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Statistics |
| Unique Visitors: 0 |
| Total Unique Visitors: 6090 |
| Visitors Out: 620 |
| Total Visitors Out: 620 |
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| Rant about the weather |
| 2008-02-08 09:04:57 |
"We had another 8-inches of snow that dumped on us again a couple of days ago. Man, I am tired of all this crap that we are getting this year. Anyway, this time we got a decent amount of rain which froze underneath the snow. So today being payday, and riding on empty, I went to get ice. Guess what. My dang, gas tank was iced shut. I cut my knuckles trying to chip the ice away (without damaging my paint). To top it off my city, doesn't blade the roads. Because they don't want to damage the roadway. So they just throw salt and sand down and call it good. Then the cities police issue their annual press release reminding citizens are to have their sidewalks and driveways shoveled within 12 hours (or 6 hours from sunrise) to avoid getting a $100 ticket (plus $71 court costs). The gall of the ci...
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| Japan stocks rise on Microsoft factor |
| 2008-02-04 00:40:37 |
Shares in Softbank soared as much as 16% and Yahoo Japan was untraded due to a flood of buy orders on Monday in Tokyo, on hopes a potential Microsoft acquisition of Yahoo would boost the Japanese firms’ competitiveness, reports Reuters. Microsoft’s $44.6bn bid for Yahoo announced Friday was priced at $31 per share - a 62% premium to Yahoo Inc’s Thursday close. Internet and mobile phone service company Softbank owns 3.9% of Yahoo Inc in terms of voting rights. Yahoo Japan is owned 41% by Softbank and 33% by Yahoo Inc. The deal, if realised, would be highly positive for Yahoo Japan, said one analyst, as Microsoft’s financial prowess and technological expertise would help Yahoo Inc and Yahoo Japan compete better wit...
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| Stock market woes hit hedge funds |
| 2008-02-04 00:36:47 |
January was the worst for hedge funds since the August 1998 crisis that presaged the collapse of Long Term Capital Management, according to data from Chicago-based Hedge Fund Research. The average fund tracked by the HFRX index lost more than 2% in January, with event-driven funds, which include activists, the worst hit with a 3.39% loss. Equity long-short funds – which also tend to be exposed to declines in stock markets – were badly hit too. Funds that had long positions on stock markets lost out as UK blue-chips fell 6.6% and the S&P 500 fell 6% over the month. For example, the computer-driven RIEF fund from ...
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| Microsoft + Yahoo = Microsoft - $44.6 billion |
| 2008-02-01 09:42:25 |
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O: Quote) has made an unsolicited offer to buy Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O: Quote) for $44.6 billion in cash and stock, seeking to join forces against Google Inc (GOOG.O: Quote) in what would be the biggest Internet deal since the Time Warner-AOL merger.In its boldest-ever acquisition move, Microsoft said on Friday it offered $31 per share for Yahoo, or a 62 percent premium over the Internet media company's closing stock price on Nasdaq Thursday.Yahoo, whose shares jumped to $30.75 in premarket trading, said it would evaluate the bid.Microsoft shares, which have a market capitalization of about $300 billion, fell 6 percent to $30.78....
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| 20% Return |
| 2008-02-01 05:12:29 |
INVESTOR 1Investor 1 wants to do right by herself and her money. She’s worked hard to stash away $1000, and she’s determined to maximize her return. So over the course of a year she spends much of her time online researching stocks. She keeps up with all the news, trades often, and is alternately exhilerated and stressed with every volatile turn in the markets. She does well and earns a 20% return – even after taxes and all those trading fees! At the end of the year her $1000 has turned into $1200. She smiles and pats herself on the back. Then she flips on CNBC to see if she can pick up some tips on how to duplicate that return next year.INVESTOR 2 Investor 2 also worked hard to stash away $1000. She too wants to do what’s best for her financial future by making that money grow as ...
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| Spending money on personal luxuries |
| 2008-02-01 05:07:35 |
I've read a few articles about the philosopher Peter Singer, who, if I understand his ideas correctly, believes that all life has equal value, and that consequently we should all be vegetarians, and to take things to an extreme, that it's amoral for anyone to have luxuries while others are suffering. It's an interesting idea-- if you assume that each person who works as hard as they can, to the best of their ability, is equally deserving of rewards, how do we justify the different levels of luxury enjoyed by CEOs vs. teachers vs. people who work in factories in China? And are any of those people, all of whom have an income that can probably meet their basic needs, morally obligated to donate the rest of their money to better the lives of people for whom sel...
