In one of the best ever presentations of otherwise dry data you will ever see, Hans Rosling shows the virtues of simple clarity to transform data into information into insight.

Watch till the end, to gain a better appreciation of the importance of opening data up to public for value adding. Shall we send a copy to the JSE???

Cheers

Stuart

In one of the best ever presentations of otherwise dry data you will ever see, Hans Rosling shows the virtues of simple clarity to transform data into information into insight.

Watch till the end, to gain a better appreciation of the importance of opening data up to public for value adding. Shall we send a copy to the JSE???

Cheers

Stuart

In one of the best ever presentations of otherwise dry data you will ever see, Hans Rosling shows the virtues of simple clarity to transform data into information into insight.

Watch till the end, to gain a better appreciation of the importance of opening data up to public for value adding. Shall we send a copy to the JSE???

Cheers

Stuart

In one of the best ever presentations of otherwise dry data you will ever see, Hans Rosling shows the virtues of simple clarity to transform data into information into insight.

Watch till the end, to gain a better appreciation of the importance of opening data up to public for value adding. Shall we send a copy to the JSE???

Cheers

Stuart

In one of the best ever presentations of otherwise dry data you will ever see, Hans Rosling shows the virtues of simple clarity to transform data into information into insight.

Watch till the end, to gain a better appreciation of the importance of opening data up to public for value adding. Shall we send a copy to the JSE???

Cheers

Stuart

In one of the best ever presentations of otherwise dry data you will ever see, Hans Rosling shows the virtues of simple clarity to transform data into information into insight.

Watch till the end, to gain a better appreciation of the importance of opening data up to public for value adding. Shall we send a copy to the JSE???

Cheers

Stuart

The PE ratio is a quick measure to compare the Price (P) and the Earnings of a share (E). How then to consider the merits of shares with different PE ratios? Well some say that the Growth (G) can be used to "normalise" a range of PEs across several shares, and so help you choose. The PEG ratio simply divides PE by G to give you a new figure - the PEG ratio. 

To see if the "PEG ratio" helps you decide on a share, you have to understand that its about the shape of the earnings profile, not the trivial  arithmetic...

Link to this little sheet - it should help...

user_uploads/PEGIllustrator2.xls

Where Hannibal succeeded two millenia ago, with elephants, a Swiss fighter pilot has failed in his attempt to cross from Africa to Europe. Equipped with a jet-powered wing, Swiss adventurer Yves Rossy ditched in the sea Wednesday 5 minutes into bid to make aviation history by flying from Africa to Europe using a jet-powered wing attached to his back.

The 50-year-old former fighter pilotwas attempting to complete the first intercontinental flight using just a jetpack.

It is believed his mental attitude to life could be well suited to trading in the derivatives markets.

He had planned to fly 38 kilometres across the Strait of Gibraltar from Tangier in Morocco to Atlanterra in southern Spain from a height of about 2,000 metres while wearing a flame-retardant suit. His journey was to last 13 minutes — reaching top speeds of 290 kilometres an hour — but at about the mid-way point Rossy parachuted into the ocean apparently because of a wing malfunction, organizers said.

"It is going to be historic. No one has ever done this before," he told reporters on the eve of his attempted crossing. Rossy made headlines in September 2008 when he became the first person to cross the English Channel between France and Britain using a jet-powered wing. He made the crossing from Calais to Dover — tracing the route of French aviation pioneer Louis Bleriot, who became the first person to fly across the Channel in a plane 99 years earlier — in just 15 minutes, after reaching speeds of up to 200 kilometres an hour.

His team said Wednesday’s Africa to Europe attempt was the logical follow-on from this. The carbon-fibre wing, two metres across and weighing 60 kilos (130 pounds), is powered by four jet engines and steered by the pilot’s body movements. It was designed by Rossy. Before taking off he said the main dangers were engine failure and losing control of the wing. "But there’s always plan B. I can ditch the wing and open the parachute. If I land in the water, there are people to come and get me," he told AFP by telephone.

Sanlam Private Investment gives its outlook.

(Investment insight from moneyweb - David Carte)

JOHANNESBURG - Company earnings need to recover to justify the 48% bounce in share prices since March, says Sanlam (JSE:SLM) Private Investment manager Alwyn van der Merwe. The big bounce has lifted the average PE of the Alsi from eight to 15. Meantime earnings growth on average is expected to decline by 20% this year. Van der Merwe says current share prices are not sustainable without a recovery in earnings. But on balance, Van der Merwe thinks a big earnings bounce is likely next year.

SPI surveyed the major stock brokers, who foresee earnings on average rising 30% in the year ahead. "The Alsi usually runs ahead of company earnings, by up to a year", Van der Merwe said on Wednesday. Van der Merwe's faith in SA equities rests on the market's current average PE of only eight, inflation and interest rate trends downwards, the prospect of earnings growth in the next two years, the huge cash holdings outside the stock market and the pattern of recovery of previous bear markets.

The amount of money outside the stock market exceeds stock market capitalisations - "and these days you get no return on cash". In the year to October, SA equities gave a return of 25.7%, prefs 12.9%, listed property 11.9%, cash 7.6% and bonds minus 2.3%. Emerging markets have risen by 65% in dollars and developed markets on average were 23% stronger. Shares have had a very good run.

SPI made some calculations that make equities the preferred asset class, even after the recent rise in the stock market. Its reasoning is that the long term average PE of the Alsi is ten-12. Should the market return to that norm and earnings grow simultaneously, five-year returns should be reasonable.

If earnings grow 30% in 2010 and 20% in 2011 and the average PE is ten, SPI foresees a return of 17.1% pa. If the PE rises to 12, the return will be 20.5% pa.  

"That gives us enough comfort to make equities the preferred asset class."

Van der Merwe said SPI had done well with early investments in Standard Bank (JSE:SBK), Old Mutual (JSE:OML), British American Tobacco (JSE:BTI) and Tiger Brands (JSE:TBS).