It is still too early to roll back property cooling measures, according to the Ministry of National Development (MND) yesterday. It said that although home sales have decreased, prices have remained relatively stable.
Local businesses expressing "cautious optimism" because of slight drop in regional demand and renewed uncertainties in the global economy, says Singapore Commercial Credit Bureau.
SINGAPORE: Business confidence in Singapore dipped slightly in the third quarter of this year, sliding to +14.65 percentage points from +22.66 percentage points in the previous quarter.
This is according to Singapore Commercial Credit Bureau's (SCCB) Business Optimism Index (BOI) study released on Monday (June 30), which showed that local businesses were more cautious amid a slight drop in regional demand and uncertainty in the global economy.
The quarterly study by SCCB tracks business expectations in key areas such as net profit, volume of sales and employment.
The services and construction industries ranked among the most optimistic sectors, according to the study.
The services industry anticipated sales volume and net profits to remain at healthy levels, owing to higher retail sales volume and gains in the food and beverage and electronics, watches and jewellery sectors.
Meanwhile, public sector construction activities were expected to drive the industry, despite a tightening foreign worker policy keeping a lid on growth.
Audrey Chia, CEO of SCCB, said: "Recent reports of a contractionary shock in the US economy may have dampened business sentiments here slightly. However, the overall BOI (Business Optimism Index) reading remains healthy and reflects positively on the resilience of SMEs against external risks and uncertainties.
"The healthy BOI reading over the first three quarters this year bodes well for businesses here. This may be indicative of a rising number of firms tapping on Government grants such as the Innovation and Capability Voucher (ICV) scheme and other loan financing schemes to boost productivity, streamline business processes and offset any capital cost which help keep their business lean, profitable and competitive in the near-term."
NATIONAL University of Singapore's (NUS) price indices for completed non-landed private homes rose month on month in May, after straight declines for several months. Its latest flash estimate shows that the Overall Singapore Residential Price Index (SRPI) rose 0.8 per cent in May from the revised value for April - after slipping one per cent in April over the previous month.
The increase marked the first gain for the index after nine consecutive months of declines between August 2013 and April this year. May's flash estimate is down 6.3 per cent from the recent peak in July 2013. Year on year, the May index value is down 6 per cent.
Commenting on the month-on-month appreciation based on the May flash estimate, associate professor Lum Sau Kim of the university's Department of Real Estate said the May indices were "perhaps boosted in part by the more active sales in the primary market during May".
"Going forward, the lower activity that is often the case in June may result in a small dip in the indices.
RESALE prices of private homes staged a surprise rebound in May over April, reversing a nine- month decline, but experts say to keep the bubbly on hold. They warn that investors remain wary, and the unexpected price bounce does not signal a sustained recovery.
SINGAPORE'S office property market saw stronger demand in the second quarter this year, according to property consultant Colliers International, which pointed out that all Grade A office micro-markets across the island have reached near-full occupancy rate at beyond 95 per cent.
According to the quarterly research report, the Shenton Way/Tanjong Pagar micro-market saw the highest occupancy rate of 99.4 per cent, up from 97.2 per cent in the first quarter.
Demand came from a myriad of industries such as oil and gas, insurance, telecommunications and pharmaceuticals, said Marcus Loo, Colliers International's executive director for office services.
Upcoming office projects are also beginning to see some interest. CapitaGreen has achieved almost 12 per cent pre-commitment rate as at end-June. The project is expected to be completed by the year-end. Meanwhile, the landlord of South Beach Tower, expected to come on stream in the last quarter of this year, is reportedly in advance discussions to lease out another 20,000 sq ft of space.
The tightening of office occupancy has led to higher rents, with rent growth islandwide at below 3.5 per cent. "The strong demand from various industries and high occupancy rates have inevitably boosted landlords' confidence in the market," said Mr Loo.
Veteran property developer Kwek Leng Beng fears Singapore could lose its edge as an investment destination unless the Government reviews its property cooling measures. Mr Kwek, executive chairman of Hong Leong Group Singapore and City Developments, said foreigners were choosing to plough their investment dollars into countries like Britain, Australia and the US over Singapore, while Singaporeans have been investing abroad.
The risk profile of borrowers has improved with the introduction of the Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) framework a year ago, said the Monetary Authority of Singapore. It noted that the proportion of borrowers with a loan-to-value ratio above 70 per cent has declined.
A 0.5 hectare industrial land parcel at Tuas South Street 7 has been triggered from the reserve list with an application of a committed bid price of not less than $3,527,300.
This translates to about $65.5 per square foot (psf) for the 5,000 square metre site which has a maximum permissible gross plot ratio of 1.0. Plot 44 has a tenure of 20 years and 10 months, and is zoned for Business-2 development.
Ong Kah Seng, director at R'ST Research, said that he expects the site to attract between five and 10 bids, and the top bid to be in the range of $85 to $110 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr).
"It is quite within expectations that this site is triggered for sale in 2014 as it is an optimal size for medium-scale industrialists," said Mr Ong. "Also, there's limited sites around 0.5 ha available in the H2 2014 Industrial Government Land Sales Programme (IGLS) for sale."
CITYSPRING Infrastructure Trust is forming a joint venture with architectural and engineering firm Shimizu Corporation to develop and lease a data centre, as it seeks to deepen its presence in telecommunications infrastructure.
The joint venture, in which its wholly owned subsidiary CityDC Pte Ltd will hold a 51 per cent stake, will design and build a data centre building and install all plant, mechanical and electrical equipment.
When the development works are completed and the data centre is ready for use, the joint venture will then lease the building to 1-Net, which is wholly owned by MediaCorp Pte Ltd.
[SINGAPORE] The slowing property market has nudged four mid-sized property agencies - SLP International, OrangeTee, HSR International and Dennis Wee Realty - to form an alliance which will rival the two largest players in the market, ERA Realty and PropNex Realty.
The alliance, called Project Alliance Group (PAG), comes into effect today.
It will focus on marketing local residential projects - a sector which is becoming a "numbers game", said Steven Tan, managing director at OrangeTee, because developers now tend to go for bigger agencies with more salespeople and thus greater buyer reach.
Following the alliance, the four agencies will have a strength of almost 6,000 agents combined, overshooting ERA's 5,700 and PropNex's 5,600.
SINGAPORE has inched ahead of Hong Kong once again since 2010 in a close race for the top transparency position in Asia, according to JLL's eighth Global Real Estate Transparency Index.
Singapore has been ranked 13th and Hong Kong 14th among the world's most transparent commercial property markets. Myanmar is one of the least transparent countries globally, at 100th position.
According to the study, which covers 102 markets globally, Hong Kong is seeing its scores fall since 2012 in the areas of property taxation relating to cooling measures, as well as in accounting standards and corporate governance.
"All countries in emerging South-east Asia have seen some advances (but less significant than 2012 when the sub-region accounted for three out of the top 10 global improvers)," JLL wrote in a media statement accompanying the biennial Global Real Estate Transparency report.
Singapore has been ranked the most transparent real estate market in Asia, according to the Global Real Estate Transparency Index 2014. It maintained 13th place, while Hong Kong slipped from 11th to 14th.
SINGAPORE: Singapore has been ranked the most transparent real estate market in Asia. This is according to Global Real Estate Transparency Index 2014, published by consultancy firm JLL. Overall, the top positions are still dominated by markets in the west.
Singapore maintained its 13th place in the index. But with Hong Kong slipping from 11th in 2012 to 14th in the latest report, it has pushed Singapore to top position among Asian real estate markets. The top position in Asia has usually been held by Hong Kong since the report was first launched 15 years ago.
JLL said Hong Kong was dragged down by lower scores in the area of property taxation relating to cooling measures and also in accounting standards and corporate governance.
This is the second time Singapore has been ranked higher than Hong Kong since the index was published in 1999.
However, when compared to other mature markets like the UK, US and Australia, JLL said Singapore did not fare as well in terms of transaction process. But Singapore was in the global top 20 for performance measurement, market fundamentals, governance of listed vehicles and regulatory and legal sub-indices.
Chua Yang Liang, head of research at JLL Singapore, said: "In other markets, the tenants have the ability to look the components within that service charge. In Singapore's case, it is typically a broad number and tenants typically do not have the ability to audit.
"The other one is the market fundamentals in terms of the time series, the depth of the data, we have strong series, quite long - but in terms of depth of the details like building information, building profile, that kind of details that are publicly available are still lacking compared to other mature markets."
JLL said improvements in transparency in Asia Pacific have been steady but unspectacular.
This year, the report also covered Myanmar, which emerged as one of the least transparent real estate markets globally, ranked 100.
Analysts said investors generally tend to favour more transparent markets. Donald Han, managing director of Chestertons, said: "If they are risk-averse, they would need to put more allocation to more mature transparent markets, but these markets would generate lower returns. In some cases, it could be 3 to 4 per cent in terms of yield.
"Myanmar is more opportunistic currently. Potentially, it would have higher returns. I would even expect double-digit (returns) because of the unpredictability in government regulation."
Looking ahead to 2016, JLL said several factors could boost transparency. They include new technologies, greater use of social media, more knowledge-sharing as well as increasing demands for transparency from government and commercial organisations.
FRASERS Hospitality Trust (FHT), which will start trading on the Singapore Exchange this month, could be making another acquisition as early as in the next 15 to 18 months.
Besides an initial portfolio of 12 hospitality assets worth $1.67 billion, it has the right of first refusal (ROFR) to acquire 18 other assets from its sponsor Frasers Centrepoint Limited (FCL) and the latter's major shareholder TCC Group.
This acquisition pipeline through ROFRs alone could more than double FHT's portfolio from the current 2,770 hotel rooms and serviced residences units.
"There could be a couple of assets to be ready in the next 15 to 18 months," Eu Chin Fen, chief executive of the Reit manager, told reporters.
Strong demand from institutional investors for Frasers Hospitality Trust's initial public offering.
SINGAPORE: Frasers Hospitality Trust on Monday (June 30) provided more details about its S$367.9 million initial public offering (IPO), saying the offer has seen strong demand from institutional investors.
The hotels and serviced residences real estate investment trust (REIT) said its international placement of 139.6 million stapled securities at S$0.88 apiece attracted interests valued around S$2.5 billion - which translates to a subscription rate of around 21 times.
A group of cornerstone investors, including DBS and Fortress Capital Asset Management, had subscribed for another 232.9 million stapled securities, also priced at S$0.88 each.
