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This year, our group test has conspicuously focused on top-of-the-range security suites, brimming with extra features. Think VPNs, parental controls, password managers, identity theft insurance and recovery services. We included [...]

If you're looking for the very best tech available today, you've definitely come to the right place. Best of the Best is the most useful gadget-buying guide you will ever [...]

BURST OF BLOSSOM With research showing a significant decline in orchards across the UK, the National Trust has committed to planting four million new blossom trees by 2030. In support [...]

dopamine decor When it comes to getting dressed, the science of enclothed cognition says 'Dress up to feel up.' What we put on our bodies directly affects our moods. The [...]

: It's leading-edge, it's downright scary--and it's here. Following AI's breakout year, we take a look under the hood at how entrepreneurs are applying the tech and what you need [...]

If you're looking for the very best tech available today, you've definitely come to the right place. Best of the Best is the most useful gadget-buying guide you will ever [...]

Windows play a defining role in a home's curb appeal, and the chosen design can make or break the aesthetics of a house exterior. Deciding between repair or replacement of [...]

Sales of luxury homes in Pulaski County continued to shatter records in 2023. For the third consecutive year, Arkansas Business increased the floor price of the homes it follows, raising [...]

The upscale residential market in northwest Arkansas saw another year of 200 or more homes selling for $1 million or more in 2023. Benton County saw a drawback in its [...]

This Economic Commentary describes the collapse and subsequent bailout of the Detroit-headquartered Bank of the Commonwealth in 1972. Commonwealth failed because it invested heavily in long-duration, fixed-rate municipal securities in the mid-1960s in a bet that interest rates would decline. Instead, with the beginning of the Great Inflation of 1965-1980, rates rose. Liquidity problems then ensued, and the bank approached failure. Unable to find an acquirer because of Michigan's banking restrictions, regulators instead bailed out the bank because of fears of contagion. This article also compares the collapse of Commonwealth with the spring 2023 failures of Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic. In particular, I discuss structural changes in banking that impacted the speed of the runs and the pools of potential acquirers., Introduction In 1970, the Bank of the Commonwealth was in severe trouble. The bank, headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, had grown fast since 1964, roughly tripling in size to $1.5 billion [...]

Growing up Arizona's license structure has undoubtably benefited many of its operators who have for the past 14 years seen limited competition and relatively stable prices. But a number of [...]

Table 9.1 Crude Oil Price Summary (Dollars (a) per Barrel) Domestic First F.O.B. Cost Landed Cost Purchase Pricec of Importsd of Importse 1950 Average 2.51 NA NA 1955 Average 2.77 [...]

For more than 120 years, Mechanics has been a heavy-duty brand. We see no reason to change that now. That's why producing our annual Tool Awards package involves countless hours [...]

The RS moniker on Porsche dates from the 1950s, but the first Porsche RS that most think of is the celebrated Carrera 2.7 RS of 1972/3, built to qualify Porsche [...]

The world's best tech, all in one place If you're looking for the very best tech available today, you've definitely come to the right place. Best of the Best is [...]

The long-proposed Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 has become enshrined in UK law. The government hopes the new legislation will 'speed up the planning system, hold developers to account, cut [...]

If you're looking for the very besttech available today, you've definitely come to the right place. Best of the Best is the most useful gadget-buying guide you will ever encounter. [...]

In the aftermath of events such as hurricanes, the economic impact of downed timber can reach billions of dollars. Accurate forecasting of stumpage prices after such events is crucial for maximizing recovery value while minimizing salvage costs. However, this poses challenges because of the inherent nature of the data. This study addresses these challenges by exploring the application of wavelet analysis, a novel approach in the field of forestry economic analysis. Wavelet analysis offers a unique framework for studying periodic phenomena in time series data, particularly when frequency changes over time are present. By leveraging wavelet analysis, this study uncovers relationships between timber market indices and hurricane seasons. The combination of traditional correlation analysis and wavelet coherence analysis enhances the statistical analysis in this study, offering a comprehensive examination of the relationship between the Timber Market Survey data and market indices. This innovative analytical approach enables a deeper understanding of the dynamics of the timber market and the potential effects of hurricanes on timber prices. Furthermore, this research highlights the recent advancements in wavelet methodology and the availability of open-source packages in the programming language R, such as WaveletComp and WaveletArima, that facilitate wavelet analysis and time series forecasting. The Wavelet-ARIMA model used in this study demonstrates its effectiveness in reducing noise and improving prediction accuracy. The study incorporates an extensive data set consisting of 10 Consumer Price Indices, 7 Producer Price Indices, 30 state-wide Timber Market Survey indices, 54 TMS subregions, and 6 open market series., The impact of hurricanes on timber revenue can be significant, with billions of dollars at stake (Henderson et al. 2022). Past hurricane events, such as Hurricane Hugo in 1989 and [...]

