Shaw Capital Management Scam Info: Contractor Scam Warning

http://www.wjhg.com/news/headlines/Contractor_Scam_Warning_117289038.html?ref=038

Posted: 9:56 PM Mar 2, 2011
Reporter: Meagan O’Halloran
Email Address: meagan.ohalloran@wjhg.com

The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office is warning residents about another contractor fraud. Apparently these types of scams are an ongoing issue in the community. There are some things you should ask before hiring a handy-man.
Martin Novak’s hard-wood floors turned into a hard-luck story. He realized too late that the flooring company he found on the internet turned out to be a scam.
“I gave him $1000. The full job was supposed to be $3,000″ says Novak.
But the man never did the job. Novak hasn’t seen him since.
“He told me he was up in Pensacola doing a big carpet job and he would stop by my home that evening–and I’ve never seen him. I tried contacting him several times on the phone, I got nothing; no response, whatsoever.”
Newschannel 7 tried to call the company. The line was disconnected.
Crime Prevention Specialist Ashley Bailey with the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office says it’s another example of contractor fraud that continues to plague local residents.
“It’s like every other business out there–there’s good folks and bad folks, so you just need to do a little research before you decide to hire them”, Bailey says.
- Investigators recommend you get at least three bids.
- Check to make sure the contractor or handy-man has an in-state license.
- Insist on a written contract that details the work to be done with start and completion dates.
- Get customer references.
- Never pay in cash.
You can check a contractor’s license online with the Better Business Bureau or the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulations.
It may be too little too late for Novak, but he hopes people will learn from his mistake.
“If I can stop him from scamming one more person, than I figure it’s worth that $1,000.”
If you’re still uncertain a business or contractor is legitimate, call the Okaloosa County Fraud and Scam Hotline at 651-7674.

Shaw Capital Management Scam Info: Fraud prevention month – protect yourself

http://www.cottagecountrynow.ca/news/article/972335–fraud-prevention-month-protect-yourself

• By Sarah Frank

PARRY SOUND – Carole Breault, a receptionist for a chiropractor’s office on Joseph St. in Parry Sound, spotted a fraud scam that came into the office by fax. At first glance, the Yellow Pages application form with the chiropractor’s name looked legitimate, asking to please fill in business information and return the form with the requested funds enclosed ($119 per month) to have the business listed in Canadian Yellow Pages. Looking closer, the company name reads “YellowPage”, and the company logo is upside down. This, as Breault realized, is one of the many types of cash-grabbing scams that businesses and individuals are faced with on a daily basis. “I called the company, Yellow Pages, and they were already aware this was going on,” said Breault. “They said the police had already been informed as well.” Contacting the company to make them aware of the scam is one of the best things you can do, said OPP Const. Charles Ostrom. March is Fraud Prevention month and the OPP and the Canadian Anit-fraud Center would like community members to be on their toes, and take every opportunity to learn how to recognize and report fraud scams immediately. Ostrom warns there are as many types of fraud as there are people out there committing it. “There’s a new scam probably every minute,” he said. “I wouldn’t pay any more heed to (the fake Yellow Page application) than I would to emails from Nigeria saying they are going to deposit $1 million into my bank account.” The RCMP’s commercial crime branch estimates fraud related offences are now thought to be a profitable as drug related offences, at between $10 and $30 billion annually in Canada, the Anti-Fraud Centre reports. The centre identifies the top three types of scams as service, prize and emergency. Service scams, including misleading promotion or solicitation of service, internet, medical, or insurance rates, and usually involve a third party making you offers. During the “Prize Pitch” as the Anti-Fraud Centre has dubbed it, the victim is typically told they have won a prize and must pay a fee upfront to receive it. The emergency scam, sometimes known as the “grandparent scam” typically consists of a telephone call where the con artist says, “Do you know who this is?” The victim will reply with a name, “John?” To which the con artist replies, “Yes, I need help,” and requests money sent immediately for an emergency situation. To learn more about how to recognize fraud, or to report a fraud, visit www.antifraudcentre.ca or call 1-888-495-8501. PARRY SOUND – Carole Breault, a receptionist for a chiropractor’s office on Joseph St. in Parry Sound, spotted a fraud scam that came into the office by fax. At first glance, the Yellow Pages application form with the chiropractor’s name looked legitimate, asking to please fill in business information and return the form with the requested funds enclosed ($119 per month) to have the business listed in Canadian Yellow Pages. Looking closer, the company name reads “YellowPage”, and the company logo is upside down. This, as Breault realized, is one of the many types of cash-grabbing scams that businesses and individuals are faced with on a daily basis. “I called the company, Yellow Pages, and they were already aware this was going on,” said Breault. “They said the police had already been informed as well.” Contacting the company to make them aware of the scam is one of the best things you can do, said OPP Const. Charles Ostrom. March is Fraud Prevention month and the OPP and the Canadian Anit-fraud Center would like community members to be on their toes, and take every opportunity to learn how to recognize and report fraud scams immediately. Ostrom warns there are as many types of fraud as there are people out there committing it. “There’s a new scam probably every minute,” he said. “I wouldn’t pay any more heed to (the fake Yellow Page application) than I would to emails from Nigeria saying they are going to deposit $1 million into my bank account.” The RCMP’s commercial crime branch estimates fraud related offences are now thought to be a profitable as drug related offences, at between $10 and $30 billion annually in Canada, the Anti-Fraud Centre reports. The centre identifies the top three types of scams as service, prize and emergency. Service scams, including misleading promotion or solicitation of service, internet, medical, or insurance rates, and usually involve a third party making you offers. During the “Prize Pitch” as the Anti-Fraud Centre has dubbed it, the victim is typically told they have won a prize and must pay a fee upfront to receive it. The emergency scam, sometimes known as the “grandparent scam” typically consists of a telephone call where the con artist says, “Do you know who this is?” The victim will reply with a name, “John?” To which the con artist replies, “Yes, I need help,” and requests money sent immediately for an emergency situation. To learn more about how to recognize fraud, or to report a fraud, visit www.antifraudcentre.ca or call 1-888-495-8501.

