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f82 m4
Posted: June 24, 2020Categories: New Product Releases, Installation & Services, Customer CarsTags: turbo, m2, intercooler, intercooled, f87m2, f87 m2, f83 m4, f83, f82 m4 gts, f82 m4, f82, f80m3, f80 m3, f80, charge pipes, charge pipe, bmwm2, bmw m2, bmw f87 m2, bmw f83 m4, bmw f83, bmw f82 m4 gts, bmw f82 m4, bmw f82, bmw f80 m3, bmw f80
The Mishimoto Performance Air-to-Water Intercooler Power Pack counters the weaknesses in the BMW S55's design, starting with the charge pipes. Cracking under pressure or splitting at the seams are common problems with factory plastic charge pipes. These can result in less than ideal situations as you pilot your M2 Competition, M3 or M4. We created a brand-new design for the charge pipes that inspire more confidence in handling the boost pressure. Our design features a full aluminum construction with a cast midsection designed specifically to squeeze past the intake. Our charge pipe kit also includes a pair of matte black silicone couplers for a sleek and secure connection to the intercooler.
Posted: March 23, 2020Tags: kw v3, kw suspensions, kw suspension, kw coilovers, hre wheels, hre ff04, hre, flowform, f82 m4, bmw m4, bmw m performance, bmw f82 m4, bmw f82
KW Coilovers are the go-to suspension upgrade for many of our customers who are upgrading either from stock or basic lowering springs. With proven motorsport pedigree, it's hard to go wrong with nay of KW's quality offerings. Their Version 3 (V3) Coilovers are an especilaly popular option due to features such as independently adjustable damping technology - rebound and compression damping.
The separate and independently adjustable rebound- and compression damping allows for an individual suspension setup for different uses and preferences. The unique patented system with its two-stage valves allows a rebound damping adjustment (comfort) and a compression adjustment (driving dynamics) in the low-speed range while the high-speed range which controls the driving safety, is fixed.
As far it is vehicle-specifically possible, the rebound damping is adjusted by a spindle at the end of the piston rod. Mainly, the traction phase (rebound) controls car body vibrations and also influences handling and comfort in the low-speed damping range. By using the traction phase adjustment, the vehicle can be adapted to the requirements of the driver. Moreover the driving behavior can be regulated from comfortably rolling to sporty and tense with improved road holding characteristics.
The compression phase adjustment is carried out at the lower end of the shock absorber via our patented multi-purpose valve. The large number of pre-set parameters of this valve allows for a wide range of adjustment for individual use. The unique low-speed compression adjustment significantly distinguishes this technology from any other. In this compression range, the driving behavior of the vehicle is drastically influenced. An increase of the damping power supports the vehicle already during compression and therefore avoids rolling and pitching. The directional stability is significantly improved.
Other features include:
- "inox-line" stainless steel technology
- Individual height adjustment
- German TUV-tested adjustment parameters
- High-quality components for long life
- Comprehensive documentation for ease of use
- Infinitely adjustable rebound damping
- 14- level adjustable compression damping
- Unique, independently functioning damping power adjustment
Posted: March 13, 2020Categories: Featured Products, New Product Releases, Featured Builds, Installation & Services, Customer CarsTags: remus, m4, f82 m4, f82, evolution racewerks, eventuri air intake, eventuri, dinmann, bmw m4, bmw f82 m4, bmw f82, bbs lm-r, bbs lm, bbs
It's always cool to see a customer who likes do to a lot of things in one go. The owner of this lucky M4 is certainly one of those customers. They had an eye for detail and color coordination, so lots of carbon fiber and painted parts found their way into the engine bay. The white painted engine cover along with the white CSF Top Mount Dual-Pass Charge-Air-Cooler contrasts nicely with the attractive weave pattern of the carbon fiber Eventuri Intake System. It wasn't only the visuals that got love, audio came in the form of a Remus Sport Slip-On Exhaust, one of the finest sounding systems available for the S55. To finish off the engine bay, a set of Evolution Racewerks Charge Pipes, were added to provide both bling and durability.
On the exterior, BBS LM-R wheels provide the performance and racing heritage along with KW's HAS Height Adjustable Lowering Spring Sleeve-Over Kit. Dinmann carbon fiber fenders, matched to the body color also snuck their way in. A great start to a very detail-oriented build!
Posted: March 09, 2020Categories: Featured Builds, Customer CarsTags: nardo grey, m4, f82 m4 gts, f82 m4, f82, f80m3, f80 m3, f80, bmw m4, bmw m3, bmw f82 m4, bmw f82, bmw f80 m3, bmw f80
Here's a side-by-side comparison between two different but easily confused paint options: Lime Rock Grey (on the F80 M3 CS) and Nardo Grey (on the F82 M4). Lime Rock is a touch darker. Lime Rock Grey was one of the factory color options on the M3 CS while it was in production. Nardo Grey is purely an Indvidual option. Which would you prefer to have on your F8X?
Posted: March 06, 2020Categories: Featured Products, New Product Releases, Installation & ServicesTags: twin turbo, turbo, s55, m4gts, m4 zcp, m4 gts, m4, m3, f83 m4, f83, f82 m4 gts, f82 m4, f82, f80m3, f80 m3, f80, bmw m4 gts, bmw m4, bmw m3, bmw f83 m4, bmw f83, bmw f82 m4 gts, bmw f82 m4, bmw f82, bmw f80 m3, bmw f80, biturbo
Greek God, KRATOS, is the personification of Strength and Power in Greek mythology. This ethos has defined the direction of the KRATOS brand.
KRATOS came into conception through a group of engineers with 25+ years of private label design and manufacturing turbo systems for various house-hold name performance brands. These engineers saw a untouched segment in the high end European market for True OEM Style Dual Ceramic Ball Bearing Turbo System Manufacturing and through that revelation the KRATOS brand was born.
Posted: December 13, 2019Categories: Installation & Services, Customer Cars
There's just something special about the cool confidence of a sleeper car. A plain-looking car with serious engine work is a satisfying, grin-inducing machine that can ruin the day of an unsuspecting supercar owner. That's the sort of thing the owner of this M4 wanted when they reached out to us. The goal was to have a very fast car that looked stock on the outside--And under the hood! We upgraded the turbos, exhaust system and changed up the fuel system to run on E85 and methanol only. To help engine longevity, we also installed the VTT Spline Lock Crank Hub Solution. Cary Jordan supplied the Bootmod3 flash tune and helped us reach 706 horsepower at the wheels, with 658 wheel torque. The only thing that might give away the true potential of this particular car would be the loud exhaust. Otherwise, this black beast is one hell of a street sleeper!
Posted: October 25, 2019Tags: work wheels, moton suspension technology, moton suspension, m4, f82 m4, f82, bmwm, bmw m4, bmw f82 m4, bmw f82, bmw, ac schnitzer
When people talk about the BMW aftermarket, the name AC Schnitzer eventually comes up. Being manufactured in Germany to high standards, AC Schnitzer parts are often coveted by owners of BMW models old and new. Whether you have ACS parts on your E30 M3 or your F8x M3/M4, you'll turn the heads of fellow enthusiasts with ease. This F82 M4 is covered inside and out with ACS parts. With high quality parts such as these, one can expect perfect, OEM-like fitment and quality. The carbon fiber front spoiler and rear wings add aggressive style to the car's front/rear fascias and profile. In conjunction with these quality German-made parts, a set of Work Gnosis FMB01 wheels and Moton's 2-Way Coilover System complete the look, with the latter considerably boosting the M4's road handling abilities.
Posted: September 16, 2019Tags: san marino blue, m4, f82 m4, f82, bmw m4, bmw f82 m4
The M4 CS is a hugely impressive car out of the box. But in the eyes of most enthusiasts, like most factory cars, there is lots of wheel gap and wheel fitment could be more aggressive. Without having to commit to a higher-end suspension setup or aftermarket wheels, many of our customers opt to go for set of lowering springs and spacers. Our most popular spacer/spring combo comprises of Macht Schnell Sport Competition Springs and a Macht Schnell Competition Wheel Spacer Kit.
After getting those two upgrades installed, this beautiful San Marino M4 CS not only looks better but its handling performance is also enhanced without giving up the comfortable qualities of a daily driver. The Macht Schnell springs are also fully compatible with adaptive suspension!
Posted: August 14, 2019Categories: Featured Products, Installation & ServicesTags: s55, n54, f83 m4, f83, f82 m4 gts, f82 m4, f82, f80m3, f80 m3, f80, bmw m3, bmw f83 m4, bmw f83, bmw f82 m4 gts, bmw f82 m4, bmw f82, bmw f80 m3, bmw f80
We are happy to announce that VTT is offering the only complete S55 crank hub solution that does NOT require the crank to be drilled for pins. VTT's uses their proprietary "SplineLock" technology that uses high tolerance machined splines which press into the crank, and positively lock the hub to the crank to prevent slippage. The splines are machined in such a way that rotational forces drive the hub, and splines deeper into the crank meaning when the hub encounters a situation that would normally slip a stock hub the splined hub is driven into the crank to keep it in place (much like a splined extractor). VTT has spent many months testing, and retesting this design, utilizing well over 10 different samples to come to their final production version.
Posted: April 04, 2018Categories: Installation & Services, Customer CarsTags: yas marina blue, titan7 wheels, titan7 ts5, titan7, f82 m4, f82, bmwm, bmw f82 m4, bmw f82
Titan 7 wheels are now available for F8x M3 and M4! For the uninitiated, Titan 7 wheels are a quality, lightweight, and durable wheel. They are fully-forged, with 10,000 lbs presure! When the wheels debuted for last year, the only BMWs they were available for were E46 and E92 M3s. Now, after much demand, the range has expanded to the F8x M2, M3 and M4!


