Unbelievably Talented Malaysian

Ador, You Will Be Missed

I had the great opportunity to meet and see Ador in action many times over the past few years. I am thankful that together with Leslie Loh, we at least managed to get The Solianos together to record the first ever album, which I feel strongly is a brilliant testament of the contribution of The Solianos (including Alfonso) to the culture and growth of modern Malaysian music since 1950s. 

Solianos band member and saxophonist Salvador Guerzo dies

By Dennis Chua 
dchua@nst.com.my | 0 comments

KUALA LUMPUR: Saxophonist and music arranger Salvador Guerzo, 70, a member of Malaysia’s renowned band the Solianos, died this morning at his family's residence in Langkawi.

Saxophonist Salvador Guerzo

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Guerzo is the son-in-law of jazz legend Alfonso Soliano, who founded the Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) Orchestra.

Jazz singer Michelle Nunis, Guerzo’s daughter-in-law, described him as a professional who was easy to work with.

“He was down-to-earth and passionate about music. A perfectionist, he believed that musicians should always give fans a great show,” she said.

Fredo Villenguez, Guerzo’s cousin and lead vocalist of Fredo And The Flintstones, described the saxophonist as his ‘sifu’.

“He taught me all about musical arrangements. I would not have made it as a performer without his immense knowledge and great musicianship,” he said.

Musician Jeremy Monteiro described Guerzo as a prominent figure in the jazz scene whose passing was a deep loss to Southeast Asia.

"I am very grateful that I managed to tell him how much I respected and admired him,” Monteiro said in his Facebook condolence message to Guerzo’s family.

Guerzo had performed with Soliano siblings Isabella, Coni, Tristano, Rizal, Valentino and Irene as a band from 1979 in major hotels besides the Royal Selangor Club in Kuala Lumpur.

The family band also performed in Langkawi’s resort hotels and Kuala Lumpur nightspots such as No Black Tie. It was occasionally joined by Guerzo’s daughter, jazz pianist Rachel, and his niece Trish D’Cruz.

Guerzo had often accompanied Rachel’s showcases, most notably her 2010 performance at Dewan Filharmonik Petronas (DFP).

Another of Guerzo’s eight children, Dianne, was the lead singer of pop group Freedom.

Dianne and D’Cruz participated in reality talent show Malaysian Idol 2 in 2005 and D’Cruz made it to the Top 12.

In 2010, Guerzo and the Solianos unveiled their debut Malay album Pusaka at Bentley Music Auditorium, Mutiara Damansara, Petaling Jaya.

Pusaka encapsulated the group's brilliant musicianship and was dedicated to Alfonso.

Guerzo as the arranger gave these songs a more current sound.

The 14 tracks included Alfonso's original works such as Gadis Idamanku and Airmata Berderai, Broery Marantika’s Widuri, Freedom’s Mulanya Di Sini, Tan Sri P Ramlee’s Getaran Jiwa and Tan Sri Ahmad Merican’s Tanah Pusaka.

Read more: Solianos band member and saxophonist Salvador Guerzo dies - Latest - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/latest/solianos-band-member-and-saxophonist-salvador-guerzo-dies-1.39814#ixzz1l3WaHCvy

Hewlett Foundation Sponsors Prize to Improve Automated Scoring of Student Essays

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation announced last week that they will award a $100,000 prize to the designers of software that can reliably automate the grading of essays for state tests. The software competition is intended to begin to solve the problem of the high cost and the slow turnaround resulting from the time consuming and expensive task of hand scoring thousands of essays for standardized tests. These obstacles typically mean that many school systems exclude essays in favor of multiple-choice questions, which are less able to assess students’ critical reasoning and writing skills. This is a wonderful contest, and is consistent with the current design of the NAAS EAS/N2 Multi-Purpose Automated System. Essays are already graded by the NAAS EAS/N2 Form 000 automated system.

Guess Who Will Be Moving Up The Richest List Fastest This Year

The snippet below was taken from Forbes magazine:

Malaysia's Richest

#9 Vincent Tan

Net Worth	$1.25 billion	Source of Wealth	diversified
Age	58	Marital Status	Married, 11 children

Self-made entrepreneur runs conglomerate Berjaya Group, but fortune sank by almost a quarter over the past year as shares stumbled. Owns social networking website Friendster.com and bought shares of Facebook through his Internet company, MOL.com. Failed to get a sports betting license from the government. Hates golf but loves scuba diving and working out at the gym.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Its very hard to move up the top ten richest list in Malaysia as the gap from one to the other is in the billions. Supposedly, Vincent Tan is #9 with $1.25bn (RM3.75bn). There is a very strong likelihood that Vincent Tan will move up at least two rungs this year. At #8 is Syed Mokhtar with $2.5bn while at #7 is Yeoh Tiong Lay with $2.7bn. Dislodging #6 will be difficult as Teh Hiong Piow has $4.7bn.


