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Reclaim Magazine is a quarterly publication sent only to T.A. members. If you are not yet a member, please join, but in the meantime, use the form below to request a sample copy of the magazine. If you're serious about biking, walking and sensible transportation in New York City, you don't want to miss a single issue of Reclaim Magazine. Each quarterly issue contains news on transportation and cycling issues that affect you. Go behind the scenes at City Hall and the D.O.T., to find out what improvements -- or problems -- are in store for cyclists and pedestrians in New York. Find out what New York can learn from London or Bangkok. Learn how you can help improve cycling and walking conditions in New York City.Table of Contents, Summer 2008 Reclaim Magazine:
All articles in PDF format
[Page 2] Provocateur:
- Broadway Becomes a Boulevard
- Cycle-Tracks Surge on the west Side
- Who's Down with PIP? GWB!
- Summit Knits Greenway Togeather
- The Fix Is In
- New Urgency on Queens Boulevard
- MTA Rolls Forward
- Manhattan Bridge Approaches Safer
- Western Queens Gets Connected
- Strong UWS Support Puts Lane on 106th Street
- Portland's Sundway Parkways Show NYC the Way
- If You Don't Show Up, Don't Complain
- Keeping Cars in Check
- Albany to 2.7 Million Bus Riders: You're On Your Own
- Calming Harlem's Streets
- Block Building
- Designing a Fit City
- Parking Reform Leadership Found (just not in NYC)
- A Season of Events Clicks Togeather
- Planning the 14th Annual Tour de Bronx
- Queens Membership Grows 20% ion First Half of '08
- Join the Brooklyn Committee
- Canada: Transit Discounts on Smog Days
- Washington D.C.: First U.S. Bikeshare Comes to D.C.
- New Zealand: Buying Back the Rails
- South Korea: Insurance Companies Offer No Coverage for Bicycle Crashes
[Page 25] Commuter Profile: Bahiyyih Comeau


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Varamar Group founder Alexander Varvarenko has launched the first phase of a new online platform for global freight markets. This is just two weeks after he outlined his plans exclusively to Marine Electronics & Communications.
Mr Varvarenko has introduced ShipNext, which he expects will save time and money for ship operators and vessel charterers. The program intercepts emailed cargo requests or ship position notifications and automatically match cargoes with ships using over 70 databases and complex algorithms.
ShipNext is backed by Dragon Capital, an eastern European investment bank. Mr Varvarenko said the online platform will "minimise human error and increase efficiency by automating multiple routine checks and calculations".
These relate to ship and port data, distances, restrictions, risk zones and rules of carriage by sea. "ShipNext was born of the desire to change the outdated shipping practices and make life easier for traders, shipowners and other market participants," said Mr Varvarenko.
"In ShipNext we have combined artificial intelligence and latest digital technology with our 17-year industry experience in shipping of dry bulk, steel and heavy and oversized cargo."
ShipNext will be rolled out to users over the next 18 months. Mr Vararenko told Marine Electronics & Communications that more applications will be added to the platform in future phases.

subset: commoncrawl


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Amy Childs and Danielle Armstrong, both of TOWIE fame, are taking part in a new advertising campaign to highlight the dangers of cosmetic surgery, and the images are pretty strong.
Amy has previously spoken of her regret over undergoing surgery – she had her breasts augmented at the age of 18 – but now she is turning her back on going under the knife to alter her looks.
The reality TV star, 26, also once compared herself to singer Pete Burns – who has undergone over 300 procedures – after going "overboard" on her lips.
But now she is doing her bit to promote the work non-surgical aesthetic specialist 3D-lipo and will appear on billboards across the UK from next month, alongside TOWIE star Danielle.
The images are hard to look at, and that's the point: both young women are seen lying in coffins, looking picture perfect in an operating theatre.
The campaign has aptly been called 'Dying to be Beautiful', and encourages people to go down another route to achieve their dream appearance.
Managing Director of 3D-lipo, Roy Cowley said: "The message of our Dying to be Beautiful campaign is very simple, exactly that; you don't need to die to look great.
"3D-lipo offer non-surgical treatments for permanent fat loss and skin tightening which are just as effective as surgical alternatives, if not better and also cost a fraction of the price and pose no risk to your health or life.
"We're urging the UK to think before they go under the knife."
3D-lipo offers those wishing to shift a bit of fat or cellulite, or tighten skin, the chance to do so without having to undergo surgery.
It's a bit of an extreme message to send out, though, so will it work on the nation?


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[Video] All I Want For Christmas Is Hillary In Prison
The Clintons shouldn't feel so smug this holiday season, Zero Hedge reports " House Republicans will hear testimony on December 5 from the prosecutor appointed by Attorney General Jeff Sessions to investigate allegations of wrongdoing by the Clinton Foundation, according to Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC). So, Happy Holidays Bill and Hillary. I hope Santa brings […]Continue Reading


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Green Buckwheat Salad with a Watercress Dressing
200g buckwheat
2tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 small head of broccoli
200g green beans
A small bunch of dill
A small bunch of parsley
A small bunch of chives
A packet of watercress , divided
50g of raisins , soaked in hot water for ten mins and chopped
50g hazelnuts, roasted and chopped
Salt and pepper
For the dressing:
4tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic
Toast the buckwheat in a pan until turning golden then cook in 400ml water until soft.
As soon as the buckwheat is cooked add the balsamic vinegar and leave to cool.
Bring a pan of water to the boil and cook the broccoli and green beans until just tender. Drain in a colander and run under cold water for a few seconds. Set aside.
Divide the watercress in half . Chop one half and add to a serving bowl with the cooked buckwheat, green vegetables , herbs, nuts and raisins. Mix well.
In a blender mix the remaining watercress, olive oil, salt and garlic. Blend. Pour this over the salad, mix and season to taste. Enjoy!


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When you wake up in the morning, do you feel recharged and ready to tackle the day or do you feel even more tired with aches and pains? Unfortunately, most Americans experience the later, and it affects their daily routine, energy levels, and spine health. After all, you spend eight hours a day on your bed, so if aren't getting the night sleep your body needs, it could have long-term consequences. Before you panic and run to a spine doctor in Philadelphia or New Jersey, it may be time to get yourself a new mattress. But how do you know a bed will promote good back and neck health? Here are five tips for choosing a new mattress:
If you're looking for a spine doctor in Philadelphia or New Jersey, Coastal Spine is South Jersey's top spine center. We specialize in offering a non-surgical approach unless we've exhausted other options and nothing has worked.


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Saturday, February 5, 2011
George of the Jungle
Before Brendan Fraser rose to fame as the lead in The Mummy, he was George of the Jungle. Raised
by animals in the jungle of Africa, the movie recounts George must save his furry friends when poachers threaten their livelihood. It's got John Cleese as the voice of George's best friend gorilla, who is aptly named "Ape", and its a family-friendly Disney movie to boot!
27 comments:
Loved George of the jungle....secretly lolReplyDelete
i remember this lol not a awful movieReplyDelete
I didn't realize this was an underrated movie o.OReplyDelete
Loved this movie!! FollowedReplyDelete
Ahh, this movie! I haven't seen it since I was a kid. I'm feeling rather nostalgic now. Lookin forward to more updates, I want some films to watch!ReplyDelete
I am still waiting for the last installment of the series "Death of George of the Jungle" where he slams into a tree a little too hard.ReplyDelete
Was a classic film back in the day.ReplyDelete
Yea agreed, didn't know this was underrated! XDReplyDelete
Great movie!ReplyDelete
Had a few good laughs but, overall, didn't like the movie. :SReplyDelete
classic movie! used to love this when i was a kidReplyDelete
I loved this movie!ReplyDelete
awesome movie & actorReplyDelete
This comment has been removed by the author.ReplyDelete
As horrible as this movie is, I still love it. It was charming in an odd way, and reminded me why I found him so HOT in Encino ManReplyDelete
Brendan Fraiser is a HO :(ReplyDelete
I remember seeing that movie a long time ago, was pretty good.ReplyDelete
Not a Brendan Fraiser fan. The old cartoon wasn't bad though.ReplyDelete
I remember watching this as a kid! hehe. Wow John Cleese? I didn't know that, thanks for posting this!ReplyDelete
This film was funny, but in a nostalgia-goggles way.ReplyDelete
(PS captcha is on)
God, Brendan Fraser has been some really cheesy movies. Followin'ReplyDelete
Have yet to actually see this old gem. My early moments of Brendan Fraser were when he was that reanimated cave guyReplyDelete
- AnonymousFebruary 6, 2011 at 11:16 AM
wwo this brings back a lot of memmories for me. I can remember watching this on dvd way back when, was pretty damn funny aswell. although, as a little kid, the most cheesy and simple things can be funny as hell ; )ReplyDelete
I can't say i'm a great lover of Brandon Fasier films, but if you all like em then thats fine.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousFebruary 7, 2011 at 8:02 PM
George, George, George of the Jungle watch out for that treeReplyDelete
the part where he gets high by eating pounds of coffee is the bestReplyDelete
NO ONE MUST KNOW I LIKE THIS!ReplyDelete
Oh, wait...
And the second one is terribly bad. :(


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3 Ways 'Going Green' Can Save You Money
At this time of year, our hip pockets can get a little light with Christmas gift shopping on everyone's mind. 'Going green' can save you some money to spend on life's little pleasures during the silly season.
There are a few major misconceptions that stop many people from adopting greener lifestyles. One is that it needs to be an 'all or nothing' thing— that you'd have to sell all your belongings and wear a hessian sack in order to do it. Another is that it's difficult and time-consuming — but we know that thanks to these apps that doesn't need to be the case. But perhaps the biggest reason more people don't go green is that they believe it's expensive.
Quite frankly, it's not hard to see why this is such a common misconception. You only have to look at some of the overpriced organic, ethical products in certain health foods stores to see why this is the case! But the thing is, living a more ethical, eco-friendly lifestyle doesn't have to so expensive it requires you to mortgage your home. In fact, it can actually save you big bucks the long run! Here's how:
1. You'll save on transport
If you drive to work, how much does it cost you each week? We're willing to bet the answer is "way too much!" Not only is driving the most expensive form of transport, it also happens to be the least sustainable and environmentally-friendly — with cars accounting for 10% of Australia's total greenhouse gas emissions each year. Buying a 'green' car, car-pooling or catching public transport are all ways you can save money and reduce your environmental impact during your commute. However, the best options are walking or riding a bike where possible. Not only will it reduce your carbon footprint, it's pretty much free and will save you a lot of money!
2. You'll spend less on food
One of the easiest ways to live a greener and more sustainable lifestyle is to reconsider your food consumption habits. With the average Australian household throwing out $1036 each year, it's not hard to see how reducing your food wastage could save you some serious coin. Another easy way to reduce your grocery bills by literally going green. Don't worry, we're not going to suggest you go vegetarian (although opting for veg-based meals a few times a week is a great way to be more environmentally-friendly!) No, we're talking about developing a green thumb by growing some of your own produce. Not only will it reduce the amount you spend on fruit and veg, you can even use the app RipeNearMe to sell whatever you don't eat!
3. It'll reduce your energy bills
Most of us fork out far more than we'd like to on gas and electricity. Luckily, some of the small changes that help you reduce your carbon footprint are easier on your wallet, too! This includes things like switching to more energy efficient appliances, remembering to turn off your lights when you're not using them, swapping to energy saving light bulbs (which last for much longer) and saving the air conditioner and heating for rare occasions. Another massive drain on your gas bill is washing your clothes in hot water. Our environmentally-friendly Aware Sensitive Laundry Range allows you to wash your clothes in cold water only and you'll still get a perfect clean every time!


