You’ve undoubtedly met people who have made a lot of money in the stock market and dreamed you could become one, too. If that’s you, I’ve got great news. You can learn to be a successful stock investor, make some money and maybe make some friends while you’re at it. How? By joining an investment club. Today we welcome Ionnie McNeill, a member of the nonprofit National Association of Investors…
Market risk is the potential for losses in securities due to fluctuations in market factors like interest rates, currency values, FX/commodity spot rates, and equity prices. These risks are inherent in all traded securities, from corporate bonds to commodities. Each type of security may face multiple risks simultaneously, making market risk a crucial consideration for investors and financial institutions.
Compounding these risks is model risk, which refers to the risk inherent with the development and usage of a model to determine financial outputs and decision making. An inefficient or incorrect modelling technique can sometimes lead to drastic repercussions for the firm. Understanding and managing this risk is therefore essential for making informed financial decisions and safeguarding against potential losses.
More on Market Risk
Various risk factors in the security’s structure determine the type and extent of the market risk it carries. The most widely studied and observed market risk types include interest rate risk, credit risk, foreign exchange risk, equity risk, and commodity risk. A single security can exhibit just one or more of these risks. A corporate bond, for example, exhibits not just credit risk but also interest rate risk, and if it is denominated in a foreign currency, it also carries FX risk. Broadly, we can think of market risk as the fluctuation in the value of a security due to the market-related risk factors such as interest rates and equity price movements. However, it has far-reaching impacts since these security valuations are utilized to make more decisions such as investments, regulatory compliance, and portfolio optimization, among others, depending on the profile of the company or risk manager.
More on Model Risk
A model has various components, namely the inputs/data, assumptions, logic/process, and final output. An inefficient or incorrect modelling technique along any of these process components can sometimes lead to drastic repercussions for the firm. The SR11-7 regulatory framework defines how model risk should be managed by banks, and it is relevant for other financial firms.
Market Risk and Model Risk: Dependencies
Although market and model risk represent different dimensions of riskiness, they are interweaved in a sequential way. This is evident since quantification or determination of market risk by a firm and all resulting decisions are usually represented as an output of financial models. Whenever corporate managers are focused on managing market risk proficiently, the process involves managing model risk equally efficiently. Thus, it makes sense to view these two risks in conjunction with each other when estimating costs, time, and resources to manage a firm’s investment -or market-related risks.
An example would be the use of a financial model to determine the value of a securities portfolio which in turn would determine a buy/sell decision. If the valuation model makes incorrect assumptions by not considering diversification/hedging effects in the portfolio, this might lead to incorrect decision making which may lead to not just financial impact for the firm but also reputational and regulatory risks.
Model risk is a crucial risk that needs to be managed effectively by financial institutions, not just to ensure sound market risk management decisions or comply with regulatory requirements but also to survive and thrive. In cases in which firms use third-party vendors for pricing and valuations, model risk is compounded because most vendors also use models to determine their numbers. In such cases, clients must conduct due diligence to ensure third-party vendor models are validated and/or audited.
Regulatory Use Case
The Fundamental Review of Trading Book (FRTB) is a market risk regulatory framework with a lot of quantitative techniques enlisted by the regulator to quantify market risk carried on banks’ trading books in the form of capital charges. One crucial change in this regulatory framework is a shift from existing value at risk (VaR) based techniques to expected shortfall-based market risk metrics calculations. This shift requires modifying existing market risk models or in some cases rebuilding these from scratch to efficiently carry out these FRTB customized calculations. This gives rise to a wide amount of model-related risk from new assumptions, input data, modifying codes/software programs, and output metric customization. If FRTB model assumptions are changed, the capital charge numbers may vary considerably. Application of this framework to manage market risk more efficiently introduces extra costs and complexities to manage model risk inherent in new or updated custom models to carry out these FRTB specific calculations.
Key Takeaway
Risk managers must look at market and model risk through a single lens to see the complete picture of their market-related investment and trading risks, as well as management costs, complexities, time, and regulatory requirements.