The public portion of its IPO, aimed at ordinary retail investors, will comprise 45.5 million stapled securities priced at S$0.88 apiece.
The public offer opens at 9am on Tuesday and closes at 12pm on July 10, Frasers Hospitality said. The stapled securities will begin trading on the Singapore Exchange on July 14.
Frasers Hospitality - which is sponsored by Singapore property giant Frasers Centrepoint Ltd - will have an initial portfolio of six hotels and six serviced residences valued around S$1.7 billion.
The six hotels, which came from Frasers Centrepoint's Thai parent TCC Group, are the InterContinental Singapore, Novotel Rockford Darling Harbour, Park International London, Best Western Cromwell London, ANA Crowne Plaza Kobe and Westin Kuala Lumpur.
The six serviced residences are Fraser Suites Singapore, Fraser Suites Sydney, Fraser Place Canary Wharf, Fraser Suites Queens Gate, Fraser Suites Glasgow and Fraser Suites Edinburgh.
Frasers Hospitality also has first right of refusal to buy another 18 properties from its parent companies.
The REIT offers investors an indicative yield of 7 per cent for the full financial year from 1 October 2014 to 30 September 2015.
Frasers Centrepoint and TCC Hospitality, an associate of TCC Group, will together hold around 65 percent of Frasers Hospitality after the IPO.
LIM Sim Seng, group executive and Singapore country head of DBS, has been appointed the new chairman of the board of the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) for a two-year term starting Aug 1.
Mr Lim has been involved in SLA since August 2011 when he was appointed a board member and concurrently chairman of its Investment Board Committee. He was appointed deputy chairman on Aug 1, 2012, for a two-year term.
In a statement, Mr Lim said "boldness, innovation and a large dose of creativity" is needed to optimise the use of Singapore's limited land.
"Like many other thriving cities, we face an unprecedented demand to deliver more exciting, new living spaces where people can live, work and play," he said.
Using DDM-based (discount rate of 7.7 per cent), we arrive at a target price of S$1.06, translating into implied CY2014 yields of 5.4 per cent for unitholders. We deem this fair against listed peers such as CMT, FCT and MCT, which trade at CY2014 yields of about 5.6-5.7 per cent.
Is the time ripe to lift property cooling measures?
It is clear from a visit to showflats that the property market is a pale shadow of itself from a year ago, when the boom was in full swing. Back then, agents streamed in with home seekers in tow, cost no object, amid shouts of "sold" resonating through the showroom as units were snapped up.
[JOHOR BARU] Several major amendments to the original plan for the controversial Forest City project along the Johor Straits are expected as pressure mounts from environmental non-governmental organisations and concerns from Singapore.
The changes were proposed by Kuala Lumpur-based Asian Environmental Solutions Sdn Bhd (AES), which was appointed by project developer Country Garden Sdn Bhd to prepare a preliminary environmental impact assessment (EIA) report for the mammoth project, says a report in Malaysia's New Straits Times.
The proposed changes are aimed at cushioning the impact of the reclamation project on the surrounding environment.
In the preliminary report, one of the major changes proposed was to build two parallel water channels cutting across the island, created by reclamation work, almost in the shape of a right angle isosceles triangle.
JOHOR BARU — Several major amendments to the massive reclamation project in the Strait of Johor for a housing development near Singapore's Second Link are expected, following concerns raised by Singapore and environmental non-government organisations (NGOs), the New Straits Times (NST) reported yesterday.
The changes were reportedly proposed by Kuala Lumpur-based Asian Environmental Solutions (AES), which had been appointed to prepare a preliminary environmental impact assessment report by Country Garden, the developer of the project.
The proposed changes in the preliminary report include replanting seagrass and building two parallel water channels, which will be 300m wide and almost in the shape of a right-angle isosceles triangle, across the reclaimed island. They are aimed at minimising the impact of the project on the surrounding environment, the NST reported.
"The main purpose of the water channel is to improve the hydrology of the straits, since there are concerns and worries that the reclaimed island may block or hamper water flow along it," the newspaper quoted an unnamed source close to the AES as saying.
"With the water channels to be used as a mitigation measure, water flow is still possible, despite the presence of the reclaimed island," the source added.
Another proposal was to replant seagrass destroyed in the process of reclamation work.
But environmental NGOs in Malaysia doubted that the replanting would be effective, noting that the survival rate of seagrass replanting was 10 per cent, the NST reported.
Last week, the local media reported that Malaysia's Department of Environment had issued a stop-work order on the massive land reclamation project, pending further studies on its environmental impact.
Singapore had earlier expressed concerns about the possible transboundary impact from the reclamation work in the Strait of Johor and requested more information from the Malaysian government.
Malaysia media reports had said that Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also wrote to his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak about the issue, after two diplomatic notes on the matter were sent to Malaysia's Foreign Ministry in May.
A third note was handed to the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Mr Wahid Omar, when he visited Singapore recently, the reports said.
The Forest City project involves creating a 1,817-hectare island almost three times the size of Ang Mo Kio and the construction of luxury homes. The project, which includes a 49ha tourist hub and recreational facilities, is expected to take 30 years to complete.
[WASHINGTON] The number of contracts to purchase previously owned homes jumped in May by the most in more than four years, a sign the residential-real estate market is rebounding after a slow start to the year.
The pending home sales index climbed 6.1 per cent, the biggest advance since April 2010, after a revised 0.5 per cent increase in April, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said yesterday in Washington.
The gain exceeded the most optimistic projection in a Bloomberg survey of economists, whose median forecast called for a 1.5 per cent gain.
Housing demand is benefiting from cheaper borrowing costs, a stronger employment outlook and easier access to credit for some households.
[BRUSSELS] Eurozone inflation remained stuck at levels last seen during the 2009 recession and lending to companies and households contracted again, data showed yesterday, further highlighting the bloc's feeble economic state.
The reports - for June and May, respectively - underlined the reason for the European Central Bank's unprecedented policy steps earlier last month when it cut interest rates to record lows and promised to hand out more long-term loans to encourage banks to lend more freely.
It will take a while for the measures to take effect and they would not have influenced yesterday's releases. Details have not yet been announced for the long-term loans and most economists do not expect any fresh policy steps when the ECB meets on Thursday.
But there is no sign that the pressure on the ECB is easing. "The ECB has just announced new measures to signal its readiness to bring inflation back to target and boost lending, but it will surely keep the door wide open to more measures at this week's meeting," said Berenberg Bank's Christian Schulz.
[SYDNEY] Australia approved a record A$24.9 billion (S$29.2 billion) of home purchases by foreign buyers in the nine months to March 31, a 93 per cent jump from the same period a year earlier, UBS AG said.
Overseas investment in housing in Australia is now 13 per cent of total turnover, compared with a trend of 8 per cent, UBS economists Scott Haslem and George Tharenou wrote in a report dated June 27. About 78 per cent of purchases were of new properties, they said.
The Australian parliament is conducting an inquiry into foreign buying of domestic real estate amid concerns that overseas demand is pushing up prices and making housing unaffordable for local buyers. Dwelling prices climbed 10.7 per cent across Australia's eight state and territory capitals to a median A$545,000 in the 12 months to May 31, according to the RP Data-Rismark home value index, amid interest rates at a record low 2.5 per cent.
"Foreign demand rose despite a relatively expensive valuation and Australian dollar," Mr Haslem and Mr Tharenou wrote in the UBS report. "We see a likely ongoing long-term uptrend of foreign investment in housing", which supports the bank's forecast of a 7 per cent increase in prices this year, they said.
[BOSTON] After decades of factory shutdowns and population loss, the city of Dayton, Ohio, has found a fix for its housing market hard-hit by foreclosures - immigration.
The rust-belt city of 140,000 has been encouraging immigrants from Mexico, Nigeria and Turkey to move there since 2011, after its population hit a 90-year low, by offering to help with resettlement and starting businesses. Dayton's foreign population grew and so did its housing sales, rising last year at almost twice the national rate.
As the housing recovery nationwide sputters, the story of Dayton reveals a reason why: The US market is missing the sales jolt provided by immigration. Last year, the number of immigrants granted US residency - typically a requirement to get a mortgage - hit a nine-year low, according to government data. Immigrants, deterred by a weak American labour market since 2008, aren't likely to get encouragement from Congress, where support for a reform bill has mostly evaporated.
"Immigrants have a drive to become homeowners that surpasses even native-born people, and that gives them a magnified impact on home sales," said Chris Herbert, research director of Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies in Cambridge, Massachusetts. "No one knows how many immigrants will be arriving in the next few years because it depends on what the economy does and what Washington does."
The number of contracts to purchase previously owned U.S. homes jumped in May by the most in more than four years, a sign the residential-real estate market is rebounding after a slow start to the year.
The pending home sales index climbed 6.1 percent, the biggest advance since April 2010, after a revised 0.5 percent increase in April, the National Association of Realtors said today in Washington. The gain exceeded the most optimistic estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists, whose median forecast called for a 1.5 percent gain.
Housing demand is benefiting from cheaper borrowing costs, a stronger employment outlook and easier access to credit for some households. At the same time, higher prices and limited income gains are keeping the improvement in the residential real estate from becoming more broad-based.
The gain in May was the biggest since first-time buyers rushed to sign contracts before the expiration of a tax credit four years ago. Estimates in the Bloomberg survey of 37 economists ranged from a decline of 0.5 percent to an advance of 4 percent after a previously reported 0.4 percent April gain.
Another report showed manufacturing cooled in June from a month earlier. The Chicago Institute for Supply Management Inc.'s business barometer fell to 62.6 from 65.5 in May. The median forecast called for the gauge to fall to 63. Readings above 50 signal expansion.
Stocks rose after the data, with the Standard & Poor's 500 Index advancing 0.1 percent to 1,962.77 at 10:35 a.m. in New York. The S&P Supercomposite Homebuilding Index increased 1.5 percent.
Purchases fell 6.9 percent from the year prior, on an unadjusted basis, after a 9.3 percent decrease in the 12 months that ended in April, the association reported.
The pending sales index was 103.9 on a seasonally-adjusted basis, the highest since September. A reading of 100 corresponds to the average level of contract activity in 2001, or "historically healthy" home-buying traffic, according to the NAR.
Pending home sales climbed in all four regions, led by an 8.8 percent gain in the Northeast. Contract signings increased 7.6 percent in West, 6.3 percent in the Midwest and 4.4 percent in the South.
Economists consider pending sales a leading indicator because they track new purchase contracts. Existing-home sales are tabulated when a contract closes, usually a month or two later.