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Combination Gas & Carbon Monoxide Detectors - 537Save up to 1%
Up to 1% off on Combination Gas & Carbon Monoxide Detectors at Web Directory Links. Top brands include FORENSICS, & MSA. Hurry! Limited time offers. Offers valid only while supplies last.
CARBON MONOXIDE CO Meter by FORENSICS & BOSEAN | PROFESSIONAL Precision Series | Water, Dust & Explosion Proof | USB Recharge | Sound, Light and Vibration Alarms | 0-1000 ppm |
By FORENSICS
In Stock
ean: 7426843520759,
4.4 out of 5 stars with 193 reviews
Best in class, the Professional Series CO detector and meter by FORENSICS and BOSEAN. High precision for very accurate measurements and robust for field work, inspections, occupational safety, industrial and environmental. Comes factory calibrated. Using Electrochemical sensors Made in the UK. Detection range of CO is 0-1000ppm within 30 seconds with error less than +/- 5% full scale. Advanced features such as temperature detection, alarm recording, alarm setting, backlight high resolution LCD,
Multi-Gas Detector, 4 Gas, -4 to 122F, LCD
By MSA
In Stock
mpn: 10110489, ean: 0094714765003,
4.3 out of 5 stars with 49 reviews
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View more products in Fire Safety.
Feel free to Browse Our Catalog.


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Centers of Learning
Personalized education is key to the Primary School experience. Students become agents of their own learning by navigating 10 unique centers that integrate all curricular areas. Children develop leadership skills through collaboration in the multi-age setting, while also benefiting from numerous teacher-directed and self-directed opportunities for learning at the level appropriate to the individual child.
- Math
- Language Arts
- Creative Play
- Science
- Technology
- Art
- Music and Movement
- Daily Physical Education
- World Languages: French & Spanish
- Social Studies
- Christian Formation
Language Arts
Creative Play
Employs an inquiry-based approach to a thematic study of science. Examples include outdoor access to woods and nature trail, simple experiments that introduce students to the Scientific Method, and the study of life, physical and earth science. MakerSpace and STEM experiences are part of the science curriculum.
Music and Movement
Daily Physical Education
World Languages: French & Spanish
Social Studies
The social studies curriculum follows a three-year cycle of themes, including America, Children Around the World, and Occupations. Other topics also include self-awareness, manners, feelings, and map study. Students enjoy the weekly topical presentations by their teachers, peers, and other guest speakers, along with project-based activities that reinforce the concepts learned.


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Chris Dodd
Dodd (D-CT) Doesn't want to deal with the right to vote amendment. Thinks it deserves much more time at a later date and that it will exclude millions of people. He is concnered that a million Hatians and latinos will be excluded.
He's just admitted that he's the only one in the chamber right now. Oh well. Glad he wants to end debate on the amendments. I say lets do it. Just vote on the Tort Reform Bill!!!! End the lawsuits. End the debate!!!


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By Greg Ruthig, Ph.D.
Dr. Ruthig is an assistant professor at Grinnell College in Iowa, and a member of the Save The Frogs Advisory Committee.
I have been interested in amphibians for as long as I can remember. Growing up in upstate New York, I enjoyed finding bright orange red efts in the woods and searching for hours to find spring peepers in the midst of deafening choruses. Although I always knew amphibians were important consumers of insects, which is a comforting thought when wading through a wetland being bitten by mosquitoes, I never appreciated the even smaller organisms whose lives are affected by amphibians and who can have enormous effects on amphibians themselves.
My research is focused on aquatic microbes that are found on amphibians. One group of organisms I study are called watermolds, which are fungus like organisms that consume dead amphibians and can sometimes be pathogens of their eggs. Another microbe that I study, which has received much more attention is the chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. This fungus infects the skin of adult amphibians and the mouths of many tadpoles and has been associated with amphibian declines and extinctions around the world. I am interested in determining how this pathogen is able to drive its amphibian hosts to extinction and how its persistence in the environment, even after many of its host disappear, affects attempts to reintroduce amphibians back into their native environments.
Although microbes are receiving most of their attention due to the fact that they are pathogens, many mirco-organisms interact with amphibians in other ways. Watermold often act saprophytically on amphibians, meaning that they only consume their hosts after they have already died from other causes. Reid Harris at James Madison University and others are now discovering that many of microbes are actually helpful to amphibians, because they can inhibit pathogens. To appreciate how many microbe species are associated with amphibians, I recommend looking at the skin of an amphibian under a microscope or even a hand lens. You will find that it is moving with all kinds or microbes, whose ecological associations with amphibians remain mostly unknown.
As amphibian populations decline, I think about how their losses will affect both large and very small organisms. An amphibian body is an ecosystem within itself and we are just beginning to understand its complexities. Conserving amphibians will impact many more species than the frogs and salamanders that capture our attention when we are children.
The SAVE THE FROGS! Webmaster is your friendly frog-loving robot who keeps this website running 24/7/365 to ensure that frog enthusiasts around the world are educated, inspired and empowered to save frogs and other amphibians from extinction!
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3344 Lexington Road, Montgomery AL 36106
Montgomery Real Estate For Sale
Welcome to historic Cloverdale Idlewild! In this district, you will find this tudor style home. A tremendous amount of work has been done to get this house ready for its new owners. New roof, paint, some plumbing and electrical repairs and a whole lot more. There is a lot of charm and character here with sunken living room, arched doorways, etc. See this first and you won't need to look at anything else.
For more information on this home or other Montgomery AL real estate, visit HatTeam.com or give us a call for more personal service, 800-428-5239.


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Articles & News
- How to Plan an Engineering Design Challenge This article provides you with tools and examples for planning exciting engineering activities. View »
- The Effects of Cell Cycle Deviation on Cancer Development Use Hudson Alpha's Newest Kit to demonstrate chance mutations and randomization in resulting in cancer. View »
- 32 Standards Met with Wisconsin Fast Plants® Engage students and support NGSS with classroom-tested, tried-and-true Wisconsin Fast Plants®. A leading expert on the use of Fast Plants® in education recommends investigations and kits to support K–12 NGSS. View »
- Let Wisconsin Fast Plants® Grow on You! What if you could provide your students with an experiment that takes up little space, can be tailored to fit the time you have available in the classroom, and meets NGSS? View »
- Using the Concepts Associated with Providing Clean Drinking Water to Teach Science: An Interdisciplinary Approach Introducing students to the issues associated with safe drinking water is a great real-world, interdisciplinary way to teach science. View »
- Phases of the Cell Cycle A concise take on the life cycle of a typical eukaryotic cell. View »
- Infographic: Bring Your Genetics Lessons to Life with Model Organisms Carolina offers unique opportunities to work with model organisms—such as genetic corn (Zea mays), Wisconsin Fast Plants® (Brassica rapa), and fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster)—in your genetics labs. View »
- Bacteriophages in Human Disease: Friends and Foes Help your students understand the connection between bacteriophages and human disease. This scholarly overview explores how bacteriophages have helped and hindered humans in their quest to overcome certain diseases. Use it as assigned reading or to kick off a classroom discussion. View »
- A Flipped Inquiry Approach to Teaching Natural Selection Natural selection, although fascinating, can be difficult to understand. By combining the flipped learning approach with inquiry, you can engage your students as they explore the concept firsthand. View »
- Examples to Use When Teaching About Selection and Evolution: Fox Domestication and Poison Resistance in Rodents To make abstract science concepts more concrete, teachers often use real-life examples. But even classic examples can lose their appeal. Refresh your lessons on evolution and selection with 2 less well known examples. View »
- Carolina's Recommended Reading for AP® Biology Teaching AP® Biology this year? Go beyond the textbook and take students on an exploration of key concepts with these teacher-tested and recommended books. View »
- Population Genetics and Evolution: Asking the Right Questions AP® Biology: It's a question of shifting population genetics! Apply the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium model with Wisconsin Fast Plants® and independent student research. See a sample student question sheet from our featured kit's activities. View »
- From Euglena to Zebra Fish: An Overview of the Diversity of Eyes Did you know scientists study zebrafish to gain further understanding of diseases of the human eye? Why is this? What is the connection between zebrafish and human vision? View »
- Human Body: Cardiovascular System Teach the functions of the cardiovascular system with the help of this infographic. View »
- Video: Comparing DNA Sequences This engaging video by science teacher Paul Andersen shows you how to compare DNA sequences to understand evolutionary relationships. View »
- Integrating Engineering into the Science Classroom with Carolina STEM Challenge® Kits Carolina STEM Challenge® kits can help you integrate engineering principles into your curriculum--in ways that are effective, easy, and fun. Find out how in this white paper. View »
- How to Teach the Crosscutting Concepts with Wisconsin Fast Plants Lessons taught with Wisconsin Fast Plants engage students with natural phenomena, and they are some of the easiest to design with crosscutting concepts as the foundation. Learn how. View »


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Annual Skipper's Briefing - 20th Sept @ 7.00pm
The Annual Skipper's Briefing will be held on Thursday evening next week September 20.
It is mandatory for a representative from each boat to attend.
This important session will include a briefing from NSW Roads & Maritime Services, on-water emergency procedures, updates to the Australian Sailing Special Regulations and the 2018-2019 racing program. It is a must-attend event for the skippers (or a representative) of all MHYC yachts.
The briefing will be held in the Harbour View Room at 7pm. Come along earlier to enjoy dinner beforehand.
Skippers & Crew Meet and Greet
Looking for crew for the new season? Looking for a crew position? MHYC has arranged a Meet and Greet evening for sailors looking for a crew position on a MHYC Yacht.
The Meet & Greet will be held in the Harbour View Room on Thursday 27th September at 7pm.
Skippers seeking crew for the season will be present so potential crew can meet the skippers and ask further questions. Skippers looking for crew will address the meeting outlining the program for their yacht this season and give an indication of the type of crew they are seeking. The crew can then ask questions of the skipper presenting to make sure they understand what is being sought. After the presentations, the skippers and crew can meet one on one over a drink in the bar.