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| World Economic Update |
| 2008-01-30 05:31:50 |
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has again cut its forecast for world economic growth and is bracing for more bad news in rich and poor countries, even as it stopped short of using the word "recession" on Tuesday (WASHINGTON). This year, the global economy will post its weakest performance in five years, the global economic watchdog said in an update to its semi-annual World Economic Outlook report. The warning comes days after IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn broke with tradition and asked governments to spend more - even at the cost of increasing budget deficits, which the agency normally considers a cardinal sin - to stimulate their economies. Strauss-Kahn cited the severity of the unfolding downturn....
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| The 19 biggest trading scams |
| 2008-01-30 03:45:23 |
Company: Societe Generale (2008) Detail: Lost 4.9 billion euros ($7.2 billion) before taxes after trader went beyond permitted limits on European stock index futures.Company: Bank of Montreal (2007) Detail: Wrong-way bets on natural gas led to a pretax loss of about C$680 million ($663 million).Company: Amaranth Advisors LLC (2006) Detail: Trader Brian Hunter's bad bets on natural gas triggered $6.6 billion of losses.Company: Refco Inc. (2005) Detail: Declared bankruptcy after hiding $430 million of debt Company: China Aviation Oil (2004) Detail: Lost $550 million on (Singapore) Corp. speculative oil-futures trades, forcing debt restructuring.Company: Allied Irish Banks Plc (2002) Detail: Trader hid $691 million in currency market losses.Company: Plains All American (1999) Detail: Lost $16...
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| Bank hit by $7.1 billion trader fraud |
| 2008-01-25 05:53:25 |
The Societe Generale Bank says it has uncovered "massive" fraud by a trader on its futures desk in Paris which resulted in a loss of 4.9 billion euros.The bank said the fraud was based on simple transactions, but concealed by "sophisticated and varied techniques".SocGen said that the employee, who has confessed to the fraud, has been suspended and a dismissal procedure had been initiated. It also announced new write-downs of 2.05bn euros related to the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the US. The bank's shares, which were suspended in the morning, lost 3.6% when they resumed trading. Societe Generale is one of the main European financial services companies and also maintains extensive activities in others parts of the world. ...
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| Greenspan to join New York hedge fund firm: report |
| 2008-01-15 01:33:14 |
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is set to join hedge-fund firm Paulson & Co. as an adviser, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. New York-based Paulson, with assets of $28 billion, is set to make the announcement on Tuesday, the report said.Credit Opportunities Fund (Paulson & Co.) +590% (in 2007)...
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| Gross Domestic Product (GDP) |
| 2007-12-27 01:41:51 |
A region's gross domestic product, or GDP, is one of the ways of measuring the size of its economy. The GDP of a country is defined as the total market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period of time (usually a calendar year). It is also considered the sum of value added at every stage of production (the intermediate stages) of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period of time.The most common approach to measuring and understanding GDP is the expenditure method:GDP = consumption + investment + (government spending) + (exports − imports), or, GDP = C + I + G + (X-M) "Gross" means depreciation of capital stock is not included. With depreciation, wi...
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| “Magnit” |
| 2007-12-26 02:39:38 |
Top manager of a major Russian investment bank informed that retail chain “Magnit” is planning to conduct a follow-on offering of shares in London in the nearest future. It aims to raise at least US$500m.Other investment bankers familiar with the company’s plans added that Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley have been appointed organizers of the deal, during which additionally issued shares will be sold on the LSE. The offering will take place in April-May 2008....
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| Gazprom has bought OGK-6 |
| 2007-12-25 04:51:39 |
Dec. 25 (Bloomberg) -- OAO Gazprom, Russia's biggest company, is set to gain control of OAO OGK-6, the nation's third-largest power generator by capacity, after spending almost 21 billion rubles ($850 million) on new shares. Gazprom will own a little more than 50 percent in OGK-6 following Unified Energy's breakup after purchasing the 5.5 billion new shares, according to Bloomberg calculations. Gazprom is poised to dominate two out of the six national wholesale generating companies, or OGKs, being created under reforms to introduce competition and raise investment for the world's fourth-largest power network.The arrangement gives Gazprom influence over power supplies as far east as Siberia and in cities including Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia's larges...