Chances are high that Vincent will get to #7 at least this year because his stake in Friendster was swapped totally into Facebook shares. Rough estimates has figured his stake in Facebook at 1%. Facebook is about to list soon at a valuation of at least $90bn, and should get to $120bn-$130bn when it finally trades (if market does not collapse). His stake alone will add at least $1bn to his total.


The other major play is his stake in Cosway, which is rumoured to be sold soon for around RM2bn. Then there is the realisation of his stake in U Mobile, which may be listed as well this year. All said, Vincent may add $1.5bn-$1.8bn (RM4.5-RM5.4bn) to his net worth this year.


How has 2012 been for you so far?

Then Why Have The SC Task Force In The First Place?

Well, we probably won't see this kind of business reporting in local media, so have to rely on The Straits Times Singapore.

SC task force found Sime Darby triggered E&O general offer

By Yow Hong Chieh

January 30, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 30 — A Securities Commission (SC) task force found that Sime Darby Bhd was obliged to make a general offer for Eastern & Oriental (E&O) Bhd shares after acquiring a 30 per cent stake in the property developer but was superseded by the regulator’s top ruling authority.

Singapore’s The Straits Times reported that the task force was of the view that a general offer obligation had been triggered as a new “concert party” was created between Sime Darby and E&O managing director Datuk Terry Tham, who jointly controlled more than 33 per cent in the property concern after the deal.

Malaysia’s takeover rules stipulate that any party that acquires more than a 33 per cent interest in a publicly-listed entity must carry out a general offer for the remaining shares.

A general offer can also be triggered if a new party buys less than 33 per cent but secures management control of the target company.

But the SC’s final ruling three-member committee ruled “in a majority decision” there was no general offer obligation as Sime Darby and Tham were not acting in concert, according to an affidavit by the agency’s second-most senior commissioner Datuk Francis Tan, which was sighted by the Singapore daily.

The committee also accepted the task force’s recommendation that the three groups which sold the blocks of E&O shares to Sime Darby did not collectively control the company and that the disposal did not trigger a general offer.

Sime Darby purchased its controlling 30 per cent interest from three major shareholders — Tham, Singapore’s GK Goh Holdings and a group of investors led by businessman Tan Sri Wan Azmi Wan Hamzah — at the end of August last year in a deal that valued E&O shares at RM2.30 a piece.

The purchase price represented a 60 per cent premium over the value of the shares in the company on the open market when the deal was announced.

The RM776 million deal triggered unease over the widely perceived coddling by the agency of large state-controlled companies at the expense of minority shareholders when exercising its authority on corporate takeovers.

The SC ruled six weeks after Sime Darby’s purchase of the three blocks that the plantation-based conglomerate did not have to make a general offer, prompting E&O minority shareholder Michael Chow to sue the SC for failing to compel Sime Darby to make a general offer for the rest of the shares.

The legal suit could renew debate over the SC’s handling of alleged irregular trading activities and will put pressure on SC chairman Tan Sri Zarinah Anwar, whose husband, the E&O chairman, raised his personal stock holdings in the company just weeks before Sime Darby announced the acquisition.

The SC has also filed an application to recuse the judge hearing the suit as he used to be with the regulator.

Smarter People Own More Stocks

 
Business Times - 26 Jan 2012

Smarter people own more stocks, says study
It finds a direct link between IQ and market participation

( NEW YORK ) The smarter you are, the more stock you probably own, according to researchers who say they found a direct link between IQ and equity market participation.


Intelligence, as measured by tests given to 158,044 Finnish soldiers over 19 years, outweighed income in determining whether someone owns shares and how many companies he invests in. Among draftees scoring highest on the exams, the rate of ownership later in life was 21 percentage points above those who tested lowest, researchers found. The study, published in last month's Journal of Finance, ignored bonds and other investments.

Economists have debated for decades what they call the participation puzzle, trying to explain why more people don't take advantage of the higher returns stocks have historically paid on savings. As few as 51 per cent of American households own them, a 2009 study by the Federal Reserve found. Individual investors have pulled record cash out of US equity mutual funds in the last five years as shares suffered the worst bear market since the 1930s.