"Solid income growth and a slight easing in underwriting standards are needed to encourage first-time buyer participation, especially as renting becomes less affordable," NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said as the report was released.
Home sales have been slowly emerging from a slump early this year. Purchases of new homes rose in May by the most in 22 years, increasing 18.6 percent, the biggest one-month gain since January 1992, to a 504,000 annualized pace, figures from the Commerce Department showed.
Gains in home prices have started to cool, which will help bring more properties within reach of those prospective buyers with access to credit.
The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values increased 10.8 percent from April 2013, the smallest 12-month gain in more than a year, after rising 12.4 percent in March, the group reported last week.
Hovnanian Enterprises Inc., New Jersey's largest homebuilder, is optimistic that demand will continue to rise though sales have been uneven in recent months.
"While the housing market has improved dramatically overall compared to where it was a couple of years ago, the recent recovery has been a little more choppy," Chief Executive Officer Ara Hovnanian said during an earnings conference call on June 4.
Home-improvement retailers including Lowe's Cos. also remain upbeat about the housing recovery.
Canadian consumer confidence rose for the first time in a month as optimism about real-estate prices surged to the highest in almost five years.
The Bloomberg Nanos Canadian Confidence Index climbed to 59.2 for the week ended June 27, from 58.5 in the prior period. The percentage of respondents who believe home values in their neighborhood will increase in the next six months rose to 44.1, the highest since the fourth quarter of 2009.
Optimism about personal finances and the economy also increased, while job-security sentiment dimmed, according to the survey-based index.
"Looking at the key drivers of consumer sentiment over the past six years, it is clear that positive views of real estate is a key factor in Canadian consumer confidence," said Nik Nanos, chairman of Ottawa-based polling firm Nanos Research Group. Sentiment about real estate is "noticeably" above its six-year average, while personal-finance views are "marginally" below the average for the period, he said.
Canada's housing market has been surging even as the world's 11th largest economy struggles to shift into high gear. Canadian realtors recorded their biggest sales gain in almost four years last month, as the industry rebounded from the impact of a difficult winter, the Canadian Real Estate Association said June 16.
Housing starts rose to their strongest level in seven months in May, following a slump in construction in the first three months of the year, Canada Mortgage & Housing Corp. reported June 9.
Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz said June 12 that the biggest domestic risk to the country's financial system remains households with stretched consumer finances after a period of rapid homebuilding. Poloz also predicted a soft landing in the housing market and progress in Europe's effort to ease its debt crisis.
Canada's economic growth slowed in the first quarter as the harsh winter slowed housing construction, business spending and exports, and expanded less than economists forecast in April. Poloz said June 4 it remained appropriate for the central bank to keep its benchmark interest rate at 1 percent, in view of the economy's "modest" pace of growth.
The survey-based Nanos index has two sub-indexes. The Expectations Index, based on responses about the national economy and real estate, rose to 58.7 last week from 58.2.
The share of respondents who think the Canadian economy will improve over the next six months rose to 21.8 percent from 21.1 percent the week before.
The Pocketbook Index, based on responses to questions about personal finances and job security, climbed to 59.7 from 58.9.
Those who say their finances have improved over the past year rose to 17.6 percent from 17.0 percent, according to the Nanos report.
The proportion who say they feel at least somewhat secure about their jobs dropped to 68.8 percent, the lowest since May 30, from 69.2 percent.
Canada's gross domestic product grew less than economists forecast in April as goods production fell while service industries such as wholesaling expanded, Statistics Canada said today in Ottawa. Output rose 0.1 percent to an annualized C$1.62 trillion ($1.51 trillion), the same pace as in March. The median forecast in a Bloomberg economist survey was for the world's 11th largest economy to expand 0.2 percent.
June 30 (Bloomberg) --The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was little changed, capping the longest string of quarterly gains since 1998, as a jump in pending home sales offset weaker-than-forecast manufacturing data.
D.R. Horton Inc. rallied 3.2 percent, leading gains among homebuilders.Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) rose 2.6 percent after Piper Jaffray Cos. recommended buying the stock. MannKind Corp. jumped 9.6 percent as the maker of diabetes drugs rebounded from its worst week in two months. Allergan Inc. declined 2.7 percent following regulatory decisions on its drugs.
The S&P 500 fell less than 0.1 percent to 1,960.23 at 4 p.m. in New York. The equity benchmark gauge rose 4.7 percent for the quarter, a sixth consecutive advance. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 25.24 points, or 0.2 percent, to 16,826.60 today, trimming its quarterly advance to 2.2 percent. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.2 percent, giving it a 5 percent increase for the three months.
The S&P 500 trades at 16.6 times the projected earnings of its members, near its highest valuation in four years. The index has failed to post a gain or loss exceeding 1 percent for 51 straight days, the longest stretch since 1995. More than 5.7 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges today, 4.7 percent below the three-month average.
The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index added 2.8 percent to 11.57. The gauge, known as the VIX, is near its lowest level since February 2007.
The S&P 500 and the Dow advanced earlier as data showed the number of contracts to purchase previously owned U.S. homes jumped 6.1 percent in May, the most in more than four years, a sign the residential-real estate market is rebounding after a slow start to the year.
An S&P index of homebuilders rose 1.1 percent as 10 of its 11 members gained. D.R. Horton advanced 3.2 percent to $24.58 and Lennar Corp. climbed 0.9 percent to $41.98.
The Institute for Supply Management-Chicago Inc.'s business barometer fell to 62.6 in June from 65.5 the prior month. The median forecast of 45 economists in a Bloomberg survey projected the index would fall to 63.
Other reports this week will give further clues to the strength of the U.S. economy. Tomorrow brings data on manufacturing and auto sales, with the government's payrolls report due on July 3 before the holiday weekend.
U.S. equities have reached all-time highs as data from employment to housing fueled confidence that the U.S. economy is rebounding after the worst contraction in gross domestic product since 2009. Fed Chair Janet Yellen said on June 18 that accommodative monetary policy, rising property and equity prices and the improving global economy should lead to above-trend growth.
The central bank has kept interest rates near zero since 2008 to spur economic growth. Low borrowing costs have fueled record corporate debt issuances and helped drive the S&P 500 up190 percent from a bear-market bottom in 2009.
Investors will get a chance to assess the economy when companies start releasing financial results in July. Earnings for S&P 500 companies probably grew 5.2 percent during the second quarter while sales rose 3.2 percent, analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg show. The forecasts are lower than they were at the beginning of April, when analysts projected earnings to rise 7.3 percent and sales to increase 3.7 percent.
The S&P 500 is up 6.1 percent for the year while the Dow has gained 1.5 percent. The Russell 2000 Index (RTY) of small companies gained 5.2 percent for June, its biggest monthly advance since September, as the market rebounded from a two-month selloff in Internet and small-cap stocks.
Utility, materials and technology shares added more than 0.2 percent today for the best returns in the S&P 500. Health-care and industrial shares fell 0.4 percent each for the biggest losses.
Yahoo added 2.6 percent to $35.13. Piper Jaffray raised its rating on the search-engine company to overweight, similar to a buy recommendation, from neutral, saying its 23 percent stake in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is undervalued. Analysts estimate the Chinese e-commerce company, which plans an initial public offering in New York, has a value of about $168 billion.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index climbed 1.1 percent. Micron Technology Inc. advanced 4.6 percent to $32.95 for the biggest increase in the S&P 500 after Credit Suisse Group AG added the company to the firm's top investment ideas.
NetApp Inc. jumped 2.9 percent to $36.52. The data-storage company looks "dirt cheap" with 14 percent free cash flow yield, Barron's reported, citing Brian White, an analyst with Cantor Fitzgerald LP.
PPG Industries Inc. (PPG) increased 3 percent to $210.15 after agreeing to buy Consorcio Comex SA for about $2.3 billion, picking off the Mexican coatings and paint company that competitor Sherwin-Williams Co. failed to buy. Sherwin's attempt to buy the Mexican portion of the company was blocked by local antitrust regulators.
Bank of New York Mellon Corp. rose 3.5 percent to $37.48. Trian Fund Management LP, the activist investment firm co-founded by Nelson Peltz, is seeking talks with Bank of New York after revealing a 2.5 percent stake in the world's largest custody bank.
MannKind jumped 9.6 percent to $10.96. U.S. regulators approved its inhaled insulin with a label warning that the product shouldn't be used by those with asthma or a serious lung disease. The stock fell as much as 23 percent on June 27, before paring losses in the final hour of trading.
Allergan, the drugmaker resisting a takeover by Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., slipped 2.7 percent to $169.22. The Food and Drug Administration rejected Semprana (AGN), formerly known as Levadex, an inhalable treatment for migraines, because of problems with the drug's delivery device. The agency approved Allergan's Ozurdex, a treatment of vision loss in diabetics.
PetSmart Inc. slipped 1.9 percent to $59.80. The pet-store chain's sales slowdown will continue this year, hurt by competition, according to Investment Technology Group.
General Motors Co. fell 0.9 percent to $36.30. The company, which has already called back more than 20 million cars in North America for various fixes this year, recalled 8.45 million more today for defects including ignitions and electrical malfunctions.
Loews Corp. (L), the holding company controlled by New York's Tisch family, agreed to buy the InterContinental Chicago O'Hare Hotel to expand its portfolio in the U.S. Midwest.
Loews is purchasing the 556-room property from New York's Amalgamated Bank and expects the sale to be completed in late July, said Sarah Murov, a spokesman for the buyer. The hotel has more than 53,000 square feet (4,900 square meters) of meeting and event space, and is less than 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from Chicago's largest airport, Loews said in a statement today that didn't disclose terms.
Whetsell's operation has a portfolio of 21 hotels in locations including New York, San Diego and Orlando, Florida. The company has plans for a separate Chicago hotel, in the city's downtown, to open next year, and announced weeks ago that it reached a deal to buy a 255-room property in Minneapolis from Graves Hospitality Corp.
The InterContinental Chicago's former owner, River Road Hotel Partners LLC, filed for bankruptcy in August 2009, less than a year after the hotel opened. River Road had liabilities of more than $100 million, according to a court filing. Whetsell said Amalgamated Bank purchased the property after the bankruptcy. Amalgamated had no comment, said Samantha Berg, a spokeswoman for the bank.
Whetsell said Loews also plans to expand in Texas and cities on the West Coast including San Fransisco, Seattle and Portland, Oregon.
Loews also has units in the energy and insurance industries. The company advanced 0.5 percent to $44.02 at 2:02 p.m. in New York and has slipped about 8.7 percent this year after losses tied to its bet on natural gas.


