Insurance Industry Stock Update - Sept. 2012 - Zacks.com

The U.S. insurance industry sees no respite from natural catastrophe losses yet again this year. The 2012 Atlantic hurricane season, which officially started on June 1 and will run through November 30, is just a little more than half over and it appears that it is not as mild as was expected earlier. Though insurers are better prepared to withstand significant losses this time, the after effect of this year?s hurricane season will play a key role in determining the sector fundamentals for 2013.

Insurers have yet to recover fully from the impact of last year's series of natural disasters, and the industry continues to reel under economic unrest that thwarts every attempt it makes to grow. A dearth of positive catalysts is naturally making it harder for insurers to recover fast.

These impediments aside, there are fundamental challenges that are expected to come in the way of insurers? efforts to meet growing investor expectations in the upcoming quarters. Among the possibilities, rising rates and pricing flexibility stand out.

It can be said that the overall health of the U.S. insurance industry has improved to some extent in recent quarters, after enduring pricing pressures and reduced insured exposure for quite some time. The market turmoil resulting from the Great Recession of 2008-2009 forced many companies to take immense write-downs, but those are gradually becoming a thing of the past.

That said, continued soft market conditions, shrinking businesses, a still-high unemployment rate, uncertain fiscal policy and legislative challenges are threatening insurers? ability to rebound to the historical growth rate. The industry continues to be challenged by subdued premium volume growth in a perked-up economy as well as a massive healthcare restructuring.

Though there are signs of economic recovery, its sluggish pace and sudden drop-offs are expected to continue at least through the first half of 2013. Also, structural economies of scale have pushed the industry toward consolidation. As a result, inter-segment competition within the industry has alleviated. Moving forward, maintaining profitability after complying with regulatory requirements and meeting the challenges of climate change could be a painful task.

We expect static growth from persistent soft market conditions to result in further consolidation in the industry. Though there are near-term opportunities for insurers, thanks to rapidly growing sectors such as health care and technology, overall industry conditions are expected to improve beyond 2012, provided the economy turns toward growth. The industry would likely take a couple more years to overcome most industry challenges with the help of an improved market mechanism.

Life Insurers

Losses in the investment portfolios, higher hedging costs, lower income from the variable annuity business and more burdensome capital requirements will continue to restrict earnings growth of the life insurers. Most life insurers have substantial exposure to commercial real estate-backed loans and securities, which will lead to further losses in the coming quarters.

As the industry?s statutory capital level fell sharply during the recession, life insurance companies will need to optimize their capital levels to address the ensuing challenges. In the short term, traditional sources of capital are expected to fulfill most of what life insurers need in order to stay in good shape. However, non-traditional sources of capital will take years to strengthen financials.

Moreover, regulatory changes under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform are still troubling life insurers as they pose strategic and competitive challenges. In order to address such concerns, life insurers may have to burn some of their financial energy.

The underlying trends amid a sluggish economic recovery indicate stability of the U.S. life insurers over the medium term with respect to credit profile and financial prospects. However, higher-than-average asset losses, primarily resulting from their real estate exposure, will remain a major concern in the near- to mid-term.

Most importantly, the tardy economic recovery is making it difficult for life insurers to expand their customer base. In fact, insurers are struggling to even retain their existing clientele. Narrowed disposable income owing to high unemployment and huge credit card debt has made it difficult for Americans to invest in retirement products such as life insurance.

Moreover, the low interest rate environment is one of the major risks for life insurers at this point. Investment income remains weak as life insurers are experiencing low returns on fixed-income instruments. Also, low rates are spoiling life insurers? efforts to grow fixed annuities and universal life insurance sales.

In mid September, credit-rating agency Moody's -- a wing of Moody's Corp. (MCO - Analyst Report) -- has revised its outlook for the U.S. life insurance industry to negative from stable. This action was primarily based on the rating agency?s expectation of continued pressure on life insurers? earnings due to persistently low interest rates.? ?

On the other hand, interest in cheaper products to cover only basic risks has increased. So, returning to providing basic services and reducing operating costs should be the primary course of action for life insurers to realize some profit.

Some life insurers have already gone back to the basics in order to meet demand and escape financial and regulatory difficulties, but this conservative stance will not be adequate for thriving. Life insurance companies have to be more proactive to weather the situation.

