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|2011-07-02, 12:34
|Link #5601
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2009
|2011-07-02, 14:58
|Link #5604
Join Date: Aug 2004
Age: 31
What a waste of a good villain. While having a sympathetic backstory isn't unexpected, it's certainly odd to deal with the longest-running villain in the series by means of a half-chapter flashback. I mean, Ultear was in chapter 1, and she gets dealt with like a normal 7 Kin grunt?
|2011-07-02, 22:39
|Link #5612
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
|2011-07-03, 01:55
|Link #5613
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Puerto Rico
Well, time to summarize the lost magics we've seen this arc and their possible cost.
Arc of Time: Can control the flow of time among non-living objects. Side-effects: It makes you realize you were never really evil and you just wanted to be hugged by your mommy for a long period of TIME.
Arc of Embodiment: You can materialize anything you imagine. Side-effects: Automatic glass armor which will let you get beaten by Freed and Bixlow out of all people.
(Fire) God Slayer: Ability to control black fire that can topple even a Dragon's fire. Side-effects: An ego the size of your super saiyan 3 hair and apparently a PCP/Roid addiction that makes you yell everything you say.
Great Tree Arc: Ability to manipulate trees and roots, and unleashing the energy of the earth into explosions. Side-effects: Use it too much, you're mulch for gardening.
Human Subordination: It can weaken the physical and magical abilities of humans, also allowing them to take control of said human for summons. Side-effects: to get pwn'd so hard by Chuck Norris goat your body itself thinks you are not worthy to exist in the same realm as said goat.
Maguilty Sense: Can make 2 or more people's senses become as one. Side-effects: Umm, huge lesbian tendencies? Alright you got me on that one-v-;;.
Ushi no Koku Mairi: Voodoo doll for yourself or others. Weakness: It makes others realize that you are a huge otaku with no social life or usefulness whatsoever. Now go be fat somewhere else fatty.
|2011-07-03, 06:40
|Link #5614
Awe of She
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Orlando
The fight was quick because Ultear most likely used up a great deal of her magic in battling and knocking out Zeref. That and since Gray was the one she was after, she'd lose a lot of her composure in fighting him.
And yes, I do see Ultear as FT's 'Reina' - they have a similar character dynamic against their male foils in Musica and Gray. And Grey probably does feel some sense of responsibility for Ultear in that she's his master's daughter.
|2011-07-03, 11:20
|Link #5617
Awe of She
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Orlando
^ That would require Zeref's awakening so Ultear can gain the full knowledge of 'Time Arc'. She certainly doesn't have the power or skill to gather up the parts of the water that hold Ul's spirit, fuse them together into the ice, then rewind her 10+ years to regain her form.
|2011-07-03, 11:41
|Link #5618
I disagree with you all.
Join Date: Dec 2005
|2011-07-03, 13:07
|Link #5619
Dark Energy
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: United States
From the way Hades was talking, combined with what Ultear told us on Galuna, it sounds like [Time Arc]'s (supposedly) greatest power is to send the user backwards or forwards in time, but not other people.
|action, adventure, fantasy, magic, shounen
|Thread Tools


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Reggie Brown (Tampa, Fla./Jesuit) is headed to Boca Raton, Fla.
The 5-foot-10, 160-pound cornerback committed to Florida Atlantic on Monday in a decision that was admittedly simple.
"The coaches were genuine," he said. "It was just a plus that it was close to home and I know people there, so I just felt like it was the right place to be.
"It wasn't that difficult of a decision. The other colleges that were in there were Bowling Green and Rutgers was still talking to me, but I chose FAU, because it was the right decision for me."
Brown becomes the Owls second commitment of the 2013 class, joining wide receiver Kamrin Solomon (Jacksonville, Fla./Mandarin).

subset: commoncrawl


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Back in July, weak fundamentals led Raymond James to downgrade Wells Fargo (WFC) from an Outperform to a Market Perform. Today, it's the bank's tarnished reputation and cloudy outlook that's pushing analyst David Long to take a bearish stance on the stock.
More bad news for Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC). Illinois will suspend $30 billion in investment activity with Wells Fargo, the state treasurer announced earlier today, the latest stumbling block facing the embattled bank
Monster Beverage (MNST) is having an ugly day. The beverage company's share price fell almost 4% after Wells Fargo downgraded the stock to market perform from outperform in anticipation of a weak second quarter.
Citigroup (C) topped expectations when it unveiled quarterly financial results today, as did PNC Financial Services Group (PNC) and U.S. Bancorp (USB). Yet Wall Street is punishing bank stocks today. What gives?