'It's what we see anecdotally: higher-IQ investors tend to be more willing to commit financial resources, to put skin in the game,' said Jason Hsu, chief investment officer at Research Affiliates. 'You can generalise a whole literature on this. It seems to suggest that whatever attributes are driving people to not participate in the stock market are related to the cost of processing financial information.'


Mark Grinblatt of the University of California , Los Angeles , Matti Keloharju of Aalto University in Espoo and Helsinki , Finland , and Juhani Linnainmaa at the University of Chicago compared results from intelligence tests given by the Finnish military between 1982 and 2001 to government records showing investments the draftees later held. They found the rate of stock ownership for people with the lowest scores trailed those with the highest even after adjusting for wealth, income, age and profession.

While intelligence influenced things that might naturally increase equity ownership such as wealth and income, the authors said IQ determined who owned the most stocks within those categories as well. Among the 10 per cent of individuals with the highest salary, 'IQ significantly predicts participation' in the stock market, they wrote.

For example, people in the highest-income ranking who scored lowest on the test had a rate of equity market participation that was 15.7 percentage points lower than those with the highest IQ.

'If you look at the significance of IQ related to other factors like income or wealth, certainly it plays a very large role,' Mr Keloharju, a finance professor at Aalto, said. 'It's very difficult to get around that problem, but the results are so strong here. We are playing with lots of different controls and lots of different specifications, and all the time things work really well.'


American economist Harry Markowitz won a Nobel Prize in 1990 for his theory that owning a larger variety of assets tended to maximise returns for a certain amount of risk. The 2009 study by the Fed found that 51.1 per cent of American families own stocks directly or indirectly, and of those who do, 36 per cent have shares in one company.

'It's difficult to justify why someone wouldn't invest in the stock market, knowing what a good deal it has been,' said Mr Linnainmaa, a co-author of the study from the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business. 'The classical explanations for non-participation have been participation costs. It's not just that it may be expensive to buy stocks and mutual funds, but people may not have enough knowledge about them.'

Finnish soldiers were an ideal sample because differences in race, schooling and market access are minimised, the authors said. Draftees were about 20 years old when they were given 120 questions in math, language and logic. The authors divided the results into rankings and compared them with stock ownership records. People who don't serve in the country's military such as women weren't in the sample.

'There is an older literature on whether SAT scores of an investment manager's college helps predict his or her success,' Robert Shiller, an economics professor at Yale University and co-creator of the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index, said in an e-mail. 'This paper has a much better measure of intelligence,' and the 'results are therefore a significant advance', he wrote.

Finnish draftees aren't representative of typical investors, said Brian Jacobsen, chief portfolio strategist at Wells Fargo Advantage Funds. IQ is a function of culture and shouldn't be generalised across borders, he said. The authors also failed to discuss whether the test given to the soldiers was a valid way to grade thinking.


Finland's lack of ethnic diversity 'invalidates it for extrapolating it to other cultures', he said. 'That makes it that much more inappropriate to draw inferences from it about other cultures.'

The study's authors said the findings have implications for social policy. Avoiding stock investments cuts returns and may widen income gaps, they said. Individuals scoring lowest on the tests who still owned equities earned as much as 33 basis points, or 0.33 percentage point, a year less than the highest scorers. One way governments could promote better savings might be with plans that let people opt out of stocks, like 401(k) plans, as opposed to opting in, said Mr Keloharju.

'If you look at these people over time, people with higher IQ scores and stocks become wealthier and wealthier at a much faster rate than people with lower IQ scores,' said Mr Linnainmaa. 'It makes them worse off in the long run, even more so than the difference in income.'

Mr Hsu of Research Affiliates said an explanation for why draftees with lower test scores owned less stock is that they found it harder and more expensive to receive financial education. Getting people information on investing at a younger age may help limit the disparity, he said. -- Bloomberg

 

Is the US economy recovering?

Its the earnings season in the US and so far companies have been reporting decent profits. Consumer confidence and industrial production in the US are also rising. The top 3 industry performer for the past 3 months are as follow:
Dow Jones U.S. Home Improvement Retailers Index
Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction Index
Dow Jones U.S. Building Materials & Fixtures Index

 This simply means that homes are being built in the US and people are buying homes. The demand for the market is there. Building Materials are also rising due to demand for materials needed for home construction.
 