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At the annual Star Wars celebration, EA officially revealed Star Wars Battlefront 2 alongside a brand new trailer. The game will release November 11 on PS4, Xbox One and PC.
This full trailer follows the version which leaked a couple of days ago and gives some details of what we can expect from the single player campaign. The campaign will follow imperial commander Iden Versio after the destruction of the Death Star. Iden is on a mission to avenge the Emperor and seeks revenge against the Rebellion. The game will feature the ability to fight across multiple eras of the Star Wars Universe using a wide variety of characters including Yoda, Darth Maul and Kylo Ren.
While battles will be era specific, for example you can't face-off against battle droids as a member of the Resistance, the game's hero characters can span multiple different eras. One thing sorely missing from the first game was space battles. This seems to have been rectified in the sequel with DICE enlisting developers Criterion to handle the vehicular combat. Star Wars: Battlefront 2 will also feature splitscreen co-op.
We'll no doubt see more at this year's E3 but until then you can watch the trailer below:


text: Nariman Point - Former Union home minister and senior Congress leader Sushilkumar Shinde has criticized the Modi government on the issue of demonetization. "The common people are facing problems due to demonetization but the government has not been declaring how much black money it has collected during these 50 days. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had appealed people to bear the trouble only for 50 days and had shown readiness to get punished if things do not improve. Now, things have not improved. He should tell the country where he would be punished," said Shinde. The meeting of Congress party's state campaigning committee was held here on Saturday under the presidentship of Shinde. MPCC president Ashok Chavan, former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan and other Congress leaders attended the meeting.