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If hanging around Las Vegas for nearly a week is your cup of tea, you need to take in the American Financial Services Association (AFSA)'s Vehicle Finance Conference and Exposition for three or four days, then top it off by staying around for the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA)'s annual meeting. Those events started on Feb. 1 and continued into the following week, and I was around for most of that time.
The AFSA conference was noteworthy for a couple of reasons. First, there were sightings of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) staffers during the course of the AFSA meetings, including Richard Hackett. He's an assistant director who will be in charge of the bureau's unit overseeing installment credit. That's us, folks. Also in attendance was Eric Reusch, program manager for student lending. He showed up for some valuable face time with the AFSA folks and, more specifically, the lawyers for the association's member organizations.
Hackett reiterated the message we've heard from the CFPB, as well as from the Federal Trade Commission — that he and the bureau are in "information gathering mode" and that no one should expect any new regulations until the information gathering phase has been completed.
That information complemented the interest that the FTC's Roundtables stirred up regarding several industry practices. We've been waiting since the last roundtable for the FTC's interest to result in some sort of action. Based on the comments by the FTC staff at the Roundtable events, most observers expect that the FTC will soon be prospecting for information regarding dealer practices as well.
Well, word on the show floor is that the FTC has already begun that process. Apparently, dealers across the country began receiving civil investigation demands from the FTC. From what I heard, the agency is requesting (demanding) information about dealers' spot-delivery procedures. Unfortunately, we don't what else the FTC may have requested since we don't have an example of what it's reviewing.
It's important that you keep in mind that writing new rules and regulations are only part of the federal arsenal. The CFPB and the FTC both have formidable enforcement powers, and those enforcement powers can be exercised in response to consumer complaints. In other words, don't assume that the FTC and the bureau will sit idle while they are out gathering facts and information.
Although they are not law-related, I have a few additional observations about the AFSA and NADA events: First, both were very well attended. There were significantly more attendees and exhibitors at both shows than last year. The atmosphere was markedly more upbeat, with a lot less doom and gloom than a couple of years ago.
And the NADA exhibit hall was bustling. Each year there seems to be a new emphasis on some part of the car business. This year, I was puzzled by the number of exhibitors offering marketing help to dealers. I don't recall that being the case in years past.
I was disappointed that the manufacturers didn't bring more concept cars to the exhibit hall. Eye candy is always good.
So that's my take on Vegas in February. If you weren't there, plan to attend next year. There are few better places to take the pulse of our

subset: commoncrawl


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Where an issuer includes pro forma financial information in any document (whether or not such disclosure of pro forma financial information is required under the GEM Listing Rules), that information must comply with rules 7.31(1) to (6) and a report in the terms of rule 7.31(7) must be included in the relevant document.
(1) The pro forma financial information must provide investors with information about the impact of the transaction the subject of the document by illustrating how that transaction might have affected the financial information presented in the document, had the transaction been undertaken at the commencement of the period being reported on or, in the case of a pro forma statement of financial position or net asset statement, at the date reported. The pro forma financial information presented must not be misleading, must assist investors in analysing the future prospects of the issuer and must include all appropriate adjustments permitted by rule 7.31(6), of which the issuer is aware, necessary to give effect to the transaction as if the transaction had been undertaken at the commencement of the period being reported on or, in the case of a pro forma statement of financial position or net asset statement, at the date reported on.
(2) The information must clearly state:
(a) the purpose for which it has been prepared;
(b) that it is prepared for illustrative purposes only; and
(c) that because of its nature, it may not give a true picture of the issuer's financial position or results.
(3) The information must be presented in columnar format showing separately the unadjusted financial information, the pro forma adjustments and the pro forma financial information. The pro forma financial information must be prepared in a manner consistent with both the format and accounting policies adopted by the issuer in its financial statements and must identify:
(a) the basis upon which it is prepared; and
(b) the source of each item of information and adjustment.
Pro forma figures must be given no greater prominence in the document than audited figures.
(4) Pro forma financial information may only be published in respect of:
(a) the current financial period;
(b) the most recently completed financial period; and/or
(c) the most recent interim period for which relevant unadjusted information has been or will be published or is being published in the same document;
and, in the case of a pro forma statement of financial position or net asset statement, as at the date on which such periods end or ended.
(5) The unadjusted information must be derived from the most recent:
(a) audited published financial statements, published half-year reports or published half-year or annual results announcements;
(b) accountants' report;
(c) previously published pro forma financial information reported on in accordance with rule 7.31(7); or
(d) published profit forecast or estimate.
(6) Any adjustments which are made to the information referred to in rule 7.31(5) in relation to any pro forma statement must be:
(a) clearly shown and explained;
(b) directly attributable to the transaction concerned and not relating to future events or decisions;
(c) factually supportable; and
(d) in respect of a pro forma profit or cash flow statement, clearly identified as to those adjustments which are expected to have a continuing effect on the issuer and those which are not.
(7) The pro forma financial information must be reported on in the document by the auditors or reporting accountants who must report that, in their opinion:
(a) the pro forma financial information has been properly compiled on the basis stated;
(b) such basis is consistent with the accounting policies of the issuer; and
(c) the adjustments are appropriate for the purposes of the pro forma financial information as disclosed pursuant to rule 7.31(1).
(8) Where pro forma earnings per share information is given for a transaction which includes the issue of securities, the calculation is to be based on the weighted average number of shares outstanding during the period, adjusted as if that issue had taken place at the beginning of the period.


