理财师不会告诉你的投资风险

　　货币基金可以看做是“准储蓄”，而购买股票型基金和购买股票的风险一样大—有时候，理财师并不会告诉你某些理财产品的风险系数。

　　MONEY＋记者｜唐晚霞

　　收益与风险成正比，是我们面对纷繁理财产品时首先抓住的逻辑。但其实对于理财工具的分析应该是安全性、收益性、流动性三个维度的综合。对此，理财经理不一定会完全为你解释清楚—“预期收益率”这样的数字或许更能说服你投资。

　　有收益更高的“活期存款”吗？

　　现金和活期存款虽然保证了资金的流动性和安全性，但收益就……以2012年上半年CPI比2011年同期3.3%的涨幅看，现金资产直接在通胀下贬值，而降息后活期利率仅在0.35%。如果选择利率较高的定期存款，一旦提前支取，就会造成利率损失。直接受国家利率调控影响，2012年来的两次降息使得一年期存款利率由原先的3.5%下调为3.0%。

　　从财务安全角度来看，一个家庭持有满足最少6个月基本生活开支的现金储备就可以了。而这份备用金需要保证流动性，与零风险的现金和活期相比，低风险的货币基金、按日计息的理财产品收益明显要高得多。货币基金虽然合同中不会约定保本，但是它的投资性质决定它很少发生亏损，具有“准储蓄”的特点。而定期储蓄只适合投入适当比例的闲置资金，遇急提前支取还可办理部分提前支取、存单抵押贷款方式来减少利息损失。

　　股票型基金比股票更安全？

　　用高风险高收益来描述股票投资再恰当不过了。股票投资首先在于系统性风险，宏观经济、外围环境、市场资金量、上市公司业绩，以及信息不对称等种种因素都直接影响到个股的涨跌。即便是我们所说的蓝筹股，也与经济形势紧密相关，而且大部分周期性股票的风险更在于遇到行业低谷、股价跌无止境。

　　那么，把钱交给专业人士，股票型基金就比股票更安全吗？

　　基金虽然看似专业，并比自己操作更省事，但并不是全无风险。股票型基金属于市场上风险较高的投资产品。在市场整体向下的趋势下，股票型基金的净值跌幅位居各种基金的榜首，倾巢之下无完卵。因此，如果把子女的教育基金或者家庭的养老贮备金投入股票型基金，是不合适的。

　　从整体上看，封闭式基金由于期限限制风险大于开放式基金，积极型股票基金的风险又大于被动指数型基金。

　　购买基金时，要按风险承受能力来选择合适的基金品种：从风险上看，债券型混合型偏股型。在定投指数型基金时要注意挂钩指数的走向，而坚持中长期投资是基金投资获利的一大方法。

　　保本浮动型银行理财产品收益高？

　　银行的保本收益浮动型产品往往是短期理财计划，属于中低风险投资品，不过，还是有三个需要注意的地方。首先，关于计息日期，比如申购期5天内是并不计息的“在途时间”、产品结束后本金与收益的返还还需时间，这么算下来原本的预期收益率被远远摊薄。其次，一般只给出预期最高收益率的保本浮动型产品，看似既能保证本金安全又有机会追求最大收益，但预期收益率并非实际收益率，一旦触发某项挂钩指数的条款，产品的收益便打了水漂。此外，一些产品不鼓励提前支取，投资者若提前兑取会遭遇本金损失。

赖昌星感叹：（坐监条件）比我想像的还要好！

《苹果日报》报导说，赖昌星在狱中住的是三人一间的仓房，目前同住者是两名服刑的前贪官。曾熟悉中共官场的赖与两位仓友〝十分投缘〞。

因有北京指示及加国政府关注，狱方将他奉为上宾，不但豁免他监内体力劳动，还经常给他提供小灶伙食，费用由狱方负担，不像其他监犯，另外小炒要自掏腰包。

另外，监房内有电视，但只能固定接受狱中有线电视节目。仓友形容，赖享受的是〝厅局级〞官员的坐监待遇。

消息还说，赖昌星在半年内已明显发胖，精神很好，秃头上还长出了青丝。他曾对同室监友感叹称：〝（坐监条件）比我在加拿大想像的还要好！〞

据透露，赖昌星的前妻和儿女目前由官方安置在厦门。他已离婚的妻子曾明娜、儿子赖俊健和女儿赖真真，以及其他直系亲属，每月都被当局同意去探监，但当局禁止其他无关人员探监。