Health Insurers

The U.S. healthcare system is significantly dependent on private health insurance, which is the primary source of coverage for most Americans. More than half of the U.S. citizens are covered under private health insurers such as WellPoint Inc. (WLP - Analyst Report) and UnitedHealth Group, Inc. (UNH - Analyst Report).

Unfortunately, these insurance companies utilize a pre-existing condition exemption clause to control costs and maximize profit. The historic healthcare reform legislation, which was passed by Congress in 2010, aims to prevent private insurance companies from using the pre-existing condition clause and at the same time bring in 32 million more people under coverage by 2019.

However, the legislation has had many detractors who contested several of its stated benefits and considered it another entitlement program that the country can ill afford. Finally, in June 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the healthcare reform, rejuvenating the industry by removing major uncertainties.

With respect to the individual mandate, which drew the most attention as it requires all uninsured Americans to purchase a minimum level of health insurance coverage, the Supreme Court ruled that individuals failing to buy health insurance will have to pay a tax fine, but forcing them to buy insurance will be illegal. Employers will also be fined if they fail to provide insurance coverage to their workers.

While the legislative overhaul brings more regulatory scrutiny for private insurance companies, the net negative effect is far softer than was initially feared. Also, the removal of this uncertainty is a net positive in its own right.

Though the reform will provide more cross-selling opportunities for health insurers, their overall profitability will be marred in the long run as the negative impact of Medicare Advantage payment cuts, industry taxes and restrictions on underwriting practices will more than offset the benefits of adding the extra 32 million people into the system.

Growth in nonfarm payroll employment is expected to enhance health insurers? customer base to some extent as these individuals will be insured through their jobs. However, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in August 2012, nonfarm payroll employment inched up just 96,000 and the rate of unemployment marginally edged down to 8.1%.

That said, growth in industry revenue is expected to decline until 2015 as insurers will be forced to adjust the benefits to comply with the healthcare legislation. Among others, providing coverage to everyone regardless of whether they had an expensive pre-existing condition would put their top lines at stake.

Property & Casualty Insurers

Steep losses in the investment portfolios have been continuously reducing the capital adequacy of most property-casualty insurers since the latest recession. The seizure of credit markets and rising concerns over defaults have pushed down bond prices sharply since then, causing significant realized and unrealized capital losses on these insurers? portfolios.

As property-casualty insurers hold about two-thirds of the invested assets in the form of bonds, their capacity is highly sensitive to changes in credit market conditions. Low interest rates and government bond yields are expected to compress profits in the quarters ahead. However, an expected improvement in casualty rates will partially offset the negatives.

While the ongoing recovery in the credit and equity markets is leading to a reduction in unrealized investment losses, the premium rates continue to decline, though at a slower pace. This declining trend in premium rates is expected to persist through the first half of 2013, adversely affecting insurer profitability. The key positive trend visible as of now is a slight improvement in some insurance pricing after persistent deterioration for the last three years.

On the other hand, high catastrophe losses, stiff competition and lower reinvestment yields are expected to depress profits for property-casualty insurers.

However, the property-casualty industry endured the latest financial crisis better than the other financial service sectors. Once the economic recovery gains momentum, insurance volume will grow rapidly.

The recent quarters have been witnessing an increasing rebound in claims-paying capacity (as measured by policyholders? surpluses), which reflects the industry?s resilience over the prior years. Strong capital adequacy and conservative investment strategies will keep these insurers on solid financial footing in the upcoming quarters.

Reinsurers

Losses from the investment portfolios of reinsurance companies have gotten worse during the last few quarters. The deterioration resulted from the supply-demand imbalance in reinsurance coverage due to intense competition that kept pricing soft over the last few years.

Also, catastrophic events like hurricanes Ike and Gustav were the major culprits that put underwriting profits under pressure. However, in the recent months, reinsurance prices have increased substantially. Also, reinsurers now have the capacity to meet the demand for coverage despite catastrophe losses.

With signs of recovery in the capital markets (though still weak by any standard), concerns related to reinsurers' ability to access capital markets on reasonable terms have sufficiently eased.

However, lesser new business and rising expense ratios are the major concerns for reinsurers at this point. An increased level of price competition may also hurt top lines in the upcoming quarters.

Moreover, reinsurance market capital levels are expected to be down for reinsurers with huge exposure to the European sovereign debt crisis.

