Martin Kronicle

From InformationWeek:

“HTC is having a tough time making enough EVO 4Gs for Sprint. It’s also having a hard time making enough Droid Incredibles for Verizon Wireless. Both devices are it short supply because HTC isn’t getting enough of the large touch displays from Samsung that both devices require. The issue could have a large impact on Sprint’s 4G business, say some.

“The early move to 4G has benefited Sprint from a marketing perspective, but it hasn’t really proven out in a major way in subscriber growth,” said Dan Hays, who works for consulting firm PRTM. Sprint has been marketing its 4G services heavily via television commercials since early this year. Despite the expansion of its WiMax network to 43 markets, the company hasn’t been able to capitalize on its lead. ”

Yeah, I can tell you why. Here in LA, 4G is not available. They tried to beat everyone to the punch and make it a pure ego play. Hey, they should change the device to HTC EGO!!!

Why is Sprint selling these devices in markets where 4G has not proliferated yet? That is completely retarded. And why would the consumer want to buy a 4G capable device when it might be 6-12 months before the service arrives to their home markets?

What Sprint should have done is sold the devices in the markets where 4G is available and developed great product and service reviews, thereby generating great press and buzz.

The Fundamental Analysis of Commodity Trading course provides an overview of the fundamental driving forces from an international economic perspective for various commodity sectors.

Various commodities are illustrated and students are shown how to combine Fundamental and Technical analysis in their trading. In doing so, we’ll study the grains, oilseeds, metals, energies, and softs.

Despite yoga and meditation, your brain can work against you – naturally. But by knowing the potential dangers, you can increase your awareness and avoid the trappings, according to a study by LiveScience.

To test the effect of dopamine on decision-making, Ray Dolan, also of University College London, and colleagues carried out a test with 14 healthy volunteers under two conditions: once when given a low dose of L-dopa and once when given a placebo. Under each condition, the subjects were asked to make a number of choices consisting of either a “smaller, sooner” option, for example receiving $22 (£15) in two weeks, or a “larger, later” option, such as receiving $86 (£57) in six months.

[The "smaller, sooner" versus the "larger, later" got me thinking about the trade-offs between day trading "smaller, sooner" and long-term trend following "larger, later."]

Every subject was more likely to behave more impulsively – choosing the “smaller, sooner” option – when levels of dopamine in the brain were boosted. On the whole, the number of sooner options chosen increased by almost a third in the dopamine scenario, although each subject varied on this measure.

“We know that sensory inputs – sights, sounds, smells and anticipation of rewards, or even of neutral cues which have been associated with rewards – momentarily boost dopamine levels in our brains, and our research shows that higher dopamine levels make us act more impulsively,” Dolan said.