. 9, 1996. 

Oil prices have been supported by the receding likelihood of any collapse in the single European currency, while at the same time price rallies have been prevented by booming U.S. production, according to Archbridge Capital AG.
Volatility has also declined in equity markets. The benchmark gauge for U.S. stock options fell to its lowest level since April, 2007, on Jan. 18.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index (VIX), or VIX, retreated 8.2 percent to 12.46 and has tumbled 45 percent since Dec. 28. 

April WTI oil options contracts are the second-closest to expiry on the Nymex, after March. February options expired on Jan. 16 while the February futures contract expires today. 

The second-month options contract can often be a more reliable guide to volatility than the front-month, which fluctuates as investors roll their positions into the subsequent futures contract when the front month expires.

Importers, clearing agents call on FG to review tariffs

Importers and clearing agents have called on the Federal Government to review port tariff and find ways to make the ports more attractive to businesses.

They said it was high time the FG reviewed the tariff to eliminate uncertainties and to harmonize standard with other ports, especially those of neighbouring countries.

Speaking on the issue, the National President, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANALCA), Prince Olayiwola Shittu, said port tariff was not proportionate with the services provided by terminal workers and it makes the ports low-spirited.

Shittu maintained that the Nigerian Shippers’ Council should be emulated as it has removed service charges to cut down the expenses involved in doing business in ports.

SIEMENS denies bidding for PHCN

Siemens Group has come out with an official statement, refuting that it has stake in the Power Holding Company of Nigeria(PHCN) through any of the companies that has shown interest in the privatization process.

It said its concern was to give necessary technical support to companies that have interests in the PHCN.

The Managing Director of Siemens Group, Mr Michael Lakota stated this, while speaking with journalists in Lagos.

He stressed that the Company remains focused towards improving technological growth and development in the Country, and will continue to offer its assistance where necessary.

He said “We have no stake in any other company in Nigeria, whether in shares, capital or whatever.” He also stressed that the fact that the company was focused on the development of the power sector in the country,the nation’s economic transformation was possible.

SGBN Set To Resume Operations

The Nigerian banking industry is set to witness the re-entrance of Societe Generale Bank, a company whose license was revoked in 2006 but restored by court judgement in 2009.

SGBN will return as Heritage Bank of Nigeria and commence full operations in the first quarter of 2013 as a regional bank duly licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The correspondence which granted the CBN’s approval for Banking Licence to HBC entitled ’Re: Application for a Commercial Banking Licence with Regional Authorisation’ was dated December 27, 2012 with reference number FPR/LAD/CON/HBC/02/062, and signed by CBN’s director of financial policy and regulations, Chris O. Chukwu.

The major shareholders of the bank are Industrial and General Insurance, as well as the Saraki family.

Josephine Aligwekwe, head of Corporate Communications of the bank, released a statement to the effect that the bank would begin a month long account validation for old customers of the bank.

The statement said, “All customers of the former Societe Generale Bank (Nig.) Ltd. are advised to look out for announcements in the national dailies detailing the processes and procedures for the account validation exercise.”

TRANSACTION AT THE END OF TODAYS TRADING

 

Transaction came to an end on Monday with a total sum of N3.830 billion realize at the floor of the Nigeria stock exchange.

834 million share were traded in 6, 358 deals.

The All- share index closed at 30,842.54 point.

And on the gainers chart today, Federal Government Bond 9 top the chart with N30.25K while Federal Government Bond 7 came second with N27.80K gain.

Also WAPCO was on the gainers chart with N4 and PRSCO followed with N2.15K and INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES was the list on the table with N1:75K gain.

On the loser chart, Nigeria Breweries top the chart with N5.50K while Guinness followed with N4 gain.

Still on the losers chart, UAC Property lost N1.60 while NewGold lost N1 and BETAGLAS was also at the list of the table with 50K loss.

The market capitalization came to an end with a total sum of N9.865 trillion.

Anenih will explain to the house how over N20bn remains largely unaccounted for

The house committee on Public Accounts has said that the former Peoples Democratic Party Board of Trustees Chairman, Tony Anenih must account for the N20bn road contracts awarded during his term as the Minister of Works.

Inconsistency was noticed by the committee reviewing the 2006 report of the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation; it disclosed that the contracts awarded during the term of Anenih were left unaccounted.

This was disclosed by the Chairman of the committee, Solomon Olamilekan, who spoke to reporters in Abuja yesterday.
He said his committee cannot complete its investigation without summoning Anenih.

But from my research, Anenih was summoned late last year, by the committee to explain the N2.3bn contract abandoned by the contractor after collecting N1.3bn. the committee queried Anenih’s role in the issue, which the FG later paid the N1.3bn as damages to the contractor.

Anenih however, failed to appear before the committee; instead, he sent a letter to the Speaker of the House explaining his position, claiming he was innocent in the contract matter.

Facebook Offers Free Calls to US iPhone Users

Author: Adi Gaskell

Published: January 18, 2013 at 8:27 am

While Facebook has had chat applications for some time, they've largely flattered to deceive.  Their tie up with Skype has made things better, but the assault by Facebook on the mobile market has taken a new step this week.
They announced that they are adding a new feature to their mobile app that will allow users to make free calls, providing that is they're both American and using an iPhone.
The app will allow users to call one another via the Facebook Messenger app from anywhere with a wi-fi or data connection.

It's a great feature for anyone that makes a large volume of voice calls, as it obviously allows them to bypass traditional call charges.
Facebook have said that they are working on similar services for BlackBerry and Android users so that they can enjoy it in the same way as their Apple brethren.

Users can tell when the service is available as an 'i' icon will appear in the top right hand corner of the chat window.  Tapping it will provide them with the option of making a free call.
It will, however, require both callers to have the Messenger feature installed on their iPhone.
The latest mobile-to-mobile development was independent of the free video-calling software Skype, which was already integrated into Facebook's website, a spokesman said. The Messenger app is limited to voice calling.