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The determinants of the cost of capital by industry within an emerging economy: evidence from Egypt.
Although many studies have been undertaken on the cost of capital, insufficient attention has been paid to the factors that drive the cost of capital in the emerging markets, in particular the Middle East region. Here, an analysis is undertaken of the cost of capital in Egypt, based on a sample of 119 companies. A number of models are used to measure the cost of equity and in turn the overall cost of capital, which is calculated on the basis of both book and market values. Broadly speaking the cost of equity is around 12.5 per cent and the overall cost of capital roughly around 12 per cent.
Step-wise multiple regressions are used to find the underlying determinants. Generally, growth and size are particularly important. Also, for actively traded companies and for heavy industries, in particular, financial and business risks are significant factors. For the contracting and real estate sector, which has a higher cost of capital, fixed asset backing is another key variable. In the food sector, liquidity is one of the important determinants. Finally, a satisfactory model was not found to explain the cost of capital in the service sector.
Keywords: Cost of capital; Equity; Debt; Leverage; Stock market; Egypt
The cost of capital has been a popular issue in corporate finance, yet little is known about the cost of capital on a broader menu of emerging markets (Barry et al, 1998). Since most of the emerging markets were established recently, i.e. in the past couple of decades, the data series of companies listed in these markets seem to be short and this might explain the scarcity of such studies in emerging markets. However, emerging markets in the Asian and Latin American regions have enjoyed a long history compared with other places, in turn some work on the cost of capital has already been performed. At the other extreme, the Middle East region has not attracted comprehensive work on the stock markets because most of these countries embarked on economic reform programmes only in the recent decades, which have enabled them to establish or resurrect their stock markets (Omran, 1999). This paper empirically investigates the cost of capital in Egypt, as Egypt can be considered as one of the most promising financial centres in this region.
Using a sample size of 119 Egyptian companies, the results indicate that the cost of equity is around 12.5 per cent and the overall cost of capital roughly around 12 per cent. As for the determinants, growth and size are found to be particularly important. Financial and business risks are significant factors for actively traded companies and for heavy industries. For the contracting and real estate sector, which has a higher cost of capital, fixed asset backing is another key variable. In the food sector, liquidity is one of the important determinants. Finally, a satisfactory model was not found to explain the cost of capital in the service sector.
The rest of the paper is organised as follows: Section II deals with the background concerning Egypt's stock market, followed by Section III which highlights some empirical studies concerning the variables that have been found to affect the cost of capital for companies. The methodology and data are given in Section IV, covering specifications of the empirical models. The empirical findings in Section V constitute the main thrust of the paper, utilising ANOVA and step-wise multiple regressions. Finally, the summary and concluding remarks are contained in Section VI.
The stock market activity in Egypt goes back as far as 1881. Alexandria stock exchange was the fifth established in the world after those of Inverness (1536), Amsterdam (1608), London (1666), and Paris (1808). Cairo stock exchange was later established in 1903 (Capital Market Authority, 1996a).
However, a significant change affected the stock market in Egypt in the late 1950s, as this period witnessed the start of massive and successive waves of nationalization that had radically changed the structure of the economy and this in turn had a devastating effect upon the stock market. The stock exchanges collapsed and the primary market became rudimentary. Until the 1970s the market remained fairly inactive. But then reforms were implemented to reactivate the private sector and aimed to attract foreign investment and mobilize domestic investment as well. But the bias in the tax code against investment in securities, structural deficiencies and practices, the absence of a governing securities law, the inadequacy of accounting, auditing and financial disclosure, and the lack of protection to small investors made the role of the stock exchange remain minimal during this period (Capital Market Authority, 1996b).
Since the early years of this decade, Egypt has witnessed major and radical changes in its economic climate. These changes were due to the debt-rescheduling scheme with the International Monetary Fund. The Egyptian government adopted a programme of economic reform in 1991 aimed at increasing the growth rate of the economy. This objective is not likely to be achieved without increasing the level of investment. In turn, this investment can be obtained through creating a strong stock market that is capable of attracting local and foreign investment.
An economic reform programme was initiated by the government in the early 1990's. As a result, the stock market in Egypt witnessed major changes (Omran, 1999). Figure 1 indicates this point clearly.
It can be seen from Figure 1/1 that all market activity variables witnessed a dramatic change: the value of trade increased by 5,561 per cent between 91/92 and 97/98, the volume of trade increased by 1,541 per cent, the number of transactions increased by 11,791 per cent and the number of traded companies increased by 91 per cent. The value of new issues (including capital increases), and also when expressed as a percentage of GDP, increased by 1,270 per cent and 492 per cent respectively for both variables. As for market size as indicated in Figure 1/2, market capitalization increased by 701 per cent, market capitalization as a percentage of GDP increased also by 255 per cent. Meanwhile, the volume of shares listed increased by 370.5 per cent. On the other hand, it can be seen that the number of listed companies just increased by 3.5 per cent, while the number of financial intermediaries increased sharply by 1,675 per cent. In the mean-time, the market liquidity variables (Figure 1/3), also witnessed significant change. The total value traded to market capitalization increased by 608 per cent, while the total value traded to GDP increased sharply by 2,373 per cent and the volume of shared traded to the volume of shares listed increased by 245 per cent. As seen in Figure 1/4, which indicates the changes in market concentration, the percentage of the 10 biggest companies' share in market capitalization decreased by 35 per cent and the percentage of the 10 biggest companies' share in value traded also decreased by the same percentage.
At its simplest level, the cost of equity capital can be seen as comprising a dividend yield plus a capital gains component, although the former may be regarded as being more predictable than the latter. Furthermore, if capital gains are induced by retentions, then the dividend versus capital gains split may be viewed as an arbitrary division of earnings, and so an earnings yield model of the cost of equity capital may, under certain circumstances, be equivalent to a dividend growth model of the cost of equity (Karathanassis, 1983). The well-known theoretical basis of this by Miller and Modigliani (1961) follows from the assumption of perfect frictionless capital markets and ignores tax distortions. However, in practice dividends contribute more to value than earnings (Rees, 1997) and personal tax effects can be distortionary (Pointon, 1996; and Dempsey, 1997).
Growth effects can be important contributors to the cost of equity capital, especially in instances of strong brand names (e.g. Coca-Cola (Financial Times, 1998)) or a strong market position (e.g. Microsoft (Economist, 1999)). From a modelling perspective there may need to be a way of reconciling differences between dividend growth, earnings growth and asset growth (Ashton, 1995). As to earnings growth it is important not to place overemphasis on growth that may not be sustainable (Barberis, 1998; and Wadhwani, 1999). Fama and French (1998) have demonstrated that growth stocks tend to underperform compared with value stocks. Furthermore, analysts' forecasts can be over-optimistic, as evidenced by new equity offerings (Dechow et al, 1997). As to a sample of 42 UK analysts, Barker (1999) found that, as far as valuation models are concerned, the price-earnings ratio is preferred when analysing the services, industrials and consumer goods sectors, whereas the dividend yield is predominant in the financial and utilities sectors.
Such classifications into price-earnings and yield-valued shares were supported by regression results, revealing that retentions contribute relatively more to the value of the PE classified shares and dividends contribute more to the value of the shares which the small sample of analysts regarded as yield shares. Incidentally, for smaller US stocks, Naranjo et al (1998) found that the ex-ante long-run dividend yield was positively related to returns.
Krishnan and Moyer (1996) found support for Myers (1984) pecking-order hypothesis that retentions were a preferred form of finance to new equity but that debt finance is preferred to new equity. They also found size and growth to be important determinants of capital structure in several countries including the US, Germany, Japan and Italy. The link between gearing and the cost of equity, at least in terms of dividend payout ratios, has been examined by Chang and Rhee (1990) who found that the higher the payout ratio the greater the degree of US debt financing.
Firm size may also be an important key factor. Large institutional investors may not find it worthwhile to research into the performance and potential of smaller firms, since they would avoid investing too much equity in an individual firm. By contrast, their investments in larger firms would tend to push up prices and depress returns. As to emerging markets, Fama and French (1998) find that smaller stocks tend to generate higher returns than larger stocks, although their investigation did not cover Egypt.
The overall cost of capital may, of course, be affected by the capital structure of the firm. However, in a perfect, frictionless, tax-free environment the division of the net operating earnings between equity and debt should not affect total value (Modigliani and Miller, 1958). This holds within a given business risk category, of course. As to the irrelevance of taxation in a general equilibrium model, Rutterford (1988) found support for this above-mentioned proposition in her results revealing that, for several countries, tax was not a significant factor in the determination of a firm's capital structure. In a mail survey of UK and US firms Hooper (1994) also found more support for tax irrelevance than for the view that raising finance in countries with high corporate tax rates increased the value of the multinational. Nevertheless, one third of multinationals in his sample did support the value-increasing hypothesis. In another mail survey, Norton (1991) had found that key determinants of capital structure had included tax implications, as well as financial flexibility and stock market concerns. The emphasis of this study is on the cost of capital rather than capital structure per se. Nevertheless it is worth noting that Rajan and Zingales (1995) found the gearing was positively related to tangibility (collateral) in the US, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, the UK and Canada, positively related to size (diversified risk, although not in Germany), negatively related to the market to book ratio (perhaps since equities are issued when prices are high) and negatively related to profitability (as internal funds are preferred).
A. Empirical Models: Specifications
To achieve the objectives of the paper the cost of capital is split into component costs for equity and debt. The cost of debt is already known from market rates of interest, apart from any tax adjustment, which is determined by the corporate tax rate and whether the firm was in a tax-paying position.
The simplest model of the cost of equity that can be used as a benchmark is the inverse of the price-earnings ratio. This would normally be appropriate if the company had constant underlying earnings that could be distributed as dividends, the equity-financed portion of any reinvestments would earn a rate of return exactly equal to the cost of equity, and all these details were communicated to shareholders and regarded as certain. This is the basis for Model 1 and is used merely as a starting point. Of course, there is no reason why earnings should be constant in the future, for companies may have growth opportunities.
This leads to Model 2. For this we took the familiar Gordon growth model (Gordon, 1962) and cast it in terms of earnings as follows:
[k.sub.e] = [d.sub.0] (1 + g)/[P.sub.0] + g (1)
= ([e.sub.0] /[P.sub.0] (1 -b)(1 + g) + g (2)
[k.sub.e] = (1/PE ratio)[l - ([e.sub.0] - [d.sub.0])/[e.sub.0]] (1 + g) + g (3)
where: [k.sub.e] = the cost of equity capital; b = the retention ratio; [d.sub.0] = dividends per share; [e.sub.0] = earnings per share; g = the growth rate (see below), and [P.sub.0] = the current ex-div share price.
Strictly, under this formulation a constant payout ratio is assumed and hence the constant compound growth rate in dividends equals the compound growth rate in earnings. The estimate for g was based upon the average of the net earning's growth of the current and previous years.
Of course, predicting a growth rate is difficult. An objective and rational measure is to assume that the firm does generate a growth in earnings, but that rate is a normal rate. Such a rate can be regarded as being consistent with the rate of return on the equity financed portion of reinvested funds being equal to the cost of equity itself.
So, the third model avoids the issue of attempting to estimate separately the growth factor by assuming that earnings grow at the rate br = bk, where r is the rate of return on the equity financed portion of reinvested funds.
The earnings formulation:
[k.sub.e] = [e.sub.1] (1-b)/[P.sub.0] + br (4)
is modified so that r=[k.sub.e]. Hence, denoting this cost as [k.sup.c.sub.e] we have (see Appendix):
[k.sup.c.sub.e] =1/[PE ratio - ([e.sub.0] - [d.sub.0])/[e.sub.0]] (5)
Even though it may be sensible to consider the Capital Asset Pricing Model, as an alternative way to derive the cost of capital this was not chosen because the betas were not publicly available through databases, such as Datastream, for Egyptian companies. However, it needs to be mentioned that, at least as far as an international capital asset pricing model is concerned, many emerging markets have very low betas, and indeed some are negative reflecting highly segmented financial markets which casts some doubt on the appropriateness of the model (see Buckley, (2000) p.480, who cites Godfrey and Espinosa, 1996; see also Harvey, 1995).
With regard to the overall cost of capital, two different versions were used. The first was based on a weighted average of debt and equity component costs according to book values of debt and equity. The second utilized market values instead. Multiple regressions were performed to explain the determinants of the cost of equity capital. From the selected literature in Section III, an initial checklist of possible independent variables are given below, together with hypothesized positive or negative relationships:
* (Reserves and retained earnings)/total investment (negative): since internal funds should avoid issue costs and reduce the cost of equity, consistent with the pecking order hypothesis (Krishnan and Moyer, 1996; Myers, 1984).
* Net Earnings' Growth (positive): since high growth should command a higher cost of equity (although paradoxically, Fama and French (1998) find that growth stocks around the world generate lower returns than value stocks);
* Net Fixed Asset Growth (positive): again since high growth should command a higher cost of equity;
* Natural Logarithm of Market Capitalisation (negative): as larger companies should have a lower cost of equity through economies of scale in raising finance, although empirically smaller firms tend to generate higher returns (see, for example, Fama and French, 1998);
* Actively Traded Dummy: a dummy variable to reflect an anticipated lower cost of equity for actively traded companies;
* Gearing (positive): to reflect the capital perspective of financial risk (total liabilities/equity) (see Chang and Rhee, 1990);
* Long term Debt/Equity (positive): a similar argument;
* Long term Debt/Total Investment (positive): again a similar argument;
* Times Interest Earned (negative): since greater coverage reduces financial risk;
* Standard Deviation of Earnings (positive): as a measure of business risk (based on five years of earnings) (see Modigliani and Miller, 1958);
* Quick Ratio (positive?): since low liquidity may constrain profitable investment, and hence it is included as an intervening variable. On the other hand, it can be argued that too much liquidity indicates an inefficient use of funds, so it is debatable whether the sign should be positive or negative;
* (Cash and Short-term Investments)/Current Liabilities (positive?): ditto;
* Fixed Assets/Total Assets (negative): since asset backing may make the business more secure and hence reduce the cost of capital.
* Tax/Net Profit Before Tax (negative): since tax reduces returns to investors and also the cost of debt may be reduced through the tax deductibility of interest (Modigliani and Miller, 1963); and
* q-ratio (positive): since a higher q value should reflect more growth opportunities and a higher cost of equity (see Krishnan and Moyer (1996), although Fama and French (1995) do not find a significant relationship between the q effect on earnings and its effect on returns).
Clearly, there would be too many variables if all were included in one model. Instead, step-wise regressions were performed to determine the most efficient explanation of factors governing the cost of equity capital.
In the modelling procedure it was necessary to be prepared in advance for the possible occurrence of multicollinearity. In a simple bivariate regression the correlation coefficient squared, i.e. R squared, reveals the proportion of the variation in the hypothesized independent variable that explains the variation in the hypothesized dependent variable. Hence an R square of, say, 50 per cent, would explain on 25 per cent of the dependent variable's variation. Clearly, when two hypothesized independent variables are highly correlated, say more than 50 per cent, then 25 per cent of the variation in one hypothesized independent variable is explained by the variation in the other. Normally some degree of multicollinearity exists and so there is an element of judgment as to the limit of toleration. A benchmark of an upper limit of 50 per cent correlation, representing 25 per cent of the variation, was regarded as tolerable. However, in the event, the cross correlations did not usually approach this limit.
B. Data Set
The data were drawn from the financial information provided in Kompass Egypt Financial Year Book 1998/99 (Fiani & Partners, 1999). This rich source of financial data displays the financial statistics of respective companies in Egypt in a consistent manner, so that selected items are on a comparable basis, following generally accepted accounting principles, where appropriate. Additionally, there are some limited data items relating to the stock market, for example, the price-earnings ratio, and market capitalization. Five years of data, until 1998, were required to determine the standard deviation of earnings. Where these were not available, companies had to be excluded, leaving 122 compares. Hence, any survivorship bias needs to be treated as a caveat to the results. Further outlier companies were excluded due to abnormal figures. Consequently, the final sample size was 119 companies.
A. Analysis of Variance: Equity Cost of Capital
In Table 1, Panel A, we set out the estimates for the cost of equity capital under the three models, according to whether the shares are actively traded or not. Under Model 1 the average (mean) cost of equity is 11.28 per cent for the actively traded companies and a little higher at 14.07 per cent for the non-actively traded companies. The mean costs of equity under Model 3 are similar (11.78 and 16.36 per cent, respectively). However, the costs under Model 2 are higher and reversed (26.89 and 24.03 per cent, respectively. An ANOVA test was performed by which the variation between the two groups (active and non-active) was separated from the variation within each group. The F-ratio measures the ratio of the between-group estimate to the within-group estimate. Under Models 1 and 2, the P-Values of the F-tests exceed 0.05, so there are no statistically significant differences between the means of the actively and non-actively traded companies. However Model 3 is significant in this respect (the P-Value is only 0.0371).
The difference between the means under Model 3 is also confirmed using Fisher's least significance different test. At the 95 per cent confidence level there is no statistically significant difference between the means, so there is a 5 per cent risk of concluding that the pair of means is significantly different when the actual difference is zero. To examine the differences between the medians, the Kruskall-Wallis test is applied. For each of the three models the P-Value exceeds 0.05, so there are no statistically significant differences between the medians of the cost of equity capital of the actively and non-actively traded companies, at the 95 per cent level of confidence.
However, for Models 1 and 3, Cochran's C test and Bartlett's test show that there are significant differences between the standard deviations of the two groups. Hence, the ANOVA test needs to be interpreted with caution.
A similar analysis is performed in Panel B for companies grouped according to industry instead. The four groups are characterised as follows:
A: Food--agriculture, food; B: Heavy industries--textiles, paper, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, building, cement, metallurgy and engineering; C: Contracting--contracting and real estate; D: Services--tourism, social health and culture services, transport and trade and distribution.
The analysis is reported for companies grouped according to industry, in order to determine whether industrial classifications reveal significant variations. The rationale here is that the cost of equity represents the rate of return required by shareholders and that the return that can be earned depends upon what is achievable through the employment of the assets, which in turn are applied within a given industrial sector. Different industries are susceptible to different cyclical variations, for example. In prosperous times the property sector may outperform other sectors, yet may be less insulated when the economic climate changes unfavourably. For Models 1 and 3 there are no significant differences between the various pairs of industry categories. However, under Model 2 contracting is much different (see Fisher's test). Indeed the mean cost of equity capital was 48.80 per cent, much out of line with the other sectors. However, the model overestimates the cost of capital in relation to the more conservative models 1 and 3. The medians were also statistically different for Model 2 (see the P-Values of the Kruskall-Wallis Median test result in Panel B). Once again the standard deviations of the costs of equity for different industries were statistically different for Models 1 and 3 (see Bartlett's test in Panel B).
Overall, however, the mean costs of equity were around 11 to 13 per cent (using the conservative estimates as reflected in Models 1 and 3) except for food, where the mean cost of equity was around 14-17 per cent (considering all three models). As a separate exercise, as seen in Table 2, the inverse of the price-earnings ratio was compared for 41 countries. For Egypt, the cost of equity on this basis is very high and was exceeded in 1998 by only Peru, Pakistan and Columbia. However, it can be argued that on account of the economic and political situation in Egypt, investors might ask for a higher return because they will bear more risk compared with other countries. Additionally, the risk-free rate in Egypt was around 9 per cent. Hence Egypt has a relatively high cost of capital compared with other countries. Also, these figures need to be considered within the context of Egypt as a new emerging market, so we would expect the cost to be relatively high. From an investor's perspective, however, the main issue is the extent to which this return is sustainable.
B. Determinants of the Cost of Equity Capital
Multiple regressions were performed to explain the determinants of the cost of equity capital. For Model 2 the results in forthcoming tables are not shown in some instances. The reason for this is that the growth estimates that were used in the formulation for the cost of equity, in some cases were so extreme that the moduli of the resultant coefficients in the final models were exponentially high.
In Table 3, Model l's cost of equity, for the whole sample of companies, is determined by reserves, earnings growth, size and active trading. These factors are significant at the 1 per cent level. The negative co-efficient for size, indicating that smaller firms have a higher cost of capital, is consistent with Fama and French (1998); whereas the positive coefficient for reserves is inconsistent with Krishnan and Moyer (1996), and reveals unexpectedly that firms with higher reserves have a higher cost of capital. The latter may be due to a moderate collinear relationship with net earnings' growth, although at the time the authors did not investigate this further. The adjusted R-square is 82.33 per cent, implying an excellent explanation of the cost of equity. Model 3 is very similar except that reserves are not reflected in the final model.
For actively traded companies, the cost of equity is significantly affected by size, under Models 1 and 3, for which the natural logarithm of the market capitalisation is a significant variable. Growth potential as reflected in the q-ratio, can also be significant (see Model 1) and is consistent in sign with Fama and French (1998). However the adjusted R-squares are quite low for Models 1 and 3.
However for Model 2, financial and business risks are key factors, as indicated by gearing, times interest earned and the standard deviation of earnings. However the signs of the coefficients of variables reflecting financial risk are unexpected. The business risk factor, however, agrees with the inference of Modigliani and Miller (1958). The adjusted R-square now increases to 20.25 per cent for Model 2.
Non-actively traded companies by contrast, have costs of equity determined by reserves, earnings growth, size (agreeing with Fama and French, 1998) and business risk. The adjusted R-square for Model 1 is 85.23 per cent, so this model provides a very good explanation of the equity cost of capital. For Model 3 the adjusted R square is 33.08 per cent, although the independent variables are all significant at the 1 per cent level.
So, how do these analyses inform researchers about the differences between actively and non-actively traded companies? First, for the actively traded companies, the R squares are lower. Perhaps the reason for this is that investors in such companies place more importance upon the industrial context instead. Indeed, it will be noted later that the R squares for the industry based models, pooling both actively and non-actively traded companies, are much higher than for the actively traded companies not identified by industry. Second, Model 1 (Table 3) indicates the greater significance that market participants in actively traded company shares place upon the q ratio. Given that q is a market to book ratio this means that the greater the degree of active trading in the market, the greater the importance of the market value. As stated earlier, the Fama-French small firm effect is also evident for both actively and non- actively traded companies. Third, the more highly geared actively traded companies have lower costs of capital, as observed by the negative coefficient for gearing in Model 2 of Table 3. This result however can in part be reconciled to the evidence for the non-actively traded companies, for it suggests that firms relying on other sources of finance have higher costs of capital. Indeed for non-actively traded companies, firms utilising reserves and retentions have higher costs of capital.