OPPORTUNITIES

Insurance companies are suffering from the ongoing economic uncertainty and challenges related to natural disasters. However, this tough period brings opportunities for many large industry participants to grow by attracting new customers and taking market share away from weak rivals. The industry has been undertaking several structural changes that will make underwriting and pricing schemes even more attractive to consumers.

We remain positive on Ageas SA/NV (AGESY), Eastern Insurance Holdings, Inc. (EIHI - Snapshot Report), Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. of China Ltd. (PNGAY), Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (FNF - Snapshot Report), First American Financial Corporation (FAF - Snapshot Report), Homeowners Choice, Inc. (HCII - Snapshot Report), ProAssurance Corporation (PRA - Analyst Report), Stewart Information Services Corporation (STC - Snapshot Report) and United Fire Group, Inc (UFCS - Snapshot Report) with a Zacks #1 Rank (short-term Strong Buy).

Other insurers that we like with a Zacks #2 Rank (short-term Buy) include American International Group, Inc. (AIG - Analyst Report), Assurant Inc. (AIZ - Analyst Report), Assured Guaranty Ltd. (AGO - Snapshot Report), CNO Financial Group, Inc. (CNO - Analyst Report), MetLife, Inc. (MET - Analyst Report), The Allstate Corporation (ALL - Analyst Report), The Chubb Corporation (CB - Analyst Report), Everest Re Group Ltd. (RE - Analyst Report), XL Group plc (XL - Analyst Report) and HCC Insurance Holdings Inc. (HCC - Snapshot Report).

WEAKNESSES

We expect continued pressure on investment portfolios and lower income from the variable annuity business to restrict the earnings growth rate of life insurers. Also, reduced financial flexibility and weak underwriting will hurt the earnings of many property-casualty insurers. Moreover, the overall industry is vulnerable to the ever-increasing threat of natural disasters.

Among the Zacks covered U.S. insurers, we prefer to stay away from the Zacks #5 Rank (short-term Strong Sell) companies ?? Kemper Corporation (KMPR - Snapshot Report), Meadowbrook Insurance Group Inc. (MIG - Snapshot Report), Old Republic International Corp. (ORI - Snapshot Report), American Safety Insurance Holdings Ltd. (ASI - Snapshot Report), EMC Insurance Group Inc. (EMCI - Snapshot Report), Hallmark Financial Services Inc. (HALL - Snapshot Report), Mercury General Corporation (MCY - Snapshot Report), Selective Insurance Group Inc. (SIGI - Snapshot Report), Phoenix Companies Inc. (PNX - Snapshot Report) and StanCorp Financial Group Inc. (SFG - Analyst Report).

Read the full analyst report on WLP

Read the full analyst report on UNH

Read the full analyst report on AGESY

Read the full analyst report on EIHI

Read the full analyst report on PNGAY

Read the full analyst report on FNF

Read the full analyst report on FAF

Read the full analyst report on HCII

Read the full analyst report on PRA

Read the full analyst report on STC

Read the full analyst report on UFCS

Read the full analyst report on AIG

Read the full analyst report on AIZ

Source: http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/83558/insurance-industry-stock-update-sept-2012

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Using precisely-targeted lasers, researchers manipulate neurons in worms' brains and take control of their behavior

ScienceDaily (Sep. 23, 2012) ? In the quest to understand how the brain turns sensory input into behavior, Harvard scientists have crossed a major threshold. Using precisely-targeted lasers, researchers have been able to take over an animal's brain, instruct it to turn in any direction they choose, and even to implant false sensory information, fooling the animal into thinking food was nearby.

As described in a September 23 paper published in Nature, a team made up of Sharad Ramanathan, an Assistant Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology, and of Applied Physics, Askin Kocabas, a Post-Doctoral Fellow in Molecular and Cellular Biology, Ching-Han Shen, a Research Assistant in Molecular and Cellular Biology, and Zengcai V. Guo, from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute were able to take control of Caenorhabditis elegans -- tiny, transparent worms -- by manipulating neurons in the worms' "brain."

The work, Ramanathan said, is important because, by taking control of complex behaviors in a relatively simple animal -- C. elegans have just 302 neurons -we can understand how its nervous system functions..