Table 9.1 Crude Oil Price Summary (Dollars (a) per Barrel) Domestic First F.O.B. Cost Landed Cost Purchase Price (c) of Imports (d) of Imports (e) 1950 Average 2.51 NA NA [...]

Nigeria's economy has underperformed for years. President Bola Tinubu made waves with bold initial reforms but faces a tough task to persuade investors that Nigeria is open for business, writes […]

Rising costs and the expiration of pandemic-era subsidies have Florida childcare centers and families in a crunch. State and federal lawmakers have limited options on the horizon as employers look [...]

CATTLE - Fundamental Analysis Cash cattle prices are rising in the wake of the mid-January arctic cold over the Plains. Having Choice beef cutout again surge to $300 highlights the [...]

Meaningful journeys Psychographics' --the study of traits such as values, goals and lifestyle choices --will increasingly inform the curation of meaningful journeys and is set to take the lead in [...]

If you're looking for the very best tech available today, you've definitely come to the right place. Best of the Best is the most useful gadget-buying guide you will ever [...]

Government pushes boiler ban back by 10 years The government has announced that its proposed gas boiler ban has been pushed back 10 years. Homeowners were initially informed that oil [...]

Given today's technology-saturated world, the idea of retreating to a remote cabin to reconnect with nature has never been more appealing. From alpine chalets and mountain lodges to Scandinavian lakeside [...]

Table 9.1 Crude Oil Price Summary (Dollars (a) per Barrel) Domestic F.O.B. Landed First Cost Cost Purchase of of Price (c) Imports (d) lmports (e) 1950 Average 2.51 NA NA [...]

Brief Explanation of Producer Price Indexes The Producer Price Index (PPI) of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is a family of indexes that measures the average change over time [...]

Compliance risk, interest rates, credit top banker, expert concerns going into the new year. Hardly a year goes by without major events, whether geopolitical, financial or something completely unanticipated like [...]

In 2022, as supply chains adjusted to the COVID-19 pandemic aftershocks, even historically stable industries continued to experience significant turmoil. For example, the printing-paper supply chain experienced disarray to the [...]

Using a unique data set of corporate site visits by mutual funds to Chinese firms listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange from 2013 to 2021, we find that firms with visits (more visits) are associated with lower mutual fund herding than those with no (fewer) visits. In addition, we demonstrate that mutual funds' visits to a firm drive the change in their herding propensity by verifying hard information (e.g., the firm's technology, innovation, accounting, and finance information) and obtaining soft information (e.g., management's risk appetite, employee morale, and corporate culture). Furthermore, corporate site visits are found to strengthen herding's price impact without return reversals. Overall, our results are consistent with information cascade theory. KEYWORDS corporate site visits, institutional herding, mutual funds, soft information, 1 | INTRODUCTION Long-standing literature shows that mutual funds trade similarly, or "herd" (Brown et al., 2014; Jiang & Verardo, 2018; Koch, 2017; Lakonishok et al., 1992; Wermers, 1999). Although [...]