Turning now to an individual industry sector, namely the food industry, under Models 1 and 3 the cost of equity capital is determined by liquidity, as represented by the quick ratio and the ratio of cash and short-term investments to current liabilities (see Table 4). These factors are significant at the 1 per cent level of significance. In the food retail sub-sector, liquidity factors are indeed likely to be more important than in the non-food sectors, since customers are more likely to pay by cash. In food manufacturing, the situation is, however, likely to be different. Hence it is not surprising that the quick ratio is a factor explaining the cost of capital. The adjusted R-Squares are high at 65.18 and 72.70 per cent, respectively, for Models 1 and 3, indicating a good fit. For Model 2, the cost of equity is significantly determined by income gearing and business risk, accounting for 55.89 per cent (50.70 per cent, when adjusted) of the variation in the cost of equity in the food sector.
In the heavy industries sector, 92.79 per cent (Model 1) and 53.96 per cent (Model 2) of the R-square adjusted variation in the cost of equity are determined by income gearing (times interest earned), capital gearing (long-term debt/total investment) and size (natural logarithm of market capitalisation whose coefficient agrees in sign with Fama and French (1998), as revealed in Table 4). These factors are significant at the 95 per cent level of confidence. The results for heavy industry can be partly explained in terms of the operational gearing that affects heavy industry. On account of high overhead costs, necessary to conduct business, companies are already susceptible to these operational risks. Consequently, financial risk, as depicted in income gearing and capital gearing, adds to the high operational risk with the consequence that the cost of equity is likely to be especially sensitive.
As to contracting and real estate, the most important factors that should affect the cost of capital ought to be measures of growth, since this sector has experienced a rapid expansion. This is borne out by significant variables for the previous net fixed asset growth and the previous net earnings' growth. In Table 4, the previous period's (1996/97) net fixed asset growth is a significant determinant at the 95 per cent level of confidence in Model 2, and fixed assets/total assets are significant factors at the 95 and 99 per cent levels of confidence, in Models 1 and 3, respectively. Other factors include business risk (Model 2), income gearing (Models 1 and 3), previous earnings' growth (Models 1 and 3) and size (Models 1 and 3 reveal a negative sign, again consistent with the findings of Fama and French (1998)). Furthermore, the adjusted R-Squares are high (70.38 to 84.94) in the three models.
Lastly, in the service sector, the only critical variable was the tax ratio, which in itself is not very instructive, although in theory it could have been an intervening variable. Thus growth, size, business and financial risk, liquidity and asset-backing were not significant determinants in the final step-wise regression models for the service sector. A tentative explanation for this strange result is that the service sector is less homogeneous than the other sectors. The food sector, for example, is arguably more homogeneous. Also, contracting and real estate can be regarded as two sub-sectors that are each broadly affected by the similar external factors, such as the demand for property. However, given the variety of services, it is suggested that it is more difficult to explain the cost of capital in that sector.
C. Analysis of Variance: Overall Costs of Capital
The analysis proceeds by making a comparison between the weighted average costs of capital between actively traded and non-actively traded companies using both book values and market values as weights (tables not given). For Models 1 and 3, which provide more conservative estimates, the overall cost of capital for actively traded companies is around 11-12 per cent, regardless of the choice between book and market values. For actively traded companies the costs vary between 13 and 16 per cent. Under Model 2 the estimates are higher at around 22 to 24 per cent for the non-actively traded companies and, counter-intuitively, around 17-18 per cent for the non-actively traded companies. Apart from the use of book value weights in Model 3, the ANOVA tests reveal that there are no significant differences, at the 5 per cent level of significance, between the actively traded and non-actively traded companies' overall cost of capital. This is also confirmed by Fisher's least significant difference test. Furthermore, at the 95 per cent level of confidence, there are no significant differences between the medians, as indicated by the P-Values of the Kruskal-Wallis median test statistics. However, Cochran's C-test and Bartlett's test reveal that for Models 1 and 3 only there are significances, at the 1 per cent level of significance, between the standard deviations of actively-traded and non-actively traded companies.
As to comparisons by industry, estimates of the mean overall cost of capital under Models 1 and 3 are around 14-16 per cent for food, 11-12 per cent for heavy industries, 10-11 per cent for contracting and real estate and 12-13 per cent for the service sector. Under Model 2 the estimates are much higher, namely 15-16 per cent for food, 20-21 per cent for heavy industries, 34-40 per cent for contracting and 18 per cent for services. It can be argued that the very high growth rates in the contracting and real estate sector are the reason for such a difference. Of course, there is a much higher degree of financial risk (financial leverage), which is likely to be a contributing factor.
The impact of high growth values as parameter estimates within Model 2 has already been discussed. The extent to which they are sustainable is noted. The ANOVA test reveals that under Model 2 not all the means are the same, and Fisher's least significant difference test confirms that category C, namely contracting, is different. At the 5 per cent level of significance, the Kruskal-Wallis median test statistic shows that the median weighted average costs of capital for the four industrial groupings, are not all identical, when market weights are used. As to differences in standard deviations of overall costs of capital, Cochran's C-test and Bartlett's test reveal some differences in Models 1 and 3 but not Model 2.
D. Determinants of the Overall Cost of Capital
The step-wise multiple regressions of the overall cost of capital for the whole sample reveal similar determinant factors to those of the equity cost of capital, although risk (as measured by the standard deviations of earnings) is also a factor for Model 3. However the adjusted R-Squares are much lower, and vary between 26.09 and 47.32 per cent.
For the overall cost of capital of actively traded companies, size (natural logarithm of market capitalisation) is not a determinant factor, although it had an impact on the cost of equity (see Table 3). However, the R-squares are low. For the companies whose shares are not actively traded, Model 1 reveals that around 55-63 per cent of the variation (R-square) in the overall cost of capital is explained by reserves (market and book value models), size (log of market capitalization in market and book value models), risk (standard deviation of earnings in the market-based model) and growth (net earnings growth in the book based model). For Model 3, size is a critical factor although the R-square is lower.
For the food sector the models for the overall cost of capital produce high R-squares (64-78 per cent, when unadjusted and 58 to 75 per cent, when adjusted). Liquidity is the main determinant for Models 1 and 3. However for Model 2, business risk (standard deviation of earnings) and financial risk (capital gearing as indicated by long-term debt/equity, and income gearing reflected by times interest earned) are key determinants. However business risk is significant at the 5 per cent level, but not financial risk.
For heavy industry, the financial risk in the income flows (times interest earned), debt capital risk (long term debt/total investment), and size (natural log of market capitalisation) are each significant at the 5 per cent level of significance and explain 70.56 per cent (R-square adjusted) in the variation in the overall cost of capital. These factors are also equally significant in the market-value weighted version of the overall cost of capital in Model 1 and in both versions of Model 3, although the R-squares are lower.
The determinants of the overall cost of capital for the contracting and real estate sector explain 54-84 per cent (R-square adjusted) of the variation in costs. Model 2 is solely based on business risk, whereas Models 1 and 3 reflect income gearing, asset structure, growth and size.
Finally, in the services sector the overall cost of capital is determined solely by the tax ratio in the final step-wise regression. Although tax was originally identified as a possible factor, its influence is more likely to be as a possible intervening variable that may influence gearing which in turn may affect the overall cost of capital. Its appearance as the sole determinant is not very helpful. The tentative explanation of heterogeneity in the sector has already been discussed earlier.
E. Financing Behaviour and Further Research
Financing may be derived from internal or external sources, the latter typically being in the form of long-term or even revolving short-term debt. However, both types of debt increase financial risk and may have an impact on the cost of capital, as already explained. In terms of financial leverage (long-term debt plus short-term debt all divided by the book value of the equity), there are some significant differences between the means of the four industry classifications. For the whole sample, the mean level of financial leverage was 2.51. Meanwhile, in the contracting and real estate sector, the average financial leverage was over twice that amount at 5.89, although the other sectors had similar financial leverage. There was a statistically significant difference, at the 1 per cent level of significance, in the means and medians of the contracting and real estate sector compared with each of the other sectors. Using a different measure of capital structure, namely long-term debt to the book value of equity, the mean for the total sample was 29 per cent. A test of the difference in means between sectors was not very significant, although the debt to equity ratio for contracting and real estate was higher at 63 per cent. However, there was a significant difference, at the I per cent level of significance, between the medians of the long-term debt to equity in the sectors overall. The median, of course, is not affected by outliers. It is suggested that further research is needed to understand the key factors that determine capital structure differences in Egyptian companies.
The cost of capital has been a popular issue in corporate finance for a long time, yet insufficient attention has been paid to the factors that drive the cost of capital in the Middle East region. Here, an analysis was undertaken of the cost of capital in Egypt based on a sample of 119 companies.
Distinctions were made according to whether companies are actively traded or not, and also according to industrial groupings. Three models were used for the cost of equity and six for the overall weighted average cost of capital, of which half were based on book values and the other half on market values.
For model one, which is based on the inverse of the PE ratio, the cost of equity is around 11.9 per cent, and the overall cost of capital is around 11.7 and 11.6, using book and market values, respectively. The cost of equity for model three is around 12.9 per cent and the overall cost of capital is around 12.5 per cent for both book and market models. Under this model the equity cost assumes that the rate of return on the equity-financed portion of reinvested funds equals the cost of equity. As to the second model, the estimated cost of equity is much higher at 26 per cent and the overall cost of capital at 21 and 23 per cent based on book and market values, respectively. The reason for this is that the growth rate in dividends, which is difficult to predict, is treated as equal to the growth rate in earnings, which was generally substantial.
Using step-wise multiple regressions, growth and size are found to be among the important determinants of the cost of equity. Larger firms have lower costs of equity consistent with Fama and French (1998). However, financial and business risks also can impact upon the cost of equity of actively traded companies. Using ANOVA, the results indicate that the median costs of capital are similar for both actively and non-actively traded companies. The mean overall cost of capital, when measured by the growth-adjusted Model 2, is different for the contracting and real estate industrial sector, and depends primarily upon business risk. However, under Models I and 3 other factors, including fixed asset backing, are important determinants. For heavy industries, financial risk and size are particularly significant. Nevertheless, a satisfactory model to explain the factors that determine the cost of capital in the service sector was not found. By contrast, in the food industry, liquidity (as a proxy for financial flexibility) is a key determinant of the overall cost of capital in several of the models utilized.
The cost of equity when r==[k.sub.e], is denoted by [k.sup.c.sub.e], such that
[k.sup.c.sub.e]=[e.sub.1](1 - b)/[P.sub.0] + br, [k.sup.c.sub.e]-br=[e.sub.0](1 + br)(1 - b)/[P.sub.0]
[k.sup.c.sub.e] - b[k.sup.c.sub.e] = [e.sub.0](1 + b[k.sup.c.sub.e])(1 - b)/[P.sub.0], [k.sup.c.sub.e] = [e.sub.0](1 + b[k.sup.c.sub.e])/[P.sub.0], and [k.sup.c.sub.e]([P.sub.0] - [e.sub.0]b) = [e.sub.0]
Therefore [k.sup.c.sub.e] ([P.sub.0]/[e.sub.0] - b)=1 and [k.sup.c.sub.e]=1/[PE ratio - ([e.sub.0] - [d.sub.0])/[e.sub.0]],
since b =([e.sub.0] - [d.sub.0])/[e.sub.0].
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Chang, R.P. and S.G. Rhee, 1990, "The Impact of Personal Taxes on Corporate Dividend Policy and Capital Structure Decisions," Financial Management, Summer, 21-31.
Dechow, P., Hutton, A. and R. Sloan, 1997, "The Role of Affiliated Analysts' Long-Term Earnings Forecasts in the Over-Pricing of Equity Offerings," Working Paper, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Dempsey, M., 1997, "Capital Gains Tax: Implications for the Firm's Cost of Capital, Share Valuation and Investment Decision-Making," Accounting and Business Research, 28 (2), 91-96.
Economist, 1999, "A Price on the Priceless," Economist (UK), June 12th, p. 94.
Fama, E.F. and K.R. French, 1995, "Size and Book-to-Market Factors in Earnings and Returns," Journal ofFinance, 50 (1), 131-55.
Fama, E.F. and K.R. French, 1998, "Value versus Growth: the International Evidence," Journal of Finance, 53 (6), 1975-99.
Fiani & Partners, 1999, Kompass Egypt Financial Year Book 1998/99, (Cairo: Fiani & Partners).
Financial Times, 1998, "Growth Stocks: Finding the Next Microsoft" Financial Times, Monday 2nd November, p.17.
Godfrey, S. and R. Espinosa, 1996, "A Practical Approach to Calculating Costs of Equity for Investment in Emerging Markets", Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, 9, (3), 80-89.
Harvey, C.R, 1995, "The Risk Exposure of Emerging Equity Markets", The World Bank Economic Review, 9 (1) 19-50.
Holder, M.E., Langrehr, F.W. and J.L. Hexter, 1998, "Dividend Policy Determinants: An Investigation of the Influences of Stakeholder Theory", Financial Management, 27 (3), 73-82.
Hooper, V., 1994, "Multi-national Capital Budgeting and Finance Decisions" in Pointon J. (ed): Issues in Business Taxation, Avebury: Aldershot, 211-225.
Karathanassis, G., 1983, "Empirical Valuation Models: How Useful Have They Been?" Accounting and Business Research, 13 (52), 289-91.
Krishnan, V.S. and R.C. Moyer, 1996, "Determinants of Capital Structure: an Empirical Analysis of Firms in Industrialized Countries", Managerial Finance, 22 (2), 39-55.
Miller, M. and F. Modigliani, 1961, "Some Estimates of the Cost of Capital to the Electric Utility Industry, 1954-57," American Economic Review, 51, 333-91.
Modigliani, F. and M.H. Miller, 1958, "The Cost of Capital, Corporation Finance and the Theory of Investment," American Economic Review, 48, 261-97.
Modigliani, F. and M.H. Miller, 1963, "Corporate Income Taxes and the Cost of Capital: A Correction," American Economic Review, Vol. 53, No. 3, June, pp. 433-443.
Myers, S.C., 1984, "The Capital Structure Puzzle," Journal of Finance, 39, 575-92.
Naranjo, A., Nimalendran, M. and M. Ryngaert, 1998, "Stock Returns, Dividend Yields, and Taxes," Journal of Finance, 53 (6), 2029-45.
Norton, E., 1991, "Factures Affecting Capital Structure Decisions," Financial Review, 26 (3), 431-46.
Omran, M., 1999, The Impact of Egypt's Economic Reform Programme on the Stock Market Performance, unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Plymouth.
Pointon, J., 1996, "Inflation, Taxation and the Valuation of Shares," Accounting and Business Research, 27 (1), 51-57.
Rajan, R.G. and L. Zingales, 1995, "What Do We Know about Capital Structure? Some Evidence from International Data," Journal of Finance, 50 (5), 1421-1460.
Rees, W.P., 1997, "The Impact of Dividends, Debt and Investment on Valuation Models," Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, 24 (7 & 8), 1111-40.
Rutterford, J., 1988, "An International Perspective on the Capital Structure Puzzle' in Stern, J.M. and D.H. Chew (eds.)," New Developments in Corporate Finance, (Oxford: Blackwell), pp. 194-207.
Wadhwani, S.B., 1999, "The US Stock Market and the Global Economic Crisis," National Institute Economic Review, January, pp. 86-105.
Mohammed Omran (a,b) and John Pointon (c)
(a) Arab Academy for Science & Technology, College of Management & Technology, Alexandria, Egypt
(b) Arab Monetary Fund, Economic Policy Institute, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates email@example.com
(c) Plymouth Business School, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth PL4 8AA UK, firstname.lastname@example.com
Table 1 Cost of equity in Egypt Panel A. Cost of equity classified into actively traded and non-actively traded companies Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Means (%) Active (A) (76 Companies) 11.28 26.89 11.78 Not Active (N) (43 Companies) 14.07 24.03 16.36 ANOVA F-Ratio 2.60 0.19 4.47 ** Fisher's least significant difference test: A-N A-N A-N ** Kruskall-Wallis Median Test Statistic: 0.0012 0.0072 0.0058 Cochran's C-test: 0.9141 * 0.6042 0.9356 * Bartlett's test: 1.8697 * 1.017 2.2229 * Panel B. Cost of equity classified by industry Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Means (%) Food (A) (22 Companies) 14.20 16.86 15.77 Heavy Industries (B) (53 Companies) 11.05 24.44 11.63 Contracting (C) (23 Companies) 11.87 48.80 12.78 Services (D) (21 Companies) 11.78 18.68 12.89 ANOVA F-Ratio 0.82 5.71 * 0.89 Fisher's least significant difference test: A-B A-B A-B A-C A-C ** A-C A-D A-D A-D B-C B-C ** B-C B-D B-D B-D C-D C-D ** C-D Kruskall-Wallis Median Test Statistic: 2.7283 11.6548 * 2.8447 Cochran's C test: 0.3765 0.3142 0.4210 ** Bartlett's test 1.1438 * 1.0100 1.2322 * *, and ** Significant at the one and five percent level, respectively. Table 2 Cost of equity estimates: an international comparison Countries 1998 Average * Peru 55.56 5.81 Pakistan 20.41 4.74 Colombia 12.82 5.48 South Africa 9.52 5.48 Argentina 9.09 5.88 Turkey 9.01 6.18 Norway 8.77 5.25 India 8.62 8.14 Chile 8.06 5.95 Austria 7.30 4.73 Hong Kong 7.30 5.39 Malaysia 6.80 7.45 Poland 6.76 5.13 Philippines 6.71 5.54 Mexico 6.29 5.42 Venezuela 6.25 5.23 Luxembourg 5.99 6.08 Indonesia 5.68 6.38 Germany 5.43 5.09 Sweden 5.24 5.20 Taiwan 5.21 4.31 Canada 5.08 4.32 France 5.03 1.82 Singapore 4.95 7.70 Denmark 4.95 6.35 UK 4.85 4.77 New Zealand 4.74 7.89 South Korea 4.61 4.63 Finland 4.52 7.69 Netherlands 4.39 16.89 Bulgaria 4.37 10.35 Australia 4.33 4.93 Spain 4.24 7.42 Switzerland 4.18 5.89 Belgium 4.10 6.79 Italy 3.86 6.12 Greece 3.77 5.88 Portugal 3.66 5.55 USA 3.61 8.82 Japan 1.98 5.91 Thailand 1.94 5.42 * average over the previous five years to 1998. Source: Datastream, own calculations. Table 3: Multiple Regressions of the Cost of Equity for the Whole Sample and Classified into Actively and Non-Actively Traded Companies Dependent Variable: Cost of Capital Whole Sample (119 Companies) Independent Variables Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Constant 0.52 0.95 (6.59) * (5.62) * (Reserves and Retained 0.14 Earnings)/Total Investment (3.02) * Net Earning Growth 0.017 0.018 (6.68) * (3.27) * Natural Log of Market Capitalisation -0.032 -0.056 (-4.38) * (-3.58) * Actively Traded Dummy -0.085 -0.15 (-2.93) * (-2.48) ** Gearing Times Interest Earned Standard Deviation of Earnings Q Ratio F-Ratio 26.03 * 13.17 * R-Squarel % 83.18 34.73 Adjusted R-sguared % 82.33 32.1 Actively Traded (76 Companies) Independent Variables Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Constant 0.2 -1.98 0.24 (5.29) * (-1.85) (5.74) * (Reserves and Retained Earnings)/Total Investment Net Earning Growth Natural Log of Market Capitalisation -0.007 -0.01 (-2.14) ** (-2.97) * Actively Traded Dummy Gearing -0.95 (-2.93) * Times Interest Earned 5.99 (2.04) ** Standard Deviation 17.3 of Earnings (4.38) * Q Ratio 0.0002 (-2.20) ** F-Ratio 7.19 * 7.43 * 8.81 * R-Squarel % 16.27 23.4 10.51 Adjusted R-sguared % 14.01 20.25 9.32 Non-actively Traded (43 Companies) Independent Variables Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Constant 0.61 1.11 (2.87) ** (2.60) ** (Reserves and Retained 0.433 0.6 Earnings)/Total Investment (2.99) * (2.07) ** Net Earning Growth 0.017 (3.94) * Natural Log of Market Capitalisation -0.05 -0.10 (-2.54) ** (-2.55) ** Actively Traded Dummy Gearing Times Interest Earned Standard Deviation 0.32 of Earnings (2.80) ** Q Ratio F-Ratio 38.50 * 5.29 * R-Squarel % 87.5 40.81 Adjusted R-sguared % 85.23 33.08 *, add ** Significant at the one five percent level, respectively. Figures between parentheses are t statistics. Table 4: Multiple Regressions of the Cost of Equity Classified by Industry Dependent Variable: Cost of Capital Food (21 Companies) Independent Variables Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Constant 0.078 -7.96 0.064 (3.80)* (-2.61) ** (2.41)** Times Interest Earned 26.19 (2.25) ** Standard Deviation of Earnings 30.01 (3.7) * Quick Ratio 0.13 0.20 (6.12) * (7.21) * (Cash and Short-Term Investments)/Current Liabilities -0.1 -0.17 (-3.17) * (-4.14) * Long Term Debt/Total Investment Natural Log of Market Capitalisation Previous Net Fixed Asset Growth Fixed Assets/Total Assets Previous Net Earning Growth Tax/Net Profit Before Tax F-Ratio 18.78 * 10.77 * 26.29 * R-Squared % 68.84 55.89 75.57 Adjusted R-squared % 65.18 50.70 72.70 Independent Variables Heavy Industry (53 Companies) Model 1 Mode1 2 Model 3 Constant 0.6 0.93 (4.40) * (4.02)* Times Interest Earned -0.26 -0.29 (-6.57) * (-4.26) * Standard Deviation of Earnings Quick Ratio [Cash and Short-Term Investments]/Current Liabilities Long Term Debt/Total Investment 0.053 0.087 (3.46) * (3.35) * Natural Log of Market Capitalisation -0.036 -0.061 (-3.42) * (-3.46) * Previous Net Fixed Asset Growth Fixed Assets/Total Assets Previous Net Earning Growth Tax/Net Profit Before Tax F-Ratio 155.38 * l5.06 * R-Squared % 93.39 57.79 Adjusted R-squared % 92.79 53.96 Independent Variables Contracting and Real (23 Companies) Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Constant 1.25 -0.11 2.38 (7.41) * (0.97) (6.80) * Times Interest Earned -0.37 -0.89 (-3.84) * (-4.43) * Standard Deviation of Earnings 1.64 (5.76) * Quick Ratio [Cash and Short-Term Investments]/Current Liabilities Long Term Debt/Total Investment Natural Log of Market -0.18 Capitalisation -0.09 (-6.55) * (-6.72) * Previous Net Fixed Asset Growth 0.35 (2.01) ** Fixed Assets/Total Assets 0.84 2.66 (2.41) ** (3.70) * Previous Net Earning Growth 0.1 0.3 (2.15) ** (3.10)* Tax/Net Profit Before Tax F-Ratio 19.96 * 21.20 * 84.94 * R-Squared % 86 73.86 88.48 Adjusted R-squared % 81.69 70.38 84.94 Independent Variables Services (22 Companies) Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Constant 0.069 0.11 0.07 (3.19) * -1.71 (2.81) ** Times Interest Earned Standard Deviation of Earnings Quick Ratio [Cash and Short-Term Investments]/Current Liabilities Long Term Debt/Total Investment Natural Log of Market Capitalisation Previous Net Fixed Asset Growth Fixed Assets/Total Assets Previous Net Earning Growth Tax/Net Profit Before Tax 0.48 0.78 0.57 (3.87) * (2.17) ** (3.98) * F-Ratio 15.00 * 4.71 ** 15.81 * R-Squared % 49.99 23.9 51.31 Adjusted R-squared % 46.66 18.83 48.06 *, and ** Significant at the one and five percent level, respectively. Figures between parentheses are t statistics. Figure 1 Stock market performance in Egypt between 1991/92-1997/98 1/1--Market Activity Value of trade 5561% Volume of trade 1541% Number of 11791.0% Transactions Number of traded 91.0% Companies Value of new issues, 1270% including capital increases Value of new issues, 492% including capital increases, as a percentage of GDP 1/2- Market Size Market capitalization 701% Market capitalization 255% as a percentage of GDP Number of listed 3.5% Companies volume of shares 370.5% listed Number of financial 1675% Intermediaries 1/3- Market Liquidity Total value traded to market capitalization 608% Total value traded to GDP 2374% Volume of shares traded to volume of 245% shares listed 1/4- Market Concentration Percentage of the 10 biggest companies' -35% share in market capitalization Percentage of the 10 biggest companies' -35% share in value traded Source:--Capital Market Authority, Unpublished reports, (Cairo: CMA, 1998) Note: Table made from bar graph.
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XO Communications Unveils New Brand that Emphasizes the Customer Experience
New Branding Builds on Company's Innovative Data and IP Services and Focuses on Differentiated Customer Experience
HERNDON, VA - April 16, 2012 - XO Communications today announced a new era in the company's history, unveiling an updated and boldly modern corporate brand that showcases a differentiated customer experience. The new brand is focused on the company's effort to redefine every customer touch point - from the time a customer considers XO and signs a service contract, through the installation process, ongoing support and planning for growth - in order to provide the best customer experience in the telecommunications industry.
"We are very excited to introduce the new XO," said Laura Thomas, interim CEO for XO Communications. "Our new brand reaffirms our commitment to provide the best customer experience in the industry. At the end of the day, customers aren't just buying cutting edge technology; they're getting the people behind it. That is what our new brand is about - differentiation through superior customer experience."
XO's rebranding reflects significant input from its customers and employees. The company leveraged brand research, its own history, and its strategic focus to shape how it represents the XO promise and the qualities its employees are most passionate about to its customers. The new XO tagline - "Solutions you want. Support you need." - is meant to define the company's commitment and focus on providing the solutions that are right for customers, not forcing customers to fit XO services. Most importantly, the new tagline is meant to emphasize the company's commitment to providing the support customers need and should expect from their communications provider.
To live up to this new brand positioning, XO Communications has realigned its service offerings to demonstrate the simplicity and strength of the company's capabilities in meeting customers' key telecommunications, network and IT service needs:
- XO connect: Internet Connectivity and Intelligent Networks. These services include Dedicated Internet Access, Ethernet, MPLS IP-VPN, VPLS, Colocation, Private Line and Wavelengths
- XO unify: Voice, Collaboration and Communications. These services include VoIP, SIP Trunking, Hosted PBX, Contact Center, and Conferencing.
- XO compute: Cloud Computing, Hosting and IT Services. These services include Cloud Computing and Web Hosting.
- XO accelerate: Faster Application and Network Performance. These services include Application Performance Management, WAN Acceleration and Content Delivery Networks.
- XO secure: Network Security and Data Protection. These services include Premise-Based Network Security, Hosted Network Security and Data Backup."
Our new brand reflects the simplicity, focus and discipline of our new strategy - to offer the best customer experience in the telecommunications industry," said Ernie Ortega, executive vice president of sales and marketing for XO Communications. "We have built our new brand to reflect that strategy and communicate that XO will be the easiest company to do business with throughout the customer's time with us from the initial point of contact and how we design solutions to how we price services, install them, and provide the ongoing support our customers need."
Press Contacts:
XO Communications
Dave Farmer