 

http://technorati.com/social-media/article/

Ringya Makes Contact Management a 'Snap'

Author: Geoff Simon
 

Published: January 17, 2013 at 1:52 pm

Ringya recently launched a contact management app that lets you create contact lists on your phone by simply snapping a picture of a paper list with names, email addresses and phone numbers on it. While other contact management apps exist, Plaxo, Xobni, and Google Contacts to name a few, Ringya is the first of it's kind that lets you snap a picture and instantly create a contact list.
Ringya works by putting your contacts in groups, or "rings", that represent where the person fits in your world. For instance - Sally Jones, VP Sales, Sales Team or John Smith, Jane Smith's Father, Oak View School - so each person is contextually saved to your contact list. And you don't have to add them one-by-one, which is a huge time saver, and something most people will never do for all their contacts.
You can also send an email to instantly create smart digital lists with very little effort. You can use it to create class lists for your kids, sports teams, co-workers, suppliers, and family for instance to solve real-world problems. For busy moms, it's valuable to easily be able to find someone in your child's class if your stuck in traffic, or need someone to pick them up. It also makes it easy to communicate with entire groups, and instead of an administrator distributing updated contact lists at work, they can be shared through Ringya and only have to be updated in one place, one time.

Ringya gets all those phone numbers you have tacked onto your fridge door or bulletin board into your smartphone – literally in a snap – and saves you from scrambling to find a contact list within email archives because all those people you may ever need from work, a class or a team are right at your fingertips,” said Gal Nachum, Ringya co-founder and CEO. “Ringya saves time and stress by providing users with instant access to people they need to contact but otherwise wouldn’t have added, one at a time, to their personal address book.”
Ringya is currently available for iOS users on iTunes for free, and the company plans on releasing an Android version soon. For users who want to be alerted when Ringya is ready for Android you can leave your information here.
http://technorati.com/business/article/

AFCON 2013 Team Profile: Niger

Niger Football Federation
Avenue Francois Mitterand PO Box 10299 NIAMEY
President: Hamidou DRIBRILLA, Vice President:Ibrahim YACOUBA, Secretary General:Ibrahim ELH TIEMOGO
Nickname: The Mena
Appearances:1
2012
Their path to qualification:
Beat Guinea (0-1,2-0) in the final round of qualifying matches.
Key Players:
Moussa Maazou, Alhassane Issoufou, William Tonji, Harouna Bonnes
Head Coach: Gernot Rohr (German)
Team Profile
Mena out to improve.
Niger are no longer the minnows of African football since 2011. Drawn in the same group alongside Egypt who had won three AFCON titles on the trot, South Africa and Sierra Leone, during the qualifiers for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, Niger were considered as outsiders, but the defied the odds to grab the lone qualifying ticket of the group.Their lack of experience meant they could not cope in Group A at the 2012 AFCON finals and eventually crashed out at the group stage.Led by Frenchman Rolland Courbis and Harouna Doula,they took advantage of the 2012 AFCON to gain more experience and they proved it against Guinea during the final round of the 2013 AFCON qualifiers.

AFCON 2013 Team Profile: Zambia D Defending Champion

Football Association of Zambia
Football House, Alick Nkhata Road Long Acres P.O Box 34751 LUSAKA
President: KALUSHA BWALYA, Vice President:Boniface MWAMELO , Secretary General: George KASENGELE.
Nickname: Chipolopolo
Appearances:16
1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013.
Champions: 2012
Runners-up: 1974 and 1994
Their path to qualification:
Beat Uganda in the final qualifying round (1-0,0-1, 9-8 on penalties)
Key Players:
Christopher Katongo, Emmanuel Mayuka, Kennedy Mweene, Stoppila Sunzu, Rainford Kalaba
Head Coach: Herve Renard (France)
Team Profile:
Chipolopolo out to retain their crown.
Zambia defied the odds to win the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations even though bookmakers had tagged Ghana and Ivory Coast as favourites.That was however a partial surprise. A keen observer would have noticed that Zambia deserved more than a quarter final finish at the 2010 AFCON in Angola where they crashed out on penalties against Nigeria despite being the better over the 120 minutes.But they had almost abandoned the core component of the team.After a short spell with Algerian side USM Alger, Herve Renard returned to take over the Zambian team for a second time and transform an average side into an amazing one.

MEDICINAL FACTS YOU NEVER KNEW ABOUT FEACES.

Feaces is a topic we should all know something about since we all pass feaces on a regular basis. Feaces, also referred to as poop as well as many other less appropriate names, is the medical term used to describe the motions and discharge of the rectum. Educating yourself about your feaces and your bowel movements can provide much insight into your overall health. Signs of infection, digestive problems and even early signs of cancer can be detected by paying attention to bowel movements.

The average human excretes 150 grams of feaces a day, which adds up to 5 tons of poop annually. The feaces is comprised of 75% water and the rest is an often stinky combination of fibrous materials, dead and live bacteria and mucus. We poop due to digestion, which takes 24 to 72 hours in the average human. Food passes from the esophagus to the stomach after we consume it. It then travels through the small intestine, the large intestine, and finally escapes out the anus.

Feaces can vary from person to person. Frequency, color and shape are all variable depending upon many factors. Regardless of frequency, a normal person has consistent bowel movements. One's personal frequency will stay the same but not necessarily be the same as another's frequency. As long as you are passing feaces at regular, consistent intervals, your frequency is considered normal. Color varies depending on food consumed. Leafy green vegetables will cause a green stool. If you are taking certain medicines, they may change your feaces to white or clay-colored. Pay close attention to jet-black feaces.