"If we can understand simple nervous systems to the point of completely controlling them, then it may be a possibility that we can gain a comprehensive understanding of more complex systems," Ramanathan said. "This gives us a framework to think about neural circuits, how to manipulate them, which circuit to manipulate and what activity patterns to produce in them ."

"Extremely important work in the literature has focused on ablating neurons, or studying mutants that affect neuronal function and mapping out the connectivity of the entire nervous system. " he added. "Most of these approaches have discovered neurons necessary for specific behavior by destroying them. The question we were trying to answer was: Instead of breaking the system to understand it, can we essentially hijack the key neurons that are sufficient to control behavior and use these neurons to force the animal to do what we want?"

Before Ramanathan and his team could begin to answer that question, however, they needed to overcome a number of technical challenges.

Using genetic tools, researchers engineered worms whose neurons gave off fluorescent light, allowing them to be tracked during experiments. Researchers also altered genes in the worms which made neurons sensitive to light, meaning they could be activated with pulses of laser light.

The largest challenges, though, came in developing the hardware necessary to track the worms and target the correct neuron in a fraction of a second.

"The goal is to activate only one neuron," he explained. "That's challenging because the animal is moving, and the neurons are densely packed near its head, so the challenge is to acquire an image of the animal, process that image, identify the neuron, track the animal, position your laser and shoot the particularly neuron -- and do it all in 20 milliseconds, or about 50 times a second. The engineering challenges involved seemed insurmountable when we started. But Askin Kocabas found ways to overcome these challenges"

The system researchers eventually developed uses a movable table to keep the crawling worm centered beneath a camera and laser. They also custom-built computer hardware and software, Ramanathan said, to ensure the system works at the split-second speeds they need.

The end result, he said, was a system capable of not only controlling the worms' behavior, but their senses as well. In one test described in the paper, researchers were able to use the system to trick a worm's brain into believing food was nearby, causing it to make a beeline toward the imaginary meal.

Going forward, Ramanathan and his team plan to explore what other behaviors the system can control in C. elegans. Other efforts include designing new cameras and computer hardware with the goal of speeding up the system from 20 milliseconds to one. The increased speed would allow them to test the system in more complex animals, like zebrafish.

"By manipulating the neural system of this animal, we can make it turn left, we can make it turn right, we can make it go in a loop, we can make it think there is food nearby," Ramanathan said. "We want to understand the brain of this animal, which has only a few hundred neurons, completely and essentially turn it into a video game, where we can control all of its behaviors."

Funding for the research was provided by the Human Frontier Science Program, the NIH Pioneer Award and the National Science Foundation.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Harvard University, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. Askin Kocabas, Ching-Han Shen, Zengcai V. Guo, Sharad Ramanathan. Controlling interneuron activity in Caenorhabditis elegans to evoke chemotactic behaviour. Nature, 2012; DOI: 10.1038/nature11431

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/cgBlBlbUy2Y/120924102658.htm

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China's corruption crackdown takes shine off luxury boom

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Luxury brands banking on a China rebound to boost sales may be in for an unpleasant surprise: weak demand in the world's second largest luxury market may last longer than the economic slowdown as Beijing cracks down on conspicuous consumption.

China is sensitive to anything that raises suspicions of corruption, especially after the scandal involving Bo Xilai and his emerald-wearing wife Gu Kailai marred this year's once-a-decade leadership transition.

The government imposed a "frugal working style" rule on its civil servants, which goes into effect on October 1, barring them from spending public money on lavish banquets or fancy cars, and from accepting expensive gifts. Gift giving is considered a sign of respect in Chinese culture, and has been a reliable source of demand for the world's top luxury brands.

A string of high-profile incidents, including a high-speed Ferrari crash reportedly involving the son of a senior public official and a local government official photographed flaunting luxury watches beyond the reach of his salary, have enraged many Chinese who have taken to the blogosphere to vent their anger.

Chinese police inspectors are now studying up on how to recognize luxury brands to help them expose corruption, according to local media.

"Luxury products are highly expensive and civil servants, whose salaries are about 5,000 yuan ($790.6) a month, cannot afford them," China Daily reported on Friday. "So officials who possess luxury products should give convincing explanations on how they got them."

Luxury brands were already struggling with a slowing economy and a bit of flashy fashion fatigue as Chinese shoppers shun flamboyance in favor of understated displays of wealth.