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Detailed, immersive environment. Two storylines to play through. An early look at Avatar movie.
Repetitive objectives and missions. Poor controls. Weak voice acting.
Bottom Line
Line: Avatar plays better than most movies turned video games, but still feels more like a $60 sideshow than a fully-formed adventure.
The $400 million Avatar movie will be in theaters soon. In the meantime, you can explore its expansive world with Avatar: The Game. You play as a marine tasked with infiltrating the Na'vi, a tribe of blue creatures on the alien planet of Pandora. Early on, you have to side with the RDA corporation or the Na'vi, and from there you play one of two campaigns, each with their own storyline. However, both campaigns offer repetitive and often uninteresting missionsfind an object here, kill some bad guys there. The game's other big downfall is hard-to-use controls that can't be customized. That said, it's better than most movies turned video games, which often fall somewhere between bad and terrible. Avatar: The Game makes up somewhat for its typical structure and missions with great graphics, a 3D gameplay option (unfortunately, glasses weren't available during testing), and a masterfully designed world.
More Computer & Console Gaming:
Six Ages: Ride Like the Wind
Motorola Moto Gamepad
Super Mario Odyssey (for Nintendo Switch)
SimCity BuildIt (for iPad)
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands (for PC)


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Hydrangea Mania
and welcome! I have been studying hydrangeas for over 20 years. Actually "studying" is too mild a word to describe
my activities.
I could more accurately say I've been obsessed with hydrangeas for all that time, hence the word "mania" in the title. For the love of hydrangeas I have traveled
to England, Wales, Belgium, France and Ireland to view
collections of hydrangeas and to take hundreds of
pictures of these beautiful flowers. I enjoy sharing what I've learned through writing, speaking engagements, and now this website. I love to meet people who share this passion and welcome your comments and stories.
Joan Harrison is a member of the American Hydrangea Society and is the founding president of the Cape Cod Hydrangea Society. She is the author of Heavenly Hydrangeas: A Practical Guide for the Home Gardener and Hydrangeas: Cape Cod and the Islands.
Heavenly Hydrangeas: A Practical Guide for the Home Gardener
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Copyright 2011 Joan Harrison