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Perhaps you think it's okay that private members' bills – attempts at making laws that are not part of a government's programme – can be stopped by the likes of Philip Davies and Jacob Rees-Mogg.
These buffoons gleefully block useful legislation such as the bid to give free hospital parking to carers (while Mr Davies charged his own parking to the taxpayer, please note) and the proposal to force landlords to ensure their properties are fit for human habitation (Mr Davies himself is a landlord).
They happily hide behind a Commons rule that a "closure" motion, stopping a Bill from being talked out, can be called if its sponsor can muster 100 MPs to support it – and the legislation should not pass if it does not have the support of 100 MPs.
But this argument ignores the fact that private members' bills are always debated on Fridays, when most MPs are returning to their constituencies to carry out the work they have to do there.
The solutions proposed by Mr Bercow are reasonable, and would enhance Parliament's reputation by ensuring private members' bills are of a sufficiently high quality and that they receive the same consideration in the Commons chamber as other legislation.
They could also mark the end of interference by MPs with their own interests at heart, rather than those of the public. One wonders what Philip Davies would do with himself then.
The Commons Speaker, John Bercow, has suggested the system by which backbench MPs bring in legislation needs to be overhauled.
At present, private members' bills receive limited debate on Fridays and they stand little chance of becoming law without government support.
It is common for MPs opposing such a bill to talk at length until it runs out of time.
Mr Bercow said this situation "has not enhanced the reputation of the House".
The Speaker highlighted recommendations previously made by the Procedure Select Committee, including:
- Moving private members' bills from their traditional Friday sitting, when MPs often return to their constituencies
- Introducing a "peer group review" with the aim of ensuring fewer, higher-quality bills
- Enabling time limits on speeches in such debates.
Source: Speaker calls for rethink on private members' bills – BBC News
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Welcome back to the Dividend Growth Stock of the Month series. Thus far in 2016, these are the stocks that we have covered:
|Month, 2016
|Article Link
|January 23
|February 18
|March 16
|April 8
|May 3
|June 11
This month, for the second month in a row, we will look at a tech stock that seems to have turned into a dividend machine: Qualcomm (QCOM).
Qualcomm's Dividend Characteristics
Always remembering that past performance does not guarantee future results, this is a very good dividend resume. Highlights include:
• The current yield of 4% is nearly twice that of the S&P 500.
• At 14 years, QCOM's dividend growth streak makes it a "Contender" on the Dividend Champions document. Contenders have increased their dividends between 10 and 24 years in a row.
• The dividend growth record is very good. This year's increase of 10% is down from last year's 16% but still healthy.
• Given the payout ratio of 67%, I think that QCOM may be settling into a pattern of lower dividend increases that are in the range of its earnings growth rate. This is often a sign of a maturing dividend growth company. Dividend growth rates of 20%+ cannot last forever, and 67% payout from earnings is far enough to go for most companies.
• Share count has been declining for several years (see chart below).
• High dividend safety grade from Safety Net Pro.
Here is a chart of Qualcomm's share count over the past 10 years. As you can see, the number of shares began to decline in mid-2013, and the number has fallen about 15% since then.
Declining share counts are good for dividend growth investors. Fewer shares mean not only that each share represents a larger piece of the total pie, but also that the dividend pool is spread over fewer shares. That makes dividend maintenance and increases easier for the company.
In a recent presentation, the company stated its commitment to distributing 75% of its free cash flow in the form of share repurchases and dividends.
Business Model: How Does Qualcomm Make Money?
Formed in 1985 and public since 1991, San Diego-based Qualcomm develops, licenses, and continually upgrades an important digital communication technology called CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access).
Today all 3G networks are based on CDMA.
Qualcomm's intellectual property is licensed by most wireless device makers.
That is one way QCOM makes money.
In addition, Qualcomm is the world's largest manufacturer of wireless chips.
It supplies handset makers with cutting-edge microprocessors. It is the market leader in 4G (4th generation) LTE (Long-Term Evolution) chipsets.
The company's revenue comes in primarily through two business segments: Qualcomm CDMA Technologies (QCT) and Qualcomm Technology Licensing (QTL).
[Source: All of the displays in this section are from recent company presentations.]
QTL grants licenses to use pieces of QCOM's intellectual property, such as patent rights involved in the manufacture of wireless products based on QCOM's technology. The company also charges a royalty fee, usually around 3%-5%, of the price of each 3G device sold. As you can see, this business enjoys a very high profitability rate (EBT, earnings before taxes, is 87%).
Qualcomm believes that growth opportunities for its QTL licensing business are good. This display shows how Qualcomm expects the device market to grow over the next 5 years.
The QCT segment develops and supplies integrated circuits and software based on CDMA and other technologies for use in voice and data communications, networking, application processing, multimedia, and global positioning system (GPS) products.
Qualcomm's chip business for mobile devices is the market leader today, although the business is extremely competitive. Qualcomm's high-end Snapdragon processors were in virtually every premium smartphone in 2014, but Samsung has shifted to internally developed chips in its Galaxy S6 smartphone. Competition comes from the likes of Intel, MediaTek, Apple, and Samsung.
As you might expect, Qualcomm has strategies in place for continued growth and for keeping its technology at the forefront. (In the display below, "SoC" means systems on a chip.)
Qualcomm is in a legal situation with the China National Development and Reform Commission. That body is investigating the company with regard to QCOM's licensing business, the calculation of royalties, its policy of selling chipsets only to patent licensees, and related matters. At the current time, it is hard to predict the outcome of this investigation. QCOM is cooperating with the investigation.
In January, 2016, QCOM announced a joint venture with TDK Corp., valued at $3 billion total, to manufacture radio frequency front-end modules and filters for mobile devices. The deal is expected to close in early 2017. QCOM expects it to be accretive to EPS in the first 12 months after closing. QCOM will own 51% of the venture and has the option to purchase TDK's stake after 30 months.
Putting everything together, here is the summary table of Qualcomm's business model and overall quality as an investment. In my own assessment at the bottom, I give QCOM a middling score, based mostly on the perils presented by the continuing pressure to stay at the forefront of technology in the midst of heavy and motivated competition.
You may notice that I have added a new line to the table above: Gross Profitability. The reason is based on the research of Robert Novy-Marx, who has been examining quality factors in companies and how they relate to long-term market returns.
Without going into deep detail here, Novy-Marx has found that of all the quality factors he has examined, the simple metric of gross profitability has been most associated with favorable market returns. For more detail, check out Forbe's interview with Novy-Marx here.
Morningstar has a convenient display of gross profitability and other useful metrics under its "Key Ratios" tab for every stock. Here is the current display for Qualcomm:
I put a red dot next to the gross margin percentage line. I have not settled on an exact scoring system for this metric yet, but after examining a variety of stocks, it is clear that 59% gross profitability is better than average. So for now, I score it "Good" and give it a light green color.
On the other hand, you will note that Qualcomm's gross profitability has been slowly declining. In 2006 it was 71%. The most recent 12 months registered 59%. It is hard not to interpret this as a negative trend.
Concerning Morningstar's moat rating, in April they lowered QCOM's rating from wide to narrow. The reason was regulatory inquiries into QCOM's intellectual property rights.
While we still think it is more likely than not that Qualcomm's IP will hold up to regulatory scrutiny over the next few years, we can no longer say with near certainty that a quickly rising number of regulatory investigations will all work out in Qualcomm's favor. Regulatory investigations…have simply been too unpredictable in the past to guarantee outcomes that will ensure excess [returns] for Qualcomm with 100% certainty.
Qualcomm's Financials and Outlook
This is a good financial resume if you just look at the numbers, but when you look at trends, some concerns pop up.
Here is a display of Qualcomm's ROE over the past 10 years. You can see the variability.
Similarly, the company's EPS has varied over time, with a recent drop.
Qualcomm's D/E has gone from practically 0 to 0.4 in just a couple of years.
Overall, I am reticent about the trends.
Qualcomm's Stock Valuation
Let's apply my 4-step process for valuing companies as described in Dividend Growth Investing Lesson 11: Valuation.
Under this approach, the company's total valuation is the average of 4 discrete steps, and valuation is graded on a 5-step scale as follows:
The color coding should be obvious: Green = a better opportunity, and red = a worse opportunity. The "opportunity" referred to is the investor's opportunity to obtain good returns.
Since no one knows the future, valuation should be viewed as an estimate of the probability of future outcomes, not as a definite call about what is going to happen or how long it will take to happpen. I view valuation with a long-term focus (meaning 5+ years).
Step 1: FASTGraphs Default. The first step is to compare the stock's current price to FASTGraphs' theoretical estimate of its fair value. The theoretical estimate is based on a price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of 15, which is the long-term average P/E of the stock market as a whole.
That is shown by the orange line on the graph (using the scale at the right edge of the graph).
By this first method of appraising valuation, Qualcomm is underpriced. Its actual price (the black line) is 17% below its fair value when calculated by this method. Here is that calculation: At an actual P/E of 12.5, QCOM would be considered undervalued by 12.5 / 15 = 0.83 = 17%.
Working backwards, Qualcomm's fair price by this method calculates out to $63.
Step 2: FASTGraphs Normalized. The second valuation step is to compare Qualcomm's current P/E ratio to its own long-term average P/E ratio. This step lets us adjust for the fact that some stocks, in the view of the market, seem historically to deserve higher or lower valuations based on investors' views of the companies.
As I usually do, I have used Qualcomm's 10-year average for this step. We can see that Qualcomm has, in fact, been dearly valued on average, with a 10-year P/E = 18.5, compared to the market-average value of 15 used in the first step.
Using the historical P/E of 18.5, Qualcomm appears far undervalued. I calculate a fair value of $77. The company's actual price is about 32% under that right now.
Please note that Qualcomm's P/E ratio has been declining for a many years.
With the exception of the period following the Great Recession (indicated by the gray band), you can see that QCOM's P/E ratio has been steadily declining for the past 10 years, indeed since the dot-com bubble burst in 2000-2002.
The upshot is that if I had used a shorter average P/E ratio in this valuation step, the degree of Qualcomm's undervaluation would have been diminished for each year removed from the average calculation.
Step 3: Morningstar Star Rating. Morningstar uses a comprehensive net present value (NPV) technique for valuation. Many investors consider this approach to be superior to using P/E ratios as we just did with FASTGraphs.
In its NPV approach, Morningstar makes a projection of all the company's future profits. The sum of all those profits is discounted back to the present to reflect the time value of money. That is called DCF or discounted cash flow analysis.
The resulting net present value of all future earnings is considered to be the fair price for the stock today.
On Morningstar's 5-star system, Qualcomm gets 4 stars. That means that they believe the company is undervalued. They calculate a fair value of $68.
Step 4: Current Yield vs. Historical Yield.
Finally, we compare the stock's current yield to its historical yield. It is better to be near the top of that range than the bottom.
Qualcomm is undervalued by this method. Its current yield of 3.8% (as shown by Morningstar) is far above its average 5-year yield of 2.1%.
The ratio of those two yields is 1.8x, but for this method of valuation, I cut off the maximum difference at 1.2x, or 20%. I do that because the ratio is often disproportionately afffected by the company's most recent dividend increases. As noted earlier, Qualcomm's most recent increase, earlier this year, was 10%.
Using the 20% maximum ratio, I get a fair price for the stock of $65 under this valuation approach.
Valuation Summary:
In computing valuations, I consider prices within 10% of the calculated fair value to be within the fair value range. Assessing valuation is inherently imprecise, so rounding prices to the nearest dollar and using sensible ranges is, in my opinion, better than trying to achieve false precision.
Using the 4 approaches just described, our valuation summary for Qualcomm looks like this:
For a reality check, I also looked at S&P Capital IQ's fair value estimate. Their 12-month price target for Qualcomm is $59, and they have a "buy" rating on the stock.
Miscellaneous Factors
There are a couple of factors that do not fall into the earlier categories.
Beta measures a stock's price volatility relative to the market as a whole. Most dividend growth investors like to own stocks with low volatility, because then you are less likely to become emotional about them when their price drops.
Qualcomm has been more volatile than the market. That is typical of cyclical and technology stocks. If you are the kind of investor who frets over price drops, Qualcomm might not be a comfortable holding for you. If you are the type who does not worry much about price volatility, but instead focuses on rising dividends and other fundamentals, QCOM may be a good choice.
The analysts' recommendations come from S&P Capital IQ. Their most recent report shows the opinions of 33 analysts. Their average recommendation is 3.7 on a 5-point scale, where 3.0 = Hold and 4.0 = Buy. Most analyst reports are tilted toward short-term trading expectations rather than long-term dividend growth goals. Nevertheless I find them useful as a reflection of sentiment mong analysts that study the stock.
Bottom Line
Here are Qualcomm's positives:
• Good yield at 4.0%.
• Dividend safety is good (but not the highest rating), protected by good cash flow, earnings, and company commitment.
• Strong dividend growth record: 14 years of dividend increases (since it began paying a dividend). I expect growth going forward will be roughly in line with the company's earnings growth rate.
• Stock is undervalued by more than 20%.
• Good ratings of company quality from many perspectives.
• Dominant business position in 3G technology, plus strategy to be a leader in developing advanced technologies.
• Declining share count over the past few years, with a current buyback authorization in place.
• Decent financial numbers, although there are some concerning trends.
Here are Qualcomm's negatives:
• Inherent riskiness and complexity in technology companies. Extreme pressure to stay ahead of technology curve in highly competitive businesses.
• Cyclical and variable business results, with some years showing declining ROE and profitability compared to prior years, as well as recent rise in debt.
• Above-market price volatility, which could be a worrisome factor for some investors.
My own bottom line is that while Qualcomm is a high-quality company with a good yield (4%) and dividend growth record, and appears to offer very good valuation, it is too risky an investment proposition for me. To buy this would constitute "reaching for yield."
Obviously, reasonable minds can differ about such a conclusion. If everything goes well for the company over the next few years, Qualcomm could turn out to be a fabulous investment. But there are too many complexities and variables for my taste.
As always, do your own due diligence, and please do not take this article as a recommendation to buy, hold, or not to buy Qualcomm. Instead, use it to inspire your own research. Always make your investment decisions with an eye to your tolerance for price volatility and other risks.
— Dave Van Knapp[ad#wyatt-income]