Columbia University School of the Arts' Digital Storytelling Lab (DSL) presents Story I/O (input/output) a FREE immersive symposium that mixes thinking & doing.
We're excited to announce the first edition of Story I/O, the Digital Storytelling Lab's annual symposium that explores new forms and functions of storytelling. A highly interactive one-day event, Story I/O embraces methodologies we use at the Columbia Digital Storytelling Lab to create collaborative spaces where we work together to create impact around complex, global challenges.
We've designed Story I/O to mix theory and practice. To that end, we will convene a highly diverse group of participants from across the University and outside it in collaborative discussion and action that will have us designing and prototyping immersive storytelling simulations for understanding and care.
Our partners for the day are Columbia University School of the Arts, Teachers College, the Urban Design program and Barnard College.
The event is limited to 90 participants – Due to space limitations we're selecting attendees based on a simple application process, and will be accepting applicants starting after Labor Day on a rolling basis.


How much does it cost to file for bankruptcy in Montana? How can I pay for filing for bankruptcy?
In the state of Montana, it costs $299 to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, and $274 to file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy. If you cannot afford to pay the Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing fee, you can request a fee waiver from the bankruptcy court based on your household size and income. You can also arrange to pay the filing fee in installments by entering into a payment plan with the bankruptcy court.


text:
Giants' Sterling Shepard explains Odell Beckham Jr.'s visit
Updated: Oct. 07, 2022, 7:44 a.m. |
Published: Oct. 07, 2022, 7:40 a.m.
Free-agent wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., seen here in 2018, visited former New York Giants teammate Sterling Shepard (right), who's out for the season with a torn ACLAP
Nothing to see here.
That's how New York Giants wide receiver Sterling Shepard described his visit earlier this week by former teammate Odell Beckham Jr.
Shepard is out for the rest of the year with a torn ACL. That's the same injury Beckham suffered in Super Bowl LVI.
Beckham has been linked to several teams in free agency, most notably the Los Angeles Rams, with whom he won a Super Bowl ring last season.
BUY GIANTS TICKETS: STUBHUB, VIVID SEATS, TICKETSMARTER, TICKETMASTER
Yes, the Giants have issues at wide receiver.
Kenny Golladay could be out for an extended period with a reported sprained MCL in his right knee.
Slot receiver Richie James, who leads the Giants in receiving yards, was absent from practice Wednesday with an ankle injury.
Former first-round pick Kadarius Toney (hamstring) will miss Sunday's game in London.
Rookie Wan'Dale Robinson (knee) was limited in practice this week.
And yes, Beckham and Shepard were teammates in the Giants' receiver room from 2016-18.
But according to Shepard, no one should be reading anything into Beckham's visit. Per WFAN:
"It meant a lot to me. That's one of my brothers. He's done that a number of times, flying from wherever he is," Shepard said Wednesday. "He was in the Bahamas, but he wanted to come see me. I was happy to see his face; I hadn't seen him in a while, but it was great seeing him."
Want to bet on the NFL?
See the best NJ Sports Betting sites
NJ Advance Media's Darryl Slater reported earlier this week on the Beckham visit:
The Giants did not arrange Beckham's visit. And during the visit, he did not meet or talk with coach Brian Daboll or general manager Joe Schoen. ... Plus, Beckham isn't even ready to play yet. ... (he) isn't expected to be medically cleared to play until at least November, according to The Athletic.
- Broncos-Colts Thursday Night Football was beyond bad: 'Worst football game I have ever witnessed'
- Buccaneers' Tom Brady-Gisele Bundchen divorce had been simmering for years, but this time 'it's different'
- Eagles ready to put perfect record on the line vs. Cardinals (PHOTOS)
Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription.
Mike Rosenstein may be reached at mrosenstein@njadvancemedia.com.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
CNBC Stock Blog
Wal-Mart Looks Even Better Next Quarter: Strategist
JeeYeon Park	| @JeeYeonParkCNBC
Published 12:27 PM ET Thu, 12 Nov 2009 Updated 12:02 AM ET Thu, 18 March 2010 CNBC.com
Wal-Mart Stores posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Thursday. John Lawrence, managing director of equity research at Morgan Keegan, shared his earnings analysis on the firm.
show chapters
Wal-Mart Earnings Reaction 9:15 AM ET Thu, 12 Nov 2009
"There's always a little conservatism in those [earnings] numbers," Lawrence told CNBC. "With these prices that we're seeing, I think they'll have a good fourth quarter."
Wal-Mart also posted a 9 percent rise in quarterly underlying profit at its international businesses, outperforming its U.S. operations with strong growth in Britain, Mexico and Brazil. The retail giant has approximately 8,000 stores in 15 different countries with almost a quarter of their business from outside of the U.S.
"Thirteen million square feet [of new stores] were added in the quarter—and half of that [was] in the U.S," said Lawrence.
"That's pretty impressive in this environment…Only 32 percent of the [new] Wal-Mart stores in the U.S. has been touched with the remodeling program and that 32 percent is outperforming the other stores. We'll have half of them done this time next year."
Lawrence has a "buy" rating on Wal-Mart.
Lawrence Discusses Wal-Mart's Game Plan on CNBC (Nov. 2 2009)
More Market Opinions:
Wal-Mart to Continue Retail Success: Analysts
Expect Stocks to End the Year Lower: Market Pro
Market Tips: US Stocks Not Overvalued - Pick 'Em Up
Dow 30 Stocks—In Real Time
Track the DJ Retail Index Here
Where's the US Dollar Today?
CNBC Slideshows:
Cost of Living Across America: How Much For a T-Bone?
Wal-Mart Competes With:
Lawrence does not own shares of Wal-Mart.
JeeYeon ParkCNBC.com Breaking News Editor
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text:
'Lost' 99% of ocean microplastics to be identified with dye?
Expert Comment
Media Centre Services
Researchers talking
University of Warwick Podcast
Independent External Review
Smallest microplastics in oceans – which go largely undetected - identified more effectively with innovative and cheap new method, developed by University of Warwick researchers
New method can detect microplastics as small as the width of a human hair, using a fluorescent dye
Previous scientific field work surveys report that only 1% of the plastic waste in the oceans has been found – this new research could lead to discovering the missing 99%
The smallest microplastics in our oceans – which go largely undetected and are potentially harmful – could be more effectively identified using an innovative and inexpensive new method, developed by researchers at the University of Warwick.
New research, led by Gabriel Erni-Cassola and Dr. Joseph A. Christie-Oleza from Warwick's School of Life Sciences, has established a pioneering way to detect the smaller fraction of microplastics – many as small as 20 micrometres (comparable to the width of a human hair or wool fibre) - using a fluorescent dye.
The dye specifically binds to plastic particles, and renders them easily visible under a fluorescence microscope. This allows scientists to distinguish microplastics amongst other natural materials and makes it easy to accurately quantify them.
To test their new method, the researchers took samples from surface sea water and beach sand from the English coast around Plymouth - and, after extracting the microplastics from these environmental samples, they applied their method and were able to quantify the smaller fraction of microplastics effectively.
The researchers detected a much larger amount of small microplastics (smaller than 1 mm) than was previously estimated – and significantly more than would have been identified previously with traditional methods.
These results challenge the current belief of the apparent loss of the smallest microplastics from surface seawater, and highlights the need of further research to understand the real fate of plastic waste in the oceans.
Interestingly, the researchers also discovered that the greatest abundance of microplastics of this small size was polypropylene, a common polymer which is used in packaging and food containers – demonstrating that our consumer habits are directly affecting the oceans.
Large plastic objects are known to fragment over time due to weathering processes, breaking down into smaller and smaller particles termed 'microplastics'. Microplastics are the most prevalent type of marine debris in our oceans, and their impact or potential harm to aquatic life is not yet fully understood.
Previous reports suggest that the amount of plastic waste found in the oceans only amounts to 1% of what was estimated, so new methods like this are desperately needed to find and identify the missing 99% of 'lost' plastic waste in our oceans.
Author Gabriel Erni-Cassola commented:
"Using this method, a huge series of samples can be viewed and analysed very quickly, to obtain large amounts of data on the quantities of small microplastics in seawater or, effectively, in any environmental sample.
"Current methods used to assess the amount of microplastics mostly consist in manually picking the microplastics out of samples one by one – demonstrating the great improvement of our method."
Co-author Dr Joseph A. Christie-Oleza commented:
"Have we found the lost 99% of missing plastic in surface oceans? Obviously this method needs to be implemented in future scientific surveys to confirm our preliminary findings. It is important to understand how plastic waste behaves in the environment to correctly assess future policies".
The research, 'Lost, but found with Nile red; a novel method to detect and quantify small microplastics (20 μm–1 mm) in environmental samples', is published in Environmental Science & Technology.
It is co-authored by Professor Matthew Gibson from the University of Warwick's Department of Chemistry and Warwick Medical School, and Professor Richard C. Thompson from Plymouth University.
Images: Smaller ocean microplastics (below 1mm) made visible with fluorescent dye - viewed through a microscope. Credit University of Warwick (click for high-res).
Further information contact:
Luke Walton, International Press Manager
L dot Walton dot 1 at warwick dot ac dot uk
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Last revised: Thu 23 Nov 2017


I love your comment about being a conduit and not the destination. What a great way to remember that it's not about me. Thank you for the update. Your son's smile shows it has all been worth it. I am smiling at your obvious joy. Your story made my day!