Looking at the sector rotation model, we're somewhere in the middle of full recession and early recovery. In this stage, sectors that will potentially rise are industry and basic industrial(materials). This is in line with what is happening now in the US. IF you look at the economic curve and the market cycle curve, you will notice that the economy is starting to bottom out and the market is recovering. Do note that for this model, it is not limited by time. This means that the curve can finish within 1 year or it can also finish within a few months.

SC and The Upcoming Private Retirement Scheme

Managers can now apply for licences to provide products under Malaysia’s proposed private retirement scheme. The Securities Commission answers AsianInvestor's questions about how the system will work.

By Joe Marsh | 26 January 2012

In December, Malaysia’s Securities Commission published eligibility requirements for asset managers to gain a product provider licence under the country’s long-awaited private retirement scheme (PRS).

Ranjit Ajit Singh, managing director at the Securities Commission (SC), here confirms and clarifies some key points for AsianInvestor.

A feature looking at the PRS in detail will appear in the upcoming February issue of AsianInvestor magazine.

AsianInvestor: What does the SC see as the main reasons to set up a voluntary private retirement scheme? Why would (and should) people use the scheme in addition to the existing Employees Pension Fund?
Ranjit Ajit Singh: A well supervised and regulated private retirement scheme (PRS) that facilitates greater accumulation of post-retirement savings can play an important role within the overall pension landscape.

Malaysia’s PRS aims to promote the welfare of the population at retirement through a robust multi-pillar pension framework. The SC is reviewing the existing retirement landscape to make recommendations within the context of developing the private pension industry, which will complement the mandatory contribution to our existing Employees Provident Fund. 

Can you summarise the main points of the PRS? For example, rules on contributions, tax allowances, plus the main guidelines/requirements for asset managers providing products.

Private retirement schemes (PRSs) are long-term retirement schemes that contain a range of funds and are offered by approved PRS providers. The PRS framework is intended to provide flexible and convenient fund options for use, by both employers and individuals with different risk-return profiles.

Contributors will be able to control their private pension accounts in terms of investment diversification, portability between providers and flexible payout options. In this respect, the right to choose and to change investment options, as well as providers, is an integral element of the PRS framework.

The tax incentives provide personal tax relief of up to RM3,000 ($967) per annum on individual contributions to approved PRS schemes, as well as tax deductions for employers for contributions above the statutory rate, up to 19% of employees’ salaries. Tax exemption will also be provided on income received by funds within the PRS schemes.

It has been said that the SC will particularly want to see large, experienced asset managers applying to be part of the PRS. Do you have any comment on that?

Only quality private-sector entities with the required expertise in pension fund management or retail fund management entities that meet the relevant standards and requirements imposed will be approved. Eligibility requirements include capital requirements, track record, conduct history and risk management controls. 

Applicants will need to outline their business model, such as the proposed range of funds, indicative fees and the charges structure, as well as their resourcing capabilities, systems and process capabilities and member servicing.

Qualitative factors will also be taken into consideration, such as governance structure, reputation and professional standing, as well as track record and commitment to grow the PRS industry.

I understand that applications to obtain a licence to be a provider under the PRS must be in by February 15. What is the likely timeframe after that? 
The closing date for licence applications is February 15. The evaluation and selection process will include an examination of the proposed range of funds to be offered by each applicant. On approval as a PRS provider, the SC would then undertake a separate process to approve the PRS itself and to authorise all the funds under the scheme.

PRS providers would be required to offer dedicated retirement funds under the scheme. Other key steps towards full operation of the framework include approving the scheme trustees and the distribution framework to ensure professional conduct and suitability of recommendations made in respect of the PRS to members.  

How many provider licences will be approved under the scheme?
That will depend on the applicants and those who meet the criteria. Our primary objective is to have qualified and experienced providers, and these can be institutional or retail as long as they meet the criteria and demonstrate the capabilities to offer PRSs.  

The provider-eligibility guidelines are now largely final, but the investment guidelines are still to be finalised – what is still to be ironed out?
As part of the implementation process, sub-working groups have been formed and continuous engagement and consultations are being held with experts – local and foreign, government authorities and industry players. We will finalise the guidelines after this process is complete.

Does the PRS have to be set up as a trust structure?
The PRS will operate as a trust structure, with the scheme trustee having fiduciary duties towards the members, including ensuring that the assets of the funds are segregated from the PRS provider. The schemes will therefore be segregated from the fund provider to ensure that contributors’ assets are protected and under the control of the trustee. 

What are the rules on withdrawals from the PRS? 
These are being finalised in consultation with relevant parties, including the tax authorities.