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The Eclipse Cycle Begins
Channeled by Meredith Murphy of www.expectwonderful.com 11 September 2015
Greetings Divine One,
The Eclipse Cycle begins this weekend with a new moon and a partial solar eclipse. We want to offer you some energetic support for this alignment, so if you would like this, please pause for a moment now and go inward. Connect through the center of your chest, your heart chakra, with an openness within you. A calm, quiet stillness. To do this, is to tap into an access-way to all that you are.
Once you have oriented there, speak telepathically to all that you are. You might think of this as calling upon your Divine Self. By doing this, you're in a sense saying energetically, "Hello — I'm orienting to our connection now…and I am consciously amplifying and empowering you to participate in my embodied life more fully." You can telepathically say what you wish to greet all that you are, to summon or activate this connection consciously. Think of all that you are, like a super fantastic ally who is always here for you and loves being summoned. It's true, you know.
Now then, in this quiet still point within your very being, and consciously connected with all that you are, if you wish, open up to a direct connection with the Angelic Realm. Simply create it with imagination or inner-telepathic-talk, or whatever way you wish. Your focus is powerfully creative. So choices like these simply steps we are describing make stuff happen. For real.
Now then, if you wish, state that you welcome angelic support for this Eclipse Cycle. Invite the fullness of your being to mediate that support. You can instruct all that you are to help you to experience the expansion, transformation, clarity, healing, support, love, insight, release, whatever you may need most at this time. You can invite all that you are, to provide you with the most relevant and beneficial experiences and energies and to also facilitate you receiving support from the Angelic Realm.
We in the Angelic Realm love to be with you. We are here for you. We are here on behalf of all that is and all that we are, to support divine expression in human experience. What we mean when we say this is this: we are here to help you be fully you. You are the divine that is wishing to express through this life. The life form that is experiencing this message, which Meredith is translating — that version of you, is simply an elaboration of all that you are. So you are, in the way we are suggesting you focus and orient right now, tapping into the Source of your being.
In this powerful alignment, you can easily get the support you will find most useful for you at this time. In this powerful alignment, you can free yourself up from anything that is bothering you in life, and you can shift into an energy that will be more resonant with all that you seek.
As your Divine Self, you are already expressing all that you have chosen and wish to have unfold as manifest experience. So this Divine You is the means by which all that you wish to experience can flow into your manifest life, what you think of as reality.
Realize there are many realities available to you and your alignment is like the engineer at a multiple-track train station, altering which line delivers the manifest experience to you. You call these timelines. Your inner being can alter what is arriving in your "station of life," by you being in alignment more. Your alignment facilitates your Divine Self, or your inner being, giving you more of what you seek to experience.
The Eclipse that takes place this weekend can also help you out with the aspirations you have, be they personal or spiritual. The energies of the Sun and Moon affect life on Earth and your planet. You are part of these fields, which progress into increasingly expanded focus and manifest in different ways — such as your planet, your galaxy, your universe. As you take in the realization that these vast fields are in a sense expanded versions of you. That these fields such as the galaxy and the universe, actually nest, so to speak, within your own vaster wholeness, you realize that you can play at many different levels of consciousness.
To learn to live at different levels of consciousness and to embody higher frequencies, which facilitate experiences of higher, vaster fields of consciousness is one of the potentials available to you. This Eclipse Cycle is offering you a progressive opportunity to build into more capacity to embody these higher frequencies and thus have a broader menu of consciousness available to you.
Consciousness is dynamic. Your state of being is continually generating your consciousness. Your choice of focus and the quality of is are creating your state of being. Think of it like this — how you are viewing things has a particular frequency and this determines your state of being. This state of being is like a location, energetically, and as such has access to certain views and experiences. You can choose this with your focus or what you are paying attention to and by the quality of that attention. A higher quality of attention — one that is more neutral and unconditional — will give you the broadest options for perspective, insight, wisdom, and manifestations that give you the greatest joy.
This Eclipse Cycle is beneficial because it's a like a portal, that will transmit to you a concentrated experience of progressive energies. You can play with this by using the unfolding within this time frame to condition yourself to higher frequencies.
We would suggest that you start with the relationship with all that you are — by orienting inward to your Divine Self. This relationship with all that you are is how you access everything else, so it is absolutely fundamental.
Many human beings have not loved themselves enough to want to connect with their higher self. In fact, when one feels self-loathing, for example, this is often projected onto the Divine Self. So there have been many humans who preferred to connect with the idea of a separate GOD, or with us — the Archangels — or the Star Beings, or the Ascended Masters. Some energy field that felt separate and, therefore, might be able to help more!
The fullness of your being is your access to everything. As you grow in self-love, which all of you are doing, you begin to be more available to the direct connection you have with Source. Your direct connection with Source/Creation/All that is, is within you and available via your own energetic hierarchy — the fullness of your being.
By beginning to cultivate this relationship more, you open yourself up to great wisdom and guidance. Your life can start to ease out and your ascension experience become more graceful. Everything starts to smooth out and you feel more peaceful and calm.
We suggest you start this today, right now. Commit to your own Divine Self as the most important relationship in your life and begin to consider that this IS the Source of your being.
The Eclipse Cycle will build energetically, and with the assistance of your Divine Self, you can use it to your greatest advantage. Your Divine Self knows how to do this, and so you don't need to know how. You benefit when you orient to the vaster you. In that connection, in the present moment you will have all the knowledge and knowing that you need to function well and thrive. If you let yourself orient this way, it will release you from planning for the future or needing to figure anything out. You will be more available to the fun and joy and beauty of each moment and yourself.
It can be truly glorious to live this way. Now, more and more of you have returned to a greater state of self-love so that the illusions between you and all that you are, are dissolving. With this insight and awareness, you can see that the direct connection with Creation is what has always been available to you, and you can decide to cultivate your relationship with the broader YOU.
We hope you will take these simple suggestions for your alignment to heart and play with them in your life. The promise of connecting more fully with all that you are can be fulfilled. It is simply up to you to empower this participation often enough that the fullness of your being, can more fully participate in your embodied awareness and share with you, the beauty and radiance of your aliveness.
May this Eclipse Cycle support you well, in loving yourself more and in freeing yourself up to be more fully who you are. We know you as a beautiful, radiant fullness of light and are so honored to participate in this Divine Unfolding, which you are creating.
I AM Archangel Michael with the Angelic Legion of Light


