Mainstream News

Swap your gold shares for coins, ETF firm offers

"Exchange traded funds have mushroomed in recent years as a highly popular way for private investors to own gold. Real holdings of gold, stored in bank vaults, are represented by shares which trade daily on the London Stock Exchange. This makes it possible for investors to buy and sell cheaply – and in relatively small quantities. Investors can choose to receive Britannias or Sovereigns, at a cost of 4.5pc per transaction. Britannias are made from one troy ounce and minted from 22 carat gold, while Sovereigns weigh just under a quarter a troy ounce. There is no tax to pay on the switch, ETFS says." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSwap your gold shares for coins, ETF firm offers

125 shopping days left: Retailers start Xmas deals

"Even before the school bells are ringing for many families, retailers are sounding sleigh bells. Yes, that's right. With 120-plus shopping days left, stores are already talking up their holiday offers. You might not be feeling the time pressure yet, but retailers are. Success in the fourth quarter is often key to annual performance, and in tough economic times the competition for customer dollars is fierce, said Dave Cheatham, managing principal of Velocity Retail Group. 'Retailers are determined not to be left on the sidelines,' he said. 'They're reinventing the rules on how to do holiday shopping.'" Continue reading →

Continue Reading125 shopping days left: Retailers start Xmas deals

Tradehill Bitcoin Accounts Moving to Internet Archive Credit Union

"Tradehill Inc., an exchange for virtual currencies such as Bitcoin, is moving customer accounts to a U.S. credit union, a shift designed to make it easier for clients to complete transactions. Holdings with Tradehill will be transitioned to federally-insured accounts at the Internet Archive Federal Credit Union, according to an e-mail to clients obtained by Bloomberg News. Tradehill is moving accounts to the credit union to win more business from investors and financial institutions that trade in Bitcoins, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified because the plans aren’t public." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTradehill Bitcoin Accounts Moving to Internet Archive Credit Union

Fox Affiliate Explores Bitcoin, A New Trending Form Of Currency

"Bitcoins are all the rage in the techie community and gaining popularity fast. But what is Bitcoin? Professor James Angel explains: 'Bitcoins are a string of numbers…these numbers can be used to make payment.' It's digital currency, existing only online. You get them by 'mining,' or solving complicated math questions and algorithms. Anthony Mongeluzo, president of Pro Computer Services, explains further: 'Anyone could use Bitcoins. Primarily it's used as an online payment system, but it's a universal currency which means it's accepted in most countries.' The currency can be transferred person to person via the Internet, without a bank." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFox Affiliate Explores Bitcoin, A New Trending Form Of Currency

Investors Nervous: Erdogan’s Witch Hunt Endangers Economy

"'Umut Keles,' a Turkish analyst with an American investment bank, removes the battery from his mobile phone, afraid of being wiretapped by the Turkish government. The investment banker believes that the government would take action against him if it knew his identity. 'There's a witch hunt underway here at the moment,' he says. Levent is Turkey's financial center, home to the offices of banks like HSBC and Deutsche Bank. They helped finance the Turkish economic boom in recent years, but now the government suspects them of supporting putschists and terrorists. 'We're all afraid,' says Keles. Some of his colleagues are thinking about leaving the country for good." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingInvestors Nervous: Erdogan’s Witch Hunt Endangers Economy

Singapore firm launches in-flight Muslim prayer app

"A Singapore-based company has launched an iPhone app alerting Muslims when to pray and in which direction they should face even when they’re 35,000 feet in the air. Travellers input the flight details and are provided with prayer times during their journey, as well as the direction of the Muslim holy city of Mecca. Crescentrating, a firm that gives 'halal' or Islam-compliant ratings to hotels and other travel-related establishments, plans to make the free app, called Crescent Trips, available to Android smartphones within months. Spending by Muslim tourists is growing faster than the global rate and is forecast to reach $192 billion a year by 2020, up from $126 billion in 2011." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSingapore firm launches in-flight Muslim prayer app

Why are sales of non-alcoholic beer booming?

"For one thing, people are more aware than before of the damaging effects of alcohol. And better technology means that it is tastier than before, Mr Durkan claims. One chunk of the market is taking off for other reasons. The Middle East now accounts for almost a third of the worldwide sales by volume of non-alcoholic beer. In 2012 Iranians drank nearly four times as much of it as they did in 2007. It is popular in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, where alcohol is either wholly or partially banned. Partly this is for religious reasons. But it also taps into growing consumer aspirations. As a statement of a globalised lifestyle beer, even if non-alcoholic, may be more potent than Coca-Cola." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhy are sales of non-alcoholic beer booming?

Hackers who targeted media last year now targeting think tanks

"The hackers who penetrated the computer network of The New York Times last year have resurfaced with an attack on 'an organization involved in shaping economic policy,' experts warned Monday. The security firm FireEye said the original perpetrators 'appear to be mounting fresh assaults that leverage new and improved versions of malware.' Chinese officials repeatedly denied responsibility for the attacks, and since then the United States has in turn been accused of penetrating foreign networks through the spy programs revealed by leaker Edward Snowden. FireEye said it had detected 'a retooling of what security researchers believe is a massive spying operation based in China.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHackers who targeted media last year now targeting think tanks

Facebook won’t reward hacker who exposed security flaw in Zuckerberg’s profile

"Palestinian researcher Khalil Shreateh said on his blog he found a way for Facebook users to circumvent security and modify a user’s timeline. He said he took the unusual step of hacking into Zuckerberg’s profile after being ignored by the Facebook security team. His reward for exposing the flaw was having his Facebook account disabled. Facebook security engineer Matt Jones posted a comment Sunday on a security forum saying 'we fixed this bug on Thursday,' and admitted that 'we should have asked for additional… instructions after his initial report.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFacebook won’t reward hacker who exposed security flaw in Zuckerberg’s profile

World’s costliest auctioned car ‘in Swiss hands’

"The most valuable road car ever sold at auction, a candy red Ferrari convertible that fetched $27.5 million at a sale in the US last weekend, was acquired by a Swiss buyer, a report says. The unidentified successful bidder acquired the 300-horsepower NART Spider sports car, built in 1967, at an auction in Monterey, California. The car was previously owned by Eddie Smith Jr., the son of Eddie Smith Sr., an American multi-millionaire from North Carolina who bought the car new in 1968 after travelling to the Ferrari plant in Modena in northern Italy. With a 3,866cc V-12 engine and five-speed transmission, the two-seater was only one of 10 such models made." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWorld’s costliest auctioned car ‘in Swiss hands’