Commentary On Selected Stocks

Hibiscus - There have been people warning me not to recommend this counter when I did so at 70 sen, 80 sen ... I like their projects, but seriously, they have yet to strike oil. They went limit up yesterday briefly, I wash my hands clean from this counter. Some monies are not for us to make. The stock looks very cornered.


CanOne/Kian Joo - Transaction finally went through. Upside would be around RM2.50 at least. I got so many nasty emails asking me to shut up on CanOne, I refused to print them because it was personal and not looking at the facts of the matter. Kian Joo would also go up in tandem as the uncertainty to extracting synergies from both companies are now in play. Possibly Box Pak will be sold. Although I did not think it was prudent, apparently the grapevine is very certain that there will be a G.O. for Kian Joo, which should be at least RM2.40-2.60. You get things right, nobody says a thing, you get something wrong, they whack you as if you were managing their funds. Lighten up people, you follow at your peril. You don't like, don't read la, what is so difficult about that.


MAS - If you must trade, I think MAS is OK. Now that AirAsia has reached its limit on foreign funds shareholdings level, it can only go down not up. That being the case, MAS may have a bit of upside even though I don't really like MAS.


MBSB - It was a good run but the business model remains flawed. I would stay away from the stock above RM2.00.


NOTE: The above opinion is not an invitation to buy or sell. It serves as a blogging activity of my investing thoughts and ideas, this does not represent an investment advisory service as I charge no subscription or management fees (donations are welcomed though). The content on this site is provided as general information only and should not be taken as investment advice. All site content, shall not be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell any security or financial instrument. The ideas expressed are solely the opinions of the author. I may already have shares in the above mentioned stock/s. Any action that you take as a result of information, analysis, or commentary on this site is ultimately your responsibility. Consult your investment adviser before making any investment decisions.

International Sponsorship of Financial-Aid, and global Education markets

It is typical for many domestic American businesses involved in the education market to perhaps not notice the huge momentum shifts in the education market overseas. taking place globally. For example, the media reports that there’s now at least one education firm in China with a market valuation of over $4 billion and one in India easily over $1 billion. While their ripples have barely reached the U.S. market they, and other fast-growing firms around the world, tell us that education is increasingly a global business.

For this reason, National Academy of American Scholars, is intent on expanding its base of financial-aid sponsorships overseas to the growing markets abroad.

With the global need for financial-aid, the Internet is a convenient means of making international sponsorship of financial-aid a reality for Chinese, Indian, African, and European students who need funds to attend domestic or international schools.

The Lowdown On China-Stocks On Bursa - Just A View

You open a conversation topic on Chinese stocks listed on Bursa, you see most people shaking their heads. Most have been burned, and burned royally despite following Benjamin Graham's rules of investing. Well, you have low PER relative to profit growth, most are still registering decent earnings growth. But none are willing to pay out a decent dividend despite having a substantive amount of cash. In fact, what has been more galling was they even had the audacity to push through rights issue.



They drop and drop, even though syndicates have been roped in, they still drop. For the past 3 years or so, the news surrounding China companies listed overseas have been appalling. There have been numerous scams and accounting fraud with China companies using RTO to get listed in the US. The seemingly "clean" SGX has not been spared, last count there were 6 China firms listed there that have gone "bust literally" or have tons of  shenanigans like in an Irish fairy tale. 


Are those listed on Bursa a ticking time bomb?
Well, I don't know really, but so far so good despite the weak share prices for these companies. If you go by percentage of troubled overseas China listed firms, at least 1 out 5 would have collapsed by now. Why SGX had so much problems with China firms and not Bursa? Well, SGX, being a play by the rules entity, relied totally on the sponsors/IBs to bring forth these issues. If the companies can be faulted later on for accounting fraud or related misdemeanours, then SGX will throw the book on the sponsors/IBs and directors. I think Bursa/SC have traveled the extra mile in ensuring these China firms are genuine, most if not all have been "site-visited" by them. The reliance on sponsors/IBs have not been as great for Malaysia as in the US or Singapore. Notch one for Bursa/SC. (I hope no China stock will get busted right after I wrote this, but knowing Murphy's Law, that is probably what will happen).



Excuses and Reasons, and Orcam's Razor
You can dig and dig at the management for reasons for their underperforming shares. There have been excuses after excuses. One, you can say that the sponsors or parties (VC/PE firms) bringing the stock to Bursa have used the route to sell their shares to realise their gains. Two, they needed to keep cash as the bulk of their transactions are with small vendors and suppliers that want to deal in cash. Three, they do not wish to pay out good dividends as they want to reinvest for future growth. Four, they seem to have no desire to buyback their own shares at 2-3x PER??!!