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Bikes on DART Rail and TRE
- Bicycles brought on board DART Rail or the TRE must be placed in the area designated for disabled customers, provided it is not occupied.
- Bicyclists must consider the number of passengers on the vehicle and the impact the presence of the bicycle will have on the safety of other passengers before bringing the bike on board.
- Bikes and scooters share the space inside DART and TRE cars with persons using wheelchairs and strollers. Please move your bike for those persons if needed.
- Bicyclists may not block the operator's cab when it is occupied.
Whether you're on a bus or a train, please consider the safety of others and stay with your bicycle at all times. DART staff, including vehicle operators, DART Police, Fare Enforcement Officers and field supervisors, may relocate or remove any bicycle that obstructs or negatively impacts DART operations or passengers.
Super DART Rail vehicles have added capacity and improved access
In 2008, DART updated its fleet of light rail vehicles (LRV) by inserting a new, low-floor insert between the existing sections of the vehicle adding seating capacity and improving access through level boarding. The SLRVs allow passengers with bicycles to roll directly onto the trains.
Ride Right!DART values the safety and comfort of all passengers. Please exercise care when bringing bikes on board DART vehicles. A little courtesy and alertness on the part of the cyclist goes a long way toward ensuring a smoother ride for everyone. Thank you!
For questions related to our Bike & Ride program call 214-747-RIDE (7433)