March 8 marked International Women’s Day (IWD), a day of global recognition of women’s many achievements and their long and ongoing fight for equal rights and fair treatment around the world. The day also marks an annual trotting out of glib #Girlboss-style ads from corporations trying to burnish their social capital. Shocker, the oil and gas industry is no exception.
As an excellent DeSmog team of female journalists wrote this week, “Even in a sea of tokenistic stunts by brands on the sole day devoted to the women’s movement, the PR and advertising tactics of oil and gas companies stand out, not only for their hollow gestures but the absurdist slogans they employ.”
Such social media #hashtivism rings particularly hollow when you realize the many ways that the climate crisis disproportionately affects women and girls, especially when climate change collides with endemic sex discrimination.
Ad and PR giants like WPP and their subsidiaries enable companies like Shell, ExxonMobil, and other fossil fuel firms to create slick girl-power narratives for a sector renowned for its low female employment.
After a decade with Shell, Caroline Dennett was fed up with it all. In 2022, the Shell safety consultant loudly quit her job over the company’s inaction on climate change.
“They do not value human life, or any other form of life on the planet,” Dennett told DeSmog. “They only care about drilling and making money.”
Keep that in mind as you hear other fossil fuel industry slogans about “responsible gas” or “certified gas” that promises low pollution, but as one former Texas regulator told DeSmog, “That’s literally greenwashing and marketing.” Dive into the growing trend of so-called “certified gas” and the U.S. utilities passing on the extra cost to ratepayers.
Have a story tip or feedback? Get in touch: [email protected]. Want to know what our UK team is up to? Sign up for our UK newsletter.
Thanks, Brendan DeMelle Executive Director
(Job One has additional information on the global fossil fuel cartel’s massive disinformation campaigns and other dirty tricks here.)
The long-running legal battle between Ripple and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has yet to be concluded despite Judge Analisa Torres’ August 7 ruling, which appeared to have ended the case. This follows a recent development showing that the SEC is still considering appealing the court’s ruling.
Ripple Requests Stay On Monetary Judgement
Ripple recently filed a letter requesting a stay on the court’s monetary judgment awarded against the crypto firm in favor of the Commission. In her judgment delivered on August 7, Torres ruled that Ripple should pay the SEC a fine of $125 million for violating securities laws.
Ripple was meant to have paid the SEC by September 6. However, the stay request, which Judge Torres granted, showed Ripple would no longer have to pay the $125 million to the SEC until 30 days after the expiration of the time allowed for an appeal with no appeal filed or after a decision by the Court of Appeals resolving any potential appeal.
This suggests that the SEC, which consented to the stay request even before Judge Torres granted it, is still considering appealing the case. As explained by legal expert Fred Rispoli, the Commission likely agreed to this request as they could pay Ripple an interest on the monetary judgment if the crypto firm were to pay now, and the SEC ended up appealing and losing the appeal.
XRP is currently trading at $0.52. Chart: TradingView
As such, the Commission is content for Ripple to keep the funds in trust while they weigh their options on whether to appeal Judge Torres’ ruling, especially the one in which she declared that XRP wasn’t a security in itself. Rispoli also increased the likelihood of an SEC appeal to 60% following the stay request put forward by Ripple.
The Commission will have until October 6 to decide on whether to file an appeal. Ripple, on its part, has long made it clear through its CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, and Chief Legal Officer (CLO) Stuart Alderoty that it has no intention to file an appeal as they see the court’s ruling as a victory in their search for legal clarity.
Ripple Looks To Lobby For More Favorable Conditions For Crypto
Ripple’s legal battle against the SEC seems to have pushed the crypto firm to lobby for more favorable conditions for the crypto industry as it seeks to end the Commission’s enforcement actions against crypto firms. Bitcoinist recently reported that Ripple’s co-founder Chris Larsen was one of 88 corporate leaders who signed a letter endorsing Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
Meanwhile, Alderoty had earlier shown support for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, donating $300,000 to the former US president’s campaign. Alderoty is believed to have donated because Trump has adopted a pro-crypto stance. Interestingly, Trump has also promised to fire SEC Chair Gary Gensler on his first day in office if elected. Gensler has overseen the Commission’s legal battle against Ripple and is known for his anti-crypto stance.