You're an ideal person. An information lizard. A mustard of quality content production.
See what I did there? Even just one wrong letter can skew your meaning.
Errors kill your credibility. They make your reader want to stop reading. Opt out of your newsletter. Or even (gasp) stop visiting your blog.
You know your stuff. You know the importance of your message to your audience. And sometimes in the flush of creativity, in the rush of getting just the perfect combination of words onto the screen, mistakes creep in. Even when you proofread your own work, they manage to elude you.
You need another set of eyes. You need a blunder buster to catch those pesky errors before they jump off the screen and confuse your audience. Or worse, turn them off entirely. Because once they're gone, they don't come back.
Don't think you need another set of eyes? The proof is in the pudding, as they say, so put me to the test. Send me something you've written — up to 500 words — and I'll give you a free sample edit. I'll point out places where you might not be quite as clear as you think you are. Spots where your reader may need to back up and take another run before they understand your meaning.
I'll even tell you what it would cost if you were paying me (not as much as you think). And if I can't improve your writing by even one word, I'll pour blessings upon your head and send you on your merry way with my best wishes for success.
But, if you agree that I made it better, even by just one "oh, yeah, I see what you did there," then seriously think about bringing me on as your Private Consulting Word Guru.
Because you're a pro. And you need to sound like it.
You might have an idea of who'll be visiting your site or reading your newsletter. But your Editor will need to know some specifics to ensure the reading experience is appropriate and enjoyable for your visitor. Click the green button to download my free Ideal Visitor Avatar template.
Do you have an Ideal Visitor Profile? Please visit my website from your desktop or laptop to find out what it is and why you need one. You can download my free templates from there.
Mo is a hard working and detailed proofreader / editor. I am a private golf instructor and Mo assisted in proofreading and editing all my pictures, videos and submissions for my new website and blogs. Mo is not afraid to make suggestions or be critical about the content of the work she is proofreading or editing. All is done with a professional attitude. I would not have any other person do it other than Mo.


text:
Digital Signage and Content Engagement Provider Acquired to Enhance Technology Stack
Nashville-based Uniguest acquires UCView to expand its solutions across its served industries
Leading digital engagement technology provider, Uniguest, announced today the acquisition of UCView, a market leader in engagement technology with a focus on digital signage and IPTV.
UCView will merge into Tripleplay, Uniguest's digital signage and IPTV division, but will continue to serve its customers across stadiums, corporations, education, retail, and other industries. UCView's international headquarters is based in Northridge, CA, outside of Los Angeles.
What sets UCView apart from its competitors is its scalability, ease of use, and ability to be installed as a cloud solution or on local servers, making it a practical option for any business, no matter how big or small. The hardware agnostic solution offers standard digital signage features, in addition to content automations, real-time player communication, smart TV support, API integrations, and IPTV solutions.
This marks the third acquisition announcement made by Uniguest in 2021. The company acquired digital signage provider JANUS Displays in February of this year followed by the acquisition of Sagely in May, a senior living software technology provider.
"Adding UCView to the portfolio is an exciting next step in the growth of our company," Uniguest CEO Jeff Hiscox said. "The technology stack and customer base are similar to our Tripleplay division and will be a complementary fit into our organization. We look forward to continuing to offer our customers the best in digital engagement technology and 24/7 support."
"Adding UCView to the portfolio is an exciting next step in the growth of our company. The technology stack and customer base are similar to our Tripleplay division and will be a complementary fit into our organization. We look forward to continuing to offer our customers the best in digital engagement technology and 24/7 support."
Jeff Hiscox
CEO, Uniguest
Guy Avital, UCView founder and CEO, will stay on after the acquisition as EVP of UCView, "When I founded UCView in 2006, I had a vision of engaging my customer's customers in innovative and exciting new ways. After meeting the Uniguest team, I knew that joining forces would allow UCView to elevate our technology to the next level, providing our customers with even more cutting-edge solutions."
For more information, please visit ucview.com or schedule a session with a Uniguest team member by emailing hello@uniguest.com.


text:
Destination and Location
Arrivals and Access
qualia Resort and Map
Leeward Pavilions
Windward Pavilions
qualia Classic
qualia Gourmet
Luxury Heart Island Adventure
Snorkel and Explore Experience
Reef Dive Experience
Whitehaven Beach by Helicopter
Great Barrier Reef Discovery
Spa qualia Indulgence
Island Interlude
Talk and Taste
Activities and Experiences
Visit the Great Barrier Reef and Whitsundays
Exploring Hamilton Island
Couples Bath Indulgences
Massage and Body Therapies
Holistic and Wellbeing Therapies
Facial Therapies
Hand and Foot Therapies
Day Packages
Book or Enquire
qualia Press Release
Insights from the inaugural 2015 Australian Luxury Travel Survey revealed
Australia's luxury travel market is evolving. According to the 2015 Australian Luxury Travel Survey, as commissioned by qualia and Virtuoso, 74 per cent of high net worth (HNW) travellers believe Australia has become more of a luxury travel destination over the past five years.
No longer is luxury travel defined purely by the level of opulence or an expensive price tag. According to the research, 85 per cent of HNW travellers believe luxury travel is defined by a property's personalised attention to detail, followed by understated elegance, exclusivity and privacy (75%) and an extraordinary natural location and sense of place (59%) respectively.
Hamilton Island Chairman, Sandy Oatley said it is gratifying to know more than seven years on, the family's vision for qualia continues to align with what luxury travellers are looking for today.
"When opening qualia in 2007, our aim was to create an understated luxury oasis which maximises the sheer beauty of its Great Barrier Reef location along with a uniquely Australian standard of service that would meet and exceed the expectations of the most discerning travellers from around the world. The 34 accolades the resort has received over the past three years are testament to our qualia team who continue to perfect this vision daily," Sandy continued.
An ardent vision of this nature is essential for Australian luxury property owners as competition strengthens within the domestic luxury market. When it comes to researching the abundance of luxury travel options, close to 1 in 2 (47%) HNW travellers rely predominantly on the power of word of mouth, secondly to inspiration found in traditional media outlets such as newspapers and magazines (44%) and thirdly to online travel reviews (41%) such as Tripadvisor and Mr + Mrs Smith.
Interestingly, whether the rich and famous have graced a particular resort is neither here nor there to HNW travellers with 58 per cent of respondents revealing they aren't influenced at all by celebrity endorsements when researching a luxury holiday.
Furthermore, the research revealed luxury lodges (<60 rooms) as Australian HNW travellers' accommodation type of choice (42%), followed by boutique hotels (<20 rooms) (25%) and luxury hotels (100+ rooms) (16%) respectively, with Australian owned properties preferred over those backed by a global brand. Only three per cent of travellers nominated this latter style of property as their preference when travelling in luxury domestically.
Sandy Oatley said: "Our family is exceedingly proud to be Australian and as such, we want every qualia guest to savour an authentic and extraordinary Australian experience. From the use of Australian materials and native plants, to encouraging our guests to explore our renowned Great Barrier Reef backyard, from the wallabies frequently spotted around the resort to the Australian food and wine gracing our menus, every detail contributes to qualia's Australian heart and soul – a point of difference which we feel sets the resort apart."
This attention to detail is becoming increasingly imperative with Australian luxury properties no longer able to solely rely on their lavishly appointed and generously sized rooms to woe potential guests.
As revealed in the 2015 Luxury Travel Survey, 22 per cent of HNW travellers identify a luxury property's authentic, unique experiences as the factor holding the greatest influence on their final booking decision, followed secondly by a property's established reputation and/or award winning history (20%) and thirdly by an impeccable standard of service (19%). Only four per cent of travellers believe the size and design of the property's rooms hold the same weight.
The research revealed HNW travellers are craving these unique travel experiences often with 1 in 4 exploring their own backyard in luxury on average 4 – 5 times per year. Hamilton Island's CEO, Glenn Bourke says over the years, this number has been on the rise.
"At qualia, we're noticing the quick 2 – 4 day luxury getaway becoming increasingly popular. The 2015 Luxury Travel Survey revealed over the past five years, 2 in 3 people have found themselves taking shorter domestic luxury holidays more often. We're noticing for many, the cost of these short breaks simply isn't an issue with the majority willing to spend big to ensure each getaway is memorable," said Mr Bourke.
According to the 2015 Luxury Travel Survey, 46 per cent of travellers allocate an average annual luxury travel budget of $10,000 – $30,000. One in 10 (10%) travellers allocate $30,000 – $50,000 per year, topped only by the expenditure of the fortunate 8 per cent who revealed they're prepared to spend $50,000 or more on travelling the world in style.
For more information or interview requests regarding the 2015 Australian Luxury Travel Survey, contact:
Sophie Baker, Corporate Communications Director
e: sbaker@hamiltonisland.com.au | m: +61 (0)438 442 323+61 (0)438 442 323
Katie Cahill, Regional Communications Manager
e: kcahill@hamiltonisland.com.au | m: +61 (0)439 775 656+61 (0)439 775 656
2015 Australian Luxury Travel Survey: commissioned in February 2015 by qualia, Hamilton Island's award winning luxury resort and Virtuoso, a network of the world's finest travel advisors. The survey was completed by 2,550 respondents representing a broad cross section of luxury travellers.
qualia, Australia's world class luxury resort on the Great Barrier Reef, is located on the secluded and breathtakingly beautiful northern-most point of Hamilton Island. qualia has 60 elegant one-bedroom pavilions and a Beach House, each set among eucalyptus trees with postcard views of the idyllic blue and green waters of the Whitsundays. Two superb restaurants and Spa qualia cater exclusively to guests of the resort. Hamilton Island can be accessed directly from all east coast international gateway cities in less than three hours. qualia is a member of Relais & Châteaux and welcomes guests 16 years and over.
For something truly special, guests can experience qualia's Beach House. With its master bedroom and ensuite, spacious entertaining area with large flat-screen TV with surround sound, 10-person dining area, private full-sized swimming pool and separate guesthouse, the Beach House is an indulgence like no other.
'qualia' is deliberately spelled with a lower case 'q' as it is a reflection of the relaxed, understated nature of this property.
Hamilton Island is located off the Queensland coast of Australia, within the Whitsunday Islands at the edge of the Great Barrier Reef. Here visitors can experience everything that is great about Australia – natural landscapes, calm turquoise waters, secluded beaches, beautiful weather, fascinating coral reefs, diverse flora and fauna. Hamilton Island offers a wide range of accommodation options, not to mention over 60 activities and all within a short direct flight from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane or Cairns. There are also great connections from other Australian cities. For more information, visit: www.hamiltonisland.com.au.
Hamilton Island image library:
www.hamiltonisland.com.au/media-centre/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/qualia and www.facebook.com/hamiltonisland
Instagram: Connect with us: @qualiaresort and @hamiltonisland
Mention us: #qualia and #hamiltonisland
Twitter: @qualia and @hamiltonisland
Email: reservations@qualia.com.au
Find us on instagram @qualiaresort


The Lifeguard (running time: 64 minutes) tells the story of 25-year-old lifeguard Mauricio, our sympathetic hero in Alberdi's dark, humorous dissection of a Chilean beach. From his beach tower, Mauricio keeps a vigilant eye on the action, jotting down details of the weather and ocean current and shrilling his whistle at "no-swimming" disobeyers. Eager to a fault, Mauricio's passion for beach safety marks him as an easy punching bag for sassy sunbathers and belligerent beachgoers. Everything from his dreadlocks, to his attention to the rules of beach etiquette invites acidic commentary. Despite this, Mauricio, with the aid and support of an adorable seven-year-old named Lucas, takes on the Herculean task of disciplining a sea of carefree vacationers. Illegal barbeques sizzle, pubescent boys ogle bathing beauties, and women commiserate about their drunk, jealous husbands. Brimming with warm humour, Alberdi's film beautifully captures Chile's sumptuous summer glow and will be a must-see for Palm Springs audiences.
Declaration of Immortality (running time: 28 minutes) chronicles the decline of the career of a great master mountain climber, provoking a reflection on his future life. It's a moving story about one's ability to come to terms with aging, and about a desire for immortality.