Beijing's crackdown suggests that even if economic growth starts to recover later this year, as many economists predict, luxury demand may lag.

"There is definitely a general moving away from the bling and the gold taps. This is a permanent shift," said Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman of the Hurun Report, a Shanghai-based luxury publishing house which compiles China's Rich List.

Hoogewerf said while many Chinese consumers are pulling back on spending because of a weakening economy, there is also a heightened sensitivity surrounding luxury purchases.

PRADA'S TURN?

British fashion house Burberry Group Plc's warning on September 11 that its sales growth in China was far slower than expected spooked luxury investors and raised concerns that the entire sector was in danger of stumbling.

Its Italian rival, Hong Kong-listed Prada SpA, releases half-year earnings later on Monday and investors are looking to the company to provide a clearer picture of the state of Chinese demand.

Analysts have mostly remained upbeat on Prada's outlook, eyeing strong market share gains and good brand perception, but its shares are down 7.5 percent since Burberry's warning.

There are some signs that Beijing's "frugal" campaign, announced in July, is already hurting luxury demand.

In Hong Kong, a popular luxury shopping destination for mainland Chinese, July sales rose just 3.8 percent from a year earlier, slowing from June's 11 percent year-on-year growth. August figures are scheduled for release on October 4.

Gift giving is a cultural norm in China, seen as a way of showing respect. It is not unusual for civil servants to receive expensive bottles of alcohol, jewellery or lavish meals from business leaders in the community.

Since Beijing's crackdown was announced, demand for typical gift-giving products such as watches and wine has faded.

Jebsen, a distributor for premium brands in China and one of the largest Porsche dealership groups in the world, said its Porsche sales have remained healthy, up 28 percent in August from a year earlier.

But its Hong Kong Bordeaux wine sales are down 25 percent in value and 6 percent in volume. Hong Kong has been a favorite entry point to China for high-end Grand Cru wines.

To be sure, China still has plenty of people willing and able to splash out on fancy goods, and Hong Kong and the gambling enclave of Macau remain shopping paradises.

At U.S. billionaire Steve Wynn's casino in Macau, which houses high-end brands such as Louis Vuitton, Piaget and Dior, retail business is still solid with sales well up over the same period a year ago, said a Wynn spokesperson.

Outlet shopping villages are also becoming popular for Chinese consumers who benefit from hefty tax savings.

Desiree Bollier, chief executive of Value Retail, which has nine outlet villages in Europe, said Chinese customers are increasingly opting for the smaller niche European brands offering unique products they cannot find at home.

"Demand is not diminishing but evolving - the spectrum is becoming broader and more sophisticated," she said.

(Reporting by Farah Master; Editing by Emily Kaiser and Jean Yoon)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chinas-corruption-crackdown-takes-shine-off-luxury-boom-211155570.html

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Drunk on Cloud Kool-Aid? Time To Sober Up | TechCrunch

Editor?s note: Justin Moore is CEO of Axcient, a cloud solution for data, application, and system uptime. You can follow him on Twitter at @justinrmoore.

Many great technology breakthroughs are subject to analyst predictions about how quickly that technology will take over the world. In 2007, Gartner famously forecasted that all PCs would be virtualized by 2010. While this didn?t happen then and is not close to happening now, business leaders and analysts continue to predict that all business systems will be in the cloud in five years. This common prediction is perhaps as overhyped as the term ?drinking the Kool-Aid? is overused, but if you believe that all business systems will be in the cloud in five years, you?re certainly drinking something. Here are three reasons you should sober up:

1.??Too much critical information still resides on-premise.

If you think about how businesses operate and move, you realize that change takes time ? and money. Physical networks, on-premise servers, and desktop software have been the core components of business systems for decades. Critical data and applications are tied into legacy networks. And chances are, IT has spent significant resources trying to get systems to run as efficiently as possible. ?If it ain?t broke, don?t fix it? is another overused, though quite applicable phrase that applies to how IT and management teams think about where to apply limited resources to implement meaningful change.

I?m not against the cloud. In fact, I started a cloud solutions company at a time when few entrepreneurs were thinking about the possibilities of the cloud. I know it?s the future because of the accessibility and scalability it affords. But I?m also a realist, knowing that executives have specific priorities with limited budgets, and that ripping out and replacing an entire infrastructure does not often appear in the list of a business? four or five top goals. Think about it ? just because a chief operating officer is a believer in the benefits of cloud solutions doesn?t mean he or she is going to put aside other priorities for the company?s growth to spend an entire year?s budget on a major infrastructure change. They?re going to look at which cloud solutions will make the greatest immediate impact, then implement gradual improvements.