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by Richa Sharma
Multani Mitti, also known as Fullers earth is extremely useful for skin and hair. Take a look at 7 awesome beauty benefits of this natural product!
Fullers earth or multani mitti has for ages been one of the top contenders to treat various skin related issues, straight out of grandma's secret remedies. Fullers earth is basically a sort of clay that is loaded with minerals like magnesium, iron, silica etc. and is known to offer numerous beauty benefits. This all natural miracle product is not only skin friendly but also helps you say goodbye to your hair woes. Let's take a look at the top 7 beauty benefits of Fullers earth.
1. Removes excess oil from the skin: Fullers earth is known to absorb excess oil from the skin, open clogged pores and maintain the pH balance of the skin. A simple face pack to do the above would be a mix of Fullers earth, sandalwood powder and rose water. Apply this pack on your face and neck and wash with water once it dries out to get healthy, oil free skin.
2. Helps get rid of acne and pimples: By unclogging skin pores and absorbing excess oil from the skin, fullers earth helps say goodbye to acne and pimples. So grind some neem leaves and add fullers earth to the paste. Regular application of this paste helps get rid of acne and pimples.
3. Heals irritated skin: With its cooling and anti inflammatory properties, fullers earth also heals and soothes irritated skin and removes redness from it. But I would advise against it, in case you have extremely dry and sensitive skin.
4. Helps remove blemishes and scars: If those unsightly pimple marks and scars have been pestering you, then fullers earth can act as a simple solution to your problem. Just mix together fullers earth powder, tomato juice and sandalwood powder in a bowl and apply it regularly to your face to get rid of blemishes and spots.
5. Lightens suntan and pigmentation: Fullers earth is also known to be beneficial in lightening suntan and pigmentation. Take about half a cup fullers earth and add some papaya fruit peel and a quarter teaspoon vitamin E gel and blend together. Regular use of this paste is really effective in treating sun tan and pigmentation.
6. Tightens ageing and sagging skin: Make a concoction of fullers earth, egg and water and apply it your skin as a mask to tighten your ageing and sagging skin. Leave it on for about 15 minutes and rinse with water to get younger looking, firmer skin.
7. Helps treat dandruff issues: Fullers earth is not only a wonder product for your skin, but is also effective in treating hair related issues like dandruff and split ends. Apply a mixture of orange peel powder and fullers earth to your scalp. Let it sit for about 15-20 minutes and rinse it off with a mild shampoo to get rid of any dandruff issues.
Image source: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
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Taking proper care of your wrapped vehicle is the best way to protect the investment you've made in your rolling billboard. With normal care, you should expect your vehicle wrap to remain in great condition for several years.
However, our sometimes brutal Nevada desert conditions will be working against you, especially during the hot summer months. Here are some tips to keep your vehicle wrap in pristine condition in the Nevada desert for years to come.
How Vehicle Wraps Protect Your Vehicle
Did you know that your vehicle wrap works hard for you in more than just one way? While your vehicle wrap is helping you spread the word around town about your business, it is also silently protecting the original finish of your vehicle.
Vehicle wraps act as a protectant from the potentially damaging desert elements that include the blazing sun and heat, as well as the blowing sand. When the time comes to remove your vehicle wrap, you will find that your vehicle's original paint has been beautifully protected from fading by the sun.
The vinyl film will keep the vehicle's original finish smooth and shiny. So, with all that vehicle wraps can offer you, your business, and your car, we'll go over how to best take care of your vehicle wrap so that you can get the most mileage out of your investment.
How to Care for Your Vehicle Wrap
Believe it or not, even in our Nevada desert conditions, the basic and normal care instructions for a vehicle also apply to your vehicle wrap. Washing your wrapped vehicle about every week should be enough to clean most pollutants and road dirt.
During certain seasons, however, you will find that more frequent washing might be necessary. The best and safest method of washing your wrapped vehicle would be hand washing it. If you'd rather use a drive-thru carwash, brushless ones are relatively safe to use for vehicle wraps. Brushes can be a bit rough on the vinyl over time, and could cause the wrap to degrade. You can use spot cleaning for cleaning small stains and gas spills, too.
Your Vehicle Wrap and the Desert Sun
You can expect your vehicle wrap to remain vibrant for many years, even through the brutal Nevada summers. However, you should still try to park indoors or under shady areas to prolong the life of your vehicle wrap. Extended sun exposure can eventually fade the wrap, so you'll want to do your best to protect it when you have the opportunity.
Learn All About Customizing Your Vehicle Wrap
Team Acme is the authority in custom vehicle wrapping in the Las Vegas and Henderson areas. For information about our vehicle wrap installation services, call us at 702-566-8326. You can schedule an appointment with our expert graphics and design team to get started on your custom vehicle wrap today.
Interested in the Team Acme Newsletter? Subscribe below!