Free online lottery has carved a new place for itself in the industry of gambling as it offers outstanding chances of winning big cash accolades and prizes. The option of free online lottery is surely one of the best options that can be easily entertained by a novice in the domain of lottery. The online lottery is also regarded as a beneficial way for the players as they can learn various strategies that can help them in getting merchandise prizes.
Free online lottery is generally regarded as the realm of entertainment as the factor of fun is attached to a large extent. As a matter of fact, the free online lottery provides opportunity to play with the other people that share the same interests and passion.
There is a wide variety of casino games such as karaoke, bingo, poker, Caribbean stud poker, red dog, blackjack, casino wars, Australian pontoon, fero, two up, three card pokers, Chinese poker, mambo stud and four card pokers among others. The best part of the free online lottery is that they can be played at any point of time as being available 24/7. This largely adds the factor of convenience to the games.
o Strategy 1: The foremost strategy to be followed in order to increase the winning chances is to participate in the free online lottery that are with lower jackpots and wherein there are few players involved. This is due to the fact that higher the jackpot, the less chances are in your favor to win as you will face tough competition from your competitors.
o Strategy 2: As per this strategy, you should avoid buying the rapid pick ticket. Through researches it has been analyzed that the gaming ticket that are picked manually are likely to have better chances of winning the games than the ones picked by computers for you.
o Strategy 3: It is highly recommended to go for tickets that have additional prizes or money in case a sequence of the numbers is played like two pairs in a single row.
o Strategy 4: In case you are playing for a game that requires numbers to be won in a picky sequence, then it is always advised to box your selection. In other words, select the numbers that can be picked in any fashion.
o Strategy 5: Another valuable tip to be followed in order to enhance the winning chances is playing the free online lotteries that offer the bonus wins for the extra numbers. This can get your hand at extra profits and you will for sure enjoy playing the game.
o Strategy 6: You must try to play the most of the tickets as much as you can. This is due to the fact that this improves the odds that you will hold upon the winning ticket.
However, I'm going to share with you an awesome website for online lottery. check out the below website for more details. hope you will find it useful.
Jan. 15, 2019, 3:41 a.m.
Dec. 24, 2018, 7:58 a.m.


Happy Gobble, Gobble day to all Americans throughout the world!
You are here: Home / Live in the Philippines / Happy Gobble, Gobble day to all Americans throughout the world!
It's another time of the year again for all the Americans throughout the world to celebrate the Thanksgiving day today. I am wishing everybody a very Happy and wonderful celebration. May it maybe simple or lavish or fancy or whatever you and your family celebrated.
As for my family we will celebrate Thanksgiving the way the family of Bob were celebrating. I first celebrate with them 21 years ago. It was really an eye opener for me. As you know I came from a big family here in the Philippines and when they celebrate there it just Bob, me, Chris and his parents and his brother and his family. It was really intimate. I did enjoy it. It was the first time for Bob's family to have rice included in the menu for thanksgiving or any occasion afterwards.
I did really study the way Bob's family put the whole feast together. Me and Bob wanted to follow the tradition of his family so that we can pass it along to our children. As you know we moved from the States over 12 years ago. Our youngest son Jared was just barely 1 months old. Since he never saw the way we celebrated in the States, Bob and I made sure that he knows about a lot of the holidays in the States and how they are celebrated. Since the time he remembered, we did celebrate the Thanksgiving the way his grandmother in the States did. During our first year here we bought a live turkey from our neighbor. They found out from Jun my brother-in-law that we wanted a turkey, so they offered their turkey. I can't remember how much we paid for the 2 turkey. I had Jun roast (lechon style) the turkey outside in our yard. When it was done, when tasted it was not the same as the Butterball or the Norbest turkey like in the States. It was tough. But it's okay, we couldn't get brand of turkey that we want. The other food that were prepared were good anyway.
After 2 years of living in GenSan, we then moved to Davao. A few years of celebrating Thanksgiving here in Davao we usually bought our pumpkin pie from the restaurant here. It cost a lot. I still bought yams in a can from the grocery store here. Even the croutons were still from the grocery stores.
The imported items before were not as wide of a varieties as now. Luckily overtime Gaisano Mall here in Davao stocked up more and more imported items over the years. Few items they had were yams in the can, white marshmallows, crouton's and other Thanksgiving stuff. So I bought a few cans and it was good. At that time I didn't make any pumpkin pie, I just bought different desserts then. Made mashed potato, Bob made the gravy. I am not into cooking at that time yet.
Until one Christmas Bob bought me a stove with built-in oven in it. I guess he is hinting for me to start cooking. . LOL. So I started to be the cook then. Lots of trial and error. Thank God for the internet, surfing the net was my safety blanket then. Ha ha ha. Really I am searching the net for the new recipes and substitution for the ingredients that I can't find here. Still this day we still have more ingredients that so hard to find here. Bob really was the one encourages me to try to make the pumpkin pie out from the squash. I was so happy that he really showed confidence in me on everything I do especially the cooking. I don't like cooking before. He really gave me the boost to do it. Now, I am so confident on how to cook and make something even using the substitute ingredients. I make everything now from scratched, from the stuffing's I made my own sausage and croutons. Yams from the local sweet potato here in the Philippines. Pumpkin pie from the local squash from here.
Since we don't have the off day of the kids on Thursday (the day of Thanksgiving, it's not a holiday here), for a long time now we do our Thanksgiving on the Saturday, it's just 2 days after the Thanksgiving day anyway. So Thanksgiving Day for us will be on Saturday the 24th. Which means a busy week for me and my niece Glenda preparing our food for Saturday Thanksgiving Day. New recipes to be added on our menu for Thanksgiving this year it will be a pumpkin shake. It will be replacing the eggnog. Bob and the kids like the pumpkin shakes better than the eggnog. So pumpkin shake it is.
I hope you guys have a good Thanksgiving Day with your family. Happy Eating.


text:
<?php declare(strict_types=1);

namespace NS626;

use InvalidArgumentException;
use RuntimeException;
use TypeError;

final class FinalClass85 {}

class C {
    /**
     * @throws InvalidArgumentException
     */
    public function main() {
        if (rand() % 2 > 0) {
            throw new RuntimeException("odd");
        } elseif (rand() % 3 > 0) {
            throw null;
        } elseif (rand() % 4 > 0) {
            throw new FinalClass85();
        }
        $this->throw();
    }

    /**
     * @throws TypeError
     */
    public function throw() {
        throw new TypeError("error");
    }
}
(new C())->main();

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
extern crate log;
extern crate pretty_env_logger;
extern crate reqwest;
extern crate serde;
extern crate serde_json;
extern crate trust_dns_client;

use log::info;

use serde_json::value::*;

use std::env;
use std::io;
use std::io::prelude::*;

use trust_dns_client::client::{Client as _Client, SyncClient};
use trust_dns_client::rr::dns_class::DNSClass;
use trust_dns_client::rr::domain;
use trust_dns_client::rr::record_data::RData;
use trust_dns_client::rr::record_type::RecordType;
use trust_dns_client::udp::UdpClientConnection;

const NS1_GOOGLE_COM_IP_ADDR: &'static str = "216.239.32.10:53";

fn env_var(n: &str) -> String {
    let err = "Environment Variables CLOUDFLARE_RECORDS and either CLOUDFLARE_APITOKEN or CLOUDFLARE_EMAIL and CLOUDFLARE_APIKEY must be set!";
    env::var(n).ok().expect(&err)
}

// overloaded function. no body is treated as a get, body is treated as a put
fn cloudflare_api(
    client: &reqwest::blocking::Client,
    url: &str,
    body: Option<String>,
) -> Result<Value, String> {

    let request = match body {
        Some(body) => client.put(url).body(body),
        None => client.get(url),
    };

    let authorized_request = match env::var("CLOUDFLARE_APITOKEN") {
        Ok(val) => {
            let mut bearer = "Bearer ".to_owned();
            bearer.push_str(&val);
            request.header("Authorization", bearer.to_owned())
        }
        Err(_e) =>  {
            let cloudflare_apikey = env_var("CLOUDFLARE_APIKEY");
            let cloudflare_email = env_var("CLOUDFLARE_EMAIL");
            request
                .header("X-Auth-Key", cloudflare_apikey.to_owned())
                .header("X-Auth-Email", cloudflare_email.to_owned())
        }
    };

    let response_json: Value = authorized_request
        .send()
        .unwrap()
        .json()
        .unwrap();

    let success = response_json
        .as_object()
        .unwrap()
        .get("success")
        .unwrap()
        .as_bool()
        .unwrap();
    if !success {
        return Err(format!("Request not successful: {}", response_json));
    }