2. ?The cloud isn?t always cheaper.

One thing businesses using cloud solutions have learned: The argument that the cloud is more cost-effective doesn?t always pan out, especially when looking at an overhaul of existing systems. Depending on the size and needs of a business, cloud solutions can be far more cost-effective. Moving to Software as a Service (SaaS) accounting software or using Salesforce for customer relationship management (CRM) might be a no-brainer in terms of increased productivity and value per dollar. But those cloud solutions are not cheap. Most allow you to get up-and-running with very little or no upfront capital expense. The monthly fees can add up, and the more cloud solutions you have, the more your monthly operating expenses will increase.

There are valid reasons for choosing to stay with a particular legacy system. At Axcient, for example, we still use SharePoint. We know there are SaaS solutions that are better and easier to use, but even though it?s not ideal ? and we will change eventually ? for the moment, it works, and upgrading is not a priority for our IT team. For many years to come, a lot of companies will be in a similar situation: They?re not moving all the way to the cloud ? not just yet ? because it doesn?t pay off to do so with every application. Not all cloud solutions are created equal; some have a higher immediate return on investment than others.

3. ?You need a multiplier of value for cloud adoption. ? ? ? ? ?

Real change happens when there?s a multiplier involved. For a business to take the time and expense to rip out and replace a legacy system with a cloud solution, they need to see that they will be rewarded with a multiplied increase in productivity, not just an incremental increase. They?ve already spent the capital expense on their current system and have an IT guy to manage it. So they?re running along fine until they have an extremely good reason to change.

In the backup and recovery market, for example, many SMBs have continued using tape-based backup solutions. While tape backup is as outdated as the VHS tapes you cleaned out of your attic 10 years ago, disk and other backup methods that have appeared over the years weren?t dramatically better or cheaper, so people stuck with what they had. It is only recently that cloud-based backup and recovery technology has improved to the point that a business can see a multiplied effect on productivity and revenue over tape. With a cloud-based data and application protection solution like Axcient, businesses can not only restore data, but also recover systems instantly after a failure to ensure continuous business productivity. Compared to waiting the hours or days it takes to recover with tape or traditional disk-based backup, such anywhere/anytime uptime via the cloud delivers an exponential improvement in productivity and revenue. This is what?s convincing IT managers to finally switch from tape to cloud backup.

When Cloud Makes the Most Sense (and Dollars)

The above reasons throw a sobering cup of cold water in the faces of those who think that desktop servers and software are going away in the near future. While my aim is to set this view straight, it?s not to downplay the impact of the cloud or its rapid growth. The cloud will achieve widespread adoption gradually, as most business technologies do. When a new business starts, it will likely be on all-cloud platforms. When an established business replaces a single system, it will be cloud. Or when cloud solutions offer a multiplied increase in value, a business might do a broad rip-and-replace.

The cloud won?t magically take over the majority of businesses in the next year, or two, or even five. But we are already seeing and will continue to see a number of logical business functions and applications move to the cloud. At some point, there will be a balancing point between on-premises and cloud-based systems, and I suspect that balancing point is not too far in the distant future. In the meantime, staying grounded in the real benefits ? and limitations ? of the cloud will help IT professionals navigate beyond the hype to identify SaaS solutions that bring about the greatest business advantages.


Axcient provides a data backup, disaster recovery and business continuity platform for IT Resellers and Managed Service Providers (MSP) serving the small to medium-sized business (SMB) marketplace. Axcient???s hybrid data protection platform includes an onsite appliance for fast local restore and failover capability, as well as a storage cloud to ensure maximum protection from fire, flood, sabotage, theft and other unforeseen disasters. Axcient is compatible with Windows, Linux and OSX and is designed to protect customers from the laptop...

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Source: http://techcrunch.com/2012/09/22/drunk-on-cloud-kool-aid-time-to-sober-up/

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Internet Multi Level Marketing Magician Disappears

Today an?Internet Multi Level Marketing Magician Disappears and no one CARES, internet multi level magicians are rare?

