This is the end of the line for New Century. No standalone mortgage originator can survive the loss of their warehouse lines. Unless an insane white knight tries to step in and catch the knife, New Century will be liquidated. A $6B, 6,700 employee business (at its peak 2 years ago) that will vanish into thin air. It is eerie watching 1998 repeat.
Ledra Street Barrier Comes Down
Part of this blog's occasional detour from high finance and high tech to take a peek at the motherland (!)...
What is this?
Last Thursday, in the middle of the night, the Greek Cypriots bulldozed the barrier on Ledra Street.
Ledra Street was the old commercial heart of Nicosia until 1974 when the city was divided after the Turkish invasion. After the division, Ledra Street slowly faded in commercial importance as the business sector moved south, outside the Venetian walls into the "new city".
The Ledra Street barrier has been there since the mid 1960s and is the most imposing and visible sign of Nicosia's division. It is a Greek Cypriot army guard post that sees into the UN buffer zone of abandoned, collapsing buildings. On the other side, is the Turkish/Turkish Cypriot guard post.
The barrier was bulldozed in the middle of the night without warning (presumably to preempt any potential opposition).
What does it mean?
Since 2003, there have been some crossing points open across the Green Line that divides Cyprus so this does not really change the ability to move across the city, but none of the current crossing points are in the center of the city.
An open, reunited Ledra Street in the heart of Nicosia would be a much more tangible sign of reunification than the somewhat out-of-the-way checkpoints that are only really accessible by car.
The (Greek) Cypriot government quite correctly insists that the Turkish soldiers leave the area, that the area is swept for mines and that the crumbling buildings are shored up before opening the passageway to pedestrians.
So, for now, this is much more a symbolic move than anything else, but it is nonetheless a positive step forward...
A Robot in Every Home
Nothing more to be said. Just read the article
A Robot in Every Home
By Bill Gates
Imagine being present at the birth of a new industry. It is an industry based on groundbreaking new technologies, wherein a handful of well-established corporations sell highly specialized devices for business use and a fast-growing number of start-up companies produce innovative toys, gadgets for hobbyists and other interesting niche products. But it is also a highly fragmented industry with few common standards or platforms. Projects are complex, progress is slow, and practical applications are relatively rare. In fact, for all the excitement and promise, no one can say with any certainty when--or even if--this industry will achieve critical mass. If it does, though, it may well change the world.
Of course, the paragraph above could be a description of the computer industry during the mid-1970s, around the time that Paul Allen and I launched Microsoft. Back then, big, expensive mainframe computers ran the back-office operations for major companies, governmental departments and other institutions. Researchers at leading universities and industrial laboratories were creating the basic building blocks that would make the information age possible. Intel had just introduced the 8080 microprocessor, and Atari was selling the popular electronic game Pong. At homegrown computer clubs, enthusiasts struggled to figure out exactly what this new technology was good for.
But what I really have in mind is something much more contemporary: the emergence of the robotics industry, which is developing in much the same way that the computer business did 30 years ago....
Universal Studios and Bolt
Smart move by Universal. Sue the weak player and start establishing precedent (even if it is a settlement) MSNBC: Rights success for Universal as Bolt settles