Shares of Wells Fargo (WFC) fell 3.4% after the nation's largest mortgage provider posted mixed fourth-quarter financial results with per-share earnings beating the Street's forecasts but revenue rising less than expected. But investors worries were focused on the bank's portfolio of commercial loans to energy companies. Read More»
Big Banks are not starting the day with a big bang. J.P. Morgan & Co. (JPM) and Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) kicked off what will be a string of earnings reports from large financial institutions by disappointing investors.
J.P. Morgan's fourth-quarter results missed forecasts thanks to a tumble in markets and trading revenue partially offset by a record quarter for debt underwriting revenues. Profit per share fell to $1.19 from $1.30 a year earlier, missing the $1.31 expected by the Street. Revenue dropped 2.3% to $23.55 billion compared to the $23.64 billion expected by analysts
J.P. Morgan also posted higher-than-expected legal expenses and increased reserves for loans that could sour. The bank is being investigated by the Justice Department over alleged foreign-exchange rigging and is expected to strike a deal on the matter.
Wells Fargo, meanwhile, met expectations thanks to stronger loan growth. Per-share earnings, reflecting the payment of preferred dividends, were $1.02 versus $1 a year earlier as revenue rose 3.8% to $21.44 billion. Still a key measure of lending profitability continued to tick down and the bank showed weaker expense controls, which scared away investors.
After the opening bell, Well Fargo fell 0.5% to $51.58 and J.P. Morgan dropped 3.5% to $56.77.
The pain spread to other banks. Shares of Citigroup (C), Bank of America (BAC) and Goldman Sachs (GS) fell 2.9%, 2.25% and 2% respectively.
The results posted by J.P. Morgan and Wells Fargo in lending, mortgage originations and refinancing, trading and overall investment banking typically provide a window into what investors should expect from industry peers. The likes of Citigroup, Bank of America and Goldman will post financial results in the coming days.
Should investors bank on Wells Fargo (WFC) or J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM).
The two banking giant are set to report fourth-quarter financial results early Wednesday, kicking off a week during which many big players in the financial sector, including Bank of America-Merrill Lynch (BAC), Goldman Sachs (GS) and Citigroup (C) — will release quarterly earnings reports.
As Barclays analyst Jason Goldberg and his team writes:
We expect results in 4Q14 to approximate the same trends we have been highlighting over the past year or so including less-than-desired loan growth, net interest margin pressure, varied fee income trends, controlled expenses though regulatory/legal/restructuring-related costs weighing, benign asset quality metrics, moderate share repurchase activity, and increased capital ratios. While revenue trends will likely remain soft, looking out, we continue to believe the group is levered to any acceleration in economic activity (we view loan growth as a lagging economic indicator) and higher short-term interest rates (net interest margins could begin to expand in 2015 for only the 4th year in the past 21), should that backdrop materialize. In the interim, relatively low loan loss provisions (though bound to move higher, with energy/energy issues potentially emerging), expense measures, and share buyback, should all help.
Typically, Wells Fargo and J.P. Morgan kickoff the quarterly earnings season for big financial stocks. Since the start of 2015, both have fallen in value. But Wells Fargo remains just over 11% above where it sat a year ago, while J.P. Morgan has dropped just over 1% during the past 12 months.
Wells Fargo is expected to report profit per share of 1.02 on revenue of $21.2 billion, closing out the 2014 calendar year. Full-year profit per share is expected to climb to $4.10 on revenue of $84.1 billion. And over the next 12 months, the consensus among analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters is that the stock will climb to $55 in the next 12 months.
J.P. Morgan, meanwhile, is expected to report fourth-quarter profit of $1.35 a share on revenue of more than $24 billion, closing out the 2014 calendar year. Full-year 2014 profit per share is expected to rise to $5.45 on revenue of $97 billion. The Street sees J.P. Morgan rising to almost $68 by this time next year.
Banc of America and Citigroup report on Thursday Goldman follows on Friday.
Conference call industrywide will focus on the 2015 outlook and interest rates. But investors will also be listening for information on t the impact of falling oil prices. As Goldberg and his team writes:
The price of oil dropped 50% from June through December, including a 25% decline in December. It has fallen another 12% year-to-date. This could impact 4Q14 results and will likely have an effect on full-year 2015 results. While the recent drop in oil prices could be positive for certain aspects of the U.S. economy, overly exposed regions could face adverse trends. While Texas has seen above-average loan growth over the past several years, a drop in oil prices could weigh on the economic outlook of this region. Shale plays on Marcellus (west PA, east OH, WV, NY) and Haynesville (LA) also bear watching. These regions have also seen outsized growth. We will be watching relative unemployment trends and housing statistics in these markets. Additionally possible slowdowns in areas like Russia and Venezuela could weigh on global growth. Furthermore, the drop in commodity prices has adversely impacted the high yield bond market as issuance declines, spreads widen and potential default concerns increase. While energy loans is only roughly 2% of the average banks' loan portfolio (though CMA/ZION closer to 8%), there are knock-on effects that could adversely impact other industries. Still, lower gas prices help free up consumer resources for everything from new purchases to debt repayment. Every one-cent decline in pump prices puts about $1bn back into consumers' pockets. As such, while loan growth, investment banking revenues and commercial asset quality could be adversely impacted, consumer asset quality may be positively affected.