Internet Multi Level Marketing Magician Disappears

Internet Multi Level Marketing?Magician Disappears

With the explosive growth of the online world in the past 15 years there has been a radical shift in the way network marketers conduct their business, and?internet multi level marketing?is quickly becoming the preferred methodology. The internet opens up a whole realm of possibility that only a few short years ago were unimaginable for any Internet multi level marketing?network marketer. These changes include the ability to conduct business 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 365 per year and the removal of geographic barriers to a marketer?s business. Today it is possible to conduct business and recruit an MLM downline from nearly every country around the world. With the expansion of the playing field having by the internet, the opportunities for the average Internet multi level marketing network marketer are virtually endless.

As with any Internet multi level marketing business endeavor, there are basic fundamentals that need to be implemented if you are going to be successful for the long term. Fortunately the field of internet multi level marketing is out of its infancy and there are many who have successfully blazed a trail before you. Their efforts have helped to establish the basic fundamentals of marketing on the internet with Internet multi level marketing. If you will follow these proven methods, you too can achieve a great deal of success marketing your multi level marketing business online.

The first principle of Internet multi level marketing?is personal branding. Even if you are promoting someone else?s website, product or service it is imperative that you bring attention to who you are. Too many marketers fail to understand that their voice is one in a multitude of literally thousands of voices that are trying to promote the same product or service. If you as a marketer fail to distinguish yourself from the others, your odds of finding customers and team members are not much better than your odds of winning the lottery. Simply put, the numbers are against you if you do not make an effort to brand yourself in the marketplace. Personal branding can be as simple as adding your name and photograph to each of your marketing pieces. Personal branding could also include the use of a personalized domain name that points to all of your marketing pages. Remember, people prefer to conduct business with people they know and trust.

The second principle of Internet multi level marketing?is list building. List building is central to online marketing success. The simplest way to build your list is to lead with value. Simply stated this means that you should give something of value away to your prospects that will encourage them to receive additional information from you. This is typically accomplished through the offer of training, a report, a video or some other tangible resource in exchange for the name and email address of the prospect. This process is generally automated through the use of email autoresponders. Once the prospect has given their contact information, they receive your offer and they become part of your Internet multi level marketing?list.

The third principle of Internet multi level marketing?is relationship building with your list. This is accomplished through ongoing communication with your list about relevant topics relating to your target market. It is important that your communications offer valuable content and not simply a sales pitch. Without valuable content you will lose people from your list as quickly as you add them. When you stay anchored into the understanding that Internet multi level marketing?is a relationship business, you will quickly be able to determine if your content is helping to foster relationships. It is important that your communication with your list be consistent and ongoing. Haphazard communication will also give people a reason to remove themselves from your list.

The fourth principle of Internet multi level marketing?is to sell to the people on your list. The great thing about your list, is the fact that you can present opportunities on a regular basis. One of the easiest, low key approaches to making a sales presentation to your list, is simply through the use of a P.S. in your normal emails. The body of your email is filled with valuable content that can be used by your subscribers, but your P.S. is reserved as an invitation to experience your product, service or business opportunity.

Applying these four principles of Internet multi level marketing?will give you the basic foundation for internet multi level marketing.

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Applying the four main principles in network marketing would bring you countless income. Although it would take time, it would definitely come to you once you are able to have a steady amount of leads. For years, it has been hard to be successful at network marketing, and it probably is caused by how it got linked to scams. By following the four principles, you might be able to change people?s minds about it.

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Source: http://www.mlmguruankur.com/internet-multi-level-marketing-magician-disappears/

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Source: http://louiesison.com/bloggingfrombeginning/quick-profit-formula-brand-new-sales-copy-converting-7/

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Berlin unveils plaque to Reagan's 'Wall' speech

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/berlin-unveils-plaque-reagans-wall-speech-172756701.html

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Taming physical forces that block cancer treatment

ScienceDaily (Sep. 20, 2012) ? It's a high-pressure environment within solid tumors. Abnormal blood and lymphatic vessels cause fluids to accumulate, and the uncontrolled proliferation of cancer cells within limited space leads to the buildup of what is called solid stress. Both types of pressure can interfere with the effectiveness of anticancer treatments, but while strategies have been developed that reduce fluid pressures, little has been known about the impact of solid stress or potential ways to alleviate it. Now a Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) research team has identified factors that contribute to solid stress within tumors, suggesting possible ways to alleviate it, and has developed a simple way to measure such pressures.