When share price keeps falling and the reasons and postulations given are numerous, according to Orcam's Razor, in such situations, the simplest explanation is probably the truth. The simple explanation is that maybe the figures are a sham. Now, I used to hold that view till my recent new findings, so hold your horses.



The Real Owners?
This is probably just an opinion but I have heard enough to surmise that the registered owners are, more than likely, not the real beneficial owners of these China shares. The Bursa and SC can go and try to find out more. Don't shoot me, I am just the messenger. 


For a China company to list overseas, they need this "paper license" called the "wufi", usually from their municipality or state. I am sure you can see where this is headed. Sponsors are usually some smart people piecing a few companies together to get the "wufi". In most cases the ones with the designation of CEO or even Chairman owns very little of the company. The bulk are supposedly held by the "state chiefs and their underlings". We in Malaysia can easily understand why this works, don't we. To the "chieftains", this is an easy way to regulate for paper profits and also transfer some wealth overseas. 


That is why you do not see these companies getting huge bank loans, and they want to keep cash at all levels. Maybe its easier to loot the company of money by expanding and taking on new projects as we all know we can always skim the 20%-30% from any projects undertaken. Maybe.


However, I am not saying all these companies are sinister. At the end of the day, more than likely, the management's hands are tied. There is probably very little they can do (without the "approval from real owners"). This is also something we Malaysians are very familiar with, yes "Proxy"!!!



XDL
Now finally a company goes ahead and does something. Their bonus and warrants issue is a move in the right direction. Some have frowned on the private placement, but why should you frown, they are not placing to you. In fact, having a private placement could be the very trigger that some parties have managed to engage the "real owners" and go through a proper "value creation" exercise, hence they themselves would have secured the parties for the private placement.


Significance
I cannot say this with greater effect. If the hypotheses are true, which means at least most or all of the companies on Bursa are not fraudulent, and to get XDL going through this phase of value creation, which I think will be wildly successful. This could be the catalyst that is needed for the rest of the China companies listed on Bursa to do likewise. As things stand, none of the China firms on Bursa are "fraudulent yet", maybe none are. If enough of them go through the value creation steps led by XDL, it could very well lift Bursa as the "best exchange to list China firms". If this is all true and good, then Bursa and SC must continue to make doubly sure that future China listing go through even more stringent listing checks and balances. So far so good, even with depressed share prices, at least we do not have a total bust up (yet). 


If all parties play their cards right, the right playing field will attract the right crowd. This is a chance to take the next step forward for all parties involved.

NAAS Teacher Evaluation Study; Rep. John Kline (R-MN)

On Jan 6, Rep. John Kline (R-MN), Chairman of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, released the final two pieces of House's ESEA reauthorization package. These last two bills are a Republican effort, finalized and released after talks with Democrats on the Committee broke down. Two major studies related to teacher evaluation have also been released, one from the Gates Foundation's Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) project and the second from the National Bureau of Economic Research study on the long-term effects of high value-added teachers.

Education Week released the 16th edition of it's annual Quality Counts report, focused on the nation's international standing in education, and lessons to be drawn from high-performing countries. And more information is also surfacing about states' implementation of the Common Core State Standards.

Follow the NAAS NEWS Blog for more education and financial-aid news.

NAAS reports on Young Children and Digital Media

— Research by National Academy of American Scholars has indicated that Digital media has become a regular part of the media diet of children ages 0 to 8, with four in 10 2- to 4-year-olds and half (52%) of 5- to 8-year-olds using smartphones, video iPods, iPads, or similar devices. Young children’s use of everything from television to mobile devices and apps has created an articificial dependency. I doubt anyone is very surprised to learn that young children are spending more and more with the many forms of media available to them. Children age 8 and under spend an average of about three hours (3:14) a day with media, including screen media, reading, and music. Most of that time is spent with screen media: an average of 2:16 a day. Music and reading occupy an average of about a half-hour a day each (:29 for reading, :29 for music). What is surprising is how young all this starts. Children under two spend roughly an hour a day (;53) using screen media, 2- to 4-year olds spend just over two hours (2:13) and 5- to 8-year olds spend nearly three hours (2:50). And despite all the options available, most of this screen time is spent with old-fashioned TV.