Latest World Headlines: Shaw Capital Management : Is the Japan Crisis Completely Overblown?

March 16, 2011 | about: AAPL, TM, VZ 
http://seekingalpha.com/article/258639-is-the-japan-crisis-completely-overblown

In times of extreme emotion it can be productive to take a step back and analyze the numbers. On the sixth day of this nuclear crisis doctors have tested radiation levels in approximately 150 people who were in close vicinity of the Fukushima Daiichi site. Authorities have taken measures to decontaminate 23 people according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. The population was evacuated in a radius of 12 miles. People within 18 miles have been asked to remain indoors. The latest radiation readings in Fukushima showed a drop to 60 microsieverts per hour. To put that kind of exposure in context, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission allows dose limits of 10,000 microsieverts per nuclear event. The average American receives annual exposure of 6,200 microsieverts. Investors need to understand how to separate a human crisis from an economic crisis. The Japan tragedy will be limited to a human crisis. These kinds of numbers are not worthy of widespread economic fear.

What is our worst case scenario? After the explosion at Chernobyl, the biggest nuclear power plant disaster of all time, 28 firefighters and emergency workers died from acute radiation sickness in the first three months. Ten years after the Chernobyl event the U.N. released a 1,200 page report pointing out that there were 1,000 cases of leukemia in the village right next to Chernobyl and 998 of them were cured. Chernobyl totally exploded, it had no containment building, the fear that the cloud of radiation would kill tens of thousands of people and deform children never materialized.

I have lost count of the number of sensationalized media headlines that are doing their part to sell content. Very few, if any of the actual stories are as dire as the headlines suggest. When we’re talking about 23 people getting decontaminated and an evacuation region of 12 miles there is no reason to overreact. It’s interesting to watch the media skew the public’s sense of reality. Allow me enlighten your perspective. Did you know that 37,000 people in the U.S. die of flu-related causes every year? Do you want to know how many people die in the world ever day? According to the 2010 World Population Data Sheet we lose 156,000 people every 24 hours. Over 56 million people die every year and yet somehow the economy keeps on ticking.

I’m a big believer that the contagious spread of irrational fear is the single best reason to buy stocks. Our hearts go out to any who suffer and we all know that Japan faces a long road to recovery but to suppose that this natural disaster is a long term reason to sell stocks is foolish. The media has done another great job of spreading the doctrine of fear. The economic truth is that more than $200 billion will be poured into the Japanese economy and this proud nation will rebuild itself. The economic truth is that many businesses have already reopened in Tokyo. Toyota (TM) will resume business by next week. The Nikkei rallied 5.7% overnight. Don’t allow the 15 stock photographs of devastation lead you to believe that the entire country is in ruins. This world deals with natural disasters every year and more often than not those disasters turn into an economic stimulus for the region. $200 billion getting spent on Japan might as well be called QE3.

Meanwhile I went into my local Apple (AAPL) store this morning and the good news was that they received a new shipment of iPad 2’s, the bad news was that they had already sold out. Reports of lines at Apple stores in New York City and San Francisco continue for the sixth straight day. Analysts are declaring that the supposed tablet wars are already over as Apple’s lead appears insurmountable. At such a time in Apple’s history, any irrational weakness in the stock is representative of a buying opportunity. At the April earnings report Apple will be reporting sales of Verizon (VZ) iPhones in addition to iPad 2’s for the first time. Today is March 16th and the stock is down another $12. This selloff is a gift. We are ready to begin putting our 76% allocation of cash to work. Today we are purchasing a 5% allocation of AAPL May 2011 $330 calls. We plan on being fully loaded by the end of next week.

Disclosure: I am long AAPL.