"Traditionally cancer research has focused on cancer cells and, more recently, on the biochemical microenvironment of tumors," says Rakesh Jain, PhD, director of the Steele Laboratory for Tumor Biology at MGH and senior author of the study in the Sept. 18 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "Our work shows that the physical or mechanical microenvironment plays an equally important role in tumor progression and treatment resistance."

Jain and his colleagues have been leaders in understanding the impact of elevated fluid pressures that make it difficult for drugs to enter and permeate tumors. Their work showed that fluid pressures are relieved when antiangiogenesis drugs normalize the abnormal blood vessels characteristically found within solid tumors, improving the effectiveness of other anticancer therapies. But that approach can only work if vessels have not been squeezed shut by solid stress in surrounding tissues. In recent studies Jain's team showed that solid stress also increases the invasiveness of cancer cells.

The current study was designed to develop techniques that measure solid stress in tumors, to identify factors that contribute to the generation of this solid stress and to determine whether previously compressed blood vessels would open when stress-inducing components were depleted. Based on predictions from mathematical models, the MGH-based team developed a remarkably simple way to measure solid stress within tumor tissues.

In experiments using both tumors experimentally grown in mice and tumors removed from human patients, the researchers found that, when a solid tumor is cut in two, each segment begins to swell along the sliced surface, releasing stored solid stress. In contrast, when a sample of normal tissue is cut in two, the separated halves of tissue retain their size and shape. Measuring the extent of shape relaxation along with other mechanical properties of tumor tissue enabled calculation of the amount of solid stress within a tumor sample.

Additional experiments utilizing the newly developed technique identified several components that contribute to increased solid stress within tumors, including the proliferation not only of cancer cells but also of fibroblasts and other components of the tumor's extracellular matrix. In pancreatic tumors implanted into mice, the researchers showed that inhibition of a pathway leading to the growth of fibroblasts reduced solid stress associated with tumor growth and opened up compressed blood and lymphatic vessels, which could both relieve fluid pressure and improve the delivery of chemotherapy drugs.

The authors note that their results may explain why the use of antiangiogenesis drugs has not improved treatment of highly fibrotic tumors -- including dangerous pancreatic, lung and breast cancers -- and suggest that a strategy targeting both aspects of intratumor pressure should be explored. "Now that we have seen how tumors exploit physical forces to facilitate progression and treatment resistance, we need to learn how to tame these fluid and solid forces to improve treatment outcomes," says Jain, the Cook Professor of Radiation Oncology (Tumor Biology) at Harvard Medical School. "We urgently need to identify safe pharmaceutical agents that reduce solid stress and then add them judiciously to current treatments."

Co-lead authors of the PNAS paper are Triantafyllos Stylianopoulos, PhD, and John D. Martin of the Steele Laboratory. Additional co-authors are Vikash Chauhan, Saloni Jain, Benjamin Diop-Frimpong, Yves Boucher, PhD, and Lance Munn, PhD, Steele Lab; Nabeel Bardeesy, PhD, MGH Center for Cancer Research; Barbara Smith, MD, MD, and Cristina Ferrone, MD, MGH Department of Surgery; and Francis J. Horniceki, MD, PhD, MGH Orthopaedic Oncology. The study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Massachusetts General Hospital.

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Journal Reference:

  1. Jieqiong Liu, Shan Liao, Benjamin Diop-Frimpong, Wei Chen, Shom Goel, Kamila Naxerova, Marek Ancukiewicz, Yves Boucher, Rakesh K. Jain, and Lei Xu. TGF-? blockade improves the distribution and efficacy of therapeutics in breast carcinoma by normalizing the tumor stroma. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2012; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1117610109

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Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/1vdySYhLTvQ/120920153313.htm

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Who Is Emma Watson's Celebrity Crush?

'Perks of Being a Wallflower' star reveals her love for Kevin Costner during 'MTV First': 'He was Robin Hood and the Bodyguard — come on!'
By Kara Warner, with reporting by Josh Horowitz


Ezra Miller, Logan Lerman and Emma Watson during "MTV First: The Perks of Being A Wallflower"
Photo: Michele Crowe / MTV

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1694058/emma-watson-kevin-costner-celebrity-crush.jhtml

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