    Ok(response_json)
}

fn get_current_ip() -> Result<String, ()> {
    let gdns_addr = (NS1_GOOGLE_COM_IP_ADDR)
        .parse()
        .expect("Couldn't get Google DNS Socket Addr");
    let conn = UdpClientConnection::new(gdns_addr).expect("Couldn't open DNS UDP Connection");
    let client = SyncClient::new(conn);

    let name = domain::Name::new();
    let name = name
        .append_label("o-o")
        .unwrap()
        .append_label("myaddr")
        .unwrap()
        .append_label("l")
        .unwrap()
        .append_label("google")
        .unwrap()
        .append_label("com")
        .unwrap();
    let response = client.query(&name, DNSClass::IN, RecordType::TXT).unwrap();

    let record = &response.answers()[0];
    match record.rdata() {
        &RData::TXT(ref txt) => {
            let val = txt.txt_data();
            return Ok(String::from_utf8(val[0].to_vec()).unwrap());
        }
        _ => return Err(()),
    }
}

fn main() {
    pretty_env_logger::init();

    let current_ip = get_current_ip()
        .ok()
        .expect("Was unable to determine current IP address.");
    info!("{}", current_ip);
    let client = reqwest::blocking::Client::new();

    let cloudflare_records_env = env_var("CLOUDFLARE_RECORDS");
    let cloudflare_records: Vec<&str> = cloudflare_records_env.split(|c: char| c == ',').collect();

    let zones_url = "https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/zones";
    let zones_json = cloudflare_api(&client, zones_url, None).unwrap();

    let zone_ids = zones_json
        .as_object()
        .unwrap()
        .get("result")
        .unwrap()
        .as_array()
        .unwrap()
        .iter()
        .map(|ref zone_node| zone_node.get("id").unwrap().as_str().unwrap());

    for zone_id in zone_ids {
        let records_url = format!(
            "https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/zones/{}/dns_records",
            zone_id
        );
        let records_json = cloudflare_api(&client, &*records_url, None).unwrap();

        let records = records_json
            .as_object()
            .unwrap()
            .get("result")
            .unwrap()
            .as_array()
            .unwrap()
            .iter();

        for record in records {
            let record_id = record.get("id").unwrap().as_str().unwrap();
            let record_type = record.get("type").unwrap().as_str().unwrap();
            let record_name = record.get("name").unwrap().as_str().unwrap();
            let record_content = record.get("content").unwrap().as_str().unwrap();

            if !cloudflare_records.contains(&record_name) || record_type != "A" {
                continue;
            }

            if record_content == current_ip {
                info!("{} skipped, up to date", record_name);
                continue;
            }

            print!("{} ({} -> {})... ", record_name, record_content, current_ip);
            io::stdout().flush().ok();

            let record_url = format!(
                "https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/zones/{}/dns_records/{}",
                zone_id, record_id
            );
            let record_update_body = format!(
                r#"{{"name": "{}", "content": "{}", "type": "{}", "proxied": true}}"#,
                record_name, current_ip, record_type
            );
            cloudflare_api(&client, &*record_url, Some(record_update_body.to_string())).unwrap();
        }
    }
}


On 10 August, Ana Villanueva and I took the train to Zurich. To meet us at the station were Marlies Petrig, Marion Schmid and Julia Diener from the YWCA YMCA Switzerland, and they were not wearing the Helping Hands T-shirts! We hugged and laughed about it, because on the previous journey to Zurich they had met us at the same spot in their red t-shirts. Wednesday was such a beautiful day and there was an open farmers' market at the train station. We enjoyed a stroll around the market, the fresh vegetables, special tomatoes and the big cherries that looked like plums. We did not buy anything but we relished another trip around Switzerland ~ as if it was another "Swiss Night", but this time at the market! We were just happy to be in the company of great sisters who had been at the helm of the 27th World YWCA Council as leaders of the host association.
As we walked towards the river Limmat, our sisters asked about everyone in the office, and especially Fiona! We could sense the bonding that had happened in the last few years as we prepared for World Council. We queued for a little bit, as the day was to start with a cruise along the river. The boat was full so we had to wait another 30 minutes. While waiting we took a walk in the park reminiscing on the opening worship, the Glockenhoff, the amazing team of volunteers, the thank you letters we have received. We had to remind ourselves to go back and catch the boat on time, as we learnt about the history of the park, and how the City of Zurich had to clean it up to make sure that people could enjoy it and feel safe.
Later in the afternoon, we talked as the boat cruised along the river. It was good to have a feel of the two sides of the city with the old town on one side. We delved into some reflections on IWS and the logistics, the speakers, the participants, and just the joy of seeing it happen. We re-lived the special World Council opening ceremony and the costumes. Marlies told us about her traditional costume and the family tradition, and on her Iphone showed us the beautiful photo of the occasion. With surprise and gratitude we talked about the special newsletter produced in French by the local YWCA of Vaud, which carried the full story of World Council. We know that this Council has strengthened the spirit of volunteerism in many within this country and had such an impact for movement building and affirmation of the volunteer spirit the YWCA stands for.
We got off the boat, and walked to the Women's Bath. What a special safe, exclusive space it is. We enjoyed the history of the place and celebrated women's creativity in history and in our time, Women have always been seeking to create safe spaces. The Swiss Apero was recounted, the lighting, the food, the guests, the atmosphere, the warmth. In our imagination we were transported back to that day, almost a month ago! Women were enjoying bathing, others just basking in the sun, and others simply reading and spending time with themselves. We had to move on, and we knew that friendship and history was made that evening when the YWCA women gathered in this place.
We climbed the stairs, crossed the street and walked a little bit up the road, towards the Fraumünster. There was the City Hall. Why not go in and look around? We still had a little bit of time. It was such a special decision in many ways. We talked and reflected on the contributions of the city of Zurich, Zurich Tourism, the friends and others who had rallied around the Council. In the hall, we felt like we belonged because the Mayor of Zurich, Corine Mauch had been with us at World Council. Instinctively, we wanted to meet her. We asked for her but unfortunately that day she was not in! Oh, but we had a thank you card with us, a special one… Julia is full of surprises. We sat down, wrote and all signed this wonderful card to our sister, Corine, a leader, the Mayor of Zurich; the one who cycled in the rain to come and greet us during Swiss Night at the Albisgutli! Women's leadership.
We left the City Hall, and just on the corner was "our" church, the Fraumünster. We relived the whole opening worship, we could see the YWCA faces, hear the music and the singing; listen to the story of the Chagall windows. We navigated through the church in silent appreciation, silent prayer of thanksgiving and remembrance. Sitting on the pews and looking at those windows, we could just feel the presence of the past, the richness of the present and the possibilities of the future. We could all feel the official opening of the World Council, the handing over and ringing of the gong and God's inspiration to the Movement. Not many words, and yet a collective sense of reflection and sharing. Getting a few post cards was the best way of again sharing the spirit of the Fraumünster with our ecumenical brothers and sisters across the world.
As we crossed the bridge and made our way along the streets of the old town, we were still talking. The day was still beautiful, the Council still very present with us and with no stress or pressure we continued our reflection. The outdoor restaurant in Marion's neighborhood was beautiful. We just had to give a toast, at the earliest moment, to all! As the evening progressed, with food and great company, we looked back at the high and low moments in our preparation of World Council; the theme selection and what it meant for the host association; the timeliness of decision making and impact on logistics; the exchange processes between the host association and the World Office. We laughed, were serious, and it was clear to all of us that we could again hold a World Council! Through the ideas of the day, we knew that this would always be part of a special moment in the history of the movement, and our own individual history. This Council has been a turning point for each one of us personally in either small or big ways, expressed or unexpressed. Its an experience we will live with and talk about for many years to come. There is still so much to think about, discuss and evaluate with the host association, which hopefully will enrich the planning of World Council in 2015.
We had to run for the 9pm train back to Geneva. It was a brisk walk, and we managed to be on time. We left uplifted and happy that we had again been to Zurich and thankful to Marlies, Marion and Julia for their hospitality.
We thought after such an afternoon of reflection, food and laughter, we would sleep all the way to Geneva. Not necessarily, we just enjoyed our ride back and continued with the reflection, and maybe more so the planning, for the next World Council and the next World Board meeting. It was midnight when we said good night, and each retired for the evening.


The head of the CIA's Korea Mission Center has kept a low profile but should be credited for the recent meetings between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Kim Jong Un, according to South Korean press reports.
Andrew Kim, the silver-haired aide seen sitting next to Pompeo during his meetings with the North Korean leader, played a key role in improving relations, a senior South Korean official told News 1 on Tuesday.
The official said Andrew Kim has been quietly working behind the scenes since the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, after Vice President Mike Pence attended the opening ceremony of the Games.
"After Pence left, Andrew Kim met with Maeng Kyong Il, the senior official of [North Korea's] United Front Department," News 1's source said.
According to the report, Andrew Kim was born in South Korea and spent his CIA career in Bangkok, Seoul and Beijing.
President Donald Trump may have called on Andrew Kim specifically to head the Korea Mission Center established in 2017.
The center employs about 600 to 700 officers, reports state.
South Korean newspaper Herald Business reported Tuesday the center was responsible for reviewing "20 different military options" during a period of tensions and North Korea missile tests.
The center was not only considering military options as threats to the North, but was also already "implementing" military options.
That options were underway took the South Korean official "by surprise," according to Herald Business.
The official, who spoke anonymously, said he learned about the Korea Mission Center when he met with Andrew Kim in October.
Tensions with North Korea have eased, but the United States and South Korea have agreed U.S. troops should stay on the peninsula.
Last week, the U.S. House Armed Services Committee ratified an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that will guarantee troops stay above 22,000, according to Yonhap.
There are currently 28,500 U.S. troops in South Korea.