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| Homefront Mortgage Inc. |
| 2007-12-24 07:39:27 |
We're sure the primary reasons for the shutdown are in the first sentence of Mr. Fry's letter:"Due to the tremendous number of buy back requests on loans that our loan agent staff funded, and due to the overwhelming number of lawsuits as a result of loans that our loan agent staff funded, and due to the massive increase in our errors and omissions insurance coverage as a result of these issues, Homefront Mortgage Inc. must discontinue all business operations on December 31st 2007. "This had to be one of the more disturbing "shutdown" letters we've ever seen! We made a phone call and spoke to Stuart Spencer, President. Needless to say, he felt the email was going to be kept a secret, and was not very pleased it was in our hands. In an about-face, he state...
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| Eoin Treacy (Fullermoney): Sectoral performance for 2007 |
| 2007-12-24 04:32:43 |
“Over the last year, the worst performing sectors have been Homebuilding (-60.69%) Thrifts & Mortgages (52.45%) Real Estate Management (-37.11%), Department Stores (-34.99%), Motorcycle Manufacturers i.e. Harley Davidson (51%) and Regional Banks (-31.2%) This is no secret and real estate related worries have dominated media coverage over the last year.“However what is less well known is that of the S&P 500’s 147 sector indices, 85 are positive or unchanged for the year. Of these, 7 are up in excess of 50% year-to-date. These were Fertilizer & Agricultural Chemicals (+94.42%), Construction & Engineering (94.24%), Education Services (+84.89%), Coal and Con Fuel (+76.61%) Diversified Metals (71.97%), Internet Retail (64.89%) and Healthcare Services (51.21%. A number of t...
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| Moody’s Economy.com: Survey of business confidence for world |
| 2007-12-24 02:47:55 |
“Global business sentiment is very weak and fragile. This is particularly true in the US where confidence slumped last week to its lowest level in the five years of this survey, and where it is now consistent with a contracting economy. Expectations regarding the outlook through mid-2008 are particularly bleak, and responses regarding sales strength, inventory investment, and office space are also soft. Confidence is stronger outside the US, but it has notably weakened across the globe during the past month. While pricing pressures have risen with oil prices near $100 per barrel, they remain notably muted compared to the pressures that prevailed ...
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| China to Play a Greater Role as Donor at the World Bank |
| 2007-12-24 02:16:05 |
Source: World Bank works with Chinese on Africa; China to Play Greater Role in World Bank World Bank President Robert Zoellick visited Li Ruogu, the chairman of the Chinese Export-Import Bank to discuss the possibility of conducting joint development projects in the future. The visit also addressed international concerns about Chinese lending in Africa. China has distinguished itself from other donors by not attaching conditionalities to its loans; however, it has yet to provide guarantees of debt forgiveness, either.Zoellick’s visit reflects the change in the World Bank’s approach to China. The Bank is now working to accommodate China as it transitions from recipient to donor country. As Zoellick noted at his meeting wit...
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| Greenspan Backs Help For Homeowners |
| 2007-12-17 08:11:18 |
USA Today reports former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan "suggested Sunday that a tax break or other government financial help for homeowners facing the mortgage crunch would be the best political fix for the economy," but he "cautioned against meddling with home prices or interest rates to address the housing problem." On ABC's "This Week," Greenspan said, "Cash is available and we should use that in larger amounts, as is necessary, to solve the problems of the stress of this."The Financial Times reports Greenspan's remarks were "likely to fuel growing political pressure for a more radical response to the housing crisis." The New York Times reports, "Two ways to help homeowners directly would be to reduce taxes or to give cash grants similar to those given to disaster victim...
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| How Top Companies from Rapidly Developing Economies are Changing the World |
| 2007-12-11 08:33:34 |
Companies from rapidly developing economies (RDEs) are globalizing so quickly that they pose an urgent threat to industry leaders, The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) warns in the second edition of its report on 100 of the most formidable companies from RDEs. The report -- titled "The 2008 BCG 100 New Global Challengers: How Top Companies from Rapidly Developing Economies are Changing the World" -- is being published today."Industry leaders need to understand these new rivals and act quickly," urges David Michael, the report's coauthor and a Beijing-based BCG senior partner. "For those who move fast, the challengers could become key clients, suppliers, and even strategic partners. For those who don't, the challengers ...