Financials and Bank of America (BAC) are making waves ahead of the start of earnings season tomorrow.
Earlier today, BofA announced that it had reached an agreement with Fannie Mae (FNMA) over disputed mortgages. The $11.6 billion settlement includes a $3.55 billion cash payment and $6.75 billion in buybacks of mortgage loans gone bad. Additionally, BofA will spend $1.3 billion to cover fees related to its role as a loan payment processor for Fannie. The loans in question date from 2000 to 2008 and were made by Countrywide, which BofA bought in 2008. Fannie Mae argued that the loans did not meet proper underwriting standards.
The bank, which has set aside $44 billion to cover litigation related to bad loans, said it would take a $2.7 billion pretax charge in the fourth-quarter related to the agreement.
The news comes as BofA and nine other banks signed agreements totaling $8.5 billion to settle claims of home foreclosure abuse brought by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Federal Reserve last year.
After the housing bubble, when many homeowners were unable to pay their mortgages, banks found themselves with a great deal of foreclosure-related paperwork, and falsely claimed that thousands of individuals cases were looked over by an employee, when in fact they were 'robo-signed.'
Among other big names, JPMorgan (JPM), Citigroup (C) and Wells Fargo (WFC) also signed onto the agreement. (On a related note, Citigroup late Friday said it would ask regulators to approve a stock repurchase plan, its first buyback since 2007.)
Yet even as banks move to clear up such problems from the financial crisis, regulators have relaxed rules intended to lessen the impact of future crises. Yesterday, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision said that it would amend legislation that had been drafted to ensure that large banks would not face liquidity shortages during future financial crises, amid loud criticism by the banking industry. The new benchmarks will be easier for banks to meet, and will not be fully implemented until 2019.
Banks argued that requiring them to have so much capital on hand would cripple lending activity; moreover, as each country can choose how to apply regulation, some nations may choose to be even more lax in their execution of the rules. Regulators say that the rules, even though modified, should still be able to avert a future crisis.
Warren Buffett said on CNBC this morning that he's added to his Wells Fargo (WFC) position as banks remain in a strong position even if they're not going to return to pre-crisis returns on equity. Berkshire held 411 million shares of WFC as of June 30, a stake worth about $14 billion. He's been adding to it regularly over the past few quarters.
He also said he had sold some Procter & Gamble (PG) "on valuation." Asked about CEO Bob McDonald, whose leadership has been questioned by investor Bill Ackman, he called him a "terrific human being." Buffett added that "the jury is out right now" on the company.
He said he's "salivating" at the chance to make an acquisitions and is currently reviewing a $6 billion company (any guesses?).
JP Morgan Chase (JPM) and Wells Fargo (WFC) kicked off bank earnings season this morning, and both stocks are trading lower. Wells Fargo's net interest margin fell more than expected and its revenue was below expectations, and investors appear to be nitpicking JPM's generally strong results.
Investors can look at both companies to determine what they might say about the rest of the sector, but JPM's results can shed light on a larger swath of companies because of its more extensive portfolio of businesses.
KBW analyst Frederick Cannon says that JPM's investment banking and trading results were impressive.
"Investment banking provided stronger-than-expected results this quarter, with beats in both fees and trading. Fixed income trading came in at $3.7 billion versus our expectations for $3.5
billion, up 7% linked quarter and 33% year over year."
That's a good sign for both Goldman Sachs (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS), Cannon writes.
"As a whole, we expect the strong investment banking revenues this quarter to be a positive for both Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley," Cannon wrote.
Cannon also sees possible upside for Bank of America (BAC).
"The JPM results have a positive read-across for BAC as consumer credit trends improved (after looking through the regulatory change that required the bank to charge off loans, even if they are performing, where the borrower has filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy) significantly at JPM and mortgage and investment banking both performed well, giving some upside potential to BAC's quarter. The upside on the read-across leads us to believe BAC will post a beat to the Street in the quarter and gives us increased confidence around our 15-cent operating estimate."
JPM posted 8% quarter over quarter growth in mortgage originations, with a 2% decline in retail originations. BAC is heavily dependent on retail mortgage origination and Cannon expects "the upside potential to BAC's mortgage numbers to be on the small side at $100-$200 million, given that JPM's positive results in 2Q12 did not seem to translate into significant upside to BAC's quarterly results, which we believe is representative of BAC's recent market share declines."
Overall, it's fair to say expectations may have ticked up for Bank of America, but not by much, says Cannon.