Featured image from The New York Times, chart from TradingView
(Reuters) -Kentucky police reported an “active shooter situation” on Saturday evening near Interstate-75 in London, Kentucky, where “numerous persons” have been shot in traffic.
The incident began just before 6 p.m. (1000 GMT) about nine miles outside of London, when officers were called for reports of multiple vehicles being fired at on Interstate 75 in Laurel County, multiple media accounts said. The shots were reportedly coming from a wooded area or an overpass.
“Please avoid I-75 around Ext 49. Until further notice! Use alternative route do not be any where in that area,” London Mayor Randall Weddle said on Facebook (NASDAQ:).
Police officials said the suspect had not been caught.
Kentucky state Trooper Scottie Pennington wrote on Facebook, “The suspect has not been caught at this time and we are urging people to stay inside.”
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear wrote on X: “Kentucky, we are aware of a shooting on I-75 in Laurel County. Please avoid the area. We will provide more details once they are available.”
He also asked that residents, “Please pray for everyone involved.”
London is a small city of about 8,000 residents, about 100 miles northwest of the state capital Frankfort.
Steve Garcia vs. Kyle Nelson squared off earlier tonight (Sat., Sept. 7, 2024) at UFC Vegas 97 LIVE on ESPN/ESPN+ from inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. Though Nelson started the fight well, Garcia scored a first-round knockout after a savage series of elbows.
As mentioned, Nelson started strong, catching a low kick and converting that strike into a takedown. Just 30 seconds in, he was on Garcia’s back with both hooks in! He wasn’t able to do too much from that dominant position, however, controlling without landing damaging shots or threatening the neck too effectively.
About halfway through the first round, Garcia reversed position into the full guard. Immediately, he began dropping a barrage of ground strikes. One elbow hurt Nelson, and Garcia simply refused to let him recover. The beating went on for a while, but when a second elbow stunned Nelson and sent him to his belly, the referee was forced to intervene.
Check out the final moments below:
After this latest win, Garcia has won five in a row at 145-pounds, all via knockout. At 32 years of age, “Mean Machine” is emerging as a surprise contender at Featherweight after a rough start to his UFC career. He deserves a step up in competition, though it remains to be seen if he can create similar success against ranked opposition.
For complete UFC Vegas 97 results, coverage, and highlights, click HERE.
Let’s apply the idea of needs to sex. If we modify our definition for that, we get:
A sexual need is something required for a safe, stable and healthy sex life.
One of your wife’s top sex needs is for her to be the only woman you see naked.
You may not think that’s a valid need, but it is. Even women who don’t see porn as sinful struggle with this. She wants you to only have eyes for her. She wants to be enough for you. When you look at porn, or stare at half-naked women on the street, you tell her she is not and can not be enough for you sexually. And that causes her to not try, because we don’t put effort into a lost cause.
If you stop seeking visual sexual arousal from other sources, your wife will feel better about you, and about your sex life. That can only make sex better.
If you decide to change, I suggest you just do it, and don’t say a word. When you have gone three months, tell her you have not looked at porn in three months, and you don’t intend to do so ever again. Don’t ask for or expect anything from her for that, just let her know. If you have years of looking at other woman naked, it’s going to take time for her to adjust.
Every dog licks from time to time. Licking is soothing for dogs, both physically and emotionally. It can be their way to relieve itching, lessen pain, and alleviate boredom.
But excessive licking may also be a sign of a potentially serious health condition, and it can lead to skin damage and infections. In this article, we’ll investigate why dogs might lick excessively and what to do about it.
Causes of Excessive Licking in Dogs
There are many reasons why dogs lick excessively. Some causes can be managed at home, but others require veterinary attention.
Itchiness – Anything that itches can lead to excessive licking. The licking may be restricted to one part of the body or cover wider areas. Common causes of dog itching include parasites like fleas and mange mites; bacterial, yeast, and fungal infections; and allergies to environmental triggers (pollen, mold, and house mites, for example) or food.
Pain – Dogs often lick in response to pain. Repetitive licking releases endorphins, which are the body’s natural painkillers. Osteoarthritis, cuts, punctures, broken or overgrown toenails, insect bites or stings, joint injuries, cancer, and other sources of pain could be to blame.