New State-by-State Progress Reports

New Progress Reports Find Every State Has Room for Improvement in Making Afterschool Programs Available to All Kids Who Need Them Afterschool Alliance The new 2011 State-by-State Afterschool Progress Reports and Consumer Guides , which are being released in conjunction with Lights On Afterschool, the only national rally for afterschool, measured all 50 states on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the best rating. No states received a 5 and only nine states (California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey and New York) received a 4

If you want to be rich, learn this principle

Watch this video by T harv Eker, author of secrets of the millionaire mind.

S&P hits euro zone with downgrades

France loses triple-A, Italy, Spain and Portugal cut by two notches

By William L. Watts and Christopher Noble, MarketWatch
FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) — Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s on Friday stripped France of its coveted triple-A credit rating and reduced Portugal’s debt status to junk as part of a broad reassessment of Europe’s financial soundness that highlights the severity of the euro zone’s persistent sovereign debt crisis and complicates efforts to resolve it.


Germany escaped S&P’s scrutiny unharmed. It’s triple-A credit rating was left unchanged and given a stable outlook.


S&P’s steps were certain to make it more difficult for European leaders to solve the debt crisis and could trigger a period of volatility in financial markets similar to what investors experienced in the wake of S&P’s downgrade of the United States last year, said Jeremy Hare, Managing Director of Investments at Gilford Securities. S&P’s moves would also, Hare said, shine a harsh light on the leaders’ ineffectual efforts to solve the crisis.


“It hits them right on the chin,” Hare said. “S&P is calling (German Chancellor Angela) Merkel out and saying, ‘Hey, fix the problem’.”


S&P cut France, Austria, Malta, Slovakia and Slovenia by one notch, stripping France and Austria of rare triple-A ratings that were key to their ability to support efforts to rescue struggling euro zone members. The ratings agency also downgraded by two notches Italy, Spain, Portugal and Cyprus. Portugal and Cyprus were cut to junk status.


Of the countries mentioned in Friday’s statement, only Germany and Slovakia were given stable outlooks. The rest received negative outlooks, meaning S&P believes there is at least a one-in-three chance they may be downgraded in 2012 or 2013.


S&P said it was taking the actions because Europe’s leaders had failed at recent meetings to take decisive steps to solve the region’s debt crisis. It specifically noted that a Dec. 9 summit deal did not go far enough.


“The political agreement does not supply sufficient additional resources or operational flexibility to bolster European rescue operations, or extend enough support for those euro zone sovereigns subjected to heightened market pressures,” S&P said in a statement.


S&P went further, casting doubt on Europe’s approach of insisting on tough austerity measures as the main path to restoring financial stability in Europe.


“We believe that a reform process based on a pillar of fiscal austerity alone risks becoming self-defeating,” the agency said.


Instead, it highlighted “rising external imbalances and divergences in competitiveness between the euro zone’s core and the so-called ‘periphery’” as a significant source of the bloc’s problems that needed to be addressed.


The news of S&P’s action was greeted with dismay by European leaders.


“This is not good news,” French Finance Minister Francois Baroin said in an appearance on French national television. Baroin called the downgrade “a semisurprise” and added that it was “not a catastrophe.”


Baroin, who spoke after a day of swirling rumors about an imminent downgrade of France, also said that France’s economic policies would not change as a result of the downgrade.


“It is not the rating agencies who dictate French policy,” he said.


European Commission Vice President Olli Rehn said the euro zone had taken decisive action to fix the crisis.

Omnibus appropriations bill finalized the FY 2012 federal budget

Happy New Year everyone! Well, we are fully into the 2012. We are sad that some persons and students did not make into 2012. Our blessings go out to the families. As expected, there was a flurry of activity in Washington at the end of the year. For example, Congress passed an omnibus appropriations bill that finalized the FY 2012 federal budget. The Department of Education also announced its Round III Race to the Top awards, along with Promise Neighborhoods grants and the 23 highest rated projects in the 2011 Investing in Innovation (i3) Fund competition secured their required private funding, qualifying them to receive their i3 grants. Our research indicates that much of ED's energy in 2012 will be devoted to monitoring the progress of the various RTTT grantees, applying pressure where needed and help where requested and managing the ongoing NCLB waivers process.