In every courtroom across the country each day, judges determine whether thousands of individuals are either released or held before trial. These speedy and seemingly minor decisions have profound impacts on an accused's fate and on national incarceration rates. Indeed, over the last fifty years, these individual decisions have led to a 400% increase in pretrial detention in the United States. This increase in pretrial detention accounts for 99% of the jail growth in the last fifteen years, despite record decreases in arrest and crime rates. At the same time, the United States has witnessed three meaningful periods of bail reform in the 1960s, the 1980s, and beginning of the 2010s. Despite the hundreds of statutory iterations attempting to improve pretrial reform, these three bail reform movements have collectively failed to improve pretrial detention rates, and new legislation is making matters worse. This Article argues that bail reform efforts and most of the scholarly literature have focused on dangerousness--or perceived government obligations to protect public safety--to the exclusion of explicating the key underlying rights to pretrial liberty. The scholarship on bail has neglected a rigorous focus on the underlying constitutional rights that dictate release. In failing to focus on liberty, the trend of pretrial commentary has inadvertently presumed detention as a default due to the supposed risk of danger posed by the accused. It has failed to remind judges of the meaningful constitutional protections they are obligated to provide defendants in this early pretrial period. In reality, the interests of pretrial liberty and public safety do not conflict. Neglecting pretrial liberty rights has in fact led to the increased likelihood of crime and negative downstream effects on individuals and entire communities. This Article recognizes and articulates a unique right to pretrial liberty. It asserts that at the root of contemporary judicial failure to protect constitutional rights is a lack of recognition of the precise individual rights recognized in this early pretrial period, leaving judges to overemphasize concerns about dangerousness of the accused. It seeks to remedy this deficiency by articulating four distinct constitutional rights that create a near universal right of pretrial liberty: the rights to due process, equal protection, counsel, and protection from excessive bail. It argues that in any given case the right to liberty is characteristically invoked to protect one of these complementary interests: the presumption of release; the right to prepare a vigorous defense; a prohibition of judicial factfinding before trial; and the right to financial parity. The upshot is not a mechanical algorithm for producing correct criminal justice outcomes, but an illumination of the constitutional stakes at issue in any given pretrial determination. This Article aims to shift the focus of courts from the prevailing unfounded obsession with dangerousness to a deeper understanding of the doctrinal stakes underlying liberty., TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION I. THE INTERESTS UNDERLYING PRETRIAL LIBERTY A. THE PRESUMPTIVE RELEASE RIGHT 1. Early Pretrial Release Right 2. Establishment of Presumptive Release Right 3. Clash of Pretrial [...]

Meaningful journeys 'Psychographics'--the study of traits such as values, goals and lifestyle choices--will increasingly inform the curation of meaningful journeys and is set to take the lead in luxury travel, [...]

The world's best tech, all in one place If you're looking for the very best tech available today, you've defnitely come to the right place. Best of the Best is [...]

Brief Explanation of Producer Price Indexes The Producer Price Index (PPI) of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is a family of indexes that measures the average change over time [...]

Energy Prices Note 1. Crude Oil Refinery Acquisition Costs. Beginning with January 1981, refiner acquisition costs of crude oil are from data collected on U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) Form [...]

As the United States has grown and the quality of the nations housing has improved, it has also become more expensive and less affordable to much of the nations population. [...]

Objective: To understand the relative role of prices versus utilization in the variation in total spending per patient across medical groups. Data Sources: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of medical claims for commercially insured adults from a large national insurer in 2018. Study Design: After assigning patients to a medical group based on primary care visits in 2018, we calculated total medical spending for each patient in that year. Total spending included care provided by clinicians within the medical group and care provided by other providers, including hospitals. It did not include drug spending. We estimated the case mix adjusted spending per patient for each medical group. Within each market, we categorized medical groups into quartiles based on the group's spending per patient. To decompose spending variation into price versus utilization, we compared spending differences between highest and lowest quartile medical groups under two scenarios: (1) using actual prices (2) using a standardized price (same price used for a given service across the nation). Principal Findings: In total, 3,921,736 patients were assigned to 7284 medical groups. Per-patient spending in the highest quartile of spending medical groups was $1813 higher than per-patient spending in the lowest spending quartile of medical groups (50% higher relative spending). This overall difference was primarily driven by differences in inpatient care, imaging, and specialty care. In the scenario where we used standardized prices, the difference in spending between medical groups in the top and bottom quartiles decreased to $1425, implying that 79% of the $1813 difference in spending between the top and bottom quartile groups is explained by utilization and the remaining 21% by prices. The likely explanation for the modest impact of prices is that patients cared for by a given medical group receive care across a wide range of providers. Conclusions: Prices explained a modest fraction of the differences in spending between medical groups. KEYWORDS health plans, medical groups, prices, public reporting, spending, 1 | INTRODUCTION Many strategies to improve health care value build on the profiling of clinicians on total costs of care. These profiles are used for a range of applications [...]

As of this writing, March 1, 2024, the House and Senate have just agreed on a one-week extension of the budget deadline and hope to have appropriations bills enacted by [...]

Prices for all the volume resins were on an upward trajectory as first quarter's end approached. Price escalation of key raw materials/feedstocks was the driving factor in most cases, though [...]

Balanced beauty 1 Plaster pinks provide a warm neutral backdrop against which contrasting details--such as Devol's Emerald Green London tiles, [pounds sterling]27 each--can shine. 'Tiling from floor to ceiling and [...]