Immunology Protocols

Multiple and Portable ELISA (M&P ELISA)           

Immunoperoxidase staining of culture cells            

   

ELISPOT Protocol        

ChIP Assay Protocols     

    

Modified Immunohistochemical Protocol for Paraffin Embedded Sections               

Immunohistochemistry: Retrievals       

       

NIH Protocols for Immunohistochemistry    

       

B cell and T cell Isolation         

Troubleshooting Guide for Immunohistochemistry      

    

Grocott's Methenamine Silver (GMS) stain and troubleshooting  

       

Elegans Immunohistochemistry       

      

Cytokine Assay Protocols         

Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH)      

      

Radioimmunoassay--RIA Protocols       

       

Competitive ELISA Protocols    

       

Immunohistochemistry Stain for Frozen tissue          

New US Food Safety Rules Released

WASHINGTON — New rules hailed as the biggest improvements in U.S. food safety since the 1930s took a step forward Friday. Regulators say the proposals may prevent more than one million cases of foodborne illness each year.

They come two years to the day since President Barack Obama signed the Food Safety Modernization Act. They are the first step in implementing that law, which puts the Food and Drug Administration [FDA] in charge of preventing foodborne disease outbreaks. Experts say that’s a change from the reactive role it has played in the past.

Passage of the law followed a string of high-profile nationwide disease outbreaks linked to bagged spinach, peanut butter and other foods, in which hundreds of people became ill.

“They occurred because of problems that would have been addressed by these kinds of approaches. So I think we’re very optimistic that we’ll begin to see real change,” said FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg.

Preventive measures

The new approaches FDA has proposed call for food manufacturers to show that they have identified where contamination is most likely to happen, and taken steps to prevent it. The proposed rules also set safety standards for raising and harvesting fruits and vegetables.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that implementing all of the law’s provisions will cost the government $1.4 billion dollars. Food makers support the law, though the Grocery Manufacturers of America, a major industry trade group, declines to estimate what it will cost producers.

But with about one in six Americans getting sick from contaminated food each year, FDA’s deputy commissioner Michael Taylor said it will be worthwhile.

“Even if you just look at estimated reductions in illness. But if you also take into account avoiding disruption of the food supply and the loss of confidence in those commodities by consumers, I think we’ll see that the benefits substantially outweigh the costs of implementation,” said Taylor.

“We’re really happy that the new rules have come out. They’re a little late,” said Caroline Smith-DeWaal, director for food safety at the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

They’re a year late, she said, adding that some are still missing.

“The bigger question is, where are the rules on imports that haven’t been released yet?” she asked.

Followup and funding

FDA said about 15 percent of food consumed in the U.S. is imported, and that proportion has been growing. The rules to ensure food produced outside the U.S. meets the same standards as food made domestically have not been released yet, though FDA says they are coming soon.

The rules will not go into effect for more than a year, following public comment and revision.

And experts note that Congress will have to come up with funding to enforce the rules, a challenge in a time of shrinking budgets.

(Steve Baragona, January 04, 2013)

Teen Prostitutes Find Help Getting off the Streets

LOS ANGELES — Teenagers who leave home are sometimes lured or forced into prostitution. One Los Angeles charity called Children of the Night helps them turn their lives around and get an education.

Today, these kids are like other teenagers. They play computer games, study, and have time to practice meditation.

But not long ago, they fought to survive on the streets, controlled by pimps who sold their services.

Alyssa is 15. She was forced into prostitution by her sister and a pimp one year ago.

"He forced me to turn tricks in the hotel room all day. I couldn't leave, I couldn't eat, I couldn't do anything. I couldn't talk to my family any more," she said.

An arrest led Alyssa to Children of the Night.

The kids study at a private school on the group's site. They also get one-on-one counseling and together start to turn their lives around. Amber is 17 years-old.

"We are pretty much all the same, and we can look at each other and look up to each other and make sure that we're all doing well. We bond like a family," said Amber.