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Cannes Film Festival, Cinéfondation & Short Films Jury, Cinéfondation selection, Festival de Cannes, films, Movies, official selection
Here is the official Cinéfondation selection of the 67th Cannes Film Festival:
Our Blood by Max Chan (Hampshire College USA)
Home Sweet Home by Pierre Clenet, Alejandro Diaz, Romain Mazevet and Stéphane Paccolat (Supinfocom Arles France)
The Aftermath of The Inauguration of The Public Toilet at Kilometer 375 by Omar El Zohairy (High Cinema Institute, Academy of Arts Égypt)
Stone Cars by Reinaldo Marcus Green (NYU Tisch School of the Arts USA)
Last Trip Home by Han Fengyu (Ngee Ann Polytechnic Singapore)
Une Vie Radieuse (A Radiant Life) by Meryll Hardt (Le Fresnoy France)
Niagara by Chie Hayakawa (ENBU Seminar Japan)
Oh Lucy! by Atsuko Hirayanagi (NYU Tisch School of the Arts Asia Singapore)
The Visit by Inbar Horesh (Minshar for Art, School and Center Israel)
Leto Bez Meseca (Moonless Summer) by Stefan Ivančić (Faculty of Dramatic Arts Serbia)
The Bigger Picture by Daisy Jacobs (National Film and Television School United Kingdom)
Provincia by György Mór Kárpáti (University of Theatre and Film Arts Hungary)
Soom (Breath) by Kwon Hyun-Ju (Chung-Ang University South Korea)
Les Oiseaux-Tonnerre (Thunderbirds) by Léa Mysius (La Fémis France)
Lievito Madre (Sourdough) by Fulvio Risuleo (Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia Italy)
Skunk by Annie Silverstein (The University of Texas at Austin USA)
Cannes Film Festival 2014 dates: 14-25 May 2014.
The "Cinéfondation & Short Films Jury" will award three films in this section on May 22nd.
For more info about the festival you can visit its official site.