"The combination of mortgage production and investment banking upside could add 1 cent to our estimates, all else equal, but we would also note that the decline in JPM's deposit margins given the current rate environment could also show up in BAC's numbers in the way of slightly lower net interest income to offset the upside to our estimates."
Earnings reports, corporate strategies and analyst insights are all part of what moves stocks, and they're all covered by the Stocks to Watch blog. We also look at macro issues, investor sentiments and hidden trends that are affecting the market. Stocks to Watch gives you the full picture of the U.S. stock markets, all day long.
The blog is written by Ben Levisohn, a former stock trader who has covered financial markets for the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and BusinessWeek.
Write to Ben at email@example.com


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Spectrum Gaming Group has studied the question of expanded gaming in the Meadowlands for the past decade and has developed numerous findings over the years.
Much has changed over the past decade, including an unprecedented recession and a stomach-churning roller-coaster ride for the state's casino industry and for Atlantic City. But, remarkably, when it comes to the issue of expanding gaming within New Jersey, the core of our findings remains the same, and is arguably immutable.
Before proceeding on any expansion of gaming in New Jersey, policymakers need to address the following: Transforming the Meadowlands into a competitor of Atlantic City would create a very real, irreconcilable conflict between two state policies.
Since 1976, when voters approved a referendum to legalize casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey's gaming policy has been the redevelopment of Atlantic City. That is enshrined in the state constitution.
For more than three decades, it has worked as planned. The state benefits in various ways when Atlantic City benefits, from the 8 percent tax on gross gaming revenue to increased casino reinvestment dollars to increased employment, as well as growth in various other taxes.
The state's interests and Atlantic City's interests have operated on parallel tracks. Adding gaming to the Meadowlands would create divergent interests. The state's share of Meadowlands slot revenue would, under any scenario, be significantly higher than its direct share of Atlantic City casino revenue. This disparity means that the state Treasury would appear to have a clear, abiding interest in maximizing revenue at the Meadowlands, where the tax rate would inevitably be higher. The casino industry and Atlantic City, however, would have a clear interest in maximizing revenue at Atlantic City properties.
This conflict would pit region against region, state against city, and legislator against legislator.
I am not saying that a satisfactory answer cannot be found, but to date, no satisfactory answer has been put forward.
As I wrote in 2010, slots at the Meadowlands would force New Jersey to adopt incompatible public policies: promoting the redevelopment of Atlantic City vs. promoting slots at the Meadowlands.
Meadowlands slots would cannibalize significant revenue from New Jersey casinos' core markets in northern New Jersey and the New York metropolitan area. Because slot-machine revenue at the Meadowlands would be taxed at a significantly higher rate than revenue at New Jersey's casino resorts, New Jersey would have a vested interest in maximizing revenue at the Meadowlands - at the expense of the established casino industry it created.
That very real conflict remains unchanged and will likely continue until a satisfactory answer has been developed. But some other factors regarding this issue remain unchanged as well.
No state in the nation, and certainly no state in this region, is contemplating the Atlantic City model. That model is characterized by a combination of a single-digit tax rate, a significant tourism infrastructure and a concentration of gaming licenses and capital investment in one location.
That singularity remains an untapped asset in New Jersey. Atlantic City, to some degree, has been on the path of reinventing itself into a regional entertainment destination, similar to the Las Vegas model. The recession created a huge obstacle on the path toward that evolution. Consequently, today, most of the licensees in Atlantic City still operate under a business model based on the premise that Atlantic City is the most convenient gambling location in the East. That model is no longer valid, and never will be again.
Atlantic City has not reached the point where its business model is such that it can withstand in-state competition, particularly if such competition creates conflicting policies for the state of New Jersey.
Despite the continuing negative news from Atlantic City, we can identify a solution: Greater capital investment. After all, nongaming revenues, albeit a small slice of the overall pie, continue to do well. Small market segments that are underserved can be grown. Capital investment can be the key.
Achieving that goal of transforming Atlantic City is viable, but will be difficult. It requires continued cooperation and coordination with the rest of New Jersey.
If New Jersey creates in-state competition, it means that a dollar wagered in Atlantic City at a lower tax rate is less valuable than a dollar wagered at the Meadowlands, and that means that every dollar that travels from North Jersey to Atlantic City is a lost opportunity for New Jersey, as opposed to the present situation in which every dollar wagered in Atlantic City is a benefit to the state. How will the state address and reconcile those conflicting interests?
How that question is answered makes all the difference - to the Meadowlands, to Atlantic City and to the state of New Jersey.
This column was excerpted from testimony June 19 before the Assembly Regulatory Oversight and Gaming Committee by Michael Pollock, the managing director of Spectrum Gaming Group, a Linwood-based research and analysis firm.