Latest World Headlines: Shaw Capital Management | Industrial Bank of Korea Goes Live with Calypso for Front Office Support

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110327005005/en/Industrial-Bank-Korea-Live-Calypso-Front-Office

March 27, 2011 08:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time

- South Korean Bank to use Calypso for developing and automating FX, credit and commodity derivatives business
- Calypso Fast-Track leveraged to reduce implementation timelines and costs

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Calypso Technology Inc., the global capital markets platform provider, announced today that Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK), the majority government-owned South Korean bank, has gone live with the Calypso system to support its front office functions. The software solution has been selected to provide the bank with the opportunity to develop their commodities and credit trading businesses and automate the processes on their FX derivatives desk, allowing them to enhance the overall scope of products offered to their client base.

“We look forward to working with IBK and assisting them as their business expands and diversifies.”

IBK was seeking an open, scalable and flexible solution which would seamlessly integrate with existing in-house systems and support multiple asset classes for future growth and development. The system will help eliminate and streamline manual processes, reducing operational risks and addressing performance issues incumbent to an ageing infrastructure. The system will help achieve increased straight-through-processing (STP) from front-to-back. The Calypso Front Office solution delivers extensive functionality including pricing, trade capture, Calypso Workstation (one-stop shop for trading, cash positions, P&L modeling and simulation) and desk level market risk functionality incorporating historical VaR and stress testing scenarios.
Throughout the implementation process, Calypso’s rapid deployment solution, Calypso Fast-Track, was leveraged to deliver strong project methodology, providing business specifications, documentation, market-standard configurations, and local language training. Working alongside Korea-based consultant-partner NOA-ATS, Calypso ensured that the implementation was in a short timeframe of 6 months and on budget.
Dr. Hyung Seok Hahm, Trading Department & Project Initiator, IBK, commented, “Calypso Technology has delivered a flexible platform that brings performance and robustness to our existing FX derivatives desk, and that allows us to expand into new business areas, respectively credit and commodity derivatives. We have chosen the Calypso system among many solutions for a number of reasons. First, Calypso Technology is a market leader for credit derivatives. Secondly, they are able to provide first level support locally onsite. And the Calypso system also meets our requirement that the solution should be flexible and able to integrate our in-house pricing engines.”
“This project is a testimonial of Calypso Technology’s commitment to the East Asian markets and of our ability to provide services and local support,” added Charles Marston, CEO and chairman, Calypso Technology. “We look forward to working with IBK and assisting them as their business expands and diversifies.”
About Calypso Technology, Inc.
Calypso Technology is the premier global capital markets platform provider for financial institutions of all types. The Calypso platform incorporates a full range of seamless front-to-back office functions for OTC derivatives and treasury products – including pricing, trading, risk, processing, clearing, margining, securities financing, collateral, cash management, liquidity, reporting and accounting. It is the emergent standard for global capital markets businesses and the ideal foundation for innovation and future growth.
The Calypso platform supports a diverse range of 120+ clients in over 40 countries – banks, central banks, sovereign funds, asset managers, insurers, hedge funds, brokers, prime brokers, exchanges, clearing houses, processing services and other service providers. With 15 offices and over 500 employees, Calypso is committed to industry-renowned levels of customer service, research, development and innovation. “Calypso” is a registered trademark of Calypso Technology, Inc in the United States, the European Union and other jurisdictions.

Contacts

Cognito Europe
Charlie Morrow
+44 (0)20 7438 1100
or
Cognito US
Binna Kim / Renee Sieli
+1 646 395 6300
calypso@cognitomedia.com

Latest World Headlines: Shaw Capital Management | Parliament convenes emergency sessions to discuss Japan quake

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2011/03/14/86/0301000000AEN20110314002200315F.HTML
2011/03/14 10:06 KST

SEOUL, March 14 (Yonhap) — The South Korean legislature on Monday convened emergency sessions of four committees to discuss countermeasures for a powerful quake and a tsunami that caused unprecedented casualties and property losses in Japan.

The 9.0-magnitude earthquake devastated Japan’s northeastern and eastern regions and was followed by a tsunami on Friday, with authorities in Japan warning Sunday night the death toll would be in the “tens of thousands.”

Japan also wrestled with the threat of possible meltdowns of two nuclear reactors at a power plant damaged by the quake after an explosion on Saturday blew off the roof and walls around one of the reactors at the plant in Fukushima, 240 kilometers north of Tokyo.

The parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, trade and unification was to hear from Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan on the government’s plans to aid Japan.

The knowledge and economy committee was to question Minister Choi Joong-kyung about the safety of local atomic power plants and measures to minimize the impact of the Japanese quake on local industries.

The strategy and finance committee was to closely examine the quake’s impact on the domestic economy and countermeasures with Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun and Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Kim Choong-soo attending.

The education, science and technology committee will discuss the possible impact of the explosion of a nuclear reactor in the Fukushima power plant to the Korean Peninsula. Kim Chang-kyung, a deputy education minister, and Youn Ho-jung, chief of the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, will attend the session, according to the committee.

sshim@yna.co.kr
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