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The day starts like any other weekday�alarm, shower, coffee, e-mail. It is pretty much like every other work day I have had since Jan 3rd of this year. Oh, my office is a bit warmer than most of those days and I am dressed a bit more casually than most of those days (I�m in shorts and Crocs rather than jeans and sneakers) but it is pretty normal otherwise.
Except it isn�t. Not really.
You see, IT returns today.
IT is Redskin football and there isn�t much in the world like IT.
While I know there is a lot of talk about the changes in Ashburn and new look Shanahan/McNabb lead burgundy and gold clad team, it doesn�t change how this day feels. It is like this every year.
There is hope.
There is excitement.
There are dreams.
Today the race for the Lombardi starts and there are 32 equal clubs out there (well, OK, maybe not equal because the Rams, the Raiders and the Chiefs are still the Rams, Raiders and Chiefs but you know what I mean).
This is not NCAA football where if you aren�t a Division 1 team in a BCS conference starting the season on somebody�s Top 25 you can pretty much write off any hope of a National Title. It also isn�t the English Premier League where if you aren�t Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal or Liverpool you know you are playing for 5th place before you buy that first pint with which to watch that first match (can you tell I might still have a bit of a soccer hangover after the World Cup�yes, I will up tomorrow morning at 6:30am for the EPL kickoff between Man City and Tottenham on ESPN2). Nor is this the NBA where if you aren�t the Lakers or the Celtics you are a long shot every year.
This, my friend, is the NFL where anything can happen and nearly every year something in the �anything� category usually does.
Two years ago it was Tom Terrific going down with a season ending injury of the first quarter of the first game to drag the Super Bowl favorite Patriots back to the ranks of the merely gridiron mortal.
Only months before that it was the Giants, riding a Wild Card entrance to the playoffs, beating that same All World New England team in the Super Bowl after the Pats did what was previously considered impossible and went undefeated in the regular season.
This is the NFL where the Saints can win a Super Bowl. Where an undrafted free agent QB from a small school can start for one of the premier franchises in all of sport (yeah, that hurts to write but sometimes the truth hurts).
In this league a team can go 9-7 in the regular season and play for all the marbles in the Super Bowl after hosting the NFC Championship game.
Tonight we, the fans of the Washington Redskins, get a look at the new players (hello Trent Williams, Donovan McNabb, Adam Carriker and Larry Johnson), a peek (for surely a peek is all it will be) at the schemes of Kyle Shanahan and Jim Haslett, and a chance to see a bunch of guys who will be waiting tables in a few weeks live their short dream of being a pro football player for one of the most storied franchises in the history of any professional sports league.
And I know those things are important (just not as important as they will be Sept 12) but more than any of that, we get to see IT, in burgundy and gold, for the first time in 7 and a half long months.
Revel in IT, my friends, for Redskins football is IT and IT is back.


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Nicole Dun made her way through customs at Bangalore International Airport, then onto a bus bound for Mysore, India, 86 miles away. She was understandably nervous. A freshly minted 22-year-old computer-science graduate of the University of California at Davis, she was leaving the United States for the first time and on her way to her first serious job.
It wasn't at Google, or Cisco, or eBay. Along with about 300 other American college grads over the next year, Dun has signed on as a software engineer with Infosys Technologies, the red-hot Indian engineering firm that plans to add 25,000 employees to its 58,000 over the next year. She'll train in Mysore for six months before joining Infosys's Fremont, California, office.
You can read the full article here.


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Arnet Scaffolding, Darlington, provide safe, discreet scaffolding solutions to housing projects of any size across the North East. All domestic and residential scaffolding projects are tailored to fit individual requirements, and our high quality materials and professional workmanship ensures that our delivery is effective, and efficient.
We thoroughly evaluate and consider the environment, and locality, before commencing any project. This safeguards our promise to keep sites discreet, and any residential or commercial disruption to a minimum while we work. We endeavor to build positive relationships with all our customers, while respecting and maintaining their own relationships with any occupants, neighbours and workforces affected during construction. From our Darlington base we erect high quality scaffolding in County Durham, Tess Valley, North Yorkshire, Tyneside and Northumberland.
We deliver our 20+ years in the business to domestic and scaffolding projects including:
- Individual repair, refurbishment and roofing projects
- Whole site development of new and developing build communities
- Flat and apartment block projects
- University accommodation
- Council and care environment properties


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Jack Browne and Forgotten Soul thrive on the lessons of surfing from yesterday's world. We have a community mind set that celebrates the pure fun of surfing and the wonders of the ocean. We like to sneak the soul back into the line-up the right way, not the wrong. We counter the hustle bustle and snakes of today and quietly get on with our business.
We travel and explore our surfing environment and thrive on our given lifestyle and culture without the bravado. Our products aim to slot into people minds as well as their surfing collection. A hand made Forgotten soul surf board belong in every quiver and will always be a go to craft never to leave, our Jack Browne wetsuits aim to please and provide thermal happiness without the numbers or fancy codes… and our range of Jack Browne fins are time tested stellar handcrafted pieces of art made by true water-men.
We realise there's a salt community right here under our skin – for those in it and wanting to join the spirit of the global surfing family, Jack Browne and Forgotten Soul have got you covered.