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| That crisis has hurt only two types of borrowers |
| 2007-12-11 03:53:37 |
That crisis has hurt only two types of borrowers: Those who want a lot of money -- more than $417,000 to be exact. And anyone with bad credit -- those with credit scores below 620.Here's why:Banks and finance companies obtain much of the money they loan for mortgages from two government-chartered companies -- commonly referred to as Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae -- or large private investors such as retirement plans, hedge funds and insurers. Those investors panicked at the prospect of billion-dollar losses because a growing number of homeowners are defaulting -- primarily borrowers with poor credit who were given dangerous, adjustable-rate mortgages.By early 2009 more than 2 million ARMs given to borrowers with credit scores below 700 will have reset to high...
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| Negative Ripple Effect on the Economies of the Nation's Metropolitan Areas |
| 2007-12-06 06:07:34 |
Using Global Insight's proprietary databases and extensive housing analyses, the report for the U.S. Conference of Mayors, "The Mortgage Crisis: Economic and Fiscal Implications for Metro Areas," examines the effects of the housing recession and mortgage crisis on the economic growth prospects for 361 of the nation's metropolitan areas. Weak residential investment, lower spending and income in the construction industries, as well as curtailed consumer spending resulting from decreased home equity will have "multiplier effects" on the nation's economy. Other report findings include: The foreclosure crisis alone will reduce home values by an additional $519 billion in 2008, bringing the total forecast of lost equity fo...
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| Update - Federal Debt Consolidation Program |
| 2007-11-29 02:19:13 |
A federal debt consolidation program covers federal student loans as well as other federal loans. Interest rates, regulations and benefits keep changing. Find some of them right here.The United States Department of Education is the governing body for the Federal Family Education Loan Program(FFELP). Federal debt consolidation loan interest rates are fixed across the board. Subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford, Perkins Loans, Nursing Loans and Health Education Assistance loans may be consolidated only after graduation. Only fully disbursed loans can be consolidated. Married couple cannot combine their loa...
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| House mortgage bill |
| 2007-11-16 01:05:42 |
House mortgage bill. The bill, passed Thursday evening by a 291-127 vote, garnered support from 64 House Republicans. No Democrats were opposed.The bill would ban lenders from making loans that borrowers can't repay, create a nationwide licensing system for mortgage brokers and make Wall Street banks that package mortgage securities into investments liable for violations of lending laws.Many Republicans were critical of the bill's provision to increase banks' liability, with Rep Ed Royce, R-Calif., calling it a "trial lawyer's dream."Meanwhile, Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., on Thursday blocked an effort by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to get quick approval of a bill to expand authority for the Federal Housing Ad...
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| Buffett backs estate tax, decries wealth gap |
| 2007-11-15 08:08:54 |
Billionaire Warren Buffett on Wednesday endorsed the estate tax as a check on wealth accumulation, while two senior U.S. senators said they want the tax repealed.Revisiting a long-standing debate over the controversial tax, the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing where Chairman Max Baucus said he supports ending the estate tax, although he said he did not expect this to happen any time soon."I think everyone in this room knows we're not going to repeal the estate tax. It's not going to happen in the foreseeable future," he said.The Montana Democrat was joined by Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley, the panel's top Republican, who said, "The estate tax is unjust. ... Death should not be a taxab...
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| Second Generation 80 GB Microsoft Zune Review |
| 2007-11-15 07:50:59 |
The much-anticipated wait for the next-generation Zune is now over with the release of the 80 GB Zune in November, 2007. This new Zune sports some nice upgrades over the first generation Zune including more Wi-Fi capabilities, smaller size, podcast support, and larger LCD screen. Microsoft is getting closer and closer to Apple's reign as king of the portable media devices.Microsoft has redesigned the new Zune to be a bit smaller than the first generation model which was bulky and a little heavy. The new Zune is just a tad larger than the iPod Classic, so it is much better suited for traveling in a pant pocket than before.Microsoft has also increased the screen size in the 2nd generation Zune to 3.2 inches. The LCD s...
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| High cost home insurance for UK homeowners |
| 2007-11-14 09:45:32 |
According to the organisation some 26 per cent of homeowners do not get more than one quote for their home insurance. This means up to 8.55 million homeowners could be turning their backs the best possible deal. A further 16 per cent only secured one further quote when securing home insurance. Worryingly, only 22 per cent of homeowners got more than three quotes when they renewed their insurance. Homeowners cited a number of reasons for their unwillingness to look for the best deal on their home insurance. Up to 45 per cent trusted their existing insurer to provide them with a good value quote. However, eight per cent of homeowners did not have the time to look for more than one quote, while 12 per cent admitted they simply could not be bothered. Only o...