Nausea – Gastrointestinal problems and other conditions that cause nausea can make dogs drool, lick their lips, and lick themselves or objects in the environment like the floor or couch.
Mental health – Repeated behaviors like constant licking release feel-good endorphins. Dogs with obsessive-compulsive disorders or anxiety or who are stressed due to boredom or changes in their lives can lick excessively to make themselves feel better.
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How to Stop Excessive Licking in Dogs
Identifying the reason for a dog’s excessive licking is the first step to stopping it. Using an E-collar, bad-tasting spray, or bandages to prevent licking may help in the short term but does nothing to alleviate your dog’s discomfort. Unless the cause is obvious and easily treated at home (a small cut, for example), it’s best to make an appointment with your veterinarian.
The doctor will start by asking questions about your dog’s lifestyle, health history, and symptoms. They will also perform a complete physical exam. At this point, the vet will likely have an idea as to the likely origin of your dog’s excessive licking.
Itching
Itching is the most common cause of excessive licking in dogs. Your veterinarian may be able to identify the problem with just a physical examination (a flea infestation, for example), or they could need to run diagnostic tests such as a skin scraping to look for mange mites, skin cytology to identify bacterial and yeast infections, or a fungal culture for ringworm. Allergy testing may be necessary to identify a dog’s allergic triggers.
Once the cause of a dog’s itchiness is diagnosed and treated the excessive licking should resolve. Sometimes medications to ease itching are also necessary.
Pain
Pain is another common cause of excessive licking in dogs. Usually, the dog’s licking will focus on the painful area, such as an especially arthritic joint. Your veterinarian will need to perform a physical examination and possibly take X-rays or run other diagnostic tests to determine the source of your dog’s pain.
Whenever possible, treatment for excessive licking due to pain should try to eliminate the source of a dog’s pain, but veterinarians often also prescribe medications to improve a dog’s comfort level. Never give your dog a pain reliever without first speaking to your vet.
Nausea
Excessive licking due to nausea usually accompanies other symptoms like vomiting, a poor appetite, or weight loss. See a veterinarian if your dog’s nausea is severe or lasts more than a day or two. The doctor may need the results of bloodwork, a urinalysis, abdominal x-rays or ultrasound, and other diagnostic tests to determine why your dog is nauseous.
Treatment should be aimed at the underlying cause of a dog’s nausea, but anti-nausea medications can be beneficial while other treatments take effect. Once a dog’s nausea improves the dog’s excessive licking should resolve too.
Mental Health
Stress, anxiety, and behavioral problems can all lead to excessive licking in dogs. Boredom is a major stressor for dogs. If you think your dog is licking due to boredom, increase the amount of attention, playtime, and exercise they get throughout the day. Food puzzles are a great way to ease boredom when dogs have to be alone.
If something has recently changed in your dog’s life and they seem stressed by their new situation, try to duplicate their previous schedule to the greatest extent possible. For example, adding a new puppy to a household is often stressful for older dogs. Make sure your older dog gets plenty of one-on-one time with you and can easily escape unwanted attention from their new family member.
Over-the-counter anti-anxiety treatments like calming nutritional supplements and pheromone sprays or collars may help in mild cases of stress and anxiety. Veterinarians can prescribe medications and recommend other forms of treatment for serious mental health disorders, including severe anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders.
When to See the Vet Because a Dog Is Licking Excessively
Don’t panic if you notice a mild increase in your dog’s licking. If they seem healthy in all other ways, trying some safe at-home treatments may be all that is needed. Improved parasite control, omega-3 fatty acid supplements, itch-relieving dog shampoos, or calming nutritional supplements and pheromones may provide some relief.
On the other hand, dogs should be seen by a veterinarian if they are licking enough to lose hair or develop skin wounds or if they have other signs of a physical illness or behavioral problem.
Pro-life advocates and abortion proponents gather outside of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on March 26, 2024, as justices listen to oral arguments in the FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine case. | Samantha Kamman/The Christian Post
About 25 years ago, I had the privilege to sit down to interview the late George Gallup, Jr., the esteemed pollster whose father founded Gallup Polls.