High-School Students Lagging in Standards, and the impact of Casinos on Education

Education studies indicate that more than 50% of students entering high school are two or more years behind in at least one subject on meeting the academic grade-level standards. On top of that, the same studies indicate that less than 40% are proficient, and only 5% are advanced. For educators, we need to therefore ask ourselves: What do we do about the more than 50% of students who are missing the necessary prerequisite skills to master their current standards? Good instructional leaders have a vision of individualizing instruction to meet the needs of individual students. Unfortunately, they lack the assessment and diagnostic tools to make this vision a reality. Some school districts, most notably, the Clark County School District in Nevada, are severely lacking in qualified, and suitable teachers that can help lower this gap. Students attending schools in "Casino" districts are most likely to suffer and are most likely to fail to achieve the required standards by the time they reach high-school. Therefore, community leaders must carefully weigh the short-term terms gains that may result from the approval and construction of casinos vs. the long-term affects on educational quality. High-performing school districts use a variety of assessments and tools to address student improvement. In the Clark County School District, for example, parents and students are being asked to cut back, sacrifice more, while the powerful student unions do everything to preserve the salaries of inefficient, and uninspiring teachers who do no more "copy and past" assignments from the Internet. Quality school districts that employ qualified teachers, on the other hand, have developed numerous hot-button gauges that tell us what standards a student has mastered or not mastered to diagnostic tools that identify skill strengths and deficiencies, and they provide authentic (created by the teacher) materials to teach valuble missing skills.

Rich people are frugal

A Blog Post by Singapore's Youngest Millionaire Adam Khoo

Some of you may already know that I travel around the region pretty frequently, having to visit and conduct seminars at my offices in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Su Zhou(China).

I am in the airport almost every other week, so I get to bump into many people who have attended my seminars or have read my books.

Recently, someone came upto me on a plane to KL and looked rather shocked. He asked, 'How come a millionaire like you is travelling economy?' My reply was, 'That's why I am a millionaire.' He still looked pretty confused. This, again confirms that greatest lie ever told about wealth(which I wrote about in my latest book 'Secrets of Self Made Millionaires'). Many people have been brainwashed to think that millionaires have to wear Gucci, Hugo Boss, Rolex etc. (I shop at G2000 by the way) and sit on first class in air travel. This is why so many people never become rich because the moment they earn more money, they think that it is only natural that they spend more, putting them back to square one.

The truth is that most self-made millionaires(not those lucky who inherited money) are frugal and only spend on what is necessaryand of value. That is why they are able to accumulate and multiply their wealth so much faster. Over the last 7 years, I have saved about 80% of my income while today I save only about 60% (because I have my wife, motherin law, 2 maids, 2 kids, etc. to support). Still, it is way above most people who save 10% of their income (if they are lucky). I refuse to buy a first class ticket or to buy a $300 shirt because I think that it is a complete waste of money. However, I happily pay $1,300 to send my 2-year old daughter to Julia Gabriel Speech and Drama without thinking twice.

When I joined the YEO(Young Entrepreneur's Organization) a few years back (YEO is an exclusive club open to those who are under 40 and make over $1m a year in their own business) I discovered that those who were self-made, thought like me. Many of them with net worths well over $5m, travelled ecomony class and some even drove Toyota 's and Nissans. I noticed that it was only those who never had to work hard to build their own wealth (there were also a few ministers' and tycoons' sons in the club) who spent like there was no tomorrow. Somehow, when you did not have to build everything from scratch, you do not really value money. This is precisely the reason why a family's wealth (no matter how much) rarely lasts past the third generation. Thank god, my rich dad(oh no, I sound like Kiyosaki) foresaw this terrible possibility and refused to give me a cent to start my business.

Then some people ask me, 'What is the point in making so much money if you don't enjoy it?' The thing is that I don't really find happiness in buying branded clothes, jewelry or sitting first class. Even if buying something makes me happy, it is only for a while. It does not last. Material happiness never lasts, it just give you a quick fix. After a while you feel lousy again and have to buy the next thing which you think will make you happy. I always think that if you need material things to make you happy, then you live a pretty sad and unfulfilled life.
Instead, what makes ME happy is when I see my children laughing and playing and learning so fast. What makes me happy is when I see my companies and trainers reaching more and more people every year in so many more countries. What makes me really happy is when I read all the emails about how my books and seminars have touched and inspired someone's life. What makes me really happy is reading all your wonderful posts about how this BLOG is inspiring you. This happiness makes me feel really good for a long time, much much more than what a Rolex would do for me.

I think the point I want to put across is that happiness must come from doing your life's work(be in teaching, building homes, designing, trading, winning tournaments, etc.) and the money that comes is only a by-product.If you hate what you are doing and rely on the money you earn to make you happy by buying stuff, then I think that you are living a life no better than a prostitute.