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Reflecting the tastes and lifestyle of our clients is our first priority. Gingerwood's hands-on project management delivers innovative and functional designs while respecting the overall budget and schedule. Whether updating or remodeling a classic home's furnishings and decor or collaborating on the ground up design of a new construction home, our interior designers customize interior layouts, materials specifications, and provide top-quality resources to deliver exceptional quality and superior design features for your home.
Gingerwood is truly a full-service Design-Build firm offering an in-house construction team. Not only can we meticulously design your spaces, we can execute and manage any remodel or renovation project's overall plan efficiently. With a collective 40+ years in the home building and services industry, our team transforms your home's great bones and tired faces into phenomenal, functional spaces which reflect your desired fresh style.
- • Design and draft floor plans, 3D computer renderings
- • Sketch tile layouts for all bathrooms and kitchen
- •Specify electrical type and location for decorative fixtures
- • Flooring; tile, wood, carpet
- • Wall tile; backsplash, showers
- • Countertops
- • Cabinetry design, accent features and functionality of cabinet, select stain/paint finishes
- • Paint schemes
- • Fireplace and Venthood Design
- • Plumbing fixtures
- • Decorative light fixtures
- • Door and cabinetry hardware
- • Entry door selection/design
- • Interior door selection
- • Mirrors
- • Decorative finishes (faux finish and/or wallpaper)
- • Stucco color
- • Fascia/Sofit color
- • Stain color
- • Patio floor tile
- • Outdoor kitchen; countertops and accent tile
- • Exterior fireplace design
- • Document project specifications for material finishes and fixtures
- • Contractor, vendor and subcontractor correspondence on design, materials finishes and execution


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Hijacking net neutrality
Quick, what do Amazon, Netflix, Microsoft, Yahoo, Cogent, Level 3, Google, Facebook and Vonnage all have in common? Among other things, they all pump a lot of data onto last-mile broadband networks and they could all afford to pay for a fast lane, if necessary.
They also all apparently realize that would put a great, big target on their backs should ISPs decide the time has come to start charging "commercially reasonable" tolls to ensure quality-of-service over the last mile.
That's the main reason they were also all signatories on a letter sent this week to the Federal Communications Commission urging the agency not to include language to permit such gate-keeping in its revamped net neutrality regulations:
According to recent news reports, the Commission intends to propose rules that would enable phone and cable Internet service providers to discriminate both technically and financially against Internet companies and to impose new tolls on them. If these reports are correct, this represents a grave threat to the Internet.
Well, a grave threat to Netflix's and Google's bottom lines in any case. For all the hue and cry over the prospect of fast lanes on the internet for the few and "dirt roads" for the rest, the truth is, no one wants to pay for a fast lane, even if they are able to. It's bad for business.
The problem for Netflix is that if Amazon were to decide to pay for a fast lane for Prime Instant Video Netflix, too, would feel compelled to pay for competitive reasons. What those companies are really asking in their letter to the FCC is for the agency to save them all from a business version of the prisoner's dilemma: Don't make us choose between our individual interests and our shared interests.
The good news for Netflix, et. al., is that FCC chairman Tom Wheeler's effort to fast-track the new rules seems to have gone off the rails. All four of his fellow commissioners have expressed serious doubts about the proposal and one of his fellow Democrats on the commission, Jessica Rosenworcel has asked him to postpone a planned vote on the proposal scheduled for May 15th. On Thursday the FCC confirmed that the vote remains on the agenda for the agency's May 15th monthly meeting, but as of right now, Wheeler doesn't appear to have a majority to get it through.
Regardless of what happens with next week's vote, however, it's really the whole net neutrality debate that's gone off the rails. As evident from the Netflix, et. al. letter, the debate has devolved into an argument between the big and the bigger over the price of throughput. And Wheeler has allowed the FCC to get trapped into refereeing among the vested commercial interests rather than promoting and protecting the public interest (more or less the definition of regulatory capture). It's hard to see what the public interest is in the rate that Amazon or Netflix is able to negotiate with Comcast for a fast lane.
In fairness, Wheeler is fairly constrained in what he can do by the limited authority left to him by the court ruling throwing out the old net neutrality rules. But he could lose those constraints by reclassifying broadband as a telecommunications service under Title II of the Communications Act, which would give the FCC much greater authority to regulate, as many net neutrality proponents have repeatedly urged him to do (and which Wheeler, to his credit, says is still on the table).
I've been skeptical that reclassification is the way to go because it could provoke such a monumental political fight that anything useful happening on the net neutrality front could be delayed for years. But if the only alternative is to limit the public's interest in the most important communications network of our time to refereeing between Netflix and Comcast, perhaps it's time to take on the fight.


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Canon PG-40 Black Compatible Ink Cartridge
Inkpal's Canon PG-40 Black Ink Cartridge is a compatible version of the more expensive Canon Ink Cartridge.
Inkpal's Canon PG-40 Black Ink Cartridge is an affordable 327 page-regular capacity inkjet cartridge that will operate with the corresponding Canon printers found in our compatibility checklist below.
Each Canon PG-40 Black Ink Cartridge we offer matches ISO-9001 product quality specifications, letting you know that your product will perform as well or often more efficiently than its OEM counterpart.
Printers Compatible With Our PG-40 Black Ink Cartridge
ImageFORMULA Series
CR-135i CR-190i
FAX Series
PIXMA Series
iP1200 iP1300 iP1600 iP1700 iP1800 iP1900 iP2600 MP140 MP150 MP160 MP170 MP180 MP190 MP210 MP220 MP450 MP460 MP470 MX300 MX310 MX318
PIXUS Series
iP2500 MP170 MP460


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Can we help?
Use Dollar Verdicts: Personal Injury when faced with presenting or defending a claim for personal injury. It provides collections of cases, sorted by jurisdiction, involving similar injuries as a gauge for predicting what triers of fact will determine in future cases, judicial review for excessiveness, or inadequacy of determinations made by the triers of fact.
Summaries of reported personal injury cases are arranged by the action taken by the reviewing courts. Cases include details on amounts awarded, the injuries sustained, and the circumstances of the incident. Older cases provide a total dollar amount awarded and a brief description of the accident and injury. There are references to related medical texts and ALR annotations. A comprehensive case index by plaintiff's occupation and punitive damages awarded is included, along with other research practice aids.