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| U.S. MBA's Mortgage Applications Index Rose 5.5% Last Week |
| 2007-11-14 09:42:39 |
The Mortgage Bankers Association's index of applications to buy a home or refinance a loan increased 5.5 percent to 707.3, the highest this year. The group's refinancing gauge rose 6.4 percent and its purchase index climbed 4.8 percent. Even with the rise, economists foresee little chance of recovery in the two-year housing slump until at least mid-2008, as stricter lending practices and a glut of unsold homes for sale prompt buyers to wait for further prices declines."We look for the housing market to continue to restrain growth through deeper construction cuts and weaker consumption,'' Michelle Meyer, an economist at Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in...
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| Quebecor World Announces Refinancing Plan |
| 2007-11-14 09:24:24 |
MONTREAL - Quebecor World Inc. (TSX:IQW) says it will sell up to $778 million worth of additional shares and debt securities to investors and to its controlling shareholder, Quebecor Inc. (TSX:QBR.B), in a refinancing of its debt and credit facilities.Quebecor World also said its syndicate of lenders will reduce their credit facility commitment to $375 million, but extend the maturities by one year to 2010 and provide the company with greater financial flexibility under its covenants.The announcement Tuesday come as Quebecor World's shares are trading at their lowest prices in at least a decade. Объявление вторник приходят как Кебекор мире доли торговли на их низкие цены по крайн...
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| Lending Tree |
| 2007-11-14 00:20:09 |
Lending Tree was the biggest dog, posting an 89% dive in operating income on a 9% dip in revenue.Given your strong credit, it's best for you to shop around and demand the best deal.If you make your payments regularly and improve your credit score, you should be able to refinance to a better rate.About LendingTree, LLCLendingTree, LLC is the nation's number one online lending exchange, providing a marketplace that connects consumers with multiple lenders that compete for their business.Since inception, LendingTree has facilitated more than 20 million loan requests and $152 billion in closed loan transactions....
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| Social Network for Neighbors Fatdoor Raises $5.5M, Hires New CEO |
| 2007-11-14 00:18:35 |
Social network for neighbors Fatdoor has raised $5.5M in its first round of institutional funding. The company has also brought aboard ex-Yahoo Jennifer Dulski as its CEO.The investment group was led by Norwest Venture Partners with the participation of KeyNote Ventures. Dulski comes to Fatdoor after nine years at Yahoo where she served variously as VP/GM of Local Markets and Commerce, VP/GM of Yahoo Autos, and VP of Business Unit Marketing.Fatdoor aims to connect you with your neighbors by providing a localized social network for your physical community. Although the site will be in private beta until the spring of 2008, a handful of details have been publicly available since at ...
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| Windows 7 feature request list leaks out |
| 2007-11-13 09:21:17 |
Although the Vista transition is far from complete, that doesn’t mean Microsoft isn’t already hard at work on Windows 7, the next version of the venerable operating system — and this list of user-requested features unearthed by the folks at NeoWin might hold some clues as to the future. The “wish list” was sent out by Microsoft before Windows 7 development even began, so most of these features probably aren’t even on the radar, but what’s most interesting is that seemingly small fixes like “Window Update progress indicator” vastly outnumber big-ticket items like “integrated audio / video codec manager” and “Windows ‘Game’ Mode.” We’d say that speaks to a major lack of imagination, so consider this a years-early How Would Yo...
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| Microsoft's new Zunes go live |
| 2007-11-13 09:20:44 |
Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video[IMG ] Nothing new to say about these things that you haven't heard a hundred times already, other than the fact that they've finally graced us with their presence. The Zune 4, Zune 8 and Zune 80 are now available at a wide assortment of online stores, or you can score one from Microsoft directly at the Zune Originals store with custom text and artwork engraving, but it'll mean waiting 5-7 business days for it to ship -- the price remains the same....
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| предел потребляемой мощности |
| 2007-09-12 05:26:28 |
С целью сохранения окружающей среды на территории Соединенного Королевства предлагается разработать специальные нормы электропотребления для всех домашних устройств, поступающих в продажу. Устройству каждого типа предлагается дать максимальный предел потребляемой мощности. Те модели, которые не впишутся в границу, продавать на территории Великобритании предлагается запретить....
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