Many Americans have heard of sexual trafficking as far away as Asia. But in the United States, teenage runaways can become victims, said Los Angeles Police Department vice officer Shaun King.

"In looking for international trafficking crimes and victims, we often forget that there are hundreds or thousands of domestic trafficking victims right here in Los Angeles, not counting other parts of the United States," said King.

A media campaign is alerting Los Angeles residents to the problem.

Recently, Children of the Night founder Lois Lee thanked community supporters who help the organization, including those who work for local businesses and movie studios.

She said volunteers and staff members have helped thousands of former prostitutes find productive work in society.

"Some of them are professionals. Some of them are teachers running inner city schools. Some of them work in public relations. Some of them work as executives in other corporations."

Lee said for many of the teens, the program is a haven where they can study, play and just be normal teenagers.

How the new high-speed railway came on track

Employees of the new link have undergone extensive training to ensure that they are fully prepared to operate the system, report Hu Yongqi and Xiang Mingchao in Zhengzhou and Yang Wanli in Beijing

After graduating from Zhengzhou Railway Vocational & Technical College in 2008, Luo Fengguang joined the train division of Zhengzhou Railway Bureau to receive tuition as a maintenance inspector for bullet trains.

While his classmates were envious of his job, which is regarded as stable and well paid, in Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province, only Luo was fully aware of the hard work he'd undertaken to get his career started. In the first six months of the job, he memorized all the technical details of China Railways High-Speed Trains, even down to the size and positioning of every tiny screw.

Luo calls himself "a born technician" and has studied all the new engines and rolling stock on China's high-speed rail network. In 2010, he won third place in a national competition to find the best railway technicians and, after a series of rigorous training courses, he was certified as a maintenance inspector by the Ministry of Railways.

The high-speed line from Zhengzhou to Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, opened on Sept 28. The trains run until 11 pm every day and are serviced overnight.

The 24-year-old has to alter his biological clock every three days because he works every second night. When his shift ends at 6 am, he grabs a quick meal before attempting to get some sleep. The next day is spent relaxing, but he often finds it difficult to sleep until 3 am, meaning that he has to take an afternoon nap before going to work for his next shift.

"If you don't sleep for a while before starting the nightshift, your brain gets fuzzy and you can't concentrate after midnight. It feels as if you're drunk," said Luo. "But it's always extremely hard to fall in sleep in the afternoon."

However, after four years of this regime, Luo has managed to overcome the transition and the timing of the shift is less of a headache.

Luo and his colleagues perform the final safety checks on the trains to ensure they are fully operational the next day. In June, the railway bureau built a workshop where the trains for the Beijing-Zhengzhou HSR, the final section of the line that opened on Dec 26, are repaired. Luo is one of 390 professionals employed at the workshop, which is located in a suburb of Zhengzhou.

Routine checks

At 7 pm, Luo and his colleagues begin inspecting the trains to search for possible mechanical malfunctions. At the workshop, four high-speed trains, each consisting of 16 cars, are ready on the section of feeder line that is connected to the main rail network. When all the checks and necessary repairs have been successfully carried out, the trains go into service at Zhengzhou Railway Station.

The silvery-white locomotives shone spotless in the bright overhead lights. When the cleaners have finished washing the trains, passersby might be reluctant to touch them and leave any fingerprints on the metal-textured bodies.

If a component has sustained damage, Luo verifies and videotapes all the procedures when the engineer installs the new part. After ensuring that the repair has been carried out correctly, Luo and the engineer both sign a safety report that is filed with the railways bureau.

All HSR trains are taken to the workshop after they have covered 4,000 km or have been in service for 48 continuous hours. When the kilometers add up to 30,000 km, the trains are taken out of service for an intensive revamp.

"When a train arrives at our workshop, the maintenance engineers check it from top to bottom, including the wheels, the upper and lower electrical circuits and the high-voltage equipment. Each train is worked on by a team of 14, which has to complete all the checks and repairs in two hours and 35 minutes," said Ma Tao, deputy director of the workshop.

The maintenance engineers test 16 wheels in 30 minutes. If they encounter any damage, the engineers are only allowed to begin repairs after receiving permission from the quality-control inspectors. On the night of Dec 20, the engineers discovered that a link connecting the wheels was close to breaking point. A quality-control inspector took two minutes to assess the damage and then gave permission for the part to be replaced. He recorded the entire process on his camera and gave the old component a number for recycling.