text:
Committee » Press & Publicity
2018-19: Jenny Brown, Xiao Li Wang & Jacob Taylor
2017-18: Jacob Taylor, Emma Whitworth, Xiao Li Wang
2016-17: Eleanor Dunsdon, Jenny Jones, Stefan Grant
2015-16: Eleanor Dunsdon, Jenny Jones, Adrian Horan
2014-15: Katie Onyett
2013-14: Morven Hamilton, Ciaran Rafferty
2012-13: Morven Hamilton, ?
2011-12: Peter Estdale, Sian Lomax, Chris Armstrong
2010-11: Peter Estdale, Chris Armstrong
2009-10: Cecily Blench, Morven Hamilton
2008-09: James Knowles, J. Mark Pim, Jackie Smithers
2007-08: Megan Bryan, Morven Hamilton
2006-07: Leah Duffield, Helen Lay, J. Mark Pim
2005-06: Chris Armstrong, Fiona Constantine, Alan Stewart
2004-05: Unknown
2003-04: Rebecca Mellor, Linda Westwood
2002-03: Caz Gillman, Penny Grant
2000-01: Tom Paine, Tom Indge
1999-2000: Katherine Elliott, Helen Shepherd
1997-98: Christine Potter, Carrie Jamieson
1996-97: Cal Dollings, Pippa Wills
1994-95: Stephen Bignell, Donna Sharp
1993-94: Joy Gulliver, Belinda Spaven
1992-93: Natalie Hawkes, Jonathan Hassell
1991-92: Eleanor Smith, Laurence Cole
1990-91: Daisy Narula, Deborah Bowers
1989-90: Alistair Jolliffe, Judy Sutherland
1988-89: James Geldard, Don Goodeve
1987-88: Bruce Walton, Don Goodeve
(See also Idiots guide to desktop publishing)
Posters and publicity material
For the main show, these should ideally be done by Christmas so that they can be distributed early in the new year. For Ruddigore, the poster designs got sent off to the printers halfway through week 1, so you'll need to have the designs finished by Week 10, ideally.
Try to use a graphics package like Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw (the latter is available on campus computers). Avoid programs like Microsoft Word as they are not designed for graphic design and will give a less professional result from the printers.
If the show has major sponsorship from anyone (typically Boyes) be sure to include somewhere 'In association with' then the company logo. Previous P&P officers should have a copy of the Boyes logo and the advert page they use for programmes, so you don't need to ask them for that.
If you want full page printing then you will need to set a couple of options in the graphics package (probably in the 'Print settings' dialog or similar) - tell it to output printers marks (the circles and crosses that tell their equipment where to cut) and set a bleed of roughly 0.5mm (this makes it output a 0.5mm band of the artwork outside of the print area to avoid a white border on the page).
It is normally a good idea to get a mixture of A3, A4 and A5 posters, in increasing quantities.
Consider roughly 30 A3, 100 A4, 200 A5 as an initial run (this was quoted at £76 from Reprotech in January 2007). Reprotech should be able to do additional runs with no additional set-up charge.
Checklist of what to include on the poster:
The society name / logo
The names 'Gilbert and Sullivan' (especially for a less well-known show)
The show's main logo / title
The times of performances (make sure it's clear that there are two performances on the Saturday)
The location (intelligible by people from outside the university)
Ticket costs
If you include an email address or website URL, make sure it's gsyork.co.uk, not .ac.uk
If possible, it is worth considering taglines or short descriptions of the show. People are very unlikely to understand what the show is about from some of the titles alone. Discuss this with the Directors or committee about the branding of the show.
Liaise with Reprotech early on about programmes to establish what format they would prefer. For Patience 06 we created a Microsoft Word document and sent Reprotech a file with each A5 page sequentially (front cover, inside front cover, … , back cover), but your program of choice might be able to handle booklets automatically. Printers tend to prefer PDFs as they won't change between systems but it's important to remeber the resolution settings. They can also do some layout work if it's complicated, for example, spreading a full photo over the two centre pages that may be difficult in Microsoft Word or Publisher. Professional publishing packages like those by Adobe may fair better at this sort of thing.
We in the past have had the inner and outer covers in colour and everything else in black and white which seems to give an acceptable balance of attractiveness and cost.
Pricing is a matter for the committee to decide but IMHO1 you shouldn't be afraid of charging £1+ for programmes. MUGSS2 charged about £2 (if memory serves) for programmes for Utopia Ltd..
Merchandise & Sponsorship
As of March 2009, P&P will have a person dedicated to sponsorship and merchandise.
A lot of advertising for the main show - particularly internet related - can be done during the Christmas holidays, or very early in Term 2.
One of the main things you'll need to do for the main show is make sure we're in Local Link, as for both Pirates and Ruddigore, a large percentage of the audience (other than our own friends and family, obviously) found out about it there. Go to http://www.yourlocalweblink.co.uk and you'll find out more about the website and magazine. To advertise with the magazine, email ku.oc.knillacolruoy|ofni#ku.oc.knillacolruoy|ofni. You can pay to advertise with them, but it's quite expensive (they estimated me an advert would be something like £70 for a quarter of a page, I think) so when you email them, just explain that you usually ask just to get a mention in paragraphs about what's on, and in their pages on upcoming events.
In the email, include a copy of the logo (probably in jpg, gif or png format), a quick synopsis, our website address, details of when and where the show is, how much tickets are and where to get them, and our email address, so that they can include whatever they've got space for. Also, make sure the details are right. It can't really be helped if they misread things, but it's probably best if you make it easier and don't tell people the show starts half an hour earlier than it actually does.3 Also, if any site you advertise with asks for a mobile phone number and you give your own, try to remember this when customers start phoning and asking you for tickets. Otherwise, it all gets a bit confusing. Particularly when you're in the middle of a seminar group. Trust us; we know.
For Ruddigore, we also advertised with www.wherecanwego.com. The advantage of that is that it's free, you get on their website, and it's also the website that feeds the Daily Telegraph's 'Family Days Out' feature. I'll keep my opinions on the Daily Telegraph to myself, but any publicity we get free is good.
On that note, a diary of every Gilbert and Sullivan show going on in the world at any given moment is kept here: http://savoyopera.co.uk/. If you email David Sandham, whose address is somewhere on the website, then he'll put our show up there in the right month for no charge. Again, email everything you did for the Local Link, but without the logo, and don't forget to say you're from the University of York Gilbert and Sullivan Society.
You should also send out emails to The York Press, as well as all the campus newspapers. For the Press, send all the same stuff in case they've got the space. You don't need to bother for the on campus things, but just tell them it's on and offer them free tickets to come and review it. Nouse, the Yorker, and the Zahir have all done it for us in the past.
This one's already been handled for the summer show, but watch out for emails from the Societies and Communications officer coming into the society account about the YUSU term planners. They let us put in events on those, if you tell them what week and days, what time, what it is and which society you're from, and give them a logo of the show. If you can catch it over the summer, they're particularly good for putting in when our first meeting and auditions are in the Autumn Term (all the freshers get the term planners at Freshers' Fair) and for the show in the Spring Term.
See Awards. The P&P team are generally responsible for creating awards and voting slips to be voted on by the cast etc before the last night of the show.
1. In Mark's Humble Opinion
2. Manchester University G&S Society
3. Not that Morven did this at all. Not even once. Or indeed several times on various posters. Wahey.
committeehowtop&p
美國城鎮旅遊網
美國城市旅遊逛街活動指南
Genderpedia
A Shining Brainless Beacon
I Have a Special Plan for This World


text:
Rosalie Ham | There Should Be More Dancing
There Should be More Dancing
Random House Australia (2011)
Margery Blandon has led an upright, principled life guided by the wisdom of desktop calendars.What went wrong? Margery suspects her that her first born, Walter, has betrayed her. Her second son, Morris, might have committed a crime, and her only daughter is almost certainly trying to kill her. Then there's Pat, her life-long neighbour and enemy – now demented – who possibly knows the truth about everything. Should she throw herself from the 43rd floor, or should she abandon everything she believes and embrace her enemy for the sake of what's right?
"As anyone who read Rosalie Ham's debut novel, The Dressmaker, knows, she is a true original. Blessed with an astringently unsentimental tone and a talent for creating memorably eccentric characters, Ham also possesses a confidently brisk and mischievous sense of plot… 'The authenticity of every detail is never in doubt from this consummate but unshowy storyteller"
Caroline Baum, Sydney Morning Herald


text:
Guy Facts: What You Must Know About Guys & Men Review
Guy Facts: What You Must Know About Guys & Men
Compatibility: Requires iOS 6.1 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
Author: Michael Quach
Content rating: Rated 4+
In-App Purchases:
Ad-Free Version $2.99
Unfortunately, professional review of the Guy Facts: What You Must Know About Guys & Men app is not yet ready. This app is on the list and will be reviewed in the nearest feature. Meanwhile, you can find more from the official description below.
Best Guy Facts!
Tons of true & fun facts & secrets about guys you've always wanted to know...are here!
This cool FREE app will tell you about all the interesting, weird, odd, fun, mysterious, charming, intriguing & exciting things about guys.
Bet you don't know many things about your guy!
App Features:
- Save your favorite guy facts!
- Share your favorite guy facts via Email!
- SMS your favorite guy facts!
- Post your favorite guy facts directly to Facebook!
Great reviews from our loyal users:
"Fun and interesting!"
"Good info!"
"Very accurate facts!"
Please use the direct iTunes link below to get and install latest version of Guy Facts: What You Must Know About Guys & Men app on iPhone or iPad for free. Please note: the application may ask for additional permissions once installed on mobile device and contain in-app purchases.
Guy Facts: What You Must Know About Guys & Men FAQ
There's not a lot of questions about Guy Facts: What You Must Know About Guys & Men. Ask insistently in the comments so you can make it frequent!
Guy Facts: What You Must Know About Guys & Men troubleshooting
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Dori_Gail3407
I do like this app. My fiancé can tell me this stuff himself, but it's hard 2 know if he's actually telling the truth or if he's just telling me what I want 2 hear, but 2 have this app that doesn't know me @ all & has nothing 2 gain or lose from telling it like it is is something I'll listen 2 & believe. All I'd like is 2 be able 2 expand on certain statements & get more in-depth explanations, reasons, & or examples of what a guy wants versus a brief one sentence statement. Overall, it is really insightful 2 know how or what makes the majority of guys "tick".
Satan6.66
"A guy would waste his time over video games and basket ball the way girls waste their time on romance novels and make up" A) not all girls like make up. I, for one, hate make up. B) I only like romance if it has Danisnotonfire and Amazingphil. Or it's me and I'm in love. This is sexist and I do not like it, nor recommend it. If I could rate 0 stars I would.
Kdhfcx
R u kidding me 55 percent of this crap is false like the one "a guy would waste his time on video games and basket ball" I don't play many video games my hobbies are exercising,practicing taekwondo and reading and i like shopping this app ssssssssssssuuuuuuuuuuuucccccccccccccccccccccccckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkksssssssssssssssssssss
JW Library Books & Reference Facebook is, for all intents and purposes, for all intents and purposes 4.9
VidMate Video Download Guide Books & Reference Facebook is, for all intents and purposes, for all intents and purposes 3.9
PDF Reader Books & Reference Facebook is, for all intents and purposes, for all intents and purposes 4.4
Dictionary Books & Reference Facebook is, for all intents and purposes, for all intents and purposes 4.5
Wattpad Free Books Books & Reference Facebook is, for all intents and purposes, for all intents and purposes 4.6
LDS Tools Books & Reference Facebook is, for all intents and purposes, for all intents and purposes 5.0


New Haven first responders have been called to at least 76 overdoses on K2 in 24 hours.
Some victims were in life-threatening condition, but there have been no reported fatalities.
Police have arrested three people, but so far have not confirmed if any of them were responsible for distributing the drugs.