One of the things Gallup, Jr. said that I’ve never forgotten was his response to my question: Is America pro-abortion rights or pro-life?
He said 20% of Americans are strongly pro-choice. Twenty percent are strongly pro-life. And the other 60% are in the “mushy middle,” and they can go either way depending upon what you ask and how you ask. I imagine that is still roughly the case.
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Fast forward to this election season, and abortion is on the ballot again, directly or indirectly.
Obviously, the key presidential candidates and their teams differ greatly on this, as do others running for office. But abortion is more directly on the ballot in 11 states that have referenda dealing with the issue. One of those is Florida, generally a pro-life state.
Since Roe was overturned, some states have voted to allow even more abortions than would have been accepted before. Is Ohio pro-life? If so, why did they vote for abortion up to the moment of birth last year?
Eric Scheidler, executive director of the Pro-Life Action League, remarks that if given a choice between two extremes: either zero abortions allowed or abortion without any restrictions, Americans will choose the latter not the former.
Dr. Chris Leader of Vote Your Faith has studied the ballot initiatives on abortion. As noted, Florida has Amendment #4 on the ballot. A vote “yes” on that referendum is a vote for abortion up to the moment of birth.
Surprisingly, some polls find Americans far less pro-abortion than the mainstream media would have us believe.
I interviewed Dr. Leader for a radio segment on this recently. He told our listeners: “What we found at the America First Policy Institute through a Rasmussen poll that we commissioned is that 73% of Americans now believe that there are two lives involved in any abortion, the life of the mother and the life of the baby.”
He noted that that finding is very different than polls conducted in the 1990s, where it was hard to get people to recognize the life of the baby. So, this new shift in thinking is a great improvement to the pro-life cause.
Furthermore, Leader said that their polling also found that 92% of Americans oppose late-term abortion, up to the moment of birth — or even after birth. Thus, the left’s hardcore position is out of step with the majority of Americans on this point.
Leader also said that 71% of Americans believe there should be some legal limits to abortion. However, he hastens to add that we disagree as to what those limits should be. Nonetheless, it is significant that the position taken by many on the hard left — abortion without limits — is not a position held by the majority of Americans.
If you support abortion, do you know what you are actually supporting? In testimony before Congress, Dr. Anthony Levatino, an OB/GYN, explains a common abortion procedure — what they actually do in second trimester abortions (not the majority of abortions, but there are thousands of them in America every year).
Here is a recent article about Dr. Levatino and some of his testimony before Congress on how they do abortions — and the left’s attempt to ignore him.
Levatino used to do abortions (having performed more than 1,200), but then he became pro-life. How? “One day, after completing one of those abortions, I looked at the remains of a preborn child whose life I had ended, and all I could see was someone’s son or daughter. I came to realize that killing a baby at any stage of pregnancy, for any reason, is wrong,” he said.
But what about first trimester abortions? Surely, they are justified, argue some. But Lila Rose’s organization, Live Action.org, shows this too is a lie. And then there are third trimester abortions.
Meanwhile, abortion is sold in the name of “choice,” but Dr. Ingrid Skop, OB-GYN, notes that many women feel they were forced to abort. She writes, “Some 20-60% of women obtaining abortions may desire their pregnancy but experience pressure or coercion to terminate.”
Our Declaration of Independence, our nation’s birth certificate, says that we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights — the first one being, the right to life. But abortion undermines those rights.
If we continue down this pro-abortion path, I believe that future generations will look at us with horror — the way we look at previous Americans who blithely accepted human slavery as the norm.
One day God will hold us all accountable for these things, including how we vote on these matters. May God send a true revival, leading to a culture of life.
Jerry Newcombe, D.Min., is the executive director of the Providence Forum, an outreach of D. James Kennedy Ministries, where Jerry also serves as senior producer and an on-air host. He has written/co-written 33 books, including George Washington’s Sacred Fire (with Providence Forum founder Peter Lillback, Ph.D.) and What If Jesus Had Never Been Born? (with D. James Kennedy, Ph.D.). www.djkm.org? @newcombejerry www.jerrynewcombe.com