"Usually, small parts are more easily broken. Wheels, which are 86 cm in diameter and can last for at least six months, are replaced when the diameter reduces to 79 cm, which takes about the same time," said Luo.

Engineer Cai Quan said he walks at least 15 km every night to fix trains on a predetermined line. "My wife complains that my shoes wear out much faster than my neighbors'," he said. "But that's my job."

More than 100 cameras have been installed in the workshop to monitor all the checkups and repair procedures. Engineers swipe their cards at the entrance which bears the slogan, "Zero tolerance to technical problems", and then all their moves in the workshop can be recorded. A giant screen in the monitoring center shows which engineer is working on which train. When the engineers finish their tasks, a video is prepared to aid investigations in the event of any subsequent accidents.

Drivers are the key

The railway system has upgraded equipment and new technologies. At Zhengzhou East Railway Station, a new system has been built to verify high-speed train tickets through personal ID cards. Even if the passenger has lost their ticket, the system will still allow them to ride the train.

On the fifth floor of a building next to Zhengzhou Railway Station, new drivers practice in a lifesize simulation of a driver's cabin as the rails unfold on an enormous white screen in front of them. Once initiated, the system can offer the drivers eight courses of action to follow and provides changing routes on the screen. A speed limit is set and the drivers learn to take the appropriate course of action when the light on the panel changes color.

Guo Xiansheng, a 33-year-old who now drives the route between Zhengzhou and Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, said the system has helped him follow standard operating procedures.

"China's railway system has undergone six rises in operating speed and the equipment has been upgraded massively. Safety is still the most important aspect, and no matter what happens, humans are still the most vital factor, especially the drivers," said Li Zhenxiu, Party chief of the CRH Trains Workshop at Zhengzhou Railway Bureau.

"Drivers must fully understand how to employ the new safety apparatus to prevent accidents. Tragedies have occurred because we were not fully aware of how to control the machines and manage emergencies," he said.

Local railway bureaus were responsible for employing train drivers until 2006, when the Ministry of Railways took over the recruitment of bullet-train drivers.

Only 1,000 out of 120,000 employees at the Zhengzhou bureau met the requirements. They were required to have driven 500,000 km without an accident, and had to be younger than 40. Only 50 applicants survived the two rounds of theoretical and practical exams in Zhengzhou, and the number was then whittled down to 10 via rigorous interviews at the ministry.

A further 80 drivers were recruited from around the country to operate trains that, at the time, had a top speed of 200 km per hour, according to Li.

In the last six years, the bureau has trained 90 drivers for high-speed trains. The theoretical training for each driver costs approximately 100,000 yuan ($15,000), said Li. The bureau also sent 30 drivers to Japan and Sweden for further study in 2007.

From May to July 2006, two drivers participated in testing new trains in Qingdao, Shandong province, to pinpoint potential problems before the vehicles went into service. One year later, a further 22 drivers were trained to operate the vehicles.

"The trains were all in use until 11pm and new drivers had to wait until midnight in winter to practice," said Li. "They often had intense arguments about the details, some even became really angry. But the discussions allowed them to find more-effective ways of solving problems. Outside the class, they remained good friends."

Unlike other training courses, the teachers allowed one hour for discussions that involved every driver. Each of them was required to raise at least one query, otherwise the group wasn't allowed to leave the classroom.

"One must spend at least six years training, from rookie status to being awarded the certificate for high-speed train drivers. When a friend asked me to find his daughter a boyfriend, I had to refuse. I pointed out that our youngest driver was 27 years old, and most of them were already 30 and married," Li said with a smile.

To ensure that the drivers understood that safety is their top priority, Li and his team held 50 emergency programs to educate new recruits. Each driver was required to observe veterans driving 1,000 km, before being allowed to practice for 3,000 km. Now new drivers must have driven a high-speed train for 10,000 km. During the practice, Li's students undertook six round trips each day, from Zhengzhou to Shangqiu, 220 km east of the provincial capital.

"Drivers are not allowed to drive more than four consecutive hours and our drivers hand the train over to a replacement driver in Wuhan. By doing this, the drivers can give the job their full attention and reduce risks," said Li.