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How Hot Does a Soldering Iron Tip Get?
For electronic soldering, we typically have to have a temperature that's a
couple of hundred degrees higher than the melting point of the solder that
we're working with. Eutectic solders at about 360, so we're going to go
with something much, much hotter than that, in this case we're getting good
results at 650F, 700F.
And we have an adjustable soldering iron that we can use to set the
temperature. This particular model here offers an adjustment knob that we
can use to change the temperature. Right now we're set at somewhere between
650 and 700 degrees. Now, if we go much hotter than this, we increase the
speed of oxidation, our tip will become oxidized faster, it'll require
tinning sooner, so we want to make sure that we don't go too high.
However if we go too low, we end up with problems with cold solder joints,
so there's a happy medium somewhere in between that allows us to work
without too much oxidation and without cold solder joints. And we find that 650
to 700 degrees is the happy zone. Now, there's other types of soldering
irons that we can use that offer different temperature properties.
The lowest cost soldering iron is one that simply plugs into the wall and
may have no temperature control whatsoever. In this case the tip is
likely to become oxidized very quickly and may not have a very useful long
life. The next best might be a temperature controlled soldering iron that
offers one temperature setting and this is probably the best choice for
most amateurs, because it does control the temperature and it's probably
set to a value that's useful for electronics soldering. That's usually a
good choice. More advanced models allow you to adjust the temperature, such as this.
Now, for heavier parts we have different higher power irons that we can use.
This is a soldering gun and this is a device that has much, much higher power
output. This is a 230 watt version, which is two or three times more
powerful than our 100 watt soldering iron.
This is made for soldering very heavy parts, and they can even reach
temperatures that are useful for silver soldering using for brass parts and
other heavier materials that you might find. But generally this is not
useful for electronic soldering.


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You Are Engaged
You're the type of person who jumps right in and asks questions later. You like to get in the middle of things.
You are a curious and brilliant person. No subject is too difficult or complicated for you.You're flighty – losing interest in people and projects quickly. You quickly get sick of the things you love.
You experience pure joy. You seek out happiness and simply allow yourself to be happy.
I love how there were no negative emotions on their little quiz at all. I know it' supposed to be fun and everything, but this is just stupid.


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Butternut squash stands out in a fall soup
As we head into the fall, our local markets are beginning to feature winter squash. Each variety has its charms, but one of the standouts is butternut squash. Like its brethren, it becomes creamy when cooked and pureed, with no need for cream or thickener. Flavor-wise, though, it wins.
Most butternut squash recipes tell you, first, to peel and cut up the squash, and then to steam or boil it. I've figured out a couple of different ways to get the job done. The result is a soup that's safer to prepare and much tastier when you finally dip your spoon into it.
As anyone who's ever tried to cube a winter squash knows all too well, these guys can be perilously hard to handle. True, the supermarket sells them already peeled and cubed, but they're pricier than whole squash and likely not as fresh.
For Butternut Squash and Leek Soup with Gruyere Pesto Toasts, we halve and roast the whole squash without peeling or seeding it first. Typically, halving the squash requires slicing it through from stem to stern. Instead, I suggest laying the squash on the counter, sticking the tip of a chef's knife all the way through the middle of the squash, then slicing from the mid-point to one of its ends. Rotate the squash 180 degrees horizontally, insert the knife tip back into the middle of the veggie and slice away in the direction of the uncut end. Done.
Now the halves are ready to be baked, cut-side-down, on a rimmed sheet pan. Baking squash concentrates its flavor and brings out the natural sugars — unlike boiling or steaming it, which makes it watery. And don't bother to scrape out the seeds beforehand; it's easier after the squash has been cooked.
You can prep and cook the rest of the ingredients while the squash is baking and then cooling. These include leeks, Canadian bacon (aka smoked pork loin) and gruyere pesto toasts — all of which contribute to what is a very substantial dish in the end. Round it out with a salad on the side, and this soup becomes a plausible entree. Vegetarians are welcome to substitute vegetable stock for the chicken stock and leave out the bacon.
Start to finish: 2 hours 5 minutes (50 active)
Servings: 4 as an entree, 6 as a first course
For the soup:
4 pounds butternut squash
Oil for oiling the sheet pan
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
6 ounces sliced Canadian bacon, medium chopped
3 cups thinly sliced white part of leek (about 3 large leeks)
1 quart chicken or vegetable broth
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Kosher salt and black pepper
For the toasts:
Twelve 1/2-inch thick slices French baguette cut on the bias
3/4 cup packed fresh basil leaves, finely shredded
3 tablespoons toasted pine nuts, coarsely chopped
2 ounces coarsely grated Gruyere cheese (about 3/4 cup)
1/2 ounce finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (about 1/4 cup grated on a microplane)
Make the soup:
Preheat the oven to 400 F. Working carefully, halve the squash lengthwise and arrange it cut-side down on a lightly oiled parchment-lined rimmed sheet pan. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven, until very tender, 60 to 75 minutes.
While the squash is baking, in a large saucepan or a Dutch oven, heat 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat, add the bacon, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook the bacon, stirring occasionally, until it is golden brown at the edges, 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer the bacon with a slotted spoon to a bowl, leaving as much of the fat as possible in the pan. Add the remaining tablespoon butter and the leeks and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are very tender and starting to color, about 6 to 8 minutes. If the squash is not ready, take the pan off the heat and set it aside.
When the squash is tender, remove it from the oven, turn it over and let stand until cool enough to handle. Discard the seeds and scoop out the flesh. Combine half the squash with 1/2 cup water in a food processor and puree until very smooth. Add to the saucepan with the leeks and bacon. Repeat the procedure with the remaining squash and another 1/2 cup water and add to the saucepan, along with the chicken broth. Bring the liquid to a simmer. Add the lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste and additional water if necessary to thin the soup to the desired consistency.
Make the toasts:
Arrange the French baguette slices on a sheet pan and when the squash has come out of the oven, bake the slices on the middle shelf until they are slightly golden, turning them, 2 to 3 minutes a side.
In a bowl combine all the remaining ingredients. Right before serving the soup, divide the mixture among the toasts and bake them until the cheese is melted and bubbling, about 5 minutes.
To serve: Ladle the soup into soup bowls and top each portion with some of the hot toasts.
Nutrition information per appetizer serving: 256 calories; 65 calories from fat; 7 g fat (3 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 25 mg cholesterol; 516 mg sodium; 43g carbohydrates; 7 g fiber; 9 g sugar; 10 g protein.
Nutrition information per individual serving: 139 calories; 36 calories from fat; 4 g fat (2 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 9 mg cholesterol; 277 mg sodium; 19 g carbohydrates; 1 g fiber; 0 g sugar; 7 g protein.


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If you've been hunting for the perfect Thanksgiving dessert that will leave a lasting impression on your dinner guests, look no further than this recipe/experiment. The ingredients in your typical pumpkin pie aren't that far off from a chemical mix known as Rocket Candy that's typically made from sugar and an oxidizer like potassium nitrate.
The results are basically a crude form of rocket fuel, and when mixed into a pie, it's sure to make for one epic finale for your meal today. Do we need to mention that this experimental dessert is best served up outside? And, to be honest, probably not something you'll actually want to try with a house full of guests.