Zhang Leilong in Zhengzhou and Zhou Lihua in Wuhan contributed to this story.

Lenovo seeks top smartphone spot

BEIJING -- Lenovo Group aims to challenge Samsung Electronics Co Ltd to become the No 1 smartphone vendor in the Chinese market this year, according to the company's chief executive officer.

"Innovation, strong distribution channels and effective operations have been the key factors that help Lenovo smartphones stand out," said Yang Yuanqing, chairman and chief executive officer, in an interview in Beijing on Friday.

Founded in Beijing's Zhongguancun technology hub in 1984, Lenovo has become a personal computer giant, competing with rivals including Hewlett-Packard Co and Dell Inc, and extending its reach to the smartphone market.

Lenovo was China's second-largest smartphone vendor by shipment in the third quarter last year, behind only Samsung, while Apple Inc fell two places to sixth in the same period, according to reports from the International Data Corporation.

Specific market share figures from local research firm Analysys International showed Lenovo's share rose to 14.2 percent in the third quarter, from 4.8 percent a year ago.

"Lenovo does not want to be the second player ... we want to be the best," Yang told China Daily, adding that he hopes the company will gain the top position in China's smartphone market this year.

"Lenovo has the confidence to outperform Samsung and Apple, at least in the Chinese market," he said.

Yang said Lenovo has long been dedicated to the mobile phone business. As early as 2002, it started research and development work on mobiles. It was the first company to offer smartphones and tablet computers in the Chinese mainland market, launching Le-Phone, a smartphone model, five years ago.

IDC analysts said Lenovo's rise is largely due to "aggressive ramping-up and improvements in channel partnerships".

Compared with Apple, which launches one smartphone model annually on average, Lenovo introduced 46 smartphone models, covering all price ranges, to the Chinese market in 2012.

It also invested 5 billion yuan ($793.5 million) in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, to build a manufacturing base with a production capacity of 30 million to 40 million smartphones a year. Yang said such factories will help the company maintain low stocks but with steady supplies.

Wang Ying, an analyst at Analysys International, said: "Lenovo possesses an obvious advantage over rivals in terms of sales channels."

While Samsung, the world's biggest smartphone manufacturer, relies heavily on electronics chain stores to sell products in China, Lenovo owns tens of thousands of outlets in the domestic market, reaching counties and villages.

Yang said Lenovo will expand its smartphone business overseas, starting in emerging markets. The company says it has already shipped smartphones to countries including India, Russia and Vietnam.

The IDC reported that China's smartphone shipments reached a record high, passing 60 million in the third quarter of 2012, more than three times the country's PC shipments.

Wong Teck-zhung, senior market analyst at IDC, said: "Chinese vendors such as Lenovo and ZTE made it to the APEJ (Asia-Pacific excluding Japan) top five vendors on strong performance in their home market, showing it is not impossible for Chinese vendors to surpass international vendors."

U.S. personnel, Patriot missile equipment begin arriving in Turkey: statement

ANKARA -- U.S. personnel and equipment began arriving at southern Turkey's Incirlik Air Base on Friday to support NATO's Patriot battery deployment, U.S. Embassy in Ankara said.

The U.S. Embassy said in a statement that the U.S. personnel and equipment are sent to Incirlik Air Base in Turkey's Adana province.

About 400 U.S. personnel and equipment would continue to flow into Turkey over the next several days by U.S. military airlift, according to the statement.

"The troops will man two Patriot batteries supporting NATO's mission there. Additional equipment will be sent by sea, arriving later this month," the statement said.

The deployment of six Patriot batteries, including two each from Germany and the Netherlands, is in response to Turkey's request to NATO against possible missile threat from Syria. All six batteries will be under NATO's command and scheduled to be operational by the end of January.

"The forces will augment Turkey's air defense capabilities and contribute to the de-escalation of the crisis along the Alliance's border," the statement said.

The duration of the deployment will be determined by the contributing nations in coordination with Turkey and NATO, the statement said.

The 21-month protests against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has turned increasingly bloody, with heavy fighting often erupting along Syria's border with Turkey.

NATO approved Turkey's request to deploy Patriot defense systems in the country.